It was another off-the-cuff answer from McCain last night. And Obama had a sound smack down of it. But I have not heard it mentioned in blogs or by the pundits in the post-debate roundup. And that suprises me. What about the spending freeze? This, more than any other proposition, would be devastating to the middle class. Forget the bailout for a moment. A spending freeze? Is he serious?
Here is the clip:
How about a spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs, and entitlement programs.
Here is a pie chart laying out the Federal spending percentage by category:
Source.
Look for yourself. This "spending freeze" would include the Department of Education, the EPA (like we can afford that right now), Health and Human services (child welfare workers and mental health treatment), Department of Transportation, HUD, Energy Dept, Dept of Agriculture (hello, farmers), and on and on. A spending freeze across the board? Even if you give McCain the benefit of the doubt, and I don't, that "entitlement programs" includes Medicare and Medicaid, this proposal would have horrendous consequences. This would bring us to the brink of being only a military state, with nothing to contribute to the global stage except war.
McCain is dangerous. He is a fearful and angry bully who has a fundamental belief that people "weaker" than him should suffer for that weakness. You saw it in his demeanor last night. And this is not just a matter of taste. With this spending freeze proposal, he made it very clear how he feels about the American people and their safety. This was an ultra-neocon proposal, and McCain should be slammed for it.
I worked in the non-profit world (mental health and disability services) for 12 years. Nothing last night put more ice water in my veins than this comment.
If nothing else, I hope we begin to hit him on Child Protective Services and mental health intervention for children. Obama eluded to it, but there was only so much he could do during the debate. It is up to us to explain the FULL impact of this very dangerous and flawed proposal. Contribute in the comments things I missed in the diary. I am not well versed in the federal budget, but I know a snake when I see one.