The Victory Savings Plan

Just an additional word on John McCain's preposterous plan to balance the budget in part through the savings accrued by his mystery scheme for "victory" in Iraq. When you're talking about budgetary savings, you need to be talking compared to some baseline. So in this case while it's true that securing some undefined victory through undefined methods at an unknown future date would be cheaper than continuing precisely as is forever, that this "endless war" scenario doesn't exist in any of the standard budget projections.

There aren't, in short, any real savings to be achieved here -- only a large question mark as to how much additional deficit spending will take place. McCain, despite a certain amount of flim-flam last week to the contrary, is still the candidate who'll spend more in Iraq over a longer period of time than will the alternative candidate for the presidency.

Comments

Also seems worth noting that the war is not in the budget. It's funded through supplementals.

Posted by southpaw | July 8, 2008 2:29 PM

So John McCain now has a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam, er, Iraq? (note to trolls -- yes, I'm aware Nixon never actually said "I have a secret plan to end the war").

Next thing you know McCain'll be claiming that Obama has no plan to get us out of Iraq and wants to keep us there.

It's the GOP SOP.

Posted by DAS | July 8, 2008 2:29 PM

Shorter Johnny McCain:

One of the things I would do if I were President would be to sit the revenues and the expenditures down and say, "Stop the bullshit."

Posted by Aaron | July 8, 2008 2:39 PM

It's really like saying that you'll be rolling once you stop spending all your money on the craps table. Except that the way you'll stop is by continuing to gamble until you've won, once and for all.

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | July 8, 2008 2:49 PM

I wonder if the any of the TV talking heads or anchors will actually note how ridiculous this is.

But in the interest of being "balanced", I doubt they will.

Posted by Naveen | July 8, 2008 2:49 PM

Just to expand on southpaw's comments: as I understand it, the war is not funded out of the general budget and is thus not calculated into the current deficit (although obviously it does lead to the accrual of debt). The reason it is funded through supplementals is because it is understood that it is only temporary and therefore shouldn't be counted in the regular math about how much taxes should be collected etc. This just makes McCain's statement all the more absurd, because even if war expenses were to go all the way to zero, the deficit would still be exactly as bad as it is today.
Going back to the credit card analogy, it would be like you were putting all of your mortgage payments on credit card A and all of your car payments on credit card B, and as a plan to get out of debt you propose to get rid of your car and use that windfall of savings to avoid putting your mortgage on credit card A in the future. Crazy stuff.

Posted by Forrester | July 8, 2008 2:59 PM

You're missing McCain's brilliance: we need to massively increase military expenditures right away (as Bush is doing his best to do), so that McCain can cut them and used the savings to balance the budget. If we can raise planned expenditures enough -- say, $10 trillion -- then we can eliminate not just the running deficit but the backlog, and still have a few trillion left over for the Pentagon. It's brilliant I tell you!

As for me, I'm looking forward to my retirement, funded entirely by the $5000 a month I'm saving by not renting a penthouse getaway in Manhattan. It's going to be great to have all that money...

Posted by PQuincy | July 8, 2008 3:00 PM

You're missing McCain's brilliance: we need to massively increase military expenditures right away (as Bush is doing his best to do), so that McCain can cut them and used the savings to balance the budget. If we can raise planned expenditures enough -- say, $10 trillion -- then we can eliminate not just the running deficit but the backlog, and still have a few trillion left over for the Pentagon. It's brilliant I tell you!

As for me, I'm looking forward to my retirement, funded entirely by the $5000 a month I'm saving by not renting a penthouse getaway in Manhattan. It's going to be great to have all that money...

Posted by PQuincy | July 8, 2008 3:03 PM

This just makes McCain's statement all the more absurd, because even if war expenses were to go all the way to zero, the deficit would still be exactly as bad as it is today.

That's the beauty of this plan, Forrester. Once we win the war, we'll just pass occasional supplementals to fund the balancing of the budget!

Posted by Seitz | July 8, 2008 3:17 PM

The GOP became masters at supplemental and emergency spending. Lots and lots and LOTS of spending.

My favorite was when the 2000 census, having taken place almost every ten years (with a few misses) since 1790, was paid for as an emergency expenditure.

Posted by LFC | July 8, 2008 3:39 PM

Even if we did win the war, wouldn't they just blow all the savings on victory parades?

Posted by KenS | July 8, 2008 4:03 PM

People should keep harping on the point - as I do - that HOW is McCain going to save money from IRAQ when he's promising to start a war with IRAN?

It's a very simple question that he can't answer - just like all the other questions he can't answer.

Except, of course, that nobody has the nerve to ask that question because nobody has the nerve to point out that we're going to war with Iran.

But it doesn't matter - because he's been anointed as the next President of the United States by the MSM and the Powers That Be.

Obama might as well shoot himself.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 8, 2008 10:15 PM