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It was an unexpected throw-my-shoe-at-the-TV moment. The Republican Senator from Arizona was prattling on about this and that on `Meet the Press'. I actually gave him a thumbs-up when he reiterated his firm opposition to Dungeon Master Bush's open policy of "No torture technique left untried." But then, to my horror, I watched as the moderate maverick shape-shifted into a soulless party hack:
[Continued on the flip...]
Tim Russert: The deficit. David Walker, the U.S. comptroller general, said, "It's a tsunami that's about to hit our shores...and that we have to re-impose meaningful budget controls on both the tax and spending sides of the ledger." Do you, John McCain, believe that in order to bring this deficit under control long term, we're going to have to reduce spending and increase taxes?
McCain: I don't know if we have to increase taxes or not, but I certainly do know that we have to cut spending. And before we increase taxes we'd better go to the American people with clean hands. When you're spending $24 billion in pork-barrel projects on a highway bill, including a bridge to nowhere, how can you say, "We're going to raise your taxes?" You've got to...this whole pork-barreling, earmarking, as it's called, issue has lurched completely out of control. And then we're going to have to look at what revenues are about, but we're also going to have to look---I'm sorry to tell you---we're going to have to look at Medicare, Social Security, the entitlement programs. This Medicare prescription drug bill we passed is going to spiral out of control. So we're going to have to look at all those across the board.
Russert: The federal government's commitment, Senator, has gone from $20 trillion in 2000 to $43 trillion now, with a Republican president, Republican House, Republican Senate. Everything, in your mind, has to be on the table? Medicare, Social Security, tax increases, spending cuts, everything?
McCain: Everything has to be on the table. But again, before we talk about tax increases, we've got to get spending under control. I mean, if you don't get spending under control and you just increase taxes, then you're going to have more spending, OK? So...and, again, I wish that every American could listen to David Walker, the head of the Government Accountability Office. He'll tell you these liabilities are $11 trillion for Social Security, I believe it is...$40-some trillion for Medicare. American working men and women today are not going to have the same benefits that retired Americans have today, period.
Tim Russert: Period?
McCain: Period.
Of course, McCain fails to mention that a fresh round of tax cuts for the wealthy are still on the table. Or that there was a huge surplus when Clinton left office. Or that the war in Iraq sucks $7 billion out of our wallets every month. Or that Bush has never vetoed a spending bill. Or that the Chinese are getting close to owning our asses because rich white Republicans are lighting their cigars with the billion-dollar bills they trade with Beijing for treasury notes. No, never mind all that. Pay no attention to the cackling behind the curtain.
You Republican sons of bitches. You loot the treasury for your own gain, and then you have the audacity to drive down from your villa on Millionaire's Row, knock on the little guy's door---top hat in hand---and say, "So sorry, but I'm afraid I've been a very bad boy. And to punish myself, I'm going to have to stab you in the eye with this pointy stick. You understand it's for my own good."
But at least John McCain had the courtesy to furrow his brow, curl his lip and speak somberly as if there might be a one-percent chance he really gave a crap. That's more than I can say for most of the GOP robber barons.
You want the Republican party to "...go to the American people with clean hands," Senator? Then I suggest you and your irresponsible nincompoop brigade---including your knuckledragger compadres in the House of Reprehensibles---add a double-extra-heavy-duty sandblaster to your holiday wish list. I hear Ace Hardware's having a sale.
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