McCain’s Tax Plan? Fiscally Irresponsible
Exhibit A of the poison pill in action is the sad case of John McCain, part of whose lingering image as a maverick rests on his early opposition to the Bush tax cuts, which he declared excessive and too tilted toward the rich.
Since then the budget surpluses of the Clinton years have given way to persistent deficits, and income inequality has risen to new heights, vindicating his opposition.
But instead of pointing this out, Mr. McCain now promises to make those tax cuts permanent – and proposes further cuts that are, if anything, tilted even more toward the wealthy. And how is the loss of revenue to be made up? Mr. McCain hasn’t offered a realistic answer. (New York Times)
Not The Man He Used To Be. . .McCain 2.0 Has Abandoned His Former Self
But that term didn’t even make the list this year when voters were asked by the Pew Research Center to sum up McCain in a single word. “Old” got the most mentions, followed by “honest,” “experienced,” “patriot,” “conservative” and a dozen more. The words “independent,” “change” or “reformer” weren’t among them.
Voters have notoriously short memories, but it could be argued that McCain cheapened his own brand.
He embraced President Bush and attempted to become, like Bush, the choice of the Republican establishment. In the process, he helped obliterate recollections of his first run for president, when he became the first Republican in a long time with strong crossover appeal to independents and Democrats.
Losing his reputation for independence could prove particularly costly this year. (Baltimore Sun)
Revelation About McCain Fundraiser Unlikely To Win Over Any Women
Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign canceled a fund-raiser at the home of an 86-year-old oilman, Clayton Williams, after the campaign faced questions about comments Mr. Williams made in the 1990 race for Texas governor.
At the time, Mr. Williams, a Republican who was running against Ann Richards, made a joke about rape and said he would campaign against Ms. Richards, a Democrat, as he would deal with a cow on his ranch: “head
her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt.” He later apologized for the remarks.
The campaign canceled the fund-raiser on Friday after it faced questions from ABC News and The Washington Post. (New York Times)
McCain’s Vision For The Supreme Court Would Turn Country’s Clock Backward
Want to overturn Roe v. Wade and begin a new political civil war over abortion? How about a Supreme Court that supports the George Bush approach of executive power similar to royal monarchs, with massive and
illegal wiretapping thrown in, legalized by a McCain court?
The Supreme Court is not only one branch of government, it is the branch that determines the powers of the other two branches. In the world of George Bush and John McCain, the executive branch is all-powerful with no meaningful checks and balances.
With a Supreme Court that would fully support this radical and extreme notion of unlimited, pre-emptive executive power, the sins of George Bush are only the beginning of what a McCain court would make the law of the land.
Bush and McCain almost always agree on the need for a super secret superstate, justified by the politics of fear, employing tactics such as massive eavesdropping in violation of clear constitutional language and clear federal law.
Bush and McCain almost always agree in opposition to legal protections for women and labor. In their economic and legal philosophy, Bush and McCain always agree on a Darwinian laissez-faire where the big boys rule, the average folks are unprotected, the powerful monopolize their power and the powerless become second-class citizens with third-class legal rights.
The list goes on. Even on torture, McCain’s latest position is torture-friendly. Even on Guantanamo, which McCain says he will close, his legal position is anti-constitutional. His verbal position depends on his need for extreme right-wing support and his level of political desperation at the time he speaks, on a given day. (The Hill’s Pundits Blog)