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Mr. FREEZE.
If there is one exchange in tonight's debate that just might have long-term consequences for the campaign, it is this innocuous-seeming one, in response to Jim Lehrer's annoying insistence that the candidates explain what they would do to finance the Wall Street bailout:
MCCAIN: How about a spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs and entitlement programs.LEHRER: Spending freeze?
MCCAIN: I think we ought to seriously consider with the exceptions the caring of veterans, national defense and several other vital issues.
Here's why it might matter: McCain has always talked about reducing spending, but has safely dodged almost all specifics on actual spending cuts, other than "earmarks" (which are not cuts at all, whatever the percent of the budget) and some defense systems like "Future Combat Systems," and some vague nonsense about savings from "victory" in Iraq. A spending freeze, on the other hand, is a very specific thing -- some programs will be in the freeze, some out. In a recession, programs that would normally cost more automatically -- like Food Stamps or Unemployment Insurance -- will be unable to respond.
Over the next few weeks, Obama (as well as the press, if it's not to much to ask) should pound relentlessly on the spending freeze: What's frozen, and what's "several other vital issues"? In a recession, are Food Stamps frozen? Student loans? Unemployment benefits? Pell Grants? S-CHIP? Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP)? The list is long, and different states and constituencies naturally have their own programs that they would like to know whether McCain would freeze them or not.
And wherever McCain's answer is yes, that program would be part of the freeze, numbers can usually be put to it quickly. For example, freezing LIHEAP would leave X million seniors without heat this winter. Freezing Pell Grants would mean X million students couldn't go to college.
At the end, McCain will be in one of two boxes: Either he's a guy who is willing to slash every domestic program, leave seniors in the dark and kids blocked from college, while dumping hundreds of billions of dollars into Wall Street and Baghdad, plus his tax cuts. Or his "spending freeze" is just another vacuous gimmick.
-- Mark Schmitt.
COMMENTS (11)
Sooo...McCain would be freezing spending on a bunch of welfare programs; what's wrong with that?
Posted by: Cahnman | September 27, 2008 11:30 AM
Is that transcript right?
To me it sounded like he said "entitlements". Not "several other vital issues." I was watching it during the repeat showing late at night, so I might be totally wrong, though.
If he did say entitlements, then I think that means a lot of things wouldn't be affected by the freeze.
Posted by: Alan | September 27, 2008 12:27 PM
Herbert Hoover rides to the rescue again! Why prioritize government spending when voluntary business co-operation can fix all our problems? Yay!
We'd like to thank you Herbert Hoover, for really showing us the way!
Posted by: El Cid | September 27, 2008 1:43 PM
Herbert Hoover raised taxes and tariffs in 1930 turning what, until then, has been a recession into the Greeat Depression.
Which candidate, exactly, is proposing raising taxes and tariffs?
Posted by: Cahnman | September 27, 2008 2:12 PM
This struck me too. And I think Obama should definitely go after this. Also, that pen that is going to veto everything (like Bush) What will he freeze, exactly??? What are defined as "entitlements?" He sure as heck won't freeze his 300 billion dollars of tax breaks for the rich!!! This is a scary suggestion.
Posted by: jonnierae | September 27, 2008 2:37 PM
Herbert Hoover raised taxes and tariffs in 1930 turning what, until then, has been a recession into the Greeat Depression.
I'm fairly certain that nobody believes this anymore, if they ever did.
Posted by: John | September 27, 2008 3:38 PM
To Alan:
If you look at the three lines, he said "entitlements" the first time, and "other vital issues" after Lehrer asked for clarification. "Entitlements" are a specific budget category -- Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and a few other things. Most of the programs I mentioned, like LIHEAP, are not considered entitlements, because their funding is subject to annual appropriations.
Posted by: Mark Schmitt | September 27, 2008 5:08 PM
Sooo... since Cahnman thinks all these programs are welfare, he will be the first to step up to the plate and refuse Social Security benefits when he turns 65, refuse unemployment insurance if he loses his job, and say no to his kids if they need a loan for college. And on top of all that, he's gonna grow and hunt for his own food, dig a well for his water, walk because who needs taxpayer-funded roads, put out the fire himself if his house burns down and hire his own private security if he's robbed because who needs a socialized police force? If you're gonna talk the talk, walk the walk.
Posted by: Sylvia | September 27, 2008 10:14 PM
This is exactly the same argument that brings any libertarian I know to a sputtering halt. No taxes=no government. So, anarchy? Oh, no! Ok, some taxes. Which services must we tax for because we need them? And then we go through military, fire and police, roads and bridges, education (maybe), immunizations, water treatment, food safety....the list gets longer and longer as they protest, no, of course they think we need x to function, till we're pretty much at our current level or even higher of taxation.
Ayn Rand has a lot to answer for; next to L. Ron Hubbard, she proves just how much damage a determined crank with a busy pen can accomplish despite a total lack of literary skill. What a useful idiot she has been, and her successors and followers even more so.
Posted by: emjaybee | September 27, 2008 11:10 PM
Freeze LIHEAP which would lead to freezing Americans. Not a pretty sight.
At least those folks in the Northeast could get some help from Chavez.
Posted by: Josh | September 28, 2008 11:19 AM
Obama should stay as far away from this as possible and hope that McCain doesn't flesh it out into a more specific proposal. Obama is winning-he doesn't need to be attacking McCain, he needs to avoid losing ground. A spending freeze is just the sort of simple (minded) approach that a lot of voters, who don't care about cutting programs for poor people, will support.
Posted by: Gary Cohen | September 29, 2008 2:12 AM