Defending the Freedom and Dignity of the World's Vulnerable

PR Release Today by the John McCain Catholic Coalition:

TALKING POINTS: DEFENDING THE FREEDOM AND DIGNITY OF THE WORLD'S VULNERALBE

Topline Messaging Points:

· As President, John McCain will act to defend the freedom and dignity of the world's vulnerable. He will promote religious freedom, combat human trafficking and protect women and children.

· John McCain believes that these issues demand presidential leadership. It will take determined leadership to promote these basic freedoms and combat evils that seek to strip others of their basic human dignity.

· Freedom confers responsibilities and John McCain believes we must be diligent in supporting human freedom and opposing those who would strip others of their dignity.

Promoting Religious Freedom:

· John McCain will make respect for religious freedom a priority in our international relations. There is no right more fundamental to a free society than the free practice of religion.

· As President, John McCain will make promoting religious freedom a subject of great importance for the United States in our relations with other countries.

Combating Human Trafficking:

· John McCain will enhance our efforts to combat human trafficking and provide aid and compassion for victims. Human trafficking – slavery by another name – persists throughout the world and the United States. This crime demands strong presidential leadership.

· John McCain will establish an Inter-Agency Task Force on Human Trafficking to increase cooperation and communication between all government agencies. The Task Force will focus exclusively on prosecuting human traffickers and rescuing victims by strengthening cooperation and coordination across all levels of government.

· John McCain will act to ensure that other governments crack down on human trafficking. We must also identify and destroy criminal networks engaging in human trafficking.

Encouraging Other Cultures To Abandon Practices That Afflict Women And Children:

· John McCain will act to encourage and coax other cultures into abandoning practices that afflict women and children. This includes practices that mutilate bodies and impose marriage before maturity and without informed consent.

· As President, John McCain will insist that our diplomacy actively raise and discourage customs that degrade and physically threaten people.

Protecting Children:

· John McCain will use every means at our country's disposal to protect children from those who would use the Internet to commit harm.

· Recent years have seen an explosion in the proliferation of child pornography and child sexual exploitation cases involving the use of the Internet and email as a means for predators to stalk and lure children.

· As President, John McCain will clear obstacles between federal agencies and their state and local counterparts to ensure maximum cooperation in pursuing and prosecuting child predators.

· John McCain will elevate the importance of international cooperation to ensure that criminals who traffic in images of child abuse find no haven in other countries.

· John McCain has called for requiring convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail and instant message addresses with the Department of Justice's national offender registry.

· John McCain has a record of working aggressively to promote the safe use of the Internet and crafting legislation to ensure that children are secure.

McCain to Appoint Pro-Life Judges as President

Yesterday, John McCain made his pitch to pro-life conservatives about judicial activism in the Federal Courts, saying that he would want to appoint judges who resemble that of Justices Roberts and Alitio, two great judges that stand for life in all forms, especially in the womb.

"I will look for people in the cast of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and my friend the late William Rehnquist -- jurists of the highest caliber who know their own minds, and know the law, and know the difference," said John McCain.

Senator Sam Brownback on his Presidential campaign always spoke of the fact that we are one justice away from overturning Roe vs. Wade. As McCain continues to court Catholic voters, we can be sure that the next justice who will be appointed under McCain will be the one who will overturn Roe vs. Wade.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0651670920080506

McCain and Healthcare

This was an email I received recently from Mike Dewine, Chairman of the Ohio for McCain committee on health care:

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike DeWine
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 1:48 PM
Subject: McCain Campaign Update

April 30, 2008

Dear Friends,

I thought you might be interested in reading the editorial in today's Wall Street Journal, praising Senator McCain's forward-thinking and constructive plans to reform America's health care system. As you know, John will be in Cleveland tomorrow hosting a healthcare Town Hall meeting, where he will be discussing his proposals. I hope you can join us.

Once again, the event will take place at the InterContental Hotel at 9801 Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland. Doors open at 8:00 am, with the Town Hall starting at approximately 10:00 am. It is free and open to the public.

Mike DeWine

"McCain's Progress"
Editorial
The Wall Street Journal
April 30, 2008

The Grand Guignol between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has to end eventually, and then the public discomfort over health care will resurface as a genuine policy dispute between the Democratic and Republican nominees. For a man whose heterodoxies have no doubt triggered GOP heartburn, John McCain delivered another speech yesterday on health care that offered a sophisticated set of policies that could lead to some of the most constructive changes to the system in decades.

It is good news for his candidacy if Mr. McCain is making space now for political creativity and policy risks. Last week he laid down an economic plan, even venturing to Democratic redoubts like Youngstown, Ohio, and New Orleans's Ninth Ward. Now he has returned to his health-care reform, based on market principles and increased consumer choice, which he first outlined during the primaries.

The Senator is also starting to enfold these ideas in a larger narrative that will be indispensable in the philosophical fight that is so clearly ordained for the general election between private and government health care. Mr. McCain undertook yesterday to recast this looming argument in a new mold. He contended that the health insurance and delivery system is in fact failing many Americans -- but that it was failing because of market distortions mostly created by the government itself. Fixing these irrationalities would both make insurance more affordable and increase overall coverage in the bargain. Nor would it require the vast new entitlement programs Democrats are eyeing.

His major proposal would change the tax treatment of insurance. To review: Today's tax code permits businesses to deduct the cost of providing insurance to their employees, but it doesn't do the same for individuals. This creates third-party payment problems; workers aren't aware of the full, true costs of many treatment decisions, part of the reason the U.S. has double-digit health-care inflation. And it makes insurance less affordable for everyone outside the employer-based system, who must pay with after-tax dollars besides. Mr. McCain would correct this imbalance with a refundable tax credit, restoring the parity of health dollars.
As the Senator argued, coverage shouldn't be "limited by where you work" and said that "Americans need new choices beyond those offered in employment-based coverage." Focusing on equity is a canny political argument. For those who don't get insurance through their employers, the current system is patently unfair. As the private market for health insurance became revitalized, everyone else would be more liberated from their bosses' system. A significant portion of the uninsured population at any given point is people who left or lost employment; but portable individual policies would follow them from job to job.

That's a broader political and economic argument than the exclusive liberal concentration on the uninsured. Mr. McCain is saying that the health-care system isn't working as it should, or delivering the quality it should, for the large majority of Americans. "The real reform," he noted, "is to restore control over our health-care system to the patients themselves," introducing more competition on price into the system.

It's true that individual subsidies might be required for some people with severe chronic illnesses who might have a harder time finding private insurance in this kind of world. So Mr. McCain sharpened his proposal for high-risk pools to cover "uninsurables," building on current insurance experiments in about two dozen states. Such provisions are crucial to a functioning market but also blunt a political liability that Democrats were eager to exploit in the fall's debates, suggesting that Mr. McCain is preparing to frontally assault liberal health-care assumptions.

If Mr. McCain's plan is short of ideal, the innovative portions outweigh its false lunges. It also energizes the intellectual progress conservatives have made in recent years in their health-care thinking. Not least, it marks significant progress for Mr. McCain, who often hasn't seemed as engaged with domestic policy as he ought to be. Fortunately, it looks as though the curtain is rising for a necessary debate about the role of government in health care.

Read <http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120951260482454447.html> The Full Editorial On The Wall Street Journal Website

Planned Parenthood Praises Rudy Giuliani

Check out these quotes from Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, and decide for yourself if Rudy is going to protect the innocent unborn:

“It's encouraging to see that the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president supports the right to make personal private health care decisions free from government intrusion," she said.

"Giuliani's principled stand disproves the old-school belief that you have to check your convictions at the Presidential primary door," Richards added.

She warned that "Giuliani is pro-choice and at the front of the pack" claimed that "the days of the anti-choice strangle-hold on the Republican Party are numbered."

Rudy Giuliani pays for Babykilling at Planned Parenthood

Don't let RINO Rudy fool you by trying to tell you he "personally hates abortion" as he did in last Thursday's presidential debate. Why would anyone who "personally hates abortion" give money to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider worldwide?

That is like me giving money to Rudy's campaign -- it does not make sense!!

Politico.com broke the story tonight -- please pass this along to all your friends and family -- we have a moral responsibility to expose the REAL truth about Rudy and we must hold him accountable to what he preaches -- versus how he acts.

Actions speak louder then words, and his financial backing of Planned Parenthood drowns out his failed attempts to convince us he "hates" abortion and wants to see Roe overturned.

Furthermore, Rudy has stated that he supports public financing of abortion. So not only does he give money to Planned Parenthood personally, he wants to give YOUR hard-earned money to them as well!

SPREAD THE WORD and defend innocent babies from dying under a Giuliani presidency -- send this story to everyone you know!

Jim Gilmore: Still Pro-Abortion at the GOP Debate

Last Thursday's debate told us one thing about Jim Gilmore: The guy is utterly hopeless and confused on whether or not the government should protect innocent human life. Jim Gilmore continues to be anti-embryonic research, but supports abortion in the first trimester. Can somebody please explain to me what sense this makes? I know the last times I have attacked Gilmore on this blog, all 3 of his "supporters" (aka staff) come on to defend him... So if you all could please explain this, I'd really appreciate it.

I also love how all Gilmore talks about is the Car Tax, which we're still paying in Virginia, FYI.

National Review's John Podhoretz said it best:

What on God's Good Earth...

...is Jim Gilmore talking about? He may just have delivered the worst debate answer I've ever heard.

Babykiller Sen. Claire McCaskill disinvited to speak at daughter's graduation!

This is great. Finally a Catholic institution with a spine!

Mitt Romney Buying Support at South Carolina Straw Polls

He did it at CPAC, and apparently he is doing it again.

Eye on 08's Soren Dayton has the scoop.

Brownback Campaign Machine: Brownback steadily works Iowa voters

Great article.

By Jan Biles

The Capital-Journal

Published Sunday, April 15, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa — All signs pointed to a serious presidential bid.

Campaign workers stood outside the Polk County Convention Complex an hour before Sen. Sam Brownback was scheduled to arrive holding a large banner and telling passersby about the conservative, anti-abortion candidate from Parker, Kan.

Inside, about a dozen Brownback followers handed out stickers and held posters in front of their bodies, waiting to spark a rally once the senator's car pulled in front of the complex.

Clearly, the Iowa campaign volunteers had done their advance work. Brownback signs were plastered along the escalators and covered a wall, where later the volunteers would stand behind Brownback holding up signs in just the right spot to be picked up by television cameras.

Supporters greeted arrivals to the Abraham Lincoln Unity Dinner, the annual Republican Party of Iowa's fundraiser, with "Conservative stickers for free," or a reminder that Brownback is an anti-abortion candidate.

Five minutes before the senator's arrival, his crew gathered with signs outside the convention complex. Trainor Walsh, Iowa field director, choreographed where supporters would stand. "We back Brownback" was chanted as the senator climbed out of a green car and then stopped for a photo op on the sidewalk outside the complex

"We're going to win," Brownback assured his supporters.

Brownback was one of 10 Republican presidential hopefuls making the trek to Iowa this weekend to court potential votes and gain favor with the state's GOP elite. About 1,000 GOP loyalists attended the annual fundraiser, according to organizers.

Others delivering 10-minute speeches and hundred-dollar handshakes were former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; U.S. Sen. John McCain, of Arizona; U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, of Texas; U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, of Colorado; former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, of California, attended but didn't speak due to a flight delay.

Brownback has reported raising about $2 million for his presidential election campaign from more than 20,000 contributors. That amount pales when compared to the campaign coffers of Romney, Giuliani and McCain.

"We anticipate being able to raise enough money to be competitive," Rob Wasinger, Brownback's campaign spokesman, wrote in an e-mail to The Topeka Capital-Journal on Friday.

Presidential candidates typically campaign heavily in Iowa because of its August straw poll and its presidential caucus in mid-January. Since 2004, Brownback has visited Iowa 22 other times, according to his campaign staff.

"Senator Brownback is a natural fit in Iowa, one of the most important states in the nomination process," Wasinger wrote. "Brownback is the only candidate in the field that was raised on a farm. He shares Iowa's Midwestern values and he strongly identifies with the conservative base of the Iowa Republican Party. It's a trifecta that should bode well for Senator Brownback in Iowa."

Brownback was raised on a farm in Parker, a small town in Linn County, Kan.; was national vice president of the Future Farmers of America in high school; and was the youngest secretary of agriculture in Kansas.

Unknown or underestimated?

David Yepsen, political columnist for the Des Moines Register, said Brownback is an "unknown" to Iowa voters.

"Every poll shows him in the 1 to 2 percent range," he said. "He's spent some time here, but so far it's not reached critical mass."

Yepsen said the leading GOP contenders in his state are Guiliani, Romney, McCain and Fred Thompson, although the latter has yet to formally announce he is running for president.

"Brownback's problem is he's an unknown. He's got better-known contenders," Yepsen said.

Brownback hasn't been able to bring the social conservatives into his corner yet, but has the potential to do so, Yepsen said.

Chuck Laudner, executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa, disagrees.

"Brownback is doing very well here," Laudner said. "He's getting in the right places and working the right people."

Laudner said "there's no clear favorite" among the presidential candidates, and some may underestimate Brownback's ability to rally the GOP faithful.

"He's been here a lot. He's got support here," he said.

Laudner said he has talked to Brownback a few times and believes he appeals to Republicans who are anti-abortion, believe in traditional marriage and favor judicial reform.

However, Laudner said, Brownback will need to broaden his talking points to other areas, such as the war on terrorism, trade, education, health care and tax reform, before he can gain additional support.

"You can't just hit one note," he said. "It's a national campaign."

Leading or lagging?

Laudner and Yepsen agree on one thing: The Iowa straw poll on Aug. 11 will test the viability of Brownback's presidential run.

"It will be a grinder for them," Laudner said.

Yepsen said the candidates who don't finish in the top three spots in the poll likely will pull out of the race because they will lose momentum and not be able to raise additional money for their campaigns.

That is why Brownback and the other GOP candidates must make a "face-to-face time commitment" to campaigning in Iowa in the next few months, Laudner said. Typically, a couple of the candidates' campaigns fold before the straw poll and two or three shut down afterward, he said.

Yepsen said it is too early in the presidential campaign season — the first primary, in New Hampshire, is eight months away — to predict who will lead the pack and where Brownback might edge in.

"Lots of Republicans are lining up with candidates, but a lot of them are holding back and some will change their support (over time)," he said. "It's the nature of the process."

One of the challenges Brownback is facing is that, unlike some of the other candidates, the senator has "a day job" that limits how much traveling he can do and how many appearances he can make, Yepsen said.

"So I will give the man the benefit of the doubt," he said. "People aren't writing him off, they're just not writing him in."

Jan Biles can be reached at (785) 295-1292 or jan.biles@cjonline.com.

Mitt Romney: Anti-Roe, but not Pro-Life

As the AP reports, Mitt Romney refuses to back pro-life ultrasound legislation in South Carolina.

His reasoning?

"I would like to see each state be able to make its own law with regard to abortion. I think the Roe v. Wade one-size-fits-all approach is wrong."

As a reader has pointed out in an earlier post, while Mitt Romney is anti-Roe, he certainly is not pro-life. By refusing to support a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, Romney is rejecting one of the key planks in the platform of the Republican Party that has been there since 1980. Furthermore, he finds himself to the left on life issues of even Sen. John McCain, who supports such an amendment.

Here is the actual text of Mitt Romney's published Q&A in the Feb. 10th issue of National Journal:

NJ: You would favor a constitutional amendment banning abortion with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest. Is that correct?

What I've indicated is that I am pro-life, and that my hope is that the Supreme Court will give to the states over time or give to the states soon or give to the states their own ability to make their own decisions with regard to their own abortion law.

NJ: If a state wanted unlimited abortion?

The state would fall into restrictions that had been imposed at the federal level, so they couldn't be more expansive in abortion than currently exists under the law, but they could become more restrictive in abortion provisions. So states like Massachusetts could stay like they are if they so desire, and states that have a different view could take that course. And it would be up to the citizens of the individual states. My view is not to impose a single federal rule on the entire nation -- a one-size-fits-all approach -- but instead allow states to make their own decisions in this regard.

Could it be any clearer? If you are actually committed to ending the destruction of human life in womb, Mitt Romney is not your man -- he is not willing to support what needs to be done to make it happen. Don't let ignorant "pro-life" sellouts tell you otherwise.