McCain’s spending freeze isn’t breaking news, but it’s one of his scariest proposals. He’s right about one thing: drastically increases taxes will further damage our economy. Fortunately, no one is proposing across the board tax increases. In fact, Obama–the usual target of McCain’s “tax and spend” lies–is proposing a tax cut for 95% of American workers. And that would be on top of household savings from health care costs, better health, and higher wages from a stimulated economy.
McCain is wrong about another fundamental part of the economy; government spending. His blunt force government spending freeze would eliminate jobs and drive the economy into a complete recession, if we’re not there already. It’s a dangerous proposal, and foresight into McCain’s governing style of zero attention to detail, no fact-based solutions, and policies that politically sound good, but fail to deliver.
In addition, this overzealous measure is confusing when stacked next to McCain’s plans to spend billions in Iraq and in new programs. In Governor Palin’s first “major policy address” (the week before the election) she promised to fully fund research into Autism, among other diseases. Would that fall under McCain’s own spending freeze? Who knows. These policies are only based on politics. We need strong politics for four more days to pick a winner in this race. Then, we need strong policies for four more years. If the last twenty months are any indication of what’s to come, Obama is the only candidate in this race with the ability to lead.