Like some of you, CBS News corps tuned in to Sen. Barack Obama's fancy infomercial on Wednesday night. According to reporter Wyatt Andrews, the candidate's big promises didn't add up. Literally. The Illinois senator talked about extending health care to every American ($1.2 trillion over 10 years), rebuilding the military ($7 billion per year), reforming education ($18 billion per year), redirecting energy policy ($15 billion per year), launching a second massive stimulus package ($188 billion over two years), and creating tax cuts for businesses ($85 billion per year).Obama tried to justify the hefty price tag, saying, "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost." By CBS's calculations he is more than $90 billion short. Even if Obama managed to pull troops out of Iraq and slash the federal budget, economists say his spending spree well exceeds what Americans can afford. The Democratic candidate does an impressive job of casting a grandiose vision-but offers no real explanation for how he plans to pay for it.
On Capitol Hill, the Democratic leadership is already offering some clues. If Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) speaks for the majority, taxpayers should be gripping their wallets a little tighter. A few weeks ago, Frank said, "Speaking personally, I think there are a lot of very rich people out there whom we can tax... and recover some of this money."
Now, just days later, he and other Democrats say the wealthy won't be the only ones feeling the pain of Obama's plan. "We'll have to raise taxes ultimately," Frank told reporters, frankly.
(Family Research Council's Action Update, October 31)
