The race to the White House: Fighting hard for big headaches?

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SALT LAKE CITY — Superstorm Sandy cooled off the heat of the razor-close, $2 billion Presidential campaign for a few days. But in the final week before Election Day, the heat is on again. The constant posturing at rallies, nasty campaign ads and sniping on cable news has everyone wishing it was already Nov. 7. I say best of luck to the winner — Mr. Obama or Mr. Romney. You're going to need it.

There are major economic challenges ahead. Reports tucked inside papers like the Wall Street Journal show reality is right around the corner.

There's the "fiscal cliff," a financial disaster scheduled to occur at the end of the year unless Congress does something. Under current law, spending will be cut dramatically and taxes will go up a lot too. Middle-class Americans would see a huge jump in their tax bills, which according to the Wall Street Journal could also tank the stock market. The bottom line is that something needs to be done.

Middle-class Americans would see a huge jump in their tax bills if the fiscal cliff hits, which could also tank the stock market.

A $1 trillion deficit demands action that has so far been put off. Congress will probably intervene to stop the nation from going over the cliff, likely by raising the debt ceiling yet again. Otherwise, the next President will preside over default of Treasury bonds for the first time in U.S. History.

Both candidates talk about attracting more jobs. The labor department says one out of every seven workers is unemployed right now, or working part time because there isn't a full time position open. There is a report that says 14 million men ages 25-54, at their prime working age, actually aren't working. Think about the lost tax revenue.

The reality is that things are looking up. But the federal government has also spent billions of borrowed money at the economy and the recovery is listed as weak according to a study by the Associated Press. Americans want new, professional jobs, not just a sustained job recovery.

Even those who have jobs have to be worried about their retirement, too. Social Security and Medicare are on borrowed time. Will taxes need to be raised to continue both programs into the future? Cutting waste sounds good, but the reality is there is only so much you can cut from programs like these.

The problem is that 80 million Americans are starting to retire, and a lot of them haven't been saving for their own retirement. The independent think tank Employee Benefit Research Institute reports 60 percent of all workers have less than $25,000 in their retirement, and 30 percent have less than $1,000. That money, even if you factor in Social Security, is poverty level. That number of unprepared people amounts to poverty on a mass scale.

It seems like everyone is in debt these days as well. Even those so-called ‘cash-rich' corporations have borrowed a lot: $1.1 trillion since 2007, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also reports their debt is at a record $8.2 billion. U.S. government debt isn't a pretty picture, either. We owe $39 trillion. Yikes.

The candidates both talked about China for a little while in their last debate. But the next President will probably have to deal with a changing Chinese economic system. That nation is switching from a system focused on infrastructure spending to one focused on consumerism. It may overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest economy.

China's increasing output will pose serious challenges in political and military ways too. You can't live like a king on a working man's salary. History shows other nations have found that out the hard way.

On Election Day, there will be a big victory party in either Chicago or Boston. After all the balloons fall and the confetti settles, the question running through my mind, if I was that candidate, would be, "Why did I want this job again?"