the candidates are mic’d with remote mic
jim lehrer security and solvency…
at this very moment tonight where do you stand on the financial recovery plan.
obama’s up…he won the coin toss.
Obama…defining moment, two wars, worst fincial crisis since great depression
he’s obviously memorized his opening remarks.
1) oversight, 2) people make their money back, 3) CEO pay, 4) helping homeowners…hmmm like his friends at ACORN.
“8 years of failed economic plan” by George Bush.
McCain makes a great comment about Kennedy and thoughts and prayers.
I’ve haven’t been feeling great about a lot of things going on in American.
we’re seeing fo rthe first time in a long time both parties coming together.
We’re talking about failures on main street.
Worst financial crisis in quite a “little while and I’ve been around for while.” bringing up his age.
McCain sounds a little nervous. THis isn’t really his format, but he’s doing ok.

McCAin brings up dependence on foreign oil and how it must stop.

Lehrer asks about what they think about the plan which is the first question he asked…and neither answered.
Obama: two years ago “I warned” about the subprime lending mess. What?!! Does he just make this stuff up as he goes along?
Oh, yeah, it’s all George Bush’s fault.
Lehrer: will you vote for the plan?
McCAin, “sure.” Alot of saw this train wreck coming. Wish the D’s had bothered to listen. Do you realize that the democrats in this package want 20% of the money to go to ACORN and LaRaza housing projects? What, so they have more money freed up for their voting projects on behalf of Obama?

Obama:deregulation is the problem
McCain: we’ve got problems in the system. Greed in DC and on Wall Street. Mc Cain is first to bring up that America’s best days are ahead of us.

Lehrer: what’s the difference in your approach to the financial crisis
McCain: spending is out of control. Right on!!! Preach it. “earmarking as a gateway drug.”
$3 mil to study dna of bears…this stuff is ridiculous. I’ve got a pen and I’ll veto every single spending.
he’s asked for $932 Million in earmarks…nearly a million for every day he’s been in the Senate.
Obama: says he agrees with McCain on earmarks. REally? When?
Says a difference between him and McCain $300 billion in tax cuts to the rich people. I’m glad my boss is a millionaire. My thousandaire former roommate isn’t going to give me a job.
Did he just say “gas is killing” people?
McCain: obama suspended earmark requests after he was running for president?
do you know it’s tripled in the last few years? people are in jail for this stuff.
$800 billion dollars in new spending is what Obama is proposing.
McCain is killing him.
Obama interrupts.
I don’t know where John is getting his information. Interrupting is ok, I guess.

Obama thinks the president has a line item veto. That’s funny. He doesn’t.

McCain: Lehrer asks him to say
Obama objects to the business tax. US has the second highest biz taxes in the world. Why would you come here and not go somewhere else? “I want to cut that business tax so that companies will stay in US and create jobs.” He goes after Obama on earmarks.
The worst thing we can do is raise taxes on anybody.

Obama…MOOOOOOMMMMMM he’s picking on me!

Obama: what the heck is he talking about? additional tax cuts…loopholes. What is he saying? He’s jumbling.

Obama: on McCain you’re being taxed on McCain’s health care insurance. The market can’t solve everything
McCain: walking the walk and talking the talk….Good one.
who’s actually tried to keep spending under control. Let Americans choose.

Obama: you’re a liar, John McCain. tax increase don’t goto everyone down to $42K. changes subject and goes to oil companies.

What are you going to have to give up to pay for this financial rescue plan?
Obama: we might have to delay some stuff. Generalities…blah, blah, blah. Ten years’ time must lessen dependence on “MIddle eastern oil.” Which is what 16% of what we import?
He’s back to China’s space walk and what a great thing it was. Is he aware that we’ve done this already?
We need electricity grid. WE can’t shortchange those things…we have to get rid of “things that don’t work.” Glad he cleared that up.
I’m ACORN works for him.
McCain: we’ve got to cut spending and Obama is the most liberal senator in the senate. It’s tough to reach that part of the aisle that far to the left. I oppose ethanol subsidies. We have to do away with cost plus contracts in the defense industry. I know how to do this. I’ve been around.
Obama: I won’t be willing to cut my programs…but I might be willing to cut some things. Now riffing on medicare.
He just called John McCain, “Tom.”
McCain: spending freeze on everything except veterans care, defense and something else…but Obama just made the scalpal comment and I nearly lost my dinner.
Obama is calling for the war to be about oil.
McC: stop sending money to countries that don’t like us…and oh, by the way, let’s drill offshore.
45 new nuke plants. Go John!
Ew…gads here come global warming.
Jim, give up trying to get this question answered…they won’t!
Obama just made the genius observation that spending money will affect budgets.

McC: don’t hand the health care system to the federal govt which is Obama will do.
Obama should cancel some of his new spending. low taxes and cut spending are the best recipe for the healthy economy.

Obama: you said you agreed with Bush 90% of the time. Moooom! Stick to the teleprmptr BHO.

McC: we know you ‘re not miss congeniality in the senate. iraq, torture, global warming are things I broke with the president on…

Lessons of IRaq?
McCain: war was mishandled after the fall of baghdad. Surge has succeeded and we are winning in IRaq and we will come home with victory and honor. Thank you John, Obama said “we must end” the war in Iraq. Why don’t these democrats want to win this war?

Obama: fundamental difference with McC. we shouldn’t have gone in. How is it politically risky for a far left state senator democrat in a far left district to oppose the war in IRaq? We’ve spent too much money in IRaq.
“Al Qaeda is stronger than at any time since 2001.” Is he sniffing glue? In IRaq?
We did not use military wisely.
McC: the decision is how this war plays out…not what how we got into it. Obama says he would have opposed the surge.
Jim Lehrer tries to bail out BHO by interrupting Obama.
Obama: doesn’t explain why he hasn’t had any hearings about Afghanistan.
Petraeus has done a “brilliant job.” but he still would have opposed
you like to pretend that the war started in 2007, instead of 2003.
you were wrong on liberators (uh, Cheney said that). And, by the way, we were.
McC: I’m afraid mr. obama doesn’t know the difference between a tactic and a strategy.
whoa. Get him, John.
Obama says we are not winning in IRaq…Obama says ‘that’s not true.”
Go John…don’t let him interrupt you.
voted to cut off the money for troops.
Obama: funding..timetable. I do too know the differnece between tactic and strategy. Whaaaaa! mom.
He’s a whiner.
Now BHO changes the subject to Afghanistan and that wasn’t what the question.
my computer blew up but it’s back.
We’re now on the IRan tropic but here are a couple things that were said while I was furiously trying to fix this thin.
McC “I don’t think SEnator Obama knows Pakistan was a failed state” You don’t say out loud that you’re going to attack them.
Obama: there was no al qaeda in Iraq.
McC: after saying his name several time McC muffs ahmedinejad’s name. You can hear Obama in the back trying to correct him. After cleaning Obama’s clock on IRaq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and IRan…it will be this cut that will make the news.
Obama changes his stance no preconditions.
McC: if Obama cared so much about Afghanistan, why didn’t he hold hearings in his subcommittee?
McC: Kissinger didn’t say what you just claimed, Obama. What Senator Obama doesn’t seem to understand is that if you sit across the table from a country that calls Israel a stinking corpse you set a bad precedent.
Obama: I never said anything about preconditions, nobody’s ever said anything about that. Where’s the fire hose? His pants are on fire.
McC: so you’re sitting there saying if you sit across the table from Ahmedinejad and he says he’s going to destroy Israel, you’re going to tell them, ‘no you’re not? Oh, please.”
Get him, John.
Then McCain says you’re parsing words. Now precondition means preparations?!
Obama has been studying the Georgian regions (note to Merkley: AS. IN. FORMER. SOVIET. UNION. THE. COUNTRY. OF. GEORGIA. NOT. ATLANTA.)
Obama: how do you deal with russia, give them a sharp response. Whatever that means. he recalled the president saying he looked into putin’s eyes and saw his soul.
McC: Obama doesn’t understand that Russia committed serious aggression in Georgia. I looked in Putin’s eyes and saw three letters a K a G and a B.
He’s used the line before but it’s effective. We want to work with Russians but they must behave and respect international boundaries. This whole thing has to do with Ukraine. Watch Ukraine. You’ll have to do better than ‘watch Ukraine,” John.
Obama: we agree on all those big words he just said. but now obama’s changing his stance on Georgia! I said it was bad for Russia to do that. He just said… Oh, never mind. HE doesn’t know what he’s saying.

Obama is out of his depth. Now he’s lecturing on oil and Russia. Oh, now he wants off shore drilling and 3% of the people, 25% use of oil Where’s the observation about what we give back to the world for being the most productive economy in the free world?
Never. He doesn’t like this country.
Walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Here’s a question: how many times will each of these guys say that?

McC: Obama’s against reprocessing and storing of spent fuel. You can’t get there from here.
Obama: like a reproving father, John?
I have to correct the record…I say we have to store it safelly.
FOOOD FIGHT! CROSS TALK.
Last question:
‘What do you think of the liklihood of another 9/11 attack?’ Where does this question get us? At first blush I think it’s dopey.
McC: alot less now that we’ve reformed a lot of intelligence services etc. working across the aisle with Joe Lieberman. No torture of prisoners. Gads tell that to the 5 cops in Mexico against our Oregon man…
Alot safer since 9/1l but we have a long way to go. The largest reorganization in government since the advent of the defense department. Oh, and let’s do a better job on the borders. Thank you, John.

Obama: we have a long way to go. Let’s have Chinese ports. I’m waiting for it. Obama calls out SNUKES. the way we are perceived in the world matters. I want to restore America’s standing. America is the best place. Finally. Shining beacon on a hill.
McC: Obama doesn’t get it that if we fail in IRaq Al Qaeda gets it and that affects our standing in the world.
All of our gains would be lost if we just withdraw the way senator obama wants to do . central issue of our time.
And we continue….
Obama: the Bush ad and McCain is too focused on iraq. we’ve weakened our ability to
respond around the world because of iraq. ten bill a month in iraq and we can’t bring health care to our citizens. did he just say health care is a national security issue?
We’re not talking about losing this war, we’re talking about…blah…no idea…he spins out.
some of this was memorized because you can always tell when he’s reading from a script.
McC: stubborness in Obama. we need more flexibility in a president than, as Obama has done, stubbornly clung to the fiction that the surge hasn’t worked.
Obama: now we get to hear about his dad. How many wives did that guy have again? How’s George doing, Barack? STill in that hut?
McC: I’ll take care of the vets
Cya!