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Universal Health Care against Universal healthcare proposes a governmental coverage of health care costs rather than citizens paying private insurance companies often exorbitant administrative fees; such a program's aim would be to cover the 41-50 million Americans currently uninsured |
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Kyoto Protocol Ratification against An amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which seeks to assign mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the signatory nations |
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Dialogue with Rogue World Leaders supports With the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba increasingly vocal about their opposition to the U.S., talk of a potential dialogue with such leaders is becoming a central political issue with international implications. |
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Assault Weapons Ban against The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) provision was signed into law in 1994. The 10 year ban, expiring in 2004, is currently undergoing an inspection of effectiveness and a reinstitution bill in the House of Representatives |
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Same Sex Marriage against Supports definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but opposes a constitutional amendment banning same sex-marriage. Says individual states should decide the issue. Says a federal marriage ban might be appropriate if courts overturned state marriage laws. Supports legal benefits for same-sex partners. (www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.samesexmarriage.html) |
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Legalized Abortion against McCain opposes abortion rights except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother (Project Vote Smart, 1998, http://www.vote-smart.org/npat.php?can_id=53270). |
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Oil Drilling supports John McCain once opposed it now he supports it |
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Agricultural Subsidies strongly against Voted yes on the 1996 Farm Bill, no on the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Acts, and is likely to cast a no vote on the 2007 renewal bill. McCain cited concerns over excessive spending (most of which goes to large and medium agribusiness instead of small, low-income farmers) and trade distortions. |
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Constitutional Ban on Flag Desecration supports December 1995: Voted YES on Amendment to prohibit flag burning, March 2001: Supports anti-flag desecration amendment, June 2006: Voted YES on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. |
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Capital Punishment strongly supports McCain supports the death penalty for federal crimes, such as acts of terrorism, and has said he would consider expanding application for other crimes. As senator, he voted to prohibit the use of racial statistics in death penalty appeals and ban the death penalty for minors. |
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Legalization of Gambling strongly against Has fought to restrict off-reservation casino gaming. |
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Legalization of Drugs strongly against McCain has a strong anti-drug policy that includes stiffer penalties for drug related crimes. |
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Public Display of 10 Commandments supports McCain has been quoted from the 2000 Iowa Debate as saying, "Virtues [like telling the truth are] exemplified in the Ten Commandments. They could be and should be taught in every school in America." |
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School Vouchers strongly supports Believes introducing competition into education system will improve quality of education. |
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Legalization of Medical Marijuana strongly against In 1999 he said he cannot support the legalization of marijuana because research shows it is harmful once it enters the body. He advocated stricter drug laws, mandatory sentences, and harsher penalties for drug related crimes. |
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Mandatory Sentencing strongly supports Voted for a bill that imposes mandatory prison terms for crimes involving firearms and for three strikes law. |
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Death Penalty for Child Offenders against Although McCain wishes to expand the application of capital punishment, in 2000 he said, "juvenile offenders should be kept separate from adult offenders and receive the appropriate remedial and rehabilitation services." |
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Outsourcing supports Says that outsourcing strengthens the economy. |
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Minimum Wage strongly against Although McCain voted in favor of the 2007 bill that increases the federal minimum wage to $7.25, he also voted to eliminate minimum wage completely and voted to filibuster the minimum wage increase. He has consistently voted against increases in minimum wage throughout his legislative career and appears to have voted for the 2007 bill because it also reduced the severity of the Estate Tax. |
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Border Fence Wants a fence across parts of the border with the heaviest traffic McCain has a strong pro-immigration stance but voted for the Secure Border Act in 2006. A Vanity Fair article quoted McCain as saying, "In the short term, it probably galvanizes our base," he said. "In the long term, if you alienate the Hispanics, you'll pay a heavy price. By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I'll build the god damned fence if they want it." |
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Affirmative Action supports McCain has backed some affirmative action measures as a means of leveling the playing field in the United States, having said "We do not have sufficient opportunities," but does not support quotas or hiring with federal funds. |
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Corporate Governance strongly supports A huge proponent of corporate governance, McCain has expressed concern over excessive executive compensation, stakeholder representation, and lack of oversight. |
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Antitrust Regulation strongly supports McCain has pushed for antitrust enforcement, blocked legislation to ease telecom deregulation, and opposed nearly every policy put forward by Michael Powell, the industry-friendly chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. In a 2000 Business Week article, McCain said, "I would update the laws. Second of all, I say to Corporate America: I am worried about these consolidations. These mergers are the biggest in history. I want them watched carefully, and I want them carefully reviewed. I am a free trader, and I am antiregulation. But I do read history, and I know there have been times these consolidations have hurt consumers. That's just a fact." |
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Bank Regulation against McCain's current position on bank regulation is unclear. In the early 1990s, he was one of 5 senators involved in ending the federal banking investigation of Lincoln Savings and Loans. |
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Business Regulation supports McCain claims to be a free-marketer but he has also issued statements and supported policies that favor increased regulations. Industry and business groups give McCain mixed ratings. |
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Marriage Tax strongly against Wishes to eliminate marriage penalty and supports marriage tax credits. |
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Flat Tax strongly supports A flat tax is a tax on income or consumption at a set rate. It differs from from income or consumption taxes that use sliding scale "brackets" that are determined by income earned. |
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Estate Tax strongly against The estate tax, aka "death tax" is a tax levied on the largest estates in the U.S. after an individual's death. Opposed by fiscal conservatives, it has been significantly reduced by Pres. Bush in 2001 and is set to end in 2010. |
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Bush Tax Cuts supports He originally opposed the Bush Tax cuts, as one of only two Republicans to vote against the bill, but now thinks they should be permanent. |
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Free Trade strongly supports He reliably votes for free trade bills. |
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Social Security Reform strongly supports McCain is a believer in public-privatized social security schemes. He wants to introduce the mandatory invest in private accounts on top of the public fund. Benefits would be cut and the retirement age would be raised in order to combat shortages. |
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Energy Independence strongly supports Lead author of a bipartisan energy bill that would decrease dependence on foreign fuel, address climate change, and strengthen alternative fuel industries. |
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Fuel Efficiency Regulation supports McCain supported an increase in auto fuel economy to 35 mpg but opposed a 40 mpg standard. |
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Animal Welfare Some Regulation and funding for enforcement of animal welfare This issue is not a high priority for McCain but he is a co-sponsor for the 2006 bill that would prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes. |
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Welfare Programs supports McCain supports block-grants for food stamps but has been rated low by anti-poverty interest groups. |
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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty strongly against Feels it would leave the U.S. vulnerable to threats like Iran. |
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Partitioning of Iraq against McCain's Iraq strategy involves more troops and more time, saying that is the only way to quell the insurgency. |
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Darfur Intervention Sufficiently fund peacekeeping and intervention McCain has been sponsor and co-sponsor to a number of bills regarding Darfur and has made his concern public but has not advocated full NATO intervention. He does support a UN sanctioned international intervention. |
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Warrantless Wiretapping supports Voted twice to extend wiretapping provisions. |
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Patriot Act strongly supports The USA Patriot Act, which extends the power of law enforcement agencies in pursuing suspected terrorists, has caused outrage for perceived violations of civil liberties. |
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Military Draft strongly against Proposed to raise military pay to make service more attractive, thus avoiding the need for a draft. |
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Militarization of Space strongly supports Supported withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and develop a missile defense system. |
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Iraq War Withdrawal strongly against Feels that withdrawal will not solve violence in Iraq. |
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Iraq Troop Surge strongly supports McCain was one of the biggest supporters of the surge, a position that has damaged his presidential bid. |
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Guantanamo against As McCain was a POW himself, he added an amendment to the United States Senate Department of Defense Authorization bill that prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, by confining interrogations to the techniques in FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation. However, he voted against preserving habeus corpus for Guantanamo detainees on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. |
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Gays in the Military strongly supports Believes it should stay because it works well. |
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Line-Item Veto supports Approved the presidential line-item veto. |
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Two Party System supports The United States is a two party system elected through plurality vote. |
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Lobbyist Gifts to Congress against Voted to allow some lobbyist gifts to congress but is vocally opposed to big money politics. |
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Public Campaign Financing strongly against Sen. John McCain started the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act with Sen. Russ Feingold in 2003...McCain is a strong supporter of campaign finance reform that stands to harm his own party but does not think public financing is an appropriate use of taxpayer money. |
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Net Neutrality strongly against |
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Manned Mission to Mars supports Supports a mission but not at any price. The cost of this mission would need to be reduced first. |
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Lunar Base Construction supports McCain's position on base construction is unknown, however, he has introduced and supported legislation that empowers NASA. |
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The Separation of Church and State against McCain makes some religiously based decisions (i.e. abortion, homosexual rights) and receives a score from the Christian Coalition in the low 80s, which is lower than average for his party. |
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State Children's Health Insurance Program strongly against In October 2007, President Bush vetoed a bill that would expand SCHIP, a program that gives health insurance to uninsured children that cannot qualify for MEDICAID. Over the past 10 years, SCHIP cost $40 billion federal dollars and has covered 7m children |
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Emissions Trading supports McCain's plan aims for 1990 emission levels by 2020, and 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. |
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Confederate Flag in Public Places Undecided John McCain once opposed the confederate flag in public places quote on 1/9/2000 "The confederate flag is offensive in many, many ways as we all know. Its a symbol of racism and slavery" but on 1/12/2000, three days later he said "Personally, I see the flag as a symbol of heritage." |
