Having pummeled Obama on the issues, its now McCain's turn to be raked over the coals of reality. I have chosen to begin with the Economy from his list of issues as I feel it really is the most important vehicle for returning to fiscal responsibility.
From: www.johnmccain.com
The elections are in November, 3 months after summer ends. Grow a pair John and demand a permanent repeal of the gas tax and pay for it with earmark reform... not that it would have a huge effect on the economy but we need to cut taxes and wasteful spending anywhere we can to get the budget back to fiscal sanity.
This is totally a BS policy, let me explain why... According to the DOE:
Authorized for 1 billion barrels but its current capacity is 700 million... McCain suggests its too expensive to fill and we should stop, theres an important fact he's not telling you:
Its been full for 2 months. The current price of oil is totally irrelevant but we would actually be better off reaching our 1 million barrel capacity asap since the cost is only going to go higher for at least the next 5 years... Even more so if we DON'T drill and expand refining capacity.
Sounds good right? Lets examine exactly what this would cover. Discretionary spending covers a range of budgetary responsibiliies but only one big one - Defense Spending - which is one of McCains exemptions. Non-Discretionary spending accounts for more than 67% of the national budget and that spending is expanding without any fiscal restraint - eating into the Discretionary fund every year.
Social Security currently accounts for nearly 25% of the total budget and: "According to the Social Security Trustees, the Social Security Trust Fund has unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years of $4.3 trillion. In the nearer term, Social Security spending is projected to increase from 4.3% of GDP in 2007 to 6.1% of GDP in 2035." --RSC Policy Brief
Enough of what McCain doesn't cover, here are the programs that would be subject to a "spending pause" under his administration:
General Government ------------------- (1%) [of Nat.Budget]
Energy ---------------------------------(1%)
Science and Technology -----------------(1%)
Community and Regional Development -----(1%)
Agriculture -------------------------------(1%)
Foreign Affairs ---------------------------(1%)
Environment and Nat. Resources ----------(1%)
Administration of Justice -----------------(2%)
Transportation --------------------------(3%)
Education -------------------------------(3%)
Total % of Nat. Budget subject to pause---(15%)
Not surprisingly, McCain has promised expansion to some of these agencies in other areas of his platform... Heres one example, that of Energy:
- John McCain Will Commit $2 Billion Annually To Advancing Clean Coal Technologies.
- John McCain Will Put His Administration On Track To Construct 45 New Nuclear Power Plants By 2030 With The Ultimate Goal Of Eventually Constructing 100 New Plants.
A promise of 2 billion is nowhere near as substantial as the investment necessary for 100 nuclear plants... So, "Energy" can effectively be considered as exempt from the spending pause and once we tally up all the promised expansions to existing agencies on the Discretionary spending list; about 5% of our national budget will actually be subject to a pause in spending.
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So many issues with McCain and so little time... I hope at least some of you out there in cyberspace can appreciate the gravity of the issues facing this nation and begin to consider discussing them as mature adults. Perhaps some of the resident character assassins would like to try their hand at bashing McCain based on his policy proposals.... there is no shortage of material.
