Joe Miller at Newsweek has posted an interesting article on John McCain's balance-budget promises. On the stump, he has promised to not only balance the budget, but keep Bush's tax cuts and add a few of his own. Go here for part 1, http://www.newsweek.com/id/136779/page/1. For a condensed version:
1. McCain says he'll cut spending by cutting out $100 billion in earmarks. Since most earmarks are essentially just saying what programs will get the money already in the works, this is silly.
2. McCain says he'll cut the budget to get to $100 billion. He also says defense might increase. That means an 18.5% cut across everything else--student loans, vet benefits, highway construction, etc.
3. He overstates the size at which the government has grown. On April 20, "My friend, we have increased the size of government by some 40% just in the last few years. By some 40%, by trillions. By trillions, we have increased the size of government." It took a decade, adjusting for inflation. The last time budgets were trillions smaller was 1951.
Of course, McCain did admit he knows nothing about economics. Maybe he thinks finance is the same.
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