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John McCain Is Too Busy To Do His Job
Posted by Pile
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 An Arizona state lawmaker is calling for John McCain to resign from the Senate for missing too many votes.
Republican Representative Russell Pearce of Mesa says Arizona's interests aren't being heard because John McCain is skipping Senate votes to campaign for a spot in the White House.
"He's our Senator and we elected him," said Pearce. "This is about representing Arizona properly."
According to The Washington Post, McCain has missed almost 50% of Senate votes during the current Congress. This comes at a time when taxpayers are paying McCain a salary of $165,200 to represent Arizonans on the Senate floor.
The only other Senator with a worse record is South Dakota's Tim Johnson who has been out recovering from a brain hemorrhage. |
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"When you are no longer a vote to be counted on, in fact you are a vote not to be counted on, it bothers me and it bothers most Arizonans," Pearce said.
McCain has been traveling the country to win the Republican nomination for President. On McCain's website, it shows that on Tuesday he attended a fundraising breakfast and lunch in Houston. Then, that same day, the Senator traveled to Dallas for a fundraising dinner. In the next week, McCain is scheduled to appear at seven more fundraisers.
McCain spokeswoman, Melissa Shuffield, told the Associated Press, "Senator McCain is committed to representing the people of Arizona and has not missed one vote where his participation would have affected the outcome."
But Pearce disagrees, and says the Senator better shape up or ship out.
"I am calling on the Senator to show up and vote," Pearce said. "If he's going to be a full-time candidate, then he ought to resign and let somebody take that position that's going to represent Arizona and be there to vote." |
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has risen to a new rank within the Senate: he has missed the most votes of any active Senator in the 110th Congress — second only to Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), who suffered a brain hemorrhage in December.
While other Presidential candidates have certainly missed votes while campaigning, none come close to McCain, who has not shown up to a single vote in the past two weeks, skipping 18 consecutive votes. He has now missed over 40 percent of roll-call votes since the 110th Congress began.
Repeatedly declaring the Iraq war as crucial to the success of his campaign, McCain has nevertheless “missed seven prominent votes on Iraq” and national security, including the Senate’s passage this week of funding for the troops in Iraq. Some of the key votes McCain has missed:
Conference Report: U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act [4/26/07]
Motion to Invoke Cloture on U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, and Iraq Accountability Act [3/28/07]
Joint Resolution to revise U.S. policy on Iraq [3/15/07]
Resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that no action should be taken to undermine the safety of the Armed Forces of the United States or impact their ability to complete their assigned or future missions. [3/15/07]
Improving America’s Security Act of 2007 [3/13/07]
A bill to express the sense of Congress on Iraq [2/17/07]
McCain also skipped General David Petraeus’s briefing on Iraq to instead campaign in New Hampshire.
While McCain did not have time to vote against the withdrawal plan yesterday, he did find time to release a harsh statement attacking the Senators who did vote to begin redeployment. “We need to send a bill to the President that he can sign, and we need to do it as soon as possible,” he said. “Our troops in the field are waiting on our action.” |
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