John McCain: Renegade Republican

McCain was defeated by dirty politics, but being loyal to his party, he begrudgingly endorsed Bush. He has supported the Bush Administration with most of the war on terror and the war in Iraq, but little else.

He is now attacking the Republican leadership and the Bush Administration for excessive spending as the Congress recessed for the year after the massive overhaul of Medicare. The program now includes a limited prescription drug benefit, but gives billions of dollars to the pharmaceutical industry. McCain is pointing to the pharmaceutical company stock prices as they are now surging as a result of the give away.

He also opposed the $31 billion national energy bill, which was originally $8 billion, still pending until at least next year, much of which would fund industry tax breaks. The bill includes no policy initiatives, only pork and more pork, and the Bush Administration is calling it a priority.

McCain blames President Bush as much as he does the Congress for this year’s spending level. Bush has never vetoed a spending bill and we are creating a significant burden of debt for future generations of Americans. We cannot have this level of debt and increasing deficits without affecting interest rates and inflation.

John McCain gets attacked by his own party for doing something they simply cannot stand within their ranks, and that is thinking for himself. Republican or not, John McCain is one of the most principled common sense politicians in Washington.

As a senator, McCain represents the people of Arizona first and the Republicans second. His record of almost 20 years in Congress shows that he is a right-of-center conservative, just not a hard line follower of the ultra conservative Republican leadership. Teddy Roosevelt would be proud.

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