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Sen. John McCain took his most direct shot at President Barack Obama since the presidential campaign on Friday morning, using a Senate floor speech to criticize the president for mocking the Republican concerns over the massive economic stimulus package.In a fiery speech Thursday night before House Democrats, Obama rejected the GOP’s characterization that the stimulus package was merely another spending bill. “What do you think a stimulus is? That’s the whole point.No, seriously, that’s the point,”Obama said at the retreat in Williamsburg, Va. On Friday morning, McCain fought back.“The whole point, Mr. President, is to enact tax cuts and spending measures that truly stimulate the economy,”McCain said. “There are billions and tens of billions of dollars in this bill which will have no effect within three,four,five or more years,or ever.Or ever.” The back and forth is more reminiscent of the sharp attacks the two men exchanged on the campaign trail rather than Obama’s hope of moving past partisanship in Washington.And it comes as McCain has positioned himself to becoming a leading opponent of the Senate Democratic plan, which may cost more than $920 billion if major cuts are not made. McCain’s criticism comes after a significant period of détente between the two campaign rivals and a direct effort by Obama to woo McCain and get him involved in policy negotiations. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), still a strong surrogate for McCain, told Politico that he believed Obama was "AWOL" on bipartisan negotiations on the stimulus, further showing the discontent on the GOP side of the aisle.Obama and Democratic leaders say the GOP is pinpointing a handful of smaller items in the bill to undermine a large package designed to stimulate consumer spending and create jobs through an array of programs, including new infrastructure projects. “Here’s the point I’m making. This package is not going to be absolutely perfect, and you can nit and you can pick,” Obama said Thursday. “That’s the game we all play here. What I’m saying is we can’t afford to play that game. We’ve got to pull together.” But McCain targeted an array of programs that he said were not needed in an emergency economic recovery package. “$50 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts-all of us are for the arts,” McCain said. “Tell me how that creates any significant number of jobs? After-school snack program is probably a good idea. Do we really want to spend $726 million on it?”With Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) recovering from brain cancer and the Minnesota Senate race still unresolved, Democrats have 57 seats and need to keep their caucus unified while pulling support from three GOP senators to pass the bill as soon as Friday evening. McCain rejected that strategy and said Democrats should not call the measure “bipartisan” if only a handful of Republicans support it. “You can call it an agreement, but you cannot call it a bipartisan agreement,” McCain said....By MANU RAJU
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