When a candidate unveils an economic plan — without any numbers
During his first presidential campaign, George W. Bush was pressed on whether he ever had to prepare a budget as the governor of Texas. Bush, pointing to the state’s finances, said, “It’s clearly a budget; it’s got a lot of numbers in it.”
Eight years later, we have Bush’s would-be Republican successor, John McCain, unveiling an economic plan that doesn’t have a lot of numbers in it.
Josh Marshall had this item this afternoon:
I think we may have come to that moment, that quick turn of events, that encapsulates the fact that there is apparently no limit to the howlers and nonsense that John McCain can throw out and still not generate collective guffaws or even scrutiny from the national political press. […]
Now, the general routine is the face of this kind of candidate announcement is that journalists and economists look at the numbers to see if they add up. In most cases, the exercises generates fairly unsatisfying contradictory opinions, with some experts saying one thing and other experts another.
But here’s the thing. McCain doesn’t have any numbers. None. Not vague numbers of fuzzy math. He just says he’s going to do it. Any other candidate would get laughed off the stage with that kind of nonsense or more likely reporters just wouldn’t agree to give them a write up.
That couldn’t be right, I thought. The McCain campaign just released a 15-page report on the candidate’s economic plan, as part of a massive week-long push, and there aren’t any numbers? Not even skewed, misleading ones? Not even ambiguous charts?
As it turns out, that’s exactly what the McCain campaign did.
Earlier this year, when McCain began falsely charging Barack Obama for avoiding specifics, I began calling McCain, “Mr. Vague Generalities.” He gave me quite a bit of material to work with.
When pressed on his position on McCain told an audience last year, “One of the things I would do if I were President would be to sit the Shiites and the Sunnis down and say, ‘Stop the bullshit.'” Asked about how he would shape the nation’s surveillance laws, McCain said, “[P]eople that are patriotic Americans need to sit down together and work this out.”
And here we are, just four months from Election Day, and McCain is presenting a bizarre economic plan, which doesn’t make any sense on its face, and which also lacks any and all support from the campaign itself. Knowing we might look at the numbers to see if they add up, the McCain campaign decided not to include any numbers.
There’s a $410 billion budget deficit, which McCain will eliminate in his first term. How? He just will. He wants to cut taxes by about a trillion dollars. How can we afford it? We just can. McCain realizes the value of the dollar is down, and he’s committed to reversing this. How? He just will.
I’ve seen more details from candidates running for student government.
Josh added:
Remember, this is the guy who’s riding on his reputation for ‘straight talk’. And he’s just promised that he’ll balance the budget in his first term. For any serious reporter covering this campaign that should immediately lead to a request for actual numbers to back up how he’s going to accomplish that. […]
[T]his is the reductio ad absurdum of the mad pass John McCain gets on everything. He’s pledging to balance the budget in four years and when asked for details he says, ‘We’ll get back to you on that.’
If reporters weren’t in the tank for this guy, today would be the beginning of the end of McCain’s chances of winning the White House. He’s not even trying to be a credible presidential candidate anymore, and this “economic plan” (I use the phrase loosely) could very well be the subject of ridicule for the foreseeable future.
It’ll work. Just like a play without any dialog or a computer without an operating system or well, you get the picture.
Hey diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle.
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
McBush in ’08
You know who loves numbers?
Pointy-headed intellectuals.
Effete latte-swilling liberals.
and…
THE VIET CONG! WHY ARE YOU DENIGRATING MCCAIN’S MILITARY SEVICE BY DEMANDING FROM HIM THAT WHICH THE ENEMY LOVES MOST?!?!?!
What? We’re not fighting “the Cong” anymore?
Oh…crap.
Sometimes we just need some psychological comforting without all the numbers getting in the way. When the going gets tough, we can all go to Vegas!
American voters as underpants gnomes:
1) Elect John McCain
2) ????????
3) Prosperity, balanced budgets & a strong dollar!
Perhaps we should call it McCain’s Magic Pony Econonmic Plan?
I don’t see why this balancing the budget with money saved by victory in Iraq should be a problem. After all, before we went over to Iraq, they told us it would pay for itself with all that Iraq oil money.
It’s clear that the Republicans are MUCH better at handling finances than Democrats….
It’s likely because he simply does not understand these issues and can’t be bothered to learn. Every time something new like this comes out it makes it look like McCain has very much ingrained talking points of “tax cuts good; balanced budget good; pork bad; terrorists bad” without any clear understanding of whys or how (a Kos diary a while back pointed out that McCain can’t name any “pork” programs he wants to cut except for the Bridge to Nowhere–all other programs mentioned to him sound pretty good). I’ll bring up another comment he made, this time about Habeas:
Dangerously vague on who we have in Gitmo (not terrorists…or accused terrorists…just bad people). Check. Dangerously unknowledgeable on why someone would bring a Habeas suit? Check. Dangerously unclear on what Habeas is? Check.
If the media was focusing on this at all he’d be sunk right-quick.
Are you now challenging Senator McCain’s integrity?
How dare you?
(At least no one can say, “The math doesn’t work!”)
$400 billion deficit?? McCain will sit down with the deficit and say, “Cut the bullshit.”
How can we afford $1 trillion in tax cuts?? McCain will sit down with the OMB and say, “Cut the bullshit.”
Reversing the falling dollar? McCain will sit down with a dollar and say, “Cut the bullshit.”
It’s worked before and it will work again.
When McCain was a POW, he sat down with his captors and said, “Cut the bullshit.” America won that war.
When McCain was looking for a sugar momma to finance his political aspirations, he sat down with his first wife and said, “Cut the bullshit.” McCain married his loaded second wife.
When McCain was running for the Republican nomination, he sat down with his primary opponents and said, “Cut the bullshit.” He is now the Republican nominee.
Beware liberals, because at some point McCain is going to sit down with you and when he says, “Cut the bullshit.”…. You will be saluting President McCain.
You’ve got to remember that Senator McCarrion just hired DuHaime—the Ghoul’s DuHaime. So what we’ve got here is a hunk of dead meat that used to bomb babies from 30,000 feet and wants to be president, coupled with one of those undead/meat-muncher types that probably loves to eat babies late at night and thinks it’s cool to work for what might be a midnight snack.
Bombing babies from 30,000 feet does not make you a here; neither does breaking multiple rules of aerial combat engagement and getting shot down because of those violations. So, tell me again—how is the GOPer candidate a “hero?”
And DuHaime is a witless dunce. He ran Ghoul-Child’s campaign—smack into the ground at ludicrous-speed (thinking Space Balls here).
McCain’s giving his wifey-poo an all-expenses paid world vacation—at the expense of all those folks who donated to what was supposed to be a presidential campaign. A great big party—just like Ghoul-Child did. What does he need “numbers” for?
I hate to play this game because it sounds like whining … but … seriously … name me one — JUST ONE — Democrat who the media would allow to get away with this.
**Jeopardy theme song**
Anyone?
**crickets**
What? Not a single person comes to mind? You mean the media would shred the holy hell out of anyone on the left who tried such a tactic? You mean the media’s love of mediocre bar-b-q trumps their ethical and/or moral standards to tell the truth and act objectively?
Who’da thunk it?
**bangs head on desk**
Seriously Steve, don’t you know anyone in the media that can address this issue? This is about as nauseating as it gets. It’s like one of those dreams people have that are very scary and try as you may you can’t seem to awaken your self. Jesus H. Christ what has happened to America? Our Republic? Our once proud nation? Nauseating…
Seriously,
This old man is not competent to run our local little league softball team.
Only a group with complete control of the government could run a geezer like this. Ever since Reagan — I guess they’ll never lack the confidence ever again.
This feels like the Twilight Zone…Has anyone here actually spoken with someone in “authority” in the CSM and asked for a justification in not covering this bizarre incident? I have a hard time even imagining how “they” get away with this, day after day. I don’t watch TV “news” because it is like watching WWF: it is all acting and the outcome has been pre-scripted. But, people who watch that probably also believe the matches are real and the characters are who they seem to be. I imagine McC spends a large portion of his campaign budget on WWF advertising. That is his base. I am truly dismayed that the populace of this country is living in such a fog of reality.
Thank God this is all an illusion.
peace,
st john
Well, he does have one number: zero. Zero deficit by the end of his first term.
Given that we also have numbers for, e.g., the size of the current deficit, as well as the cost of some of his proposals, we have more than enough to say that his numbers do not add up.
ROFLMAO
Of course McBush will have a zero defecit, after he cuts Social Security Spending and the budget for HUD he’ll have a surplus!
After all, those worthless morons on Social Security or living on HUD payments never bowed down to his secret masters the North Vietnamese!
“What? We’re not fighting “the Cong” anymore?” – slappy magoo
Back in the day we didn’t call them “the Cong”. We just called them “Charlie”.
Viet Cong = Victor Charlie = Charlie.
Just wanted to mention it for the benefit of all you young people out there. No offense meant, Slappy. 😉
McCain to Media: These are not the numbers you are looking for.
Media to Each Other: These are not the numbers we are looking for.
Media to Me: Obama is all words. Where are the numbers?
I smell the power of the B-B-Q.
McCain doesn’t need any numbers. As Richard Cohen, in the Washington Post, observes, “McCain is a known commodity. It’s not just that he’s been around a long time and staked out positions antithetical to those of his Republican base. It’s also — and more important — that we know his bottom line.” Of course, Cohen has also claimed that he sees no use for algebra. When you have a bottom line, you don’t have to know where it is or how to get there.
90% of the U.S. is mathematically illiterate anyway.
Smart move by McCain.
When Obama comes out with details and numbers he will be obviously labeled a nerd, dweeb, geek.
This is not a presidential election, this is an 8th grade popularity contest.
Sounds like McCain’s talk is quite crooked.
Pass it on …. that’s the only way to defeat the false meme implanted in the corporate media …
McCain just isn’t used to numbers. I mean come on, the man is LXXII years old and when he was a kid he grew up on letters. Letters from the ROMAN alphabet, from the county (ROME) that is the very basis of Western history and culture. Those numbers, where did they come from? They’re ARABIC!!! A terrorist plot to undermine the West! McCain’s budget is a PATRIOTIC, ALL AMERICAN budget that he will use to stamp out those Al Queda-inspired number-things! (Wait- what do you mean Arabic numbers were invented in India? But that’s just as bad- it’s them Indians that are using up all our oil from the Middle East that is rightfully ours. If Custer hadn’t screwed up at the Little Bighorn, he would’ve wiped out those Indians and gas prices would be lower today.)
This is getting so depressing. I feel like I am in the Twlight Zone. Is any one in the MSM (I mean somebody “big”, not just edgy like Keith O) going to wake up from this BBQ fog? I still believe we have a chance, and I honestly didn’t want a cake walk, but this is just too crazy to be real!
I think Obama should hold an economic press conference and invite the MSM. I think he should announce that he is embracing every detail of McCain’s economic plan. He should say that he will also eliminate the $410b deficit in his first term. That he will also cut taxes by a trillion bucks. And when asked by the MSM how this is possible, Obama should redirect them to McAhole for details and inquire of them why it is only when he repeats something so obviously freaking stupid, they suddenly care.
T Hurlbutt (@ 22) beat me to it… 🙂
Steve (Benen), have you checked McCain’t’s budget for *capital letters*? Of especial interest are: I, V, X, L, C, D and M. Numbers, as TH points out, are a part of the islamofascist plan to take over the Western World (or the parts of it they’re unable to bomb out of existence). “Zero”, in particular, is their most potent weapon, since they invented not only the symbol but the very concept of it.
Apparently even the British media have noticed McCains multiple flip flops, all the media here in the US is talking about is Obamas flip flop, what is going on with the media, are they all paid by the Republican party? Today, John McCain made the statement at a town hall meeting somewhere, that the economy is slowing down, where has he been for the last year? I would say the economy went belly up long ago.
“I have a plan to grow this economy, create more and better jobs, and get America moving again,” he said. “I have a plan to reform government, achieve energy security, and ensure that healthcare and a quality education are affordable and available for all. I believe the role of government is to unleash the creativity, ingenuity and hard work of the American people, and make it easier to create jobs.”
So, WTF is the PLAN? Let us see it! Let us, the People, see it and decide if the old fart has any inkling of reality.
Curmudgeon, a few used to refer to “VC” as “Vuckie Chuckie.” But they were on the ground and dodging inaccurate bombing runs from our illustrious 30,000-feet “crapshoot squadrons”—hence the “VC” (air squadron, crapshoot) designation….
curmudgeon, I was afraid if I referred to the Viet Cong as “Charlie” either the REAL young’uns (or dullards like Mary, who’s voting for McCain, btw) would think I either meant the perfume, Brown, or Gibson. And the really really old readers would think I meant Callas. Then again, maybe the only thing that might make the senior Fox viewers reject McCain is if they thought he had a beef with Charlie Callas.
Chopin,
I had the same thought: Obama repeats McC’s positions on everything, with no clear, direct citations, just vague, affirmative results to be achieved by the will of the people, led by the same people who created the conditions from which they will now extricate us. When questioned by the CSM, he simply states: “What he said.” Then, the CSM are free to do what they have been doing anyway: make up whatever they have been instructed to say. After one or two of these such conversations, Obama simply stops taking questions and refers to his website. That way, he controls what the people hear from him, directly. His only sound bite is: “Please go to my website at http://www.barackobama.com. I have clearly stated my positions on each issue.” For those without internet access? I think that is McC’s base, anyway. And, they won’t be insulted here, since they cannot read this, anyway.
I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john
McCain has taken over Fred Thompson’s campaign.
Steve, that’s pretty amazing. I actually had to go away, come back, and read it again just to see if it made any more sense. There’s nothing that could more clearly say how in the tank the MSM is. Good work.
Nice stint on Salon, by the way. I hope Alex takes more vacations.
It’ll all be paid for by the coming boom. (That’s ‘boom’ as in ‘economic prosperity’, not ‘boooom!!!’ as in the sound of the Middle East going up in flames).
YessireeBob, as soon as those rich folks get their XXL tax cuts, they’ll start spending their hard-given-back-to-them cash on American goods such as Maserati, Gucci, Dom Perignon and Louis Vuitton.
Don’t bother the Flounderer-In-Chief with details. We didn’t need any details to go into war with Iraq and we don’t need no stinkin’ details now.
I hate to be a party pooper, especially since I love a good round of MSM bashing, but I did find an article from the Curious Capitalist over at Time that pretty much lambasted McCain’s economic “plan”
http://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/2008/07/mccain_says_hell_balance_the_b.html?xid=rss-curious
OK, it’s only one article so let the MSM bashing resume.