Howard Dean: McCain Speech Highlights Hypocritical, Flawed Agenda

May 15, 2008 -- During his remarks in Ohio this morning, Senator John McCain outlined a fictional account of what he expects the American people to believe he will do as president. In reality, on each of the issues he addresses, Senator McCain has either failed to outline any plans or has actually promised outdated ideas that would make the problem worse.

Senator McCain's health care plan would do nothing to reduce the ranks of the uninsured, leave people with pre-existing medical conditions uninsured, and gut employer-based health benefits while raising taxes on families. His reckless tax cuts for the wealthy and his special interest friends would take President Bush's budget deficits to dangerous new extremes. His willingness to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years would continue to drain resources from our efforts to confront terrorists in Afghanistan.

Now, Senator McCain expects people to believe he will bring greater transparency to government, despite the fact that he never applied that same standard to his own political career. Before this year, Senator McCain never released a single year of tax returns during his 25 years in Congress. Now that he is running for President, he released just two years of tax returns--far less than any party nominee since Ronald Reagan in 1980--and is refusing to release Cindy McCain's tax returns despite well-documented links between Senator McCain's political career and the McCain family's business and financial interests.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement in response to Senator McCain's speech:

"The reality behind Senator McCain's new rhetoric is that his plans either ignore the problems he identifies or actually makes them worse. Whether he is taking President Bush's fiscal policies to new extremes, continuing a stay-the-course strategy in Iraq that has distracted from the real war on terror, or pretending he would bring transparency to government after refusing to even release his own tax records, Senator McCain found yet another way to show he's the wrong choice for America's future."

McCain Vision of 2013?
Its Even Worse Than Bush's 2009

McCain's Health Care Plan Does Little to Help America's Uninsured. McCain's plan does not focus on "reducing the ranks of the uninsured," of which there are about 47 million, or one in seven Americans. According to the New York Times, "The McCain campaign has no estimate of how many of America's 47 million uninsured would likely gain coverage under its plan." [Wall Street Journal, 10/11/2007; New York Times, 3/2/2008]

McCain Said US May Stay In Iraq For 100 Years. At a New Hampshire town hall when McCain was asked "President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years." McCain responded: "Maybe 100" and "that would be fine with me." [McCain Town Hall, Derry NH Opera House 1/3/2008]

Centcom Chief Admiral Fallon Resigns, Reportedly Argued Iraq Troop Levels "Hurting Operations" in Afghanistan. "It was often reported that he and Gen. David Petraeus butted heads about troop levels in Iraq, which the two denied, but was an ongoing dispute that simmered below the surface within the Pentagon. Fallon is responsible for not only Iraq and Afghanistan. The article noted that the troop numbers were so taxed in Iraq that it was hurting operations in Afghanistan." [Foxnews.com, 3/11/08]

Iraq War Has Permitted al-Qaeda and the Taliban to "Regenerate," Now Pose Greatest Threat to U.S. Security Since 9/11. "We write out of deep concern over the deteriorating situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan: the negligent policies of the last half-decade have permitted al-Qaeda and the Taliban to regenerate, and to pose a greater threat to the national security of the United States than at any point since September 11, 2001. In order to protect our homeland from attacks which may well be developing in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan at this very moment, we urge you to refocus the U.S. counter-terrorism strategy and our national security resources on this region and implement a comprehensive new strategy to keep America safe." [Press Release, Senate Majority Leader, 4/6/08]

McCain Wants To Make Bush's Tax Cuts For the Wealthy Permanent. At a debate earlier this year McCain said "I'm disappointed because I think it's very important that we make the Bush tax cuts permanent. I voted to make them permanent twice already." [MSNBC Debate, Boca Raton Florida, 1/24/08]

Cost of "Four More Years" Placed At $6.3 TRILLION. The CBO's "January Budget and Economic Outlook" showed continued deterioration in the budget outlook with the projected 2008 deficit growing to $219 billion. But as bad as the budget situation has become under the current Republican Administration, continuation of the Republican policies by any of the Republicans on stage tonight will only make things worse. The majority staff of the Senate Budget Committee estimates that funding Republican priorities like making the Bush tax cuts permanent and funding ongoing - and perhaps permanent - operations in Iraq will add $6.3 trillion to the CBO's already dismal ten-year predictions. http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/documents/2008/cbojanupdatefactsheet...

Source: DNC

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