The facts as you see them?
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.
Some examples:
PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."
PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform _ not even in the state senate."
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."
THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.
Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.
He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.
MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.
THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state _ by population.
MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right _ change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington _ throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."
THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.
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Palin is running for VP. Now, if you want to compare the democratic presidential candidate to the republican's VP candidate, here's a link.
http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/2008/08/30/sarah-palin-vs-barack-obama
If you want to compare the Republican's VP candidate to the democrat's VP candidate, you'll see that the democratic VP candidate is more of the "same old insider politics". biden's son is a DC lobbyist. where's the "change" there? i'm sure if someone tries to find out Biden's facts, you'll find a lot of skeletons in his closet.
if you care to read, here are some stuff about Joe Biden:
Biden Serves As Chairman Of The Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Sen. Joe Biden Website, biden.senate.gov, Accessed 8/6/08)
Biden's Iraq Plan Off Message With Experts
Biden's Plan For Dividing Iraq Criticized By Experts:
Biden Suggests That Dividing The Iraqi Population Will Bring Unity To The Region. Biden: "The idea is to maintain a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis their own regions. The central government would be responsible for common interests, like border security and the distribution of oil revenues. ...It would require a regional non-aggression pact, overseen by the U.N. Security Council. And it would allow us to responsibly withdraw most U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2007." (Sen. Joseph Biden, "Fact Sheet: Biden Plan For Iraq," Press Release, 10/6/06)
"His Broader Proposal Calls For A Political Solution That Would Provide Regional Autonomy For Shiites, Sunnis And Kurds And Guarantees By The Central Government That Sunnis Would Share In The Country's Oil Revenues." (Dan Balz, "Democrats Split On How To End The War," The Washington Post, 2/4/07)
Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal Said Biden's Plan Would Be "A Disaster." "Prince Turki told a conference on Washington's relations with the Arab world that dividing Iraq into three regions, reflecting its Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish populations, would be a disaster." (Voice Of America, "Saudi Envoy Says Dividing Iraq Will Cause Mass Killing," Press Release, 10/30/06)
Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal: "To envision that you can divide Iraq into three parts is to envision ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, sectarian killing on a massive scale and uprooting of families..." (Prince Turki al-Faisal, "Saudi Envoy Says Dividing Iraq Will Cause Mass Killing," Press Release, 10/30/06)
"Many Middle East Experts Are Horrified By The Difficulty Of Dividing The Nation." (Sarah Baxter, "America Ponders Cutting Iraq In Three," The Sunday Times, 10/8/06)
Obama Attacked "Longevity In Washington." Obama: "The sort of general notion of experience based on longevity in Washington, I don't think is sufficient to make the case to the voters of Iowa or the American people." (CNN's "The Situation Room," 11/19/07)
Obama Mocked Washington Experience, Saying "You Should Keep On Doing The Same Things With The Same People Over And Over Again And Somehow Expect A Different Outcome. And That's The Definition Of Madness." Obama: "What Washington is really telling you is that you should keep on doing the same things with the same people over and over again and somehow expect a different outcome. And that's the definition of madness. Doing the same things over and over again and expecting something different." (MSNBC's "Tucker," 12/27/07)
Biden Has Been A U.S. Senator For 36 Years. (Sen. Joe Biden Website, biden.senate.gov, Accessed 8/6/08)
History Plagued By Off Message Moments
Biden's Undisciplined Statements And Actions Have Raised Concern:
"[B]iden's Mouth Has Gotten Him Into Trouble Before." (Beth Fouhy, "Biden Fields Questions About '08 Rivals," The Associated Press, 2/1/07)
As Biden Was Gearing Up For His Candidacy, A Friend Said He Needed More Discipline. "'You talk too much and you say things without thinking about them.' [Norman] Ornstein, a friend and admirer, told the senator as he was gearing up for his candidacy. 'I know I've got to be more disciplined,' Biden replied." (Robert Shogan, "Biden Quits Race, Cites Mistakes," Los Angeles Times, 9/24/87)
"'He Has A Tendency To Over-Explain That Doesn't Inure To His Political Benefit,' Acknowledges Larry Rasky, Who Will Be Communications Director For Biden's Presidential Campaign." (Jonathan Broder, "Betting On Being A Global Expert," Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 1/12/07)
Biden's Issues With Exaggeration And Self-Discipline Have Marred His Credibility In The Past:
Biden's Bid For The Presidency In '88 Is Still Especially Poignant. "[A]s a candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, Biden withdrew from the race in 1987 amid accusations that he had plagiarized passages in a campaign speech from former British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock." (Beth Fouhy, "Biden Fields Questions About '08 Rivals," The Associated Press, 2/1/07)
In 1987, Biden Plagiarized Speech By British Labor Leader Neil Kinnock. "Kinnock told of ancestors who played football after long days underground in the mines, who recited poetry and paved the way for him to become the first in his family to attend college. When he saw a tape of Kinnock in action, Biden said, ... 'it was a connect. I mean, I could tell how that man felt. That's how I feel.' So he used it - changing the names but little else - at a debate last month in Iowa." (John Harwood, "Biden's Way With Words Now Seems To Be A Liability," St. Petersburg Times, 9/20/87)
"But Instead Of Crediting Kinnock, He Told The Audience He Thought Of It On The Way To The Debate." (John Harwood, "Biden's Way With Words Now Seems To Be A Liability," St. Petersburg Times, 9/20/87)
Biden Acknowledged Kinnock Speech Didn't Fit His Circumstances "Perfectly." "Biden acknowledged Kinnock's language didn't fit his family perfectly. His father was in used car sales, his grandfather was a mining engineer. But he had been told and 'assumed' that other relatives had worked in the mines. And, 'to make it clear,' members of his mother's family had, indeed, been to college." (John Harwood, "Biden's Way With Words Now Seems To Be A Liability," St. Petersburg Times, 9/20/87)
Biden Withdrew From The 1988 Presidential Race Under Charges Of Plagiarism And Embellishment, Saying, "Now The Exaggerated Shadow Of Those Mistakes Has Begun To Obscure The Essence Of My Candidacy And The Essence Of Joe Biden." ("Biden Bows Out Of Race, Blames His Own Mistakes," Los Angeles Times, 9/23/87)
Biden "Developed A Serious Credibility Problem." "Democrat Joe Biden is a compelling orator, but he developed a serious credibility problem after questions surfaced about plagiarism and possible falsifications of his academic record." (Rich Hood, Op-Ed, "Ashcroft Hindered In His Quest For The Top," The Kansas City [MO] Star, 8/31/97)
Biden Was Also Accused Of Plagiarism At Syracuse Law School. "[B]iden soon ran into trouble at Syracuse Law. He was accused of plagiarism after lifting five pages from a law review article for a course paper. But his pleading - 'I implore you, don't take my honor' - convinced the dean to let him stay in school, take the course over, and wipe the slate clean." (John Harwood, "Biden's Way With Words Now Seems To Be A Liability," St. Petersburg Times, 9/20/87)
Biden Admitted Some Of His Claims About Academic Achievements Were Untrue. "Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., his Democratic presidential campaign battered by charges of plagiarism in his campaign speeches and in a law school paper, admitted yesterday that some of his boasts about his college academic achievements were untrue, including the claim that he had finished in the top half of his class in law school." (James R. Dickenson, "Biden: Academic Claims 'Inaccurate,'" The Washington Post, 9/22/87)
Biden Takes Obama Off Message on Lobbyists
-- Modified on 9/4/2008 7:16:52 AM
The facts as you see them?
"THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation."
Obama got his name on rubber stamp legislation. It was the equivalent of adding your kid's name to a present that you bought. Is that the best you got?
then vote for McSame.
I've been following politics for more than the last 15 minutes and I've killed McCain on this board because he isn't Bush and he isn't a conservative. An idiotic pun doesn't define a 20+ year extremely (too) moderate legislative record.
And I am happy over the last 8 years. My income and net worth has grown in leaps and bounds. The Muslims who have been attacking us over the last 20 years (since Regan) are getting killed, imprisoned, tortured, etc. Check out the economy's rate of growth over the past 5 years as opposed to the last 5 months and check on the progress in Iraq and the decimation of Al Quaeda before you make your next pun.
-- Modified on 9/4/2008 8:01:55 AM
if you think the country is better off now than it was under Clinton, then vote for McSame.
If you think abortion should be illegal and inaccessible then vote for McSame.
If you think we should continue to spend $12B/month in Iraq for the next 100 years, then vote for McSame.
If you think health care is not a problem, then vote for McSame.
If you think it's good that we went from record surplus to record deficits, then vote for McSame.
Well played sir...well played.
do you ever get the feeling that you're arguing with a fourth grader.
Maybe he mistakes you for Eric Cartman and wants to argue on that same fourth grade level. lol Don't question his authority FAT ASS. lmao
mccain is to bush, just like hillary is to obama. mccain won't forget what bush did to him in 2000. do you really think that mccain likes bush? stop associating mccain w/ bush. it won't work. they're not the same. btw, joe biden's voting record is identical to mccain's. ha!
Palin for president! ouch!
Name me one piece of legislation with his name on it 
'He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise."
A small business that makes five hundred thousand dollars a year would see their payroll taxes more than triple from about $15,000 to over $50,000 a year in payroll taxes a year. This of course doesn't even mention the other tax increases he has in mind.
That's his plan to revive an economy that's already in a slow down? Are you fucking nuts?