John McCain made a pretty good appearance on Good Morning America while being challenged by George Stephanopoulos on policy. He warned of the “cataclysmic” consequences of pursuing ObamaCare through reconciliation, a very clear signal to Harry Reid that Republicans plan to fight it every step of the way. But even putting aside process, McCain reinforces the points made yesterday by himself and his colleagues about the fantasy mathematics employed by Democrats in pushing their bill, calling it “Bernie Madoff accounting” (via Instapundit):

President Obama’s health care summit was a good opportunity for Americans to consider the contentious issue, but passing a Senate bill with 51 votes in what’s called budget reconciliation would have “cataclysmic effects,” Arizona Sen. John McCain said.

“Here they are with a program that’s another $2.5 trillion cost to the taxpayers,” the former GOP presidential candidate told “Good Morning America’s” George Stephanopoulos today. “We are ready to work on a number of issues with the president but we want to do it step by step.”

“We don’t want the budget gimmickry that gives you six years of benefits for 10 years in taxes. I mean, that’s crazy. That’s Bernie Madoff accounting,” he said.

Obama’s bill, released Monday, is estimated by the White House to cost $1 trillion over 10 years, but Republicans say that number is a lowball and that costs over time will be considerably higher.

As he did in yesterday’s summit, McCain stressed the “unsavory” nature of the deals made by Obama and the Democrats in Congress. He missed the opportunity to hammer Obama on the backroom deal made with unions to exempt their benefit plans from the so-called “Cadillac plan” tax, perhaps because Obama defused that somewhat by exempting everyone from that tax untilk 2018. Otherwise, this is a solid performance by McCain.

The gleeful Senator says he’d love to have a series of these summits at the end of the interview. Somehow, I don’t think Obama is that foolish.