Infinite Wisdom

McCain and Obama Not Forthright About Nation's Challenges After Bush

Facts can often be inconvenient, unless you happen to be John McCain or Barack Obama in which case facts can be ignored.  In the case of the overtly pandering candidates, their rhetoric suggest they are oblivious to reality. Personally, I'm appalled at the lack of candor by the two major candidates.  They both seem to be engaged in what can only be descibed as...fuzzy math. One wonders in the case of McCain where the straight talk has disappeared to.    And with Obama, the oratory is top-notch, but the substance is lacking and he is almost certainly promising too much.  The next President will be faced with some daunting challenges, but neither McCain nor Obama give the impression they have what it takes to stare down the special interests and make tough choices even if politically unpopular.

In recent days, John McCain has announced his intent to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term.  Reestablishing some fiscal responsiblity in Washington is a laudable goal, but a quick glance at the McCain agenda suggests a balanced budget under McCain would be next to impossible to achieve.  This is because McCain asserts he can get to a balanced budget by cutting wasteful government spending.  The problem for McCain in his quest to curb spending is he won't have a friendly Congress to deal with.  Thus, McCain won't get all the spending cuts through Congress he will seek, so it is just about certain he'll come up short in getting to a balanced budget by the end of his first term.  If McCain were a true deficit hawk, he wouldn't discount the possibility of hiking taxes so revenue meets expenses.  Instead, McCain is proposing more tax cuts which if enacted will only deepen the disparity between incoming revenue and outgoing expenses(and no the economy won't grow fast enough from another round of tax cuts to make up the difference).  He refuses to consider a reduction in the bloated and wasteful military budget, and he is committed to a long term presence by American troops in Iraq.  Put it all together, and McCain's promise of a balanced budget at the end of his first term shouldn't be taken too seriously.  

As for Obama, lofty aims will likely be constrained by painful realities.  With the nation drowning in debt, more spending will exacerbate the budget deficit.   And since Obama isn't seeking to cut the military budget, he'll be hard-pressed to do everything he wants and not enlarge the budget deficit.  To avoid a larger budget deficit which will put greater pressure on the weakened American dollar, Obama will probably have to scale back his agenda some even if he is successful in raising taxes on the affluent.  As much as he may want to ignore the budget deficit, it isn't going away and it will complicate Obama's efforts to enact reform.

Bush is leaving behind a sea of debt that the next President will have to address.   Maybe Ross Perot has to reenter the political arena before the current candidates are compelled to face this issue forthrightly.

McCain Campaign Listless and Aimless So Far

Can someone succinctly explain to me why John McCain is running for President?  Because it would appear Senator McCain isn't really sure himself.  McCain isn't advocating a gutting of the Bush agenda, yet he knows if he can't distance himself from Bush, he is toast.  Paralyzed by an inflexible ideology of tax cuts mixed with militarism, McCain seems out of touch and unaware of the pervasive angst that has gripped many of the country's citizens.  McCain is clinging to the mantra that jihadists are this country's biggest threat, yet it is increasingly becoming a hard sell when Americans are increasingly uneasy about an economy teetering on recession(or worse).   So far the McCain campaign has been listless and aimless.  It can't decide how far to distance itself from Bush, and if there is an overall theme to the McCain campaign, it isn't very apparent.  Much of the reason McCain survived his near-death experience during the primary season is because it was perceived he might be the only Republican Presidential candidate who could avert what has looked like almost certain defeat for the GOP.  Because the media generally loves McCain, he gets pretty favorable press coverage.  Yet, even positive press can't completely camouflage the fact that as of right now McCain isn't giving voters a persuasive reason to vote for him, which is a rather fatal flaw.

Americans are anxious because of a shaky economy.  One would think the creaky economy would spur McCain to offer a more bold agenda.  Yet, here he is running on his impressive resume devoid of a serious plan that will energize the economy.  On too many issues, McCain is just too timid for his own good.  He has suggested he'll tackle global warming, but just recently came out in support of increasing off-shore drilling.  Talk about mixed messages.  And where is the reform in McCain's agenda that Americans seem to be clamoring for?  In regards to the Bush tax cuts, McCain wants to make them permanent even though that would seem unwise considering his apparent fascination with winning the Iraq war.  Remember when the Republican Party stood for fiscal responsibility?  I guess that is now an antiquated relic of a distant era, because endless war without sufficient revenue will mean the federal government will remain mired in debt.  If Bush were running, he'd be pushing for the tax cuts to be made permanent and for the American people to remain patient so that victory in Iraq can be achieved.  How this differs one iota from McCain is a mystery to me. 

Can McCain win?  Maybe, though the opening weeks of the general campaign have been anything but a resounding success for the Arizona Senator.   One gets the feeling McCain's campaign better invent a compelling reason for Americans to pick him over Obama if he doesn't want to be steamrolled in November.

Tis the Silly Season

After the hotly contested primary season, the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain are now preparing for the general election fight.  With McCain clinching his party's nomination way before Obama, he had some time to retool his campaign and hone his message before Obama could turn his attention to the general election.  Somewhat surprisingly, the extra time McCain has had hasn't seemed to be that much help.  He hasn't established much of an overall theme to his campaign, and he hasn't articulated a well-defined message.  Though McCain has frequently been categorized as a maverick, many voters still see his candidacy as a continuation of the Bush years.  To most, that would be as unwelcome as a medical test revealing the existence of lyme disease.  As for Obama, he has shown a centrist proclivity in recent weeks that was absent during the primaries.  While pivoting to the center may be precisely what Obama needs to do, his move to the center has been more jarring than graceful.  The campaigning by both camps in recent days suggests we are very much in the midst of the silly season before the more serious campaigning that will ultimately decide which of the two major party candidates will be victorious in November.

How do we know this is the silly season?  Because one of the main topics lately has been whether Obama is sufficiently patriotic to be President.  Amid a shaky economy that is either in recession or pretty darn close, it is hard to believe that this election will turn on whether Obama is perceived to be patriotic enough to one day paint his face red, white, and blue.  This is the type of idle chatter that comes along during the summer of an election year.  During the silly season, the issues are tucked away out of sight, so the chattering classes can focus on the truly important stuff like the rate Obama pays on his mortgage.  The mortgage issue is such complete hooey, I don't know how pundits talk about this with a straight face.   Of course, Obama got a good deal.  People with money always do.  On a slightly more serious note, an Obama supporter(Wesley Clark) asserted this week that although McCain may be a hero for his military service in Vietnam and his five years spent as a POW, that doesn't qualify as relevant experience for someone aspiring to be President.  Though there is at least a kernel of truth in his assertion, Clark must have been relieved he wouldn't have to describe the nature of Obama's relevant experience. The swipe at McCain gave the windbags of cable news something to bloviate about, but this isn't the type of strike I envision the Obama campaign using once things get serious.  And what would the inane season of early summer of an election year be without the repeated claims McCain is so hot-tempered he borders on the deranged?  McCain may have a tendency to get mad, but I don't think I'm being bold in predicting that McCain's temper won't be a major issue in the election. The silliness of the season is essentially an acknowledgment by the politicians and the pundits that what Americans are most focused on right now is their summer vacation plans(for those who can afford to get away) and/or the soaring price of gasoline and not who they'll be voting for in November.  Thus we are treated to the silly season of politics as the summer heat builds, but inevitably Americans will start paying more attention in eight weeks, and consequently that will foster more purposeful and spirited campaigning.