"I want to campaign the same way I govern, which is to respond directly and forcefully with the truth,"
~ Barack Obama, 11/08/07
October 02, 2008
Tonight, Joe Biden said of McCain: “He voted against including 3.6 million children in coverage of an existing healthcare plan when he voted in the Senate.” [Vice Presidential Debate, 10/2/08]
The Facts: McCain Opposed SCHIP Expansion
MCCAIN SUPPORTED BUSH VETO OF SCHIP EXPANSION
McCain Supported Bush’s Veto of SCHIP And Voted Against Providing Insurance For Millions of Uninsured Because It Raised Taxes On Tobacco. McCain voted against reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program for five years, expanding the program by $35.2 billion. To offset the cost of the expansion, it would increase the tax on cigarettes by 61 cents to $1 per pack and raise taxes on other tobacco products. McCain told CNN that Bush’s subsequent veto of the legislation was the “right call by the president” because the legislation offered a “phony smoke and mirrors way of paying for it.” According to the New York Times, “what really sets [McCain] off is the way Congress proposes to finance the measure, which President Bush vetoed and is facing a veto override vote: an added tax on cigarettes.” [2007 Senate Vote #307, 8/2/2007; 2007 Senate Vote #306, 8/2/2007; 2007 Senate Vote #401 , 10/31/07; CNN, 10/3/2007 ]
The SCHIP Bill Would Have Expanded Health Coverage To 5.8 Million Children. Accord to the CBO, the SCHIP bill would expand coverage to 5.8 million children, 3.8 million of whom are uninsured and 2 million of whom have or have access to private health insurance. [Congressional Budget Office, 9/25/07 ]
October 02, 2008
Washington Post, Chris Cillizza: “The Fix”: Biden is on point: In each of the first three questions he banged on McCain. Keep your eye on the fruit… LINK
First Read (Domenico Montanaro): Biden is hitting his stride on foreign policy. His nuance and directness on this subject is what made him so good in those Democratic primary debates. LINK
TIME: [Donna] Shalala on Biden’s health care answer: “Nailed it.” Women in this room erupted in cheers. Who knew there were so many Democratic CEOs? LINK
CNN (Candy Crowley): "How long have I been at this? Five Weeks?" I’m not sure that’s the greatest line for Palin to be using. LINK
ABC News (Rick Klein): Palin is falling into meaningless platitudes: "Change is coming." "We’re going to learn from the mistakes of this and other administrations." LINK
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): It’s a hard argument for Palin to make: we need change, we need new faces, we need John McCain? LINK
TIME: John McCain “knows how to win a war.” Has anyone told her he was in Vietnam? LINK
TIME: Sarah Palin boldly vows to not answer the moderator’s questions. LINK
Politico (Jonathan Martin): The Palin response to Biden’s Bush-bashing: Too much looking backwards. She acknowledges that there have been "huge blunders throughout this administration as there have in every administration." LINK
Politico (Jonathan Martin): Now we know why Palin is trying to stick to her message and avoid the questions and conversation at hand. That climate change answer was rushed and uncertain, more like the Palin we saw with Katie Couric than the Palin of the first 30 minutes tonight. LINK
TNR (Michael Crowley): A pre-emptive strike from someone who clearly plans to spend the night dodging: "I may not answer the questions the way that either you or the moderator want to hear…" LINK
Washington Post Fact Check: Palin “Flatly False” on Biden Attack. Sarah Palin just asserted that Sen. Joseph Biden backed John McCain’s military policies until this presidential race. That is flatly false. Biden was an outspoken opponent of President Bush’s troop increases in Iraq as soon as Bush announced them after the 2006 elections. As Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, he led the most heated hearings before the troops were actually deployed. LINK
New York Times: Gov. Sarah Palin boasted that Mr. McCain “sounded that warning bell” about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, echoing some of Mr. McCain’s recent comments in which he portrayed himself as being on the vanguard in warning about the impending financial crisis.
But the legislation was introduced more than 16 months earlier and the debate over the issue had been going on for some time. He also only added his name after an oversight agency issued a lengthy report condemning practices at Fannie Mae. LINK
Washington Post Fact Checker (Michael Dobbs): Sarah Palin repeated John McCain’s claim that Barack Obama voted to increase taxes for every American earning more than $42,000 a year. This is a considerable stretch. LINK
USA Today Fact Check on Palin Claim that Obama Voted 94 Times to Increase Taxes: The facts: Non-partisan Factcheck.org called that count, which has been cited before by Republicans, "inflated and misleading." Examining the 94 votes at issue, Factcheck.org found that 23 were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all; they were against proposed tax cuts. The 94 tally includes two, three and even four votes on the same measure. LINK
New York Times Fact Checker: Ms. Palin castigated Mr. Obama’s health care plan as one that would be mandate a “universal government-run” system in which health care is “taken over” by the federal government. This is inaccurate on several levels. LINK
USA Today Fact Check on Palin Health Care Attack: The claim: Palin said Barack Obama wants a "universal, government-run program" and "health care being taken over by the feds." The facts: Obama’s health-care plan does not call for a government takeover. In fact, it isn’t even universal. It would only cover all children. Obama’s plan would give Americans the opportunity to have government health insurance, but they also could pick a private plan. LINK
Washington Post Fact Checker: Palin Attack on Obama Iraq Record. Sarah Palin oversimplified Obama’s vote to stop funding U.S. troops in Iraq. Obama was one of 14 senators who voted against the bill on the grounds that it did not set a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Obama made clear that he was in favor of funding the troops, but could not agree to an indefinite extension of the war. The previous month, most Senate Republicans voted against a Democratic bill (supported by Obama) that linked funding of the troops to the establishment of a timeline for withdrawal. McCain missed that vote. LINK
Washington Post Fact Checker (Jonathan Weisman): Gov. Sarah Palin was erroneous when she claimed U.S. troop levels in Iraq are now at "pre-surge" levels. LINK
Washington Post Fact Checker (Jonathan Weisman): Palin repeated a standard line offered by the McCain campaign—that Obama has not admitted the "surge" of additional troops in Iraq worked. But in a September interview with Bill O’Reilly of Fox News, Obama said "the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated. . . I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." Obama has not, however, retracted his opposition to the surge, and he has said political reconciliation still needs to take place in Iraq. LINK
October 02, 2008
Tonight, Sarah Palin said: “Our founding fathers were wise in allowing flexibility in the office of the Vice President and we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president it’s agenda in that position. Yes, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there and we will do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation.” [Vice Presidential Debate, 10/2/08]
FACT: PALIN WOULD NOT RESPOND TO WHETHER THE VICE PRESIDENCY WAS PART OF THE EXECUTIVE OR THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Like Cheney, Palin Would Not Respond to Whether the Vice President Is Part of the Executive or Legislative Branches. “Vice President Dick Cheney has said his office only partially belongs to the executive branch. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden disagrees and Republican rival Sarah Palin isn’t saying. Sen. Biden (Del.) believes the office he is seeking is solely in the executive branch, according to his staff. But aides to Alaska Gov. Palin did not answer the question. ‘Unlike Dick Cheney, Joe Biden won’t have to create a full employment plan for lawyers and scholars to clear up something that was unquestioned for about 200 years. The vice president is part of the executive branch, period. End of story,’ said Biden spokesman David Wade. In turn, a spokesman for the Republican presidential campaign did not answer the question. Instead, he e-mailed remarks Palin gave at a campaign rally in Golden, Colo., on Monday. Palin did not say what branch of government she believes the vice president’s office is part of in those remarks. Instead, Palin said she and Republican presidential nominee John McCain had discussed what responsibilities she would take on as his second-in-command.” [The Hill, 9/18/08 ]
October 02, 2008
Tonight, Sarah Palin said: “We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching, we need to make sure that education in either one of our agendas, I think, absolute top of the line.” [Vice Presidential Debate, 10/2/08]
The facts: Education has not been a top priority for McCain. He has repeatedly opposed education funding, including funds to hire 100,000 new teachers.
FACT: MCCAIN HAS REPEATEDLY VOTED AGAINST INCREASED FUNDING FOR NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, MORE TEACHERS AND FOR FAILING SCHOOLS AND DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS
· McCain Voted Against Reducing the Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy In Order to Fully Fund The No Child Left Behind Act. McCain voted against a proposal to reduce President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and instead use those funds for deficit reduction and to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act. [SCR 23, Vote 60, 3/19/03; Vote 64, 3/16/06; Vote 58, 3/16/06; Vote 56, 3/16/05; Vote 35, 3/10/04; Vote 330, 9/9/03; Vote 5, 1/16/03]
· McCain Repeatedly Opposed Funding To Help Reduce Class Sizes By Hiring 100,000 New Teachers. On four different occasions, McCain voted against funding to hire 100,000 new teachers to help reduce class sizes. In addition, he has repeatedly voted against increased funding for teacher training programs. [2001 Senate Vote #103, 5/15/2001; 1999 Senate Vote #41, 3/11/1999; 1998 Senate Vote #93, 4/22/1998; 1998 Senate Vote #50, 3/31/1998]
· McCain Opposed Increased Education Funds For Failing Schools And Disadvantaged Students. McCain has repeatedly voted against increased funds for education programs designed to assist disadvantaged students. For instance, he opposed providing $250 million to help ensure accountability in programs for disadvantaged students and to assist states in their efforts to turn around failing schools. McCain even opposed funding for states to reduce dropout rates at middle and high schools with significant dropout problems. [Vote 330, 9/9/03; Vote 90, 5/3/00; Vote 147, 6/27/00]
· McCain Education Adviser Said “Education Is Obviously Not The Issue Senator McCain Spends The Most Time On.” “In comparison to Senator Barack Obama’s education plan, Senator John McCain’s is downright terse. Among his short list of initiatives, Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, includes bonus pay for teachers who raise student achievement or who take jobs in hard-to-staff schools, an expansion of after-school tutoring, and new federal support for online schools and for the voucher program in Washington, D.C. The brevity of Mr. McCain’s plan reflects his view that the federal government should play a limited role in public education, and his commitment to holding the line on education spending, said Lisa Graham Keegan, a McCain adviser and former Arizona education commissioner. ‘Education is obviously not the issue Senator McCain spends the most time on,’ Ms. Keegan said, adding that his plan’s limited scope should not be interpreted as a lack of commitment to education and school reform. ‘He’s been a quiet and consistent supporter of parents and educators who he thinks are making a difference.’ … Mr. McCain would reallocate 60 percent of the $3 billion in current federal spending on teacher quality programs to finance direct payments to ‘high-performing teachers’ who take jobs in high-needs schools and to those who improve achievement.” [New York Times, 9/10/08 ]
FACT: MCCAIN WON’T FULLY FUND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LIKE HE CLAIMS
· Washington Post Editorial: McCain’s Promise To Slow Discretionary Spending In A Bid To Balance The Budget Leaves Little Money For Initiatives Or To Fully Fund No Child Left Behind. McCain’s “education plan is both late in coming and still a work in progress, and his promise to slow discretionary spending in a bid to balance the budget leaves little money for initiatives or to fully fund No Child Left Behind.” [Editorial, Washington Post, 8/20/08 ]
· McCain Education Adviser Said McCain Believes NCLB Is Adequately Funded. “McCain has talked about freezing education funding until a review can be done of which projects work and which don’t. Money may get re-allocated among different programs but [education adviser Lisa Graham] Keegan said McCain believes NCLB is adequately funded.” [AJC, 6/16/08 ]
· McCain’s Plan To Freeze Discretionary Federal Spending Applies To Education Programs, Including Title I Under NCLB. “I’ll go into more detail in a bit, but I wanted to highlight two important things I thought Keegan said. First, McCain’s plan to freeze discretionary federal spending applies to education programs, including the largest program under the NCLB law, Title I. Though as president he may seek to re-allocate money between programs, McCain believes the NCLB law is ‘adequately funded,’ Keegan said. So states and schools shouldn’t look for any additional federal dollars in a McCain budget.” [Education Week, 6/12/08 ]
FACT: MCCAIN SUPPORTS VOUCHERS
· McCain Supports Taking Money Away From The Public School System To Fund Private School Vouchers. McCain supports private school vouchers that take fund from public schools. In 2001, he also voted for President Bush’s voucher proposal. [S 1, Vote #179 , 6/12/01]
· McCain Supports Vouchers. In an interview, McCain said, “I support vouchers.” [Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 7/26/07; NEA McCain Education Tracking Document]
October 02, 2008
Tonight, the RNC attacked Joe Biden, stating: “Joe Biden blamed the very same deregulation that he voted for.” [RNC Press Release, 10/2/08]
FACT: Biden Is Committed To 21st Century Regulatory System And Transparency, Voted For Sarbanes-Oxley Act
· Biden Voted For Sarbanes-Oaxley Act, Which Implemented Regulatory Reform. McCain voted for the conference report of the Sarbanes-Oaxley, a bill that that would require more complete disclosure of corporate finances and overhaul regulation of the accounting industry. It would establish a new oversight board, funded by fees on publicly traded companies, to police accounting firms. The agreement would forbid firms from providing investment banking, management consulting and other services for publicly traded companies. It would require additional corporate reporting and disclosure requirements. In cases of security fraud, it would impose civil monetary penalties and require executives engaged in financial misconduct to pay back bonuses and profits. The money would be placed in a fund for defrauded investors. It also would bar executive loans. The agreement would create a criminal penalty for securities fraud and obstruction of justice involving document shredding and require top corporate executives to certify company financial statements. [Vote #192, 7/25/2002]
