Tag: Sen. McCain

McCain hits Trump where it hurts, attacking ‘bone spur’ deferments in Vietnam

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website October 22, 2017:

In an Oct. 18 C-SPAN interview Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) discussed the legacy of the Vietnam War and lamented that those from “the highest income level found a doctor that would say they have a bone spur” to get out of the draft. (C-SPAN)

Update: McCain elaborated on his comments Monday in an appearance on “The View”: “I don’t consider [Trump] so much as a draft-dodger as I feel that the system was so wrong that certain Americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country.”

After a week in which President Trump endured not-so-veiled criticisms from his two predecessors as president and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), McCain delivered another broadside that seems clearly aimed at Trump — in the most personal terms yet.

McCain, whose status as a war hero Trump publicly and controversially doubted as a 2016 presidential candidate, appeared to retaliate in kind against the president in a C-SPAN interview about the Vietnam War airing Sunday night. In the interview, McCain pointed to wealthy Americans who were able to get out of being drafted into service in the conflict in which he spent years as a prisoner of war. And he pointed to a very specific type of deferment which Trump just happened to use. Continue reading “McCain hits Trump where it hurts, attacking ‘bone spur’ deferments in Vietnam”

McCain a ‘No’ on Latest Senate Health Care Bill

The following article by Niels Lesniewski was posted on the Roll Call website September 22, 2017:

Arizona Republican says there is not enough time for debate

Arizona Sen. John McCain talks with reporters in the basement of the Capitol on Tuesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Arizona Sen. John McCain said Friday that given the truncated timeline, he cannot vote for the health care repeal proposal floated by fellow Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana next week.

“I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will affect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it,” McCain said. “Without a full [Congressional Budget Office] score, which won’t be available by the end of the month, we won’t have reliable answers to any of those questions.” Continue reading “McCain a ‘No’ on Latest Senate Health Care Bill”

John McCain: It’s time Congress returns to regular order

The following commentary by Sen. John McCain was posted on the Washington Post website September 1, 2017:

The Capitol dome in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

John McCain, a Republican, represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate.

Americans recoiled from the repugnant spectacle of white supremacists marching in Charlottesville to promote their un-American “blood and soil” ideology. There is nothing in their hate-driven racism that can match the strength of a nation conceived in liberty and comprising 323 million souls of different origins and opinions who are equal under the law. Continue reading “John McCain: It’s time Congress returns to regular order”