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Stacking the Deck

Factcheck.org deconstructs the Dems' debate

 

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Summary
The three leading Democratic presidential candidates debated in Las Vegas and we noted the following:

    * Clinton once again mischaracterized the 2005 energy bill, saying it had "enormous giveaways" to oil and gas companies. In truth, the measure raised taxes on those industries.

    * Obama accused the Bush administration of failing to make "any serious effort" to encourage use of alternative fuels or raise fuel efficiency of automobiles. In fact, President Bush has signed major bills that do both.

    * Edwards said he dropped his support for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site in part because of a scandal over forged documents. But he switched his position in 2004, and the scandal came along a year afterward.

    * The three candidates made sweeping claims about their intentions to remove troops from Iraq quickly, but all three admitted under questioning that they could have U.S. combat troops fighting in Iraq for years to come.

    * Clinton puffed up her role in stopping the "Bush administration" from taking back signing bonuses from those later wounded too seriously to complete their enlistments. Actually the Pentagon said its policy has been not to reclaim such bonuses and that a bill the Army sent to one soldier was an isolated case that was reversed.

    * Edwards said "you should learn to speak English" before becoming a U.S. citizen. In fact, the law already requires, with few exceptions, that applicants for citizenship "must be able to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language."

 
Analysis
The debate took place Jan. 15 at the Cashman Center in downtown Las Vegas, with Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards sitting around a table with moderators Tim Russert and Brian Williams of NBC News. The event was broadcast on MSNBC. An hour before the debate the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that NBC could exclude a fourth candidate, Dennis Kucinich, from the debate. Kucinich had attempted to force NBC to include him after the network withdrew an invitation due to his poor showings in opinion polls and in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

Hillary's Oil Slick, Again

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: stanjz @ 01/18/2008 1:59:15 AM

    This is blatant manipulation of Obama's words. Let me ask you a question. Can a bill be the largest investment investment in clean energy to date that is, and yet still not rise to the point of what the candidate considers serious enough???

    What if we spent only two thousand dollars in the past on clean energy and Obama said he voted for a bill that was for two million because it was the largest to date. Could Obama also say that it isn't two million still wasn't a serious effort, of course he could.

  • Posted By: VotingRightIn08 @ 01/17/2008 11:21:10 PM

    That is a crock of sh__! Deal with it, he is an inexperienced Jr Senator who has a long way to go and we need someone who will beat the GOP for the Presidential office! The Republicans want him to win the Democratic nomination, because they will beat him and then we will all have to DEAL WITH IT! Wise up!

  • Posted By: VotingRightIn08 @ 01/17/2008 10:46:26 PM

    Edwards is not angry he is passionate and clearly the best candidate for president.

    People who judge a book by its cover rather than its contents are destroying the back bone of our country, so why don't you VoteResponsibly08 by checking on the facts, just the facts! By the way we all should be angry with the past seven years of deceit from our current administration! They have destroyed the American good name, we have lost lives over their lies. We have been duped and if we express our descent we are un-American not supporting our troops. By God it is our inallienable right to speak freely and many soldiers have died to protect this right.

    We need a President who will heal the economy, resolve the war in Iraq, protect our borders and our sovereignty! Edwards is our man for President in 2008..he shares the American peoples PASSION!

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