Opinion
McCain relies on old fiscal failures
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Also by Andy Granias:
- Which right is right on drugs? (April 24, 2008)
- McCain relies on old fiscal failures (April 17, 2008)
- High court election could be worse (April 3, 2008)
- Oh, look how they've grown! (March 27, 2008)
- Why do political wives stand by? (March 13, 2008)
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John McCain and I don’t share much in common.
For example, he’s a courageous Vietnam War veteran, and I’m gravely afraid of stray dogs. He likes the Beach Boys (one song in particular) while I prefer the Monkees. He has apparently never been to an Indiana marketplace in the summertime, and I actually have.
But we have come together on one particular point: We’re not experts on the economy. Speaking at a closed session with corporate bosses on Wednesday in Milwaukee, Mr. McCain continued to make that fact abundantly clear. (Oh yeah, and we also differ in that I’m not running for president, a job that requires superior knowledge of ours, the largest economy in the world.)
You see, with the economy, as with so many other issues, Mr. McCain’s first problem is that he has never really been sure about his ideological stance. However, since climbing into the driver’s seat of the Republican Party, the Arizona senator has realized he can’t just claim ignorance and expect to pick up votes, especially as we head into a recession. So Mr. McCain has done what all smart Republican presidential nominees should do as they secure the party’s nomination: He’s undergone an intensive training program at the Reagan School of Economics, and has emerged a completely different man.
As someone who once said the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans “offended his conscience,” Mr. McCain is now in support of them. It now appears John McCain is a born-again economist, whose laissez-faire awakening is of biblical proportions.
In light of these recent developments, I’d like to test his faith a little.
First and foremost, Mr. McCain’s policies are mathematically inadequate, and his best of both worlds proposals fall tragically short of being paid for. While Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton also suffer from the same economic affliction, it appears as if the 72-year-old McCain may have dusted off his old abacus to concoct most of the funding proposals he’s put forth.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Mr. McCain’s sudden change of heart about the Bush tax cuts would cost the country $2 trillion over the next 10 years. Likewise, his desire to repeal the alternative minimum tax — which he often refers to as the “alternate” minimum tax, something the “inexperienced” Barack Obama would never get away with saying — could cost the nation up to another $2 trillion in the next budget cycle, according to the CBPP.
Furthermore, McCain the warmonger is also fond of neglecting that the war in Iraq is costing the U.S. nearly $150 billion per year by some estimates — a war Mr. McCain has repeatedly said he could see lasting well beyond his would-be presidency and even his own lifetime. On top of that, as Mr. McCain reiterated Wednesday in Milwaukee, he wants to provide a 10 percent decrease in the corporate tax rate, while at the same time allowing corporations to immediately write off capital investments from their taxes.
Both the new McCain and the old have always liked attacking pork barrel spending as a way to solve the country’s economic woes. Mr. McCain has even said he wouldn’t sign a single bill into law if there were unnecessary earmarks attached to it. But according to CNN, most estimates put earmark spending at around only $20 billion per year, about the same amount as a couple months in Iraq cost.
Furthermore, John McCain supports privatizing social security through investment in the stock market. But the vast majority of polling data suggests most Americans don’t want to gamble with the safety net that takes care of the country’s elderly. According to his campaign’s website, Mr. McCain has also proposed a health care plan that would put an end to the employer tax exemption, with the aim of freeing up funds to purchase private health care. But such a plan would have serious consequences for the old, the poor and the sick, and would result in the need for even greater state subsidies.
To make a long story short, John McCain now cares about the economy. But his awakening has led him to a plan that calls for massive tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans, while at the same time hiking spending for health care and the war, and leaving the well being of our nation’s elderly up to a shaky stock market.
As I’ve admitted, I’m no expert on the economy. But when it comes to John McCain’s proposals, I or any other tax-paying American is qualified to pass judgment. We’ve seen how the antiquated economic solutions of the ’80s, recreated with Bushonomics, have failed our current economy — unfortunately, the senior senator from Arizona has not.
John McCain may very well have learned about the importance of the economy over the course of his campaign, but he certainly hasn’t gotten any smarter about it.
Andy Granias (agranias@badgerherald.com) is a junior majoring in political science and philosophy.
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First, it's the Monkees, not the Monkeys.
And if you believe anything that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says without doing your own research, you're doing a disservice to your readers. That think tank is a very liberal organization, so I suggest that you look at a counterpoint from one of the conservative think tanks (AEI, Heritage, etc.) and then average the two estimates. Better yet, look at the CBO to get a better idea of what McCain's plan would actually cost.
And have your ever heard of dynamic analysis? Economists recognize that a tax cut does have a positive revenue feedback, although it does not cover the full revenue loss of a tax cut. Take a few first order conditions from a Bellman equation and the result would be obvious to you.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the $0.18 savings per gallon of gasoline when McCain gives us a summer vacation from the federal gas tax. I'm going to save $2.70 per fill up, which will bring one tank of gas to ONLY $50.
Added bonus: interstate highway disrepair.
We should let the free marked fix our infrastructure, right?
P.S. Cutting the federal gas tax shows that McCain doesn't comprehend the underlying problem.
Cheer up sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean...
What you neglect to point out, andy, is that these tax cuts don't just represent s $X Trillion loss to the government, but also $X Trillion that consumers get to keep and spend as they so desire. In a time of economic downturn, it's quite the blessing. Unfortunately for America, recessions aren't the best of times to try to fix the budget deficit. McCain's tax cuts represent that reality, as, many argue, did Reagan's.
"We should let the free marked fix our infrastructure, right?"
Absolutely correct! Sell all the highways to toll road companies.
what can it mean...44th President of the United States JOHN MCCAIN