Posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 by Robert McMahon
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) repeated his pledge to impose a one-year federal spending freeze “on every agency of the federal government, excepting only national defense, the care of our veterans, and a few critical priorities.” He spoke in a radio address on Saturday.
ENERGY: Newsday looks at the potential impact of the financial crisis on the presidential candidates’ alternative energy plans.
ISRAEL: The Obama campaign on Sunday told an Israeli media outlet that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) would not cut U.S. military aid (Globes) to Israel if elected.
Posted in Economy, Energy Policy, Military, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 by campaign2008
U.S. Vice Presidential candidates Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sparred on U.S. military deployments in Iraq and several other foreign policy issues in their only television debate before November’s election. On the financial crisis, Biden reaffirmed statements from Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) that any federal government package created to deal with the turmoil should be focused on the middle class (FT). Palin attacked “predatory” lending practices on Wall Street and said Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) past positions cast him as an economic reformer.
On Iraq, Palin criticized setting a timetable for a major troop drawdown, which is favored by Obama and Biden, saying “it would be a travesty if we were to quit now in Iraq.” Biden reaffirmed Obama’s plan to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan and said the United States is wasting money in Iraq that could be spent more effectively fighting extremism in Afghanistan.
Here is a run-down of some of the candidates’ statements on other foreign policy issues:
Climate change: Neither candidate disputed climate change is occurring. Palin indicated it was caused both by human activity and by “cyclical temperature changes on our planet.” Biden asserted that climate change is manmade.
Darfur: Both candidates expressed support for a no-fly zone over Darfur. Biden said the United States should provide helicopters to get 21,000 African Union forces into Darfur. Palin cited her support for pending legislation that would divest the Alaska Permanent Fund from Darfur.
Iran: Palin said the U.S. president should not meet without preconditions with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Biden stressed the importance of going “the extra mile on diplomacy” with Iran to resolve the crisis over its nuclear program.
This candidate bio outlines Biden’s statements on foreign policy topics. This one profiles Palin’s.
Posted in Afghanistan, Africa, General Election, Iran, Iraq, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 by campaign2008
“India has been a responsible democracy and this agreement allows it to beco
me further integrated into the global effort to control proliferation of dangerous technologies. The agreement will also allow the U.S. and India to cooperate in taking maximum advantage of new technologies that can provide energy without relying on greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels.”
–Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in a statement on Thursday on the Senate’s passage of the U.S.-India Civil-Nuclear Agreement.
Posted in General Election, India, Quote of the Day | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 by Joanna Klonsky
Which candidate will Asian Americans choose in November? In a new article, Slate writer Christopher Beam asks why pundits and pollsters don’t pay much attention to that question since Asian Americans are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States. One reason, he says, is size. Though Asian Americans make up about five percent of the U.S. population, they have “the lowest proportion of eligible voters compared with the populations (about 52 percent) of any racial group,” he writes.
The issues that matter most to Asian-American voters also vary widely, Beam says. “Chinese care a lot about U.S.-China relations,” he writes. “Taiwanese care about China-Taiwan. Vietnamese favor anti-communist policies. And Filipinos often vote based on whoever supports benefits for Filipino veterans of World War II. Plus, segments of the Asian-American community often disagree—as Taiwanese Americans and Chinese Americans do on Taiwan, for example, or Pakistanis and Indians on Kashmir.”
Both presidential candidates have made an effort to reach out to Asian-American voters. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) who lived in Indonesia during his childhood, has released a policy program (PDF) for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. That agenda promotes Obama’s immigration policy and his plan to end the war in Iraq, noting that some 39,000 Asian and Pacific Islander Americans have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001. It also recognizes South Asia as a “key future trade and economic partner” and signals Obama’s intention to “forge a new and lasting framework for collective security in Asia that goes beyond bilateral agreements, occasional summits, and ad-hoc arrangements like the six-party talks.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a Vietnam War veteran, similarly calls for intensifying the U.S. security partnership with many Asian states in a Foreign Affairs essay. He also calls for stepping up trade liberalization with Asia.
Though major polls of Asian-American voters are lacking, the bloc could impact the outcome in swing states—according to Beam, Asian-Americans are “flooding battleground states like Nevada, Minnesota, and Virginia faster than other immigrant groups.”
Posted in General Election | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 by campaign2008
Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Joe Biden (D-DE) all voted in favor of the emergency economic legislation on Wednesday. Ahead of the vote, both presidential candidates urged their Senate colleagues to support the bill. McCain warned of an economic “disaster” (WSJ) if the legislation failed again. Obama said Congress should pass the bill and “move with the same sense of urgency to rescue families on Main Street who are struggling to pay their bills and keep their jobs.”
INDIA: Both presidential candidates also voted in favor of the U.S.-India nuclear trade deal on Wednesday. That bill passed.
Posted in Economy, General Election, India, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 by Joanna Klonsky
It’s not just Main Street U.S.A. waiting to confront the repercussions of Washington’s attempt to bail out the battered U.S. financial sector. A panel of experts meeting today at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs highlighted the stakes for the global economy in the U.S. financial crisis.
David Hale, chairman of David Hale Global Economics and former global chief economist for the Zurich Financial Services Group, spoke of a global funding crisis in the past week. He noted recent government interventions (Reuters) to rescue banks in Belgium, Britain, Holland and Iceland, among other countries.
Hale said the European Central Bank will likely have to alter its monetary policy, because “with this much damage in the banking system, the European economy is going to be at risk.” He predicted that England will have to cut interest rates from five percent to two percent in the coming year. “Europe has found out they are in this deep crisis,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. “They don’t have the institutions we do as backstops. They need us more than we need them, and we need them a lot right now.”
As a result of the U.S. export boom in recent years, Hale said, the U.S. manufacturing sector “has not yet had a downturn,” but the global credit shock will likely bring about a slowdown in the global economy. He also noted that although emerging markets are still mostly strong, countries like Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Korea, and Turkey have all had to raise interest rates. ”
William Osborn, board chairman of the Northern Trust Corporation, urged the audience to realize that the financial crisis “is a global problem.” Osborn cited the recent government intervention in the second-largest bank in India. In “all the places where they’ve had big run-ups, there’s just this bubble being burst, and you’re going to see it play out,” Osborn said.
Either presidential candidate will likely institute a bank recapitalization plan if elected, Hale said. He called the shaping of new financial regulatory policy a “job for a new administration,” and said the United States may get a new chairman of the Federal Reserve in 18 months “who is not an economist, but a regulator.”
A new CFR.org Issue Tracker details the presidential and vice-presidential candidates’ financial policy ideas.
Posted in Economy | 0 Comments »
Posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and Obama’s runningmate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), will return to Washington (Reuters), D.C., on Wednesday to vote on a revised economic rescue package. As part of the discussions, both McCain and Obama have endorsed a proposal to temporarily increase bank deposit insurance limits.
ENERGY: In an interview with CBS’ Katie Couric, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), the Republican vice-presidential candidate, said the United States should have begun drilling domestically for oil ten years ago, but, she said, “better late than never.”
This CFR Issue Tracker profiles energy policy priorities of both presidential tickets.
Posted in Economy, Energy Policy, General Election, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 by campaign2008
Responding to news of the failure of the Wall Street bailout legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said it is “time for all members of Congress to go back to the drawing board.” He reiterated principles he hoped the bill would follow, including “responsible oversight, effective transparency, added protections for the taxpayers, and a cap on excessive salaries for executives.” He also said the bill should “have no earmarks.”
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) responded by assuring voters that an emergency package will be passed and that “we are not going to lose jobs at an even faster clip than we are doing right now.” On Tuesday, Obama proposed raising the current limit on federal deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000 as part of the economic rescue deal.
TRADE: Congress on Monday passed the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008, which Obama introduced in March 2007. The bill bans the export of mercury from the United States. “I am proud this bill will now remove a significant portion of mercury from the global market,” Obama said in a statement.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Morning Update, Trade | 0 Comments »
Posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 by campaign2008
Both presidential candidates said Sunday they will likely support the proposed $700 billion federal financial bailout deal. On Face the Nation Sunday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) repeated his call (PDF) to “update our 20th century regulatory framework for a 21st century global financial system.”
Asked on ABC’s This Week whether the proposal satisfied his principles, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) replied, “Yes, protect the taxpayer, make sure that there isn’t excessive compensation for CEOs, a oversight body, not leaving all the decisions in the hands of one individual.”
DEBATE: The New York Times pointed out a “role reversal” among the presidential candidates policy toward Pakistan in Friday’s debate.
The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder examines the candidates’ argument about negotiating with Iran.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Iran, Morning Update, Pakistan | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, September 26th, 2008 by Joanna Klonsky
The American public is increasingly optimistic about the situation in Iraq, but is not as interested as it once was in global engagement, a new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and CFR shows.
–According to the poll, 58 percent of Americans say U.S. military operations in Iraq are going well. Still, 45 percent say the United States should keep troops in Iraq, while 50 percent say the United States should withdraw. By comparison, a recent Chicago Council on Global Affairs public opinion survey (PDF) showed 67 percent of Americans say the United States should withdraw right away.
–The study shows major differences between the political parties on other issues. 28 percent of Republicans and 43 percent of Democrats say strengthening the United Nations should be a priority. The Chicago Council on Global affairs survey showed 39 percent of all Americans said strengthening the United Nations is very important.
–22 percent of Republicans say dealing with climate change should be a priority, compared with 64 percent of Democrats. 76 percent of Americans rated energy independence a top priority. This figure corroborates the findings of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs study, which showed 80 percent of Americans said securing adequate energy supplies is “very important.”
–In 2004, 47 percent of Americans listed the prevention of genocide as a top foreign policy goal for the United States. Now, the study shows, only 36 percent prioritize genocide prevention.
The poll also looked at presidential politics, noting that a large majority of swing voters view Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as better equipped to deal with foreign policy than Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). 60 percent of Americans say the next president should focus on domestic policy rather than foreign policy.
Posted in Climate Change, Energy Policy, General Election | 0 Comments »
