Arguments Table
| Speech | Name | Component | Year | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good evening from the Ford Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm Jim Lehrer of the NewsHour on PBS, and I welcome you to the first of the 2008 presidential debates between the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The Commission on Presidential Debates is the sponsor of this event and the three other presidential and vice presidential debates coming in October. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Tonight's will primarily be about foreign policy and national security, which, by definition, includes the global financial crisis. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It will be divided roughly into nine-minute segments. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Direct exchanges between the candidates and moderator follow-ups are permitted after each candidate has two minutes to answer the lead question in an order determined by a coin toss. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The specific subjects and questions were chosen by me. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They have not been shared or cleared with anyone. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The audience here in the hall has promised to remain silent, no cheers, no applause, no noise of any kind, except right now, as we welcome Senators Obama and McCain. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| (APPLAUSE) Let me begin with something General Eisenhower said in his 1952 presidential campaign. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Quote, "We must achieve both security and solvency. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| In fact, the foundation of military strength is economic strength," end quote. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| With that in mind, the first lead question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Gentlemen, at this very moment tonight, where do you stand on the financial recovery plan? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| First response to you, Senator Obama. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You have two minutes. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, thank you very much, Jim, and thanks to the commission and the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss, for hosting us tonight. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I can't think of a more important time for us to talk about the future of the country. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You know, we are at a defining moment in our history. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Our nation is involved in two wars, and we are going through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And although we've heard a lot about Wall Street, those of you on Main Street I think have been struggling for a while, and you recognize that this could have an impact on all sectors of the economy. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And you're wondering, how's it going to affect me? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| How's it going to affect my job? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| How's it going to affect my house? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| How's it going to affect my retirement savings or my ability to send my children to college? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So we have to move swiftly, and we have to move wisely. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I've put forward a series of proposals that make sure that we protect taxpayers as we engage in this important rescue effort. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Number one, we've got to make sure that we've got oversight over this whole process; $700 billion, potentially, is a lot of money. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Number two, we've got to make sure that taxpayers, when they are putting their money at risk, have the possibility of getting that money back and gains, if the market -- and when the market returns. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Number three, we've got to make sure that none of that money is going to pad CEO bank accounts or to promote golden parachutes. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, number four, we've got to make sure that we're helping homeowners, because the root problem here has to do with the foreclosures that are taking place all across the country. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, we also have to recognize that this is a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain, a theory that basically says that we can shred regulations and consumer protections and give more and more to the most, and somehow prosperity will trickle down. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It hasn't worked. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I think that the fundamentals of the economy have to be measured by whether or not the middle class is getting a fair shake. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's why I'm running for president, and that's what I hope we're going to be talking about tonight. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain, two minutes. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, thank you, Jim. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And thanks to everybody. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I do have a sad note tonight. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Kennedy is in the hospital. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He's a dear and beloved friend to all of us. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Our thoughts and prayers go out to the lion of the Senate. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I also want to thank the University of Mississippi for hosting us tonight. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, Jim, I -- I've been not feeling too great about a lot of things lately. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So have a lot of Americans who are facing challenges. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I'm feeling a little better tonight, and I'll tell you why. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Because as we're here tonight in this debate, we are seeing, for the first time in a long time, Republicans and Democrats together, sitting down, trying to work out a solution to this fiscal crisis that we're in. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And have no doubt about the magnitude of this crisis. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we're not talking about failure of institutions on Wall Street. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We're talking about failures on Main Street, and people who will lose their jobs, and their credits, and their homes, if we don't fix the greatest fiscal crisis, probably in -- certainly in our time, and I've been around a little while. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the point is -- the point is, we have finally seen Republicans and Democrats sitting down and negotiating together and coming up with a package. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This package has transparency in it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It has to have accountability and oversight. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It has to have options for loans to failing businesses, rather than the government taking over those loans. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to -- it has to have a package with a number of other essential elements to it. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, yes, I went back to Washington, and I met with my Republicans in the House of Representatives. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And they weren't part of the negotiations, and I understand that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it was the House Republicans that decided that they would be part of the solution to this problem. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I want to emphasize one point to all Americans tonight. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This isn't the beginning of the end of this crisis. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is the end of the beginning, if we come out with a package that will keep these institutions stable. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we've got a lot of work to do. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we've got to create jobs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And one of the areas, of course, is to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right, let's go back to my question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| How do you all stand on the recovery plan? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And talk to each other about it. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got five minutes. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We can negotiate a deal right here. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But, I mean, are you -- do you favor this plan, Senator Obama, and you, Senator McCain? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you -- are you in favor of this plan? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We haven't seen the language yet. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I do think that there's constructive work being done out there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So, for the viewers who are watching, I am optimistic about the capacity of us to come together with a plan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The question, I think, that we have to ask ourselves is, how did we get into this situation in the first place? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Two years ago, I warned that, because of the subprime lending mess, because of the lax regulation, that we were potentially going to have a problem and tried to stop some of the abuses in mortgages that were taking place at the time. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Last year, I wrote to the secretary of the Treasury to make sure that he understood the magnitude of this problem and to call on him to bring all the stakeholders together to try to deal with it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So -- so the question, I think, that we've got to ask ourselves is, yes, we've got to solve this problem short term. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we are going to have to intervene; there's no doubt about that. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we're also going to have to look at, how is it that we shredded so many regulations? | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We did not set up a 21st-century regulatory framework to deal with these problems. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that in part has to do with an economic philosophy that says that regulation is always bad. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Are you going to vote for the plan, Senator McCain? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I -- I hope so. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| As a United States senator... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Sure. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| ... you're going to vote for the plan? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Sure. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But -- but let me -- let me point out, I also warned about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and warned about corporate greed and excess, and CEO pay, and all that. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| A lot of us saw this train wreck coming. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But there's also the issue of responsibility. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You've mentioned President Dwight David Eisenhower. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| President Eisenhower, on the night before the Normandy invasion, went into his room, and he wrote out two letters. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| One of them was a letter congratulating the great members of the military and allies that had conducted and succeeded in the greatest invasion in history, still to this day, and forever. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And he wrote out another letter, and that was a letter of resignation from the United States Army for the failure of the landings at Normandy. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Somehow we've lost that accountability. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've been heavily criticized because I called for the resignation of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got to start also holding people accountable, and we've got to reward people who succeed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But somehow in Washington today -- and I'm afraid on Wall Street -- greed is rewarded, excess is rewarded, and corruption -- or certainly failure to carry out our responsibility is rewarded. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| As president of the United States, people are going to be held accountable in my administration. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I promise you that that will happen. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you have something directly to say, Senator Obama, to Senator McCain about what he just said? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, I think Senator McCain's absolutely right that we need more responsibility, but we need it not just when there's a crisis. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I mean, we've had years in which the reigning economic ideology has been what's good for Wall Street, but not what's good for Main Street. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And there are folks out there who've been struggling before this crisis took place. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that's why it's so important, as we solve this short-term problem, that we look at some of the underlying issues that have led to wages and incomes for ordinary Americans to go down, the -- a health care system that is broken, energy policies that are not working, because, you know, 10 days ago, John said that the fundamentals of the economy are sound. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Say it directly to him. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I do not think that they are. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Say it directly to him. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, the -- John, 10 days ago, you said that the fundamentals of the economy are sound. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Are you afraid I couldn't hear him? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| (LAUGHTER) | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm just determined to get you all to talk to each other. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm going to try. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The -- and I just fundamentally disagree. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And unless we are holding ourselves accountable day in, day out, not just when there's a crisis for folks who have power and influence and can hire lobbyists, but for the nurse, the teacher, the police officer, who, frankly, at the end of each month, they've got a little financial crisis going on. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They're having to take out extra debt just to make their mortgage payments. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We haven't been paying attention to them. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And if you look at our tax policies, it's a classic example. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So, Senator McCain, do you agree with what Senator Obama just said? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, if you don't, tell him what you disagree with. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No, I -- look, we've got to fix the system. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got fundamental problems in the system. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And Main Street is paying a penalty for the excesses and greed in Washington, D.C., and in the Wall Street. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So there's no doubt that we have a long way to go. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, obviously, stricter interpretation and consolidation of the various regulatory agencies that weren't doing their job, that has brought on this crisis. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I have a fundamental belief in the goodness and strength of the American worker. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the American worker is the most productive, the most innovative. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| America is still the greatest producer, exporter and importer. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we've got to get through these times, but I have a fundamental belief in the United States of America. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I still believe, under the right leadership, our best days are ahead of us. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right, let's go to the next lead question, which is essentially following up on this same subject. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And you get two minutes to begin with, Senator McCain. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And using your word "fundamental," are there fundamental differences between your approach and Senator Obama's approach to what you would do as president to lead this country out of the financial crisis? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, the first thing we have to do is get spending under control in Washington. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's completely out of control. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's gone -- we have now presided over the largest increase in the size of government since the Great Society. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We Republicans came to power to change government, and government changed us. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the -- the worst symptom on this disease is what my friend, Tom Coburn, calls earmarking as a gateway drug, because it's a gateway. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's a gateway to out-of-control spending and corruption. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we have former members of Congress now residing in federal prison because of the evils of this earmarking and pork-barrel spending. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You know, we spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I don't know if that was a criminal issue or a paternal issue, but the fact is that it was $3 million of our taxpayers' money. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it has got to be brought under control. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| As president of the United States, I want to assure you, I've got a pen. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This one's kind of old. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've got a pen, and I'm going to veto every single spending bill that comes across my desk. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I will make them famous. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You will know their names. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, Senator Obama, you wanted to know one of the differences. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He has asked for $932 million of earmark pork-barrel spending, nearly a million dollars for every day that he's been in the United States Senate. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I suggest that people go up on the Web site of Citizens Against Government Waste, and they'll look at those projects. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That kind of thing is not the way to rein in runaway spending in Washington, D.C. That's one of the fundamental differences that Senator Obama and I have. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama, two minutes. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, Senator McCain is absolutely right that the earmarks process has been abused, which is why I suspended any requests for my home state, whether it was for senior centers or what have you, until we cleaned it up. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And he's also right that oftentimes lobbyists and special interests are the ones that are introducing these kinds of requests, although that wasn't the case with me. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But let's be clear: Earmarks account for $18 billion in last year's budget. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain is proposing -- and this is a fundamental difference between us -- $300 billion in tax cuts to some of the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country, $300 billion. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, $18 billion is important; $300 billion is really important. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And in his tax plan, you would have CEOs of Fortune 500 companies getting an average of $700,000 in reduced taxes, while leaving 100 million Americans out. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So my attitude is, we've got to grow the economy from the bottom up. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What I've called for is a tax cut for 95 percent of working families, 95 percent. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that means that the ordinary American out there who's collecting a paycheck every day, they've got a little extra money to be able to buy a computer for their kid, to fill up on this gas that is killing them. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And over time, that, I think, is going to be a better recipe for economic growth than the -- the policies of President Bush that John McCain wants to -- wants to follow. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, again, I don't mean to go back and forth, but he... (CROSSTALK) | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No, that's fine. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama suspended those requests for pork-barrel projects after he was running for president of the United States. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He didn't happen to see that light during the first three years as a member of the United States Senate, $932 million in requests. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Maybe to Senator Obama it's not a lot of money. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the point is that -- you see, I hear this all the time. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| "It's only $18 billion." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you know that it's tripled in the last five years? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you know that it's gone completely out of control to the point where it corrupts people? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It corrupts people. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's why we have, as I said, people under federal indictment and charges. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's a system that's got to be cleaned up. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have fought against it my career. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have fought against it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I was called the sheriff, by the -- one of the senior members of the Appropriations Committee. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I didn't win Miss Congeniality in the United States Senate. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, Senator Obama didn't mention that, along with his tax cuts, he is also proposing some $800 billion in new spending on new programs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, that's a fundamental difference between myself and Senator Obama. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I want to cut spending. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I want to keep taxes low. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The worst thing we could do in this economic climate is to raise people's taxes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I -- I don't know where John is getting his figures. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let's just be clear. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What I do is I close corporate loopholes, stop providing tax cuts to corporations that are shipping jobs overseas so that we're giving tax breaks to companies that are investing here in the United States. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I make sure that we have a health care system that allows for everyone to have basic coverage. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think those are pretty important priorities. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I pay for every dime of it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But let's go back to the original point. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| John, nobody is denying that $18 billion is important. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, absolutely, we need earmark reform. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And when I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the fact is that eliminating earmarks alone is not a recipe for how we're going to get the middle class back on track. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And when you look at your tax policies that are directed primarily at those who are doing well, and you are neglecting people who are really struggling right now, I think that is a continuation of the last eight years, and we can't afford another four. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Respond directly to him about that, to Senator Obama about that, about the -- he's made it twice now, about your tax -- your policies about tax cuts. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well -- well, let me give you an example of what Senator Obama finds objectionable, the business tax. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Right now, in the United States of America, business pays the second-highest business taxes in the world, 35 percent. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Ireland pays 11 percent. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, if you're a business person, and you can locate any place in the world, then, obviously, if you go to the country where it's 11 percent tax versus 35 percent, you're going to be able to create jobs, increase your business, make more investment, et cetera. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I want to cut that business tax. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I want to cut it so that businesses will remain in -- in the United States of America and create jobs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But, again, I want to return. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's a lot more than $18 billion in pork-barrel spending. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I can tell you, it's rife. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's throughout. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The United States Senate will take up a continuing resolution tomorrow or the next day, sometime next week, with 2,000 -- 2,000 -- look at them, my friends. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look at them. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You'll be appalled. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And Senator Obama is a recent convert, after requesting $932 million worth of pork-barrel spending projects. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So the point is, I want people to have tax cuts. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I want every family to have a $5,000 refundable tax credit so they can go out and purchase their own health care. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I want to double the dividend from $3,500 to $7,000 for every dependent child in America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know that the worst thing we could possibly do is to raise taxes on anybody, and a lot of people might be interested in Senator Obama's definition of "rich." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama, you have a question for Senator McCain on that? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, let me just make a couple of points. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| My definition -- here's what I can tell the American people: 95 percent of you will get a tax cut. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And if you make less than $250,000, less than a quarter-million dollars a year, then you will not see one dime's worth of tax increase. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he's absolutely right. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Here's the problem: There are so many loopholes that have been written into the tax code, oftentimes with support of Senator McCain, that we actually see our businesses pay effectively one of the lowest tax rates in the world. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And what that means, then, is that there are people out there who are working every day, who are not getting a tax cut, and you want to give them more. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's not like you want to close the loopholes. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You just want to add an additional tax cut over the loopholes. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that's a problem. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Just one last point I want to make, since Senator McCain talked about providing a $5,000 health credit. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, what he doesn't tell you is that he intends to, for the first time in history, tax health benefits. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So you may end up getting a $5,000 tax credit. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Here's the only problem: Your employer now has to pay taxes on the health care that you're getting from your employer. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And if you end up losing your health care from your employer, you've got to go out on the open market and try to buy it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It is not a good deal for the American people. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But it's an example of this notion that the market can always solve everything and that the less regulation we have, the better off we're going to be. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, you know, let me just... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got to go to another lead question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know we have to, but this is a classic example of walking the walk and talking the talk. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We had an energy bill before the United States Senate. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It was festooned with Christmas tree ornaments. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It had all kinds of breaks for the oil companies, I mean, billions of dollars worth. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama voted for it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| John, you want to give oil companies another $4 billion. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You've got to look at our record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You've got to look at our records. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's the important thing. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Who fought against wasteful and earmark spending? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Who has been the person who has tried to keep spending under control? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Who's the person who has believed that the best thing for America is -- is to have a tax system that is fundamentally fair? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I've fought to simplify it, and I have proposals to simplify it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let's give every American a choice: two tax brackets, generous dividends, and, two -- and let Americans choose whether they want the -- the existing tax code or they want a new tax code. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And so, again, look at the record, particularly the energy bill. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But, again, Senator Obama has shifted on a number of occasions. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He has voted in the United States Senate to increase taxes on people who make as low as $42,000 a year. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's not true, John. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's not true. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that's just a fact. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Again, you can look it up. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, it's just not true. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And if we want to talk about oil company profits, under your tax plan, John -- this is undeniable -- oil companies would get an additional $4 billion in tax breaks. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, look, we all would love to lower taxes on everybody. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But here's the problem: If we are giving them to oil companies, then that means that there are those who are not going to be getting them. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| With all due respect, you already gave them to the oil companies. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No, but, John, the fact of the matter is, is that I was opposed to those tax breaks, tried to strip them out. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got an energy bill on the Senate floor right now that contains some good stuff, some stuff you want, including drilling off-shore, but you're opposed to it because it would strip away those tax breaks that have gone to oil companies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right, speaking of things that both of you want, another lead question, and it has to do with the rescue -- the financial rescue thing that we started -- started asking about. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And what -- and the first answer is to you, Senator Obama. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| As president, as a result of whatever financial rescue plan comes about and the billion, $700 billion, whatever it is it's going to cost, what are you going to have to give up, in terms of the priorities that you would bring as president of the United States, as a result of having to pay for the financial rescue plan? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, there are a range of things that are probably going to have to be delayed. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We don't yet know what our tax revenues are going to be. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The economy is slowing down, so it's hard to anticipate right now what the budget is going to look like next year. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But there's no doubt that we're not going to be able to do everything that I think needs to be done. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There are some things that I think have to be done. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to have energy independence, so I've put forward a plan to make sure that, in 10 years' time, we have freed ourselves from dependence on Middle Eastern oil by increasing production at home, but most importantly by starting to invest in alternative energy, solar, wind, biodiesel, making sure that we're developing the fuel-efficient cars of the future right here in the United States, in Ohio and Michigan, instead of Japan and South Korea. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to fix our health care system, which is putting an enormous burden on families. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Just -- a report just came out that the average deductible went up 30 percent on American families. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They are getting crushed, and many of them are going bankrupt as a consequence of health care. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm meeting folks all over the country. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to do that now, because it will actually make our businesses and our families better off. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The third thing we have to do is we've got to make sure that we're competing in education. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got to invest in science and technology. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| China had a space launch and a space walk. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got to make sure that our children are keeping pace in math and in science. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And one of the things I think we have to do is make sure that college is affordable for every young person in America. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I also think that we're going to have to rebuild our infrastructure, which is falling behind, our roads, our bridges, but also broadband lines that reach into rural communities. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Also, making sure that we have a new electricity grid to get the alternative energy to population centers that are using them. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So there are some -- some things that we've got to do structurally to make sure that we can compete in this global economy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We can't shortchange those things. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got to eliminate programs that don't work, and we've got to make sure that the programs that we do have are more efficient and cost less. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Are you -- what priorities would you adjust, as president, Senator McCain, because of the -- because of the financial bailout cost? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, we, no matter what, we've got to cut spending. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have -- as I said, we've let government get completely out of control. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's hard to reach across the aisle from that far to the left. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The point -- the point is -- the point is, we need to examine every agency of government. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| First of all, by the way, I'd eliminate ethanol subsidies. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I oppose ethanol subsidies. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think that we have to return -- particularly in defense spending, which is the largest part of our appropriations -- we have to do away with cost-plus contracts. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We now have defense systems that the costs are completely out of control. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We tried to build a little ship called the Littoral Combat Ship that was supposed to cost $140 million, ended up costing $400 million, and we still haven't done it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So we need to have fixed-cost contracts. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We need very badly to understand that defense spending is very important and vital, particularly in the new challenges we face in the world, but we have to get a lot of the cost overruns under control. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know how to do that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I saved the taxpayers $6.8 billion by fighting a contract that was negotiated between Boeing and DOD that was completely wrong. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we fixed it and we killed it and the people ended up in federal prison so I know how to do this because I've been involved these issues for many, many years. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I think that we have to examine every agency of government and find out those that are doing their job and keep them and find out those that aren't and eliminate them and we'll have to scrub every agency of government. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But if I hear the two of you correctly neither one of you is suggesting any major changes in what you want to do as president as a result of the financial bailout? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Is that what you're saying? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| As I said before, Jim, there are going to be things that end up having to be ... | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Like what? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| ... deferred and delayed. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, look, I want to make sure that we are investing in energy in order to free ourselves from the dependence on foreign oil. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That is a big project. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That is a multi-year project. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Not willing to give that up? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Not willing to give up the need to do it but there may be individual components that we can't do. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But John is right we have to make cuts. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We right now give $15 billion every year as subsidies to private insurers under the Medicare system. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Doesn't work any better through the private insurers. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They just skim off $15 billion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That was a give away and part of the reason is because lobbyists are able to shape how Medicare works. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They did it on the Medicaid prescription drug bill and we have to change the culture. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Tom -- or John mentioned me being wildly liberal. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Mostly that's just me opposing George Bush's wrong headed policies since I've been in Congress but I think it is that it is also important to recognize I worked with Tom Coburn, the most conservative, one of the most conservative Republicans who John already mentioned to set up what we call a Google for government saying we'll list every dollar of federal spending to make sure that the taxpayer can take a look and see who, in fact, is promoting some of these spending projects that John's been railing about. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What I'm trying to get at this is this. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Excuse me if I may, senator. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Trying to get at that you all -- one of you is going to be the president of the United States come January. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| At the -- in the middle of a huge financial crisis that is yet to be resolved. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And what I'm trying to get at is how this is going to affect you not in very specific -- small ways but in major ways and the approach to take as to the presidency. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| How about a spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs and entitlement programs. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Spending freeze? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think we ought to seriously consider with the exceptions of caring for our veterans national defense and several other vital issues. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Would you go for that? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The problem with a spending freeze is you're using a hatchet where you need a scalpel. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There are some programs that are very important that are under funded. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I went to increase early childhood education and the notion that we should freeze that when there may be, for example, this Medicare subsidy, I think, doesn't make sense. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let me tell you another place to look for some savings. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We are currently spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when they have a $79 billion surplus. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It seems to me that if we're going to be strong at home as well as strong abroad, that we have to look at bringing that war to a close. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, we are sending $700 billion a year overseas to countries that don't like us very much. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Some of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to have wind, tide, solar, natural gas, flex fuel cars and all that but we also have to have offshore drilling and we also have to have nuclear power. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama opposes both storing and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You can't get there from here and the fact is that we can create 700,000 jobs by building constructing 45 new nuclear power plants by the year 2030. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Nuclear power is not only important as far as eliminating our dependence on foreign oil but it's also responsibility as far as climate change is concerned. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| An issue I have been involved in for many, many years and I'm proud of the work of the work that I've done there along with Senator Clinton. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Before we go to another lead question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let me figure out a way to ask the same question in a slightly different way here. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Are you -- are you willing to acknowledge both of you that this financial crisis is going to affect the way you rule the country as president of the United States beyond the kinds of things that you have already -- I mean, is it a major move? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Is it going to have a major affect? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There's no doubt it’s gonna affect our budgets. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There is no doubt about it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Not only -- Even if we get all $700 billion back, let's assume the markets recover, we're holding assets long enough that eventually taxpayers get it back and that happened during the Great Depression when Roosevelt purchased a whole bunch of homes, over time, home values went back up and in fact government made a profit. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| If we're lucky and we do it right, that could potentially happen but in the short term there's an outlay and we may not see that money for a while. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And because of the economy's slowing down, I think we can also expect less tax revenue so there's no doubt that as president I'm going to have to make some tough decision. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The only point I want to make is this, that in order to make those tough decisions we have to know what our values are and who we're fighting for and what our priorities are and if we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who don't need them and weren't even asking for them, and we are leaving out health care which is crushing on people all across the country, then I think we have made a bad decision and I want to make sure we're not shortchanging our long term priorities. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, I want to make sure we're not handing the health care system over to the federal government which is basically what would ultimately happen with Senator Obama's health care plan. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I want the families to make decisions between themselves and their doctors. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Not the federal government. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to obviously cut spending. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have fought to cut spending. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama has $800 billion in new spending programs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I would suggest he start by canceling some of those new spending program that he has. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We can't I think adjust spending around to take care of the very much needed programs, including taking care of our veterans but I also want to say again a healthy economy with low taxes would not raising anyone's taxes is probably the best recipe for eventually having our economy recover. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And spending restraint has got to be a vital part of that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the reason, one of the major reasons why we're in the difficulties we are in today is because spending got out of control. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We owe China $500 billion. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And spending, I know, can be brought under control because I have fought against excessive spending my entire career. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I got plans to reduce and eliminate unnecessary and wasteful spending and if there's anybody here who thinks there aren't agencies of government where spending can be cut and their budgets slashed they have not spent a lot of time in Washington. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I just want to make this point, Jim. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| John, it's been your president who you said you agreed with 90 percent of the time who presided over this increase in spending. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This orgy of spending and enormous deficits you voted for almost all of his budgets. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So to stand here and after eight years and say that you're going to lead on controlling spending and, you know, balancing our tax cuts so that they help middle class families when over the last eight years that hasn't happened I think just is, you know, kind of hard to swallow. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Quick response to Senator Obama. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's well-known that I have not been elected Miss Congeniality in the United States Senate nor with the administration. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have opposed the president on spending, on climate change, on torture of prisoner, on - on Guantanamo Bay. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| On a -- on the way that the Iraq War was conducted. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have a long record and the American people know me very well and that is independent and a maverick of the Senate and I'm happy to say that I've got a partner that's a good maverick along with me now. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let's go another subject. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Lead question, two minutes to you, senator McCain. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Much has been said about the lessons of Vietnam. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What do you see as the lessons of Iraq? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think the lessons of Iraq are very clear that you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Our initial military success, we went in to Baghdad and everybody celebrated. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And then the war was very badly mishandled. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I went to Iraq in 2003 and came back and said, we've got to change this strategy. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This strategy requires additional troops, it requires a fundamental change in strategy and I fought for it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And finally, we came up with a great general and a strategy that has succeeded. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This strategy has succeeded. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we are winning in Iraq. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we will come home with victory and with honor. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that withdrawal is the result of every counterinsurgency that succeeds. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I want to tell you that now that we will succeed and our troops will come home, and not in defeat, that we will see a stable ally in the region and a fledgling democracy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The consequences of defeat would have been increased Iranian influence. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It would have been increase in sectarian violence. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It would have been a wider war, which the United States of America might have had to come back. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So there was a lot at stake there. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And thanks to this great general, David Petraeus, and the troops who serve under him, they have succeeded. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we are winning in Iraq, and we will come home. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we will come home as we have when we have won other wars and not in defeat. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Two minutes, how you see the lessons of Iraq, Senator Obama. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, this is an area where Senator McCain and I have a fundamental difference because I think the first question is whether we should have gone into the war in the first place. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now six years ago, I stood up and opposed this war at a time when it was politically risky to do so because I said that not only did we not know how much it was going to cost, what our exit strategy might be, how it would affect our relationships around the world, and whether our intelligence was sound, but also because we hadn't finished the job in Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We hadn't caught bin Laden. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We hadn't put al Qaeda to rest, and as a consequence, I thought that it was going to be a distraction. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now Senator McCain and President Bush had a very different judgment. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I wish I had been wrong for the sake of the country and they had been right, but that's not the case. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've spent over $600 billion so far, soon to be $1 trillion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have lost over 4,000 lives. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have seen 30,000 wounded, and most importantly, from a strategic national security perspective, al Qaeda is resurgent, stronger now than at any time since 2001. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We took our eye off the ball. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And not to mention that we are still spending $10 billion a month, when they have a $79 billion surplus, at a time when we are in great distress here at home, and we just talked about the fact that our budget is way overstretched and we are borrowing money from overseas to try to finance just some of the basic functions of our government. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So I think the lesson to be drawn is that we should never hesitate to use military force, and I will not, as president, in order to keep the American people safe. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we have to use our military wisely. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we did not use our military wisely in Iraq. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you agree with that, the lesson of Iraq? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The next president of the United States is not going to have to address the issue as to whether we went into Iraq or not. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The next president of the United States is going to have to decide how we leave, when we leave, and what we leave behind. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's the decision of the next president of the United States. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama said the surge could not work, said it would increase sectarian violence, said it was doomed to failure. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Recently on a television program, he said it exceed our wildest expectations. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But yet, after conceding that, he still says that he would oppose the surge if he had to decide that again today. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Incredibly, incredibly Senator Obama didn't go to Iraq for 900 days and never asked for a meeting with General Petraeus. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, let's go at some of these things... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama is the chairperson of a committee that oversights NATO that's in Afghanistan. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| To this day, he has never had a hearing. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What about that point? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I mean, it's remarkable. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What about that point? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Which point? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He raised a whole bunch of them. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know, OK, let's go to the latter point and we'll back up. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The point about your not having been... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, I'm very proud of my vice presidential selection, Joe Biden, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and as he explains, and as John well knows, the issues of Afghanistan, the issues of Iraq, critical issues like that, don't go through my subcommittee because they're done as a committee as a whole. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But that's Senate inside baseball. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But let's get back to the core issue here. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain is absolutely right that the violence has been reduced as a consequence of the extraordinary sacrifice of our troops and our military families. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They have done a brilliant job, and General Petraeus has done a brilliant job. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But understand, that was a tactic designed to contain the damage of the previous four years of mismanagement of this war. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And so John likes -- John, you like to pretend like the war started in 2007. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You talk about the surge. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The war started in 2003, and at the time when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You were wrong. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You were wrong. | Barack H. Obama | NaN | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You said that there was no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And you were wrong. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And so my question is... (CROSSTALK) | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| ... of judgment, of whether or not -- of whether or not -- if the question is who is best-equipped as the next president to make good decisions about how we use our military, how we make sure that we are prepared and ready for the next conflict, then I think we can take a look at our judgment. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have got a lot on the plate here... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm afraid Senator Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the important -- I'd like to tell you, two Fourths of July ago I was in Baghdad. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| General Petraeus invited Senator Lindsey Graham and me to attend a ceremony where 688 brave young Americans, whose enlistment had expired, were reenlisting to stay and fight for Iraqi freedom and American freedom. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I was honored to be there. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I was honored to speak to those troops. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And you know, afterwards, we spent a lot of time with them. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And you know what they said to us? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They said, let us win. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They said, let us win. | John S. McCain | NaN | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We don't want our kids coming back here. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And this strategy, and this general, they are winning. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge that we are winning in Iraq. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's not true. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They just passed an electoral... | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's not true. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| An election law just in the last few days. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There is social, economic progress, and a strategy, a strategy of going into an area, clearing and holding, and the people of the country then become allied with you. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They inform on the bad guys. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And peace comes to the country, and prosperity. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's what's happening in Iraq, and it wasn't a tactic. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let me see... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Jim, Jim, this is a big... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It was a strategy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that same strategy will be employed in Afghanistan by this great general. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And Senator Obama, who after promising not to vote to cut off funds for the troops, did the incredible thing of voting to cut off the funds for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Jim, there are a whole bunch of things we have got to answer. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| First of all, let's talk about this troop funding issue because John always brings this up. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain cut -- Senator McCain opposed funding for troops in legislation that had a timetable, because he didn't believe in a timetable. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I opposed funding a mission that had no timetable, and was open- ended, giving a blank check to George Bush. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We had a difference on the timetable. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We didn't have a difference on whether or not we were going to be funding troops. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We had a legitimate difference, and I absolutely understand the difference between tactics and strategy. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the strategic question that the president has to ask is not whether or not we are employing a particular approach in the country once we have made the decision to be there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The question is, was this wise? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We need more troops there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We need more resources there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain, in the rush to go into Iraq, said, you know what? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've been successful in Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There is nobody who can pose a threat to us there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is a time when bin Laden was still out, and now they've reconstituted themselves. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself acknowledges the war on terrorism started in Afghanistan and it needs to end there. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we can't do it if we are not willing to give Iraq back its country. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, what I've said is we should end this war responsibly. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We should do it in phases. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But in 16 months we should be able to reduce our combat troops, put -- provide some relief to military families and our troops and bolster our efforts in Afghanistan so that we can capture and kill bin Laden and crush al Qaeda. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And right now, the commanders in Afghanistan, as well as Admiral Mullen, have acknowledged that we don't have enough troops to deal with Afghanistan because we still have more troops in Iraq than we did before the surge. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Admiral Mullen suggests that Senator Obama's plan is dangerous for America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's not the case. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's what ... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What he said was a precipitous... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's what Admiral Mullen said. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| ... withdrawal would be dangerous. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He did not say that. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's not true. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And also General Petraeus said the same thing. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Osama bin Laden and General Petraeus have one thing in common that I know of, they both said that Iraq is the central battleground. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now General Petraeus has praised the successes, but he said those successes are fragile and if we set a specific date for withdrawal -- and by the way, Senator Obama's original plan, they would have been out last spring before the surge ever had a chance to succeed. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I'm -- I'm -- understand why Senator Obama was surprised and said that the surge succeeded beyond his wildest expectations. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It didn't exceed beyond mine, because I know that that's a strategy that has worked and can succeed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But if we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and adopt Senator Obama's plan, then we will have a wider war and it will make things more complicated throughout the region, including in Afghanistan. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Afghanistan, lead -- a new -- a new lead question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, having resolved Iraq, we'll move to Afghanistan. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| (LAUGHTER) And it goes to you, Senator Obama, and it's a -- it picks up on a point that's already been made. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you think more troops -- more U.S. troops should be sent to Afghanistan, how many, and when? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Yes, I think we need more troops. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've been saying that for over a year now. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I think that we have to do it as quickly as possible, because it's been acknowledged by the commanders on the ground the situation is getting worse, not better. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We had the highest fatalities among U.S. troops this past year than at any time since 2002. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we are seeing a major offensive taking place -- Al Qaida and Taliban crossing the border and attacking our troops in a brazen fashion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They are feeling emboldened. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we cannot separate Afghanistan from Iraq, because what our commanders have said is we don't have the troops right now to deal with Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So I would send two to three additional brigades to Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, keep in mind that we have four times the number of troops in Iraq, where nobody had anything to do with 9/11 before we went in, where, in fact, there was no Al Qaida before we went in, but we have four times more troops there than we do in Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that is a strategic mistake, because every intelligence agency will acknowledge that Al Qaida is the greatest threat against the United States and that Secretary of Defense Gates acknowledged the central front -- that the place where we have to deal with these folks is going to be in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So here's what we have to do comprehensively, though. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's not just more troops. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to press the Afghan government to make certain that they are actually working for their people. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I've said this to President Karzai. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Number two, we've got to deal with a growing poppy trade that has exploded over the last several years. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Number three, we've got to deal with Pakistan, because Al Qaida and the Taliban have safe havens in Pakistan, across the border in the northwest regions, and although, you know, under George Bush, with the support of Senator McCain, we've been giving them $10 billion over the last seven years, they have not done what needs to be done to get rid of those safe havens. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And until we do, Americans here at home are not going to be safe. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Afghanistan, Senator McCain? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| First of all, I won't repeat the mistake that I regret enormously, and that is, after we were able to help the Afghan freedom fighters and drive the Russians out of Afghanistan, we basically washed our hands of the region. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the result over time was the Taliban, Al Qaida, and a lot of the difficulties we are facing today. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So we can't ignore those lessons of history. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, on this issue of aiding Pakistan, if you're going to aim a gun at somebody, George Shultz, our great secretary of state, told me once, you'd better be prepared to pull the trigger. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm not prepared at this time to cut off aid to Pakistan. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So I'm not prepared to threaten it, as Senator Obama apparently wants to do, as he has said that he would announce military strikes into Pakistan. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got to get the support of the people of -- of Pakistan. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He said that he would launch military strikes into Pakistan. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, you don't do that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You don't say that out loud. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| If you have to do things, you have to do things, and you work with the Pakistani government. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, the new president of Pakistan, Kardari (sic), has got his hands full. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And this area on the border has not been governed since the days of Alexander the Great. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've been to Waziristan. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I can see how tough that terrain is. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's ruled by a handful of tribes. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, yes, Senator Obama calls for more troops, but what he doesn't understand, it's got to be a new strategy, the same strategy that he condemned in Iraq. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's going to have to be employed in Afghanistan. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we're going to have to help the Pakistanis go into these areas and obtain the allegiance of the people. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it's going to be tough. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They've intermarried with Al Qaida and the Taliban. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it's going to be tough. | John S. McCain | NaN | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we have to get the cooperation of the people in those areas. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the Pakistanis are going to have to understand that that bombing in the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was a signal from the terrorists that they don't want that government to cooperate with us in combating the Taliban and jihadist elements. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So we've got a lot of work to do in Afghanistan. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I'm confident, now that General Petraeus is in the new position of command, that we will employ a strategy which not only means additional troops -- and, by the way, there have been 20,000 additional troops, from 32,000 to 53,000, and there needs to be more. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So it's not just the addition of troops that matters. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's a strategy that will succeed. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And Pakistan is a very important element in this. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I know how to work with them. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I guarantee you I would not publicly state that I'm going to attack them. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Nobody talked about attacking Pakistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Here's what I said. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And if John wants to disagree with this, he can let me know, that, if the United States has Al Qaida, bin Laden, top-level lieutenants in our sights, and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, I think that's the right strategy; I think that's the right policy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, John, I -- you're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But, you know, coming from you, who, you know, in the past has threatened extinction for North Korea and, you know, sung songs about bombing Iran, I don't know, you know, how credible that is. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think this is the right strategy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, Senator McCain is also right that it's difficult. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is not an easy situation. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You've got cross-border attacks against U.S. troops. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we've got a choice. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We could allow our troops to just be on the defensive and absorb those blows again and again and again, if Pakistan is unwilling to cooperate, or we have to start making some decisions. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the problem, John, with the strategy that's been pursued was that, for 10 years, we coddled Musharraf, we alienated the Pakistani population, because we were anti-democratic. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We had a 20th-century mindset that basically said, "Well, you know, he may be a dictator, but he's our dictator." | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And as a consequence, we lost legitimacy in Pakistan. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We spent $10 billion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And in the meantime, they weren't going after Al Qaida, and they are more powerful now than at any time since we began the war in Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's going to change when I'm president of the United States. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I -- I don't think that Senator Obama understands that there was a failed state in Pakistan when Musharraf came to power. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Everybody who was around then, and had been there, and knew about it knew that it was a failed state. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But let me tell you, you know, this business about bombing Iran and all that, let me tell you my record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Back in 1983, when I was a brand-new United States congressman, the one -- the person I admired the most and still admire the most, Ronald Reagan, wanted to send Marines into Lebanon. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I saw that, and I saw the situation, and I stood up, and I voted against that, because I was afraid that they couldn't make peace in a place where 300 or 400 or several hundred Marines would make a difference. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Tragically, I was right: Nearly 300 Marines lost their lives in the bombing of the barracks. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And then we had Somalia -- then we had the first Gulf War. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I supported -- I supported that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I supported us going into Bosnia, when a number of my own party and colleagues was against that operation in Bosnia. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That was the right thing to do, to stop genocide and to preserve what was necessary inside of Europe. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I supported what we did in Kosovo. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I supported it because ethnic cleansing and genocide was taking place there. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I have a record -- and Somalia, I opposed that we should turn -- turn the force in Somalia from a peacekeeping force into a peacemaking force, which they were not capable of. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So I have a record. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have a record of being involved in these national security issues, which involve the highest responsibility and the toughest decisions that any president can make, and that is to send our young men and women into harm's way. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I'll tell you, I had a town hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and a woman stood up and she said, "Senator McCain, I want you to do me the honor of wearing a bracelet with my son's name on it." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He was 22 years old and he was killed in combat outside of Baghdad, Matthew Stanley, before Christmas last year. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This was last August, a year ago. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I said, "I will -- I will wear his bracelet with honor." | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And this was August, a year ago. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And then she said, "But, Senator McCain, I want you to do everything -- promise me one thing, that you'll do everything in your power to make sure that my son's death was not in vain." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That means that that mission succeeds, just like those young people who re-enlisted in Baghdad, just like the mother I met at the airport the other day whose son was killed. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And they all say to me that we don't want defeat. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know what that’s like when an army is defeated. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| A war that I was in, where we had an Army, that it wasn't through any fault of their own, but they were defeated. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I know how hard it is for that -- for an Army and a military to recover from that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it did and we will win this one and we won't come home in defeat and dishonor and probably have to go back if we fail. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Jim, let me just make a point. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've got a bracelet, too, from Sergeant - from the mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopeck (ph), given to me in green bay. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| She asked me, can you please make sure another mother is not going through what I'm going through. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain because they're carrying out the missions of their commander in chief. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we honor all the service that they've provided. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Our troops have performed brilliantly. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The question is for the next president, are we making good judgments about how to keep America safe precisely because sending our military into battle is such an enormous step. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the point that I originally made is that we took our eye off Afghanistan, we took our eye off the folks who perpetrated 9/11, they are still sending out videotapes and Senator McCain, nobody is talking about defeat in Iraq, but I have to say we are having enormous problems in Afghanistan because of that decision. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it is not true you have consistently been concerned about what happened in Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| At one point, while you were focused on Iraq, you said well, we can "muddle through" Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You don't muddle through the central front on terror and you don't muddle through going after bin Laden. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You don't muddle through stamping out the Taliban. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think that is something we have to take seriously. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And when I'm president, I will. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| New ... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You might think that with that kind of concern that Senator Obama would have gone to Afghanistan, particularly given his responsibilities as a subcommittee chairman. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| By the way, when I'm subcommittee chairman, we take up the issues under my subcommittee. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the important thing is -- the important thing is I visited Afghanistan and I traveled to Waziristan and I traveled to these places and I know what our security requirements are. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know what our needs are. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So the point is that we will prevail in Afghanistan, but we need the new strategy and we need it to succeed. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the important thing is, if we suffer defeat in Iraq, which General Petraeus predicts we will, if we adopted Senator Obama's set date for withdrawal, then that will have a calamitous effect in Afghanistan and American national security interests in the region. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama doesn't seem to understand there is a connected between the two. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have some good news and bad news for the two of you. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You all are even on time, which is remarkable, considering we've been going at it ... | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| A testimony to you, Jim. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I don't know about that. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the bad news is all my little five minute things have run over, so, anyhow, we'll adjust as we get there. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But the amount of time is even. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| New lead question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it goes two minutes to you, Senator McCain, what is your reading on the threat from Iran right now to the security of the United States? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| My reading of the threat from Iran is that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it is an existential threat to the State of Israel and it is a threat to other countries in the region because the other countries in the region will feel compelling requirement to acquire nuclear weapons as well. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now we cannot allow a second Holocaust. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let's just make that very clear. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What I have proposed for a long time, and I've had conversation with foreign leaders about forming a league of democracies, let's be clear and let's have some straight talk. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The Russians are preventing significant action in the United Nations Security Council. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have proposed a league of democracies, a group of people - a group of countries that share common interests, common values, common ideals, they also control a lot of the world's economic power. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We could impose significant meaningful, painful sanctions on the Iranians that I think could have a beneficial effect. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The Iranians have a lousy government, so therefore their economy is lousy, even though they have significant oil revenues. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So I am convinced that together, we can, with the French, with the British, with the Germans and other countries, democracies around the world, we can affect Iranian behavior. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But have no doubt, but have no doubt that the Iranians continue on the path to the acquisition of a nuclear weapon as we speak tonight. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it is a threat not only in this region but around the world. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What I'd also like to point out the Iranians are putting the most lethal IEDs into Iraq which are killing young Americans, there are special groups in Iran coming into Iraq and are being trained in Iran. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There is the Republican Guard in Iran, which Senator Kyl had an amendment in order to declare them a sponsor of terror. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama said that would be provocative. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So this is a serious threat. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is a serious threat to security in the world, and I believe we can act and we can act with our friends and allies and reduce that threat as quickly as possible, but have no doubt about the ultimate result of them acquiring nuclear weapons. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Two minutes on Iran, Senator Obama. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, let me just correct something very quickly. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I believe the Republican Guard of Iran is a terrorist organization. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've consistently said so. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What Senator McCain refers to is a measure in the Senate that would try to broaden the mandate inside of Iraq. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| To deal with Iran. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And ironically, the single thing that has strengthened Iran over the last several years has been the war in Iraq. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Iraq was Iran's mortal enemy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That was cleared away. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And what we've seen over the last several years is Iran's influence grow. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They have funded Hezbollah, they have funded Hamas, they have gone from zero centrifuges to 4,000 centrifuges to develop a nuclear weapon. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So obviously, our policy over the last eight years has not worked. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain is absolutely right, we cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It would be a game changer. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Not only would it threaten Israel, a country that is our stalwart ally, but it would also create an environment in which you could set off an arms race in this Middle East. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now here's what we need to do. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We do need tougher sanctions. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I do not agree with Senator McCain that we're going to be able to execute the kind of sanctions we need without some cooperation with countries like Russia and China that are, I think Senator McCain would agree, not democracies, but have extensive trade with Iran but potentially have an interest in making sure Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we are also going to have to, I believe, engage in tough direct diplomacy with Iran and this is a major difference I have with Senator McCain, this notion that by not talking to people we are punishing them has not worked. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It has not worked in Iran, it has not worked in North Korea. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| In each instance, our efforts at isolation have actually accelerated their efforts to get nuclear weapons. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That will change when I'm president of the United States. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator, what about talking? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama twice said in debates he would sit down with Ahmadinejad, Chavez and Raul Castro without precondition. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Without precondition. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Here is Ahmadinenene (ph), Ahmadinejad, who is, Ahmadinejad, who is now in New York, talking about the extermination of the State of Israel, of wiping Israel off the map, and we're going to sit down, without precondition, across the table, to legitimize and give a propaganda platform to a person that is espousing the extermination of the state of Israel, and therefore then giving them more credence in the world arena and therefore saying, they've probably been doing the right thing, because you will sit down across the table from them and that will legitimize their illegal behavior. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The point is that throughout history, whether it be Ronald Reagan, who wouldn't sit down with Brezhnev, Andropov or Chernenko until Gorbachev was ready with glasnost and perestroika. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Or whether it be Nixon's trip to China, which was preceded by Henry Kissinger, many times before he went. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, I'll sit down with anybody, but there's got to be pre-conditions. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Those pre-conditions would apply that we wouldn't legitimize with a face to face meeting, a person like Ahmadinejad. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, Senator Obama said, without preconditions. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So let's talk about this. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| First of all, Ahmadinejad is not the most powerful person in Iran. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So he may not be the right person to talk to. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I reserve the right, as president of the United States to meet with anybody at a time and place of my choosing if I think it's going to keep America safe. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I'm glad that Senator McCain brought up the history, the bipartisan history of us engaging in direct diplomacy. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator McCain mentioned Henry Kissinger, who's one of his advisers, who, along with five recent secretaries of state, just said that we should meet with Iran -- guess what -- without precondition. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is one of your own advisers. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, understand what this means "without preconditions." | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It doesn't mean that you invite them over for tea one day. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What it means is that we don't do what we've been doing, which is to say, "Until you agree to do exactly what we say, we won't have direct contacts with you." | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There's a difference between preconditions and preparation. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Of course we've got to do preparations, starting with low-level diplomatic talks, and it may not work, because Iran is a rogue regime. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I will point out that I was called naive when I suggested that we need to look at exploring contacts with Iran. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And you know what? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| President Bush recently sent a senior ambassador, Bill Burns, to participate in talks with the Europeans around the issue of nuclear weapons. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Again, it may not work, but if it doesn't work, then we have strengthened our ability to form alliances to impose the tough sanctions that Senator McCain just mentioned. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And when we haven't done it, as in North Korea -- let me just take one more example -- in North Korea, we cut off talks. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They're a member of the axis of evil. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We can't deal with them. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And you know what happened? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They went -- they quadrupled their nuclear capacity. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They tested a nuke. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They tested missiles. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They pulled out of the nonproliferation agreement. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And they sent nuclear secrets, potentially, to countries like Syria. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| When we re-engaged -- because, again, the Bush administration reversed course on this -- then we have at least made some progress, although right now, because of the problems in North Korea, we are seeing it on shaky ground. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And -- and I just -- so I just have to make this general point that the Bush administration, some of Senator McCain's own advisers all think this is important, and Senator McCain appears resistant. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He even said the other day that he would not meet potentially with the prime minister of Spain, because he -- you know, he wasn't sure whether they were aligned with us. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I mean, Spain? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Spain is a NATO ally. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Of course. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| If we can't meet with our friends, I don't know how we're going to lead the world in terms of dealing with critical issues like terrorism. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm not going to set the White House visitors schedule before I'm president of the United States. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I don't even have a seal yet. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, Dr. Kissinger did not say that he would approve of face-to- face meetings between the president of the United States and the president -- and Ahmadinejad. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He did not say that. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Of course not. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He said that there could be secretary-level and lower level meetings. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've always encouraged them. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The Iranians have met with Ambassador Crocker in Baghdad. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What Senator Obama doesn't seem to understand that if without precondition you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a "stinking corpse," and wants to destroy that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is dangerous. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It isn't just naive; it's dangerous. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And so we just have a fundamental difference of opinion. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| As far as North Korea is concerned, our secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, went to North Korea. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| By the way, North Korea, most repressive and brutal regime probably on Earth. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The average South Korean is three inches taller than the average North Korean, a huge gulag. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We don't know what the status of the dear leader's health is today, but we know this, that the North Koreans have broken every agreement that they've entered into. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we ought to go back to a little bit of Ronald Reagan's "trust, but verify," and certainly not sit down across the table from -- without precondition, as Senator Obama said he did twice, I mean, it's just dangerous. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, I mean, Senator McCain keeps on using this example that suddenly the president would just meet with somebody without doing any preparation, without having low-level talks. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Nobody's been talking about that, and Senator McCain knows it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is a mischaracterization of my position. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| When we talk about preconditions -- and Henry Kissinger did say we should have contacts without preconditions -- the idea is that we do not expect to solve every problem before we initiate talks. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, you know, the Bush administration has come to recognize that it hasn't worked, this notion that we are simply silent when it comes to our enemies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the notion that we would sit with Ahmadinejad and not say anything while he's spewing his nonsense and his vile comments is ridiculous. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Nobody is even talking about that. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So let me get this right. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We sit down with Ahmadinejad, and he says, "We're going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth," and we say, "No, you're not"? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Oh, please. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No, let me tell... (CROSSTALK) | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| By the way, my friend, Dr. Kissinger, who's been my friend for 35 years, would be interested to hear this conversation and Senator Obama's depiction of his -- of his positions on the issue. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've known him for 35 years. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We will take a look. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I guarantee you he would not -- he would not say that presidential top level. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Nobody's talking about that. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Of course he encourages and other people encourage contacts, and negotiations, and all other things. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We do that all the time. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We're going to go to a new... (CROSSTALK) | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And Senator Obama is parsing words when he says precondition means preparation. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I am not parsing words. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He's parsing words, my friends. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm using the same words that your advisers use. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Please, go ahead. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| New lead question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Russia, goes to you, two minutes, Senator Obama. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| How do you see the relationship with Russia? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you see them as a competitor? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you see them as an enemy? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you see them as a potential partner? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, I think that, given what's happened over the last several weeks and months, our entire Russian approach has to be evaluated, because a resurgent and very aggressive Russia is a threat to the peace and stability of the region. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Their actions in Georgia were unacceptable. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They were unwarranted. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And at this point, it is absolutely critical for the next president to make clear that we have to follow through on our six-party -- or the six-point cease-fire. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They have to remove themselves from South Ossetia and Abkhazia. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It is absolutely important that we have a unified alliance and that we explain to the Russians that you cannot be a 21st-century superpower, or power, and act like a 20th-century dictatorship. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we also have to affirm all the fledgling democracies in that region, you know, the Estonians, the Lithuanians, the Latvians, the Poles, the Czechs, that we are, in fact, going to be supportive and in solidarity with them in their efforts. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They are members of NATO. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And to countries like Georgia and the Ukraine, I think we have to insist that they are free to join NATO if they meet the requirements, and they should have a membership action plan immediately to start bringing them in. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, we also can't return to a Cold War posture with respect to Russia. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's important that we recognize there are going to be some areas of common interest. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| One is nuclear proliferation. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They have not only 15,000 nuclear warheads, but they've got enough to make another 40,000, and some of those loose nukes could fall into the hands of Al Qaida. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is an area where I've led on in the Senate, working with a Republican ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Dick Lugar, to deal with the proliferation of loose nuclear weapons. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's an area where we're going to have to work with Russia. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we have to have a president who is clear that you don't deal with Russia based on staring into his eyes and seeing his soul. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You deal with Russia based on, what are your -- what are the national security interests of the United States of America? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we have to recognize that the way they've been behaving lately demands a sharp response from the international community and our allies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Two minutes on Russia, Senator McCain. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, I was interested in Senator Obama's reaction to the Russian aggression against Georgia. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| His first statement was, "Both sides ought to show restraint." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Again, a little bit of naivete there. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He doesn't understand that Russia committed serious aggression against Georgia. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And Russia has now become a nation fueled by petro-dollars that is basically a KGB apparatchik-run government. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I looked into Mr. Putin's eyes, and I saw three letters, a "K," a "G," and a "B." | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And their aggression in Georgia is not acceptable behavior. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I don't believe we're going to go back to the Cold War. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I am sure that that will not happen. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I do believe that we need to bolster our friends and allies. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that wasn't just about a problem between Georgia and Russia. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It had everything to do with energy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There's a pipeline that runs from the Caspian through Georgia through Turkey. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, of course, we know that the Russians control other sources of energy into Europe, which they have used from time to time. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's not accidental that the presidents of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine flew to Georgia, flew to Tbilisi, where I have spent significant amount of time with a great young president, Misha Saakashvili. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And they showed solidarity with them, but, also, they are very concerned about the Russian threats to regain their status of the old Russian to regain their status of the old Russian empire. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Now, I think the Russians ought to understand that we will support -- we, the United States -- will support the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine in the natural process, inclusion into NATO. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We also ought to make it very clear that the Russians are in violation of their cease-fire agreement. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They have stationed additional troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| By the way, I went there once, and we went inside and drove in, and there was a huge poster. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And this is -- this is Georgian territory. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And there was a huge poster of Vladimir Putin, and it said, "Vladimir Putin, our president." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It was very clear, the Russian intentions towards Georgia. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They were just waiting to seize the opportunity. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So, this is a very difficult situation. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We want to work with the Russians. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we also have every right to expect the Russians to behave in a fashion and keeping with a -- with a -- with a country who respects international boundaries and the norms of international behavior. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And watch Ukraine. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This whole thing has got a lot to do with Ukraine, Crimea, the base of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the breakdown of the political process in Ukraine between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko is a very serious problem. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So watch Ukraine, and let's make sure that we -- that the Ukrainians understand that we are their friend and ally. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You see any -- do you have a major difference with what he just said? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No, actually, I think Senator McCain and I agree for the most part on these issues. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Obviously, I disagree with this notion that somehow we did not forcefully object to Russians going into Georgia. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I immediately said that this was illegal and objectionable. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, absolutely, I wanted a cessation of the violence, because it put an enormous strain on Georgia, and that's why I was the first to say that we have to rebuild the Georgian economy and called for a billion dollars that has now gone in to help them rebuild. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Because part of Russia's intentions here was to weaken the economy to the point where President Saakashvili was so weakened that he might be replaced by somebody that Putin favored more. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Two points I think are important to think about when it comes to Russia. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Number one is we have to have foresight and anticipate some of these problems. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So back in April, I warned the administration that you had Russian peacekeepers in Georgian territory. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That made no sense whatsoever. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And what we needed to do was replace them with international peacekeepers and a special envoy to resolve the crisis before it boiled over. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That wasn't done. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But had it been done, it's possible we could have avoided the issue. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The second point I want to make is -- is the issue of energy. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Russia is in part resurgent and Putin is feeling powerful because of petro-dollars, as Senator McCain mentioned. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That means that we, as one of the biggest consumers of oil -- 25 percent of the world's oil -- have to have an energy strategy not just to deal with Russia, but to deal with many of the rogue states we've talked about, Iran, Venezuela. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that means, yes, increasing domestic production and off-shore drilling, but we only have 3 percent of the world's oil supplies and we use 25 percent of the world's oil. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So we can't simply drill our way out of the problem. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What we're going to have to do is to approach it through alternative energy, like solar, and wind, and biodiesel, and, yes, nuclear energy, clean-coal technology. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, you know, I've got a plan for us to make a significant investment over the next 10 years to do that. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I have to say, Senator McCain and I, I think agree on the importance of energy, but Senator McCain mentioned earlier the importance of looking at a record. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Over 26 years, Senator McCain voted 23 times against alternative energy, like solar, and wind, and biodiesel. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And so we -- we -- we've got to walk the walk and not just talk the talk when it comes to energy independence, because this is probably going to be just as vital for our economy and the pain that people are feeling at the pump -- and, you know, winter's coming and home heating oil -- as it is our national security and the issue of climate change that's so important. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got time for one more lead question segment. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We're way out of... (CROSSTALK) | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Quick response and then... (CROSSTALK) | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No one from Arizona is against solar. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And Senator Obama says he's for nuclear, but he's against reprocessing and he's against storing. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's just not true, John. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| John, I'm sorry, but that's not true. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| ... it's hard to get there from here. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And off-shore drilling is also something that is very important and it is a bridge. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we know that, if we drill off-shore and exploit a lot of these reserves, it will help, at temporarily, relieve our energy requirements. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it will have, I think, an important effect on the price of a barrel of oil. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I just have to respond very quickly, just to correct -- just to correct the record. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So I want to say that, with the Nunn-Lugar thing... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Excuse me, Senator. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| John? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| ... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I supported Nunn-Lugar back in the early 1990s when a lot of my colleagues didn't. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That was the key legislation at the time and put us on the road to eliminating this issue of nuclear waste and the nuclear fuel that has to be taken care of. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I -- I just have to correct the record here. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have never said that I object to nuclear waste. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What I've said is that we have to store it safely. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And, Senator McCain, he says -- he talks about Arizona. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've got to make this point, Jim. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| OK. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He objects... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have voted for alternate fuel all of my time... | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He -- he -- he objects... (CROSSTALK) | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| One at a time, please. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He objected... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| One at a time. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| No one can be opposed to alternate energy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All right, fair enough. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Let's move on. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You've got one more energy -- you've got one more question. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is the last -- last lead question. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You have two minutes each. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the question is this, beginning with you, Senator McCain. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What do you think the likelihood is that there would be another 9/11-type attack on the continental United States? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think it's much less than it was the day after 9/11. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I think it -- that we have a safer nation, but we are a long way from safe. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I want to tell you that one of the things I'm most proud of, among others, because I have worked across the aisle. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I have a long record on that, on a long series of reforms. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But after 9/11, Senator Joe Lieberman and I decided that we needed a commission, and that was a commission to investigate 9/11, and find out what happened, and fix it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we were -- we were opposed by the administration, another area where I differed with this administration. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we were stymied until the families of 9/11 came, and they descended on Washington, and we got that legislation passed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And there were a series of recommendations, as I recall, more than 40. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I'm happy to say that we've gotten written into law most of those reforms recommended by that commission. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm proud of that work, again, bipartisan, reaching across the aisle, working together, Democrat and Republican alike. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So we have a long way to go in our intelligence services. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to do a better job in human intelligence. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we've got to -- to make sure that we have people who are trained interrogators so that we don't ever torture a prisoner ever again. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to make sure that our technological and intelligence capabilities are better. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to work more closely with our allies. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know our allies, and I can work much more closely with them. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But I can tell you that I think America is safer today than it was on 9/11. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But that doesn't mean that we don't have a long way to go. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I'd like to remind you, also, as a result of those recommendations, we've probably had the largest reorganization of government since we established the Defense Department. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I think that those men and women in those agencies are doing a great job. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But we still have a long way to go before we can declare America safe, and that means doing a better job along our borders, as well. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Two minutes, Senator Obama. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, first of all, I think that we are safer in some ways. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Obviously, we've poured billions of dollars into airport security. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have done some work in terms of securing potential targets, but we still have a long way to go. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We've got to make sure that we're hardening our chemical sites. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We haven't done enough in terms of transit; we haven't done enough in terms of ports. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And the biggest threat that we face right now is not a nuclear missile coming over the skies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It's in a suitcase. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| This is why the issue of nuclear proliferation is so important. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It is the -- the biggest threat to the United States is a terrorist getting their hands on nuclear weapons. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we -- we are spending billions of dollars on missile defense. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I actually believe that we need missile defense, because of Iran and North Korea and the potential for them to obtain or to launch nuclear weapons, but I also believe that, when we are only spending a few hundred million dollars on nuclear proliferation, then we're making a mistake. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The other thing that we have to focus on, though, is Al Qaida. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They are now operating in 60 countries. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We can't simply be focused on Iraq. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have to go to the root cause, and that is in Afghanistan and Pakistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's going to be critical. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We are going to need more cooperation with our allies. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And one last point I want to make. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| It is important for us to understand that the way we are perceived in the world is going to make a difference, in terms of our capacity to get cooperation and root out terrorism. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And one of the things that I intend to do as president is to restore America's standing in the world. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We are less respected now than we were eight years ago or even four years ago. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And this is the greatest country on Earth. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But because of some of the mistakes that have been made -- and I give Senator McCain great credit on the torture issue, for having identified that as something that undermines our long-term security -- because of those things, we, I think, are going to have a lot of work to do in the next administration to restore that sense that America is that shining beacon on a hill. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Do you agree there's much to be done in a new administration to restore... (CROSSTALK) | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But in the case of missile defense, Senator Obama said it had to be, quote, "proven." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That wasn't proven when Ronald Reagan said we would do SDI, which is missile defense. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And it was major -- a major factor in bringing about the end of the Cold War. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We seem to come full circle again. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Senator Obama still doesn't quite understand -- or doesn't get it -- that if we fail in Iraq, it encourages Al Qaida. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They would establish a base in Iraq. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The consequences of defeat, which would result from his plan of withdrawal and according to date certain, regardless of conditions, according to our military leaders, according to every expert, would lead to defeat -- possible defeat, loss of all the fragile sacrifice that we've made of American blood and treasure, which grieves us all. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| All of that would be lost if we followed Senator Obama's plan to have specific dates with withdrawal, regardless of conditions on the ground. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And General Petraeus says we have had great success, but it's very fragile. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And we can't do what Senator Obama wants to do. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That is the central issue of our time. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I think Americans will judge very seriously as to whether that's the right path or the wrong path and who should be the next president of the United States. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You see the same connections that Senator McCain does? | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Oh, there's no doubt. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Look, over the last eight years, this administration, along with Senator McCain, have been solely focused on Iraq. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That has been their priority. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That has been where all our resources have gone. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| In the meantime, bin Laden is still out there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He is not captured. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| He is not killed. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Al Qaida is resurgent. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| In the meantime, we've got challenges, for example, with China, where we are borrowing billions of dollars. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They now hold a trillion dollars' worth of our debt. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And they are active in countries like -- in regions like Latin America, and Asia, and Africa. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| They are -- the conspicuousness of their presence is only matched by our absence, because we've been focused on Iraq. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We have weakened our capacity to project power around the world because we have viewed everything through this single lens, not to mention, look at our economy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We are now spending $10 billion or more every month. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that means we can't provide health care to people who need it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We can't invest in science and technology, which will determine whether or not we are going to be competitive in the long term. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There has never been a country on Earth that saw its economy decline and yet maintained its military superiority. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So this is a national security issue. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We haven't adequately funded veterans' care. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I sit on the Veterans Affairs Committee, and we've got -- I meet veterans all across the country who are trying to figure out, "How can I get disability payments? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've got post-traumatic stress disorder, and yet I can't get treatment." | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| So we have put all chips in, right there, and nobody is talking about losing this war. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| What we are talking about is recognizing that the next president has to have a broader strategic vision about all the challenges that we face. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's been missing over the last eight years. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That sense is something that I want to restore. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I've been involved, as I mentioned to you before, in virtually every major national security challenge we've faced in the last 20-some years. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| There are some advantages to experience, and knowledge, and judgment. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I -- and I honestly don't believe that Senator Obama has the knowledge or experience and has made the wrong judgments in a number of areas, including his initial reaction to Russian invasion -- aggression in Georgia, to his -- you know, we've seen this stubbornness before in this administration to cling to a belief that somehow the surge has not succeeded and failing to acknowledge that he was wrong about the surge is -- shows to me that we -- that -- that we need more flexibility in a president of the United States than that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| As far as our other issues that he brought up are concerned, I know the veterans. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I know them well. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I know that they know that I'll take care of them. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I've been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I love them. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I'll take care of them. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And they know that I'll take care of them. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that's going to be my job. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| But, also, I have the ability, and the knowledge, and the background to make the right judgments, to keep this country safe and secure. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Reform, prosperity, and peace, these are major challenges to the United States of America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I don't think I need any on-the-job training. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I'm ready to go at it right now. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Well, let me just make a closing point. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| You know, my father came from Kenya. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| That's where I get my name. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And in the '60s, he wrote letter after letter to come to college here in the United States because the notion was that there was no other country on Earth where you could make it if you tried. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| The ideals and the values of the United States inspired the entire world. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I don't think any of us can say that our standing in the world now, the way children around the world look at the United States, is the same. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And part of what we need to do, what the next president has to do -- and this is part of our judgment, this is part of how we're going to keep America safe -- is to -- to send a message to the world that we are going to invest in issues like education, we are going to invest in issues that -- that relate to how ordinary people are able to live out their dreams. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And that is something that I'm going to be committed to as president of the United States. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Few seconds. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| We're almost finished. | Jim Lehrer | O | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Jim, when I came home from prison, I saw our veterans being very badly treated, and it made me sad. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| And I embarked on an effort to resolve the POW-MIA issue, which we did in a bipartisan fashion, and then I worked on normalization of relations between our two countries so that our veterans could come all the way home. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| I guarantee you, as president of the United States, I know how to heal the wounds of war, I know how to deal with our adversaries, and I know how to deal with our friends. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 26 Sep 2008 |
| Good evening from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm Gwen Ifill of "The NewsHour" and "Washington Week" on PBS. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Welcome to the first and the only 2008 vice presidential debate between the Republican nominee, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden of Delaware.The Commission on Presidential Debates is the sponsor of this event and the two remaining presidential debates. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Tonight's discussion will cover a wide range of topics, including domestic and foreign policy matters.It will be divided roughly into five-minute segments. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to a direct question and then an additional two minutes for rebuttal and follow-up. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The order has been determined by a coin toss.The specific subjects and questions were chosen by me and have not been shared or cleared with anyone on the campaigns or on the commission. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The audience here in the hall has promised to remain very polite, no cheers, applause, no untoward outbursts, except right at this minute now, as we welcome Governor Palin and Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| (APPLAUSE) | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Nice to meet you. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's a pleasure. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Hey, can I call you Joe? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| (OFF-MIKE) | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you.Thank you, Gwen. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you. | Sarah L. Palin | NaN | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you. | Sarah L. Palin | NaN | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Welcome to you both.As we have determined by a coin toss, the first question will go to Senator Biden, with a 90-second follow-up from Governor Palin.The House of Representatives this week passed a bill, a big bailout bill -- or didn't pass it, I should say. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The Senate decided to pass it, and the House is wrestling with it still tonight.As America watches these things happen on Capitol Hill, Senator Biden, was this the worst of Washington or the best of Washington that we saw play out? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let me begin by thanking you, Gwen, for hosting this.And, Governor, it's a pleasure to meet you, and it's a pleasure to be with you.I think it's neither the best or worst of Washington, but it's evidence of the fact that the economic policies of the last eight years have been the worst economic policies we've ever had. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| As a consequence, you've seen what's happened on Wall Street.If you need any more proof positive of how bad the economic theories have been, this excessive deregulation, the failure to oversee what was going on, letting Wall Street run wild, I don't think you needed any more evidence than what you see now.So the Congress has been put -- Democrats and Republicans have been put in a very difficult spot. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But Barack Obama laid out four basic criteria for any kind of rescue plan here. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He, first of all, said there has to be oversight. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're not going to write any check to anybody unless there's oversight for the -- of the secretary of Treasury. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He secondly said you have to focus on homeowners and folks on Main Street. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thirdly, he said that you have to treat the taxpayers like investors in this case. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And, lastly, what you have to do is make sure that CEOs don't benefit from this, because this could end up, in the long run, people making money off of this rescue plan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And so, as a consequence of that, it brings us back to maybe the fundamental disagreement between Governor Palin and me and Senator McCain and Barack Obama, and that is that the -- we're going to fundamentally change the focus of the economic policy. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to focus on the middle class, because it's -- when the middle class is growing, the economy grows and everybody does well, not just focus on the wealthy and corporate America. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, Senator.Governor Palin? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, Gwen. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I thank the commission, also. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I appreciate this privilege of being able to be here and speak with Americans.You know, I think a good barometer here, as we try to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time in America's economy, is go to a kid's soccer game on Saturday, and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them, "How are you feeling about the economy?" | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I'll bet you, you're going to hear some fear in that parent's voice, fear regarding the few investments that some of us have in the stock market. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Did we just take a major hit with those investments? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Fear about, how are we going to afford to send our kids to college? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A fear, as small-business owners, perhaps, how we're going to borrow any money to increase inventory or hire more people. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The barometer there, I think, is going to be resounding that our economy is hurting and the federal government has not provided the sound oversight that we need and that we deserve, and we need reform to that end. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, John McCain thankfully has been one representing reform. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He sounded that warning bell. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| People in the Senate with him, his colleagues, didn't want to listen to him and wouldn't go towards that reform that was needed then. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think that the alarm has been heard, though, and there will be that greater oversight, again thanks to John McCain's bipartisan efforts that he was so instrumental in bringing folks together over this past week, even suspending his own campaign to make sure he was putting excessive politics aside and putting the country first. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You both would like to be vice president.Senator Biden, how, as vice president, would you work to shrink this gap of polarization which has sprung up in Washington, which you both have spoken about here tonight? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, that's what I've done my whole career, Gwen, on very, very controversial issues, from dealing with violence against women, to putting 100,000 police officers on the street, to trying to get something done about the genocide in -- that was going on in Bosnia.And I -- I have been able to reach across the aisle. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think it's fair to say that I have almost as many friends on the Republican side of the aisle as I do the Democratic side of the aisle. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But am I able to respond to -- are we able to stay on the -- on the topic? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You may, if you like. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Yes, well, you know, until two weeks ago -- it was two Mondays ago John McCain said at 9 o'clock in the morning that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Two weeks before that, he said George -- we've made great economic progress under George Bush's policies.Nine o'clock, the economy was strong. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Eleven o'clock that same day, two Mondays ago, John McCain said that we have an economic crisis. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That doesn't make John McCain a bad guy, but it does point out he's out of touch. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Those folks on the sidelines knew that two months ago. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor Palin, you may respond. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain, in referring to the fundamental of our economy being strong, he was talking to and he was talking about the American workforce. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And the American workforce is the greatest in this world, with the ingenuity and the work ethic that is just entrenched in our workforce. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's a positive. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's encouragement. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what John McCain meant.Now, what I've done as a governor and as a mayor is (inaudible) I've had that track record of reform. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I've joined this team that is a team of mavericks with John McCain, also, with his track record of reform, where we're known for putting partisan politics aside to just get the job done. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Barack Obama, of course, he's pretty much only voted along his party lines. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, 96 percent of his votes have been solely along party line, not having that proof for the American people to know that his commitment, too, is, you know, put the partisanship, put the special interests aside, and get down to getting business done for the people of America. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're tired of the old politics as usual. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why, with all due respect, I do respect your years in the U.S. Senate, but I think Americans are craving something new and different and that new energy and that new commitment that's going to come with reform. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think that's why we need to send the maverick from the Senate and put him in the White House, and I'm happy to join him there. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, Senator, neither of you really answered that last question about what you would do as vice president. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to come back to that... (LAUGHTER) | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| ... throughout the evening to try to see if we can look forward, as well.Now, let's talk about -- the next question is to talk about the subprime lending meltdown. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Who do you think was at fault? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I start with you, Governor Palin. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Was it the greedy lenders? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Was it the risky home-buyers who shouldn't have been buying a home in the first place? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And what should you be doing about it? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Darn right it was the predator lenders, who tried to talk Americans into thinking that it was smart to buy a $300,000 house if we could only afford a $100,000 house. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There was deception there, and there was greed and there is corruption on Wall Street. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we need to stop that.Again, John McCain and I, that commitment that we have made, and we're going to follow through on that, getting rid of that corruption. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| One thing that Americans do at this time, also, though, is let's commit ourselves just every day American people, Joe Six Pack, hockey moms across the nation, I think we need to band together and say never again. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Never will we be exploited and taken advantage of again by those who are managing our money and loaning us these dollars. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need to make sure that we demand from the federal government strict oversight of those entities in charge of our investments and our savings and we need also to not get ourselves in debt. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let's do what our parents told us before we probably even got that first credit card. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Don't live outside of our means. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need to make sure that as individuals we're taking personal responsibility through all of this. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's not the American peoples’s fault that the economy is hurting like it is, but we have an opportunity to learn a heck of a lot of good lessons through this and say never again will we be taken advantage of. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well Gwen, two years ago Barack Obama warned about the sub prime mortgage crisis. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain said shortly after that in December he was surprised there was a sub prime mortgage problem. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain while Barack Obama was warning about what we had to do was literally giving an interview to "The Wall Street Journal" saying that I'm always for cutting regulations. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We let Wall Street run wild. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain and he's a good man, but John McCain thought the answer is that tried and true Republican response, deregulate, deregulate.So what you had is you had overwhelming "deregulation." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You had actually the belief that Wall Street could self-regulate itself. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And while Barack Obama was talking about reinstating those regulations, John on 20 different occasions in the previous year and a half called for more deregulation. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| As a matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that he wants to do for the health care industry deregulate it and let the free market move like he did for the banking industry. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So deregulation was the promise. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And guess what? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Those people who say don't go into debt, they can barely pay to fill up their gas tank. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I was recently at my local gas station and asked a guy named Joey Danco (ph). | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I said Joey, how much did it cost to fill your tank? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You know what his answer was? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He said I don't know, Joe. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I never have enough money to do it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The middle class needs relief, tax relief. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They need it now. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They need help now. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The focus will change with Barack Obama. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, please if you want to respond to what he said about Senator McCain's comments about health care? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I would like to respond about the tax increases. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We can speak in agreement here that darn right we need tax relief for Americans so that jobs can be created here. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Barack Obama and Senator Biden also voted for the largest tax increases in U.S. history. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack had 94 opportunities to side on the people's side and reduce taxes and 94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction, 94 times.Now, that's not what we need to create jobs and really bolster and heat up our economy. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We do need the private sector to be able to keep more of what we earn and produce. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Government is going to have to learn to be more efficient and live with less if that's what it takes to reign in the government growth that we've seen today. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But we do need tax relief and Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's a lot of middle income average American families to increase taxes on them. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think that is the way to kill jobs and to continue to harm our economy. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The charge is absolutely not true. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The vote she's referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It was a budget procedural vote. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain voted the same way. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It did not raise taxes. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Number two, using the standard that the governor uses, John McCain voted 477 times to raise taxes. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's a bogus standard it but if you notice, Gwen, the governor did not answer the question about deregulation, did not answer the question of defending John McCain about not going along with the deregulation, letting Wall Street run wild. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He did support deregulation almost across the board. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's why we got into so much trouble. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Would you like to have an opportunity to answer that before we move on? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm still on the tax thing because I want to correct you on that again. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I want to let you know what I did as a mayor and as a governor. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| As mayor, every year I was in office I did reduce taxes. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I eliminated personal property taxes and eliminated small business inventory taxes and as governor we suspended our state fuel tax. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We did all of those things knowing that that is how our economy would be heated up. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, as for John McCain's adherence to rules and regulations and pushing for even harder and tougher regulations, that is another thing that he is known for though. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look at the tobacco industry. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look at campaign finance reform. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| OK, our time is up here. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to move to the next question. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Biden, we want to talk about taxes, let's talk about taxes. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You proposed raising taxes on people who earn over $250,000 a year. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The question for you is, why is that not class warfare and the same question for you, Governor Palin, is you have proposed taxing employer health benefits which some studies say would actually throw five million more people onto the roles of the uninsured. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I want to know why that isn't taking things out on the poor, starting with you, Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well Gwen, where I come from, it's called fairness, just simple fairness. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The middle class is struggling. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The middle class under John McCain's tax proposal, 100 million families, middle class families, households to be precise, they got not a single change, they got not a single break in taxes. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| No one making less than $250,000 under Barack Obama's plan will see one single penny of their tax raised whether it's their capital gains tax, their income tax, investment tax, any tax. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And 95 percent of the people in the United States of America making less than $150,000 will get a tax break.Now, that seems to me to be simple fairness. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The economic engine of America is the middle class. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's the people listening to this broadcast. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When you do well, America does well. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Even the wealthy do well. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| This is not punitive. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John wants to add $300 million, billion in new tax cuts per year for corporate America and the very wealthy while giving virtually nothing to the middle class. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have a different value set. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The middle class is the economic engine. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's fair. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They deserve the tax breaks, not the super wealthy who are doing pretty well. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They don't need any more tax breaks. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And by the way, they'll pay no more than they did under Ronald Reagan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I do take issue with some of the principle there with that redistribution of wealth principle that seems to be espoused by you. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But when you talk about Barack's plan to tax increase affecting only those making $250,000 a year or more, you're forgetting the millions of small businesses that are going to fit into that category. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So they're going to be the ones paying higher taxes thus resulting in fewer jobs being created and less productivity.Now you said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| In the middle class of America which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that's not patriotic. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Patriotic is saying, government, you know, you're not always the solution. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, too often you're the problem so, government, lessen the tax burden and on our families and get out of the way and let the private sector and our families grow and thrive and prosper. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| An increased tax formula that Barack Obama is proposing in addition to nearly a trillion dollars in new spending that he's proposing is the backwards way of trying to grow our economy. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, are you interested in defending Senator McCain's health care plan? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I am because he's got a good health care plan that is detailed. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I want to give you a couple details on that. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He's proposing a $5,000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's a smart thing to do. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's budget neutral. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That doesn't cost the government anything as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have this universal government run program and unless you're pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately, I don't think that it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But a $5,000 health care credit through our income tax that's budget neutral. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's going to help. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And he also wants to erase those artificial lines between states so that through competition, we can cross state lines and if there's a better plan offered somewhere else, we would be able to purchase that. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So affordability and accessibility will be the keys there with that $5,000 tax credit also being offered. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, governor. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Gwen, I don't know where to start. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We don't call a redistribution in my neighborhood Scranton, Claymont, Wilmington, the places I grew up, to give the fair to say that not giving Exxon Mobil another $4 billion tax cut this year as John calls for and giving it to middle class people to be able to pay to get their kids to college, we don't call that redistribution. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We call that fairness number one. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Number two fact, 95 percent of the small businesses in America, their owners make less than $250,000 a year. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They would not get one single solitary penny increase in taxes, those small businesses. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, with regard to the -- to the health care plan, you know, it's with one hand you giveth, the other you take it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You know how Barack Obama -- excuse me, do you know how John McCain pays for his $5,000 tax credit you're going to get, a family will get?He taxes as income every one of you out there, every one of you listening who has a health care plan through your employer. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's how he raises $3.6 trillion, on your -- taxing your health care benefit to give you a $5,000 plan, which his Web site points out will go straight to the insurance company. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And then you're going to have to replace a $12,000 -- that's the average cost of the plan you get through your employer -- it costs $12,000. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You're going to have to pay -- replace a $12,000 plan, because 20 million of you are going to be dropped. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Twenty million of you will be dropped. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So you're going to have to place -- replace a $12,000 plan with a $5,000 check you just give to the insurance company. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I call that the "Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, Senator.Now... (LAUGHTER) ... | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I want to get -- try to get you both to answer a question that neither of your principals quite answered when my colleague, Jim Lehrer, asked it last week, starting with you, Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What promises -- given the events of the week, the bailout plan, all of this, what promises have you and your campaigns made to the American people that you're not going to be able to keep? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, the one thing we might have to slow down is a commitment we made to double foreign assistance. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We'll probably have to slow that down.We also are going to make sure that we do not go forward with the tax cut proposals of the administration -- of John McCain, the existing one for people making over $250,000, which is $130 billion this year alone. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're not going to support the $300 billion tax cut that they have for corporate America and the very wealthy. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're not going to support another $4 billion tax cut for ExxonMobil. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And what we're not going to also hold up on, Gwen, is we cannot afford to hold up on providing for incentives for new jobs by an energy policy, creating new jobs. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We cannot slow up on education, because that's the engine that is going to give us the economic growth and competitiveness that we need. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we are not going to slow up on the whole idea of providing for affordable health care for Americans, none of which, when we get to talk about health care, is as my -- as the governor characterized -- characterized. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The bottom line here is that we are going to, in fact, eliminate those wasteful spending that exist in the budget right now, a number of things I don't have time, because the light is blinking, that I won't be able to mention, but one of which is the $100 billion tax dodge that, in fact, allows people to take their post office box off- shore, avoid taxes. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I call that unpatriotic. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I call that unpatriotic. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | NaN | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's what I'm talking about. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, the nice thing about running with John McCain is I can assure you he doesn't tell one thing to one group and then turns around and tells something else to another group, including his plans that will make this bailout plan, this rescue plan, even better.I want to go back to the energy plan, though, because this is -- this is an important one that Barack Obama, he voted for in '05. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Biden, you would remember that, in that energy plan that Obama voted for, that's what gave those oil companies those big tax breaks. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Your running mate voted for that. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You know what I had to do in the state of Alaska? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I had to take on those oil companies and tell them, "No," you know, any of the greed there that has been kind of instrumental, I guess, in their mode of operation, that wasn't going to happen in my state. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why Tillerson at Exxon and Mulva at ConocoPhillips, bless their hearts, they're doing what they need to do, as corporate CEOs, but they're not my biggest fans, because what I had to do up there in Alaska was to break up a monopoly up there and say, you know, the people are going to come first and we're going to make sure that we have value given to the people of Alaska with those resources. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And those huge tax breaks aren't coming to the big multinational corporations anymore, not when it adversely affects the people who live in a state and, in this case, in a country who should be benefiting at the same time. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So it was Barack Obama who voted for that energy plan that gave those tax breaks to the oil companies that I then had to turn around, as a governor of an energy-producing state, and kind of undo in my own area of expertise, and that's energy. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So, Governor, as vice president, there's nothing that you have promised as a candidate that you would -- that you wouldn't take off the table because of this financial crisis we're in? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There is not. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And how long have I been at this, like five weeks? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So there hasn't been a whole lot that I've promised, except to do what is right for the American people, put government back on the side of the American people, stop the greed and corruption on Wall Street.And the rescue plan has got to include that massive oversight that Americans are expecting and deserving. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I don't believe that John McCain has made any promise that he would not be able to keep, either. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Again, let me -- let's talk about those tax breaks. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama -- Obama voted for an energy bill because, for the first time, it had real support for alternative energy.When there were separate votes on eliminating the tax breaks for the oil companies, Barack Obama voted to eliminate them. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John did not. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And let me just ask a rhetorical question: If John really wanted to eliminate them, why is he adding to his budget an additional $4 billion in tax cuts for ExxonMobils of the world that, in fact, already have made $600 billion since 2001? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And, look, I agree with the governor. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| She imposed a windfall profits tax up there in Alaska. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's what Barack Obama and I want to do. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We want to be able to do for all of you Americans, give you back $1,000 bucks, like she's been able to give back money to her folks back there. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But John McCain will not support a windfall profits tax. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They've made $600 billion since 2001, and John McCain wants to give them, all by itself -- separate, no additional bill, all by itself -- another $4 billion tax cut. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| If that is not proof of what I say, I'm not sure what can be. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So I hope the governor is able to convince John McCain to support our windfall profits tax, which she supported in Alaska, and I give her credit for it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Next question, Governor Palin, still on the economy. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Last year, Congress passed a bill that would make it more difficult for debt-strapped mortgage-holders to declare bankruptcy, to get out from under that debt. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| This is something that John McCain supported. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Would you have? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Yes, I would have. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But here, again, there have -- there have been so many changes in the conditions of our economy in just even these past weeks that there has been more and more revelation made aware now to Americans about the corruption and the greed on Wall Street.We need to look back, even two years ago, and we need to be appreciative of John McCain's call for reform with Fannie Mae, with Freddie Mac, with the mortgage-lenders, too, who were starting to really kind of rear that head of abuse. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And the colleagues in the Senate weren't going to go there with him. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So we have John McCain to thank for at least warning people. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we also have John McCain to thank for bringing in a bipartisan effort people to the table so that we can start putting politics aside, even putting a campaign aside, and just do what's right to fix this economic problem that we are in. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It is a crisis. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's a toxic mess, really, on Main Street that's affecting Wall Street. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And now we have to be ever vigilant and also making sure that credit markets don't seize up. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's where the Main Streeters like me, that's where we would really feel the effects. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Biden, you voted for this bankruptcy bill. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama voted against it. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Some people have said that mortgage- holders really paid the price. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, mortgage-holders didn't pay the price. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Only 10 percent of the people who are -- have been affected by this whole switch from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13 -- it gets complicated.But the point of this -- Barack Obama saw the glass as half- empty. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I saw it as half-full. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We disagreed on that, and 85 senators voted one way, and 15 voted the other way. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But here's the deal. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama pointed out two years ago that there was a subprime mortgage crisis and wrote to the secretary of Treasury. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And he said, "You'd better get on the stick here. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You'd better look at it." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain said as early as last December, quote -- I'm paraphrasing -- "I'm surprised about this subprime mortgage crisis," number one. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Number two, with regard to bankruptcy now, Gwen, what we should be doing now -- and Barack Obama and I support it -- we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe, the principal that you owe. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That would keep people in their homes, actually help banks by keeping it from going under. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But John McCain, as I understand it -- I'm not sure of this, but I believe John McCain and the governor don't support that. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There are ways to help people now. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And there -- ways that we're offering are not being supported by -- by the Bush administration nor do I believe by John McCain and Governor Palin. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor Palin, is that so? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That is not so, but because that's just a quick answer, I want to talk about, again, my record on energy versus your ticket's energy ticket, also.I think that this is important to come back to, with that energy policy plan again that was voted for in '05. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When we talk about energy, we have to consider the need to do all that we can to allow this nation to become energy independent. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's a nonsensical position that we are in when we have domestic supplies of energy all over this great land. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And East Coast politicians who don't allow energy-producing states like Alaska to produce these, to tap into them, and instead we're relying on foreign countries to produce for us. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're circulating about $700 billion a year into foreign countries, some who do not like America -- they certainly don't have our best interests at heart -- instead of those dollars circulating here, creating tens of thousands of jobs and allowing domestic supplies of energy to be tapped into and start flowing into these very, very hungry markets.Energy independence is the key to this nation's future, to our economic future, and to our national security. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So when we talk about energy plans, it's not just about who got a tax break and who didn't. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we're not giving oil companies tax breaks, but it's about a heck of a lot more than that. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Energy independence is the key to America's future. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, I'm happy to talk to you in this next section about energy issues. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let's talk about climate change. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What is true and what is false about what we have heard, read, discussed, debated about the causes of climate change? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Yes. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, as the nation's only Arctic state and being the governor of that state, Alaska feels and sees impacts of climate change more so than any other state. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we know that it's real.I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But there are real changes going on in our climate. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I don't want to argue about the causes. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have got to clean up this planet. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have got to encourage other nations also to come along with us with the impacts of climate change, what we can do about that. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| As governor, I was the first governor to form a climate change sub-cabinet to start dealing with the impacts. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to reduce emissions. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain is right there with an "all of the above" approach to deal with climate change impacts. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to become energy independent for that reason. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Also as we rely more and more on other countries that don't care as much about the climate as we do, we're allowing them to produce and to emit and even pollute more than America would ever stand for. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So even in dealing with climate change, it's all the more reason that we have an "all of the above" approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator, what is true and what is false about the causes? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, I think it is manmade. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think it's clearly manmade. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And, look, this probably explains the biggest fundamental difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and Sarah Palin and Joe Biden -- Governor Palin and Joe Biden.If you don't understand what the cause is, it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We know what the cause is. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The cause is manmade. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's the cause. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's why the polar icecap is melting. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, let's look at the facts. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We consume 25 percent of the oil in the world. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain has voted 20 times in the last decade-and-a-half against funding alternative energy sources, clean energy sources, wind, solar, biofuels. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The way in which we can stop the greenhouse gases from emitting. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We believe -- Barack Obama believes by investing in clean coal and safe nuclear, we can not only create jobs in wind and solar here in the United States, we can export it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| China is building one to three new coal-fired plants burning dirty coal per week. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's polluting not only the atmosphere but the West Coast of the United States. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We should export the technology by investing in clean coal technology. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We should be creating jobs. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain has voted 20 times against funding alternative energy sources and thinks, I guess, the only answer is drill, drill, drill. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Drill we must, but it will take 10 years for one drop of oil to come out of any of the wells that are going to begun to be drilled. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| In the meantime, we're all going to be in real trouble. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let me clear something up, Senator McCain has said he supports caps on carbon emissions. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama has said he supports clean coal technology, which I don't believe you've always supported. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I have always supported it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's a fact. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, clear it up for us, both of you, and start with Governor Palin. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Yes, Senator McCain does support this. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The chant is "drill, baby, drill." | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what we hear all across this country in our rallies because people are so hungry for those domestic sources of energy to be tapped into. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They know that even in my own energy-producing state we have billions of barrels of oil and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean, green natural gas. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we're building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline which is North America's largest and most you expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets.Barack Obama and Senator Biden, you've said no to everything in trying to find a domestic solution to the energy crisis that we're in. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You even called drilling -- safe, environmentally-friendly drilling offshore as raping the outer continental shelf. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There -- with new technology, with tiny footprints even on land, it is safe to drill and we need to do more of that. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But also in that "all of the above" approach that Senator McCain supports, the alternative fuels will be tapped into: the nuclear, the clean coal. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I was surprised to hear you mention that because you had said that there isn't anything -- such a thing as clean coal. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I think you said it in a rope line, too, at one of your rallies. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We do need to keep within our two minutes. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But I just wanted to ask you, do you support capping carbon emissions? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I do. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I do. | Sarah L. Palin | NaN | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| OK. And on the clean coal issue? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Absolutely. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Absolutely we do. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We call for setting hard targets, number one... | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Clean coal. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Oh, I'm sorry. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| On clean coal. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Oh, on clean coal. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My record, just take a look at the record. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My record for 25 years has supported clean coal technology. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A comment made in a rope line was taken out of context. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I was talking about exporting that technology to China so when they burn their dirty coal, it won't be as dirty, it will be clean.But here's the bottom line, Gwen: How do we deal with global warming with continued addition to carbon emissions? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And if the only answer you have is oil, and John -- and the governor says John is for everything. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, why did John vote 20 times? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe he's for everything as long as it's not helped forward by the government. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe he's for everything if the free market takes care of it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I don't know. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But he voted 20 times against funding alternative energy sources. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The next round of -- pardon me, the next round of questions starts with you, Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Absolutely. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Do I support granting same-sex benefits? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Absolutely positively. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look, in an Obama-Biden administration, there will be absolutely no distinction from a constitutional standpoint or a legal standpoint between a same-sex and a heterosexual couple.The fact of the matter is that under the Constitution we should be granted -- same-sex couples should be able to have visitation rights in the hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, et cetera. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's only fair. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's what the Constitution calls for. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And so we do support it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We do support making sure that committed couples in a same-sex marriage are guaranteed the same constitutional benefits as it relates to their property rights, their rights of visitation, their rights to insurance, their rights of ownership as heterosexual couples do. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, would you support expanding that beyond Alaska to the rest of the nation? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, not if it goes closer and closer towards redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And unfortunately that's sometimes where those steps lead.But I also want to clarify, if there's any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves, you know, I am tolerant and I have a very diverse family and group of friends and even within that group you would see some who may not agree with me on this issue, some very dear friends who don't agree with me on this issue. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But in that tolerance also, no one would ever propose, not in a McCain-Palin administration, to do anything to prohibit, say, visitations in a hospital or contracts being signed, negotiated between parties. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But I will tell Americans straight up that I don't support defining marriage as anything but between one man and one woman, and I think through nuances we can go round and round about what that actually means. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But I'm being as straight up with Americans as I can in my non- support for anything but a traditional definition of marriage. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let's try to avoid nuance, Senator. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Do you support gay marriage? | Gwen Ifill | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| No. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We do not support that. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That is basically the decision to be able to be able to be left to faiths and people who practice their faiths the determination what you call it.The bottom line though is, and I'm glad to hear the governor, I take her at her word, obviously, that she think there should be no civil rights distinction, none whatsoever, between a committed gay couple and a committed heterosexual couple. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| If that's the case, we really don't have a difference. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Is that what your said? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Your question to him was whether he supported gay marriage and my answer is the same as his and it is that I do not. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Wonderful. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You agree. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| On that note, let's move to foreign policy. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| (LAUGHTER) | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You both have sons who are in Iraq or on their way to Iraq. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You, Governor Palin, have said that you would like to see a real clear plan for an exit strategy. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What should that be, Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I am very thankful that we do have a good plan and the surge and the counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq that has proven to work, I am thankful that that is part of the plan implemented under a great American hero, General Petraeus, and pushed hard by another great American, Senator John McCain.I know that the other ticket opposed this surge, in fact, even opposed funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama voted against funding troops there after promising that he would not do so. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And Senator Biden, I respected you when you called him out on that. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You said that his vote was political and you said it would cost lives. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And Barack Obama at first said he would not do that. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He turned around under political pressure and he voted against funding the troops. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We do have a plan for withdrawal. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We don't need early withdrawal out of Iraq. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We cannot afford to lose there or we're going to be no better off in the war in Afghanistan either. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have got to win in Iraq.And with the surge that has worked we're now down to presurge numbers in Iraq. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's where we can be. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We can start putting more troops in Afghanistan as we also work with our NATO allies who are there strengthening us and we need to grow our military. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We cannot afford to lose against al Qaeda and the Shia extremists who are still there, still fighting us, but we're getting closer and closer to victory. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And it would be a travesty if we quit now in Iraq. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Gwen, with all due respect, I didn't hear a plan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama has offered a clear plan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Shift responsibility to the Iraqis over the next 16 months. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Draw down our combat troops. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Ironically the same plan that Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq and George Bush are now negotiating. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The only odd man out here, only one left out is John McCain, number one. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Number two, with regard to Barack Obama not -- quote -- "funding the troops," John McCain voted the exact same way. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain voted against funding the troops because of an amendment he voted against had a timeline in it to draw down American troops. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And John said I'm not going to fund the troops if in fact there's a timeline. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama and I agree fully and completely on one thing: You've got to have a time line to draw down the troops and shift responsibility to the Iraqis.We're spending $10 billion a month while the Iraqis have an $80 billion surplus. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack says it's time for them to spend their own money and have the 400,000 military we’ve trained for them begin to take their own responsibility and gradually over six months -- 16 months, withdrawal. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain -- this is a fundamental difference between us, we will end this war. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| For John McCain, there's no end in sight to end this war, fundamental difference. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We will end this war. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq and that is not what our troops need to hear today, that's for sure. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And it's not what our nation needs to be able to count on. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You guys opposed the surge. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The surge worked. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama still can't admit the surge works.We'll know when we're finished in Iraq when the Iraqi government can govern its people and when the Iraqi security forces can secure its people. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And our commanders on the ground will tell us when those conditions have been met. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And Maliki and Talabani also in working with us are knowing again that we are getting closer and closer to that point, that victory that's within sight. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, you said regarding Senator McCain's military policies there, Senator Biden, that you supported a lot of these things. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, you said in fact that you wanted to run, you'd be honored to run with him on the ticket, and that's an indication I think of some of the support that you had at least until you became the VP pick here. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You also said that Barack Obama was not ready to be commander in chief. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I know again that you opposed the move that he made to try to cut off funding for the troops and I respect you for that. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I don't know how you can defend that position now, but I know that you know especially with your son in the National Guard and I have great respect for your family also and the honor that you show our military. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama though, another story there. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Anyone I think who can cut off funding for the troops after promising not to is another story. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Biden? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain voted to cut off funding for the troops. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let me say that again: John McCain voted against an amendment containing $1 billion, $600 million that I had gotten to get MRAPS, those things that are protecting the governor's son and pray god my son and a lot of other sons and daughters.He voted against it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He voted against funding because he said the amendment had a time line in it to end this war, and he didn't like that. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But let's get straight who has been right and wrong. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain and Dick Cheney said when I was saying we would not be greeted as liberators, we would not - this war would take a decade, not a day, not a week, not six months, we would not be out of there quickly. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain was saying the Sunnis and Shias got along with each other without reading the history of the last 700 years. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain said there would be enough oil to pay for this. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain has been dead wrong. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I love him. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| As my mother would say, god love him, but he's been dead wrong on the fundamental issues relating to the conduct of the war. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama has been right. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There are the facts. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let's move to Iran and Pakistan. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm curious about what you think starting with you Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Which is the greater threat, a nuclear Iran or an unstable Afghanistan? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Explain why. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, they're both extremely dangerous. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I always am focused, as you know Gwen, I have been focusing on for a long time, along with Barack on Pakistan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Pakistan already has nuclear weapons. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Pakistan already has deployed nuclear weapons. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Pakistan's weapons can already hit Israel and the Mediterranean. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be very, very destabilizing. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They are more than - they are not close to getting a nuclear weapon that's able to be deployed. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So they're both very dangerous. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They both would be game changers. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But look, here's what the fundamental problem I have with John's policy about terror instability. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John continues to tell us that the central war in the front on terror is in Iraq. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I promise you, if an attack comes in the homeland, it's going to come as our security services have said, it is going to come from al Qaeda planning in the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's where they live. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's where they are. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's where it will come from. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And right now that resides in Pakistan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A stable government needs to be established. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need to support that democracy by helping them not only with their military but with their governance as well as their economic well-being.There have been 7,000 madrasses built along that border. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We should be helping them build schools to compete for those hearts and minds of the people in the region so that we're actually able to take on terrorism. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And by the way, that's where bin Laden lives and we will go at him if we have actionable intelligence. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, nuclear Pakistan, unstable Pakistan, nuclear Iran? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Which is the greater threat? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Both are extremely dangerous, of course. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And as for who termed that central war on terror being in Iraq, it was General Petraeus and al Qaeda, both leaders there and it's probably the only thing that they're ever going to agree on, but that it was a central war on terror is in Iraq. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You don't have to believe me or John McCain on that. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I would believe Petraeus and that leader of al Qaeda.An armed, nuclear armed especially, Iran is so extremely dangerous to consider. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons period. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Israel is in jeopardy of course when we're dealing with Ahmadinejad as a leader of Iran. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Iran claiming that Israel is, he termed it, a stinking corpse, a country that should be wiped off the face of the earth. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now a leader like Ahmadinejad who is not sane or stable when he says things like that is not one whom we can allow to acquire nuclear energy, nuclear weapons. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, the Castro brothers, others who are dangerous dictators are ones that Barack Obama has said he would be willing to meet with without preconditions being met first. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| An issue like that taken up by a presidential candidate goes beyond naivete and goes beyond poor judgment. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A statement that he made like that is downright dangerous, because leaders like Ahmadinejad who would seek to acquire nuclear weapons and wipe off the face of the earth an ally like we have in Israel should not be met with without preconditions and diplomatic efforts being undertaken first. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor and senator, I want you both to respond to this. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Secretaries of State Baker, Kissinger, Powell, they have all advocated some level of engagement with enemies. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Do you think these former secretaries of state are wrong on that? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| No, and Dr. Henry Kissinger especially. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I had a good conversation with him recently. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And he shared with me also his passion for diplomacy. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what John McCain and I would engage in also. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But again, with some of these dictators who hate America and hate what we stand for, with our freedoms, our democracy, our tolerance, our respect for women's rights, those who would try to destroy what we stand for cannot be met with just sitting down on a presidential level as Barack Obama had said he would be willing to do. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That is beyond bad judgment. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That is dangerous.No, diplomacy is very important. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| First and foremost, that is what we would engage in. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But diplomacy is hard work by serious people. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's lining out clear objectives and having your friends and your allies ready to back you up there and have sanctions lined up also before any kind of presidential summit would take place. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Can I clarify this? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's just simply not true about Barack Obama. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He did not say sit down with Ahmadinejad. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The fact of the matter is, it surprises me that Senator McCain doesn't realize that Ahmadinejad does not control the security apparatus in Iran. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The theocracy controls the security apparatus, number one.Number two, five secretaries of state did say we should talk with and sit down. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, John and Governor Palin now say they're all for -- they have a passion, I think the phrase was, a passion for diplomacy and that we have to bring our friends and allies along. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Our friends and allies have been saying, Gwen, "Sit down. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Talk. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Talk. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | NaN | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Talk." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Our friends and allies have been saying that, five secretaries of state, three of them Republicans. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And John McCain has said he would go along with an agreement, but he wouldn't sit down. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, how do you do that when you don't have your administration sit down and talk with the adversary? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And look what President Bush did. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| After five years, he finally sent a high-ranking diplomat to meet with the highest-ranking diplomats in Iran, in Europe, to try to work out an arrangement. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Our allies are on that same page. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And if we don't go the extra mile on diplomacy, what makes you think the allies are going to sit with us? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The last point I'll make, John McCain said as recently as a couple of weeks ago he wouldn't even sit down with the government of Spain, a NATO ally that has troops in Afghanistan with us now. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I find that incredible. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, you mentioned Israel and your support for Israel. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Yes. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What has this administration done right or wrong -- this is the great, lingering, unresolved issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- what have they done? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And is a two-state solution the solution? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A two-state solution is the solution. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And Secretary Rice, having recently met with leaders on one side or the other there, also, still in these waning days of the Bush administration, trying to forge that peace, and that needs to be done, and that will be top of an agenda item, also, under a McCain-Palin administration.Israel is our strongest and best ally in the Middle East. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have got to assure them that we will never allow a second Holocaust, despite, again, warnings from Iran and any other country that would seek to destroy Israel, that that is what they would like to see. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We will support Israel. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A two-state solution, building our embassy, also, in Jerusalem, those things that we look forward to being able to accomplish, with this peace-seeking nation, and they have a track record of being able to forge these peace agreements. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They succeeded with Jordan. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They succeeded with Egypt. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm sure that we're going to see more success there, also. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's got to be a commitment of the United States of America, though. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I can promise you, in a McCain-Palin administration, that commitment is there to work with our friends in Israel. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Gwen, no one in the United States Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I would have never, ever joined this ticket were I not absolutely sure Barack Obama shared my passion.But you asked a question about whether or not this administration's policy had made sense or something to that effect. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It has been an abject failure, this administration's policy. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| In fairness to Secretary Rice, she's trying to turn it around now in the seventh or eighth year. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Here's what the president said when we said no. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He insisted on elections on the West Bank, when I said, and others said, and Barack Obama said, "Big mistake. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Hamas will win. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You'll legitimize them." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What happened? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Hamas won. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, "Move NATO forces in there. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now what's happened? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The fact of the matter is, the policy of this administration has been an abject failure. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And speaking of freedom being on the march, the only thing on the march is Iran. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's closer to a bomb. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Its proxies now have a major stake in Lebanon, as well as in the Gaza Strip with Hamas. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We will change this policy with thoughtful, real, live diplomacy that understands that you must back Israel in letting them negotiate, support their negotiation, and stand with them, not insist on policies like this administration has. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Has this administration's policy been an abject failure, as the senator says, Governor? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| No, I do not believe that it has been. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But I'm so encouraged to know that we both love Israel, and I think that is a good thing to get to agree on, Senator Biden. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I respect your position on that.No, in fact, when we talk about the Bush administration, there's a time, too, when Americans are going to say, "Enough is enough with your ticket," on constantly looking backwards, and pointing fingers, and doing the blame game. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There have been huge blunders in the war. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There have been huge blunders throughout this administration, as there are with every administration. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But for a ticket that wants to talk about change and looking into the future, there's just too much finger-pointing backwards to ever make us believe that that's where you're going. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Positive change is coming, though. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Reform of government is coming. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We'll learn from the past mistakes in this administration and other administrations. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we're going to forge ahead with putting government back on the side of the people and making sure that our country comes first, putting obsessive partisanship aside. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's what John McCain has been known for in all these years. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He has been the maverick. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He has ruffled feathers. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But I know, Senator Biden, you have respected him for that, and I respect you for acknowledging that. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But change is coming. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Just looking backwards, Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look, past is prologue, Gwen. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The issue is, how different is John McCain's policy going to be than George Bush's? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I haven't heard anything yet.I haven't heard how his policy is going to be different on Iran than George Bush's. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I haven't heard how his policy is going to be different with Israel than George Bush's. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I haven't heard how his policy in Afghanistan is going to be different than George Bush's. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I haven't heard how his policy in Pakistan is going to be different than George Bush's. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It may be. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But so far, it is the same as George Bush's. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And you know where that policy has taken us. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We will make significant change so, once again, we're the most respected nation in the world. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's what we're going to do. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, on another issue, interventionism, nuclear weapons. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What should be the trigger, or should there be a trigger, when nuclear weapons use is ever put into play? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Nuclear weaponry, of course, would be the be all, end all of just too many people in too many parts of our planet, so those dangerous regimes, again, cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, period.Our nuclear weaponry here in the U.S. is used as a deterrent. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's a safe, stable way to use nuclear weaponry. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But for those countries -- North Korea, also, under Kim Jong-il -- we have got to make sure that we're putting the economic sanctions on these countries and that we have friends and allies supporting us in this to make sure that leaders like Kim Jong-il and Ahmadinejad are not allowed to acquire, to proliferate, or to use those nuclear weapons. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It is that important. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Can we talk about Afghanistan real quick, also, though? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Certainly. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| OK, I'd like to just really quickly mention there, too, that when you look back and you say that the Bush administration's policy on Afghanistan perhaps would be the same as McCain, and that's not accurate.The surge principles, not the exact strategy, but the surge principles that have worked in Iraq need to be implemented in Afghanistan, also. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that, perhaps, would be a difference with the Bush administration. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Barack Obama had said that all we're doing in Afghanistan is air-raiding villages and killing civilians. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And such a reckless, reckless comment and untrue comment, again, hurts our cause. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's not what we're doing there. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're fighting terrorists, and we're securing democracy, and we're building schools for children there so that there is opportunity in that country, also. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There will be a big difference there, and we will win in -- in Afghanistan, also. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator, you may talk about nuclear use, if you'd like, and also about Afghanistan. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'll talk about both. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| With Afghanistan, facts matter, Gwen.The fact is that our commanding general in Afghanistan said today that a surge -- the surge principles used in Iraq will not -- well, let me say this again now -- our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan, not Joe Biden, our commanding general in Afghanistan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He said we need more troops. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need government-building. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need to spend more money on the infrastructure in Afghanistan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look, we have spent more money -- we spend more money in three weeks on combat in Iraq than we spent on the entirety of the last seven years that we have been in Afghanistan building that country. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let me say that again. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Three weeks in Iraq; seven years, seven years or six-and-a-half years in Afghanistan. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now, that's number one. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Number two, with regard to arms control and weapons, nuclear weapons require a nuclear arms control regime. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain voted against a Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty that every Republican has supported. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain has opposed amending the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty with an amendment to allow for inspections. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain has not been -- has not been the kind of supporter for dealing with -- and let me put it another way. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My time is almost up. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama, first thing he did when he came to the United States Senate, new senator, reached across the aisle to my colleague, Dick Lugar, a Republican, and said, "We've got to do something about keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They put together a piece of legislation that, in fact, was serious and real. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Every major -- I shouldn't say every -- on the two at least that I named, I know that John McCain has been opposed to extending the arms control regime in the world. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, first, McClellan did not say definitively the surge principles would not work in Afghanistan. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Certainly, accounting for different conditions in that different country and conditions are certainly different. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have NATO allies helping us for one and even the geographic differences are huge but the counterinsurgency principles could work in Afghanistan. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| McClellan didn't say anything opposite of that. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The counterinsurgency strategy going into Afghanistan, clearing, holding, rebuilding, the civil society and the infrastructure can work in Afghanistan. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And those leaders who are over there, who have also been advising George Bush on this have not said anything different but that. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, our commanding general did say that. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The fact of the matter is that again, I'll just put in perspective, while Barack and I and Chuck Hagel and Dick Lugar have been calling for more money to help in Afghanistan, more troops in Afghanistan, John McCain was saying two years ago quote, "The reason we don't read about Afghanistan anymore in the paper, it's succeeded.Barack Obama was saying we need more troops there. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Again, we spend in three weeks on combat missions in Iraq, more than we spent in the entire time we have been in Afghanistan. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That will change in a Barack Obama administration. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator, you have quite a record, this is the next question here, of being an interventionist. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You argued for intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo, initially in Iraq and Pakistan and now in Darfur, putting U.S. troops on the ground. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Boots on the ground. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Is this something the American public has the stomach for? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think the American public has the stomach for success. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My recommendations on Bosnia. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I admit I was the first one to recommend it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They saved tens of thousands of lives. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And initially John McCain opposed it along with a lot of other people. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But the end result was it worked. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look what we did in Bosnia. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We took Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, being told by everyone, I was told by everyone that this would mean that they had been fighting and killing each other for a thousand years, it would never work.There's a relatively stable government there now as there is in Kosovo. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| With regard to Iraq, I indicated that it would be a mistake to -- I gave the president the power. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I voted for the power because he said he needed it not to go to war but to keep the United States, the UN in line, to keep sanctions on Iraq and not let them be lifted. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I, along with Dick Lugar, before we went to war, said if we were to go to war without our allies, without the kind of support we need, we'd be there for a decade and it'd cost us tens of billions of dollars. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain said, no, it was going to be OK. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I don't have the stomach for genocide when it comes to Darfur. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We can now impose a no-fly zone. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's within our capacity. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We can lead NATO if we're willing to take a hard stand. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We can, I've been in those camps in Chad. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I've seen the suffering, thousands and tens of thousands have died and are dying. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We should rally the world to act and we should demonstrate it by our own movement to provide the helicopters to get the 21,000 forces of the African Union in there now to stop this genocide. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, senator. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Oh, yeah, it's so obvious I'm a Washington outsider. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And someone just not used to the way you guys operate. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Because here you voted for the war and now you oppose the war. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You're one who says, as so many politicians do, I was for it before I was against it or vice- versa. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Americans are craving that straight talk and just want to know, hey, if you voted for it, tell us why you voted for it and it was a war resolution.And you had supported John McCain's military strategies pretty adamantly until this race and you had opposed very adamantly Barack Obama's military strategy, including cutting off funding for the troops that attempt all through the primary. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I watched those debates, so I remember what those were all about. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But as for as Darfur, we can agree on that also, the supported of the no-fly zone, making sure that all options are on the table there also. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| America is in a position to help. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What I've done in my position to help, as the governor of a state that's pretty rich in natural resources, we have a $40 billion investment fund, a savings fund called the Alaska Permanent Fund. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren't doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That legislation hasn't passed yet but it needs to because all of us, as individuals, and as humanitarians and as elected officials should do all we can to end those atrocities in that region of the world. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Is there a line that should be drawn about when we decide to go in? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Absolutely. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There is a line that should be drawn. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What is it? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The line that should be drawn is whether we A, first of all have the capacity to do anything about it number one. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And number two, there are certain new lines that have to be drawn internationally. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When a country engages in genocide, when a country engaging in harboring terrorists and will do nothing about it, at that point that country in my view and Barack's view forfeits their right to say you have no right to intervene at all.The truth of the matter is, though, let's go back to John McCain's strategy. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I never supported John McCain's strategy on the war. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain said exactly what Dick Cheney said, go back and look at Barack Obama's statements and mine. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Go look at joebiden.com, contemporaneously, held hearings in the summer before we went to war, saying if we went to war, we would not be greeted as liberator, we would have a fight between Sunnis and Shias, we would be tied down for a decade and cost us hundreds of billions of dollars. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain was saying the exact opposite. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain was lock- step with Dick Cheney at that point how this was going to be easy. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So John McCain's strategy in this war, not just whether or not to go, the actual conduct of the war has been absolutely wrong from the outset. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I beg to disagree with you, again, here on whether you supported Barack Obama or John McCain's strategies. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Here again, you can say what you want to say a month out before people are asked to vote on this, but we listened to the debates.I think tomorrow morning, the pundits are going to start do the who said what at what time and we'll have proof of some of this, but, again, John McCain who knows how to win a war. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Who's been there and he's faced challenges and he knows what evil is and knows what it takes to overcome the challenges here with our military. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He knows to learn from the mistakes and blunders we have seen in the war in Iraq, especially. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He will know how to implement the strategies, working with our commanders and listening to what they have to say, taking the politics out of these war issues. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He'll know how to win a war. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, governor.Probably the biggest cliche about the vice-presidency is that it's a heartbeat away, everybody's waiting to see what would happen if the worst happened. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| How would -- you disagree on some things from your principles, you disagree on drilling in Alaska, the National Wildlife Refuge, you disagree on the surveillance law, at least you have in the past. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| How would a Biden administration be different from an Obama administration if that were to happen. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| God forbid that would ever happen, it would be a national tragedy of historic proportions if it were to happen.But if it did, I would carry out Barack Obama's policies, his policies of reinstating the middle class, making sure they get a fair break, making sure they have access to affordable health insurance, making sure they get serious tax breaks, making sure we can help their children get to college, making sure there is an energy policy that leads us in the direction of not only toward independence and clean environment but an energy policy that creates 5 million new jobs, a foreign policy that ends this war in Iraq, a foreign policy that goes after the one mission the American public gave the president after 9/11, to get and capture or kill bin Laden and to eliminate al Qaeda. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A policy that would in fact engage our allies in making sure that we knew we were acting on the same page and not dictating. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And a policy that would reject the Bush Doctrine of preemption and regime change and replace it with a doctrine of prevention and cooperation and, ladies and gentlemen, this is the biggest ticket item that we have in this election. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| This is the most important election you will ever, ever have voted in, any of you, since 1932. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And there's such stark differences, I would follow through on Barack's policies because in essence, I agree with every major initiative he is suggesting. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And heaven forbid, yes, that would ever happen, no matter how this ends up, that that would ever happen with either party.As for disagreeing with John McCain and how our administration would work, what do you expect? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A team of mavericks, of course we're not going to agree on 100 percent of everything. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| As we discuss ANWR there, at least we can agree to disagree on that one. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I will keep pushing him on ANWR. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I have so appreciated he has never asked me to check my opinions at the door and he wants a deliberative debate and healthy debate so we can make good policy. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What I would do also, if that were to ever happen, though, is to continue the good work he is so committed to of putting government back on the side of the people and get rid of the greed and corruption on Wall Street and in Washington. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think we need a little bit of reality from Wasilla Main Street there, brought to Washington, DC. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So that people there can understand how the average working class family is viewing bureaucracy in the federal government and Congress, and the inaction of Congress.Just everyday, working-class Americans saying, you know, government, just get out of my way. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| If you're going to do any harm and mandate more things on me and take more of my money and income tax and business taxes, you're going to have a choice in just a few weeks here on either supporting a ticket that wants to create jobs and bolster our economy and win the war or you're going to be supporting a ticket that wants to increase taxes, which ultimately kills jobs, and is going to hurt our economy. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Can I respond? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look, all you've got to do is go down Union Street with me in Wilmington or go to Katie's Restaurant or walk into Home Depot with me where I spend a lot of time and you ask anybody in there whether or not the economic and foreign policy of this administration has made them better off in the last eight years. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And then ask them whether there's a single major initiative that John McCain differs with the president on. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| On taxes, on Iraq, on Afghanistan, on the whole question of how to help education, on the dealing with health care.Look, the people in my neighborhood, they get it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They get it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They know they've been getting the short end of the stick. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So walk with me in my neighborhood, go back to my old neighborhood in Claymont, an old steel town or go up to Scranton with me. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| These people know the middle class has gotten the short end. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The wealthy have done very well. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Corporate America has been rewarded. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's time we change it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Barack Obama will change it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You prefaced your whole comment with the Bush administration. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You mentioned education and I'm glad that you did. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Her reward is in heaven, right? | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Teachers needed to be paid more. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I come from a house full of school teachers. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My grandma was, my dad who is in the audience today, he's a schoolteacher, had been for many years. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching this debate.Education in America has been in some sense in some of our states just accepted to be a little bit lax, and we have got to increase the standards. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| No Child Left Behind was implemented. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It's not doing the job though. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We need to make sure that education in either one of our agendas, I think, absolute top of the line. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My kids as public school participants right now, it's near and dear to my heart. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm very, very concerned about where we're going with education and we have got to ramp it up and put more attention in that arena. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Everybody gets extra credit tonight. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to move on to the next question. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, you said in July that someone would have to explain to you exactly what it is the vice president does every day. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You, senator, said, you would not be vice president under any circumstances. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Now maybe this was just what was going on at the time. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But tell us now, looking forward, what it is you think the vice presidency is worth now. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| In my comment there, it was a lame attempt at a joke and yours was a lame attempt at a joke, too, I guess, because nobody got it. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Of course we know what a vice president does. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They didn't get yours or mine? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Which one didn't they get? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| No, no. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Of course, we know what a vice president does. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's not only to preside over the Senate and will take that position very seriously also. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm thankful that the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president also if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain and I have had good conversations about where I would lead with his agenda, and that is energy independence in America and reform of government over all, and then working with families of children with special needs. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's near and dear to my heart also. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And in those arenas, John McCain has already tapped me and said, that's where I want you, I want you to lead. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I said, I can't wait to get there and go to work with you. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Gwen, I hope we'll get back to education because I don't know any government program that John is supporting, not early education, more money for it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The reason No Child Left Behind was left behind was the money was left behind, we didn't fund it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But we can get back to that I assume.With regard to the role of vice president, I had a long talk, as I'm sure the governor did with her principal, in my case with Barack. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And let me tell you what Barack asked me to do. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I have a history of getting things done in the United States Senate. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain would acknowledge that. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My record shows that on controversial issues. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I would be the point person for the legislative initiatives in the United States Congress for our administration. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I would also, when asked if I wanted a portfolio, my response was, no. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But Barack Obama indicated to me he wanted me with him to help him govern. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So every major decision he'll be making, I'll be sitting in the room to give him my best advice. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He's president, not me, I'll give my best advice. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And one of the things he said early on when he was choosing, he said he picked someone who had an independent judgment and wouldn't be afraid to tell him if he disagreed. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That is sort of my reputation, as you know. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So I look forward to working with Barack and playing a very constructive role in his presidency, bringing about the kind of change this country needs. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor, you mentioned a moment ago that the Constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the Office of the Vice President. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation.And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as V.P. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| with McCain, not only as a governor, but earlier on as a mayor, as an oil and gas regulator, as a business owner. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It is those years of experience on an executive level that will be put to good use in the White House also. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Vice President Cheney's interpretation of the vice presidency? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The idea he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He works in the Executive Branch. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He should understand that. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Everyone should understand that.And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The Constitution is explicit. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He has no authority relative to the Congress. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The idea he's part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive and look where it has gotten us. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It has been very dangerous. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let's talk conventional wisdom for a moment. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The conventional wisdom, Governor Palin, with you, is that your Achilles heel is that you lack experience. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Your conventional wisdom against you is that your Achilles heel is that you lack discipline, Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What is it really for you, Governor Palin? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| What is it really for you, Senator Biden? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Start with you, governor. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| My experience as an executive will be put to good use as a mayor and business owner and oil and gas regulator and then as governor of a huge state, a huge energy-producing state that is accounting for much progress towards getting our nation energy independence and that's extremely important.But it wasn't just that experience tapped into, it was my connection to the heartland of America. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Being a mom, being one who is very concerned about a son in the war, about a special needs child, about kids heading off to college, how are we going to pay those tuition bills? | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| About times and Todd and our marriage in our past where we didn't have health insurance and we know what other Americans are going through as they sit around the kitchen table and try to figure out, how are they going to pay out-of-pocket for health care? | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We've been there also so that connection was important. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But even more important is that worldview that I share with John McCain. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That worldview that says that America is a nation of exceptionalism. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we are to be that shining city on a hill, as President Reagan so beautifully said, that we are a beacon of hope and that we are unapologetic here. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We are not perfect as a nation. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But together, we represent a perfect ideal, and that is democracy and tolerance and freedom and equal rights. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Those things that we stand for that can be put to good use as a force for good in this world. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain and I share that, and you combine all that with being a team with the only track record of making a really, a difference in where we've been and reforming, and that's a good team, it's a good ticket. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You're very kind suggesting my only Achilles heel is my lack of discipline. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Others talk about my excessive passion. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm not going to change. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I have 35 years in public office. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| People can judge who I am. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I haven't changed in that time.And, by the way, a record of change -- I will place my record and Barack's record against John McCain's or anyone else in terms of fundamental accomplishments. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Wrote the crime bill, put 100,000 cops on the street, wrote the Violence Against Women Act, which John McCain voted against both of them, was the catalyst to change the circumstance in Bosnia, led by President Clinton, obviously. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look, I understand what it's like to be a single parent. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When my wife and daughter died and my two sons were gravely injured, I understand what it's like as a parent to wonder what it's like if your kid's going to make it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I understand what it's like to sit around the kitchen table with a father who says, "I've got to leave, champ, because there's no jobs here. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I got to head down to Wilmington. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And when we get enough money, honey, we'll bring you down." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I understand what it's like. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'm much better off than almost all Americans now. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I get a good salary with the United States Senate. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I live in a beautiful house that's my total investment that I have. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So I -- I am much better off now. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But the notion that somehow, because I'm a man, I don't know what it's like to raise two kids alone, I don't know what it's like to have a child you're not sure is going to -- is going to make it -- I understand. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I understand, as well as, with all due respect, the governor or anybody else, what it's like for those people sitting around that kitchen table. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And guess what? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They're looking for help. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They're looking for help. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | NaN | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They're not looking for more of the same. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| People aren't looking for more of the same. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| They are looking for change. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And John McCain has been the consummate maverick in the Senate over all these years.He's taken shots left and right from the other party and from within his own party, because he's had to take on his own party when the time was right, when he recognized it was time to put partisanship aside and just do what was right for the American people. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's what I've done as governor, also, take on my own party, when I had to, and work with both sides of the aisle, in my cabinet, appointing those who would serve regardless of party, Democrats, independents, Republicans, whatever it took to get the job done. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Also, John McCain's maverick position that he's in, that's really prompt up to and indicated by the supporters that he has. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Look at Lieberman, and Giuliani, and Romney, and Lingle, and all of us who come from such a diverse background of -- of policy and of partisanship, all coming together at this time, recognizing he is the man that we need to leave -- lead in these next four years, because these are tumultuous times. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have got to win the wars. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have got to get our economy back on track. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have got to not allow the greed and corruption on Wall Street anymore. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we have not got to allow the partisanship that has really been entrenched in Washington, D.C., no matter who's been in charge. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When the Republicans were in charge, I didn't see a lot of progress there, either. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When the Democrats, either, though, this last go- around for the last two years. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Change is coming. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And John McCain is the leader of that reform. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator... | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'll be very brief. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Can I respond to that?Look, the maverick -- let's talk about the maverick John McCain is. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And, again, I love him. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He's been a maverick on some issues, but he has been no maverick on the things that matter to people's lives. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget, which put us a half a trillion dollars in debt this year and over $3 trillion in debt since he's got there. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He has not been a maverick in providing health care for people. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He has voted against -- he voted including another 3.6 million children in coverage of the existing health care plan, when he voted in the United States Senate. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He's not been a maverick when it comes to education. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He's not been a maverick on the war. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He's not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Can we send -- can we get Mom's MRI? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Can we send Mary back to school next semester? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We can't -- we can't make it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| How are we going to heat the -- heat the house this winter? | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He voted against even providing for what they call LIHEAP, for assistance to people, with oil prices going through the roof in the winter. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| So maverick he is not on the important, critical issues that affect people at that kitchen table. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Final question tonight, before your closing statements, starting with you, Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Can you think of a single issue -- and this is to cast light for people who are just trying to get to know you in your final debate, your only debate of this year -- can you think of a single issue, policy issue, in which you were forced to change a long-held view in order to accommodate changed circumstances? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Yes, I can. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| When I got to the United States Senate and went on the Judiciary Committee as a young lawyer, I was of the view and had been trained in the view that the only thing that mattered was whether or not a nominee appointed, suggested by the president had a judicial temperament, had not committed a crime of moral turpitude, and was -- had been a good student.And it didn't take me long -- it was hard to change, but it didn't take me long, but it took about five years for me to realize that the ideology of that judge makes a big difference. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's why I led the fight against Judge Bork. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Had he been on the court, I suspect there would be a lot of changes that I don't like and the American people wouldn't like, including everything from Roe v. Wade to issues relating to civil rights and civil liberties. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And so that -- that -- that was one of the intellectual changes that took place in my career as I got a close look at it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why I was the first chairman of the Judiciary Committee to forthrightly state that it matters what your judicial philosophy is. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| The American people have a right to understand it and to know it. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But I did change on that, and -- and I'm glad I did. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| There have been times where, as mayor and governor, we have passed budgets that I did not veto and that I think could be considered as something that I quasi-caved in, if you will, but knowing that it was the right thing to do in order to progress the agenda for that year and to work with the legislative body, that body that actually holds the purse strings.So there were times when I wanted to zero-base budget, and to cut taxes even more, and I didn't have enough support in order to accomplish that. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But on the major principle things, no, there hasn't been something that I've had to compromise on, because we've always seemed to find a way to work together. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Up there in Alaska, what we have done is, with bipartisan efforts, is work together and, again, not caring who gets the credit for what, as we accomplish things up there. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's been just a part of the operation that I wanted to participate in. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what we're going to do in Washington, D.C., also, bring in both sides together. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| John McCain is known for doing that, also, in order to get the work done for the American people. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Let's come full circle. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You both want to bring both sides together. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You both talk about bipartisanship. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Once again, we saw what happened this week in Washington. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| How do you change the tone, as vice president, as number-two? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, again, I believe John McCain, were he here -- and this is a dangerous thing to say in the middle of an election -- but he would acknowledge what I'm about to say.I have been able to work across the aisle on some of the most controversial issues and change my party's mind, as well as Republicans', because I learned a lesson from Mike Mansfield. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Mike Mansfield, a former leader of the Senate, said to me one day -- he -- I made a criticism of Jesse Helms. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He said, "What would you do if I told you Jesse Helms and Dot Helms had adopted a child who had braces and was in real need?" | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I said, "I'd feel like a jerk." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He said, "Joe, understand one thing. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Everyone's sent here for a reason, because there's something in them that their folks like. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Don't question their motive." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I have never since that moment in my first year questioned the motive of another member of the Congress or Senate with whom I've disagreed. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I've questioned their judgment. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I think that's why I have the respect I have and have been able to work as well as I've been able to have worked in the United States Senate. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's the fundamental change Barack Obama and I will be bring to this party, not questioning other people's motives. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor? | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You do what I did as governor, and you appoint people regardless of party affiliation, Democrats, independents, Republicans. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You -- you walk the walk; you don't just talk the talk.And even in my own family, it's a very diverse family. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And we have folks of all political persuasion in there, also, so I've grown up just knowing that, you know, at the end of the day, as long as we're all working together for the greater good, it's going to be OK. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| But the policies and the proposals have got to speak for themselves, also. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And, again, voters on November 4th are going to have that choice to either support a ticket that supports policies that create jobs. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You do that by lowering taxes on American workers and on our businesses. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And you build up infrastructure, and you rein in government spending, and you make our -- our nation energy independent. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Or you support a ticket that supports policies that will kill jobs by increasing taxes. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what the track record shows, is a desire to increase taxes, increase spending, a trillion-dollar spending proposal that's on the table. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's going to hurt our country, and saying no to energy independence. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Clear choices on November 4th. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Governor Palin, you get the chance to make the first closing statement. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, again, Gwen, I do want to thank you and the commission. | Sarah L. Palin | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| This is such an honor for me.And I appreciate, too, Senator Biden, getting to meet you, finally, also, and getting to debate with you. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I would like more opportunity for this. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I like being able to answer these tough questions without the filter, even, of the mainstream media kind of telling viewers what they've just heard. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I'd rather be able to just speak to the American people like we just did. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And it's so important that the American people know of the choices that they have on November 4th. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I want to assure you that John McCain and I, we're going to fight for America. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to fight for the middle-class, average, everyday American family like mine. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I've been there. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I know what the hurts are. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| I know what the challenges are. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And, thank God, I know what the joys are, too, of living in America. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We are so blessed. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And I've always been proud to be an American. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And so has John McCain. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We have to fight for our freedoms, also, economic and our national security freedoms. | Sarah L. Palin | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we're going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children's children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We will fight for it, and there is only one man in this race who has really ever fought for you, and that's Senator John McCain. | Sarah L. Palin | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, Governor. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Biden. | Gwen Ifill | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Gwen, thank you for doing this, and the commission, and Governor, it really was a pleasure getting to meet you.Look, folks, this is the most important election you've ever voted in your entire life. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| No one can deny that the last eight years, we've been dug into a very deep hole here at home with regard to our economy, and abroad in terms of our credibility. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And there's a need for fundamental change in our economic philosophy, as well as our foreign policy. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And Barack Obama and I don't measure progress toward that change based on whether or not we cut more regulations and how well CEOs are doing, or giving another $4 billion in tax breaks to the Exxon Mobils of the world. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We measure progress in America based on whether or not someone can pay their mortgage, whether or not they can send their kid to college, whether or not they're able to, when they send their child, like we have abroad -- or I'm about to, abroad -- and John has as well, I might add -- to fight, that they are the best equipped and they have everything they need. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And when they come home, they're guaranteed that they have the best health care and the best education possible. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| You know, in the neighborhood I grew up in, it was all about dignity and respect. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| A neighborhood like most of you grew up in. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| And in that neighborhood, it was filled with women and men, mothers and fathers who taught their children if they believed in themselves, if they were honest, if they worked hard, if they loved their country, they could accomplish anything. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| We believed it, and we did. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| That's why Barack Obama and I are running, to re-establish that certitude in our neighborhoods. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Ladies and gentlemen, my dad used to have an expression. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| He'd say, "champ, when you get knocked down, get up." | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Well, it's time for America to get up together. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Claim | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| America's ready, you're ready, I'm ready, and Barack Obama is ready to be the next president of the United States of America. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | Premise | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| May God bless all of you, and most of all, for both of us, selfishly, may God protect our troops. | Joseph(Joe) R. Biden | O | 2008 | 02 Oct 2008 |
| Good evening. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And welcome to the third and last presidential debate of 2008, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm Bob Schieffer of CBS News. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The rules tonight are simple. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The subject is domestic policy. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will divide the next hour-and-a-half into nine-minute segments. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will ask a question at the beginning of each segment. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Each candidate will then have two minutes to respond, and then we'll have a discussion. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'll encourage them to ask follow-up questions of each other. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If they do not, I will. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The audience behind me has promised to be quiet, except at this moment, when we welcome Barack Obama and John McCain. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| (APPLAUSE) Gentlemen, welcome. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| By now, we've heard all the talking points, so let's try to tell the people tonight some things that they -- they haven't heard. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's get to it. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Another very bad day on Wall Street, as both of you know. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Both of you proposed new plans this week to address the economic crisis. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, you proposed a $52 billion plan that includes new tax cuts on capital gains, tax breaks for seniors, write-offs for stock losses, among other things. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, you proposed $60 billion in tax cuts for middle- income and lower-income people, more tax breaks to create jobs, new spending for public works projects to create jobs. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will ask both of you: Why is your plan better than his? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, you go first. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Good evening. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And welcome to the third and last presidential debate of 2008, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm Bob Schieffer of CBS News. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The rules tonight are simple. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The subject is domestic policy. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will divide the next hour-and-a-half into nine-minute segments. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will ask a question at the beginning of each segment. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Each candidate will then have two minutes to respond, and then we'll have a discussion. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'll encourage them to ask follow-up questions of each other. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If they do not, I will. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The audience behind me has promised to be quiet, except at this moment, when we welcome Barack Obama and John McCain. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| (APPLAUSE) Gentlemen, welcome. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| By now, we've heard all the talking points, so let's try to tell the people tonight some things that they -- they haven't heard. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's get to it. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Another very bad day on Wall Street, as both of you know. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Both of you proposed new plans this week to address the economic crisis. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, you proposed a $52 billion plan that includes new tax cuts on capital gains, tax breaks for seniors, write-offs for stock losses, among other things. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, you proposed $60 billion in tax cuts for middle- income and lower-income people, more tax breaks to create jobs, new spending for public works projects to create jobs. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will ask both of you: Why is your plan better than his? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, you go first. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, let -- let me say, Bob, thank you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And thanks to Hofstra. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, by the way, our beloved Nancy Reagan is in the hospital tonight, so our thoughts and prayers are going with you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's good to see you again, Senator Obama. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Americans are hurting right now, and they're angry. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They're hurting, and they're angry. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They're innocent victims of greed and excess on Wall Street and as well as Washington, D.C. And they're angry, and they have every reason to be angry. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And they want this country to go in a new direction. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And there are elements of my proposal that you just outlined which I won't repeat. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But we also have to have a short-term fix, in my view, and long- term fixes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me just talk to you about one of the short-term fixes. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The catalyst for this housing crisis was the Fannie and Freddie Mae that caused subprime lending situation that now caused the housing market in America to collapse. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I am convinced that, until we reverse this continued decline in home ownership and put a floor under it, and so that people have not only the hope and belief they can stay in their homes and realize the American dream, but that value will come up. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, we have allocated $750 billion. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's take 300 of that billion and go in and buy those home loan mortgages and negotiate with those people in their homes, 11 million homes or more, so that they can afford to pay the mortgage, stay in their home. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, I know the criticism of this. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, what about the citizen that stayed in their homes? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That paid their mortgage payments? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It doesn't help that person in their home if the next door neighbor's house is abandoned. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And so we've got to reverse this. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We ought to put the homeowners first. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I am disappointed that Secretary Paulson and others have not made that their first priority. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, first of all, I want to thank Hofstra University and the people of New York for hosting us tonight and it's wonderful to join Senator McCain again, and thank you, Bob. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think everybody understands at this point that we are experiencing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the financial rescue plan that Senator McCain and I supported is an important first step. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I pushed for some core principles: making sure that taxpayer can get their money back if they're putting money up. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Making sure that CEOs are not enriching themselves through this process. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think that it's going to take some time to work itself out. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But what we haven't yet seen is a rescue package for the middle class. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Because the fundamentals of the economy were weak even before this latest crisis. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I've proposed four specific things that I think can help. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Number one, let's focus on jobs. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I want to end the tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and provide a tax credit for every company that's creating a job right here in America. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Number two, let's help families right away by providing them a tax cut -- a middle-class tax cut for people making less than $200,000, and let's allow them to access their IRA accounts without penalty if they're experiencing a crisis. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now Senator McCain and I agree with your idea that we've got to help homeowners. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's why we included in the financial package a proposal to get homeowners in a position where they can renegotiate their mortgages. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I disagree with Senator McCain in how to do it, because the way Senator McCain has designed his plan, it could be a giveaway to banks if we're buying full price for mortgages that now are worth a lot less. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we don't want to waste taxpayer money. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we've got to get the financial package working much quicker than it has been working. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Last point I want to make, though. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got some long-term challenges in this economy that have to be dealt with. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to fix our energy policy that's giving our wealth away. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to fix our health care system and we've got to invest in our education system for every young person to be able to learn. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Would you like to ask him a question? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| No. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I would like to mention that a couple days ago Senator Obama was out in Ohio and he had an encounter with a guy who's a plumber, his name is Joe Wurzelbacher. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Joe wants to buy the business that he has been in for all of these years, worked 10, 12 hours a day. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And he wanted to buy the business but he looked at your tax plan and he saw that he was going to pay much higher taxes. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You were going to put him in a higher tax bracket which was going to increase his taxes, which was going to cause him not to be able to employ people, which Joe was trying to realize the American dream. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now Senator Obama talks about the very, very rich. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Joe, I want to tell you, I'll not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and be able -- and I'll keep your taxes low and I'll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I will not have -- I will not stand for a tax increase on small business income. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Fifty percent of small business income taxes are paid by small businesses. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's 16 million jobs in America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And what you want to do to Joe the plumber and millions more like him is have their taxes increased and not be able to realize the American dream of owning their own business. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Is that what you want to do? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's what Joe believes. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He has been watching ads of Senator McCain's. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me tell you what I'm actually going to do. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think tax policy is a major difference between Senator McCain and myself. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we both want to cut taxes, the difference is who we want to cut taxes for. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator McCain, the centerpiece of his economic proposal is to provide $200 billion in additional tax breaks to some of the wealthiest corporations in America. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Exxon Mobil, and other oil companies, for example, would get an additional $4 billion in tax breaks. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What I've said is I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans, 95 percent. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you make more -- if you make less than a quarter million dollars a year, then you will not see your income tax go up, your capital gains tax go up, your payroll tax. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Not one dime. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And 95 percent of working families, 95 percent of you out there, will get a tax cut. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, independent studies have looked at our respective plans and have concluded that I provide three times the amount of tax relief to middle-class families than Senator McCain does. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, the conversation I had with Joe the plumber, what I essentially said to him was, "Five years ago, when you were in a position to buy your business, you needed a tax cut then." | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And what I want to do is to make sure that the plumber, the nurse, the firefighter, the teacher, the young entrepreneur who doesn't yet have money, I want to give them a tax break now. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that requires us to make some important choices. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The last point I'll make about small businesses. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Not only do 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000, but I also want to give them additional tax breaks, because they are the drivers of the economy. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They produce the most jobs. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You know, when Senator Obama ended up his conversation with Joe the plumber -- we need to spread the wealth around. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In other words, we're going to take Joe's money, give it to Senator Obama, and let him spread the wealth around. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I want Joe the plumber to spread that wealth around. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You told him you wanted to spread the wealth around. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The whole premise behind Senator Obama's plans are class warfare, let's spread the wealth around. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I want small businesses -- and by the way, the small businesses that we're talking about would receive an increase in their taxes right now. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Who -- why would you want to increase anybody's taxes right now? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Why would you want to do that, anyone, anyone in America, when we have such a tough time, when these small business people, like Joe the plumber, are going to create jobs, unless you take that money from him and spread the wealth around. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm not going to... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| OK. Can I... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're not going to do that in my administration. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If I can answer the question. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Number one, I want to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, it is true that my friend and supporter, Warren Buffett, for example, could afford to pay a little more in taxes in order... | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're talking about Joe the plumber. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... in order to give -- in order to give additional tax cuts to Joe the plumber before he was at the point where he could make $250,000. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Then Exxon Mobil, which made $12 billion, record profits, over the last several quarters, they can afford to pay a little more so that ordinary families who are hurting out there -- they're trying to figure out how they're going to afford food, how they're going to save for their kids' college education, they need a break. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So, look, nobody likes taxes. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I would prefer that none of us had to pay taxes, including myself. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But ultimately, we've got to pay for the core investments that make this economy strong and somebody's got to do it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Nobody likes taxes. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's not raise anybody's taxes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| OK? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, I don't mind paying a little more. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The fact is that businesses in America today are paying the second highest tax rate of anywhere in the world. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Our tax rate for business in America is 35 percent. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Ireland, it's 11 percent. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Where are companies going to go where they can create jobs and where they can do best in business? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to cut the business tax rate in America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to encourage business. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, of all times in America, we need to cut people's taxes. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to encourage business, create jobs, not spread the wealth around. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's go to another topic. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's related. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So if you have other things you want to say, you can get back to that. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This question goes to you first, Senator Obama. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We found out yesterday that this year's deficit will reach an astounding record high $455 billion. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Some experts say it could go to $1 trillion next year. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Both of you have said you want to reduce the deficit, but the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget ran the numbers on both of your proposals and they say the cost of your proposals, even with the savings you claim can be made, each will add more than $200 billion to the deficit. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Aren't you both ignoring reality? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Won't some of the programs you are proposing have to be trimmed, postponed, even eliminated? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Give us some specifics on what you're going to cut back. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, first of all, I think it's important for the American public to understand that the $750 billion rescue package, if it's structured properly, and, as president, I will make sure it's structured properly, means that ultimately taxpayers get their money back, and that's important to understand. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But there is no doubt that we've been living beyond our means and we're going to have to make some adjustments. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, what I've done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I haven't made a promise about... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But you're going to have to cut some of these programs, certainly. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Absolutely. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So let me get to that. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What I want to emphasize, though, is that I have been a strong proponent of pay-as- you-go. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Every dollar that I've proposed, I've proposed an additional cut so that it matches. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And some of the cuts, just to give you an example, we spend $15 billion a year on subsidies to insurance companies. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It doesn't -- under the Medicare plan -- it doesn't help seniors get any better. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's not improving our health care system. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's just a giveaway. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to eliminate a whole host of programs that don't work. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I want to go through the federal budget line by line, page by page, programs that don't work, we should cut. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Programs that we need, we should make them work better. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, what is true is that Senator McCain and I have a difference in terms of the need to invest in America and the American people. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I mentioned health care earlier. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If we make investments now so that people have coverage, that we are preventing diseases, that will save on Medicare and Medicaid in the future. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If we invest in a serious energy policy, that will save in the amount of money we're borrowing from China to send to Saudi Arabia. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If we invest now in our young people and their ability to go to college, that will allow them to drive this economy into the 21st century. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But what is absolutely true is that, once we get through this economic crisis and some of the specific proposals to get us out of this slump, that we're not going to be able to go back to our profligate ways. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we're going to have to embrace a culture and an ethic of responsibility, all of us, corporations, the federal government, and individuals out there who may be living beyond their means. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Time's up. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you, Bob. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I just want to get back to this home ownership. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| During the Depression era, we had a thing called the home ownership loan corporation. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And they went out and bought up these mortgages. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And people were able to stay in their homes, and eventually the values of those homes went up, and they actually made money. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, by the way, this was a proposal made by Senator Clinton not too long ago. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So, obviously, if we can start increasing home values, then there will be creation of wealth. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But what... | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But -- OK. All right. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The question was, what are you going to cut? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Energy -- well, first -- second of all, energy independence. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have to have nuclear power. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's wind, tide, solar, natural gas, nuclear, off-shore drilling, which Senator Obama has opposed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the point is that we become energy independent and we will create millions of jobs -- millions of jobs in America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| OK, what -- what would I cut? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I would have, first of all, across-the-board spending freeze, OK? | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Some people say that's a hatchet. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's a hatchet, and then I would get out a scalpel, OK? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Because we've got -- we have presided over the largest increase -- we've got to have a new direction for this country. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have presided over the largest increase in government since the Great Society. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Government spending has gone completely out of control; $10 trillion dollar debt we're giving to our kids, a half-a-trillion dollars we owe China. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I know how to save billions of dollars in defense spending. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I know how to eliminate programs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Which ones? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought against -- well, one of them would be the marketing assistance program. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Another one would be a number of subsidies for ethanol. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I oppose subsidies for ethanol because I thought it distorted the market and created inflation; Senator Obama supported those subsidies. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I would eliminate the tariff on imported sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I know how to save billions. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I saved the taxpayer $6.8 billion by fighting a deal for a couple of years, as you might recall, that was a sweetheart deal between an aircraft manufacturer, DOD, and people ended up in jail. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I would fight for a line-item veto, and I would certainly veto every earmark pork-barrel bill. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama has asked for nearly $1 billion in pork-barrel earmark projects... | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Time's up. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... including $3 million for an overhead projector in a planetarium in his hometown. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's not the way we cut -- we'll cut out all the pork. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Time's up. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, look, I think that we do have a disagreement about an across-the-board spending freeze. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It sounds good. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's proposed periodically. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It doesn't happen. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, in fact, an across-the-board spending freeze is a hatchet, and we do need a scalpel, because there are some programs that don't work at all. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| There are some programs that are underfunded. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I want to make sure that we are focused on those programs that work. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator McCain talks a lot about earmarks. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's one of the centerpieces of his campaign. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Earmarks account for 0.5 percent of the total federal budget. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| There's no doubt that the system needs reform and there are a lot of screwy things that we end up spending money on, and they need to be eliminated. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But it's not going to solve the problem. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, the last thing I think we have to focus on is a little bit of history, just so that we understand what we're doing going forward. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| When President Bush came into office, we had a budget surplus and the national debt was a little over $5 trillion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It has doubled over the last eight years. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we are now looking at a deficit of well over half a trillion dollars. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So one of the things that I think we have to recognize is pursuing the same kinds of policies that we pursued over the last eight years is not going to bring down the deficit. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, frankly, Senator McCain voted for four out of five of President Bush's budgets. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to take this in a new direction, that's what I propose as president. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Do either of you think you can balance the budget in four years? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You have said previously you thought you could, Senator McCain. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Sure I do. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And let me tell you... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You can still do that? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Yes. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to give a new direction to this economy in this country. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama talks about voting for budgets. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He voted twice for a budget resolution that increases the taxes on individuals making $42,000 a year. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Of course, we can take a hatchet and a scalpel to this budget. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's completely out of control. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The mayor of New York, Mayor Bloomberg, just imposed an across- the-board spending freeze on New York City. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They're doing it all over America because they have to. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Because they have to balance their budgets. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will balance our budgets and I will get them and I will... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In four years? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... reduce this -- I can -- we can do it with this kind of job creation of energy independence. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, look, Americans are hurting tonight and they're angry and I understand that, and they want a new direction. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I can bring them in that direction by eliminating spending. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama talks about the budgets I voted for. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He voted for the last two budgets that had that $24 billion more in spending than the budget that the Bush administration proposed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He voted for the energy bill that was full of goodies for the oil companies that I opposed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So the fact is, let's look at our records, Senator Obama. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's look at it as graded by the National Taxpayers Union and the Citizens Against Government Waste and the other watchdog organizations. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought against spending. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought against special interests. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought for reform. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You have to tell me one time when you have stood up with the leaders of your party on one single major issue. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Barack. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, there's a lot of stuff that was put out there, so let me try to address it. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| First of all, in terms of standing up to the leaders of my party, the first major bill that I voted on in the Senate was in support of tort reform, which wasn't very popular with trial lawyers, a major constituency in the Democratic Party. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I support... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| An overwhelming vote. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I support charter schools and pay for performance for teachers. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Doesn't make me popular with the teachers union. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I support clean coal technology. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Doesn't make me popular with environmentalists. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I've got a history of reaching across the aisle. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now with respect to a couple of things Senator McCain said, the notion that I voted for a tax increase for people making $42,000 a year has been disputed by everybody who has looked at this claim that Senator McCain keeps on making. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Even FOX News disputes it, and that doesn't happen very often when it comes to accusations about me. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So the fact of the matter is that if I occasionally have mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people, on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities, you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, you've shown independence -- commendable independence, on some key issues like torture, for example, and I give you enormous credit for that. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But when it comes to economic policies, essentially what you're proposing is eight more years of the same thing. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it hasn't worked. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think the American people understand it hasn't worked. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to move in a new direction. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right... | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me just say, Bob. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| OK. About 30 seconds. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| OK. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But it's very clear that I have disagreed with the Bush administration. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have disagreed with leaders of my own party. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I've got the scars to prove it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Whether it be bringing climate change to the floor of the Senate for the first time. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Whether it be opposition to spending and earmarks, whether it be the issue of torture, whether it be the conduct of the war in Iraq, which I vigorously opposed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Whether it be on fighting the pharmaceutical companies on Medicare prescription drugs, importation. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Whether it be fighting for an HMO patient's bill of rights. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Whether it be the establishment of the 9/11 Commission. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have a long record of reform and fighting through on the floor of the United States Senate. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, your argument for standing up to the leadership of your party isn't very convincing. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to move to another question and the topic is leadership in this campaign. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Both of you pledged to take the high road in this campaign yet it has turned very nasty. | Bob Schieffer | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, your campaign has used words like "erratic," "out of touch," "lie," "angry," "losing his bearings" to describe Senator McCain. | Bob Schieffer | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, your commercials have included words like "disrespectful," "dangerous," "dishonorable," "he lied." | Bob Schieffer | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Your running mate said he "palled around with terrorists." | Bob Schieffer | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Are each of you tonight willing to sit at this table and say to each other's face what your campaigns and the people in your campaigns have said about each other? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, Senator McCain, you're first. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, this has been a tough campaign. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's been a very tough campaign. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I know from my experience in many campaigns that, if Senator Obama had asked -- responded to my urgent request to sit down, and do town hall meetings, and come before the American people, we could have done at least 10 of them by now. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| When Senator Obama was first asked, he said, "Any place, any time," the way Barry Goldwater and Jack Kennedy agreed to do, before the intervention of the tragedy at Dallas. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I think the tone of this campaign could have been very different. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the fact is, it's gotten pretty tough. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I regret some of the negative aspects of both campaigns. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But the fact is that it has taken many turns which I think are unacceptable. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| One of them happened just the other day, when a man I admire and respect -- I've written about him -- Congressman John Lewis, an American hero, made allegations that Sarah Palin and I were somehow associated with the worst chapter in American history, segregation, deaths of children in church bombings, George Wallace. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That, to me, was so hurtful. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, Senator Obama, you didn't repudiate those remarks. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Every time there's been an out-of-bounds remark made by a Republican, no matter where they are, I have repudiated them. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I hope that Senator Obama will repudiate those remarks that were made by Congressman John Lewis, very unfair and totally inappropriate. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I want to tell you, we will run a truthful campaign. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This is a tough campaign. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it's a matter of fact that Senator Obama has spent more money on negative ads than any political campaign in history. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I can prove it. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, Senator Obama, when he said -- and he signed a piece of paper that said he would take public financing for his campaign if I did -- that was back when he was a long-shot candidate -- you didn't keep your word. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And when you looked into the camera in a debate with Senator Clinton and said, "I will sit down and negotiate with John McCain about public financing before I make a decision," you didn't tell the American people the truth because you didn't. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's -- that's -- that's an unfortunate part. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now we have the highest spending by Senator Obama's campaign than any time since Watergate. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Time's up. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, look, you know, I think that we expect presidential campaigns to be tough. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that, if you look at the record and the impressions of the American people -- Bob, your network just did a poll, showing that two-thirds of the American people think that Senator McCain is running a negative campaign versus one-third of mine. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And 100 percent, John, of your ads -- 100 percent of them have been negative. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's not true. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It absolutely is true. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, now, I think the American people are less interested in our hurt feelings during the course of the campaign than addressing the issues that matter to them so deeply. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And there is nothing wrong with us having a vigorous debate like we're having tonight about health care, about energy policy, about tax policy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's the stuff that campaigns should be made of. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The notion, though, that because we're not doing town hall meetings that justifies some of the ads that have been going up, not just from your own campaign directly, John, but 527s and other organizations that make some pretty tough accusations, well, I don't mind being attacked for the next three weeks. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What the American people can't afford, though, is four more years of failed economic policies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And what they deserve over the next four weeks is that we talk about what's most pressing to them: the economic crisis. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain's own campaign said publicly last week that, if we keep on talking about the economic crisis, we lose, so we need to change the subject. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I would love to see the next three weeks devoted to talking about the economy, devoted to talking about health care, devoted to talking about energy, and figuring out how the American people can send their kids to college. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that is something that I would welcome. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But it requires, I think, a recognition that politics as usual, as been practiced over the last several years, is not solving the big problems here in America. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, if you'll turn on the television, as I -- I watched the Arizona Cardinals defeat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Congratulations. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Every other ad -- ever other ad was an attack ad on my health care plan. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And any objective observer has said it's not true. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You're running ads right now that say that I oppose federal funding for stem cell research. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I don't. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You're running ads that misportray completely my position on immigration. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So the fact is that Senator Obama is spending unprecedented -- unprecedented in the history of American politics, going back to the beginning, amounts of money in negative attack ads on me. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And of course, I've been talking about the economy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Of course, I've talked to people like Joe the plumber and tell him that I'm not going to spread his wealth around. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to let him keep his wealth. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And of course, we're talking about positive plan of action to restore this economy and restore jobs in America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's what my campaign is all about and that's what it'll continue to be all about. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But again, I did not hear a repudiation of Congressman... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I mean, look, if we want to talk about Congressman Lewis, who is an American hero, he, unprompted by my campaign, without my campaign's awareness, made a statement that he was troubled with what he was hearing at some of the rallies that your running mate was holding, in which all the Republican reports indicated were shouting, when my name came up, things like "terrorist" and "kill him," and that you're running mate didn't mention, didn't stop, didn't say "Hold on a second, that's kind of out of line." | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think Congressman Lewis' point was that we have to be careful about how we deal with our supporters. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You've got to read what he said... (CROSSTALK) | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let -- let -- let... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You've got to read what he said. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me -- let me complete... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Go ahead. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... my response. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I do think that he inappropriately drew a comparison between what was happening there and what had happened during the civil rights movement, and we immediately put out a statement saying that we don't think that comparison is appropriate. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, in fact, afterwards, Congressman Lewis put out a similar statement, saying that he had probably gone over the line. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The important point here is, though, the American people have become so cynical about our politics, because all they see is a tit- for-tat and back-and-forth. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And what they want is the ability to just focus on some really big challenges that we face right now, and that's what I have been trying to focus on this entire campaign. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I cannot... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can have serious differences about our health care policy, for example, John, because we do have a difference on health care policy, but we... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We do and I hope... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... talking about it this evening. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Sure. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But when people suggest that I pal around with terrorists, then we're not talking about issues. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What we're talking about... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, let me just say I would... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| (inaudible) | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me just say categorically I'm proud of the people that come to our rallies. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Whenever you get a large rally of 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people, you're going to have some fringe peoples. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You know that. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I've -- and we've always said that that's not appropriate. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But to somehow say that group of young women who said "Military wives for McCain" are somehow saying anything derogatory about you, but anything -- and those veterans that wear those hats that say "World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq," I'm not going to stand for people saying that the people that come to my rallies are anything but the most dedicated, patriotic men and women that are in this nation and they're great citizens. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I'm not going to stand for somebody saying that because someone yelled something at a rally -- there's a lot of things that have been yelled at your rallies, Senator Obama, that I'm not happy about either. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, some T-shirts that are very... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| John, I... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... unacceptable. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So the point is -- the point is that I have repudiated every time someone's been out of line, whether they've been part of my campaign or not, and I will continue to do that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But the fact is that we need to absolutely not stand for the kind of things that have been going on. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I haven't. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, look, Bob, as I said... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I mean, do you take issue with that? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You know, here's what I would say. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I mean, we can have a debate back and forth about the merits of each other's campaigns. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I suspect we won't agree here tonight. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What I think is most important is that we recognize that to solve the key problems that we're facing, if we're going to solve two wars, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, if we can -- if we're going to focus on lifting wages that have declined over the last eight years and create jobs here in America, then Democrats, independents and Republicans, we're going to have to be able to work together. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And what is important is making sure that we disagree without being disagreeable. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it means that we can have tough, vigorous debates around issues. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What we can't do, I think, is try to characterize each other as bad people. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that has been a culture in Washington that has been taking place for too long. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Bob, you asked me a direct question. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Short answer, yes, short answer. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Yes, real quick. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Mr. Ayers, I don't care about an old washed-up terrorist. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But as Senator Clinton said in her debates with you, we need to know the full extent of that relationship. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The same front outfit organization that your campaign gave $832,000 for "lighting and site selection." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So all of these things need to be examined, of course. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to let you respond and we'll extend this for a moment. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Bob, I think it's going to be important to just -- I'll respond to these two particular allegations that Senator McCain has made and that have gotten a lot of attention. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, Mr. Ayers has become the centerpiece of Senator McCain's campaign over the last two or three weeks. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This has been their primary focus. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So let's get the record straight. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Bill Ayers is a professor of education in Chicago. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Forty years ago, when I was 8 years old, he engaged in despicable acts with a radical domestic group. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have roundly condemned those acts. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Ten years ago he served and I served on a school reform board that was funded by one of Ronald Reagan's former ambassadors and close friends, Mr. Annenberg. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Other members on that board were the presidents of the University of Illinois, the president of Northwestern University, who happens to be a Republican, the president of The Chicago Tribune, a Republican- leaning newspaper. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Mr. Ayers is not involved in my campaign. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He has never been involved in this campaign. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And he will not advise me in the White House. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So that's Mr. Ayers. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, with respect to ACORN, ACORN is a community organization. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Apparently what they've done is they were paying people to go out and register folks, and apparently some of the people who were out there didn't really register people, they just filled out a bunch of names. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It had nothing to do with us. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We were not involved. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The only involvement I've had with ACORN was I represented them alongside the U.S. Justice Department in making Illinois implement a motor voter law that helped people get registered at DMVs. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, the reason I think that it's important to just get these facts out is because the allegation that Senator McCain has continually made is that somehow my associations are troubling. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me tell you who I associate with. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| On economic policy, I associate with Warren Buffett and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If I'm interested in figuring out my foreign policy, I associate myself with my running mate, Joe Biden or with Dick Lugar, the Republican ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, or General Jim Jones, the former supreme allied commander of NATO. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Those are the people, Democrats and Republicans, who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the White House. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think the fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Senator McCain, says more about your campaign than it says about me. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, again, while you were on the board of the Woods Foundation, you and Mr. Ayers, together, you sent $230,000 to ACORN. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So -- and you launched your political campaign in Mr. Ayers' living room. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's absolutely not true. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the facts are facts and records are records. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's not the facts. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it's not the fact -- it's not the fact that Senator Obama chooses to associate with a guy who in 2001 said that he wished he had have bombed more, and he had a long association with him. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's the fact that all the -- all of the details need to be known about Senator Obama's relationship with them and with ACORN and the American people will make a judgment. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And my campaign is about getting this economy back on track, about creating jobs, about a brighter future for America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what my campaign is about and I'm not going to raise taxes the way Senator Obama wants to raise taxes in a tough economy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's really what this campaign is going to be about. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's go to the next topic and you -- we may want to get back into some of this during this next discussion. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I want to ask both of you about the people that you're going to bring into the government. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And our best insight yet is who you have picked as your running mates. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I'll begin by asking both of you this question, and I'll ask you to answer first, Senator Obama. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Why would the country be better off if your running mate became president rather than his running mate? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Joe Biden, I think, is one of the finest public servants that has served in this country. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's not just that he has some of the best foreign policy credentials of anybody. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And Democrats and Republicans alike, I think, acknowledge his expertise there. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But it's also that his entire life he has never forgotten where he came from, coming from Scranton, fighting on behalf of working families, remembering what it's like to see his father lose his job and go through a downward spiral economically. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, as a consequence, his consistent pattern throughout his career is to fight for the little guy. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's what he's done when it comes to economic policies that will help working families get a leg up. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's what he's done when it comes to, for example, passing the landmark 1994 crime bill, the Violence Against Women's Act. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Joe has always made sure that he is fighting on behalf of working families, and I think he shares my core values and my sense of where the country needs to go. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Because after eight years of failed policies, he and I both agree that what we're going to have to do is to reprioritize, make sure that we're investing in the American people, give tax cuts not to the wealthiest corporations, but give them to small businesses and give them to individuals who are struggling right now, make sure that we finally get serious about energy independence, something that has been languishing in Washington for 30 years, and make sure that our kids get a great education and can afford to go to college. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So, on the key issues that are of importance to American families, Joe Biden's always been on the right side, and I think he will make an outstanding president if, heaven forbid, something happened to me. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Americans have gotten to know Sarah Palin. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They know that she's a role model to women and other -- and reformers all over America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She's a reformer. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She is -- she took on a governor who was a member of her own party when she ran for governor. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| When she was the head of their energy and natural resources board, she saw corruption, she resigned and said, "This can't go on." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She's given money back to the taxpayers. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She's cut the size of government. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She negotiated with the oil companies and faced them down, a $40 billion pipeline of natural gas that's going to relieve the energy needs of the United -- of what they call the lower 48. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She's a reformer through and through. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it's time we had that bresh of freth air (sic) -- breath of fresh air coming into our nation's capital and sweep out the old-boy network and the cronyism that's been so much a part of it that I've fought against for all these years. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She'll be my partner. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She understands reform. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And, by the way, she also understands special-needs families. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She understands that autism is on the rise, that we've got to find out what's causing it, and we've got to reach out to these families, and help them, and give them the help they need as they raise these very special needs children. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She understands that better than almost any American that I know. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm proud of her. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And she has ignited our party and people all over America that have never been involved in the political process. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I can't tell how proud I am of her and her family. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Her husband's a pretty tough guy, by the way, too. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Do you think she's qualified to be president? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You know, I think it's -- that's going to be up to the American people. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that, obviously, she's a capable politician who has, I think, excited the -- a base in the Republican Party. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think it's very commendable the work she's done on behalf of special needs. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I agree with that, John. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I do want to just point out that autism, for example, or other special needs will require some additional funding, if we're going to get serious in terms of research. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That is something that every family that advocates on behalf of disabled children talk about. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And if we have an across-the-board spending freeze, we're not going to be able to do it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's an example of, I think, the kind of use of the scalpel that we want to make sure that we're funding some of those programs. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Do you think Senator Biden is qualified? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that Joe Biden is qualified in many respects. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I do point out that he's been wrong on many foreign policy and national security issues, which is supposed to be his strength. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He voted against the first Gulf War. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He voted against it and, obviously, we had to take Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait or it would've threatened the Middle Eastern world supply. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In Iraq, he had this cockamamie idea about dividing Iraq into three countries. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're seeing Iraq united as Iraqis, tough, hard, but we're seeing them. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're now about to have an agreement for status of forces in Iraq coming up. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| There are several issues in which, frankly, Joe Biden and I openly and honestly disagreed on national security policy, and he's been wrong on a number of the major ones. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But again, I want to come back to, notice every time Senator Obama says, "We need to spend more, we need to spend more, that's the answer" -- why do we always have to spend more? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Why can't we have transparency, accountability, reform of these agencies of government? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe that's why he's asked for 860 -- sought and proposed $860 billion worth of new spending and wants to raise people's taxes in a time of incredible challenge and difficulty and heartache for the American families. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's go to -- let's go to a new topic. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're running a little behind. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's talk about energy and climate control. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Every president since Nixon has said what both of you... | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Climate change. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Climate change, yes -- has said what both of you have said, and, that is, we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| When Nixon said it, we imported from 17 to 34 percent of our foreign oil. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, we're importing more than 60 percent. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Would each of you give us a number, a specific number of how much you believe we can reduce our foreign oil imports during your first term? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I believe the first question goes to you, Senator McCain. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I believe we can, for all intents and purposes, eliminate our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and Venezuelan oil. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Canadian oil is fine. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| By the way, when Senator Obama said he would unilaterally renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canadians said, "Yes, and we'll sell our oil to China." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You don't tell countries you're going to unilaterally renegotiate agreements with them. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can eliminate our dependence on foreign oil by building 45 new nuclear plants, power plants, right away. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can store and we can reprocess. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama will tell you, in the -- as the extreme environmentalists do, it has to be safe. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Look, we've sailed Navy ships around the world for 60 years with nuclear power plants on them. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can store and reprocess spent nuclear fuel, Senator Obama, no problem. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So the point is with nuclear power, with wind, tide, solar, natural gas, with development of flex fuel, hybrid, clean coal technology, clean coal technology is key in the heartland of America that's hurting rather badly. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I think we can easily, within seven, eight, ten years, if we put our minds to it, we can eliminate our dependence on the places in the world that harm our national security if we don't achieve our independence. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Can we reduce our dependence on foreign oil and by how much in the first term, in four years? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that in ten years, we can reduce our dependence so that we no longer have to import oil from the Middle East or Venezuela. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that's about a realistic timeframe. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And this is the most important issue that our future economy is going to face. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Obviously, we've got an immediate crisis right now. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But nothing is more important than us no longer borrowing $700 billion or more from China and sending it to Saudi Arabia. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's mortgaging our children's future. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, from the start of this campaign, I've identified this as one of my top priorities and here is what I think we have to do. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Number one, we do need to expand domestic production and that means, for example, telling the oil companies the 68 million acres that they currently have leased that they're not drilling, use them or lose them. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think that we should look at offshore drilling and implement it in a way that allows us to get some additional oil. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But understand, we only have three to four percent of the world's oil reserves and we use 25 percent of the world's oil, which means that we can't drill our way out of the problem. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's why I've focused on putting resources into solar, wind, biodiesel, geothermal. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| These have been priorities of mine since I got to the Senate, and it is absolutely critical that we develop a high fuel efficient car that's built not in Japan and not in South Korea, but built here in the United States of America. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We invented the auto industry and the fact that we have fallen so far behind is something that we have to work on. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now I just want to make one last point because Senator McCain mentioned NAFTA and the issue of trade and that actually bears on this issue. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I believe in free trade. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I also believe that for far too long, certainly during the course of the Bush administration with the support of Senator McCain, the attitude has been that any trade agreement is a good trade agreement. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And NAFTA doesn't have -- did not have enforceable labor agreements and environmental agreements. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And what I said was we should include those and make them enforceable. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In the same way that we should enforce rules against China manipulating its currency to make our exports more expensive and their exports to us cheaper. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And when it comes to South Korea, we've got a trade agreement up right now, they are sending hundreds of thousands of South Korean cars into the United States. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's all good. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can only get 4,000 to 5,000 into South Korea. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That is not free trade. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to have a president who is going to be advocating on behalf of American businesses and American workers and I make no apology for that. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, you know, I admire so much Senator Obama's eloquence. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And you really have to pay attention to words. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He said, we will look at offshore drilling. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Did you get that? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Look at. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can offshore drill now. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to do it now. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We will reduce the cost of a barrel of oil because we show the world that we have a supply of our own. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's doable. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The technology is there and we have to drill now. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, on the subject of free trade agreements. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I am a free trader. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I need -- we need to have education and training programs for displaced workers that work, going to our community colleges. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But let me give you another example of a free trade agreement that Senator Obama opposes. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Right now, because of previous agreements, some made by President Clinton, the goods and products that we send to Colombia, which is our largest agricultural importer of our products, is -- there's a billion dollars that we -- our businesses have paid so far in order to get our goods in there. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Because of previous agreements, their goods and products come into our country for free. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So Senator Obama, who has never traveled south of our border, opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The same country that's helping us try to stop the flow of drugs into our country that's killing young Americans. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And also the country that just freed three Americans that will help us create jobs in America because they will be a market for our goods and products without having to pay -- without us having to pay the billions of dollars -- the billion dollars and more that we've already paid. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Free trade with Colombia is something that's a no-brainer. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But maybe you ought to travel down there and visit them and maybe you could understand it a lot better. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me respond. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Actually, I understand it pretty well. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And what I have said, because the free trade -- the trade agreement itself does have labor and environmental protections, but we have to stand for human rights and we have to make sure that violence isn't being perpetrated against workers who are just trying to organize for their rights, which is why, for example, I supported the Peruvian Free Trade Agreement which was a well-structured agreement. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I think that the important point is we've got to have a president who understands the benefits of free trade but also is going to enforce unfair trade agreements and is going to stand up to other countries. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the last point I'll make, because we started on energy. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| When I talked about the automakers, they are obviously getting hammered right now. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They were already having a tough time because of high gas prices. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And now with the financial crisis, car dealerships are closing and people can't get car loans. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's why I think it's important for us to get loan guarantees to the automakers, but we do have to hold them responsible as well to start producing the highly fuel-efficient cars of the future. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And Detroit had dragged its feet too long in terms of getting that done. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's going to be one of my highest priorities because transportation accounts for about 30 percent of our total energy consumption. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If we can get that right, then we can move in a direction not only of energy independence, but we can create 5 million new jobs all across America, including in the heartland where we can retool some of these plants to make these highly fuel-efficient cars and also to make wind turbines and solar panels, the kinds of clean energy approaches that should be the driver of our economy for the next century. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, let me just said that that this is -- he -- Senator Obama doesn't want a free trade agreement with our best ally in the region but wants to sit down across the table without precondition to -- with Hugo Chavez, the guy who has been helping FARC, the terrorist organization. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Free trade between ourselves and Colombia, I just recited to you the benefits of concluding that agreement, a billion dollars of American dollars that could have gone to creating jobs and businesses in the United States, opening up those markets. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I don't -- I don't think there's any doubt that Senator Obama wants to restrict trade and he wants to raise taxes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the last president of the United States that tried that was Herbert Hoover, and we went from a deep recession into a depression. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're not going to follow that path while I'm -- when I'm president of the United States. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right, let's go to a new topic, health care. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Given the current economic situation, would either of you now favor controlling health care costs over expanding health care coverage? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The question is first to Senator Obama. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to do both, and that's exactly what my plan does. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Look, as I travel around the country, this is the issue that will break your heart over and over again. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Just yesterday, I was in Toledo shaking some hands in a line. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Two women, both of them probably in their mid- to late-50s, had just been laid off of their plant. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Neither of them have health insurance. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And they were desperate for some way of getting coverage, because, understandably, they're worried that, if they get sick, they could go bankrupt. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So here's what my plan does. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you have health insurance, then you don't have to do anything. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you've got health insurance through your employer, you can keep your health insurance, keep your choice of doctor, keep your plan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The only thing we're going to try to do is lower costs so that those cost savings are passed onto you. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we estimate we can cut the average family's premium by about $2,500 per year. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you don't have health insurance, then what we're going to do is to provide you the option of buying into the same kind of federal pool that both Senator McCain and I enjoy as federal employees, which will give you high-quality care, choice of doctors, at lower costs, because so many people are part of this insured group. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to make sure that insurance companies can't discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We'll negotiate with the drug companies for the cheapest available price on drugs. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We are going to invest in information technology to eliminate bureaucracy and make the system more efficient. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we are going to make sure that we manage chronic illnesses, like diabetes and heart disease, that cost a huge amount, but could be prevented. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to put more money into preventive care. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This will cost some money on the front end, but over the long term this is the only way that not only are we going to make families healthy, but it's also how we're going to save the federal budget, because we can't afford these escalating costs. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, it is a terribly painful situation for Americans. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They're seeing their premiums, their co-pays go up. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Forty-seven million Americans are without health insurance in America today. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it really is the cost, the escalating costs of health care that are inflicting such pain on working families and people across this country. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I am convinced we need to do a lot of things. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to put health care records online. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The V.A. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| does that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That will -- that will reduce costs. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to have more community health centers. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to have walk-in clinics. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The rise of obesity amongst young Americans is one of the most alarming statistics that there is. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We should have physical fitness programs and nutrition programs in schools. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Every parent should know what's going on there. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We -- we need to have -- we need to have employers reward employees who join health clubs and practice wellness and fitness. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I want to give every American family a $5,000 refundable tax credit. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Take it and get anywhere in America the health care that you wish. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, my old buddy, Joe, Joe the plumber, is out there. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Joe, Senator Obama's plan, if you're a small business and you are able -- and your -- the guy that sells to you will not have his capital gains tax increase, which Senator Obama wants, if you're out there, my friend, and you've got employees, and you've got kids, if you don't get -- adopt the health care plan that Senator Obama mandates, he's going to fine you. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator Obama, I'd like -- still like to know what that fine is going to be, and I don't think that Joe right now wants to pay a fine when he is seeing such difficult times in America's economy. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama wants to set up health care bureaucracies, take over the health care of America through -- as he said, his object is a single payer system. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you like that, you'll love Canada and England. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So the point is... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So that's your objective? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It is not and I just described it... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| No, you stated it. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I just... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Excuse me. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I just described what my plan is. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I'm happy to talk to you, Joe, too, if you're out there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Here's your fine -- zero. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You won't pay a fine, because... | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Zero? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Zero, because as I said in our last debate and I'll repeat, John, I exempt small businesses from the requirement for large businesses that can afford to provide health care to their employees, but are not doing it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I exempt small businesses from having to pay into a kitty. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But large businesses that can afford it, we've got a choice. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Either they provide health insurance to their employees or somebody has to. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Right now, what happens is those employees get dumped into either the Medicaid system, which taxpayers pick up, or they're going to the emergency room for uncompensated care, which everybody picks up in their premiums. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The average family is paying an additional $900 a year in higher premiums because of the uninsured. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So here's what we do. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We exempt small businesses. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, what, Joe, if you want to do the right thing with your employees and you want to provide them health insurance, we'll give you a 50 percent credit so that you will actually be able to afford it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you don't have health insurance or you want to buy into a group plan, you will be able to buy into the plan that I just described. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, what we haven't talked about is Senator McCain's plan. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He says he's going to give you all a $5,000 tax credit. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That sounds pretty good. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And you can go out and buy your own insurance. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Here's the problem -- that for about 20 million people, you may find yourselves no longer having employer-based health insurance. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This is because younger people might be able to get health insurance for $5,000, young and healthy folks. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Older folks, less healthy folks, what's going to end up happening is that you're going to be the only ones left in your employer-based system, your employers won't be able to afford it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And once you're out on your own with this $5,000 credit, Senator McCain, for the first time, is going to be taxing the health care benefits that you have from your employer. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And this is your plan, John. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| For the first time in history, you will be taxing people's health care benefits. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| By the way, the average policy costs about $12,000. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So if you've got $5,000 and it's going to cost you $12,000, that's a loss for you. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Last point about Senator McCain's plan is that insurers right now, the main restrictions on what they do is primarily state law and, under Senator McCain's plan, those rules would be stripped away and you would start seeing a lot more insurance companies cherry-picking and excluding people from coverage. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That, I think, is a mistake and I think that this is a fundamental difference in our campaign and how we would approach health care. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What about that? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Hey, Joe, you're rich, congratulations, because what Joe wanted to do was buy the business that he's been working for 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week, and you said that you wanted to spread the wealth, but -- in other words, take Joe's money and then you decide what to do with it. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Joe, you're rich, congratulations, and you will then fall into the category where you'll have to pay a fine if you don't provide health insurance that Senator Obama mandates, not the kind that you think is best for your family, your children, your employees, but the kind that he mandates for you. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's big government at its best. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, 95 percent of the people in America will receive more money under my plan because they will receive not only their present benefits, which may be taxed, which will be taxed, but then you add $5,000 onto it, except for those people who have the gold-plated Cadillac insurance policies that have to do with cosmetic surgery and transplants and all of those kinds of things. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the good thing about this is they'll be able to go across America. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The average cost of a health care insurance plan in America today is $5,800. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to give them $5,000 to take with them wherever they want to go, and this will give them affordability. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This will give them availability. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This will give them a chance to choose their own futures, not have Senator Obama and government decide that for them. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This really gets down to the fundamental difference in our philosophies. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you notice that in all of this proposal, Senator -- government wants -- Senator Obama wants government to do the job. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama wants government to do the job. | John S. McCain | NaN | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I want, Joe, you to do the job. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I want to leave money in your pocket. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I want you to be able to choose the health care for you and your family. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's what I'm all about. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we've got too much government and too much spending and the government is -- the size of government has grown by 40 percent in the last eight years. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can't afford that in the next eight years and Senator Obama, with the Democrats in charge of Congress, things have gotten worse. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Have you noticed, they've been in charge the last two years. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| A short response. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Very briefly. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You all just heard my plan. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If you've got an employer-based health care plan, you keep it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, under Senator McCain's plan there is a strong risk that people would lose their employer-based health care. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's the choice you'll have is having your employer no longer provide you health care. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And don't take my word for it. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which generally doesn't support a lot of Democrats, said that this plan could lead to the unraveling of the employer-based health care system. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All I want to do, if you've already got health care, is lower your costs. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That includes you, Joe. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's stop there and go to another question. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And this one goes to Senator McCain. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, you believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, you believe it shouldn't. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Could either of you ever nominate someone to the Supreme Court who disagrees with you on this issue? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I would never and have never in all the years I've been there imposed a litmus test on any nominee to the court. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's not appropriate to do. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But you don't want Roe v. Wade to be overturned? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I thought it was a bad decision. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think there were a lot of decisions that were bad. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that decisions should rest in the hands of the states. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm a federalist. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I believe strongly that we should have nominees to the United States Supreme Court based on their qualifications rather than any litmus test. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, let me say that there was a time a few years ago when the United States Senate was about to blow up. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Republicans wanted to have just a majority vote to confirm a judge and the Democrats were blocking in an unprecedented fashion. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We got together seven Republicans, seven Democrats. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You were offered a chance to join. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You chose not to because you were afraid of the appointment of, quote, "conservative judges." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I voted for Justice Breyer and Justice Ginsburg. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Not because I agreed with their ideology, but because I thought they were qualified and that elections have consequences when presidents are nominated. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This is a very important issue we're talking about. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama voted against Justice Breyer and Justice Roberts on the grounds that they didn't meet his ideological standards. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's not the way we should judge these nominees. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Elections have consequences. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They should be judged on their qualifications. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And so that's what I will do. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will find the best people in the world -- in the United States of America who have a history of strict adherence to the Constitution. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And not legislating from the bench. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But even if it was someone -- even someone who had a history of being for abortion rights, you would consider them? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I would consider anyone in their qualifications. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I do not believe that someone who has supported Roe v. Wade that would be part of those qualifications. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I certainly would not impose any litmus test. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, I think it's true that we shouldn't apply a strict litmus test and the most important thing in any judge is their capacity to provide fairness and justice to the American people. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it is true that this is going to be, I think, one of the most consequential decisions of the next president. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It is very likely that one of us will be making at least one and probably more than one appointments and Roe versus Wade probably hangs in the balance. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now I would not provide a litmus test. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I am somebody who believes that Roe versus Wade was rightly decided. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that abortion is a very difficult issue and it is a moral issue and one that I think good people on both sides can disagree on. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But what ultimately I believe is that women in consultation with their families, their doctors, their religious advisers, are in the best position to make this decision. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think that the Constitution has a right to privacy in it that shouldn't be subject to state referendum, any more than our First Amendment rights are subject to state referendum, any more than many of the other rights that we have should be subject to popular vote. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So this is going to be an important issue. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I will look for those judges who have an outstanding judicial record, who have the intellect, and who hopefully have a sense of what real-world folks are going through. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'll just give you one quick example. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain and I disagreed recently when the Supreme Court made it more difficult for a woman named Lilly Ledbetter to press her claim for pay discrimination. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| For years, she had been getting paid less than a man had been paid for doing the exact same job. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And when she brought a suit, saying equal pay for equal work, the judges said, well, you know, it's taken you too long to bring this lawsuit, even though she didn't know about it until fairly recently. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We tried to overturn it in the Senate. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I supported that effort to provide better guidance to the courts; John McCain opposed it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think that it's important for judges to understand that if a woman is out there trying to raise a family, trying to support her family, and is being treated unfairly, then the court has to stand up, if nobody else will. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's the kind of judge that I want. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Time's up. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Obviously, that law waived the statute of limitations, which you could have gone back 20 or 30 years. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It was a trial lawyer's dream. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let me talk to you about an important aspect of this issue. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have to change the culture of America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Those of us who are proudly pro-life understand that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it's got to be courage and compassion that we show to a young woman who's facing this terribly difficult decision. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, as a member of the Illinois State Senate, voted in the Judiciary Committee against a law that would provide immediate medical attention to a child born of a failed abortion. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He voted against that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And then, on the floor of the State Senate, as he did 130 times as a state senator, he voted present. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Then there was another bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the state of Illinois not that long ago, where he voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion, one of the late-term abortion, a really -- one of the bad procedures, a terrible. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And then, on the floor of the Illinois State Senate, he voted present. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I don't know how you vote "present" on some of that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I don't know how you align yourself with the extreme aspect of the pro- abortion movement in America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's his record, and that's a matter of his record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And he'll say it has something to do with Roe v. Wade, about the Illinois State Senate. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It was clear-cut votes that Senator Obama voted, I think, in direct contradiction to the feelings and views of mainstream America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Response? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Yes, let me respond to this. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If it sounds incredible that I would vote to withhold lifesaving treatment from an infant, that's because it's not true. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The -- here are the facts. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| There was a bill that was put forward before the Illinois Senate that said you have to provide lifesaving treatment and that would have helped to undermine Roe v. Wade. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The fact is that there was already a law on the books in Illinois that required providing lifesaving treatment, which is why not only myself but pro-choice Republicans and Democrats voted against it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And the Illinois Medical Society, the organization of doctors in Illinois, voted against it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Their Hippocratic Oath would have required them to provide care, and there was already a law in the books. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| With respect to partial-birth abortion, I am completely supportive of a ban on late-term abortions, partial-birth or otherwise, as long as there's an exception for the mother's health and life, and this did not contain that exception. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I attempted, as many have in the past, of including that so that it is constitutional. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that was rejected, and that's why I voted present, because I'm willing to support a ban on late-term abortions as long as we have that exception. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The last point I want to make on the issue of abortion. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This is an issue that -- look, it divides us. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And in some ways, it may be difficult to -- to reconcile the two views. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, "We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby." | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Those are all things that we put in the Democratic platform for the first time this year, and I think that's where we can find some common ground, because nobody's pro-abortion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think it's always a tragic situation. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We should try to reduce these circumstances. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's give Senator McCain a short response... | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Just again... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... and then... | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Just again, the example of the eloquence of Senator Obama. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He's health for the mother. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, "health." | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But, look, Cindy and I are adoptive parents. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We know what a treasure and joy it is to have an adopted child in our lives. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We'll do everything we can to improve adoption in this country. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But that does not mean that we will cease to protect the rights of the unborn. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Of course, we have to come together. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Of course, we have to work together, and, of course, it's vital that we do so and help these young women who are facing such a difficult decision, with a compassion, that we'll help them with the adoptive services, with the courage to bring that child into this world and we'll help take care of it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's stop there, because I want to get in a question on education and I'm afraid this is going to have to be our last question, gentlemen. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The question is this: the U.S. spends more per capita than any other country on education. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Yet, by every international measurement, in math and science competence, from kindergarten through the 12th grade, we trail most of the countries of the world. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The implications of this are clearly obvious. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Some even say it poses a threat to our national security. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Do you feel that way and what do you intend to do about it? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The question to Senator Obama first. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| This probably has more to do with our economic future than anything and that means it also has a national security implication, because there's never been a nation on earth that saw its economy decline and continued to maintain its primacy as a military power. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So we've got to get our education system right. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, typically, what's happened is that there's been a debate between more money or reform, and I think we need both. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In some cases, we are going to have to invest. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Early childhood education, which closes the achievement gap, so that every child is prepared for school, every dollar we invest in that, we end up getting huge benefits with improved reading scores, reduced dropout rates, reduced delinquency rates. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think it's going to be critically important for us to recruit a generation of new teachers, an army of new teachers, especially in math and science, give them higher pay, give them more professional development and support in exchange for higher standards and accountability. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I think it's important for us to make college affordable. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Right now, I meet young people all across the country who either have decided not to go to college or if they're going to college, they are taking on $20,000, $30,000, $50,000, $60,000 worth of debt, and it's very difficult for them to go into some fields, like basic research in science, for example, thinking to themselves that they're going to have a mortgage before they even buy a house. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why I've proposed a $4,000 tuition credit, every student, every year, in exchange for some form of community service, whether it's military service, whether it's Peace Corps, whether it's working in a community. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| If we do those things, then I believe that we can create a better school system. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But there's one last ingredient that I just want to mention, and that's parents. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can't do it just in the schools. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Parents are going to have to show more responsibility. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They've got to turn off the TV set, put away the video games, and, finally, start instilling that thirst for knowledge that our students need. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, it's the civil rights issue of the 21st century. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| There's no doubt that we have achieved equal access to schools in America after a long and difficult and terrible struggle. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But what is the advantage in a low income area of sending a child to a failed school and that being your only choice? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So choice and competition amongst schools is one of the key elements that's already been proven in places in like New Orleans and New York City and other places, where we have charter schools, where we take good teachers and we reward them and promote them. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we find bad teachers another line of work. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we have to be able to give parents the same choice, frankly, that Senator Obama and Mrs. Obama had and Cindy and I had to send our kids to the school -- their kids to the school of their choice. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Charter schools aren't the only answer, but they're providing competition. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| They are providing the kind of competitions that have upgraded both schools -- types of schools. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, throwing money at the problem is not the answer. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You will find that some of the worst school systems in America get the most money per student. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So I believe that we need to reward these good teachers. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to encourage programs such as Teach for America and Troops to Teachers where people, after having served in the military, can go right to teaching and not have to take these examinations which -- or have the certification that some are required in some states. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Look, we must improve education in this country. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| As far as college education is concerned, we need to make those student loans available. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to give them a repayment schedule that they can meet. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to have full student loan program for in-state tuition. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we certainly need to adjust the certain loan eligibility to inflation. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Do you think the federal government should play a larger role in the schools? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I mean, more federal money? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, we have a tradition of local control of the schools and that's a tradition that has served us well. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I do think that it is important for the federal government to step up and help local school districts do some of the things they need to do. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now we tried to do this under President Bush. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| He put forward No Child Left Behind. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Unfortunately, they left the money behind for No Child Left Behind. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And local school districts end up having more of a burden, a bunch of unfunded mandates, the same kind of thing that happened with special education where we did the right thing by saying every school should provide education to kids with special needs, but we never followed through on the promise of funding, and that left local school districts very cash-strapped. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So what I want to do is focus on early childhood education, providing teachers higher salaries in exchange for more support. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain and I actually agree on two things that he just mentioned. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Charter schools, I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers unions. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think it's important to foster competition inside the public schools. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we also agree on the need for making sure that if we have bad teachers that they are swiftly -- after given an opportunity to prove themselves, if they can't hack it, then we need to move on because our kids have to have their best future. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Where we disagree is on the idea that we can somehow give out vouchers -- give vouchers as a way of securing the problems in our education system. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I also have to disagree on Senator McCain's record when it comes to college accessibility and affordability. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Recently his key economic adviser was asked about why he didn't seem to have some specific programs to help young people go to college and the response was, well, you know, we can't give money to every interest group that comes along. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I don't think America's youth are interest groups, I think they're our future. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And this is an example of where we are going to have to prioritize. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We can't say we're going to do things and then not explain in concrete terms how we're going to pay for it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And if we're going to do some of the things you mentioned, like lowering loan rates or what have you, somebody has got to pay for it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's not going to happen on its own. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| What about that, Senator? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, sure. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm sure you're aware, Senator Obama, of the program in the Washington, D.C., school system where vouchers are provided and there's a certain number, I think it's a thousand and some and some 9,000 parents asked to be eligible for that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Because they wanted to have the same choice that you and I and Cindy and your wife have had. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that is because they wanted to choose the school that they thought was best for their children. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we all know the state of the Washington, D.C., school system. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That was vouchers. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That was vouchers, Senator Obama. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I'm frankly surprised you didn't pay more attention to that example. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now as far as the No Child Left Behind is concerned, it was a great first beginning in my view. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It had its flaws, it had its problems, the first time we had looked at the issue of education in America from a nationwide perspective. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we need to fix a lot of the problems. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to sit down and reauthorize it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But, again, spending more money isn't always the answer. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think the Head Start program is a great program. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| A lot of people, including me, said, look, it's not doing what it should do. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| By the third grade many times children who were in the Head Start program aren't any better off than the others. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's reform it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Let's reform it and fund it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That was, of course, out-of-bounds by the Democrats. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to reform these programs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to have transparency. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need to have rewards. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's a system that cries out for accountability and transparency and the adequate funding. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I just said to you earlier, town hall meeting after town hall meeting, parents come with kids, children -- precious children who have autism. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Sarah Palin knows about that better than most. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we'll find and we'll spend the money, research, to find the cause of autism. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we'll care for these young children. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And all Americans will open their wallets and their hearts to do so. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But to have a situation, as you mentioned in our earlier comments, that the most expensive education in the world is in the United States of America also means that it cries out for reform, as well. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I will support those reforms, and I will fund the ones that are reformed. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But I'm not going to continue to throw money at a problem. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I've got to tell you that vouchers, where they are requested and where they are agreed to, are a good and workable system. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it's been proven. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'll just make a quick comment about vouchers in D.C. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain's absolutely right: The D.C. school system is in terrible shape, and it has been for a very long time. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And we've got a wonderful new superintendent there who's working very hard with the young mayor there to try... | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Who supports vouchers. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| ... who initiated -- actually, supports charters. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| She supports vouchers, also. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But the -- but here's the thing, is that, even if Senator McCain were to say that vouchers were the way to go -- I disagree with him on this, because the data doesn't show that it actually solves the problem -- the centerpiece of Senator McCain's education policy is to increase the voucher program in D.C. by 2,000 slots. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That leaves all of you who live in the other 50 states without an education reform policy from Senator McCain. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| So if we are going to be serious about this issue, we've got to have a president who is going to tackle it head-on. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what I intend to do as president. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Because there's not enough vouchers; therefore, we shouldn't do it, even though it's working. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I got it. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Gentlemen, we have come to the close. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Before I ask both of you for your closing statements tonight, I'd like to invite our viewers and listeners to go to MyDebates.org, where you will find this evening's debates and the three that preceded tonight's debate. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Now, for the final statements, by a coin toss, Senator McCain goes first. | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you again, Bob. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Thanks to Hofstra. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And it's great to be with you again. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think we've had a very healthy discussion. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| My friends, as I said in my opening remarks, these are very difficult times and challenges for America. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And they were graphically demonstrated again today. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| America needs a new direction. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We cannot be satisfied with what we've been doing for the last eight years. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I have a record of reform, and taking on my party, the other party, the special interests, whether it be an HMO Patients' Bill of Rights, or trying to clean up the campaign finance system in -- in this country, or whether it be establishment of a 9/11 Commission, I have a long record of it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I've been a careful steward of your tax dollars. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have to make health care affordable and available. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have to make quality education there for all of our citizens, not just the privileged few. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have to stop the spending. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We have to stop the spending, which has mortgaged your children's futures. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| All of these things and all the promises and commitments that Senator Obama and I made (inaudible) made to you tonight will base -- will be based on whether you can trust us or not to be careful stewards of your tax dollar, to make sure America is safe and secure and prosperous, to make sure we reform the institutions of government. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| That's why I've asked you not only to examine my record, but my proposals for the future of this country. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I've spent my entire life in the service of this nation and putting my country first. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| There’s a long line of McCains that have served our country for a long time in war and in peace, it's been the great honor of my life, and I've been proud to serve. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And I hope you'll give me an opportunity to serve again. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'd be honored and humbled. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Senator? | Bob Schieffer | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Well, I want to thank Senator McCain and Bob for moderating. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I think we all know America is going through tough times right now. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| The policies of the last eight years and -- and Washington's unwillingness to tackle the tough problems for decades has left us in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why the biggest risk we could take right now is to adopt the same failed policies and the same failed politics that we've seen over the last eight years and somehow expect a different result. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| We need fundamental change in this country, and that's what I'd like to bring. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You know, over the last 20 months, you've invited me into your homes. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| You've shared your stories with me. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And you've confirmed once again the fundamental decency and generosity of the American people. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why I'm sure that our brighter days are still ahead. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But we're going to have to invest in the American people again, in tax cuts for the middle class, in health care for all Americans, and college for every young person who wants to go. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In businesses that can create the new energy economy of the future. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| In policies that will lift wages and will grow our middle class. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| These are the policies I have fought for my entire career. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| And these are the policies I want to bring to the White House. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| But it's not going to be easy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It's not going to be quick. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| It is going to be requiring all of us -- Democrats, Republicans, independents -- to come together and to renew a spirit of sacrifice and service and responsibility. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I'm absolutely convinced we can do it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| I would ask for your vote, and I promise you that if you give me the extraordinary honor of serving as your president, I will work every single day, tirelessly, on your behalf and on the behalf of the future of our children. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you very much. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 15 Oct 2008 |
| Good evening from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm Tom Brokaw of NBC News. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And welcome to this second presidential debate, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Tonight's debate is the only one with a town hall format. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The Gallup Organization chose 80 uncommitted voters from the Nashville area to be here with us tonight. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And earlier today, each of them gave me a copy of their question for the candidates. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| From all of these questions -- and from tens of thousands submitted online -- I have selected a long list of excellent questions on domestic and foreign policy. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Neither the commission nor the candidates have seen the questions. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And although we won't be able to get to all of them tonight, we should have a wide-ranging discussion one month before the election. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to a common question, and there will be a one-minute follow-up. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The audience here in the hall has agreed to be polite, and attentive, no cheering or outbursts. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Those of you at home, of course, are not so constrained. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The only exception in the hall is right now, as it is my privilege to introduce the candidates, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator John McCain of Arizona. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Gentlemen? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| (APPLAUSE) Gentlemen, we want to get underway immediately, if we can. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Since you last met at Ole Miss 12 days ago, the world has changed a great deal, and not for the better. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We still don't know where the bottom is at this time. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| As you might expect, many of the questions that we have from here in the hall tonight and from online have to do with the American economy and, in fact, with global economic conditions. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I understand that you flipped a coin. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, Senator Obama, you will begin tonight. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we're going to have our first question from over here in Section A from Alan Schaefer (ph). | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Alan (ph)? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| With the economy on the downturn and retired and older citizens and workers losing their incomes, what's the fastest, most positive solution to bail these people out of the economic ruin? | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Alan (ph), thank you very much for the question. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to first, obviously, thank Belmont University, Tom, thank you, and to all of you who are participating tonight and those of you who sent e-mail questions in. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think everybody knows now we are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And a lot of you I think are worried about your jobs, your pensions, your retirement accounts, your ability to send your child or your grandchild to college. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperity would rain down on all of us. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It hasn't worked out that way. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so now we've got to take some decisive action. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, step one was a rescue package that was passed last week. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to make sure that works properly. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that means strong oversight, making sure that investors, taxpayers are getting their money back and treated as investors. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It means that we are cracking down on CEOs and making sure that they're not getting bonuses or golden parachutes as a consequence of this package. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, in fact, we just found out that AIG, a company that got a bailout, just a week after they got help went on a $400,000 junket. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I'll tell you what, the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But that's only step one. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The middle-class need a rescue package. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that means tax cuts for the middle-class. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It means help for homeowners so that they can stay in their homes. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It means that we are helping state and local governments set up road projects and bridge projects that keep people in their jobs. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And then long-term we've got to fix our health care system, we've got to fix our energy system that is putting such an enormous burden on families. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You need somebody working for you and you've got to have somebody in Washington who is thinking about the middle class and not just those who can afford to hire lobbyists. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you, Tom. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, Belmont University. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And Senator Obama, it's good to be with you at a town hall meeting. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, Alan (ph), thank you for your question. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You go to the heart of America's worries tonight. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Americans are angry, they're upset, and they're a little fearful. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's our job to fix the problem. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, I have a plan to fix this problem and it has got to do with energy independence. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't want us very -- like us very much. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have to keep Americans' taxes low. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All Americans' taxes low. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's not raise taxes on anybody today. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We obviously have to stop this spending spree that's going on in Washington. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Do you know that we've laid a $10 trillion debt on these young Americans who are here with us tonight, $500 billion of it we owe to China? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to have a package of reforms and it has got to lead to reform prosperity and peace in the world. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I think that this problem has become so severe, as you know, that we're going to have to do something about home values. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know that home values of retirees continues to decline and people are no longer able to afford their mortgage payments. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| As president of the United States, Alan, I would order the secretary of the treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes -- at the diminished value of those homes and let people be able to make those -- be able to make those payments and stay in their homes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Is it expensive? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Yes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we all know, my friends, until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we've got to give some trust and confidence back to America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know how the do that, my friends. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And it's my proposal, it's not Senator Obama's proposal, it's not President Bush's proposal. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I know how to get America working again, restore our economy and take care of working Americans. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator, we have one minute for a discussion here. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Obviously the powers of the treasury secretary have been greatly expanded. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The most powerful officer in the cabinet now. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Hank Paulson says he won't stay on. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Who do you have in mind to appoint to that very important post? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Not you, Tom. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| (LAUGHTER) | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| No, with good reason. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, that's a tough question and there's a lot of qualified Americans. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I think the first criteria, Tom, would have to be somebody who immediately Americans identify with, immediately say, we can trust that individual. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| A supporter of Senator Obama's is Warren Buffett. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He has already weighed in and helped stabilize some of the difficulties in the markets and with companies and corporations, institutions today. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I like Meg Whitman, she knows what it's like to be out there in the marketplace. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| She knows how to create jobs. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Meg Whitman was CEO of a company that started with 12 people and is now 1.3 million people in America make their living off eBay. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe somebody here has done a little business with them. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the point is it's going to have to be somebody who inspires trust and confidence. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Because the problem in America today to a large extent, Tom, is that we don't have trust and confidence in our institutions because of the corruption on Wall Street and the greed and excess and the cronyism in Washington, D.C. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain -- Senator Obama, who do you have in mind for treasury secretary? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Warren would be a pretty good choice -- Warren Buffett, and I'm pleased to have his support. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But there are other folks out there. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The key is making sure that the next treasury secretary understands that it's not enough just to help those at the top. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Prosperity is not just going to trickle down. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to help the middle class. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we've -- you know, Senator McCain and I have some fundamental disagreements on the economy, starting with Senator McCain's statement earlier that he thought the fundamentals of the economy were sound. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Part of the problem here is that for many of you, wages and incomes have flat-lined. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| For many of you, it is getting harder and harder to save, harder and harder to retire. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why, for example, on tax policy, what I want to do is provide a middle class tax cut to 95 percent of working Americans, those who are working two jobs, people who are not spending enough time with their kids, because they are struggling to make ends meet. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain is right that we've got to stabilize housing prices. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But underlying that is loss of jobs and loss of income. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's something that the next treasury secretary is going to have to work on. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, thank you very much. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| May I remind both of you, if I can, that we're operating under rules that you signed off on and when we have a discussion, it really is to be confined within about a minute or so. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to go now, Senator McCain, to the next question from you from the hall here, and it comes from Oliver Clark (ph), who is over here in section F. Oliver? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Senators, through this economic crisis, most of the people that I know have had a difficult time. | QUESTION | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And through this bailout package, I was wondering what it is that's going to actually help those people out. | QUESTION | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you, Oliver, and that's an excellent question, because as you just described it, bailout, when I believe that it's rescue, because -- because of the greed and excess in Washington and Wall Street, Main Street was paying a very heavy price, and we know that. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I left my campaign and suspended it to go back to Washington to make sure that there were additional protections for the taxpayer in the form of good oversight, in the form of taxpayers being the first to be paid back when our economy recovers -- and it will recover -- and a number of other measures. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But you know, one of the real catalysts, really the match that lit this fire was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'll bet you, you may never even have heard of them before this crisis. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But you know, they're the ones that, with the encouragement of Senator Obama and his cronies and his friends in Washington, that went out and made all these risky loans, gave them to people that could never afford to pay back. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And you know, there were some of us that stood up two years ago and said we've got to enact legislation to fix this. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to stop this greed and excess. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Meanwhile, the Democrats in the Senate and some -- and some members of Congress defended what Fannie and Freddie were doing. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They resisted any change. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Meanwhile, they were getting all kinds of money in campaign contributions. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama was the second highest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac money in history -- in history. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So this rescue package means that we will stabilize markets, we will shore up these institutions. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But it's not enough. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's why we're going to have to go out into the housing market and we're going to have to buy up these bad loans and we're going to have to stabilize home values, and that way, Americans, like Alan, can realize the American dream and stay in their home. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But Fannie and Freddie were the catalysts, the match that started this forest fire. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There were some of us -- there were some of us that stood up against it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There were others who took a hike. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Oliver, first, let me tell you what's in the rescue package for you. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Right now, the credit markets are frozen up and what that means, as a practical matter, is that small businesses and some large businesses just can't get loans. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If they can't get a loan, that means that they can't make payroll. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If they can't make payroll, then they may end up having to shut their doors and lay people off. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And if you imagine just one company trying to deal with that, now imagine a million companies all across the country. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So it could end up having an adverse effect on everybody, and that's why we had to take action. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we shouldn't have been there in the first place. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, I've got to correct a little bit of Senator McCain's history, not surprisingly. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's, first of all, understand that the biggest problem in this whole process was the deregulation of the financial system. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, as recently as March, bragged about the fact that he is a deregulator. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| On the other hand, two years ago, I said that we've got a sub-prime lending crisis that has to be dealt with. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I wrote to Secretary Paulson, I wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, and told them this is something we have to deal with, and nobody did anything about it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| A year ago, I went to Wall Street and said we've got to reregulate, and nothing happened. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And Senator McCain during that period said that we should keep on deregulating because that's how the free enterprise system works. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, with respect to Fannie Mae, what Senator McCain didn't mention is the fact that this bill that he talked about wasn't his own bill. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He jumped on it a year after it had been introduced and it never got passed. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I never promoted Fannie Mae. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, Senator McCain's campaign chairman's firm was a lobbyist on behalf of Fannie Mae, not me. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So -- but, look, you're not interested in hearing politicians pointing fingers. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What you're interested in is trying to figure out, how is this going to impact you? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This is not the end of the process; this is the beginning of the process. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why it's going to be so important for us to work with homeowners to make sure that they can stay in their homes. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The secretary already has the power to do that in the rescue package, but it hasn't been exercised yet. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And the next president has to make sure that the next Treasury secretary is thinking about how to strengthen you as a home buyer, you as a homeowner, and not simply think about bailing out banks on Wall Street. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, time for a discussion. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to begin with you. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Are you saying to Mr. Clark (ph) and to the other members of the American television audience that the American economy is going to get much worse before it gets better and they ought to be prepared for that? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| No, I am confident about the American economy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we are going to have to have some leadership from Washington that not only sets out much better regulations for the financial system. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The problem is we still have a archaic, 20th-century regulatory system for 21st-century financial markets. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have to coordinate with other countries to make sure that whatever actions we take work. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But most importantly, we're going to have to help ordinary families be able to stay in their homes, make sure that they can pay their bills, deal with critical issues like health care and energy, and we're going to have to change the culture in Washington so that lobbyists and special interests aren't driving the process and your voices aren't being drowned out. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, in all candor, do you think the economy is going to get worse before it gets better? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think it depends on what we do. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think if we act effectively, if we stabilize the housing market -- which I believe we can, if we go out and buy up these bad loans, so that people can have a new mortgage at the new value of their home -- I think if we get rid of the cronyism and special interest influence in Washington so we can act more effectively. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My friend, I'd like you to see the letter that a group of senators and I wrote warning exactly of this crisis. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama's name was not on that letter. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The point is -- the point is that we can fix our economy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Americans' workers are the best in the world. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They're the fundamental aspect of America's economy. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They're the most innovative. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They're the best -- they're most -- have best -- we're the best exporters. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're the best importers. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They're most effective. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They are the best workers in the world. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we've got to give them a chance. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They've got -- we've got to give them a chance to do their best again. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And they are the innocent bystanders here in what is the biggest financial crisis and challenge of our time. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can do it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, Senator McCain. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to continue over in Section F, as it turns out. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, this is a question from you from Theresa Finch (ph). | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Theresa (ph)? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| How can we trust either of you with our money when both parties got -- got us into this global economic crisis? | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, look, I understand your frustration and your cynicism, because while you've been carrying out your responsibilities -- most of the people here, you've got a family budget. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If less money is coming in, you end up making cuts. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe you don't go out to dinner as much. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe you put off buying a new car. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's not what happens in Washington. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And you're right. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There is a lot of blame to go around. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I think it's important just to remember a little bit of history. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| When George Bush came into office, we had surpluses. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And now we have half-a-trillion-dollar deficit annually. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| When George Bush came into office, our debt -- national debt was around $5 trillion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's now over $10 trillion. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've almost doubled it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so while it's true that nobody's completely innocent here, we have had over the last eight years the biggest increases in deficit spending and national debt in our history. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And Senator McCain voted for four out of five of those George Bush budgets. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So here's what I would do. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to spend some money on the key issues that we've got to work on. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, you may have seen your health care premiums go up. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to reform health care to help you and your budget. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We are going to have to deal with energy because we can't keep on borrowing from the Chinese and sending money to Saudi Arabia. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We are mortgaging our children's future. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to have a different energy plan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to invest in college affordability. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So we're going to have to make some investments, but we've also got to make spending cuts. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And what I've proposed, you'll hear Senator McCain say, well, he's proposing a whole bunch of new spending, but actually I'm cutting more than I'm spending so that it will be a net spending cut. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The key is whether or not we've got priorities that are working for you as opposed to those who have been dictating the policy in Washington lately, and that's mostly lobbyists and special interests. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to put an end to that. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Theresa (ph), thank you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I can see why you feel that cynicism and mistrust, because the system in Washington is broken. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I have been a consistent reformer. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have advocated and taken on the special interests, whether they be the big money people by reaching across the aisle and working with Senator Feingold on campaign finance reform, whether it being a variety of other issues, working with Senator Lieberman on trying to address climate change. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have a clear record of bipartisanship. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The situation today cries out for bipartisanship. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama has never taken on his leaders of his party on a single issue. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we need to reform. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so let's look at our records as well as our rhetoric. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's really part of your mistrust here. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And now I suggest that maybe you go to some of these organizations that are the watchdogs of what we do, like the Citizens Against Government Waste or the National Taxpayers Union or these other organizations that watch us all the time. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I don't expect you to watch every vote. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And you know what you'll find? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This is the most liberal big-spending record in the United States Senate. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought against excessive spending and outrages. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought to reduce the earmarks and eliminate them. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Do you know that Senator Obama has voted for -- is proposing $860 billion of new spending now? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| New spending. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Do you know that he voted for every increase in spending that I saw come across the floor of the United States Senate while we were working to eliminate these pork barrel earmarks? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He voted for nearly a billion dollars in pork barrel earmark projects, including, by the way, $3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think you have to look at my record and you have to look at his. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Then you have to look at our proposals for our economy, not $860 billion in new spending, but for the kinds of reforms that keep people in their jobs, get middle-income Americans working again, and getting our economy moving again. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You're going to be examining our proposals tonight and in the future, and energy independence is a way to do that, is one of them. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And drilling offshore and nuclear power are two vital elements of that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I've been supporting those and I know how to fix this economy, and eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, and stop sending $700 billion a year overseas. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've run out of time. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have this one-minute discussion period going on here. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There are new economic realities out there that everyone in this hall and across this country understands that there are going to have to be some choices made. | Tom Brokaw | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Health policies, energy policies, and entitlement reform, what are going to be your priorities in what order? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Which of those will be your highest priority your first year in office and which will follow in sequence? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The three priorities were health... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The three -- health care, energy, and entitlement reform: Social Security and Medicare. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| In what order would you put them in terms of priorities? | Tom Brokaw | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think you can work on all three at once, Tom. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think it's very important that we reform our entitlement programs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My friends, we are not going to be able to provide the same benefit for present-day workers that we are going -- that present-day retirees have today. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have to sit down across the table, Republican and Democrat, as we did in 1983 between Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know how to do that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have a clear record of reaching across the aisle, whether it be Joe Lieberman or Russ Feingold or Ted Kennedy or others. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's my clear record. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can work on nuclear power plants. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Build a whole bunch of them, create millions of new jobs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have to have all of the above, alternative fuels, wind, tide, solar, natural gas, clean coal technology. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All of these things we can do as Americans and we can take on this mission and we can overcome it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My friends, some of this $700 billion ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| As far as health care is concerned, obviously, everyone is struggling to make sure that they can afford their premiums and that they can have affordable and available health care. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's the next issue. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we can do them all at once. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There's no -- and we have to do them all at once. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All three you mentioned are compelling national security requirements. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm trying to play by the rules that you all established. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| One minute for discussion. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, if you would give us your list of priorities, there are some real questions about whether everything can be done at once. | Tom Brokaw | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have to prioritize, just like a family has to prioritize. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, I've listed the things that I think have to be at the top of the list. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Energy we have to deal with today, because you're paying $3.80 here in Nashville for gasoline, and it could go up. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And it's a strain on your family budget, but it's also bad for our national security, because countries like Russia and Venezuela and, you know, in some cases, countries like Iran, are benefiting from higher oil prices. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So we've got to deal with that right away. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's why I've called for an investment of $15 billion a year over 10 years. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Our goal should be, in 10 year's time, we are free of dependence on Middle Eastern oil. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we can do it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, when JFK said we're going to the Moon in 10 years, nobody was sure how to do it, but we understood that, if the American people make a decision to do something, it gets done. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So that would be priority number one. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Health care is priority number two, because that broken health care system is bad not only for families, but it's making our businesses less competitive. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, number three, we've got to deal with education so that our young people are competitive in a global economy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But just one point I want to make, Tom. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain mentioned looking at our records. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We do need to look at our records. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain likes to talk about earmarks a lot. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's important. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to go line by line through every item in the federal budget and eliminate programs that don't work and make sure that those that do work, work better and cheaper. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But understand this: We also have to look at where some of our tax revenues are going. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So when Senator McCain proposes a $300 billion tax cut, a continuation not only of the Bush tax cuts, but an additional $200 billion that he's going to give to big corporations, including big oil companies, $4 billion worth, that's money out of the system. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so we've got to prioritize both our spending side and our tax policies to make sure that they're working for you. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's what I'm going to do as president of the United States. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All right, gentlemen, I want to just remind you one more time about time. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have a larger deficit than the federal government does if we don't get this under control here before too long. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| (LAUGHTER) Senator McCain, for you, we have our first question from the Internet tonight. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| A child of the Depression, 78-year-old Fiora (ph) from Chicago. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Since World War II, we have never been asked to sacrifice anything to help our country, except the blood of our heroic men and women. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| As president, what sacrifices -- sacrifices will you ask every American to make to help restore the American dream and to get out of the economic morass that we're now in? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Fiora (ph), I'm going to ask the American people to understand that there are some programs that we may have to eliminate. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I first proposed a long time ago that we would have to examine every agency and every bureaucracy of government. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we're going to have to eliminate those that aren't working. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know a lot of them that aren't working. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| One of them is in defense spending, because I've taken on some of the defense contractors. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I saved the taxpayers $6.8 billion in a deal for an Air Force tanker that was done in a corrupt fashion. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I believe that we have to eliminate the earmarks. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And sometimes those projects, not -- not the overhead projector that Senator Obama asked for, but some of them that are really good projects, will have -- will have to be eliminated, as well. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And they'll have to undergo the same scrutiny that all projects should in competition with others. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So we're going to have to tell the American people that spending is going to have to be cut in America. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I recommend a spending freeze that -- except for defense, Veterans Affairs, and some other vital programs, we'll just have to have across-the-board freeze. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And some of those programs may not grow as much as we would like for them to, but we can establish priorities with full transparency, with full knowledge of the American people, and full consultation, not done behind closed doors and shoving earmarks in the middle of the night into programs that we don't even -- sometimes we don't even know about until months later. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, by the way, I want to go back a second. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Look, we can attack health care and energy at the same time. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're not -- we're not -- we're not rifle shots here. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We are Americans. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can, with the participation of all Americans, work together and solve these problems together. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Frankly, I'm not going to tell that person without health insurance that, "I'm sorry, you'll have to wait." | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to tell you Americans we'll get to work right away and we'll get to work together, and we can get them all done, because that's what America has been doing. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, thank you very much. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, a lot of you remember the tragedy of 9/11 and where you were on that day and, you know, how all of the country was ready to come together and make enormous changes to make us not only safer, but to make us a better country and a more unified country. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And President Bush did some smart things at the outset, but one of the opportunities that was missed was, when he spoke to the American people, he said, "Go out and shop." | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That wasn't the kind of call to service that I think the American people were looking for. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so it's important to understand that the -- I think the American people are hungry for the kind of leadership that is going to tackle these problems not just in government, but outside of government. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And let's take the example of energy, which we already spoke about. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There is going to be the need for each and every one of us to start thinking about how we use energy. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I believe in the need for increased oil production. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have to explore new ways to get more oil, and that includes offshore drilling. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It includes telling the oil companies, that currently have 68 million acres that they're not using, that either you use them or you lose them. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have to develop clean coal technology and safe ways to store nuclear energy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But each and every one of us can start thinking about how can we save energy in our homes, in our buildings. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And one of the things I want to do is make sure that we're providing incentives so that you can buy a fuel efficient car that's made right here in the United States of America, not in Japan or South Korea, making sure that you are able to weatherize your home or make your business more fuel efficient. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's going to require effort from each and every one of us. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And the last point I just want to make. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think the young people of America are especially interested in how they can serve, and that's one of the reasons why I'm interested in doubling the Peace Corps, making sure that we are creating a volunteer corps all across this country that can be involved in their community, involved in military service, so that military families and our troops are not the only ones bearing the burden of renewing America. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's something that all of us have to be involved with and that requires some leadership from Washington. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, as we begin, very quickly, our discussion period, President Bush, you'll remember, last summer, said that "Wall Street got drunk." | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| A lot of people now look back and think the federal government got drunk and, in fact, the American consumers got drunk. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| How would you, as president, try to break those bad habits of too much debt and too much easy credit, specifically, across the board, for this country, not just at the federal level, but as a model for the rest of the country, as well? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, I think it starts with Washington. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to show that we've got good habits, because if we're running up trillion dollar debts that we're passing on to the next generation, then a lot of people are going to think, "Well, you know what? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There's easy money out there." | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It means -- and I have to, again, repeat this. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It means looking (ph) at the spending side, but also at the revenue side. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I mean, Senator McCain has been talking tough about earmarks, and that's good, but earmarks account for about $18 billion of our budget. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, when Senator McCain is proposing tax cuts that would give the average Fortune 500 CEO an additional $700,000 in tax cuts, that's not sharing a burden. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so part of the problem, I think, for a lot of people who are listening here tonight is they don't feel as if they are sharing the burden with other folks. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I mean, you know, it's tough to ask a teacher who's making $30,000 or $35,000 a year to tighten her belt when people who are making much more than her are living pretty high on the hog. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why I think it's important for the president to set a tone that says all of us are going to contribute, all of us are going to make sacrifices, and it means that, yes, we may have to cut some spending, although I disagree with Senator McCain about an across-the- board freeze. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's an example of an unfair burden sharing. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's using a hatchet to cut the federal budget. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to use a scalpel so that people who need help are getting help and those of us, like myself and Senator McCain, who don't need help, aren't getting it. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's how we make sure that everybody is willing to make a few sacrifices. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, you know, nailing down Senator Obama's various tax proposals is like nailing Jell-O to the wall. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There has been five or six of them and if you wait long enough, there will probably be another one. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But he wants to raise taxes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My friends, the last president to raise taxes during tough economic times was Herbert Hoover, and he practiced protectionism as well, which I'm sure we'll get to at some point. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, last year up to this time, we've lost 700,000 jobs in America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The only bright spot is that over 300,000 jobs have been created by small businesses. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama's secret that you don't know is that his tax increases will increase taxes on 50 percent of small business revenue. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Small businesses across America will have to cut jobs and will have their taxes increase and won't be able to hire because of Senator Obama's tax policies. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, he said some time ago, he said he would forgo his tax increases if the economy was bad. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I've got some news, Senator Obama, the news is bad. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So let's not raise anybody's taxes, my friends, and make it be very clear to you I am not in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I am in favor of leaving the tax rates alone and reducing the tax burden on middle-income Americans by doubling your tax exemption for every child from $3,500 to $7,000. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| To giving every American a $5,000 refundable tax credit and go out and get the health insurance you want rather than mandates and fines for small businesses, as Senator Obama's plan calls for. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And let's create jobs and let's get our economy going again. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And let's not raise anybody's taxes. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, we have another question from the Internet. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Tom, can I respond to this briefly? | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Because... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, look, guys, the rules were established by the two campaigns, we worked very hard on this. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This will address, I think, the next question. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The tax issue, because I think it's very important. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Go ahead. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There are lots of issues that we are going to be dealing with here tonight. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we have a question from Langdon (ph) in Ballston Spa, New York, and that's about huge unfunded obligations for Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs that will soon eat up all of the revenue that's in place and then go into a deficit position. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Since the rules are pretty loose here, I'm going to add my own to this one. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Instead of having a discussion, let me ask you as a coda to that. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Would you give Congress a date certain to reform Social Security and Medicare within two years after you take office? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Because in a bipartisan way, everyone agrees, that's a big ticking time bomb that will eat us up maybe even more than the mortgage crisis. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Tom, we're going to have to take on entitlements and I think we've got to do it quickly. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have a lot of work to do, so I can't guarantee that we're going to do it in the next two years, but I'd like to do in the my first term as president. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I think it's important to understand, we're not going to solve Social Security and Medicare unless we understand the rest of our tax policies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And you know, Senator McCain, I think the "Straight Talk Express" lost a wheel on that one. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So let's be clear about my tax plan and Senator McCain's, because we're not going to be able to deal with entitlements unless we understand the revenues coming in. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans, 95 percent. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year, you will not see a single dime of your taxes go up. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you make $200,000 a year or less, your taxes will go down. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator McCain talks about small businesses. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we provide a 50 percent tax credit so that they can buy health insurance for their workers, because there are an awful lot of small businesses that I meet across America that want to do right by their workers but they just can't afford it. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Some small business owners, a lot of them, can't even afford health insurance for themselves. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, in contrast, Senator McCain wants to give a $300 billion tax cut, $200 billion of it to the largest corporations and a hundred thousand of it -- a hundred billion of it going to people like CEOs on Wall Street. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He wants to give average Fortune 500 CEO an additional $700,000 in tax cuts. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That is not fair. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And it doesn't work. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, if we get our tax policies right so that they're good for the middle class, if we reverse the policies of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place and that Senator McCain supported, then we are going to be in a position to deal with Social Security and deal with Medicare, because we will have a health care plan that actually works for you, reduces spending and costs over the long term, and Social Security that is stable and solvent for all Americans and not just some. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, two years for a reform of entitlement programs? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Sure. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Hey, I'll answer the question. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Look -- look, it's not that hard to fix Social Security, Tom. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's just... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And Medicare. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| ... tough decisions. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to get to Medicare in a second. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Social Security is not that tough. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We know what the problems are, my friends, and we know what the fixes are. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to sit down together across the table. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's been done before. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I saw it done with our -- our wonderful Ronald Reagan, a conservative from California, and the liberal Democrat Tip O'Neill from Massachusetts. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's what we need more of, and that's what I've done in Washington. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama has never taken on his party leaders on a single major issue. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I've taken them on. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm not too popular sometimes with my own party, much less his. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So Medicare, it's going to be a little tougher. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's going to be a little tougher because we're talking about very complex and difficult issues. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My friends, what we have to do with Medicare is have a commission, have the smartest people in America come together, come up with recommendations, and then, like the base-closing commission idea we had, then we should have Congress vote up or down. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's not let them fool with it anymore. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There's too much special interests and too many lobbyists working there. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So let's have -- and let's have the American people say, "Fix it for us." | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, just back on this -- on this tax, you know, again, it's back to our first question here about rhetoric and record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama has voted 94 times to either increase your taxes or against tax cuts. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's his record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| When he ran for the United States Senate from Illinois, he said he would have a middle-income tax cut. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know he came to the Senate and never once proposed legislation to do that? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So let's look at our record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I've fought higher taxes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought excess spending. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought to reform government. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's look at our records, my friends, and then listen to my vision for the future of America. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we'll get our economy going again. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And our best days are ahead of us. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, thank you very much. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm going to stick by my part of the pact and not ask a follow-up here. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The next question does come from the hall for Senator McCain. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It comes from Section C over here, and it's from Ingrid Jackson (ph). | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Ingrid (ph)? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, I want to know, we saw that Congress moved pretty fast in the face of an economic crisis. | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to know what you would do within the first two years to make sure that Congress moves fast as far as environmental issues, like climate change and green jobs? | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Look, we are in tough economic times; we all know that. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And let's keep -- never forget the struggle that Americans are in today. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But when we can -- when we have an issue that we may hand our children and our grandchildren a damaged planet, I have disagreed strongly with the Bush administration on this issue. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I traveled all over the world looking at the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, Joe Lieberman and I. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I introduced the first legislation, and we forced votes on it. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's the good news, my friends. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The bad news is we lost. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we kept the debate going, and we kept this issue to -- to posing to Americans the danger that climate change opposes. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, how -- what's -- what's the best way of fixing it? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Nuclear power. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama says that it has to be safe or disposable or something like that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Look, I -- I was on Navy ships that had nuclear power plants. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Nuclear power is safe, and it's clean, and it creates hundreds of thousands of jobs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And -- and I know that we can reprocess the spent nuclear fuel. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The Japanese, the British, the French do it. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we can do it, too. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama has opposed that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can move forward, and clean up our climate, and develop green technologies, and alternate -- alternative energies for -- for hybrid, for hydrogen, for battery-powered cars, so that we can clean up our environment and at the same time get our economy going by creating millions of jobs. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can do that, we as Americans, because we're the best innovators, we're the best producers, and 95 percent of the people who are our market live outside of the United States of America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This is one of the biggest challenges of our times. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And it is absolutely critical that we understand this is not just a challenge, it's an opportunity, because if we create a new energy economy, we can create five million new jobs, easily, here in the United States. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It can be an engine that drives us into the future the same way the computer was the engine for economic growth over the last couple of decades. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we can do it, but we're going to have to make an investment. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The same way the computer was originally invented by a bunch of government scientists who were trying to figure out, for defense purposes, how to communicate, we've got to understand that this is a national security issue, as well. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why we've got to make some investments and I've called for investments in solar, wind, geothermal. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Contrary to what Senator McCain keeps on saying, I favor nuclear power as one component of our overall energy mix. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But this is another example where I think it is important to look at the record. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain and I actually agree on something. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He said a while back that the big problem with energy is that for 30 years, politicians in Washington haven't done anything. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What Senator McCain doesn't mention is he's been there 26 of them. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And during that time, he voted 23 times against alternative fuels, 23 times. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So it's easy to talk about this stuff during a campaign, but it's important for us to understand that it requires a sustained effort from the next president. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| One last point I want to make on energy. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain talks a lot about drilling, and that's important, but we have three percent of the world's oil reserves and we use 25 percent of the world's oil. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So what that means is that we can't simply drill our way out of the problem. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we're not going to be able to deal with the climate crisis if our only solution is to use more fossil fuels that create global warming. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to have to come up with alternatives, and that means that the United States government is working with the private sector to fund the kind of innovation that we can then export to countries like China that also need energy and are setting up one coal power plant a week. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to make sure that we're giving them the energy that they need or helping them to create the energy that they need. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Gentlemen, you may not have noticed, but we have lights around here. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They have red and green and yellow and they are to signal... | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm just trying to keep up with John. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Tom, wave like that and I'll look at you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All right, Senator. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Here's a follow-up to that, one-minute discussion. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's a simple question. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Sure. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Should we fund a Manhattan-like project that develops a nuclear bomb to deal with global energy and alternative energy or should we fund 100,000 garages across America, the kind of industry and innovation that developed Silicon Valley? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think pure research and development investment on the part of the United States government is certainly appropriate. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think once it gets into productive stages, that we ought to, obviously, turn it over to the private sector. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| By the way, my friends, I know you grow a little weary with this back-and-forth. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know who voted for it? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You might never know. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That one. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know who voted against it? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Me. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have fought time after time against these pork barrel -- these bills that come to the floor and they have all kinds of goodies and all kinds of things in them for everybody and they buy off the votes. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I vote against them, my friends. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I vote against them. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the point is, also, on oil drilling, oil drilling offshore now is vital so that we can bridge the gap. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can bridge the gap between imported oil, which is a national security issue, as well as any other, and it will reduce the price of a barrel of oil, because when people know there's a greater supply, then the cost of that will go down. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's fundamental economics. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to drill offshore, my friends, and we've got to do it now, and we can do it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And as far as nuclear power is concerned, again, look at the record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama has approved storage and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I'll stop, Tom, and you didn't even wave. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thanks. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you very much, Senator. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Next question for you, Senator Obama, and it comes from the E section over here and it's from Lindsey Trellow (ph). | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Lindsey? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator, selling health care coverage in America as the marketable commodity has become a very profitable industry. | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Do you believe health care should be treated as a commodity? | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, you know, as I travel around the country, this is one of the single most frequently asked issues that I get, is the issue of health care. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It is breaking family budgets. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I can't tell you how many people I meet who don't have health insurance. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you've got health insurance, most of you have seen your premiums double over the last eight years. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And your co-payments and deductibles have gone up 30 percent just in the last year alone. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you're a small business, it's a crushing burden. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So one of the things that I have said from the start of this campaign is that we have a moral commitment as well as an economic imperative to do something about the health care crisis that so many families are facing. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So here's what I would do. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you've got health care already, and probably the majority of you do, then you can keep your plan if you are satisfied with it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You can keep your choice of doctor. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to work with your employer to lower the cost of your premiums by up to $2,500 a year. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we're going to do it by investing in prevention. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to do it by making sure that we use information technology so that medical records are actually on computers instead of you filling forms out in triplicate when you go to the hospital. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That will reduce medical errors and reduce costs. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you don't have health insurance, you're going to be able to buy the same kind of insurance that Senator McCain and I enjoy as federal employees. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Because there's a huge pool, we can drop the costs. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And nobody will be excluded for pre-existing conditions, which is a huge problem. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator McCain has a different kind of approach. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He says that he's going to give you a $5,000 tax credit. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What he doesn't tell you is that he is going to tax your employer-based health care benefits for the first time ever. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So what one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He would also strip away the ability of states to provide some of the regulations on insurance companies to make sure you're not excluded for pre-existing conditions or your mammograms are covered or your maternity is covered. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that is fundamentally the wrong way to go. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, just today business organizations like the United States Chamber of Commerce, which generally are pretty supportive of Republicans, said that this would lead to the unraveling of the employer-based health care system. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That, I don't think, is the kind of change that we need. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to have somebody who is fighting for patients and making sure that you get decent, affordable health care. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's something that I'm committed to doing as president. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you for the question. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You really identified one of the really major challenges that America faces. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Co-payments go up, costs go up, skyrocketing costs, which make people less and less able to afford health insurance in America. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we need to do all of the things that are necessary to make it more efficient. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's put health records online, that will reduce medical errors, as they call them. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's have community health centers. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's have walk-in clinics. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's do a lot of things to impose efficiencies. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But what is at stake here in this health care issue is the fundamental difference between myself and Senator Obama. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| As you notice, he starts talking about government. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He starts saying, government will do this and government will do that, and then government will, and he'll impose mandates. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you're a small business person and you don't insure your employees, Senator Obama will fine you. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Will fine you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's remarkable. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you're a parent and you're struggling to get health insurance for your children, Senator Obama will fine you. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to give every American a $5,000 refundable tax credit. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They can take it anywhere, across state lines. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Why not? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Don't we go across state lines when we purchase other things in America? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Of course it's OK to go across state lines because in Arizona they may offer a better plan that suits you best than it does here in Tennessee. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And if you do the math, those people who have employer-based health benefits, if you put the tax on it and you have what's left over and you add $5,000 that you're going to get as a refundable tax credit, do the math, 95 percent of the American people will have increased funds to go out and buy the insurance of their choice and to shop around and to get -- all of those people will be covered except for those who have these gold-plated Cadillac kinds of policies. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, like hair transplants, I might need one of those myself. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the point is that we have got to give people choice in America and not mandate things on them and give them the ability. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Every parent I know would acquire health insurance for their children if they could. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Obviously small business people want to give their employees health insurance. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Of course they all want to do that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to give them the wherewithal to do it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can do it by giving them, as a start, a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go around and get the health insurance policy of their choice. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Quick discussion. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Is health care in America a privilege, a right, or a responsibility? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think it's a responsibility, in this respect, in that we should have available and affordable health care to every American citizen, to every family member. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And with the plan that -- that I have, that will do that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But government mandates I -- I'm always a little nervous about. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But it is certainly my responsibility. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It is certainly small-business people and others, and they understand that responsibility. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| American citizens understand that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Employers understand that. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But they certainly are a little nervous when Senator Obama says, if you don't get the health care policy that I think you should have, then you're going to get fined. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, by the way, Senator Obama has never mentioned how much that fine might be. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Perhaps we might find that out tonight. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, why don't -- why don't -- let's talk about this, Tom, because there was just a lot of stuff out there. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Privilege, right or responsibility. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's start with that. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, I think it should be a right for every American. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| In a country as wealthy as ours, for us to have people who are going bankrupt because they can't pay their medical bills -- for my mother to die of cancer at the age of 53 and have to spend the last months of her life in the hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they're saying that this may be a pre-existing condition and they don't have to pay her treatment, there's something fundamentally wrong about that. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So let me -- let me just talk about this fundamental difference. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, Tom, I know that we're under time constraints, but Senator McCain through a lot of stuff out there. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Number one, let me just repeat, if you've got a health care plan that you like, you can keep it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All I'm going to do is help you to lower the premiums on it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You'll still have choice of doctor. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There's no mandate involved. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Small businesses are not going to have a mandate. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What we're going to give you is a 50 percent tax credit to help provide health care for those that you need. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, it's true that I say that you are going to have to make sure that your child has health care, because children are relatively cheap to insure and we don't want them going to the emergency room for treatable illnesses like asthma. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And when Senator McCain says that he wants to provide children health care, what he doesn't mention is he voted against the expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program that is responsible for making sure that so many children who didn't have previously health insurance have it now. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, the final point I'll make on this whole issue of government intrusion and mandates -- it is absolutely true that I think it is important for government to crack down on insurance companies that are cheating their customers, that don't give you the fine print, so you end up thinking that you're paying for something and, when you finally get sick and you need it, you're not getting it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And the reason that it's a problem to go shopping state by state, you know what insurance companies will do? | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They will find a state -- maybe Arizona, maybe another state -- where there are no requirements for you to get cancer screenings, where there are no requirements for you to have to get pre-existing conditions, and they will all set up shop there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's how in banking it works. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Everybody goes to Delaware, because they've got very -- pretty loose laws when it comes to things like credit cards. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And in that situation, what happens is, is that the protections you have, the consumer protections that you need, you're not going to have available to you. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That is a fundamental difference that I have with Senator McCain. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He believes in deregulation in every circumstance. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's what we've been going through for the last eight years. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It hasn't worked, and we need fundamental change. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator, we want to move on now. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If we'd come back to the hall here, we're going to shift gears here a little bit and we're going to go to foreign policy and international matters, if we can... | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I don't believe that -- did we hear the size of the fine? | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Phil Elliott (ph) is over here in this section, and Phil Elliott (ph) has a question for Senator McCain. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Phil? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Yes. | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, how will all the recent economic stress affect our nation's ability to act as a peacemaker in the world? | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, I thank you for that question, because there's no doubt that history shows us that nations that are strong militarily over time have to have a strong economy, as well. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that is one of the challenges that America faces. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But having said that, America -- and we'll hear a lot of criticism. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I've heard a lot of criticism about America, and our national security policy, and all that, and much of that criticism is justified. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the fact is, America is the greatest force for good in the history of the world. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My friends, we have gone to all four corners of the Earth and shed American blood in defense, usually, of somebody else's freedom and our own. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So we are peacemakers and we're peacekeepers. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the challenge is to know when the United States of American can beneficially effect the outcome of a crisis, when to go in and when not, when American military power is worth the expenditure of our most precious treasure. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that question can only be answered by someone with the knowledge and experience and the judgment, the judgment to know when our national security is not only at risk, but where the United States of America can make a difference in preventing genocide, in preventing the spread of terrorism, in doing the things that the United States has done, not always well, but we've done because we're a nation of good. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I am convinced that my record, going back to my opposition from sending the Marines to Lebanon, to supporting our efforts in Kosovo and Bosnia and the first Gulf War, and my judgment, I think, is something that I'm -- a record that I'm willing to stand on. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama was wrong about Iraq and the surge. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He was wrong about Russia when they committed aggression against Georgia. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And in his short career, he does not understand our national security challenges. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We don't have time for on-the-job training, my friends. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, the economic constraints on the U.S. military action around the world. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, you know, Senator McCain, in the last debate and today, again, suggested that I don't understand. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's true. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There are some things I don't understand. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, while Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are setting up base camps and safe havens to train terrorists to attack us. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That was Senator McCain's judgment and it was the wrong judgment. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| When Senator McCain was cheerleading the president to go into Iraq, he suggested it was going to be quick and easy, we'd be greeted as liberators. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That was the wrong judgment, and it's been costly to us. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So one of the difficulties with Iraq is that it has put an enormous strain, first of all, on our troops, obviously, and they have performed heroically and honorably and we owe them an extraordinary debt of gratitude. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But it's also put an enormous strain on our budget. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've spent, so far, close to $700 billion and if we continue on the path that we're on, as Senator McCain is suggesting, it's going to go well over $1 trillion. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're spending $10 billion a month in Iraq at a time when the Iraqis have a $79 billion surplus, $79 billion. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we need that $10 billion a month here in the United States to put people back to work, to do all these wonderful things that Senator McCain suggested we should be doing, but has not yet explained how he would pay for. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator McCain and I do agree, this is the greatest nation on earth. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We are a force of good in the world. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But there has never been a nation in the history of the world that saw its economy decline and maintained its military superiority. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And the strains that have been placed on our alliances around the world and the respect that's been diminished over the last eight years has constrained us being able to act on something like the genocide in Darfur, because we don't have the resources or the allies to do everything that we should be doing. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's going to change when I'm president, but we can't change it unless we fundamentally change Senator McCain's and George Bush's foreign policy. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It has not worked for America. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama, let me ask you if -- let's see if we can establish tonight the Obama doctrine and the McCain doctrine for the use of United States combat forces in situations where there's a humanitarian crisis, but it does not affect our national security. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Take the Congo, where 4.5 million people have died since 1998, or take Rwanda in the earlier dreadful days, or Somalia. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What is the Obama doctrine for use of force that the United States would send when we don't have national security issues at stake? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, we may not always have national security issues at stake, but we have moral issues at stake. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If we could have intervened effectively in the Holocaust, who among us would say that we had a moral obligation not to go in? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If we could've stopped Rwanda, surely, if we had the ability, that would be something that we would have to strongly consider and act. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so I do believe that we have to consider it as part of our interests, our national interests, in intervening where possible. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But understand that there's a lot of cruelty around the world. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're not going to be able to be everywhere all the time. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's why it's so important for us to be able to work in concert with our allies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let's take the example of Darfur just for a moment. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Right now there's a peacekeeping force that has been set up and we have African Union troops in Darfur to stop a genocide that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We could be providing logistical support, setting up a no-fly zone at relatively little cost to us, but we can only do it if we can help mobilize the international community and lead. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's what I intend to do when I'm president. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, the McCain Doctrine, if you will. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, let me just follow up, my friends. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If we had done what Senator Obama wanted done in Iraq, and that was set a date for withdrawal, which General Petraeus, our chief -- chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff said would be a very dangerous course to take for America, then we would have had a wider war, we would have been back, Iranian influence would have increased, al Qaeda would have re- established a base. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There was a lot at stake there, my friends. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I can tell you right now that Senator Obama would have brought our troops home in defeat. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'll bring them home with victory and with honor and that is a fundamental difference. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The United States of America, Tom, is the greatest force for good, as I said. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we must do whatever we can to prevent genocide, whatever we can to prevent these terrible calamities that we have said never again. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But it also has to be tempered with our ability to beneficially affect the situation. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That requires a cool hand at the tiller. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This requires a person who understands what our -- the limits of our capability are. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We went in to Somalia as a peacemaking organization, we ended up trying to be -- excuse me, as a peacekeeping organization, we ended up trying to be peacemakers and we ended up having to withdraw in humiliation. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| In Lebanon, I stood up to President Reagan, my hero, and said, if we send Marines in there, how can we possibly beneficially affect this situation? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And said we shouldn't. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Unfortunately, almost 300 brave young Marines were killed. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So you have to temper your decisions with the ability to beneficially affect the situation and realize you're sending America's most precious asset, American blood, into harm's way. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, again, I know those situations. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I've been in them all my life. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I can tell you right now the security of your young men and women who are serving in the military are my first priority right after our nation's security. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I may have to make those tough decisions. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I won't take them lightly. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I understand that we have to say never again to a Holocaust and never again to Rwanda. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we had also better be darn sure we don't leave and make the situation worse, thereby exacerbating our reputation and our ability to address crises in other parts of the world. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, thank you very much. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Next question for Senator Obama, it comes from the F section and is from Katie Hamm (ph). | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Katie? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Should the United States respect Pakistani sovereignty and not pursue al Qaeda terrorists who maintain bases there, or should we ignore their borders and pursue our enemies like we did in Cambodia during the Vietnam War? | QUESTION | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Katie, it's a terrific question and we have a difficult situation in Pakistan. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I believe that part of the reason we have a difficult situation is because we made a bad judgment going into Iraq in the first place when we hadn't finished the job of hunting down bin Laden and crushing al Qaeda. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So what happened was we got distracted, we diverted resources, and ultimately bin Laden escaped, set up base camps in the mountains of Pakistan in the northwest provinces there. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They are now raiding our troops in Afghanistan, destabilizing the situation. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They're stronger now than at any time since 2001. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why I think it's so important for us to reverse course, because that's the central front on terrorism. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| They are plotting to kill Americans right now. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| As Secretary Gates, the defense secretary, said, the war against terrorism began in that region and that's where it will end. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So part of the reason I think it's so important for us to end the war in Iraq is to be able to get more troops into Afghanistan, put more pressure on the Afghan government to do what it needs to do, eliminate some of the drug trafficking that's funding terrorism. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I do believe that we have to change our policies with Pakistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We can't coddle, as we did, a dictator, give him billions of dollars and then he's making peace treaties with the Taliban and militants. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What I've said is we're going to encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our nonmilitary aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We will kill bin Laden; we will crush Al Qaida. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That has to be our biggest national security priority. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Katie (ph), thank you. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, my hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Teddy Roosevelt used to say walk softly -- talk softly, but carry a big stick. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama likes to talk loudly. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| In fact, he said he wants to announce that he's going to attack Pakistan. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Remarkable. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, if you are a country and you're trying to gain the support of another country, then you want to do everything you can that they would act in a cooperative fashion. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| When you announce that you're going to launch an attack into another country, it's pretty obvious that you have the effect that it had in Pakistan: It turns public opinion against us. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, let me just go back with you very briefly. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We drove the Russians out with -- the Afghan freedom fighters drove the Russians out of Afghanistan, and then we made a most serious mistake. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We washed our hands of Afghanistan. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The Taliban came back in, Al Qaida, we then had the situation that required us to conduct the Afghan war. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, our relations with Pakistan are critical, because the border areas are being used as safe havens by the Taliban and Al Qaida and other extremist organizations, and we have to get their support. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, General Petraeus had a strategy, the same strategy -- very, very different, because of the conditions and the situation -- but the same fundamental strategy that succeeded in Iraq. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that is to get the support of the people. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We need to help the Pakistani government go into Waziristan, where I visited, a very rough country, and -- and get the support of the people, and get them to work with us and turn against the cruel Taliban and others. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And by working and coordinating our efforts together, not threatening to attack them, but working with them, and where necessary use force, but talk softly, but carry a big stick. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Tom, just a... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain... | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| ... just a quick follow-up on this. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think... | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If we're going to have follow-ups, then I will want follow-ups, as well. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| No, I know. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So but I think we get at it... | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It'd be fine with me. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It'd be fine with me. | John S. McCain | NaN | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| ... if I can, with this question. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Then let's have one. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All right, let's have a follow-up. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It'd be fine with me. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Just -- just -- just a quick follow-up, because I think -- I think this is important. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'm just the hired help here, so, I mean... (LAUGHTER) | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You're doing a great job, Tom. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Look, I -- I want to be very clear about what I said. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain continues to repeat this. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What I said was the same thing that the audience here today heard me say, which is, if Pakistan is unable or unwilling to hunt down bin Laden and take him out, then we should. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, that I think has to be our policy, because they are threatening to kill more Americans. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I'm green behind the ears and, you know, I'm just spouting off, and he's somber and responsible. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you very much. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, this is the guy who sang, "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran," who called for the annihilation of North Korea. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That I don't think is an example of "speaking softly." | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This is the person who, after we had -- we hadn't even finished Afghanistan, where he said, "Next up, Baghdad." | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So I agree that we have to speak responsibly and we have to act responsibly. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And the reason Pakistan -- the popular opinion of America had diminished in Pakistan was because we were supporting a dictator, Musharraf, had given him $10 billion over seven years, and he had suspended civil liberties. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We were not promoting democracy. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This is the kind of policies that ultimately end up undermining our ability to fight the war on terrorism, and it will change when I'm president. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And, Tom, if -- if we're going to go back and forth, I then -- I'd like to have equal time to go -- to respond to... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Yes, you get the... | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| ... to -- to -- to... | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| ... last word here, and then we have to move on. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Not true. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Not true. | John S. McCain | NaN | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I have, obviously, supported those efforts that the United States had to go in militarily and I have opposed that I didn't think so. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I understand what it's like to send young American's in harm's way. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I say -- I was joking with a veteran -- I hate to even go into this. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I was joking with an old veteran friend, who joked with me, about Iran. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the point is that I know how to handle these crises. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And Senator Obama, by saying that he would attack Pakistan, look at the context of his words. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'll get Osama bin Laden, my friends. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'll get him. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know how to get him. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'll get him no matter what and I know how to do it. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I'm not going to telegraph my punches, which is what Senator Obama did. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I'm going to act responsibly, as I have acted responsibly throughout my military career and throughout my career in the United States Senate. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we have fundamental disagreements about the use of military power and how you do it, and you just saw it in response to previous questions. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Can I get a quick response from the two of you about developments in Afghanistan this week? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The senior British military commander, who is now leading there for a second tour, and their senior diplomatic presence there, Sherard Cowper-Coles, who is well known as an expert in the area, both have said that we're failing in Afghanistan. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The commander said we cannot win there. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to get it down to a low level insurgency, let the Afghans take it over. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Cowper-Coles said what we need is an acceptable dictator. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If either of you becomes president, as one of you will, how do you reorganize Afghanistan's strategy or do you? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Briefly, if you can. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I'll be very brief. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We are going to have to make the Iraqi government start taking more responsibility, withdraw our troops in a responsible way over time, because we're going to have to put some additional troops in Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| General McKiernan, the commander in Afghanistan right now, is desperate for more help, because our bases and outposts are now targets for more aggressive Afghan -- Taliban offenses. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're also going to have to work with the Karzai government, and when I met with President Karzai, I was very clear that, "You are going to have to do better by your people in order for us to gain the popular support that's necessary." | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I don't think he has to be a dictator. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we want a democracy in Afghanistan. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we have to have a government that is responsive to the Afghan people, and, frankly, it's just not responsive right now. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, briefly. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| General Petraeus has just taken over a position of responsibility, where he has the command and will really set the tone for the strategy and tactics that are used. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I've had conversations with him. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It is the same overall strategy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Of course, we have to do some things tactically, some of which Senator Obama is correct on. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have to double the size of the Afghan army. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have to have a streamlined NATO command structure. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have to do a lot of things. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have to work much more closely with the Pakistanis. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But most importantly, we have to have the same strategy, which Senator Obama said wouldn't work, couldn't work, still fails to admit that he was wrong about Iraq. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He still will not admit that he was wrong about the strategy of the surge in Iraq, and that's the same kind of strategy of go out and secure and hold and allow people to live normal lives. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And once they feel secure, then they lead normal, social, economic, political lives, the same thing that's happening in Iraq today. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So I have confidence that General Petraeus, working with the Pakistanis, working with the Afghans, doing the same job that he did in Iraq, will again. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We will succeed and we will bring our troops home with honor and victory and not in defeat. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, this question is for you from the Internet. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's from Alden (ph) in Hewitt, Texas. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| How can we apply pressure to Russia for humanitarian issues in an effective manner without starting another Cold War? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| First of all, as I say, I don't think that -- we're not going to have another Cold War with Russia. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But have no doubt that Russia's behavior is certainly outside the norms of behavior that we would expect for nations which are very wealthy, as Russia has become, because of their petro dollars. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, long ago, I warned about Vladimir Putin. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I said I looked into his eyes and saw three letters, a K, a G and a B. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He has surrounded himself with former KGB apparatchiks. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| He has gradually repressed most of the liberties that we would expect for nations to observe, and he has exhibited most aggressive behavior, obviously, in Georgia. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I said before, watch Ukraine. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Ukraine, right now, is in the sights of Vladimir Putin, those that want to reassemble the old Soviet Union. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to show moral support for Georgia. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to show moral support for Ukraine. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to advocate for their membership in NATO. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We have to make the Russians understand that there are penalties for these this kind of behavior, this kind of naked aggression into Georgia, a tiny country and a tiny democracy. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so, of course we want to bring international pressures to bear on Russia in hopes that that will modify and eventually change their behavior. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, the G-8 is one of those, but there are many others. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the Russians must understand that these kinds of actions and activities are not acceptable and hopefully we will use the leverage, economic, diplomatic and others united with our allies, with our allies and friends in Europe who are equally disturbed as we are about their recent behaviors. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It will not be a re-ignition of the Cold War, but Russia is a challenge. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're winding down, so if we can keep track of the time. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, the resurgence of Russia is one of the central issues that we're going to have to deal with in the next presidency. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And for the most part I agree with Senator McCain on many of the steps that have to be taken. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we can't just provide moral support. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to provide moral support to the Poles and Estonia and Latvia and all of the nations that were former Soviet satellites. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we've also got to provide them with financial and concrete assistance to help rebuild their economies. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Georgia in particular is now on the brink of enormous economic challenges. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And some say that that's what Putin intended in the first place. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The other thing we have to do, though, is we've got to see around the corners. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to anticipate some of these problems ahead of time. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You know, back in April, I put out a statement saying that the situation in Georgia was unsustainable because you had Russian peacekeepers in these territories that were under dispute. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And you knew that if the Russians themselves were trying to obtain some of these territories or push back against Georgia, that that was not a stable situation. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So part of the job of the next commander-in-chief, in keeping all of you safe, is making sure that we can see some of the 21st Century challenges and anticipate them before they happen. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We haven't been doing enough of that. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We tend to be reactive. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's what we've been doing over the last eight years and that has actually made us more safe. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's part of what happened in Afghanistan, where we rushed into Iraq and Senator McCain and President Bush suggested that it wasn't that important to catch bin Laden right now and that we could muddle through, and that has cost us dearly. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to be much more strategic if we're going to be able to deal with all of the challenges that we face out there. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And one last point I want to make about Russia. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Energy is going to be key in dealing with Russia. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If we can reduce our energy consumption, that reduces the amount of petro dollars that they have to make mischief around the world. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That will strengthen us and weaken them when it comes to issues like Georgia. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| This requires only a yes or a no. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Ronald Reagan famously said that the Soviet Union was the evil empire. | Tom Brokaw | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Do you think that Russia under Vladimir Putin is an evil empire? | Tom Brokaw | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think they've engaged in an evil behavior and I think that it is important that we understand they're not the old Soviet Union but they still have nationalist impulses that I think are very dangerous. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| (LAUGHTER) | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Maybe. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Depends on how we respond to Russia and it depends on a lot of things. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If I say yes, then that means that we're reigniting the old Cold War. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If I say no, it ignores their behavior. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Obviously energy is going to be a big, big factor. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And Georgia and Ukraine are both major gateways of energy into Europe. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's one of the reasons why it's in our interest. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But the Russians, I think we can deal with them but they've got to understand that they're facing a very firm and determined United States of America that will defend our interests and that of other countries in the world. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All right. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We're going to try to get in two more questions, if we can. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So we have to move along. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Over in section A, Terry Chary (ph) -- do I have that right, Terry? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator, as a retired Navy chief, my thoughts are often with those who serve our country. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know both candidates, both of you, expressed support for Israel. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If, despite your best diplomatic efforts, Iran attacks Israel, would you be willing to commit U.S. troops in support and defense of Israel? | QUESTION | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Or would you wait on approval from the U.N. Security Council? | QUESTION | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you, Terry (ph). | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And thank you for your service to the country. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to say, everything I ever learned about leadership I learned from a chief petty officer. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I thank you, and I thank you, my friend. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thanks for serving. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Let -- let -- let me say that we obviously would not wait for the United Nations Security Council. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think the realities are that both Russia and China would probably pose significant obstacles. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And our challenge right now is the Iranians continue on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons, and it's a great threat. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's not just a threat -- threat to the state of Israel. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's a threat to the stability of the entire Middle East. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, all the other countries will acquire them, too. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The tensions will be ratcheted up. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| What would you do if you were the Israelis and the president of a country says that they are -- they are determined to wipe you off the map, calls your country a stinking corpse? | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, Senator Obama without precondition wants to sit down and negotiate with them, without preconditions. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's what he stated, again, a matter of record. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I want to make sure that the Iranians are put enough -- that we put enough pressure on the Iranians by joining with our allies, imposing significant, tough sanctions to modify their behavior. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I think we can do that. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I think, joining with our allies and friends in a league of democracies, that we can effectively abridge their behavior, and hopefully they would abandon this quest that they are on for nuclear weapons. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But, at the end of the day, my friend, I have to tell you again, and you know what it's like to serve, and you know what it's like to sacrifice, but we can never allow a second Holocaust to take place. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama? | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, Terry, first of all, we honor your service, and we're grateful for it. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We cannot allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It would be a game-changer in the region. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Not only would it threaten Israel, our strongest ally in the region and one of our strongest allies in the world, but it would also create a possibility of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And so it's unacceptable. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I will do everything that's required to prevent it. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we will never take military options off the table. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And it is important that we don't provide veto power to the United Nations or anyone else in acting in our interests. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It is important, though, for us to use all the tools at our disposal to prevent the scenario where we've got to make those kinds of choices. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And that's why I have consistently said that, if we can work more effectively with other countries diplomatically to tighten sanctions on Iran, if we can reduce our energy consumption through alternative energy, so that Iran has less money, if we can impose the kinds of sanctions that, say, for example, Iran right now imports gasoline, even though it's an oil-producer, because its oil infrastructure has broken down, if we can prevent them from importing the gasoline that they need and the refined petroleum products, that starts changing their cost-benefit analysis. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That starts putting the squeeze on them. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, it is true, though, that I believe that we should have direct talks -- not just with our friends, but also with our enemies -- to deliver a tough, direct message to Iran that, if you don't change your behavior, then there will be dire consequences. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| If you do change your behavior, then it is possible for you to re-join the community of nations. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Now, it may not work. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But one of the things we've learned is, is that when we take that approach, whether it's in North Korea or in Iran, then we have a better chance at better outcomes. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| When President Bush decided we're not going to talk to Iran, we're not going to talk to North Korea, you know what happened? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Iran went from zero centrifuges to develop nuclear weapons to 4,000. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| North Korea quadrupled its nuclear capability. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got to try to have talks, understanding that we're not taking military options off the table. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| All right, gentlemen, we've come to the last question. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And you'll both be interested to know this comes from the Internet and it's from a state that you're strongly contesting, both of you. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's from Peggy (ph) in Amherst, New Hampshire. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And it has a certain Zen-like quality, I'll give you a fair warning. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| She says, "What don't you know and how will you learn it?" | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| (LAUGHTER) Senator Obama, you get first crack at that. | Tom Brokaw | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My wife, Michelle, is there and she could give you a much longer list than I do. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And most of the time, I learn it by asking her. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But, look, the nature of the challenges that we're going to face are immense and one of the things that we know about the presidency is that it's never the challenges that you expect. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's the challenges that you don't that end up consuming most of your time. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But here's what I do know. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know that I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the fact that this country gave me opportunity. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I came from very modest means. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I had a single mom and my grandparents raised me and it was because of the help of scholarships and my grandmother scrimping on things that she might have wanted to purchase and my mom, at one point, getting food stamps in order for us to put food on the table. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Despite all that, I was able to go to the best schools on earth and I was able to succeed in a way that I could not have succeeded anywhere else in this country. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The same is true for Michelle and I'm sure the same is true for a lot of you. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And the question in this election is: are we going to pass on that same American dream to the next generation? | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Over the last eight years, we've seen that dream diminish. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Wages and incomes have gone down. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| People have lost their health care or are going bankrupt because they get sick. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We've got young people who have got the grades and the will and the drive to go to college, but they just don't have the money. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And we can't expect that if we do the same things that we've been doing over the last eight years, that somehow we are going to have a different outcome. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| We need fundamental change. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's what's at stake in this election. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's the reason I decided to run for president, and I'm hopeful that all of you are prepared to continue this extraordinary journey that we call America. | Barack H. Obama | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But we're going to have to have the courage and the sacrifice, the nerve to move in a new direction. | Barack H. Obama | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator McCain, you get the last word. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Senator Obama had the opening. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| You're last up. | Barack H. Obama | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Well, thank you, Tom. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I think what I don't know is what all of us don't know, and that's what's going to happen both here at home and abroad. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| The challenges that we face are unprecedented. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Americans are hurting tonight in a way they have not in our generation. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| There are challenges around the world that are new and different and there will be different -- we will be talking about countries sometime in the future that we hardly know where they are on the map, some Americans. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| So what I don't know is what the unexpected will be. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| But I have spent my whole life serving this country. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I grew up in a family where my father was gone most of the time because he was at sea and doing our country's business. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| My mother basically raised our family. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know what it's like in dark times. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know what it's like to have to fight to keep one's hope going through difficult times. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know what it's like to rely on others for support and courage and love in tough times. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I know what it's like to have your comrades reach out to you and your neighbors and your fellow citizens and pick you up and put you back in the fight. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| That's what America's all about. | John S. McCain | Premise | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I believe in this country. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I believe in its future. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| I believe in its greatness. | John S. McCain | Claim | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| It's been my great honor to serve it for many, many years. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| And I'm asking the American people to give me another opportunity and I'll rest on my record, but I'll also tell you, when times are tough, we need a steady hand at the tiller and the great honor of my life was to always put my country first. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |
| Thank you, Tom. | John S. McCain | O | 2008 | 07 Oct 2008 |