No Sign of Economy at Republican Convention

ST PAUL, Minnesota (AFP) — The economy may be the number one issue in the White House race, but the Republican National Convention has yet to dwell on the troubles of Americans trying to make ends meet. Vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin and party stalwarts Wednesday argued Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would swamp hopes of growth by dumping a massive tax burden on the slowing US economy. “Taxes are too high … he wants to raise them,” said Palin, governor of resource-rich Alaska who Republicans say introduced trailblazing reforms which busted corruption in her home state. “His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan — raise income taxes, payroll taxes, investment income taxes, the death tax, business taxes, the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars,” she said. With oil prices still high, the US economy is sputtering amid a weak housin...