McCain/Palin: Why I Think You Should Vote FOR Them

New Maverick Party turns out to be same old GOP

This new-age maverick McCain is in reality the same old guy who stuck with George Bush on almost every issue that is of concern to Americans today. John McCain is practically a mirror-image of Bush on Iraq, the economy and health care. This makes him not the maverick he pretends to be, but more of a Bush sidekick, and therefore his candidacy is truly a referendum on George W. Bush, whether the GOP wants to face that fact or not.

If America is ready for a third Bush term, then John McCain is our man. He has voted with Bush over 90 percent of the time, as has been reported by the Associated Press and is evidenced by his Senate voting record. The likelihood of a less than 10 percent chance of change from this self-proclaimed, but record-lacking Maverick, probably isn’t very likely.

Bush-McCain both insist that the fundamentals of our economy are strong, yet neither of them seem to understand that only works if they don’t focus in on the facts, such as record high job losses, flat-lined personal incomes, high energy costs or record housing foreclosures. These are all the things that affect the average citizen.

After originally voting against tax breaks for the wealthy, a once maverick position, McCain folded and now embraces permanent tax-breaks for fellow millionaires.

Bush-McCain are both big-oil favorites and both of them reward these Republican donors with unending tax breaks. Just like Bush, McCain opposes windfall profit taxes for big oil, while the price of gas is at an all-time high. The motto of “drill baby drill” helps big oil out again, more money for more drilling.

The party of Bush-McCain wants to privatize social security, a risky proposal for the average American. They both want to enact health care plans that would bankrupt small businesses across the country.

All of these disturbing facts aside, McCain pretends to be an “agent of change.” As The New York Times reported, on the campaign trail McCain sounded like a speaker at an Obama rally. “I promise you, if you’re sick and tired of the way Washington operates, you only need to be patient for a couple of more months. Change is coming! Change is coming! Change is coming!”

McCain continued his new mantra against himself and the Republican Party that he has been a life-long member of by ranting, “Let me just offer an advance warning to the old big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second crowd. Change is coming. We need to change the way government does almost everything,” the Times quoted him as saying.

My first response is to say, “Give me a break.” John McCain has been a typical operative in Washington for nearly three decades. His seven top campaign advisers are big-interest lobbyists, as was reported by CNN, so trying to remake Washington when your campaign is being run by the same type of people you say you now distain is a bit hypocritical at best.

You know the Republican Party is in deep trouble when they start attacking themselves, and pretending that none of them have been present for the last eight years. This is just another tactic to try to fool American voters into giving George W. Bush a third term by electing his protégé John McCain.

Don’t be fooled.

http://www.desertdispatch.com/opinion/say_4300___article.html/national_conventions.html

Four more years: McCain's policies do not reflect change

by Patrick Butler

If we look to McCain's economic policies, do we find change? No, in fact we find that McCain has embraced Bush's tax cuts for the rich and in justifying his position claimed that he can magically find $3.3 trillion dollars to shave off the budget. But where will these cuts come from? Surely not from the funds to repair our failing infrastructure, and surely not from our military. If you were hoping to find the money from earmarks, you should think again. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, only $13.2 billion was spent on earmarks in the 2008 budget. Instead of promising a change in our current economic policies, McCain was touting the strengths of our economy on the day that Alan Greenspan declared that we are in the midst of a "once-in-a-century crisis."

Perhaps we can find some semblance of change in McCain's choice for vice president? But those looking to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a beacon of change should think again. Palin ran both the state of Alaska and the town of Wasilla as a miniature copy of the Bush administration. In the few weeks that we have gotten to know her, we have found not one but many scandals. These include the possibly illegal firing of her public safety commissioner, the banning of books in her town library, the non-sale of the gubernatorial plane on eBay and many others. Economically, Palin took the town of Wasilla from a balanced budget to $22 million dollars of debt, much like Bush did to the country. Again, we are at a loss to find any real change within the McCain campaign.

But really, how much change can we expect from a man who hires lobbyists such as former Sen. Phil Gramm? Gramm is best known for claiming that our economic problems are "mental" and that America is a "nation of whiners." Ironically he was also responsible for the deregulation bill that has caused the failure of so many banks this year.

In addition to this, Gramm was also responsible for the legislation known as the Enron loophole and now lobbies for the same banks and companies that exploit similar pieces of legislation. In the McCain campaign Gramm's job was to write McCain's economic policy, and he has not been ruled out as a candidate for treasury secretary in a McCain administration. That Gramm is even being considered for this position is a disturbing reminder of how disconnected the McCain campaign is from our current economic reality.

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. While voting for McCain may not literally be voting for a third Bush term, it is voting for a man with the same policies and apparently the same morals.

The policies of our current administration have ruined our economy, destroyed our military's ability to respond to new threats and ravaged our international reputation. We need change, but it has to be real change. This year insanity is voting Republican for a third time.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2008/09/24/column__four_more_years__mccain_s_policies_do_not_reflect_change