Mitch McConnell: In Case You Missed It.

In Case You Missed It

"I want you to think about this," Barack Obama said in Las Vegas last week. "The oil companies have already been given 68 million acres of federal land, both onshore and offshore, to drill. They're allowed to drill it, and yet they haven't touched it – 68 million acres that have the potential to nearly double America's total oil production." Wow, how come the oil companies didn't think of that?

Perhaps because the notion is obviously false – at least to anyone who knows how oil and gas exploration actually works. Predictably, however, Mr. Obama's claim is also the mantra of Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Nick Rahall and others writing Congressional energy policy…

Democrats are in a vise this summer, pinned on one side by voter anger over $4 gas and on the other by their ideological opposition to carbon-based energy – so, as always, the political first resort is to blame Big Oil. The allegation is that oil companies are "stockpiling" leases on federal lands to drive up gas prices. At least liberals are finally acknowledging the significance of supply and demand.

-Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2008
(click to read full story)



There was a remarkable exchange on the floor of the Senate this past Thursday between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It offers pretty stunning evidence of how personally petty Reid is, as well as his penchant for defining “partisanship” as anything that keeps him from getting his way.

…The Senate was voting on a Medicare bill bloated with new spending. The bill was also an attempt to prevent cuts in payment rates to doctors who treat seniors on Medicare, and Democrats wanted to pay for that by taking the funds from Medicare Advantage, a private fee-for-service plan. The president would likely have vetoed the bill in its current form and Senate Republicans opposed the gutting of Medicare Advantage, so Senate Republicans blocked the bill. The trouble is that if the Senate doesn’t resolve the issue very soon, doctors will stop receiving Medicare funds. So Republicans proposed a 30-day extension to allow more time to hammer out a compromise. Democrats blocked the proposed extension…

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “I have said we are all here by virtue of being elected by our respective States. I had out here earlier today our Velcro chart, 79 filibusters. Is it any wonder that the House seats that came up during the off year — Hastert’s went Republican, a Republican district that went Democratic; a seat in Louisiana that was a longtime Republican seat went Democratic. Is it any wonder that the State of Mississippi sent us a Democratic House Member? It is no wonder because they see what is going on over here. . . . Mr. President, I am sure it was a Freudian slip — 59 Democrats voted for this. But next year at this time, there will be 59 Democrats at least.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.6233, 06/26/08)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Here we are a few days before the doctors receive this unconscionable cut, and the majority is saying it is more important to play politics with this issue, to brag about the fact there are 59 Democrats who voted to go forward, to talk, of all things, during the Medicare debate about who won special elections for the House of Representatives in Illinois, Mississippi, or Louisiana. What in the world does that have to do with the subject matter?

The subject matter before us is not playing political games. . . . And the reality is that the refusal of the majority to approach this issue on a bipartisan basis, as has been typically done in the past, will lead to a Presidential veto, a reduction in the reimbursement rates for doctors, an expiration at the end of the week. There is a way forward to get back together like we have typically done on this, and that is to approve a 30-day extension.

-National Review Online, June 30, 2008
(click to read full story)

John McCain Wants You On The "Straight Talk Express" Bus.

Here is the press release:

My Friends,

Enter To Ride the Straight Talk Express. The Straight Talk Express bus has become a
symbol of my campaign's openness, honesty and access - true democracy at work. Some of my favorite memories of the campaign so far are of riding on the Straight Talk Express across this great country, enjoying unscripted, spirited conversation about the issues with members of the press and other passengers. I believe voters deserve a close, unfiltered examination of our presidential candidates. This give-and-take of ideas is a true example of democracy in action.

I'd like to take the opportunity today to invite you to join me on the Straight Talk Express for a day of conversation and campaigning.

Our last "Ride the Bus" contest was such a success, we've decided to launch it again. As a token of my appreciation for your financial support, any donation you make between today and next Monday at midnight, will qualify you to win a seat aboard the Straight Talk Express. I hope you'll consider joining me by making a donation right away.

https://www.johnmccain.com/ridethebus

If I am given the great honor of serving as the next President of the United States, I will make certain that my administration is open and forthright about the issues facing this country, and I will keep this great conversation going that began on the Straight Talk Express.

I've said before that I'm running to be president of all Americans and the Straight Talk Express enables me to travel around our great country to meet directly with Americans to discuss their thoughts, ideas and concerns. We're facing many great challenges as a nation, and I am running for president to solve these challenges through government reform.

I hope you will join my campaign for reform today and make a contribution before next Monday. Remember, with any donation you make you'll be entered to win a trip aboard the Straight Talk Express for the day. Thank you, as always, for your tireless support.

Sincerely,

John McCain

P.S. I've never been afraid to do things a little differently on the campaign trail. I've never been afraid to hold town hall forums, engaging Americans in a discussion on the issues. My campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express, has taken me to every corner of our great country to meet with Americans who agree we need reform. Today, you have the chance to win a day with me on the Straight Talk Express. You will be entered to ride the bus with me by making a donation of any amount before next Monday. Please follow this link to enter today. Thank you.

In Zimbabwe, Sovereignty Be Damned...

The news out of Zimbabwe is that Mugabe has succeeded in intimidating the opposition into dropping out of the sham Presidential election runoff in order to win another farcical election. This begs the question, can’t the world afford to do more to end a two-bit dictatorship in a place as backwards as Zimbabwe? Why does democracy and human rights continue to take a back seat to sovereignty? Isn’t it time we chuck the outdated notions imbedded in the Treaty of Westphalia some 450 years ago?

Real conservatives shouldn't be afraid of being labeled "neo-conservatives." We should stand up for reform of the international system and wield a big stick where needed. This looks like such a time.

Cross posted at www.Cyberhillbilly.com

AP: John McCain's Campaign Hampered By "Missteps".

AP suggests that John McCain's campaign is hampered by what the news service calls "missteps".

You can read more.

Below is the analysis:

OTTAWA - Call it campaign growing pains. Or bad luck. Or a combination of the two.

By any name, Sen. John McCain is hampered by missteps and self-generated controversy in the early days of the general election campaign for the White House.

Take his most recent trip through several states and the Canadian capital, a five-day span during which he courted conservatives and independents alike, raised more than $10 million and began detailing his considerable differences with Sen. Barack Obama on energy policy.

Still, on Tuesday, he criticized his rival for proposing a windfall profits tax on the oil industry. The attack was complicated by McCain's earlier statement that he would consider the same thing.

The following day, he met with a group of Hispanics in Chicago. Aides who had kept word of the event secret were placed on the defensive within hours after one participant criticized some of McCain's comments.

On Thursday, the Arizona senator flew to Iowa, a likely battleground state in the fall, where he expressed sympathy with victims of severe flooding and pledged support for federal recovery aid. The event was overshadowed by President Bush's appearance elsewhere in the same state on the same day.

Friday's trip to Canada brought more controversy.

McCain arrived aboard his chartered campaign jet, yet told reporters at a news conference, "this is not a political campaign trip." The senator added he didn't feel it was appropriate to have the government to pay "while I am the nominee of my party."

The centerpiece of the six-hour visit was a speech to the Economic Club of Canada that amounted to a cross-border political attack. McCain criticized Obama, without mentioning him by name, for his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"Demanding unilateral changes and threatening to abrogate an agreement that has increased trade and prosperity is nothing more than retreating behind protectionist walls," he said.

McCain's schedule also included mention of an unspecified "finance event." While that is customarily campaign jargon for a fundraiser, foreigners may not donate to U.S. candidates, and one aide was quoted in advance as saying that money from $100-per-person event would simply defray the cost of the earlier luncheon.

The non-fundraiser, which may or may not have cost $100 to attend, was held on the top floor of a building with a commanding view of the city skyline. McCain said he knew some of those in attendance had homes in Arizona in the cold weather, and at one point, referred to his campaign themes of "reform, peace and prosperity."

Even some Republicans have cringed in recent weeks at the campaign's efforts to ramp up for the fall campaign, although they will speak only privately.

McCain's aides minimize the difficulties.

One top aide, Mark Salter, said if McCain had not gone to Iowa, he would have looked indifferent to "a great natural calamity and the suffering it has caused." The senator has frequently criticized Bush for his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Salter also said McCain had told the Hispanic audience nothing about immigration that he hasn't told dozens of town hall audiences. He blamed the dustup on a member of the Minuteman organization that opposes giving illegal immigrants any path to legal status.

Salter noted that the speech in Canada contained no overt mention of Obama.

McCain himself told reporters late in the week he remains opposed to the windfall profits tax.

Not that Obama and the Democrats weren't trying to stir controversy at every step.

By the time the sun fell on the day of the Iowa trip, an aide to Gov. Chet Culver said the Democrat had privately relayed a request to McCain to cancel his plans to avoid diverting law enforcement personnel from recovery efforts. Salter said the visit had been cleared in advance by local officials.

And McCain was still on Canadian soil when the Democratic National Committee announced it was filing a Freedom of Information Act request for State Department records detailing the involvement of Ambassador David Wilkins during the trip.

That sort of guerrilla tactic is routine in any presidential campaign. Republicans spent much of the week, for example, drawing attention to Obama's announcement that he would reject public campaign funding for the general election, a major reversal.

And in truth, no candidate can expect to make it through a grueling presidential campaign without suffering one or two self-inflicted wounds — the most grievous of which are far worse than anything that has happened to McCain.

Republican President Gerald Ford's declaration in 1976, at the height of the Cold War, that there was "no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe" was a memorable one.

Or more recently Democratic Sen. John Kerry's decision to go windsurfing in 2004, an event that Republicans turned into a metaphor for a politician who shifts with the wind.

Obama himself spent days in the Democratic primary race trying to explain away remarks he made at a closed-door fundraiser that small-town Americans who were bitter over their economic plight turned to religion.

Republicans took notice of that one, and Obama can expect to hear more about that moment in the fall.

Arguably, McCain has yet to make that kind of gaffe despite enduring a candidacy of remarkable adversity in which he went from front-runner to the campaign cellar and back again.

And for all the talk his critics like to stir about his temper, he never betrayed a hint of displeasure as he made his campaign rounds during the week.

Not even when one man at a Minnesota fundraiser upbraided him for opposing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"Thank you for that question," McCain replied.

John McCain Ties Barack Obama In May Fundraising.

Good news for John McCain.

John McCain Update For June 13Th.

The McCain Update - June 13, 2008

Have you ever wondered what the Straight Talk Express is really like on the inside? Or what is in the refrigerator on the bus? Join Davis White, director of advance, for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes video tour of the Straight Talk Express. Davis gives you a top to bottom tour of the Straight Talk Express. Click here to watch and see what life on the bus is really like.

This video is the first opportunity to learn about all aspects of the bus including where John McCain sits and spends much of his time with staff, press and family members. This is an exclusive video on our web site so be sure to watch and forward it to your friends and family!

First 2008 Presidential Town Hall Meeting

Last night, John McCain held the first of what he hoped would be ten joint town hall appearances with Barack Obama. Unfortunately, Senator Obama chose not to attend. The town hall meeting, at Federal Hall in New York City, was broadcast live on The Fox News Channel. This historic location is where President George Washington first took the oath of office. At the event, John McCain answered questions about important issues facing voters this year, including the economy, energy prices and the war.

Last week, John McCain invited Senator Obama to participate in this event, hoping to start what would be a series of ten town hall meetings where both candidates would travel the country to answer questions from real voters. Senator Obama has yet to agree to meet us in these town halls, which would revolutionize our political process and start a real change in the tone of politics. John McCain believes in this effort and is putting it into action. There will be another town hall meeting next Thursday, so be sure to check JohnMcCain.com soon for more information.

Father's Day

Many people we meet on the campaign trail are kind enough to share their stories of John McCain's father, Admiral McCain. John McCain has shared many personal moments with his father in his book, Faith of My Fathers.

We would like to hear from you about how your father impacted your life, however big or small. Please take a moment and pass along your personal story at this link.

Small Business Growth

As president, John McCain will get our economy running at full strength again and that starts by supporting small businesses across America. On Monday, he spoke to the National Federation of Independent Business and eBay 2008 National Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C. about his plans.

John McCain will act quickly to promote growth and opportunity, while keeping the tax cuts for low income Americans. He will fight for tax reform that supports the workers and the job creators who make our economy run and succeed in a global economy. To help keep businesses and jobs in our country, John McCain plans to reduce the corporate tax rate to be competitive with international trading partners. Click here to read the full speech.

Online Survey & Latest News

Have you responded to our online survey yet about the brand-new JohnMcCain.com? If not, we still want to hear from you. Click here to share your thoughts about our new website by taking our brief survey. Working together, the web will be an important tool to involve you in this campaign. Your feedback is important so please tell us what you think today.

Below are some of the top news articles from this week. For more news articles and press releases, go to www.JohnMcCain.com.

Another John McCain News: Launch Of A New Website.

Check out John McCain's new website, and tell him what you think about it.

Notice the "En Espanol" on the Masthead.

John McCain Invites You To View His "Strategy Briefing", And Double Your Impact For Him.

Here's his "strategy briefing", and here's his double your impact email:

,

We have some catch-up work to do -- and we must to do it now.

I hope you will take a moment right now to make a special RNC Victory
2-MONTH EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN PLEDGE of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $100 or $50. Here's why I'm personally asking for your immediate help:

In the heat of their primary battle the Democrats launched a massive 50-state voter registration drive which will result directly in dramatically increasing Democrat voter turnout on November 4th.

We must respond by dramatically increasing our own Republican registration efforts, matching them voter-to-voter, district-by-district, state-by-state all across America. But we can only do that with an immediate, emergency injection of funds.

That is why, , I'm turning to our Party's most dedicated supporters -- like you -- to help the RNC Victory 2008 campaign launch our most aggressive and ambitious Voter Registration Drive in the history of the Republican Party. To do that, we must raise $10.6 million in the next 60 days.

This is the amount we need to aggressively expand our grassroots Get-Out-The-Vote campaign in all 50 states, capture swing voters, and turn out the Party faithful to the polls this year. I know that is a lot of money. But the RNC has set the essential goal of registering at least 500,000 new voters in June and 500,000 in July.

I'm asking you to help us meet this vital goal with a secure online donation of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $100 or $50 today by clicking here.

We cannot delay in doing everything we can to build a war chest that will enable Republicans to get out our message, challenge the Democrats on their own turf, expose their radically liberal agenda for our nation, and mobilize and register historic numbers of Republican voters.

Today, I urge you to support the RNC's Victory 2008 campaign by making your 60-day pledge IMMEDIATELY!

As someone who has done so much in the past for our Party, we need your financial support at this crucial time to strengthen our Republican Party's efforts to regain control of Congress and win the White House in November.

So please make your generous online contribution of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $100 or $50 to RNC Victory 2008 right away by clicking here.

, we cannot reach our goal without your support. Please let me hear from you today.

Sincerely,



John McCain

P.S. , right now the Democrats are registering historic numbers of voters and building the most massive political fundraising machine in modern history with one goal in mind: Defeat Republicans. The next 60 days will make-or-break the Republican Party and our grassroots voter registration effort.

That's why I'm counting on you, , as a loyal and steadfast supporter, to participate in the RNC's Victory 2008 2-MONTH EMERGENCY PLEDGE CAMPAIGN today -- and help us kick-off our most aggressive and ambitious Voter Registration Drives in the history of the Republican Party by making a secure online contribution of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $100 or $50 today. Thank you.

From John McCain.

My Friends,

Tonight, we can say with confidence the primary season is over, and the general election campaign has begun.

Each American faces a decision this election and the choice between my candidacy and Senator Obama's could not be more clear. This is a change election. But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward.

The right change recognizes that many of the policies and institutions of our government have failed. The right kind of change will initiate widespread and innovative reforms in almost every area of government policy from energy to taxes to government spending and the military.

The right change will stop impeding Americans from doing what they have always done, overcome obstacles and turn challenges into opportunities. Today, I humbly ask you to join my campaign for the right change, as we move forward together as a nation. Please follow this link to make your generous campaign contribution right away.

The wrong change looks not to the future, but to the past for solutions that have failed us before and will surely fail us again. Like others before him, my opponent seems to think government is the answer to every problem. That's not change we can believe in.

My friends, we're not a country that would rather go back than forward. We're the world's leader, and leaders don't hide from history. They make history. If we're going to lead, we must reform a government that has lost its ability to help us do so.

You can take direct action today by making a donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or any amount up to the legal limit of $2,300. Your generous support will enable me to take my message of the right change and reform directly to the American people.

I don't seek the presidency on the presumption I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need. I seek the office with the humility of a man who cannot forget my country saved me. I assure you that if I'm elected president, the era of reform and problem solving will begin. From my first day in office, I'll work tirelessly to make America safe, prosperous and proud. And that, my friends, is the kind of change we need.

Sincerely,

John McCain

P.S. We need change in this country, but we need the right change. I am prepared to lead this country in the right direction, but I will need your help to get elected. Follow this link to make a donation of any amount up to the legal limit of $2,300. Your generous support will make all the difference in determining the type of change our next president brings to this nation. Thank you.