Investigations are needed and people should be held responsible for Washington's out-of-control spending, says Sen. John McCain, who unveiled his "America's Most Wasted" report showing how the government is spending billions of tax dollars a year, this week.
"It's grown so large, so cumbersome that there is a total lack of efficiency," the Arizona Republican told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program on Friday. An investigation would discover the people who sign off on wasteful spending items "so you can fire them and reform the entire system."
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McCain, who also appeared on
CNN's "New Day" program, told that show that he is working with Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn and will focus much of their efforts on the Department of Defense "because as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, I have access."
He pointed out that in one case, "our new aircraft carrier was supposed to cost $10 billion, and it now cost $12 billion. Everybody is responsible, therefore nobody is responsible."
He told CNN that he can't go back to taxpayers and "say I will sit still for a $2.4 billion" additional cost.
"It's the first trillion-dollar weapon system in history, and we have to fix that to regain the confidence of the American people," McCain told CNN. "We are doing what is necessary for defense and not just throwing away billions of dollars."
McCain on both programs also reiterated his concerns about
a court's ruling Thursday against the National Security Agency's phone records collection program, saying the decision makes him "very nervous."
"Two people from Phoenix, Arizona, just wanted to kill a bunch of people in Texas, right?" McCain told Fox News. "Isn't that compelling enough evidence that we have to keep tabs on people?"
McCain also slammed
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who cheered for the NSA ruling on Thursday, saying he thinks Paul is "divorced from the reality of the nature and the magnitude of the adversary we face. It's called radical Islamic terrorists who want to kill Americans, and anybody who believes anything different is terribly naive."
He told CNN that he thinks the ruling deprives the intelligence community of an important tool for surveillance, especially considering the threat of the Islamic State recruiting American supporters.
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"I am not saying there is a network here in the United States, don't get me wrong," said McCain. "Two people from Phoenix, Arizona, tried to kill people in Texas, as you know. The threat is real. Obviously we have to balance personal privacy and privacy rights, but there is clearly a need for this...the [Edward] Snowden thing complicated a lot of this."
McCain also commented to CNN about "all 50" of the people seeking the GOP nomination, and declared that he sees one potential president in the field: His good friend and South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
"I think the field is very large, and I am not sure how quickly it's going to be reduced because of the super PAC thing where people can get large amounts of money," said McCain. "Lindsey Graham, he is my dearest friend, and he understands national security better than anybody."
The New Hampshire primaries are vital, said McCain, who lost his run for the presidency in 2008 to then-Sen. Barack Obama.
"They expect them to be in their living room," McCain said of New Hampshire voters and the candidates seeking their votes. "Iowa is somewhat important, don't get me wrong, [but] New Hampshire will be the launching pad for one or two or three of these candidates in my view."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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