McCain Talks Economy On CNN

John McCain appeared on today's CNN American Morning, ostensibly to talk economic policy with John Roberts. Over the course of the discussion, however, it was clear that McCain possessed more disputes than he did answers, continually dodging questions with either well-worn canards or topic-changes.

The central issue was how McCain could possibly keep the country's economic house in order with policies that would lead to escalating budget deficits. McCain's first response was to pooh-pooh the projections of the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which was too bad, considering their numbers -- deficits in the $439-445 billion range -- ended up being rosier than those of the more conservative Congressional Budget Office. That didn't deter McCain from repeating his famous diagnosis of economic woe: Congress has not restrained spending, and he would curb the profligacy. The only problem being that George W. Bush's White House took wasteful spending to unprecedented new heights, and, seeing how McCain would keep the country tied to Bush's policy priorities, it's hard to see how money would be saved. Maybe McCain's clipped some coupons or something!

Anyway, Roberts wasn't having it, telling McCain, "Senator, you can't get over the fact, though, that extending the Bush tax cuts, as you want to do, and adding in your tax cuts do take the deficit number -- we actually go from a $70 billion surplus to a $445 billion deficit." McCain responded that everything would be fine, because lowering taxes will increase revenue. Uhm...actually?. It will do no such thing.

Roberts came back with more mathematics: "It's just that I think some voters are legitimately asking the question that the amount of money that you need to save to get down to zero is the total amount of the nonsecurity discretionary budget now -- that the federal government operates on." McCain had no answer for this, except to mention that he goes to a lot of town hall meetings.

Of course, McCain's bete noire where government spending is concerned has been "earmarks" - a practice that McCain has vowed to end. But Roberts jumped him with an earmark of his own:

ROBERTS: Senator, on this issue of earmarks that you talk about frequently, you reiterated that you've never take an earmark. Can you clarify something? Back in 1992, you were trying to get $5 million for a wastewater treatment plans in Nogales. You tried to get it through Congress, they wouldn't put it through Congress, so you sent a letter to then-president George H.W. Bush, where you quote, "I would like to request that EPA either reprogram $5 million out of existing funds, or earmark the amount from an appropriate account, to meet the wastewater treatment needs at the Nogales plant." Was that an earmark?

MCCAIN: Of course, not. It was a request to have it put in the President's budget. And that's a very legitimate request that the administration will ask for. The definition of an earmark is a program that is put in, and money that is put in an unauthorized fashion in the middle of the night. So no, it's not that, and it's not the same.

Middle of the night, eh? Maybe that's why whenever McCain is pressed to name an earmark he might cut, he can never come up with an answer - it's too dark for McCain to find any! Hopefully, he'll leave enough money in the budget for a flashlight.

[WATCH.]

ROBERTS: I checked the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-partisan organization. They project that by extending the president's tax cuts, which you want to do, and adding in the tax cuts that you're proposing, the deficit for the year 2013 would be somewhere around $439 to $445 billion. So I think it is a fair question to ask, how would you get that number down to zero?

MCCAIN: First, I suggest you check in with other organizations. But the fact is there's a whole lot of economists, including Nobel laureates that agree with my plan. We're going to reach restrained spending, we're going to have the economy grow again and increase revenues. The problem is that spending got completely out of control. We grew government by some 40% since the Great Society. The spending got out of control, we restrained spending, we keep people's taxes low. We create jobs, 700,000 jobs by building new nuclear power plants, 20,000 new jobs by coal gasification, so that we have clean coal technologies, new automotive technologies, and we'll balance the budget. The same outfit said that we could never balance the budget in the past. We certainly have. It's spending that's out of control, my friend.

ROBERTS: I also checked with the Congressional Budget Office and the Center for Budget and Policy Priority's numbers were more conservative, they were lower than the CBO's numbers. The CBO's numbers are higher.

MCCAIN: Again, they're static numbers. Not saying that revenues will increase with a strong economy and with low taxes. That's the difference. and I respectfully disagree.

ROBERTS: Senator, you can't get over the fact, though, that extending the Bush tax cuts, as you want to do, and adding in your tax cuts do take the deficit number -- we actually go from a $70 billion surplus to a $445 billion deficit.

MCCAIN: You can't seem to get over the fact that it's spending that's out of control. And you restrain spending and also you can't get over the fact that historically when you raise people's taxes, guess what, revenue goes down. Every time we cut capital gains taxes, there has been an increase in revenue. I'm glad to have this discussion with you, and obviously you disagree, but the facts are that when you keep taxes low, when you restrain spending, as we did in 1982 when Ronald Reagan came to office, then the economy grows. We've created 46 million new jobs since 1982, because of lower taxes, but the spending got out of control, and that obviously caused the deficit, which then caused us to have to borrow money from China, et cetera, et cetera. And that's our problem that we have today, is spending and not keeping taxes low and stimulating the economy.

ROBERTS: Senator, with respect, I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just laying out some facts that some analytical organizations have put out there. The amount of money that you need to save--

MCCAIN: Actually, what you're laying out is a very different opinion. I have a large number of economists who agree with my point of view and I hope you'll consult with them as well. I'm sure you will, John.

ROBERTS: It's just that I think some voters are legitimately asking the question that the amount of money that you need to save to get down to zero is the total amount of the nonsecurity discretionary budget now -- that the federal government operates on.

MCCAIN: Actually, what I'm hearing from voters right now is that they're worried about keeping their job, they want to keep their taxes low, they're worried about health care, they're worried about staying in their home, and they want to us figure out -- that's what I'm hearing from voters all over America as I do town hall meetings everywhere. That's what I'm hearing from them, that's what I'm going to address. We can do it through growing our economy and creating new jobs.

ROBERTS: Senator, I'm sure you're also hearing from them about social security. Because part of this plan, if you're going to balance the budget, is to reform social security. You've talked about the idea of private accounts, as President Bush tried to get through and couldn't. What else would you do to reform social security?

MCCAIN: I would sit down with Democrats and Republicans the way Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill did in 1983. And they said, okay, we've got everything on the table here, let's come to an agreement. The approval rating of congress right now is 12% last time I saw. I know how to work across the aisle, I've done it with Democrats and I've done it for many, many years. We'll sit down across the table with the backing of the American people.

ROBERTS: Do you have any idea --

MCCAIN: On the privatization of accounts, which you just mentioned, I would like to respond to that. I want young workers to be able to, if they choose, to take part of their own money, which is their taxes, and put it in an account which has their name on it. Now, that's a voluntary thing, it's for younger people, it would not affect any present-day retiree or the system as necessary. So let's describe it for what it is. They pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of president-day retirees. That's why it's broken, that's why we can fix it. We can do it together, Republicans and Democrats alike.

ROBERTS: Senator, on this issue of earmarks that you talk about frequently, you reiterated that you've never take an earmark. Can you clarify something? Back in 1992, you were trying to get $5 million for a wastewater treatment plans in Nogales. You tried to get it through Congress, they wouldn't put it through Congress, so you sent a letter to then-president George H.W. Bush, where you quote, "I would like to request that EPA either reprogram $5 million out of existing funds, or earmark the amount from an appropriate account, to meet the wastewater treatment needs at the Nogales plant." Was that an earmark?

MCCAIN: Of course, not. It was a request to have it put in the President's budget. And that's a very legitimate request that the administration will ask for. The definition of an earmark is a program that is put in, and money that is put in an unauthorized fashion in the middle of the night. So no, it's not that, and it's not the same.

Comments

[Bluesue]

One more thing -

This was a decent interview until the end when Roberts thanked McCain - "thanks for clearing that up."

[Bluesue]

What have the American people done to deserve this man as a potential President? He would be a 3rd Bush term in more ways that policy. He is condescending and sarcastic, especially when someone questions the great Saint McCain.

4 years of listening to him be condescending and sarcastic and dodge and weave not to mention that blinking and rictus smile. He has another trait similar to Bush - Bush has the smirk and Saint McCain has the derisive chuckle.

[watchingthings]

Why do people even ask him about economics.........he said, long ago, that he knows nothing in economics........now ask him about war......watch his face light up and he'll gush answers for you. He'll tell you all about the future and never ending war....etc.

[woodguru]

Hectar

Did you even read what I wrote, it's logic you could think through if you actually tried.

There is no shortage, and all the drilling and exploration is being done that can be, opening protected areas will not make a difference.

The price increases have no demonstrable reason such as the most reasonable which would be in response to decreased profits. Let's see, record profits so we'll raise prices even more and make even more money while the economy is going down the drain along with fuel dependent businesses such as airlines.

You need to look at the realities and understand that "drilling for more oil" is an empty suckers ploy that you are buying into without reservation.

[madkey]

Either John Mccain wanted to say the lines that were rehearsed or he wanted to talk long enough to run out the time. He knows that these interviews are only 3-5 minutes and it seems as Mccain didn't want to anwer any of the question realistically but say what he prepared to say regardless what the question was?

[madkey]

Mccain doesn't have a anwer on how his taxes will create jobs or what spending will he stop. Mccain doesn't have any answers. just prepared answers regardless what the question is.

[madkey]

He couldn't answer the question because he can't balance the budget without taking care of the deficit that we have now especially with his iraq war for 100 years. The big question is WHERE IS HE GOING TO GET THE MONEY?

[Zhonni]

I think Sen. McCain must be good at playing Dodgeball.

ANSWER THE QUESTION PLEASE!!!!

[levibatgirl]

Why does mcsame blink so much when he talks?

Ugh!

[GiveUsFree]

My wife says he blinks so much, because he's accessing his creative side of the brain. In other words, he's lying his ass off.

[egal]

All the human behavioral and gesture-reading experts say the same thing, and you wouldn't want to listen to experts, would you?

Of course, that's not getting into the admitted iffiness of such readings (not done in person) and how those studies veer off when dealing with unaccustomed cultures--like MaCain's culture of Economic Disaster.

[serena1313]

This man is not qualified to be president. Look at the way McCain runs his campaign. McCain does not give me confidence he can be an effective leader. If voters, god forbid, decide to go with McCain after 8 years of Bush, then something is terribly wrong with Americans. I think our economy would be completely in the tank and our country in total shambles and our civil rights a thing of the past.

Apparently McCain does not even have a basic knowledge of economics muchless how Social Security works. He argues that younger workers ought to voluntarily put their money into a separate account because "They pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees. That's why it's broken, that's why we can fix it." That is not why it is broken; That is how it was set-up from day one.

At this point, after 8 years of the worst presidency in history, what little will be left in Bush's wake is still salvageable, but if McCain gets in office nothing will be by the time he leaves. And America will be forever lost.

Anyone who lacks a basic understanding of economics should not be running for president especially now with our economy on a downward trajectory.

Furthermore how can we trust McCain to run the country when he cannot even run his own campaign?

[QueenofSheba]

Is McCain supposed to making sense in this interview? You quote him as saying "younger workers ought to voluntarily put their money into a separate account because..." - his following words make no sense whatsoever. Just the idea of listening to this double-drivel for four years gives me a splitting headache.

[chitown8]

Who is considered young everyone under retirement age. I am 28 do I qualify? Geesh keep him away from America Money.

[edwarvir]

johnny war note please stop embrassing America. You don't believe this dribble
that you are spewing yourself.

[Speakchic]

I saw that interview this morning and McCain was defensive and stumbled and bumbled his way through every substantive question.

JM is a JOKE and I am sick of hearing people try and make sense of the nonsense that is his presidential campaign.

Him and his ridiculous spin cycle convinced the entire media circuit that Obama flip-flopped on Iraq over the weekend, which was completely NOT TRUE. And NOW we hear that the Iraqi government and the 2004 version of McCain who said that IF the Government of Iraq wants us out then we should get out. BUT according to the 2008 John McCain he doesn't seem to feel that way anymore which is a DIRECT quote. How ever will he spin this one?

This country and the media INCLUDING the HuffPo is chosing to give life to nonsense instead of riding the wave of Obama and his FLAWLESS campaign. I guess it's like keeping the most loud and ignorant person on reality tv shows, just for ratings.

[DLeeA]

If McCain is elected in November I will have lost all faith in this country. There are two predominant issues in this election, and he has shown himself to be totally incompetent when it comes to both of them.

The War? McCain obviously wants his campaign to be about national security and his ability to keep the country safe. Yet he continually demonstrates a lack of basic knowledge about the conflict in Iraq, whether it's his lack of familiarity with the ethnic groups fighting each other there, or his not knowing how many troops were actually on the ground relative to when the surge began.

The Economy? This video shows his "plan" to be nothing but empty promises. He says he'll eliminate the deficit by "reigning in spending" but it's just not possible. Hopefully more journalists will press him on this issue as was done in this interview.

Of course, the fact that Bush could be re-elected in 2004 leaves me cynical when it comes to the voting public. Still, with the country in the shape it's in after two Bush terms, and McCain's obvious naivety when it comes to the big issues, I have to hold out hope that this man won't be at the helm in 2009.

[GHENT007]

Mccain's bizzare economics is just more bad news for america's middle-class, this just means that were gonna trust those who got a "TAX CUT" during war time,they are gonna come to the rescue of the american middle-class, yeah right, they have all that excess cash safely stashed away in swiss or off- shore bank accounts, meanwhile, the american middle-class is stuck on unemployment, losing their homes and due to this situation, it may take us 20 years to recover from BUSH/MCCAIN ECONONIC POLICES!!!!

[bayside]

Just what we want in a president. a guy that graduated 895out of 899 . I dont even want him in my govt. if he has no common sense..Could we pass a law that makes them take some kind of test before, they get the job that shows that are capable of running a govt. We have to take tests for a job. They should too. Bet John wouldnt make it unless he cheated..Shoot, 3/4 of congress would not make it..Love the idea..

[woodguru]

I think perhaps once one network starts beating up on McCain for answers the rest will follow rather than sound like mindless morons by not recognizing and acknowledging that Mccain is running the no answers strategy that works with mindless religious believers. That type of faith voter does not have the ability to process the most basic of obvious facts and think them through for themselves.

I asked a guy I fished with if he understood what was up with Enron and the runaway energy contracts prices in southern California. He said no but he thought it was lies to make Bush look bad. I asked him what he thought the job description of the federal regulatory commission was in terms of regulating energy costs to protect our people from gouging. he acknowledged that the name seemed to be self explanatory. So then I asked him what it sounds like to him if Bush sends a clear message that it wasn't the governments job to tell corporations what they could or couldn't charge and prices immediately start running out of control in as much as 1000% and more escalations in price. he got pissed off and almost attacked me because I was dissing his president.

This is a scary mindset that doesn't question and it proves the need for a separation of church and state, republicans have pulled that group to themselves because there was enough, hopefully we are wising up and more politically aware people are becoming active.

[woodguru]

Even if we get a democrat in office there will be a battle of the existing big business machine that is calling the shots right now, what they won't have is a president that will use the veto power frivolously.

It is going to take the biggest participation of voters who get involved enough to learn what's going on behind simplistic rhetoric. There is a huge contingency of those who feel that the drill for more oil is of paramount importance. Those who understand some of the realities know why good politicians on both sides of the fence oppose it and that it isn't just tree hugging liberals out to "ruin" our country.

it's going to be fun to see publicly revealed spending and budget initiatives so we can voice our opposition to the pork and huge big business giveaways that can't be intelligently explained. Republicans have never had to give reasons for huge subsidies and grants, they just blow some smoke and their sheep go into a supportive tizzy.

[Hector]

Politicians who impede the increased production of pretroleum from our own resources are not "good politicians." They are inimical to personal liberty and any resource that can enable personal liberty.

[woodguru]

hector, you serve as the example of not having looked at the situation in more depth.

Exploration and development is at a high point, offshore drilling rigs, all of them, are leased at least five years in advance. There are plenty of available leases that are already approved for development.

Here's the really simple math that is what it is. The only reason oil companies should be able to justify putting the hurt on this country that they have with increasing gas prices is if they are hurting and in danger of posting losses. In the face of a record profits quarter they raise prices further and go on to beat that quarter's profits. If they are raising prices in the face of growing profits and it's threatening industries and overall economy to a scary degree there is no excuse for the runaway prices.

You want for sure immediate gas price relief, support mandated prices like $2.50 until they can prove they are in trouble like they have done to airlines and auto makers.

[luckyt]

The world has produced many a great mind, and those that have produced or caused the advancement of humanity are few. Among them I know of just one Republican, and even with him I have some doubts, that man was Abraham Lincoln. Yet one of the Republicans favorite sons is Ronald W. Reagan one of our most despicable Presidents. In 1981 as now and as is with John McCain, Reagan enacted his infamous tax cuts for the rich. Shortly the deficit began to soar so with the help of Allen Greenspan and that Democratic worm Tip O'Neill they pulled the social security Fraud of 1983 when they raised the withholding taxes to pay for the tax cuts.

[Hector]

Regean was the greatest president this nation has ever had the pleasure of knowing.

[MargaretO]

Ugh! No way!!