Spa Directory A. ENERGY
01. A01. McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he's pro-ethanol
02. A02. McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn't
03. A03. McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite
04. A04. McCain supported the drilling moratorium; now he's against it
05. A05. McCain strongly opposes a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea
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B. EROSION OF CIVIL RIGHTS, ETHICS
06. B01. McCain thought Bush's warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite
07. B02. McCain defended "privatizing" Social Security. Now he says he's against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
08. B03. He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion,he called it "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country"
09. B04. McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration's warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite
10. B05. McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn't
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C. CULTURE WARS
11. C01. McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church
12. C02. He wanted political support from radical televangelists like John Hagee and Rod Parsley. Now he doesn't
13. C03. He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party's policy making. Now he believes the opposite
14. C04. McCain said he would "not impose a litmus test on any nominee" He used to promise the opposite
15. C05. *McCain loved Roe v. Wade
16. C06. McCain is an Anti-ABORTIONIST
17. C07. McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn't be allowed
18. C08. McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn't
19. C09. *McCain believes his endorsement from radical televangelist John Hagee was both a good and bad idea
20. C10. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as "an agent of intolerance" in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans "deserved" the 9/11 attacks
21. C11. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it
22. C12. McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it
23. C13. McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag
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D. TAXES, ECONOMICS
24. D01. McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite
25. D02. McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a 'read my lips' candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?" referring to George H.W. Bush's 1988 pledge. "No new taxes," McCain responded.Two weeks later, McCain said, "I'm not making a 'read my lips' statement, in that I will not raise taxes"
26. D03. In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won't commit to supporting a regulation bill he's co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris' former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser
27. D04. McCain has changed his economic worldview on multiple occasions
28. D05. McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona
29. D06. McCain's first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn't be "rewarded" for acting"irresponsibly"His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position
30. D07. McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal
31. D08. McCain used to oppose Bush's tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February
32. D09. On a related note, he said 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were "too tilted to the wealthy" By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and insisted he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending
33. D10. McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off than they were before Bush took office
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F. CAMPAIGN-FINANCE REFORM
34. E01. In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving"feedback" on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure
35. E02. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending "dirty money" to help finance Bush's presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support
36. E03. McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation
37. E04. McCain gave up on his signature policy issue, campaign-finance reform, and won't back the same provision he sponsored just a couple of years ago
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E. FOREIGN POLICY
38. F01. McCain supported moving "towards normalization of relations" with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite
39. F02. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite
40. F03. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite
41. F04. McCain is both for and against a "rogue state rollback" as a focus of his foreign policy vision
42. F05. McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions
43. F06. In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding
44. F07. McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty's behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it
45. F08. McCain said before the war in Iraq, "We will win this conflict. We will win it easily" Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was "probably going to be long and hard and tough"
46. F09. McCain said he was the "greatest critic" of Rumsfeld's failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as"a mission accomplished" In March 2004, he said, "I'm confident we're on the right course"In December 2005, he said, "Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course"
47. F10. McCain took a firm line in opposition to torture, and then caved to White House demands
48. F11. McCain decided in 2000 that he didn't want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he "would taint the image of the'Straight Talk Express.'" Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York
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G. MISC
49. G01. McCain used to think that Grover Norquist was a crook and acorrupt shill for dictators. Then McCain got serious about running for president and began to reconcile with Norquist
50. G02. McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry's Democratic ticket in 2004
51. G03. McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants' kids who graduate from high school. Now he's against it
52. G04. On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own legislation