Howard Dean: John McCain Puts His Campaign Ahead of Working Families

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Senate tonight voted on a bipartisan economic stimulus bill that would provide relief to millions of taxpayers, including seniors and disabled veterans. Needing 60 votes to move forward on the bill, supporters came one vote short, with one senator absent. The one missing senator: John McCain, who was too busy on the campaign trail to vote. The vote McCain skipped was on a timely, temporary and targeted proposal to provide assistance to 20 million additional American seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans, extend 13 weeks of additional unemployment insurance benefits to laid off workers, and help families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.

"John McCain had a chance to stand up for America's working families and help fix our ailing economy but chose to protect his campaign instead," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "While he says one thing on the campaign trail, when the time came to act, John McCain was absent. America doesn't need four more years of a president who puts what's good for him ahead of what's good for our country."


JOHN MCCAIN ON ECONOMIC STIMULUS

McCain Last Week: Economy A Very Serious Challenge. "I'm trying to emphasize, Anderson, that we are in a very serious challenge right now, with a lot of Americans very uncertain about their future, and we've got to give them some comfort. We've got to give them some stimulus." [FOX News Republican Debate 1/31/2008]

McCain Proposed a $1000 Tax Credit - Larger Than Bush or Congress. According to the Wall Street Journal, McCain, at a campaign stop in South Carolina, "[A]lmost on the fly, proposed a new tax cut to illustrate how eliminating "pork" would stimulate the economy. 'Here's one of my proposals: kill the pork-barrel spending. Give every child in America $1,000 in tax credits,' he said." [Wall Street Journal, 1/22/2008]

McCain Admits He "Doesn't Really Understand Economics." At a recent meeting with the Wall Street Journal editorial board, republican presidential candidate John McCain admitted he "doesn't really understand economics" and then pointed to his adviser and former senate colleague, Phil Gramm - whom he had brought with him to the meeting - as the expert he turns to on the subject, the Huffington Post has learned. [Huffington Post, 1/21/2008]


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