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McCain Sheds His "Green Speech" Skin, Shines Amid Protests

Wed, 06/11/2008 - 6:00am by CitizenSugar
1,025 Views - 200 comments

I might venture out on a limb and say McCain's speech in front of the National Federation of Independent Business yesterday helped to erase the mean, green debacle of a week ago. He was the old McCain again. Hey. You know what I mean.

He opened with a chuckler: "I have never run a small, struggling enterprise — unless you count my presidential campaign last year," but was soon interrupted by an anti-war protester who heckled him from the audience.

The woman burst out with "War is bad for small business!" McCain responded, "one of the things Americans are tired of, one of the things they're tired of is people yelling at each other in America, have you noticed that? They want us to respect each other's opinions. . . . Americans want a dialogue," to wild applause. After another protester jumped in and was lead away, McCain said, "now that we know, now that I know who I will be facing in the general election . . ."

To see my highlights, the parts that grabbed me — with a funny cherry on top at the end, read more.

  • Americans do not resent paying their fair share of taxes. What they do resent, and especially if they're trying to run a business, is being subjected to thousands of pages of needless and often irrational rules and demands from the IRS.
  • We need rules that assure fairness and punish wrongdoing in the market and hold every businessperson in America to the same fair standards.
  • In so many ways, we need to make a clean break from the worst excesses of both political parties. And for Republicans, it starts with reclaiming our good name as the party of spending restraint. Somewhere along the way, too many Republicans in Congress became indistinguishable from the big-spending Democrats they used to oppose. The only power of government that could stop them was the power of veto, and it was rarely used. If that authority is entrusted to me, I will use the veto as needed. I will veto every bill with earmarks. I will seek a constitutionally valid line-item veto to end pork-barrel spending once and for all.
  • The even-handed pragmatism — and what seemed like a conservative renaissance — sung to me. OK, he did have a funny slip of the tongue when he delivered the last part. Why is McCain so anti-brew?


    Hee hee. And what was Cindy up to yesterday? A little shop-a-rama at Oscar de la Renta — a spree that went on a little longer than her poor Secret Service detail could bear, saying she'd been in the store "Waaayy too long" as he sweltered outside. Bah. Don't take a man shopping; they have no endurance for the important stuff.

    What did you think of McCain's speech? Is he upping his economy cred?

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200 Comments Add a Comment

  • syako's picture
    syako
    1

    Thank you, it's time to stop this frivolous spending. And who better to call out this cr@p than the man who's never taken part in pork-barrel spending.

    My favorite quotes was this:
    "You work hard in small businesses to grow and create new jobs and opportunities for others," McCain said. "The federal government shouldn't make your work any harder."

    If we want businesses to stay here in America and hire Americans and remain profitable and successful we do NOT need to make it harder for them. We do NOT need to tax them MORE.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • yesteryear's picture
    yesteryear
    2

    i agree that small businesses should be nurtured - and i'm sure barack obama would agree too. but what about gigantic businesses that are already raking in billions of dollars? and are already outsourcing their customer service, HR, and manufacturing? why should we give them tax breaks?

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • hausfrau's picture
    hausfrau
    4

    how are you sure that obama would agree? in traditionally democratic states like NY and CA small businesses are dying, not thriving.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    5

    maybe if we gave them breaks they could actually afford American workers? Puzzled

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • hausfrau's picture
    hausfrau
    6

    no sy they only want to make more money and screw the american people! geesh! get with it!

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • trésjolie's picture
    trésjolie
    8

    I am totally picturing McCain doing wine tasting in Cali now. Sideways style.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Jillness's picture
    Jillness
    9

    Obama's plans have exemptions for small businesses. Eye-wink It's all in the details, folks.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Jillness's picture
    Jillness
    10

    I have read several things that say that McCain's cutting of pork barrel spending will be nowhere near enough to provide for all of his tax cuts, and pay for the war.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    11

    Yeah but doesn't Obama also want to TAX TAX TAX?

    McCain said small businesses would bear the brunt of the tax increases proposed by Obama. McCain called for phasing out the alternative minimum tax and allowing businesses to write off some new investments. "I don't want to send any more of your earnings to the government," the Arizona senator said.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Jillness's picture
    Jillness
    12

    I also wonder why McCain's speech got a little thread yesterday and a big thread today...and Obama's economic speech on Monday did not even get mentioned. Puzzled

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    13

    He also wants to DECREASE spending in general. Not just cut pork-barrel.

    John McCain Will Stop Earmarks, Pork-Barrel Spending, And Waste.

    John McCain Proposes A One-Year Spending Pause To Evaluate Programs. He believes that outside of essential military and veterans programs there should be a one-year pause in discretionary spending growth that should be used for a top-to-bottom review of the effectiveness of federal programs.

    John McCain Has The Leadership And Courage To Make The Right Spending Choices. Reduced spending means making choices. John McCain will not leave office without balancing the federal budget. He will not do it with smoke and mirrors. When he leaves office, he wants to leave a budget that stays balanced after he is gone, and can weather the occasional downturn and unexpected contingency. John McCain will provide the courageous leadership necessary to control spending, including:

    Eliminate Broken Government Programs. The federal government itself admits that one in five programs do not perform.
    Reform Our Civil Service System To Promote Accountability And Good Performance In Our Federal Workforce.
    Eliminating Earmarks, Wasteful Subsidies And Pork-Barrel Spending.
    Reform Procurement Programs And Cut Wasteful Spending In Defense And Non-Defense Programs.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Jillness's picture
    Jillness
    14

    "McCain said small businesses would bear the brunt of the tax increases proposed by Obama"

    Mr. McCain is wrong, wrong, wrong. He should read up on Obama's plan as well!

    Obama said that Mr. McCain's plan would include a $1.2 Billion tax cut for Exxon alone (in addition to the tax breaks they already receive). That doesn't sound like McCain is working for the small business to me.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Jillness's picture
    Jillness
    15

    Syako, we are spending 12 Billion per month on Iraq. McCain doesn't have enough there to cut to decrease taxes AND still not work us further into our trillion dollar deficit.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • yesteryear's picture
    yesteryear
    16

    actually, cabaker, i work in business development in california and while it is hard to attract businesses to our state because we are not the cheapest place to do business - we have all kinds of programs in place that are fiscally solvent, and tons of domestic and international businesses starting or moving here every year.

    when businesses are looking for a location they typically don't just look for the cheapest place with the best tax incentives - they also want to locate in an area where their employees can enjoy a high quality of life. especially if they have a lot of high paid executives, or engineers, or people at that level.

    wages are higher in the US than in other countries... and if the companies don't pay living wages to their employees the cost is passed on to the tax payers through social programs (anyone remember that hilarious and disturbing story a few years ago where walmart was holding free informational seminars teaching their employees how to sign up for state health benefits -- i.e., welfare??).

    the taxes these businesses pay go to fund schools, housing, health care, public safety, and other services that keep that quality of life high. if we don't tax them, then they continue to make money while the communities around them fall apart. california is a strange example because we have this funny thing called prop 13 that completely gutted property tax in the late 1970s. because of that, cities and counties rely on sales tax and other business taxes to fund programs. it's a sticky situation and probably something that would bore the pants off of everyone here so i'll shut up now.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • marcella's picture
    marcella
    18

    Tax is a necessary evil. Get over it.

    I am voting for someone who will spend the taxes in a responsible way (that actually benefits the American people), and not throw billions of dollars away at the Iraq war.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    19

    I don't see why you cannot work for both small and large businesses. Just because a business is a Fortune 500 company doesn't mean the devil runs it. My husband works for a very nice fortune 500 who the CEO started as a pipe-fitting shot in a little shanty town in South Louisiana. So we should NOT help him because he had a great idea, grew it, hired abled employees and is now profitable? This is ridiculous to me.

    Socialism is the equal sharing of misery

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    20

    I'd rather NOT pay 80% of my income to taxes to fund some socialistic programs to sniveling brats.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • yesteryear's picture
    yesteryear
    21

    ok, syako - you continue paying that % to fund some military programs to kill sniveling brats in iraq and then we can see who sleeps better at night.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • hausfrau's picture
    hausfrau
    23

    YY - I think we might disagree because Cali to me does not scream "high quality of life"... its practicaly impossible to own a home and the cost living is insane.

    The states with the most growth in the business sector are states like NC where businesses get heavy tax breaks and home are affordable and the cost of living is low.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    24

    I don't want to pay that % at all. To anyone to fund anything. I think it's ludicrous. In fact, I do think that the only reason the feds exist is to protect the security of the nation, so I do sleep OK at night, thank you. Plus I think cutting and running is never a solution to any problem.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • marcella's picture
    marcella
    25

    syako -- oh, i see... so you only want to the taxes you pay to go for programs that benefit people just like you (i assume you aren't a sniveling brat, although your comments bring that into question at times). you don't want to help anyone but americans just like you. anyone different that you is not deserving of programs that help them. hmmmm... that sounds like bigotry to me.

    just saying.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    26

    When did I say I wanted to benefit people like me?

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    27

    All I said is I don't want socialistic programs. How in the heck does that make me a bigot?

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • hausfrau's picture
    hausfrau
    28

    whoa marcella, thats pretty out of line. you have no idea what syako's background is or what her personal experience is with socialism.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • yesteryear's picture
    yesteryear
    29

    no one's saying "get businesses out of america"! barack obama has made plenty of speeches (to her credit, hillary gave even more speeches about this) about funding development of green jobs... these are going to be small start-up companies locating here in the united states. high paying manufacturing and engineering jobs. we need to foster that kind of innovation.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Jillness's picture
    Jillness
    30

    "I'd rather NOT pay 80% of my income to taxes to fund some socialistic programs to sniveling brats."

    Syako, you know I love ya, but this is a huge exaggeration that isn't rooted in reality:

    Obama;
    "I will reform our tax code so that it’s simple, fair, and advances opportunity instead of distorting the market by advancing the agenda of some lobbyist or oil company. I’ll shut down the corporate loopholes and tax havens, and I’ll use the money to help pay for a middle-class tax cut that will provide $1,000 of relief to 95% of workers and their families"

    "Now, contrary to what John McCain may say, every single proposal that I’ve made in this campaign is paid for – because I believe in pay-as-you-go."

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    31

    Well yeah, but taxing the heck out of businesses here does pretty much say "get out of america - if you want to remain profitable"

    I'm not saying that's what Obama said, I'm just saying in general if you heavily tax something, it won't be as attractive as somewhere where there are tax breaks.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    32

    I just don't see how we can have big government without a lot of taxes. Puzzled

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • hausfrau's picture
    hausfrau
    33

    But Jill Obama WILL be raising taxes. He wants to raise them to at least what it was in the Clinton era, he's said that. He also wants to raise the capital gains tax, among other things.

    I think we forget sometimes that the wealthiest people also spend the most money and when we heavily tax them, they will cut back just like everyone else.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • hausfrau's picture
    hausfrau
    35

    Sy - I just found this funny quote -

    "How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an Anti-communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." -- Ronald Reagan

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Jillness's picture
    Jillness
    37

    "I don't see why you cannot work for both small and large businesses"

    We don't currently treat large and small businesses the same. Large businesses get waaaaaaaaaaaay more tax breaks. Our current policies help large businesses way more than small.

    And Obama isn't anti-business. He knows that we need businesses here to employ people. You really, REALLY should look into where he stands before labeling everything that comes out of the democrats "socialist". Really, it is an over simplification that prevents us from having a productive and factual discussion.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • yesteryear's picture
    yesteryear
    38

    when you're dealing with high paid executives, and people with multiple degrees who are starting companies that are inventing solutions to huge global scientific problems, yes california does have the high quality of life they seek. we have great weather, a highly educated workforce, open space and cultural activities, and multiple clusters of industries that are thriving right now (biomed, energy research, multi-media, internet, etc.). that's why we have the headquarters of just about every big company you hear about these days. that's what i'm trying to say - the kind of businesses we WANT to have in america, the kind that are willing to pay their employees a living wage, contribute to their local economies, and who are going to put us back up on top of the heap when it comes to discovering new technologies... they are willing to pay a premium to locate in a place like california. we go in the other direction and we are like china - where they have entire cities that are built around one type of industry and people live and work in a community controlled by their employer... or mexico, where the only jobs in a town are an american company there for the SOLE purpose of hiring cheap labor.

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • hausfrau's picture
    hausfrau
    41

    "Large businesses get waaaaaaaaaaaay more tax breaks"

    Large businesses produce waaaayyyy more output, invest waaayyyyy more money, and employ waaaaaayy more people. Smiling

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • mymellowman's picture
    mymellowman
    42

    Question: Why do American businesses outsource?

    Answer: They can not afford to operate in the United States.

    Solution: Tax them more?

    12 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    43

    I agree Jill. I do think they should be treated equally. I don't think any American who has started a business and is successful should be penalized for that.

    I'm sorry that I don't read Obama's website and his thoughts on issues. I really know it would help discussions, but I just know that his ideals are completely backwards from mine. And I do read blogs, newspapers, watch some tv news, so I get a bit of a gist of it.

    Plus, why would I need to come here and listen to you if I read up on all his ideas. Eye-wink

    12 weeks 2 days ago