Subject: [big campaign] Tracking Update: McCain Speech at the NALEO Conference Washington, DC
From: "Andres Moreno" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:01:11 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Hello All,

Just spoke with our trackers Ryan and Kelli who were at today's Washington
DC event.  Below are their notes.

*BIG HIGHLIGHTS:*

   - Demonstrators interrupt McCain's remarks on four separate occasions,
   including an individual identified as press
   - Hits Obama for addressing NALEO afterwards rather then having a town
   hall
   - Answers questions from elected Latino officials
   - Claims immigration reform is top priority
   - Stresses and Emphasizes immigration reform while adding need for border
   control first
   - Suggest that he once supported Amnesty
   - Says Government should be on the side of business not standing in their
   way

*Washington, DC: McCain Speech at the NALEO Conference 06/28/08*
(Disclaimer: The following are notes, not direct quotes. If you'd like a
quotable transcript or video of any part below, please email us.)*
*
*Background Details:
*

   - Audience numbered approximately 450
   - Crowd was welcoming, and offered standing ovations but in no way as
   passionate as they were for Sen. Obama
   - Security was heavy due to both candidates attending event but we were
   able to get in fairly easily
   - The room was decorated with NALEO signs, while the stage had stars,
   stripes, and banners
   - Three podiums were set up on stage, one for the moderator, one for the
   candidates, and one for those asking questions
   - Both McCain and Obama's embedded press were present as well as CNN,
   FNC, Univison, ABC, CBS and local affiliates
   - McCain Introduced by: Rafael Anchia
   - Moderator: Arturo Vargas

*FULL Remarks:*
LINK: http://thepage.time.com/mccains-remarks-before-naleo/

ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain will deliver the following remarks
as prepared for delivery to the National Association of Latino Elected and
Appointed Officials (NALEO) Conference in Washington, D.C., today at 11:00
a.m. EDT:

Thank you. It's good to be with you. I want to speak very briefly, and then
take your questions. I have the privilege today of speaking before my
opponent, Senator Obama, whose talent as an orator, as you might notice, is
somewhat greater than mine. I will not overemphasize that fact by indulging
your patience with a lengthy speech. Fortunate for me and you, I enjoy
listening and responding to my audience's questions more than I do
delivering formal remarks. So, I want to share just a few thoughts with you,
and then move quickly to your questions, comments or insults.

We meet after another week of rising gasoline prices, another stock market
sell-off, more mortgage foreclosures and the increasing loss of the American
people's confidence in the economy. The question of how government should
respond to these troubling developments will shape much of the debate in
this election, and I want to offer a few thoughts about what I believe we
should do and not do.

It is a terrible mistake to raise taxes during an economic downturn.
Increasing the tax burden on Americans impedes job growth, discourages
innovation and makes us less competitive. Small businesses are the biggest
job creators in our economy. Keeping individual tax rates low isn't intended
as a favor to wealthy Americans. Most small business owners pay those rates,
and taking more money from them deprives them of the capital they need to
invest and grow and hire. There are two million Latino owned businesses in
America, a number that is growing very rapidly. The first consideration we
should have when debating tax policy is how we can help those companies grow
and increase the prosperity of the millions of American families whose
economic security depends on their success.

Government should be on their side, not in their way.

Our current business tax rate, the second highest in the world, will
postpone our recovery from this downturn and make us increasingly less
competitive in the world economy. When a corporation plans to expand and
hire more workers, they face a choice between building a new plant here at
home and building it in a country like Ireland where they will pay less than
half the tax rate they now pay. Employers can hire more people, or they can
pay more taxes. We can no longer afford the luxury of nostalgia for past
times when American business faced little serious competition in the world.

The global economy is here to stay. We cannot build walls to foreign
competition, and why should we want to. When have Americans ever been afraid
of competition? America is the biggest exporter, importer, producer, saver,
investor, manufacturer, and innovator in the world. Americans don't run from
the challenge of a global economy. The courage, patriotism, ingenuity and
industry of our forbears earned the reverence we hold for our storied past.
But we have never been a country that substitutes nostalgia for optimism. We
have never been a country that would rather go back than forward. We are the
world's leaders, and leaders don't fear change, hide from challenges, pine
for the past and dread the future. We make the future better than the past.
That's why I reject the false virtues of economic isolationism. Any
confident, competent government should embrace competition - it makes us
stronger - not hide from our competitors a nd cheat our consumers and
workers. We can compete and win, as we always have, or we can be left
behind. Lowering barriers to trade creates more and better jobs, and higher
wages. It keeps inflation under control and interest rates low. It makes
goods more affordable for low and middle income consumers. Protectionism
threatens all those benefits.

Opening new markets for American goods and services is indispensable to our
future prosperity. But in the global economy what you learn is what you
earn. Today, half of Latinos and half of African Americans entering high
school will never graduate. By the 12th grade, U.S. students in math and
science score near the bottom of all industrialized nations. As Bill Gates
said, "This isn't an accident or flaw in the system. It is the system." Many
parents fear their children won't have the same opportunities they had. That
is simply unacceptable in a country as great as ours. In many schools,
particularly where people are struggling the hardest, the situation is dire,
and I believe poses the civil rights challenge of our time. We need to shake
up failed school bureaucracies with competition; hold schools accountable
for results; strengthen math, science, technology and engineering
curriculums; empower parents with choice; remove barriers to qualified
instructors, attract and reward superior teachers, and have a fair but sure
process to weed out incompetents.

I have spent the last two weeks addressing the problem that is causing
Americans the most pain right now, our dependence on imported oil, and how
to free ourselves from a situation that threatens our economy, our
environment and our national security. Obviously, the crisis most acutely
affects lower income Americans, who often drive the furthest to work and own
the oldest cars. There are a few, but not many, things we can do in the
short term to alleviate the economic distress Americans are feeling as they
pay more and more of their income for gasoline, and higher prices for
groceries and almost all goods that are affected by spiraling increase in
the price of oil. But we must commit ourselves to addressing this problem as
quickly as humanly possible, and we must commit this country to the great
national cause of breaking our strategic dependence on foreign oil. To do
that, we must address both the supply and demand sides o f the problem. We
must produce more oil at home, and while exploration and production will
take some time, it will have an earlier effect on the oil futures market.
When futures traders believe the supply of oil will increase in the years
ahead and the cost of a barrel of oil will be lower, it will help curb some
of the speculation in those markets that are driving prices so much higher
today.

But the lasting solution to all the problems associated with our dependence
on foreign oil is to begin in the term of the next president the most
ambitious program ever to reduce our demand for the fuel that is a powerful
inflationary force in our economy; is causing our climate to change with all
the unimaginable problems that creates; and is ransoming our future to
regimes that care little for our values or our security. We need to unleash
the competitive forces of the free market to encourage clean alternatives —
wind, solar, tide, nuclear, and clean coal. But to really achieve energy
security, we must address the area where the demand for oil is the greatest
the way we fuel our transportation system. I have promised a plan, which I
called the Lexington Project, for the place where America's war for
independence began, which will encourage the investment and innovation
necessary to wean our cars, buses, and trucks off of our complete dependence
on gasoline. This will take time, but the longer we wait to begin, the
longer it will take to achieve. It is an ambitious plan, but I am confident
that our industry and entrepreneurs, and all Americans are up to this next
great challenge in our history. The genius, hard work and courage of
Americans have never failed us, and will not fail us now.

Let me close by talking briefly about my respect and gratitude for the
contributions of Hispanic-Americans to the culture, economy and security of
the country I have served all my adult life. I represent Arizona where
Spanish was spoken before English was, and where the character and
prosperity of our state owes a great deal to the many Arizonans of Hispanic
descent who live there. And I know this country, which I love more than
almost anything, would be the poorer were we deprived of the patriotism,
industry and decency of those millions of Americans whose families came here
from Mexico, Central and South America. I will honor their contributions to
America for as long as I live.

I and many other colleagues twice attempted to pass comprehensive
immigration legislation to fix our broken borders; ensure respect for the
laws of this country; recognize the important economic necessity of
immigrant laborers; apprehend those who came here illegally to commit
crimes; and deal practically and humanely with those who came here, as my
distant ancestors did, to build a better, safer life for their families,
without excusing the fact they came here illegally or granting them
privileges before those who did. Many Americans, with good cause, did not
believe us when we said we would secure our borders, and so we failed in our
efforts. We must prove to them that we can and will secure our borders
first, while respecting the dignity and rights of citizens and legal
residents of the United States. But we must not make the mistake of thinking
that our responsibility to meet this challenge will end with that accomplish
ment. We have economic and humanitarian responsibilities as well, and they
require no less dedication from us in meeting them.

When I was in prison in Vietnam, I like other of my fellow POWs, was offered
early release by my captors. Most of us refused because we were bound to our
code of conduct, which said those who had been captured the earliest had to
be released the soonest. My friend, Everett Alvarez, a brave American of
Mexican descent, had been shot down years before I was, and had suffered for
his country much more and much longer than I had. To leave him behind would
have shamed us. When you take the solemn stroll along that wall of black
granite on the national Mall, it is hard not to notice the many names such
as Rodriguez, Hernandez, and Lopez that so sadly adorn it. When you visit
Iraq and Afghanistan you will meet some of the thousands of
Hispanic-Americans who serve there, and many of those who risk their lives
to protect the rest of us do not yet possess the rights and privileges of
full citizenship in the country they love so well. To love your country, as
I discovered in Vietnam, is to love your countrymen. Those men and women are
my brothers and sisters, my fellow Americans, an association that means more
to me than any other. As a private citizen or as your President, I will
never, never do anything to dishonor our obligations to them and their
families or to forget what they and their ancestors have done to make this
country the beautiful, bountiful, blessed place we love.

Thank you.

*Question and Answer:
*1 Q): What will you do to keep the American Dream Alive
MCCAIN: People should be allowed to get FHA guaranteed loans at new value of
homes. Jokes about Congresses low approval ratings. Says we need to invest
new energy research and development.

2 Q): Ineffective Military spending is an issue, how will you ensure the
safety of our troops while still investing here at home
MCCAIN: We need to fix the system and stop pork barrel projects which are
disproportionately military because that is where the money is. Tells
audience that their state and local projects should be considered based on
merit and lobbying efforts

3 Q): Will he make comprehensive immigrations reform top priority as the
next president of the United States.
MCCAIN: It has been, is now and will be in the future. I tried twice but
failed. We must build a border first, it is what the American people want.
We must treat immigratns humanely

4 Q): How will you Handle the Health care crisis?
MCCAIN: The problem is not quality it is availability. Some of the worlds
richest people travel to the states for health care. Mentions his $5,000 tax
credit so that individuals can go across state boarders for insurance. Says
it is better then what companies have now. Stresses Wellness and Fitness and
mentions State and Federal Governments working together to create risk pools
for those with chronic illnesses. Ends his answer with saying that families
need to make the choices

5 Q): Equal Education for Latinos
MCCAIN: Admits that there is segregation based on income where the poor
receive lower quality education as compared to those with higher income.
Choice and Competition are important. Says charter schools work, although
they are not much better then public schools

6 Q): How can we strengthen American leadership globally while securing
domestic Jobs
MCCAIN: I believe in free trade like the Colombian Free Trade Agreement.
Mentions Mexico's current battle with drug cartels and praises the president
of Mexico. Says he is for free trade but that we shouldn't be callous to the
victims of free trade.

7 Q): Latinos have a large representation in the front lines of the war. As
a Vietnam vet and a father of a military member in Iraq I ask what is your
future policy for Iraq?
MCCAIN: War was terribly mishandled. I went and saw the problems came back
and asked for a new strategy, that new strategy is now working. Says he can
urge our young Americans to serve a cause greater then their self interest

8 Q): Latinos have challenged some of the current enforcement of
immigrations laws as being ineffective and inhumane. What policy will you
have that will help secure America but also be humane?
MCCAIN: They are all gods children, I supported Regan's bill for Amnesty,
Immigrants need to be treated humanely. Illegal Immigrants are sometimes
taken advantage of and treated inhumanely because they are illegal.

-- 
Andres Moreno
Deputy Director - Tracking/Media Monitoring
Progressive Media USA
202-609-7688 (office)
703-501-6661 (cell)
[email-masked]

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