Factcheck.org: Errors en Español | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008

INTERNATIONAL
No End of Free Trade
12/4/2008 12:00:00 AM
Early in 2008, Democratic congressional leaders put a hold on trade deals the Bush administration had negotiated with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. In the presidential campaign that played out the rest of the year, leading Democratic candidates and the party's ultimate winner, President-elect Barack Obama, pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as part of an overall bid to restore "fair trade" principles to such deals, including greater labor and environmental protections. In the electoral season's final months, the country plunged into a financial crisis, by some indications further deepening the misgivings Americans were expressing about globalization and free trade. The mood has aroused concerns among some economists about a shift toward protectionism at a time when most economists say open markets are vital for economic revival. Some analysts, however, see an opportunity for trade advances in the new administration. They note the Democratic Party's support for the Doha multilateral trade round and say the new team of political leaders might be better positioned to reform trade policy and promote free trade.
FACTCHECK.ORG
Same Old Claims in Another Language
Lori Robertson 10/30/2008 12:00:00 AM
A McCain-Palin ad tries to paint Obama as a "riesgo" (risk), falsely claiming that his health care plan would require small businesses to cover their employees. But Obama's plan explicitly exempts small businesses from this requirement, and an adviser has said the threshold "would almost certainly be higher than ten" employees for businesses to be excluded.
FACTCHECK.ORG
Sparring in Spanish
Jess Henig 9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM
A McCain ad, in turn, blames "Obama and his Congressional allies" for blocking an immigration bill that McCain co-sponsored. But it was a Republican-led filibuster that sunk the bill in the Senate, and McCain said afterward that "A lot of the Republican base was passionate about the issue, and they made their influence felt."
FACTCHECK.ORG
FactChecking McCain
Brooks Jackson 9/5/2008 12:00:00 AM
The claim that "small businesses" would have to "cut jobs, reduce wages," runs counter to Obama's actual proposal. Obama's plan would require businesses to contribute to the cost of insurance for employees or pay some unspecified amount into a new public plan. But his proposal specifically says, "Small businesses will be exempt from this requirement." And it offers additional help to small businesses that want to provide health care in the form of a refundable tax credit of up to half the cost of premiums. We'll note that neither man has defined what exactly a "small business" is.
POLITICS
In Denver, Making Room for Moscow
8/27/2008 12:00:00 AM
Until a few weeks ago, the idea that Russia would have any sort of influence on U.S. presidential politics in this electoral cycle would have struck most people as absurd. Neither its position as a major energy power, its influence on Iran's nuclear program, its own enormous nuclear weapons arsenal, nor its frequently demonstrated willingness to play hardball with the nations it once ruled in the Soviet empire warranted much attention on the hustings. Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Democratic and Republican candidates, had made policy statements prior to the Caucasus flare-up. But Russia did not headline either campaign's battle plans, although McCain had generated comment by calling for Russia's ouster from the G8 in 2007.
INTERVIEW
Look at the Alternatives
Lally Weymouth
President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia is in a tight spot. As a staunch U.S. ally against terrorism and drug trafficking, he has stood firmly against the wave of anti-U.S. sentiment that's sweeping Latin America. The Bush administration has tried to bolster Colombia's loyalty by sponsoring the U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement, but the Democratic candidates have denounced the proposed pact—and last week Speaker Nancy Pelosi kept the bill from being brought to the floor of the House of Representatives. At a World Economic Forum meeting in Cancún, Mexico, an evidently perplexed President Uribe talked with NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth. Excerpts: