Barack Obama called for more money for charter schools and criticized John McCain for "doing nothing" to improve the U.S. education system.
Obama made his remarks in Riverside, Ohio, on Tuesday. Obama rehashed his plans for more funding for early-childhood education and a $4,000 tax credit for aspiring college students who perform community service. He also praised charter schools as part of the solution.
"Giving our parents real choices about where to send their kids to school also means showing the same kind of leadership at the national level that I did in Illinois when I passed a law to double the number of charter schools in Chicago," Obama said. "That is why as President, I
President Bush sketched out a limited agenda for Congress to tackle in his remaining months in office in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
At the top of his list was a measure allowing more domestic offshore oil drilling, which Bush and congressional Republicans have been calling for as gas prices rose this summer.
"Well, we need to get an energy plan. I mean, one thing is for certain, not exploring for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf doesn't make any sense to the American people. And, hopefully, Congress will respond to the will of the people," Bush said.
He added that he'd like to receive "reasonable spending bills" from Congress. Democratic leaders have said they would pass only temporary spending measures since Bush is a lame duck.
"Obviously, we've got to conduct this war, continue to make sure we get in a place for the next president to be able to achieve victory," Bush said. "So there's a lot to do -- free trade agreement with Colombia would be good."
Though Bush wouldn't guarantee the capture of Osama bin Laden when asked about it, he urged his successor to continue to go after terrorists.
"Well, I don't know if we'll get him or not, but one thing is for certain for -- since September 11, 2001, we've been keeping the pressure on him trying to find him," he said. "And we've dismantled a lot of al Qaeda, and we'll continue to dismantle al Qaeda. And al Qaeda is not what it was on September the 11th, 2001."
Bush continued: "It's going to be very important for the next president to continue to stay on the offense, to press hard to make sure there's no safe havens established. And, you know, hopefully -- hopefully, we do get him."
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on Monday downplayed the lack of a reelection endorsement from his state's governor, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, saying Palin's silence isn't surprising in light of his indictment.
"She's governor, why should she endorse me? We know there's a cloud around me," Stevens said. "I've known her for a very long time. We've campaigned together, in '02, '04, '06. We're great friends. There's no problem. She just can't do that until it's over, that's all."
Palin has been silent when asked whether she would endorse Stevens, who is facing multiple counts of failing to disclose gifts and services from an Alaskan oil-services company on his official financial disclosure forms.
Stevens also defended Palin against Democratic charges that Palin has flip-flopped on her stance over the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" project in rural Alaska. Stevens championed the project, but it came to be seen as a symbol of excessive spending.
Palin initially supported the bridge but reversed her stance.
"I don't remember her ever campaigning for it," Stevens said of Palin. "As a matter of fact, she was very critical of it at the time."
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) tells The Huffington Post's Sam Stein that while Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) claims to be a reformer, she is anything but.
"She is being investigated on the charge that she used her power as governor to fire someone who was going through a messy divorce with a relative of hers. Could you imagine if I was doing the same thing in Pennsylvania? You would be calling for my impeachment," Rendell said.
Rendell added that the McCain campaign "has tried to again obscure the facts about Gov. Palin. 'She is a reformer and against earmarks.' No she isn't, when she was mayor of that town she hired a lobbyist to get earmarks... 'She was against the bridge to nowhere.' No she wasn't. She was for the bridge to nowhere first... She is a budget balancer. But she left the town in greater debt then when she became mayor, so she is not a budget balancer."
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson missed an opportunity to shrink and privatize failing mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when he moved to subsidize them over the weekend, the conservative Club for Growth said today.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has campaigned hard as a reformer, frequently bringing up her fight against the corrupt "old boy network" in Alaska that is responsible for earmarks such as the notorious "bridge to nowhere."
But when she was running for Governor in 2006 Palin had some kind words for some of those "old boys."
"Our congressional delegation, God bless 'em. They do a great job for us," Palin said at a 2006 forum hosted by the Alaska Professional Design Council. "The strength of our delegation there in D.C. is the envy of all other states. But we have to help them in their efforts by making out wish lists into target lists and we can't kid ourselves."
"Representative Don Young, especially God bless him, with transportation," Palin said. "Alaska did so well under the very basic provisions of the transportation act that he wrote just a couple of years ago. We had a nice bump there. We're very, very fortunate to receive the largesse that Don Young was able to put together for Alaska ."
Young, who is under FBI investigation, is the Alaska Republican that requested much of the earmark funding that Palin has frequently said she has fought against.
Barack Obama's remarks Monday in Flint, Michigan, via Marc Ambinder.
Well, how about Gov. Palin? She's you know, an up and comer from Alaska. She - they're starting to run an ad now saying she opposed the bridge to nowhere. Well now, let's get the facts clear here. When she was mayor, she hired a Washington lobbyist to get earmarks
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