Campaign 2008: Mccain vs. Lobbyists | Newsweek Periscope

POLITICS
On the Hunt
Brian Braiker 8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM
Like many Alaskans, Gov. Sarah Palin is a lifelong hunter and strong proponent of Second Amendment rights. A longtime member of the National Rifle Association, she told USA Today when she was running for governor as a Republican in 2006 that "We hunt as much as we can, and I'm proud to say our freezer is full of wild game we harvested here in Alaska." Her own parents had just returned from hunting caribou when they learned that she had been tapped as Sen. John McCain's running mate.
FACTCHECK.ORG
FactChecking Obama
Brooks Jackson 8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM
This is misleading. Even by his own campaign's estimates, closing corporate loopholes and tax havens won't pay for all of Obama's new plans. In July, the campaign told the Los Angeles Times that they estimate the yearly cost of their proposed tax cuts at $130 billion. They put revenue from closing tax loopholes at just $80 billion. Obama also proposes to raise taxes to pre-Bush levels for families earning more than $250,000 a year and singles making more than $200,000, yielding additional revenue. But he didn't mention that in his speech.
The Rise of Fantasy Politics
Robert J. Samuelson 8/23/2008 12:00:00 AM
As we watch the conventions, we should recognize that we've entered an era of fantasy politics. Like fantasy football and baseball, fantasy politics is an exercise in make-believe that is intended to keep its players occupied and to make the winners feel good. Barack Obama and John McCain emit pleasing slogans and programs that, as often as not, are disconnected from the country's actual problems. But unlike fantasy sports, fantasy politics has lasting consequences. Winners must govern and, after creating unrealistic expectations, have a hard time doing so.
GUNS
Silence On A ‘Terror Gap’
Mark Hosenball 8/23/2008 12:00:00 AM
Sen. John McCain portrays himself as a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights. But does that extend to gun rights for suspected terrorists? His campaign won't say where he stands on a bill to eliminate a gun-control loophole that even the Bush administration wants closed: a gap in federal law that inhibits the government from stopping people on terrorist watch lists from buying guns. The bill was inspired by an official audit covering a five-month period in 2004 which found that, because of the loophole, the Feds had to greenlight 35 out of 44 cases where a gun buyer was on a terrorist watch list. One group opposed to closing the loophole is the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun manufacturers' trade association. Until this spring, one of its congressional lobbyists was Randy Scheunemann, now a top McCain campaign adviser on foreign policy.
POLITICS
A Liberal’s Lament
Sean Wilentz 8/23/2008 12:00:00 AM
Barack Obama has chosen to deliver the most important speech of his young political career in a setting that suits his spectacular campaign in the presidential primaries. In front of 75,000 roaring, adoring Democrats at Invesco Field at Mile High stadium in Denver, he will give one of his uplifting arena-rock performances, while also evoking the spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (on the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington) and John F. Kennedy (who moved his own acceptance speech in 1960 from the convention hall to the Los Angeles Coliseum).
MILITARY
McCain’s Boeing Battle Boomerangs
Michael Isikoff
One of John McCain's most celebrated achievements in recent years was his crusade to block a Pentagon contract with Boeing for a new fleet of midair refueling tankers. Incensed over what he denounced as a taxpayer "rip-off," McCain launched a Senate probe that uncovered cozy relations between top Air Force officials and Boeing execs. A top Air Force officer and Boeing's CFO ended up in prison. Most significantly, the Air Force was forced to cancel the contract—saving taxpayers more than $6 billion, McCain asserted.