Tag: John McCain

The immigration bills in Congress aren’t perfect. That’s okay.

The following commentary by the Washington Post Editorial Board was posted on their site February 5, 2018:

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BY TRYING to solve every problem related to America’s immigration system, Congress has repeatedly failed to solve any of them. It’s time to end that legislative dysfunction, which has played on a loop on Capitol Hill for years. Why not sidestep the most incendiary disagreements and target the two main areas on which there is broad bipartisan acceptance: protecting “dreamers” brought to the United States as children and beefing up border security?

The contours of such a deal, if not the details, are within lawmakers’ reach. Similar bipartisan bills to that end now have been introduced in both houses of Congress — this month, by John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) in the Senate and, last month, by Will Hurd (R-Tex.) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) in the House. Each deserves a hearing and a vote. Continue reading “The immigration bills in Congress aren’t perfect. That’s okay.”

McCain, Coons to introduce new immigration bill that omits wall funding: report

The following article by Julia Manchester was posted on the Hill website February 4, 2018:

A woman holds up a sign during a rally supporting DACA outside the White House in Washington, September 4, 2017. Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) will introduce immigration legislation on Monday in an effort to reach a budget deal before the federal government’s current funding runs out on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The bipartisan piece of legislation provides recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, commonly known as “Dreamers,” an opportunity for citizenship while ordering a study to figure out what border security measures are needed, according to the Journal.

DACA aimed to protect from deportation certain immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children. Continue reading “McCain, Coons to introduce new immigration bill that omits wall funding: report”

Arizona’s Double-Barrel Rejection of President Trump’s ‘Fake News’

The following article by Niels Lesniewski was posted on the Roll Call website January 17, 2018:

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake gave a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday in defense of the free press. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Arizona’s two Republican senators asserted themselves Wednesday as defenders of the free press.

Jeff Flake took to the Senate floor for a well-publicized defense of the truth, as President Donald Trump was potentially preparing for an Orwellian “fake news” award ceremony.

“The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him ‘fake news,’ it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press,” Flake said. Continue reading “Arizona’s Double-Barrel Rejection of President Trump’s ‘Fake News’”

Mr. President, stop attacking the press

The following commentary by John McCain was posted on the Washington Post website January 16, 2018:

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders takes questions during a press briefing at the White House on Jan. 11. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

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

After leaving office, President Ronald Reagan created the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to recognize individuals who have fought to spread liberty worldwide. Nancy Reagan continued the tradition after her husband’s death, and in 2008 she bestowed the honor on human rights icon Natan Sharansky, who credited Reagan’s strong defense of freedom for his own survival in Soviet gulags. Reagan recognized that as leader of the free world, his words carried enormous weight, and he used them to inspire the unprecedented spread of democracy around the world.

President Trump does not seem to understand that his rhetoric and actions reverberate in the same way. He has threatened to continue his attempt to discredit the free press by bestowing “fake news awards” upon reporters and news outlets whose coverage he disagrees with. Whether Trump knows it or not, these efforts are being closely watched by foreign leaders who are already using his words as cover as they silence and shutter one of the key pillars of democracy. Continue reading “Mr. President, stop attacking the press”

McCain: Nothing ‘America First’ about believing Putin on election meddling

The following article by Josh Delk was posted on the Hill website November 11, 2017:

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Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Saturday that there is “nothing ‘America First’ ” about trusting the word of Russian President Vladimir Putin, following President Trump’s meeting with the leader and subsequent comments on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“There’s nothing ‘America First’ about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community,” McCain said in a statement, after Trump said he believed Putin when he denied Russia sought to interfere in the election.  Continue reading “McCain: Nothing ‘America First’ about believing Putin on election meddling”

Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona will retire, citing direction of GOP under Trump

The following article by Ed O’Keefe and David Weigel was posted on the Washington Post website October 24, 2017:

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) announced on Oct. 24 that he won’t seek reelection in 2018, joining at least five other Republican members of Congress who say they won’t seek another term. (Sarah Parnass, Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday announced plans to retire from the U.S. Senate at the end of his term, saying he was out of step with the Republican Party in the era of President Trump.

The senator’s surprise announcement came after more than a year of criticism of Trump and the direction he has taken the party, culminating in a book called “Conscience of a Conservative” that critiqued the president’s character and ideology. Recent polls in Arizona found Flake trailing the Democrat’s likely Senate nominee, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), as well as potential primary challengers if he sought a second term next year. Continue reading “Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona will retire, citing direction of GOP under Trump”

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”

‘It won’t be pretty’: Trump promises to ‘fight back’ against McCain

NOTE:  We need to remember that President Trump received 5 (count them) 5 deferments during the ViewNam war in which Sen. McCain served, was captured and tortured as a prisoner of war.  Trump had a bone spur (which could be fixed).  And, had multiple educational deferments.

The following article by Elise Viebeck was posted on the Washington Post website October 17, 2017:

Trump participates in radio interviews in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Oct. 17. (Martin H. Simon/Pool/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock)

President Trump promised retribution against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for his opposition to several GOP health-care plans and his comments implicitly criticizing Trump’s views and leadership on Monday night.

“People have to be careful because at some point, I fight back,” Trump said in an interview Tuesday with WMAL, a D.C. radio station.

“I’m being very nice. I’m being very, very nice. But at some point, I fight back, and it won’t be pretty,” Trump said. Continue reading “‘It won’t be pretty’: Trump promises to ‘fight back’ against McCain”

McCain condemns ‘half-baked, spurious nationalism’ in clear shot at President Trump

The following article by Paul Kane was posted on the Washington Post website October 16, 2017:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) cautioned against the U.S. turning toward “half-baked, spurious nationalism” during a speech after receiving the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal on Oct. 16. (Reuters)

PHILADELPHIA — An emotional Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) launched a thinly veiled critique of President Trump’s global stewardship Monday night, using a notable award ceremony to condemn “people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems.”

McCain said that “some half-baked, spurious nationalism” should be considered “as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.” Continue reading “McCain condemns ‘half-baked, spurious nationalism’ in clear shot at President Trump”

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”