Campaign Promises Meet Reality

McCain:

He wants to not only extend President Bush's tax cuts, but eliminate the alternative minimum tax at a cost of about $2 trillion over 10 years and to cut the corporate income tax by 10 percentage points.

Clinton:

She backs $25 billion for home heating subsidies and provide $1,000 tax credits for retirement savings.

Obama:

He promises $4,000 credits to help pay college tuition and to effectively rebate the first $500 of Social Security payroll taxes.

"They're operating in Never Never Land.... None of them are honestly addressing the real challenges that they're going to be facing if they're elected," said Leon Panetta, former budget director and chief of staff for President Clinton. "We're facing a deficit bubble that is getting increasingly worse and at some point is going to explode on us."

These campaign pledges are no better than the Junior High class president who promised to install a soda fountain in the school. It is classic political demagoguery.

But even if the next president "pays for" new initiatives, they will still be left with an underlying budget deficit exceeding $400 billion and the looming crises in Social Security, Medicare and the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled.

"They face a collision with reality," said Bob Greenstein, who heads the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. "None of the three candidates is coming to grips with budget realities."

Passing a budget is no easy task. It will be some trick if they can do what they promise while lowering the deficit. The President will be hard pressed, especially if their party does not have a majority in both houses.