According to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) [1], Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is having a very bad week.

Campaigning in Denver on Monday he called Social Security an "absolute disgrace," [2] explaining it shouldn't be paid for by young workers' taxes.

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman and Obama supporter Reed Hundt said: "What I don't understand is why reporters don't ask: If Senator McCain doesn't want payroll taxes to fund Social Security (as has long been the case), then how does he propose to pay for it?"

The DNC held a conference call [3] Wednesday with a panel of Social Security experts to discuss McCain's comments and views on Social Security.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Gerald McEntee said during the call:

After being in the United States Congress for close to 30 years, John McCain doesn't understand how the Social Security system works. It's always been 'pay as you go' with today's workers paying for today's retirees. What's a disgrace is, that this is news to John McCain.

Also on Monday, McCain told a Vietnam veteran [4] who questioned his voting record on veterans' issues that he has "a perfect voting record from organizations like Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion, and all the other veterans' service organizations."

He later added, "I've been endorsed in every election by all of the veterans' organizations that do that. I've been supported by them and received the highest awards from all of those organizations, so I guess they don't know something you know."

McCain's assertions were immediately disproved. The Disabled Veterans of American gave McCain a 20 out of 100 for the period from Jan 2006-Jan 2007. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association gave him a "D." The Vietnam Veterans of America show that since 2001 McCain has voted with them 9 times, against them 15 times, and has missed 8 votes on legislation they consider important.

The AFL-CIO is launching a Veterans Council and debuted TV commercials Thursday in six key battleground states (Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin) that highlight the difference between McCain's service and less-than-stellar voting record on veterans' issues.

A Vietnam Navy veteran says in one commercial, "Every vet respects John McCain's war record ... It's his record in the Senate that I have a problem with."

After appearing out of touch on Social Security and veterans' issues, McCain's top economic adviser former Sen. Phil Gramm told the Washington Times [5] the United States is "a nation of whiners" complaining about economic troubles in what is only a "mental recession."

The comments spurred a significant backlash and prompted the McCain campaign to say [6] "Phil Gramm's comments are not representative of John McCain's views." Though it would seem McCain, who has admitted his understanding of economics is not a strength of his, would have economic advisers such as Gramm for the very purpose of articulating his views.

McCain continued to bumble along on the Straight Talk Express Wednesday. When asked by a reporter about insurance companies that cover erectile dysfunction treatments but not birth control, McCain said, "I certainly do not want to discuss that issue."

He also admitted to not knowing whether he ever voted to require insurance companies to cover contraceptives and said he would look into it.

Reporters also questioned him about the dramatic day he missed in the Senate Wednesday, specifically the failed Republican filibuster (a result of Sen. Ted Kennedy's return [7]) of a Medicare bill to prevent a drop-off in physician reimbursement rates. McCain said he would have voted with many Republicans in opposing cloture.

Mark Halperin of Time wrote in his Wednesday report [8] from the Straight Talk Express: "McCain initially said he did not regret missing the Medicare vote, because the bill would have been vetoed by the president. But he then said he regrets missing any vote."

McCain was the only Senator absent from Wednesday's Medicare vote. He did not participate in a Senate vote Thursday, but also had no scheduled campaign appearance until July 15.

This certainly sounds like enough campaign turmoil for one week, but hey, it's only Thursday. Stay tuned to see who the presumptive Republican Party nominee can offend or confuse tomorrow.

 

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected [14] McCain [15] Social Security [16] Veterans [17] Birth Control [18] Economy [19]