It's occasionally worth pointing out that John McCain doesn't know anything about the economy. His answer to a possible recession appears to be fireside chats and a pledge not to raise taxes. That's...dumb. Meanwhile, he's going to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax and balance the budget. How he'll make up for the hundreds of billions between here and there? Interesting question. If he's thought about it, he's not letting us in on the secret. Also, I'm pleased to see John McCain's negotiating style remains constant no matter what the problem. On Iraq, McCain memorably said, “One of the things I would do if I were President would be to sit the Shiites and the Sunnis down and say, ‘Stop the bullshit.'" That's a fascinating diplomatic technique, taking into account absolutely none of the relevant disputes. Happily, on Social Security, were going to get much of the same. "The way I would fix Social Security is to sit down with Republicans and Democrats together at a table, voicing my opposition to tax increases, and sitting down and negotiating a fix to Social Security, which is the only way that Social Security is going to be fixed. That's my solution to the Social Security system." Now, McCain has said, in this very interview, that he can't envision a scenario in which he'd raise taxes. So what he's going to do on Social Security is sit down with Republicans and Democrats, disallow tax increases, and hope a fix manifests itself. Which it won't. So then he'll either raise taxes or ignore the problem. So, at the interview's end, we know McCain has no solutions for a recession, tax and deficit plans that don't come anywhere near matching up, no solutions for Social Security (and he disowned the one on his own web site), and no coherence in his economic thinking. He may be a straight shooter, but that doesn't do anyone any good if he's firing blanks.
