Two of the hottest political topics this fall are whether to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for families making more than $250,000 and what to do about the deficit.

While Republican candidates, almost universally, are saying all the tax cuts should be extended, a sober-minded Dartmouth economist who once worked in the Bush White House is of a decidedly different view.

That would be Andrew Samwick, the former chief staff economist on President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers and now director of Dartmouth’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy.

Samwick believes the country needs more revenue, and that the best thing would be to let all the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 expire, as, he notes, “the letter of the law intends.”

In his Capital Gains and Games blog last month, Samwick wrote: “If those who passed them years ago had wanted for them to be permanent, then they should have legislated them in that fashion. They couldn’t achieve that objective, so they took half a loaf. They have no particular claim to the other half unless that’s good policy now. It isn’t — the government needs to have in place enough revenue sources so that it is running a surplus at the next business cycle peak. If there is concern about weak aggregate demand in the near term, as there very well should be, then there is always a better way to deal with downturns. We are over two and a half years late in getting started, but it is better late than never.”

Samwick, along with other bloggers, has also highlighted a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that makes an important point — even if only the middle-class Bush tax cuts are extended, high-income households will still realize significant savings because they would benefit from cuts in lower marginal tax rates.

The Joint Committee on Taxation said a household with an income of more than $200,000 would see, on average, more than $6,300 in savings under a “middle-class” tax cut, while households with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 would save just $1,132 on average.

Muddy All Over

Left-leaning Democrats who think it’s only Karl Rove types who throw mud should think about this. U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., has been called out by the nonpartisan Factcheck.org for a television ad he is running against Daniel Webster, a conservative, anti-abortion Republican in the Orlando-area race.

Grayson’s campaign used video, according to Factcheck.org, “that shows Webster saying wives should submit to their husbands. In fact, Webster was cautioning husbands to avoid taking that passage as their own.”

Even worse, the Democrat’s ad refers to Webster as “Taliban Dan.”

Grayson has been an outspoken supporter of a public option in health care and has the full-throttle backing of the Howard Dean-offshoot Democracy for America.

Briefly Noted

• The nonpartisan Live Free or Die Alliance is rolling out a useful Election Central database on its website with information about various New Hampshire candidates, race by race. Catch it at www.livefreeordiealliance.com.

• Republican Brian Dubie’s gubernatorial campaign, which has the backing of the National Federation of Independent Business/Vermont, yesterday highlighted a Vermont Chamber of Commerce rating that said Democrat Peter Shumlin scored 43 percent on votes of concern to business. Vermont Press Association is sponsoring debates Sunday at St. Michael’s College in Colchester between Dubie and Shumlin, along with candidates for lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

• U.S. Sen. John McCain — remember him? —will campaign with U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte on the Seacoast and in Nashua on Saturday.

• New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, who is being hammered by Republican rival John Stephen over a corrections reform plan that passed earlier this year with bipartisan support, is playing some defense. Lynch today is going to announce endorsements by a variety of law enforcement officials in the state.

• The Grantham Democratic Committee is having a yard and bake sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 52 Route 114, just off Route 10 in Grantham.

• That $20-a-head fundraiser former state Sen. Matt Dunne is hosting for Shumlin Saturday night at his Hartland farm will include U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

• Vermont Republican U.S. House candidate Paul Beaudry, the Tea Party activist, will be in the Upper Valley on Oct. 8, doing a sign wave along Route 5 in Bradford and then lunching at the Orange East Senior Center.

• Democrat Peter Burling is hosting a reception and fundraiser at his Cornish farm Oct. 11 for the 24 Democratic candidates running for New Hampshire state Senate.

• New Hampshire Union Leader Publisher Joe McQuaid and a photographer are in Afghanistan to chronicle New Hampshire National Guard Co. C, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry. Telling the local troops’ story is certainly laudable, but the fact that the Union Leader says its series “is made possible in part through the assistance of BAE Systems, Next Step Orthotics and DEKA Research” seems a little problematic. Yes, two of those firms have products designed to help amputees, but how do you cover a war objectively when you’re indebted to Pentagon contractors?