McCain ‘Deficit Reduction Plan’ Would Cost Trillions
McCain says: “I’ll reduce deficit by winning war in Iraq.”
On Monday, John McCain released the outlines of his economic agenda, promising to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term by saving money from achieving victory in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction,” McCain’s memo read.
But if the goal is to reduce deficit by cutting down on foreign expenditures, the question should be raised: whose Iraq plan — McCain’s or Barack Obama’s — would do more?
Estimating costs for troop withdrawal, long-term occupations, and even current operations, is a tricky business, made more complicated by the difficulties in pinpointing exactly what each candidate is seeking to do with U.S. troops once he enters office.
But the Congressional Budget Office has put out several possible templates for an American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan that offer an approximation of the costs of Obama and McCain’s policies. Should the candidates follow through with their proposals, taxpayers would be spending, perhaps, tens-of-billions (if not hundreds-of-billions) more under McCain. The Arizona Republican argues that this is a price worth paying. But it is still worthwhile noting just how much more his Iraq policy would contribute to the deficit. Click here to read more about McCain’s proposal at the Huffington Post.