McC promises to balance the budget

[Jim]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11553.html


Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to promise on Monday that he will balance the federal budget by the end of his first term by curbing wasteful spending and overhauling entitlement programs, including Social Security, his advisers told Politico.

The vow to take on Social Security puts McCain in a political danger zone that thwarted President Bush after he named it the top domestic priority of his second term.

McCain is making the pledge at the beginning of a week when both presidential candidates plan to devote their events to the economy, the top issue in poll after poll as voters struggle to keep their jobs and fill their gas tanks.

“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,” the McCain campaign says in a policy paper to be released Monday.

“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.”

McCain advisers admit that the document is a repackaging of previous policies, without dramatic new initiatives. Some Democratic officials had thought McCain might try to make a splash by proposing a bold middle-class tax cut.

Now I actually love the fact that he'll admit that the entitlements have problems that MUST START GETTING FIXED.  Ain't gonna be popular but we're hurtling 150mph at this wall and its not that far away.

However, there are no savings to be had from the impending success on GWoT as thats borrowed money, but that will help a great deal to balance the budget.

It will take more than killing earmarks though and even helping fix the entitlements won't help the budget as they're off those books.  But God bless him for talking about eliminating waste.

Eliminating these would be a good start: Depts of Ag, Ed, Energy, HHS, HUD, Labor and Transportation.

[rich_t]

How in the hell does he plan to get a DEM controlled congress to do all that?

[Jim]

How in the hell does he plan to get a DEM controlled congress to do all that?

This is the one thing that 70-80% of American taxpayers will agree on.  Spending is out of control in nearly everyone's minds.  If he can get the people to ping their congress critters, they'll have no more choice than Big Nancy and Dingy Harry had on impacting WoT spending.  Remember, a LOT of those dems that got elected in 2006 were all over the spending thing.

Seems impossible but I think its just possible.  And even if he only gets the budget to get smaller instead of calling a smaller increase a decrease, that will be major.

[Rebel]

Wanna get rid of our indebtedness? Repeal the 16th, get rid of the IRS, and enact the Fairtax. He's not a supporter of H.R. 25, so he's blowing smoke up everyone's asses.

[rich_t]

How in the hell does he plan to get a DEM controlled congress to do all that?

This is the one thing that 70-80% of American taxpayers will agree on.  Spending is out of control in nearly everyone's minds.  If he can get the people to ping their congress critters, they'll have no more choice than Big Nancy and Dingy Harry had on impacting WoT spending.  Remember, a LOT of those dems that got elected in 2006 were all over the spending thing.

Seems impossible but I think its just possible.  And even if he only gets the budget to get smaller instead of calling a smaller increase a decrease, that will be major.

I hope you are correct.  But I remain pessimistic about getting Congress to actual curb it's outrageous spending in any meaningful fashion.

There are too many years of history that prove to me that Congress (regardless of which party is in control) simply can NOT be trusted with the National checkbook under the current set up.

[rich_t]

Wanna get rid of our indebtedness? Repeal the 16th, get rid of the IRS, and enact the Fairtax. He's not a supporter of H.R. 25, so he's blowing smoke up everyone's asses.

There is some evidence that the 16th Amendment was never properly ratified in the 1st place.  Or so I have read about.  I used to have a ton of links about it, but I lost them all when my HD crashed.  I never bothered to go back out and dig them up again.

[Rebel]

Wanna get rid of our indebtedness? Repeal the 16th, get rid of the IRS, and enact the Fairtax. He's not a supporter of H.R. 25, so he's blowing smoke up everyone's asses.

There is some evidence that the 16th Amendment was never properly ratified in the 1st place.  Or so I have read about.  I used to have a ton of links about it, but I lost them all when my HD crashed.  I never bothered to go back out and dig them up again.

By who? Irwin Schiff?

[rich_t]

I honestly don't recall Rebel.  They were links that I had read and bookmarked a few years ago out of curiousity

[djones520]

Wanna get rid of our indebtedness? Repeal the 16th, get rid of the IRS, and enact the Fairtax. He's not a supporter of H.R. 25, so he's blowing smoke up everyone's asses.

Given his record on pork spending, you'll have to excuse me for disagreeing.

The man is 100% against wasteful spending, and I believe his vow to veto bills that are loaded with pork.  We know the man is honorable.  We know he's never introduced pork into anything before.  He's not just gonna wake up one day and start loading up on the bacon grease.

We cut out the wasteful spending like he promises to do, and how many billions, if not trillions of dollars will that save us?

[DixieBelle]

This is why reminding the American public what an utter failure Pelosi and co. have been is so important. That "swamp draining" is going so well! Let's hope the McCain campaign pushes this hard.

[Lord Undies]

Our government no more runs on a budget than the sun runs on soap bubbles.  Our government operates on bastardized LIFO account principles with meaningless dates assigned to some idea of a fiscal year.

The reality is the only way to give some illusion of a "balanced budget" is to reduce spending in the one area which will not cause immediate emotional upheaval among the clueless, and that's the area of the military.  

Check history if you doubt me on this.

McCain is just talking rose gardens in a swamp.  It sounds pretty, but it ain't gonna happen.  

[Rebel]

Given his record on pork spending, you'll have to excuse me for disagreeing.

The man is 100% against wasteful spending, and I believe his vow to veto bills that are loaded with pork.  We know the man is honorable.  We know he's never introduced pork into anything before.  He's not just gonna wake up one day and start loading up on the bacon grease.

We cut out the wasteful spending like he promises to do, and how many billions, if not trillions of dollars will that save us?

Easier to talk when you have 1/100th of the vote. Harder when you're the sole person with the Veto pen. Wait until he has to fund the military, but doesn't have line-item veto. If he doesn't sign it, the troops don't get paid. If he does, they do and little f'ed up pet projects are funded as well.

[Peter3_1]

The President has THREE choices , not two!


He may sign a bill , making it law.

He may VETO, sending it back for a over ride vote, which requires 2/3 positive each house to become law. Otherwise, the bill dies and needs to be re-introduced.

THIRD, he may alow a bill to sit on his desk unsigned.
 then,

(a) it becomes law after 10 days without the President's signture.
(b) The Congress goes into recess within those 10 days and the bill dies as if it never existed.

3 (a) has not been used enough.