According to a recent poll by pollingreport.com, 42 percent of respondents ranked the economy as the most important issue in the presidential race.

But despite the economy being the top concern of Americans, there seems to be very little reporting in the mainstream media going on in regards to the top presidential candidates’ economic policies.

Candidates On Money | Decision '08

Every news report seems to focus on race, gender and age issues. Are Hillary and Bill Clinton playing the race card? Is the media too hard on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because of her gender? Is the media too soft on Sen. Barack Obama? Is Sen. John McCain too old?

Perhaps it is time to get past the superficial issues dominating the media and focus on the policies.

One way that a candidate directly affects the economy and Americans’ pocketbooks is their tax agenda.

John McCain: Will He Lower Taxes?

Assessing what Sen. John McCain would do as president in regards to taxes is a little difficult to nail down.

McCain was one of only two Republican senators to vote against both the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts proposed by President George W. Bush.

“I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief,” McCain said on the Senate floor before voting against Bush’s tax cut in 2001.

McCain has since had a change of heart about the Bush tax cuts. He now proposes to make them permanent.

A key part of McCain’s tax agenda is cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. He has also called for a repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax, which he says on his Web site will save middle class families $2,700 a year.

Scott Johnson, a lawyer who writes about public policy on his Web site powerlineblog.com, and has written articles that have appeared in the National Review, the Weekly Standard and the New York Times, said McCain’s perceived lack of knowledge on economic issues could hurt him in the general election.

“He is intellectually lazy on these things, and that does not serve him well,” said Johnson. “I’m juxtaposing McCain in my mind with Mitt Romney, who really understands the economy and economic issues and is capable of articulating the issues in a really powerful way. I don’t think Sen. McCain has the capacity.”

Barack Obama: Not Bashful About Tax Hikes

Sen. Barack Obama supports raising taxes on wealthy Americans to support tax cuts for the middle class and government programs like health care reform.

“There's no doubt that the tax system has been skewed. And the Bush tax cuts -- people didn't need them, and they weren't even asking for them, and that's why they need to be less, so that we can pay for universal health care and other initiatives,” Obama said at a Democratic debate in October 2007.

At a debate in Los Angeles in January, it was pointed out by Jeanne Cummings of Politico that if Obama lets the Bush tax cuts expire, taxes would be raised on millions of Americans.

“On wealthy Americans,” Obama interrupted Cummings. “I’m not bashful about it.”

On his Web site, Obama calls for the “Making Work Pay” tax credit, which would give $500 to each person or $1,000 per working family, which he says will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.

“I think the argument is in favor of tax increases and the sort of populist rhetoric that has infused the Democratic side of the debate this year,” said Johnson. “It seems to be playing well, and the Democrats don’t seem to encounter much resistance to it.”

Hillary Clinton: Back To The Future

Sen. Clinton, like Obama, is in favor of letting the Bush tax cuts expire.

“It's just really important to underscore here that we will go back to the tax rates we had before George Bush became president. And my memory is, people did really well during that time period,” said Clinton in a presidential debate in January.

Johnson said that Clinton’s attempt to link herself to Bill Clinton’s time in the Oval Office has not helped her campaign.

“The predicate of her campaign has been kind of a Clinton-era rerun, and I think she thought that was a powerhouse basis for her campaign, and it hasn’t played out for her that way,” said Johnson.

Clinton, like Obama, is in favor of raising taxes on the wealthy while cutting taxes for the middle class.

“I will make it clear that the Bush tax cuts on the upper income, those making more than $250,000 a year, will be allowed to expire,” Clinton said in a Democratic debate in February.

Like Obama, Clinton voted against the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. On her Web site, Clinton says that as president, she will lower taxes for middle class families by extending the middle class tax cuts including the child tax credit and marriage penalty relief, offering new tax cuts for healthcare, college and retirement, and expanding the EITC and the child care tax credit.