AZ BlueMeanie

Posted by: AzBlueMeanie

This past Tuesday, John McCain pandered to the GOP conservative base by vowing to appoint conservative activist judges like John Roberts, Jr. and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.  McCain praised the justices as role models for the judges he would appoint to the court.

Apparently everyone has kissed and made up over the Roberts’ Court striking down a big chunk of the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).

Or maybe McCain never really cared all that much about campaign finance reform in the first place.  McCain’s commitment to public financing questioned – The Boston Globe  His reputation as a campaign finance reformer is largely a media myth created by what McCain affectionately calls “his base.” 

Last year McCain carved out a loophole in the law to exempt aircraft owned by a candidate or his family or by privately held company they control.  This loophole allowed McCain to use his millionaire heiress wife’s private corporate jet at a substantial savings to his campaign.  McCain Frequently Used Wife’s Jet for Little Cost – New York Times  “Last summer, just before starting to use his wife’s plane, Mr. McCain was quoted in a newspaper report as saying that he did not plan to tap her substantial wealth to keep his bid for the Republican presidential nomination going.”  But boss, what about “Zee plane!  Zee plane!”

Last November when the McCain campaign had been declared dead by his media base (where’s the love?), McCain managed to negotiate a sweetheart deal with the Fidelity & Trust Bank in Maryland for a life saving loan to his campaign.  The $3 million line of credit was secured by his fundraising list and the highly unusual requirement that he take out a life insurance policy in case he did not survive the campaign.  With Crucial Loan, McCain Put His Bid Back in the Black – washingtonpost.com

Cleta Mitchell, a Republican campaign finance lawyer, said she believes the arrangement raises serious questions. "Did they base this loan on the fact that, even if he lost, he would still be a sitting senator and able to raise money?" she asked. "In my mind, that raises questions about whether he complied with Senate ethics rules," which bar members from using their position to negotiate financial terms that an average citizen could not.

Posted by: AzBlueMeanie I am pleased that GOP Spartan agrees that the "McClinton Gas Tax Holiday Gimmick" is a bad idea and recognizes that the Bush administration’s weak dollar policy and reckless fiscal mismanagement of our economy, including the doubling of our national debt over 7 years, is largely responsible for our present economic condition. … Read more

Posted by: AzBlueMeanie (Artwork courtesy of BuzzFlash.org The John McCain for President, Hillary Clinton for Vice President War Party Fusion Ticket | BuzzFlash.org) Sen. John McCain has proposed a gas tax holiday for this summer, suspending the 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal gasoline excise tax and the 24.4 cent-per-gallon federal excise tax on diesel fuel between Memorial … Read more

Posted by: AzBlueMeanie Sen. Barack Obama has denounced and disowned his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The Washington Post in an editorial Parting With the Pastor – washingtonpost.com concluded that “we don’t see how anyone can question his commitment to transcending old racial battles and finding common ground.  The Rev. Wright doesn’t speak for … Read more

Posted by: AzBlueMeanie The Arizona Daily Star published a letter to the editor on April 29, 2008 regarding the New York Times article "A Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain."  Brian Sowle wrote: "I was certainly expecting to see the story the following morning in the Star. But no, the Times of New … Read more