Bush Agenda Finds Loyal Follower in McSame

MILWAUKEE — Senator John McCain has been a rubber stamp in the U.S. Senate for the failed agenda of George W. Bush. That’s the message behind the Stamporee event One Wisconsin Now (OWN) is holding outside the Wisconsin Republican Convention in Stevens Point today.

“Whenever Bush has needed another rubber stamp in the U.S. Senate for his failed agenda over the past eight years, he’s turned to John McCain,” said OWN Executive Director Scot Ross. “The Bush-McCain agenda has failed America and it has been a disaster.”

The event features a dramatization of Senator McCain giving his personal seal of approval for Bush’s disastrous positions, proof that when it comes to positions on public policy, Bush and the senator from Arizona are actually one and McSame on:

*Continuing the War In Iraq

Both Bush and McCain have been consistently wrong on Iraq and insist the U.S. maintain troops in Iraq – for as long as 100 years, according to McCain.

*Tax Cuts for the Rich

Bush’s tax cuts since 2001 have shifted more of the tax burden from the nation’s rich to middle-income families, and McCain argues those breaks for America’s wealthiest “have to be permanent.”

*Health Care for All

Both Bush and McCain have unequivocally opposed universal health care to would ensure all Americans access to the health care they need.

*Siding with Big Oil

Both Bush and McCain support tax breaks for Big Oil, with McCain supporting additional tax cuts for the five largest oil companies by $3.8 billion a year.

*Education

McCain calls Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, which stripped schools and teachers of the funding they need, a “major milestone.”

*Opposing Health Care for Children

McCain voted against the reauthorization of SCHIP, which would have provided 3.2 million uninsured children. The legislation passed without McCain’s help, but Bush vetoed it.

*Overturning Roe v. Wade

If Bush and McCain support judicial nominees who would overturn this landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Wisconsin women who seek abortions could be charged with a felony, fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for up to 3 years.

*The Environment

Both McCain and Bush receive failing grades. The League of Conservation Voters gave the Bush Administration an ”F’ on clean air and water and in 2007 gave McCain a “0” rating for his work in Congress.

*Outsourcing Jobs

Bush says sending American jobs overseas “makes more sense” if something can be “produced more cheaply abroad,” while McCain said that we’re not going to bring the jobs back.

*Torture

Bush vetoed a bill banning torture during interrogations, and McCain sided with Bush and torture in his vote.

The Bush agenda McCain has supported in the U.S. Senate is being soundly rejected. Eighty-two percent of Americans say the country is seriously off on the wrong track [ABC News/Washington Post Poll, 5/12/08] and 68 percent of Wisconsinites disapprove of the way Bush has handled his job as president. [Badger Poll #26, 5/8/08] Despite those failing grades, As a U.S. Senator, McCain has supported Bush’s positions an astounding 95 percent of the time in 2007 alone.

“It’s time for the people of Wisconsin and the nation to stand up and tell Senator McCain: no more war, no more siding with big oil, and no to the Bush agenda,” said Ross. “As a country, we simply can’t afford any more of McSame in Congress. It’s time to change direction in the U.S. Senate with support for the Democratic policy agenda and retire McCain’s rubber stamp of failed Bush policies once and for all.”