Posted on 09/13/2008 3:05:37 PM PDT by charles m
WASHINGTON – Alan Greenspan says the country can't afford tax cuts of the magnitude proposed by Republican presidential contender John McCain — at least not without a corresponding reduction in government spending.
"Unless we cut spending, no," the former Federal Reserve chairman said Friday when asked about McCain's proposed tax cuts, pegged in some estimates at $3.3 trillion.
"I'm not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money," Greenspan said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. "I always have tied tax cuts to spending."
McCain has said that he would offset his proposed cuts — including reducing the corporate tax rate and eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax that has plagued middle-class families — by ending congressional pork-barrel spending, unnecessary government programs and overhauling entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
Democrats pounced on Greenspan's comments, in part because McCain professed last year that he was weaker on economics than foreign affairs and was reading Greenspan's memoir, "The Age of Turbulence," to educate himself.
"Obviously he needs to go back to that book and study it some more," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said during a conference call arranged by the campaign of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Sounds good to me. Cut the d@mn spending!
He’s right about this. Cut taxes AND slash spending.
I am surprised Greenspan found time to comment, I figured he’d be gettin’ busy with his insignificant other.
Help me out here...The bad part is what exactly?
Greenspan is man without either principles or credibility.
If Greenspan’s predecessor as Fed Chairman, Democrat Paul Volcker, has a financial recommendation, it is worth listening to. Volcker lost his job in 1987 because he refused to go along with deregulating the banking system. As recent history has demonstrated, Volcker was quite correct.
‘I’m not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money,’
But he can finance every other damn thing in the American economy with borrowed money.
I’m not one to advocate deficit spending. Tax cuts ought to be used to intimidate law-makers into budget-cuts. However, Greenspan hardly shares my scruples. If he really wanted to curb deficit spending, he could start by saying we should abolish the federal reserve system, or at least going back to the gold standard. Mark my words, that will NEVER happen. We’ll finance Social Security and Medicare through inflation long before the Greenspans of the world wake up and realize they’re the problem, not tax cuts.
Well, he’s right in that we need to cut spending. I bet 50% of what we spend isn’t all that necessary.
Boy, he really gives himself away here.
“We cannot pay for tax cuts with borrowed money. . .”
Excuse me.
That’s my wallet Mr Greenspan— take your liberal premises and shove them.
Help me out here...The bad part is what exactly?
The bad part is that Red States get hit hardest with reduced federal money flowing in and closed military bases.
greedspan the closet democrat.
Spending reduction it is! What does old Mr. Mitchell have to say about Obama’s tax and spend plan?
Nothing wrong with tax cuts or spending cuts. It’s the timing of his comments and the way the Democrats will twist Greenspan’s words to say that McCain will bankrupt the country. Hell, the bitch McCaskill has already done so in the article.
Greenspan’s wife is Andrea Mitchell, the Obama hack.
I wonder what Andrea has been whispering in his ear?
Shutup MUMBLES! You’ve done enough damage. Just go quietly into the night.
She's been so sour lately, he's probably just trying to throw her a bone for a little peace at home.
She’s been so sour lately...
She found the stash of old Super8 film of her husband and Ayn Rand satisfying their carnal lusts...
Eeeww.
“That’s my wallet Mr Greenspan— take your liberal premises and shove them.”
Doesn’t it make you angry that everyone, including people with as much reputed “genius” as Greenspan, see things so backwardly. We have to worry about paying for tax cuts, but apparently everything else the government decides to pay for, with or without money, is fair game.
How come he never says, “We can’t pay for Social Security with stolen money”? It’s our damn money to begin with.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.