12/16/08
McCain defends Palin
Video by DANIEL BUCKLEY
U.S. Senator John McCain (Republican, Arizona) defends his former running mate, Sarah Palin and explains his decision not to come out in favor of her for a presidential run just yet.
The comments came at the 12/16/08 Tucson Citizen editorial board meeting with the former presidential candidate.
Click here to play video.
Showing posts with label '08 Elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label '08 Elections. Show all posts
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Palin unscripted
(KTUU Alaska 11/12/2008, 32 min. Q/A)
Palin also talked about why it seemed she was kept away from the national media during the beginning of her campaign.
"I'm not going to say anything negative about the strategy of the campaign, because it was such a positive experience, and I will never say anything negative about John McCain and the people who he surrounded himself with. He had very sharp and professional and experienced people around him in the campaign.
"I do though believe that they were surprised at my desire to be out there speaking to Americans, speaking to Alaskans -- the only way you can do that is through reporters, of course -- and I think they were surprised.
"I think Kyle (Hopkins, a local reporter) called me once on my cell phone, and they were like, ‘A reporter's got your cell phone number?' And I said, ‘That's the way we roll in Alaska, yeah.' I talk to reporters every single day, and I think they were surprised at that -- that that was my desire, to be able to reach out and speak to more people through the media. That took some getting used to."
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?s=9319769
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Novena for Faithful Citizenship [election prayer]
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
help us to conquer the menace of evil,
which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today,
and whose immeasurable effects
already weigh down upon our modern world
and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction,
from every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning,
deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of
the children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national
and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God,
deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God,
deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil,
deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit,
deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,
laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin:
individual sin and the “sin of the world,”
sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world
the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.
ALL: Amen.
Text of Novena | Prayer
http://www. faithfulcitizenship.org/resources/podcasts
Included in the above link are:
Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts
Catholic social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents, and the depth and richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents.
In our Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts , Paulist Father Larry Rice reflects briefly on the major themes of Catholic social teaching, and how they should shape our lives as citizens of the world and as people of God....
Topics:
Option for the Poor
Peace and Disarmament
Political Participation
Role of Government
Social Justice
Stewardship of Creation
Common Good
Dignity of the Human Person
Economic Justice
Global Solidarity
Individual's Rights
help us to conquer the menace of evil,
which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today,
and whose immeasurable effects
already weigh down upon our modern world
and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction,
from every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning,
deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of
the children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national
and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God,
deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God,
deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil,
deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit,
deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,
laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin:
individual sin and the “sin of the world,”
sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world
the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.
ALL: Amen.
Text of Novena | Prayer
http://www. faithfulcitizenship.org/resources/podcasts
Included in the above link are:
Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts
Catholic social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents, and the depth and richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents.
In our Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts , Paulist Father Larry Rice reflects briefly on the major themes of Catholic social teaching, and how they should shape our lives as citizens of the world and as people of God....
Topics:
Option for the Poor
Peace and Disarmament
Political Participation
Role of Government
Social Justice
Stewardship of Creation
Common Good
Dignity of the Human Person
Economic Justice
Global Solidarity
Individual's Rights
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sarah Palin, Freed?
By Perry Bacon Jr.
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- After delivering scripted speeches for much of her candidacy and avoiding contact with reporters, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent about a dozen minutes chatting with the press on her campaign plane tonight -- the first time she has done so as a vice presidential candidate.
It may not quite be letting Sarah be Sarah, as some of her supporters have urged, but it was the most open that she has been on the campaign trail so far.
And, as she traveled through Florida the past couple of days, Palin also spoke to two local television stations. The other three candidates running for national office do this nearly every day, but not Palin -- until this week.
On her campaign plane, she took repeated questions about her emphasis the last few days on William Ayers, the 1960s radical who hosted an event for Barack Obama in 1995 but is not a close adviser to the Democratic nominee. As in her debate performance, she had a turn of phrase she kept repeating, arguing Obama's association with Ayers raised questions about his "judgment" and "forthrightness."
Asked if she was saying Obama was "dishonest," she returned to her theme.
"I'm not saying that he's dishonest," Palin said on the flight from Pensacola, Fla., to Greenville, "but in terms of judgment and in terms of being able to answer questions forthrightly, it has two different parts to this, that judgment and that truthfulness and just being able to answer very candidly a simple question about when did you know him, how did you know him, has been there been an association continued since '02 or '05. We've heard a couple of different stories. I think it's relevant."
She batted back questions about whether Americans were tired of divisive politics and wanted to hear more about the economy by saying Obama's comments about Ayers were related to those issues.
"It makes you wonder about the forthrightedness, the truthfulness of the plans that he is telling America in regards to the economic recovery because that is first and foremost on American's minds," she said.
In her conversation with reporters, Palin also explained her husband Todd's decision to testify in the investigation into her firing of the Alaska director of public safety, who had refused to fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.
"Nobody has anything to hide," she said. "Nobody's done anything wrong."
The governor referred to the incident as "Tasergate," referring to allegations that her former brother-in-law used a taser on his 11-year-old stepson, instead of what her critics call "Troopergate."
Asked if she would appear on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey, who even Obama has noted shares a strong resemblance to the Palin, the Alaska governor smiled.
"She's a hoot and she's so talented and it would be fun to either imitate her or keep on giving her more material and keep her in business," Palin said....
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/08/sarah_palin_freed.html
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- After delivering scripted speeches for much of her candidacy and avoiding contact with reporters, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent about a dozen minutes chatting with the press on her campaign plane tonight -- the first time she has done so as a vice presidential candidate.
It may not quite be letting Sarah be Sarah, as some of her supporters have urged, but it was the most open that she has been on the campaign trail so far.
And, as she traveled through Florida the past couple of days, Palin also spoke to two local television stations. The other three candidates running for national office do this nearly every day, but not Palin -- until this week.
On her campaign plane, she took repeated questions about her emphasis the last few days on William Ayers, the 1960s radical who hosted an event for Barack Obama in 1995 but is not a close adviser to the Democratic nominee. As in her debate performance, she had a turn of phrase she kept repeating, arguing Obama's association with Ayers raised questions about his "judgment" and "forthrightness."
Asked if she was saying Obama was "dishonest," she returned to her theme.
"I'm not saying that he's dishonest," Palin said on the flight from Pensacola, Fla., to Greenville, "but in terms of judgment and in terms of being able to answer questions forthrightly, it has two different parts to this, that judgment and that truthfulness and just being able to answer very candidly a simple question about when did you know him, how did you know him, has been there been an association continued since '02 or '05. We've heard a couple of different stories. I think it's relevant."
She batted back questions about whether Americans were tired of divisive politics and wanted to hear more about the economy by saying Obama's comments about Ayers were related to those issues.
"It makes you wonder about the forthrightedness, the truthfulness of the plans that he is telling America in regards to the economic recovery because that is first and foremost on American's minds," she said.
In her conversation with reporters, Palin also explained her husband Todd's decision to testify in the investigation into her firing of the Alaska director of public safety, who had refused to fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.
"Nobody has anything to hide," she said. "Nobody's done anything wrong."
The governor referred to the incident as "Tasergate," referring to allegations that her former brother-in-law used a taser on his 11-year-old stepson, instead of what her critics call "Troopergate."
Asked if she would appear on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey, who even Obama has noted shares a strong resemblance to the Palin, the Alaska governor smiled.
"She's a hoot and she's so talented and it would be fun to either imitate her or keep on giving her more material and keep her in business," Palin said....
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/08/sarah_palin_freed.html
"Who Is The Real Barack Obama?"
Obama repeatedly promised “fundamental change” in the second debate, but otherwise portrayed himself as the embodiment of moderation, nay, even a kind of conservatism. In his own telling, he wants to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, reduce spending, preserve but improve the current health-care system and win the war in Afghanistan while prudently drawing down troops in Iraq.
In the first debate, he said John McCain was “absolutely right” about the need for more government accountability, for fewer earmarks and for spending cuts, and about the success of the surge in reducing violence in Iraq and the danger of a nuclear Iran. At times, he seemed determined to be the first presidential candidate to win a debate on the basis of sheer agreeability.
The Democrats are on the verge of a strange victory. If Obama is elected, they will arguably have won the most left-wing government in American history. FDR and LBJ had raging Democratic majorities in Congress early in their presidencies, with which they forged massive increases in the size of government. But that was before the post-Vietnam culture revolution in the Democratic Party that produced a leftward lurch on social issues and a reflexive hostility to American power. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also had Democratic majorities, but they both consistently ran as, and had records as, Southern moderates.
But no one can know whether Obama is the leftist his associations suggest, or the irenic uniter of his iconic 2004 convention speech; whether he’s the down-the-line liberal who kowtowed to the base of his own party in the Democratic primaries, or the pragmatist who readjusted to the center as soon as enthralled liberals handed him the nomination. The consistent line running through his career is opportunism, a willingness to accommodate whoever - Bill Ayers or the swing voter in Ohio - can help him up the next rung in his ladder of ambition at any juncture.
When McCain asks, “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it is taken as a desperate smear. But it’s a question even Democrats don’t know how to answer. We’ll find out with more certainty only if Obama is elected and has to make tough governing choices. Until then - no sudden moves.
By Rich Lowry, National Review
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/10/opinion/main4513379.shtml
In the first debate, he said John McCain was “absolutely right” about the need for more government accountability, for fewer earmarks and for spending cuts, and about the success of the surge in reducing violence in Iraq and the danger of a nuclear Iran. At times, he seemed determined to be the first presidential candidate to win a debate on the basis of sheer agreeability.
The Democrats are on the verge of a strange victory. If Obama is elected, they will arguably have won the most left-wing government in American history. FDR and LBJ had raging Democratic majorities in Congress early in their presidencies, with which they forged massive increases in the size of government. But that was before the post-Vietnam culture revolution in the Democratic Party that produced a leftward lurch on social issues and a reflexive hostility to American power. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also had Democratic majorities, but they both consistently ran as, and had records as, Southern moderates.
But no one can know whether Obama is the leftist his associations suggest, or the irenic uniter of his iconic 2004 convention speech; whether he’s the down-the-line liberal who kowtowed to the base of his own party in the Democratic primaries, or the pragmatist who readjusted to the center as soon as enthralled liberals handed him the nomination. The consistent line running through his career is opportunism, a willingness to accommodate whoever - Bill Ayers or the swing voter in Ohio - can help him up the next rung in his ladder of ambition at any juncture.
When McCain asks, “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it is taken as a desperate smear. But it’s a question even Democrats don’t know how to answer. We’ll find out with more certainty only if Obama is elected and has to make tough governing choices. Until then - no sudden moves.
By Rich Lowry, National Review
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/10/opinion/main4513379.shtml
"Ayers Controversy First Smoldered, Now Flares Bright"
... The Ayers-Obama story has taken many twists as it moved from a topic in right-leaning media circles earlier this year to its recent prominence in the Republican ticket’s campaign.
As late as February, discussion seemed limited to the political blogosphere. Conservative talk-show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh also began giving attention to the Ayers-Obama ties, and momentum picked up.
The story jumped prominently into the media mainstream when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Sen. Obama about it during an April 16 Democratic debate in Philadelphia.
Sen. Obama, in the nationally broadcast debate, downplayed their connection, referring to Mr. Ayers as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” and “not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.” He would later more explicitly condemn Mr. Ayers’ past actions.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s last remaining rival for the party’s presidential nomination, said that the question was legitimate, and she predicted: “I think that this is an issue that, certainly, the Republicans will be raising.”
In fact, four days later, Sen. McCain appeared on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and said Sen. Obama’s connection to Mr. Ayers was “open to question.”
Hitting a Plateau
At that point, the flap over the Obama-Ayers connection appeared to plateau....
“If Hillary brought it up, it gives McCain more justification,” Mr. Edsall said, “that ‘we’re just raising a point a Democrat raised.’ ”
To be sure, the issue never really disappeared.
During the summer, two critics of Sen. Obama published books about him, devoting some of their pages to the Ayers-Obama issue—and ending up on the New York Times bestseller list.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/10/15/08ayers_ep.h28.html
Related: "When It Comes to Ayers, It is Participation that Matters"
As late as February, discussion seemed limited to the political blogosphere. Conservative talk-show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh also began giving attention to the Ayers-Obama ties, and momentum picked up.
The story jumped prominently into the media mainstream when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Sen. Obama about it during an April 16 Democratic debate in Philadelphia.
Sen. Obama, in the nationally broadcast debate, downplayed their connection, referring to Mr. Ayers as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” and “not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.” He would later more explicitly condemn Mr. Ayers’ past actions.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s last remaining rival for the party’s presidential nomination, said that the question was legitimate, and she predicted: “I think that this is an issue that, certainly, the Republicans will be raising.”
In fact, four days later, Sen. McCain appeared on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and said Sen. Obama’s connection to Mr. Ayers was “open to question.”
Hitting a Plateau
At that point, the flap over the Obama-Ayers connection appeared to plateau....
“If Hillary brought it up, it gives McCain more justification,” Mr. Edsall said, “that ‘we’re just raising a point a Democrat raised.’ ”
To be sure, the issue never really disappeared.
During the summer, two critics of Sen. Obama published books about him, devoting some of their pages to the Ayers-Obama issue—and ending up on the New York Times bestseller list.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/10/15/08ayers_ep.h28.html
Related: "When It Comes to Ayers, It is Participation that Matters"
Thursday, October 9, 2008
McCain campaign outlines mortgage-rescue plan
Carolyn Said, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sen. John McCain's plan to help people avoid foreclosure drew praise from liberals for tackling the problem's source, while conservatives called it a government subsidy of irresponsible lenders and borrowers.
During Tuesday's presidential debate, McCain, the Republican nominee, said he would order the Treasury secretary "to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate (them) at the new value of those homes, at the diminished value of those homes."
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior domestic policy adviser, said on Wednesday that McCain's plan calls for the government to pay full face value for troubled mortgages on properties that are now worth less than the loans. That's a big distinction from a congressional plan that took effect on Oct. 1 and requires lenders to take a significant loss, reducing the loan values to 90 percent of the homes' current appraised values. Another key difference: Congress' plan requires homeowners who receive a refinanced loan to share any future appreciation in home value with the government; McCain's plan does not.
Holtz-Eakin said that under McCain's plan, homeowners would get new fixed-rate mortgages based on the homes' current value with an interest rate of about 5 percent, a percentage point less than the average current rate. The government would pay the difference between the original mortgage amount and what the homes are now worth.
Avoiding foreclosure
Holtz-Eakin said the goal is to directly help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosures and their damaging effects on neighborhoods, as well as to stabilize the values of homes and mortgage-backed securities....
The McCain campaign said the plan's $300 billion cost would come out of existing appropriations - the $700 bailout bill and the $300 billion Congress allocated this summer for a plan called Help for Homeowners, to be run by the Federal Housing Administration.
"Is it expensive?" McCain said during the debate. "Yes. But we all know, my friends, until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy, and we've got to give some trust and confidence back to America."...
McCain's plan
-- The government would purchase mortgages at their full face value.
-- Borrowers would refinance mortgages with fixed-rate loans for the homes' current market value at interest rates about 5 percent.
-- Eligible borrowers must live in the home, have made a down payment and not have falsified information to get the original loan.
-- $300 billion cost would come from the $700 billion bailout plan and the $300 billion Help for Homeowners FHA refinance program.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/09/BU9B13DNI7.DTL
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sen. John McCain's plan to help people avoid foreclosure drew praise from liberals for tackling the problem's source, while conservatives called it a government subsidy of irresponsible lenders and borrowers.
During Tuesday's presidential debate, McCain, the Republican nominee, said he would order the Treasury secretary "to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate (them) at the new value of those homes, at the diminished value of those homes."
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior domestic policy adviser, said on Wednesday that McCain's plan calls for the government to pay full face value for troubled mortgages on properties that are now worth less than the loans. That's a big distinction from a congressional plan that took effect on Oct. 1 and requires lenders to take a significant loss, reducing the loan values to 90 percent of the homes' current appraised values. Another key difference: Congress' plan requires homeowners who receive a refinanced loan to share any future appreciation in home value with the government; McCain's plan does not.
Holtz-Eakin said that under McCain's plan, homeowners would get new fixed-rate mortgages based on the homes' current value with an interest rate of about 5 percent, a percentage point less than the average current rate. The government would pay the difference between the original mortgage amount and what the homes are now worth.
Avoiding foreclosure
Holtz-Eakin said the goal is to directly help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosures and their damaging effects on neighborhoods, as well as to stabilize the values of homes and mortgage-backed securities....
The McCain campaign said the plan's $300 billion cost would come out of existing appropriations - the $700 bailout bill and the $300 billion Congress allocated this summer for a plan called Help for Homeowners, to be run by the Federal Housing Administration.
"Is it expensive?" McCain said during the debate. "Yes. But we all know, my friends, until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy, and we've got to give some trust and confidence back to America."...
McCain's plan
-- The government would purchase mortgages at their full face value.
-- Borrowers would refinance mortgages with fixed-rate loans for the homes' current market value at interest rates about 5 percent.
-- Eligible borrowers must live in the home, have made a down payment and not have falsified information to get the original loan.
-- $300 billion cost would come from the $700 billion bailout plan and the $300 billion Help for Homeowners FHA refinance program.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/09/BU9B13DNI7.DTL
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)