Proud American and Public Servant John McCain is now NUMBER# 1!!!

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ZZZzzzzzzz

Number 1 as the most absent senator of the 110th congress....


McCain’s criticisms don’t hit very hard, considering he hasn’t been present for any of the six votes on the housing bill (HR 3221) in the past month. In fact, he hasn’t actually voted on anything in the Senate since April 8. McCain now ranks as the #1 most absent senator of the 110th Congress, having missed 61.8 percent of the votes. He even beats Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), who took several months off while recovering from a brain hemorrhage. Important votes missed include the economic stimulus package and “at least seven votes of prominence on Iraq.”

Ironically, McCain also loves recesses. As Politico recently reported, McCain has taken a break from campaigning nearly every Saturday and Sunday for the past 20 weeks. The time is usually spent “with family, friends and campaign advisers” at one of his two residences or one of his two vacation homes.

As Ian Fried at the Seminal writes, “f McCain thinks that the Housing Reform bill is that important, then instead of travelling to Colombia and Mexico this week, he should have gone to Washington and helped negotiate the bill.”


This morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on MSNBC and blasted Congress for being lazy. He said that instead of taking a Fourth of July recess, senators should have stuck around and passed a housing bill:

McCAIN: "80-some percent of the American people think the country’s on the wrong track. Approval ratings of Congress — I saw one poll, 12 percent, the lowest in 40 years they’ve been taking these polls.

And meanwhile, what’s the answer? Go out on a Fourth of July recess without passing a housing bill.

I mean, look, Americans are fed up, and I understand it.

And so, if we’re technically in a recession or not — I would imagine that we are. But the major thing is Americans are hurting and Americans don’t like it, and they think the country is in the wrong direction."

Watch it here:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/08/mccain-congress/
 
Good point but presidential candidates always miss a lot of time. At least McCain put in a good 25 years before taking this year off. Obama served a little over 100 days as a senator before starting his campaign. I guess he had learned all he could from Ted Kennedy et al. Can't say I really blame him for not wanting to spend more time with that bunch.

Actually I think we would be better off if they were limited to maybe three months per year in session. That way the damage they could do would be limited somewhat.
 
Knee jerk Pavlovian response by the right when one of the klannish is exposed...

I bet you can't even keep it simple enough to say that McCain is MIA as far as his day job goes...without trying to mitigate his absences by comparing him to democrats.

Surely you have no principle at work beyond defending your own party...

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

Good point but presidential candidates always miss a lot of time. At least McCain put in a good 25 years before taking this year off. Obama served a little over 100 days as a senator before starting his campaign. I guess he had learned all he could from Ted Kennedy et al. Can't say I really blame him for not wanting to spend more time with that bunch.

Actually I think we would be better off if they were limited to maybe three months per year in session. That way the damage they could do would be limited somewhat.
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Quote from ZZZzzzzzzz:

McCain is MIA as far as his day job goes
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Lol, it's the same line of attack the dems used against Bush 4 years ago when they accused him (and rightly so) of being the laziest president ever and of having taken more vacation days than any other president ever had. Because it worked so well against Bush they are trying the same approach against McCain.:D Boy, do these people ever learn?
 
Mccain isnt even qualified under the constitution to be President. You must be born in the USA not some foreign nation, panama is NOT part of usa,,,course republicans dont like the constitution anyways. Been voting republican all my life,,,,maybe Barr
 
This must be the same Democrat-led Congress that has record low approval numbers.

Congressional Approval Falls to Single Digits for First Time Ever

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category.

Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008.

The percentage of Democrats who give Congress positive ratings fell from 17% last month to 13% this month. The number of Democrats who give Congress a poor rating remained unchanged. Among Republicans, 8% give Congress good or excellent ratings, up just a point from last month. Sixty-five percent (65%) of GOP voters say Congress is doing a poor job, down a single point from last month.

Voters not affiliated with either party are the most critical of Congressional performance. Just 3% of those voters give Congress positive ratings, down from 6% last month. Sixty-three percent (63%) believe Congress is doing a poor job, up from 57% last month.

Just 12% of voters think Congress has passed any legislation to improve life in this country over the past six months. That number has ranged from 11% to 13% throughout 2008. The majority of voters (62%) say Congress has not passed any legislation to improve life in America.

Voters hold little positive sentiment about the future. Just 41% find it at least somewhat likely that Congress will address important problems facing our nation in the near future, while 55% find this unlikely.

Despite these negative attitudes towards Congress, Democrats continue to enjoy a double digit lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Most voters (72%) think most members of Congress are more interested in furthering their own political careers. Just 14% believe members are genuinely interested in helping people.

A separate Rasmussen survey found that half of all voters believe America’s best days are in the past. However, another survey found that 64% of voters also believe that the world would be a better place if more countries were similar to the United States.

Boy, I thought the Dems were going to fix everything when they got in. What happened in those first 100 days? And the next 100?

Does Bush have better ratings than the Democrat-led Congress?

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Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

Good point but presidential candidates always miss a lot of time. At least McCain put in a good 25 years before taking this year off. Obama served a little over 100 days as a senator before starting his campaign. I guess he had learned all he could from Ted Kennedy et al. Can't say I really blame him for not wanting to spend more time with that bunch.

Actually I think we would be better off if they were limited to maybe three months per year in session. That way the damage they could do would be limited somewhat.
More...

Perhaps the Senators should be held to a higher standard of work and time off. At an average rate of $600 per day in pay (based on CNBC) it adds up quickly that we are paying people to run for office.

I think they should have to take a leave without pay if they are absent due to running for office. Pro rate it based on how much time is spent running for office vs. working for the state that elected them.

Of course its much easier said than done so maybe just set an amount and call it good.
 
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