Last week, John McCain promised to balance the budget by the end of his first term in office. He hasn't produced a specific plan, but on Wednesday he confirmed -- in his own words -- that one of the top items on his list is "Social Security and Medicare reform." If McCain's words have meaning -- and as the GOP's presidential nominee, they obviously do -- there's only one way to interpret his remarks: he plans to dramatically cut Social Security spending.
The biggest headlines were grabbed by McCain's description of the Social Security system as a "disgrace." Substantively, though, I think McCain's pledge to slash Social Security spending is actually more significant.
Part of the reason that nobody seemed to notice McCain's promise was that when he made it, the the national press corps waiting for him at an airport 27 miles away. Many of them may never have heard what he said. Nonetheless, his plan to cut Social Security spending is important, no matter whether you prefer McCain's vision of privatization or Barack Obama's plan to strengthen the current system. It's a shame that it slipped by unnoticed.
© Jed Lewison