This Week: Ahnold Says Don't Believe What McCain Says; Look At What He Does
By Nicole Belle Sunday Jul 13, 2008 2:00pm 
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Download | play (h/t Heather)
I don't think this is what John McCain meant by being on the Straight Talk Express. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- who has endorsed John McCain -- admits that even though McCain is running on a Bush third term, agreeing with him on Iraq, economic policies, tax cuts, health care and free trade, we shouldn't take his words seriously...his actions show him to be far more moderate guy, willing to work and compromise with the Democrats in Congress. He's just saying what he has to during the campaign, see? He doesn't really mean it.
Well, let me tell you something. What is being said on those presidential campaigns is one thing, but what people have done in the past is something else. So you judge people on what have they done.
Yeah, let's look at his record...does this look moderate to you?
Transcripts below the fold
STEPHANOPOULOS: You talk about what's being done here in California, but the housing legislation in Washington is stuck.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I mean, I'm not speaking so much for Washington, because remember that we have a big problem in Washington and it's so polarized. People cannot get together. And I think it has a lot to do with, also, with the way the district lines are drawn.
As you know, the last district lines have been drawn by politicians, and they've kind of rigged the districts in such a way that they are kind of locked in and kind of easily win again, and that does not give people a choice.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Doesn't that pose a particular problem for your presidential candidate, John McCain?
Even if he wins this year, even if he becomes president, he's almost certain to face a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate. How does he get anything done in that environment?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, this is why I love this guy, because he has over and over shown that he can reach across the aisle.
See, that is the important thing. John McCain, every time I talk to him, he's never stuck on just "I am a Republican and I am going to force Republican ideas."
He wants to get things done, and I have seen him do it. He doesn't just talk about it. He does it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator McCain is saying that he wants to extend President Bush's economic policies, extend his tax cuts, expand his positions on health care, extend free trade. Democrats are in a very different position on those issues.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, let me tell you something. What is being said on those presidential campaigns is one thing, but what people have done in the past is something else. So you judge people on what have they done.
Senator McCain has been in that office for a long enough time that we look at his record, and I think that his record shows that he maybe has his ideas, but he sees, also, the Democrats have their ideas. And he's interested in molding his ideas together with the Democratic ideas in order to come up with a compromise.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It sounds like you're saying, "don't listen too much to what he says on the campaign trail."
SCHWARZENEGGER: No. What I'm saying is, in general, you have to judge people more by what they have done in the past. And I always say that well done is better than well said.
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I'll be back!
Let's see...
Got into the Academy on his name...
Graduated near the bottom of his class...
Crashed five planes...
Divorced his first wife when she got too unattractive, so he could marry younger, hotter, and richer...
Part of Keating 5 scandal...
Displays no convictions, integrity, or ideas...
Okay Arnold. I think we've got it.
now, now Ahnold keep your treasonous "moderate" talk to yourself you might put off the wing nuts and fundie whack-a-doos and screw up all the pandering and ass kissing McBush has been working so hard to accomplish.
potential material for obama ad
To me, saying someone talks one tune and walks to another is basically questioning that person's integrity. I doubt this Ausländer realizes that.
Wow...I've been wrong all along...
Arnold is a waaaaaay better actor than I thought!
Video:
OBAMA - RIGHT ABOUT NOW!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGeVtzqFlUY
Watch it and pass it around - it gets you PUMPED!
Rusty Steelers = Packers Shackleford @ 2:
Surrender to the enemy
Signed anti-American documents while a POW
Filmed anti-American propaganda films while a POW
same could be said about obama...
look at what he's DONE
voted to reauthorize the patriot act
voted to fund illegal wars
and now he's on some fuck the 4th amendment tip.
yeh mccains a piece of shit too but whats the difference anymore?
Ja, und haff I gementioned zat Papa vas ein SS mann, ze true blue-collar braunschirtz! Und zat bissniss vehr I vas saying how I admired Hitler vas a big missunderstanding. Haffink sedd zat, may I zniff yoor vomanhood?
isn't this the guy that sat in on cheney's energy task force before he was gov. of kullyfornya?
this guy's a tool too, he just knows how to play the game.
Judge McCain by what he has done in the past? Like, dumping his wife, for a blond trophy worth 100 million bucks? Yeah, let's judge mccain by this moment of maturity.
Wow! Me thinks Ahnuld has been hitting the sause!
McCain needs to pick his staff and his buddies better. His track record thus far is pathetic!
When did Schwarzenegger become the voice of the republics? Pundits treat him like a wise ole man.
Judge McCain by what he's done in the past? You mean like that little Keating Five oopsy? What a Maverick!
mmmmyeh @ 9:
How about mccain wants 45 nuclear power plants; or overturned the right to an abortion; or privatizing social security; or drilling off the Florida and California coasts; or continued corporate welfare; or no health insurance. The list is endless, Mr. Troll.
helenahandbasket @ 16:
Just a few more:
* McCain supported the drilling moratorium; now he’s against it.
* McCain strongly opposes a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.
* McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.
* McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
Wait, I’m not done with the last two weeks yet….
* McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.
* McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.
* He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
* McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
And these come after these other reversals from April and May:
* McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.
* McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.
* He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
* He wanted political support from radical televangelists like John Hagee and Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.
* McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.
And these are the flip-flops I’ve noticed earlier:
* McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”
* McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.
* McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.
* In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.
* McCain has changed his economic worldview on multiple occasions.
* McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions.
* McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.
* McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off than they were before Bush took office.
* McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.
* McCain believes his endorsement from radical televangelist John Hagee was both a good and bad idea.
* McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.” His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.
* McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal.
* In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.
* McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
* McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now he’s against it.
* On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own legislation.
* In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.
* McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
* McCain said he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.
* McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.
* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
* McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.
* On a related note, he said 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and insisted he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.
* In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.
* McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
* McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
* McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
* McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 8:
Was tortured as a PoW, but now claims to believe torture is a valid interrogation technique.
bob @ 18:
It apparently DID work though, because he signed anti-American documents and starred in anti-American propaganda films. Maybe that's why he flip-flopped on that issue?
Arnie is looking for an Obama Cabinet job while still working for his Republican Party. Arnie was set up to replace Gov. Davis as the GOP did the Enron Scam and it worked. Arnie got so big he was a hit speaker at the Republican Convention even looking to run for President. As for what he's done as Governor of California he's done nothing but work for the Party and fit bills that benefit the Republicans. Now Maria is looking for her husband a job since the Kennedy family is backing Obama. Senator Teddy has to help Maria with her family bills. Arnie tried using his office for personal business but he failed and had to sale one of the family homes. Now it's time for the Kennedy's to call in a marker and get Maria's husband a job. Republicans are hoping Arnie can pass information on to the GOP so they can get back the White House. One problem is Arnie is stupid and can't speak English very well. Arnie has warned out his welcome and should just live off his wife and her family ties. America was used by Enron and the Republican party as Arnie was their choice to continue to rob Californians. There are many Democrats in California that got White House kick backs and cooperated with the crimes the White House committed. Arnie, Pelosi, Feinstein are a few as their are others. Nixon would be proud of his student Dick Cheney for setting up the perfect crime to bring down one of the Great Nations as the United States is now run by a corrupt Government. The White House set up a Propaganda Department, paid Churches, paid off the Media Executives and reporters to make sure Americans got the fake information. The smartest people in the group were the Middle East Leaders who are now the big winners in this down fall of the United States of America. Most people that read history were amazed by the fall of the Roman Empire well history has another great Country that will surely fall.
By Eliot Spitzer Thursday, February 14, 2008 Washington Post
Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.
Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.
Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.
What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.
Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.
Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.
In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.
But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.
Throughout our battles with the OCC and the banks, the mantra of the banks and their defenders was that efforts to curb predatory lending would deny access to credit to the very consumers the states were trying to protect. But the curbs we sought on predatory and unfair lending would have in no way jeopardized access to the legitimate credit market for appropriately priced loans. Instead, they would have stopped the scourge of predatory lending practices that have resulted in countless thousands of consumers losing their homes and put our economy in a precarious position.
Arnold may be a republican but he isn't a NEOCON
Why in the name of heaven would we take the word of a steroid popping old wornout bodybuilder as to who we should listen to
mmmmyeh @ 9:
How about plain old volume? Overwhelming numbers of actions, votes, and hypocritical positions make McCain the worst candidate since Geo W. If you pick one vote by Obama or several for that matter, you're looking for someone perfect, just like you, and that's never going to happen.
Yohance @ 6:
it's the botox.
Arnold wants to be re-elect I think... and you can't do that while lying and supporting someone that goes against your own policy. I don't have much respect for him.. not that he did anything 'wrong'. But I'm gaining a little.
Pete @ 23:
i'll listen but i didn't say i would take him at his word.
On topic: I wouldn't trust Arnie any farther than I could throw him (and I'd have trouble getting him off the ground...), but as constituent says, at least he's not a neocon. I'll take "flagrantly wrong" over "unabashedly evil", personally. Doesn't make me any less embarrassed to be Californian, though.
Slightly off:
mmmmyeh @ 9:
A lot. Obama has severely disappointed me with his FISA vote, and I won't forget that, but "some good ideals, screwed up badly in at least one area" still trumps "craven, ideal-less, would apparently insult his own mother for an extra vote, and on the things he is consistent about is consistently wrong."
Not saying we shouldn't hope for more than Obama has given thus far (he wasn't my first, second, or even third choice early in the primary), but calling him the same as McCain is incredibly short-sighted, and just plain not true.
vote for mcsame because he's LYING to us ???
is that what the gropenator just said ???
I shold vote for mcsame because he's lying about his positions to get elected ???
that's the message ???
thanks for making this easy
constituent @ 4:
Good idea. Put Phil Gramm in there too.
bmw H. 528 @ 30:
although early and maybe it's propaganda but this election shouldn't be close but i do believe that there are people that except the bush administration's behavior some live their lives the same way DECEPTION
we will need this material for ads. the NEOCONS took everything back that middle america made in the 90's.
they couldn't stand middle class being empowered...middle class has always been a threat to upper class....the gap is huge now..a mcBush term will do us in...
Schwarzenegger's conforming once again to the latest Republican strategy by saying this. I even think his recent statements of support for recognizing the reality of global warming were steps in a strategy to paint Republicans, and thus McCain, as less extreme than they really are. Yeah, go ahead, look at McCain's (and other Republicans) voting record and behavior. Sensible and beneficial are not adjectives you'd use to describe them. And if you think that Schwarzenegger himself is some kind of "moderate," don't forget that this is the same Schwarzenegger who has expressed admiration for both Nixon and Hitler.
He'd made more sense if he said: "Hasta la vista, baby"
Oh, well as long as he doesn't mean anything he's saying, then that must be ok. It kind of sounds like lying to me. I had the same problem during Alito's confirmation hearing. He didn't really know what that club was he belonged to at Princeton, and he didn't participate in their activities; he just put it on his resume to get a government job. Curious moral relativism from a judge. I think it would be more instructive to know what he wouldn't say to get elected. So far, there doesn't seem to be anything.
Look at what he does, not what he says? Couldn't we say the same of Schwarzenegger?
Oh yes, I'll judge him for what he's done in the past .......
and very likely what McWar will do in the future as well.
Gee, wouldn't be a lot easier just to have Obama win and then we won't have to worry about reaching across lines or that stuff. We won't have to worry about partisan politics because they will all be the same party.
Our governor is a fine one to talk about the irreconcilability of campaign promises and then government actions. Mr. I-Have-More-Money-Than-God-I-Don't-Need-Special-Interest-Money who then is more reliant than any other former governor on special interests. Mr. I'm gonna clean up government but who then demeans nurses' unions in favor of big medicine and who cordons himself off from the people while acceding to the wishes of those who don't know a thing about education.
Are the GOP lemmings still frothing at the mouth over a Constitutional ammendment (one of the many) to let Anuld run for Pres?? LOL LOL LOL
I can't count the number of times in the last couple of years someone has called Hillary Clinton a shameless triangulator who will do absolutley anything to get elected. But when McCain does it apparently it's A-OK.
I may be wrong, but wasn't there some sort of stink a few months back because Schwartz wouldn't endorse McCain, waiting until after he'd won the nomination?
Please be gentle with me. I am one of those soft-minded liberal commie pinko people that you read about...
ahnold is just as corrupt and is just hedging his bets.
ahhhhhh.......... THE SAME PLATFORM ARNOLD RUNS ON..... say anything to get a vote....
YES AHHHHNOLD we get you.... wait until time for reelection in California, asshole
I would say, pay attention to what Schwarzenegger does. He's far more conservative than he pretends to be.
mmmmyeh @ 9:
Four more years. Do you know how to count?
That hold true to Kaleefornia's governator (Arnold.) He should know. He is a clear example of doing the opposite actions to what he has promised the people; while in the campaign trail.
Pelosi was another example. She took the impeachment "off-the-table" even when she promised to uphold the laws and in fact took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies domestic and foreign regardless who they may be.
Remember the promises to she made "drain the swamp of corruption" and promised to end the IRAQ WAR?
How things change after politicians are elected.
TRUE......don't read to much into what they say but judge them for their actions. It's all political rhetorcs that are full of hole and can not hold water.
Steroids cause brain dammage !!
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