Don't Mess With Taxes

A television studio like this one in the CBS Broadcast Center will be the site of next week’s only vice presidential debate.

Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance, the two major party vice presidential candidates, will face off on Tuesday night, Oct. 1, for their first formal debate from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.

With GOP nominee Donald J. Trump saying it's too late to debate his Democratic counterpart Vice President Kamala Harris a second time, the Walz-Vance encounter likely will be the last major televised debate of this election cycle.

Unlike the Harris-Trump debate, the VP hopefuls' microphones won't be muted. CBS News officials also said that, unlike the Sept. 10 presidential debate, it will be up to the politicians, not moderators CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan, to fact check their opponents’ statements.

That should be … fun(?). Since things already have gotten testy between the two on the campaign trail, the set-up will at least make for some potentially interesting comebacks from both men.

Policy points: Although vice presidents don't usually play a large role in creating an administration's policies, they are charged with supporting it. So we should get a look at how and how well Walz and Vance support their running mates platforms.

"You'll hear me talk like I have about things that impact Americans, making sure they have the opportunity to thrive, making sure that we're being factual in how we talk about that," Walz told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow after the Harris-Trump debate.

As for Vance's preparation, he said last week, "What we're going to focus on is that I make as concise and direct appeal to the American people as possible about Donald Trump's successful policies and Kamala Harris' failed policies."

Performance matters: The debate also will give us a chance to see these two side-by-side.

Although both men are from the Midwest — Walz is the current governor and a former U.S. Representative from Minnesota and Vance is in his first term as the junior U.S. Senator for Ohio — their styles are markedly different.

Much was made in the presidential debate of how Trump avoided looking at Harris. I suspect the vice presidential debate will be much more engaging, at least from the presentation standpoint.

The bottom line is that the VP debate will give us all a chance to get to know better the person who will be the proverbial/cliché heartbeat away from the presidency.

Viewer/voter debate prep: That’s also why next week’s vice presidential debate is this weekend's Saturday Shout Out topic. Below are some debate items to get you ready for the veep showdown.

• Everything you need to know about the upcoming Vance-Walz VP debate by Greta Reich for Politico.

• Vance and Walz Will Debate Standing Up, in a Rarity for V.P. Clashes by Reid J. Epstein for the New York Times.

• Vance, Walz face potential game-changing moment with VP debate by Julia Mueller for The Hill.

• Experts preview Vance-Walz debate, say usually 'forgettable' VP bout 'might be different' this time by Jamie Joseph for Fox News.

• Americans view Walz more positively than Vance, but many aren’t familiar with either VP nominee by Joseph Copeland for Pew Research Center.

• VP debates may alter a close race’s dynamic even when they don't predict the winner by Ron Elving for NPR.

• 6 facts about presidential and vice presidential debates by Drew DeSilver for Pew Research Center.

• The History of Vice Presidential Debates from The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

• Vice presidential candidates, 2024, along with a look at how vice presidential candidates have been selected from Ballotpedia.

OK, that’s your pre-debate prep. Have a good rest of the weekend, and enjoy the Walz-Vance encounter on Tuesday night.

You also might find these items of interest:

• Trump signals support of ending SALT deduction limit
• Capital gains taxes: 2024 election proposals vs. current law
• Democrat joins GOP colleagues in introducing a tax-free-tips bill

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