Excerpt: As the financial crisis has worsened and the economy has deteriorated, basic pocketbook issues -- taxes, jobs, retirement -- have taken center stage in the presidential race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. When the new president 'comes to town in January, he'll have to work on the short-term stimulus to the economy, and the longer-term plans may get deferred,' says Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte Tax. 'But the issue isn't the economic-recovery package and what the budget looks like in 2009, but what it will look like come 2012.'

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