McCain, The Most Absent Member Of The Senate, Blasts Congress For Taking A Week Off

THINK PROGRESS

This morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on MSNBC and blasted Congress for being lazy. He said that instead of taking a Fourth of July recess, senators should have stuck around and passed a housing bill:

McCAIN: 80-some percent of the American people think the country’s on the wrong track. Approval ratings of Congress — I saw one poll, 12 percent, the lowest in 40 years they’ve been taking these polls.

And meanwhile, what’s the answer? Go out on a Fourth of July recess without passing a housing bill.

I mean, look, Americans are fed up, and I understand it.

Watch it:

McCain’s criticisms don’t hit very hard, considering he hasn’t been present for any of the six votes on the housing bill (HR 3221) in the past month. In fact, he hasn’t actually voted on anything in the Senate since April 8. McCain now ranks as the #1 most absent senator of the 110th Congress, having missed 61.8 percent of the votes. He even beats Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), who took several months off while recovering from a brain hemorrhage. Important votes missed include the economic stimulus package and “at least seven votes of prominence on Iraq.”

Ironically, McCain also loves recesses. As Politico recently reported, McCain has taken a break from campaigning nearly every Saturday and Sunday for the past 20 weeks. The time is usually spent “with family, friends and campaign advisers” at one of his two residences or one of his two vacation homes.

As Ian Fried at the Seminal writes, “[I]f McCain thinks that the Housing Reform bill is that important, then instead of travelling to Colombia and Mexico this week, he should have gone to Washington and helped negotiate the bill.”