Update: video below
Obama appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos this morning. Here’s some of what he said. I'll post video when it's up.
Taxes:
McCain has been peddling the story that I will raise taxes. Obama will cut taxes for 81% of individuals, 95% of families.
McCain will continue the Bush tax cuts, he said.
Is it wise to raise taxes in a recession? It is wise if you have a trillion dollar deficit. Realistically, we won’t be able to eliminate the deficit, he said. But we can stop it from getting bigger.
On Palin: She’s a skilled politician. Her performance at the convention showed that.
He chose somebody who may be even more aligned with George Bush than John McCain himself. Supposedly, he thought about picking Lieberman but the right wing would have a riot.
What you haven’t heard from the republicans is how are they going to put people back to work? Education, healthcare...
George, still pushing the Palin response, showed a clip of Palin’s foreign policy experience: Alaska is right next to Russia.
Obama said I knew Alaska was next to Russia as well. Obama questions that she made any decisions regarding the national guard.
George asked about the republican put down of community organizing.
Obama said it was a puzzling thing. Obama was 24 when he went to work as a community organizer. He worked with churches, setting up job training programs for the unemployed and after school programs. McCain is extolling the virtues of national service and that’s what I did, he said. It’s curious to me that they would mock me.
George: Some supporters heard racial code.
Obama: I didn’t hear that.
George: Did you consider military service: I actually did.
I had to sign up for selective service in Hawaii. There were a lot of military bases there. I graduated in 1979, the Vietnam war had ended by that time. It was not an option I decided to pursue. But for those who do, they should be treated with dignity. McCain hasn’t funded veteran services.
Obama also said there are other ways to serve the country other than militarily, such as community organizing.
George: You voted with the democrats most of the time. Obama: There are two arguments here, one is bipartisanship and the other is change. The point is if you believe Bush has run the country into the ground, you’ll vote for change. We’re going to change those policies.
George: Have you broken with your party. You can get testimony from people who say that I have.
On McCain’s bipartisanship, Obama said McCain wasn’t listening to the speakers at the convention.
George said isn’t that just part of the campaign?
Obama: How you campaign foreshadows how you’re going to govern.
Obama supports charter schools and pay for performance. We need to increase the size of our military. On healthcare, we need to reduce litigation costs. Finding ways where we could have doctors can communicate with patients that doesn’t
We’re going to do an audit of big government spending. (Obama has always contended this. McCain has made this the crux of his new “reform” campaign). We’ll eliminate waste.
Medicare has to be reexamined. Fee for service doesn’t measure service or quality.
George: Is victory is in sight for Iraq?
Obama: They have yet to define victory. Bush and McCain, Rumsfeld and Cheney, drove the car off in the ditch. That doesn’t signify that we’re better off than if we hadn’t gone.
Why is McCain still resistant to get out of Iraq.
On the surge, yes it worked. But the judgement was wrong.
George asked about the Rick Warren question: When does life begin. (Obama said it was above his pay grade).
Was it too flip? Obama said probably.
As a Christian, I don’t presume to answer when the soul enters the body.
Abortion is a moral issue. I don’t think criminalizing the choices people make is going to help. We have to look at prevention and supporting teens who do get pregnant.
George said McCain’s Rick Davis was offended that Obama blamed them for the radical Muslim smears, that are still rampant on the Internet.
Obama: These guys love to throw a rock and hide their hands. When you look at what is being promulgated on Fox news and others close to McCain.
There is a double standard. The minute Palin was forced to talk about her daughter, I said that families were off limits.
What was the first thing McCain did? He attacked liberal blogs who support me, Obama said.
Coming out of the republican camp, there have been efforts to say I’m a Muslim. It’s been going on for a long time.
George asked what he needed to do in the next 60 days.
Obama: I have to make the choice clear to the American people. They understand we’re in a bad place. They have to see the difference between the parties.
McCain has adopted the Bush economic platform. I have a different platform.
George: Would you go one on one with Palin (basketball). I wouldn’t do target shots with her but I could go one on one.
