Today on the campaign trail, John McCain promised to help law enforcement officials combat crime, help retrain displaced workers, and end the long lines at the Veterans Administration facilities. But as is so often the case with John McCain, his rhetoric doesn’t match his record.
Just last night when he had the opportunity to vote on those very issues in the Senate, John McCain once again put his campaign ahead of Wisconsin’s families for his own political gain.
Yesterday, after voting to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy, John McCain headed out to a $1,000 a plate fundraiser in Philadelphia. McCain ducked out long enough to miss important votes on amendments that fund many of the priorities he talks about on the campaign trail. McCain chose a fundraiser over making Wisconsin’s communities safer by increasing funding for the COPS program and helping families struggling to deal with skyrocketing home heating costs. He put big campaign donors ahead of helping get manufacturing workers the job training they need, finding the cause of autism, and giving Wisconsin veterans the care they deserve. [2008 Senate Amendments to S.Con.Res.70, # 4164, 4154, 4155, 4254, 4194]
But playing hooky is nothing new to John McCain. Last month, McCain was the only senator to miss a critical vote to give tax rebates to America’s seniors and veterans because of his campaign. [AP, 2/6/08; Politico.com, 2/6/08; 2008 Senate Vote #8]
“John McCain’s values are not Wisconsin’s values” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Joe Wineke said. “Yesterday, when he had the opportunity to help working families, veterans, and communities in Wisconsin deal with the challenges facing them every day, McCain chose to raise campaign cash instead. That’s not the kind of leadership Wisconsinites want, and that’s why they will reject McCain in November. After seven years of a president who puts his own interests ahead of Wisconsin’s families, voters have had enough.”
