DNC: McCain Myth Buster: John McCain, Earmarks, and Israel

Today's McCain Myth: YOU DECIDE!!!

1) John McCain is a strong supporter of Israel

OR

2) John McCain will veto every earmark

WASHINGTON, April 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued
by the Democratic National Committee:

John McCain says he is against earmarks and has promised that as president he
would "veto every bill with earmarks" that came across his desk. [CQ,
4/15/08]. He also claims to have "been a very strong proponent to the State of
Israel." [Haaretz.com, 2/3/2008]

But John McCain has a problem. Aid to Israel is an earmark. As reported by
thinkprogress.org, "congressional directives specifying spending amounts that
are the same as shown in the Administration's illustrative listing for country
distributions also are regarded as earmarks. Annual earmarks for economic and
military aid to Israel and Egypt are examples of such directives."
[http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/16/mccain-aid-israel/]

Sounds like on earmarks McCain isn't talking so straight.

Aid to Israel Comes in the Form of Earmarks. According to the blog
ThinkProgress, "In a conference call with reporters yesterday, McCain economic
adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said that McCain's plan to eliminate earmarks uses
the Congressional Research Service's (CRS) definition of the term. According
to an analysis by Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Scott Lilly (
http://www.americanprogress.org/experts/LillyScott.html ), that CRS report
identifies $52 billion per year which qualifies as earmark spending. The
problem is that the CRS -- the group Holtz-Eakin cited as the basis for
McCain's earmark elimination plan -- says that U.S. aid to Israel is
considered an earmark ( http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/m012606.pdf#page=19
)..." [thinkprogress.org, 4/16/08]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking
in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican
Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail
McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even
contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate
Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The
Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the
man behind the myth.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or
candidate's committee.

SOURCE Democratic National Committee

Damien LaVera of the Democratic National Committee, +1-202-863-8148