Free Republic

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Wednesday that the budget standoff in Washington and partisan bickering have eroded the confidence of the American people and damaged the credibility of the U.S. Congress. In an interview with NBC News' Brian Williams, McCain said some House members' determination to repeal or defund President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act during a government shutdown was “a fool’s errand.” "We inflicted pain on the American people that was totally unnecessary. We cannot do this again," McCain said. "We, Republicans, have a hole that we've got to come out of and obviously we're going to have to...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that Republican plans to cut $100 billion in spending in an upcoming bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year are “realistic.” “I think a lot of it is realistic,” McCain said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” (snip) “Maybe [Tea Party freshmen] can go back and educate their voters that it may not be totally necessary,” he said.

The 79-19 roll call by which the Senate voted Thursday to triple the size of the AmeriCorps and broadly expand incentives for students and seniors to give back to their communities. On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to pass the bill. Voting "yes" were 55 Democrats and 22 Republicans and 2 independents. Voting "no" were 0 Democrats and 19 Republicans.

At least John McCain is back to his old self. This assumes, of course, at some point he wasn't.Believe me, he was. (See the entire 2008 campaign).He's back to being the crotchety old Republicrat spitfire, Mac the Mav.That reach-across-the-aisle, strolling-down-the-median joie de vivre he possesses (and can beckon at will) is throttling up for the new administration.Goodie gumdrops.Since the time is just about right for McCain to ride the wave of ascendancy back into the good graces of the media (who, you'll recall, once upon a time, had rockets in their pockets for him when he was still their beloved...

It is critical to think out of the box, beyond California. For the clintons, the California recall election is no less than a proxy for their war with the Kennedys for the control of the Democrat Party (and the country). EPILOGUE: THE 9TH CIRCUIT RULING(IMPEACHED EX- PREZ STUMPS FOR DAVIS CLINTON PARADIGM PROVES INSTRUCTIVE FOR CALIFORNIA)   clinton: "This is WA-A-AY bigger than Gray Davis." If ever there was a counterexample to Tip O'Neill's old saw ("all politics is local"), it is the recall...A vote for McClintock is a vote for HER (requires Flash Player 6, available HERE) hillary...