Barack Obama for President

Sometimes those checking the facts need to fact checked as well. I pointed this out previously on the embryonic stem cell issue. Now, the fact checkers are being critical on Obama for stating that he will counter the increase in spending created by his proposed programs by cutting other spending from the budget. The yahoo “fact check” says:

OBAMA: “Actually I’m cutting more than I’m spending so that it will be a net spending cut.”

THE FACTS: The bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama would increase spending by $425 billion over four years and reduce spending by $144 billion for a net increase in the deficit of $281 billion. Obama has said he’ll cut pork-barrel programs and the costs of the war in Iraq to pay for his programs — as well as raise taxes on the wealthy — but the specifics of his new spending plans outweigh the few spending cuts he’s identified.

Really? According to the Washington Post: 

The non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculates that Obama has promised a total of $990 billion in new spending over his first four-year term. At the same time, he has also proposed spending cuts that amount to around $989 billion, so the net cost roughly balances out. The debt will continue to increase, more or less in line with current projections, based on keeping most of the Bush tax cuts.

“Obama has talked about a lot of new spending initiatives, but he has also talked about new ways to curb spending,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee, whose detailed budget analyses are available here. “I give him points for holding the line.”

I will point out that Maya MacGuineas was a former McCain advisor in the 2000 campaign. It is rather unfortunate that the fact checkers can sometimes be unreliable.

I didn’t have the ability to live blog tonight. However, I did record the debate and I have some comments.

A) I really think that when you go back and look at the video, McCain made a real fool of himself on Obama’s “spending increase”. I mean, Barack Obama said that McCain would tell the voters that Obama would increase spending but fail to tell you about the places where Obama would cut spending (and that those spending cuts would be greater than the additional spending). What did John McCain do a minute later? He told the voters that Obama would increase spending and failed to mention that Obama would also initiate spending cuts. Did John McCain just not remember what Obama said a minute before?

B) In the Saddleback forum, John McCain called Meg Whitman wise and described her as one of three people he would look to for advice. Now he has elevated her to a potential candidate for Secretary of the Treasury? With our economic problems, Meg Whitman is probably one of the last people we need in that important position.

C) John McCain criticized Obama, again, for saying he would attack Al Queda across the border of Pakistan if Pakistan was unable or unwilling to act. McCain quoted Teddy Roosevelt saying that Obama should speak more softly. McCain then went on to discuss how he saw KGB in the eyes of Putin, that the “bomb Iran” song parody was just a joke, and in the last debate described clearly (and not very softly) how he would circumvent the Russian veto on the U.N. Security Council. Again, very hypocritical for McCain (and Obama was very clever to attack back with the Bomb Iran comment again).

D) On healthcare, McCain  attacked Obama for supposedly setting up fines if you don’t follow the supposed mandate for healthcare. Obama stated that this was a falsehood. I did a simple search for “fine” under Barack Obama’s healthcare plan. I came up with zero results. McCain said that Obama’s fine would hurt small business. In fact, he stated in the debate:

If you are a small businessperson and you dont insure your employees, Senator Obama will fine you.

I found this in Obama’s healthcare plan.

Large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt from this requirement.

So there you have it. Small businesses will not be mandated to cover their employees or help them get their own plans. Period. The fact checkers confirm this. So this is a clear McCain lie.

And the only mandate for healthcare is that children are required to have healthcare. Obama plans to expand the CHIP program to make that possible. So again, there would be no need for any sort of “fine” because CHIP would be there to help parents provide healthcare for children.

E) The only criticism of Obama I have tonight is that he still did not attack the false McCain claim that his plan for Iraq would amount to some sort of defeat in Iraq. Obama did say that we would have a responsible withdrawal of troops, and that is great and I fully support that. However, Obama MUST attack McCain’s false claims about “defeat” or “surrender” in Iraq. And again, I have no idea why he refuses to do it.

At the end of the debate, it is a clear Obama victory. He explained the majority of his plans clearly. He showed why his plans are better. He defended his beliefs against false McCain charges on most of the issues, and did so in a very cool and calm manner. Basically, he came off looking more Presidential. Perhaps there is a good reason for that.