IS JOHN McCAIN YOUR CHOICE? OR IS BARACK OBAMA YOUR CHOICE? WATCH OCTOBER 14 PBS' THE CHOICE

THE CHOICE 2008

Coming soon October 14, 2008

The Choice 2008 Online or on your television PBS Frontline

McCain and Palin
or
Obama and Biden
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THE CHOICE promotional ad
Link to online viewing when it comes available: Frontline

Text from PBS website:

IN A HISTORIC ELECTION YEAR, FRONTLINE PRESENTS
THE STORY OF TWO UNLIKELY PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS AND WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT AMERICA

FRONTLINE Presents
The Choice 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS

Encore broadcasts: Sunday, October 26, and Monday, November 3, 2008

Download free from iTunes beginning October 15, through the end of November.

It has been called one of the most historic presidential elections in our nation’s history--Barack Obama versus John McCain. It is a race that pits the iconoclast against the newcomer, the heroic prisoner of war against the first African American nominated by a major party. FRONTLINE's critically acclaimed series The Choice returns this election season to examine the rich personal and political biographies of these two men in The Choice 2008, airing Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings).

The Choice 2008, part of "PBS Vote 2008" election coverage, draws on in-depth interviews with the advisers, family and friends closest to these unlikely candidates, as well as with seasoned observers of American politics, who together tell the definitive story of these men and their ascent to their party's nominations.

When FRONTLINE first aired a profile of presidential candidates during the 1988 election, The Choice redefined political journalism on television. Now, in an unprecedented election year, veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Bush's War, Cheney's Law) goes behind the headlines to tell a deeper political story about the candidates, the decisions they made, and why their nominations may indicate a historic change in American politics.

The story begins at the Democratic Convention in 2004 when Barack Obama, a little-known candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, stepped forward to tell his personal story and to call for a move beyond partisan politics.

"All around were people with tears in their eyes," Obama's chief political adviser David Axelrod tells FRONTLINE. "And I realized at that moment that his life would never be the same."

Also that summer, the future Republican nominee John McCain, a self-described maverick and sometime adversary of the Bush administration, took the stage at his party's convention to defend the president's national security policy. In an effort to win the support of his party, the longtime senator from Arizona had decided to try to walk a fine line--a line he had had trouble walking all his life--between being an unconventional outsider and a team player.

"I think McCain's goal was to make himself more acceptable to the party base without completely surrendering his outsider independent persona, and that was a very complex balancing act," says Mark McKinnon, a member of McCain's inner circle and former media adviser to President Bush.

As McCain the maverick was trying to make peace with his party, Obama the newcomer was discovering the afterglow from his speech was leading party elders to suggest the freshman senator consider a future run for the White House. Within two years of his arrival in the Senate, a window of opportunity seemed open if he was willing to take the chance.

"I told him he should do it," former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle tells FRONTLINE. "The longer he's in Washington, the more history he has, and the more history he has, the more he's going to be explaining his votes and his actions and his statements and his positions that undermine his message"--a message that was all about breaking with the past.

FRONTLINE follows the two candidates from deep inside their campaigns as they run the gauntlet of the 2008 primary.

"This primary, more than any in recent memory, severely tested the candidates," says producer/director Kirk. "Watching how Obama and McCain won reveals much about the men, their ideas, the kind of organizations they have built, and the way they face adversity."

In the summer of 2007, only months after McCain had officially launched his campaign, he was declared a "dead man walking" by the media and party leaders.

"McCain was stuck in this political purgatory where the people that liked the maverick, the independent, didn't trust him anymore, and the establishment conservatives still wouldn't embrace him," says political observer Charlie Cook.

But McCain persevered, firing much of his staff, scaling back the campaign, and focusing almost entirely on New Hampshire. FRONTLINE tells the dramatic story of this turnaround, with insiders involved every step of the way, which friends say was reminiscent of his determination during his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

At the same time, an Obama candidacy was still seen as a curiosity by the Washington punditry. He was a newcomer to national politics and facing the formidable political team of Hillary and Bill Clinton, but Obama and his advisers sensed an opening.

"The Obama campaign felt that Clinton was vulnerable if they would make the race about something different than the old rules," journalist Mark Halperin tells FRONTLINE.

One key to that strategy, Obama told his advisers, was to avoid being pigeonholed as an "African American politician." But as the contest between Obama and Clinton heated up, comments by former President Clinton and the release of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright tapes brought the issue of race, always lurking, to the forefront of the primary campaign.

"In the long run," observes House Majority Whip James Clyburn, the highest ranking African American in Congress, "it allowed Barack Obama to confront the one thing he was trying to avoid, and that's the whole question of race, because sooner or later, he would have to confront it."

With the race narrowed to two men--one whose life was focused by his military service and his years as a POW in Hanoi, the other a black child raised by his white family who found identity in grassroots organizing and politics in the African American community of Chicago--America is truly at a crossroads: historic lows in the public's confidence in our country's future; a battered incumbent overseeing an unpopular war in Iraq; a faltering economy as gasoline prices soar.

"This is a moment where people are both terrified and also hopeful," says Kirk. "They have a choice between two extraordinary candidacies, two men who are trying to embody change in a time where many Americans seem to believe partisan dysfunction has curtailed the ability of our political parties to lead."

As journalist Matt Bai concludes, "Both of them in what they convey to voters--one in a long career spanning decades, the other in a lightning flash of a career spanning what seems like minutes--[is] a sense of breaking with the status quo, a sense of change, a sense that things need to be done differently than they've been done before. And the question I think a lot of voters will have to ask themselves is, who's actually going to deliver?"

The Choice 2008 is a FRONTLINE co-production with Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. The writer, producer and director is Michael Kirk. The producer and reporter is Jim Gilmore. The co-producer and co-writer is Paul Stekler. FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Park Foundation. Additional funding for The Choice 2008 is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS Program Challenge Fund. FRONTLINE is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers and described for people who are blind or visually impaired by the Media Access Group at WGBH. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is David Fanning.

PBS goes behind the headlines throughout the summer and fall with the "PBS Vote 2008" election lineup, offering Americans a unique opportunity to explore the presidential election. PBS' trusted news brands and personalities bring viewers in-depth information and insight into the issues and candidates. PBS' election coverage will be led by The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill & National Journal, NOW on PBS, Bill Moyers Journal and Tavis Smiley, and enhanced by programming from other trusted PBS sources, including American Experience, FRONTLINE, Nightly Business Report and P.O.V. PBS.org's election hub page, pbs.org/vote2008, will provide further perspectives. The site will aggregate video from PBS, feature syndicatable content from across public media and highlight innovative Web-only projects from PBS producers and stations.

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John McCain asked about health insurance that covers Viagra but not contraception.
Uploaded by McCainHub

TRANSCRIPT:
REPORTER: Insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control.

MCCAIN: I certainly don't want to discuss that issue.

REPORTER: It was unfair that health insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?

8 second pause

MCCAIN: I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer.

New York Times:

September 28, 2008

For McCain and Team, a Host of Ties to Gambling

By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.

Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings.

A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.

Read the full article: New York Times - click to skip the ad to get to the article

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John McCain speaks on his views

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OBAMA - BIDEN 2008

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Today, the Obama-Biden campaign released a new two minute TV ad, Same Path, which includes Senator Obama telling America he knows we can steer ourselves out of this crisis, but not by driving down the very same path and how that’s what this election’s all about.

In the ad, Obama details how his plan to jump-start our economy, create millions of jobs, and bring back our Main Streets all across America differs with John McCain’s plan to continue the same failed policies. Obama specifically lays out how his tax plan which offers three times as much tax relief to the middle class and cuts taxes for small and startup businesses differs from McCain’s which will continue giving hundreds of billions in new tax breaks to big corporations and oil companies and extends the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest.

Barack Obama Economy Plan

BARACK OBAMA ON THE ECONOMY

Present your ideas to Barack Obama

Economy

Source: Barack Obama Issues

From Barack Obama's website: Plan to Strengthen the Economy

“I believe that America's free market has been the engine of America's great progress. It's created a prosperity that is the envy of the world. It's led to a standard of living unmatched in history. And it has provided great rewards to the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon for science, and technology, and discovery…We are all in this together. From CEOs to shareholders, from financiers to factory workers, we all have a stake in each other's success because the more Americans prosper, the more America prospers.”

— Barack Obama, New York, NY, September 17, 2007

At a Glance

• Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief
• Trade
• Technology, Innovation and Creating Jobs
• Labor
• Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud
• Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
• Reform Bankruptcy Laws
• Work/Family Balance

Speak your mind and help set the policies that will guide this campaign and change the country.

BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT

NEWPORT COUNTY RHODE ISLAND VOTERS TELL WHO AND WHY THEY VOTED FOR A CANDIDATE MARCH 4, 2008

At the Newport, Rhode Island Obama Campaign Office

Below is a front page article from our local paper today. Barack Obama won in Barrignton, East Greenwich, Jamestown, Newport, New Shoreham, Providence and South Kingstown of Rhode Island. Hillary Clinton won big with the elderly. In my town of Portsmouth Hillary won by 187 votes. Hillary won at my polling location by 33 votes.

People came to the polls and voted also for John Edwards and Uncommitted. Why does anyone take the effort to vote for Uncommitted, I wonder?

Voting results by towns and precincts can be found at
RI.gov/election/results/2008/presidential

Election

Posted: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 10:55 AM EST

Locally, many voters had trouble choosing

By Sean Flynn
Daily News staff

Many local voters were split in their sympathies between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on Tuesday as they went to the polls Tuesday. Some had just recently figured out which way they wanted to vote.

“I decided today to go with Obama,” said Kim Shute, 37, of Middletown. “I’m unsettled about my decision. I have concerns about whether Hillary would be able to win the general election. Still, I sort of feel like I’m betraying the sisterhood.”

“I did the opposite,” one woman said in response to Shute’s comments. “But I don’t want to say it in the paper. My family would kill me.”

“I like what Hillary stands for and what she’s going to do,” said Pat Vorro, 46, of Middletown. “I don’t dislike Obama; I just don’t think he’s ready yet.”

The women commented after casting their votes at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown. Other voters there, at St. Peter’s Church on Broadway in Newport and at Aquidneck Christian Academy on East Main Road in Portsmouth also reflected divided loyalties.

June Weeden, 62, of Newport said she voted for Obama because of his commitment to change.

“I’ve been listening to Obama the last two months, and I think we’re ready for him,” she said. “I was on Hillary’s side for a long time, but she’s just working on her experience. I was very pleased with what she did for health-care issues in the 1990s. I’d like to see her as Obama’s vice president.”

Patricia Archer, 63, of Newport said she came down on Clinton’s side.

“I’m going with her Washington experience and her ability to deal with Congress,” she said. “Her experience as first lady and now as a senator is invaluable. Compare that to Obama’s lack of experience and pie-in-the-sky attitudes. He thinks all these things can just happen, but he would have to persuade Congress.”

Colleen Pilat of Portsmouth said she voted for Obama.

“I think people are skeptical of Mrs. Bill Clinton,” she said. “Obama has that Jack Kennedy spark. He seems to be full of hope and promise to me.”

Divided on Hillary

Some of the voters had specific reasons for their late decision-making.

Jack Warner, 65, of Newport said he decided about a week ago to support Obama.

“What Hillary has done in the past week has turned me off,” he said. “There was that photo of Obama in a turban that showed up on the Internet. I think it came from her campaign. We can’t do any worse than what we have in the White House now. Let’s give someone new a shot at it.”

Kelly O’Connell, 35, of Portsmouth said she does not like what she has heard from Clinton during the campaign.

“It sealed the deal for me when she said she could get the troops out (of Iraq) in 60 days,” O’Connell said. “I thought that was reckless.”

But Clinton also has her staunch local supporters.

“I think she would do a lot for the United States,” said Luz Santos, 42, of Newport. “We all need health care and she realizes that. A lot of families are without insurance and her health plan addresses that.”

Theresa Burgess, 38, of Newport said she decided to support Clinton as soon as she heard she was running.

“She is a very smart woman,” Burgess said.

“I’m Scottish and I’m voting for Hillary,” said Lorreine Harrison, 49, of Newport, who has been a U.S. resident for the past 18 years. “Any woman who has put up with what she’s put up with and is still running for president — good for her. She’s been there, done that.”

However, her husband, Richard Harrison, 50, went with Obama.

“He and Hillary are basically saying the same things, but I like his plans a little better,” he said.

Inspired by Barack

Richard Osborne, 40, of Middletown said he decided he would support Obama 3½ years ago, when he heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention.

“I thought then he would be president someday, just not so soon,” he said.

Shannon Crutcher, 34, of Newport also said she voted for Obama.

“I’ve seen a lot of him and I like what he has to say,” she said. “We need a change and he has good values.”

Was there any particular reason for not supporting Clinton?

“Yes, mostly because of Bill,” she said.

“I decided early on to vote for Obama,” said Charlie Machado of Newport’s Point neighborhood. “I like the idea that he doesn’t have the lobbyists in his back pocket. The lobbyists tie the hands of many politicians.”

“Barack Obama is inspiring and we need to be inspired,” said Elizabeth Seveney of Portsmouth. “He is making us care again. He is getting people interested in politics again.”

Other favorites

The election was not all about Clinton and Obama, though. Some voters had trouble letting go of early favorites.

“I’m voting for John Edwards because I would have supported him for president,” said Kathryn Conrad of Middletown. “I will vote for John McCain in the general election, but I feel like I owe it to Edwards now.”

Conrad said she likes McCain’s personal story and even ran into him at an airport once. She said she has reservations about him, particularly because of his support for the Iraq war, “but not as many as I have with Hillary and Obama.”

Marty Dever, 37, of Newport said he is an independent and only decided in the past week to support Obama.

“I was waiting to see if (New York Mayor Michael) Bloomberg was going to run,” he said. “He decided not to. Now, I think Obama is the best of the candidates who are in the race.”

Low-profile Republicans

It was hard to find Republican voters at the polling places — at least among those willing to speak to a reporter.

“I voted for John McCain,” said Virginia Carrellas, 84, of Newport. “I preferred Romney, but he’s not in it anymore. McCain is more qualified than Huckabee. Huckabee’s a nice fellow, but he doesn’t have a prayer.”

Ray Farrow of Portsmouth said he is a McCain supporter, but he decided to vote for Clinton in the Democratic primary since McCain already had a lock on the Republican nomination. He cast a vote for Clinton because he believes she would be a weaker opponent for McCain than Obama.

“I’m voting for Hillary because I want John McCain to win the general election,” he said.

“I’m a rare breed in Rhode Island, a registered Republican,” said one man, one of several who said they voted in the Republican primary, but declined to give their names.

“My family are all Democrats,” one woman said. “I don’t want them to know I voted Republican.”

“Don’t discuss politics or religion, and certainly not in the newspaper,” another man said. “That’s a good rule to live by.”

Source:
NewportDailyNews.com

MICHELLE OBAMA COMES TO RHODE ISLAND

My brother, the Obamacan, voting in his first Caucus, Tuesday night on the island of Maui changed his party for this one time from Republican to Democrat so that he could vote for Barack. As you may know, Hawaii went for Barack with a spread of 52% points.

This week, I've had to limit my time blogging. You know, I've had to live a life : ) I am getting the house ready for an Obama House Party here in Rhode Island, that I am having next Monday. We have our Primary March 4 ~ the same day as Texas, Ohio, Vermont and us, the little state of Rhode Island. Wednesday, this week, Michelle Obama came and spoke in Warwick, RI. The advance press was almost non-existent, but still we had a good turn-out. I would say over 2,000 welcoming people attended. Our RI Attorney General Lynch followed the singing of our National Anthem, followed with Craig Robinson, the brother of Michelle Obama and the head boys basketball coach at Brown University. Then Michelle gave us a speech.

I volunteered to help out, which amounted to getting attendees to sign in and getting people to sign up to volunteer leading up to the Primary. Edward Mutanguha came and was so excited. Edward is from Kigali, Rwanda and is the sweetest young man. He says that the people back home in Rwanda (Africa) are so excited and watching Barack Obama's journey very closely.

I briefly talked to our past U.S. RI Senator Lincoln Chafee. Lincoln Chafee, Republican lost his reelection to the Freshman Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in 2004. Barack Obama came to Rhode Island to campaign for Sheldon Whitehouse and now Sheldon has endorsed and is campaigning for Hillary Clinton. And Lincoln Chafee has endorsed Barack Obama!

Barack Obama Espanol TV
Conozca a Barack Obama

While there, I met Hector Racine, a Spanish political journalist, who writes for a Spanish weekly newspaper with readers in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. His newspaper is New England Expreso. Hector said he would teach me Spanish and I could teach him English. We traded contact information.

Pictures I took didn't turn out well. But here are a few....

Michelle Obama speaking February 20, 2008 in Warwick, Rhode Island

This article ~ Younger set gets excited by election ~ was in our local paper ~ The Newport Daily News, Wednesday. On the same day, my little press release about my Obama House Party was also in the paper ~ surrounded by a bigger article mostly about Hillary Clinton. That night, I received a couple of phone calls. One call was from an 87 year old man who loves Barack and met him when Barack came to RI to campaign for Sheldon Whitehouse in '04. He wants an Obama bumper sticker for his car. And I received a call from a Republican who is a solid supporter of Barack Obama and volunteered to canvas for him here in RI.

Just because I feel like it ~ a song . . . .

DO YOU WANNA DANCE?
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BETTE MIDLER

WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUR GOVERNMENT ~ WE MUST PARTICIPATE IN IT and BECOME PART OF THE SOLUTIONS

We the People have been dismissed and counted out of our government. Barack Obama not only tells us what he will do to lead us, but he asks us to be part of the solution...to join the government and step up and participate in our government. I like this about his campaign. I want We the People to be accepted as the most important part of our democratic government. We have seen a movement picking up energy across the USA. But we still have to get the nomination. Please, get on board and help us elect Barack Obama.
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I'm for Barack Obama for President

Barack Obama TV

HOW DO YOU LIVE WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF MONEY?

I wouldn’t want to be President of the United States of America. Ever. But more, now, than before Bushed ucked it up. The outstanding public debt as of 16 Oct 2007 is nine TRILLION, forty-eight BILLION, nine hundred twenty nine million, six hundred fifty one thousand, eight dollars and fifty four cents. That looks like this: $ 9 , 0 4 8 , 9 2 9 , 6 5 1 , 0 0 8 . 5 4

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.42 billion PER DAY since September 29, 2006!

“The U.S. budget deficit is financed by borrowing. More and more of that money comes from China, now the United States' second-largest lender, after Japan. China's investment in U.S. government debt has more than tripled in the past five years, from $71 billion in 2000 to $242 billion in 2005. ….Congress and the president have been unwilling to raise taxes or make deep spending cuts. The only alternative is to borrow.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200510u/nj_schneider_2005-10-25

China! Do we really want Bank China to be in control? What are we thinking!?! Are we thinking? Who is minding “The Store”? It’s GW Bush and robbing us in more than one way. Imagine if the government suggested spending one-fourth of this amount of money on the education of our children. We would have said “no”. Imagine if the government suggested to spend one-fourth of this money to help our children who are “at risk”. We would have said “no”. Imagine if the government had suggested spending a small portion of this money to reimburse the Social Security accounts. We would have said “no”. Right? Imagine if the government had suggested repaying the Indian Trust Funds that have been robbed from by the very government agencies that were to protect the funds – we would have said “no”. Why are we willing to let our government to invest in the Iraq war and not spend our tax money on what would really invest in our country’s people? And the $12 BILLION that was LOST by sending it in cash to Iraq on wood pallets – how much did you read or hear about that?!
“We had to pay Iraqis in cash,” Mr. Bremer said of the money, most of which came from Iraqi oil sales. “Delay would have been demoralizing and unfair to millions of Iraqi families.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/washington/07bremer.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FB%2FBremer%2C%20L.%20Paul%20III What of the demoralizing and unfairness to millions of USA citizens?!!

I don’t understand the apathy of the country that we call United States of America. However, I think it would be more appropriately called the Divided States of America. We let this insanity to go on via George Bush and keep going through our lives. It is outrageous that we don’t get angry about the debt. In my town it is annually a contentious subject that our taxes are raised by the town by $350. And where is the same reaction to the federal runaway spending on a war that has had a moving “target” continually?

FOLLOW THE MONEY (OIL): TWELVE BENCHMARKS

1. January 2003: The Wall Street Journal reported that representatives from Exxon Mobil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp., ConocoPhillips and Halliburton, among others, were meeting with Vice President Cheney's staff to plan the post- war revival of Iraq's oil industry.

2. March 2003: Iraqi Oil Ministry was one of the few structures the invading forces protected from looters in the first days of the war.

3. April 2003: During the initial assault on Baghdad, soldiers set up forward bases named Camp Shell and Camp Exxon.

4. May 22, 2003: President Bush signed Executive Order 13303 providing full legal immunity to all U.S. oil companies doing business in Iraq in order to facilitate the country's "orderly reconstruction."

5. November 2003: McKee (ConocoPhillips executive who is overseeing Iraqi oil industry) quietly ordered a new plan for Iraq's oil. The drafting would be overseen by a "senior adviser," Amy Jaffe, who ....now works for James Baker, the former Secretary of State, whose law firm serves as counsel to both ExxonMobil and the defense minister of Saudi Arabia. The plan, written by State Department contractor BearingPoint, was guided, says Jaffe, by a handful of oil-industry consultants and executives.

6. March 2004: Iraq's interim constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) passed in March 2004 by Iraq's Governing Council, sets forth that Coalition Provisional Authority laws, regulations, and orders are to remain in force after the transfer of sovereignty unless a duly enacted piece of legislation rescinds or amends them.

7. August 30, 2005: Bush says U.S. troops would continue fighting in Iraq in order to protect the country's vast oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists.

8. February 2006-June 2006: USAID contracts with Bearing Point to draft Iraq’s oil law to provide "legal and regulatory advice in drafting the framework of petroleum and other energy-related legislation, including foreign investment".

9. March 15, 2006: Gen. John Abizaid, the Army general overseeing U.S. military operations in Iraq said the United States may want to keep a long-term military presence in Iraq to bolster moderates against extremists in the region and protect the flow of oil.

10. July 2006: U.S. Government and oil companies get a copy of the draft oil law. In September 2006 the Internation Monetary Fund and World Bank receive their copy.

11. February 2007: "Draft Hydrocarbon Law" was submitted first to the Iraqi Cabinet and then to the Iraqi Parliament (Council of Representatives) by the Cabinet.

12. April -May 2007: Defense Secretary Robert Gates and U.S. Vice President Cheney each travel separately to Baghdad to push political benchmarks and specifically the oil law.

From a Study of U.S. Influence on Iraqi Oil, by Erik Leaver, Carol and Ed Newman, Fellow Institute for Policy Studies June 4, 2007. Click above title to read full article and complete bibliography of sources. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23353

And yet we won’t vote for any candidate who would admit that taxes will be raised. Are we rational?

Are we afraid of the truth?