The fact that we can't afford what the candidates propose doesn't surprise me, but I'm a little shocked at just how much we can't afford them:
According to the nonpartisan website PolitiFact, which assesses the accuracy of what candidates say, all the programs envisioned by Hillary Clinton would add about $174 billion a year in outlays. And that was before she unveiled a $70 billion fiscal stimulus plan Friday. Barack Obama, according to a November analysis in the McClatchy newspapers, has promised "at least $181 billion in new annual spending on middle-class tax cuts, health care and retirement and energy plans."
How would they pay for it all? Their prime source is repealing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest households. What they don't acknowledge is that those tax cuts are already scheduled to expire in 2010, helping to eliminate the deficit. But if the money is going to be used to close the fiscal shortfall, it can't be used to pay for new programs.I can't recall having heard either Clinton or Obama talk about where the revenue to cover their proposals would come from, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were hoping we wouldn't notice that it's spoken for more than once.
Is anyone bringing these figures out in the debates, or am I just not hearing about it?
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