Obamapromises

I thought Obama’s acceptance speech was very good, and holding it outdoors (a la FDR in ’32) was brilliant. There’s nothing like 75,000 crazed supporters to whip up some enthusiasm for your ideas.

It’s the ideas themselves that concern me. Not that I think they are bad ideas – I don’t – but it’s hard to see how he plans to pay for all this stuff. In my view the mounting national debt is both our biggest security and our biggest economic concern, and it looks like a President Obama plans to spend first and worry about that later.

Here, in his own words the other night, are the things he plans to do that will have an obvious direct, or indirect, cost to the US economy:

“I will start giving them (tax breaks) to companies that create good jobs right here in America. "

"I'll eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. "

"I will cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95 percent of all working families."

"I will …invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. "

"I'll help our auto companies re-tool… "

"I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. "

"And I'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy -- wind power, and solar power, and the next generation of biofuels… "

"I'll invest in early childhood education. "

"I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries, and give them more support."

"Now -- now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. "

"If you have health care -- if you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves."

"Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their job and caring for a sick child or an ailing parent. "

"Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, … and the time to protect Social Security for future generations. "

"And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have the exact same opportunities as your sons.”

Also in his own words, here is how he plans to pay for all those items:

“…I'll pay for every dime: by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. "

"I will stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas… "

"But I will also go through the federal budget line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less, because we cannot meet 21st-century challenges with a 20th-century bureaucracy.”

There is no way to make those two columns come even close to balancing. You can read the full speech here.