John McCain Vote Skipping Leads to Laughable Hypocrisy

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Everyone knows that John McCain skips more votes in the Senate than just about anyone, once going five straight weeks without voting.

The media doesn’t make that big of a deal out of McCain’s habit of skipping out on his day job, but this newest development can’t be ignored. McCain went before a Philadelphia town hall today and called for action on law enforcement, worker education, and VA health care. But just yesterday he missed votes in the Senate that remedied problems in these three areas. See the details, after the jump:

McCain TODAY: Will Support Law Enforcement: McCain called the spike in murders in Philadelphia area “tragic and terrible” and said “I can commit that I will provide whatever support I can to law enforcement agencies.” [Town Hall in Springfield, PA, 3/14/08]

McCain LAST NIGHT: Skipped Vote to Increase Funding for COPS Program. McCain skips vote on amendment “To increase 2009 funding for the COPS program…” [2008 Senate Amendment 4164 to S.Con.Res.70, agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote; Thomas.loc.gov]

McCain TODAY: Educate Displaced Workers. “We have to have education and training programs that work….America has got to give these people a second chance.” [Town Hall in Springfield, PA, 3/14/08]

McCain LAST NIGHT: Skipped Vote to on Worker Training Program. McCain skips vote on amendment “To improve the training of manufacturing workers…” [2008 Senate Amendment 4155 to S.Con.Res.70, agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote; Thomas.loc.gov]

McCain TODAY: Complained About Wait Times at VA Hospitals. [Town Hall in Springfield, PA, 3/14/08]

McCain LAST NIGHT: Skipped Vote to Help Veterans Get Veterans the Care They Need. McCain skips vote on amendment “To provide the Veterans Benefits Administration with additional resources to more effectively meet their increasing workload and to better address the unacceptably large claims backlog.” [2008 Senate Amendment 4194 to S.Con.Res.70, agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote; Thomas.loc.gov]

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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