The Democratic National Committee (DNC) today launched a website attacking three economic advisers to John McCain: former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, and former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
The site alleges, among other things, that Fiorina supports outsourcing and misunderstands the mortgage crisis. It says Gramm is responsible for the "Enron loophole" that deregulated energy markets in 2000 and that Holtz-Eakin distorts the true cost of tax cuts.
The site, called "McCain's Economic Advisers: With Advisers Like These..." is part of McCainpedia, an online encyclopedia of negative information about McCain that the DNC launched in May.
Barack Obama blasted John McCain's plan Tuesday to call for a lift of the federal offshore drilling ban.
Obama called lifting the ban, "another example of short-term political posturing from Washington, not the long-term leadership we need to solve our dependence on oil."
The Illinois senator also attacked McCain for "completely" changing his position on offshore drilling. McCain supported the ban when he ran for president in 2000.
In the prepared text of a speech planned for Tuesday, McCain says, "we have untapped oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States. But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production."
"It is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions."
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Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said he was "surprised" by John McCain's opposition to Webb's G.I. Bill during an appearance on The Daily Show Monday night, attacking McCain for approving funds for the war but not expanding troop benefits.
"You know, my thoughts about John were, he is fine voting for 600 billion dollars to send these people off. The least we can do is give them at a chance at a first class future," Webb said.
"Not only that, the tax payers of America paid for every penny of John McCain's education and they paid for every penny of my education. We both went to the Naval Academy. And the least we can do is to give these people a first class shot at the future."
Webb also told host John Stewart he didn't want the G.I. Bill to be "a political issue."
Barack Obama said Tuesday that if current economic conditions continue, he may delay the implementation of some of his programs that would require tax increases.
In an interview on CNBC that will air Tuesday night, Obama was asked if he would hold off on programs that on the net raise taxes if it could potentially slow job creation.
"Some of those you could possibly defer," Obama said. "But I think the basic principle of restoring fairness to our economy and encouraging bottom up economic growth is important."
"There's no doubt that any policies I implement are going to be based on the economic situation that I inherit from George Bush," Obama said, conceding that the situation may not allow him to implement some of his desired programs.
"You know, one of the things I believe in is a manager of the economy, is you should base your decisions on facts and not ideology."
The John McCain campaign immediately jumped on Obama's statement as an admission that the Illinois senator's tax plan would hurt the economy.
"Barack Obama's admission that his tax increases could harm the economy begs the question as to why he supports them. At a time when family budgets in this country are stretched thin and employers are facing tough economic challenges, the idea that Barack Obama would even propose tax increases reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the economy," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said.
"We will not get our economy back on track by raising income taxes, Social Security taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes and corporate taxes as Barack Obama proposes. That's change we just can't afford."
Barack Obama will begin a two-week economic tour on Monday, traveling the country to visit homes and workplaces to discuss his economic platform, his campaign announced today.
Obama will launch the tour with an economic speech in Raleigh, N.C. Monday. The campaign has not yet released a schedule or a list of locations for the tour.
Obama today renewed his campaign pledges to enact middle class-friendly tax reform, provide money to prevent home foreclosures, and improve healthcare in the U.S.
John McCain today said he would withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of his first term as president.
Speaking in Columbus, Ohio, McCain laid out an agenda for accomplishments by the end of his first term. Also among them were: the Taliban's resurgence reduced with Pakistan's help; discontinuation of nuclear programs in Russia, China, and North Korea;
Barack Obama talked about the economy today with workers in Cape Girardeau, Mo., a town of less than 72,000 people that sits nearly 30 miles from Kentucky, in the rural southeastern part of the state.
Obama held a town hall meeting with about 100 workers at the Thorngate, Ltd. clothing plant, appearing with one of his most vocal supporters--Missouri's first-term Sen. Claire McCaskill (D)--who narrowly defeated incumbent Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) in 2006.
He used a message of economic populism to lead into his staple message of change--"change that puts folks back to work," as he referred to it today.
"The troubling statistics only begin to tell a story found in communities and at kitchen tables across the country," Obama said, according to remarks issued by his campaign.
John McCain's stance on climate change has proven to be controversial with at least one group of economic conservatives, as the Club for Growth today criticized the Arizona Republican's support for a cap-and-trade system.
The concept would set mandatory limits on greenhouse emissions, and allow companies that pollute less to sell their permits to those that pollute more.
Hillary Clinton's campaign today announced it will air an ad in West Virginia leading up to the state's May 13 Democratic primary, the next in the Democratic schedule.
The ad continues Clinton's appeal to working-class voters. A narrator says Clinton will end "giveaways to corporate special interests" and invest the revenue in middle-class tax cuts and job creation, and Clinton says it's time to "level the playing field" for the middle class. See it below:
The economically conservative Club for Growth released its congressional scorecard for 2007 today. Four lawmakers received perfect scores for their 2007 performances: Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).
Those four, along with five other senators and 46 other representatives, received the Club's "Defender of Economic Freedom" award. See the Club's scorecard here.
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