McCain's experience is not what we want

By: | Inside NoVA
Published: June 20, 2008

The Republican presidential nominee, John “Older than the Golden Gate Bridge” McCain, has a lot of government experience.

As of May 21, Senator McCain had 115 lobbyists helping his presidential campaign by either working or raising money for him. McCain’s chief political advisor Charlie Black built his career by
representing the world’s most savage and genocidal dictators, along with “good neighbor” corporations that include Blackwater and Phillip Morris.

McCain’s economics advisor, former Sen. Phil Gramm, was advising McCain on his subprime mortgage policy while Gramm was also a registered lobbyist for the Swiss bank UBS. UBS has serious
financial problems from the subprime mortgage crisis and is currently under federal investigation for marketing tax-evasion schemes to wealthy U.S. clients.

McCain survived the Keating Five scandal of the 1980s, made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, and during his primary campaign violated the finance laws he helped write.

McCain supported President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have prohibited waterboarding. He supports President Bush’s program of warrantless wiretapping, and supports retroactive immunity for
telecommunication companies involved in violating federal wiretapping laws.

McCain has voted many times in opposing abortion and other reproductive rights. Planned Parenthood gives him a zero rating on women’s health issues, the lowest possible senate rating. The NARAL
president, Nancy Keenan, has been quoted as stating, “Voters need to know that John McCain is not only against abortion, he is against birth control.”

As a veteran and former POW, McCain has voted only 30 percent of the time in support of veterans funding bills, according to the nonpartisan “Disabled Americans for America.” McCain, along with
President Bush, actively opposes the current bi-partisan Webb/Hagel veteran’s bill which would provide full tuition and housing costs at a four-year public university for veterans who have served at least
three years of active duty.

Although he opposes increasing veteran’s benefits, McCain does support a permanent troop presence in Iraq and new military action against Iran.

Is this the experience we want in a president? I don’t think so.

RON CHAREST

Dale City