McCain Source: News

GI Bill Opponent President Bush Lauds GI Bill Opponent John McCain For The GI Bill Expansion

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

This morning, President Bush signed a war supplemental spending bill which included a doubling of GI Bill college benefits for troops and veterans. The Bush administration had resisted Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) strong bipartisan effort to pass the bill, going so far as to warn of “harm” that might come from giving expanded educational benefits to soldiers who served “only” 2 years.

But today, Bush was all too happy to pat himself on the back for the GI Bill, and to laud the work of senators who tried to stand in the way of the bill’s passage.

Kerry Rips McCain For Relying On Swift Boat Vets

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sen. John Kerry harshly criticized John McCain on Monday for using a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in his efforts to counteract criticism from an Obama surrogate.

The 2004 Democratic nominee, whose candidacy was undercut by the Swift Boat veterans, lambasted McCain for turning to SBVT veteran Bud Day as a campaign representative, suggesting that the Arizona Republican had abandoned "a new kind of politics."

The Iran 'Appeaser' On McCain's National Security Team

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Just a few weeks ago, Senator John McCain endorsed President George W. Bush’s criticism that diplomatic engagement with Iran would be appeasement.

Now it seems McCain has open the door to his war cabinet to someone who has called for U.S. negotiations “without preconditions” with Iran.

McCain Fields Question From Immigration Foe

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain has already tilted his position on immigration to the right, but he continues to be greeted by supporters who want him to take an even tougher line.

At a town hall meeting today at Worth & Company, Inc., a woman began her question with: “Why as an American do I have to push a button to speak English?” The crowd responded with loud, sustained applause.

John McCain Defending Swiftboats

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Following up on McCain's earlier call, here's something that's been picked up on -- one of the "Truth Squad" Members apparently was part of "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" which attacked John Kerry for his service in 2004.

"In hopes of nipping any criticism in the bud," Huffington Post writes, "the campaign brought on board a man quite familiar with how these types of attacks gain legs: Bud Day, a fellow POW who was part of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth squad that had worked so hard to defame Sen. John Kerry's own Vietnam record."

Company Hosting McCain "Townhall" Paid Below Prevailing Wage

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

This afternoon, in Pipersville, Pennsylvania John McCain will be holding a staged rally that will be a town hall farce, just like this one was in New Jersey. It is not being held at a public place but rather at the facilities of a right wing corporation called Worth & Company, Inc which supports John McCain. But somebody didn't do his homework. This company was cited for breaking the law at least 6 times for paying workers below the minimum wage by the Pennsylvania's Bureau of Labor Law Compliance and this citation was upheld by the Pennsylavnia Wage Appeals Board. The Company appealed to the Pennsylvania court's.

McCain surrogate defends Swift Boaters

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

One of the participants in McCain's conference call today was Colonel Bud Day, a longtime McCain ally who was also a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

I asked Day whether how he'd compare the attacks he was saying McCain faces today -- from Wes Clark and other Democrats -- to the attacks on John Kerry's war record from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

John McCain Doesn't Know the Price of Gas/Can't Remember the Last Time He Bought Any

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain kind of stepped in it the other day, here in California, but luckily no one noticed. He was being driven from John Wayne airport to a fundraiser, and he took a quick call from Martin Wisckol of the Orange County Register. Wisckol asked him a series of softball questions so tedious McCain's driver had to crack the window so the breeze would keep him from passing out, but then this:

WISCKOL: I'd like to ask you a couple questions suggested by voters here. They're not reporter-type questions. McCAIN: Sure. It'd be a pleasure. WISCKOL: When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost?   McCAIN: Oh, I don't remember. Now there's Secret Service protection. But I've done it for many, many years. I don't recall and frankly, I don't see how it matters. I've had hundreds and hundreds of town hall meetings, many as short a time ago as yesterday. I communicate with the people and they communicate with me very effectively.

Mrs. McCain, San Diego County Would Like a Word

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When you're poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you're rich, it's hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying. It's a lesson Cindy McCain learned the hard way when NEWSWEEK raised questions about an overdue property-tax bill on a La Jolla, Calif., property owned by a trust that she oversees. Mrs. McCain is a beer heiress with an estimated $100 million fortune and, along with her husband, she owns at least seven properties, including condos in California and Arizona.

Old Jobs Not Coming Back, McCain Warns Ohio Autoworkers

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sen. John McCain told autoworkers here that he will continue to support the free trade agreements that many of them blame for the loss of their jobs, but said he is hopeful that a shift to new technologies will provide a new market for their skills.

In a town hall meeting with employee at the General Motors plant here, McCain was greeted warmly by about 100 employees. He toured the plant, where GM makes the fuel efficient Chevrolet Cobalt.

McCain: The occasional maverick

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

It is a word so closely associated with Sen. John McCain that his critics dryly joke it has become part of his name, a term so ubiquitous that McCain has a stock answer whenever he's asked about the reputation that both lifts and dogs him.

McCains Defaulted On Home Taxes For Last Four Years, Newsweek Reports

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Newsweek is set to publish a highly embarrassing report on Sen. John McCain, revealing that the McCains have failed to pay taxes on their beach-front condo in La Jolla, California, for the last four years and are currently in default, The Huffington Post has learned.

Under California law, once a residential property is in default for five years, it can be sold at a tax sale to recover the unpaid taxes for the taxpayers.

McCain's Delicate Immigration Dance

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Back on the trail late last year, amid snow drifts and ice storms, candidate Tom Tancredo spoke often about the possibility of defecting from the Republican Party if its eventual nominee failed to meet his benchmarks of conservatism, most importantly a zero-tolerance policy for undocumented immigrants.

"I am absolutely tired and sick and tired of being forced to go to the polls and say I'm going to make this choice between the lesser of two evils," the Colorado congressman said at an October debate in Michigan, standing across the stage from his ideological opponent, John McCain, who supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. "I really don't intend to do that again."

McCain Offers `More of the Same' on Energy Policy, Corzine Says

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain offers ``more of the same'' energy policy as George W. Bush while gas prices rise to record levels, Jon Corzine, New Jersey's Democratic governor, said today.

Appearing on CNN's ``Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer,'' Corzine said McCain focused too much on new oil drilling rather than advocating conservation and alternate sources of energy. The U.S.'s ``addiction of oil'' undermines the country's national and financial security, Corzine said.

Some on left target McCain's war record

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The highest voltage third rail of this presidential campaign may not be race, sex, or age, but Senator John McCain's military service.

McCain Sunday issued a pair of outraged statements after retired general and Barack Obama supporter Wesley Clark said he didn't think that McCain’s service as a fighter pilot and prisoner of war was relevant to running the country. Obama has consistently praised McCain's service, and called him "a genuine American hero."

FLASHBACK: McCain In 1999 -- 'I Would Not Support Repeal Of Roe V. Wade'

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Today, CNN’s Late Edition re-broadcasted an August 22, 1999 interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in which McCain expressed support for overturning Roe v. Wade, while also noting that the action “would condemn young women to dangerous and illegal operations."

Throughout the 2000 campaign, McCain hedged on the issue. Just two days earlier, on August 19, 1999, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, McCain said that he “would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade."

Workers reject McCain overture

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Three hours after John McCain’s bus left General Motors’ plant in Lordstown, Ohio, workers started streaming in and out of the factory’s gates for the mid-afternoon shift change.

Only a fraction had caught a glimpse of the Republican when he toured the production line and still fewer attended the meeting he held in an adjacent conference room. “Management invited him,” said 38-year-old Tim Niles. “It had nothing to do with us. We’re with Obama.”

A Win by McCain Could Push a Split Court to Right

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

For much of its term, the Supreme Court muted last year's noisy dissents, warmed to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s vision of narrow, incremental decisions and continued a slow but hardly steady move to the right.

But as justices finished their work last week, two overarching truths about the court remained unchanged: It is sharply divided ideologically on some of the most fundamental constitutional questions, and the coming months will determine its future path.

Sen. Hagel won't endorse McCain

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) declined to endorse Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and said he would consider serving in a Cabinet under Democrat Barack Obama.

John McCain 'fails to pay taxes'

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Newsweek, which discovered that Senator McCain and his wife Cindy, a beer heiress worth an estimated $100 million, owed $6,744.42 in delinquent property taxes on a California home, commented acidly: "When you're poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you're rich, it's hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying."

McCain on the defensive about spending

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain squinted in the midday sunshine as he crossed the meandering Alabama River aboard the Gee's Bend ferry, smiling at a dozen elderly black women who clasped his hands and crooned gospel hymns.

The ferry began running in 2006 with $3 million in federal dollars -- money the senator voted against -- four decades after whites eliminated ferry service to stop black residents from crossing to the county seat to register to vote.

Hecklers Butt In as McCain Addresses Latino Group

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was interrupted repeatedly by hecklers as he and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., separately addressed the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Saturday, at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.

McCain was interrupted four times by protestors, three of whom were identifiable as CodePink members. Four separate interruptions (as opposed to the number of people protesting, which can vary) may tie a record for recent McCain events. In Denver in late May, McCain was interrupted four times during a foreign policy speech.

General Clark Says McCain Oversold Navy Experience

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, an adviser to Barack Obama, said Republican John McCain has oversold his military and national-security experience.

The Arizona senator ``has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn't held executive responsibility,'' Clark, one of Obama's chief foreign policy advisers, said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' program.

McCain's So Old, (Insert Punch Line)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain, when I was born, you were nearly six years older than my mother. Now, seven years into her retirement, you want a new job: the hardest job in the world. Wow!

Obviously, my mother isn’t running for president, but her age gives me a context for considering yours. And within that context, your age gives me pause.

Ad Watch: McCain energy ad short on specifics

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

ANALYSIS: The ad blends patriotism and a can-do attitude to try to respond to people's anger over high gasoline prices. It promises to lower prices at the pump, but provides nothing that would, in fact, do that. It calls for reducing America's dependence on foreign oil, but studies project that even with increased domestic production and greater use of biofuels such as ethanol, the United States will continue to rely on imports for more than half of its motor fuels and be subject to global oil market pressures on the price.

McCain Makes Clear Support for CA Marriage Amendment

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The Brody File has learned that John McCain has sent a statement supporting a California constitutional amendment to the group Protect Marriage trying to get it passed this fall.

Here is what he said on June 25, 2008:

"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."

John McCain's Wife Beating Joke

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain made what you can consider an inappropriate joke during an interview with Las Vegas Sun reporter Jon Ralston.

Where to begin. First of all, as Jake Tapper points out, you might not want to be making any kind of jokes about women and Governor Gibbons, who was accused of trying to choke one in a parking lot, has been quite prodigious in the department on cheating on his wife (who he is now divorcing--more family values for all!).

McCain Brushes Off: 'Just a Bit of the Sniffles'

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When talking about his potential running mate, John McCain likes to joke that the vice president is responsible for two things: breaking a tie vote in the U.S. Senate and “inquiring daily as to the health of the president.”

Yet that question isn’t one he welcomes on the trail.

John McCain is Distorting Obama

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

McCain released a Web ad that distorts Obama's positions on clean-energy innovation and nuclear power.

The ad portrays Obama as saying "no" to energy "innovation" and to "the electric car." In fact, Obama proposed a $150 billion program of research into a wide variety of clean-energy technologies last year, long before McCain proposed to award a $300 million prize for developing a commercially viable battery package capable of powering automobiles.

Schwarzenegger criticizes McCain's offshore drilling proposal

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a veiled swipe at John McCain on Thursday when he said at a climate conference here that anyone suggesting offshore oil drilling could bring down gas prices was "blowing smoke."

John McCain and Charlie Black

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

All the ostentatious indignation about Charlie Black’s comment that a terrorist attack on American soil would be helpful to McCain’s candidacy—MoveOn has just jumped into the fray with a demand that Black be fired—is a little puzzling.

Black merely stated the conventional wisdom. The view that terrorism is good for McCain is supported by polling data and is shared across the board—hence, for example, the widespread calls from within the Obama camp for a running mate with strong military or national-security credentials. I share this c.w. myself. So, too, we may assume, does Al Qaeda, which has people who read the internets if not the actual papers.

John McCain's Voodoo Reformism

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In early April John McCain held an event at Washington's Willard Hotel, where President Ulysses S. Grant invented the term "lobbyist." It was a fitting locale, as the election-reform group Public Campaign noted, since thirty-five of the forty-three hosts for the evening were registered lobbyists. The following week Rick Davis--on leave from his job as a lobbyist to work as McCain's manager--gave a strategy presentation to lobbyists from the oil, utility and nuclear power industries, soliciting support.

McCain's ties to K Street began attracting attention, and a month later two of his key operatives were forced to resign after the press revealed that they'd lobbied for the Burmese dictatorship. A top McCain man, former Congressman Tom Loeffler, also got his walking papers after lobbying McCain on behalf of Saudi Arabia. In the space of ten days, five McCain lobbyists-turned-staffers left. Those who remained included senior adviser Charlie Black--formerly one of the most high-profile Republican lobbyists in Washington, who has represented the likes of Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi, mercenary contractor Blackwater and Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. One could be forgiven for wondering, Was anyone in McCain's inner circle not a lobbyist?

McCain Gambles with Awkward Joke

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was asked by columnist Jon Ralston why he didn't choose Gov. Jim Gibbons to chair his Nevada campaign.

"I appreciate his support," McCain said. "As you know, the lieutenant governor is our chairman."

Why snub the governor? Ralston asked.

"I didn’t mean to snub him,. I've known the lieutenant governor for 15 years and we've been good friends," McCain said. "I didn't intend to snub him. There are other states where the governor is not the chairman."

Maybe it's the governor's approval rating and you are running from him like you are from the president? Asked Ralston in a question McCain clearly found loaded.

Said McCain, chuckling, "And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago."

Hill Dems launch major assault on McCain policies

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Democrats on Capitol Hill have launched a major assault Thursday on John McCain's policies, targeting two areas where he is thought to be the strongest: taxes and foreign policy.

In one event, six Jewish members of Congress gathered to hammer McCain for a 2005 vote against a proposal that would have prohibited foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies from doing business with Iran. The message at this event, headlined by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), was clear: Obama is strong on Iran and a friend of Israel.

Charlie Crist's McCain Problem

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

On the first day of his second annual Florida Summit on Global Climate Change, Governor Charlie Crist was wearing a bright green necktie. It's almost as if he were trying to stifle any doubts about his enviromental street cred, though you would think he shouldn't have to worry right now. It's a day after America's tree-huggers virtually canonized Crist for his stunning announcement that Florida would pay some $1.7 billion to buy out U.S. Sugar, and the company's 187,000 acres of cane fields, to revive the imperiled restoration of one of the nation's eco-treasures, the Everglades. With characteristic ebullience, Crist describes the move like the post-ideological Republican he's become famous for since succeeding the more conservative and partisan Jeb Bush 18 months ago. The U.S. Sugar tract "is land God created as the natural filter for the Everglades ecosystem," Crist told TIME. "This is about getting back to basics and doing the right thing."

McCain's Day Of Repudiation

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Two of yesterday's Supreme Court rulings -- both decided 5 to 4, and with the same alignment of justices -- concerned the Constitution's first two amendments. One ruling benefits Barack Obama by not reviving the dormant debate about gun control. The other embarrasses John McCain by underscoring discordance between his deeds and his promises.

The District of Columbia's gun control law essentially banned ownership of guns not kept at businesses and not disassembled or disabled by trigger locks, even guns for personal protection in the home. The issue in the case was: Does the Second Amendment "right of the people to keep and bear arms" guarantee an individual right? Or does the amendment's prefatory clause -- "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state" -- mean that the amendment guarantees only the right of a collectivity ("the people," embodied in militias) to "bear" arms in military contexts?

After Impeaching Clinton, McCain Now Dismisses Idea Of Impeaching Bush: 'I Do Not Agree With It'

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Today during a town hall event at Xavier University, an attendee forced Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to respond to Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) impeachment articles against President Bush. McCain immediately brushed off the question, saying that he opposes them.

Yet in 1999, he voted for the impeachment of President Clinton. At the time, McCain stressed that a president must be held “accountable to the rule of law."

On energy, McCain sounds a lot like Cheney

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Behind John McCain's multistage release of his energy and environmental platform there lies an imperative even more urgent than freedom from foreign oil. Somehow, he must get out from under the albatross of the president he did so much to reelect four years ago, and soon.

So in the battleground states, McCain's new advertising already touts him as the Republican who defied the Bush White House on the issue of climate change. Those ads boast that he "stood up to the president and sounded the alarm on global warming -- five years ago. Today, he has a realistic plan that will curb greenhouse gas emissions. A plan that will help grow our economy and protect our environment."

Budweiser deal puts political pressure on McCain campaign

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

A Belgian brewery’s recent attempt to buy out iconic American firm Anheuser-Busch is putting Cindy McCain in a politically difficult position.

Mrs. McCain, the wife of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), is chairwoman of a lucrative Anheuser-Busch distributorship in Arizona and is starting to attract political pressure on the possible deal.

Schwarzenegger: McCain, Crist "Blowing Smoke" on Offshore Drilling

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The California Governator strays from his prepared remarks, tells attendees at a climate summit in Florida Thursday:

“Politicians have been throwing around all kinds of ideas in response to the skyrocketing energy prices, from the rethinking of nuclear power to pushing biofuels and more renewables and ending the ban on offshore drilling, it goes on and on the list. But, anyone who tells you this will lower our gas prices anytime soon is blowing smoke.”

Not everybody undecided at McCain event

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

More than 150 people packed into a meeting room in Schmidt Hall at Xavier University in Cincinnati for a town hall meeting with Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The meeting was set to start at noon on Thursday, June 26.

The crowd mainly undecided voters, picked by a marketing firm, but there also were college students and McCain backers.

NEW REPORT: McCain Would Give America's 200 Largest Corporations $45 Billion In Tax Breaks

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If you’re a CEO of one of America’s largest corporations and have enjoyed the Presidency of George W. Bush, a contribution to McCain is looking like a pretty good investment.

A new report from the Center For American Progress Action Fund finds that a key piece of John McCain’s tax plan — cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% — would cut taxes by almost $45 billion every year for America’s 200 largest corporations as identified by Fortune Magazine.

Top McCain Adviser Has Found Success Mixing Money, Politics

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

As Sen. John McCain's top adviser, Richard H. "Rick" Davis has worked for almost a year without compensation, telling reporters that the sacrifice shows his dedication to the cash-strapped Arizona Republican. He also took a protracted leave from his Washington lobbying firm to distance himself from ethical questions.

But in the eight years since Davis first managed a McCain campaign, his relationship with the senator has been a lucrative commodity. He and his lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, have earned handsome fees representing clients who need McCain's help in the Senate. He also has made money from a panoply of McCain-related entities, some of which have operated from the upscale riverfront office space that houses his lobbying shop.

Echoes of Bush's '04 Campaign in Sales Pitch for McCain

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

President Bush, offering a glimpse of the White House strategy for selling Senator John McCain to voters this fall, told a Republican crowd here on Wednesday that Mr. McCain is the only politician “who knows what it takes to defeat our enemies.”

Mr. Bush’s speech carried strong echoes of the national security themes he used during his re-election campaign in 2004. Then, as now, the Iraq war was deeply unpopular. And then, as now, Republicans hoped the election would turn on matters of terrorism and domestic security, which Mr. McCain, of Arizona, views as his strength.

The John McCain gaffe of the week

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Gaffes will be made. Foolish things will be said. None of that excuses inappropriate comments from a senior aide to Sen. John McCain that a terrorist attack would benefit the Republican nominee.

McCain has said repeatedly he is more qualified than Sen. Barack Obama to serve as commander in chief, especially in combating terrorism. But Charlie Black, one of McCain's most trusted political advisers, took the point too far, telling Fortune Magazine a new terrorist attack "would be a big advantage" to McCain.

John McCain doesn't work weekends

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain has held just one public event on a weekend.

Instead, after workweeks full of fundraisers, town hall meetings and interviews, McCain has been, in parlance, “down” on nearly every Saturday or Sunday for 20 weeks, largely sequestered away from the news media.

McCain pushes energy plan on delicate ground

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Republican John McCain on Wednesday held off opponents of a Nevada nuclear waste repository as he outlined ways to resolve the U.S. energy crisis.

McCain reiterated his call for building 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030 — and a total of 100 at some point beyond that — during a speech at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

In 2005, McCain Said Even The 'Scum Of Humanity' Deserve To Have 'Some Adjudication Of Their Cases'

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

After last week’s Supreme Court decision granting terror detainees the right of habeas corpus, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) blasted the decision as one of the worst ever. Raising the specter of Osama bin Laden being tried in civil court, McCain invoked the Nazi war crimes trials to declare that bin Laden should be denied habeas rights at all costs, Supreme Court be damned.

McCain has invoked the Nazi trials at Nuremberg before to uphold his position on habeas. Unfortunately for McCain, in that instance it was to push for granting those rights to terror detainees, as he explained to Tim Russert in 2005.

More offshore drilling does little at the pump: EIA

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Allowing oil drilling in U.S. offshore waters that are now closed to energy exploration would do little to lower gasoline prices paid by consumers, the government's top energy forecaster said on Wednesday.

In response to record pump prices, Republican Sen. John McCain and President George W. Bush this month called for Congress to end its moratorium on drilling off the East and West coasts and in Florida waters, leaving it up to each affected state to decide where to permit drilling.

John McCain's cynical energy policy