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Ralph Reed a no-show at McCain fundraiser.

By Amanda Terkel on Aug 18, 2008 at 10:15 pm

Last week, news broke that Ralph Reed, former Christian Coalition director and crony of Jack Abramoff, would be helping to raise money for Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) fundraiser in Atlanta. Reed “touted himself as a member of McCain’s ‘Victory 2008 Team’ in an e-mail that solicited donations on McCain’s behalf,” and public watchdog organizations called on McCain to denounce Reed. The Wall Street Journal now reports that Reed was a no-show at tonight’s Atlanta fundraiser:

On Monday evening, there was no sign of Reed at the Marriott Marquis here and no mention of him by McCain during his remarks. A campaign spokesperson confirmed that Reed would not be in attendance but declined to say whether the campaign had asked him to keep his distance.

The McCain campaign has insisted that Reed “sent the messages on his own and was not coordinating with the campaign,” but Reed told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “he sent the e-mail at the request of the campaign and was given boilerplate language to use.” As Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has pointed out, when McCain led a Senate investigation into the Abramoff scandal, he failed to call Reed to testify.

Climate Progress

Gang-of-10 Part 2.5: House GOP says drill here, drill now, compromise … later

By Joe Romm on Aug 18, 2008 at 8:56 pm

Part 1 argued argued that the Democrats would be smart to compromise on offshore drilling. Part 2 began an analysis of the bipartisan compromise proposed by the Gang-of-10 Senators, suggesting that deal isn’t so bad.

I am interrupting this series to point out that the House GOP is so nervous that the Dems might kill their pathetic political ploy by forcing a vote on a reasonable compromise that they are willing to delay indefinitely any deal that includes drilling, as CQ Politics just reported:

Republicans Say Any Drilling Bill Must Move Through Committee

House Republicans said Monday they would refuse to consider any energy bill that came straight to the floor from the Democratic leadership’s offices, rather than working its way through committee markups — a process that can take weeks or months.

Read more

Climate Progress

McCain Actually Supports Cutting NASA Funding By $370 Million

By B. Furnas on Aug 18, 2008 at 7:30 pm

shuttle.JPGToday, speaking in Florida, John McCain attacked his opponent for potentially reducing funding for certain NASA programs:

Let me say, just in case Senator Obama does decide to return to his original plan of cutting NASA funding – I oppose such cuts.

The only trouble is, he actually supports such cuts. McCain supports a discretionary spending freeze for his first year in office, which would allow inflation to erode the funding .

The currently requested funding level for NASA in 2009 is $17.6 billion. The Congressional Budget Office projects inflation of 2.1% between 2009 and 2010.

By freezing its funding at 2009 levels, John McCain would allow NASA’s budget to erode with inflation — an effective budget cut of $370 million.

As McCain himself says, “that position is a shortsighted approach that fails to recognize the benefits of space exploration and the technology and economic advantages that result from the space program.” NASA’s portfolio includes not only space exploration, but also vital research into global climate change.

Politics

Global warming deniers forced to cancel meeting due to Tropical Storm Fay.

By Amanda Terkel on Aug 18, 2008 at 6:33 pm

This week, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) planned to have town hall meetings in Ft. Myers and West Palm Beach, FL. As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson notes, “AFP is a front group for the right-wing pollution company Koch Industries, with an agenda of attacking ‘global warming alarmism‘ and promoting increased offshore drilling.” In an ironic twist, AFP has canceled its meetings because of Tropical Storm Fay. From a message on the group’s website:

Ft. Myers and West Palm Beach Town Hall Meetings Rescheduled

The August 19th Ft. Myers town hall and August 21st West Palm Beach town hall will be rescheduled as a result of Tropical Storm Fay. We apologize for any inconvenience.

More on how global warming intensifies tropical storms here.

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Yglesias

The Even Keel

By Matthew Yglesias on Aug 18, 2008 at 6:27 pm

Michelle Cottle writes that Barack Obama maybe seems too calm and detached to connect with Americans at a time when we seem to face many crises and most people are feeling a lot of anxiety. Maybe. But on the other hand, isn’t there something reassuring about the idea of a steady hand on the ship of state? To me, John McCain’s tendency to issue overblown statements in response to everything that happens is a little distressing.

Tastes differ, I suppose. Still, my guess is that this is the sort of personal contrast that will form a post hoc explanation for the electoral outcome irrespective of what that outcome is. If Obama loses, his “detachment” will be said to have played a key role, whereas if he wins McCain’s “hothead” image will have been deemed inappriate for troubled times.

Yglesias

Same As It Ever Was

By Matthew Yglesias on Aug 18, 2008 at 5:42 pm

Scheunemann

Jim Lehrer and Ruth Marcus talk about John McCain’s lobbying ties to the Georgian government:

JIM LEHRER: Yes. What about the McCain lobbyist who lobbied for Georgia and is now McCain’s number-one foreign affairs adviser? Is that going to come up to bite McCain more, do you think?

RUTH MARCUS: So the Obama campaign hopes. I look at this on two different levels. On the substantive level, anybody who knows Senator McCain knows that he would have the same views on Georgia no matter what lobbyist came to talk to him. He feels this one in his bones. And he wasn’t going to — this is not a shift in position because some lobbyist came and whispered in his ear.

It’s worth noting the extraordinary level of benefit of the doubt that John McCain tends to get from the press, including from people who aren’t necessarily hugely sympathetic to his policy agenda. Normally reporters are ruthless about the motives behind politicians’ decisions, but everything McCain does is above question. Beyond that, how much better is it for McCain to be the kind of guy whose views on U.S.-Russia relations are identical to those that you would have if you were a paid agent of a foreign government? Of course it’s possible that America’s interests vis-à-vis Russia are identical to Georgia’s interests, but that doesn’t seem very likely to me.

Politics

California rules doctors cannot withhold care to gays.

By Amanda Terkel on Aug 18, 2008 at 5:41 pm

Via Atrios, the AP reports:

California’s high court has ruled doctors cannot withhold care to gays or lesbians based on religious beliefs.

The case stems from a San Diego-area lesbian’s claim that a private fertility clinic refused to inseminate her because of her sexual orientation.

A unanimous state Supreme Court said that California’s civil rights law barring sexual orientation discrimination extends to medical care.

Health

What’s On The Table? McCain Adviser Pledges To Trim Health Benefits

By Igor Volsky on Aug 18, 2008 at 5:00 pm

mccaintable.JPGIn an exchange with the Dallas Morning News, McCain health policy adviser John Goodman admitted that McCain’s plan to give families $5,000 to buy health insurance would drive Americans into scantier coverage:

The tax credit “would not subsidize bells and whistles [marriage counseling, acupuncture, etc.] as the current system does,” Mr. Goodman said in an e-mail.

Goodman’s comments echo the McCain campaign’s false ‘caviar health care’ argument — which compares “Americans’ use of the health care system to shoppers who indiscriminately buy caviar while someone else foots the bill” — and fundamentally misrepresent the causes of rising health care costs.

Despite the campaign’s insistence that an over-reliance on “marriage counseling” and “acupuncture” is driving-up health care costs, the fact remains that 80 percent of the health care costs “are incurred by the sickest twenty percent of Americans, those whose doctors order expensive treatments for difficult diseases such as cancer” — “acupuncture” or “marriage counseling” are rarely prescribed.

In fact, with family insurance premiums exceeding $12,000, it’s unclear which services Goodman would be willing to trim to get to $5,000. Which half should go? Wellness and prevention programs? Cancer screening and testing? Maternity care?

But with McCain, “everything is on the table.”

Security

Flashback: In Dec. 2007, McCain Rejected Calls For Musharraf’s Resignation, Called Him A ‘Key Element’

By Satyam Khanna on Aug 18, 2008 at 4:48 pm

mac43.jpgPakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf resigned today in order to avoid impeachment charges for illegally seizing power and mishandling the economy. AFP reports that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “welcomed” the decision in a statement:

The resignation of President Pervez Musharraf is a step toward moving Pakistan onto a more stable political footing. Pakistan is a critical theater in countering the threat of al Qaeda and violent Islamic extremism, and I look forward to the government increasing its future cooperation.

While McCain praises the resignation today, the developments also highlight McCain’s poor judgment on the matter. In Dec. 2007, after Musharraf imposed emergency rule and after Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, McCain resisted calling for Musharraf’s to step down, calling the Bush ally a “key element”:

COOPER: Is there any other option but Musharraf?

MCCAIN: I think that the new chief of staff of the army is a person who’s clearly going to be a player, because the army will play a role in whatever and however any unrest is addressed. But I think Musharraf, as the president of the country, is probably — and he has stepped down from his military position, as you know — is probably also a key element.

Throughout Musharraf’s reign, Pakistan’s woes grew, including an abysmal economy and a growing al Qaeda, to name a few. McCain, however, stood by Pakistan’s dictator:

– Called Musharraf a “personally scrupulously honest” man who deserved “the benefit of the doubt” on uniting Pakistan. [12/29/07]

– “I continue to believe Musharraf has done a pretty good job, done a lot of the things that we wanted him to do … I would like to give Musharraf some credit for taking the measures that we asked him to do.” [12/28/07]

– “Prior to Musharraf, Pakistan was a failed state. … They had corrupt governments and they would rotate back and forth and there was corruption, and Musharraf basically restored order. [12/28/07]

Caroline Wadhams and Brian Katulis have more on Musharraf’s resignation.

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Update

Huffington Post observes that McCain was “never eager to see Musharraf fall.”

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