McCain claims to not match voting record

McCain claims do not match voting record
by Kathie Costos

The biggest problem McCain has, is McCain. He can say whatever he wants and hope all he wants the American people have not been paying attention to what is real and what is manufactured, scripted to portray him as supporting the troops and veterans, but the record is clear. It shows in his votes and his speeches. Here are just some of those votes with links for more eye openers.

McCain was against the GI bill because he said it was "too generous" and then we have this

Referring to Iraq in his closing comments Monday, McCain said he recognized Americans have grown tired of the war and the mistakes made, "but we cannot react to those mistakes by embracing a course of action that will be an even greater mistake, a mistake of colossal historical proportions."

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/26/mccain/

McCain, Military Oppose Expanding GI Bill
Presidential Hopeful Believes Legislation Would Hurt Military
By Z. Byron Wolf April 14, 2008
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill.

McCain indicated he would offer some sort of alternative to the legislation to address concerns that expanding the GI Bill could lead more members of the military to get out of the service.

Both Democratic presidential candidates — Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., — have signed on as co-sponsors, and the bill has gained bipartisan support from 54 senators on Capitol Hill in addition to Webb. A vote on the proposal is expected before the summer.

But the bill, which would dramatically increase educational compensation for American troops, has run into some unexpected resistance, both at the Pentagon and now from McCain, who has remained silent on the issue, saying he had not studied the bill close enough.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4652517

But when it came time to vote for it, McCain didn't bother to show up.

McCain misses vote on a new GI Bill, scorns criticism from Obama

May 23, 2008
Support for the troops returned as an issue to the presidential campaign yesterday with harsh words from both sides.

The Democratic National Committee accused John McCain of being AWOL from the Senate vote yesterday for a new GI Bill to provide better education benefits for returning veterans. McCain was in California on a campaign and fund-raising trip, while both Democratic contenders, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, left the campaign trail to vote for the bill, which passed by a veto-proof 75-to-22 majority.

On the Senate floor, Obama questioned why McCain opposed the bill. "I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans," Obama said. "There are many issues that lend themselves to partisan posturing, but giving our veterans the chance to go to college should not be one of them."

McCain, a Vietnam War hero, didn't take the criticism lightly - and while Obama is careful to honor McCain's military service, he mentioned Obama's lack of it.

"I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did," McCain said in a statement. "Perhaps, if Senator Obama would take the time and trouble to understand this issue he would learn to debate an honest disagreement respectfully. But, as he always does, he prefers impugning the motives of his opponent, and exploiting a thoughtful difference of opinion to advance his own ambitions. If that is how he would behave as president, the country would regret his election."

The bill, which President Bush has threatened to veto, would pay tuition and other expenses at a four-year public university for anyone who has served at least three years since the 2001 terrorist attacks. McCain is a cosponsor of a different version of the bill that would require soldiers to have more time in the service to get full benefits and to encourage them to stay in the military as a career.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/05/23
/mccain_misses_vote_on_a_new_gi_bill_scorns_criticism_from_obama/

But when the bill was passed with so many votes a veto was not possible, this is what the American people were told by Bush and McCain.

Bush Wrongly Credits McCain For 'Working Hard' On G.I. Bill
Jun 30, 2008 ... Good on the Congress and the Vets for passage of the GI Bill! They absolutely deserve it, no matter what Bush and McCain think!

BUSH: The bill is a result of close collaboration between my administration and members of both parties on Capitol Hill. I appreciate the hard work of my cabinet, especially the leaders of Defense and State and Veterans' Affairs and Office of National Drug Control Policy, as well as OMB. I want to thank House and Senate leadership and leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. I am particularly grateful to Congressmen Boehner, Hoyer, Obey and Lewis.

I want to thank members who worked hard for the G.I. Bill expansion, especially Senators Webb and Warner, Graham, Byrd, and McCain. This bill shows the American people that even in an election year, Republicans and Democrats can come together to stand behind our troops and their families.

click above for more

McCain put out a commercial that claims he has not been part of the problem in Washington, but this shows how much he has been tied to the problems the American people face everyday.

Voting with Party
John McCain has voted with a majority of his Republican colleagues 88.3% of the time during the current Congress. This percentage does not include votes in which McCain did not vote.
See a list of his votes against his party since 1991, a list of all Senators in the 110th Congress with a similar score, or a full list of party voters.

McCain wants us to see him as a maverick, but sometimes it is not a good thing to be one. Look at these votes to see what being a "maverick" has meant to McCain. There have been times when McCain got it right and voted Democrats against the GOP but those times are few.

GAO Report Points to Pentagon Waste (washingtonpost.com)
GAO Report Points to Pentagon Waste. Defense Department Home to 8 of 25 Federal Programs Labeled 'High-Risk'.

Military waste under fire / $1 trillion missing -- Bush plan...
GAO's Kutz said Rumsfeld has "showed a commitment" to cutting waste and asked Pentagon officials to save 5 percent of the defense budget,
Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, May 18, 2003


The Department of Defense, already infamous for spending $640 for a toilet seat, once again finds itself under intense scrutiny, only this time because it couldn't account for more than a trillion dollars in financial transactions, not to mention dozens of tanks, missiles and planes.


The Pentagon's unenviable reputation for waste will top the congressional agenda this week, when the House and Senate are expected to begin floor debate on a Bush administration proposal to make sweeping changes in how the Pentagon spends money, manages contracts and treats civilian employees.

The Bush proposal, called the Defense Transformation for the 21st Century Act, arrives at a time when the nonpartisan General Accounting Office has raised the volume of its perennial complaints about the financial woes at Defense, which recently failed its seventh audit in as many years.

"Overhauling DOD's financial management operations represent a challenge that goes far beyond financial accounting to the very fiber of (its) . . . business operations and culture," GAO chief David Walker told lawmakers in March.

WHAT HAPPENED TO $1 TRILLION?

Though Defense has long been notorious for waste, recent government reports suggest the Pentagon's money management woes have reached astronomical proportions. A study by the Defense Department's inspector general found that the Pentagon couldn't properly account for more than a trillion dollars in monies spent. A GAO report found Defense inventory systems so lax that the U.S.

Army lost track of 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units.
click above for more

Voted against bill to stop waste by DOD
10/6/05
Vote 253: H R 2863: Motion to Table Coburn Amdt. No. 2005; To curtail waste under the Department of Defense web-based travel system.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

Voted against cutting waste in bill
10/20/05
Vote 260: H R 3058: Motion To Table Coburn Amdt. No. 2093 As Modified; To prohibit any funds under the Act from being used for a parking facility as part of the Joslyn Art Museum Master Plan, in Omaha, Nebraska.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

More bills McCain voted out of majority
11/3/05
Vote 282: H R 2744: H.R. 2744 Conference Report; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
McCain No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes



11/3/05
Vote 289: S 1932: Wyden Amdt. No. 2362; To enhance the energy security of the United States by prohibiting the exportation of oil and gas produced under leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

11/10/05
Vote 317: S 1042: Talent Amdt. No. 2477; To modify the multiyear procurement authority for C-17 aircraft.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

11/15/05
Vote 323: S 1042: Warner Amdt. No. 2518; To clarify and recommend changes to the policy of the United States on Iraq and to require reports on certain matters relating to Iraq.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

11/18/05
Vote 349: On the Motion: Specter Motion to Instruct Conferees Re: H.R. 3010; Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes


12/15/05
Vote 354: On the Motion: Dewine Motion to Instruct Conferees on S. 1932; Medicaid Reconciliation Act of 2005
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes


2/2/06
Vote 9: H R 4297: Menendez Amdt. No. 2705; To express the sense of the Senate that protecting middle-class families from the alternative minimum tax should be a higher priority for Congress in 2006 than extending a tax cut that does not expire until the end of 2008.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes


3/7/06
Vote 33: On the Cloture Motion: Motion to Invoke Cloture on S. 2320; A bill to make available funds included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for fiscal year 2006, and for other purposes.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

3/15/06
Vote 48: S CON RES 83: Grassley Amdt. No. 3073; To establish a reserve fund to allow for deficit-neutral legislation that would provide for an extension of the Medicare part D enrollment period.
McCain voted No
GOP Yes
Democrats voted Yes


3/16/06
Vote 58: S CON RES 83: Specter Amdt No. 3048; To increase the advance appropriations allowance in order to fund health, education and training, and low-income programs.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

3/28/06
Vote 79: On the Cloture Motion: Upon Reconsideration, Motion to Invoke Cloture on S.2349; Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

3/29/06
Vote 82: S 2349: As Amended; Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

3/29/06
Vote 81: S 2349: Ensign Amdt. No. 2980; To include Federal entities in the definition of earmarks.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes


VOTED AGAINST VETERANS
4/26/06
Vote 98: H R 4939: Akaka Amdt. No. 3642 as Amended; To provide an additional $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

4/26/06
Vote 97: H R 4939: Motion to Table Ensign Motion to Recommit H.R.4939 to the Committee on Appropriations; Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

4/26/06
Vote 96: H R 4939: Motion to Table Thomas Amdt. No. 3515; To return the bill to the President's proposal.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes


5/4/06
Vote 112: H R 4939: H.R. 4939, As Amended; Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes


5/16/06
Vote 124: S 2611: Motion to Table Bingaman Amdt. No. 3981; To reduce the number of H-2C nonimmigrants to 200,000 during any fiscal year.
McCain voted Yes
GOP voted No
Democrats voted No


5/24/06
Vote 146: S 2611: Byrd Amdt. No. 4127; To fund improvements in border and interior security by assessing a $500 supplemental fee under title VI.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes


Voted agains bill that would have stopped Iraq from granting amnesty to people who were killing our troops
6/20/06
Vote 178: S 2766: Nelson (FL) Amdt. No. 4265; To express the sense of Congress that the Government of Iraq should not grant amnesty to persons known to have attacked, killed, or wounded members of the Armed Forces of the United States.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes



6/22/06
Vote 184: S 2766: Chambliss Amdt. No. 4261; To authorize multiyear procurement of F-22A fighter aircraft and F-119 engines.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

7/13/06
Vote 198: H R 5441: Menendez Amdt. No. 4634; To provide that appropriations under this Act may not be used for the purpose of providing certain grants, unless all such grants meet certain conditions for allocation.
McCain voted Yes
GOP voted No
Democrats voted No



7/19/06
Vote 210: S 728: McCain Amdt. No. 4684; To provide for a water resources construction project prioritization report.
McCain voted Yes
GOP voted no
Democrats voted No


1/11/07
Vote 7: On the Motion: Motion to Instruct Sgt. at Arms; A bill to provide greater transparency in the legislative process.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

1/18/07
Vote 18: S 1: Lieberman Amdt No. 30; To establish a Senate Office of Public Integrity.
McCain voted Yes
GOP voted No
Democrats voted No


Voted against Gen. George Casey
2/8/07
Vote 45: On the Nomination: Confirmation Gen. George W. Casey to be Chief of Staff, U.S. Army
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

3/6/07
Vote 61: S 4: Motion to Table Feinstein Amdt. No. 335; To improve the allocation of grants through the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

7/20/07
Vote 272: H R 2669: H.R. 2669 as Amended; College Cost Reduction Act of 2007
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

8/2/07
Vote 294: On the Motion: Motion to Concur in the Amendment of the House to S.1; A bill to provide greater transparency in the legislative process.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

8/2/07
Vote 293: On the Cloture Motion: Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Concur in the Amendment of the House to S.1; A bill to provide greater transparency in the legislative process.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

8/2/07
Vote 303: H R 976: Hutchison Amdt No. 2620; To increase access to health insurance for low-income children based on actual need, as adjusted for cost-of-living.
McCain voted Yes
GOP voted No
Democrats voted No

10/16/07
Vote 372: H R 3093: H.R. 3093, As Amended; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes

10/16/07
Vote 367: H R 3093: Motion to Table Ensign Amdt. No.3295; To increase funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program and offset the increase by reducing NASA funding.
McCain voted No
GOP voted Yes
Democrats voted Yes



3/13/08
Vote 75: On the Motion: Motion to Waive C.B.A. DeMint Amdt No. 4347; To establish an earmark moratorium for fiscal year 2009.
McCain voted Yes
GOP voted No
Democrats voted No

Missed Votes
John McCain has missed 408 votes (63.8%) during the current Congress.
See a list of his missed votes since 1991 or see a full list of vote missers.

Key Votes
See how John McCain voted on key votes -- the most important bills, nominations and resolutions that have come before Congress, as determined by washingtonpost.com.

The biggest problem with McCain is on the record. He is not just a Vietnam veteran and ex-POW, he's a disabled veteran, who has voted against other disabled veterans. He was not only educated by the tax payers, he voted against other members of the military having the same ability. We should expect more out of him because of what he felt he earned as a veteran. It has been said that we should honor his service to the nation, but that does not include continuing to vote for him when he has not earned that as well. McCain keeps voting against all he wants to be acknowledged for being.