Oct. 19, 2008
Challenging Transition Awaits The Winner
Washington Post: Intense Political And Economic Forces Will Present Crushing Pressure On The Next President
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Campaign Quick Check
The Washington Post's Dan Balz and Bob Schieffer discuss news of Colin Powell's Obama endorsement, Sarah Palin, the ugly side of the campaigns, and the unpredictability of battleground states.
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Obama Soars At Fundraising
As he rejected public financing, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been able to raise a nearly unlimited amount of campaign funds. Thalia Assuras follows the money.
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Campaign'08 Tensions Rise
As the 2008 presidential election draws near, the animosity has intensified between rival candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Chip Reid reports on the latest campaign developments.
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Whoever wins, the transition is sure to present difficult challenges to a new president buffeted by intense forces, political and economic. (CBS/ AP)
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Presidential Questions
Katie Couric asks Barack Obama and John McCain questions of politics, policy and character.
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Where They Stand
The CBS Evening News provides an in-depth look at the issues facing the 44th president.
If Sen. Barack Obama wakes up as the president-elect on Nov. 5, he will immediately assume responsibility for fixing a shredded economy while the Bush administration is still in office. If Sen. John McCain wins the election, he will face an imminent confrontation over spending with a Democratic Congress called back into special session with the goal of passing a new economic stimulus package.
Either way, the 77-day period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, traditionally known simply as the transition, is sure to present difficult challenges to a new president buffeted by intense forces, political and economic, without any chance to recover from the long and bruising campaign.
The challenge of putting the country back on a sound financial track has altered what under the best of circumstances would have been a frenzied period spent forming a new government. Instead, Obama or McCain will be forced to assemble a new administration even as he helps shape policies to ward off further declines in the economy.
And whoever is the new president will be under intense pressure from his own allies to live up to his campaign promises. Antiwar groups would press Obama to start the process of ending the war in Iraq, and conservatives would demand tax cuts from McCain. Either side would want to know that its candidate has an agenda to enact on his first day in the White House. With the outcome of the election still in doubt, neither campaign is eager to discuss plans for that day or the transition that precedes it, other than to acknowledge the urgent circumstances the 44th president will confront.
"I don't think he's thinking about [Inauguration Day on] January 20," said one top Republican involved in the McCain campaign. "He's thinking about November 5."
David Axelrod, Obama's chief political strategist, promised last week that if "we are successful, we will be ready to act quickly to put our plan in place."
McCain has tapped John F. Lehman, a close friend who was a Navy secretary in the Reagan administration, to lead the transition. Former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta is running Obama's effort.
Neither would be interviewed for this article, but advisers to both campaigns say they are aware of the problems that can arise if careful thought is not given to how to handle those first days and weeks. They believe that much of President Bill Clinton's ineffectiveness in his first year can be traced to bad decisions during the transition and his first days in office. And this year's economic crisis is certain to heighten those concerns, both sides said.
Those involved in planning a possible McCain transition say he is genuinely interested in bipartisan governing and would immediately reach out to the opposition. But his interest in working with the other party may run afoul of the likely rage many Democrats will feel if the White House slips from their grasp in the final weeks of the 2008 campaign.
"If they lose this one, you are going to have a lot of really angry Democrats," said Rep. Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), a McCain ally and the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee
Top advisers said McCain would move quickly to implement the economic agenda he has promised, including tax cuts, business incentives, lower trade subsidies and controls on government spending that he says are bankrupting the country. But Democratic leaders have already signaled their intention to pass a stimulus package during November's lame-duck session.
"If they try to put together a $300 billion stimulus package that's throwing money at problems -- feel-good money -- and we haven't gotten the accountability and reform in place, then we'll have a fight," predicted Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a McCain confidant.
Obama would have to try to influence economic policy while it is still the province of President Bush, whose policies could have lasting effects on an Obama presidency that was supposed to emphasize "change" and "hope."
"He's going to be deferential to an outgoing president, but also not shy about expressing himself," said a senior Democrat involved in transition talks. "I wouldn't be surprised if you see as much visibility post-election as now."
Obama would also have to take steps aimed at fulfilling his promise to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. To ensure continuity at the Pentagon, he may try to persuade Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to stay in order to begin designing a plan that establishes the time frame for withdrawal.
How Obama would manage the phase between his election and inauguration could set the tone for his presidency. And in the days after being sworn in, Obama would face opportunities and pitfalls on an immense scale.
He could establish the image of a young, history-making president with a mandate from the country and the backing of a friendly Congress. Or he could appear to be an inexperienced new executive, caught between the demands of Republicans he pledged to consult and newly energized liberals who expect him to make good.
As the stimulus package works its way through Congress, and as the government takes further steps to rescue the faltering financial system, Obama allies believe the president-elect could quickly set the tone for his administration by stepping into a public role on the economy that Bush has given to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. Still, Obama advisers were loath to discuss in detail their plans for after the election. McCain has already chastised Obama for "measuring the drapes" in the Oval Office.
"You have to be careful," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D). "If anything, McCain has shown to have a lot of different lives. I would caution against a lot of focus on transition."
But mindful of the enormous stakes, Obama's transition team is working intensively on a plan that would both capitalize on his current momentum and make good on his pledges to enact change and set a new tone.
"Any responsible candidate would be planning for the prospect of victory," Axelrod said.
Obama advisers are debating which executive orders he could issue quickly to begin reversing Bush policies such as the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
In conjunction with his close allies in the Democratic majority, Obama is considering which piece of legislation -- such as an extension of children's health insurance, which failed by just a few votes this past year -- he could push through Congress immediately after Jan. 20 as smaller "down payments" on his larger goals.
Obama has made many promises over the course of nearly two years on the campaign trail: immigration reform; tuition assistance for college students; a rural-issues summit; a new ethics code; and a sweeping review of all of Bush's executive orders. How, or whether, he would be able to tackle such initiatives remains very much an open question both because of the shattered economy and because Obama's aggressiveness in governing is as yet unknown.
For McCain, the period from Election Day through the inauguration would also have an important part of shaping perceptions of his presidency. As part of his campaign's effort to build a case against Obama, the senator from Arizona has argued, as he did at the final debate in New York, that "the next president won't have time to get used to the office. He won't have the luxury of studying up on the issues before he acts. He will have to act immediately."
The advisers declined to comment about how McCain would staff his Cabinet or his White House. But Republicans close to McCain said he has already begun thinking about how to restock Washington with new faces, shedding much of the Bush administration while trying to maintain the necessary stability to deal with ongoing foreign and domestic problems.
But "he's going to reach out beyond the circle he has now," said one confidant. "I don't think he will feel limited at all. He's serious about shaking things up, getting people who have not been in government, new blood."
The first week after Election Day is guaranteed to be a whirlwind. One friend said McCain would "get a good night's sleep." Another joked he would "celebrate the 2,000-point rally" in the Dow Jones industrial average.
But his advisers promised some immediate actions in those first few days aimed at projecting confidence and offering proof that he was following through on his promises: coordination with the Homeland Security Department; a request for a status report on efforts to secure the border; and the announcement that he would send a team of "unofficial observers" to the United Nations Climate Change conference in Poland.
Like any president-elect, McCain would have to tread lightly while Bush finished out his final days. Graham predicted that the pair would treat each other in a "smooth and professional" manner, despite having once been bitter rivals.
McCain advisers say they recognize that there are certain actions they could not take -- for example, ordering Paulson to implement some aspects of McCain's economic recovery plan -- during the transition.
But that has not stopped them from thinking about what he would need to do once Bush left office. While some of the broad policies have been trumpeted by McCain on the campaign trail, his aides last week offered some details about the specific steps he is contemplating taking if he reaches the White House. The advisers said McCain would issue an executive order shutting down the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appoint a full-time Middle East peace envoy and begin pushing Congress to take an up-or-down vote on a bipartisan plan to control the growth of Medicare spending.
He would act quickly on the economic crisis, sending Congress a new budget with a bevy of proposed tax cuts -- on unemployment benefits, businesses, capital gains and other areas-- while imposing a one-year spending freze on most federal agencies. He would create a 9/11-style commission to determine the roots of the "regulatory failures" that contributed to the current financial crisis.
On foreign policy, McCain would embark on a listening tour, visiting key allies and partners around the world, a move that would be aimed at rebuilding alliances that they say have frayed during the Bush administration. At the April NATO summit in Strasburg, Germany, he would push to deepen NATO relations with Ukraine and Georgia, a move that would likely bring more conflict with Russia. At the same time, aides are promising that he would quickly commence new negotiations with Russia on reducing nuclear weapons arsenals.
And, they said, he would direct his secretary of defense to begin an immediate personnel expansion of the Army and Marine Corps to a combined 900,000, one-fifth larger than the Bush administration has called for.
By Michael D. Shear, Michael Abramowitz, Anne E. Kornblut and Shailagh Murray
© 2008 The Washington Post Company






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See all 88 CommentsI believe that McCain-Palin with the rest of our ticket for reform best represents our best hope for America and are ready to serve our country. With your help and support, we can make this happen on November 4th. Stand with us now and join our team. We need your support, James Everitt http://www.johnmccain.com
I%u2019m for lower taxes and smaller government, because lower taxes are better for families, property owners, and small businesses. With lower taxes, businesses have more money to invest, hire, and provide services. Less government bureaucracy improves the business climate, promotes economic growth, and reduces unemployment.
Thanks,
James Everitt
http://www.everittjames.blogspot.com
P. S. Just take a couple of minutes to view our ads and I''m certain that you will understand the importance and the urgency of our message. You can see them at http://www.neverfindout.org
I''''m voting for Obama because this will ensure that the republican nazis on this site and in the USA will commit suicide on november 5.
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Couldn''t have said it better myself.
Posted by shimano35
______________________
Kind of like those extreme, militant right-wingers- they only come out when there''s either a full moon or a McCain rally in town. Oh well, go figure...
No more sweetheart deals with the multinationals and FOG''s(friends of George)
They want to compete? Fine. Let them. But without starting on third base and claiming they''re self made men,
Fat chance ***, not gonna happen. You''ve stampeded enough trailer trash and closet Klan members over the years, but it''s all caught up with you.
In the face of total economic collapse and a major depression on the horizon, you''ve got zip, nada, nothing, zero, to help the situation.
Take your seat at the back of the bus.
Once again, your pathethic thug campaign staff trying to twist around Michelle Obama''s words into your own.
Your party has had 8 years, and in that 8 years you have sunk this great nation to the depths of the titanic.
Shame on you.
and settle down bfeore you bust a gut and leave the eastern United States covered in a 3 inch layer of BS. its just a little old election..you will get over it soon.
crushing pressure? Well there''s only one man that we know for sure is up to the task. tried and tested, John McCAin. Obama''s never been tested nor has he ever had a leadership position not even so much as lead a boy scout troop.
Posted by standlee5
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Tried and tested...That''s cute! McCain himself admitted that his knowledge of the economy is lacking...and NOW Mr. Deregulation is suddenly in favor of regulation, hmmmmmm...now he''s the agent of change, reformer, maverick, etc. etc. etc.
crushing pressure? Well there''''s only one man that we know for sure is up to the task. tried and tested, John McCAin. Obama''''s never been tested nor has he ever had a leadership position not even so much as lead a boy scout troop.
Posted by standlee5
This is something Americans may discover the hard way. There is no doubt that Obama loolks ans speaks well. However, he lacks the experience to run our government. Understandably, some people feel that things can''t get worse. Perhaps, they haven''t seen anything yet.
Washington Post: Intense Political And Economic Forces Will Present Crushing Pressure On The Next President
crushing pressure? Well there''''''''s only one man that we know for sure is up to the task. tried and tested, John McCAin. Obama''''''''s never been tested nor has he ever had a leadership position not even so much as lead a boy scout troop.
Posted by standlee5
This is something Americans may discover the hard way. There is no doubt that Obama looks and speaks well. However, he lacks the experience to run our government. Understandably, some people feel that things can''t get worse. Perhaps, they haven''t seen anything yet.
Posted by rhs648 at 06:22 PM : Oct 19, 2008
I know you hear people on here talking about nothing could be worse than what we have and you just have to wonder how old they are.
crushing pressure? Well there''''s only one man that we know for sure is up to the task. tried and tested, John McCAin. Obama''''s never been tested nor has he ever had a leadership position not even so much as lead a boy scout troop.
Posted by standlee5 at 06:07 PM : Oct 19, 2008
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John McCain has been tried and tested all right.
According to his own admission, he lasted less than 4 days before caving in and collaborating with the Viet Cong in Vietnam, giving them military information and making propaganda tapes for them.
Things could get much worse if McCain/Palin get into office, they represent everything Bush/Cheney did, only more so. With his erratic nature and temper and her anti-environmental pro-creationist stand, i t isn''t COULD get worse, but WILL get worse.
crushing pressure? Well there''''''''s only one man that we know for sure is up to the task. tried and tested, John McCAin. Obama''''''''s never been tested nor has he ever had a leadership position not even so much as lead a boy scout troop.
Posted by standlee5 at 06:07 PM : Oct 19, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John McCain has been tried and tested all right.
According to his own admission, he lasted less than 4 days before caving in and collaborating with the Viet Cong in Vietnam, giving them military information and making propaganda tapes for them.
Posted by jn122736 at 06:32 PM : Oct 19, 2008
oh, his erratic nature. that''s the most ridiculous thing that''s come out of that ridiculous campaign.
Bono turned out to be one of the biggest D-ickheads on this planet
Posted by republic1776 at 06:52 PM : Oct 19, 2008
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republic- are you referring to the singer Bono? If so, that is sadly typical...Spew out the labels and names, don''t research or verify facts- did you just get back from a McCain/Palin rally, or what?
power. Wake up America, we are destroying our selves..
The Savings and Loan Scam
Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) Wisconsin
At the same time in Wisconsin - Welfare paid :
$980.00 dollars a month in rent for : Welfare Recipients
(family of (4) four) Mother Three (3) Children
People who were in danger of losing their homes
Simply - Rented their homes to : Welfare Recipients
At the time - Welfare - In Wisconsin
Paid better than most working jobs
Normal People will take the Defective Computer Back
Get a Refund or Replacement
MORE of These - NO-BID Government Contracts
The Federal Employee
Always running Amock
NO Real Management
NO Real Supervision
More of Antics, Pranks and Frolics of :
The NAZI Fascist Bush Appointee :
US Treasury Secretary :
The Criminal : NAZI Fascist Henry Paulson
Misuse and Abuse of Federal Funds ? ?
AGAIN - NO CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS HERE ! !
I''m not 100% sure that 4 years from now people will expect him to have displayed a record of achievement any more than they do now. It''s quite possible he''s got the juice to blame everything on Bush for 4 more years . . .
The U.S. Department of Justice agreed to pay $5,825,000
The Political-Criminal FBI will Pay : "NOTHING"
The Individuals who Committed This Criminal Act Will Pay : "NOTHING"
The US TAXPAYER WILL PAY for it ALL
Just how much Longer, are the CRIMINAL - ACTIONS and
BEHAVIOR, of Federal Employee''s.
Going to remain Exempt from Criminal Prosecution ? ?
The Political-Criminal FBI is Constantly and Chronically
ABUSING the power entrusted to them.
Using that Entrusted Power to Promote a Perverted and Degenerate
Personal - Selfish - Best Serving Interest to Themselves and to
Continue their relationship of Political Nepotism and Patronization
to the : Bush NAZI Fascist Crime Regime,
The Criminal Complaints of : Civil Rights Abuses against :
Political-Criminal FBI Investigators are Chronic and Constant.
Just ask the Federal Whistle-blowers
The Actions and the Behavior of the The Political-Criminal FBI to attach
A Fabricated Psychological Demeanor against Anyone,
Is Done in an effort to : Justify the Deed and the Accomplishment of
Civil Rights Abuse ! !
The Seven Year - Chronic and Habitual Intimidation, Harassment and
Hounding of scientist Bruce Ivins. _ Until he committed suicide _
Seems to be the act of an : Emotionally Disturbed and Emotionally Frustrated :
"Political-Criminal FBI"
Son of Tennessee State Legislator Faces Charges
Strange and Surprising
The Political-Criminal FBI
Refuses - To Retrieve E-mails from Congressman
Who send Sexually Graphic E-mails to Under Aged Children
BUT ! !
The Political Criminal FBI
Out of an ACT of : Political Nepotism, Patronization and Fraternization to
The Republican NAZI Fascist Party
Were able to Track Down and Retrive These _ E-mails
The Political Criminal FBI needs to be ERADICATED
Rebuilt with a new Name along With People :
Who have some : Morals - Ethics and American Constitutional Patriotic Values
As it stands now - The Criminal FBI - has NONE of these Qualities
Research : The Franklin Coverup
(copy and paste (Google)
Research : The Monarch Project MKULTRA
(Copy and Paste (Goggle)
A Senator who''s voted for Barack''s budgets which have bloated deficit spending?
A Governor who''s struggled to balance the budget and create jobs in an economic downturn?
Like the bad economy hurts all of Barack''s potential competitors too . . .
French prosecutors throw out Rumsfeld torture case
Fri Nov 23, 2007 12:27pm EST
PARIS (Reuters)
PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris prosecutors'' office has dismissed a suit against Donald Rumsfeld
accusing the former U.S. defense secretary of torture, human rights groups who brought the
case said on Friday.
The plaintiffs, who included the French-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues
(FIDH) and the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), said Rumsfeld had
authorized interrogation techniques that led to rights abuses.
Former prisoners at the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay are suing Rumsfeld and 10
military commanders, alleging torture and violations of their religious rights during their
detention there.
The FIDH said it had received a letter from the prosecutors'' office ruling that Rumsfeld
benefited from a "customary" immunity from prosecution granted to heads of state and
government and foreign ministers, even after they left office.
It said in a statement it was "astonished at such a mistaken argument" and said
customary immunity from prosecution did not exist under international law.
The Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq hit the headlines in April 2004 when details of physical abuse
and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers were made public
The CCR and FIDH filed suits in Germany in 2004 and 2006 in an attempt to have Rumsfeld
tried for rights abuses.
The NAZI Reagan - NAZI Bush Administration
Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) Wisconsin
Wisconsin was known to be a Welfare State. (1979)
Welfare Fraud was running rampant. People were coming from
different states. Just for the Welfare Benefits.
Thompson began his - Welfare - Work & School Program.
Those who went to school - went to school one (1) day - then quit.
They went straight down to the Social Security Office
Claiming they were to dumb and stupid to attend school
They were granted Full Social Security Benefits
Thompson then filed fraudulent reports with Congress
Claiming his program had been a success ...... It was ! !
The number of people on the Welfare Rolls .. dropped drastically
What was not said was : He took them off of welfare and put them onto Social Security
With that fraudulent report - Thompson became :
Secretary of Health and Social Services
He immediately reduced the requirements for Social Security
On claim used by Drug Dealers and Users :
I''m addicted to drugs - So I Can''t work - I have a Total Disability
Today - Prison Inmates convicted of Drug Related crimes
Over 95% of them - Were receiving - Full Disability Social Security Benefits
When they were arrested
The Drug Crises in America is funded By : The Social Security System
Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) Wisconsin
Why does congress sell to other nations, but it is a CRIME for me a tax paying American to own.
The American Congress is evil on our dime!
national security affairs, .. Joseph Wood, rushed to Baku, Azerbaijan
He had a single message : Washington intended to persist with the
policy of opening direct access to Central Asian oil and gas,
Bypassing Iran and Russian territory and Russian pipelines
In late July when Chevron (Condoleezza Rice, was a director of Chevron)
Announced its intention to open an office in Ashgabat and participate
in the development of the New Caspian Sea pipelines.
(In order to capture the central Asian oil market)
VP Cheney and Condoleezza Rice delivered the contracts.
Russian Leader Putin and Ahmadinejad ; Both Warned
The Western Nations shouldn''t pursue oil pipeline projects
in the area. - If they weren''t backed by regional powers.
Oil Prices Too High ...Gasoline Prices Too High
The Bush NAZI Fascist Crime Regine
Needs to Pay for : The New Caspin Sea and Asian Pipelines
You ! ! ... Will pay for those New Oil Pipelines and Oil Sub Stations
At your Local Gas Pumps
ECONOMIC STRIFE .. Being used as a Weapon
To Eliminate a Democracy and REPLACED with
The Totalitarian Dictatorship of A Nazi (Fascist) Rule against
The Populace of the United States and the Rest of The World
Research : A massive wrench thrown in Putin''s works
(copy and paste : Google)
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