I'm not at all surprised that John McCain is already politicizing the events surrounding Hurricane Gustav. In an effort to make Americans believe he's putting country first, McCain has cancelled all political speeches for today. After all, it would look pretty bad if Republicans were having a party while a major hurricane was hitting New Orleans, right?
Oh, but wait...
The McCain spirit to party hearty was in perfect order the first time. On August 29, 2005, the day Katrina hit, McCain and Bush stood shoulder to shoulder in front of McCain's 69th birthday party cake. No joke. While Americans in New Orleans were watching their lives wash away before their very eyes, John McCain and George Bush were having a grand time. Most important to them at that moment was a birthday party, not New Orleans.
Why not party this time? Let the 2008 convention speeches roll and the balloons fall Senator! Have another piece of birthday cake even. At least it wouldn't be as disingenuous as this sham of an idea to cancel to the show today. Where was your reverence in 2005? (Here's the official news release from the White House from that day).
Believe it or not, it gets better. My favorite part.
A few months ago, John McCain, the straight talking maverick remember, stood firm and shook his fist in front of reporters as he bashed Bush for his mismanagement of FEMA's response. According to McCain, this is what he himself would have done.
"I would've landed my airplane at the nearest Air Force base and come over personally."Actually Senator, you were already at an airforce base the moment Katrina was ravaging the coast of New Orleans. You were celebrating your birthday with President Bush at Luke Airforce Base in Arizona, remember?
McCain's Voting Record. You're On Your Own New Orleans.
On Sunday August 28, 2005, McCain was interviewed by Bob Schieffer on Face The Nation (transcript in pdf). Just three days after Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, McCain made no mention of the damage or the victims left behind.
Although the leading discussion was framed around his support for war in Iraq, one would think McCain would have at least made a slight mention of the exploding humanitarian crisis.
John McCain's sense of urgency to talk about Katrina on August 28, 2005 is reflected in his own voting record a few days later.
September 15, 2005
Only a few weeks after McCain's official statement "to reach out to those affected by this tragedy," McCain voted NO to extend unemployment benefits, food relief, and tax assistance for hurricane victims. Only one Republican, Arlen Specter, voted in favor of the bill. Barack Obama also supported the measure. Thanks to Senator McCain and his fellow Republicans who controlled the Senate in 2005 the bill failed. You're on your own New Orleans!
September 14, 2005
Voting straight down party lines, Republicans blocked a measure which would have "established a congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Region" and made "immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future."
Thanks to John McCain and his Republican colleagues who opposed the measure, the bill failed. Barack Obama voted in favor of the bill. Senator McCain, as shown in the video below, says he "supported every investigation," which of course turns out to be untrue. He voted against establishing a Katrina Commission not once but twice. See also H.R. 4297. Vote #6.
November 3, 2005
Three Republicans voted in favor of this bill which would have provided five months of access to Medicaid. John McCain wasn't one of them. Thanks to him and other compassionate conservative Republicans, the bill failed. Barack Obama voted in favor of the proposal.
Country First?
McCain claims he voted against the Katrina aid because the bills were nothing but "pork barrel projects that had nothing to do with New Orleans." But according to a FactCheck.org study, "the Clinton amendments [that McCain voted against], however, would have provided $3 million for the investigation but no funds for anything else."
Even more, if he were so opposed to the bills because of embedded pork, why didn't he write his own bill with all that pork removed? Where was your compromising, bi-partisan gang then? You can bet if this had been a bill to drill, there would have been more than one or two Republicans supporting it. You wouldn't have heard a word about excess pork.
Here's McCain justifying his position and stating his noble "support for the every investigation." Memory anyone?
So, all the sudden, we're supposed to believe the compassionate, conservative, straight talking words of John McCain spoken just yesterday. "Of course this is a time when we have to do away with most of our party politics."
Right Senator. You're asking us to believe you this time when you deliver your acceptance speech from a disaster zone via satellite? You've come a long way in three years. From eating your own birthday cake while victims you voted against were hanging on to dear life in 2005 to preparing your own theatre during an election year in 2008. Perhaps if you and your fellow Republicans had handled the Katrina response with any kind of urgency (and dignity), you wouldn't be running around like scalded dogs this week.
It's fair to question McCain's sudden sense of urgency for New Orleans. His record on Katrina is very clear. Ready to lead on day one? Absolutely not. While it's okay to stand beside President Bush in support of a $750 billion war in Iraq, he's a penny pincher when it comes to delivering basic human services to suffering Americans during a national emergency. Country first?
2 comments:
Regarding H.R. 2862. Vote #229
Why is it that the representatives from Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Georgia all voted against this measure? Just because they were republican? I find it hard to believe party politics were more important to them the the very lives of the people they represented..There must be more to this story
Anonymous:
Well, you're right about one thing. It is hard to believe. It's hard to believe that almost every Republican (or every Republican on a few amendments) voted against these measures.
More to the story? Sure. If you asked them today, it's likely you'd hear the same response that John McCain gave. Too much pork. If that's the case, then why did they vote against Clinton's amendment which had absolutely no pork? Only $3 Million for investigation. See the FactCheck.org link.
How much pork was embedded in the war funding bills? Halliburton and other well connected contractors?
Why didn't Republicans...even one of them...write their own bill. They're aren't above that duty. They could have easily written a bill themselves.
To be fair, David Vitter (R-LA) voted in favor of one of the bills.
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