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Skagit County
Democratic Party |
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P.O. Box 761, Mount Vernon, WA
98273 -
360-336-1555
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Skagit County Democrats 2008 Platform
Vision, Mission, and Preamble
Platform
Agriculture
Economic Development, Corporate Power, & Media Reform
Education
Environment & Energy
Foreign Policy
Government & Political Reform
Healthcare
Human & Civil Rights
Immigration
Labor & Economic Justice
Law &
Justice
Military & Iraq War
Transportation
Issues from the DNC
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John McCain and General Petraeus' Testimony:
Main Point: John McCain should weigh in on General
Petraeus' concern about the minimal political progress in Iraq and outline his
plans for the future of Iraq. So far, his only plan is his willingness to keep
our troops there for 100 years and launch political attacks at anyone who
disagrees.
- McCain has not offered his plan for the future
of Iraq and he has failed to answer key questions:
- -- As president, would John McCain build
permanent bases in Iraq? In defending his comments about keeping our
troops in Iraq for 100 years, McCain said he was talking about a long-term
troop presence similar to our presence in Germany and South Korea.
- -- How will he pay for a prolonged engagement in Iraq,
which today costs $12 billion per month, while making Bush's tax cuts
permanent?
- -- What would McCain do to pressure the Iraqis to make
the political progress the surge was supposed to enable?
- Last weekend, Senator Lindsey Graham said John McCain
does not want to do in Iraq what the Soviets did in Afghanistan: leave a
vacuum that was filled by the Taliban. If McCain is concerned about what is
happening in Afghanistan today, why didn't he join in signing a letter urging
President Bush to refocus our counter-terrorism strategy on Afghanistan and
Pakistan?
- McCain said he's willing to keep our troops in
Iraq for 100 years. One hundred years in Iraq is not a plan.[NH
Town Hall meeting, 1/3/08;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7HYoh9YMM&e]
- John McCain offers nothing more than a third
Bush term on Iraq, and that's the last thing the American people want.
John McCain, Sunnis, and Shiites:
Main Point: John McCain may say he's a foreign
policy expert, but the fact is when it comes to Iraq he has repeatedly gotten
key facts on the ground wrong and confused Sunni and Shiite extremists in Iraq.
- For the fifth time in five months, John McCain confused
Sunni and Shiite extremists in Iraq, referring to al-Qaeda in Iraq as a Shiite
group during the Senate hearing with General Petraeus.
- McCain has made this mistake on multiple
occasions, including during a trip to the Middle East that was meant to
burnish the Republican candidate's foreign policy credentials.
- The truth is, McCain isn't misspeaking when he makes
these mistakes. He is either showing he doesn't understand the facts on the
ground in Iraq, or he is purposely conflating the threats posed by Sunni and
Shiite extremists for political gain.
- At the same time, John McCain has consistently attacked
the intelligence and motives of people who disagree with his assessments of
the situation in Iraq when he himself can't even get the basic facts on the
ground correct.
- McCain has also yet to say if he agrees with Ambassador
Crocker's assessment that al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a bigger
threat to the United States than al-Qaeda in Iraq.
- John McCain has proven time and time again he offers
nothing more than a third Bush term on Iraq-and that's the last thing the
American people want.
John McCain and His Civil Rights Record:
Main Point: John McCain has distorted his record
on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While he says he championed establishing a
holiday in honor of Dr. King, the truth is he has a long record of opposing the
holiday.
- Last week, he acknowledged having made 'a
mistake' when he opposed a federal holiday honoring Dr. King in 1983.
But McCain fails to mention that after that he OPPOSED a state holiday for
Arizona in 1987, OPPOSED a federal holiday in 1989, and voted to cut off
funding for the Commission promoting Dr. King's holiday in 1994.
- With the 40th Anniversary of the 1968 Civil
Rights Act April 11, it's worth noting that McCain was the deciding vote
against overriding President Bush's veto of the 1990 Civil Rights Act—the
first defeat of a major civil rights bill in a quarter of a century.
- Now McCain is trying to defend his vote by saying he
opposed quotas, when the bill had nothing to do with quotas.
- -- In fact, the 1990 bill would have expanded the reach
of several discrimination laws and authorized monetary damages under the 1964
Civil Rights Act, which prevents employment discrimination. [1990
Senate Vote #276, 10/16/1990; 1990 Senate Vote #304, 10/24/1990; 1990 CQ
Almanac, p. 60-S]
- If McCain is such a champion of Martin Luther
King, will he vote for the bill currently being considered in Congress to
establish a commemorative coin honoring the civil rights leader?
- Though he'll embark on a so-called "Compassion Tour"
later this month in an effort to reach out to African American voters, the
fact is no campaign tour can make up for McCain's dismal record on civil
rights issues during his 25 years in Washington.
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