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John McCain's Magical Economic Plan
By Tommy ChristopherJul 7th 2008 10:37AM
Filed Under:eRepublicans, John McCain, Breaking News, Economy, 2008 President, Humor
PRESS CONFERENCE CALLSo, We're going to balance the budget selling old copies of MAD magazine and Star Wars dolls?
WHO: Meg Whitman, former President and CEO, eBay Inc. Doug Holtz-Eakin, Senior Policy Adviser, John McCain 2008
Update: 3:47 pm They took 3 questions. None of them were about Ebay. One of them was whether the McCain campaign would be releasing hard numbers to back up their claim of balancing the budget by the end of his first term. Doug Eakin decided to summarize the plan instead of answer the question, so I guess it's a no. I'll post the audio later.
On the heels of a campaign shake-up, John McCain has released his new economic plan, and it is filled with McCain's new answer to Barack Obama's messages of Hope and Change: Magic!
According to McCain's new economic plan, making money is as easy as one, two, POOF! Under McCain, the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would make piles of cash appear: The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.If you are spending $200.00 a month on your credit card for cigarettes, and you quit smoking, you save $200.00 a month, but can you use that $200.00, that you're now not spending, to pay off that credit card?
According to John McCain's new economic plan, you sure can.
That's just one whopper in a whopper-filled paragraph, from a whopper-crammed economic plan. That passage alone also employs the logical fallacy that McCain will help America by ending his own policies, which he hasn't implemented yet and has said he will not end.
I could spend all day picking this plan apart, and I'm sure I will, but primary to that exercise is the recognition that this is a fundamentally flawed plan. It relies mainly on reducing spending and cutting taxes, while promising to balance the budget. Unfortunately, as Obama adviser Jason Furman points out, there ain't enough spending in the world to do that.
McCain would have to pay for all of his new tax cuts and other proposals and then, on top of that, cut an additional $443 billion from the budget-which is 81 percent of Medicare spending or 78 percent of all discretionary spending outside of defense.See, you can't pay your mortgage by canceling your HBO subscription. Now that we have that out of the way, here are a few more interesting, sometimes hilarious, tidbits from the plan.
He flogs the gas tax holiday again, calling for a moratorium on the tax from "Memorial Day to Labor Day." Didn't any of his advisers pass him that famous It's July, Now memo? He obviously missed the earlier one, entitled, "There Are No Experts Who Think This Is A Good Idea, We Know, Because Howard Wolfson Checked."
But what I really loved was the intro to that section, which seems to have been written by a 4th grader doing a book report.
John McCain will help Americans hurting from high gasoline and food costs. Americans need relief right now from high gas prices. John McCain will act immediately to reduce the pain of high gas prices.Third Bush term, indeed. I also love the way he goes all non-specific with this third-rail sentence:
In the long-term, the only way to keep the budget balanced is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.That's it. Just an ice-breaker, really. We'll go over the details after you get old and sick.
He also attacks unions, and women and children, in on fell swoop.
Minimizing expensive mandates – such as those for health insurance and pro-union initiatives like card check.Expensive mandates that keep insurance companies from cutting essential benefits, like mammography, childhood immunizations, and in-network payment for emergency room visits, so they can reap greater profits. Also, he circles back to hit unions again later in the document, specifically government workers' unions.
He rings the popular earmarks bell again:
Take back earmark funds. The McCain Administration will reclaim billions of add-on spending from earmarks and add-ons in FY 2007 and 2008.The problem is, he won't say which programs he would cut. Not all earmarks are "pork." Recently, McCain tried to say that New Jersey's highway projects were "unwanted and unnecessary," for example. I drive 100 Parkway miles a day, so I disagree. McCain seeks a line item veto, so only he could decide which projects are worthy, and which are not.
He also points to his disaster of a health care program, his "Lexington Project," in fact, the new plan is pretty much the same as the old plan. From the NY Times:
Mr. McCain's aides said he will not offer any significant new economic programs or ideas.I could do this all day, but I have other things to do. Golden Books wants me to critique their new coloring book.
Look, I'm no expert on the economy, so I can hardly fault McCain for not being one, either. I just wish he would hire someone who is. Either that, or find a cabinet post for David Copperfield.
Recent Comments
(Page 1 of 2)Tommy Walker11:34AMJul 7th 2008
America! America!
God Shed her grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining see:
On or about 1555, the brotherhood was shipped from sea to shining sea. They (slave owners ) crowned their goods, the brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.
Our white slave owners were friendly people, always giving. They gave us(slaves) ropes, beatings, feed the sharks, with our bodies, along the passage. They gave us housing, food, and their sperm, to separate the colonies. Then they gave us lies, "all men are created equal". That, they gave us was true, until birth, then we were Negroes.
They gave us employment, either indoor, or outdoor, wages deposited in our account, payable upon death. Still crowning their goods, with brotherhood, they gave us laws. They made everything as simple as black and white. Then they sent the police (kkk) to enforce those laws.
Fast forward!
2008, after we are free at last, great god almighty, we are free at last. We have a brother named Obama, running for president, of the USA. If we have slave owners, and they decide for us, and they are the owners of the plantation(America), can a change, be made? We vote, they count our votes, what will happen??????
Togo1946@aol.com
neil11:40AMJul 7th 2008
i disagree lani
a good economy makes the military stronger
when theres more money in the economy u can make better equpment for the army..u can also recruit better solidiers..have u looked on the jokers going into the service now..its embarrassing..the army is taking people up till 42 years old..
better economy means better miltary
vote obama
Ed11:53AMJul 7th 2008
Obviously this biased piece of "reporting" is written by a pro-Obama operative rather than an unbiased professional journalist. Has he looked at how the Obama plan is basically "Take all the money from those who have worked for it and earned it; and give it to the po' folks who want more welfare for less work"
Tax and spend is a great Socialist (the real word behind the politically correct term "progressive") concept that has failed miserably every time it has been implemented. Elect Obama and we are on our way to becoming a third-world slum. Elect McCain and we may delay it a little, but as long as our Congress is engaged in partisan bickering we are condemned to failure. Remember, regardless of the President's economic plan--by the Constitution, Congress has the power of the purse. No budget is approved without Congress passing it. And Congress can override a veto, whether of a Democratic or Republican President.
David S.12:22PMJul 7th 2008
These are just the same tired issues we hear from Republican candidates every four years. Bush attempted to take on social security 'reform' in 2005. His own party was in charge then and they refused to touch it. As to Medicare, not sure what McCain wants to 'reform' considering the GOP added a multi billion dollar prescription drug benefit to it in 2003; a sweetheart deal for the drug companies indeed.
Will McCain preach to senior citizens he wants to reform social security and Medicare? Uh, my guess would be no.
devilspeak1:06PMJul 7th 2008
so, an obama plan would be ? oh yeah, tax working whitey's and give it to the aa's in form of reparations for all the wrongs that happened 400 years ago. maybe tommy can be the first to give up his paycheck to his beloved obummer. you aol bloggers never stop, do you ? its all about that lying , racist fake every damn day. screw obama, a muslim and a liar.....where is his real birth certificate, not the phony ones he keeps posting on his own web-site. was he really born in a manger ? or was he born in kenya ?
devilspeak1:42PMJul 7th 2008
300 top economists support mccains economic plan. read for yourselves at redstate.com tommy c. is an obama ass kisser and a dumb ass. mccain 08
mouse2:03PMJul 7th 2008
I am sick and tired of all the "yellow journalism" on the aol site....Tommy Christopher is an idiot who chooses to misinterpret the "news" instead of reporting it. Vote Senator McCain in 2008.
Bob Wilkinson2:09PMJul 7th 2008
ED-11:53am--Study your history, do an economics study. Your statements reflect Republican retoric and not facts.If you're not in the $250,000 [or over] per year group you are touting the wrong party. Think U.S. economy and world economy and not ME economy. It's a better result for all.
Jo in SoCal2:10PMJul 7th 2008
Why is it so difficult for everyone to understand that our economic problems are tied to our military situation? Why do you think we need to borrow 2.2 billon dollars a day from China and Japan and where do you think all of our money is going? The war in Iraq and the economy are not mutually exclusive and I wish to God people would stop suggesting that they are!
Also, anybody telling you they can balance Social Security and Medicare is a liar. Those two programs alone total a 50 trillion dollar debt. Add that to our already 9 trillion dollar debt and your looking at the financial collapse this our country. There simply isn't a way to tax, balance or reform your way out of that.
Angela V2:13PMJul 7th 2008
Why are there so many articles biased against John McCain being posted?
WILMA2:18PMJul 7th 2008
OBAMA IS GOING TO ACCEPT NOMINATION IN THE FOOTBALL STADIUM- THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IS NOT SETTLED WITH A NOMINEE UNTIL THE CONVENTION VOTES!!!!HOW CAN THEY CHANGE WHERE THE CONVENTION IS TO BE HELD NOW...THE DNC IS TOTALLY UNDER HIS CONTROL ALREADY. WATCH OUT AMERICA!!!!!
Henry2:46PMJul 7th 2008
devilspeak,
If you had a basis education or a job or any understanding of the economy. No doubt you would understand Our country is in trouble. However, your tiny little mind is fixed on race and religion.
Henry3:13PMJul 7th 2008
Angela V,
Because he is a republican, it is the republican policies that have our country at war and enjoying a very poor economy.
sue3:16PMJul 7th 2008
Tommy,
Do you have any direct proof that Obama's spending plans for all of these entitlement programs he's proposing are gonna be paid for? I would like to see [independently confirmed] direct evidence that what Obama is proposing is paid for, not some spin out on his website.
Because the National Public Debt is now 9 trillion dollars,any tax increases and military reductions might be needed just to cover the government's *existing* shortfalls. Also, don't forget rising health care costs, and the pending baby boomer retirement, which is gonna weight down financially the whole system.
Show me how Obama's baloon spending plans are gonna be paid for *as we go*, not borrowed from China and Japan (as Jo rightly states).
REPLACE-DEMS-IN-CONGRESS3:20PMJul 7th 2008
One of the reasons Hanoi John Kerry, the true ‘American Traitor’, went down so hard in defeat was his elitist attitude. Apparently the liberals need something to attack in order to make them feel better about their continual losses. Zell Miller was right in 2004: “A democratic party no more!”
This election is new territory for our country and it does not look bright; and in my humble opinion, if the Democratic Party continues to control Congress, they will continue to divide our country.
This election has proven one thing: ‘We the People’ is no longer viable; it is ‘We the powerbrokers’!
What you NEED to have — in order to be the Democratic Nominee:
1) Backers with power;
2) Backers with big money;
3) Ability to ‘act/perform’ (poker-face);
4) Great speech writers;
5) MSM in back pocket;
6) DNC in back pocket.
What you DON’T NEED to have — in order to be the Democratic Nominee:
1) Credibility;
2) Experience;
3) Character;
4) Issue Resolutions;
5) Pride in Country;
THE DNC AND BIASED MEDIA ARE DESTROYING AMERICA — BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA WAS “SELECTED” — NOT “ELECTED”.
VOTE FOR JOHN McCAIN IN 2008.
Peggy3:24PMJul 7th 2008
"See, you can't pay your mortgage by canceling your HBO subscription."
-----------------------------------------------------
But, if you go back to basic cable, you put a little more money in your own bank account.
When you start paying for your neighbors' mortgages, you stand a good chance of losing your house. And that's the Obama tax and spend budget plan. His global initiative will send billions of tax dollars to Africa. He wants to increase social programs paid for by those who work to subsidize those who can't (or won't) work. His idea of equalizing the economic status of Americans will put all of us on the street. Now, there's equality we can count on. Thanks but no thanks. I'll just keep my own house and, if you can afford one, feel free to keep your house.
Angela V3:37PMJul 7th 2008
Why are there so many articles biased against John McCain being posted?
NO-OBAMA3:50PMJul 7th 2008
Obama really did not win --- he was “selected” by the DNC and this does not make him the better candidate, just a crooked one.
The other runners had others (DNC) helping them to make the decision to quit and endorse Obama.
He should have raised a lot of money, look at his backers, dirty money had to be laundered somewhere.
He followed rules that were made up as thy went by the DNC and the news media.
Hillary supporters may have the last laugh yet.
It is not as important now to elect Hillary, but to make sure the arrogant, self-centered, bi-racial Obama never lives in the White House. He should not be allowed to disgrace America any more than he already has with his ability to flip off a woman on TV, call a hard working woman sweetie, while his wife is calling for more whities. So go drink your kool aide while you are on a slow boat to Kenya because you cannot be a true American wanting a disgraceful person like Obama as the United States President.
God help us all...!!!
http://www.eyeblast.tv/Public/Video.aspx?rsrcID=2036
REPLACE-DEMS-IN-CONGRESS4:04PMJul 7th 2008
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/456363/khallid_muhammads_speech_kill_the_white_man/
Khallid Muhammad, RIP --- Farewell to a hater.
Yes this guy makes Jeremiah Wright look like a choir boy.
People need to watch nation of islam's farrakhan. In his speechs to 20,000 people saying the white people need to give all of america to them? and also america must burn.
Yes obama comes from this cesspool, they give anti-American terrorists awards --- praise them, etc. --- real nice!
OBAMA DID NOT WIN --- HE WAS "SELECTED" --- NOT "ELECTED".
VOTE FOR McCAIN IN 2008.
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Lani11:21AMJul 7th 2008
What a joke! Everyone knows Republicans can handle strong military better, and Democrats handle the economy better. This year is about the economy, even if we had a terrorist attack which of course I wouldn't hope for... but if that happened it would damage Republicans because they didn't protect us... and if a terrorist attack doesn't happen it will still damage Republicans because it's about the economy stupid! Democrats are trusted with the economy! I'd rather have the Clinton years back than the McBush plan!