John McCain, who attended law school with Draco, says Draconian measures needed to fix budget crisis

The Hill reports on a press conference with John McCain today in which he answered questions alongside Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) about the recent budget negotiations that almost led to a government shutdown.


Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) argued critics of the recent spending cuts agreed to by both parties in Congress are ignoring the dire fiscal path he said the U.S. is currently on.

McCain said a fiscal meltdown is likely unless “draconian measures” are taken, and that only the “most liberal” economists don’t agree the nation’s current fiscal trajectory is unsustainable.

The remarks came during a press conference on commercial privacy Tuesday on the Hill. McCain and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) both answered a question on the budget deal reached this weekend, with Kerry expressing dissatisfaction with the process through which the accord was reached.

Kerry argued cuts to infrastructure projects like railroads or research funding would undermine the nation’s ability to compete in the global economy. He argued Congress had managed to balance the budget in the 1990s without undermining the building blocks of future success and innovation.