McCain Rated as America’s Worst Senator for Children

Posted by Satyam Khanna, Think Progress at 6:17 AM on February 28, 2008.

John McCain received a 10 percent rating.

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Yesterday the Children's Defense Fund Action Council released its 2007 Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard. CDF reports some positive news, particularly that average scores for members of Congress "improved from the previous three years with more Members scoring 100 percent than in 2004, 2005 or 2006."

Many, however, did not fare so well. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) received a 10 percent rating -- the worst in the U.S. Senate.

CDF ranked members on 10 votes affecting children:

1. Increase minimum wage (H.R. 2)

2. Increase funding for children with disabilities (S. Con. Res. 21)

3. Protect children from unsafe medications (S. 1082)

4. 2008 Budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 21)

5. SCHIP Reauthorization (H.R. 976)

6. College Cost Reduction and Access Act (H.R. 2669)

7. SCHIP (H.R. 976 - motion to concur)

8. DREAM Act (S. 2205)

9. Funding child health and education (H.R. 3043)

10. Improving Head Start programs (H.R. 1429)

McCain has missed 57 percent of Senate votes this session, being absent or voting "present"8 out of 10-related votes. McCain voted "yes" to increase the minimum wage; his only other vote was voting "no" on SCHIP reauthorization on Aug. 2, 2007:

Furthermore, the rankings weren't divided by party. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Gordon Smith (R-OR) received strong 70 percent rankings.

McCain's CDF score has steadily declined over the years. In 2004, he received a 38 percent in 2005, 22 percent; in 2006, 10 percent.

Read the full report here.

Tagged as: children, health care, mccain

Satyam Khanna is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.

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and then there is his support for his own 100 years war [Report this comment] Posted by: KaptainSpiffy on Feb 28, 2008 5:03 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] your kids don't stand a chance [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: and then there is his support for his own 100 years war Posted by: JSquercia what is rest of the story? [Report this comment] Posted by: whealeydj on Feb 28, 2008 9:34 AM Current rating: 3 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] so who had a better rating Obama or Clinton? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] I rank him the Worst Senator [Report this comment] Posted by: Quannah on Feb 28, 2008 12:53 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] FOR ALL OF US! Children and adults, alike. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] The Dream Act is good for US children-- Are you kidding me? [Report this comment] Posted by: Paul1939 on Feb 29, 2008 9:36 AM Current rating: 3 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] McCain is probably among the worst US Senators on Children’s issues, and I would agree that nine of the ten listed votes were on issues relevant to the welfare of US children. The Dream Act, however, is nothing more than a stealth amnesty proposal that would potentially grant amnesty to 2.1 million illegal aliens while actually harming potential US college students. No matter what logical contortions are used to justify using public funds to provide a college education to members of illegal alien families, the bottom line is that for every illegal alien admitted to a public college, a US citizen is denied admittance. Every dollar, direct or indirect, provided to an illegal alien is a dollar denied to a US citizen. Educational system costs from K-12 through college are going through the roof, and necessary funding falls far short of the need. College tuition is so high at most US colleges that many US citizens are unable to attend. I’m a life long Franklin Roosevelt liberal Democrat, but that fact doesn’t make me a fool. I would have to be a fool to swallow the notion that the Dream Act is good for US children. Rank and file Democrats must begin to look at the amnesty proposals put forward by Democrats and Republicans for the impact they have on US citizens, not how they benefit illegal aliens and their families. Americans are a compassionate people, but when compassion extended to illegal aliens should not hurt US citizens. I ask rank and file Democrats why they could possibly believe any policy proposal endorsed by President Bush and the US Chamber of Commerce could possibly be good for them [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » Another Kool Aid sipper Posted by: dkm

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» RE: and then there is his support for his own 100 years war Posted by: JSquercia

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» RE: and then there is his support for his own 100 years war Posted by: JSquercia

» Another Kool Aid sipper Posted by: dkm