Facts on John McCain

It's far too nice to be cooped up inside researching facts on John McCain, particularly because someone else already did the work. Here's MoveOn's well researched list of 10 things you don't know about John McCain. I have it on good authority they don't mind my lifting it at all (scroll down for sources):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."7

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10

Sources:
1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day," ABC News, April 3, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3543&id=12...1-s7hFcS&t=233
"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008 http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/
2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq," Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3552&id=12...1-s7hFcS&t=234
"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/...gandhi-mccain/
3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/...-torture-veto/
4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," MSNBC, February 18, 2007 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/
5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008 http://www.childrensdefense.org/site..._scorecard2007
"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007 http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/...ain.interview/
6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated Press, April 3, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3545&id=12...1-s7hFcS&t=236
"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'" Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3551&id=12...1-s7hFcS&t=237
7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press, February 16, 2008 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022
"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3547&id=12...1-s7hFcS&t=238 8.
"Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'" ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/...lack-lobbyist/
"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man," ABC News, January 29, 2008 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251
9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam," Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3519&id=12...1-s7hFcS&t=239
"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/...agee-anti-gay/
"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/...n-endorsement/
10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008 http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/

Thank you for posting this. Most of it was not a surprise to me (and I did check the links to see how distorted things some of the comments were -- didn't seem to be much). I didn't know how rich he was nor that he had been ranked zero by the League of Conservation Voters.

Truth is, I don't care that he's rich. I do care how hawkish he is. I do care that he is anti choice. I really don't know enough to comment about his stand on children, yet. Voting against the children's health bill is not enough to go on. I will give him credit for admitting he was wrong and that he has "evolved" since voting against a MLK holiday.

I have heard about his hot temper many times and it does concern me. However, I'll put as much stock in a fellow Republican making negative comments about McCain being president as I do about the negative comments about Obama being a Muslim -- both are based on innuendo and should be taken as such.

I do care that he uses lobbyists for fund raising. I do care that he is getting closer and closer to the far right fundamentalists because that affects me as a woman and, more importantly, will affect my daughter's right to choose (whether that choice be for a child or a job or where to live).

So, thank you. There are some very good, important points made in this list. Hopefully, people will think long and hard before just arbitrarily dismissing it.

Once again the Dancer and the Witch strike with their incredibly informed perspective on the republican candidate. Give the politics a break and go outside and enjoy the sunshine that you moved to TV to get. Is there any topic that you two don't have an opinion on?

It is a list of verified facts about John McCain that most people aren't aware of, not an opinion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain

The Wikipedia article has a lot of information on John McCain. Think that Wikipedia is a good source of information on current events even if it is not that "scholarly" when compared with encyclopedias and other reference sources for other subjects.

It appears that if a Republican cannot refute facts, they just say "la-de-da, go outside and play. Let's pretend this isn't real". Well, the facts about McCain are real and they're not going away. In fact, fasten your seatbelts, you're in for a bumpy ride. This is just the beginning.

Getting your McCain information from moveon.org would be like getting Obama information from Mark Levine. They are almost as far left as you can go before falling off the edge.

Hmmmmmnnnnnn....let's see here should one conclude that if the facts on all the candidates were laid out on a spread sheet the most viable candidate would be obvious to all?

I fear not. The partisan polarity has become so intense, it just doesn't seem to matter what is presented about the other.

I recall Nancy Pelosi stating in an interview before she became Speaker when asked her views on select issues....she said her position was easy....if it was put forth by a Republican she was against it....cackle cackle!!!!!! Very objective, Uh-huh!

BTK

Chelsea - what isn't real is your "idol" - Mr. Obama. Like I said the other day when your emotions were running wild, just list the accomplishments of Obama since he has held federal office. Even if it's a short list give us something to get our arms around. He has been talking the talk but definitely "not walked the walk". By the way, what makes you think I'm a republican?

Just so you can see what's in the public domain, here is more about how they might tax your retirement income. And wikipedia, thinkprogress and moveon.org were not the source of this great information about Nancy Pelosi. But the congressional record. So please everyone, continue to believe everything you read. The media is so biased "and in both directions" just depends on what paper you pick up or radio you turn on, that to quote any of it as fact just defines your lack of knowledge. It's like hearing a campaign ad and believing it has to be factual.

Windfall Tax on Retirement Income

Adding a tax to your retirement is simply another way of saying to the American people, you're so darn stupid that we're going to keep doing this until we drain every cent from you. That's what the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is saying. Read below...............

Nancy Pelosi wants a Windfall Tax on Retirement Income. In other words tax what you have made by investing toward your retirement. This woman is a nut case! You aren't going to believe this.

Madam speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to put a Windfall Tax on all stock market profits (incl uding Retirement fund, 401K and Mutual Funds! Alas, it is true - all to help the 20 Million Illegal Immigrants and other unemployed Minorities!

This woman is frightening.
She quotes..." We need to work toward the goal of equalizing income, (didn't Karl Marx say like this first?), in our country and at the same time limiting the amount the rich can invest." And you can look this one up in the congressional record.

When asked how these new tax dollars would be spent, she replied:
"We need to raise the standard of living of our poor, unemployed and minorities. For example, we have an estimated 20 million illegal immigrants in our country who need our help along with millions of unemployed minorities. Stock market windfall profits taxes could go a long way to guarantee these people the standard of living they would like to have as 'Americans'." (Read that quote again and again and let it sink in. Lower your retirement income, give it to others who have not worked as you have for it. And again it's from the congressional record.

Irish Rover, first, Mr. Obama is not my idol. I haven't had an "idol" since I was 8 and I think it was Frankie Avalon. Second, Mr. Obama will speak for himself shortly, and he does it much more eloquently than I ever could. Third, what makes you think I'm a Democrate? ;D

Chelsea - You speak to my point - Obama is all talk. He is eloquent but totally with out substance and that is why I ask what has he done since he has gone to Washington that qualifies him he to be PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I'll make it easy on you - just name three things. I assumed from your blind loyalty to to a political figure with no substance that you were a democrat(e).
I won't continue on this thread because I'm sure it's boring the other folks reading it as much as it's boring me. Good luck in November.

Irish Rover, McCain may be all action without knowledge or thought. We're just getting rid of that. Blindly loyal? Only to my husband. (who has always been a steadfast republican, by the way, but doubt it this time around.) But on one thing we can agree. This is a yawn. Good Luck to you too in November.

And if McCain wins -- Good Luck to us all.

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Getting your McCain information from moveon.org would be like getting Obama information from Mark Levine. They are almost as far left as you can go before falling off the edge.

I2ridehd, I commend the fact you're looking at the sources of info, but please take a closer look at the sources in this case - its not Moveon, who just gathered the info and presented it, the sources are ABC news, The Sierra Club, Childrens Defense Fund Action Council, etc.

Give it a rest!!!!!!!!!religion (do your own thing), politics (take it to the street, not here), sex (hmm don't know what to do with this one).

Lets keep this neighborly, after all, we all have our baggage we brought with us and are not about to change. Give it a rest!!!