h/t Barbara Morrill aka BarbinMD at DailyKOS for her response to this statement by Lindsey Graham on Meet the Press:
Graham: I think it would be good for the country if the president and Senator McCain could meet, soon, sooner rather than later, and come up with a package.
Pssst, Lindsey ... he lost. John McCain is not the co-president, nor is he some kind of Senator-Plus. Stop pretending he's owed some sort of role in the Obama administration.
Amen sister. Can anyone imagine the vitriol from the Press if it was President Obama who lost and he was acting this way? The Villagers would be screaming bloody murder.
Full transcript to follow.
MR. GREGORY: I--Just a couple minutes left. I want to get to an important debate this week, and that's about this spending bill, this omnibus spending bill that's full of pork, full of pet projects. Senator McCain, on the floor of the Senate this week, had some choice words.
(Videotape, Monday)
SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): It is the president of the United States business to do what he said. In his, his pledge last September, President Obama said during the debate in Oxford, Mississippi, "We need earmark reform, and when I'm president I will go line by line to make sure we're not spending money unwisely." So what, what is brought to the floor today? Nine thousand earmarks. So much for the promise of change.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Now, as Senator McCain pointed out, this is a bipartisan disease. Forty percent of the earmarks are from Republicans, that's $7 billion. Should the president veto this bill?
SEN. GRAHAM: Well, I'll leave that up to the president. We do need earmark reform. I wish he would veto the bill. We'd get back together and come up with the earmark reform process. Senator McCain does not object to members of Congress designating money to be spent in their state, as long as it has a federal purpose that's transparent and people understand what the money's going to be spent for and will have a say about whether or not it's a good idea. That system doesn't exist. I think it would be good for the country if the president and Senator McCain could meet, soon, sooner rather than later, and come up with a package.
