A portrait of a country awash in “red ink” (NPR)

Does the U.S. need more tax revenue to pay down its debt? Whom should that tax money come from? How much should the tax code be relied on to close the gap between the rich and the poor? These are three areas Wall Street Journal economics writer David Wessel has identified where candidates disagree. “It is simply not true that we can solve our deficit problem only by taxing the top tier of people, and it’s very unlikely that we can cut spending enough to solve the deficit without raising taxes on pretty much the bulk of the American people,” Wessel said. If he were moderating the debates, Wessel said he’d like to see Obama and Romney prepare five proposals to combat the deficit.