Where Obama missed the boat was everytime McCain said he was going to take care of children, take care of special needs people and that kind of stuff -- was to comeback forcefully with: "And just how do you intend to pay for that John."

But you are right. We want our pot holes fixed, the ordinaces and laws enforced, our school to get its share of the money, our country defended and bail us out of a financial mess. But - we always vote to cut taxes. Only ours not theirs. Cut programs but not ours only those other guys.

No one realizes that what is pork to them is bread and butter to someone else. Cut thier pork but not mine.

This is one that Obama should have been ready for and nailed-- Corporate Taxes. From the Washington Post "Fact Check" of the Debate:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/?hpid=topnews

Taxes
9:58 p.m.
John McCain made two assertions on corporate taxes, one that small businesses pay 50 percent of the taxes and the other that U.S. corporations are among the highest taxed in the world. Both are wrong.

All corporate income taxes--including giant corporations and the smallest of businesses--account for only about 14 percent of federal revenues raised in the year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Most federal taxes are paid by individuals, while fees and other taxes make up the rest.

While the official corporate tax is high, compared to other countries, there are so many loopholes in the code that many companies pay little or no taxes. The General Accounting Office reported recently that more than half of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes during the boom years of the late 1990s, and those that did were able to shelter much of their income, generally by claiming deductions and credits.

The GAO report showed that 61 percent of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes from 1996 through 2000, a period of rapid economic growth and rising corporate profits.

An estimated 94 percent of U.S. corporations reported tax liabilities amounting to less than 5 percent of their total income in 2000. Indeed, small corporations were more likely to avoid taxation than large ones, the GAO said.
--Glenn Kessler

The Post could have added that US Corporate taxes are lower today than at any time since WWII.

Long time reader of TPM, first time writer.

I just joined because I badly want to get heard on this point: Joe Plumber doesn’t understand NET versus GROSS.

Obama needs to be making this distinction – “Joe, regardless of what your BUSINESS makes, until YOU are taking home 250K, you will not have your taxes increased.”

Not true that this is not an important constituency. There are millions of small business owners across the country that need to hear this distinction and don’t understand it.

I am a small business owner and I can tell you most plumbers (I am a contractor, so close enough) don’t get the tax code -- especially if they’ve been W2 their whole lives.

On Public Radio recently, a small business owner called in to say that his restaurant grossed 300K but little of it made it's way into his paycheck. He assumed that because he was grossing 300K that he was above Senator Obama's 250K cut-off for no tax increases.

The show's host did not correct the misunderstanding and I don't believe he understood correctly either.

Whether or not Obama understands this– he’s certainly not getting the point out to this constituency.