Reason #52

At this point, I don’t trust McCain as far I can throw him.

The Raw Story reports on the latest in McCain’s long line of lobbyist problems:

Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm has been advising McCain on economic issues since 2006. The two men have been friends for many years, and Gramm is considered a likely treasury secretary in a McCain administration. Gramm is a major proponent of deregulation and was deeply involved as a senator in passing bills — from which his family benefited financially — which led to both the California energy crisis and the current banking crisis.

Gramm currently serves as a vice chairman at the Swiss bank UBS, which he joined in 2002, shortly before he left the Senate. He was their registered lobbyist from 2004 until April 18 of this year, a period of time during which UBS was lobbying to kill the Predatory Lending Act, the Emergency Home Ownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act, and the Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act.

Gramm was still actively lobbying for UBS on March 26, when he contributed to a speech in which McCain recommended further deregulation as a response to the mortgage crisis. Talking Points Memo notes that “UBS is among the banks worst hit by the global credit crisis,” with about $37 billion in assets tied to bad US mortgages.

So when the mortgage crisis hit—in large part because of the actions of lobbyists like Gramm—McCain suggested further deregulation as a solution (even though deregulation caused the crisis in the first place) because Gramm was advising him.

Sounds like a solid combination of untouchable ethics and excellent judgment. Exactly what we’re looking for in a Commander-in-Chief.

Reason #51

After voting for the War in Iraq, McCain didn’t bother to show up to vote on the new GI Bill, which would provide veterans with increased college benefits. Such benefits would offer an incredibly important means of readjustment to civilian life for vets, who often come home with PTSD, physical disabilities, and other issues that put them at greater risk of ending up in poverty and homelessness. Only three senators missed the vote: Kennedy (a little busy with his brain tumor), Coburn (at a family funeral), and McCain.

Where was McCain? Raising money in California, including events organized by the owner of the San Diego Chargers. Here’s what Jon Soltz, an Iraq War Veteran and the Chairman of VoteVets.org has to say about that:

“We’re certainly pleased that the GI Bill has passed and now will likely go to the President, but disappointed that Senator McCain put his own coffers ahead of this crucial debate, and chose not to vote. Senator McCain knows how tough things are for those fighting in Iraq, and when they get home. All of us would love to spend time getting money and talking football. But, sometimes there are more important things to do in life. This is one of those times when Senator McCain could have showed some leadership by canceling his events and heading back to DC for this debate.”

Word.

Reason #50

Of all people, John McCain should have understood what he was voting for when he voted for war.

Watch Iraq War veteran Jon Michael Turner describe what John McCain helped happen here:

H/T Huffington Post.

Reason #49

As an opponent of the occasional thing, I find this recent statement by McCain incredibly offensive:

“I condemn remarks that are in any way viewed as anti-anything.”

Could this potentially senile remark have anything to do with the fact that McCain is older than penicillin? We may never know.

Why I would vote for a bag of Cheetos before I’d vote for John McCain

Hey, I like snackfood.

Reason #48

His 1995-2008 voting record.

I think my favorite vote is probably the one against establishing minimum rest periods between deployments for members of the military. I know the friends I have serving in Iraq have really appreciated that.

Though I must say, as a student I have found his repeated votes to limit student grant programs, and to generally make it harder to afford college and graduate school very helpful.

Oh, but his vote against health insurance for children was pretty great too.

It’s a toss up.

Reason #47

The Keating Five scandal has mostly been ignored by the media in this election cycle, but in the context of McCain’s recurring ethics problems, I think the facts of the case bear repeating.

From McCainpedia:

Between 1984 and 1986, McCain failed to disclose over $15,000 worth of trips and gifts from junk bond king Charles Keating on his financial disclosure forms, and only reimbursed Keating after the scandal broke. McCain accepted $15,433 in trips from Keating and his associates, including vacations to Keating’s resort in the Bahamas for McCain and his family. McCain made at least 9 trips flying either on Keating’s jet or a jet owned by Resorts International. McCain originally reimbursed Keating only $2,000 for the trips, and he failed to reimburse the American Continental Corporation for the remaining $13,433 until 1989 — immediately after the government seized control of Keating’s Lincoln Savings & Loan. In fact, McCain originally did not disclose the flights on his House gift and expense filings. McCain did not reimburse Keating for the cost of food and lodging associated with the trips, as congressional rules did not require doing so.

This is not just one slip-up. It’s a pattern. Couple these issues with McCain’s tendency to lie outright and change positions on multiple issues, and his terrible treatment of his first wife, who he left for a 25-year-old when he was 43 (rumor has it that he left her because a car accident left her on crutches and quite a bit heavier, and he wanted a trophy wife to further his political ambitions—isn’t that sweet?). All together, I think there’s a convincing picture of a guy who doesn’t have the strongest sense of honesty or ethics.

Reasons 44-46

A little something for everyone…

Why you should hate McCain if you’re conservative.

Why you should hate McCain if you’re a moderate.

And why you should hate McCain if you’re progressive.

Reason #43

Yikes. McCain’s best bud the Rev. John Hagee is even crazier than previously thought.

We knew about this:

But this is new and nutty. Apparently Jews are spiritually dead… and they brought the Holocaust upon themselves.

(By the way, there has still been no disavowal of Hagee from McCain. Nice.)

Reason #42