What is McCain's Economic Agenda

[westvirginia]

You stop hating America right now. Just stop it.

 

Don't you know you're supposed to waste it all away and beg the Gubment for help today instead of taking personal responsibility?

 

Hater.

 

And gee, the man had three kids, never made more than $40K in his life, buys a new Caddy every 10 years (for cash unless interest is 0%), has a good-sized hobby farm and still cuts his own firewood for winter heat at the age of 82.

 

My goodness, I know self reliance is no longer in vogue these days, but man, I didn't realize people were so hostile to it. I guess it boils down to this: "What gives you the right to take from those who achieve, save, and make good decisions to give to those those who don't?" I think it's long past time for "deep cuts" in entitlements.

[HowboutthemCowboys]

You're bringing a knife to a gunfight with those remarks, and I'm not really in the mood to shoot right now.

Hell will freeze over tonight!

[Duchess Jack]

And gee, the man had three kids, never made more than $40K in his life, buys a new Caddy every 10 years (for cash unless interest is 0%), has a good-sized hobby farm and still cuts his own firewood for winter heat at the age of 82.

 

My goodness, I know self reliance is no longer in vogue these days, but man, I didn't realize people were so hostile to it. I guess it boils down to this: "What gives you the right to take from those who achieve, save, and make good decisions to give to those those who don't?" I think it's long past time for "deep cuts" in entitlements.

your grandfather seems like a pretty amazing guy, but - right or wrong - not everybody has the forethought or will power or the education or guidance to do that....

 

is it best that they all die when they are no longer able to make ends meat??

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

your grandfather seems like a pretty amazing guy, but - right or wrong - not everybody has the forethought or will power or the education or guidance to do that....

 

is it best that they all die when they are no longer able to make ends meat??

 

Of course it is. Self reliance is the only way. Any other thinking is socialist and EVIL.

[Ursa Majoris]

he says that like it's a bad thing.

Slashing entitlement and discretionary spending isn't necessarily bad at all. Neither is slashing defense spending, the most bloated over-entitlement of all.

 

And gee, the man had three kids, never made more than $40K in his life, buys a new Caddy every 10 years (for cash unless interest is 0%), has a good-sized hobby farm and still cuts his own firewood for winter heat at the age of 82.

 

My goodness, I know self reliance is no longer in vogue these days, but man, I didn't realize people were so hostile to it. I guess it boils down to this: "What gives you the right to take from those who achieve, save, and make good decisions to give to those those who don't?" I think it's long past time for "deep cuts" in entitlements.

You didn't take Tim seriously did you?

[Azazello1313]

What do you think "deep cuts in entitlements" means exactly?

 

you know full well that when people talk seriously about "cutting" social security, they are talking about things like raising the retirement age, tying the rate of growth to inflation indices, capping benefits for the wealthiest retirees, etc. and every time something like that is proposed, it is something that would be phased in so that those who are currently retired or expecting to retire in the next 10-20 years will not be affected. i'm sure you know this full well, but don't let it stop you from spouting the demagogic "old people booted into the streets" bullschit. weak.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

Back to the main point of the article - - if McCain wants to advance his agenda then he needs to be open about the costs of it. He needs to clearly lay out the sacrifice to those that will be expected to sacrifice.

 

Personally, I'm not automatically against privatizing social security as long as it is does in a rational manner over a period of time and not done merely to benefit a handful of people on Wall Street.

[Pope Flick]

He'll be the third George Bush term. Just ask him.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

you know full well that when people talk seriously about "cutting" social security, they are talking about things like raising the retirement age, tying the rate of growth to inflation indices, capping benefits for the wealthiest retirees, etc. and every time something like that is proposed, it is something that would be phased in so that those who are currently retired or expecting to retire in the next 10-20 years will not be affected. i'm sure you know this full well, but don't let it stop you from spouting the demagogic "old people booted into the streets" bullschit. weak.

 

No, i have no idea of the specifics because he isn't offering any.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

http://johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/

 

I just took a quick peak at his website and social security is not even mentioned as an issue.

[westvirginia]

Slashing entitlement and discretionary spending isn't necessarily bad at all. Neither is slashing defense spending, the most bloated over-entitlement of all.

You didn't take Tim seriously did you?

 

You know me better than that... I was just looking to poke a sharp stick at the libs. But hopefully everyone here knows I'm no McCain fan either...

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

http://johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/

 

I just took a quick peak at his website and social security is not even mentioned as an issue.

 

That's really weird, because the candidate of platitudes and no substance does seem to have a plan:

 

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

 

But repeat it enough and people buy into it.

[westvirginia]

your grandfather seems like a pretty amazing guy, but - right or wrong - not everybody has the forethought or will power or the education or guidance to do that....

 

is it best that they all die when they are no longer able to make ends meat??

 

See, you're just as bad as those who assume the legalization of drugs means that all of a sudden EVERYONE will be hooked on heroine and methanfriendomine next week. Do you expect charities to just go away? I doubt it. In fact, with a reduced tax burden and a better economy I expect charities would flourish. And since they have some volunteer labor and that labor force isn't generally surly gov't-unionized, then I'd say they're much more effecient at getting the dollars to those they should help.

 

But no one has answered my question - What gives you (or any sinator, reprehensible, whatever) the right? Much like the race issue, everyone wants to respond to that question with emotion, not reason.

[Azazello1313]

No, i have no idea of the specifics because he isn't offering any.

 

so when you know no specifics you march right ahead and characterize it as tossing old people out onto the streets. ok. so, I wonder, where did the guy who wrote your little smear piece get the idea that mccain is going to slash entitlements? surely he had some specifics on which he was basing that claim.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

so when you know no specifics you march right ahead and characterize it as tossing old people out onto the streets. ok. so, I wonder, where did the guy who wrote your little smear piece get the idea that mccain is going to slash entitlements? surely he had some specifics on which he was basing that claim.

 

John McCain, along with his top economic adviser, economist Doug Holtz-Eakin, talk a lot about "entitlement reform." What does this mean?

 

First, let me say that I am a huge admirer of Holtz-Eakin, an economist and former CBO director who is congenitally incapable of cooking books or spinning numbers. I suspect that's one reason why he and McCain appeal to each other (yes, the "straight-talk express" has been off track lately, but I think McCain actually has a pretty low tolerance for economic spin). And both of them must know that they can't implement their agenda without deep cuts, both on non-defense, domestic spending, and on entitlements, especially Medicare.

 

As Holtz-Eakin put it a few years ago in an opinion piece for The Washington Post, a serious fiscal approach "should rethink the package of support for old-age medical care, long-term care services and retirement income."

 

Much like the material on McCain's Web site, that sounds innocuous enough. It also has the benefit of being true. Absent a "rethink," Medicare will swamp the federal budget. This increase in health spending as a share of government spending is itself a symptom of the unsustainable rise in economy-wide health-care costs, i.e., this is not exclusively a "Medicare" or public-sector problem. (Social Security poses less of a fiscal challenge; it can be put on a sound funding basis with a few reasonable changes.)

 

But here's the rub: words like "reform," "rethink," and "making tough choices" sound a lot different than words like "cut, and cut deeply." Holtz-Eakin has integrity, and he likes his numbers to add up. He knows that they can't do what they say they're planning to do without going after entitlements big time. As he put it the other day in The Wall Street Journal, "You can't keep promises made to retirees" (to be fair, he also noted that "you can pay future retirees more than current retirees").

[H8tank]

That's really weird, because the candidate of platitudes and no substance does seem to have a plan:

 

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

 

But repeat it enough and people buy into it.

 

 

Yeah, obama wants to raise taxes on EVERYONE, 12%+ for married couples with moderate income.

 

What makes the race baiting arab qualified to be POTUS?

[Coffeeman]

Here's one of the few things everyone needs to know about the economy and the candidates:

 

The $34 Trillion Problem Nobody is Talking About...

 

If that doesn't scare the bejeezus out of you, nothing will....

[TimC]

He's a racist Muslim...not a racist Arab.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

Yeah, obama wants to raise taxes on EVERYONE, 12%+ for married couples with moderate income.

 

What makes the race baiting arab qualified to be POTUS?

 

Well, there's that little thing called the US Constitution which contrary to some beliefs on the right is more than a "lovely piece of paper".

 

Clause 5: Qualifications for office

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

By the time of their inauguration, the President and Vice President must be:

 

natural born citizens (or citizens at the time of the Constitution's adoption)

at least thirty-five years old

inhabitants for at least fourteen years of the United States.

The Twenty-second Amendment also prevents a President from being elected more than twice.

 

The natural born citizen clause is a subject of debate. No law or court ruling has ever established the precise definition of a natural born citizen. It is generally agreed that a natural born citizen of the United States is any person born in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. But it is not firmly agreed[citation needed] if this definition should also include persons born in United States overseas territories or persons born to United States citizens living abroad. To date, no such person has been nominated for President or Vice President by a major political party, although some serious candidates for nomination (most recently George W. Romney, who was born in Mexico, and John McCain, who was born in the Panama Canal Zone) have fallen into the area of uncertainty. There is currently a movement to abolish the natural born citizen clause and allow immigrants to be President, thereby also eliminating the controversies regarding the definition of natural born. It has received exceptional support from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who was born in Austria.

 

and

 

Care to elaborate on the math where you came up with your across the board 12.5% tax increase number?

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

Here's one of the few things everyone needs to know about the economy and the candidates:

 

The $34 Trillion Problem Nobody is Talking About...

 

If that doesn't scare the bejeezus out of you, nothing will....

 

Good point.

[westvirginia]

Good point.

 

Which is why cuts (or outright dismantlements) are needed.

[Ursa Majoris]

Which is why cuts (or outright dismantlements) are needed.

To be replaced with what? If everyone is to save enough to cover their own medical costs from retirement to grave, how will that be enabled?

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

To be replaced with what? If everyone is to save enough to cover their own medical costs from retirement to grave, how will that be enabled?

 

Herbal therapy.

[cre8tiff]

Which is why cuts (or outright dismantlements) are needed.

 

As well as more money going into it, not less.

 

Same issue we had to deal with last time, with the deficit (after 12 years of Republican control).

[H8tank]

While Obama has suggested imposing the 12.4 percent tax on all income above $97,000 per year, Edwards would only impose it on those making more than $200,000 per year.