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Mediamatters.Org -
In an October 6 National Review Online column headlined
"Take This and Run: Ten things the McCain campaign needs to do to
win," Lisa Schiffren claimed that "[i]n personal
conversations," Sen. Barack Obama "asked that the Iraqi leadership
wait for the next administration (his) to begin serious troop withdrawals -- as
Amir Taheri has documented. Apparently, he wanted to make it look as if the
troops were coming home due to him." But a Bush administration official
has reportedly said that Taheri's assertion, made in a September 15 New York Post column, that Obama
"tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a
draw-down of the American military presence" was not true. The Obama
campaign has also reportedly denied Taheri's allegation.
In a September 19 post on his Political
Punch blog, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper reported that
"[t]he Obama campaign said that the Post report consisted of
'outright distortions,' " and that contrary to Taheri's
claim, "[a] Bush administration official with knowledge of the meeting
says that during the meeting, Obama stressed to [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-] Maliki that he would not interfere with President Bush's negotiations
concerning the U.S. troop presence in Iraq, and that he supports the Bush
administration's position on the need to negotiate, as soon as possible, the
Status of Forces Agreement, which deals with, among other matters, U.S. troops
having immunity from local prosecution." Tapper further
reported:
Two
officials of the Bush administration say that if Obama had done what the Post
story asserted -- which they believe to be untrue -- U.S. Ambassador Crocker
and embassy officials attending the meeting would have ensured that the Bush
administration heard about it immediately. If such an incident occurred in
front of officials of the Bush administration, it would have constituted a
foreign policy breach and would have been front-page huge news; it would not
have leaked out two months later in an op-ed column.
Schiffren also repeated other false and
baseless claims in her column providing "suggestions" to the McCain
campaign. For example:
Schiffren
falsely described Obama's health care proposal as "state
health care," writing: "Ask why Barack Obama wants to make us
all wards of the state, with state health care. Is this a good moment to
embrace 20th Century Socialism Lite, even if we are facing a year or two
of belt tightening? Shouldn't the future be freer, with less state
interference in our lives?" In fact, as Media Matters has noted, Obama's health care plan does not mandate that the government
take over health care; rather, Obama's plan allows
individuals to keep their private health insurance if they so choose,
while he says it also "addresses the large gaps in coverage that
leave 47 million Americans uninsured." A Q&A released
by the Obama campaign says: "His plan will not tell you which doctors
to see or what treatments to get. Under the Obama health care plan, you
will be able to keep your doctor and your health insurance if you want. No
government bureaucrat will second-guess decisions about your care."
Schiffren
baselessly suggested that the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is to blame
for the current financial crisis, by writing: "For a real fight,
mention the Community Reinvestment Act. Ask what happens in the near
future when the 'A team' -- Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Charles
Rangel, Barney Frank, and Barack Obama -- are in charge of the economy,
during the coming recession." But, as Media Matters has noted,
the suggestion that the financial crisis was caused by banks lending
irresponsibly to comply with the CRA has
been debunked. The CRA applies
only to depository institutions -- such as banks and savings and loan
associations -- which have been estimated to have issued approximately 20 percent of
subprime mortgages. Further, a study released earlier this year by a law
firm specializing in CRA compliance estimated
that in the 15 most populous metropolitan areas, 84.3 percent of high-cost
loans in 2006 were made by financial institutions not governed by the CRA.
In fact, Janet Yellen, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of
San Francisco, stated in a March speech that "studies have shown
that the CRA has increased the volume
of responsible lending to low- and moderate-income
households" [emphasis added].
In
a section headed "Bill Ayers and other close friends,"
Schiffren claimed that Obama has had a "long-term"
relationship with "domestic terrorist Bill Ayers." Schiffren also
wrote: "Ayers served with the candidate on the Woods Fund board, and
Obama was handsomely paid for that work. Who introduced them, and
when?" In fact, as Media Matters
has noted, contrary to
Schiffren's assertion that Obama and Ayers are "close
friends," an October 4 New York
Times article reported
that Obama and Ayers "do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr.
Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr.
Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40
years ago, when I was 8.' " The Times
also reported that in 1969, Ayers helped found the Weather Underground and
"[t]wenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform
in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education
professor. Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee
Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama's first run for office, on the schools
project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors."
From Schiffren's October 6 National
Review Online column:
At this point, the McCain
campaign's goal should be to raise doubts about Obama's trustworthiness,
and thus ability to lead. This will require a strategy and a tactic.
The campaign's
strategy should be to attack from all directions: character, past associations,
political practice in Chicago,
"present" votes, lack of a record of accomplishment. It should
question what it means for a law professor to leave no academic paper trail,
yet produce two well-written autobiographies.
[...]
Here are ten suggestions
for the campaign:
1: The economy. Democrats are blaming the current crisis -- the one requiring the
now-$800 billion bailout -- on McCain's aversion to regulation. Explain
the difference between more
regulations and useful
regulations. Explain that all the regulations in the world, applied to
financial institutions, won't help if government policy mandates that
banks issue mortgages to people who can't repay them. Explain who wanted
so badly to expand homeownership, and why, and who benefitted from the work of
Freddie and Fannie. List the top three recipients of Freddie and Fannie's
campaign donations.
That's the
history. Here is the abstract point to move to: Obama and his allies truly,
deeply believe that markets are bad, and a small group of smart, good-hearted
people -- them -- should be running things. The smart people had the good
intentions of having the poor own homes. So they overrode traditional banking
norms, which they called racist. Now we are all paying for their leftist
ideology. For a real fight, mention the Community Reinvestment Act. Ask what
happens in the near future when the "A team" -- Nancy Pelosi, Harry
Reid, Charles Rangel, Barney Frank, and Barack Obama -- are in charge of the
economy, during the coming recession.
Don't sugar-coat
the economic situation. If McCain wins, he presides over tough times.
2: Taxes. Contrast McCain's tax policies with Obama's by
explaining the difference between letting people (and businesses) keep their
own money, and giving them benefits at taxpayer expense. The former is what it
means to have economic freedom. The latter is a real cost to taxpayers. McCain
would not "spend" $300 million dollars, as Obama alleges, by
failing to confiscate $300 million from businesses or individuals.
Also explain that Barack
Obama's tax "cuts" for the poor consist of straightforward,
massive redistribution of taxpayer dollars to people who already are not
required to pay taxes. Hammer the point that only about 60 percent of American
earners even pay taxes. Taxes for the working poor are called the Earned Income
Tax Credit, which is the opposite of a tax. Cite statistics indicating that
decided "tax recipients" are pro-Obama, support higher taxes for
those who pay, and want bigger checks.
Ask why Barack Obama
wants to make us all wards of the state, with state health care. Is this a good
moment to embrace 20th Century Socialism Lite, even if we are facing a year or
two of belt tightening? Shouldn't the future be freer, with less state
interference in our lives? And on the matter of the recession we are facing --
explain in language a 10-year-old can understand that we will get through it
faster if we don't gum up the job-creating process with new taxes.
[...]
6: Bill Ayers and other close friends. Discuss the details of domestic terrorist Bill Ayers'
long-term relationship with Obama. Ayers served with the candidate on the Woods
Fund board, and Obama was handsomely paid for that work. Who introduced them,
and when? Make Obama explain why the Woods Fund gave grants to racial programs
("Juneteenth education") rather than basic education for deprived
minority kids.
Speaking
of terrorist buds, Barack and Michelle were close with Rashid and Mona Khalidi,
convicted terrorism supporters. What was that about? Make the analogy to the
Reverend Wright. Hit the larger point that there are so many of these long-term
social relationships with people who hate this country and find it
mean-spirited and racist. What does Barack enjoy about hanging with these
types?
7: Arrogance bordering on treason. On his listening tour last summer, Senator Obama attempted to
undermine Bush administration policy in Iraq. In personal conversations he
asked that the Iraqi leadership wait for the next administration (his) to begin
serious troop withdrawals -- as Amir Taheri has documented. Apparently, he
wanted to make it look as if the troops were coming home due to
him.
Media Matters - NRO column repeated debunked claim that Obama attempted to delay troop withdrawals {...} In a National Review Online column, Lisa Schiffren claimed that "[i]n personal conversations," Sen. Barack Obama "asked that the Iraqi leadership wait for the next administration (his) to begin serious troop withdrawals -- as Amir Taheri has documented." In fact, a Bush administration official has reportedly said that Taheri's assertion was not true. Schiffren also repeated other false and baseless claims in her column providing "suggestions" to the McCain campaign. {...} Published: October 9, 2008, 1:15 am - Indexed: October 9, 2008, 12:29 pm - Page Size: 24KB |