McCain "New" Plan: Overhaul Social Security; Balance Budget and drown the Government

Breaking tonight on Politico, this is how McCain plans to kick off his big Economic week, the spearhead of his new makeover effort... and as you can quickly see, he's now completely given control to the Rovian monkeys. And how he dances on this pin head without raising taxes, i'd love to see...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to promise on Monday that he will balance the federal budget by the end of his first term by curbing wasteful spending and overhauling entitlement programs, including Social Security, his advisers told Politico.

The vow to take on Social Security puts McCain in a political danger zone that thwarted President Bush on the top domestic priority of his second term.

"In the long-term, the only way to keep the budget balanced is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid," the McCain campaign says in a policy paper to be released Monday.

"to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." - Grover Norquist

And the Obama team immediate response

Jason Furman, Obama's economic policy director, called McCain's pledge "preposterous." Furman pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office now estimates a 2013 deficit of $443 billion, assuming the Bush tax cuts are extended. And he estimated that McCain would have to cut discretionary spending—including defense—by roughly one-third to bring the budget into the black by then.

When is a Flip-Flop truly historical in size? When it's a double flip-flop

The pledge is a return to an earlier position he'd later backed away from. On April 15, McCain backed off a February pledge to balance the budget in his first term when asked about it by Michael Cooper of  The New York Times, who reported that McCain said "at a news conference ... that ‘economic conditions are reversed’ and that he would have a balanced budget within eight years."

This time at least, they'll be honest about trying to screw over Social Security...  Good Luck with Florida

•  Tips/Recs

  I don't think this was poll tested well enough...

  by kubla000 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:11:54 PM PDT

  •  Headlining DrudgeReport as we speak

    In Bright Red... I guess Drudge failed to read that part about being nothing new... and nothing concrete.

    Cutting the Deficit through simply overhauling Social Security means eliminating it entirely

    by Hope Reborn on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:18:56 PM PDT

    •  And is quite possible the stupidest

      plan ever to put out there while trying to get elected.  Trying to overhaul Social Security while people are feeling economically insecure and messing with their retirement benefits?  

      Big fat red flag to a majority of Americans right now.  Not to say that social security doesn't need work, but this sounds like killing it entirely and making economic depressions out of its corpse.  Obama is going to kill with this, especially since he's refocusing back on the economy.  

      I don't know what McCain's team was thinking with this one.

      by Niwind on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:22:12 PM PDT

      •  This is going to be The STORY monday...

        Lets see how it swims... at least McCain isn't trying to hide his real intentions anymore eh?

        by kubla000 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:26:03 PM PDT

        •  The press will ignore it like it ignores

          everything he does.  However I think that this story is going to have legs beyond how the media will try to dismiss it.  It's the same way Bush's attempt to privatize social security went up in flames as soon as senior activism group paid attention and alerted others to the dangers of his plan.

          This is going to be DOA.  It's a non-starter for a variety of reasons and McCain just played right into Obama's hands.  Just get McCain on tape saying that stuff and you have your Florida Campaign right there.  lol

          by Niwind on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:31:32 PM PDT

          •  Don't forget the seniors in PA which will

            no longer be a battle ground state once McCain rolls out his plan to overhaul social security.

            by sweetliberty on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:00:45 PM PDT

    •  Congress will really go for that idea

      not!  Those people have to run every two years.  They'd have to have a death wish to go along with that idea.

      by ljm on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:31:38 PM PDT

      •  And they are still suffering the wound from

        Bush's earlier defeat in trying to privatize social security.  They ain't suicidal.  lol

        by Niwind on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:34:30 PM PDT

      •  Shows what a non starter this is. So what's his

        political strategy here? Is it try to get the Rethug base to buy into his campaign? I'm not sure.

        Obama should point out that Congress will never pass this malarkey, making it a pointless business as usual gimmick proposal from RW McCain.

        But I am sure of one thing, on economic issues I am convinced that McCain is an ideologue, he hates domestic spending programs and is quite serious about that whereas Bush was (astonishingly) by comparison more pragmatic on domestic spending. Think about what that means, it means McCain's economic and domestic program policies will be worse than Bush and more ideologically right wing. I think that is the case.

        by doinaheckuvanutjob on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:38:57 PM PDT

  •  Rec this up folks

    This should get major play.

    by turneresq on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:15:37 PM PDT

  •  Medicare Assistance Will Soon Be Hard To Get

    Not sure if this got posted:

    The Bush administration’s announcement about the 10 percent fee cut in Medicare payments for doctors managed to cause wide distress throughout the industry. Many doctors stated that if the 10 percent payment reduction will be indeed approved, they will no longer afford to see Medicare’s patients. With the new bill, doctors would end up paying for every patient what would walk through the door instead of being awarded for their work and actually making a profit.

    In a study released by the American Medical Association, more than 60 percent of the doctors involved in the poll, declared that they would considerably limit their number of Medicare patients.

    The physicians claim that the government decision is not fair, as their practices have several significant monthly expenses such as health insurance for their employees, electricity and technical updates.

    Even though the cut was scheduled to take eeffect on July 1, the government decided on a two week extension period, in order to solve the reimbursement dispute.

    http://[linkwww.efluxmedia.com/...

    by driftwood on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:25:52 PM PDT

    •  It goes back to republicanism at its worst:

      The problem with electing people who believe government can't work is that they run a government that can't work.

      I suppose it started with Reagan...this whole modern theory that government wasn't worth fixing if the end goal is just to eliminate it.

      Hopefully the public will start to realize that republicans shouldn't be elected, because they ideologically can't do their constitutionally mandated jobs of running a government.

      by Gravedugger on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 10:14:17 PM PDT

      •  It's worse: they hate government services for

        people. They don't just not believe in govt. like the Reagan crew, this is 2nd generation Repubism become Rethugism. They simply hate any program of govt. that serves people, and prefer to privatize to their cronies who can exploit the population with company town type offerings for services, or complete neglect.

        You're on your own, go drown in the flood, they don't mind, you're just a peasant.

        by doinaheckuvanutjob on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:41:50 PM PDT

  •  This whole thing is pure gold!

    Old Johnny's the man with Da Plan! and how's he going to reduce the deficit? EASY as PIE--he's going to use all of those VICTORY savings from Iraq--LOL!!!

    "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."

    Hey want the price of gas reduced? EASY says old Johnny McCain, easy as PIE!

    "Under his plan, the United States will be telling oil producing countries and oil speculators that our dependence on foreign oil will come to an end —and the impact will be lower prices at the pump. John McCain's policies will increase the value of the dollar and thus reduce the price of oil. ...

    Dang, tell it to the world Dude--hey we're off oil--and BOOM the dollar jumps right on up AND the price of oil goes right on down--then we save!

    Hallelujah!! Johnny's got it all doesn't he?

    I'm just sitting here shaking my head after reading all of this! AND in addition he's gonna piss of people like me in fooling with Social Security!

    by Wary on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:02:45 PM PDT

•  I would love to see a link to the original story

  by Benintn on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:14:30 PM PDT

  •  Updated, sorry

    Link again here

    by kubla000 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:15:55 PM PDT

•  And this is the albatross in which John McCain

  hangs himself.  You want to see seniors get pissed?  Mess with social security while paying for a wasteful war and see what happens.

  I hope the Obama Campaign has the videotape ready.

  by Niwind on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:15:16 PM PDT

  •  Picture the image of Grandma and Grandpa

    dumpster-diving behind the Safeway store. Or rather, probably we baby-boomers.

    You can't cut spending on earmarks and balance the budget while fighting a couple of wars on the other side of the planet, and expanding the tax cuts for the one-percenters at the same time.

    For anyone buys this crap, well, they do kinda waste a lot of food at Safeway. Have at it. You'll need it.

    by bleeding blue on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:41:26 PM PDT

    •  I wonder what happened to the two actors...

      ...who made the anti-Hillary-health-care commercial.

      Anyone recall the names of the two characters in the commerical?

      I'd like to Google up the actors and see if there is anything on how they have fared, health care wise.

      by daulton on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:44:20 PM PDT

      •  Henry & Louise. n/t

        by JeffW on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:32:54 PM PDT

        •  Correction:

          Harry and Louise.

          This article is interesting:

          Apparently, the actors weren't allowed to talk to the press.

          http://www.newyorker.com/...

          Their real names were Alan Brooks and Mary Wickliffe. My guess is that they are both SAG, and thus have access to a baseline health insurance policy. A cursory look at their IMDB pages (assuming it is them) indicates both have been steadily employed in SAG or AFTRA covered jobs for most if the 1990s and 2000s.

          by Gravedugger on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 10:20:47 PM PDT

          •  Correcting myself.

            Scratch that entire comment. I skip parts of sentences when I'm tired, so all my facts are wrong. I'm going to bed.

            by Gravedugger on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 10:22:08 PM PDT

•  OK, that's the end of his campaign...

  we're just going through the motions from now on.  OMG, how stupid can you get?

  by Fury on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:17:01 PM PDT

  •  My favorite part is the VICTORY SAVINGS

    I just can't get over this STUPID quote of his:

    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.

    Why we have VICTORY SAVINGS from Iraq and Afghanistan! Who knew?

    by Wary on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:08:36 PM PDT

    •  Just like all that oil we're getting for cheap

      there, reducing our prices to 50 cents a gallon!

      by doinaheckuvanutjob on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:45:03 PM PDT

•  Go BIG in Florida with this

  McCain WILL try to privatize Social Security. Spread the word!

  by Yosef 52 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:17:25 PM PDT

•  Official McCain Campaign theme song:

  by melvin on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:23:54 PM PDT

•  does he think we are THAT dumb?

  He absolutely wants to privatize social security. You can try to reword it however you like...it's still privatization.

  by bRan on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:24:42 PM PDT

•  Social Security Generation Is Passing

  We're moving into boomers now, many of whom bought the Reagan era meme that it can't work without reforming.

  It may not necessarily hurt McCain this year.

  by Gooserock on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:27:38 PM PDT

  •  Still, speaks to the heart of McCain support

    He needs people older than boomers to vote for him in droves. He starts messing around with the geriatric demographic and he loses his own constituency!

    by time8 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:33:02 PM PDT

  •  Reagan did a fix on SS

    He raised SS taxes on boomers so we paid in not only for our parents, but for ourselves as well.  It was never meant to be spent on BushCo's Iraq war or tax cuts for the rich.  Boomers expect it to be there, most definitely.

    by ljm on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:33:28 PM PDT

    •  Damn right he better NOT mess with

      My SS!!! I'm just a few years away and I'll get mighty damn mad at him for even bringing this up again!

      Gonna have me fighting with everything I have now!

      by Wary on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:11:07 PM PDT

      •  Don't just get mad, get even.

        by doinaheckuvanutjob on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:47:22 PM PDT

  •  Well, speaking for me and my husband-

    we are both Boomers- though we don't fit the real estate-rich, investor types that I see featured on the TV. We don't even own a house. We are counting on Social Security.

    by blindyone on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:34:47 PM PDT

  •  I don't agree...

    There are millions of boomers without savings or tenable retirement plans. Millions who will not spending their retirement years jet-skiing or taking wine tasting trips to Napa. Millions are counting on the small checks they will receive, and relying even more on Medicare. Indeed, it is the boomers in their fifties who are really getting hosed by down-sizing, off-shoring, pension-raiding corporations. Millions of boomers are quickly becoming the new poor. I don't think they'll look kindly on a plan that "reforms" their already shaky future.

    by JoesGarage on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:36:23 PM PDT

  •  I'm not thinking so. One of Bush's

    major defeats was his plans to privatize social security.  I mean it went down like rock.

    If the American people have to pick between stopping the war to help the economy or destroying social security to help the economy they are going to pick the former every time.  And this is exactly what McCain means to do, destroy social security.

    by Niwind on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:37:53 PM PDT

  •  I strongly disagree b/c I work

    in the financial industry with seniors. Right now, interest rates are low which impacts their income, markets are volatile and gas prices and basic necessities such as food and health care are going up. So, Seniors are feeling the pinch and are being very tight with their money. And, those who are conservative do not like change period. So, if you start talking about overhauling something, they are not going to agree with it regardless of how the reforms are packaged. Overhauling social security during a recession is not something you want to campaign on. Is McCain smoking something?

    by sweetliberty on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:49:07 PM PDT

    •  Just like the Drill Drill Drill

      they must think they can scare the American public into buying what they're selling while the future looks very shaky and they are scared.

      They have to privatize (steal) the SS money to keep wall street afloat for the next few years.

      Without it, it's crash and burn time.

      by Crazy like a fox on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:27:09 PM PDT

    •  Many seniors are also furious about Medicare

      problems right now-- many of them do remember when it ran smoothly until Bush, and they are livid about it.

      by doinaheckuvanutjob on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:48:38 PM PDT

•  Plan item #1: Marry a millionairess. n/t

  by daulton on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:27:44 PM PDT

  •  then, play alotta craps!

    by kubla000 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:28:19 PM PDT

•  Please, God, let John McCain offer

  a plan to tamper with Social Security. I was one of the millions who called AARP, Senator Reid, Boxer and Feinstein's offices and several local media outlets the last time around. Oh, I also called my local neanderthal Republican congressman.

  I had the nicest conversation with a young man at AARP who listened to my long comment, logged it in and assured me that they were swamped with calls. Then, I signed my husband and me up as members.

  Let the fun begin... surely the Republicans are not this stupid.

  by blindyone on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:31:20 PM PDT

  •  Don't worry

    Mccain will assure us that reworking social security does not in any way endanger anyone's benefits and that any accusations to the contrary are a disgusting example of partisan politics from a gay revolutionary communist black Christian Zionist Muslim who won't change anything.

    by Last Years Man on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:37:53 PM PDT

    •  Heh... n/t

      by blindyone on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:45:30 PM PDT

    •  Oh, he's such a 'Maverick" NOT

      We ain't gonna buy his crap!

      by Wary on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:13:47 PM PDT

•  What victory in Afghanistan and Iraq?

  Ha!

  I was worried that Mccain's camp would reemerge as a force with their new manager. I'm at ease now.

  And btw, anyone else think the timing of that obama memo is brilliant? On the week in which Mccain is supposed to present his grand new strategy, he will instead be defending himself from charges of economic elitism. Perfect.

  by Last Years Man on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:34:17 PM PDT

  •  he's having

    his vision thing again, he can see the veterans home.  Now I know why the meme on the Sunday shows was that Iraq is all but won.

    by jfromga on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:48:04 PM PDT

•  How to reform Medicare, Medicaid is simple.

  Democratized (aka socialized) medicine, like they have in the rest of the world.

  We are paying TWICE what everyone else pays, a are ranked 20th to 30th.

  by daulton on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:41:37 PM PDT

  •  Exactly. Adding more insurance to the mix will

    just milk the system. More middlemen. LESS money for health services.

    by driftwood on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:30:39 PM PDT

    •  My point too:

      I don't want health insurance. I want health care.

      by Gravedugger on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 10:25:34 PM PDT

•  So...

  What can we expect from McCain and his crew of buccaneer economists? Simply put, more "market-based" solutions--read deregulation and privatization. We certainly see this in McCain's health care plan. Now, we'll see it in "reform" of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Privatization means a renewed push for school vouchers, more private contractors--from KBR to Blackwater, to privatizing the prison system, to outsourcing myriad other public functions (like issuing passports). Privatization means dissolving shared public responsibility; it means an agenda that surrenders the polity to the discipline of the market.

  Certainly, at the center of this will be the insistent drumbeat of tax cuts. How can we pay for these cuts? McCain assures us that any loss of revenue will be offset by a vigorous rooting out of "fraud, waste, and abuse" in the federal budget. Lower taxes, in other words, will be offset by eliminating the inefficiences of government. Of course, this kind of thinking is through the looking glass. McCain likes to offer the famous "bridge to nowhere" as an example of waste that--once eliminated--will help move toward a balanced budget by 2012(!). Putting aside the paltry sum that all earmarks and pork spending represents--there is a fundamental dishonesty here. Vetoing proposed, or possible, spending does not save money. Cancelling spending already in the budget does. (For example: the horrifically costly and technically flawed ABM "Star Wars" system). This kind of economic hocus-pocus is standard operating procedure to a certain breed of beltway types.

  On second thought, perhaps through the looking glass is too mild. Consider the Orwellian world that McCain occupies when it comes to the Bush tax cuts: in McCain's world, allowing the tax cuts to expire--as legislatively mandated--is recast as a tax increase. (Republicans are very good at this Orwellian dodge; ex: the Estate Tax becomes the "Death Tax). Ironically, rhetoric can often be most powerful when it is--intellectually--the most specious.

  What kind of simple frames, then, can we expect from McCain and his advisors?

  • Tax cuts (and McCain's health care proposal): "It's the people's money and they know how to spend it better than bureaucrats do."

  • Privatization: "The market works efficiently, 'bloated' big government is wasteful." (A tip of the conical hat to Ronald Reagan here).

  • Deregulation: "American businesses cannot compete in the global market when they are hamstrung by needless domestic regulation (ex: Sarbanes-Oxley) drafted by (again) bureaucrats who've never had to meet a payroll, pay a supplier, blah, blah, blah.".

  The economic message from John McCain is clear. You're on your own "my friends"...good luck.

  PS. I would really like to know where and how Cindy McCain's tens of millions are invested.

  by JoesGarage on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:42:57 PM PDT

  •  When it aint workin', do it harder!

    by Last Years Man on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:52:57 PM PDT

  •  Joe's garage your comment

    would make a dynamite diary!

    McCain's campaign promise--you're on your own, my friends

    by Wary on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:16:34 PM PDT

•  Dumbest idea ever

  Didn't they learn from Bush getting smacked around on this issue?

  by turneresq on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:59:48 PM PDT

  •  Obama's people better take this and run with it

    straight to florida and seniors in general.

    by duha on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:32:02 PM PDT

    •  Also, reforms in Medicaid will

      impact the disabled community and those in nursing homes. But of course, they want to rob from the poor and disabled and give to the rich in tax cuts.

      by sweetliberty on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:40:47 PM PDT

•  What a joke McCain is

  Does this plan of his including paying his own back taxes?  

  by Valhalla on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:30:35 PM PDT

•  This could ring a few bells

  in states like Iowa where our demographic is aging.  There are lots of us here who won't be able to live without our meager SS checks.

  by luckylizard on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 10:02:39 PM PDT

•  And where are the jobs

  that will take the place of these benefits?

  Every time I hear about all these cuts to "entitlement programs," I want to know how in the hell people are supposed to make up that money?

  All these elitist asses who say people should have to work until age 70 before retiring need to explain just exactly where these people are supposed to work. No one is hiring people over 50 these days if they can get away with it. Who in the world is going to be hiring these 70-year-olds who will be starving in the street after their benefits are snatched away after they've worked for them all their lives?

  These people just don't think things through. They've got theirs and to hell with everyone else.

  by Brooke In Seattle on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 10:08:29 PM PDT

  •  Hi Brooke

    I'm sobermom at gmail dot com.  Could you email me please?  I'm hoping to get in touch with you about Netroots Nation.

    by sobermom on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 08:38:11 AM PDT

•  McCain always talks about pork and wasteful

  spending, and while I don't doubt there's inefficiencies in the government, I'd love for him to produce of exactly what he's going to cut to balance the budget while paying for his war.

  by CalexanderJ on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:46:24 PM PDT

•  Now it's time for the lapdog reporters

  to ask the McCain camp what do they specifically mean by "overhauling social security"?

  Come on Obama camp please go on the ATTACK on McCain's stupid economic policies.

  by Drdemocrat on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 01:09:26 AM PDT