The Case Against John McCain

John McCain claims he can balance the federal budget in one year in office.
How does he do that from the current budget?

Bob Edwards Radio.com explores Rick Shenkman's new book, "Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter":

-Only 2 in 5 voters can name the three branches of the federal government.

-Only 1 in 7 can find Iraq on a map.

-Only 1 in 5 know that there are 100 federal senators.

And the most chilling…

-Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/

John McCain claims he can balance the federal budget in one year in office.
How does he do that from the current budget?


MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion

HOW THESE FIGURES WERE DETERMINED


Current military" includes Dept. of Defense ($653 billion), the military portion from other departments ($150 billion), and an additional $162 billion to supplement the Budget's misleading and vast underestimate of only $38 billion for the "war on terror." "Past military" represents veterans' benefits plus 80% of the interest on the debt.*

The Government Deception
The pie chart below is the government view of the budget. This is a distortion of how our income tax dollars are spent because it includes Trust Funds (e.g., Social Security), and the expenses of past military spending are not distinguished from nonmilitary spending.



These figures are from an analysis of detailed tables in the "Analytical Perspectives" book of the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009.

McCain's Latest Iran Joke
By Michael D. Shear
Sen. John McCain hasn't had good luck joking about Iran. But he tried it again Tuesday.

Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to
Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, "Maybe thats a way of killing them."

He quickly caught himself, saying "I meant that as a joke" as his wife, Cindy, poked him in the back.

Last time, it was also Iran. His singing about bombing Iran to the theme of the Beach Boy' "Barbara Ann" drew derision from many quarters but a "lighten up" response from McCain.

Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed.

[McCain] has a few ideas lodged in his head, without anything like the background he'd need in order to question or assess them, and without any discernible interest in learning more. He doesn't keep basic, basic facts straight, or know really elementary aspects of his own policies.

I never thought I'd end up covering John McCain like this. I expected, after eight years of Bush, to be able to argue about genuine philosophical and policy differences, rather than going on about the most basic matters of competence. But McCain's performance so far is just frightening. We've had eight years of a clueless President who governs on the basis of his gut plus a few stray ideas that wafted in on the breeze and somehow stuck. We do not need four more.

McCain on Monday:

Quote:

Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed.

Yeah, that's Social Security. That's how it works. Is he calling SS a disgrace?

Third rail time, man

Cycloptichorn

McCain, or at the very least the person running his campaign, is a liar and a fraud.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11618.html

He passed around a short statement of support, got economists to sign it, and then tacked it to the back of a 15-page plan which they didn't read, to make it seem as if they approved of his idiotic economic ideas.

Absolute lies and fraud! Shameless and his supporters should be embarrassed of his incompetence, if nothing else.

Cycloptichorn

Cycloptichorn wrote:

McCain, or at the very least the person running his campaign, is a liar and a fraud.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11618.html

He passed around a short statement of support, got economists to sign it, and then tacked it to the back of a 15-page plan which they didn't read, to make it seem as if they approved of his idiotic economic ideas.

Absolute lies and fraud! Shameless and his supporters should be embarrassed of his incompetence, if nothing else.

Cycloptichorn

I know most candidates are shameless when it comes to winning, but "lies and fraud" should not be tolerated by either side; democrats or republicans. We've had enough lies and fraud from the current occupant of the white house. Bush has said repeatedly, we'll leave when the Iraqis ask us to leave. He's reneging on that promise, because the Iraqis are now demanding a timeline for the departure of our troops, and Bush isn't complying with their demands.

For that reason, Gary Becker, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago, said he definitely supports the plan, even if he is not completely familiar with its specifics.

"I like the main thrust of the plan," he said. "I felt that I could support it without knowing every detail."

Likewise, William Albrecht, professor emeritus at the University of Iowa, viewed the plan in general terms. "Overall, I thought [McCain's] economics was better than Obama's," he said.

John Bethune, dean of the business school at Barton College, called his own decision to sign the letter "a comparative endorsement."

"When I look at both the candidates, McCain's the one I agree with more," Bethune said, citing McCain's stances on taxation and government spending as reasons for his support.