Posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 by campaign2008
USA Today reports on differences between Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) over tax policy for oil companies. Obama would create a windfall profits tax on the companies, while McCain would implement a cut in the corporate income tax rate that could save oil companies billions of dollars each year.
ICC : The Associated Press looks at the candidates’ positions on the International Criminal Court and concludes U.S. policy toward the court–it only backs the court in narrow circumstances–is unlikely to change under the next administration.
Posted in Energy Policy, General Election, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 by campaign2008
“Injecting capital into our financial institutions is essential to stabilizing our economy, but we must make sure we are not giving sweetheart, insider deals that shift the risk to taxpayers without giving them sufficient upside. And we must make sure that these institutions are helping homeowners stay in their homes, which includes abiding by a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures for families who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages. Finally, the plan appears to extend a broader set of guarantees to banks without requiring any additional regulation, which represents more of the same failed philosophy that got us into this mess.”
–Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), in a statement Tuesday on the Treasury Department’s plan to invest directly into banks.
“I will direct the government to refinance troubled mortgages for homeowners and rep
lace them with mortgages they can afford. This is what we did during the Great Depression and we can do it again. Helping families who face default, foreclosure, and possible bankruptcy helps all homeowners, and will begin the process of recovery from this crisis. With so much on the line, the moment requires that government act – and as president I intend to act, quickly and decisively.”
–Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in a speech Wednesday on his Pension and Family Security Plan.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Quote of the Day | 0 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) released new details of his economic agenda on Monday. Obama’s plans include a ninety-day moratorium on home foreclosures and additional funding in government loan guarantees for automakers. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also addressed economic policy in a speech on Monday. He promised to “open new markets to goods made in America and make sure our trade is free and fair.”
NORTH KOREA: In a statement on Saturday, Obama said President Bush’s decision to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism was “an appropriate response, as long as there is a clear understanding that if North Korea fails to follow through there will be immediate consequences.”
DRAFT: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks at the candidates’ differing views on the military draft. Obama believes women should have to register for the Selective Service while McCain does not.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Military, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, October 10th, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) urged the Treasury Department on Thursday to “move as quickly possible” to implement the economic rescue package “so that we can ease this credit crisis that’s preventing businesses and consumers from getting loans and causing dangerous instability in our market.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), promoting his new mortgage refinancing plan, said it is important for Americans to get into “manageable mortgages” to ease the foreclosure crisis and stabilize housing values in the country.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 by campaign2008
Obama praised the Bush administration’s decision to sell $6 billion in military equipment to Taiwan. A statement from Obama’s national security spokesman said Obama views the package as an “important response to Taiwan’s defense needs.” On Tuesday, McCain criticized the deal for not including submarines or new F-16 aircraft.
MORTGAGE PLAN: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) discussed his “Homeownership Resurgence Plan” in a speech in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) opposes such a homeowner rescue program. His economic adviser said the plan would benefit poorly run financial institutions at the heart of the current crisis and added: “any rescue plan must protect taxpayers and ensure that they share in any profit once the economy recovers.”
Posted in Economy, General Election, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 by campaign2008
In their second debate, U.S. presidential candidates Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) sparred over the limping U.S. economy and energy policy; both tied the country’s recovery to the latter. Obama faulted McCain for a record of deregulation that he said has contributed to the current crisis; McCain, for his part, presented a new economic proposal under which the U.S. Treasury would buy up problem mortgages, in effect refinancing them (NYT) at prices homeowners can afford. The Wall Street Journal cites McCain’s campaign as saying the plan would cost roughly $300 billion. Opinion surveys have shown respondents more confident in Obama’s ability to handle an economic crisis.
Here are some foreign policy highlights from the debate:
ENERGY: Both candidates stressed the need for energy independence, with Obama citing it as a national security concern (WashPost). Obama also said developing new sources of energy would serve as a major boost for the U.S. economy, creating jobs the way the technology boom did in the 1990s. McCain said he would increase use of nuclear power, which he said is a clean and safe source of energy. “I know that we can reprocess the spent nuclear fuel,” McCain said. “The Japanese, the British, the French do it.” Obama said he also favors nuclear power “as one component of our overall energy mix.”
DEFENSE: McCain touted his opposition to invading Lebanon and his support for U.S. military efforts in Kosovo and Bosnia as evidence that he has strong judgment in deciding when the United States should get involved militarily in a crisis. “[T]he challenge is to know when the United States of American can beneficially effect the outcome of a crisis, when to go in and when not, when American military power is worth the expenditure of our most precious treasure,” he said.
Obama noted Iraq’s “enormous strain” on the U.S. budget. “We’re spending $10 billion a month in Iraq at a time when the Iraqis have a $79 billion surplus,” he said. “[W]e need that $10 billion a month here in the United States.”
IRAN: Both candidates again said they would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. “If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, all the other countries [in the Middle East] will acquire them, too,” McCain warned.
Obama said he would “never take military options off the table” with regard to Iran and said it is “important that we don’t provide veto power to the United Nations or anyone else in acting in our interests.”
Posted in Economy, Energy Policy, General Election, Iran, Iraq, Military, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 by campaign2008
Seeking to clarify a comment in the vice presidential debate, the McCain campaign has confirmed it opposes providing Iran access to nuclear energy (WashPost). “There is no circumstance under which the international community could be confident that uranium enrichment or plutonium production activities undertaken by the current government of Iran are purely for peaceful purposes,” McCain campaign foreign policy director Randy Scheunemann said. Current Bush administration policy is that Iran has a right to nuclear energy but not control over the process of producing fuel, because it could be diverted for nuclear weapons material.
IRAQ: In separate interviews with the New York Times published Monday, McCain and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) discuss their plans for U.S. involvement in Iraq. Obama’s interview is here, McCain’s is here.
ENVIRONMENT: Popular Mechanics looks at the candidates’ positions on the Law of the Sea treaty and other issues influencing the environment.
Posted in General Election, Iran, Iraq, 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 become 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.”
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