McCain Promises Third Bush Term
John McCain's Double-Talk express may have rolled past his Republican cohorts in New Hampshire after a disappointing fourth place in Iowa, but his record makes one thing clear: he offers more of the same. The one-time maverick has stubbornly promised nothing more than a third Bush term on everything from Iraq to health care, and from privatizing Social Security to continuing Bush's budget busting special interest tax cuts. The American people want real change, not an establishment candidate who will do anything to win, even if it means compromising on his principles.
McCain's not alone, however. One thing is clear: whoever wins, a vote for any of the Republican candidates is a vote for a third Bush term. Read more on the 2008 Republican candidates here.
FOUR MORE YEARS? No Thanks!!!
John McCain Means a Third Bush Term
IRAQ: NO PLAN TO END THE WAR IN IRAQ
John McCain Said That Iraq Was "On The Right Track" As The Country Moved Closer To Civil War. Speaking on the "Imus In The Morning" radio show on March 1, 2006, McCain played down the increasing civil violence in Iraq. When Imus remarked that Iraq “already looks like a civil war,” McCain responded, saying, “I keep trying to look at the bright side of this because we have to because the consequences of failure are catastrophic. But the gathering of the seven most respected religious leaders the day before yesterday, calling for calm and calling for some kind of reconciliation, I think, was important. I think, at least we're on the right track here.” [MSNBC, Imus in the Morning, 3/1/06]
McCain Claimed He Could Safely Walk Around Certain Baghdad Neighborhoods. “McCain's latest problem began before he left for the region, when he told Bill Bennett on the radio that ‘there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk today.’ After Michael Ware of CNN's Baghdad bureau accused the senator of living in ‘Neverland,’ McCain charged that its reporters who are living in a ‘time warp of three months ago.’” [Newsweek, Alter, 4/16/07 edition]
McCain Missed Iraq War Votes Because He Was Too Busy Campaigning. Senator McCain was campaigning while he missed each of the first three most crucial votes on the Iraq war this year. The first time, on February 5, “McCain admitted he was mending fences with conservatives in Texas when the Republicans in the Senate blocked a debate on the war.” The second time, on February 17, McCain chose “to spend the day courting conservative voters for his presidential campaign in Iowa,” and then immediately headed to Orlando, Florida for the National Religious Broadcasters convention. And finally, McCain missed the third Iraq war vote on March 15, because he was “campaigning in Iowa.” [Dallas Morning News, 2/5/07; AP, 2/16/07; MSNBC.com, 2/14/07; Los Angeles Times, 3/16/07]
John McCain Willing to Spend 'a Hundred Years' or a 'Millon Years' in Iraq. McCain interrupted a voter during a townhall meeting in New Hampshire telling him it "may be a hundred" years in Iraq and "that would be fine with me." After the townhall meeting, he told a reporter "that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned." [McCain Derry, NH townhall meeting, 1/3/08; motherjones.com, 1/3/08]
HEALTH CARE: NO PLAN TO EXPAND COVERAGE AND CUT COSTS
John McCain Does Not Have a Plan For the Uninsured. According to the Wall Street Journal, McCain’s plan does not focus on “reducing the ranks of the uninsured,” of which there are about 47 million, or one in seven Americans. [Wall Street Journal, 10/11/07]
Concord Monitor: Just Like Bush Plan Criticized By Experts. “Critics of the idea say a free-market approach won't work for health insurance the way it does for car insurance. The elderly, the poor and the sickest may find themselves priced out of the market.” [Concord Monitor, 8/1/07]
Experts: McCain’s Plan Would Make It Hard For Those Who Need It Most To Find Coverage. In a plan like McCain’s for individual coverage, it would be “difficult for older, sicker people to find affordable coverage or, in some cases, any coverage at all.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/7/07]
SOCIAL SECURITY: PRIVATIZATION AND BENEFIT CUTS
John McCain Promises “Hard Choices;” Previously Chose Privatization. "If I'm President, I'll submit a plan to save Social Security and Medicare, and I'll ask Democrats in Congress to do the same. We'll listen to what people outside government suggest as well. I'll work on a bipartisan basis to make the hard choices… and if Congress is afraid to make those choices, then they can just let me do it. I'll take the heat. I'll ask Congress to let me submit a comprehensive proposal. I'll prepare it carefully, fairly and honestly" [McCain Economic Speech, 4/16/2007]
1998: McCain Voted To Create Personal Retirement Accounts. In 1998, McCain voted for legislation expressing that the budget surplus can be used to establish a program of personal retirement accounts for working Americans to reduce unfunded liabilities of Social Security program. [Vote #56, SCR 86, 4/1/1998]
TAXES – MORE BUDGET-BUSTING FAVORS FOR THE WEALTHY AND SPECIAL INTERESTS
John McCain Voted For Bush Tax Cuts And Defended The Flip-Flop As A Legislative Gimmick. John McCain voted to extend tax cuts supported by the president that were set to expire between 2005 and 2010. “The Senate voted 53-47…in favor of extending the president's investor tax cuts on dividends and capital gains. Joining in this breakthrough vote was John McCain, the senator who voted against these tax cuts when they were introduced in 2003. This is an important shift for the GOP presidential frontrunner[.]” McCain’s vote was described as “a sharp reversal of his anti-tax-cut posture,” though he defended the shift, saying, “it was a gimmick,” reasoning that “the tax cuts were temporary and then had to be made permanent. The tax cuts are now there and voting to revoke them would have been to--not to extend them would have meant a tax increase. I’ve never voted for a tax increase in my life.” [Senate vote #10, H.R. 4297, 2/2/06, passed 66-31; New York Times, 2/21/06; Washington Times, 3/6/06; NBC News, 4/2/06]
NY Times: McCain Made A Stand On Tax Policy But Didn’t Hold To It. “Mr. McCain made a stand by voting against the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2003 and Mr. Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. But, like his fellow Republican contenders, he supports extending tax cuts for investors, even though they are not paid for.” [Editorial, New York Times, 3/21/06]
