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HavenWorks California Colorado Nevada Utah US States Arizona capital: Phoenix Phoenix, AZ US Capitals AZ: Arizona Ariz. State Abbr. Arizona state is bordered by the states of Utah (north), New Mexico (east), Nevada, and California (west). Arizona state also borders the Colorado River (west) along the California border and part of the Nevada border. Mexico Arizona state is also bordered by the country of Mexico (south) and the Mexican states of Baja California Norte and Sonora. # Arizona Weblog Phoenix News Tucson News AZ News	Arizona->Arizona Capital: Phoenix, AZ ARIZONA News: 20090330 John McCain - Government - Money - Accounting - Arizona "Despite McCain's Comments, Senate GOP Not Offering Detailed Budget." ... "On Thursday, House Republicans did wind up offering the frame of an alternative budget -- but then they were widely panned for not releasing a more detailed alternative to the Democratic proposals." ... "That’s what made an exchange Sunday with [Arizona Republican Senator] Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” intriguing." "DAVID GREGORY: “Do you think that Republicans should provide a detailed budget alternative?”" "McCAIN: “Yes.”" "GREGORY: “With numbers?”" "McCAIN: “Yes.”" "GREGORY: “Will that happen in the Senate?”" "McCAIN: “We're working on it, working very hard on it.”" "So -- are they?" ... "Actually, no." -By Rick Klein -ABCNEWS.com 20090215 John McCain - US_Debt - Economic - Legislation - Obama - Arizona "Dems Fed Up With McCain: "Angry Old Defeated Candidate"." ... ""He is bitter and really angry," Bob Shrum said of [Arizona Republican Senator John] McCain in an interview on Friday. "He is angry at the press, which he thinks is unfair. He is angry at [Democratic President] Obama and angry at the voters. He has gone from being an angry old candidate to being an angry old defeated candidate."" ... ""On Sunday, McCain wouldn't let the fight die, even with the [economic stimulus] legislation through Congress. Appearing on CNN, he described the $787 billion measure as "generational theft" and said that the bill's authors should "start over now and sit down together."" ... ""[A]s other observers pointed out, McCain isn't being entirely consistent." ... """During the Senate debate, 36 of the Senate Republicans voted for an alternative that would have cut taxes over the next decade by $2.5 trillion, [and] reduced the top marginal race to 25 percent," said the Atlantic's Ron Brownstein on "Meet the Press." "For John McCain -- who voted for that alternative of a $2.5 trillion tax cut over the next decade -- to talk about generational theft, I mean, pot meet kettle." -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com 20090211 Phoenix - Arizona - Law - Terrorism - Politics - Drugs - California - Texas - US - Mexico "Kidnapping Capital of the U.S.A.: Washington Too Concerned With al Qaeda Terrorists to Care, Officials Say." ... "In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, [Arizona's capital] Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City [Mexico's capital] and over 370 cases last year alone. But local authorities say Washington, DC [America's capital is too obsessed with al Qaeda terrorists to care about what is happening in their own backyard right now." ... ""We're in the eye of the storm," Phoenix Police Chief Andy Anderson told ABC News of the violent crimes and ruthless tactics spurred by Mexico's drug cartels that have expanded business across the border. "If it doesn't stop here, if we're not able to fix it here and get it turned around, it will go across the nation," he said." ... "California Attorney General Jerry Brown warned that as the U.S. [United States] government focuses so intently on Islamic extremist groups, other types of terrorists those involved with the same kidnappings, extortion and drug cartels that are sweeping Phoenix are overlooked." ... ""Those [criminals], for the average Californian or the average America, may be a more immediate threat to their well being," Brown said." ... "In fact, kidnappings and other crimes connected to the Mexican drug cartels are quickly spreading across the border, from Texas to California." (1, 2) -By Brian Ross, Richard Esposito and Asa Eslocker -ABCNEWS.com 20090206 John McCain - Government - Economic - History - Politics - AZ "Krugman: How Can There Be Bipartisanship When GOP ‘Take Their Marching Orders From Rush Limbaugh?’" ... "Today on MSNBC, the Morning Joe team [featuring former Republican politician Joe Scarborough] — many of whom have been having a tough time with the facts of the economic recovery plan — hosted Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman to discuss the bill. Krugman began by emphasizing the severity of the current economic crisis. “This is not your father’s recession,” Krugman said. “This is your grandfather’s recession. This is something that is closer to what we went through in the 30s.”" ... "Krugman criticized opposition to the “pork” in the recovery plan, calling the obstruction “irresponsible” and “ludicrous.” He noted that it’s “a few billion dollars in a $900 billion plan. …They’re picking out small punctuation errors and saying ‘oh this whole thing is wrong.’” Krugman added, “This is the kind of situation where you try to build a bridge across an economic chasm and if you build half a bridge it doesn’t work.”" ... "Yesterday, the Senate defeated (but most Republicans voted in favor of) an alternative plan offered by [Arizona Republican Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-AZ [Republican-Arizona]) that centered mainly on massive tax cuts. Krugman called the plan “completely crazy” and an indication of a failure of bipartisanship:" "KRUGMAN: Look at what just happened, we had a proposal I think it was McCain’s proposal for an economic recovery package, his version of it which was all tax cuts, a complete, let’s do exactly what Bush did, have another round of Bush-style policies. After eight years which that didn’t work and we got 36 out of 41 Republican senators voting for that which is completely crazy. So how much bipartisan outreach can you have when 36 out of 41 republican senators take their marching orders from Rush Limbaugh?" [Watch it] "Later in the interview, Krugman advised President Obama to “disregard” the GOP’s [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] knee-jerk reaction to cut taxes. “At this point we have a Republican Party that, except for a few members, is committed to just doing more what we did during the last eight years. Obama has to disregard that.”" -By Ben Armbruster -ThinkProgress.org 20090128 Cable - Media - Politics - Lawmakers - Federal - Economics - John Boehner - John McCain - OH - AZ "REPORT: GOP Lawmakers Outnumber Democratic Lawmakers 2 To 1 In Stimulus Debate On Cable News." ... "As Media Matters has documented, during the [Republican President] Bush administration, the media consistently allowed conservatives to dominate their shows, booking them as guests far more often than progressives. The rationale was that Republicans were “in power.”" ... "It appears that old habits die hard. Even though [Democratic] President Obama and his team are in control of the executive branch and Democrats are in the majority in Congress, the cable networks are still turning more often to Republicans and allowing them to set the agenda on major issues, most recently on the debate over the economic recovery package." ... "On Sunday, conservatives began an all-out assault on President Obama’s economic recovery plan, with [Ohio Republican Representative and Republican] House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH [Republican-Ohio]) and [Arizona Republican Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-AZ [Republican-Arizona]) both announcing that they would vote against the plan as it stood. Despite Obama’s efforts at good faith outreach, congressional conservatives have continued to attack the stimulus plan with a series of false and disingenuous arguments." ... "The media have been aiding their efforts. In a new analysis, ThinkProgress has found that the five cable news networks — CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business and CNBC — have hosted more Republican lawmakers to discuss the plan than Democrats by a 2 to 1 ratio this week:" "Cable News Appearances By Members of Congress" "(By Party - January 26-28, 2009)" [Red=Republican / Blue=Democratic] ... "The drastically imbalanced coverage isn’t the first time that the news networks have effectively supported attacks on the recovery plans. As ThinkProgress reported on Monday, the cable networks, the Sunday shows and the network newscasts promoted a controversial CBO non-report 81 times before the actual CBO analysis of the stimulus plan was released." -ThinkProgress 20081211 Torture - Prisons -War Crimes - Secret - Military - Government - Intelligence - Law - Investigation - Human Rights - Politics - History - McCain - Ariz - Mich - US - Guantanamo - Cuba - Iraq - Afghanistan - China - Korea "Bipartisan Report: Rumsfeld Responsible for Detainee Abuse: Senate Committee Finds Officials Made Decisions That Led to Offenses Against Prisoners." ... "A bipartisan panel of senators has concluded that [Republican President Bush's] former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials bear direct responsibility for the harsh treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay [Cuba], and that their decisions led to more serious abuses in Iraq and elsewhere." ... "In the most comprehensive critique by Congress of the military's interrogation practices, the Senate Armed Services Committee issued a report yesterday that accuses Rumsfeld and his deputies of being the authors and chief promoters of harsh interrogation policies that disgraced the nation and undermined U.S. security. The report, released by Sens. [ Senators] Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.[ Democratic-Michigan]) and John McCain (R-Ariz.[ Republican Arizona]), contends that Pentagon officials later tried to create a false impression that the policies were unrelated to acts of detainee abuse committed by members of the military." ... ""The abuse of detainees in U.S. [United States] custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of 'a few bad apples' acting on their own," the report states. "The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees."" ... "The report is the most direct refutation to date of the administration's rationale for using aggressive interrogation tactics -- that inflicting humiliation and pain on detainees was legal and effective, and helped protect the country. The 25-member panel, without one dissent among the 12 Republican members, declared the opposite to be true." ... "The [Republican President Bush's] administration's policies and the resulting controversies, the panel concluded, "damaged our ability to collect accurate intelligence that could save lives, strengthened the hand of our enemies, and compromised our moral authority."" ... "A Defense Department spokesman noted that the Pentagon cooperated extensively with the Senate investigation and has taken numerous steps in recent years to ensure the humane treatment of detainees." ... "The panel's investigation focused on the Defense Department's employment of controversial interrogation practices, including forced nudity, painful stress positions, sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures and the use of dogs. The practices, some of which had already been adopted by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] at its secret prisons, were adapted for interrogations at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and later migrated to U.S. detention camps in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the infamous Abu Ghraib prison." ... "The true genesis of the decision to use coercive techniques, the report said, was a memo signed by [Republican] President Bush on [February] Feb. 7, 2002, declaring that the Geneva Convention's standards for humane treatment did not apply to captured al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. As early as that spring, the panel said, top administration officials, including National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, participated in meetings in which the use of coercive measures was discussed. The panel drew on a written statement by Rice, released earlier this year, to support that conclusion." ... "In July 2002, Rumseld's senior staff began compiling information about techniques used in military survival schools to simulate conditions that U.S. airmen might face if captured by an enemy that did not follow the Geneva conditions. Those techniques -- borrowed from a training program known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE -- included waterboarding, or simulated drowning, and were loosely based on methods adopted by Chinese communists to coerce propaganda confessions from captured U.S. soldiers during the Korean war." ... "The SERE program became the template for interrogation methods that were ultimately approved by Rumsfeld himself, the report says." -By Joby Warrick and Karen DeYoung -WashingtonPost [PDF] "Senate Armed Services Committee Inquiry Into The Treatment of Detainees In U.S. Custody." ... “What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight… is how we behave. In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect. While we are warriors, we are also all human beings” -- General David Petraeus via -WashingtonPost 20081208 John McCain - Corporate - Politics - Arizona "Merrill Chief Wants $10-Million Bonus For Presiding Over $11-Billion Loss." ... "Merrill has lost almost $12 billion this year, and is about to be taken over by Bank of America. Its shares have fallen fom $50 when Thain took over late last year to $13.04 at close of trading Friday." ... "It looks like Thain -- who was a major fundraiser for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator]  John McCain's campaign and was described by USA Today as a member of McCain's "team" -- is a practitioner of the bargaining strategy in which you begin with a maximalist offer as a starting point for negotiation:" "A few months ago, when the board began seriously considering 2008 bonuses, a proposal was presented to the compensation committee by Merrill that Mr. Thain should be paid in excess of $30 million, according to people familiar with the matter. That number has since come down in recent talks with various board members and Mr. Thain has recently indicated to committee members that $5 million to $10 million is more reasonable." [-WSJ] " -By Zachary Roth -TPMMuckracker .TalkingPointsMemo 20081119 John McCain - Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Missouri - Arizona -Politics "McCain wins Missouri; State's streak over!" ... "Fifteen days after [2008] Election Day, Republican [Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain has narrowly edged out [Democratic] President-elect Barack Obama in the state, according to CNN's review of the latest unofficial vote totals from the Missouri Secretary of State. This resolves the final outstanding contest of the 2008 presidential race." ... "With Missouri's 11 electoral votes in Senator McCain's column, the final count is 365 for Obama and 173 for McCain." ... "McCain's edging out of Obama in Missouri breaks the state's bellwether streak in which Missourians correctly picked the presidential candiate in every election dating back to the 1960 contest. Missouri got it wrong in 1956, voting for the Democratic challenger Adlai Stevenson, who lost the election to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Before that election, Missouri correctly picked the winner in every race for the White House dating back to 1904." -By Paul Steinhauser with contributions by Robert Yoon -CNN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	Arizona Websites Google - News Arizona -NWS.NOAA Wunderground  Cardinals - Rattlers - Diamondbacks - Coyotes - Suns - Mercury Jim Kolbe Jon Llewellyn Kyl John McCain Rick Renzi  State.az.us <Arizona> in: <Answers.com> <Bartleby.com> <Britannica.com> <Columbia> <Encyclopedia.com> <Infoplease.com> ade.az.gov Arizona.edu ASU.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arizona Flag: Arizona State Flag. Arizona Brought to you by the alphabet letter A A ;-)	Arizona News Sources: Phoenix Arizona Newspapers NOT necessarily Recommended Apache Junction, AZ AJNews.com Benson, AZ News-Sun Bisbee, AZ Observer Black Canyon, AZ CanyonCountyNews  Bullhead City, AZ MohaveDailyNews Camp Verde, AZ VerdeValleyNews Chino Valley, AZ ChinoValleyReview Flagstaff, AZ AZDailySun.com NavajoHopiObserver Fountain Hills, AZ Times Glendale, AZ Star Globe, AZ Silver Belt Goodyear, AZ WestValleyView Green Valley, AZ News & Sun Kingman, AZ Daily Miner Lake Havasu City, AZ News-Herald Litchfield Park, AZ WestValleyView  Mesa, AZ EastValleyTribune  Nogales, AZ Nogales International  Page, AZ LakePowellChronicle  Palo Verde, AZ ValleyTimes  Peoria, AZ Peoria Times  Phoenix News AhwatukeeFoothills ArizonaCapitolTimes ASUWebDevil AZCentral  JewishAZ Phoenix News PrensaHispana  LaVoz  NewTimes  Prescott, AZ PrescottAZ.com  Prescott Valley, AZ Tribune Safford, AZ EACourier  Sedona, AZ RedRockNews  Sierra Vista, AZ Herald Sun City, AZ DailyNewsSun  Tempe, AZ WranglerNews  Tombstone, AZ Tumbleweed  Tucson News AZBiz.com DailyStar  ExplorerNews TucsonCitizen Tucson News TucsonWeekly Wildcat.Arizona.edu Arizona Newspapers A-Z NOT necessarily Recommended ~~~~~~~~~~~~~	Search Arizona News News Search <Arizona> in: <AllTheWeb-[News]> <AltaVista-[News]> <Google-[News]> <MSN-[News]> Specialty search: <Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>  / Arizona Television Stations Phoenix News  KAET   KASW   KNXV   KPHO   KPNX   KSAZ   KTVK   KUTP  Tucson News  KGUN   KMSB   KOLD   KUAS   KUAT   KVOA   KWBA  Yuma  KYMA Arizona TV Channelss Search: <Arizona News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search: <Arizona State News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search: <Arizona State> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search: <AZ News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search: <Arizonan News> in: <Google> Arizona Brought to you by the alphabet letter A A ;-) AZ News Wickenburg, AZ WickenburgSun  Wilcox, AZ Range News  Williams, AZ GrandCanyonNews  Windows Rock, AZ TheNavajoTimes  Yuma, AZ YumaSun  Arizona News AZCentral.com Arizona News
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20081114
Political - Corporate - Television - Media - Michigan - Massachusetts - New York - Arizona - Georgia - Louisiana - Alabama
"More Muscle." ... "TPM Reader RS ..."

"Here is something progressives really need to address. On Sunday morning political shows, three Democrats are confirmed as guests: [Michigan Democratic Senator] Carl Levin, [Massachusetts Democratic Representative] Barney Frank, and [New York Democratic Representative] Charlie Rangel. It's as if Democrats didn't just win huge electoral advances in the Presidential, House, and Senate elections. So we get the same thing we've had the past 8 years--republican hegemony on Sunday. [Arizona Republican Senator Jon] Kyl? Check. [former Georgia Republican Representative Newt] Gingrich? Check. [Republican Michael] Steele? Check. [Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby] Jindal and [Alabama Republican Senator Richard] Shelby? Check and check? Just look at The Page for the whole list. When is the "liberal media" going to give some of the oxygen to Democrats?"

"This is unquestionably true. The bookers and producers of the Sunday shows are committed to the continuing dominance of conservative/Republican marquee guests. No question about it. And this is going to be one part of the rewiring of Washington that will take longer and face more resistance than possibly any other. The big interests and institutions that go to Washington to buy influence are quickly reacting to the changing political complexion of the city. The TV bookers and opinion act like nothing's happened." -By Josh Marshall .TalkingPointsMemo

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20081112
Sarah Palin - John McCain - 2008 Election - Politics - Alaska - Arizona
"What Just Happened." ... "Despite all the grief she's gotten, I continue to think that the selection of [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor] Sarah Palin as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] John McCain's running mate represents the breaking of a consensual cultural barrier far more fundamental than most people realize. It's not just that she was inexperienced (Spiro Agnew and John Edwards weren't much more experienced than Palin when they ran for VP) but that she was — obviously, transparently, completely — uninterested in and uninformed about national policy at nearly every level.  We've simply never seen someone so completely unmoored from the normal requirements of national office before. She was chosen purely at the level of celebrity, and an awful lot of people seemed to be just fine with that." ... "Via email, here's an excerpt from Wolf Blitzer's interview today with Palin:"

"BLITZER: Another question. What are your new ideas on how to take the Republican Party out of this rut that it’s in right now? Give me one or two new ideas that you’re going to propose to these governors who have gathered here in this hotel."

"PALIN: Well, a lot of Republican governors have really good ideas for our nation because we’re the ones there on the front lines being held accountable every single day in service to the people whom have hired us in our own states and the planks in our platform are strong and they are good for America. It’s all about free enterprise and respecting the ..."

"BLITZER: Does that mean you want to come up with a new Sarah Palin initiative that you want to release right now."

"PALIN: Gah! Nothing specific right now. Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don’t get away with that. We have to balance budgets and we’re dealing with multibillion dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees in our organizations."

"Should I laugh or should I cry?" -By Kevin Drum -MotherJones.com

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Sarah Palin - John McCain - 2008 Election - Media - Politics - Alaska - Arizona
"Why Palin Still Matters." ... "Let's be real in a way the national media seems incapable of: this person [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin] should never have been placed on a national ticket in a mature democracy. She was incapable of running a town in Alaska competently. The impulsive, unvetted selection of a total unknown, with no knowledge of or interest in the wider world, as a replacement president remains one of the most disturbing events in modern American history. That the press felt required to maintain a facade of normalcy for two months - and not to declare the whole thing a farce from start to finish - is a sign of their total loss of nerve. That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling. 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural "identity". Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again. And we have to find a way to prevent this from recurring." ... "It happened because [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] John McCain is an incompetent and a cynic and reckless beyond measure. To have picked someone he'd only met once before, without any serious vetting procedure, revealed McCain as an utterly unserious character, a man whose devotion to the shallowest form of political gamesmanship trumped concern for his country's or his party's interest." ... "It was a final product of the now-exhausted strategy of fomenting fundamentalist resentment to elect politicians dedicated to the defense of Israel and the extension of American military hegemony in every corner of the globe. Palin was the reductio ad absurdum of this mindset: a mannequin candidate, easily controlled ideologically, deployed to fool and corral the resentful and the frightened, removed from serious scrutiny and sold on propaganda networks like a food product." ... "This deluded and delusional woman still doesn't understand what happened to her; still has no self-awareness; and has never been forced to accept her obvious limitations. She cannot keep even the most trivial story straight; she repeats untruths with a ferocity and calm that is reserved only to the clinically unhinged; she has the educational level of a high school drop-out; and regards ignorance as some kind of achievement. It is excruciating to watch her - but more excruciating to watch those who feel obliged to defend her." ... "Her candidacy, in short, was indefensible. It remains indefensible." -By Andrew Sullivan -TheAtlantic.com

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20081029
Barack Obama -  - Ad - Media - 2008 Election - Families - Economy - Military - Ohio - Missouri - Kansas - New Mexico - Florida - Arizona -  - US - Iraq
"30-minute Obama ad shows campaign muscle." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama's 30-minute TV ad, which ran simultaneously on broadcast and cable networks at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, is muscle-flexing that has little precedent, a campaign advertising expert said." ... ""It's evidence, if you needed any, that the Obama campaign has more money than there is ad time left to buy," said Evan Tracey, director of the Campaign Media Analysis Group. "This is flexing the muscles."" ... ""The strategic brilliance of this for Obama is that he is going to consume about 24 hours of the news cycle," Tracey said. "It boxes [John] McCain in, takes the oxygen out of the room."" ... "In the carefully produced infomercial, Obama laid out his plans for the economy and for bringing an end to the war in Iraq." ... "It also featured stories of struggling families in swing states such as Ohio and Missouri and included testimonials from high-profile supporters, including Kansas [Democratic Governor] Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and New Mexico [Democratic Governor] Gov. Bill Richardson." ... "Obama's Republican opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, was not mentioned, nor was the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican]. The spot ended with a brief, live Obama address to a rally in Florida, another hotly contested state in this year's campaign." -By Richard Allen Greene -CNN

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WATCH Barack Obama ad: "American Stories, American Solutions."
"Obama: "I'm reminded every single day that I am not a perfect man. I will not be a perfect president. But I can promise you this: I will always tell you what I think and where I stand. I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you when we disagree. And, most importantly, I will open the doors of government and ask you to be involved in your own democracy again."" - BarackObama.com

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20081020
John McCain - Barack Obama - Military - Politics - 2008 Election - AZ - Nevada - VA - TX - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Vietnam - History
"McCain Lies Again, Repeats False Claim He ‘Received The Highest Honor And Awards’ From Every Vets Group." ... "Yesterday, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-AZ [Republican-Arizona]) held a telephone town hall meeting, in which “thousands” of Nevadans — according to the McCain campaign — called to listen in. Among some of the hostile, pointed, and critical questions came one from a veteran, who challenged McCain on his voting record regarding funding for the Veterans Administration and veterans’ priorities:"

"Q: I know you voted for lesser increases, and sometimes they were so much less, and our VA desperately needs the money. Can you tell me why you would vote for less money for the VA when there’s a war going on?"

"M: Well of course I have not and I’m afraid I’ve been endorsed by the VFW in every election that I’ve been in. I have been — received the honors, the highest honor and awards from all our veterans organizations for my consistent support of them. I don’t know what you’re looking at, but the DAV, the VFW, the American Legion, all of them have given me their highest awards for my consistent support of them."

"As ThinkProgress has repeatedly [-] documented, McCain is either willfully lying or he is delusional about his record — and the meaning of “highest awards.” In fact, McCain has recently stood on the opposite side of all three of the groups he mentioned:"

"– Disabled American Veterans (DAV): In a list of 36 “key votes,” shows McCain “Voted Against Us” 16 times. ([2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama “Voted With Us” 17 times, and against only once.)"

"– Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW): Endorsed [Virginia Democratic Senator] Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA [Democratic-Virginia]) GI Bill that McCain vigorously opposed; called McCain’s alternative GI Bill “very partisan” and said they “didn’t have much input” in its crafting."

"– American Legion: Endorsed Webb’s GI Bill and criticized McCain’s concern about how it would affect retention, saying the bill “would encourage young men and women to join the military.”"

"Just last week, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a grade of D for his record of voting against veterans. (Obama got a B.) The Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) have noted that in its “Key Votes,” McCain “Voted Against Us” 15 times and “Voted For Us” only 8. (Obama voted for VVA 12 times, and against only once.)" ... "Earlier this month, [Texas Democratic Representative] Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX [Democratic-Texas]), a leading veterans advocate, excoriated McCain in an interview with ThinkProgress: “If you look at John McCain’s record on veterans issues, it’s a failed one.” It’s a sentiment IAVA executive director Paul Rieckhoff agrees with. Noting McCain’s dismal voting record on VA funding, Rieckhoff told ThinkProgress, “If he says the VA’s not working, it’s in part because he hasn’t funded it properly.”"

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"Update In an interview with Richmond's [Virginia's capital] WTVR on Friday, McCain repeated his favorite lie: "I've been a friend of the veterans for a long time and I've received every award from every major veterans organization." He added, "I'm proud of my support for the veterans."" -By Ali Frick -ThinkProgress.org

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2008 Election - Law - Politics - California - Florida - Massachusetts - Arizona
"Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case: Mark Jacoby, who owns a firm hired by the California Republican Party, violated state laws with his own registration, authorities say." ... "The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud." ... "State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM, collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states." ... "YPM has been accused of using bait-and-switch tactics across the country. Election officials and lawmakers have launched investigations into the activities of YPM workers in Florida and Massachusetts. In Arizona, the firm was recently a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit." -By Evan Halper -LAtimes

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John McCain - Illegal - Foreign - Money - Politics - Russia -  - Arizona - US - 2008 Election
"McCain: Brother, Can You Spare A Ruble?" ... "... the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain campaign sought illegal contributions from the Russian ambassador to the United Nations."

"The Russian Mission to the United Nations issued a bizarre statement to the UN press corps today stating simply, "We have received a letter from [Arizona] Senator John McCain requesting financial contribution to his Presidential campaign. In this connection we would like to reiterate that Russian officials, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations or the Russian Government do not finance political activity in foreign countries.""

"Intrigued, I called the Russian Mission and a press officer there directed me to this item on the Mission's website. It seems that the McCain-Palin campaign sent a generic fundraising letter to Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly I Churkin."

"Accepting foreign money is, of course, against the law. The McCain campaign was, in effect, asking the Russian ambassador for an illegal campaign contribution." ... "Russian officials don't believe the McCain campaign was deliberately asking for an illegal donation." -By Steve Benen -WashingtonMonthly.com

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20081009
Joe Biden - John McCain - Corporate - Government - Politics - Consumer - Regulation - Mo - Arizona -Tennessee - 2008 Election
"Biden Accuses McCain of Waffling on Homeowner Help Plan." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden started his 24-hour swing through the Show-Me State [Missouri] Thursday with a swipe at Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain for already changing the mortgage buy-up plan that the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] candidate introduced in Tuesday’s presidential debate in Nashville [Tennessee]." ... "“John said he was going to spend $300 billion of your tax money to buy from banks bad mortgages that they now own. And he was going to buy them, though, at a discount, an authority, meaning he wasn’t going to buy them for what the bank paid for them -- he’s going to buy them for what their market value was," Biden said at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo. [Missouri.] "And then on Wednesday morning he said, his campaign said, 'No, we made a mistake. We are going to buy them for exactly what the bank paid for them.'" ... ""So, he’s going to spend $300 billion of your money so the banks don’t lose a single penny!" Biden continued. "I’m not making this up. I know it sounds like fiction, but I’m not making this up." ... ""That’s not bailing out the homeowner," Biden added. "You’re bailing out the bank."" ... "“Ladies and gentlemen, in a matter of months, days, even hours, John McCain has gone from first cutting regulation consumer protections from banks –- that was his initial position, cut those protections -- then ignoring the banks and lenders and not even talking about them, now to talking about banks and lenders, and now he’s gone to the point of actually wanting to reward banks and lenders for their greedy behavior," Biden continued. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a steady hand, and the latest proposal is not only bad for taxpayers, it’s bad for homeowners and it’s bad for the economy, and everybody seems to be aware of it this morning."" -By Matthew Jaffe -ABCNEWS.com

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20081008
John McCain - Terrorism - Women - Abortion - Clinics - Federal - Law - Politics - History - Arizona - Oregon - 2008 Election
"Woman's rights advocate: McCain sides with 'sympathizers and enablers of domestic terrorism'." ... "The Arizona Senator [and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain] may not have directly consorted with any clinic bombers, but his legislative record was certainly favorable to them, and critics are hammering his association with sympathizers of domestic terrorists who target abortion providers." ... "People For the American Way encouraged McCain to "look in the mirror" after a RAW STORY report revealed McCain's connection with Marylin Shannon, a Republican official in Oregon who was a McCain delegate at this year's GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican (2008 election)] convention. The two appeared together at a 1993 fundraiser for an ultra-conservative organization where Shannon praised a woman who was later convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of an abortion clinic doctor." ... "“When anti-choice extremists were terrorizing American women and their doctors, John McCain had multiple opportunities to make what should have been an easy choice,” PFAW president Kathryn Kolbert said Tuesday. “But he chose political expediency over law and order." ... ""He didn’t say a word when Marylin Shannon sympathized with an attempted killer. He voted against the clinic access bill even as everyday Americans were being assaulted and besieged by domestic terrorists," continued Kolbert, a longtime women’s rights advocate who successfully argued a crucial abortion rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992. "As someone who faced repeated threats for work on behalf of reproductive rights, I am deeply disturbed by John McCain’s willingness to stand with and side with sympathizers and enablers of domestic terrorism.”" ... "McCain and Shannon appeared together at a fundraiser for the Oregon Citizens Alliance in 1993, a gathring of Christian right extremists that even fellow Republicans advised McCain not to attend because the group was so far outside the mainstream." ... "Speaking before McCain, Shannon offered some kind words for Shelley Shannon, who was accused and later convicted of shooting an abortion doctor: "I'm not related to Shelly Shannon, but I think she's a fine lady," the vice chairwoman of the state Republican Party said. McCain apparently said nothing to contradict that judgement, and less than three months later he voted against a bill that would make abortion clinic bombings a federal crime." -By Nick Juliano -RawStory.com

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20081007
McCain - Terrorism -Finance - History - Secret- Government - Intelligence - Military - Politics - Iran - Nicaragua - Foreign - Arizona - US -2008 Election
"McCain linked to private group in Iran-Contra case." ... "GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair." ... "The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America." ... "The council's founder, retired Army [Major General] Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona." ... "Covert arms shipments to the rebels called Contras, financed in part by secret arms sales to Iran, became known as the Iran-Contra affair. They proved to be the undoing of Singlaub's council." ... "In 1987, the Internal Revenue Service withdrew the tax-exempt status of Singlaub's group because of its activities on behalf of the Contras." ... "Elected to the House in 1982 and at a time when he was on the board of Singlaub's council, McCain was among Republicans on Capitol Hill expressing support for the Contras, a CIA[Central Intelligence Agency]-organized guerrilla force in Central America. In 1984, Congress cut off CIA funds for the Contras." ... "Months before the cutoff, top [Republican President] Reagan administration officials ramped up a secret White House-directed supply network and put National Security Council aide Oliver North in charge of running it. The goal was to keep the Contras operational until Congress could be persuaded to resume CIA funding." ... "Singlaub's private group became the public cover for the White House operation." ... "Secretly, Singlaub worked with North in an effort to raise millions of dollars from foreign governments." -By Pete Yost -AP via -Yahoo

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20081006
John McCain - Racist - Terrorism - Money - History - 2008 Election - Phoenix - Arizona - US - Military - Law - Foreign
"Why McCain's Time With Council Of World Freedom Matters." ... "Since Sunday, Democrats have been buzzing about the re-revelation that during the 1980s, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain served on the board of a far-right conservative organization that had supplied arms and funds to paramilitary organizations in Latin America." ... "Democratic strategist Paul Begala lit the fire when, during an appearance on Meet the Press, he warned that this relatively obscure detail from McCain's past could draw him into a guilt-by-association game he was bound to regret." ... ""John McCain sat on the board of...the U.S. Council for World Freedom," said Begala, "The Anti-Defamation League, in 1981 when McCain was on the board, said this about this organization. It was affiliated with the World Anti-Communist League - the parent organization - which ADL said 'has increasingly become a gathering place, a forum, a point of contact for extremists, racists and anti-Semites.'"" ... "But McCain's involvement in the U.S. Council for World Freedom, which extended from 1981 through, possibly, 1986 is significant -- not merely because it ties him to unsavory characters but because it firmly associates him with a foreign policy that was, at the time and still, controversial." ... "The USCWF was founded in Phoenix, Arizona in November 1981 as an offshoot of the World Anti-Communist League. The group was, from the onset, saddled with the disreputable reputation of its parent group. The WACL had ties to ultra-right figures and Latin American death squads. Roger Pearson, the chairman of the WACL, was expelled from the group in 1980 under allegations that he was a member of a neo-Nazi organization." ... "It [The USCWF] claimed to support "pro-Democratic resistance movements fighting communist totalitarianism." And during the 1980s it became a vehicle for the [Republican President] Reagan administration to prop up some of the more totalitarian, anti-communist efforts in Central America." ... "The funders of the U.S World Council of Freedom read like a who's who list of prominent conservative figures. Joe Coors, the Republican Beer baron was reportedly a big donor. Time Magazine wrote that the Christian Broadcasting Network was a backer as well. The Washington Times newspaper, owned by the controversial Reverend Sun Myung Moon, started a fundraising drive of its own." ... "Through it all, McCain was a member." ... "... McCain's association with a group that reportedly circumvented law, financed right-wing military institutions, and engaged in sometimes brutal anti-communist tactics, could be telling for some voters." -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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John McCain - 2008 Election - Law - Politics - Investigation - Arizona -Texas - US - Iraqi
"FEC Queries McCain Campaign on 'Excessive Contributions'." ... "The FEC [Federal Election Commission] sent a letter to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's campaign treasurer [September] Sept. 30 demanding the candidate turn over more information about "contributions that appear to exceed the limits."" ... "The letter is accompanied by a nine-page list showing scores of overages from McCain's August campaign finance report, including nearly $13,000 from Texas rancher Ray R. Barrett Jr.; $9,200 from an Iraqi security consultant, H. Carter Andress; and $5,000 from Joseph F. Davolio, an executive at a major national liquor, beer and wine distributor." ... ""Please inform the Commission of your corrective action immediately in writing and provide photocopies of any refund checks and/or letters reattributing or redesignating the contributions in question," the letter from the FEC's senior campaign finance analyst, Leah S. Palmer, says. "The acceptance of excessive contributions is a serious problem."" -By Matthew Mosk -WashingtonPost

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John McCain - Poor - Families - Seniors -Federal - Health - Politics - Arizona - 2008 Election
"McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts: Medicare, Medicaid Spending Would Be Reduced to Offset Proposed Tax Credit." ... "[Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs." ... "The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate." ... "In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases." ... "But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled." ... "In April, when [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain gave a major speech about his health plan, Mr. Holtz-Eakin, the senior policy adviser, said the tax provisions alone were budget neutral -- meaning that health benefits would have to be subject to both income and payroll taxes." -By Laura Meckler -WSJ.com

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20081004
Secret - John McCain - Terrorism - History -Money - Politics - Radio - Federal - Law - Enforcement - 2008 Election - Clinton - New York -Arizona
"Why is the NY Times continuing to ignore McCain's "own Bill Ayers"?" ... "... [The New York[ Times has yet to mention, let alone devote an entire article to, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's relationship with radio host and convicted Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy [Republican President Nixon associate]." ... "As Media Matters for America has noted, Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.) During the 1990s, Liddy reportedly instructed his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents and also reportedly said he had named his shooting targets after [Democratic President] Bill and [New York Senator] Hillary Clinton." ... "Liddy has donated $5,000 to McCain's campaigns since 1998, including $1,000 in February 2008. In addition, McCain has appeared on Liddy's radio show during the presidential campaign, including as recently as May. An online video labeled "John McCain On The G. Gordon Liddy Show 11/8/07" includes a discussion between Liddy and McCain, whom Liddy described as an "old friend." During the segment, McCain praised Liddy's "adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great," said he was "proud" of Liddy, and said that "it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program."" ... "Additionally, in 1998, Liddy reportedly held a fundraiser at his home for McCain. Liddy was reportedly scheduled to speak at another fundraiser for McCain in 2000. The Charlotte Observer reported on January 23, 2000, that McCain's campaign vouched for Liddy's "character":"

"His [McCain's] campaign officials said Liddy's character will appeal to many voters because he was following orders from [Republican] President Nixon and kept silent afterward."

""His (Liddy's) judgment might be in question, but I don't think his character is," said Ed Walker, the York County chairman of McCain's campaign. "He was following orders just like any good soldier, and he didn't tell on anybody. He felt like he was on a mission and kept his silence.""

"Liddy's 2000 speech was reportedly canceled due to bad weather." ... "In his May 4 [Chicago] Tribune column, [columnist Steve] Chapman wrote:"

"What McCain didn't mention is that he has his own Bill Ayers -- in the form of G. Gordon Liddy. Now a conservative radio talk-show host, Liddy spent more than 4 years in prison for his role in the 1972 Watergate burglary. That was just one element of what Liddy did, and proposed to do, in a secret White House effort to subvert the Constitution. Far from repudiating him, McCain has embraced him."
...
"Last November, McCain went on his radio show. Liddy greeted him as "an old friend," and McCain sounded like one. "I'm proud of you, I'm proud of your family," he gushed. "It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.""

"Which principles would those be? The ones that told Liddy it was fine to break into the office of the Democratic National Committee to plant bugs and photograph documents? The ones that made him propose to kidnap anti-war activists so they couldn't disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention? The ones that inspired him to plan the murder (never carried out) of an unfriendly newspaper columnist?"

"Liddy was in the thick of the biggest political scandal in American history -- and one of the greatest threats to the rule of law. He has said he has no regrets about what he did, insisting that he went to jail as "a prisoner of war.""

[Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Chapman]

" -By Jon Sime -MediaMatters.org

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20080924
John McCain - Financial - Disaster - Politics - Government - Massachusetts - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Democrats claim Wall St. bailout breakthrough." ... "Democratic [Massachusetts Representative] Rep. Barney Frank said on Wednesday Democrats had reached an agreement to stem one of the worst U.S. financial disasters in decades, and that there would be enough votes to pass the measure and send it to [Republican] President George W. Bush to sign into law." ... "Frank took a dig at [2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who interrupted his campaign to return to Washington on Thursday to help work on a Wall Street bailout." ... ""All of sudden, now that we are on the verge of making a deal, John McCain here drops himself in to help us make a deal, Frank said." ... "He expressed fear that McCain, a U.S. [United States] senator from Arizona who has spent much of the year away from the Capitol campaigning, could end up slowing down work on the bill." ... "The Massachusetts Democrat noted that a meeting on Capitol Hill on Thursday will be interrupted for a "photo op" at the White House with congressional Democrats and Republicans as well as Bush." ... ""We're trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign," Frank said." ... "Democrats blamed the crisis largely on the failure of Bush to adequately regulate the financial industry." (1, 2, 3) -By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro with contributions by Doina Chiacu -Reuters

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20080922
John McCain - Sarah Palin - Politics - Arizona - 2008 Election
"The Media Blackout: Nearly 40 Days and Counting." ... "As of this writing, it has been 39 days and 22 hours since [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain last held a news conference (despite having promised to hold weekly Q&A sessions with the press if he's elected). According to the Democrats, it's been 24 days and 11 hours since his running mate, [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin, held one." -By Michael D. Shear -WashingtonPost

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20080915
Barack Obama - John McCain - Sarah Palin - Disaster - Politics - Workers - Colorado - Arizona-Alaska - 2008 Election
"Obama blames Wall St. crisis on Republican policy." ... "[Obama on McCain:] "In 19 months he [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain] has not named one thing he would do differently from this [Republican President Bush] administration on the central issue of this election," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama said of McCain. "Not one thing. And we know that if we go down that path, that the next four years will look exactly like the last eight."" ... ""Can you afford to take a chance on someone who's voted against the minimum wage 19 times," Obama asked a crowd of thousands under a blazing sun at a rally in western Colorado at the start of a swing through contested Western states. "When it was $4, he was against it, when it was $5 he was against it, when it was $6 he was against it."" ... "Charging that McCain was out of touch, Obama said, "He doesn't get what's happening between the mountains in Sedona [Arizona] where he lives and the corridors of power where he works. Why else would he say that we've made great progress economically under George Bush. Why else would he say that the economy isn't something he understands as well as he should." ... ""Why else would he say, today of all days, just a few hours ago — think about this, we just woke up to news of financial disaster — and this morning he said that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong. Sen. McCain, what economy are you talking about?"" ... "He also took a little poke at McCain's running mate, [Alaska Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin, raising the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska that she initially supported and later opposed. Saying that McCain had put some lobbyists in key roles of his campaign, Obama said, "If you think those lobbyists are working day and night for John McCain just to put themselves out of business, well I've got a bridge to sell you up in Alaska."" -By Terence Hunt -AP via -Yahoo

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20080913
John McCain - Barack Obama - Military - Investment - Arizona - Mo - 2008 Election
"McCain on FCS: Flip-flop or fib?" ... "Has [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain renounced his longtime antagonism toward the Army’s Future Combat Systems?" ... "On [September] Sept. 8, the Republican presidential candidate told a rally crowd in Lee’s Summit, Mo. [Missouri], about an [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama video message to a liberal advocacy group." ... "“He promised them he would, quote, ‘slow our development of Future Combat Systems,’” McCain said, according to wire reports. “This is not a time to slow our development of Future Combat Systems.”" ... "Flashback to July, however, when his campaign furnished McCain’s economic plan to The Washington Post, declaring that “there are lots of procurements — Airborne Laser, [C-17] Globemaster, Future Combat System [sic] — that should be ended and the entire Pentagon budget should be scrubbed.”" ... "In fact, McCain has long criticized the over-budget, behind-schedule FCS program. In 2005, he blasted the Army for allowing the program to balloon to $161 billion, and forced the service to rewrite the main FCS contract." ... "So where does McCain really stand? Some bloggers and analysts have suggested that he used the term “future combat systems” generically. Obama’s campaign maintains their candidate was speaking specifically about FCS, in which case McCain may be twisting his rival’s words." ... "Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute called it deceitful." ... "“McCain’s interpretation of Obama’s position is typical of the way in which the Republicans have twisted Democratic views in order to undercut their opponents and at the same time obscure the past positions of the Republicans,” Thompson said. “Future Combat Systems is the centerpiece of Army modernization. However, McCain has been more critical of it than anyone else in the chamber. Obama has been much more detailed and thoughtful in his comments about future military investment than McCain’s very superficial statements.”" -By Bradley Peniston with contributions by Antonie Boessenkool -ArmyTimes.com

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John McCain - Barack Obama - Illinois - Arizona -New Hampshire - 2008 Election
"Obama aide: McCain campaign 'sleaziest' in modern history." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama's spokesman on Saturday accused [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain of "cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history."" ... "Obama, speaking to a crowd Saturday in Manchester, New Hampshire, said, "John McCain wants to have a debate about national security; let's have that debate. I warned that going into Iraq would distract us from Afghanistan. John McCain cheerleaded for it. John McCain was wrong, and I was right."" ... ""The McCain-[Sarah] Palin ticket, they don't want to debate the Obama-Biden ticket on issues because they are running on eight more years of what we've just seen. And they know it," the Democratic presidential nominee said. "As a consequence, what they're going to spend the next seven, eight weeks doing is trying to distract you." ... ""They're going to talk about pigs, and they're going to talk about lipstick; they're going to talk about Paris Hilton, they're going to talk about Britney Spears. They will try to distort my record, and they will try to undermine your trust in what the Democrats intend to do." -CNN

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20080908
Karl Rove - John McCain - Palin - SC - Arizona - Colorado - Legislative - History - 2008 Election
"Eight years after S.C., Karl Rove works with Sen. McCain’s camp." ... "Eight years after helping [Republican President] George Bush defeat [Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain in a [2000 Election] bitter primary, Karl Rove appears to be playing a significant role in helping the Arizona Republican win the presidency." ... "Rove has downplayed his contact with the McCain campaign, but the former adviser to President Bush met with GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] delegates from Colorado last Wednesday. Rove, who is now a Fox News analyst, told reporters after the meeting that he has friends in the McCain organization who occasionally seek his advice." ... "He said the campaign “carefully vetted” [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin, claiming it was aware of all the revelations that have come out since she was announced as the running mate." ... "“They knew all of it. … They weren’t bothered by it,” Rove said." ... "A GOP operative said Rove has had a consistent, “medium”-sized role with the McCain campaign." ... "[During the 2000 election] Rove said of the Arizona senator, “You cannot become a leader of the United States and hope to achieve things by, basically, irritating everybody around you. … And his legislative accomplishments are few and far between because he cannot work well and bring people together.”" (1, 2) -By Jackie Kucinich and Bob Cusack with contributions by Sam Youngman -TheHill.com

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20080904
Cindy McCain - John McCain - Fashion - Politics - Arizona - Houses - 2008 Election
"Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit." [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain's wife Cindy and Republican President George Bush's wife Laura at the Republican National Convention.]

"Laura Bush
Oscar de la Renta suit: $2,500
Stuart Weitzman heels: $325
Pearl stud earrings: $600–$1,500
Total: Between $3,425 and $4,325"

"Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100"

"Wow! No wonder McCain has so many houses: his wife has the price of a Scottsdale [Arizona] split-level hanging from her ears." ... "(All prices except Laura’s shoes and Cindy’s watch are estimates, and the jewelry prices are based on the assumption that the pieces are real.)" -VanityFair.com

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20080903
Sarah Palin - Money - Politics - Lawsuit - Alaska - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Another Controversy for Sarah Palin: Former Police Chief Says He Was Fired for Challenging Palin's Campaign Contributors." ... "[2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin is already facing ethical questions over her firing of the Alaska public safety commissioner, and now she faces questions over the firing of a longtime local police chief." ... "After taking over as Mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Palin fired the longtime local police chief. The former police chief, Irl Stambaugh says he was fired because he stepped on the toes of Palin's campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association." ... "Stambaugh's lawyer, William Jermain, says the chief tried to move up the closing hours of local bars from 5 a.m. to two a.m. after a spurt of drunk driving accidents and arrests." ... ""His crackdown on that practice by the bars was not appreciated by her and that was one reason she terminated Irl," said Jermain." (1, 2) -By Brian Ross and Joseph Rhee-ABCNEWS.com

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Sarah Palin - Federal - Money - Politics - Oil - Alaska - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Sarah Palin: Earmark Queen Of The Earmark State." ... "In 2000, [Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin, as mayor of the Alaskan town of Wasilla, hired a Washington lobbyist to secure federal earmarks for her community." ... "This is not totally atypical in her state. Alaska’s government receives more money per capita in federal earmark money than any other state, despite being the only state in the union with no income tax and no sales tax. They fund their government primarily with petroleum money, and recently distributed oil profits to its citizens in the form of rebate checks." ... "But even in her heavily earmarked state, Sarah Palin was the earmark queen." ... "From 2000 to 2003, she secured over $27 million in earmarks, averaging $6.7 million in federal money every year for her town of about 6,700 people." ... "An analysis of the databases of Taxpayers for Common Sense by Center for American Progress Action Fund Senior Fellow Scott Lilly puts these numbers in perspective."

"Per Capital Federal Earmark Funding"
"(All figures for 2008 except Wasilla, which is for 2002)"
"Arizona:            $18.70"
"National Average:   $51.19"
"Alaska:            $506.34"
"Wasill, AK:      $1,000.00"

"He notes the following amounts:"

"–$50: The amount the average state received in earmarked funds, per capita in 2008"
"–$506: The amount received by Alaska’s citizen per capita in 2008, represented by the Senate’s earmarker in chief, Ted Stevens, ten times the national average"
"–Over $1000: The annual amount received per capita in Wasilla between 2000 and 2003, twice the 2008 Alaska state average"

"Some of these earmarks drew the scorn of Senator John McCain. The LA Time reports that, “three times in recent years, McCain’s catalogs of ‘objectionable’ spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time — Sarah Palin.”" ... "As Scott Lilly writes, “Palin has advertised herself as a reformer and a skeptic of earmarking while maneuvering to become the earmark queen of the earmark state.”" -ThinkProgress.org/Wonk Room

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Sarah Palin - John McCain - Ted Stevens - Federal - Money - Legislative - Politics - Alaska - Arizona - 2008 Election
"McCain had criticized earmarks from Palin." ... "Three times in recent years, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's catalogs of "objectionable" spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town [Wasilla], requested by its mayor at the time -- [Republican Politician] Sarah Palin." ... "Now, McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, has chosen Palin as his running mate, touting her as a reformer just like him." ... "But records show that Palin -- first as mayor of Wasilla and recently as governor of Alaska -- was far from shy about pursuing tens of millions in earmarks for her town, her region and her state." ... "This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column." ... "Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to [Alaska Republican Senator]] Sen. Ted Stevens (R[Republican]-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark." ... "This year she submitted to Congress a list of Alaska projects worth $197.8 million, including $2 million to research crab productivity in the Bering Sea and $7.4 million to improve runway lighting at eight Alaska airports." ... ""So while Sen. McCain was going after cutting earmarks in Washington," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, "Gov. Palin was going after getting earmarks."" -By Tom Hamburger, Richard Simon and Janet Hook -LAtimes via -ChicagoTribune

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20080902
Sarah Palin - John McCain - Don Young - Ted Stevens - Illegal- Federal - Money - Politics - Alaska - Transportation - Construction - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds." ... "Alaska [Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group." ... "There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project -- all intended to benefit Palin's town, Wasilla [Alaska], located about 45 miles north of Anchorage [Alaska]." ... "In introducing Palin as his running mate on Friday, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain cast her as a compatriot in his battle against wasteful federal spending." ... "As mayor of Wasilla [Alaska], however, Palin oversaw the hiring of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage[ Alaska]-based law firm with close ties to Alaska's most senior Republicans: [Alaska Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young and [Alaska Republican Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens, who was indicted in July on charges of accepting illegal gifts. The Wasilla account was handled by the former chief of staff to Stevens, Steven W. Silver, who is a partner in the firm." (1, 2) -By Paul Kane -WashingtonPost

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20080901
Sarah Palin - Ted Stevens - John McCain - Corporate - Politics - Government - Alaska - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens's 527 Group." ... "Alaska [Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska [Republican Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens." ... "Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. The group was designed to serve as a political boot camp for Republican women in the state. She served as one of three directors until June 2005, when her name was replaced on state filings." ... "Palin's relationship with Alaska's senior senator may be one of the more complicated aspects of her new position as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running mate; Stevens was indicted in July 2008 on seven counts of corruption." ... "At the time Stevens revealed the existence of the 527 group -- a type of independent political corporation named for its the section of the tax code -- ethics experts questioned whether it was appropriate." ... "The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported that several experts called the group an example of the fine legal line between a legal effort to conduct political activity and then-new prohibitions against raising unlimited soft-money." ... "Board members of Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service were legally allowed to raise as much money as they wanted from corporations or unions or unlimited donations from individuals -- all of which would have been illegal for Stevens to do himself." -By Paul Kane -WashingtonPost

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20080829
John McCain - Sarah Palin - Law - Politics - Safety - Alaska - Arizona - 2008 Election
"McCain's VP Pick Palin Facing Ethics Investigation." ... "... [T]he 44-year-old [Alaska Republican Governor Sarah] Palin, who was selected as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running mate today, is now the focus of her own state ethics investigation as part of the so-called "Troopergate" scandal, a bizarre controversy involving the firing of a state police chief and his reluctance to fire an Alaska state trooper, Palin's former brother-in-law who has been involved in a bitter custody fight with her younger sister." ... "Just two weeks ago, Palin revealed an audio recording of an aide pressuring the state's Public Safety Department to fire trooper Mike Wooten, the Anchorage Daily News reported." ... "Palin also acknowledged that her staff had contacted Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan about two dozen times about Wooten. Monegan himself was fired July 11 (the dismissal was "out of the blue," he told reporters) and he later said that he was pressured by Palin's staff and family to get rid of Wooten, a trooper based in Palmer, Alaska." ... "(To counter the "Troopergate" tag, the alternative-weekly Anchorage Press has dubbed the firing scandal "Wootengate")" ... "In July, Palin came under a state ethics investigation and critics have said Palin's claim that she did not know of the political pressure being placed on Monegan was a "little too convenient."" -By Derek Kravitz -WashingtonPost

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Sarah Palin - John McCain - Hillary Clinton - Women - Politics - Alaska - Los Angeles -California - Arizona -New York  -2008 Election
"Palin: Hillary Clinton's "Whining" Turned Me Off." ... "When Alaska [Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin arrived backstage for our NEWSWEEK Women & Leadership Event in Los Angeles [California] last March, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain had just wrapped up the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] nomination. Palin had yet to endorse McCain--she liked [former 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney--and as we waited in the green room, I urged her to "feel free" to make some news on stage. She grinned broadly--looking back, I guess it was a grin of the Cheshire Cat variety--and thanked me for the offer." ... "Once onstage, together with Arizona [Democratic Governor] Gov. Janet Napolitano, Palin talked about what women expect from women leaders; how she took charge in Alaska during a political scandal that threatened to unseat the state's entire Republican power structure, and her feelings about [former 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton. (She said she felt kind of bad she couldn't support a woman, but she didn't like Clinton's "whining.")" -By Karen Breslau -Newsweek /article via -HuffingtonPost.com

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Sarah Palin - John McCain - Alaska - Ariz - 2008 Election
"Palin dissed veep job." ... "Count Alaska [Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin as one of the most surprised that she was chocen as unning mate for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona])." ... "In an interview just a month ago, she dissed the job, saying it didn’t seem “productive.”" ... "In fact, she said she didn’t know what the vice president does." ... "Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?["]" ... "Before Palin’s election in December 2006 as the state’s first woman governor, she served two terms on the city council of Wasilla, Alaska (population 6,700), and two terms as the mayor/manager of Wasilla." -By Mike Allen -Politico.com

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Sarah Palin - Science - Politics - Global - Climate - Atmosphere -2008 Election - John McCain - Alaska - Arizona
"Palin Not Convinced on Global Warming." ... "Some scientists believe Alaska will be among the first to feel the impact of global warming, but [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin told voters there she wasn't sure climate change wasn't simply part of a natural warming cycle." ... ""I will not pretend to have all the answers," Palin said about global warming, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Her spokesman clarified at the time that "she's not totally convinced one way or the other. Science will tell us . . . She thinks the jury's still out."" ... "Palin shared her views in the run-up to the 2006 governor's race, at an Alaska Federation of Natives convention, where delegates passed a resolution calling for a mandatory reduction in pollution affecting the atmosphere." ... "Answering a question from the Daily News, Palin cautioned against "overreaction."" ... "Those were among the comments that brought condemnation today from Greenpeace to her selection as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running mate on the Republican ticket. The environmental group's Alaska Global Warming Campaigner, Melanie Duchin, described Palin as "one of the most anti-environment records of any governor in the United States." -By Matthew Mosk and Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

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John McCain - Sarah Palin - Science -Politics - Oil - Money - Wildlife - History - Global - Climate - Ice - Law - Alaska - Arizona - 2008 Election - US - Canada
"McCain VP Pick No Friend to Polar Bears." ... "Alaska [Republican] Governor Sarah Palin has ignored research showing that polar bear populations are declining in the quest to plumb new sources of energy, according to scientists, and environmental groups who fought to put the bears on the endangered species list." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential candidate Friday. Palin is only the second woman to be on a major party's ticket as VP -- the first was Geraldine Ferraro, who ran with Democrati Walter Mondale in 1984." ... "The 44-year-old Palin, a beauty pageant winner and former mayor of a small town in Alaska, is an advocate of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has infuriated environmentalists  for her support of the aerial shooting of wolves as a way to build up herds of moose and caribou. She's also sued the Interior Department for putting  polar bears on the endangered species list." ... "In the lawsuit, filed this month in federal district court in the District of Columbia, Palin argues that the government's move to list polar bears as endangered is not based on sound science, and restricts oil and natural gas development. The Interior Department had put the bears on the list in response to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, who argued that the bears are being threatened by global warming." ... "In an interview on the conservative CNN talk show hosted by Glenn Beck earlier this year, Palin said that she was worried that environmentalists are using the Endangered Species Act to block the extraction of oil and gas." ... ""In fact, the number of polar bears has risen dramatically over the past 30 years," she said. "Our fear (is) that extreme environmentalists will use this tool, the ESA, to eventually curtail or halt the North Slope production of very rich resources that  America needs."" ... "But biologists who have studied polar bear populations counter that the facts simply do not support Palin's assertion that polar bear populations are on the rise." ... ""Polar bear populations have not been increasing for the past 30 years, and that's a well-known fact," said  Ian Stirling, an emeritus scientist with Canada's Department of the Environment and an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta in an interview. Stirling has studied polar bears for 37 years -- the longest of anyone." ... "In fact, the polar bear population has actually declined by 20 percent in Alaska's Southern Beaufort Sea since the mid-1980s, he says, referring to peer-reviewed research that he's conducted with other scientists for the US Geological Survey. The reason: Loss of their habitat in the form of melting ice." -By Sarah Lai Stirland -Wired

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20080828
Cindy McCain - John McCain - Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Phoenix - Arizona - Family
"Cindy McCain's Half Sister: "I'm Voting for Barack Obama"." ... "Cindy McCain's half sister is planning on voting for [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama, she tells Usmagazine.com." ... ""I'm not voting for McCain," Kathleen Hensley Portalski tells Us. "I have a different political standpoint." ... ""I'm voting for Obama," the Phoenix [Arizona's capital] resident says. "I think his proposals to improve the country are more positive and I'm not a big war believer."" ... "Portalski, 65, and the potential first lady, 54, have the same father: Jim Hensley, the founder of the beer distributor Hensley and Co. that Cindy McCain now chairs." ... "In an interview with NPR News' All Things Considered last week, Portalski said she felt "like a non-person" after Cindy McCain described herself as an "only child."" ... "Portalski's mother is Hensley's first wife; Cindy McCain's mother, Marguerite Hensley, also had another daughter from her first marriage." -UsMagazine.com

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20080821
John McCain - Housing - Politics - Arizona - California - Virginia - 2008 Election
"A housing issue: McCain not sure how many they own." ... "Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. [United States] meant earning at least $5 million a year, [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own." ... ""I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain responded to a question posed by Politico, according to a story Thursday on the publication's Web site. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."" ... "Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states, Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties." ... "On the campaign trail, McCain doesn't refer to his wife's wealth, estimated by some at $100 million and based on her late father's Arizona beer distributorship." ... "According to her 2006 tax returns, Cindy McCain had a total income of $6 million." -By Douglass K. Daniel with contributions by Phil Elliott and Ann Sanner -AP via -Yahoo

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John McCain - Money - Politics - Phoenix - Arizona - Condo - 2008 Election
"Two Become One." ... "I was wondering yesterday how it is that you manage to spend almost $4.7 million on a condo in Phoenix [Arizona], and the answer turns out to be that the McCains bought two luxury condos and combined them. The $4.66 million figure is the combined price of his cribs. What’s more, at 2211 Camelback you’re not just paying for a swanky pad, you’re getting top-notch amenities like an edgeless rooftop pool and a concierge staff prepared to cater to your every whim:"

"* Laundry and dry cleaning service with pick-up and delivery"
"* Personal spa services"
"* Travel and driver services"
"* Dining reservations and catering"
"* Special events tickets"
"* Shopping services"
"* Housekeeping and maintenance services"
"* Pet services, auto detailing, plant care, etc."
"* Business services"

"  -By Matthew Yglesias -ThinkProgress.org/Wonk Room

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20080818
Cindy McCain - Family - Phoenix - Arizona -John McCain - 2008 Election
"Cindy McCain's Half Sister 'Angry' She's Hidden." ... "Last Tuesday, NPR broadcast a story about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain's wife] Cindy McCain's business and charity work. In it, Ted Robbins described McCain as the only child of Jim Hensley, a wealthy Arizona businessman. The next morning, NPR received an e-mail from Nicholas Portalski of Phoenix [Arizona], who heard the story with his mother." ... ""We were listening to the piece about Cindy McCain on NPR, All Things Considered, and it just struck us very hard," Portalski said." ... "His mother, Kathleen Hensley Portalski, is also Hensley's daughter." ... "McCain herself routinely uses the phrase "only child," as she did on CNN last month. "I grew up with my dad," she said then. "I'm an only child. My father was a cowboy, and he really loved me very much, but I think he wanted a son occasionally."" ... ""I'm upset," Kathleen Portalski says. "I'm angry. It makes me feel like a nonperson, kind of."" ... ""The fact that we don't exist," he says. "The fact that we've never been recognized, and then Cindy has to put such a fine point on it by saying something that's not true. Recently, again and again. It's just very, very hurtful."" -By Ted Robbins -NPR.org

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20080813
John McCain - Randy Scheunemann - Money - Politics - Georgia - Russia - Military - Arizona - US - 2008 Election
"While Aide Advised McCain, His Firm Lobbied for Georgia: Campaign Dismisses Timing of Phone Call, Contract." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's top foreign policy adviser prepped his boss for an April 17 phone call with the president of Georgia and then helped the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepare a strong statement of support for the fledgling republic." ... "The day of the call, a lobbying firm partly owned by the adviser, Randy Scheunemann, signed a $200,000 contract to continue providing strategic advice to the Georgian government in Washington." ... "The McCain campaign said Georgia's lobbying contract with Orion Strategies had no bearing on the candidate's decision to speak with President Mikheil Saakashvili and did not influence his statement. "The Embassy of Georgia requested the call," said campaign spokesman Brian Rogers." ... "But ethics experts have raised concerns about former lobbyists for foreign governments providing advice to presidential candidates about those same countries. "The question is, who is the client? Is the adviser loyal to income from a foreign client, or is he loyal to the candidate he is working for now?" said James Thurber, a lobbying expert at American University. "It's dangerous if you're getting advice from people who are very close to countries on one side or another of a conflict."" ... "For months while McCain's presidential campaign was gearing up, Scheunemann held dual roles, advising the candidate on foreign policy while working as Georgia's lobbyist. Between Jan. 1, 2007, and May 15, 2008, the campaign paid Scheunemann nearly $70,000 to provide foreign policy advice. During the same period, the government of Georgia paid his firm $290,000 in lobbying fees." ... "Since 2004, Orion has collected $800,000 from the government of Georgia." -By Matthew Mosk and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum with contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

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20080812
John McCain - Ralph Reed - Jack Abramoff - Grover Norquist - Politics - Georgia - Arizona - 2008 Election
"McCain ignoring calls to cancel controversial fundraiser." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain so far is ignoring calls from several watchdog groups to cancel an Atlanta [Georgia] fundraiser promoted by [Georgia Republican] Ralph Reed, a longtime friend and business partner of imprisoned [Republican] lobbyist Jack Abramoff." ... "Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Campaign Money Watch are urging the Arizona senator to cancel plans for the [August] Aug. 18 fundraiser at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta and remove Reed from McCain’s Victory 2008 Team." ... "Reed lost his 2006 campaign for Georgia lieutenant governor in large part because of details about his relationship with Abramoff — much of the information uncovered by McCain’s Indian Affairs Committee investigation into the wide-ranging lobbying corruption scandal." ... "The Senate probe discovered $4 million in payments Reed accepted to run a bogus anti-casino campaign aimed at reducing gambling competition. An Indian tribe with a competing casino made payments to Reed, which according to the Senate investigation’s final report, were “passed through” Abramoff’s firm, Preston, Gates, Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, and another organization, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform." -By Susan Crabtree -TheHill.com

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20080806
John McCain - Oil - Politics - Military - 2008 Election - Arizona - Calif - Fla - US - Iraq - International
"Bundler Collects From Unlikely Donors." ... "The bundle of $2,300 and $4,600 checks that poured into [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign on March 12 came from an unlikely group of California donors: a mechanic from D&D Auto Repair in Whittier [California], the manager of Rite Aid Pharmacy No. 5727, the 30-something owners of the Twilight Hookah Lounge in Fullerton [California]." ... "But the man who gathered checks from them is no stranger to McCain -- he shuttled the Republican on his private plane and held a fundraising event for the candidate at his house in Delray Beach, Fla [Florida]." ... "Harry Sargeant III, a former naval officer and the owner of an oil-trading company that recently inked defense contracts potentially worth more than $1 billion, is the archetype of a modern presidential money man." ... "Some of the most prolific givers in Sargeant's network live in modest homes in Southern California's Inland Empire. Most had never given a political contribution before being contacted by Sargeant or his associates. Most said they have never voiced much interest in politics. And in several instances, they had never registered to vote. And yet, records show, some families have ponied up as much as $18,400 for various candidates between December and March." ... "Both Sargeant and the donors were vague when asked to explain how Sargeant persuaded them to give away so much money." ... "His firm, International Oil Trading Co. (IOTC), holds several lucrative contracts with the Defense Department to carry fuel to the U.S. military in Iraq." ... "The work has not been without controversy. Last month, [California Democratic Representative] Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif. [Democratic-California]) initiated a review of IOTC's contract to determine whether it was overcharging the military for jet fuel, and to learn how the company, which did not submit the lowest bid, landed the contract to supply the fuel." (1, 2) -By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Ashley Surdin, Lucy Shackelford, Alice Crites and Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

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Barack Obama - John McCain - Oil - Companies - Politics - 2008 Election - Ohio - Arizona -Working- Families
"Energy wars continue on trail." ... "In Youngstown [Ohio], [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama said that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain has "proposed an energy plan that’s nothing but four years more of the same," and that helps oil companies and not consumers, according to excerpts provided by the Obama campaign." ... "Obama says that "under [Arizona] Senator McCain’s plan, the oil companies get billions more, we don’t pay any less at the pump, and we stay in the same cycle of dependence on oil that got us into this crisis. The oil companies have placed their bet on Senator McCain, and if he wins, they will continue to cash in while our families and our economy suffer and our future is put in jeopardy.That’s the choice we face in this election. We can choose four years more of the same failed policies that have gotten us where we are. Four years more of oil companies calling the shots while hard working families are struggling. That’s what Senator McCain is offering."" ... "Obama then promotes his own plan for alternative energy and green-collar jobs." ... "Trying to reinforce Obama's point about McCain't ties to Big Oil, the Democratic National Committee posted a web video that shows McCain as a puppet whose strings are being pulled by oil company lobbyists." ... ""Big Oil in the White House. We've seen this show before," the video concludes. " -By Foon Rhee -Boston/Globe

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WATCH: McCain Oil Industry Lobbyists Puppet Masters ad


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20080805
John McCain - Rick Davis - Foreign - Corporate - Politics - Airport - Transport - Jobs - 2008 Election - Obama - Ohio - Ky - Arizona - US - German
"McCain had role in original Wilmington DHL deal." ... "When [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain meets Thursday with citizens and officials in Wilmington, Ohio, he won't need a playbook to understand why they're worried about deep job losses at the local freight airport." ... "Little known to those citizens, McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, played roles in the fate of DHL Express and its Ohio air park as far back as 2003. Back then, however, their actions that helped DHL and its German owner, Deutsche Post World Net, acquire the Wilmington operations resulted in expansion, not retraction." ... "In a private meeting Thursday, Wilmington residents will ask McCain for help in stopping DHL's proposal to quit using the airport as a hub, which could cost more than 8,000 jobs. DHL says that it wants to stay in the freight business but that it can stem financial losses if it can put its packages aboard the planes of a rival - United Parcel Service - before delivering them in DHL trucks. UPS flies out of Louisville, Ky. [Kentucky], so the proposed change would render the Wilmington airport unnecessary." ... "None of that was anticipated in 2003, when McCain and Davis, who was a Washington lobbyist before managing the presidential campaign, first got involved. Several Wilmington civic leaders said that what happened in 2003 created an economic gain for their community, lasting several years." ... "But because that gain, and now the prospective loss, came from the decisions of a foreign-owned corporation, look for some Democrats and labor to seek to tie Wilmington's current troubles to McCain." ... ""Those jobs are on the chopping block because [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain and his campaign were involved in a deal that resulted in control of those positions being shifted to a foreign corporation, and there's no getting around that," said Joe Rugola, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO." ... "Isaac Baker, a spokesman for [2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said, "This episode represents everything that's wrong with Washington, D.C." " -By Stephen Koff -PlainDealer

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20080729
Homes - Nevada - Florida - Phoenix - Arizona - Los Angeles - San Diego - San Francisco - California -Florida - Michigan - Minnesota - Illinois - Ohio - Georgia - New York - Seattle - Washington - Massachusetts - Portland - Oregon - Colorado - Texas - North Carolina
"Home prices down 15.8% in past year, S&P says: Seven of 20 cities tally monthly price gains in May, Case-Shiller data show." ... "Prices in 10 cities fell 16.9% in the past year." ... "Prices thus are at the same levels as they were in the summer of 2004, which means four years of appreciation have been effectively wiped out. Prices are down 18.4% from peak levels seen two years ago." ... "Here's a list of the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller index with the annual decline through May: Las Vegas [Nevada], down 28.4%; Miami [Florida], down 28.3%; Phoenix [Arizona], down 26.5%; Los Angeles [California], down 24.5%; San Diego [California], down 23.2%; San Francisco [California], down 22.9%; Tampa [Florida], down 20.2%; Detroit [Michigan], down 17.4%; Washington [DC], down 15.4%; Minneapolis [Minnesota], down 14.8%; Chicago [Illinois], down 9.4%; Cleveland [Ohio], down 8%; Atlanta [Georgia], and New York [City, New York], both down 7.9%; Seattle [Washington], down 6.3%; Boston [Massachusetts], down 6.2%; Portland [Oregon], down 5.2%; Denver [Colorado], down 4.8%; Dallas [Texas], down 3.1%; and Charlotte, N.C. [North Carolina], down 0.2%." -By Rex Nutting -MarketWatch

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20080714
Barack Obama - Military- Police - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Iran - Pakistan - Terrorism - Intelligence - Government - Money - Political - McCain -Arizona - 2008 Election
"My Plan for Iraq." [By 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Canidate Barack Obama] ... "The call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States." ... "The differences on Iraq in this campaign are deep. Unlike [2008 Election Republican Senator and Arizona] Senator John McCain, I opposed the war in Iraq before it began, and would end it as president. I believed it was a grave mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted from the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban [in Afghanistan] by invading a country [Iraq] that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Since then, more than 4,000 Americans have died and we have spent nearly $1 trillion. Our military is overstretched. Nearly every threat we face — from Afghanistan to Al Qaeda to Iran — has grown." ... "In the 18 months since [Republican] President Bush announced the surge, our troops have performed heroically in bringing down the level of violence. New tactics have protected the Iraqi population, and the Sunni tribes have rejected Al Qaeda — greatly weakening its effectiveness." ... "But the same factors that led me to oppose the surge still hold true. The strain on our military has grown, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated and we’ve spent nearly $200 billion more in Iraq than we had budgeted. Iraq’s leaders have failed to invest tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues in rebuilding their own country, and they have not reached the political accommodation that was the stated purpose of the surge." ... "The good news is that Iraq’s leaders want to take responsibility for their country by negotiating a timetable for the removal of American troops. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. [Lieutenant General] James Dubik, the American officer in charge of training Iraq’s security forces, estimates that the Iraqi Army and police will be ready to assume responsibility for security in 2009." ... "Only by redeploying our troops can we press the Iraqis to reach comprehensive political accommodation and achieve a successful transition to Iraqis’ taking responsibility for the security and stability of their country. Instead of seizing the moment and encouraging Iraqis to step up, the Bush administration and Senator McCain are refusing to embrace this transition — despite their previous commitments to respect the will of Iraq’s sovereign government." ... "Ending the war is essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven. Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been. As Adm. [Admiral] Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently pointed out, we won’t have sufficient resources to finish the job in Afghanistan until we reduce our commitment to Iraq." ... "As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there. I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq. " -By Barack Obama -NYTimes

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John McCain - Czech Republic - Slovakia - History - Russia - Energy - Military - Phoenix- Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Politics
"Note to McCain: Czechoslovakia doesn’t exist anymore." ... "This is almost certainly going to sound nitpicky, if not actually petty, but bear with me. It’s not unreasonable to note that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain continues to make references to a country that doesn’t exist." ... "At a press conference in Phoenix [Arizona] today, for example, McCain referenced Czechoslovakia. Again."

"“I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia. Apparently that is in reaction to the Czech’s agreement with us concerning missile defense, and again some of the Russian now announcement they are now retargeting new targets, something they abandoned at the end of the Cold War, is also a concern. So we see the tensions between Russia and their neighbors, as well as Russia and the United States are somewhat increasing.”"

"On first blush, this sounds like more antagonistic rhetoric towards Russia — which McCain wants to kick out of the G8 — which isn’t especially helpful." ... "But more importantly, Russia can’t “reduce energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.” Czechoslovakia, of course, doesn’t exist. It split into two countries more than 15 years ago. McCain has actually been to the Czech Republic and Slovakia since they became independent countries, and he’s met with their leaders." ... "First, as Greg Sargent noted, McCain has made this same mistake more than once during the campaign. About three months ago, McCain vowed to “work closely with Czechoslovakia” on missile defense. Last fall, during a Republican debate, McCain said: “The first thing I would do is make sure that we have a missile defense system in place in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and I don’t care what his objections are to it.”" ... "Second, before Republicans condemn Dems for being picky on this, let’s not forget that in the 2000 campaign, when McCain also screwed up Czechoslovakia, it was none other than [Republican] George W. Bush who said it deserved to be a campaign issue: “A guy gets up and quizzes me [on world leaders] … but John McCain says something about the ‘ambassador to Czechoslovakia.’ Well, I know there is no Czechoslovakia [there’s a Czech Republic and a Slovakia], but yet it didn’t make the nightly national news." ... "But the raison d’etre of John McCain’s entire presidential campaign is the notion that he’s an expert on foreign policy, thanks to his decades of experience as a Washington insider. When the foreign policy expert keeps referencing a non-existent country, it’s not unreasonable to mention that maybe his expertise isn’t quite as impressive as his campaign and the political media establishment would like us to believe." ... "McCain, meanwhile, makes mistakes like this all the time, almost always with no media scrutiny at all.” -By Steve Benen -TheCarpetbaggerReport.com

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20080703
John McCain - Carl H Lindner Jr - BobPerry -  - Money- Politics - Accounting - Marketing - 2004 Election - 2008 Election - Texas - Ohio - Arizona -Illinois - Obama
"McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes: Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama." ... "Allies of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama." ... "In one method, a Republican Party fund aimed at electing governors has started marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain. His 2002 campaign law limits donations to presidential races to try to curtail the influence of wealth." ... "The Republican Governors Association isn't subject to those limits, and has long gathered up large donations from individuals and companies. Now it is telling donors it can use their contributions to benefit Sen. McCain in some key battleground states." ... "Altogether, individuals can give $108,000 to federal campaigns within each two-year election cycle." ... "Donors with deep pockets also can avoid limits completely by contributing to groups called 527 organizations, after a provision in the tax code." ... "The [Republican] governors group counts a number of large corporations among its donors, including WellPoint Inc. [Incorporated] at $200,000, and Pfizer Inc. [Incorporated], Bank of America Corp. [Corporation] and Travelers Cos. [Companies] at $150,000 or more." ... "Texas developer Bob Perry, the largest financial backer of the Swift Boat group [that attacked the military service of 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry], also is the largest individual donor to the governors group, at $250,000. Carl Lindner, a retired insurance executive in Ohio and another top Swift Boat financier, has contributed $100,000 to the governors' fund. The campaign-finance lawyer for the Swift Boat group in 2004 now serves the same role for the governors association." ... "In another Republican strategy, the McCain campaign itself last month began soliciting its biggest donations yet -- up to $70,100 per check." -By Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam -WSJ.com

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20080702
John McCain - Carl H Lindner Jr - Terrorism - Money - Illegal - Military - Politics- Federal - Investigation - International-Food - Colombia - US - Arizona - Ohio - 2008 Election
"McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia." ... "The co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States." ... "Carl H. Lindner Jr., the billionaire Cincinnati [Ohio] businessman, was CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of Chiquita Brands International from 1984 to 2001, and remained on the company's board of directors until May 2002. Beginning under his tenure, Chiquita executives paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC), which is described by George Washington University's National Security Archive as an "illegal right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country's most notorious civilian massacres."" ... "Following a Justice Department indictment [pdf] last year, Chiquita admitted to illegally funding the paramilitaries and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. Chiquita's payments to the AUC began in 1997 and lasted seven years; roughly half of the funds came after the group was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department in 2001." ... "According to the Justice Department, the payments "were reviewed and approved by senior executives" of Chiquita, who knew by no later than September 2000 "that the AUC was a violent, paramilitary organization."" ... "Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The event raised about $2 million; Lindner also serves on McCain's Ohio Victory Team." ... "While Lindner was CEO of Chiquita, the company began sending money to the AUC through its shipping subsidiary Banadex. A report by the Organization of American States states that Banadex also engaged in arms trafficking, helping to deliver 3,000 Nicaraguan AK-47 rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to the AUC in 2001. According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash." -By Nico Pitney -HuffingtonPost.com

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John McCain - Karl Rove - Rick Davis - Arizona -2004 Election - 2008 Election - Media - 
"McCain camp puts Rove man in charge: New chief Steve Schmidt, right, a veteran of the [Republican President] Bush campaign, will focus on honing McCain's message. Republicans have complained the campaign lacked clear themes." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has gone through its second shake-up in a year. Responding to Republican concern that his candidacy was faltering, McCain put a veteran of President Bush's 2004 campaign in charge of day-to-day operations, and stepped away from a plan to have the campaign run by 11 regional managers, McCain's aides said Wednesday." ... "The elevation of Steve Schmidt -- who worked closely with Karl Rove -- at McCain's headquarters represented a sharp diminishment of the responsibilities of Rick Davis, who has been McCain's campaign manager since the last shake-up nearly a year ago." ... "The move is the latest sign of increasing influence of veterans of Rove's shop in the McCain operation. Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for Bush in the 2004 campaign (and in his White House) has joined the campaign as a senior adviser, and will travel with McCain every other week. Greg Jenkins, another veteran of Rove's operation who is a former Fox News [TV] producer and director of presidential advance in the Bush White House, was hired by Schmidt last week after a series of what McCain's advisers acknowledged were poorly executed campaign events." (1, 2, 3) -NYTimes -WashingtonPost via -StarTribune

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20080630
John McCain - Bud Day - 2004 Election - Ads - Military - History - Vietnam - US - Arizona - Massachusetts - 2008 Election
"McCain Uses Swift Boat Vet Bud Day To Rebut Wesley Clark." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's campaign on Monday launched the McCain "Truth Squad" - a group of political and Vietnam contemporaries who would counter attacks on the Senator's military record." ... "In hopes of nipping any criticism in the bud, the campaign brought on board a man quite familiar with how these types of attacks gain legs: Bud Day, a fellow POW who was part of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that worked so hard to defame [2004 Election Presidential Candidate and Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Sen. John Kerry's own Vietnam record." ... "On the conference call, Day - in addition to the other participants - decried comments made by [General] Gen. Wesley Clark over the weekend, in which he questioned whether McCain's war experience really qualified him to be commander-in-chief. Defending McCain's service, Day was quick to personalize his remarks, attacking Clark's military record in the process." ... "That Day would politicize Vietnam in his defense of McCain is not surprising. During the 2004 campaign, he said of Kerry: "My view is he basically will go down in history sometime as the Benedict Arnold of 1971." And after appearing in a national advertisement for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign, Day formed the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, an extension of the Swift Boat effort." ... "Not willing to let the irony go unnoticed, Kerry lashed out at McCain, on Monday, for using the same smear merchant he once decried." ... ""Colonel Day's comments today only further highlight the McCain campaign's disregard for a new kind of politics," said Kerry. "John McCain condemned these kinds of attacks in 2004 when he called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth 'dishonest and dishonorable.' Senator McCain should condemn these remarks and cut ties with the Colonel and anyone else connected to SBVT. Day's comments only serve to disparage all those who served on swift boats in Vietnam."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080624
McCain -Charles R Black Jr - Foreign - Money - Politics - Human Rights - 2008 Election - Arizona - US - Pakistan -Angola -Philippines - Zaire now: Democratic Republic of the Congo - Nigeria - Somalia - Kenya
"Terror Strike Would Help McCain, Top Adviser Says." ... "A top adviser to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain said that a terrorist attack in the United States would be a political benefit to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a comment that was immediately disputed by the candidate and denounced by his Democratic rival." ... "Charles R. Black Jr., one of McCain's most senior political advisers, said in an interview with Fortune magazine that a fresh terrorist attack "certainly would be a big advantage to him." He also said that the December assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, while "unfortunate," helped McCain win the Republican primary by focusing attention on national security." ... "The comment reinjected the fear of terrorism into the campaign as both candidates had been shifting their conversation to the economy and $4-per-gallon gasoline." ... "The comments also returned the political spotlight to McCain's advisers and, in particular, to Black, who has drawn criticism for his long lobbying career and his representation of controversial foreign governments. McCain has been criticized for surrounding himself with top advisers who were lobbyists." ... "Black and his lobbying partners were at times registered foreign agents for a collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights records were sometimes harshly criticized, even as American conservatives embraced their opposition to communism. They included Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian [General] Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, and the countries of Kenya and Equatorial Guinea, among others." (1, 2) -By Michael D. Shear with contributions by Karl Vick and Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

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20080623
McCain - Charlie Black - Terrorism - 2008 Election -Ariz - US - Pakistan
"McCain Adviser: Terrorist Attack Would Help McCain in Election." ... "McCain adviser Charlie Black told Fortune Magazine that national security events help [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona.]" ... ""The assassination of [Pakistani Presidential Candidate] Benazir Bhutto in December was an 'unfortunate event,' says Black. 'But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who's ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.' As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. 'Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,' says Black."" -By Jake Tapper -ABCNEWS.com

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20080612
John McCain - Osama bin Laden - Afghanistan - Iraq - US - Military - People - Arizona - Del - Nev - 2008 Election
"McCain’s remark sparks an uproar." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain triggered a tempest over Iraq on Wednesday, saying it was "not too important" to set a timetable for American troop withdrawals from Iraq." ... "The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was asked on NBC's "Today" show if he had an estimate for when [United States] U.S. troops might leave Iraq." ... ""No, but that's not too important," he replied. "What's important is casualties in Iraq. . . . Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That's all fine. . . . The key to it is, we don't want any more Americans in harm's way."" ... "[Delaware Democratic Senator Joseph Biden:]" ... ""Sen. McCain's comment is evidence that he is totally out of touch with the needs of our troops and the national security needs of our nation," said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del. [Democratic-Delaware]). "I think many of our brave soldiers and their families would disagree that it's 'not too important' when they come home."" ... "[Nevada Democratic Senator and] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev. [Democratic-Nevada]) joined in. "McCain's statement today that withdrawing troops doesn't matter is a crystal-clear indicator that he just doesn't get the grave national security consequences of staying the course," Reid said in a statement. "Osama bin Laden is freely plotting attacks, our efforts in Afghanistan are undermanned, and our military readiness has been dangerously diminished."" -By John McCormick with contributions by Mike Dorning and Mark Silva -ChicagoTribune via -LAtimes

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20080611
Barack Obama - John McCain - Corporate - Law - Politics - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Obama attacks U.S. credit card companies, McCain." ... ""For too long, credit card companies have been using unfair and deceptive practices to trick Americans into signing agreements they can't afford," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama said." ... "Obama said the laws and regulations governing credit card companies have been lax and that the companies have paid millions of dollars to curry favor with members of Congress "to get laws written to their liking."" ... "Obama said [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] "John McCain has been part of the problem," accusing the presumptive Republican nominee of siding with banking industry lobbyists on credit issues and voting against an effort to increase transparency on credit card bills." ... ""When he had the chance to help families avoid falling into debt, John McCain sided with the credit card companies," Obama said of the Arizona senator." (1, 2) -By Steve Holland -Reuters

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Barack Obama - John McCain - Money - Politics -Workers - Retirees - Homeowners -Students - Farmers - Families - US_Debt - Law - Illinois -Arizona - 2008 Election
"A Preliminary Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans." [Full Report PDF] ... "Senator [from Illinois and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama would permanently extend certain provisions of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts primarily affecting taxpayers with incomes under $250,000; increase the maximum rate on capital gains and qualified dividends; and enact new and expanded targeted tax breaks for workers, retirees, homeowners, savers, students, and new farmers. Senator [from Arizona and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain proposes to extend permanently the AMT "patch" that has prevented most individuals and families with incomes below $200,000 from being affected by the tax, and in our interpretation of his proposal, Senator Obama would do the same." ... "Although both candidates have at times stressed fiscal responsibility, their specific non-health tax proposals would reduce tax revenues by $3.7 trillion (McCain) and $2.7 trillion (Obama) over the next 10 years, or approximately 10 and 7 percent of the revenues scheduled for collection under current law, respectively. Furthermore, as in the case of [Republican] President Bush's tax cuts, the true cost of McCain's policies may be masked by phase-ins and sunsets (scheduled expiration dates) that reduce the estimated revenue costs. If his policies were fully phased in and permanent, the ten-year cost would rise to $4.1 trillion, or about 11 percent of total revenues." -TaxPolicyCenter.org

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20080608
Barack Obama - John McCain - Hillary Clinton - 2008 Election - North Carolina - Missouri - Montana - Virginia - Illinois -Arizona - New York - Economy - History - Gasoline -Unemployment
"Obama Maps a Nationwide Push in G.O.P. Strongholds." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama’s general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain in typically Republican states — from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana — as Mr. Obama seeks to take advantage of voter turnout operations built in nearly 50 states in the long Democratic nomination battle, aides said." ... "On Monday, Mr. Obama will travel to North Carolina — a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 32 years — to start a two-week tour of speeches, town hall forums and other appearances intended to highlight differences with Mr. McCain on the economy. From there, he heads to Missouri, which last voted for a Democrat in 1996. His first campaign swing after securing the Democratic presidential nomination last week was to Virginia, which last voted Democratic in 1964." ... "With [New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton now having formally bowed out of the race and thrown her backing to him, Mr. Obama wants to define the faltering economy as the paramount issue facing the country, a task probably made easier by ever-rising gasoline prices and the sharp rise in unemployment the government reported on Friday." (1, 2) -By Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny with contributions by Jim Rutenberg -NYTimes

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20080606
John McCain - Surveillance -Amnesty - Politics - Corporate - Military - Government - Phone - E-Mail - Intelligence - History - Arizona - American - International - 2008 Election
"Adviser Says McCain Backs Bush Wiretaps." ... "A top adviser to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain says Mr. McCain believes that [Republican] President Bush’s program of wiretapping without warrants was lawful, a position that appears to bring him into closer alignment with the sweeping theories of executive authority pushed by the Bush administration legal team." ... "In a letter posted online by National Review this week, the adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said Mr. McCain believed that the Constitution gave Mr. Bush the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and e-mail without warrants, despite a 1978 federal statute that required court oversight of surveillance." ... "Although a spokesman for Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, denied that the senator’s views on surveillance and executive power had shifted, legal specialists said the letter contrasted with statements Mr. McCain previously made about the limits of presidential power." ... "In an interview about his views on the limits of executive power with The Boston Globe six months ago, Mr. McCain strongly suggested that if he became the next commander in chief, he would consider himself obligated to obey a statute restricting what he did in national security matters." ... "Mr. McCain was asked whether he believed that the president had constitutional power to conduct surveillance on American soil for national security purposes without a warrant, regardless of federal statutes." ... "He replied: “There are some areas where the statutes don’t apply, such as in the surveillance of overseas communications. Where they do apply, however, I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is.”" ... "Following up, the interviewer asked whether Mr. McCain was saying a statute trumped a president’s powers as commander in chief when it came to a surveillance law. “I don’t think the president has the right to disobey any law,” Mr. McCain replied." ... "David Golove, a New York University law professor who specializes in executive power issues, said that while the language used by Mr. McCain in his answers six months ago was imprecise, the recent statement by Mr. Holtz-Eakin “seems to contradict precisely what he said earlier.”" ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama campaign adviser Greg Craig:] “American voters deserve to know which side of this flip-flop [McCain is] he’s on today, and what he would do as president,” Mr. Craig said in a phone interview." ... "And Glenn Greenwald, a Salon columnist and critic of the Bush administration's legal claims, wrote that the statement was a "complete reversal" by McCain, accusing the candidate of seeking "to shore up the support of right-wing extremists."" (1, 2) -By Charlie Savage -NYTimes

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20080603
John McCain - Criminal - Spying -Secretly - Military - Government - Intelligence -Corporate - Telecom - Amnesty - Terrorism - Politics - 2008 Election - Arizona -Civil Liberties
"McCain: I'd Spy on Americans Secretly, Too." ... "If elected president, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain would reserve the right to run his own warrantless wiretapping program against Americans, based on the theory that the president's wartime powers trump federal criminal statutes and court oversight, according to a statement released by his campaign Monday." ... "McCain's new tack towards the [Republican President] Bush administration's theory of executive power comes some 10 days after a McCain surrogate stated, incorrectly it seems, that the senator wanted hearings into telecom companies' cooperation with [Republican] President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, before he'd support giving those companies retroactive legal immunity." ... "As first reported by Threat Level, Chuck Fish, a full-time lawyer for the McCain campaign, also said McCain wanted stricter rules on how the nation's telecoms work with U.S. [United States] spy agencies, and expected those companies to apologize for any lawbreaking before winning amnesty." ... "But Monday, McCain adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin, speaking for the campaign, disavowed those statements, and for the first time cast McCain's views on warrantless wiretapping as identical to Bush's."

"[N]either the Administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] and the trial lawyers, understand were Constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001. [...]"

"We do not know what lies ahead in our nation’s fight against radical Islamic extremists, but John McCain will do everything he can to protect Americans from such threats, including asking the telecoms for appropriate assistance to collect intelligence against foreign threats to the United States as authorized by Article II of the Constitution."

"The Article II citation is key, since it refers to [Republican] President Bush's longstanding arguments that the president has nearly unlimited powers during a time of war. The administration's analysis went so far as to say the Fourth Amendment did not apply inside the United States in the fight against terrorism, in one legal opinion from 2001." -By Ryan Singel -Wired

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Hillary Clinton -John McCain - Barack Obama -2008 Election - New York - Arizona - Illinois - Nevada - California - "Pelosi, Reid, Dean Go Public: Democrats Need To Endorse." ... "In the absence of a concession speech from [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night, top figures in the Democratic Party went public, urging all uncommitted officials to declare their presidential affiliations." ... "[Nevada Democratic Senator and] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, [California Democratic Representative and] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, and an official with the Democratic Governors Association released a public statement on Wednesday morning requesting that the party close its ranks and prepare for the race against [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain." ... "The move, which had been anticipated but seemed unnecessary following [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator Barack] Obama's clinching of the nomination on Tuesday night, is an indication that few figures beyond Clinton's utmost loyalists are willing to stomach a prolonged vacation period for the New York Democrat to make up her mind."-By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080602
John McCain - Barack Obama - US - Iran - Military - Technology - Intelligence - Politics - Terrorism - Iraq -  - Ariz - Ill - 2008 Election
"Both McCain, Obama exaggerating Iran's nuclear program." ... "The presumptive Republican nominee for president and the leading contender for the Democratic nomination are exaggerating what's known about Iran's nuclear program as they duel over how best to deal with Tehran." ... "[2008 Election Presidential Candidates and Senators] Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona], and Barack Obama, D-Ill. [Democratic-Illinois], say that Iran is developing nuclear weapons." ... "The U.S. intelligence community, however, thinks that Iran halted an effort to build a nuclear warhead in mid-2003, and the [United Nations] U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, which is investigating the program, has found no evidence to date of an active Iranian nuclear-weapons project." ... "The candidates' comments raise questions about how carefully the two have studied the public record on what's become a major campaign issue and is one of the most difficult foreign-policy challenges likely to confront the next president." ... "The issue is also significant because the [Republican President] Bush administration inflated assessments of the Iraqi nuclear threat and the possibility that former dictator Saddam Hussein could pass nuclear weapons to terrorists as it sought to whip up public support for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq." ... "Iran has been expanding an industrial-scale uranium enrichment program in defiance of U.N. Security Council demands that it be suspended. Enrichment is the process that produces low-enriched uranium fuel for nuclear generating stations and highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons." ... "Iran, whose known enrichment facilities are under IAEA monitoring, says it's making low-enriched uranium reactor fuel and has no intention of developing weapons. Few experts, however, think that Iran has come clean about all its nuclear activities." -By Jonathan S. Landay -McClatchyDC.com

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John Hagee - John McCain - Joseph Lieberman -Racist - Homosexual - Religious - Military - Politics - Arizona - Connecticut - New York -Indiana - History- Germany - Israel - Iraq -US - 2008 Election - "Pastor Hagee: The Antichrist Is Gay, "Partially Jewish, As Was Adolph Hitler" (Paging Joe Lieberman!)." ... "On March 16, 2003, on the eve of the United States' invasion of Iraq, [Republican Televangelist] Pastor John Hagee took to the pulpit to warn of the coming Antichrist. In his sermon, "The Final Dictator," Hagee described the Antichrist as a seductive figure with "fierce features." He will be "a blasphemer and a homosexual," the pastor announced. Then, Hagee boomed, "There's a phrase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man [the Antichrist] is at least going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler, as was Karl Marx."" ... "This "fierce" gay Jew, according to Hagee, would "slaughter one-third of the Earth's population" and "make Adolph Hitler look like a choirboy."" ... "Exposed here for the first time, Hagee's comments identifying the Antichrist as a partly Jewish homosexual arrive in the wake of a furor the pastor provoked by describing the Holocaust as an act of God. Hagee's chilling sermon about the Holocaust prompted [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain to reject the preacher's support, an unexpected turnabout after McCain spent over a year soliciting his endorsement." ... "Days after McCain's rejection, I reported that a key McCain ally, [Connecticut Independent Senator] Sen. Joseph Lieberman, planned to deliver the keynote speech at Hagee's upcoming Christians United For Israel (CUFI) summit. As the story exploded into the mainstream press, pressure mounted on Lieberman to withdraw." ... "[New York Democratic Representative Eliot] Engel is slated to speak on CUFI's "Middle East Briefing" panel this July. He will be joined on the panel by Republican [Indiana Representative] Rep. Mike Pence, Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist [and Fox contributor] Bill Kristol, and Christian right activist Gary Bauer." -ByMax Blumenthal -HuffingtonPost.com

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LISTEN to McCAIN endorser John HAGEE claim the Antichrist will be a Jewish homosexual.
WATCH McCAIN endorser John HAGEE relate a story of how Florida Jews "mysteriously" voted for Republican George W Bush and subsequently explain, "And I believe it is because that this nation is doing what God intended us to do from the day that Christopher Columbus discovered this nation.".

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20080530
• Barack Obama - John McCain - Accounting - People - Families - US - Iraq - Military - Book - MT - Arizona - Wisconsin - 2008 Election - "Obama slams McCain on Iraq facts." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama isn't expected to speak until 7:45 pm ET at a rally in Great Falls, MT [Montana]. But his campaign has released excerpts of his remarks, which go right after [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's "pre-surge levels" misstatement yesterday. They also invoke Scott McClellan's new book." ... "[Barack Obama:] "There are honest differences about how to move forward in Iraq, just like there were honest differences about whether or not we should go to war," Obama is supposed to say. "John McCain was for the invasion of Iraq; I opposed it. John McCain wants to continue George Bush’s war in Iraq indefinitely; I want to end it. So there’s going to be a clear choice for the American people this November."" ... ""But that’s not what John McCain’s been talking about the last few days. He’s been proposing a joint trip to Iraq that’s nothing more than a political stunt. He’s even been using it to raise a few dollars for his campaign. But it seems like [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain’s a lot more interested in my travel plans than the facts, because yesterday – in his continued effort to put the best light on a failed policy – he stood up in Wisconsin and said, 'We have drawn down to pre-surge levels' in Iraq."" ... ""That’s not true, and anyone running for commander-in-chief should know better. As the saying goes, you’re entitled to your own view, but not your own facts. We’ve got around 150,000 troops in Iraq -- 20,000 more than we had before the surge. We have plans to get down to around 140,000 later this summer -- that’s still more troops than we had in Iraq before the surge. And today, Sen. McCain refused to correct his mistake. Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake. His campaign said it amounts to 'nitpicking.'"" ... ""Well, I don’t think tens of thousands of American troops amounts to nitpicking. Tell that to the young men and women who are serving bravely and brilliantly under our flag. Tell that to the families who have seen their loved ones fight tour after tour after tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged."" ... ""It’s time for a debate that’s based on the truth, and I can’t think of anything more important than how many Americans are in harm’s way. It’s time for a debate that’s based on how we’re going to end this war -- not a debate that’s based on raising a few dollars for John McCain’s campaign."" ... ""The American people have had enough spin. Just this week, we were reminded by President Bush’s own former spokesman of how it was deception -- not straight talk -- that misled the American people into war. It’s time to cut through the tough talk so that we can be straight with the American people about a war that’s cost us thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars without making us safer. It’s time to end the political game-playing so that we can finally end this war. That’s what I’ll do in this campaign. And that’s what I’ll do when I’m President of the United States."" -From Mark Murray and Athena Jones -MSNBC

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• John McCain - Jon Kyl - 2008 Election - Arizona - Massachusetts - US - Iraq - Military - Terrorism - Politics - "In An Iraq-Related Hole, McCain Keeps On Digging." ... "Both the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator [John McCain] and his aides sought to brush away his factually inaccurate statement that American troops in Iraq were down to pre-surge levels." ... "Reminded that troops in Iraq currently number 155,000, well above the pre-surge level of 130,000, McCain refused to acknowledge on Friday that he had misspoke." ... ""I said we had drawn down," the Senator declared during a press conference ([]watch video). "I said we have drawn down and we have drawn down three of the five brigades. We have drawn down three of the five brigades. We have drawn down the marines. The rest will be home the end of July. That's just facts, the facts as I stated them."" ... "But that isn't what he stated. On Thursday, in fact, he made a very specific measurement as to the extent of troop reductions." ... ""I can tell you that it [the mission in Iraq] is succeeding," said McCain. "I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels."" ... "And that was just the beginning. McCain's gaffe had already been exacerbated during a conference call earlier in the day, when aides to the Arizona Republican insisted that he had not misspoke, even while McCain surrogate [Arizona Republican Senator] Sen. Jon Kyl acknowledged on the same call that he had: "What he said was not entirely accurate. OK. So what?"" ... "During the same Thursday conference when he [McCain] misstated troop levels, he also argued that conditions were "quiet" in Mosul [Iraq]. That same day, three suicide bombers killed 30 in the city." ... ""It is very disturbing to have John McCain continue to raise questions about what he knows and what he bases his judgments on," [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Sen. John Kerry said. "If you don't know the number of troops, it is difficult to make a judgment as to whether they are overextended. ... It raises serious questions about his comprehension of this challenge."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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  WATCH "John McCain Misrepresents The Facts On The Ground," where he made the false assertion: "I can tell you that it [the Surge] is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr City are quiet." --John McCain, Town Hall meeting, May 28, 2008.

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20080529
• John McCain - 2008 Election - Wisconsin - Arizona - US - Iraq - Military - Terrorism - "McCain Declares Mosul "Quiet" On Same Day As Three Suicide Attacks (Video)." ... "Speaking about Iraq at a townhall event on Thursday evening in Greensdale, Wisconsin, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain declared, "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks..."" ... "McCain was wrong on two points. First, U.S. [United States] forces have not returned to pre-surge levels. Before the surge, there were 130,000 troops in Iraq; even if the scheduled troop reductions are carried out as planned, there will still be 140,000 troops in Iraq in August." ... "Moreover, McCain's claim that Mosul [Iraq] is "quiet" was disproved earlier today in grim fashion. Three suicide bombings -- two in Mosul and another in a surrounding town -- left 30 Iraqis dead and more than two dozen injured, according to press_reports. " -By Nico Pitney -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080527
• John McCain - Rick Renzi - Jon Kyl - Money - Politics - Federal - Investigation - Phoenix - Arizona - Real Estate - Land - Legislation - Nevada - "FBI interviews Arizona staffers." ... "Federal agents interviewed staffers for likely [2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee [and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (Ariz. [Arizona]) as part of their corruption case against [Arizona Republican Representative] Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.[Republican-Arizona])." ... "[United States] U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Diane J. Humetewa and fellow prosecutors disclosed the interviews with aides for McCain and fellow Arizona Republican [Senator] Sen. Jon Kyl in a written response to Renzi’s attorneys, who asked for the contents of the interview to help prepare for Renzi’s upcoming trial, which is scheduled for October [2008]." ... "The aides were interviewed about land exchanges, according to an April letter from Humetewa filed with the U.S. District Court of Arizona late last week." ... "A federal land swap critical to developing a $3 billion copper mine southeast of Phoenix [Arizona] is at the heart of the case against Renzi, who is facing 35 public corruption charges, including conspiracy, money-laundering, extortion and insurance fraud." ... "Renzi is alleged to have told executives for Resolution Copper Mining that he would not support a land deal the mining company was interested in unless they bought his former business partner’s property as part of the deal, according to the [February] Feb. 22 federal indictment." ... "Under the deal, 5,000 acres of non-federal land owned by Resolution Copper were to be exchanged for 3,025 acres of federal land. The federal land sits on a large copper deposit, and the exchange would have allowed mining on land for the first time since a 1954 executive order by [Republican] then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower." ... "Renzi allegedly wanted land owned by a business partner who owed Renzi money to be included in the deal. If the land had been included, prosecutors charge, it would have allowed the business partner to pay a debt to Renzi." ... "Resolution Copper refused to cooperate, but another company, Preserved Petrified Forest Land Investors LLC [Limited Liability Company] of Las Vegas [Nevada], agreed to buy the land. Prosecutors allege this netted Renzi more than $700,000." ... "Renzi twice introduced a land swap bill, in 2005 and 2006, before taking his name off of the measure after the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] raided his family business in April 2007. [Arizona Democratic Representiave] Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.[Democratic-Arizona]) then introduced the legislation on [August] Aug. 1, 2007, along with Arizona [Republican Representatives] Reps. Jeff Flake and John Shadegg, both Republicans, and Democrat[ic Representative] Harry Mitchell (D[Democratic])." ... "Sens. McCain and Kyl introduced companion legislation in the Senate, most recently in July 2007. " (1, 2) -By Susan Crabtree -TheHill.com

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• Barack Obama - John McCain - Home - Finance - Laws - Working - People - Nevada - Arizona - 2008 Election - "Obama assails McCain's foreclosure stance." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama today slammed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, for adopting President Bush's "bad ideas" for solving the home foreclosure crisis -- and for accepting the president's fundraising help." ... ""We've had enough of the can't-do, don't-do, won't-even-try approach from George Bush and John McCain," Obama said during a speech in Las Vegas [Nevada]. According to the Obama campaign, 3.4% of Nevada homeowners went into foreclosure last year, three times the national average." ... ""Look, this is a serious problem all across Las Vegas, all across Nevada, all across the nation," Obama said. "A lot of this wouldn't have happened if we would have done a better job regulating banks."" ... "Obama, speaking later to a crowd of about 75 homeowners in North Las Vegas, noted that McCain was to attend a private fundraiser with Bush in Arizona today." ... ""John McCain is running for a third term of tax cuts that only shift the burden onto working people," he said. "That might make sense to the Washington lobbyists who run John McCain's campaign, but it won't do anything to help families who are struggling."" -By Johanna Neuman with contributions by Maeve Reston -LAtimes

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• Home - Prices - Nevada - Florida - Phoenix - Arizona - NC - "S&P: US home prices tumble a record 14.1 pct in 1Q." ... "Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller said its national home price index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the lowest since its inception in 1988." ... "However, the index is still up 60 percent versus 2000." ... "Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent." ... "Las Vegas [Nevada] had the worst performance in March, falling 25.9 percent from a year earlier, followed by Miami [Florida] and Phoenix [Arizona]. Only Charlotte, N.C. [North Carolina], stayed above water, gaining less than 1 percent over the previous year." -By J.W. Elphinstone -AP via -SFGate.com

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• Obama - McCain - Money - Housing - Working - People - Families - Arizona - Nevada - 2008 Election - "Obama Hits McCain on Closed Door Meeting with Bush." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama on Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain:] "Today, John McCain is having a different kind of meeting. He's holding a fundraiser with George Bush behind closed doors in Arizona. No cameras. No reporters," Obama said before a town hall in Las Vegas [Nevada], "And we all know why. Senator McCain doesn't want to be seen, hat-in-hand, with the President whose failed policies he promises to continue for another four years. But the question for the American people is: do we want to continue George Bush's policies?"" ... "Watch the VIDEO HERE." ... ""I don't think the American people want to continue the disastrous economic policies that have helped create catastrophes like the housing crisis that we're here to discuss today," Obama continued, "On issue after issue, John McCain is offering more of the same policies that have failed for the last eight years. That's the agenda that he and the President are raising money to support later today. But I'm here in Nevada because we know it’s time to turn the page."" ... "Obama referenced an economic address that [Arizona] Senator McCain gave last week, characterizing his comments as out of touch with working people, "Senator McCain is so out of touch with the struggles of working people that he gave a speech laying out his economic agenda last week, and he couldn't even be bothered to talk about the foreclosure crisis that has put so many families on the brink of financial catastrophe, and put our economy on the brink—or in—recession."" -From Sunlen Miller -ABCNEWS.com 

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20080525
• John McCain - Rick Davis - Criminal - Government - Money - Politics - Foreign - Military - Satellite - Imagery - Technology - Israel - Ukraine - Russia - Switzerland - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - "Lobbying labyrinth in McCain camp." ... "Rick Davis, the manager of [Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain's [2008 Election] presidential campaign, is a typical Washington insider in many ways, having long worked as both a lobbyist and a political operative along the intersection of politics, policy and money." ... "Take Davis's involvement with one of his lesser-known lobbying clients, an Israeli company, Imagesat, which sells satellite imagery. Along with lobbying for it, Davis became a consultant to a private investment firm that had a financial stake in it. That connection opened the door for him to get in on the ground floor of other investments made by the firm, Pegasus Capital Advisors." ... "... Davis's business partner, Paul Manafort [of the Davis Manafort lobbying firm], has met with the United States ambassador in Ukrain    e, a time when he was advising Viktor Yanukovich, that country's onetime prime minister, a State Department official said. Yanukovich's party was opposed by both the [Republican President] Bush administration and McCain because it was closely tied to Vladimir Putin [Russia's former President]." ... "Davis Manafort received $120,000 from late 2004 to mid-2005 to lobby for Imagesat on both defense and domestic security issues. Davis and Christian Ferry, now McCain's deputy campaign manager, were the two lobbyists on the project, the records show." ... "Along with his work as a lobbyist, Davis at the time was also drawing a salary as the part-time president of the Reform Institute, a Washington group that McCain helped found to reduce "the influence of special interests" in politics and government." ... "In November 2005, Pegasus bought a stake in a company called Traxys, which trades in industrial metals." ... "In January 2006, just two months later, the subject of metals trading came up in association with a social meeting Davis helped arrange near Davos, Switzerland. At that meeting, first reported by The Washington Post, McCain met the Russian aluminum magnate, Oleg Deripaska, who has been barred from entering the United States apparently because of alleged criminal ties." (1, 2) -By Barry Meier with contributions by Kate Zernike and Andrew E. Kramer -NYTimes via -IHT.com 

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