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The Obama Nation
Obama Tried to Stall Troop Withdrawal from Iraq
Barack Obama has been campaigning on a quick troop withdrawal from Iraq, but behind the scenes he’s working against that plan, according to the New York Post.
WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.
“He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,” Zebari said in an interview.
Obama first, troops last.
Barack Obama Votes With President Bush
The Barack Obama campaign is running their campaign on the scare tactic that John McCain is the same as President Bush. This assertion is based on Senator McCain’s voting record in 2007 where Team Obama touts that McCain votes with Bush 90% of the time.
But what is Obama failing to say?
First of all, George Bush is not in the Legislative Branch, and doesn’t actually vote on laws with McCain, Obama and Biden.
As you (hopefully) know, Congress votes on bills and they go to the desk of the President to either be signed or vetoed.
So, if we are going to be intellectually honest, nobody is ever voting with President Bush.
The numbers we keep hearing are based on votes where the Bush administration had taken a clear position on before the vote, as estimated by the Congressional Quarterly.
The same report from the Congressional Quarterly reveals that Obama voted “with Bush” 40 percent of the time.
Joe Biden voted “with Bush” 52 percent of the time.
It’s also important to note that these sorts of tallies can only count when a Senator votes yes or no on a law.
Obama didn’t vote over 40 percent of the time since he’s been in the Senate - that’s 228 of the 568 times he could have voted, according to Project Vote Smart.
Rather than taking a stance on issues, he voted “NV”, which means Not Voting, Excused, Absent, or Present.
Based on the Project Vote Smart records, some areas where Obama likes to avoid having an opinion:
- Abortion Issues - 75% NV
- Agriculture Issues - 86% NV
- Budget, Spending and Taxes - 54% NV
- Business and Consumers - 47% NV
- Civil Liberties and Civil Rights - 44% NV
- Defense - 29% NV
- Education - 55% NV
- Energy Issues - 35% NV
- Environmental Issues - 64% NV
- Family and Children Issues - 50% NV
- Foreign Aid and Policy Issues - 56% NV
- Gun Issues - 25% NV
- Health Issues - 67% NV
- Housing and Property Issues - 100% NV
- National Security Issues - 39% NV
- Reproductive Issues - 75% NV
- Technology and Communication - 33% NV
- Trade Issues - 38% NV
- Transportation Issues - 63% NV
- Veterans Issues - 34% NV
- Welfare and Poverty - 64% NV
- Women’s Issues - 67% NV
I’ve got to wonder how closely aligned Barack Obama would be with Bush if he was showing up and voting for a full work week.
John McCain is the Presidential Candidate of Change
There has been a lot of talk about which Presidential candidate, John McCain or Barack Obama, can usher in change in Washington.
If we look at how many times each candidate has engaged in bipartisan legislation, the answer is clear: McCain equals change and Obama is all about the status quo.
Sen. John McCain’s record of working with Democrats easily outstrips Sen. Barack Obama’s efforts with Republicans, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of their legislative records.
Whether looking at bills they have led on or bills they have signed onto, Mr. McCain has reached across the aisle far more frequently and with more members than Mr. Obama since the latter came to the Senate in 2005.
In fact, by several measures, Mr. McCain has been more likely to team up with Democrats than with members of his own party. Democrats made up 55 percent of his political partners over the last two Congresses, including on the tough issues of campaign finance and global warming. For Mr. Obama, Republicans were only 13 percent of his co-sponsors during his time in the Senate, and he had his biggest bipartisan successes on noncontroversial measures, such as issuing a postage stamp in honor of civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
Maybe the Obama that Obama knows now isn’t the Obama he’s been since he started in the Senate.
