I'll have to finish this later, but this should be a good start... But these are my reasons why you shouldn't vote for McCain.
This first category alone is why I would have a very hard time ever voting for him.
John McCain on veterans, from his website:
"John McCain has been a leader in Congress, fighting for all those who serve and their families, improving veterans' health care,
providing veterans with the benefits they have earned, easing their transition to civilian life, and honoring the fallen."
In 2001, McCain voted against increasing the amount of money available for veterans medical care by $650 million
In 2003, McCain urged Senate members to table a vote to provide $1 billion for equipment for National Guard and Reserves in Iraq. The vote never passed.
In 2003, McCain voted to table an amendment for an additional $322 million for safety equipment for soldiers in Iraq.
In 2004, McCain voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in veterans medical care by $1.8 billion.
In 2006, he voted against increasing veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion
He also was one of only 13 senators to vote against $430 million for the treatment of veterans by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.
He also voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the VA for health care facilities.
In 2007, McCain voted against the Webb amendment that called for adequate troop rest between deployments.
Energy Policy
From John McCain's website:
"Our nation's future security and prosperity depends on the next President making the hard choices that will break our nation's strategic dependence on foreign sources of energy and will ensure our economic prosperity by meeting tomorrow's demands for a clean portfolio"
He says our dependence on foreign oil is a security threat, but he voted against legistlation calling on the president to submit a plan to reduce foreign imports by 40%
In 2000, McCain called for a end to tax breaks for oil and gas companies. But in 2007, he was the only senator to miss the vote on whether to end the $13 billion in tax breaks for oil companies. That $13 billion would have been used to invest in clean energy technology that he supposedly supports.
McCain missed the vote on "green" tax credits in the stimulus package. He was the only senator to miss the vote.
McCain missed the vote on renewable energy in 2007. The bill would have required electric utilities to produce at least 15% of their electricity from renewable sources.
McCain missed the vote to establish $31 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and efficiency.
In 2005 he voted against a renewable portfolio standard.
In 2002, he voted against the 20% requirement(to have 20% of electricity from renewable sources)
In 2002, he also voted against a 10% renewable requirement twice.
In 2002, he voted against efficiency standards that would have required a 30% increase in efficiency for air conditioners. This bill would have saved consumers $1 billion on electric bills, reduced energy use enough to avoid the construction of 45 new power plants and reduced greenhouse gases by 2.5 million metric tons.
McCain on the economy
In 2005, McCain stated that Bush's tax cuts were immoral and heavily favored the rich. In an interview with the WSJ on Nov 26, 2005 he said, "I just thought it was too tilted to the wealthy, and I still do". In 2007, he denied saying that(a blatant lie) and now he supports those very same tax cuts.
McCain said, then denied, that he was not well versed on economics. He stated in a 2005 interview with the Wall Street Journal, Nov 26, 2005, "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." He then said in an interview with Tim Russert, "Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from. I'm very well-versed in economics."
Alzheimers moment?
On May 12 2008, McCain said, "I can eliminate $100 billion of wasteful and earmark spending immediately--$35 billion in big spending bills in the last two years, and another $65 billion that has already been made a permanent part of the budget."
Sounds nice, but what he probably didn't realize is that most of that money is for foreign aid to countries like Israel, Egypt and Jordan that McCain has already said he won't touch. So basically he just said that because it sounded nice.
McCain said, "It's not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they're big banks or small borrowers."
But McCain supported the bail out of Bear Stearns which goes against that philosophy.
McCain supported the estate tax. He said,
"In his 1906 State of the Union Address, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the creation of a federal inheritance tax . Roosevelt explained: 'The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government.' Additionally, in a 1907 speech he said: 'Most great civilized countries have an income tax and an inheritance tax. In my judgment both should be part of our system of federal taxation.' He noted, however, that such taxation should 'be aimed merely at the inheritance or transmission in their entirety of those fortunes swollen beyond all healthy limits.'
"I agree with President Roosevelt, and I remain opposed to full repeal of the estate tax."
Then after becoming a nominee, he said,
"Another of my disagreements with Senator Obama concerns the estate tax, which he proposes to increase to a top rate of 55 percent. The estate tax is one of the most unfair tax laws on the books, and the first step to reform is to keep it predictable and keep it low. After a lifetime building up a business, and paying taxes on every dollar that business earns, that asset should not be subjected to a confiscatory tax."
So, which is it?
McCain said that, if elected, he would balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided that he wouldn't even try. Soon after that, he changed his position back to his first one.
Actually, John McCain has changed his economic view many times.
McCain on national security
McCain said that Bush's warrantless wiretapping program circumvented the law. He said, "There are some areas where the statutes don't apply, such as in the surveillance of overseas communications. Where they do apply, however, I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is."
Now he says exactly the opposite.
McCain opposed the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. He said that detainees "have rights under various human rights declarations, one of which is the right not to be detained indefinitely."
Then when the supreme court reached the same conclusion, he said it was "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country."
Misc.
McCain missed the vote for the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was mainly to make sure women are paid equally for equal work.
Edit: added the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
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