John McCain rails against lobbyists and members of Congress tied up in the feeding frenzy for federal dollars that is the budgetary allocation process known as "earmarking". But after killing his own climate bill with an inexplicable, counterproductive and irrelevant demand that the nuclear industry be given federal dollars to make its own business easier, McCain continues to insist on the federal government giving billions in subsidies to an industry he wants to expand in his home state: Arizona.
This is the very definition of earmarking... allocating federal dollars for projects (especially where private business interests are involved) in one's own state. McCain is actively calling for such projects to expand, even as he continues to proclaim himself the arch-enemy of such projects. Why has he not been called on to explain this glaring inconsistency? Why are we not holding him to account? How would he pay for this new plant he wants for Arizona? Would taxpayers from across the US be asked to reward private business interests McCain favors in his home state? Who would pay for the security for the plants and their waste? Does he care?
What about drilling? It turns out that John McCain has received over $740,000 from the oil and gas industries since 1990, and now he is pushing their interests, despite their being either incapable of solving the economic crisis relating to fuel prices or unwilling to do so, and their inaction on diversifying energy production methods or cleaning up their own processes to prevent environmental degradation and public health risks.
All told, John McCain ranks behind only Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas in funds received from the oil, gas, electric utility, automotive manufacturing, chemical and nuclear industries, receiving over $2 million from these interests since 1990. Now in the midst of a campaign against kickbacks and earmarks, his record shows he has called for the very subsidies these industries are asking for in Washington, some of which are traditional "porkbarrel" spending that benefits private interests in his own state. This will sting, if we make it an issue.
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