McCain at Carnegie-Mellon

John McCain's speech on economics on April 15, 2008 (April 15- quite clever, huh?) at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa. was unintentionally revealing.

McCain declared:

As president, I will also order a prompt and thorough review of the budgets of every federal program, department, and agency. While that top to bottom review is underway, we will institute a one-year pause in discretionary spending increases with the necessary exemption of military spending and veterans benefits.

That's right. Everything gets cut in real terms except the Pentagon. Exempting veterans benefits is commendable, but treating the military as a sacred cow will contribute to the 'favorite son' status the Pentagon has enjoyed at least the past seven years amidst redundancy and exorbitant waste.

The senator promises "no more corporate welfare -- no more throwing around billions of dollars of the people's money on pet projects, while the people themselves are struggling to afford their homes, groceries, and gas ." However, there is less to this than meets the eye. Are "pet projects" those a President McCain doesn't favor? And will there still be "no more corporate welfare" when a President McCain declares that people no longer "are struggling to afford their homes, groceries, and gas?"