Update: More Post-Obamercial Budget Analysis

From MSNBC.

Snip:

THE SPIN: "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost."

THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama's policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years — and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says: "Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years." The analysis goes on to say: "Neither candidate's plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified."

After the Obamercial: A Hint of Criticism Amidst Effusive Praise

Predictably, most media have offered very effusive praise for Obama's infomercial, including those that received millions to air it. ABC's George Stephonopolous calls it a "virtuoso performance," and the San Francisco Chronicle describes it as a "classic closing commercial."

But buried under the plethora of feel-good reviews, CBS correspondent Wyatt Andrews offers a blunt "reality check," which scrutinizes the multitudinous promises made during the Obamercial. Andrews argues that "very few independent economists believe [Obama] has identified the savings needed to offset his remarkable list of tax credits, tax cuts and spending pledges." After detailing the estimated cost of Obama's increased spending and tax reduction platform (sounds like Bush), Andrews concludes that Obama "gave us a very compelling vision with his ad buy tonight. What he did not give us was any hint of the cold reality he's facing or a sense of how he might prioritize his promises if voters trust him with the White House." In the interest of being fair, neither does McCain (see this blog entry).