The Candidates on the Pocketbook Issues

(page 2 of 2)

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader only launched his campaign for the Presidency on Feb. 24, and it's not clear how many state ballots the consumer advocate's name will appear on. But Nader, who also ran in 2000 and 2004, argues he brings financial issues to the table that Democrats and Republicans can't because they're dominated by corporations.

Nader's campaign Web site discusses "a Wall street securities speculation tax" and an "aggressive crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare." He favors cutting taxes on wages and instead taxing "pollution, stock speculation, addictive industries, and energy guzzling technologies." Nader also supports more union organizing, and giving workers a "living wage instead of a minimum wage."

Barack Obama

"As Wall Street has prospered, most Americans have been running in place because the deck has been stacked against them," Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) says in a TV ad that premiered shortly before the Mar. 4 primaries.

Obama says he opposes privatizing Social Security, and, to shore up its finances, proposes raising the amount of income that is subject to the Social Security payroll tax. To reduce high levels of credit-card debt, Obama has proposed a credit-card rating system and "credit-card bill of rights." Obama has embraced automatic IRA and 401(k) programs for all workers as well as tax incentives to encourage low- and middle-income workers to save.

Although Obama would let many of President Bush's tax cuts expire, he has proposed other tax cuts for less wealthy Americans. He would eliminate income taxes for seniors earning less than $50,000 per year, provide tax credits for college education, and allow taxpayers to deduct mortgage interest even if they don't itemize their taxes. He also pledges to find ways to simplify the filing of tax returns, cutting it to a five-minute process for many Americans.

Ron Paul

Representative Ron Paul (R-Tex.) favors slashing government spending and taxes, including all taxes on Social Security benefits.

"We can encourage retirement saving simply by allowing employees to put more of their paychecks into IRAs and pension funds, instead of sending taxes to the federal government," Paul has written.

Steverman is a reporter for BusinessWeek's Investing channel.