McCain campaign: ‘Victory in Iraq’ will pay off the deficit.
By on Jul 7th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
McCain campaign: ‘Victory in Iraq’ will pay off the deficit.
In a paper released today, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) made the laughable claim that a McCain administration would pay off the enormous deficit through “savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations.” The claim comes on the same day McCain’s campaign vowed to balance the budget in four years — while refusing to name any specifics on how to go about achieving that goal.
Update Matt Duss notes: "In McCain’s view, 'victory' in Iraq means we get to stay in Iraq for 100 more years. How, exactly, does this save us money?" Visit the Wonk Room for more.
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methinks you might want to add dementia to his early stages of Alzheimer’s.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:48 pmJust saying…..
When you’re at the bottom of a hole, stopping the digging doesn’t magically transport you outside the hole….
July 7th, 2008 at 3:52 pmRead between the lines:
If you can’t define the terms of victory, you sure as hell can’t define how to erase the monumental deficit.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:53 pmBy maneuvering our oil companies so they get favorable (cheap) TSAs out of contracts with the oil ministry, ensuring the Pentagon’s survival as the world’s largest oil consumer.
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/tomdispatch/2008/07/iraqs-new-fave-five-2.html
July 7th, 2008 at 3:54 pmOn Monday, John McCain repackaged his previous economic proposals in a mystifying document simply called “Jobs for America.” More notable for what it lacked than what it included, McCain’s latest rehash unsurprisingly left out his past admissions of ignorance on matters economic, his vision of eBay as Americans’ economic future or his belief that the U.S. recession was merely “psychological.” But in returning to a previously abandoned promise to magically balance the budget by the end of his first term, John McCain is depending on a 21st century “peace dividend” and unspecified reforms of entitlement programs. Call it McCain’s Immaculate Deception.
For more details, see:
July 7th, 2008 at 3:55 pm“McCain’s Immaculate Deception on the Economy.”
I guess he thinks we’ll be able to play like the colonialists did years ago and rape both countries dry to get back our money.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:55 pmSo, we can start paying off the debt in the year 2108?
July 7th, 2008 at 3:56 pmDon’t hold your breath waiting for the media to dissect the McCain budget – they won’t – and he will go on his way spouting the bullcrap without challenge.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pmIt’s one thing for McCain to display his dementia in public, but it’s another thing for his aides, abetted by the media, to let him continue with jabberwocky.
I really wish McCain would clarify his position on Iraq. He favors permanent bases, but he also says that he would have the troops out by 2013. He claims that we could stay for 100 years, as long as there aren’t casualties on US troops. So, if casualties were to go up, would he pull out? If casualties cease and our troops are safe, then we need to stay? He has contradicted himself so many times, he seriously needs to address this issue. Amidst all of this, no one is asking what the Iraqis want. After all, it is their country. A majority of their parliament has written our congress wanting a timetable for withdrawal. Every political party in Iraq has refused to sign a SOFA with the US unless it obligated our complete withdrawal. Considering that they are a sovereign nation, I think we should respect that, and begin withdrawal operations.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pmWhere does he buy his wands?
July 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pmMarie Says:
…he will go on his way spouting the bullcrap without challenge.
Apparently, that’s what Mavericks do.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pmUnfortunately, Obama’s plan of leaving close to 100,000 troops after his phased[as opposed to immediate] withdrawal finally takes place is not much better, since that will do nothing to mollify the [justifiable]fears of the Iraqis that the United States military can be sent back into Iraq, where they can once again wreak death and destruction upon the Iraqi people.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:59 pmErroll,
July 7th, 2008 at 4:05 pm..and that relates to this particular topic of McCain saying he will reduce the deficit with victories in Iraq and Afghanistan, how??????
But, but, but… I’m a war hero!
July 7th, 2008 at 4:05 pmConcerntrollspeak always confuses me, thanks for the translation Doctor.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:06 pmDr. Hussein Matt Says:
For all that we have spent and lost in life and treasure, the ungrateful Iraqis should be giving us oil at 11$ barrel.
What good would that do? Exxon would just increase their profits, and unscrupulous speculators would use the Enron loophole to gin up the price.
The US taxpayers will never be repaid one nickel that we have spent in Iraq. Meanwhile, the Iraqis are having their foreign debt forgiven, and they are banking billions of dollars in Switzerland.
Oh, and Tracy’s oil stocks are going up, up, up!
July 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pmOooh, Ooooh!! I know!
He’ll have a new bomb making industry (for red states only of course), and then bomb the shit out of Afghanistan and Iraq, causing demand for bombs to go up, so when we buy them from ourselves, we’ll all get rich, quick!
July 7th, 2008 at 4:08 pmDidn’t we hear this BEFORE the war? I do believe it was Wolfie who said the war would pay for itself.
Blather, rinse and repeat. Say it thrice and it’s true…until reality shows otherwise.
Un-freaking-real.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:11 pmAnd, once again, the “Liberal” MSM will respond to this how? Crazy John, his policies are, INSANE!!!
July 7th, 2008 at 4:14 pmImpeach Pelosi, Cheney and Bush and Save the Constitution!
How brilliant, reduce the deficit by spending less money. Spend less money by getting rid of the largest expenditure. Wow, how’d they ever think of that? Of course it’ll never happen: they’re republicans. First they’d have to end the ‘war’, and then they’d have to be fiscally responsible. Therefore, it will never happen.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pmWell, yeah, and I’m sure that the Tooth Fairy is going to pay off my car loan, too.
Any day now.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:16 pmErrol is a bit of a one prick tony, isn’t he.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:16 pmThis plan is akin to letting go of a fork that you foolishly stuck into an electrical outlet. Sure the pain is momentarily lessened, but you’re still in cardiac arrest with some pretty nasty burns.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm“Grandpappy McSame campaign: ‘Victory in Iraq’ will pay off the deficit.”
Please… Spare me. Gramps is grabbing at straws with this idiotic comment. Lord knows how much exactly this country is in debt [including borrowing money from other countries] when the Sith Administration is gone come January. Pass the popcorn please…
July 7th, 2008 at 4:24 pmMcCain / Wolfowitz ‘08
July 7th, 2008 at 4:33 pmMenehune, I haven’t heard it that well put in ages.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:33 pmMcIIIrd/Jesse Helms ‘08
July 7th, 2008 at 4:34 pm#16-DRxJ
It relates to the UPDATE, which notes that McCain “victory” in Iraq means staying in Iraq for 100 more years. Obama has not stated how long those troops should remain in Iraq which, as I attempted to explain, apparently to no avail, will mean more misery for the Iraqi people. But it would seem that to show any empathy for the Iraqis or to point out that Obama, whom many liberals practically believe walks on water, is hardly the peace candidate that he and the media portray himself to be, is to risk being labeled a “troll”, as evidenced by #26’s less than intelligent comment. If so, I will gladly wear that accusation as a badge of honor. The last thing that liberals would ever wish to admit is that they may have been conned by that [alleged] agent of hope and change.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:34 pm31 – I guess it’s just damned near perfect for a nearly-dead guy to run with an already-dead guy, eh, RU?
/snark
July 7th, 2008 at 4:40 pm32 – Erroll, stop interrupting the grownups, and go back to the kid’s table, you dumb troll.
If you bothered to read at all – instead of just shooting off your stupid mouth—er, FINGERS — you’d get that quite a number of us (if not all of us) are absolutely aware that Obama, like any human being, has feet of clay.
What is it you want from us?
You want we should vote for McSenile? Bob Barr, maybe? Stay home?
Heh. In your trollish dreams, dummy. Never happen.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:44 pmSince we’re paying for our war on Iraq largely with money borrowed from the Chinese, does McCain mean that, instead of paying for the war, he’ll borrow money to “balance the budget”?!
July 7th, 2008 at 4:50 pmBut it would seem that to show any empathy for the Iraqis or to point out that Obama, whom many liberals practically believe walks on water, is hardly the peace candidate that he and the media portray himself to be, is to risk being labeled a “troll”
To make irrelevant straw man arguments (”many liberals practically believe [Obama] walks on water”) and offer red herrings (”to show any empathy for the Iraqis”) is to invite being labeled a troll, and if you’re fookin proud of it, then that speaks for itself, aye?
July 7th, 2008 at 4:52 pmMcCain will use Cindy’s money to get us out of debt, but we all
must drink Budweiser from an Arizona distributer to qualify.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:52 pmThe GOP used to say that all we had to do was cut taxes and we could grow our way our of the deficit. Now, they tell us that we also need “victory in Iraq” to pay off the deficit. What will we need next, pixie dust and magic beans?
According to Repug dogma, the chimp’s tax cuts for the rich should have eliminated the deficit by now. Of course, Repug dogma also teaches us that the chimp is infallible. So, if all that’s true, how come we still have a deficit?
If we accept the GOP’s latest excuse, then all we have to do is get McSame to go on record and define exactly what “victory in Iraq” means, and all our troubles are over, right?
Of course, five years down the road and we’re still waiting for der ChimpenFührer to define “victory in Iraq,” so I’m guessing that this is just more of the same old horse manure from the neo-con men in the GOP.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:03 pm#34-
Ah yes, when in doubt, engage in the usual ad hominem attacks. “What is it you want from us.” How about thinking critically without labeling someone who dares to point out, as you correctly note, that Obama does indeed have feet of clay. You could also think about voting [God forbid] for a third party candidate, such as a Ralph Nader or a Cynthia McKinney or a Gloria LaRiva. But your less than enlightened belief simply mirrors Orwell’s Animal Farm-two legs good, four legs bad. In this case, an American can vote for any candidate he or she wishes, as long as that candidate is a Democrat or a Republican.
The irony is that your moniker is Leftside Annie yet you exhibit no tolerance whatsoever for those candidates [like the ones that I had mentioned] who, unlike Obama, could be considered true leftist candidates. Any credible argument that you could have claimed to have had was certainly lost when you denigrated yourself by childishly calling me a “dummy.” Emotional arguments are much less persuasive than those which rely upon intellectual clarity.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:05 pmGood old trickle UP economics.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:14 pmI disagree with McCain on this. I think our deficit is so large right now that any savings from not having to maintain a forece in Iraq will not balance our budget. Specially when we factor in that we will have to replenish our inventory of equipment and spend on veteran health care way after Iraq. And besides, the biggest line item in the budget are the entitlement programs. We have to control our spending – military, foreign aid, earmarks, food stamps, farm subsidies, etc.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:32 pm39 – Erroll, I’m not stupid enough to waste my vote on a non-viable candidate – especially Ralph Nader, who pops up every 4 years like a jack-in-the-box.
Tell you what – why don’t you go ahead and vote for Bob Barr – or Nader if you’re so inclined – and stop trying to convince me I should waste MY vote.
The above was NOT an ad hominem attack.
Idiot.
That was. Get over it, trollboy.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:39 pm#41: And besides, the biggest line item in the budget are the entitlement programs
I’d really like to be able to verify this claim. Any idea where one could look that up?
July 7th, 2008 at 5:46 pmJust how is it possible to be this stupid and live? I mean Republicans have got to be the absolute dumbest of any identifiable group of humans in history. Oh nm. that’s right. they aren’t human.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:55 pm“And the Iraq war will pay for itself…” Paul Wolfowitz
“The costs of any intervention would be very small.”
Glenn Hubbard
White House economic adviser
October 4, 2002
“It is unimaginable that the United States would have to contribute hundreds of billions of dollars and highly unlikely that we would have to contribute even tens of billions of dollars.”
Kenneth Pollack
former director for Persian Gulf affairs
National Security Council
September 2002
“When it comes to reconstruction, before we turn to the American taxpayer, we will turn first to the resources of the Iraqi government and the international community.”
July 7th, 2008 at 5:58 pmDonald Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
March 27, 2003
The military discrtetion items are 47% of the budget. When the out-of-budget items are added the number rises to 61%. That leaves a mere 39% for all other expenses. You can do the math here.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:06 pmThat was last year and this year is worse.
discrtetion s/b discretionary, forgive me, please.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:10 pmWell, as John Stuart Mill once observed, “Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.”
July 7th, 2008 at 6:17 pm#42-[alleged] Leftside Annie
You made my point. You also have two other choices that you can vote for who are, unlike the messiah Obama, definitely on the left besides Nader. And despite what you seem to believe, Bob Barr hardly qualifies as a leftist candidate. I am also not, despite your contention, stating who you must vote for. I was merely attempting to point out the hypocrisy of your naming yourself a leftist while seemingly casting your vote for a centrist candidate like Obama. But of course to do so means that I will once again be labeled a “troll.”
July 7th, 2008 at 6:22 pmIts all shit and shovels.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:35 pmDoc Rock,
July 7th, 2008 at 7:01 pmThis is the start of a Civil war ditty:
I was born in Tennessee where all hearts are young and free and my father shoveled horsesh!t all day long, but when his day was done, he found a diamond in the dung and sent me off to join the Calvary. Hail, hail, hail the Calvary, to hell with the Field Artillery..
Is this the same victory that McCain proclaimed a couple of years ago ?
This whole Iraq / Iran is starting to look to me like the story of the man stuck in a hole. He figured that if he defecated enough, he could raise the bottom of the hole to get out.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:15 pmFirst of all, what is ‘victory’? The Republicans need to define what exactly ‘victory’ is. Second of all, we’ve seen violence in Iraq for 5 years, I doubt much is going to change, unfortunately. Lastly, how is ‘winning’ a war going to pay off our 9+ trillion dollar deficit? Is Iraq going to give us 9 trillion dollars?
July 7th, 2008 at 7:35 pmPAYING FOR THE REPUBLICAN MARCH TO WAR WITH 100,000 IRAQI LIVES, 4000 AMERICAN LIVES AND COUNTLESS MAIMED. WHAT A NOBLE THOUGHT TO GET RID OF THEIR SIN, OR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. THESE PEOPLE NEED TO BE PUT DOWN AND MARCHED TO JAIL FOR THESE KIND OF THOUGHTS.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:05 pmDid I miss something? Before this war started were we not told we would be welcomed with flowers etc, as liberators? Were we not told that Iraq and their oil would pay for the war?
If all that is true, why are we so far in debt that we cannot pay for schools, a crumbling infrastructure, jobs lost, an economy in the toilet? And debt so far out that our grandchildren will still be paying the tab for years. And do we not owe our financial future to a communist china, as well as Japan and Kuwait? We have gone from being the largest creditor nation to the biggest debtor nation in the history of the world. We spend more then all country’s combined on the military, and still we have a military nearly destroyed.
So now all that doesn’t count. The illegal war does not count. The oil we steal from Iraq will pay for the war and all else right? Gosh, the Republican record for truth, and competence is such that we have nothing to fear. They have been right so often. Right? And now we have McCain. The George Bush clone.
If McCain ever had an original thought it would die of loneliness.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:45 pm.
Please excuse Johnny as he serves up his side of McLies…
… They are jumbo, NO?
Senate Committee Seeks Audit of Iraq Oil Money
By JAMES GLANZ
NYTimes
Published: March 9, 2008
(Subscription may be required)
McPops is simply clueless to think that leaving Iraq in our wake in the state it is in, is going to become “PROFITABLE” for anyone… does he? Even Iraq has no clue where their oil money is flowing to. And McProfiteer wants his cut to balance the 10 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT AMERICA FACES?
Such hubris…
.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:56 amOops…
July 8th, 2008 at 1:57 amThe LINK
Billiant plan mcchimpy.
You will save money by ending chimpy’s war.
Cool! You can save more money by not starting fake wars. Big no nothing plan. It’s hollow, nonsense and lacks commonsense.
It’s the deficit you need to talk about. The interest is sky high.
Gawd! mcchimpy and his follower are slow. mcchimpy says he farted and his supporters clap like trained seals.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:49 amHere’s a link.
You can see there that defense spending is 21% of the budget and it amounts to $557 billion. $100 billion went to operations for Iraq and Afghanistan. So the cost of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is probably about 5% of the budget. Social Sec. & Medicare accounts for 40% of the budget. On top of that we have the farm subsidies, food stamps, housing subsidies.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:43 pm<a href=”“>
Link to national budget figures.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:45 pmHaving problems with the link …
<a href=”“>
July 8th, 2008 at 5:46 pmhttp://www.cbpp.org/4-10-07tax2.htm
July 8th, 2008 at 5:46 pm