1 Boring Old Man

John McCain’s Senate Voting Record

He hasn’t voted since March, so you have to start a ways back. But back there, he’s voted with the Bush Administration 90% of the time. Here’s a page parsing his votes by the issues. As for his votes that have to do with the his Mythic support of the Troops:

• September 2007: McCain voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments.  At the time, nearly 65% of people polled in a CNN poll indicted that "things are going either moderately badly or very badly in Iraq.
• July 2007:  McCain voted against a plan to drawdown troop levels in Iraq.  At the time, an ABC poll found that 63% thought the invasion was not worth it, and a CBS News poll found that 72% of respondents wanted troops out within 2 years.
• March 2007: McCain was too busy to vote on a bill that would require the start of a drawdown in troop levels within 120 days with a goal of withdrawing nearly all combat troops within one year.  Around this time, an NBC News poll found that 55% of respondents indicated that the US goal of achieving victory in Iraq is not possible.  This number has not moved significantly since then.
• February 2007:  For such a strong supporter of the escalation, McCain didn’t even bother to show up and vote against a resolution condemning it.  However, at the time a CNN poll found that only 16% of respondents wanted to send more troops to Iraq (that number has since declined to around 10%), while 60% said that some or all should be withdrawn.  This number has since gone up to around 70%.
• June 2006:  McCain voted against a resolution that Bush start withdrawing troops but with no timeline to do so.
• May 2006:  McCain voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.
• April 2006:  McCain was one of only 13 Senators to vote against $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.
• March 2006:  McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.
• March 2004:  McCain once again voted for abusive tax loopholes over veterans when he voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans’ medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes.  Jeez, McCain really loves those tax loopholes for corporations, since he voted for them over our veterans’ needs.
• October 2003:  McCain voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000.
• April 2003:  McCain urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.
• August 2001:  McCain voted against increasing the amount available for medical care for veterans by $650,000,000. 

John McCain Requested and Received Over $60 Million In Pork Projects

Rhetoric: McCain Claims To Have Never Accepted An Earmark Or Pork Barrel Project

• Today McCain Said: John McCain claimed, "I am proud never to have sought or obtained an earmark for my state of Arizona, and my state of Arizona is proud of me for it and I’m grateful for that." [McCain Remarks To The National Federation of Independent Businesses; 6/10/08]
• Not the First time … In March John McCain said, "In 24 years as a member of the United States Congress, I have never asked for nor received a single earmark or pork barrel project for my state" [CNN, "Lou Dobbs This Week," 3/16/08]

Reality: McCain Has Asked For Multiple Pork Projects

• New York Times: McCain Got $56 Million for Project. In 2000, the New York Times reported, "Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, and a number of Republicans who have been criticized by M r. McCain said he had also advanced his own wasteful projects in Arizona, including a $56 million authorization for an environmental and habitat restoration project along the Salt River." [New York Times, 2/18/00]
• New York Times: McCain Got $3 Million for Road Project. In 2000, the New York Times reported, "Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, and a number of Republicans who have been criticized by M r. McCain said he had also advanced his own wasteful projects in Arizona, including…$3 million for the Turquoise Trail, a joint effort of the Navajo and Hopi tribes." [New York Times, 2/18/00]
• New York Times: McCain Got $4.2 Million for Tucson Center. In 2000, the New York Times reported, "Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, and a number of Republicans who have been criticized by Mr. McCain said he had also advanced his own wasteful projects in Arizona, including…$4.2 million to create a national mediation center in Tucson." [New York Times, 2/12/00]