Florida Families Deluged by Republican Recession Can't Afford McCain

From the Economy to Port Security, McCain Guarantees a Third Bush Term

For Immediate Release: March 6, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - John McCain must be over-exposed to Charlie Crist's perpetually sunny demeanor. There's no other explanation for the rose-colored glasses the Arizona senator sported in Florida today as he hit the stump with his sidekick, our part-time governor.

McCain, fresh from completing his transformation into a full-fledged Bush Republican thanks to the President's endorsement, is playing 'Maverick' in Florida with Crist at his side. But all he's promising is more of the same Bush prescriptions.

In his desperation to cozy up to the right wing of the Republican Party, McCain has endorsed President Bush's decision to deny health care for over half a million children in Florida by vetoing SCHIP expansion, threatened the retirement security of millions of our seniors by promising to privatize Social Security, further strained Florida's Reserve and National Guard units by committing to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, and promised more of the same on everything from ethics to the economy.

"John McCain offers no cure for what ails this state and this country. He's prepared to continue on the Bush Republican tradition, deaf to the calls for real change from Florida's families. We simply can't afford a third Bush term in Washington, especially considering the sad reality in Tallahassee that our governor who thinks coming to work is optional," Florida Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski said.

In fact, McCain is so oblivious to the concerns of working families in Florida who are facing widespread economic anxieties thanks to the Republican Recession that he maintains - just like Empty Chair Charlie - that the economy is strong and refuses to say whether he supports President Bush's threat to veto a Democratic bill to help struggling homeowners fighting to avoid foreclosure.

Instead, McCain's idea of short-term economic stimulus for working families is making President Bush's tax cuts for the rich permanent... in 2010.

Third Bush Term on the Economy...

McCain's Short-Term Solution For the Economy? Tax Cuts for the Wealthy in Two Years, Of Course. When asked what efforts who have a short-term impact on the economy, McCain responded "In the shorter term, if you somehow told American businesses and families, 'Look, you're not going to experience a tax increase in 2010,' I think that's a pretty good short-term measure. And as far as confidence is concerned, I think if you say, 'Congress is going to cut corporate taxes right away,' if you say that you've got a plan to eliminate the AMT, I think some of those are kind of short-term measures right now." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

Republicans Postponing Consideration of Housing Bill So McCain Doesn't Have to Make a Hard Vote. "Consideration of the mortgage package was delayed earlier in the week when a debate over the Iraq War lasted longer than expected. At the time, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., maintained that Republicans were intentionally delaying consideration of the mortgage package so that Arizona Sen. John McCain -- the presumptive GOP presidential nominee -- would not have to cast a vote on the bill before the March 4 Ohio primary." [Congressional Quarterly Today, 2/27/2008]

McCain Voted For Bush Tax Cuts and Defended His 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 despite opposing them earlier. 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." [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]

McCain voted to make permanent the same tax cuts he derided and did not support in 2001 and 2003. He also voted to repeal the estate tax, a policy he opposed in 2001, 2002, and 2003. And despite saying that not extending a tax break counts as a tax increase - and that he "has never voted for a tax increase in his life" - McCain did just that in May 2007, voting to end tax breaks for thousands of workers, students, and teachers.

Third Bush Term on Port Security...

McCain Backs Bush on Proposed Sale of Ports to Dubai. Despite widespread complaints in Florida, McCain defended the idea that American ports - including major terminals in Miami and Tampa - could be sold to overseas interests based in the United Arab Emigrates. Before his current delusions took hold, McCain admitted "we've got a tremendous crisis in Iraq" and glossed over port security, saying "we've got some very, very big issues that I think are perhaps more important than whether a country that's freer than China should have control of some of our terminals." [ABC's This Week, 2/26/06]

Third Bush Term on Iraq...

McCain Would Spend 'a Hundred Years' or a 'Million Years' in Iraq. McCain interrupted a voter during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire telling him we could spend "maybe a hundred" years in Iraq and "that would be fine with me." After the town hall 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 town hall meeting, 1/3/08; motherjones.com , 1/3/08]

McCain Consistently on Bush Talking Points on Iraq. In 2003, McCain echoed Bush's rosy predictions by claiming that the end was "very much in sight" in Iraq. In 2005, McCain backed Bush, arguing that another year would prove "stay the course" was working. [The Hill, 12/8/05; ABC News, Good Morning America, 4/9/03] In 2006, McCain argued that Iraq was "on the right track" even as it slipped further toward civil war. [MSNBC, Imus in the Morning, 3/1/06] As of late, McCain's campaign insists, "terrorists are on the run," even while half of Afghanistan appears to have fallen back under the control of the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden remains at large. [johnmccain.com, press release, 12/17/07; Time, 12/8/07; Investor's Business Daily, 12/14/07]

Third Bush Term on Health Care...

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]

McCain Opposed Reauthorizing SCHIP and Providing Insurance For Millions of Uninsured Children. McCain voted against reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years, expanding the program by $35.2 billion. [Senate Vote #307, 8/2/07]

Third Bush Term on Social Security...

McCain's Plan for Social Security: Massive Tax Increase. Senator McCain said that he would support a compromise in the Senate to "raise Social Security taxes as part of a package that would include personal accounts." Conservatives said this would result in "a massive tax increase, prove devastating to economic growth in this country, and exacerbate the woefully low return workers receive on their Social Security taxes." [Meet the Press, 2/23/05; Pat Toomey op-ed, Wall Street Journal, 3/13/07]

2008: McCain "Totally In Favor" of Bush Social Security Plan. "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts and I think they are an important opportunity for young workers. I campaigned in support of President Bush's proposal and I campaigned with him, and I did town hall meetings with him." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

2005: McCain Campaigned for Bush Social Security Plan. "McCain has been especially supportive of his onetime rival, appearing with Bush at three events over the past two days in trying to prod Democrats into negotiations to include private accounts in a plan to revamp Social Security." [Washington Post, 3/23/05]