For president: John McCain - A lifetime of sacrifice and service make John McCain best choice

For president of the United States, The Dispatch endorses Republican Sen. John McCain, whose experience, service and sacrifice for his country make him more qualified to lead the nation.

McCain's Democratic opponent, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, is a rousing motivational speaker, but his experience and achievements -- eight years in the Illinois Legislature and less than four in the U.S. Senate -- do not stand comparison with McCain's.

A resume containing so little evidence of leadership and accomplishment leaves in question Obama's ability to handle the most responsible and difficult job in the world, especially at a time when the nation faces a combination of problems so large and complex that they would challenge even the most seasoned leader.

Nor does it seem likely that a man who has traveled in the left lane of American politics for his entire adult life really is the bipartisan centrist that he claims to be. And with Democrats already in control of the U.S. House and Senate -- and the possibility that they might gain a filibuster-proof majority in the next Senate -- there would be little to check the inevitable excesses of one-party rule if a Democrat wins the White House.

This could have a profound effect on the U.S. Supreme Court. A divided Senate acts as a check on presidential nominations to the court by preventing the confirmation of justices with extreme views. But with a filibuster-proof Senate majority ready to do his bidding, Obama would have the unfettered ability to appoint justices likely to be judicial activists, eager to launch a new era of legislating from the bench. Such a Supreme Court could end up as a rubber stamp for, rather than a check on, the White House and Congress.

While neither party can make a credible claim to fiscal responsibility, the dangers of more deficit spending, a growing national debt and uncontrollable entitlement spending are likely greater with an Obama administration. Democrats have not controlled the White House and Congress simultaneously since 1994. A return to majority status is likely to unleash pent-up demand to enact a Democratic wish list of new and expensive social programs when the nation can't afford the ones it has. Given his party-line voting record in the Senate, there is no indication that Obama is able or willing to stand against such an onslaught.

But many of the policy choices the nation will have to make in the next four years are monumental and should be the result of a bipartisan dialogue, not of unchecked one-party dictate.

Debate and political give and take ensure that decisions have been fully vetted, that all interests and concerns have been weighed and that the resulting decisions enjoy broad public support.

Unlike Obama, McCain has a record of bipartisanship: He was a member of the Gang of 14 Republican and Democratic senators who joined in 2005 to preserve the Senate filibuster rule. Note that this courageous act, which enraged the Republican Senate leadership, preserved the filibuster power for what was then the Democratic minority in the Senate. And that was not the only time that McCain has bucked his party.

At a time when the nation faces serious problems, including international economic turmoil, immigration, health care, war in Afghanistan, nation-building in Iraq and foreign-policy challenges from the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, the president should have an extensive resume and long experience in grappling with tough decisions. Few new presidents have faced an assignment as tough as the one facing the winner of the November election.

From 5 1/2 years as a POW in North Vietnam, where he endured torture, through 25 years in the U.S. House and Senate, McCain has demonstrated the grit, energy and determination that the present challenges demand.

The choice is between a candidate who has been tested to a degree experienced by few and a candidate who is untested. In Obama, Americans are presented with a question mark.

Among the top problems facing the United States is its dire fiscal situation. The nation has a $10 trillion debt and other unfunded obligations to entitlement programs that total $53 trillion. The federal deficit this year is nearly $458 billion and some project the 2009 deficit could hit $700 billion. Despite these staggering numbers, lawmakers and the president just approved a $700 billion Wall Street bailout that they don't have the money to pay for. In short, the United States is dangerously overextended at a time when a worldwide recession threatens.

For years, The Dispatch has called on the president and Congress to deal with this massive, mounting debt which threatens the prosperity and quality of life of generations to come. But year after year, the nation's leaders have kicked the problem down the road.

Seriously confronting this problem will require a president able to call on Americans to make sacrifices for the sake of their grandchildren.

The president will have to ask them to accept cuts in popular programs, tax increases and lowered expectations of what government can afford to do.

Because of the personal sacrifices that McCain has made for the nation, he has unmatched moral authority to call on Americans to take their medicine. If elected, that is precisely what he should do.

Full on support for the WOT and veterans, pro-life, pro corporate tax cut, health care reform TOWARD privatization, extend Bush tax cuts, social security privatization, Medicare reform, cut in spending programs across the board.

It's a fact terrorists have entered the country posing as illegal aliens. McCain supports amnesty for illegal aliens making it easier for terrorists to enter the country and destroy us from within our own borders. McCain's position on the WOT endangers Americans.

pro-life

Some quotes and facts about McCain's supposed pro life stance:

McCain joined the House in 1983, and became a senator in 1987. During his 17 years in Congress, McCain has usually voted anti-abortion — but for a presidential candidate, that is not the only important data. After all, Al Gore had an 84% pro-life voting record as a member of the House of Representatives (1977-84), but he embraced the entire pro-abortion agenda once he reached the Senate and began to run for president. John McCain is not Al Gore — but the clearest warnings about what a McCain presidency might entail are found in things that McCain has said and done over the past year, since he started running for President in earnest.

One example is what McCain said when he met with the editorial board of the very liberal San Francisco Chronicle on August 19, 1999:

I’d love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.
-John McCain San Fransisco Chronicle 1999

‘Republicans for Choice’ Endorses McCain
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer February 06, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - The Republicans for Choice Political Action Committee has endorsed John McCain (R-Ariz.), saying he is the best candidate now that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is out of the presidential race. (snip) Colleen Parro, executive director of the Republican National Coalition for Life, said the endorsement should make some Republicans uncomfortable.“My first thought was how embarrassing for the pro-lifers who have signed on for McCain,” Parro said.

By Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director, National Right to Life Committee.

By Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director, National Right to Life Committee

(February 20, 2000) — The presidential candidacy of Senator John McCain (R-Az.) has posed a significant threat to future advances by the pro-life movement.

Earlier this month, the Board of Directors of the National Right to Life Committee — made up of an elected delegate from each state NRLC affiliate — overwhelmingly voted to endorse George W. Bush. That vote recognized Bush’s strong pro-life credentials. It also reflected the recognition among many knowledgeable observers that if elected president, McCain would be unlikely to use the office’s powers to advance the pro-life cause.

In earlier stages of his presidential campaign, McCain made little effort to conceal his disrespect for the pro-life movement. For example, during an appearance on the Don Imus radio show on November 23, McCain referred disparagingly to “otherwise intelligent people who say that that’s the only issue that will determine their vote.”

But after his victory in the New Hampshire primary on February 1, McCain began working hard to appeal to pro-life voters in South Carolina and other states.

pro corporate tax cut, extend Bush tax cuts

All MCCain and OBama want to do is tinker with an existing federal income tax code that is beyond repair. If McCain were truly interested in tax cuts for individuals and corporations he would support The Fair Tax Act(HR25/S1025) that would replace all federal income taxes with a national sales tax and abolish the increasingly oppressive IRS.

social security privatization, Medicare reform, cut in spending programs across the board.

He votes for the socialist bail out plan that uses more of the people's money to impose more regulations on our economy and thereby the people and you expect him support privitization and reduce spending? LOL!!!!

Does this sound like the the same platform as Obama's?

Given the above facts clearly showing McCain's socialist tendencies, Yes! McCain's just employing a different approach but the end result is the same.

You have to work with what you have and be a realist or you can never be elected.

You're omitting one very fundamental point. Any piece of legislation that became law did so because Congress critters took a stance for new law. That stance was based on feedback from their constituents. Politicians are receiving increased feedback for The Fair Tax that is evident by the increasing number of members in Congress who sign on with each succeeding session of Congress. By your line of thinking new law could never be made because politicians must deal with the status quo. That is a bunch of hooey.

You're a pie-in-the-sky type. Types like you love to complain but never actually accomplish anything

Types like you make assumptions while not being able to see the forest for the trees. I, like millions of other people, would not be volunteering for The Fair Tax to become law and discussing it on websites, conducting meetings, calling our Reps and Senators, meeting with them and constantly rebutting disinformation or vacuous statements if all we did was complain. You don't have a clue what has been happening behind the scenes for The Fair Tax to gain the support it has over the last 13 years. I can assure you it didn't happen by whining and moaning.

Your other points are a bunch of hooey also.

Fair Tax supporters have nothing to worry about if the only way they can respond is with vague comments lacking any critical thinking to rebut The Fair Tax.

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