McCain Campaign Conference Call On Barack Obama And Global Competitiveness

Today, RNC Victory 2008 Chair Carly Fiorina and McCain campaign Senior Policy Advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin held a conference call on Barack Obama's remarks concerning global competitiveness:

Carly Fiorina: "I think this speech today is, once again, an example of the contrast between Barack Obama's rhetoric and the reality of his record. Let's just start with the most obvious statement of all, competitiveness requires competing. And competing means that we must be a nation that engages fully in free trade.

"Many have called Barack Obama the most protectionist candidate that the Democratic Party has ever fielded. And indeed his record supports that charge. He has said, on numerous occasions, that we should unilaterally renegotiate the NAFTA free trade agreement. He voted against free trade agreements with our friends and allies like Colombia and South Korea.

"It's fairly clear, I think, from the reality of his record, if you set aside his rhetoric, that Barack Obama does not believe that Americans can compete with anyone in the world.

"Just to give a few facts about trade, American workers make and sell about $200 billion of just heavy machinery, alone, to countries every year. Our companies export more than $70 billion worth of aircraft and parts, more than $148 billion worth of electrical machinery and equipment. In other words, in all, one out of every five American jobs depends on factory exports. That is true in Barack Obama's home state of Illinois and it is true throughout the United States."

Doug Holtz-Eakin: "I think it's important to distinguish between the words in a speech and the track record on another area, and that's in tax policy. Tax policy has gotten a lot of attention in recent days, but I think it's important to look at even the sources he cites, the Tax Policy Center, and look and there and you will see some very simple truths.

"Truth number one, one candidate cuts taxes. One candidate has lower taxes in the future than we have today, and that candidate is John McCain. The Tax Policy Center says that those tax cuts help all Americans across the board, from the lowest- to the highest-paid Americans.

"Another candidate raises taxes. That candidate is Barack Obama. And those tax increases damage the very fabric of the job creation machine, the small businesses of America, and the authority on that is Barack Obama himself, who has said he would defer his tax increases if the economy is weak, a frank admission that this is a damaging impact on our job creation, the most important thing that we need right now.

"A second problem with the Barack Obama tax policy is it doesn't add up. The numbers simply can't all be true. He's promised to raise taxes. At the same time, he's promised to cut taxes on 95 percent of Americans. And, as we heard today, he's got an agenda that includes trillions of dollars in new spending over the next five years. All of those cannot be true at the same time and it is up to Mr. Obama to reconcile those numbers for the American public instead of promising things in different places at different times."

Listen To The Full Conference Call.