by John McCormick
ROANOKE, Va. - Campaigning in a conservative part of a state that has consistently voted Republican for president since 1964, Sen. Barack Obama told an audience this afternoon that his Republican rival hurt Medicare.
Citing a recent Wall Street Journal story, the Illinois Democrat charged that Sen. John McCain would make $882 billion in Medicare cuts to "pay for an ill-conceived, badly thought-through health care plan that won't provide more health care to people, even though Medicare is already facing a looming shortfall."
Appearing in front of a crowd estimated at about 8,000 at the Roanoke Convention Center, Obama suggested cuts of "more than 20 percent" were possible by next year under the McCain plan.
"If you count on Medicare, it would mean fewer places to get care, and less freedom to choose your own doctors," he said. "You'll pay more for your drugs, you'll receive fewer services, you'll get lower quality care."
Obama said McCain has "voted against protecting Medicare 40 times" during his 26-year tenure in Congress.
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responded that Obama was "lying" in a statement issued by the Republican campaign.
"Unlike Barack Obama' risky plan, John McCain's plans for health care do not punish struggling businesses with fines and taxes, and they certainly do not cut a single benefit for Medicare or Medicaid," he said. "For Barack Obama to talk about the hope of America and then proceed into misleading and hypocritical accusations only underscores what voters already know: Barack Obama is not who you think he is."
In Obama's battle to win Virginia, Obama is trying to record the first Democratic presidential win in Old Dominion since Lyndon B. Johnson carried it 44 years ago.
In central Virginia, Roanoke is in a conservative part of the state. It is ground Obama will likely have a hard time winning, but his campaign hopes to at least keep the fight close.
Sen. Jim Webb, the Virginia senator Obama considered as a possible running mate, warmed up the crowd by asking: "When's the last time you saw John McCain in this part of Virginia?"
Webb assured voters that Obama is "like you" and knows what it is like to struggle.
He also took a few shots at Republican running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
"Do you really think that Sarah Palin is the most qualified person?" Webb asked, drawing boos from the crowd. He said McCain's pick made him think of a country song that includes the line: "I know what I was doing, but what was I thinking?"
Comments
"Grammstanding McCain Speaks"
Isn't she Pretty, Isn't she just "Wonderful."
I'll tax my 95 year old Mama to ensure that Big Oil continues to get it $200 Billion Dollars in encentives!
I'll tax everyone born before 1965 to ensure that Corporations relocating to "Dubai" get the necessary "tax evading" shelters that UBS Phil Gramm offered to all "Liechtenstien" secret "Whisper Account" American Citizens!
I'll tax every black, poor, hispanic, latino, business back to the door steps of "Abraham Lincoln" to ensure that my GOP RNC "ROBO-Callers" get paid!
Yea! I know him, he paid his debt! Yea! I know him! Isn't she pretty, Isn't she just "Lovely"
I brought you "Medicare" on Katrina day!
We lied, they died!
I will raise Medicare on my own "mother" if it means paying Big Oil $200 Billion Dollars a year, at a time of War!
Posted by: Roger Morris | October 17, 2008 2:24 PM
YEAH, he's getting desperate to be making up some old DEMOCRATIC SCARE TACTIC FROM YEARS AGO>tsk tsk tsk!
NOT GONNA WORK>We are more affraid of OBAMA and his RADICAL SOCIALIST PLANS FOR OUR COUNTRY!
I don't know what he could make up to over power HIS RADICAL BELIEFS AND FRIENDSHIPS to convince us not to vote McCain.
Maybe he could say the world would end .....nahhhh, I would take death over SOCIALISM AND THE UNITED STATES NEVER BEING THE SAME AGAIN.
Posted by: SORRY>IT'S A NO SALE HERE | October 17, 2008 2:33 PM
Another example of McPalin hurting their own voter base. But, you go, surge/drill/Easy2FixSocSec/taxBreaks4Rich/etc.
Posted by: No Longer Undecided | October 17, 2008 2:44 PM
McCain seems to only understand vinegar - he seems to have lost touch with honey. Both were used by General Patraeus in the Iraq surge. Perhaps McCain should call his buddy. ..................
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/17/mccain-needs-a-surge-he-should-try-one/
Posted by: Ohg Rea Tone | October 17, 2008 3:17 PM
It's the end of the Greedy Oil Party as we know it ...and I feel fine.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmxyj6iInMc
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"Our economy is structurally sound for the long term"
George W Bush - Feb 11, 2008
"The American people can remain confident in the soundness and the resilience of our financial system"
Henry Paulson - Sept 15, 2008
"The fundamentals of our economy are strong"
John McCain - Sept 15, 2008
"The economy is fundamentally sound"
Herbert Hoover - October, 1931
McCain does not have the ability to fix this economic crisis. After declaring the fundamentals of the economy strong, he created a political circus in Washington by mucking up bailout negotiations; a deplorable campaign stunt, considering he and his political cronies helped cause the current meltdown.
It was McCain and his economic adviser Phil Gramm who pushed for the deregulation that helped lead to the banking crisis, and it was McCain's crony Rick Davis who had deep lobbyist ties to Freddie Mac. Don't let others be fooled by McCain's economic grandstanding because the reality is his policies and principles will only exacerbate our financial hardships.
McCain is being deceitful with his sudden populist message and support for regulation; his economic policies still favor our nation's wealthy elite.
Here's some more mavericky straight-talk, my friends:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4egXbhSOhk
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Posted by: DrainYou | October 17, 2008 4:09 PM
Obama is pulling out the old demoratic play book saying the GOP will defund medicare? I thought he was comfortably in the lead? Why is he on the attack with the negative comments.
Drain,
Who signed that 1999 piece of legislation into law? What was the final vote on that bill? 90 -8. I believe Joe Biden was part of the 90. Initially it was voted along party lines in the Senate. However, when it came out of the House-Senate conference to reconcile the two bills, the dems jumped on board. What changed? There was language put into the bill that gave greater access to mortgage loans to those who otherwise could not or should not have qualified. And thus a decade later, the mess we are in today.
Posted by: Terry | October 17, 2008 5:54 PM
Posted by: DrainYou | October 17, 2008 4:09 PM
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Rubbish! Merely repeating other people's nonsense doesn't make it true. A lot of people have pointed the finger at deregulation as the cause of the current meltdown, but none have been able to establish or explain how deregulation caused any of it. And I'll bet that you can't either.
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That's because deregulation had nothing to do with it. The causes of the current crisis are twofold. First, there was too much money available (largely due to the FRB keeping interest rates down after 9/11). Second, the extra money created a moral hazard: Banks succumbed to the temptation to make extra profits by making risky loans they shouldn't have. Were it not for these bad loans, there would have been vastly fewer defaults from the mortgages that were sold and pooled to back Mortgage Backed Securities and Collateralized Debt Obligations. Without all those mortgage defaults, the MBSs and CDOs would not have lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value. The 1999 deregulation did not authorize the greed, and it didn't authorize banks to engage in bad lending practices that were once prohibited. Thus, claiming that deregulation had anything to do with this reinforces what Ronald Reagan once said: "It isn't that Liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
Posted by: John W. | October 18, 2008 12:51 PM
Posted by: DrainYou | October 17, 2008 4:09 PM
*
Rubbish! Merely repeating other people's nonsense doesn't make it true. A lot of people have pointed the finger at deregulation as the cause of the current meltdown, but none have been able to establish or explain how deregulation caused any of it. And I'll bet that you can't either.
*
That's because deregulation had nothing to do with it. The causes of the current crisis are twofold. First, there was too much money available (largely due to the FRB keeping interest rates down after 9/11). Second, the extra money created a moral hazard: Banks had more money to lend and a dwindling number of creditworthy borrowers. So they succumbed to the temptation to increase profits by making risky loans. Were it not for these bad loans, there would have been vastly fewer defaults from the mortgages that were sold and pooled to back Mortgage Backed Securities and Collateralized Debt Obligations. It is because of the resulting mortgage defaults that MBSs and CDOs lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value. The 1999 deregulation did not authorize the greed, and it didn't authorize banks to engage in bad lending practices that were once prohibited. Thus, claiming that deregulation had anything to do with this reinforces what Ronald Reagan once said: "It isn't that Liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
Posted by: John W. | October 18, 2008 5:09 PM