You know the old saying, "misses the forest for the trees?" In political headlines, there should be an analogue: "Misses the policies for the press releases." Take Mike Allen's article entitled "McCain Promises to Balance Budget." Everyone promises to balance the budget. It's like telling your dentist that you floss every night. If that's actually what's in the story, then the article shouldn't have been written. The question, of course, is how you will balance the budget. If a budget is out of whack, one of two things has to happen: You need more revenues, or you need to cut spending. McCain has already forsworn revenue increases, and isn't saying anything to the contrary. And here, Allen has the goods, albeit goods the Prospect had a couple months back: McCain will "balance the federal budget by the end of his first term by curbing wasteful spending and overhauling entitlement programs, including Social Security, his advisers told Politico." "Overhauling" is a weasel word. So, in this context, is "reform." If you are going to balance the budget by doing something to entitlement programs, you are going to do one of two things: Raise the payroll tax, or cut the programs. In other words, the accurate headline for this piece would read "McCain Promises to Cut Social Security And Medicare Or Drastically Raise The Payroll Tax." If enough pieces like that were written, McCain would have to explain which of those he intends to do. As of yet, he's been able to dodge the question, saying repeatedly that he'll "talk' to Congress. But Congress won't cut Social Security or Medicare. So is McCain promising a massive payroll tax increase? Or is he just spouting platitudes? It's an interesting question, and it actually has an answer. But in order to get that answer, reporters will need to aggressively explain McCain's plan: Cut Social Security and Medicare. Or pass a huge tax increase. Those are his only two options. And the legendary straight talker should be able to explain which he favors.
