McCain Full of it on Budget

For most of my life, I have heard Republicans and self-proclaimed conservatives railing against government spending and blaming the left for the majority of it. Despite the fact that Republicans have been in control of the Executive Branch for most of my life, they are somehow credited with fiscal conservativism. Clinton's administration was probably the most fiscally responsible during my years whereas Bush and the Republican controlled Congress were the worst, but Dems still have this reputation.

The 11 June, 2008, issue of The New Republic features an editorial that reveals McCain's Budgetary Bullshit.

Actually, McCain is following the pattern of not just Bush but every Republican president since Ronald Reagan. Phase One is to enact tax cuts and promise that they'll cause revenues to rise, or will cause revenues to fall (leading to spending cuts), or somehow both at once, so, either way, there's no possibility that it will lead to deficits. Phase Two is deficits. Phase Three is to blame the deficits on big-spending congressional fat cats and to issue increasingly strident threats to cut expenditures, without going so far as to identify actual programs to cut.

The article is short, easily accessible by everyone, and even features some snarkiness:

McCain is promising to cut taxes by $300 billion per year on top of the Bush tax cuts, which he would make permanent. In addition to this, he promises to balance the budget in his first term. When asked how he could possibly pull this off, McCain has asserted that he could eliminate all earmark spending, saving $100 billion per year.

I don't find this explanation persuasive. The first point I'd make is that $100 billion is, in fact, less than $300 billion. The second point I'd make is that McCain won't even cut $100 billion, or anywhere close.