McCain Praises Obama At NAACP Convention

But Says Ill. Senator Is Wrong On Opposing School Vouchers

(CBS/AP)  John McCain told the NAACP and some skeptical black voters Wednesday that he will expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low-income children to attend private school.

The likely Republican presidential nominee addressed the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation's oldest civil rights organization.

In greeting the group, McCain praised Democrat Barack Obama's historic campaign, but said the Illinois senator is wrong to oppose school vouchers for students in failing public schools. It is time, McCain said, to use vouchers and other tools like merit pay for teachers to break from conventional thinking on educational policy.

Obama, he said, has dismissed support for private school vouchers for low-income Americans.

"All of that went over well with the teachers union, but where does it leave families and their children who are stuck in failing schools?" the Arizona senator asked. "No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity."

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program is the first federally funded school voucher program in the country, giving scholarships of up to $7,500 to about 2,000 low-income students in Washington, D.C, reports CBS News' John Bentley. The $18 million program is likely to be cut after its initial five-year funding expires next year.

McCain has proposed expanding it, upping the budget to at least $20 million and adding nearly a thousand more families.

“After decades of hearing the same big promises from the public education establishment, and seeing the same poor results, it is surely time to shake off old ways and to demand new reforms,” McCain said. “That isn't just my opinion; it is the conviction of parents in poor neighborhoods across this nation who want better lives for their children.”

McCain received mostly polite applause in a room with some empty seats, two days after Obama received a thunderous reception from a standing-room only audience hoping to see him become the first black president of the United States.

Obama spoke to the NAACP on Monday, saying he would push the government to provide more education and economic assistance, but he also drew big cheers when he urged blacks to demand more of themselves.

"Whatever the outcome in November," McCain told the crowd Wednesday, "Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing, for himself and for his country, and I thank him for it. ... Don't tell him I said this, but he is an impressive fellow in many ways."

During a question-and-answer session, McCain also sought to assuage a frustrated Head Start teacher who complained that her salary from the federal program simply isn't enough.

The woman, wearing a union T-shirt, said she was making $17,000 a year and cannot afford housing, gas, food, or health care for her children. "We cannot continue this way," she said.

McCain said the point of his education platform was to boost pay for "a great and outstanding teacher like you" and other educators who are passionate about their work.

"I want to reward good teachers," said McCain.

McCain said vouchers and merit pay for teachers whose students perform well are two important ways to help kids in failing schools.

"After decades of hearing the same big promises from the public education establishment, and seeing the same poor results, it is surely time to shake off old ways and to demand new reforms," he said. "That isn't just my opinion. It is the conviction of parents in poor neighborhoods across this nation who want better lives for their children."

Both the merit pay and voucher proposals have met stiff opposition from teachers unions. Obama has indicated he would support some kind of merit pay system for teachers, if teachers help craft it.

[Gary Kempf]

McCain To Outline Education Plans;

This a frightening thought, a man that graduated at the bottom of his class.
A man that does not know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni.
A man that can not perform basic functions on a computer, dictating improvement in education?

Then again, who better knows the failures of the education system, Than a man who failed......Go John!

[harpoot]

Maybe he at least won''t hold his *** and Jane reader upside down like the Shrub.

[txgrouch2006]

McCain making an education plan is like a dog making a plan to climb a tree.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

[txgrouch2006]

HERE''S MY SOLUTION.

Go to www.congress.org . Enter your ZIP+4 to get a list of YOUR elected representatives.

CLICK ON EACH NAME, and check the rep''s bio.

VOTE AGAINST anyone who was born 1946-1957.

CLEAN OUT THE BABY BOOMERS. SIXTEEN YEARS OF A BABY BOOMER GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN A DISASTER.

SIXTEEN YEARS IS ENOUGH!

[Gary Kempf]

harpoot ;
Bush is not a fair comparison, he can''t read by chose
not education....

[walt1944-2009]

"Bagdad John McBush" McCain has announced he will divulge his education plan today, if and when he becomes the net Great Emperor.

Having given up (for now!) on talking about the economy (a subject he is clueless on and allows other people more clueless than him to discuss), and proving to everyone that he would be a better Commander-in-chief than Barack Obama (having been a POW which, in his eyes, makes him eligible to be Great Emperor), "Bagdad John" is turning to education which is a subject that has been lacking in the Bush reign for the past 8 years.

Among the topics McCain will cover in his speech today are:

1. Demanding that high schools and colleges drop the requirement for students to learn a foreign language. ENGLISH is the only language ANYONE should know!
2. Require that all students have a 5th grade reading level, so they can actually READ their diplomas!
3. Remembering the neocon Supreme Court decision on hand guns (see, Geritol DOES WORK!), install metal detectors at the entrances to all classroom buildings in grammar, middle, high schools and especially colleges.
4. Requiring ECONOMICS as a required course for all students so they can balance their budgets/checkbooks (unlike many neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans!).

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!
sig heil, ABSOLUTELY MORE OF THE SAME, McCain!!!

[galileo1234]

The sun transmits to the earth 10,000 times the amount of energy being consumed in all forms. It is the energy tsunami to replace the depletion tsunami. If we will harness the fraction of solar energy that is available to us in geosynchrous orbit, as is the plan in a Satellite Solar Power program (SSP), it will be the lead solution to permanent clean energy for the earth. The sunsat was invented by Peter Glaser in 1968. SSP will use lunar materials for bulk construction, and it is seen as the industrial reason to settle cis-lunar space. The infrastructure will park and use asteroid materials as well. The sun has a life expectancy of another 4 billion years. The National Security Space Office of the Pentagon now leads the research activity. I suggest read up on NSSO''s initial report to the Director: "Space Solar Power as an Opportunity for Strategic Security", released on October 10, 2007. The program is approaching a business case but still requires cheap launch capabilities to get people, tools, and electronics off the ground. The next President can make the galvanizing call, in Apollo-like fashion, to get the program accomplished. Over a 50-year ramp up, it can replace fossil fuels as our primary energy source. The battle cry? "DRILL UP!"

[hungry1968]

"McCain To Outline Education Plans"





His own? He''s FINALLY going to get educated on the economy, the war in Iraq, health care, reforming social security (what he calls a disgrace), fighting the war on terror.......

[ubrew12]

Is this the right time for him to get an education?

[frootloop47]

"John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time (last year)."
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/512/

FOR MORE OF THE SAME,
VOTE MC CAIN!!!

[mswolfestock]

This guy is pathetic -

He has the gall and chutzpah to tell the NAACP that he "was a little distracted" last year, so he blew off their conference.

How is he going to improve anybody''s education when his own is so totally lacking;

How will he help improve kids'' education and keep kids safe on the Internet when he doesn''t have a clue what''s out there on the Internet today;

How will he protect us from cyber-crime, identity theft, etc when he doesn''t have a freaking clue???

How does being a POW qualify him to do anything?????

[homespunlady]

Hmmm... John (I don''t need no stinkin'' computer, Moslem difference, technology or economy education)
McCain addressing education for the OTHER SIDE of the WEALTH GAP???

Doesn''t his wife hire "people" to do that FOR HIM?

Let''s "VETO EVERY BEER"! Especially that NEW McCain WINDFALL BUD er, InBev SELL OUT.

NOW I get WHY he said that VETO comment.

Bet the sale was "in the works" back then. Come to think of it - Didn''t McCain pay a trip to EUROPE on a "FUNDRAISER" er, political, er some kind of visit that included closed door DONATION meetings?

[perceptions5]

I thought the Democrats cared about poor people.

That''s what their historical "enablers" in our left-wing wolfpack press have always reported to the American people.

So how is it that only 24% of the innocent children it this "deep blue one-party city" ever graduate from High School?

Detroit is also home to one of the Dems big donors and special interest groups and mob-run unions, the UAW.

Detroit also has another Democrat special interest group in Detroit, NAACP.

So with all these "blue" groups why is there so much poverty and despair in Detroit?

Where''s the Social Justice in Detroit? Liberals? Left-wing wolfpack press?

The FACT is America that the Democrats DON''T CARE FOR THE POOR.............or the situation in Detroit wouldn''t be as it REALLY is.

Sad...........where''s the humanity? Where''s the Social Justice??

[perceptions5]

Hey perceptions??? Can you perceive that the problem lies with the man who has been a failure as our president for the past 8 years???


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by raflin1 at
----------------------------
raflin1, there is a concept that you and your left-winger pals need to start warming up to and that is Detroit has been this way for DECADES AND GENERATIONS

raflin1.......Where''s the Social Justice from the Democrat Party? (just more lies and propagada is all we really see) sad............Oh the humanity!!

[rgrxx175]

this is coming from a guy that disliked school through out his entire life, and what the hell does he know about fixing it?
can anyone tell me what university he graduated from?

[Gary Kempf]

RGRXX175;

Annapolis, only after his father the Admiral called in all his I.O.U.s, McCain managed bottom of his class.

[briannorwood]

"McCain to Outline Education Plans..."

The plan goes something like this.

1. Learn difference between Shii an Sunni.
2. Learn something (anything) about the economy.
3. Learn about "the internets" and "the google"
4. Learn how to read a teleprompter.
5. Learn how to run a campaign.

Good luck with that, John!

[leftyintexas]

I thought the Democrats cared about poor people......

Sad...........where''''s the humanity? Where''''s the Social Justice??

Well, well... We already know what the Republicons think of the poor...Now don''t we? Your last comment should be addressed where it belongs....To the current occupant of the White House. Only 188 days left! Enjoy!



Posted by perceptions5 at 11:23 AM : Jul 16, 2008

[ariel133]

McCain & Computers:
McCain''s job in the U.S. Senate--where all communication and information has to be filtered through staffers--has actually made fluency more difficult to achieve (or at least less necessary). When aides are responding to your messages and briefing you on every imaginable subject, the incentive to get online sort of disappears. Secondly, even if McCain had spent some time surfing the Web over the last decade, it''s highly unlikely that he would''ve amassed enough technological expertise to single-handedly craft appropriate public policy responses to the "upheavals" What''s more, there''s no computer in the Oval Office, and the president can''t surf in the Executive Residence, either. McCain or Obama would certainly follow suit. Meaning that the 3:00 a.m. call would arrive by telephone, not email. And something tells me the senator knows how to operate one of those.

[sandy19731]

I like McCain''s support for ''alternate'' certification for teachers. We need more teachers and they don''t always have to come with education degrees.
They need expertise in their area and basic teaching technology instruction - that''s it. Most of our teachers have the technology instruction but many lack expertise in their area. Let''s get some retired engineers, college professors, and scientists in the classroom with our children.

[rgrxx175]

mccain is such a fake, talking about education what a joke, does he have any experience on paying off his school loans - no, everything in his life has been handed to him from school to his command at sea...

[perceptions5]

I thought the Democrats cared about poor people.

That''s what their historical "enablers" in our left-wing wolfpack press have always reported to the American people.

So how is it that only 24% of the innocent children it this "deep blue one-party city" ever graduate from High School?

AND it''s been this "sad way" for Decades and Generations

Detroit is also home to one of the Dems big donors and special interest groups and mob-run unions, the UAW.

Detroit also has another Democrat special interest group in Detroit, NAACP.

So with all these "blue" groups why is there so much poverty and despair in Detroit?

Where''s the Social Justice in Detroit? Liberals? Left-wing wolfpack press?

The FACT is America that the Democrats DON''T CARE FOR THE POOR.............or the situation in Detroit wouldn''''t be as it REALLY is.

Sad...........where''s the humanity? Where''s the Social Justice??

[tawpdawg11]

McCain: "My plan is to give every college student a scholarship if he/she can beat my class ranking at the Naval Academy."

Lieberman: (whispering in his ear) "We can''t PRINT that much money....you finished dead last in a class of 900, Johnny. What are you THINKING? No, don''t answer that.

[justsane-2009]

perceptions5--i feel your anguish, truly i do. but i think you need to refer to sen. obama''s remarks to the convention the other day. people need to begin to assume a level of personal responsibility, and not expect that someone else, be it government or a school system, is going to be the "cure-all" for a communities problems. as a teacher, i know that parental involvement is the single most important factor in a child''s success in school. making sure that they attend daily, that they have a healthy meal before they go (or get there early enough to have the school breakfast), that they do their homework, read every night, that they get enough sleep at night so that they are ready to learn. students whose parents value education in both word and deed, who come to teacher conferences, who teach their children appropriate behaviors, who demonstrate respect for themselves and others, do far better in school, regardless of where those schools are. if you want your schools to be better, get involved. get your neighbors involved. don''t sit back and wait for someone else to fix the problem. the solutions are in your hands.

[megamanx1-2009]

How does being a POW qualify him to do anything?????


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by mswolfestock at 10:52 AM : Jul 16, 2008


It doesn''t. If I want to know how to get my plane shot down and be a POW i''ll talk to McSame. He got a lot of experience in that.

[megamanx1-2009]

See, McSame cares about black people.....




























lol...I almost said that with a straight face...almost...

[dumbobama]

The problem right now is many people are so fed up with Bush that anyone should be able to defeat the Republican nominee this fall. Unless of course you were John Kerry. If Obama screws the pocch on this one - the Democrats should fold their tent and just leave.

[dumbobama]

mccain is such a fake, talking about education what a joke, does he have any experience on paying off his school loans - no, everything in his life has been handed to him from school to his command at sea... Posted by RGRXX175
------------------------
Sounds pretty jealous to me. But that is understandable.

[randynason]

Are we going back to finish Bush''s "No Child Left Behind" program, or is this all just more of the same-old, same-old verbiage? McSame is so McTired, that I''m McGonna Snore.

[ariel133]

Fruitless though his efforts were, Obama devoted more than 100 pages to his experiences at Altgeld Gardens and surrounding areas. Michelle Obama has said his work as a community organizer helped him decide %u201Chow he would impact the world,%u201D assisting people to improve their lives. Yet, in a revealing passage in his book, Obama wrote, %u201CWhen classmates in college asked me just what it was that a community organizer did, I couldn%u2019t answer them directly.%u201D

Instead, he said, %u201CI%u2019d pronounce on the need for change. Change in the White House, where Reagan and his minions were carrying on their dirty deeds. Change in the congress, compliant and corrupt. Change in the mood of the country, manic and self-absorbed. Change won%u2019t come from the top, I would say. Change will come from a mobilized grass roots.%u201D

Thus, Obama admitted that he accomplished little but that he was able to cover that up with fancy talk about change.

[fstop100]

does obama want the black people to learn spanish too?

[ariel133]

Contrary to Obama%u2019s portrayal of himself as a unifier, on every bipartisan effort in the Senate to forge compromises on tough issues, Obama has been missing in action.

In sum, it would be difficult to imagine a more mediocre record. Most candidates for dog catcher have contributed more to society. Yet with the help of adoring reporters, Obama has managed to parlay extraordinary speaking and political skills into a presidential campaign built on sand.

The idea that America might entrust its security and future to someone who has never demonstrated an ability to get anything of significance done is scary.

Look for John McCain to begin exploiting this vulnerability after Labor Day.

[ariel133]

Fruitless though his efforts were, Obama devoted more than 100 pages to his experiences at Altgeld Gardens and surrounding areas. Michelle Obama has said his work as a community organizer helped him decide %u201Chow he would impact the world,%u201D assisting people to improve their lives. Yet, in a revealing passage in his book, Obama wrote, %u201CWhen classmates in college asked me just what it was that a community organizer did, I couldn%u2019t answer them directly.%u201D

Thus, Obama admitted that he accomplished little but that he was able to cover that up with fancy talk about change.
Contrary to Obama%u2019s portrayal of himself as a unifier, on every bipartisan effort in the Senate to forge compromises on tough issues, Obama has been missing in action.

In sum, it would be difficult to imagine a more mediocre record. Most candidates for dog catcher have contributed more to society. Yet with the help of adoring reporters, Obama has managed to parlay extraordinary speaking and political skills into a presidential campaign built on sand.

The idea that America might entrust its security and future to someone who has never demonstrated an ability to get anything of significance done is scary.

Look for John McCain to begin exploiting this vulnerability after Labor Day

Amen to Yurpallid''s post!!

[future121]

In 1968 schools all across the nation became centralized. It was said it was to improve education but even I as a 16 year old knew it was a lie. Everyone knows smaller classrooms and more one on one teaching is the best way to teach. Plato and Aristole knew it as well. The real reason was the "easy way to segregate schools" and "keep costs down". Education that is worthy needs to be paid for. That costs quite alot of money and teachers. Instead of raising the bar in all the schools which they should have done they chose to dump it into one glob without true disentimation and it failed. It would have been the right thing to do if they would have improved the education in the existing schools and improved the neighborhoods and quality of life. I say this because it is the culture that affects how well education works. Now saying this, I think vouchers are another form of busing our way out of a larger problem which will not go away by the busing. If our children are to really learn the culture has to change as well as the funds for education.

[nolalou]

Vouchers are NOT the answer! Improving public schools is! With a voucher going to private schools, where is the accountability? Besides, just because you have a voucher, doesn''t mean there will be room in all those private schools for everyone who wants to go there!

[wdrussell1]

What all of Aerica needs to fear the most is any future president who pulls a Bush and declares that he is above the law and the Constitution.

[ariel133]

How is John McCain a copycat,(??) when in fact, the Senate committee Obama was supposed to be chairman of was assigned to look into getting more NATO troops for Afghanistan? That was how many years ago? Even in the primary debates, Obama had not even called a meeting. Saying Obama was the first to call for more troops is a joke. Obama''s camp loves to play with their artificial stances after he has continually backtracked on every issue. Who wants a leader who has become well known for changing and "refining" his previous stances? Obama cannot be trusted to make any firm decisions we can count on. McCain has continually worked to assure success with our missions in the Middle East. This report, in fact, reveals that McCaing spoke for increases for Afghanistan in December of 2006, and February of 2007. He has been constant in his opinions of what is needed and necessary. He is on record, and has consistently stood up for successful efforts. Obama is a waffling latecomer. In fact, he is "just words".

[mbcsmith]

What all of Aerica needs to fear the most is any future president who pulls a Bush and declares that he is above the law and the Constitution.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by WDRussell1 at 01:53 PM : Jul 16, 2008


Please provide exact date & time with support for when Bush made this declaration.

[rgrxx175]

McCain thinks he can win over black voters by pandering to the NAACP, everybody could see through your white lies....

[wdrussell1]

mbcsmith
Look at FISA
Look at Gitmo.

[rgrxx175]

is this the same mccain that voted against mlk holiday?

[liberalme]

The FACT is America that the Democrats DON''''T CARE FOR THE POOR.............or the situation in Detroit wouldn''''''''t be as it REALLY is.

Sad...........where''''s the humanity? Where''''s the Social Justice??

Posted by perceptions5 at 12:50 PM : Jul 16, 2008

Don''t programs like what you''re talking about have to be voted on by Dems AND republicans?
And if they don''t pass---was it because the Dems don''t care or because they were voted down and out numbered by the Republicans?
Something like what goes on in Congress huh? Then just blame the Dems--we''re used to it--you guys are stupid to think you''re fooling anyone.

Get on board with a guy who finished bottom of his class at Annapolis--just another Bushwacker with an IQ equal to a jar of mayonaise.

What all of Aerica needs to fear the most is any future president who pulls a Bush and declares that he is above the law and the Constitution.

Posted by WDRussell1 at 01:53 PM : Jul 16, 2008


Please provide exact date & time with support for when Bush made this declaration.

Posted by mbcsmith
-----------------------
How about November 2005 when he declared the constitution "nothing but a god**** piece of paper", and that he was the commander in chief and he could do anything he wanted.

Does that work for ya''?

[rgrxx175]

McCain''s push to cozy up to far right extremists is not surprising, given his contradictions in the past. In the 2000 presidential campaign, McCain reversed himself on the confederate flag first calling it "a symbol of racism and slavery" but then pandering the very next day by calling it a "symbol of heritage." In past efforts to pander to a far right base that doesn%u2019t trust him, McCain campaigned in Alabama for George Wallace Jr a popular speaker at a white supremacist hate group, continues to employ a strategist who denounced the creation of a Federal holiday honoring Dr. King as "vicious" and "profane," and even hired the man responsible for the racist ads against Harold Ford in the Senate race in Tennessee in 2006.

[rowdywicca]

If our children are to really learn the culture has to change as well as the funds for education.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by future121 at 01:44 PM : Jul 16, 2008

I love it when people start BS''ing about culture! Culture is what we live! Our culture is American!

We go to school to learn about reading, writing, math, science, history, and more enhanced and refined education as we get older!

My culture is working to make this a better place for us all! If you want to join that culture, then get in line...I have several hundred packs of flowers you can go plant in your community to cheer it up...there are at least ten shut-in''s down at the nursing home that need kind words and attention...there is a disabled diabetic down the street that needs help in their house, their errands run, their groceries bought! The library needs volunteers for story hours every morning!

It doesn''t matter what your culture is! When you get to school, you need to sit in that chair and LISTEN and get an education! And you need to find it in your CULTURE to make a better place in this world and not sit back and wait for the THE GOVERNMENT to do it for you!

[frootloop47]

Right On, chitown639

[wiccantexan]

Obama is urging the black community to rise above the minority label and become equals in society. McCain is still emphasizing that they are special interest. Instead of school vouchers in failing schools, how about upgrading the schools themselves? Vouchers to take black children out of their neighborhoods, or a focus on improving the schools IN their neighborhoods? McCain has no clue; Obama wants to change the status quo. THAT''S why people are supporting Obama here.

[megamanx1-2009]

is this the same mccain that voted against mlk holiday?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by RGRXX175 at 02:02 PM : Jul 16, 2008

Yeah. That would be him.

[libh8er]

There is no group McCain won''t pander to

[smirk5]

McCain recently said that we didn''t need more troops in Afghanistan. Now, he agrees with what Obama that more troops are needed in Afghanistan. Some people lead. Some follow.