'Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney says it’s “time to level with the American people about what it will take to cut spending and to balance our budget.” While promising a “credible plan” to do that, the Republican presidential contender has proposed cuts that amount to little more than 60 percent of the $500 billion in annual spending reductions he vows. Some of his anticipated savings may not materialize, according to budget experts. And he wants to cut taxes and spend more on defense even as he pledges to bring spending down to 20 percent of the U.S. economy. “Romney may be our only hope, so let’s hope he takes a remedial math course before January 2013,” says former Reagan administration budget director David Stockman. “You can’t get to 20 percent of GDP on spending without taking a fire ax to the Pentagon budget and sharply reducing Social Security payments to the more affluent current retirees.” One of Romney’s biggest cuts -- repealing the new health- care law -- actually would increase the deficit, according to Congressional Budget Office calculations. Savings from another proposal, to peg federal employees’ pay to that of private industry, are disputed by a recent government study. And his plan assumes the economy grows at annual rates that are roughly 50 percent faster than those expected by the Federal Reserve. Falling Short On Nov. 4, Romney said he would cut $500 billion in annual spending by the end of his first term in 2016 and then “put us on a path to a balanced budget and a constitutional amendment that requires government to spend only what it earns.” The proposals he has offered -- including turning the Medicaid health-insurance program for the poor over to the states, reducing government workers’ pay and cutting waste -- total less than $320 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Balancing the budget would be made more difficult by his plan to reduce taxes and reverse the Obama administration’s scheduled defense-spending cuts of $450 billion over the next 10 years.' http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...et-balance-clouded-as-savings-fall-short.html
The guy with the best plan for the US economy and the most knowledge of foreign policy is Huntsman... hands down. But, he needs to quit behaving like an Ambassador and come out swinging.
I knew it. Mr. Vanilla not only does not understand basic math (apparently)...but he also wants to INCREASE the defense budget - even though America already spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined and she is broke!?! What an ignoramus.
