Barack Obama is vacationing in Hawaii, but he and Republican rival John McCain jockeyed yesterday on the airwaves.
Obama, giving the weekly Democratic radio address for the first time as party nominee, said that the past week gave "two stark examples of exactly what's wrong with Washington," a federal budget deficit that could reach nearly $500 billion last year, and a $79 billion surplus for the Iraqi government from windfall oil profits.
Obama said that McCain would continue President Bush's unfair tax policies by extending tax cuts for the wealthy, and would continue Bush's "open-ended commitment to the war in Iraq."
"Senator McCain talks about putting our country first, but he is running for a third term of the very same policies that have set our country back . . . I believe that we need to move in a new direction," Obama said.
McCain, in his own weekly radio address, again poked fun at Obama's reputation as a sterling orator - and suggests he lacks substance.
Noting that Obama burst onto the national stage at the 2004 Democratic convention and is expected to give "another celebrated performance" in Denver later this month, McCain said, "even the most stirring speeches are easily forgotten when they're short on content. Taking in my opponent's performances is a little like watching a big summer blockbuster, and an hour in, realizing that all the best scenes were in the trailer you saw last fall. In the way of running mates, Senator Obama should consider someone with a knack for brevity and directness, to balance the ticket."
McCain then faulted Obama for wanting to "forfeit" US military gains in Iraq, increase the size of government, and to raise taxes, but to not do enough to lessen the energy crisis.
"First there was his call for Americans to check their tires - which is common-sense advice, but hardly has the makings of a national energy strategy. If we can't drill our way out of the problem, it seems even more unlikely that we can inflate our way out of it."
"A serious energy plan involves a lot more yeses than nos," McCain argued, plugging his proposals for more offshore drilling, nuclear power, clean coal, and renewable sources.
FOON RHEE
Guaranteed healthcare is key plank for Democrats
PITTSBURGH - Democrats shaped a set of principles yesterday that commits the party to guaranteed healthcare for all, heading off a potentially divisive debate and edging the party closer to the position of Barack Obama's defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Obama, soon to be the Democratic nominee, has stopped short of proposing to mandate health coverage for all. He aims to achieve something close to universal coverage by making insurance more affordable and helping struggling families pay for it.
Advisers to Obama and Clinton both told the party's platform meeting they were happy with the compromise, adopted without opposition or without explanation as to how healthcare would be guaranteed.
In return for the guarantee, activists dropped a tougher platform amendment seeking a government-run, single-payer system and another amendment explicitly holding out Clinton's plan as the one to follow.
The party now declares itself "united behind a commitment that every American man, woman, and child be guaranteed to have affordable, comprehensive healthcare."
Under any system in play, most people would still put out money for health insurance as they do now, but they would get help when needed.
The 51-page platform draft showed the influence of Clinton's supporters not only in the extensive section on healthcare but in its assertions about the treatment of women. Some of her backers believed sexism dogged her campaign for the nomination.
An extensive section on women's rights is included and the votes she received in the primaries are described as "18 million cracks in the highest glass ceiling."
Democrats typically have a strong plank in favor of abortion rights; this year's version is stronger than usual. "The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right," it says.
Gone is the phrase from the past that abortions should be safe, legal and "rare."
The party also pledges to ensure access to adoption programs, prenatal and postnatal care, and income aid programs for expectant mothers.
The party also:
Promises "practical and humane immigration reform in the first year of the administration."
Favors restoration of the ban on assault-type weapons and other "reasonable regulation" that recognizes the constitutional right to own and use firearms.
Favors helping religious groups provide social services as long as "public funds are not used to proselytize or discriminate."
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