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McCain Opposes Recovery Package Because It Has ‘Corporate Giveaways’ He Once Campaigned For

Posted by Ben Armbruster, Think Progress at 3:12 PM on February 3, 2009.


The return of the double-talk express.

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Over recent weeks, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has emerged as a vocal critic of President Obama’s recovery package, claiming it is too big and filled with “pork.” McCain now says he will not vote for the bill in its current form in part because the legislation, in his view, does not sufficiently reduce business taxes:

McCAIN: We should have cuts for business and business taxes and small business taxes should be cut. [CBS, 2/2]

McCAIN: We need to make tax cuts permanent, and we need to make a commitment that there’ll be no new taxes. We need to cut payroll taxes. We need to cut business taxes. [FNS, 1/25]

And of course, McCain campaigned for president promising $45 billion in tax breaks for the 200 largest corporations. Yet it seems McCain has had a quick change of heart. This morning, McCain sent out an e-mail blast to his campaign mailing list complaining that “the proposal on the table is big on the giveaways for the special interests and corporate high rollers, yet short on help for ordinary working Americans”:

mccaingiveaways2.jpg

It’s unclear why McCain is upset that stimulus doesn’t help “ordinary Americans.” The very point of Obama’s $819 billion recovery package is to revive middle and lower-income America, which have been hit the hardest by the economic crisis. The bill, for example, includes a $500-per-worker tax break, part of the middle-class tax cut that Obama promised during his campaign.

But it is McCain himself and his conservative colleagues who have been calling for doling out handouts to the “special interests” and “corporate high rollers.” Sen. Jim DeMint’s plan (R-SC) includes permanent tax breaks for corporations and wealthy Americans. In fact, Obama included billions in tax cuts for businesses in order to reach out to conservative members of Congress.

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Tagged as: barack obama, john mccain, economic stimulus

Benjamin J. Armbruster is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.


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RE: Gramps
Posted by: Lara1967 on Feb 4, 2009 2:21 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I agree McCain needs to stop bickering since he is a loser anyways....

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John who???
Posted by: thekidde on Feb 4, 2009 5:19 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
.

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The soul of McCain
Posted by: Schroeder on Feb 4, 2009 5:57 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
During the campaign for presidency, we saw John McCain sell his soul to the devil and repeatedly confirm that sale. Does anyone seriously think in these tough economic times, that he has been able to afford to buy it back? How can anyone look at John McCain today and not see that historical Bush Judas kiss? McCain has no integrity, no credibility, and cannot be trusted.

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» RE: The soul of McCain Posted by: richholland
Has McCain even read the bill?
Posted by: peacelf on Feb 4, 2009 7:46 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When is the media going to call Republicans on the nonsense that tax breaks for the wealthy "stimulate" the economy by creating jobs?

There is no statistical proof for it, since the last thirty years has proven tax breaks for the wealthy just concentrates more wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals. Meanwhile worker's wages are stagnant or falling, good paying jobs sent overseas, and benefits cut to the few who have any benefits.

Its bullshit and McCain, et al act as though they are living in a bubble. Well, they are! the bubble of wealth and power that is unable to empathize with working americans' plight.

peace NOW!

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McCain
Posted by: usmarks on Feb 4, 2009 9:00 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
He's one more spoiled rich kid that's a lying sack of shite, cowardly enough to kiss Limbaugh behind and stupid enough to consider Palin a national candidate.

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Can't do it
Posted by: lamac66 on Feb 4, 2009 9:44 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Progressive and Democrats can not match right-wing, conservative-repunklican spin. All progressives and Democrats have to do is pound home the fact that taxcuts for the rich and corporations have gotten us where we are today.

Trickledown economics don't work. Everyday we see these damn repunklican senators on TV talking about how bad this stimulus package is. Where are the Democrats and progressives pushing their argument. I just don't understand it.

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» RE: Can't do it Posted by: Lilly
McCain
Posted by: pfm on Feb 4, 2009 9:50 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
McCain is one of the two senators from my state of Arizona and hopefully in 2010 the senate seat he currently occupies will be filled by someone else, hopefully a "progressive" I care not the label .... John's time has come and gone

I invite you to visit my blog
http://waterman99.wordpress.com/2009

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» RE: McCain Posted by: DrDon
Is this ANYTHING New?!
Posted by: madmax427 on Feb 4, 2009 12:16 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
S.O.S.. SAY one thing, Mean & DO the opposite! It's called Politics!!

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McCain as Oracle
Posted by: Lilly on Feb 4, 2009 7:13 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I like the way McCain is interviewed on TV as the elder statesman who knows what's what---in Ferlinghetti's words, the cat who's got to blow or there ain't gonna be no gig. McCain is the one who LOST the election after an inept and chaotic campaign. The real McCain is the one who wandered half-disoriented around the stage during the debate. Now he is the wise man who can tell us what's going wrong in the Obama administration?

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At least mcstain has an excuse
Posted by: willymack on Feb 4, 2009 7:56 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
He's NUTS.

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Tax cuts and government spending
Posted by: LeeAnnG on Feb 5, 2009 6:44 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I heard McCain in an interview a couple of days ago. He said that the problems with the economic stimulus package consist of not enough tax cuts, too much pork and - incredibly - not enough military spending!!!!

It's amazing that no one ever seems to point out that we had eight years of tax cuts that did nothing to stimulate the ecomony. Of course, meatheads like McCain say it's because there were not enough tax cuts. And it's probably not so amazing on second thought, since most of the interviewers and commentators work for corporate media.

So, McCain's plan is to advocate more tax cuts to increase a trend that helped get us here in the first place, pretend that the Bush administration didn't champion monumental spending on pork for Republican causes, and throw more money at the largest and probably one of the most wasteful militaries in the world. Good job, McCain.

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Why is he on TV?
Posted by: hms2004 on Feb 5, 2009 9:04 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And why are we listening to this asshole? He lost. If we wanted to embrace his loser ideas, then we would have elected him. Someone needs to remind him that he's still SENATOR McCain.

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