McCain Sets a New Record: 10 Flip-Flops in Two Weeks
By Jon Perr Sunday Jun 15, 2008 11:50am
In his eternal quest for the Republican presidential nomination, the supposed maverick John McCain has repeatedly reversed long-held positions and compromised purportedly core principles. From the Bush tax cuts, the religious right and immigration reform to overturning Roe v. Wade, proclaiming Samuel Alito a model Supreme Court Justice and bashing France (just to name a few), McCain changed sides as changing political conditions dictated.
But over the past two weeks, McCain's rapid fire, acrobatic flip-flops have produced whiplash, at least for voters. 10 times since the beginning of June, McCain has retreated from, upended or just forgotten positions he once claimed as his own. On Social Security, balancing the budget, defense spending, domestic surveillance and a host of other issues so far this month, McCain's "Straight Talk Express" did a U-turn on the road to the White House.
1. Social Security Privatization. John McCain has apparently learned the lesson that the more President Bush spoke about his Social Security privatization scheme, the less popular it became. On Friday, Mr. Straight Talk proclaimed at a New Hampshire event, "I'm not for, quote, privatizing Social Security. I never have been. I never will be." Sadly, McCain and his advisers like ousted HP CEO Carly Fiorina are on record declaring fidelity to the idea of diverting Social Security dollars into private accounts. On November 18, 2004, for example, McCain announced, "Without privatization, I don’t see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits." And in March 2003, McCain backed his President, declaring, "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it - along the lines that President Bush proposed." As they say, let's go to the videotape.
2. Raising - and Slashing - Defense Spending. As Steve Benen noted Friday, John McCain was also for boosting American defense spending before he was against it. In the November 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, McCain argued "we can also afford to spend more on national defense, which currently consumes less than four cents of every dollar that our economy generates - far less than what we spent during the Cold War." But facing the $2 trillion budgetary hole the McCain tax plan is forecast to produce (a sea of red ink even the Wall Street Journal noticed), Team McCain changed its tune. As Forbes scoffed in amazement:
"McCain’s top economic adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin, blithely supposes that cuts in defense spending could make up for reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% and the subsequent shrinkage in federal revenues. Get that? The national security candidate wants to cut spending on our national security. Wait until the generals and the admirals hear that."
3. First Term Balanced Budget Pledge. With its on-again/off-again/on-again promise to balance the budget by January 2013, the McCain campaign executed that rarest of political maneuvers, the 360. During a February 15th rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, "McCain promised he'd offer a balanced budget by the end of his first term." But just days later, McCain's senior economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin announced a deficit-ending target of 2017. In mid-April, Holtz-Eakin proclaimed, "I would like the next president not to talk about deficit reduction." McCain, too, signaled the retreat from his first-term balance budget commitment, explaining to Chris Matthews on April 15th that "economic conditions are reversed."
Apparently economic conditions have improved dramatically since then. On June 6, Holtz-Eakin squared the circle, announcing, "That plan, when appropriately phased in, as it has always been intended to be, will bring the budget to balance by the end of his first term."
4. The Media's Treatment of Hillary Clinton. No doubt, John McCain suffers from recurring bouts of selective amnesia. And some episodes take only days to manifest themselves. During his disastrous "green screen" speech on June 3, McCain reached out to Hillary Clinton's supporters by proclaiming, "The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans, and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received." But by June 7, McCain denied to Newsweek that his media critique never passed his lips, "I did not--that was in prepared remarks, and I did not--I'm not in the business of commenting on the press and their coverage or not coverage."
5. The Estate Tax. Just days before his contortionist act on Social Security, John McCain reversed course on the estate tax as well. On June 8, 2006, McCain on the Senate floor expressed his agreement with Teddy Roosevelt that "most great civilized countries have an income tax and an inheritance tax" and "in my judgment both should be part of our system of federal taxation." But after years of battling Republican colleagues dead-set on dismantling the so-called "death tax" and instead promoting a $5 million trigger, on Tuesday John McCain sounded the retreat. Now, he insists, "the estate tax is one of the most unfair tax laws on the books."
6. FISA, Domestic Surveillance and Telecom Immunity. When it comes to the Bush administration's program of domestic spying on Americans, McCain has performed similar logical gymnastics. On December 20, 2007, McCain suggested to the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Charles Savage that President Bush had clearly crossed the line. As Wired's Ryan Singel noted:
"I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is," McCain said. The Globe's Charlie Savage pushed further, asking , "So is that a no, in other words, federal statute trumps inherent power in that case, warrantless surveillance?" To which McCain answered, "I don't think the president has the right to disobey any law."
But on June 2, McCain adviser Holtz-Eakin put that notion to rest, telling the National Review:
"[N]either the Administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the ACLU and the trial lawyers, understand were Constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001."
Pressed to explain the glaring inconsistencies, John McCain on June 6 played dumb, deciding that cowardice is the better part of valor. As the New York Times reported, McCain now believes the legality of Bush's regime of NSA domestic surveillance is unclear and, in any event, is old news:
"It’s ambiguous as to whether the president acted within his authority or not," he said, saying courts had ruled different ways on the matter. “I’m not interested in going back. I’m interested in addressing the challenge we face to day of trying to do everything we can to counter organizations and individuals that want to destroy this country. So there’s ambiguity about it. Let’s move forward."
As for immunity for the telecommunications firms cooperating with the White House in what before August 2007 was doubtless illegal surveillance, there too McCain's position has evolved. On May 23, campaign surrogate Chuck Fish announced that McCain would not back retroactive immunity "unless there were revealing Congressional hearings and heartfelt repentance from those telephone and internet companies." Subsequently, the McCain campaign swiftly backtracked, claiming its man supports immunity unconditionally.
7. Restoring the Everglades. On June 5, John McCain traveled to the Everglades to win over Floridians and environmentally-minded voters. There he proclaimed, "I am in favor of doing whatever's necessary to save the Everglades." Sadly, as ThinkProgress documented, McCain not only opposed $2 billion in funding for the restoration of the Everglades national park, he backed President Bush's veto of the legislation in 2007. "I believe," he said, "that we should be passing a bill that will authorize legitimate, needed projects without sacrificing fiscal responsibility."
8. Divestment from South Africa. During his June 2 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), John McCain called for the international community to target Iran for the kind of worldwide sanctions regime applied to apartheid-era South Africa. Unfortunately, McCain's lobbyist-advisers Charlie Black and Rick Davis each represented firms doing business with Tehran. Even more unfortunate, John McCain was frequently not among those offering "moral clarity and conviction" in backing "a divestment campaign against South Africa, helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid." As ThinkProgress detailed:
Despite voting to override President Reagan’s veto of a bill imposing economic sanctions against South Africa in 1986, McCain voted against sanctions on at least six other occasions.
9. Fighting Job Losses in Michigan. During the run-up to the Michigan primary, John McCain cautioned workers there in January that he didn't want to raise "false hopes that somehow we can bring back lost jobs," adding that it" wasn't government's job to protect buggy factories and haberdashers when cars replaced carriages and men stopped wearing hats." But after getting trounced in Michigan by Mitt Romney and watching the economy deteriorate further, McCain has had a change of heart. As Bloomberg noted on June 5:
Nowadays, the party's presumptive nominee is singing a different tune, striking a populist pose and saying "new jobs are coming"... ...Over the past few months, however, McCain has taken a lesson from Romney, acknowledging recently that "Americans are hurting.'' Returning to Michigan last month, the Arizona senator told a local television station that he would fight for new jobs and the state wouldn't "be left behind.''
Perhaps the good people of Michigan, as John McCain suggested to a Kentucky audience in April, can make a living on eBay.
10. Opposing Hurricane Katrina Investigations. During a June 4th town hall meeting in Baton Rouge, John McCain answered a reporter's question regarding Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the New Orleans levees by announcing:
"I’ve supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. I’ve been here to New Orleans. I’ve met with people on the ground."
As it turns out, not so much. McCain's revisionist history neglects to mention that in 2005 and 2006 he twice voted against a commission to study the government's response to Katrina. He also opposed three separate emergency funding measures providing relief to Katrina victims, including the extension of five months of Medicaid benefits. And as ThinkProgress pointed out, "until traveling there one month ago, McCain had made just one public tour of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina touched down in August 2005."
And so it goes. As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west each day, so too will John McCain change positions. (Like that other law of nature, McCain's flip-flops are literally becoming a daily occurrence. Since this piece was originally drafted on Saturday, McCain added two new policy turnabouts - on phasing out rather than repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax and on requiring a litmus test for his judicial appointees - to his litany of reversals.) As the Pew Research Center recently found, the word Americans now most frequently use to describe John McCain is not "maverick," but "old." Given the dizzying pace of his reversals, "opportunist" may soon top that list.
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The problem with lying is it is impossible to remember them.
I really want to see the bus doing donuts on the DC mall.
What a wally!
If he gets elected I'm moving to the moon, and I'm not even an American!
The Republicans couldn't have been serious when they decided he should head their ticket.
I mean, come on, I'm beginning to think my coffee table could get more votes for President than McCain in November.
There goes McCain, telling tales
Hopping down the campaign trail
Flippity-flop and John is on his way...
This will continue to happen to McSame all summer because he has to appear as a supporter of Bush and all his policies on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while also appearing as if he's distancing himself from Bush on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Could explain why he hangs out with Joe Lieberman on Sundays.
Gonna be a long summer.
enor @ 1:
And, the problem with pandering is everybody wants different stuff!!
Simon White-Thatch Potentloins @ 5:
Maybe they didn't want to risk a serious candidate's reputation in this fight?
After Bush bombs Iran, will Obama be able to get through the next four years of expanded war with no mission, without giving the Republicans ammo?
Don't forget that Republicans hold Democrats to a higher standard than they do each other. Because Republicans believe that they set the standard, they don't actually have to have standards. Those are for other people. They are above reproach.
i've been following these gaffs and flip-flops rather closely.......why is he getting away with this without clear explaination?
dosido @ 2:
With him slupded over the wheel, turned to full lock right, it's a distinct possibility.
Thats the problem when you're a neo-con, logic need not apply.
fastfeat @ 11:
the problem is the bus is being driven by lobbyists.
Wow! McSame must be dizzy!!! So much flip-floppin', flippity-floppin'... he's like a trained seal...
What a second! He IS a trained seal!!!
karl @ 10:
I'll spoell it out for you: M-E-D-I-A
I"m still waiting for McSames 'MaCaca' moment.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 15:
karl @ 10:
Paraphrasing the Kinks, "Gotta give the
peoplePARENT COMPANIES OF MSM what they want."you mean mccain is supposed to tell the TRUTH about where he stands on any issue?
he's a republican. he's SUPPOSED to lie.
was it rove who, after the 2004 election, told a group of republicans at a white house meeting that the bush administration had no intention of actually doing anything they promised during the campaign? that they just said those things to get bush re-"elected"?
more flipflops tha a landed salmon......
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xMtFhvv7vXg
Do you all remember that huge mass of childish Republicans in an auditorium with flip-flop sandals on their hands -joyously chanting "FLIP -FLOP ! FLIP-FLOP !! FLIP - FLOP !" while in sync they flip-flopped their sandaｌ-covered hands.
That was to antagonize John Kerry. Can anyone dig up a video of those idiots doing that ??
Billy @ 8:
...and he really doesn't get the concept of video tape, let alone youtube.
You mean like "I was against Kyle-Lieberman now I'm for it."
Opps...that was Obama...Sorry.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 13:
But, but, isn't McCane the "maverick", the "rebel"??
From Tom Petty, "...with one foot on the brake, and one foot on the pedal. I was born a rebel..."
I just re-read my message #21 above. If someone can get a video of that... we could attach a few seconds of it to all of these McCain flip-flop videos. Use their weapon against them ! Splice together / edit it together into one piece as if the enthusiastic people with flip -flop covered hands are ridiculing McCain...create that illusion. Go ! Somebody do it ! I'm just an idea man . I have little computer skills.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 17:
oh yeah.........got it...fair and balanced
My friends, I'm really not a Wally. What's a Wally? Well, I'm not one...I'm actually a loveable, irascable dolphin! They call me Flipper, Flipper, eeeyah! weeyah! ick! ick! clickety clickety click!
justadood @ 20:
Coming this November on A&E, a new reality series: "The Deadest Catch"...
McBrainless is showing the ruling class his complete lack of integrity and coherence. His ability to take both sides of an issue in a single day will serve him well. Let's face it. The ruling class isn't some homogenous group with synchronized priorities. Sometimes there are competing interest that take time to work out. The president needs to be able to flap in the wind and pretend he is carefully weighing out the pros and cons until he gets his marching orders. he then needs to turn to the american people and with a stright face declare that he is doing what is in the public good. That's John McCain! The brown nose express! Vote McCain...yeeeee...haaaaaa.
Well, he better flip flop on the Beer Veto ...
Why don't people just repeat what was done with Kerry in 2004 and bring flip-flops to McCain events, hold 'em up, and wave them back and forth?
Or how about a video playing clips of speeches in which he reverses his positions while a superimposed pair of flip-flops rocks back and forth in a corner of the vid?
Mmm..Mmm.... To post #27- Sounds like Mickxotic sex to me!
I don't see what the problem is here. McSame-Olde-Bushmeat has promised to be the candidate of change. You want change? Wait awhile... he'll change again. And again. And again.
\snark (;>
BTW:
"White House office wins ruling on e-mail records"
Niiiiiiiice.
This absentminded old fool continually rails on Obama about "surrendering in Iraq". Johnny, maybe YOU need to break out the white flag.....what a dog.
Erica @ 32; I'll see your Mmm..Mmm.... and raise you another Weeeyah!
Could be worse
Could be 10 thongs.
Obama and the men he knew were talked about day and night on cable news. When does McCain get his equal time? Where's the concern about what McCain might do and about his changing his opinions more often than I used to change my hair color?
these flip flops are a true sign of a maverick: as contradicting his own previous arguments proves that mccain is completely independent of himself.
quite a feat.
the only thing mccain has left to do to prove just how maverick'y he is to have a knock-down brawl with himself. my money is on mccain.
So a maverick is someone who changes their stand on every issue about once or twice a week? All along I thought it meant something different. I gotta get one of Fox "hard-core" dictionaries.
Richard @ 4:
My wife and I are taking a trip to Costa Rica and Uruguay in the fall (right after the election). I have been doing a great deal of research, and looking at properties. Now, we are going to the 'hands-on' evaluation. I have even opened a banking account in the Caymans. I will not live under 4 more years of neo-con rule.
McPanderer:
Just tell him want you want him to say.
It was pretty clear that the "flip-flop" on the estate tax was not a flip-flop at all. Read the comments from a few days ago when the item was posted.
McCain's constant changing of positions is a real issue and I am disappointed that you would taint the credibility of a list like this with information about a flip flop on the estate tax which is obviously false to anyone with the ability to think outside of the partisan lynch mob mentality.
more flip flops than a beach shop.
i am somewhat concerned....that the public is getting use to mcBush's flip-flops...it's being accepted and/or overlooked....i don't get it.....if obama does they're all over him.........i'm told to follow the money trail to better understand
OH NO he didn't........................McCain, today on the surge."my friends the surge is working" McCain, tomorrow on the surge "we shot our wads boys it's time to move to Iran"
.
I can't wait for the debates...
It will be like a McFish out of water.
.
McCains flip-flopping is really getting to a point where its beyond ludicrous. All while traveling around the country in a bus called "the straight-talk express"
To even consider this nwo, neo-con, as a semi-viable candidate just goes to show how bad this country has become.
Cutsie catchy names. Let's call it for what it is. LIES. Lies for profits. Lies by a unchecked party, way out of control.
Illegal obtained, no-bid, profits through the abuse of an unchecked system they created, some being paid directly to the vice president, in full view.
They preplanned and lied repeatedly to the people of this country, causing devistation in all that seriously matters, almost to the point of total collapse.
Flip flops? I wear those to the beach.
Why is it, that every time we see a Republican 'Town Hall Meeting'/magic show on TV, no matter who the speaker is....the audience reactions and the general dialogue resemble an episode of Hee Haw???
While I understand some of these, that thoughts on policy "evolve" with the time, but things like his backing down on torture or his flip floppish answers to the recent Guantanamo decision...show a lack of core substance, which was one thing people used to like about him.
At which point did the " Straight Talk Express " become the " Crooked Crap Mainliner " ?
Not to mention the hilarious "maverick" moniker. The election is starting to look again like a national IQ test.
No Honesty
No Integrity
No Ideas
McCain '08
This "These people scare the crap out me day" at http://www.tagg-theangrygayguy.com
This thread looks like it's at it's end, so I may repeat myself at a more appropriate time in a future post/comment.
McCain says only 4% of the GNP (Gross National Product) is spent on the military. While this is technically true, it is a *red herring*. The gov. survives on receipts (income from taxes), not the GNP. Currently, receipts are approx. 18.5% (approx $2.7 trillion) of GNP (approx $14 trillion). Which means that instead of 4cents of every GNP dollar, it actually means 21cents of every tax dollar the gov. receives. This is the true cost to the American Taxpayer.
I have a better breakdown of this at http://heelingtoport.blogspot.com/2008/06/lesson-in-political-economics....
I did not include specific spending, but may do so in a future post (or comment).
Quick update: when you include the war, the spending goes up a little to approx. 24cents per tax dollar.
This does *not* include 'earmark' military spending.
The weird thing about this election is that more republicans will actually agree with us on this - the republican party is sinking like a Cuban bathtub-raft. Many republicans don't like McCrap either, I've heard him called a "flip flopper" as much on the wing-nut sites as much as leftwing sites. I just hope we don't let that affect our resolution and start taking this election lightly. Republicans are much more loyal to their party, i'm willing to bet that almost ALL of the same people on the goofball rightwing sites calling McCstain a "liberal", and "flip flopper", etc. will vote for him in an election just because of the R after his name. If we're going to pull out of this mess we need to do the same for Obama, or we're screwed.
All on board the flip flop express.
pissed off patricia @ 40:
once quoted,
twice lie!
Bill @ 43:
y r u so concerned?
He doesn't care, and the MSM is going to give him a pass. I thought Grandpa Fred was just going through the motions of a campaign. Well, I think Great Uncle John isn't doing much better.
even as flipper he is a flop!!
What a liar! My God!
How is it possible for mcSame to actually be mcWorse? This old fool seems to have no principles whatsoever (duh, he's a Republican). I don't believe a single word he says about anything. Just like bush!
Obama Flip-Flops
Simon White-Thatch Potentloins @ 5:
You underestimate the power of American stupidity. I thought for sure there was NO WAY Bush would get re-elected, but alas...
Otherwise, if not due to stupidity, I say, if it was rigged before, it can be rigged again!
yeah right...if you're spoon fed your information from sites like this, of course this is the type of nonsense that you're going to believe. true journalism is not grossly biased which is what this nonsense is, and doesn't misrepresent the facts, which is what this drivel does.
if you twist mccain's positions, why aren't you doing the same for obama? he's right up there on the so-called flip-flop chart. but of course, you won't get into any of that will you...what a joke.
If this article comes off as a surprise to you, Americans, then you need to start watching some foreign news channels. This has been covered several times on CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and on some French TV channels I watch. American citizens are not, and I repeat --are not--, being served by their media in their country.
Also.. This leaves quite a space for a 'real' Republican to step in. Methinks McCain might be prodded into leaving the race and leaving a spot for another Republican to step in. Anyone thinking about a Goldwater conservative like Ron Paul?
-Your friend to the North
Vince
gavin @ 66:
I noticed that you didn't refute any of these comment with any facts or links to support your position gavin.
must be disappointing knowing you can't.
I highly doubt he will, but if somehow Mccain pulls out this election, I am denouncing America and moving to Canada. But I dont have to worry too much, Obama is going to steam-roll this flip-flopping douchebag. And to all those Hillary-supporter/Anti-Obama people out there considering voting for Mccain, you are sentencing this country to 4 more years of Bush!!! Wake UP!
you guys are all diehard republicans huh.
I used to have a certain amount of respect for McCain, although I would never have voted for him. But it is both disheartening and frightening to hear him backing off from every sensible position he has stated in the past. It speaks volumes about the type of national leader he would be--scary and inclined to
say whatever suits his purpose at the moment (kind of like GW Bush).
Whatever the reason is why this keeps happening, it is completely unassuring.
If he is beginning to show signs of age in forgetfulness, that's bad enough. But
far worse is the idea that he knows exactly what he is doing and doesn't care.
Either way, his reputation as a "maverick" has been shown to be a media-produced
myth.
Simon White-Thatch Potentloins @ 5:
Depends... Does your coffee table have any plans for improving the economy?
With the many, many flip-flops that McCain is racking up... isn't there anyone keeping track of them?? I've found a number of sites that track some of them but I've yet to discover a site that has compiled a complete roster of McCain's flip-flops.
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