McCain the leader in missed votes

[Popeye]

In fact, in the 110th Congress, McCain is #1 in that category by far, having missed 62% of the votes. Number 2 on the list is Tim Johnson who spent several months recovering from a brain hemorrhage.

McCain can't use campaigning as an excuse because though Obama is #3, being present for 43.3% of the votes, he still cast 114 more than the old warmonger.

What is John McCain..the absentee senator? I mean what has he been doing? More importantly, is this the kind of attendance we can expect should he be elected president? Perhaps so, after all Bush has set a record for vacation time taken and, as we all know, McCain=Bush.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/

 

[Federal Farmer]

In fact, in the 110th Congress, McCain is #1 in that category by far, having missed 62% of the votes. Number 2 on the list is Tim Johnson who spent several months recovering from a brain hemorrhage.

McCain can't use campaigning as an excuse because though Obama is #3, being present for 43.3% of the votes, he still cast 114 more than the old warmonger.

What is John McCain..the absentee senator? I mean what has he been doing? More importantly, is this the kind of attendance we can expect should he be elected president? Perhaps so, after all Bush has set a record for vacation time taken and, as we all know, McCain=Bush.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/

Well Popeye, for once we're somewhat in agreement on at least one issue, although I strongly suspect for entirely different reasons.

It has long been my belief that if you're going to be running for another office, you should resign from the one you're currently holding. Why should we pay you to do a job that you're obviously NOT doing while you go gallivanting all over the country looking for a new one? Frankly, if I found out that any of my employees were looking for a new job while they were on MY time, I'd fire their butts quicker than you can say "spit".

Obama, Hitlery, McCain, and every damned one of them that's been running for office while allegedly holding another should be immediately recalled, AND forced to repay their salaries for the time they weren't in Congress DOING THEIR JOBS!

Where we're different on this though is that I hold out this standard for ALL of them, you're using it as a "tool" to try to bash only McCain. I say that because you conveniently left out your criticism of Obama when you didn't apply your "the absentee senator? I mean what has he been doing? More importantly, is this the kind of attendance we can expect should he be elected president? " screed.

OH, and BTW, Bush does NOT hold the record, FDR does.

 

[Pandora]

Well Popeye, for once we're somewhat in agreement on at least one issue, although I strongly suspect for entirely different reasons.

It has long been my belief that if you're going to be running for another office, you should resign from the one you're currently holding. Why should we pay you to do a job that you're obviously NOT doing while you go gallivanting all over the country looking for a new one? Frankly, if I found out that any of my employees were looking for a new job while they were on MY time, I'd fire their butts quicker than you can say "spit".

Obama, Hitlery, McCain, and every damned one of them that's been running for office while allegedly holding another should be immediately recalled, AND forced to repay their salaries for the time they weren't in Congress DOING THEIR JOBS!





Where we're different on this though is that I hold out this standard for ALL of them, you're using it as a "tool" to try to bash only McCain. I say that because you conveniently left out your criticism of Obama when you didn't apply your "the absentee senator? I mean what has he been doing? More importantly, is this the kind of attendance we can expect should he be elected president? " screed.

OH, and BTW, Bush does NOT hold the record, FDR does.

Bravo!! Very well said!

 

[Popeye]

Well Popeye, for once we're somewhat in agreement on at least one issue, although I strongly suspect for entirely different reasons.

It has long been my belief that if you're going to be running for another office, you should resign from the one you're currently holding. Why should we pay you to do a job that you're obviously NOT doing while you go gallivanting all over the country looking for a new one? Frankly, if I found out that any of my employees were looking for a new job while they were on MY time, I'd fire their butts quicker than you can say "spit".

Obama, Hitlery, McCain, and every damned one of them that's been running for office while allegedly holding another should be immediately recalled, AND forced to repay their salaries for the time they weren't in Congress DOING THEIR JOBS!

Where we're different on this though is that I hold out this standard for ALL of them, you're using it as a "tool" to try to bash only McCain. I say that because you conveniently left out your criticism of Obama when you didn't apply your "the absentee senator? I mean what has he been doing? More importantly, is this the kind of attendance we can expect should he be elected president? " screed.

OH, and BTW, Bush does NOT hold the record, FDR does.

Actually according to this Houston Chronicle article of Aug. 2007 the all time leader in presidential vacation time was, at that date, Ronald Reagan with 436 days. Bush, as you can see by the quote, was poised to break it at that time.

I'm not claiming you're wrong but remember FDR served 3 full terms. So lets just say that Bush holds the record for two term presidents.

The presidential vacation time record holder is the late Ronald Reagan, who tallied 436 days in his two terms. At 418 days, and with 17 months to go in his presidency, Bush is going to beat that easily.

EDIT: Here's an update courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer (7-08) Looking at this I think we can safely say Bush holds the all time record for vacation time taken.

According to Mark Knoller, a CBS White House reporter who keeps meticulous records, as of March, Bush has totaled 452 vacation days (about 1 1/3 years worth) during his seven-plus years as president.

This eclipses the previous mark set by Ronald Reagan of 436 days and is one of those records, like Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games, that may never be broken.

 

[GenSeneca]

When it comes to presidents, I don't think vacation time is an issue. Why do they have to physically be in the oval office? Most of their interactions take place over the phone, the internet, or in other countries... So with the information age came the ability of the executive to "execute" without having to be tied to the White House.

Its not like ANY president is actually on vacation... he's still the president. When you leave for vacation somebody else does your work - Presidents don't have that luxury. As long as they spend the majority of their time IN THE US, I don't care how many "vacation" days they really take.

 

[Libsmasher]

And who was number 3? Obama. Who were in the top four? The people running for president: Obama, Hillary, and McCain. They were all too busy, and for awhile, McCain didn't have the money to rent a jet like Obama did to campaign more efficiently and be able to zoom back to DC for occasional votes.

Another Poop-I defamation attempt falls flat on its face.

 

[Federal Farmer]

Actually according to this Houston Chronicle article of Aug. 2007 the all time leader in presidential vacation time was, at that date, Ronald Reagan with 436 days. Bush, as you can see by the quote, was poised to break it at that time.

I'm not claiming you're wrong but remember FDR served 3 full terms. So lets just say that Bush holds the record for two term presidents.

The thing you're failing to account for is that while MODERN Presidents (including Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, and GW Bush) are "on vacation", the only thing that's really changed is their location. They still receive their daily briefings, still have to put in so many hours dealing with matters of State, etc., etc., etc. So even if they ARE "on vacation", they get maybe 3 or 4 hours a day to "relax" that they don't get while they're in DC.

Perhaps you missed a recent program where they accompanied President Bush on one of his "vacation" visits to Crawford? Even the reporter acknowledged that for a "vacation", it wasn't much of a vacation since, except for a few hours a day working on the ranch, he was doing everything he did in Washington, except instead of doing it in a suit, he was wearing jeans and a Stetson.

Again Popeye, much ado about nothing.