You'd think that John McCain - the guy who's willing to keep U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years - would want to make sure that returning veterans get a college education if they want one.

That's exactly what the new GI Bill - that has passed the Senate with a veto-proof 75-22 margin ? would do.

Even though 25 of McCain's Senate Republican colleagues voted "yes," does McCain support the bill by Senators Jim Webb, D-Virginia, and Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska? Not on your life. McCain pounds his chest and pretends that the bill is too expensive ($51 billion over 10 years compared with an estimated $2 trillion to $3 trillion total for fighting the war).

McCain's White House mentor, George W. Bush, also hates the bill, so is it any surprise that McCain sides with Bush? He always does.

Long on arrogance and short on fact, the McCain/Bush team squawks that the bill would encourage needed troops to leave the military because veterans are eligible for college aid after three years of service, but for some unknown reason they ignore a Congressional Budget Office report that says the legislation would stimulate an equal number of first enlistments.

McCain's position on the GI bill provides a clear lens through which to view the Republican candidate for President. If he won't support the veterans that he claims he loves with all of his patriotic zeal, what will he do to the rest of us if he's the new guy in the Oval Office next year?

McCain wants people who don't have health insurance to be required to buy it in the private market, and he would offer only a stingy tax credit to pay for it. Since the tax credit wouldn't come close to covering the cost of the insurance, McCain's health plan would actually be a new tax on working families.

That's a revealing position that exposes McCain's lack of concern for the working class. But it is perfectly consistent with McCain's declaration that he would never support a rollback in Bush's massive tax reductions for the wealthy. It's Robin Hood in reverse - take from the poor and middle class and give to the rich.

So McCain wants to give veterans and those without health insurance the back of his hand. What does he say about the economy and the mortgage crisis that's affecting millions of American families? On a campaign swing through Florida, McCain let everyone know he thought those issues were no big deal. He said: "Even if the economy is the, quote, number one issue, the real issue will remain America's security. And if they choose to say, 'Look, I do not need this guy because he's not as good on home loan mortgages' or whatever it is, I understand about that. I will accept the verdict."

In April 2008, McCain said, "I think if you look at the overall record and millions of jobs have been created...you can make an argument that there's been great progress economically over that period of time."

Senator McCain, tell that to the families who own the 650,000 properties that were in foreclosure during the first quarter of 2008 - 112 percent more than last year, one of every 194 households in this land.

Tell that to the working families who are paying 150 percent more - upwards of $4-a-gallon for gasoline - since George W. Bush took office, while oil companies are making billions in record profits.

Senator McCain, tell that to families who go to the grocery store and pay 13 percent more for milk,15 percent more for bread and 30 percent more for eggs over the past year.

Just to show voters that he's keeping his anti-worker priorities straight, McCain refused to come off the campaign trail to vote on the economic stimulus package in February. But he did find time to come back to Washington and side with the mortgage bankers by voting against a bill that would rein in the aggressive lending practices that triggered the entire mortgage fiasco.

Then, to make his disdain for working people perfectly clear, he wouldn't vote on a bill to overhaul the mortgage lending practices of the Federal Housing Administration.

For anyone who still thinks McCain is a maverick and not a Bush twin, a recent flyer by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announces proudly that McCain opposes Project Labor Agreements, believes the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage legislation should be repealed, wants to loosen OSHA policies to make sure they don't "overburden American employers," and supports anti-salting legislation. In other words, just like Bush, he's very anti-worker.

McCain served his country admirably as a Navy pilot and prisoner of war. It's a tragedy that he's AWOL on issues that affect the health and pocketbooks of the people who work every day, pay taxes and are every bit as patriotic as he claims to be. Maybe that's why the ABC endorsed him.