The John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award

Last year, this award was created as the Sunday Morning Crappie Award to recognize that week's most egregious example of political flip-floppery. Shortly after creating it, I noticed that Arizona's senior U.S. Senator was winning the Award or was one of the leading contenders every single week.

In the interests of giving every (usually) Republican elected hypocrite their moment in the glare of the spotlight, at that time I named the Award after Senator McCain and deemed him ineligible for future Awards.

However, from time to time Sen. McCain does or says something so outrageously hypocritical that he merits receipt of this eponymous award.

Today is one such time.

Yesterday, McCain introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill in the Senate that would remove any cuts to Medicare funding (the current proposal calls for $500 million in cuts - remember that number)

Sounds like he cares about seniors, or at least that he figures GOP seniors are more frightened of any changes to Medicare than they are of immigrants (giving him a leg up in next year's primary battle versus JD Hayworth), right?

Not so much.

During last year's campaign, McCain proffered his own plan for health care "reform".

At that point in time, he was so concerned with protecting Medicare, his proposal called for $1.3 trillion in cuts.

For this reverse inward twisting 2 1/2 somersault of an expedient political flip flop, the John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award goes to...

John Sydney McCain.


Note: It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see more flip flops and position triangulations from McCain in the coming months - he's got fewer fundraisers since they started getting busted for racketeering and fraud. Whether the biggest threat to his job security comes from within the GOP in the rather loud and blustery form of Hayworth or from the Democrats in the rather tall form of Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, McCain is going to have to work hard, on the issues and on the ground, to gain re-election this time around.

Note2: According to the FEC, the Florida attorney cited in the linked "racketeering" article raised or donated over $100K for McCain's presidential run last year.

Coverage from...

...The New Republic here.

...Tedski at R-Cubed here.

...Washington Monthly here.

...TPMMuckraker here.

Later...