Dean: No 'straight talk' from McCain

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- Democratic Party National Chairman Howard Dean linked GOP presidential contender John McCain to U.S. President George Bush in his Saturday radio address.

Dean, delivering the Democratic response to the president's weekly radio message, said voters have heard little "straight talk" from the Arizona senator, who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

"He was against the Bush tax cuts before he was for them," Dean said. "He was for comprehensive immigration reform before he was against it. He was for campaign finance reform before he said it didn't apply to him."

Dean also linked McCain's economic policies to the Iraq war.

"On the campaign trail, Senator McCain talks about spending American tax dollars responsibly," Dean said. "But how can he think he'll pay for a $12 billion a month war in Iraq, make the Bush tax cuts permanent and give additional tax cuts to billionaires without making our deficits even bigger?"

While the two Democratic candidates still standing, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, continue to snipe at each other in Pennsylvania, Dean suggested they agree on most policy matters.

"Both of our candidates for president have a plan to get us out of Iraq responsibly so that we can invest in the American people and American jobs," Dean said.