SiliconBeat

Give the accounting firm Deloitte an A for promptness. We received an e-mail from the company with “President-elect Obama and Tax Policy” in the subject field that included a link to its paper titled “Tax Policy Decisions Ahead: President-elect Obama’s Call for Change”.

Noting that most serious observers of Washington “had long since concluded that the tax and spending commitments of the United States are unsustainable beyond the end of the next decade” when the presidential campaign began in earnest in the Spring of 2007, Deloitte reminds us that a few things have happened since, particularly in the last several weeks. Namely, ”a significant economic downturn and extraordinary government spending associated with efforts to promote recovery may have accelerated the potential day of reckoning.” Oh, right. (Wall Street, which seemed to have forgotten about that yesterday, remembered today.)

Deloitte says that the campaign “seems to have given structure to the debate over spending and taxes in four important respects:”

• First, both candidates agreed that a return to budget discipline is required.
• Second, neither side suggested that it is yet time to address the long-term budget challenges caused by growing Social Security and Medicare entitlements.
• Third, they both agreed that overall tax increases should not play a major role in reducing current deficits and that the expiration of the Bush tax cuts in 2011 must be addressed with a permanent solution.
• Finally, and as a result, both presidential candidates promised spending discipline designed to bring the budget into balance in the near term.

Who knew there was this much agreement between Obama and McCain.

As for business taxes, Deloitte says that “President-elect Obama’s discussion of corporate and business taxes during the campaign might have created some confusion.”

Confusion, it should be noted, is usually a good thing for consulting experts. Especially regarding taxes.