@Center_for_Fiscally_Responsible_Government: "The Honorable John McCain and George Bush: 
McCAIN & BUSH: IS THERE REALLY A DIFFERENCE?
Sen. John McCain has long promoted the idea that he is a
�straight-talking maverick� who challenges his party and stands up to
his president. However, despite the media misrepresentation, McCain
has not strayed too far from President George Bush�s line, especially
on issues important to working families. McCain is not running for a
term of his own; he is running on an extension of the agenda laid out
by Bush in his fi rst two terms: tax cuts for the rich, privatizing
Social Security and outsourcing jobs.
McCAIN VOTES WITH BUSH
McCain Voted with the Bush Administration 89 Percent of the Time.
Since President Bush took office, McCain has supported Bush�s
positions 89 percent of the time. McCain�s support of Bush�s policies
reached as high as 95 percent in 2007. [Congressional Quarterly Voting
Study, 110th Congress]
SHARES BUSH�S ROSY VIEW OF THE ECONOMY
Bush: Economy Is Inherently Strong. �I believe we can find common
ground to get something done that�s big enough, effective enough so
that an economy that is inherently strong gets a boost to make sure
that this uncertainty doesn�t translate into more economic woes for
our workers and small business people,� Bush said in the Cabinet Room.
[Associated Press, 1/23/08]
McCain: Underpinnings of Economy are Strong. �I still believe our
fundamental underpinnings of our economy are strong, but it�s obvious
that we are facing  challenges which will require actions such as the
Federal Reserve took today.� [�Lou Dobbs Tonight,� CNN, 1/22/08]
McCain Says Economy Is Strong (Video)
WANTS TO MAKE BUSH�S TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY PERMANENT
Bush: Make Tax Cuts Permanent. During his weekly radio address, Bush
said, �To keep our economy growing, we need to ensure that you keep
more of what you earn, and Congress needs to make the tax cuts
permanent.� [Presidential Weekly Radio Address, 1/7/06]
McCain: Make Bush Tax Cuts Permanent. �I think it�s very important
that we make the Bush tax cuts permanent. I voted to make them
permanent twice already.� And if we don�t make the tax cuts permanent,
then they will experience what amounts to a tax increase.� [Republican
Presidential Debate, MSNBC, 1/24/08]
McCain Voted for Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest Americans at the Expense
of Working Families. McCain voted for a $60 billion tax cut bill
benefiting families with incomes $100,000 or higher. The tax cuts
would follow equally drastic cuts in spending on programs vital to
working families. [S. 2020, Vote #26, 11/18/05]
McCain Waffled on Tax Cuts. (Video)
McCAIN WANTS TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY
Bush: Fix Social Security Through Private Accounts. �As we fix Social
Security, we also have the responsibility to make the system a better
deal for younger workers, and the best way to reach that goal is
through voluntary personal retirement accounts.� [President Bush�s
State of the Union Address, 1/28/08]
McCain: Only Solution to Fix Social Security Is Private Accounts.
�There is only one solution if Social Security commitments are to be
honored without breaking the backs of the next generation: bold
reform� genuine reform�that allows workers to invest some of their
Social Security savings, privately, in higher-yielding accounts.�
[Cato Institute]
McCain Voted for Bush�s Social Security Privatization Plan. In 2006,
McCain voted for the Social Security Reserve Fund. The GOP proposal
would shift Social Security�s annual surpluses into a reserve account
that will be converted into risky private accounts. [SCR 83, Vote# 68,
3/16/06]
McCAIN SUPPORTS BUSH ON PRIVATIZING AND OUTSOURCING JOBS
Bush: Outsourcing Makes Sense. In 2004, the president�s economic
report to Congress said, �When a good or service is produced more
cheaply abroad, it makes more sense to import it than to make or
provide it domestically.� [InformationWeek.com, accessed 2/26/08]
McCain: Global Economy Results in Outsourcing. �I�m not going to bring
back a lot of these jobs. I can�t because with a global economy
they�re headed the other way,� McCain said. [Technology Daily,
12/4/07]
McCain Supported Bush Administration�s Plan to Privatize and Outsource
Federal Jobs. McCain voted to support Bush�s efforts to privatize
federal jobs. The Bush administration has led a major effort to
outsource and privatize hundreds of thousands of federal jobs,
including those of 350 workers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
[H.R. 5631, Vote# 234, 9/6/06]
Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (COPE)
Political Contributions Committee, <url> and not authorized
by any candidate or candidate�s committee."
    @talus: "<quote>
<url>
John McCain Supported A Proposal For An Agency To Oversee Fannie And 
Freddie��In 2005!
Jump to Comments
In Sept. 2003 President Bush proposed a new agency to oversee regulatory 
reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Here is an excerpt form the above 
linked article from Sept. 11, 2003.
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant 
regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings 
and loan crisis a decade ago.
Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency 
would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of 
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are 
the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.
The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, 
to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It 
would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would 
determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their 
ballooning portfolios.
The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of 
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac � which together have issued more than $1.5 
trillion in outstanding debt � is broken. A report by outside 
investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its 
accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does 
not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.
Then in 2005 John McCain co-sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise 
Regulatory Reform Act of 2005.
The Bill was never passed. John McCain addressed the floor on May 26th, 
2006. Here is an excerpt:
I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory 
Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage 
of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American 
taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie 
Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial 
system, and the economy as a whole.
I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.
This bill was shot down by the Democrats and some Republicans in Congress.
John McCain fought two years ago to shield the American people from the 
crisis some of us are facing.
What was Barack�s vote??
Update: 09/17/08 5:48am EST (yeah, I dont� sleep much)
We asked the question: �What was Barack�s vote?� We had the answer on 
Monday, but didn�t link it here until now. I like dramatic pauses.
As reported here, since 1989, Barack Obama is second only to Sen. Chris 
Dodd in most amount of Lobbyist money accepted from Fannie Mae and 
Freddie Mac.
Are you hearing this? He has been in the Senate less than four years and 
only Dodd has taken more money than he has. Since 1989. No wonder he 
wanted to keep Fannie and Freddie under Senate oversight.
And no wonder there isn�t an �Enron type� investigation going on. Nobody 
wants to investigate themselves.
Hopeandchange certainly sounds like sameoldcrap.
Barack Obama: he loves hates the lobbyists!"
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