MUST READ: "McCain Promises Billions in Spending"

John McCain tries to portray himself as a "maverick" who will reign in out of control spending and balance the budget but the truth is McCain, according to the AP, "is making promises that would cost billions of taxpayer dollars, yet he is vague about how he would pay for them." He claims he'll cover some of the costs of extra spending and extending tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans by eliminating earmarks yet McCain is already turning away from that promise as he's forced to admit that he'd keep some of the earmarks he's derided as wasteful spending.

John McCain admits that he doesn't understand the economy and that's clear --his numbers just don't add up. With half thought out plans, no details and a "plan" that primarily benefits corporations and the wealthy, Americans must be asking themselves- what ever happened to straight talk?

The following are excerpts of the story:

McCain promises billions in spending
Associated Press
By Libby Quaid
May 1, 2008

"Republican John McCain is making promises that would cost billions of taxpayer dollars, yet he is vague about how he would pay for them…Now McCain is promising ambitious cuts in spending to pay for his ideas. The cuts would not pay for all his promises, but McCain says they needn't."I strongly disagree with the view that just because you reduce the tax burden, just because you let people save and invest more of their money, that therefore there's less money that goes into government," he told reporters last week in Alabama.

"McCain's tax cuts would be double the size of President Bush's…And the cost of his tax breaks could rise even higher. McCain has proposed two business tax breaks, a credit for research and first-year expensing of equipment; his campaign says they essentially would cost nothing, but the Treasury Department has estimated they could cost more than $140 billion annually.

"Yet for all the numbers he has provided, McCain has been reluctant to say exactly which programs he would cut. He criticizes "earmarks," pet projects tucked into spending bills, like the bear study. He said Wednesday that the bridge collapse in Minnesota last year would not have happened if Congress had not wasted so much money on pork-barrel spending, despite the suspicion of federal investigators that the problem may have been design-related, not spending-related. Even the earmarks he rails against include things he supports, such as aid to Israel. Last month, after McCain promised to eliminate all earmarks as part of his economic plan, his campaign said he remains committed to aid for Israel.Thus, the reality of cutting spending may be very different from rhetoric, as McCain has found time and again.

To read the entire article, click here:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080501/D90CMSBG0.html