Thread: McCain tackles issues in Myrtle Beach visit

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Posted on Sat, Aug. 19, 2006

McCain tackles issues in MB visit

By Zane Wilson
The Sun News

Sounding more like a presidential contender than a politician come to the aid of South Carolina Republican candidates, U.S. Sen. John McCain talked about national and international issues in a series of appearances in Myrtle Beach Friday.

McCain, of Arizona, came to help candidates he has endorsed through his political action committee, Straight Talk America. He attended a fund-
raiser Thursday in Columbia for Adjutant General Stan Spears and came to Myrtle Beach to speak at a fundraising lunch for superintendent of education candidate Karen Floyd.

But he also spoke at a meeting Friday morning with about 100 invited members of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, met with about 100 members of the public later, and after the $1,000-a-plate lunch for Floyd he autographed his latest book for about 30 people.

McCain carried both Horry and Georgetown counties in the S.C. Republican presidential primary of 2000, even though he lost statewide to George Bush, and is quietly organizing for another run in 2008, but he says he wants to focus on this year's elections for now.

The senator was mostly warmly received but some in the public meeting attacked his position on immigration and on a cooperative agreement with Democratic senators on judge appointments.

"Our borders are broken," McCain said when the question of immigration came up in the first meeting, asked by chamber president Brad Dean.

"I know how many illegals are working in Myrtle Beach," he said. But he said employers can't be expected to be immigration agents.

McCain favors a program in which immigrants who have been here five years or more can achieve citizenship, but those who have been here less than five years should go home, then apply for a guest worker program.

The country cannot round up the 11 million illegal immigrants and deport them even though that is what some people want, McCain said.

"I think it will have a real impact on the economy of Myrtle Beach if we don't handle this issue with sensitivity," he said.

There was more anger about the issue in the public meeting. McCain said he understands the anger, but the issue must be handled and not everyone agrees on how to do it.

John Easterling said he approves of legal immigration but not amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"It really isn't fair to call it amnesty," McCain said. Amnesty means total forgiveness and he favors a program allowing those who have been here long enough to apply for citizenship if they meet the requirements, he said.

Nor should Republicans be tearing each other apart over immigration, McCain said.

"We want to negotiate," he said. "We are patriotic Americans, and for us to impugn the character of each other over this issue is reprehensible."

As for joining with some Democrats to prevent filibusters against judicial nominees, which some conservatives see as improper, McCain said it is "crazy" to think that the Senate can conduct any business without cooperation between the parties. "If you believe that all we should do is fight and beat down the Democrats, fine," McCain said. But if that were so, no legislation would pass, he said.

"My constituents in Arizona sent me there to get things done," not just to fight with Democrats, McCain said.

Offshore oil drilling was on the minds of some. North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley asked his position on the issue.

He said the states should decide.

"I don't think it should be dictated by the federal government," he said. Alternatives such as nuclear energy and ethanol should be pursued more aggressively, he added.

"I believe that climate change is real," and it is also a national security issue that the nation is dependent on oil from unstable countries, he said.

McCain also said Congress is overspending and that special allocations, what some call pork, are feeding the red ink. The practice is one reason that worthy projects such as Interstate 73 can't get as much money as they need, he said.

What is needed to end that practice is to veto bills that include the special allocations, he said.

At the Floyd luncheon, attended by about 20 paying guests, McCain said the nation's future rests on having an educated workforce.

"We need a lot of progress in the state of South Carolina," and Floyd has the right program for getting there, he said.

McCain said this was his first visit to Myrtle Beach since the 2000 campaign.

"I love this state and I love Myrtle Beach and I'm happy to be back," he said.


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Contact ZANE WILSON at 357-9188 or zwilson@thesunnews.com.

"We want to negotiate," he said. "We are patriotic Americans, and for us to impugn the character of each other over this issue is reprehensible."

More useless words from our beloved McCain. I cannot believe people actually waste their time listening to this puke. I wouldn't waste an hour, it would be an hour I'd never get back!!

His use of the phrase 'we are patriotic Americans' makes me want to puke.
Yes senator mccain, WE are patriotic Americans, you are not.

It really isn't fair to call it amnesty," McCain said. Amnesty means total forgiveness and he favors a program allowing those who have been here long enough to apply for citizenship if they meet the requirements, he said.

Nice self contradiction here McCain. It is amnesty, no matter how much fluff you put on it. Here's some advice you traitorous puke, IF IT WALKS, TALKS, AND SOUNDS LIKE A DUCK, IT IS A DUCK!!!!

McCain should run for office in Mexico!

The American people do not want illegals here or open borders!

There was more anger about the issue in the public meeting. McCain said he understands the anger, but the issue must be handled and not everyone agrees on how to do it.

I'd bet there was plenty of anger, more than they want to print. I hope they gave him a real drilling too.

Don't trust McCain and would never ever vote for him. He is not for we citizens, he thinks he's above us all.

The only think I have to say about John McCain is that he makes me want to puke. Can you spell t-r-a-i-t-o-r?

[url=http://www.northmyrtlebeachonline.com/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=885

August 18, 2006 - Senator John McCain visits Grand Strand – by Jim Hulen
Date 2006/8/19 20:13:08 | Topic: Special Features


Sort of looks like he had few drinks from the photos


A small group of area political and business leaders met with U.S. Senator John McCain at the Myrtle Beach Marriott. McCain covered a wide range of topics.

Interlaced with humor, Sen. McCain opened his remarks by thanking the Grand Strand for their strong support during the last Presidential Primary. “When I lost in South Carolina,” he said, “I slept like a baby . . . . Sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours, way up and cry….”

Sen. McCain was responding to Rep. Tracy Edge’s introductory remarks in which he said, “In 2000, Sen. McCain was in South Carolina going across every dirt road and trail he could find. When he ran, Horry County was his best county, winning by 54%.

“We had an event after the primary that we set up for 400 people and we had two and one half thousand show up. Blew us all the way! That happened throughout the state.”

Turning to Sen. McCain, Edge continued, “The excitement you brought to the political arena is something I will never forget and something I hope we will continue to see in the future.”

Sen. McCain went on to say, “It’s just remarkable to come back to Myrtle Beach to see the growth, prosperity and facilities like this that are attracting people from not all over the nation but also all over the world. They must be expecting some Eskimos because it is cold as hell in here!”

After thanking the many attendees, many by name he focused on the Mayors of North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach. “I might mention a story that focuses on your importance,” he said. “When I ran to succeed Barry Goldwater in 1986, the chairman of my campaign was a lady named Marcela Peters. After I was elected to the Senate, I was home one night asleep. At midnight the phone rang. She said John, this is Marcela. I have a terrible problem. I said what is it? She said they are changing the garbage pickup in front of my house from Tuesday to Thursday morning. On Wednesday night I have a Women’s club meeting. On Thursday morning I have to volunteer down at headquarters. We talked about twenty minutes about Marcela’s terrible problem. Finally, I said why don’t you call the Mayor and discuss it with him. She said oh no, I wouldn’t want to bother an important man like him with a trivial problem like this.”

He went on to say that a presidential election was coming up, but it’s very early to make a decision and would not decide until early next year. He is occupied currently with getting republicans elected, saying, “The House of Representatives is in play as well as the Senate. I’ll be campaigning throughout the United States. I’ll be leaving here to go down to Florida for Republicans running for governor, then to Ohio where we have a tough Senatorial race.”

“As far as the presidency issue is concerned, you may remember in the last campaign 2004, there was some conversation about me being vice president of the United States . . . . . wasn’t clear which party! I was on the Jay Leno show and Leno said, wow Senator I see your name is mentioned as Vice President of the United States. I said Jay I spend all those years in a Vietnamese prison camp, kept in the dark, fed scraps . . . why would I want to do that all over again?”

“I also want you to extend your sympathy for the families of the state of Arizona. Because Barry Goldwater ran for President of the United States; Morris Udall ran for President of the United States; Bruce Babbitt ran for President of the United States; and I ran for President of the United States. Arizona may be the only state where mothers don’t tell their children they can someday grow up to be President of the United States.”


Turning to other issues, McCain said the economy is good, unemployment is low, and the economic sector continues to create jobs. Lower taxes, less regulation and better government policies have created a business friendly climate in the United States.

McCain believes problem is that globalization is creating unease. In South Carolina globalization has created the demise of the entire textile industry, complicated by health insurance not being portable. He declared himself a free trader with the belief the U.S can compete but a support program needed to be in place. His vision was that if workers lose jobs as a direct result of foreign competition, they will a program where they can get retraining, education and benefits so they can adjust. Explaining that job shifts have occurred, he observed that South Carolina now has a BMW plant and a Michelin plant and other similar growths in other places in the economy. Jobs have been replaced to some degree. But he also acknowledged that it was hard to explain to textile worker who lost their job and said, “We’ve got to do a better job of helping those who lose their job to globalization.”

McCain told the audience that we need to worry about congressional spending, saying, “We now have a $46 trillion in unfunded liabilities because of Social Security and Medicare.” He made the point that there was more money going out than coming in. He emphatically stated that, “We cannot let that happen. Got to fix the system.”

Commenting that Congress spends money like a drunken sailor, but with more imagination he relayed one of his favorite stories,” Congress decided to spend $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. . . . Now I don’t know if that is a paternity issue or a criminal issue. . . . but $3million of your tax dollars to study went to study the DNA of bears in Montana.”

Bringing the Congressional spending problem close to home, he brought up the major problem in MB is traffic. Sooner or later he expressed the belief that traffic problems will impact the local and state economy because tourists may decide to go where they can get there in less than 3 hours.

Expressing the belief that South Carolina, Arizona and other high growth areas are not getting their fair share of the tax dollars that go to Washington, he called that disgraceful and despicable. Recalling that Reagan vetoed a highway bill in 1984 with 52 earmarks projects, he pointed out that the last highway bill contained 6,140 earmarked projects.

One of the earmarked projects was the infamous “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska. The bridge is earmarked for $233 million to serve 50 people. McCain said, “Think of what you could do here in Myrtle Beach with $233 million to improve peoples ability to get around – not just visitors but also residents.” His solution was that the President has got to start with vetoes on bills with earmarks on them.

Moving to international affairs, he stressed, “We live in a very dangerous and unstable world today. Conflicts are in almost every part of the world today. In Venezuela a dictator named Chavez acts worse than Castro in some ways.” Asking, “Why should we care? Because 8% of our oil comes from there.” He cautioned that in the very near election in Mexico, if the wrong guy had had won in this very close race, we would have seen a neighboring Country leader emulating Chavez’s behavior.

Building on the theme of an unstable world, he cited the Lebanon crisis and the dangers of Iran and North Korea building nuclear weapons. China is emerging on the world stage as an aggressive player. He stressed that we need to pay attention to China’s behavior. McCain stated, “China is still a repressive government.”

The current Lebanon crisis, he told the audience was caused by unprovoked attack from Hezbollah, which is a creature of Iran. The Iranians provide arms, encouragement, training and funding of Hezbollah. McCain said, “I cannot imagine Hezbollah launching those rockets without the encouragement of Iran.” Challenging the audience he asked, “Why would they do that?”

Answering his question he said, “One reason may be that we are about to go to the United Nations Security Council to ask for sanctions because of their nuclear program.”

He encouraged the gathering to understand that this is a very dangerous situation. The world has a terrorist organization, Hezbollah, dedicated to the extinction of a state – Israel, sponsored by a radical Islamic state, Iran, who provides them equipment, training, arms and encouragement . Warning the audience, he said, “Now Iran is playing heavily in southern Iraq – not Lebanon, Iraq! The reason why we are having problems in Basara and places in southern Iraq is because of Iran.”

Admitting that things are tough in Iraq because of sectarian violence, especially in Bagdad, he acknowledges that we made mistakes in Iraq. He also stressed that he believed we cannot afford to lose the conflict in Iraq, not just be end of Iraq but would also leave the entire region in chaos.

Continuing, he explained, “It is not Iraq they want. It’s us. It is a battle between western values, Judeo-Christian principles and this force of evil that have taken an honorable religion and perverted into a organization that wants to hate kill and destroy everything we stand for and believe in. This is a tough struggle.”

Answering a question from the audience about immigration, McCain said, “It is the number one domestic issue. The borders are broken.”

McCain listed two of the enormous consequences of illegal immigration - hundreds of million in uncompensated health care costs and shootouts on our freeways. He agreed that we have a national obligation to fix the borders.

He expressed his belief that sealing the borders was not enough. McCain said, “We think a comprehensive approach is necessary. We need a guest worker program and do something about those eleven million people that have come here over the past 40 to 50 years because of a failed federal program.”

Explaining how a guest worker program would work, he said, “If a person places an ad for a job for 60 days in the U.S. and no American comes forward to apply for the job, that person can enter into a contract with a person in another country. [The person from the other country] goes to an American Embassy and gets a tamper proof biometric visa and enters the country. We have the technology to create tamper proof biometric visa. If that person breaks that contract, loses job, or leaves the job, he goes back [to his country of origin.]”

He did not expect an employer to be an INS agent; there are just too many good counterfeit social security cards and birth certificates. Word need to get down south that an immigrant can’t work without a biometric card. He went on to say, “And if someone hires someone without that card they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Addressing the issue of the size of the illegal immigrant population, he said, “I don’t know how you round up eleven million people.” McCain outline a program he supports, “If they have been here five years or less they need to go back. If more than five years, we need to give a path to citizenship, that means background checks, pay back taxes, pay a three thousand fine, learn English, work for five years and then, after that, get in back of line for citizenship. [That] means about an additional 6 years to be eligible for citizenship.”

Asked about education, McCain said, “Education is the great challenge of 21st Cent. The No Child Left Behind Act was a great beginning. [With this act it is the] first time I have been able to measure the performance of my child with a child in South Carolina.”

On a positive note, he pointed out that every innovation in high tech and information technology has come from America. He emphasized that, “The Chinese may be turning out two million engineers a year, but still innovation comes from America.”

Mayor Hatley asked, “What are your thoughts about offshore drilling and your thoughts about the impact on tourism?” To great laughter, McCain said, “Sorry I called upon you, Mayor!” He went on to say that he was a Federalist which means that local government, being closer to the people, should make as many decisions as possible. He said, “There should be a consensus within the state of South Carolina and if they decide they want offshore drilling, I will respect their decision. I don’t think it should be dictated by the Federal Government. Louisiana has decided to allow offshore drilling; in California they decided they do not want it anywhere and in Florida they made the decision it was ok if it was at a distance offshore. It needs to be a decision led by the legislature and governor and I will support whatever decision you make. I know that may sound like a cop-out, like the old cliché some of my friends are for it; some of my friends are against it and I’m with my friends.”

Addressing the issue of oil dependency, he said, “There are many technologies that are a long way off, but there are two that are here right now. Ethanol offers a great example in Brazil. When you go to a gas station in Brazil, you fill up with Ethanol. They have greatly reduced or eliminated their dependency on foreign oil. I am told by experts that when the price of oil exceeds 40 per barrel it becomes economical. That is one issue – economics, but also national security. Areas where oil comes from are very unstable.”

The other is far more controversial – nuclear power. “I am a profound disciple and believer in nuclear power,” he said. “Our problem with nuclear power is a psychological one not a technological one.” Citing the example of sailing nuclear ships around the world for 16 years without a single accident, he stated that it has proven to be safe.

As he left the gathering, McCain took some time to pose with S.C. Tracy Edge, who, along with the area Chambers of Commerce, had arranged the morning meeting. Edge was McCain’s campaign coordinator for District 1 in the 2000 election cycle.