John McCain: Obama Bus Tour Is 'Wrong'

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) continued his verbal onslaught against President Barack Obama's bus tour on Tuesday, blasting the three-day swing through North Carolina and Virginia as inappropriate.

"Never do I believe any of us have seen the kind of activity that the president has engaged in, and all of it being charged to the taxpayers of America," McCain said on the Senate floor, suggesting that the president was campaigning for his reelection in key swing states under the guise of promoting his jobs plan. "That's wrong. That's the wrong thing to do."

"According to recent reports, the president's campaign has raised record amounts of money already," McCain continued. "The campaign should be paying for this North Carolina trip of his. And I don't begrudge him beating up on us and criticizing us and making all kinds of allegations about not understanding his 'stimulus two' package, which we understand very well is more of the same. But at least this campaign should be paying for this kind of campaigning."

Obama's reelection campaign pulled in a total of $70.1 million over the past three months, according to third quarter fundraising reports.

At a speech in North Carolina on Monday, Obama took direct aim at congressional Republicans, telling the crowd that it was possible that they "couldn't understand the whole" jobs plan all at once.

"So we're going to break it up into bite-size pieces," Obama told the audience.

Senate Democrats have decided to bring forth as their first vote a proposal that would provide $35 billion for state and local governments to rehire teachers, police and firefighters.

McCain's latest comments build off of similar ones he made Monday, in which he also accused Obama of campaigning using taxpayer dollars and of traveling in an ugly bus while doing it.

"I must say again I have never seen an uglier bus than a Canadian one," McCain said on the Senate floor. "He is traveling around on a Canadian bus touting American jobs."

WATCH:

Comments

[2Patriotic4U]

10:30 PM on 10/21/2011

Mr. President, Park the Campaign Bus, Shelve the Talking Points and Focus on Jobs

[Robert A Alba]

01:57 PM on 10/19/2011

If McCain says it's wrong it must be right.

[1johnf]

01:42 PM on 10/19/2011

McCain: The irrelevant elephant

[REMEMBER2050]

01:27 PM on 10/19/2011

Garbage in, garbage out. At first I was halfway interested (first time) in what McCain was saying, but managed to talk myself out of that after only .5 seconds.

See, just because you are trying to advance important legislation and this coincidentally is just about when campaign season starts doesn't make it campaigning. It makes it trying to advance important legislation, coincidentally during campaign season.

To contrast this to actual campaigning, which, by the way, doesn't need to be during campaign season at all, the American taxpayers paid for Bush to land on that battleship in flyboy regalia (complete with crotch strap) to say "Mission accomplished!" In fact, we taxpayers even paid for the banner.

We can also see taxpayer funds used in foreign countries for campaigning. Ghaddafi's sartorial clothing choices, so reminiscent of Mussolini except that they were always way too ethnic, are a marvelous example of misuse of the country's dollars.

Wow. Glad I thought this through. I was beginning to worry he might finally actually be saying something.

[arecibo48]

01:22 PM on 10/19/2011

My friend John McCain needs a nap.

[Willisearlray]

01:04 PM on 10/19/2011

I live in Columbus Ohio and I have not heard of any Teacher, Firefighter or Police layoffs. If there are I certainly haven't heard of other government downsizing that could take place before vital services are cut.

[gwinegarden]

01:01 PM on 10/19/2011

I was never a big McCain fan but, I still am surprised at how irrelevant he has become in four years.

[Willisearlray]

01:01 PM on 10/19/2011

2009 nearly $1 trillion to, in part, to save the jobs of Teachers, Firefighters and Police. 2010 $20 billion to save the jobs of Teachers, Firefighters and Police. Now 2011, more money to save the jobs of Teachers, Firefighters and Police.

Three questions:

1. Since Teachers, Firefighters and Police are funded locally, is it possible that Washington taking local dollars that could be left locally to fund these services be the problem?

2. If the local people want these increased services why don't they vote to raise their local taxes?

3. Are Teachers, Firefighters and Police the first ones the local governments lay off and if so, why?

[REMEMBER2050]

01:32 PM on 10/19/2011

Perhaps you might want to examine all of our states' balance sheets and budgets before you pester us with those questions. Perhaps you might also want to make a statement that you don't value teachers, policemen, and firefighters as well, because that's another obvious one.

[Sean Kruz]

10:03 AM on 10/22/2011

LOL... Boy, you sure dodged that question... and then you gave an insult by giving the person homework on top of ducking out of the perfectly legit question

[SpreadthePanic]

01:49 PM on 10/19/2011

In 2009, there was not nearly $1 trillion to save the jobs of these professions. There was a stimulus bill that included that, but that wasn't even a majority of the bill. You are starting off on a very disingenuous note there.

Local taxes tend to be a combination of personal property tax and sales tax, both of which are severely reduced in economic downturn. People aren't paying lower taxes because they were lowered, but rather because their property is now worth less and they are spending less money.

Those professions are not always the first laid off, but since they are (by far) the largest groups of employees, they are the ones that take the biggest hits. A 10% reduction in force across the board is only going to get rid of a few garbagemen, but a lot of police officers, teachers, and firefighters. These also happen to be three jobs that aren't easily outsourced. Many local governments have already gone to private contractors for waste removal, transportation, and even jails.

[vicla1942]

12:56 PM on 10/19/2011

John knows busses.He does not know how to create jobs, lower national debt or balance the budget. He knows the difference between the american bus and the canadian bus. The canadian bus comes from a country that covers all it 's citizens for health care. The american bus comes from
a country 15 trillion in debt. You need cues and relationahips to remember things when you are old and senile like John.

[Left Hook]

12:53 PM on 10/19/2011

McCain stands on the floor of the Senate in his bath robe screaming...Hey, you black kid, get off my lawn!

Aids rush to him, wiping the oatmeal off his chin and explaining that he forgot to take his meds today...

[REMEMBER2050]

01:33 PM on 10/19/2011

Hmm. I'm not too sure you deserve it, but I'm still laughing, so F&F! It was the oatmeal that did it.

[caryberry]

12:22 AM on 10/21/2011

That is the funniest post I have read in months...sad but true!

But I think it is Cream of Wheat...

[Willisearlray]

12:51 PM on 10/19/2011

Liberal hypocracy. Obama okay - Bush bash.

[exhale09]

01:28 PM on 10/19/2011

We're bashing John McCain.

[SpreadthePanic]

01:50 PM on 10/19/2011

Conservative hypocracy - bush okay, obama bash. What's your point?

[brahdog]

12:43 PM on 10/19/2011

"old man yells at cloud"

[visconti24]

12:41 PM on 10/19/2011

McCain to Obama: "Your bus is very ugly."
Me to McCain:"And you, Senator, are very ugly too. The bus, however, can be fixed."
Paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill

[shrinktalkingheads]

12:38 PM on 10/19/2011

McCain ran around in his "Straight Talk Express" bus made by the same company.

What's his point?

[PHD2B]

12:30 PM on 10/19/2011

His rants bring to mind Grandpa Simpson and the headline old man screams at clouds.... McCain, is just a bitter person, that thought that he was due to be president of the US. I respect the service that he did for his country during Vietnam, but it is time for him to leave politics and retire.

[glitz]

12:54 PM on 10/19/2011

And take Chaney with him..maybe they can go somewhere and hunt together.