United States Senator and former Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain recently came through California — helping out Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman, and LG candidate Jeff Denham. Good for them, I suppose. Whitman played a key role, nationally, on McCain’s finance team in the general election (she supported Mitt Romney in the primary) and Jeff Denham has been a McCain guy for a long time. It’s notable and noble, I suppose, to see McCain coming back to help out people that helped him.
I was invited to come and hear McCain at these California events — and ultimately, I just couldn’t do it. And let me preface these comments by saying that they are not intended to be a slight on Whitman or Denham, their inclusion in this commentary is merely to reference McCain’s reason for traveling out here.
I am so done with John McCain.
**There is more – click the link**
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
” . . . when you see what Barack Obama is doing to our nation, in that context, I really wish McCain were my President right now.”
There’s another context?
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
There you go again, Jon, sailing off planet Earth to the far right. So, Earth to Jon, Earth to Jon – what would you cut that the Republican majority put in place between 1995 and 2006? Would you cut fully funding the military? And send the troops into battle without adequate equipment. Would you cut No Child Left Behind? That program is designed to make sure that every child learns to read and do mathematics. How about the Medicare Drug benefit? That program lets older Americans purchase needed drugs at affordable prices. Or do you object to the fact that the Republican majority managed to balance the federal budget for the first time since World War II? Give us some specifics, Jon. Please.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
I couldn’t agree more, Jon. Unfortunately, other “contendas” also advanced “Big Gubment” programs – Mitt Romney’s government-run health plan in Massachusetts, Mike Huckabee’s intent to meddle in the economy – and none advocated a “hands off” position.
For Californians, the silence of Meg Whitman on the current state budget issues and association with McCain speaks volumes. I don’t know where Steve Poizner stands on the current crisis, but he could do himself a lot of good by outlining what he’d do to cut spending and keep it low after the crisis passes.
Like you, I’ve come to see the GOP as just another power-hungry group that rapes and pillages taxpayers once it achieves power. If it can’t articulate alternative solutions at a time like this, it will never have a very hard time attaining any future credibility.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
To Kevin Forrester:
The Republican majority’s tenure really needs to be looked at during the Clinton and Bush eras. Under Clinton, it focused on keeping spending under control, reducing, not increasing, the role of government, e.g., the Welfare Reform Act, which Slick Willy would never have produced on his own, and the Capital Gains Tax cut.
Under Bush, we have a series of spending increases for No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part “D”, and all manner of pet projects passed by Congress that Bush couldn’t be bothered to veto. More importantly, the GOP bungled a HUGE opportunity after the 2004 election to fundamentally reform Social Security and the Tax Code, but did NOTHING.
If the GOP ever wants my vote and probably those of millions of others across the country, it had better articulate a clear alternative vision, policy and concrete proposals for restoring fiscal balance and minimizing, not increasing, the role of government.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
“Would you cut No Child Left Behind? That program is designed to make sure that every child learns to read and do mathematics.” God help us! Yes, by all means–no cuts! Let’s tax more and then some more. Lets put a tax on the tax–all for the children. Let’s not stop until every community can proudly say our schools offer no less than those in Detroit and Washington DC. “Specifics”? Get real!
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
You’re done with Sen. McCain Flash, but you’ll end up supporting his lackies in California in 2010.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Bernie Torbik:
Your history of the GOP since 1993 in three paragraphs is really beside the point of today’s headline post of Jon Fleischman’s: “I am so done with John McCain.”
Jon says he wishes John McCain was his President right now. I agree.
You say the GOP needs find a new direction. I agree.
But hauling out the man you wish was your President today, just so you can throw him under the bus (again) does nothing to advance the cause of the GOP, and is an insult to the past, present, and future service of Senator John McCain.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Kevin Forrester:
I honor John McCain’s service to our country as a war hero and a U.S. Senator. And I enthusiastically supported him for President in 2000.
The John McCain who ran in 2008 was a different person, ideologically speaking. The impression he gave during the hearings on the Wall Street bailout and his photo-op “emergency trip” to Washington was one of “do something, even if it’s the wrong thing”. Instead, he should have said NO! and the public would largely have endorsed his viewpoint.
I agree with Jon that McCain was and would be a far better choice for President than Obama, but that doesn’t mean I’d have voted for him in the Primary, or that I want others of his ilk as candidates in the future. Far from it!
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jack Clough:
I most assuredly would eliminate the “No Child Left Behind” program, and many of the other so-called reforms inflicted on the public in past several years by the Education Lobby.
I attended a Catholic grade school with 72 students in my home room class. The other two 8th grade classes each had 70. All of the students graduated and completed high school. We didn’t have costly federal programs to designed to employ more teachers and as an unintended benefit, educate Johnny or Juan. Parents were expected to be involved in their kids education, and if they didn’t pass a subject, the school and parents ensured that the kid didn’t screw up again.
Thankfully, I never attended public schools nor would I ever send my kids to one. Before you accuse me of elitism, my parents struggled to send eight kids to parochial school because even in the 1960s and 1970s, public schools were the dregs. If you want to spend money on education usefully, support a voucher program that would let parents send their kids to schools of their choice and end the public school monopoly.
Take a look around the country at some of the school districts that spend the most per student: Newark, NJ; Detroit, MI and others. They’re Exhibit “A” in the case against throwing more money at so-called troubled schools. If more money per kid worked, every student in Newark would be graduating with straight “A”s.
The time has come to call the education lobby’s bluff and halt the unending increase in spending with no apparent result. Although he’s about 6 years late, I wholeheartedly endorse Arnold’s cuts to education and hope that there’s more to come.
As for your position on taxes, wake up and smell the coffee. The public mood after the despicable tax increases passed by the Legislature and results of the 19 May Special Election aren’t proof that your viewpoint belongs in the compost heap.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Bernie Torbik:
Please go back and read my comments again. I was being facetious. Like you and your family, my parents sacrificed to send my brothers and me to Catholic schools. I don’t remember an exact count, but our class sizes were above the max. The nuns put up with no malarkey and kept a pointer/yardstick/paddle handy. I can personally attest to their using it – first hand – on me! I did not want my father to know because I was sure to receive his punishment as well. Overall, things turned out pretty well.
May 31st, 2009 at 12:00 am
We should not ignore the past, but looking forward is the most important thing.
May 31st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Bob Evans,
Who gives a rip what any particular federal law is “intended” to do or be, No Child Left Behind is just more federal meddling in local schools that made life worse for all involved in the educational process.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
John McCain support is the kiss of death for a candidate. He should gracefully exit and let real Conservatives lead.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Funny- I was lambasted as ignorant on the Red County Blog for railing against McCain.
Well put, Jon… don’t compound that mistake by backing Whitman or Romney. Cross-Contamination is bad.