“I think they may have over-learned the lesson of the Clinton proposal in '93, where there were totally specific proposals.,” McCain said. “Now there's not enough. “At this point, I think the administration and the president has to be more specific."Which, actually makes sense, and it's something I've been saying for a while now. Unfortunately, the rest of McCain's interview is filled with the usual GOP projectionist blather.
In an interview taped Friday on Capitol Hill, McCain said his general-election opponent is “not changing the climate in Washington” as promised.Because 95% to 100% of the GOP voting against the President's agenda is all the President's fault, you see. Republicans taking responsibility for their own actions when there's an Obama to blame? Not going to happen. So the vicious attacks the GOP are launching are Obama's fault. They just have to call him a racist, you see.
McCain said he has “not seen” a “public option,” or government plan, he could support.
“The co-ops remind us all of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” he told anchor John King. “And so I have not seen a public option that, in my view, meets the test of what would really not eventually lead to a government take over.”
King asked McCain if Obama has “failed the test he laid out at [an inaugural] dinner, to be truly bipartisan.”
“I'm afraid they have,” McCain replied. “And, look, they've got the votes. We understand that. They had the votes in the stimulus package, in the budget, in the omnibus, in the SCHIP [children’s health insurance], all this legislation. And they have picked off, sometimes, two or three Republicans.
“But that's not changing the climate in Washington. What that is, is exercising a significant majority. And so I respect their successes, but please don't call it changing the climate in Washington.”
In that way, I guess the GOP really has changed the climate in Washington. It's a poor excuse.
I follow McCain and his daughter on Twitter as a form of entertainment. They are both against a public option which I find rather extraordinary since both of them have had government healthcare benefits for their entire lives. (OK John had a short period between leaving the Navy and running for office when he wasn't covered by the government but he did marry an heiress to cover his bases) Nevertheless the younger McCain sent out a tweet about her opposition to a public option! This from someone who was covered by the government for her entire life. Oh the irony.
ReplyDeleteBut yes Obama is at fault for not changing the climate in Washington. Republicans WEREN"T invited to the White House to talk policy. Republicans HAVE offered significant legislation! Hey we even got a really cool ... um, .... .... chart!
What McCain doesn't realize is that his party has moved so far away from the center that the only voices they hear are the ones calling from the right field bleachers.
But McCain did have some very original thinking when it came to Afghanistan: more troops. That took a lot of deep thinking for him to come to that conclusion.