Senator John McCain vowed yesterday that he would balance the federal budget by 2013, the end of what would be his first term in office, a seemingly ambitious proposition. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit is expected to rise to over $400 billion by 2013.

“We must also get government's fiscal house in order. American workers and families pay their bills and balance their budgets, and I will demand the same of the government. A government that spends wisely and balances its budget is a catalyst for economic growth and the creation of good and secure jobs,” McCain said as he reinstated his economic policy plans.

McCain's campaign also released a document detailing his previously announced economic proposals encapsulating the issues of more offshore oil drilling and a gas-tax holiday; aggressive efforts to control government spending; lower taxes for businesses and individuals; new energy research; and tax credits to spur a private health insurance market.

Obama, however, dismissed McCain’s economic proposals. Obama said, “If you look at the essence of his economic polices, which are based on large, massive tax cuts for corporation and wealthy individuals, only a quarter of those tax cuts going to the middle class, in contrast to my tax plan that would be designed where 95% of the beneficiaries of the tax breaks would go to the middle class. John McCain wants to continue the same policies that George Bush made the cornerstone of his administration. They haven’t worked.”