McCain to balance the budget through military victory

ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images

A presidential candidate’s usual fake deficit-reduction plan involves promises to “crack down on tax loopholes” and the like. Witness Barack Obama’s pledge to “end wasteful government spending” and “make government more accountable and efficient.” Good luck with that, Barack. As any student of the federal budget knows, such savings rarely materialize or are much smaller than claimed.

But John McCain’s vow to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term takes the cake. Take a gander at how he plans to pull off this feat:

The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.”

Given today’s news that Iraq is considering imposing a timetable for withdrawal on U.S. troops, McCain may get his “victory” there sooner than he imagines.

But Afghanistan? That’s another story. As the Washington Post notes, there were more Western troop deaths in Afghanistan in May and June than there were in Iraq. The Taliban has proven in recent weeks that it can threaten Kabul and Kandahar, while slinking back across the border to safe havens in Pakistan. What’s McCain’s plan for turning this situation around quickly? Imagine telling your mortgage lender: “My plan to pay off this debt in four years is to get a new job that pays me a million dollars a year.” Sure, it could happen. But I doubt the bank would be impressed by the proposal.

The politics of pushing a deficit-reduction plan right now are odd, too. Has there been any public clamor for such a thing? With gas prices soaring, the job market tanking, and the cost of everything going up, are Americans really worried about the budget deficit right now? I fail to see the political payoff here. Time to bring in some new talent?