Our guest bloggers are Robert Gordon and James Kvaal, senior fellows at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

John McCain’s balanced budget plan relies on steep cuts to U.S. spending in Iraq, according to a memorandum written by economic policy advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin and published in the Washington Post today. The plan calls for $150 billion in savings in 2013, which is only possible with the kind of timed mass withdrawal from Iraq he has criticized.

Here is what the plan says:

“Balance the budget requires slowing outlay growth to 2.4 percent. The roughly $470 billion dollars (by 2013) in slower spending growth come from reduced deployments abroad ($150 billion; consistent with success in Iraq/Afghanistan that permits deployments to be cut by half — hopefully more) …”

Whatever McCain says about cutting deployments in half, achieving $150 billion in savings would require a massive withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

First, U.S. spending in Iraq and Afghanistan totaled $171 billion in 2007, according to the Congressional Budget Office – and that includes money for Iraqi security forces, foreign aid, and veterans benefits. If current policies continue – and spending grows with inflation – the war might cost $200 billion in 2013. Cutting the cost by three-quarters, especially when other costs (like veterans benefits and foreign aid) will remain, would require a sharp, perhaps nearly complete withdrawal of troops.

The numbers from CBO look even worse. According to CBO, rapidly reducing the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 30,000 would save only $55 billion in 2013. So CBO is saying that a much bigger troop reduction than McCain wants would save barely a third as much money as McCain claims.

Finally, Obama’s own, more aggressive plan to withdraw forces from Iraq will save only $90 billion a year, according to his campaign.

McCain has previously said that an Iraq withdrawal timetable would mean “disaster” and “chaos, genocide.” But his own budget documents contain a plan not merely for withdrawal, but for mass withdrawal.

Today at the National Council on La Raza, John McCain is giving a speech outlining his plan for addressing the education challenges Hispanics face in the United States:

Today, studies show that half of Hispanics entering high school do not graduate with their class…We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition; hold schools accountable for results; strengthen math, science, technology and engineering curriculums; empower parents with choice; remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward superior teachers, and have a fair but sure process to weed out incompetents.

The problem is not with his words. But a look at John McCain’s record and policy proposals — including draconian spending cuts needed to pay for his corporate tax cuts — have disturbing implications for Hispanic students (and, really, every student). Here are some highlights from a new report from the Center for American Progress Action Fund:

–McCain Would Imperil Education Funding: McCain’s massive budget hole would require deep cuts in education funding, as much as a forty percent reduction in non-defense spending. And McCain’s record shows he is willing to let education priorities fall by the wayside: he has consistently voted against resources for higher teacher quality, Hispanic drop-out prevention, and after-school programs that improve student performance. He has also consistently undermined effective efforts at accountability by refusing to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act.

–McCain Would Slash Head Start Programs: McCain has promised a discretionary spending freeze that would slash cut funding for Head Start by over $968 million. And the massive deficits his tax plan would rack up could increase pressure for across-the-board cuts that would slash Head Start’s budget by an additional $1.6 billion, and drop over 170,000 children from the rolls. Hispanic students make up 34% of all kids enrolled in Head Start, and the programs have been shown to dramatically reduce the gaps in test scores between Latino students and non-Hispanic Whites.

Read more