McCain and Change

John McCain reminds me of Captain Renault, chief of the gendarmes in the movie “Casablanca.” After the Nazis have ordered Renault to shut down Rick’s café, Renault (played by Claude Rains) says to Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart), “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here!” Just then a croupier comes up and hands Renault a fist full of money saying, “your winnings sir.”

John McCain and the Republicans are shocked, shocked that there is such a mess in Washington! Despite the fact that there has been a Republican administration in power for the last eight years, and despite the fact that the Republicans controlled Congress for six of the last eight years, they seem appalled that our economy is nearing a depression, that there is widespread unemployment, that there are massive foreclosures and bankruptcies, and that we have gigantic budget deficits.

Watching the Republican convention I felt that I had wandered into Alice in Wonderland. Here was a party that had been in charge for most of the past eight years, complaining about what they have done to this nation. One had a surreal sense that the Republicans were unaware that this whole debacle was their fault. They are running on the slogan that they are the party of “Change.” The truth is that they are not offering any real change. All they are doing is dragging-out the same old elephant—with white hair and lipstick.

During the primaries John McCain bragged that he was a genuine conservative and that he had voted with President Bush 90% of the time. In 2005 he said on Meet the Press: “The fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I’ve been totally in agreement and support of President Bush.” Now he says that he is a “Maverick” and is his own man. Well, what is he?

The biggest issue today is the war in Iraq. McCain has repeatedly said: “‘No one has supported President Bush on Iraq more than I have.” McCain has not outlined any change that he would bring to Iraq. On the contrary, he would keep our troops there indefinitely. That war is costing us $144 billion a year, and the huge deficits that this is causing are ruining our economy. Obama opposed that war from the outset. Which candidate stands for change?

McCain has said that he supports President Bush on the tax cuts that Bush gave to wealthy Americans. He would not only make those tax cuts permanent but would increase them. He would also lower the tax rates for corporations, thereby giving oil companies an additional $3.7 billion a year. He refuses to tax the windfall profits of oil companies. Obama has said that he will give tax cuts to middle income and low income Americans and will increase taxes only on wealthy Americans, wealthy corporations, and oil companies. Which candidate stands for change?

McCain supported Bush’s plan to risk our Social Security and Medicare benefits through privatization. Is this the kind of change that McCain stands for? Would he destroy our Social Security system? Obama would protect Social Security and Medicare.

Though he claims to have a "comprehensive economic plan," McCain supports the same Bush economic policies and unfair trade deals that have hurt American workers and have led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs. He has repeatedly voted against programs to assist workers displaced by International trade agreements. Obama would deny tax benefits to corporations that ship jobs overseas. Which candidate stands for change?

McCain’s health-care plan would do nothing to solve the massive health insurance problem faced by millions of Americans. While Obama would make sure that all Americans are covered by health insurance, McCain says he would treat employer-sponsored health benefits as taxable income. Nothing in his plan would deal with the underlying problem of uninsured and underinsured people.

On March 5, President Bush embraced John McCain, and John McCain said that he wanted Bush to campaign for him. You know that this would not have happened if McCain had opposed Bush on any big issues. Bush knows that McCain has supported him throughout, and he’s the man Bush wants in the White House. It is the next best thing to having Bush there himself.