In one of the many quotes that John McCain probably wishes he could take back, and probably denies he ever uttered, the Republican nominee for prez said, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should. I've got Greenspan's book." It strikes me that this probably summarizes why Alan Greenspan is as powerful as he is. Very few people in power understand economics as well as they should so they just defer to Mr. Greenspan.
I don't understand economics well enough to say whether or not Greenspan does…but when I hear him speak, I always suspect that he doesn't. He's just stuck acting like he does because he can't defer to Alan Greenspan.
On several occasions, McCain has suggested that if elected, his economic policy will be basically to bring in Alan Greenspan and do whatever he says. This plan may change since Mr. Greenspan is now saying the country can't afford the tax cuts McCain is proposing…not without a helluva lot of cuts in government spending. The spending slashes McCain has mentioned are vague in the specifics but would not come anywhere near the necessary level. Even the tax increases that many lower- and middle-class Americans would pay under McCain's health plan proposal wouldn't come within miles of offsetting his proposed tax cuts…which are, of course, weighted towards the wealthy.
This probably won't matter to a lot of people. They hear "tax cuts" and they begin salivating. Never mind the deficit or how much money we're borrowing from countries that we otherwise fear. Never mind the disproportionate cuts that favor the upper class. They won't even notice the hidden tax increases that McCain has in mind.
Not that it'll matter to these folks but I hope someone presses McCain to be more specific and expansive with his ideas of how he'll reduce spending. He'll probably say he's going to have Sarah Palin go around and say "thanks but no thanks" to thousands of bridge proposals.