Ruminations, September 14

Ruminations, September 14, 2008

The case for John McCain
Last week, we made the case for Barack Obama. This week, we’ll make the case for John McCain.

But before we do that, let’s put things in perspective. The first and most important job of the chief executive is to defend the nation and make it safer. The second most important job is to ensure a strong economy, in part because without a strong economy the nation is weaker.

Moreover, in evaluating a presidential candidate, philosophy is more important than specific plans. Specific plans are seldom enacted. Here are a few of the stumbling blocks a new president may face.

Once taking office, he may find that the situation he has inherited requires him to react differently from the plans he has promised. In 1992, Bill Clinton campaigned on a plan to cut taxes for the middle class. When Clinton took office, he judged the financial situation of the country was such that it could not afford the tax cut or, for that matter, many of the spending programs he had promised. Did he lie during the campaign? Not at all: his philosophy was to expand the graduated tax rate such that the middle class accrued greater benefits than the wealthy did but, once he took office, he thought that it would b e fiscally irresponsible to do so.

Once a president takes office, not only does he have to deal with an inherited situation but he must deal with 535 members of Congress. Members of Congress have their own egos, politics, aspirations and opinions on what is best for the country. When John F. Kennedy, in September 1960, urged that a civil rights bill be enacted and passed in the next (his) administration, he had every intention of doing all he could to get a bill passed. It didn’t happen because he couldn’t convince Congress that it was in their and the country’s interest to pass a civil rights bill.

When a president takes office, unanticipated events may take priority and his specific plans promised during the campaign may take a lower priority. When George W. Bush campaigned in 2000 he promised a comprehensive immigration plan including guest workers as one of his high priorities. Then came September 11, 2001, and immigration was swept off the legislative agenda for his first term.

Back to Senator McCain and why his candidacy for president should be supported. We should support him not because he has the best specific plans but because his philosophy is best suited for a strong country and an economically sound country. Here are his major strengths.
Making the country stronger and safer. Whether or not you supported our invasion of Iraq in 2003, there is no doubt that our withdrawal would have been seen as a defeat for us and a victory for al Qaeda. John McCain has steadfastly supported victory in Iraq.

National Intelligence Estimate, January 2007: "If such a rapid withdrawal [e.g., over 12-18 months] were to take place … [Al Qaeda in Iraq] would attempt to use parts of the country – particularly al-Anbar province – to plan increased attacks in and outside of Iraq ..."

CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden, testifying before the House of Representatives, January 2007: "… I strongly believe [U.S. failure in Iraq] would lead to al Qaeda with what it is they said is their goal there, which is the foundations of the caliphate, and in operational terms for us, a safe haven from which then to plan and conduct attacks against the West."

General David Petraeus, press briefing, April 2007: "Iraq is, in fact, the central front of al Qaeda's global campaign."

Osama Bin Laden, posted on Jihadist websites, December, 2004: “Baghdad [is] the capital of the caliphate."

John McCain, New Hampshire, November 2007: “I would rather lose an election than lose a war.”

John McCain, to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, July 2008: “Though victory in Iraq is finally in sight, a great deal still depends on the decisions and good judgment of the next president.”

Making a stronger economy. Sustainable economic growth is better served by independent markets and those markets are more likely to thrive in an environment where they have greater capital resources – i.e., greater capitalization is possible with lower taxes.

The Economist, April 2008: “Mr. McCain's approach to economics is moralistic. He thinks it wrong for Congress to waste other people's money, and wrong for chief executives to trouser huge pay packets when they mismanage.”

John McCain, at Carnegie Mellon University, April 2008: “In our free society, it is left to each one of us to make our own way in the world -- and our jobs, businesses, savings, pensions, farms, and homes are the work of years. Take these away and you are diminishing a lot more than the GDP, or the final tally on the Big Board on Wall Street. Take these away, and a million dreams are undone. The gains of hard work and sacrifice are lost. And something can be lost that is very crucial in our economy, and very slow to return -- confidence.”

John McCain, Boca Raton debates, January, 2008: "I think it's very important that we make the Bush tax cuts permanent. I voted to make them permanent twice already." For a more complete assessment of McCain’s record on taxes, see http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120295108223666913.html)

John McCain, Lexington, Massachusetts, June 2008: “In a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil, this nation will achieve strategic independence by 2025." [Note: Energy policy has a direct impact on economic strength – but you know that]. McCain is committed to promoting and expanding the use of our domestic supplies of natural gas and to expanding domestic oil exploration.

John McCain on foreign trade, responding to the Washington Post, December 2007: “Ninety-five percent of the world's customers are outside our borders, so it makes sense to try to reach more of them with our products and services by concluding more trade agreements tied to vigorous enforcement ….We also benefit from direct investment in our nation.”

The great majority of economists believe that expanding trade agreements expands the economy.

We could go down a list of other items McCain has supported and opposed and evaluate them one by one. But that’s the window dressing. If we don’t have a strong country that can and will defend itself, and if we don’t have a country that is economically secure enough to afford defending itself, then who cares about anything else? And that’s the strongest case for John McCain.

Another endorsement for Obama
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has expelled the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and recalled Venezuela’s ambassador in Washington. Chávez, whose politics are an amalgam of nationalism, socialism, communism and opposition to the U.S., said, “When there is a new government in the United States, we’ll send an ambassador.” The implication seems to be that Chávez will wait for Barack Obama.

Sounds like another endorsement for Obama. Let’s see, that makes:

Ahmed Yousuf, political advisor to the terrorist group Hamas
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa whose election was partly financed by the terrorist group FARC and who is a personal friend of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The North Korean newspaper Choson Sinbo.
And now, Hugo Chávez.

To be fair, Obama did not seek these endorsements and has disavowed several. Nonetheless, for good or ill, these folks seem to like Obama.




Robert J. Kulak
West Hartford, Connecticut