The past couple of weeks have been especially difficult
when it comes to McCain flip-flops.
1. McCain supported the drilling
moratorium; now he’s against it.
2. McCain strongly opposes a windfall-tax on oil
company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly
comfortable with the idea.
3. McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap
program circumvented
the law; now he believes the opposite.
4. McCain defended “privatizing” Social
Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
Wait, I’m not done with the last two weeks yet….
5. McCain wanted
to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape
and incest. Now he doesn’t.
6. McCain thought the estate tax was
perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.
7. He opposed indefinite
detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion,
he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
8. McCain said he would “not impose a
litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
And these come after these other reversals from April and
May:
9. McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to
explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as
a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.
10. McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.
11. McCain supported moving “towards normalization of
relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.
12. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with
Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
13. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with
Syria. Now he believes the opposite.
14. He argued the NRA should not have a
role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.
15. McCain supported his
own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
16. He wanted political support from radical
televangelists like John
Hagee and Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.
17. McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner
legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.
And these are the flip-flops we’ve noticed earlier:
18. ABC News reported a new one.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was less than forthcoming in April about “rogue-state
rollback,” a policy he championed during his 2000 presidential campaign.
“I wasn’t saying that we should go around and declare
war,” said McCain. “I was saying that we nations of like values and principles and
belief in democracy and freedom should make efforts to modify the behavior of other
nations.”
McCain’s claim, which he made on Hardball’s “College
Tour,” is directly at odds with the description of “rogue-state rollback” that the
Arizona senator offered during his 2000 presidential campaign.
While participating in a Republican debate moderated by
CNN’s Larry King on Feb. 15, 2000, the candidates were asked: “What area of American
international policy would you change immediately as president?”
“I’d institute a policy that I call ‘rogue state
rollback,’” said McCain. “I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from
within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and
democratically- elected governments.”
He was, apparently, for “rogue-state rollback” before
he was against it.
It’s part of an ever-”evolving” ideology on McCain’s
part.
19. McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would
not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a
“‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W.
Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m
not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”
20. McCain claims to have considered and not
considered joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.
21. In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes
to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and
provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a
$0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s
co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign
adviser.
22. McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on
the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.”
His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.
23. McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the
federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no
longer even try to reach that goal.
24. McCain’s campaign unveiled a Social Security
policy that the senator would implement if elected, which did not include a Bush-like
privatization scheme. In March 2008, McCain denounced his own campaign’s
policy.
25. In February 2008, McCain reversed
course on prohibiting waterboarding.
26. In November 2007, McCain reversed his previous
position on a long-term
presence for U.S. troops in Iraq, arguing that the “nature of the society in Iraq”
and the “religious aspects” of the country make it inevitable that the United States
“eventually withdraws.” Two months later, McCain reversed back, saying he’s
prepared to leave U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years.
27. McCain used to champion the Law
of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a
Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
28. McCain was a co-sponsor of the
DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate
from high school. Now he’s against it.
29. On immigration policy in general, McCain
announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own
legislation.
30. In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to
require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after
receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.
31. McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will
win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew
all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and
tough.”
32. McCain said he was the “greatest critic” of
Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a
mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right
course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will
have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
33. McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v.
Wade to saying the exact
opposite.
34. McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay
marriage shouldn’t
be allowed.
35. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as
“an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who
said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
36. McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the
very wealthy, but he reversed
course in February.
37. On a related note, he said 2005 that he opposed
the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to
the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and insisted he opposed the
cuts because of increased government spending.
38. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam
and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s
presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for
allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In
April, McCain reached
out to the Wylys for support.
39. McCain supported a major campaign-finance
reform measure that bore his name. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.
40. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther
King, Jr., before
he supported it.
41. McCain was against presidential candidates
campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
42. McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
43. McCain was both for and against state promotion
of the Confederate flag.
44. McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t
want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would
taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his
presidential campaign in New York.
