/PRNewswire/ -- Max Wood, candidate for Attorney General, has been pleased with the amount of support he and his campaign have generated so far.
"I am not an established politician, unlike my opponent. Many people are meeting me for the first time on the campaign trail. They seem to appreciate the strong qualifications I would bring to the office of Attorney General. The people of Georgia are hungry for real leadership and I believe I am the candidate best suited for the office of Attorney General," Wood said.
Wood announced his candidacy in August of 2009 prior to going on a six week tour of duty in Washington D.C. at the National Guard Bureau. "I am extremely proud of my military background. I am the only military veteran running for Attorney General," he added. Wood still serves as a Colonel in the Air National Guard.
His fundraising efforts began in mid October. The campaign has raised over $65,000 so far.
His current contributors include former United States Attorneys, Sheriffs and other law enforcement officials, four retired two star Generals and a former major league baseball player. He has also been able to gather support from numerous Democrats as well, even though he is a conservative Republican.
Wood plans to conduct himself as GA Attorney General much like he did as United States Attorney, adhering to the strict rule of representing all people, and not just one party.
"I am a Republican through and through, but if I am elected Attorney General, I also have a responsibility to be non-political when dealing with matters of the state," he said. He points to his stint as United States Attorney as an example of how he will conduct himself in office.
"I prosecuted Democrats and Republicans while United States Attorney. It was never a consideration to go easy on someone because they were a political insider or connected to one particular political party," he stated.
Wood served as United States Attorney in the Middle District of Georgia from 2001 to 2009. He was the longest serving United States Attorney in the area since the L.B.J. Administration.
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Monday, January 11, 2010
Wood Campaign Gains Momentum in Georgia
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Oxendine Files June 30 Report - Over One Million Cash on Hand
Team Oxendine reported $1,006,869.54 cash on hand after filing the June 30th off-election
year report. The actual amount raised during this reporting period is slightly under
$420,000.
"John Oxendine's positive message offering real solutions for the issues facing Georgia is resonating with people all across the state," said Tim Echols, campaignmanager. "We believe that Mr. Oxendine's Contract with Georgia offering specific policy solutions for the people of Georgia is a big part of the reason why. People are looking for a leader with answers."
"Everywhere I go in Georgia, people have been enthusiastic about my campaign for Governor," said John Oxendine. "Our Contract with Georgia, with its focus on abolishing the state income tax, implementation of a national fair tax, and attention to important social issues, has connected with conservative Ronald Reagan voters."
"John Oxendine remains the only candidate who is actually defeating Roy Barnes in independent polls," said Echols. "With this strong report and his lead in every poll to date he remains the clear frontrunner."
"The credit goes to Mr. Oxendine's statewide network of volunteers because of their enthusiastic support," said Echols. "Commissioner Oxendine is confident he will have the funds necessary to defeat Roy Barnes."
John Oxendine
Governor 2010
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Team Ox Launches the OxMobile Platform:
John Oxendine, Republican candidate for Governor, is proud to launch the latest cutting edge technology in the 2010 campaign for Governor of Georgia.
John Oxendine launches his OxMobile campaign, powered by Atlanta based Whoop Inc.
This cutting edge technology allows voters to interact with the campaign by utilizing an innovative mobile and SMS platform developed by Atlanta based Whoop to deliver rich content and WAP to cell phone users.
"I am excited to introduce this cutting edge application. I am committed to running a campaign which fully embraces new and innovative ways for voters to communicate with me. In our mobile society, I know Georgians appreciate the opportunity to utilize new technology to communicate with candidates in a manner that make it easy for them", said Oxendine.
The OxMobile platform is live now, and Georgians are invited to become active participants with this new cutting edge technology. "Over the weeks and months ahead John Oxendine will continue to introduce cutting edge technology in this campaign," said campaign manager Kathryn Ballou.
Instructions:
To access OxMobile text "oxgov" to 32075.
*Standard rates will apply. Text "stop" to quit.
OxMobile allows users of many different phones to download an iPhone style app to their phones to keep track of what is going on in the campaign. Users can choose to download the app or visit the rich content site.
Follow your phone's prompts (each phone is different) and then if asked to enter a keyword, enter "oxgov" and you will be taken to the site/application.
Once there you will find information on the campaign, issues, and a question and answer section where you can submit your questions for John and every week watch a new mobile video from him answering one of your questions. Please use the share option to invite all of your friends and family to the OxMobile platform.
This is a brand new technology and we are aware that some phones may have issues with this technology. It is our desire to implement the most accessible form of communication and so we welcome feedback from Georgians on how easy the OxMobile platform is to use.
The campaign invites users to provide their feedback on this cutting edge technology. We invite users to let us know if they would prefer a traditional text (SMS) campaign.
Thank you for being a part of this historic launch. We look forward to your participation and feedback.
Team Oxendine.
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Friday, December 19, 2008
Oxendine Announces First Round of Campaign Leadership Team
Commissioner John Oxendine is honored to announce the first round of leaders for Team Oxendine - Governor 2010.
"It is humbling to have such a great team of Georgia leaders supporting my campaign to transform Georgia government. We have set the foundation for a true statewide campaign. I want to be the Governor for all of Georgia.
Consider where Georgia is after this past Legislative Session: At the end of the Session, Georgians still have no tax cuts, are still stuckin traffic, still have no new economic development projects, and still trailother states on school test scores. My message to Georgia taxpayers: Help is on the way and change is coming."
Please welcome the first of multiple announcements of Team Oxendine:
Finance Committee Chairman:
Dan Amos - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aflac Incorporated
Senior Policy Advisor:
Bill Byrne - Former Chairman Cobb County Board of Commissioners and former Republican candidate for Governor
Campaign State Co-Chairs:
Representative Amos Amerson 9th District Dawson (pt.), Forsyth (pt.), Lumpkin (pt.)
Representative Rich Golick 34th District Cobb (pt.)
Representative Brooks Coleman, Jr. 97th District Gwinnett (pt.)
Representative Clay Cox 102nd District Gwinnett (pt.)
Charles Bannister - Chairman Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners
Al St. Lawrence - Sheriff Chatham County
Pat Vaughn - Mayor, City of Powder Springs
Mike Bilderback - Member Monroe County Board of County Commissioners
David Breedlove - School Board Member-elect Walton County Board of Education
U.D. Roberts - Chairman of faith based groups for Governor Mike Huckabee in Georgia and President and CEO of Brentwood Christian Press of Columbus
Donna Rowe - Leader in Georgia Federation of Republican Women, Georgia Vietnam Veterans community and Georgia Realtors community of east Cobb County
Marvin Myers -Leader in Georgia veterans community of Atlanta
Nolen Cox - Past Georgia State Director of the American Family Association and President Crown Chemicals of Valdosta
Emma Hinesley - Past state chair Georgia Federation of Republican Women and past Secretary of the Georgia Republican Party of Newnan
Debbie Groninger - McCain for President Fayette Chair, Chair of New Generation of Republican Women of Fayetteville
Dr. James Story, Jr. - Retired general surgeon and hospital administrator of Thomasville
Yvonne White - Past Second Vice Chair Georgia Republican Party, Past Chair Troup Republican Women's Federation, Past Chair of Troup Republican Party of LaGrange
Nancy Hollingshed - 11th District Chair Mike Huckabee for President of Dallas
Melinda Mock - Past Chair 6th Congressional District Georgia Republican Party of Canton
Kathryn Gartland - Gwinnett Republican Party leader
Michael Opitz - Chairman The Madison Forum of Marietta
Mike Powell - American Legion Riders accredited representative Veterans Counselor of Cartersville
John Oxendine
Oxendine Working for Georgia
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Monday, October 20, 2008
McCain-Palin Campaign Conference Call On Barack Obama's Lack Of Fundraising Transparency
"From day one, Barack Obama said he was going to bring in a new style of politics. He talked about being to most transparent campaign seen to date. In fact, he has challenged other people on their transparency throughout the course of the election, whether it was his primary opponents or others. What is most amazing is that regardless of repeated calls and questions in the media about his contributions and what he has done, he has refused to this point to release any of his donors under $200 a person." -- Rick Davis
Today McCain-Palin 2008 held a press conference call with Rick Davis, McCain-Palin 2008 Campaign Manager, to discuss Barack Obama's September fundraising totals and the Obama campaign's troubling lack of transparency:
Rick Davis: "Obviously you know another historic day in an otherwise historic campaign. We saw a report this weekend that Senator Obama announced that he has raised $150 million in the month of September. An extraordinary amount of money and an unbelievable track record for someone who will no question go down in political history, regardless of the outcome of the election, as the greatest fundraiser in political history. I think there is nothing that can describe what a huge effort that is. I think it brings up though an important question for this campaign.
From day one, Barack Obama said he was going to bring in a new style of politics. He talked about being to most transparent campaign seen to date. In fact, he has challenged other people on their transparency throughout the course of the election, whether it was his primary opponents or others. What is most amazing is that regardless of repeated calls and questions in the media abo ut his contributions and what he has done, he has refused to this point to release any of his donors under $200 a person. Obviously, in order to raise $150 million, he has had to include hundreds of thousands if not close to a million new donors into his campaign and what is also something that I think is important to note is that it is the first campaign since the Watergate era that has taken a primary fundraising effort and driven it all the way through and into the general election. So not only are the donations that he received in September an important question mark as to why these aren't being disclosed but all the donations that he got during the primary are usable in the general election. That's the first time that has ever happened and it raises questions about whether these donors too were qualified and why too isn't the Obama campaign reporting them. Clearly they have a significant internet capacity.
"There is no question that the technology allows this to happen. We, since the start of our campaign, have disclosed information on all our donors above $200 and below $200 and the RNC starting tomorrow will establish a searchable database where donors and their contributions will be made public within 24 hours of those donations. What we are trying to do is include the broadest possible transparency. As you all know, we took federal funds for the general election but the RNC continues to raise money into the election cycle and they will go back all the way to the point to at which John McCain won the nomination and do disclosure on those donors. Our house is right. The question remains why, with the technology that he has at his hands and the demands on transparency that he is so well known for using himself, doesn't he do the same thing? We know that this is an important issue because during the primary, Barack Obama constantly badgered his oppone nts in the primary about the fact that if he were to be the nominee and the Republican agreed he would take the government funds but as he won the primary and entered into the general election his fundraising machine continued to grow and grow. How did it grow? Who did it grow with? Because clearly that was at the heart of the decision that he made to forgo the federal funding and be the first person to go forward with the fundraising effort in the general election. It is significant too because his repeated pledges to do just the opposite. A pledge to the American public to where he would take the government funds if the Republican candidate did, that was long before he knew it would be John McCain. Then secondarily, in the debates themselves, as he looked at the camera, he said I will call John McCain and I will negotiate with John McCain the proper fundraising capacities for the general election. Well, he neither made that phone call nor sat down with John McCain.
"We all learned about it, I think the same way you did, on a blog post or an internet distribution that he was going to forgo the government funds. So he set the standard. He is the one who ran the transparency campaign. He is the one who said that these things were not going to happen without some kind of public dialogue, and I think that it's time now that we started to have that public dialogue. Because what we don't want to do is find out there have been impropriety in the contributions that he has received since he became the nominee of the party after the election. If there are problems, they should be disgorged and cleaned up. There's no question that there have been discussions between Barack Obama and the FEC to clean up some of the contributions they've been in the press lately. There are lots of really wonderful examples of you know people on the Gaza strip buying $30,000 worth of t-shirts. Now maybe they need new t-shirts on the Gaza Str ip but it is a violation of the law. I don't need to remind all of you that when you purchase a t-shirt or a baseball cap or anything else online with a presidential campaign it is considered a contribution to that campaign. It is one of the problems. I wish we could sell $30,000 worth of t-shirts ourselves. You know people are just dying to have a McCain t-shirt, especially the new version with Joe on them and yet we can't because one, now we're prohibited from taking any donations so we can't even sell a t shirt, but two when the primary was going on we would actually have to not give things to people when they got to the $2,300 limit. Clearly there's no such limitation in the Obama campaign.
"But we could go on with a number of other examples of where these violations have been seen and that's just out of the disclosed contributions. These aren't from the non-disclosed contributions. So I do think that from our perspective, a little bit of sunshine, a little bit of transparency will go a long way on this issue. The RNC, as many of you know, have filed a complaint with the FEC to see if they can get to the bottom of these literally three hundred million dollars in secret donations. And I only say secret because I have no doubt that they're, the vast majority of those are probably legitimate, but they're being kept secret by the Obama campaign for no good reason. I looked everywhere I could before getting on this call to find a explanation by the Obama campaign as to why they don't disclose these. And really other than during the primary some kind of description that there was so many that there would be these technical limitations to do it, look so many I'm sure he's going to want to raise even more than that since then, but I can't imagine with all the experts that they have working in the Obama internet operation that they couldn't make available this information. The RNC, whose done a phenomenal job fundraising this year, record amounts for an election year by the committee, has told us that there's no problem whatsoever making these contributions accessible to the public in about a 24 hour period. So I think that if certainly the RNC can do it, I would imagine that the great and wonderful Obama campaign could make that available.
"I would say too just to finish up that this pattern of nondisclosure, this pattern of non-responsiveness, this pattern of setting their own rules to apply to this campaign is consistent with all the other patterns that we've seen. We don't respond to questions about ACORN, and when we do we only put out enough to get us through each day, and then as the day progresses more questions get answered and we dribble out more information. Again where's the disclosure? Relationships, I mean, I don't mean to have this call devolve into a relationship call but it does seem to follow a pattern of, you know just one of my friends in the neighborhood which now we know people like Mr. Ayers had a much deeper much more involved relationship with Obama. When are we going to come clean? When are we going to be transparent? When are we going to have an ability to look into the least experienced nominee for the Democratic Party in its history for the presidency? When are we going to get a chance to kick the tires and see what's really going on? I think that the last thing we want is a lot of problems after the election. There's one analyst report out there from the FEC that said earlier in the month that this could result in the largest fine ever levied against a national campaign in history. Why do we want to have that happen? Obviously Barack Obama wants to obey the law. Obviously the Obama campaign wants to adhere to the necessary requirements. Why don't they do it before election day instead of worrying about it after election day? So let's go ahead and open it up,
"I would just say parenthetically one of the other disturbing aspects of this issue is that because John McCain took the federal matching funds, our campaign will be audited. Our campaign will have a thorough review by the FEC of every expenditure that we made during the course of the September and October campaign. Because Barack Obama has chosen not to take the federal government funds there's a lingering question since its never occurred since these statutes were one the books, as to whether or not there actually will be an audit of his spending and fundraising, and I think that if that's the case it raises even a larger specter over the voluntary cooperation that we should be receiving from a presidential candidate who, not only this month, but has throughout the course of this campaign raised a record number of contributions and has set a standard well above any other in history. Congratulations to the Obama campaign in that regard but shame on them for not letting the public also see where these contributions are coming from."
Listen To The Conference Call
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Saturday, October 18, 2008
John McCain's Remarks at Rally in Concord, NC today
It's great to be here in North Carolina. This is a must-win state on November 4th, and early voting is taking place now, so make sure you get out there and make your voice heard. With your help, we're going to win North Carolina, and bring change to Washington, DC.
We had a good debate this week, and I thought I did pretty well, but let's have some straight talk: the real winner this week was Joe the Plumber. Joe won, because he's the only person to get a real answer out of Senator Obama about his plans for our country. Congratulations Joe. That is an impressive achievement.
Now, Joe didn't ask for Senator Obama to come to his house, and he didn't ask to be famous. He certainly didn't ask for the political attacks on him from the Obama campaign. Joe's dream is to own a small business that will create jobs in his community, and the attacks on him are an attack on small businesses all over the country that employ 84% of Americans. We learned more about Senator Obama's plans from Joe's question than we've learned in months of speeches by Senator Obama.
We learned that Senator Obama's economic goal is, as he told Joe, is to quote "spread the wealth around." He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans. This explains some big problems with my opponent's claim that he will cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans. You might ask: How do you cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans, when more than 40 percent pay no income taxes right now? How do you reduce the number zero?
Well, that's the key to Barack Obama's whole plan: Since you can't reduce taxes on those who pay zero, the government will write them all checks called a tax credit. And the Treasury will have to cover those checks by taxing other people, including a lot of folks just like Joe. In other words, Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway.
The Obama tax increase would come at the worst possible time for America, and especially for small businesses like the one Joe dreams of owning. The small businesses Senator Obama would tax provide 16 million jobs in America. And a sudden tax hike will kill some of those jobs at a time when need to be creating more jobs. I'm not going to let that happen.
America has an alternative to the phony tax cut my opponent started talking about only months ago. The McCain-Palin tax cut is the real thing. We're going to double the child deduction for every family. We will cut the capital gains tax. And we will cut business taxes to help create jobs, and keep American businesses in America.
As Joe has now reminded us all, America didn't become the greatest nation on earth by giving our money to the government to "spread the wealth around." In this country, we believe in spreading opportunity, for those who need jobs and those who create them. And that is exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.
This is the choice that we face. These are hard times. Our economy is in crisis. Americans are fighting in two wars. We face many enemies in this dangerous world, and many challenges here at home.
The next President won't have time to get used to the office. He will have to act immediately. We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change. We have to act immediately. I said it at the last debate: I'm not George Bush; if Senator Obama wants to run against George Bush, he should have run for President 4 years ago. We need a new direction now. We have to fight for it.
I've been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old, and I have the scars to prove it. If I'm elected President, I will fight to take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it.
I'm not going to spend $700 billion dollars of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. I'm going to make sure we take care of the people who were devastated by the excesses of Wall Street and Washington. I'm going to spend a lot of that money to bring relief to you, and I'm not going to wait sixty days to start doing it.
I have a plan to protect the value of your home and get it rising again by buying up bad mortgages and refinancing them so if your neighbor defaults he doesn't bring down the value of your house with him.
I have a plan to let retirees and people nearing retirement keep their money in their retirement accounts longer so they can rebuild their savings.
I have a plan to hold the line on taxes and cut them to make America more competitive and create jobs here at home.
Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse. Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands and strengthens our economy.
The explosion of government spending over the last eight years has put us deeper in debt to foreign countries that don't have our best interests at heart. It weakened the dollar and made everything you buy more expensive.
If I'm elected President, I won't spend nearly a trillion dollars more of your money, on top of the $700 billion we just gave the Treasury Secretary, as Senator Obama proposes. Because he can't do that without raising your taxes or digging us further into debt. I'm going to make government live on a budget just like you do.
I will freeze government spending on all but the most important programs like defense, veterans care, Social Security and health care until we scrub every single government program and get rid of the ones that aren't working for the American people. And I will veto every single pork barrel bill Congresses passes.
If I'm elected President, I won't fine small businesses and families with children, as Senator Obama proposes, to force them into a new huge government run health care program, while he keeps the cost of the fine a secret until he hits you with it. I will bring down the skyrocketing cost of health care with competition and choice to lower your premiums, and make it more available to more Americans. I'll make sure you can keep the same health plan if you change jobs or leave a job to stay home.
I will provide every single American family with a $5000 refundable tax credit to help them purchase health care insurance. Workers who already have insurance from their employers will keep it and have more money to cover costs. Workers who don't have health insurance can use it to find policy anywhere in this country to meet their basic needs.
If I'm elected President, I won't raise taxes on small businesses, as Senator Obama proposes, and force them to cut jobs. I will keep small business taxes where they are, help them keep their costs low, and let them spend their earnings to create more jobs.
If I'm elected President, I won't make it harder to sell our goods overseas and kill more jobs as Senator Obama proposes. I will open new markets to goods made in America and make sure our trade is free and fair. And I'll make sure we help workers who've lost a job that won't come back find a new one that won't go away.
The last President to raise taxes and restrict trade in a bad economy as Senator Obama proposes was Herbert Hoover. That didn't turn out too well. They say those who don't learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. Well, my friends, I know my history lessons, and I sure won't make the mistakes Senator Obama will.
If I'm elected President, we're going to stop sending $700 billion to countries that don't like us very much. I won't argue to delay drilling for more oil and gas and building new nuclear power plants in America, as Senator Obama does.
We will start new drilling now. We will invest in all energy alternatives -- nuclear, wind, solar, and tide. We will encourage the manufacture of hybrid, flex fuel and electric automobiles. We will invest in clean coal technology. We will lower the cost of energy within months, and we will create millions of new jobs.
Let me give you the state of the race today. We have 17 days to go. We're 6 points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want them.
What America needs in this hour is a fighter; someone who puts all his cards on the table and trusts the judgment of the American people. I have fought for you most of my life. There are other ways to love this country, but I've never been the kind to do it from the sidelines.
I know you're worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future. Will we continue to lead the world's economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren's future be brighter than ours?
My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.
I know what fear feels like. It's a thief in the night who robs your strength.
I know what hopelessness feels like. It's an enemy who defeats your will.
I felt those things once before. I will never let them in again. I'm an American. And I choose to fight. Don't give up hope. Be strong. Have courage. And fight.
Fight for a new direction for our country. Fight for what's right for America.
Fight to clean up the mess of corruption, infighting and selfishness in Washington.
Fight to get our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead.
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
Fight for our children's future.
Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here.
We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.
Now, let's go win this election and get this country moving again.
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Friday, October 17, 2008
McCain-Palin Campaign Conference Call On Barack Obama's Ties To ACORN
We do think too that after an opportunity at the debate on Wednesday when Barack Obama was asked about it, he continued to create a fog around the issue, not taking the opportunity to publicly spell out his historic relationship with the ACORN organization and also had a wonderful opportunity to explain exactly in detail what his relationship was with the ACORN organization when they hired them and spent over $800,000 to make them a part of his campaign. We believe that these issues are important in a close election." -- Rick Davis
Today McCain-Palin 2008 held a press conference call with Rick Davis, McCain-Palin 2008 Campaign Manager, to discuss Barack Obama's association with ACORN and the nationwide investigation of ACORN's practices:
Rick Davis: "I just wanted to update everybody on our thinking of what's going on in the emerging scandal related to ACORN and the election cycle this year.
"Its been about a week since we last talked about this and I thinks it's important to note a couple of important events that have occurred. One, I had sent a letter to my counterpart on the Obama campaign, David Plouffe, to encourage him to join a group that we organized called the Honest and Open Election Committee headed by former Senators Danforth and Rudman in an effort to ensure that there is a total confidence level in the American public for these elections. We believe that these are important historical elections and nothing should mar the outcome, regardless of whether we win or lose. Nothing should mar the outcome of this election cycle. We have gotten little to no response back from the Obama campaign on this issue. In fact, the only real remarks that they've made publicly is when David Plouffe went out of his way to make a point that he just thinks this is a cynical ploy to somehow reduce voter turnout. I can't believe th at any effort in this area to ensure that we have coordination between his campaign and mine, between these big issues would be anything that would be considered a cynical ploy.
"But leaving that, since we last talked on this issue, there have been more media reports of an expanding investigation by the FBI. We were aware last time we spoke that they had raided offices in Nevada but, evidently, according to press reports, their interest now extends beyond Nevada into other states. We're aware that there have been activities in New Mexico by the FBI. But I guess in news reports that extends to many other states that they may be taking a look at. We don't know and haven't spoken to the FBI about their investigation, but it does confirm the concerns that we've seen on the state by state basis of rampant voter fraud as it relates to voter registrations that require some effort to look at them.
"We do think too that after an opportunity at the debate on Wednesday when Barack Obama was asked about it, he continued to create a fog around the issue, not taking the opportunity to publicly spell out his historic relationship with the ACORN organization and also had a wonderful opportunity to explain exactly in detail what his relationship was with the ACORN organization when they hired them and spent over $800,000 to make them a part of his campaign. We believe that these issues are important in a close election. We believe that many of these states that are under investigation have had historically close elections and could be very close again and that we should do nothing in this campaign or in the press to do anything other than to ensure that there's a total confidence level that on election day and, more importantly, the day after the election that people believe that they have had a fair and honest election and that the pe rson who they chose to be the next president of the United States does so without a cloud of suspicion that seems to right now hang over this election.
"It's pretty clear that Barack Obama decided not to use the opportunity this week to spell out what's going on with his relationship with ACORN. We talked about in the past how ACORN has been involved with him as far back as his tenure on the Woods Foundation. His comments on his website that he's fought along ACORN his entire career, his early training of ACORN employees and he did mention that the ACORN representation in a court suit with the federal government.
I don't understand. I mean unless they think that there is a problem with his relationship with ACORN, why they wouldn't just come clean and talk about these things. But, more importantly, I think it's worth noting that there's still many questions about the $800,000 that ACORN got from his campaign within this last year. We've put out a press release this week that touched on some of these issues that we asked for full disclosure of those funds. What did they go to? What w as the relationship with Citizen Services, Inc? And, what exactly was Citizen Services Inc's relationship with ACORN? They claim that virtually all this money was spent outside the ACORN organization. Can they prove that? Can they elaborate on that? Can they explain what it was spent for? I think that if they're going to use these kinds of excuses to diminish their obvious historical relationship with ACORN, that they owe it to the public and to the press to scourge whatever written communication that they have had with these organizations in order to establish confidence that there wasn't something more to it. Have they denied in fact that they have any ongoing relationship with ACORN? Just as recently as the financial bailout to date in the Senate this last month, Barack Obama actively supported a Senate plan to cut ACORN into a percentage of the profits that would be generated by a massive trillion dollar bailout as part of a failed negotiation attempt that Barack Obama a nd the Democratic leadership in Congress claimed was the deal that John McCain upset the applecart on. I think the American public are probably happy that that deal never transpired.
"We also have suggested that you know we examined exactly what voter registration activity was compiled by ACORN as a part of this relationship with the Barack Obama campaign. What did they do in turnout? What was the nature of the functions that they performed? And what did they get for the $800,000 that they spent on this? They claim that this money was used in the Ohio primary. We know how close Ohio has been in past elections. We know how few votes made up the difference in many of the most recent elections. In fact, I would remind everybody that in states in 2000- Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin- all were within 1% that were decided the outcome of that election. And in 2004 again in Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, the election was decided by just 1%. So, this issue I know sometimes to many people looks like, 'well there's just not all that many people involved in this process. Ther e aren't that many registrations you know that are going to affect the outcome.'
"First, we don't know how big the problem is. There has been very little reporting on this outside of some state investigative reports. So, I don't think anybody at this stage has any sense of how widespread the fraud has been. Obviously, federal investigators being involved in this indicate it has risen to the level of their attention.
"And two, it only takes a very little to undermine the public's credibility that these elections were honest, open, and fair and I think that is the number one issue that we believe to be at stake here. When John McCain gets elected president, we want to know that these were the most honest elections the American public would have confidence in. I think that the idea that we can just blow off these charges as David Plouffe did as a cynical attempt to distract us from the bigger issues of this campaign is also not appropriate when talking about the integrity of American elections. In fact, what is most amazing is the criticism that Senator McCaskill has made where she claimed that there wasn't any fraudulent voting, that people claim that this is a huge problem and instances of voter fraud and that it would be dismissed as easily. When she was the Missouri auditor, she reported multiple instances of fraud in their registration process in St. Louis, including 935 possible felonies. Seems to me she's changed her tune pretty significantly when she had a specific responsibility for administering fair elections in that state and now acting on behalf of Barack Obama campaign doesn't seem to think it's that important.
"I would finally say that from our perspective, what is truly amazing is how some in the media, including The New York Times has treated this where, for some reason, they believe that just 1% somehow should just be swept under the rug. One percent of fraud should be swept under the rug? We should have no fraud. We send observers to elections all around the world, and we hold ourselves out to be the gold standard in democracy and transparency and that idea that the 'paper of record' would believe that just 1% of fraud would somehow be tolerable is outrageous.
"I'd lastly like to say that on a couple of other issues, as far as coordination with the Obama campaign, I'd like to say that there are other complaints that have been filed against them on FEC disclosure issues. They seem to be of the opinion that whatever they do is fine that they don't have to apply the same standards of transparency to their campaign that we do. On the issue of transparency and publicly releasing all of their donations, I think it's incredible that now that we know that there were specific problems with their fundraising that the act of not disclosing contributors who donate individually $200 or less in a time when we have done that since day one from our campaign, that there's not more pressure and more scrutiny from the media as to why the Obama campaign hasn't done this. They have gotten acclaim both nationally and internationally about how sophisticated they've been with their internet, how successful they'v e been in being able to contact all these voters through that. It's clearly been the engine that's fueled their fantastic financial success in this campaign and the reason that they continue to be ahead of us in fundraising since Obama has broken his pact with the American people to take federal money and continues to raise money at these levels. Why hasn't he released his donors from day one? Why hasn't he released them since the complaints that have been filed with the FEC? And why hasn't he released them today in order to try and regain confidence in the transparency of this election?
"So, I think there's a broader issue here of what's going on inside the Obama campaign while these questions remain unanswered. Why they don't feel a need to clean these things up if they're not that big a deal. Why not just release the documentation on ACORN? Why not open themselves up to a discussion of what exactly happened with that $830,000? I think these issues continue to plague this election. I believe nothing is more important than the integrity of these elections and whoever is elected president, whether its Barack Obama or John McCain we want to know that we've had a safe, transparent, and clean election."
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Just Words: Barack Obama And Joe Biden Cite Entirely Different Numbers In Making The Same Attack
You Know It's A Lie When They Can't Get Their Story Straight
Today, in New Mexico and Virginia, Barack Obama and Joe Biden accused John McCain of trying to cut Medicare services and benefits. Yet, it is clear that they are just making the attack up when Barack Obama and Joe Biden cite two entirely different numbers in making the same attack. Please see below when Barack Obama and Joe Biden pull numbers out of thin air:
STORY #1: Barack Obama Cites A $882 Billion Number
Barack Obama: John McCain Will Cut $882 Billion. OBAMA: "But the Wall Street Journal recently reported that it's actually worse than we thought. It turns out, Senator McCain would pay for part of his plan by making drastic cuts in Medicare -- $882 billion worth. $882 billion in Medicare cuts to pay for an ill-conceived health care plan, even as Medicare already faces a looming shortfall." (Barack Obama, Remarks As Prepared For Delivery, Roanoke, VA, 10/17/08)
STORY #2: Joe Biden Cites An Entirely Different Number - $3.2 Trillion
Joe Biden: John McCain Will Cut $3.2 Trillion. BIDEN: "And now we find out Gov. that John wants to cut has to cut over the next ten years $3.2 trillion out of Medicare in order to pay for his program. So, he's going to pay for this voucher for people who are already doing relatively well by taking it away from Medicare." (Joe Biden, Remarks, Mesilla, NM, 10/17/08)
The Bottom Line: Barack Obama And Joe Biden Are Launching A False Attack And Making Up Their Numbers
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McCain-Palin Campaign Conference Call On Barack Obama's Health Care Lies
"[W]hat we've seen on the issue of health care reform is the basic Obama strategy, which is attack John McCain and don't answer questions about your own plan, and the result has been the worst and the most sustained distortion of policy in this entire campaign -- a dubious honor that no one will be able to exceed." -- Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain-Palin 2008 Senior Policy Adviser
Today, McCain-Palin 2008 held a press conference call with Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain-Palin 2008 senior policy adviser, to discuss Barack Obama's health care lies:
Doug Holtz-Eakin: "I'm sorry to have to join you in such terrible circumstances, but what we've seen on the issue of health care reform is the basic Obama strategy, which is attack John McCain and don't answer questions about your own plan, and the result has been the worst and the most sustained distortion of policy in this entire campaign -- a dubious honor that no one will be able to exceed. Let me just go through the attacks we've seen running in a flood of ads nationwide and repeated in Barack Obama's stump speeches.
"Distortion number one: John McCain will tax health care benefits for the first time, having the largest middle-income tax increase in history. Absolutely false. Both before and after John McCain's reform, the tax code will subsidize private health insurance, period. Right now, we have a subsidy for private health insurance that is skewed towards the richest, most affluent Americans who have employer-sponsored insurance. After the reform, that subsidy will be equally distributed across all types of insurance, and the same amount will apply to every individual who gets private health insurance. Why Barack Obama, who preaches fairness at every stop, would oppose this is a mystery to me. Indeed, it's even more mysterious because it's an approach that was supported by his very own top economic adviser, Jason Furman. The Furman Plan which you could call the McCain Plan, would, quote, 'scrap the current deduction altogether and replace it with progressive tax credits, that together with other changes, would ensure that every American has affordable health insurance.' That is, in fact, the John McCain plan. Barack Obama is opposed to that. This is a distortion because it only focuses on one part of the plan, and ignores entirely the tax credit -- $5,000 for families, $2,500 for individuals -- that would go along with the plan.
"The second attack has been that, somehow, it'll be a tax increase. If you happen to have, from your employer, a health insurance policy that has, quote, 'as good as a member of Congress' -- that's the Barack Obama gold-standard for health insurance -- not only will you not only have a tax increase. You will have more tax dollars back for health care than you do right now, a savings ranging from $3,800, a bottom bracket of 10%, to $800 to the top income tax bracket at 35%. It's just a complete distortion to call it a tax increase.
"The second distortion is, John McCain will tax health care benefits for the first time, and send the money straight to the insurance companies. The truth is that this is simply a deceptive attack. American families get to decide exactly where they're going to put their credit dollars. They will pick the health insurance plan of their choice to meet their needs. It will give them the flexibility to tailor their insurance to the point in their life cycle. They can pick a policy that's portable and moves with them from job to job, from job to home. They will not have to change providers if they change jobs. Many people will, for the first time, will be able to say they have a pediatrician because they don't have to change every time they change jobs. Indeed, moving the money directly to the insurance companies simply is an administrative efficiency. And if Barack Obama favors inefficient large government, well then you should look at his plans. It's e specially ironic that he would attack this, with that this is his own policy under his Hope Tax Credit where the money simply goes from the federal government to colleges.
"Distortion number three: Under John McCain's plan, Americans with a pre-existing condition will not find coverage. Absolutely false. John McCain has pledged to the American people a Guaranteed Access Plan in every state that would cover those who are denied coverage because either pre-existing conditions or high cost. The guaranteed access plan would have capped premiums so that it is affordable. It would take advantage of and require the providers to use modern techniques like disease management to reduce the cost of care, and it would impose fines on those companies that denied inappropriately, so it would have a built-in check on the source of the denial.
"Distortion number four: The McCain health care plan will damage employer-provided insurance for millions of Americans. That's not true. In fact, the McCain plan is meant to augment the employer-sponsored insurance, which is the primary source of private insurance in America. Point number one is that, nothing changes with employers under the McCain plan. Employers can deduct right now, the full cost employee compensation, including their health insurance. They will, after the reform, be able to deduct the full cost of all employee compensation. There are incentives to provide insurance, which are to attract high-quality employees of various skills so that you can credit them in the labor market, will be absolutely unchanged. He has asserted that they will be left with older sicker pools because that young people opt out. Why would they do that? Right now, a young person, say a 25-year old, might be getting $4,000 worth of health insurance from their employer. That's not the greatest insurance in the world, but if they opt-out, they'll get $2,500 worth of health insurance, the maximum they can get with that tax credit. Why would they trade $4,000 worth of coverage for $2,500, if the out-of-pocket is no different? So the assertion that somehow this is a plan that is intended to harm employer-sponsored insurance is simply incorrect. It will allow the millions of Americans who are working and uninsured in small businesses across America to have access to insurance for the first time. Access to insurance is the gateway to better care. It's the gateway to treatment of conditions that would later be more expensive if left untreated. It is the most important way to get cost savings for the system as a whole.
"In contrast, Barack Obama's plan has been estimated to drive as many as 15 million individuals out of their employer sponsored coverage. And that's simply because he will impose a play or pay mandate on employers, something I want to come back to later.
"And then finally today, Barack Obama leveled the charge that the McCain plan will reduce Medicare spending by $882 billion. Let's consider the source of this charge. Number one, it's a study by The Center for American Progress, a fully owned subsidiary of the Barack Obama campaign. It is authored by individuals who have donated to Democrats including Barack Obama. It is hardly an independent neutral source. The method of doing this analysis is just dumb. It says that, let's assert that the McCain plan has a $1.2 trillion cost. Something that is false. And then divide that proportionally between Medicare and Medicaid to assert that we'll lose $882 billion in Medicare and the remainder in Medicaid. If you apply the same techniques to Barack Obama's plan, which has been estimated to cost $240 billion a year, over the next 10 years Barack Obama will be promising American seniors $1.6 trillion in cuts to Medicare, and America's poor $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid. The McCain campaign is not running ads and making speeches with those kinds of assertions. It is patently false. We're going to say, Barack Obama's plan costs money because third-party experts have estimated that it costs money.
"Now, the assertion that somehow we are undertaking cuts to Medicare doesn't stand up on analysis either. It is true that as we institute the following reforms promoting a payment reform that moves away from fragmented fee for service, volume based approaches to coordinated care with an emphasis on prevention and wellness. You might be able to actually achieve the same quality outcomes at lower cost. We do want to eliminate Medicare fraud and abuse, estimated to be $60 billion a year by the Inspector General and CMS. We would like to see that drug premiums are not subsidized for America's wealthiest participants in the Part B plan. We don't see why Warren Buffett should get a 75 cents on the dollar subsidy to his prescription drugs. We are in favor of a new generation of treatment models that will better manage the chronic diseases that are 70% of the bill in America's health care. Greater use of health information technologies. A business model to promote their spread, and an identification and implementation of a medical home model. We'll promote coordination and care and reduced costs. John McCain has long been a supporter of faster entry by generic drugs and favors a pathway to bio-generics. Greater use of generics and bio-generics will in fact lower the cost of pharmaceuticals in the Medicare system. In the context of a comprehensive reform of this type, where insurance is reformed, the subsidy to private insurance is reformed, Medicare payment and policies are reformed. We see no reason why the Medicare advantage plans should continue to get a $15 billion a year subsidy. We'll put them on a level playing field and save some money there.
"It's an interesting spin that the Obama campaign has chosen because some of the things that I just talked about -- managing chronic diseases, greater use of health IT, promoting prevention, greater use of generic drugs -- might sound familiar. It's because they are in Senator Obama's plan. He doesn't describe them as cuts. He calls them things that would strengthen the system and savings. So the spin is inappropriate. The distortion is outrageous. It's an attempt to simply scare America's seniors. And that's a way of simply answering questions about his own plan. What did we see in the debate this week? We saw John McCain ask Barack Obama, 'How will you implement your play or pay system?' Very simple. That's what's he's always said he has.
You either provide coverage according to the standards that Barack Obama will dictate to American business, or you will pay a fine. He refuses to say what that fine will be. Instead his answer was, well if you're a small business you're exempt. But he refuses to tell us what a small business is. So we've got a policy which he claims with a straight face to the American people to say I just explained my policy which neither defines who pays the fine, or what the fine is. He owes the American people a better answer. But his campaign went on record yesterday in The Wall Street Journal as saying that they have no intention to answer that question before November 4th. That's not exactly full disclosure of your plans to the American people, and in the face of the kinds of distortions he's putting on John McCain, it's even less impressive.
"He also has the comparable child mandate. He hasn't explained that. So in closing, I'm sorry for going so long. I've watched these ads. I've listened to these speeches. I have been appalled at the conduct of the Obama campaign. This is one of the most pressing domestic issues. It deserves a debate in this campaign that is comparable to its importance to the American people. And it's not getting that from Barack Obama. We have got a choice between John McCain's approach, which attempts to control the cost of health care. Making insurance more affordable. Revolutionize the treatment of disease in America to lower its cost. Achieve higher quality outcomes. Spread insurance to greater choice, giving individuals control over their futures. Versus Barack Obama, who has in fact said that he favors a single payer system. Something he denied to the American public in that debate. He has a system of mandates on employers, mandates on families. A big new gove rnment insurance program. A health bureaucracy. If you can't meet the mandates, you'll end up in the new plan run by the health bureaucracy. It is an expansion of big government. It is toward an ideal that he has said he likes; a single payer system. It is reminiscent of the democrats approach in pushing another important American ideal, housing for Americans through a big government Fannie/Freddie approach. Barack Obama's on the path to risky sub-prime health care. He needs to put that straight to the American people and stop lying about John McCain's plan."
Listen To The Conference Call
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Thursday, October 16, 2008
McCain-Palin 2008 on FBI's ACORN Investigation
Today, McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis released the following statement in response to the FBI's investigation of ACORN:
"Given the fact the FBI has launched a nationwide investigation into the questionable voter registration practices of ACORN, it is imperative that Barack Obama's campaign cooperate fully with this important investigation. To date, in public announcements including last night's debate, Barack Obama has attempted to conceal and distort his and his campaign's relationship with a group that is currently engaging in systematic voter fraud. Barack Obama's campaign must fully disclose the true nature of his association with ACORN, including:
· The total disclosure of all funds, including $832,000 from Barack Obama's campaign to ACORN and ACORN affiliations like Citizens Services, Inc.
· Any and all information the Obama campaign has related to ACORN's database of registered voters compiled during this election cycle.
· The total disclosure of coordination between Barack Obama's campaign, ACORN, and ACORN affiliations over the entirety of this election cycle.
· The truth behind ACORN's hiring of get-out-the-vote workers on Barack Obama's behalf in Ohio during this election cycle.
"In the spirit of a fair election Barack Obama should assist in this process prior to Election Day."
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Sunday, October 12, 2008
John McCain's Weekly Radio Address
DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO FILE HERE: http://www.johnmccain.com/downloads/101008_wra.mp3
John McCain's Weekly Radio Address:
Good morning. This is John McCain, speaking to you at the end of another week filled with troubling news about our economy. On Tuesday, Americans also had a chance to hear my opponent and me debate our very different plans to meet the crisis.
We've had two debates now, with a third coming this Wednesday night. And I can't shake the impression that Barack Obama is trying so hard to exploit America's financial crisis that he hasn't really focused on how to solve it. He keeps talking about the past, too -- although in a very selective way. He leaves out certain details, like the part about how he was taking campaign money from the same executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who were causing America's financial crisis.
At the time, I was the one who called for tighter restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could have helped prevent this crisis from happening in the first place. Senator Obama was silent on the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and his Democratic allies in Congress opposed every effort to rein them in. But that doesn't prevent him from talking now as if he'd seen and warned about the coming crisis all along -- like some voice in the wilderness who went unheeded. Far from warning executives from Fannie and Freddie about their reckless conduct, he not only took their money but added them to his team as advisers.
As I said in Tuesday's debate, in this time of crisis we must go to the heart of the problem, and right now that problem is a housing crisis. Under my orders, as president, the Secretary of the Treasury will carry out a Homeownership Resurgence Plan.
It's a simple idea. Take some of the money that Congress has already committed to fixing our financial system and use it to give millions of homeowners a new mortgage and a fresh start. No default. No bankruptcy. No foreclosure. No deteriorating neighborhoods. The United States government will support the refinancing of distressed mortgages for homeowners and replace them with manageable mortgages.
It's critical that we stabilize mortgages, or else the housing market won't stabilize and homeowners across our country face troubles even greater than they face now. The housing market faces distortion by a glut of low-priced, foreclosed homes. And this would lead to a crash in the value of the number one asset of a majority of Americans. With so much on the line, the moment requires that government act -- and as president I intend to act, quickly and decisively.
As we help homeowners to avoid the worst, moreover, we must also act to protect investors -- especially those relying on their investments for retirement. Current rules mandate that investors must begin to sell off their IRAs and 401Ks when they reach 70 and one half. Those rules should be suspended, so that investors aren't forced to sell their stocks at just the time when the market is hurting the most.
The response from Senator Obama to my Homeownership Resurgence Plan was typical of his response to the entire crisis. First, Senator Obama tried to claim that it was really his idea. But if anyone believed that claim, they didn't believe it for long because the very next day Senator Obama and his campaign attacked my plan to stabilize mortgages. He claimed that the cost of the plan would place a burden to taxpayers -- this from the same guy who plans to increase federal spending by 860 billion dollars. In reality, the money will come from funds already committed under the rescue package passed by Congress. The funds aren't new, but the priorities will be when we put the financial strength of our government back on the side of working families.
My fellow Americans, Washington is on the wrong track, and even greater financial troubles lay ahead if we don't act quickly. The tax-and-spend policies of Barack Obama will only make matters worse. But if you give me the chance, I'm going to set it right. You don't have to hope that things will change when you vote for me. You know things will change, because I've been fighting for change in Washington my whole career. I've been fighting for you my whole life. That's what I'm going to do as President of the United States. Fight for you and put the government back on the side of the people.
Thanks for listening.
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Thursday, June 19, 2008
McCain - A Timeline of Reversal
Throughout this campaign, Barack Obama has campaigned on his pledge to take public financing in the general election. However, today, Barack Obama has shown himself to be a typical politician. Please find below a timeline of Barack Obama's support for public financing and subsequent reversal:
JUNE 2006: Barack Obama Says "I Strongly Support Public Financing."
OBAMA: "Well, I strongly support public financing. And I know [Senator] Dick [Durbin] does too. He's going to have some things to say about it because when we were having - as you'll recall - the major debates around lobbying reform, one of the things that Dick, I think, properly pointed out was that you can change the rules on lobbying here in Washington, but if we're still getting financed primarily from individual contributions, that those with the most money are still going to have the most influence." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Constituents Breakfast, 6/29/06)
· Please Watch Barack Obama Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU5V3fO7B1U
JANUARY 2007: Barack Obama Says "I'm A Big Believer In Public Financing" And "The Presidential Public Financing System Works."
KING: "Senator Clinton, by the way, has decided to reject public financing for her campaign. Are you going to do the same?"
OBAMA: "Well, you know, this is something that, obviously, we are going to have to take a careful look at. I'm a big believer in public financing of campaigns. And I think that for a time, the presidential public financing system works." (CNN's "Larry King Live," 1/24/07)
FEBRUARY 2007: Barack Obama Petitions The FEC To Clear Way For Deal To Preserve Public Financing For the General Election, Pledging To Do So If He Is The Nominee.
"Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, issued an unusual challenge to his rivals on Wednesday. He proposed a voluntary agreement between the two major party nominees that would limit their fund-raising and spending for the general election. ... In a Feb. 1 filing with the Federal Election Commission that was made public on Wednesday, Mr. Obama said that he, too, would seek enough private donations to remain competitive, but with a twist. He asked the commission if he could begin soliciting private donations with the understanding that he might later return the money to his contributors. If he won the Democratic nomination, he could then strike a deal with the Republican nominee to return their private donat ions and use only public money for the general election. For 2008, that would limit each general election campaign to about $85 million. 'Should both major party nominees elect to receive public funding, this would preserve the public financing system, now in danger of collapse, and facilitate the conduct of campaigns freed from any dependence on private fund-raising,' Mr. Obama's filing said." (David K. Kirkpatrick, "Obama Proposes Candidates Limit General Election Spending," The New York Times, 2/8/07)
· McCain And Obama Agree To Preserve The Public Financing System.
"Senator John McCain joined Senator Barack Obama on Thursday in promising to accept a novel fund-raising truce if each man wins his party's presidential nomination. The promises by Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, are an effort to resuscitate part of the ailing public financing system for presidential campaigns. ... On Thursday, a spokesman for Mr. McCain said that he would take up Mr. Obama on a proposal for an accord between the two major party nominees to rely just on public financing for the general election. ... The manager of Mr. McCain's campaign, Terry Nelson, said he welcomed the decision. 'Should John McCain win the Republican nomination, we will agree to accept public financing in the general election, if the Democratic nominee agrees to do the same,' Mr. Nelson said." (David D. Kirkpatrick, "McCain A nd Obama In Deal On Public Financing," The New York Times, 3/2/07)
· The New York Times: "McCain And Obama In Deal On Public Financing." (David D. Kirkpatrick, "McCain And Obama In Deal On Public Financing," The New York Times, 3/2/07)
FEBRUARY 2007: Barack Obama Co-Sponsors Legislation To Keep Current Public Funding System Relevant.
"Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) added his name to legislation overhauling the public financing of presidential elections this week, earning him plaudits from watchdog groups. ... Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer yesterday urged Obama's presidential rivals to follow his lead and cosponsor this session's bill from Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). It would raise significantly the spending cap for candidates accepting public funds during their White House campaigns in an effort to keep the system relevant." (Elana Schor, "Obama Co-Signs Bill To Publicly Fund Campaigns," The Hill, 2/16/07)
MARCH 2007: Obama Spokesman Bill Burton Said Barack Obama "Will Aggressively Pursue An Agreement" On Public Financing.
BURTON: "If Senator Obama is the nominee, he will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." (Jim Kuhnhenn, "Federal Regulators Rule Candidates Can Return Donations For General Election," The Associated Press, 3/1/07)
NOVEMBER 2007: In Response To A Midwest Democracy Network Questionnaire, Barack Obama Said He Would Accept Public Funding In The General Election. Question:
"If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?"
Obama: "Yes. I have been a long-time advocate for public financing of campaigns combined with free television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests." (Sen. Barack Obama, "Presidential Candidate Questionnaire," Midwest Democracy Network, www.commoncause.org, 11/27/07)
· Barack Obama Even Referred To His Plan As A "Fundraising Pledge" For His Opponents To Accept.
Obama: "In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My proposal followed announcements by some presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge." (Sen. Barack Obama, "Presidential Candidate Questionnaire," Midwest Democracy Network, www.commoncause.org, 11/27/07)
FEBRUARY 2008: Barack Obama Writes An Op-Ed In USA Today Stating That He Would "Aggressively Pursue" An Agreement With The Republican Nominee Guaranteeing "A Publicly Funded General Election In 2008 With Real Spending Limits."
"In 2007, shortly after I became a candidate for president, I asked the Federal Election Commission to clear any regulatory obstacles to a publicly funded general election in 2008 with real spending limits. The commission did that. But this cannot happen without the agreement of the parties' eventual nominees. As I have said, I will aggressively pursue such an agreement if I am my party's nominee. I do not expect that a workable, effective agreement will be reached overnight. The campaign-finance laws are complex, and filled with loopholes that can render meaningless any agreement that is not solidly constructed. ... I propose a meaningful agreement in good faith that results in real spen ding limits. The candidates will have to commit to discouraging cheating by their supporters; to refusing fundraising help to outside groups; and to limiting their own parties to legal forms of involvement. And the agreement may have to address the amounts that Senator McCain, the presumptive nominee of his party, will spend for the general election while the Democratic primary contest continues. In l996, an agreement on spending limits was reached by Sen. John Kerry and Gov. William Weld in their Massachusetts Senate contest. They agreed to limits on overall and personal spending and on a mechanism to account for outside spending. The agreement did not accomplish all these candidates hoped, but they believe that it made a substantial difference in controlling outside groups as well as their own spending. We can have such an agreement this year, and it could hold up. I am committed to seeking such an agreement if that commitment is matched by Senator McCain. When the time co mes, we will talk and our commitment will be tested. I will pass that test, and I hope that the Republican nominee passes his." (Barack Obama, Op-Ed, "Opposing View: Both Sides Must Agree," USA Today, 2/20/08)
FEBRUARY 2008: Barack Obama Says "I Will Sit Down With John McCain" To Address Public Financing.
NBC'S TIM RUSSERT: "So you may opt out of public financing. You may break your word."
BARACK OBAMA: "What I -- what I have said is, at the point where I'm the nominee, at the point where it's appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that works for everybody." (Democratic Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 2/26/08)
· Please Watch Barack Obama Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELoKGvOwSI4
APRIL 2008: ABC News' Jake Tapper Reports That Barack Obama Is Previewing Arguments To Opt Out Of The Public Financing System.
"Despite his previous pledge to enter into the public financing system should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has recently been reluctant to re-commit to entering the system. This reluctance has coincided with his primary, caucus, and fundraising successes. For that reluctance, Obama has been hammered as hypocritical by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., not to mention impartial observers. Tonight at a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., at the National Museum of Women in the Arts -- at a $2,300-per-person event for 200 people held before a $1,000-per-person reception for 350 people -- Obama previewed his argument to justify this possible future discarding of a principle." (Jake Tapper, "Obama Prepares Argument To Discard Public-Financing Principle," ABC News, 4/8/08)
· The Washington Post Highlights The Test Confronting Barack Obama: "When it was in Mr. Obama's interest to present himself as the ethical savior of an imperiled campaign finance system, he was happy to do so, especially since it didn't seem especially likely at the time that he'd be the nominee. But the real test of a candidate is whether he will stick by an announced principle even when that's against his own interest. Now Mr. Obama could become the first nominee since Watergate to run a campaign fueled entirely by private money." (Editorial, "A Lapsed Principle," The Washington Post, 4/14/08)
APRIL 2008: Barack Obama Says "I Have Promised That I Will Sit Down With John McCain And Talk About Can We Preserve A Public System."
FOX NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE:" Wall Street Journal says that you are prepared to run the first privately financed campaign, presidential campaign, since Watergate. True?"
OBAMA: Well, look. We've done a wonderful job raising money from the grassroots. I'm very proud of the fact that in March -- in February, for example, 90 percent of our donations came over the Internet. Our average donation is $96, and we've done an amazing job, I think, mobilizing people to finance our campaigns in small increments. I have promised that I will sit down with John McCain and talk about can we preserve a public system, as long as we are taking into account third party independent expenditures. Because what I don't intend to do --" (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 4/27/08)
· Barack Obama: "I Would Be Very Interested In Pursuing Public Financing..."
"MR. WALLACE: "If you can get that agreement, you would go for a publicly financed campaign?"
OBAMA: "What I don't intend to do is to allow huge amounts of money to be spent by the RNC, the Republican National Committee, or by organizations like the Swift Boat organization, and just stand there without -- (cross talk)."
WALLACE: "But if you get that agreement?"
OBAMA: "I would be very interested in pursuing public financing, because I think not every candidate is going to be able to do what I've done in this campaign, and I think it's important to think about future campaigns." (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 4/27/08)
· Please Watch Barack Obama Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsOnmKK5j6Y
JUNE 2008: Barack Obama Tells The USA Today That He Would Pursue A Public Financing Agreement With John McCain.
"On campaign finance. Obama said he'll accept public financing for his campaign -- which would limit the amount of spending -- only if McCain agrees to curb spending by the Republican National Committee. 'I won't disarm unilaterally,' he said." (Kathy Kiely, "Obama Reaching Out To The White Working Class," USA Today, 6/6/08)
JUNE 2008: Barack Obama Has Declined Public Financing In The General Election, Calling It A "Broken System."
"In a web video emailed to supporters, Obama asks his supporters to help him 'declare our independence from a broken system.' Of course, it's not so much a broken system that explains why he's passing on the FEC's $80+million. He will easily raise more than he could ever get in public funding." (Jonathan Martin, "Obama Opts Out Of Public Financing," The Politico's "Jonathan Martin" Blog, www.politico.com, 6/19/08)
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Sunday, January 20, 2008
Huckabee Blames Thompson for His Second Place Showing as GOP Candidate Race Against McCain
One day after a disappointing second place finish in South Carolina, Mike Huckabee got back in the saddle Sunday to party at the ranch of action movie icon Chuck Norris, and repeated a claim by his campaign chairman that Fred Thompson was his biggest barrier to defeating John McCain in the Palmetto State.
http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/20/huckabee-blames-thompson-for-his-second-place-showing/
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Fred Thompson - Word is out..
The word is out that Thompson is going to concede on Monday. He had a poor showing in South Carolina. Listening to his speech last night after enough of the results had come in was almost painful. In my humble estimation his strategy to wait until late in the cycle doomed him from the start. Everyone else had already courted the press, courted the strong worker bees and donors in the Republican Party and it was difficult for him to get a toe hold.
We'll see if rumors zinging around the Internet are true re: Monday's concession. Without a win in South Carolina he'd have to have more money than Romney to be viable.
- RC Note
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GIULIANI AD FACTS “It Matters
AD FACT:
Voice Over: “When corruption ruled, he challenged it.”
BACKGROUND:
GIULIANI “WAS A HERO … FOR FIGHTING CORRUPTION”
Giuliani Served As U.S. Attorney For The Southern District Of New York From 1983-1989. “U.S. Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, who successfully prosecuted stock traders, corrupt politicians and the Mafia, announced his resignation Tuesday … Giuliani – who served as associate attorney general in the Justice Department before becoming U.S. attorney in 1983 …” (Vera Haller, “Famous Prosecutor Steps Down, Leaves Political Door Open,” The Associated Press, 1/11/89)
“[Giuliani’s] Office’s Conviction Rate Of Better Than 90% — And Its Record Of Winning Many Big Ones — Speaks For Itself.” (Stephen Adler et. al., “Litigator’s Legacy,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/11/89)
NY1’s Andrew Kirtzman: “He Was A Hero In The Eyes Of People For Fighting Corruption In Politics, Organized Crime, Insider Trading On Wall Street. He Was The White Knight.” (MSNBC’s “Headliners & Legends,” 11/17/01)
GIULIANI TOOK ON THE MAFIA AND WON
RICO Statute Author Praised Giuliani’s Innovative Use Of RICO To Prosecute Mob. “[N]otre Dame Law School professor G. Robert Blakey, who drafted the RICO statue, says that as early as 1980 he gave a lecture to the FBI suggesting a RICO case against the mob. But Blakey says, ‘If Rudy wants to claim credit, I say, give it to him. Because it wouldn’t have happened without him.’” (Connie Bruck, “Rudolph Giuliani,” The American Lawyer, 3/89)
Under Giuliani, 18 Members Of New York And Sicilian Mafia Were Convicted For Cocaine And Heroin Smuggling In “Pizza Connection” Case. “Eighteen men were convicted today of operating an international heroin and cocaine ring that distributed more than $1.6 billion in drugs through pizza parlors in the Northeast and Midwest. The convictions of the men, who include former leaders of the Sicilian Mafia and the New York-based Bonnano crime family, follow the convictions late last year of the members of a ruling Mafia commission. ‘It is a tremendous victory in the effort to crush the Mafia,’ U.S. Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani said. ‘Five years ago nobody would have thought it possible to convict the head of the Sicilian Mafia and the head of a major part of an American Mafia family.’ He added, ‘The impact on the Mafia of these cases has been devastating. If this continues, there’s not going to be a Mafia.’” (Margot Hornblower, “18 Guilty In ‘Pizza Connection’ Trial,” The Washington Post, 3/3/87)
In 1986, Giuliani Successfully Convicted Three Mafia Godfathers. “Prosecutors and law enforcement agencies are basking in the victory of guilty verdicts for three Mafia godfathers and five associates and stiff sentences for eight other mobsters and associates in the government’s steamroller assault on La Cosa Nostra. … The heads of three of New York’s five Mafia families were convicted Wednesday. They are: Anthony ‘Fat Tony’ Salerno, 75, head of the Genovese clan, who authorities have called the nation’s most powerful gangster. He faces 306 years in jail. Carmine ‘Junior’ Persico, 53, the Colombo family leader, who was sentenced Monday to 39 years in prison on racketeering, extortion and bribery charges and who now faces another 306 years in jail. Anthony ‘Tony Ducks’ Corallo, 73, the Lucchese family leader, who faces 326 years.” (William M. Reilly, “The Mafia Convictions: ‘Organized Crime Never Going To Be The Same Again’,” United Press International, 11/23/86)
Eight Organized-Crime Leaders Were Convicted As Members Of “National Ruling Commission Of Mafia Families,” Receiving Sentences Of 40 To 100 Years. “Eight organized-crime leaders were convicted last November as members of a national ruling commission of Mafia families that prosecutors said coordinated activities, resolved disputes and sometimes ordered executions. As a Justice Department official, Mr. Giuliani had helped devise the strategy of prosecuting a Mafia directorate; this case was the major result. The defendants, who for the most part did not deny the existence of a Mafia or a commission, represented the Colombo, Genovese, Lucchese and Bonanno families. They received sentences of 40 to 100 years.” (Laura Mansnerus, “Giuliani: The Public Record Of A Highly Public Prosecutor,” The New York Times, 11/8/87)
History Channel’s Bruce Cutler: “Of All Of The Mafia Targets That An FBI Man Could Dream Of, There Is None Higher Than The Commission: The Senate, House And Supreme Court Of The American Mob.” (History Channel’s “Mouthpiece,” 6/03)
Giuliani’s Office Had Series Of “Sweeping” Victories Against Mafia. “Ending a 17-month racketeering trial, a Federal jury yesterday convicted seven men of being members or associates of a murderous crew of the Gambino crime family that operated out of a Brooklyn apartment. The verdict in Federal District Court in Manhattan gave prosecutors a sweeping victory in the second of two trials stemming from a 1984 indictment that originally included charges against the man prosecutors said was then chief of the Gambino family, Paul Castellano, who was killed in 1985 … In its verdict, which came in the 13th day of deliberations, the jury found the defendants guilty of all the charges presented in a 21-count indictment. … The trial, which included testimony by 207 witnesses for the Government, was the last of a series of large criminal cases begun by former United States Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani against people prosecutors have called major figures in the Mafia.” (William Glaberson, “Seven Guilty In Racket Case At Mob Trial,” The New York Times, 6/29/89)
GIULIANI TOOK ON CORRUPT POLITICIANS AND WON
Giuliani Prosecuted Democratic Party Boss Stan Friedman And Three Others For Racketeering And Mail Fraud In “Largest New York Corruption Trial In Decades.” “A New York City Democratic boss and three co-defendants were convicted today of racketeering and conspiracy for corrupting the city’s Parking Violations Bureau through six years of bribery. The 12-member federal jury deliberated four days before returning the verdict against Bronx party leader Stanley Friedman and the others in what was the largest New York corruption trial in decades. The four were accused of turning the [Parking Violations Bureau] into their ‘private gold mine’ through a pattern of bribery from 1979 to 1985. Friedman, who sat impassively as the verdicts were read, was also convicted of two counts of mail fraud. Michael Lazar, former city transportation head, was also convicted of two counts of mail fraud; ex-PVB director Lester Shafran was convicted of two counts of mail fraud; and businessman Marvin Kaplan was convicted of one count of mail fraud and perjury for lying before the Securities and Exchange Commission. … The trial began Sept. 22, with U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani … accusing Friedman of sitting on a corrupt ‘board of directors’ which converted the PVB into ‘an enterprise for illegal plunder.’” (Larry McShane, “Bronx Democratic Boss, Others Guilty In Corruption Trial,” The Associated Press, 11/25/86)
Following Parking Violations Bureau Convictions, Nine More Public Officials In New York City Either Resigned Or Came Under Indictment. Frontline’s Mark Obenhaus: “The revelation that officials as powerful as Donald Manes and Stanley Freidman were corrupt has shaken public confidence in New York City government. The scandal has spawned a wrath of other investigations. During 1986 and 1987, the Commissioners of Hospitals, Taxis, Transportation, Cultural Affairs, Business Development, two members of the City Planning Commission, a borough president and a United States Congressman all resigned or were under indictment.” (PBS’s “Frontline,” 6/23/87)
Giuliani Unraveled Wedtech Scandal, Where Executives Engaged In Massive Military-Contract Fraud, Leading To Guilty Verdict For Former U.S. Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-NY). “Former congressman Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.), sobbing and still protesting his innocence, was sentenced today to eight years in federal prison for extorting payoffs from Wedtech Corp. in return for his political influence. U.S. District Court Judge Constance Baker Motley said she would have given the 71-year-old Biaggi a ‘substantially longer’ prison term if it were not for his age and poor health. She also fined him $242,000 and ordered him to start serving his sentence Jan. 9 …” (George Lardner Jr., “Biaggi Gets Eight-Year Sentence,” The Washington Post, 11/19/88)
Giuliani Also Obtained Guilty Pleas From Four Wedtech Executives, Who Implicated Over A Dozen Public Officials For Illegal Payoff Public Corruption Scheme. “[P]rosecutors have described as a wide set of illegal payoffs made by Wedtech executives as the company grew from a small machine shop to a $100-million-a-year military contractor, largely through contracts obtained without competitive bidding. So far, four top former executives of the company are said to have implicated more than a dozen public figures … The former Wedtech officials have pleaded guilty to Federal charges brought by Mr. Giuliani and have agreed to cooperate with investigators in exchange for leniency. They have also agreed to plead guilty to state charges in Manhattan and the Bronx.” (Mark A. Uhlig, “Two Accused Of Extorting From Wedtech,” The New York Times, 1/30/88)
AD FACT:
Voice Over: “When welfare failed, he changed it.”
BACKGROUND:
WHEN GIULIANI TOOK OFFICE OVER ONE MILLION NEW YORKERS WERE ON WELFARE
In January 1994, 1.1 Million People Were On Welfare, Nearly One Out Of Every Seven New Yorkers. (City Of New York Office Of Operations, Reengineering Municipal Services 1994-2001, p. 103; City Of New York Human Resources Administration, January 1999 HRA/DSS Fact Sheet)
CNN’s Bill Press In 1998: “[New York City] Used To Be The Welfare Capital Of The Nation …” (CNN’s “Crossfire,” 2/27/98)
New York Was Known As Welfare Capital Of The World. “At least a few New Yorkers have long despaired of making non-New Yorkers grasp the gargantuan perversity of the city’s welfare system. Help has arrived. ‘Hands to Work,’ by Columbia journalism Prof. LynNell Hancock, purports to be an expose of welfare reform under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. It is far more profitably read as a breathtaking tour of the mindset — supplied by the author and by those she writes about — that for decades made New York the welfare capital of the world.” (Heather MacDonald, Op-Ed, “When Bad Habits Met A Mayor Who Wouldn’t Put Up With Them,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/23/02)
GIULIANI CHANGED WELFARE SYSTEM IN NEW YORK CITY
Newt Gingrich Called Giuliani An “Absolute Revolutionary” On Welfare Reform. “[O]ur moral critique — if anything, I feel, in retrospect, I was not bold enough in Washington, DC. Our moral critique of the welfare state is going to accelerate, and the place it’s happening is at the state and local governments. I mean, Giuliani, in his real reform of welfare, is in fact, behaving as an absolute revolutionary.” (Newt Gingrich, Remarks At Progress And Freedom Foundation Conference, Washington, DC, 1/22/96)
While Washington Was Held Back By Endless Discussion, Giuliani “Raced Ahead” To Create Nation’s Most Successful Welfare-To-Work Program. “The Giuliani administration, which created the nation’s largest and most successful workfare program among single adults in the Home Relief program, is now extending the work requirement to recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children i.e., single mothers. The program continues the city’s ambitious efforts at reform, one based on action. While Washington and Albany talk endlessly … Mayor Giuliani has raced ahead by going back to basics: work.” (Editorial, “The Four-Letter Fix For Welfare,” Daily News, 3/23/96)
Giuliani Cut Over 640,000 People From City Welfare Rolls To The Lowest Number Since 1966. (City Of New York Human Resources Administration, January 1999 HRA/DSS Fact Sheet; City Of New York Human Resources Administration, December 2001 HRA/DSS Fact Sheet; City Of New York Office Of Operations, Reengineering Municipal Services 1994-2001, p. 111)
58.37% Decrease In Number Of Welfare Recipients, From 1.1 Million In January 1994 To 462,595 In December 2001. (City Of New York Human Resources Administration, January 1999 HRA/DSS Fact Sheet; City Of New York Human Resources Administration, December 2001 HRA/DSS Fact Sheet)
Giuliani Turned Welfare Offices Into Job Centers, Which Made 151,376 Placements In FY 2001. (City Of New York Office Of Operations, Reengineering Municipal Services 1994-2001, p. 111)
New York City’s Workfare Program Required 20 Hours/Week Of Able-Bodied Recipients. (City Of New York Office Of Operations, Reengineering Municipal Services 1994-2001, p. 103)
Over 250,000 Total Work Experience Program (WEP) Participants. (City Of New York Office Of Operations, Reengineering Municipal Services 1994-2001, p. 103)
35,599 WEP Participants At Program’s Peak In 1999. (Independent Budget Office Of The City Of New York, “Welfare And Work,” http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/newsfax/nws61welfareandwork.html, 2/14/05)
AD FACT:
Voice Over: “When crime thrived, he fought it.”
BACKGROUND:
AS ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, GIULIANI TOOK ON DRUGS AND VIOLENT CRIME
“In 1981, [Rudy] Giuliani Joined The Reagan Administration As An Associate Attorney General, The Third-Ranking Post In The Justice Department.” (Josh Barbanel, “Reaganism Now Liability For Giuliani,” The New York Times, 10/11/89)
Giuliani Among “Chief Strategists” Of Reagan Administration’s Effort Against Narcotics Trafficking. “At the Justice Department, Mr. Giuliani has been highly visible, particularly as one of the chief strategists of the Reagan Administration’s stepped-up effort to combat narcotics trafficking. He was instrumental in devising the Reagan budget request of $130 million granted by Congress last year to finance 12 new investigative drug task forces across the nation.” (Jane Perlez, “Giuliani Willing To Accept U.S. Attorney Job In State,” The New York Times, 3/10/83)
Giuliani Realized Increased Sophistication Among International Drug Traffickers Required New Emphasis On Drug Enforcement Policies. Giuliani: “[T]he international network of drug traffickers is far more sophisticated than ever before. Sales of illicit drugs … has attracted organized crime leaders, shrewd businessmen and political leaders. Large criminal organizations can respond to isolated law enforcement efforts simply by changing transportation routes or sources of supply … In short, increasing criminal sophistication requires an equally sophisticated law enforcement organization with a world-wide intelligence, enforcement and diplomatic capability.” (Associate Attorney General Rudolph Giuliani And Special Assistant To The Attorney General Hank Habict, Memo To Attorney General William French Smith And Deputy Attorney General Edward Schmults, 5/7/81)
“[Giuliani] Has Been The Chief Designer Of The Expansion Of The Federal Bureau Of Investigation In Narcotics Enforcement And The Creation Of 12 Drug-Enforcement Task Forces.” (“Man In The News; Nominee For U.S. Attorney,” The New York Times, 4/13/83)
There Were Over 1.1 Million Violent Crimes Reported In The United States When Reagan Appointed Giuliani To Justice Department Position. “The federal government brings 35,000 criminal cases a year, the majority for property rather than violent crimes. In 1979, the last full year for which the FBI has figures, there were 1,178,540 violent crimes reported to police in the United States. The overwhelming majority of these violent crimes of murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault did not violate federal law. In addition, the federal government has reliable evidence that for each violent crime reported to the police in the United States, two others go unreported.” (Michael J. Sniffen, “Top Justice Official Says Rehabilitation Key To Reducing Violent Crime,” The Associated Press, 8/19/81)
Giuliani Oversaw Creation Of Violent Crime Committee. “The following sequence of steps is recommended: 1. Authorize us to select an initial staff of five Department employees – Criminal Division, FBI, DEA being crucial – to prepare under the supervision of Messrs. Giuliani and Jensen a draft agenda and background material for the Committee…” (Associate Attorney General Rudolph Giuliani And D. Lowell Jensen, Memo To Attorney General William French Smith, 2/24/81)
By The End Of September 1981, Attorney General Smith Has Implemented Two-Thirds Of Task Force’s Recommendations And Was Working On Implementation Of The Remainders. (Associate Attorney General Rudy Giuliani, Memo To Counsel To President Reagan Fred Fielding, 9/25/81)
AS U.S. ATTORNEY, GIULIANI FACED DOWN MAFIA AND DRUG CRISIS
Giuliani Served As U.S. Attorney For The Southern District Of New York From 1983-1989. “U.S. Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, who successfully prosecuted stock traders, corrupt politicians and the Mafia, announced his resignation Tuesday … Giuliani – who served as associate attorney general in the Justice Department before becoming U.S. attorney in 1983 …” (Vera Haller, “Famous Prosecutor Steps Down, Leaves Political Door Open,” The Associated Press, 1/11/89)
“[I]n Areas Ranging From White-Collar Crime To The Mob, [Giuliani] Has Been The Most Effective Prosecutor In Recent Memory…” (Connie Bruck, “Rudolph Giuliani,” The American Lawyer, 3/89)
“[Giuliani’s] Office’s Conviction Rate Of Better Than 90% — And Its Record Of Winning Many Big Ones — Speaks For Itself.” (Stephen Adler et. al., “Litigator’s Legacy,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/11/89)
NY1’s Andrew Kirtzman: “He Was A Hero In The Eyes Of People For Fighting Corruption In Politics, Organized Crime, Insider Trading On Wall Street. He Was The White Knight.” (MSNBC’s “Headliners & Legends,” 11/17/01)
RICO Statute Author Praised Giuliani’s Innovative Use Of RICO To Prosecute Mob. “[N]otre Dame Law School professor G. Robert Blakey, who drafted the RICO statue, says that as early as 1980 he gave a lecture to the FBI suggesting a RICO case against the mob. But Blakey says, ‘If Rudy wants to claim credit, I say, give it to him. Because it wouldn’t have happened without him.’” (Connie Bruck, “Rudolph Giuliani,” The American Lawyer, 3/89)
18 Members Of New York And Sicilian Mafia Were Convicted For Cocaine And Heroin Smuggling In “Pizza Connection” Case. “Eighteen men were convicted today of operating an international heroin and cocaine ring that distributed more than $1.6 billion in drugs through pizza parlors in the Northeast and Midwest. The convictions of the men, who include former leaders of the Sicilian Mafia and the New York-based Bonnano crime family, follow the convictions late last year of the members of a ruling Mafia commission. ‘It is a tremendous victory in the effort to crush the Mafia,’ U.S. Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani said. ‘Five years ago nobody would have thought it possible to convict the head of the Sicilian Mafia and the head of a major part of an American Mafia family.’ He added, ‘The impact on the Mafia of these cases has been devastating. If this continues, there’s not going to be a Mafia.’” (Margot Hornblower, “18 Guilty In ‘Pizza Connection’ Trial,” The Washington Post, 3/3/87)
Eight Organized-Crime Leaders Were Convicted As Members Of “National Ruling Commission Of Mafia Families,” Receiving Sentences Of 40 To 100 Years. “Eight organized-crime leaders were convicted last November as members of a national ruling commission of Mafia families that prosecutors said coordinated activities, resolved disputes and sometimes ordered executions. As a Justice Department official, Mr. Giuliani had helped devise the strategy of prosecuting a Mafia directorate; this case was the major result. The defendants, who for the most part did not deny the existence of a Mafia or a commission, represented the Colombo, Genovese, Lucchese and Bonanno families. They received sentences of 40 to 100 years.” (Laura Mansnerus, “Giuliani: The Public Record Of A Highly Public Prosecutor,” The New York Times, 11/8/87)
History Channel’s Bruce Cutler: “Of All Of The Mafia Targets That An FBI Man Could Dream Of, There Is None Higher Than The Commission: The Senate, House And Supreme Court Of The American Mob.” (History Channel’s “Mouthpiece,” 6/03)
Giuliani’s Office Had Series Of “Sweeping” Victories Against Mafia. “Ending a 17-month racketeering trial, a Federal jury yesterday convicted seven men of being members or associates of a murderous crew of the Gambino crime family that operated out of a Brooklyn apartment. The verdict in Federal District Court in Manhattan gave prosecutors a sweeping victory in the second of two trials stemming from a 1984 indictment that originally included charges against the man prosecutors said was then chief of the Gambino family, Paul Castellano, who was killed in 1985 … In its verdict, which came in the 13th day of deliberations, the jury found the defendants guilty of all the charges presented in a 21-count indictment. … The trial, which included testimony by 207 witnesses for the Government, was the last of a series of large criminal cases begun by former United States Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani against people prosecutors have called major figures in the Mafia.” (William Glaberson, “Seven Guilty In Racket Case At Mob Trial,” The New York Times, 6/29/89)
Giuliani Focused On Both International And Local Street-Level Drug Cases. “Right after coming into office, Giuliani announced a Federal ‘sweep’ to rid Manhattan’s Lower East Side streets of small-time drug dealers. Most Federal prosecutors believe their limited resources for drug enforcement should be concentrated on international cases. They leave the $40 ‘busts’ to local authorities. Not Giuliani. He said his office could do both.” (Michael Winerip, “High-Profile Prosecutor,” The New York Times, 6/9/85)
Giuliani Even Went Undercover To Buy Crack To Show How Easy It Was To Purchase. “One thing his predecessors did not do is prosecute street-level drug cases. But Mr. Giuliani volunteered his office in a city police drive to rid the Lower East Side of its conspicuous drug commerce – an initiative that was not especially popular in the office or among defense lawyers. Last year Mr. Giuliani and Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, in sunglasses and funny clothes, made a crack buy on 160th Street – to illustrate, they said, how easy it was.” (Laura Mansnerus, “Giuliani: The Public Record Of A Highly Public Prosecutor,” The New York Times, 11/8/87)
Residents Cheered When Giuliani Evicted Drug Dealers From Housing Projects. “Randy Mastro, a former federal prosecutor who became one of Giuliani’s top mayoral aides, said one of Giuliani’s achievements included using federal forfeiture laws to evict drug dealers from low-cost rental apartments in housing projects. ‘When agents showed up, the other residents of those projects literally stood and cheered,’ he said.” (Larry Neumeister, “Giuliani Was Hard-Charging Prosecutor,” The Associated Press, 4/9/07)
Then-Mayor Ed Koch Praised Giuliani’s “Federal Day” Initiative To Bust Street-Level Crimes As More Effective Than State Efforts. “Mr. Koch said that even criminals knew they were likely to escape severe punishment in state courts. He said this was demonstrated when the United States Attorney in Manhattan, Rudolph W. Giuliani, agreed to bring Federal rather than state charges against drug dealers picked up in sweeps on one day each week. ‘When a drug pusher is caught,’ Mr. Koch said, ‘he asks, is this the Federal day. And if the cop says, yes, this is the Federal day, the drug pushers in many cases try to break away and run because they know they are going to jail. And if it is state day, there is no resistance.’ According to city police officials, Federal judges impose heavier sentences than state judges in drug cases.” (Josh Barbanel, “Koch Recommends Stiffer Penalties And More Prisons,” The New York Times, 2/15/85)
AS MAYOR, GIULIANI TURNED CRIME CAPITAL OF AMERICA INTO ITS SAFEST LARGE CITY
When Mayor Giuliani Took Office, There Were 1,946 Murders In 1993 And 11,545 Major Crimes Per Week. (“1993 Index Of Crime By Metropolitan Statistical Area,” 1993 FBI Uniform Crime Report, p. 139)
“[N]ew York City Is Reinforcing Its Reputation As The Crime Capital Of America. Every 44 Seconds A Crime Is Reported To The Police, Every Four Minutes A Car Is Stolen, Every Six Minutes There Is A Mugging, Every Three Hours There Is A Rape And Every Eight Hours A Murder” (Michelangelo Rucci, “Tales Of A Big, Rotten Apple,” The Advertiser, 4/23/90)
Numerous Pundits And Reporters Described New York As Crime Capital Of America:
CNN’s Bill Press In 1998: “New York Used To Be The Crime Capital Of The Nation …” (CNN’s “Crossfire,” 2/27/98)
“The Big Apple, Once Dubbed The Crime Capital Of America …” (Devlin Barrett, “Apple Again Safest Big City In U.S.,” New York Post, 5/17/99)
“New York Was Transformed From The Crime Capital Of America …” (Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Op-Ed, “Rudy Runs The Rapids,” U.S. News & World Report, 4/9/07)
“For As Long As Anyone Can Remember, New York City Has Been Known As A Crime Capital …” (Ellis Henican, “City Takes A Beating Over Attack,” Newsday, 4/26/89)
“[N]ew York, Once The Crime Capital Of The US …” (Nicholas Wapshott, “Big Apple Eats Into Crime,” The Australian, 1/2/03)
Crime Dropped Dramatically Under Mayor Giuliani:
56% Drop In The FBI Crime Index Between 1993 And 2001, Far Outpacing 16% Decline In National Crime Index. (1993 FBI Uniform Crime Report; 2001 FBI Uniform Crime Report, www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm, Accessed 3/12/07)
66% Cut In Murder Rate; From 1,946 In 1993 To 649 In 2001. (“1993 Index Of Crime By Metropolitan Statistical Area,” 1993 FBI Uniform Crime Report, p. 139; “2001 Index Of Crime By Metropolitan Statistical Area, 2001 FBI Uniform Crime Report, www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm, Accessed 3/12/07)
Over 70% Drop In Shootings. (City Of New York Office Of Operations, Reengineering Municipal Services 1994-2001, p. 16)
New York Saw A 45.7% Decline In Rapes, A 67.2% Decline In Robberies, A 39.6% Decline In Aggravated Assault, A 68.2% Decline In Burglary, A 43% Decline In Larceny, And A 73.3% Decline In Motor Vehicle Theft. (1993 FBI Uniform Crime Report; 2001 FBI Uniform Crime Report, www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm, Accessed 3/12/07)
New York Observer: “The Phenomenal Decline Under Mr. Giuliani Of Larger Crimes Such As Murder, Robbery And Rape Was Matched By A Reduction In Quality-Of-Life Offenses – Which In Turn Contributed To The Drop In Major Crime …” (Editorial, “Return Of The Squeegee?” New York Observer, 1/7/02)
FBI Statistics Established New York City As Safest Large City In America. “According to FBI statistics, New York is the safest large city in the nation. From July 1, 1996, through June 30, 1997, the graphs showed 44% fewer major felonies and 60% fewer murders.” (John J. Goldman, “Giuliani’s State Of Mind Goes From N.Y. To National,” Los Angeles Times, 10/18/97)
“New York Ranked As The Safest Big City In The U.S. For The Fourth Straight Year As Crime Dropped Around The State And Nation, According To An FBI Report Released Yesterday.” (K.C. Baker and Corky Siemaszko, “N.Y. Notches 4th Year As Safest Major City,” Daily News, 5/17/99)
“Under Giuliani’s Leadership, New York City Was Able To Turn Its Crime Infamy Into The FBI’s Safest Large City In America For The Past Five Years.” (Aaron Fried, Op-Ed, “Small Numbers Oppose Time’s Person Of The Year,” The [Syracuse] Post-Standard, 5/3/02)
The Daily News: “New York Is The Safest Big City In The Nation.” (Editorial, “No Watchdog For NYPD,” Daily News, 3/28/00)
AD FACT:
Voice Over: “When government broke, he fixed it.”
BACKGROUND:
WHEN GIULIANI TOOK OFFICE, NEW YORK CITY WAS SEEN AS UNGOVERNABLE
“When A School Is Too Big, The Theory Goes, It’s Just Unmanageable. Remember How They Used To Say The Same Thing About New York City Itself?” (Editorial, “Bloomberg’s Blooper,” The New York Sun, 3/11/04)
“The City Felt Out Of Control And Unmanaged At The Close Of The David Dinkins Administration; Giuliani Was The Right Leader For The City When Chaos Needed To Be Tamed.” (Jack Newfield, Op-Ed, “Giuliani’s Eight Years,” Newsday, 12/30/01)
“[Giuliani] Will Become The 107th Mayor Of This Seemingly Ungovernable City.” (Bruce Frankel and Keith Greenberg, “Giuliani Edges Dinkins In Bitter NYC Contest,” USA Today, 11/3/93)
“‘Ungovernable’ Is The Adjective That Has Been Endlessly Applied To New York City, From The Tammany Hall Days To John Lindsay’s Wobbly Vietnam-Era Mayoralty, Through Blackouts And Riots, From Son Of Sam To The Squeegee Guys.” (Russell Shorto, Op-Ed, “All Political Ideas Are Local,” The New York Times, 10/2/05)
“He’s The Guy Who Was Elected To Govern The Nation’s Most Ungovernable City … How Will Rudolph Giuliani Do It?” (Rachelle Cohen, “Giuliani Gets The Vision Thing,” Boston Herald, 12/10/93)
George Will Said That New York Was Viewed As Impossible To Govern. George Will: “[T]he wisdom of New York was to be Mayor of New York … That it was impossible to govern the city. … When I say that being mayor of New York is demanding, I mean this. It has more people than do 39 other states. It is more difficult to govern than all 50 of the states. This for a reason — New York City has been liberalism’s laboratory in the 20th century, which means it is a seriously troubled place, or was. It produced a culture of complaint, which led to the politics of victimhood, which led to government by grievance groups, and the learned dependency of an over-developed welfare state.” (George Will, Remarks At CPAC, 3/2/07)
GIULIANI MADE NEW YORK CITY FLOURISH AGAIN
“The City Felt Out Of Control And Unmanaged At The Close Of The David Dinkins Administration; Giuliani Was The Right Leader For The City When Chaos Needed To Be Tamed.” (Jack Newfield, Op-Ed, “Giuliani’s Eight Years,” Newsday, 12/30/01)
The New York Times: “Before The World Trade Center Fell, Mr. Giuliani Was Already Nationally Known As A Crime-Fighter, The Man Who Proved New York Could Not Only Be Safe, But Polite And Orderly As Well. New Yorkers, Whose View Of Mr. Giuliani Is Fuller And More Complicated Than That Of Most Other Americans, Were Eternally Grateful For That Gift Of Freedom From Fear.” (Editorial, “Mayor Giuliani Bows Out,” The New York Times, 12/30/01)
The New York Times: “When Measured In That Way, Mr. Giuliani More Than Did The Job. He Restored New Yorkers’ Confidence In Their Ability To Control The City’s Destiny.” (Editorial, “Mayor Giuliani Bows Out,” The New York Times, 12/30/01)
Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS): “And For Those Of Us Who Would Go To New York During That Period Of Time, The Change Was Breathtaking. It Was A Tremendous, Tremendous Difference That You Could See Even If You Only Went Up There Every Now And Then.” (Gov. Haley Barbour, Remarks, Pearl, MS, 9/4/07)
“As For Rudolph W. Giuliani, He Has Had A Remarkable Run As Mayor. He Has Accomplished Things That Some Thought Impossible: Cutting Crime.” (James Ahearn, “Politically Correct But Unwarranted,” The [Bergen County, NJ] Record, 12/30/01)
Stuart Rothenberg: “Remember, The Former New York Mayor Earned Raves For Cleaning Up New York City, Including The Once-Sleazy Times Square Area, An Accomplishment Once Considered Impossible By Most Americans, Certainly By Most New Yorkers.” (Stuart Rothenberg, Op-Ed, “Is Rudy Likely To Be A Favorite Or A Flop?” Roll Call, 1/16/07)
Robert Novak: “Well, Nearly Everybody Agrees That He Accomplished The Impossible By Turning Around The Nation’s Largest City …” (CNN’s “Crossfire,” 2/17/99)
AD FACT:
Voice Over: “And when the world wavered. And history hesitated. He never did. Rudy Giuliani. Leadership. When it matters most.”
Mayor Giuliani: “I’m Rudy Giuliani and I approve this message.”
BACKGROUND:
St. Petersburg Times: “Few New Yorkers Will Forget The Way Giuliani’s Natural Leadership Made Him A Whirlwind Of Instant Decision Making And Crisis Management While So Poignantly Expressing The Collective Grief Of A City And A Nation.” (Editorial, “Giuliani Won Many Hearts,” St. Petersburg Times, 12/29/01)
Time’s Eric Pooley: “With The President Out Of Sight For Most Of That Day, Giuliani Became The Voice Of America. Every Time He Spoke, Millions Of People Felt A Little Better. His Words Were Full Of Grief And Iron, Inspiring New York To Inspire The Nation.” (Eric Pooley, “Mayor Of The World,” Time, 12/31/01)
Pooley Said Mayor Giuliani Took On “Half A Dozen Critical Roles” And Performed Each One “Masterfully.” “When the day of infamy came, Giuliani seized it as if he had been waiting for it all his life, taking on half a dozen critical roles and performing each masterfully. Improvising on the fly, he became America’s homeland-security boss, giving calm, informative briefings about the attacks and the extraordinary response.” (Eric Pooley, “Mayor Of The World,” Time, 12/31/01)
San Francisco Chronicle Described Giuliani In The Wake Of 9/11 As “Calm, Soothing, And Omnipresent.” “Calm, soothing and omnipresent, [Giuliani] gracefully embodies his city’s power to endure. Dust-covered and soft-spoken, he traversed the Manhattan dead zone, congratulating exhausted firefighters, holding hands with grieving families and tracking rescue efforts. He became a stand-in leader for every corner of America dazed by the terrorist attacks.” (Editorial, “Rudy To The Rescue,” San Francisco Chronicle, 9/23/01)
Chicago Tribune Called Giuliani’s Leadership In The Immediate Aftermath Of The Attack “Inspiring.” “Giuliani deserves all the praise and then some. His instant leadership reflex immediately after the crisis--in an age when some politicians are afraid to come out on the street or in front of a microphone without professional prepping or prompting--was inspiring. He was able to bark orders one moment, console victims the next, empathize publicly to the point of sobbing in front of the television cameras, and preach optimism, all the while reassuring New Yorkers that everything was under control. Or at least as much under control as humanly possible.” (Editorial, “Rudy, New York’s Rock,” Chicago Tribune, 9/24/01)
Washington Times Said That Giuliani Set A “Modern Benchmark for Leadership.” “If it could be said that New York got any kind of a break on September 11, it came from the fact that Rudy Giuliani was mayor. His unbowed strength, steady calm and unstinting devotion to the city during this extraordinary crisis has set a modern benchmark for leadership – besides being of immeasurable comfort and aid to the citizens of New York and, indeed, the nation.” (Editorial, “The Giuliani Effect,” Washington Times, 11/9/01)
Daily News Called Giuliani “Our Tower” And “The Leader We Needed In Our Terrible Hour.” “If ever a man had his destiny, Sept. 11 was Giuliani’s. The twin towers lay in ruins, the mayor who had returned an "ungovernable" city to its rightful place as capital of the world had nearly perished. Yet here he was, our tower – solid, steady, the leader we needed in our terrible hour. Thank you, Rudy. We will never forget.” (Editorial, “The Mayor’s Finest Hour,” Daily News, 12/27/01)
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