Miami Democrats to School John McCain On The Economy

WHAT: Press Conference with South Florida Democrats. Educators, Democratic Party leaders and activists will join to school John McCain on the economy during his visit to Coral Gables, Florida.

WHO: South Florida Teachers


Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairman Bret Berlin

Miami-Dade Young Democrats President Florence Moss

Democratic Activists

WHEN: TOMORROW SUNDAY, April 27, 2008 at 3:00 PM EST

WHERE: Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables - (Intersection of Columbus Blvd and Anastasia Avenue)

**IMPORTANT BACKGROUND**: As gas and food prices skyrocket, the Republican Recession fostered by eight years of Bush mismanagement is taking a severe toll. South Florida is groundzero for the subprime mortgage meltdown. But Republican presidential candidate John McCain admits he offers little in the way of direction for America's economy.

"I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." John McCain quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Nov. 26, 2005

"The issue of economics is something that I've really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff." John McCain quoted in the Chicago Tribune, Dec. 18, 2007

DETAILS: English and Spanish spokespersons will be available.

###

10 things you should know about McCain, but don't

10 things you should know about John McCain
(but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday
in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his
position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key
civil rights laws.

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish
than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist
Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like
Gandhi."

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but
McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then
applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do
not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst
senator in Congress for children. He voted against the
children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's
veto of the bill.

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with
millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife
own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to
the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a
"second job" and skip their vacations.

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too
reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator
said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill
down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his
temper and he worries me."

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but
his campaign manager and top advisers are actually
lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen
says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his
campaign, more than any of the other presidential
candidates.


9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious
right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual
guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is
to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain
sought the political support of right-wing preacher John
Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's
punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church
"the Antichrist" and a "false cult."

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored
a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last
year.

*******************************************

1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day,"
ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html

"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/

2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq,"
Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us

"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like
Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/
3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto
Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress,
February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned,"
MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/

5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council®
Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007
"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance
expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/

6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated
Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80

"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'"
Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home

7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press,
February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe,
January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/

8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist
Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'"
ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/

"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man,"
ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251

9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam,"
Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html

"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay
Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/

"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching
'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress,
February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental
Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/

John McCain: Not Ready to Lead

This is from the DNC, Alice Germond, Please review and share what you learn:

John McCain and General Petraeus' Testimony:

Main Point: John McCain should weigh in on General Petraeus' concern about the minimal political progress in Iraq and outline his plans for the future of Iraq. So far, his only plan is his willingness to keep our troops there for 100 years and launch political attacks at anyone who disagrees.

McCain has not offered his plan for the future of Iraq and he has failed to answer key questions:
-- As president, would John McCain build permanent bases in Iraq? In defending his comments about keeping our troops in Iraq for 100 years, McCain said he was talking about a long-term troop presence similar to our presence in Germany and South Korea.
-- How will he pay for a prolonged engagement in Iraq, which today costs $12 billion per month, while making Bush's tax cuts permanent?
-- What would McCain do to pressure the Iraqis to make the political progress the surge was supposed to enable?
Last weekend, Senator Lindsey Graham said John McCain does not want to do in Iraq what the Soviets did in Afghanistan: leave a vacuum that was filled by the Taliban. If McCain is concerned about what is happening in Afghanistan today, why didn't he join in signing a letter urging President Bush to refocus our counter-terrorism strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan?
McCain said he's willing to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years. One hundred years in Iraq is not a plan.[NH Town Hall meeting, 1/3/08) John McCain offers nothing more than a third Bush term on Iraq, and that's the last thing the American people want.

John McCain, Sunnis, and Shiites:

Main Point: John McCain may say he's a foreign policy expert, but the fact is when it comes to Iraq he has repeatedly gotten key facts on the ground wrong and confused Sunni and Shiite extremists in Iraq.

For the fifth time in five months, John McCain confused Sunni and Shiite extremists in Iraq, referring to al-Qaeda in Iraq as a Shiite group during the Senate hearing with General Petraeus.
McCain has made this mistake on multiple occasions, including during a trip to the Middle East that was meant to burnish the Republican candidate's foreign policy credentials.
The truth is, McCain isn't misspeaking when he makes these mistakes. He is either showing he doesn't understand the facts on the ground in Iraq, or he is purposely conflating the threats posed by Sunni and Shiite extremists for political gain.
At the same time, John McCain has consistently attacked the intelligence and motives of people who disagree with his assessments of the situation in Iraq when he himself can't even get the basic facts on the ground correct.
McCain has also yet to say if he agrees with Ambassador Crocker's assessment that al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a bigger threat to the United States than al-Qaeda in Iraq.
John McCain has proven time and time again he offers nothing more than a third Bush term on Iraq-and that's the last thing the American people want.

John McCain and His Civil Rights Record:

Main Point: John McCain has distorted his record on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While he says he championed establishing a holiday in honor of Dr. King, the truth is he has a long record of opposing the holiday.

Last week, he acknowledged having made 'a mistake' when he opposed a federal holiday honoring Dr. King in 1983. But McCain fails to mention that after that he OPPOSED a state holiday for Arizona in 1987, OPPOSED a federal holiday in 1989, and voted to cut off funding for the Commission promoting Dr. King's holiday in 1994.
With the 40th Anniversary of the 1968 Civil Rights Act April 11, it's worth noting that McCain was the deciding vote against overriding President Bush's veto of the 1990 Civil Rights Act—the first defeat of a major civil rights bill in a quarter of a century.
Now McCain is trying to defend his vote by saying he opposed quotas, when the bill had nothing to do with quotas.
-- In fact, the 1990 bill would have expanded the reach of several discrimination laws and authorized monetary damages under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prevents employment discrimination. [1990 Senate Vote #276, 10/16/1990; 1990 Senate Vote #304, 10/24/1990; 1990 CQ Almanac, p. 60-S]
If McCain is such a champion of Martin Luther King, will he vote for the bill currently being considered in Congress to establish a commemorative coin honoring the civil rights leader?
Though he'll embark on a so-called "Compassion Tour" later this month in an effort to reach out to African American voters, the fact is no campaign tour can make up for McCain's dismal record on civil rights issues during his 25 years in Washington.

A Surge of More Lies

A Surge of More Lies
by Congressman Robert Wexler

A new troubling myth has taken hold in Washington and it is critical that the record is set straight. According to the mainstream media, Republicans, and unfortunately even some Democrats, the President's surge in Iraq has been a resounding success. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

This assertion is disingenuous, factually incorrect, and negatively impacts America's national security. The Surge had a clear and defined objective - to create stability and security - enabling the Iraqi government to enact lasting political solutions and foster genuine reconciliation and cooperation between Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds.

This has not happened.

There has been negligible political progress in Iraq, and we are no closer to solving the complex problems - including a power sharing government, oil revenue agreement and new constitution - than we were before the Administration upped the ante and sent 30,000 more troops to Iraq.

Too many Democrats in Congress are again surrendering to General Petraeus and have failed to challenge the Bush Administration's claims that the surge has been successful. In fact -- it is just the opposite.

The reduction in violence in Iraq has exposed the continuing failure of Iraqi officials to solve their substantial political rifts. By President Bush's own stated goal of political progress, the Surge has failed.

Of course raising troop levels has increased security - a strategy the Bush administration ignored when presented by General Shinseki before the war in Iraq began - but the fundamental internal Iraqi problems remain and the factors that were accelerating the civil war in 2007 have simply been put on hold.

The military progress is a testament to the patience and dedication of our brave troops - even in the face of 15 month-long deployments followed by insufficient Veteran's health services when they return home. They have performed brilliantly - despite the insult of having President Bush recently veto a military spending bill that enhanced funding and benefits, and increased care.

Despite the efforts of American soldiers, the surge alone cannot bring about the political solutions needed to end centuries of sectarian divide.

As it stands, little on the ground supports the assertion that Iraqis are ready to stand up and govern themselves. Too few Iraqi troops are trained, equipped and combat ready, and they cannot yet provide adequate security. Loyalty is also an issue in the Iraqi army as Al Queda and Sunni insurgents infliltrate their defense forces. The consequences turned deadly just recently when an Iraqi soldier purposely killed two U.S. troops.

On the streets of Baghdad and Mosul, the Sunni and Shia factions have paused their fighting, awaiting guarantees and protections that have not yet been delivered. As Iraqi refugees return, there is no mechanism to help them rebuild their lives, nor recover their now-occupied homes. Neighborhoods once mixed are now segregated.

In Northern Iraq, Kurdish terrorists conducting nefarious operations across the border into Turkey have compelled our NATO ally to strike at bases, inflaming tensions between Baghdad and Ankara.

The surge is working? We suffered more U.S. casualties in 2007 than in any other year of the war. We can't afford any more of this type of success.

How can we create the situation that is most likely to deliver political progress in Iraq? Not by continuing the surge and occupation. Our best chance (there is no guarantee) is by putting real pressure on the Iraqi government to force action. Telling the national and local Iraqi leaders that we are withdrawing our troops can help accomplish this goal. Today, the majority Iraqi Shia government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has little incentive to act when American troops remain in the country to provide security and stability.

Based on the Administration's plan, John McCain's proposal of a 100-year US occupation could be a reality!

The Democratic Congress must act aggressively to first cut off funding for the surge and then the entire war. Many of my colleagues avoided a showdown with the administration because they mistakenly believed such a fight would endanger the safety of the troops.

In fact, we must accept that every soldier killed or injured in the coming months should have already been home. Every billion dollars of war-appropriations we spend from here on should have been spent on genuine priorities here at home such as children's heath care.

Enough is enough: While the Administration over-commits American forces in Iraq, we see Al Qaeda-regrouping and Osama Bin Laden still at large. We remain seriously bogged down in Afghanistan, and are witnessing a crisis in Pakistan that has left a nuclear country on the brink of a meltdown. America's resources and attention are desperately needed elsewhere and our soldiers must no longer be needlessly sacrificed as we wait for Iraqis to stand up.

The Surge has failed. If my colleagues gullibly accept the moving rationale for the Surge, just as so many have for the war itself, we will have failed as well.


***To contact me or for more information, go to www.wexlerforcongress.com .

Paid for by "Wexler for Congress"

Ammunition

Excerpt from the Orlando sentinel's Scott Maxwell's article yesterday:

Mel's bell gets rung

Survey USA recently scoured the entire country to see which U.S. senator had the lowest job-approval ratings -- and found Mel Martinez.

After polling voters in every state about their own senators, the polling company for TV stations reported that Orlando's freshman Republican beat out 99 others to have the lowest job-approval rating among voters in his own state: 41 percent. (Things like his office's involvement in the memo that claimed Terri Schiavo could do good things for Republicans in future elections probably didn't help.)Asked about the poor showing, Martinez spokeswoman Kerry Feehery said: "Senator Martinez is not driven by polls; he is driven by the needs of the state of Florida and its 17 million constituents."Um, those constituents are the ones they supposedly polled. Still, Martinez's senior Democratic counterpart, Bill Nelson, didn't do much better, finishing in an eight-way tie for 80th with a 48 percent approval rating.Topping the list was Maine Republican Olympia Snowe with a 77 percent approval rating. Also scoring particularly well was a trio of past and potential future White House aspirants -- John McCain, R-Ariz.; Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.; and freshman sensation Barack Obama, D-Ill. -- all of whom have hit Central Florida's campaign trail in recent years on behalf of local candidates.