McCain Says He No Longer Objects To Earmarks, Just The ‘Process’
McCain Says He No Longer Objects To Earmarks, Just The ‘Process’
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has repeatedly pledged that if elected president, he “will veto every bill with earmarks.” But in recent months, McCain has slipped further and further away from that promise:
– After ThinkProgress pointed out that military housing and aid to Israel, McCain said that he would make an exception for certain projects.
– On April 24, McCain backtracked from his sweeping pledge, saying he would now judge spending cuts “on the basis of need.”
– McCain has repeatedly used earmark-funded projects and venues as backdrops to his campaign events.
Yesterday, McCain held a health care event at the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA. While there he met Mary, a woman with ovarian cancer who was treated “in a $80 million clinical trial program funded by an earmark.” Confronted with this “human face of earmark spending,” McCain again backed away from his campaign rhetoric:
McCain praised the woman’s treatment and later said some earmarks were clearly worthy.
“It’s the process I object to,” McCain told reporters. “We need to start over from scratch.” […]
“When you earmark in the middle of the night you have no budgetary constraints,” he said.
As Politico’s Ben Smith notes, “That’s one thing about spending cuts: Much harder when you get to the details.”
Here’s the problem with McCain’s constant flipping: The reason the senator has said he opposes earmarks is because they are fiscally irresponsible. “No is always the right answer to wasteful spending,” according to McCain. Similarly, his campaign aides like to tout the costs McCain will supposedly save taxpayers by getting rid of all earmarks.
So now, if McCain is only opposed to the “process” and willing to fund some “worthy” earmarks, which programs will he cut to come up with that $95 billion in savings he has promised? So far, his campaign hasn’t been willing to give any specifics.
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34 Responses to “McCain Says He No Longer Objects To Earmarks, Just The ‘Process’”
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Caption: “Hey, my friends, is this the side of my mouth I’m supposed to be talking out of when discussing earmarks this week?”
May 1st, 2008 at 12:17 pmSen. Mcflipflop is at it agin,are his handlers on vacation or what, everytime he opens one side or the other side of his mouth he steps right in it($hit that i$)and I hope he keeps do it.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:20 pmHere’s an idea…How about just one thread a day with all the mccrazy shit lumped together instead of 4 or 5 thread’s of him…I’m as sick to death of him as I am bush/cheney/rove/rice and all the reich winged nut job’s…..Blessings
May 1st, 2008 at 12:21 pmMcCain never saw a point of view that he couldn’t support top to bottom while objecting to it side to side.
At his age, maybe he just forgot his position du jour. Just what we need, Regean Redux aka the return of the Dancing California Raisin and noted author of “I can’t recall”.
PEACE
May 1st, 2008 at 12:21 pmOh, he will find some social program that helps the poor that he will gladly cut.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:21 pmI like a man who stands by his convictions…. minute by minute
May 1st, 2008 at 12:21 pmI’ve got an earmark and spending cut for ya!
Get out of Iraq!.
That’s $100 billion+ a year right there!
Problem solved, case closed.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:28 pmI would not have believed this possible five months ago, but I’m beginning to suspect that McCain would be every bit as big a disaster as president as Chimpy has been.
Did I just type that?
Hard to believe, I know.
“The Republican Party: Incompetence is our Business™”
May 1st, 2008 at 12:28 pmDefine wasteful spending you neurotic freak.
As usual, when these repubs finish their own education, the rest of their lives are spent trying to cut educational funding. They’re out of the system, so who needs it?
They never had to use food stamps or housing assistance or pell grants; all of those programs are wasteful, they say. Mommy and Daddy cut their tuition checks. We get people like this out of every generation, and it’s tiresome.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:37 pmNotice, TPer’s, he talking out the RIGHT side of his piehole…
May 1st, 2008 at 12:38 pmRalph,
Big Guvmint shall not intrude on the Free Market of Incompetence.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:38 pmOh, I see. He was against earmarks before he was for them before he was against them before he was for them…?
Huh?
‘Scuse me, with all this F5 spin, I’m dizzy - I need to go find a revolving door in order to regain my balance….
May 1st, 2008 at 12:38 pmNice to see McCain is consistent in at least one thing….. Flipflopping.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:42 pmCaption contest:
Praise the Lord and Pass the Pork!
May 1st, 2008 at 12:44 pmMcStupid: “I don’t like people with marks on their ears,…a….most of the time.”
May 1st, 2008 at 12:48 pmThe “related posts” are much appreciated. Excellent addition.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pmMcCain erred when he first opened his mouth on this subject, and all his efforts to clarify himself is just making it worse. Sort of like the kid who accidentally steps in freshly-laid concrete and then creates many more footprints while he stands there and attempts to smooth out the first ones.
McCain would have scored more points if he had said something along the lines of “Earmarks fund many worthy causes, but they also can abused to pay off special interests. We need to come up with a way to increase the transparency of earmarks and improve the process.”
May 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pmThat picture reminds me of WC Fields…I like children, on toast.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:52 pmMcFlipFlop. What a Tool.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:53 pm“Earmarks fund many worthy causes, but they also can abused to pay off special interests. We need to come up with a way to increase the transparency of earmarks and improve the process.”
misshusseinmolly watch out there, one of politicians will read that and may use it as if they had the idea….LOL.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:58 pmMcWars Says:
“…They never had to use food stamps or housing assistance or pell grants; all of those programs are wasteful, they say. Mommy and Daddy cut their tuition checks…”
Agreed, also adding that many of them were part of the “have nots” and now that they’ve become the “haves” they oppose the very programs that helped them when they needed it. P.J. O’Rourke comes to mind…
I sure would enjoy a lifetime of government-funded healthcare, just like McWhat’sGoodForMeIsn’tGoodForYou.
PEACE
May 1st, 2008 at 1:00 pm.
McFish on deck!
.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:00 pm17 - Shhhh, MissMolly - don’t help him!! ;o)
May 1st, 2008 at 1:01 pmgreat photo… showing his best side too… talking out the side of his mouth…
surely surely not… no way that guy should be The President of The United States…
no way… … please excuse the shallowness, but, no way…
May 1st, 2008 at 1:01 pmThis econimification is hard work.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:01 pml o l , PLC…
May 1st, 2008 at 1:02 pml o l … all over the place… i knew i shouldn’t've commented on the first one…
May 1st, 2008 at 1:07 pmNice follow up, Spencers mom!
May 1st, 2008 at 1:09 pmIf this guy wins the Presidency, we ALL deserve anything and everything we get. This guy is a joke. I would be laughing, but I still remember thinking George W. Bush was a joke in 2000, as well. And sadly, the lack of ignorance in the populace has actually gone up since then. Oii!!
May 1st, 2008 at 1:52 pmhmmm… still no word abot Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew here in Hillary land might as well be in Narnia huh TP?
May 1st, 2008 at 1:53 pmBuckie Boy Says
May 1st, 2008 at 12:58 pm
misshusseinmolly watch out there, one of politicians will read that and may use it as if they had the idea….LOL.
_________________________________________________
That’s OK — I don’t have a copyright on it. It would be wonderful if some politician actually adopted it and took it to heart, but (alas) I suspect that any use of it will just be as an empty campaign promise.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:57 pmSpoxLogic Says:
And sadly, the lack of ignorance in the populace has actually gone up since then. Oii!!
I would submit there is no lack of ignorance in the populace ;)
May 1st, 2008 at 2:06 pmCan this guy even get in the same room with the truth. every freakin’ time he opens his mouth he changes the last thing he said!
BTW. that picture reminds me of the munchkins in the Wizard of Oz Singing, “We Represent the Lollypop Guild…” :D
May 1st, 2008 at 2:21 pmA little closer, but still not straight talk!
May 1st, 2008 at 2:46 pm