[US2008] Primaries #19 - To the streets of Philadelphia

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While McCain’s conservative credentials have been questioned during the campaign, there is no doubt his health plan reflects a strong conservative ideology.

Senator McCain's health plan clearly reflects a belief that we need to put as our first priority getting at the things that make health care so expensive and frustrating for consumers rather than, as he would put it, promising everyone a painless access to a system that isn't working.

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"For all the grandiose promises made in this campaign, has any candidate spoken honestly to the American people about the government's role and failings about individual responsibilities? Has any candidate told the truth about the future of Medicare? Its costs are growing astronomically faster than its financing, and leaving its structural flaws unaddressed will hasten its bankruptcy. Has any candidate warned that we have a personal responsibility to take better care of our children and ourselves? Yet that is the only way to prevent many chronic diseases. Has any candidate insisted that genuine and effective health care reform requires accountability from everyone: drug companies, insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, the government, and patients? Yet that is the truth upon which any so-called solution must be based.

“Democratic presidential candidates are not telling you these truths. They offer their usual default position: If the government would only pay for insurance everything would be fine. They promise universal coverage, whatever its cost, and the massive tax increases, mandates, and government regulation that it imposes. I offer a genuinely conservative vision for health care reform, which preserves the most essential value of American lives—freedom.”

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 11:08 schreef NLweltmeister het volgende:
CBS News Video Contradicts Clinton's Story
CBS' Sharyl Attkisson Was On Hillary's Bosnia Trip - And Got A Warm, Sniper-Free Welcome

http://www.cbsnews.com/st(...)ws/main3964921.shtml

Die kan je afschijven, tijd om de handdoek te gooien voor Hillary

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 11:08 schreef NLweltmeister het volgende:
CBS News Video Contradicts Clinton's Story
CBS' Sharyl Attkisson Was On Hillary's Bosnia Trip - And Got A Warm, Sniper-Free Welcome

http://www.cbsnews.com/st(...)ws/main3964921.shtml

Die kan je afschijven, tijd om de handdoek te gooien voor Hillary

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Why we should fear a McCain presidency

It may seem incredible to say this, given past experience, but a few years from now Europe and the world could be looking back at the Bush administration with nostalgia. This possibility will arise if the US elects Senator John McCain as president in November.

Over the years the US has inserted itself into potential flashpoints in different parts of the world. The Republican party is now about to put forward a natural incendiary as the man to deal with those flashpoints.

The problem that Mr McCain poses stems from his ideology, his policies and above all his personality. His ideology, like that of his chief advisers, is neo-conservative. In the past, Mr McCain was considered to be an old-style conservative realist. Today, the role of the realists on his team is merely decorative.

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It sometimes seems that you can't read a story about John McCain without seeing him referred to as a "maverick." But is it true?

Perhaps no word has been used to describe John McCain more often than "maverick." In January and February of 2008 alone, McCain was called a "maverick" more than 1,300 times in newspapers and on television. And those who use the label to describe McCain rarely explain just what he has done to earn it. But a closer examination of his record shows that McCain isn't quite the maverick that he is made out to be. The truth is that McCain's breaks from the Republican Party line are few and far between. According to Congressional Quarterly's "party unity" ratings, since he came to the Senate in 1989, there have been only three years in which McCain voted with his party less than 80 percent of the time. When he has gone against the party line -- such as on campaign finance reform, global warming, or tobacco regulations -- McCain has taken a position that was overwhelmingly popular with the public, meaning that when he takes a "maverick" stance, he's gaining support with the public -- and hardly taking a political risk.

Just as important, McCain's acts of independence aren't so much on high-profile issues as they are on issues that the press makes high-profile, precisely because of McCain's involvement. In all these cases, something important happens in the media when McCain opposes his party. When an ordinary senator crosses party lines, he or she will join members of the other party and perhaps have occasional opportunities to be quoted or interviewed on the issue in question. When McCain crosses party lines, on the other hand, the story the news media write undergoes a shift: It then becomes a story not about a conflict between Democrats and Republicans, but a story about John McCain and his rebellion. This is why McCain is perceived to be much more of a maverick than Republicans such as Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins, who actually break with the GOP far more often. Yet journalists continue over and over to call McCain a "maverick," seldom questioning whether there might be more to the story.

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 17:30 schreef Shreyas het volgende:
Mondique, heb je misschien ook nog zelf een mening of enig commentaar op de dingen die je quote?

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Op maandag 24 maart 2008 23:40 schreef popolon het volgende:
Clinton under sniperfire.

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 18:51 schreef Montov het volgende:
http://www.washingtonmont(...)l/2008_03/013394.php

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Op maandag 24 maart 2008 18:06 schreef Sloggi het volgende:
Deze verkiezingen zijn goed voor mijn topografische kennis .

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Clinton: verhaal Bosnië klopte niet

Hillary Clinton zegt dat zij een fout heeft gemaakt toen ze vertelde dat zij in 1996 in Bosnië moest vluchten voor scherpschutters. Uit filmbeelden blijkt dat ze helemaal geen gevaar liep.

Clinton zei dat ze op het vliegveld van Tuzla onder vuur lag en moest rennen voor haar leven. Op de video is te zien hoe ze hartelijk wordt onvangen en met allerlei mensen een praatje maakt.

Het campagneteam van Clintons rivaal Barack Obama probeert munt te slaan uit de blunder. Volgens dat team blijkt uit dit incident dat Clinton overdrijft als ze zegt dat ze veel ervaring heeft met buitenlandse politiek.

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Obama releases tax returns, challenges Clinton to follow suit

(CNN) -- Barack Obama and his wife released their tax returns from 2000 to 2006 on his campaign Web site Wednesday, and the Illinois senator challenged Sen. Hillary Clinton to release hers.

Later, Clinton said she expected to release her tax returns "shortly, I hope within the next week."

Sen. Barack Obama is challenging Sen. Hillary Clinton to release her 2006 tax returns.

The Obama campaign said Clinton should immediately release her 2006 return, pointing to her decision to lend her campaign $5 million earlier this year.

The Obama camp also cited former President Bill Clinton's $20 million payout from supermarket holding company Yucaipa as a reason why the couple should release the documents.

The Obama campaign said that company invests in tax shelters in the Cayman Islands.

Clinton has promised to release 2007 returns sometime after this year's April 15 income tax deadline, just a few days before Pennsylvania's April 22 primary.

"Senator Clinton recently claimed that she's 'the most transparent figure in public life,' yet she's dragging her feet in releasing something as basic as her annual tax returns," Obama's communications director, Robert Gibbs, said in a statement. "Senator Clinton can't claim to be vetted until she allows the public the opportunity to see her finances -- particularly with respect to any investment in tax shelters."

But Clinton made her own challenge to Obama during a press conference in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

"I am pleased that Senator Obama has released his tax returns. I think that's a good first step," she said. "Now he should release his records from being in the state Senate and any other information that the public and the press need to know from his prior experience."

According to the 2006 return, Obama and his wife, Michelle, earned over $991,000 in 2006 and paid $277,431 on the income.

More than half of the couple's income in 2006 -- nearly $507,000 -- came from royalties from his two books, "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams From My Father." In 2005, Obama earned over $1,210,000 from royalties, according to the couple's returns that year.

The Obamas earned nearly $431,000 in wages in 2006, according to the returns. The documents do not show what Obama or his wife individually earned, but the senator's salary was $165,000 that year.

They also earned more than $51,000 from Treehouse Foods, an Illinois-based food manufacturer. Michelle Obama served on Treehouse's board from June 2005 to May 2007.

Before 2005, the couple had more modest incomes. Between 2000 and 2004, they earned between $207,647 and $275,123 a year.

The returns were posted just minutes after the Clinton campaign attacked Obama for not releasing them.

"In the public record, there are 20 years of Hillary's tax returns, hundreds of thousands of pages of records from her time in the White House and countless other documents detailing her time in public life.

"Sen. Obama's record is far more opaque. Sen. Obama has not released his tax returns, except for 2006," Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said in a statement sent to reporters just as the Obama camp posted the Illinois senator's returns online.

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 18:27 schreef matthijst het volgende:

[..]

Geniaal, net in het journaal die twee clipjes achter elkaar....
Sniperfire --> Schoolkinderen

Haar bijdrage aan de vrede in Noord-Ierland had ze ook al verzonnen

Hillary

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 22:48 schreef Lyrebird het volgende:
Het is toch iedere keer genieten als ik Hillary zo op haar bek zie gaan. Sorry, leedvermaak, maar ik kan het niet laten.

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 22:48 schreef Lyrebird het volgende:
Het is toch iedere keer genieten als ik Hillary zo op haar bek zie gaan. Sorry, leedvermaak, maar ik kan het niet laten.

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 23:13 schreef du_ke het volgende:

[..]

Ach de Democraten denken vast net zo over Bush

(tvp)

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 22:43 schreef Lyrebird het volgende:

[..]

Doet me toch een beetje denken aan Al - ManBearPig - Gore, die dacht dat hij de uitvinder van het internet was.

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 23:47 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Alleen heeft Al Gore nooit beweerd de uitvinder van het internet te zijn, en ga jij toch meer op je bek.

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 18:27 schreef matthijst het volgende:

Haar bijdrage aan de vrede in Noord-Ierland had ze ook al verzonnen

Hillary

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With Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton accused of exaggerating her role in the Northern Ireland peace process, Ireland Prime Minister Bertie Ahern offered his two cents.

Mr. Ahern called Mrs. Clinton “hugely helpful” in the process both as first lady and as a U.S. senator, and suggested some of the criticism of her are unfair.

Mr. Ahern said the Clintons were a force in the process, even if they were not directly involved.

“She was the first lady of the United States, not a party leader in Northern Ireland,” Mr. Ahern said. “No one would expect her to get into the nitty-gritty of the process.”

He said the Clintons made three visits to the nation and that Mrs. Clinton continued to be engaged ever since.
“Any fair observation would find that both Hillary and Bill Clinton made peace in Ireland a priority while they were in the White House and after,” he said.

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"When Sen. Barack Obama exaggerated the death toll of the tornado in Greensburg, Kan, during his visit to Richmond yesterday, The Associated Press headline rapidly evolved from

'Obama visits former Confederate capital for fundraiser' to

'Obama rips Bush on Iraq war at Richmond fundraiser' to

'Weary Obama criticizes Bush on Iraq, drastically overstates Kansas tornado death toll' to

'Obama drastically overstates Kansas tornado deaths during campaign appearance.'

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Op dinsdag 25 maart 2008 23:47 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Alleen heeft Al Gore nooit beweerd de uitvinder van het internet te zijn, en ga jij toch meer op je bek.

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Op woensdag 26 maart 2008 00:30 schreef Perico het volgende:
Dat is pertinent onjuist, iedereen die er aan mee heeft onderhandeld heeft haar rol hierin bevestigd.

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Op woensdag 26 maart 2008 00:30 schreef Perico het volgende:

Dat is pertinent onjuist, iedereen die er aan mee heeft onderhandeld heeft haar rol hierin bevestigd.

Mr. Ahern called Mrs. Clinton “hugely helpful” in the process both as first lady and as a U.S. senator, and suggested some of the criticism of her are unfair.
Mr. Ahern said the Clintons were a force in the process, even if they were not directly involved.

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Obama drastically overstated Kansas tornado deaths during campaign appearance.

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Op woensdag 26 maart 2008 02:59 schreef Lyrebird het volgende:

[..]

Ik ben niet overtuigd.

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Obama's family tree expanded to include the Bushes and the Pitts

Barack Obama often jokes in his campaign speeches about a genealogical survey last year that found he is a distant cousin of Dick Cheney.

Now there is more bad news for Obama: a study published yesterday found he is related to George Bush as well.

Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded in 1845, said Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six US presidents his cousins: both Bushes, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman and James Madison. The society, a non-profit organisation, found he is also related to Churchill.

It said it investigated the blood lines of the three presidential hopefuls. One of the oddest connections is that Obama is related to Brad Pitt and Hillary Clinton to Pitt's partner, Angelina Jolie.

Clinton, who is of French-Canadian descent on her mother's side, is a distant cousin of Madonna, Céline Dion and Alanis Morissette. Other distant cousins include writer Jack Kerouac and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Obama and Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662. Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769. Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in Quebec in 1718.

While family trees such as these throw up interesting links, genetically they are meaningless. While children carry half the genes of their father, cousins as far removed as Obama and Bush would have no more genetic link than someone they bumped into at random in the street.

The Republican candidate, John McCain, had claimed to be related to the Scottish king Robert the Bruce but, as the Guardian disclosed last week, British genealogists debunked that. The New England genealogists found no royal strain either but established yet another Bush connection: McCain is a sixth cousin of the first lady, Laura Bush.