McCain Says as President He Would Balance Budget by 2013 in Part by Overhauling Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Monday promised to balance the federal budget by 2013, in part through reforms to entitlement programs, the Washington Post reports.

According to a policy paper released on Monday by the McCain campaign, the "only way to keep the budget balanced is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid." The paper did not provide details on such reforms (Shear, Washington Post, 7/8). The paper also called for a one-year freeze in most domestic spending subject to annual appropriations to allow for a comprehensive review and proposed to freeze overall spending growth at 2.4% annually, a "tall order because federal spending has been growing an average of more than 6% a year in the last five years," according to the New York Times (Pear, New York Times, 7/8).

In addition, the paper outlines a number of his previously announced economic proposals, such as his health care plan (Washington Post, 7/8). Under his health care proposal, McCain would replace an income tax break for employees who receive health insurance from employers with a refundable tax credit of as much as $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families for the purchase of private coverage (Babington/Sidoti, AP/Kansas City Star, 7/7). The paper also states that McCain would "bring greater affordability and competition to our drug markets through safe reimportation of drugs and faster introduction of generic drugs," as well as promote smoking cessation programs (Allen, The Politico, 7/7).

The policy paper is available online (.pdf).

McCain Speech
During a speech in Denver on Monday, McCain said that the "near-term path to balance is built on three principles: reasonable economic growth, comprehensive spending controls and bipartisanship in budget efforts" (Shear, Washington Post, 7/8). He also promised to veto "every single bill with wasteful spending" (AP/Kansas City Star, 7/7).

According to the Times, economists and fiscal experts on Monday said that the "package of spending and tax cuts proposed by Senator John McCain is unlikely to achieve his goal of balancing the federal budget by 2013," according to the Times (New York Times, 7/8).

C-SPAN on Monday reported on McCain's speech (C-SPAN, 7/7). C-SPAN's "Road to the White House" on Sunday interviewed presidential candidate Ralph Nader (I) about health care and other issues ("Road to the White House," C-SPAN, 7/6).

Groups Seek To Promote Health Care as Campaign Issue
Advocacy groups plan to spend more than $60 million to promote and ask presidential and congressional candidates to support proposals to expand health insurance to all U.S. residents, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

Health Care for America Now, a coalition of labor unions and other organizations that support Democrats, plans to announce a $40 million national ad campaign that calls for access to affordable health care for all residents. The campaign will target important congressional districts in 45 states and will ask candidates to support proposals that allow U.S. residents to retain their current health insurance, purchase new coverage or enroll in a health plan administered by the government. Richard Kirsch, campaign manager for Health Care for America Now, said, "The whole goal is to create a mandate next year for the president and Congress to enact health care reform that meets our principles."

Meanwhile, AARP on behalf of Divided We Fail -- a coalition led by AARP that includes the Business Roundtable, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Service Employees International Union -- plans to spend more than $20 million through Labor Day to promote bipartisan proposals to make health care more affordable. AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said, "We felt we needed more than policy ideas, but the political will to actually get something done."

Neither of the coalitions plans to endorse a presidential candidate, although a number of the groups in Health Care for America Now have endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) or have members serving as his advisers (Kuhnhenn, AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/8).

Opinion Pieces
Two newspapers recently published an opinion piece and an editorial about health care issues in the presidential election. Summaries appear below.

• Peter Canellos, Boston Globe: "The news last week that Democratic senators ... are already laying the groundwork for a major revamping of the national health system may or may not be welcome news to Barack Obama," Canellos writes in a Globe opinion piece. He writes, "On the one hand, the move clearly indicates that the senators are expecting an Obama victory, with their party controlling Congress," and "Obama, whose Senate aides have participated in [Sen. Edward Kennedy's (Mass.)] planning sessions, has promised to provide universal coverage by the end of his first term." However, "on the other hand, the presumptive Democratic nominee knows that the last time the Democrats controlled the White House and Congress, in 1993-94, the party's agenda got so bogged down in health care that it not only failed to deliver on some other promises, it suffered an epic defeat in the midterm elections," Canellos writes. According to Canellos, "[O]pportunities to reshape the nation's health system pop up only once every two decades or so," and "Democrats sense that the combination of skyrocketing costs, insufficient coverage and a growing realization that health care obligations are making American companies less competitive may be enough to erase traditional fears of a government-sponsored overhaul." He adds that the "choice for a President Obama ... would be whether to gamble his agenda -- and much of his credibility -- by pressing immediately for a transformation of health care" or "just ... hold off a bit, realizing it will be a tough fight, and focus on more deliverable priorities for his first few months" (Canellos, Boston Globe, 7/8).
  
  
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Before Americans cuddle up to Barack Obama, they should consider first his 'cure' for health care," a Tribune-Review editorial states. The editorial states that Obama is "pushing a $65 billion-a-year health care package" that is "essentially the same boilerplate advanced by others and with the same bloated bureaucracy." According to the editorial, the "only salvation from Senator Obama's care-crippling plan is that it would probably require two or more presidential terms to fully implement," although "Obama could do considerable damage" in one term. The editorial states, "Rather than a grandiose government cure, Obama could build credibility by encouraging tax-exempt individual health savings accounts." However, "that would transfer responsibility, and money, from Big Government to individuals," and "that's never going to happen on Obama's watch," the editorial states (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 7/7).