Obama's radical view on abortion and high taxes

McCain, Obama highlight differences on abortion, taxes
article from: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=288634
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 10/15/2008 10:15:00 PMBookmark and Share

"Republican presidential nominee John McCain is warning Americans that Democratic rival Barack Obama will increase federal spending and raise the taxes of small business owners in order to "spread the wealth."

McCain and Obama In their final presidential debate (see video report), McCain repeatedly mocked Obama for recently telling an Ohio plumber that he would raise the man's taxes so he could "spread the wealth" to lower-income Americans. McCain promised to balance the federal budget in four years and once again challenged Obama to support a spending freeze.

"You notice every time Senator Obama says 'We need to spend more. We need to spend more. That's the answer.' Why do we always have to spend more?" McCain asked. "Why can't we have transparency, accountability, reform of these agencies of government? Maybe that's why he's asked for, sought and proposed $860 billion worth of new spending and wants to raise people's taxes in a time of incredible difficulty and challenge and heartache."

Although McCain pointedly told Senator Obama "I'm not President Bush," Obama returned to his strategy of linking the Arizona senator to the current president. "If I've occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people -- on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities, you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush."

For the first time in a presidential debate, McCain assailed Obama for his ardent support of abortion, including his opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. McCain noted Obama not only voted against legislation providing medical care for victims of botched abortions, but also has a record of supporting a gruesome abortion procedure banned by Congress in 2003.

"Then there was another bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the state of Illinois not that long ago, where he voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion...really one of the bad procedures, a terrible [one]. Then on the floor of the Illinois State Senate, he voted 'present.' I don't know how you vote 'present' on something like that. I don't know how you vote 'present' on some of that," the Arizona senator stated. "I don't know how you align yourself with the extreme aspect of the pro-abortion movement in America."

Obama quickly dismissed McCain's criticism. "If it sounds incredible that I would vote to withhold life-saving treatment from an infant, it's because it's not true." According to Obama, there was already a law on the books in Illinois that required life-saving treatment for infants who survived an abortion. Obama said he supports a ban on late-term abortions, as long as there is an exception for a mother's health and life.

One political analyst says although it may have been a little bit late in the presidential campaign for John McCain to tell Barack Obama "I am not President Bush," polling shows it was one of the high points of the evening. Donna Wiesner Keene, a senior fellow with the Independent Women's Voice, says McCain may have hit a home-run with that statement.

"He's had the coattails of George Bush and George W. Bush, and he's had that as an impediment, " Wiesner Keene contends. "The people didn't understand a lot of those policies. Some of them they disagreed with. And I think John McCain said, 'Look, here, I'm a different person. Why don't you evaluate me for me?' A lot of people really thought that was good, and I love the way he stated it -- just 'I am not George Bush.'"