Climate Change
Unlike the President, McCain supports a cap-&-trade program that would set a ceiling on carbon emmissions. On the other hand, he does agree with Bush that our joining the Kyoto Accord should depend on China and India also joining.
Energy & Oil
Mr. McCain has called for a “great national campaign to put us on a course to energy independence,” adding that the next president must be willing to “break completely” with the energy policies of previous administrations. With respect to drilling, McCain opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, once a top goal for Mr. Bush. As for tax breaks for oil companies, Mr. Bush opposes a windfall profits tax on oil companies. Mr. McCain has voted against similar taxes in the past, but this month he said he was “angry at the oil companies not only because of the obscene profits they’ve made but at their failure to invest in alternate energy.”
Federal Spending
Mr. Bush has so far allowed earmarks in spending bills, but signed an executive order this year directing federal agencies to ignore earmarks that Congress did not vote on. McCain has been a much stronger opponent of pork-barrel projects and other wasteful spending. He says he would not sign any earmarked projects into law and has not taken any earmarks for Arizona.
Interrogation Tactics
Mr. McCain has battled the Bush administration on a number of bills to end torture by the U.S. He is against waterboarding, Bush is for it. McCain wants to close Guantanamo, Bush wants to keep it open.
Arms Control
McCain wants to pursue a new arms control treaty with Russia, Bush does not. He has proposed eliminating tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, Bush has rejected it. He wants to conduct nuclear talks with China, Bush does not. Bush recently turned to negotiation with Korea over nuclear disarmament, McCain wants to demand complete and irreversable nuclear disarmament by Korea.
Where they agree:
Abortion and Judges
Education (No Child Left Behind)
Deplomacy with Iran & Syria
Immigration
Iraq, although McCain strongly criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war in the first four years.
Trying Guantanamo detainees in military courts.
Health Care
Medicare
Social Security
Same-Sex Marraige (against, as is Obama)
Taxes
Free Trade
12 comments:
Your arguement here is that the Obama campaign is using smear tactics to paint McCain as a third term Bush.
The information we all know is that 90% of the time McCain has voted with Bush; if this is not true then please provide the information stating otherwise.
Also, you have provided a host of subjects to which McCain either agrees or disagrees with our current President. Granted, in some cases he agrees with the ideas that have been set into motion, merely wishes to take them further. If we take these issues as black and white or, agree and disagree, our findings are that Johnny is 70% George W. Bush and 30% his own man; i.e The Reformed "Hello conservative right wing base!" Maverick.
So everything that is going on in America right at this very moment is 70% awesome, way to go Brownie, nothing but good times ahead and 30% screwed?
And you call this a smear campaign?
Right now, the Democratic controlled congress has a 9% popularity rating with Americans and Obama has been 100% lock-step with his party during his brief senate term. Deeds speak louder than even lofty and high-minded words, and I find no deeds in his four year record to support his rhetoric. I have challenged you in the past to support his promises with any examples and so far, your silence on the subject tells me that it is just words.
Face it - McCain has a record of accomplishment. Obama has a record of running (his mouth) for office.
I have provided you with information on Obama's background, from his education, teaching of constitutional law and community service, to the work he has done as a senator. It has come from his website, wikipedia, cnn, factcheck.org so on and so forth.
26 years of doing something gives you a record, it does not mean it is a record of accomplishment.
Changing your rhetoric mid-stream gives you a different kind of record all together.
Picking a VP that does not agree nor align with your record raises a red flag.
And, finally, your response doesn't have much to do with the discussion you started. You seemed interested in the comparison made by Obamas campaign of McCain to Bush and this comparison being more of a smear tactic than it is reality. Now you are saying that McCains record, regardless of its similarities to Bush, is one of accomplishment. If his record is the same as Bush 70% of the time or, rather, 90% then I would say he won't be the worst president ever but he'll be quite a bit closer than someone who doesn't vote with Bush.
Being taught, teaching, or being a community organizer, while laudable, are not what I consider justifications to become president. I did try to find any significant legislation that Obama effected, either as a state or federal senator and found none. It seems his major accomplishment was that he was against the Iraq War when it was very much in his political favor to take that position as a state senator.
You seem to be struggling with the term "accomplishments". Here are some examples:
From 1991 to 1993, McCain was a member of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs and co-authored a final report that allowed the U.S. to normalize relations with Vietnam.
Starting in 1994, he worked with Democrat Russ Feingold in cosponoring the McCain-Feingold Bill, to promote campaign finance reform.
In 1997, McCain was named one of the 25 most influential people in America by Time magazine.
That same year, McCain became chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee where he took on the tobacco industry and proposed legislation that would raise cigarette taxes in order to fund anti-smoking campaigns. That legislation was supported by the Clinton administration but was opposed by most Republicans.
Notice that he worked across party lines on significant legislation.
Obama's website contains ideas and promises - Where are the accomplishments during his four years in the Senate?
Your last post are all good and fine "accomplishments" and I will return with some additional information soon.
One point to add is that his record as you have pointed out up to 1997 has little to do with his record and its alignment to Bush since 2000 and, the apparent "smear tactics" of Obama's campaign. Its still not a smear from where I sit.
Also, please let Bill Clinton be an example that you should look to for your candidate McCain, whomever he is in which ever decade it happens to be. If he ever truly was a Maverick and is talking about shaking things up then, why is it that he is spending so much time moving to the right and pandering to the neo-Con base? Is he trying to paint himself into a corner? I'm watching him do it day in and day out....
Bill Clinton spent a great deal of his campaing in 92 pissing off the Democratic base and then had a very hard time getting any legislation through the Democratic majority, his own majority!
This is a warning of how McSame will be forced to govern is he ever takes office.
In regards to the "accomplishments" of Obama during his tenure in DC, please see the quote and attached article.
"Palin’s accusation that Obama hasn’t authored “a single major law or even a reform” in the U.S. Senate or the Illinois Senate is simply not a fair assessment. Obama has helped push through major ethics reforms in both bodies, for example."
-factcheck.org
And some more:
"Tough Grader
Palin disparaged Obama’s legislative record, both in Illinois and in Washington:
Palin: But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state Senate.
Of course, we can’t say what Palin considers “major.” But if Palin’s own ethics reforms in Alaska were important enough to highlight in her convention address, then it’s only fair to credit Obama’s efforts on that topic. In 1998 in the Illinois Senate, Obama cosponsored an ethics overhaul that bars elected officials from using their campaign funds for personal use and and was called the the first major overhaul of Illinois campaign and ethics laws in 25 years. It also bans fundraisers in the state Capitol during legislative sessions. Obama’s Republican cosponsor Kirk Dillard even appeared in an Obama ad last summer describing Obama’s skills working with members of both parties to get legislation passed.
In Washington, Obama was instrumental in helping to craft the 2007 ethics reform law that ended gifts and meals from lobbyists, cut off subsidized jet travel for members of Congress, required lobbyists to disclose contributions they “bundle” to candidates, and put the brakes on other, similar common practices.
In addition, we already noted in a recent article Obama’s efforts with Republican senators to help detect and secure weapons of mass destruction and to destroy conventional weapons stockpiles around the world, and to create a publicly searchable database on federal spending."
www.factcheck.org
No Accomplishments at all, just running his mouth for Office, of course.
Aaaahhhhh yes, here we are. From none other than the New York Sun. The McCain-Feingold bill, or cough cough oh , damn ummmm cough.
The Feingold bill!!
http://www.nysun.com/national/campaign-finance-effort-resumes-without-mccain/36949/
Mission Accomplished?
"I was for it, then, I was against it"
McCain Pailn 2008...
Or, was it "Country First"? Or "Experience"? Or, "Change"? "Maverick"? Who knows.........lets just hope he doesn't take up windsurfing.
So where does Obama stand on any reforms for campaign financing? I'll give you one change, although I doubt anyone would call it reform.
In November 2007, Obama answered "Yes" to Common Cause when asked "If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?"
Obama wrote: "In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election. My proposal followed announcements by some presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."
Of course, these were just words, much like all the other words that flow effortlessly from Obama. Less tha 6 months later, he made those words a lie when he opted out of public financing.
Which brings us to the present where, on the evening of one of the worse Wall Street declines, the "man of the people" joins with high-rolling Hollywood types in a $28,500 per attendee event to raise campaign funds. Of course, "open book" Obama has barred media coverage of the Beverly Hills affair. And by the way, the entertainment portion of this sing-a-long was an additional $2,500. If you've got the dough, it's a small price to pay for the chance to access the Lincoln bedroom. Of course Lincoln will be spinning in his grave if this fraud gets elected.
Firstly, Abe Lincoln rolling in his grave at the notion of an african american being this close to the white house? Maybe standing up and applauding....Emancipation Proclomation ring a bell?
Secondly, on that SAME evening that Obama was having a fund raiser in fact, John McCain and the circular talk express - for campaign finance reform before he was against it (remember how his name was on the bill?) raised 5 million from non-descript republican backers in Ohio.....his largest to date!
By the way, McCain, after watching the destruction on Wall St, came to the conclusion that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. He then spent the next three hours in the "retraction chamber" - he must really like it there. Someone else said we were going through adjustments. Guess who? And he wants to distance himself? ahahahahaha
Don't Blink!
I see your raise and I add 10.
Obama is an African American? Ah yes, so he keeps telling us.
McCain was raising money from regular folks not the elitist entertainers who have few morals but plenty of advise for everyone else. How lucky for Barrack to have Lindsey and Madonna supporting him. Pardon me for judging him by the company he keeps.
Obama watched the financial crash too but notwithstanding three paragraphs of playing the blame game, said absolutely nothing of value. Perhaps his teleprompter was back East waiting on the return of the Messiah.
Most leaders understand that when there is a crisis it's their job to show optimism but Obama would rather win an election than show leadership.
So you have insider information as to the moral position of "entertainers"? Interesting... And regular folk can spare 5 million bucks during an economic meltdown? Again, interesting...
You want to look at the company that people keep then please, by all means have a look into the GOP mirror and let me know the garbage that you find. We've toched on this before have we not? Do we need to play this game again?
Maybe you should also look into his connection with Pastor John Hagee. He was for him before he was against him - it is the GOP slogan after all. He's a stand up guy, no really he is...
Also, I don't know how one derives shear ignorance on the economy and its behavior over the past few days to be optimism? You'll have to do that math on that one for me Domo....
One final note, you must be taking a news break to think that Obama isn't talking about the economy or, rather, you have taken his words on leadership, specifically, in the face of this crisis and someohow turned it against him? Very FOX news of you, very fair and balanced indeed...
No insider info needed on Lindsey and Madonna since they take pride in showing every one everything they've got. You don't wind up in rehab for a headache, Pal. Get real! Perhaps Kabbalah will do the trick for the virgin Madonna although instead of turning Jewish she wound up as a Brit. Let's not even begin on the Right Rev. (Goddamn America) Wright, who Obama contributed $22,000 to without ever hearing a sermon. If you have a chance, take a look at that nearby bridge - I hear its for sale. Which brings us to the '60s bomber, Bill Ayers, the would-be murderer of soldiers and policemen. He was the subject of a profile in the New York Times on September 11, 2001, in which he said that he didn't regret his attempted murders and only wished that he had planted more bombs. Gee, Barrack says, that was over 40 years ago so it's not relevant. No, genius, 2001 was only 7 years ago. Great company for the young Messiah.
As far as his reaction to the stock market crisis, if it takes him three days to make a statement, I can only imagine how long it will take to get a decision. Perhaps Michelle was out of town that day.
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