1115.org

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It was foretold these seven days ago that 1115 would turn into a poetry-and-cooking-and-snorkeling-and- skiing blog.

Today we begin that transition, by bringing you one of my favorite recipes. This one is for balancing the budget, and is evidently a great favorite of the McCain family.

• Take one budget deficit, of $400 billion per year, give or take
• Make Bush’s tax cuts permanent
• Cut taxes by another $300 billion per year on top of that
• (To those who may have nodded off: at this point there’s a $700 billion gap to be bridged)
• Claim to cut earmark spending by $100 billion per year
• Beat two eggs, apply on your face, and admit that earmark spending will be cut by $18 billion tops
• Wave your hands, and claim that there will be other unspecified spending cuts (to unspecified programs, by unspecified amounts)
• Step back from the kitchen sink, wait for the chorus of trumpets, wave your hands again, and go “Voila! The budget is balanced!”
• Refer all questions to Doug Holtz-Eakin, who will defer all questions to an unspecified future date

It’s that easy to balance the budget. McCain can do it for sure. I have no doubt that Hillary can do it too. Obama may not quite be man enough, though.

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Next week, we hope to bring you McCain’s recipe for cutting government spending by “a $1 trillion or so”. This one is not a family favorite. In fact, it is widely rumored that McCain has yet to come up with the recipe, even though he announced the dish on April 20:

So why would you not think that if we stopped that increase in the size of government, in the form of a $1 trillion or so, that we can’t balance the budget?

Total discretionary federal spending is $1.2 trillion. McCain will put on a large white apron, and take an industrial strength chainsaw to the federal budget. That is to say, to the federal government. Tickets will be sold to the public, all receipts going to reduce the deficit. Be patriotic; buy front row tickets.