Tag Archive: “factcheck.org”

Tonight I am critiquing the debate entirey by using Internet sources.

Begin.

Spending 1

McCain says check out the CAGW website. Wikipedia.org[1] says:

CAGW has been criticized for its links to the tobacco industry and to lobbyists including Jack Abramoff.

Obama says $18 billion in earmark spending. FactCheck.org[2] says:

For fiscal 2008, the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense said there was $18.3 billion earmarked in spending bills. Citizens Against Government Waste came in at $17.2 billion. The Office of Management and Budget tallied earmarks at a mere $16.9 billion. In 2006, the Congressional Research Service, which used a different definition of “earmark” for each of the 11 spending bills it studied in that year, came up with over $67 billion.

McCain says pork has tripled in the past five years. According to the aforementioned CAGW[3]:

Year Cost Count

2003

22.5

9,362

2004

22.9

10,656

2005

27.3

13,997

2006

29

9,963

2007

13.2

2,658

2008

17.2

11,610

Year	Cost	Count
2003	22.5	9,362
2004	22.9	10,656
2005	27.3	13,997
2006	29	9,963
2007	13.2	2,658
2008	17.2	11,610

McCain says US has 2nd highest business tax in world @ 35%. taxfoundation.org[4] says:

U.S.’s combined federal-state statutory corporate tax rate (39.3%) is now well above the weighted average for both the member nations of the OECD (31.9%) and the larger G-7 countries (33.8%).

Obama says Biz actually pays one of lowest tax rates from loopholes. ourfuture.org[5] says:

In 2005, 28 percent of large foreign companies doing business in the United States (those with more than $250 million in assets or $50 million in sales) paid no taxes.

Spending 2

Obama says end dependence on foreign oil with alternatives. about.com[6] says:

According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), public transportation in the United States saves approximately 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline and about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Yet only 14 million Americans use public transportation daily while 88 percent of all trips in the United States are made by car—and many of those cars carry only one person.

McCain says eliminate ethanol subsidies. CNN.com[7] says:

“Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn’t create an artificial market for it. No one would be willing to buy it,” McCain said in November 2003.

and

“I support ethanol and I think it is a vital, a vital alternative energy source not only because of our dependency on foreign oil but its greenhouse gas reduction effects,” he said in an August [2007] speech in Grinnell, Iowa, as reported by the Associated Press.

[Of course because Obama is doing so well in Iowa, he can safely resume his earlier stance – Ed.]

McCain says “spending freeze on everything but defense, VA, and entitlement programs.” Internet has nothing to say.

McCain says “We’re sending $700 billion a year overseas … some of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations.” Time.com[8] says:

Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in March, banana giant Chiquita Brands International acknowledged it had paid $1.7 million to Colombia’s paramilitary groups.

The Police Action in Iraq

McCain says he came back from Iraq in 2003 calling for a change in strategy. Salon.com[9] says:

“When I say more troops, we need a lot more of certain skills, such as civil affairs capability, military police. We need more linguists,” McCain added. [August 2003]

Obama says Al Qaida is the strongest they have been since 2001. Times of India[10] says:

In recent months Yemen has seen a series of attacks on security services and oil installations claimed by groups linked to al-Qaida, with two attacks on US targets in the past six months.

McCain says there’s a difference between a tactic and a strategy. m-w.com[11] says:

Entry Word: method

Synonyms approach, fashion, form, manner, strategy, style, system, tack, tactics, technique, way

McCain says Admiral Mullen said Obama’s withdrawal plan is dangerous. Foxnews.com[12] says:

WALLACE: But I’m asking you in the absence — forget about Obama. Forget about the politics. If I were to say to you, “Let’s set a time line of getting all of our combat troops out within two years,” what do you think would be the consequences of setting that kind of a time line?

MULLEN: I think the consequences could be very dangerous in that regard. I’m convinced at this point in time that coming — making reductions based on conditions on the ground are very important.

The War in Afghanistan

Obama says the poppy trade is exploding. Hawaiireporter.com[13] says:

Farmers in a country that ranks among the poorest in the world, Mullen said, have little choice but to cultivate poppy to sell to insurgents, who turn profits from opium trade on the black market despite Afghan drug laws and national drug controls.

McCain says he is not prepared to strike in Pakistan. jsonline.com[14] says:

McCain said the war in Iraq was part of the fight against Islamic extremism, “the greatest evil, probably, that this nation has ever faced.”

“Osama has been able to get out a message of hate and to recruit, instruct and motivate these jihadists,” McCain said, pledging again to nab al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden even if it means “following him to the gates of hell.”

Obama says that McCain said we could muddle through Afghanistan. YouTube[15] says:

“I’m not as concerned [about Afghanistan] as I am about Iraq today, obviously”, McCain said, “… in the long term we may muddle through in Afghanistan.” Guy Fawkes Day, 2003

Iran

Both say we cannot tolerate, afford, or allow for the Iranians to develop nuclear fission weaponry. issi.org.pk[16] says:

It is therefore safe to infer that his populist message of economic equality struck a chord with the downtrodden who were more interested in bread and butter, and for whom Rafsanjani’s rhetoric about political and cultural liberalisation and improving relations with the US had little appeal. Rather, at a time when Iran is facing intense pressure from the US over its nuclear programme, any talk of improving relations with the latter was unlikely to have gone down well with the staunchly nationalist Iranian people.

Both argued about Kissinger’s position on Iran and whether there should be talks with them. McCain characterized Obama’s position as one of throwing an orgy for Ahmadinejad while Obama characterizes his own position as having preparatory talks with Iran with the possibility of brokering a deal and eventual Presidential talks. UPI.com[17] says:

Kissinger, speaking Monday at George Washington University along with four other former U.S. State Department secretaries, said the next president should initiate high-level discussions with Iran “without conditions,” ABC News reported.

[Ed: There is a history of diplomacy when dealing with someone like Ahmadinejah, where if they have to bow and kiss the ring… you have to let them save face or you’ll get nowhere. But most of the time if they can come out looking strong before their daughters and sons, they will back down and go along. I cut the rest of the section on Iran because obviously most Americans and especially those involved in politics are not ethically mature enough to be the “bigger man” in such a scenario. If the bombs may fall, the smaller men will surely perish and the meek shalt inherit the earth.]

Russia

McCain says that Russia is run by the KGB. CNN.com[18] says:

While Putin proudly acknowledges his time in the KGB, others do not, yet their résumés are filled with postings that former KGB officials cite as common covers for the intelligence agency.

Obama says we can’t drill our way to energy independence. trainsnotlanes.info[19] says:

Over the next four years, we are likely to witness the greatest mass exodus of vehicles off America’s highways in history. By 2012, there should be some 10 million fewer vehicles on American roadways than there are today—a decline that dwarfs all previous adjustments including those during the two OPEC oil shocks.

Another September 11, 2001 Attack on the USA

McCain says we can’t leave Iraq because Al-Qaida will move in. Time.com[20] says:

In a world of bad options, a phased withdrawal is the least bad one out there.

[…]

With the U.S. drawing down, Iraq would diminish as a focal point of anti-Americanism. With most U.S. troops exiting the region, Washington would have more leverage with Iran, which has continued its march toward nuclear weapons while the U.S. has been bogged down in Iraq. And most important of all, the U.S. would regain the military, economic and intellectual bandwidth it once employed to advance its interests elsewhere and start rebuilding its reputation overseas.

Obama says we have weakened our capacity to project power around the world because we’ve been focused on Iraq. Time.com’s response above (2nd graf) is a response to this as well.

McCain says Obama hasn’t admitted the surge succeeded. Foxnews.com[21] says:

As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. […] Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people.

“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

McCain also said the veterans support him. OpenSecrets.org[22] says:

The fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain’s haul.

In closing, McCain said he helped to resolve the Vietnam POW/MIA issue. The Nation[23] says:

The PAVE SPIKE file has never been declassified.

End.

Well, that’s that. One down, two and a half (Veep candidate debates only count as half debates) to go.

Hope you enjoyed the internet’s commentary.

Tag: factcheck.org

The Debate: A Critique By Internet