While John McCain has promised four more years of President Bush’s failed policies, Pennsylvanians are feeling the cost of the war here at home—a war that has made us less safe while diverting critical resources from Pennsylvania’s priorities. [Wall Street Journal, 3/13/08] Since the beginning of the war, almost 4,000 brave men and women in uniform have lost their lives. Since September 2001, nearly 1.7 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, including 6,663 members of the Army Guard and 2,837 Air National Guard members, making it more difficult for Pennsylvania to respond to natural disasters and crises in the state. [icasualties.org; Department of Defense, 1/31/08]

And as the economy continues to slide into what Alan Greenspan said could be the worst slow-down since World War II, John McCain’s endless war in Iraq is draining economic resources that would help Pennsylvania's working families. A recent study shows the Iraq war is now costing U.S. taxpayers $12 billion dollars a month—that means that for the cost of less than a week in Iraq, we could hire 51,000 police officers to make America safer; for four months in Iraq, we could get low-income kids health care for five years; and for just three weeks in Iraq, we could enroll 1.4 million kids in Head Start and get them the education they need. But instead of siding with Pennsylvania’s families, John McCain is choosing to support a war without end in Iraq. [AP, 3/10/08; Speaker Pelosi Fact Sheet, 8/29/07]

"John McCain is out of step with Pennsylvania values," said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair T.J. Rooney. "While Pennsylvanians want American troops withdrawn from Iraq, McCain wants us there for 100 years even though everyone agrees the Iraqis have failed to make the political progress the surge was supposed to make possible. And though Pennsylvanians want more police officers on their streets and health care for their kids, McCain wants a war that will break the bank and make our country less safe. That’s not the kind of leadership our families want, and that’s why voters in the Keystone State will reject John McCain’s promise of a third Bush term in November.”