1/6/00

McCain Fails to Respond to Conservatives
Candidate embarrassed by Washington Post expose', tries to hide hypocrisy

WASHINGTON- Conservative leaders from across the nation have criticized Sen. John McCain for his dangerous Feingold-McCain campaign finance reform legislation which would limit political speech.

Leaders from groups such as the American Conservative Union, National Right to Work Committee, Christian Coalition, National Rifle Association, and Americans for Tax Reform have voiced strident opposition to the legislation.

McCain has been unable to respond to the following points raised by the conservative leaders:

1. The Feingold-McCain legislation makes it impossible to buy ads 60 days before an election.
2. The Feingold-McCain legislation doesn't include Paycheck Protection. The legislation does not implement the Beck Supreme Court decision, which protects workers against Union bosses taking workers' dues and using them for political purposes. The AFL-CIO, a strident opponent of Paycheck Protection, endorses the Feingold-McCain legislation, which gives the Union bosses a free hand into member dues for political purposes.
3. McCain can't answer criticism that his legislation would silence advocacy groups 60 days before an election while leaving untouched the establishment liberal media's ability to endorse candidates and print positive puff pieces..

 

"Sadly, the Washington Post expose' so badly embarrassed McCain that former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman was pushed into a press conference and put in a position to tell a series of lies," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. "Rudman, a man of integrity, certainly would not have read from the McCain campaign's script if he had known the facts."

• Rudman said Grover Norquist is a "Bush supporter." Fact: Neither Norquist nor Americans for Tax Reform, the group he heads, have endorsed any Presidential candidate in this election cycle. Norquist and ATR are pleased that all Republican candidates have signed the groups' Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Norquist was honored to be invited by McCain to attend his campaign's event which highlighted McCain taking the Pledge. Unfortunately, Mr. Norquist was unable to attend because of a funeral.
• Mr. Rudman claimed that Norquist represents non-democratic governments. Fact: Norquist was active during the Reagan years supporting Democratic movements around the world. Norquist represented the fully democratic government of the Seychelles islands for three years because the country could not afford an embassy in Washington, DC. Norquist's representation of the democratic government of the Seychelles ended more than one year ago. To say that Norquist is a registered lobbyist or a lobbyist for any other entity is not true.
• Rudman claimed that the Senate Government Affairs Committee criticized ATR in 1996. Fact: The committee rejected the politicized criticisms from the minority Democrat staff.. Moreover, Sen. Thompson, the Chairman of the Committee, told Mr. Norquist at the end of the hearings that there were no legitimate criticisms of ATR.

Currently, ATR is running ads against Sen. McCain's campaign finance reform legislation. The ads are available on ATR's website at www.atr.org.