Obama answers McCain on deficit with a shrug

Hot Air ^ | July 8, 2008 | Ed Morrissey

[keepitreal]

John McCain pledged yesterday to balance the budget by 2013. Barack Obama responded by claiming that it can’t be balanced, and he can’t be bothered to try: Not only does Obama say he won’t eliminate the deficit in his first term, as McCain aims to do, he frankly says he’s not sure he’d bring it down at all in four years, considering his own spending plans.

“I do not make a promise that we can reduce it by 2013 because I think it is important for us to make some critical investments right now in America’s families,” Obama told reporters this week when asked if he’d match McCain’s pledge.

[keepitreal]

“The cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and states of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on. . . . If Washington were serious about honest tax relief in this country, we'd see an effort to reduce our national debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies.”

— Barack Obama, Speech in the U.S. Senate, March 13, 2006

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/fiscal/

"I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message...until I don't."

[arderkrag]

Well, election years are always fun, and this one’s no exception. Watching this moron implode has been wonderful.

[GOPyouth]

Those weren’t the deficits that Obama knew.

[Republican Wildcat]

“Investments” in America’s families? This man is dangerous - has no concept of what America is and the role of government, or the consequences of not getting this fiscal house in order.

[Norman Bates]

POUNCE!

[isthisnickcool]

He does not care where the money comes from as long as he can take it from the people that make it and give it to those that do not.

Dumbass..

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“No We Can’t”

Now that’s real hope and change we can believe in.

[roses of sharon]

I think when you’re this dumb, you can be declared legally dead.

I’m gonna have to look into this. With the right paperwork, we might be able to bury him.

[doc1019]

Ain’t gonna happen … McCain is trying to “nice” his self right out of the presidency.

[RockinRight]

Yup.

I’m still convinced that McCain has a shot to beat Obama like a red-headed stepchild.

[kellynla]

Obama is acquiring quite a few...

[Secret Agent Man]

No offense, I don’t believe McCain can balance the budget. I just don’t believe it. All candidates that have won say they will balance the budget by a certain date. They never do. It’s a futile promise to make. It’s pandering.

[willgolfforfood]

I would love to see McCain veto ANY spending bill that contains earmarks. Over and over and over, as he’s said he would do. Washington would have a meltdown of such magnitude that it might actually START global warming.

[keepitreal]

I guess I would like pandering in the form of at least a promise of fiscal restraint as opposed to an outright promise that there will be no fiscal restraint whatsoever a la Obama.

[Norman Bates]

Remarks by John McCain
July 7, 2008
Denver, CO

"Small businesses are the job engine of America, and I will make it easier for them to grow and create more jobs. My opponent wants to make it harder by imposing a "pay or play" health mandate on small business. This adds $12,000 to the cost of employing anyone with a family. That means new jobs will not be created. It means existing employees will have their wages cut to pay for this mandate. My plan attacks the real problems of healthcare -- cost, availability and portability."

"We need to keep the IRS from taking more of your income and making life harder for small business. If you believe you should pay more taxes, I am the wrong candidate for you. Senator Obama is your man. The choice in this election is stark and simple. Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won't. I will cut them where I can. Jobs are the most important thing our economy creates. When you raise taxes in a bad economy you eliminate jobs. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Senator Obama's tax increases will hurt the economy even more, and destroy jobs across this country. If you are one of the 23 million small business owners in America who files as an individual rate payer, Senator Obama is going to raise your tax rates. If you have an investment for your child's education or own a mutual fund or a stock in a retirement plan, he is going to raise your taxes. He will raise estate taxes to 45 percent. I propose to cut them to 15 percent. His plan will hurt the American worker and family. It will hurt the economy and cost us jobs. For those of you with children, I will double the child deduction from $3,500 to $7,000 for every dependent, in every family in America. At a time of increasing gas and food prices, American families need tax relief and I, not my opponent, will deliver it."

"My opponent believes America would be better off by refusing opportunities to sell in growing foreign markets. But protectionism not only puts a hidden tax on almost everything you buy, but it undermines American competitiveness and costs jobs."

"When I'm president, I will order a stem to stern review of government, modernize how it does business and save billions of dollars. I will veto every single bill with wasteful spending. We aren't going to continue mortgaging this country's future for things Americans don't want or need. My opponent has a very different record on this issue. He has sought millions upon millions of dollars in earmarks since his election to the Senate. In 2007 alone, Senator Obama requested nearly $100 million for earmark projects. I have never asked for a single earmark in my entire career. He supported the $300 billion pork laden agricultural subsidy bill. I opposed it. He voted for an energy bill stuffed with give-aways to oil compan ies at a time of record profits. I voted against it."

Yep. He's really kissing up here. /sarc

[Secret Agent Man]

Empty gesture vs no gesture. Outcome same. Except empty gesture lies to your face to make you feel better. If I believed the guy actually would do this, that’d be one thing. I don’t believe he is sincere about it.

[CGTRWK]

The Dems will own both houses of Congress, perhaps even a filibuster-proof Senate. The Bush tax cuts are gone whether McCain wins or not.

A massive tax increase plus no significant new spending beyond the usual entitlement growth - divided government blocks each other’s handouts, and McCain has been fairly consistently against pork for his career - will do a number on the deficit. Balanced budget in 4 years, probably not. But a manageable deficit, like 100 billion and not 450 billion doesn’t seem like much of a stretch at all.

If Obama wins, it’s game over. There won’t be a congressional check on his Marxist handouts - if anything they’ll encourage him - and we’ll have a 4.5 trillion dollar fed budget by the end of his first term. Count on it.

[doc1019]

When McCain actually beats Obama in the head with something, I will believe his earnestness in pursuit of the presidency. If he doesn’t, he will loose. IMHO

[FFranco]

I don’t have faith in any politician’s promise to balance the budget, whether Republican or Democrat. Don’t promise, just do it, and then lower the national debt so we won’t owe our children’s souls to the Chinese and Japanese.

[Norman Bates]

More?

My opponent's answer to the Lexington Project is no; no to more drilling; no to more nuclear power; no to research prizes that help solve the problem of affordable electric cars. For a guy whose "official seal" carried the motto, "Yes, we can," Senator Obama's agenda sure has a whole lot of "No, we can't." The Lexington Project will create millions of jobs, help protect our environment, improve our security, and solve the nation's energy problems.

(Remarks by John McCain, Denver, 7/7/08)