SanLuisObispo.com: Politics

Obama has breakfast with troops in Afghan capital

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:58 PDT

Barack Obama had breakfast Sunday with U.S. troops in Kabul as part of his visit to Afghanistan.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Johnson said Obama went to an American base in the Afghan capital to dine with soldiers and sailors there.

The Democratic presidential candidate is part of a congressional delegation expected to meet later in the day with President Hamid Karzai.

Dream of gas tax holiday falters over job losses

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:18 PDT

The political vision of a summer gas tax holiday died a quick death in Congress, losing to a view that federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel will have to go up if they go anywhere.

Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze, lawmakers quickly concluded - with a prod from the construction industry - that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.

Now, lawmakers quietly are talking about raising fuel taxes by a dime from the current 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel fuel.

At the Democrats' party, a Pentecostal minister

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:04 PDT

The request befuddled Leah Daughtry. The experienced political hand in charge of planning next month's Democratic National Convention - a self-described "black chick from Brooklyn" and ordained Pentecostal minister who keeps a Bible in her purse - didn't know what to tell the atheists.

Daughtry, 44, was preparing for an Aug. 24 interfaith service that will open the Democrats' gathering here - a first for a party that hasn't always gotten God. Before her was an angry letter from a secularist group that wanted to know whether atheists would be on the podium.

"Atheists speaking at an interfaith service ... does that work?" Daughtry asked this week. "I don't quite know. But they're part of the party, you treat them with respect. I'll give them an answer."

Foes no more, McCain, Romney warm to each other

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:49 PDT

Just as Republican John McCain was unloading on his Democratic presidential rival Friday, he was offering warm, effusive words for once bitter foe Mitt Romney. And Romney, the mega-millionaire former Republican governor of Massachusetts, was pledging to help McCain's presidential campaign financially - and in any other way.

To underscore the point, Romney has decided not to spend time raising money to pay back the $44.6 million he lent his failed presidential campaign.

"Mitt Romney's priority right now is raising money for other Republicans, including John McCain, and not trying to recoup the money he put into his own race," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said Friday.

Guests for the Sunday TV news shows

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:33 PDT

Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:

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ABC's "This Week" - Pre-empted by coverage of the British Open golf tournament.

McCain paying down primary funds in advance of cap

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:48 PDT

Faced with a spending cap for his fall campaign, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is aggressively spending more money than he is raising during summer months and methodically reducing his cash reserves.

McCain raised more than $21 million in June and spent nearly $26 million, the campaign reported Friday night. McCain eroded his cash on hand, ending the month with $27 million in the bank. He began the month with $31.6 million in hand.

According to filings with the Federal Election Commission, McCain spent more than $16 million on advertising during the month, about three-quarters of his total raised in June. That was five times more than he spent in May, when the Democratic presidential primary was still being contested by Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on June 3.

Guns ruling spawns legal challenges by felons

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:29 PDT

Twice convicted of felonies, James Francis Barton Jr. faces charges of violating a federal law barring felons from owning guns after police found seven pistols, three shotguns and five rifles at his home south of Pittsburgh.

As a defense, Barton and several other defendants in federal gun cases argue that last month's Supreme Court ruling allows them to keep loaded handguns at home for self-defense.

"Felons, such as Barton, have the need and the right to protect themselves and their families by keeping firearms in their home," says David Chontos, Barton's court-appointed lawyer.

McCain adviser Gramm quits after 'whiners' remarks

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:09 PDT

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm resigned Friday from his role as GOP presidential candidate John McCain's campaign co-chairman, hoping to quiet the uproar that followed his comments that the United States had become a "nation of whiners" whose constant complaints about the U.S. economy show they are in a "mental recession."

Gramm, a past presidential candidate, made the remarks more than a week ago. McCain immediately distanced himself from the comments, but they brought a steady stream of criticism just as McCain is trying to show he can help steer the country past its current financial troubles.

Gramm said in a statement late Friday that he is stepping down to "end this distraction."

For better or worse, McCain wedded to town halls

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:38 PDT

John McCain was in his favorite campaign setting, a town hall meeting, when he spotted a promising target. "I'd love to recognize you first, sir," the Republican presidential candidate said to a man in a Vietnam War veteran's hat.

Instead of a softball opening question from a fellow vet, however, McCain got a lengthy harangue, as the man insisted the senator had opposed better medical benefits for veterans.

McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war, politely said the man was mistaken. He finally broke it off, saying, "I'll be glad to examine what your version of my record is."

Northcom chief: Homeland command is now grown up

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:13 PDT

Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr. has four stars on his collars and 60 combat missions under his belt. But on a recent trip to a California airfield, he sprang from an SUV like a happy kid and charged toward a crowd of servicemen and women.

"Hi, guys!" he said to the troops, who stood stiffly at attention. "Relax, relax, relax!"

Renuart, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, seems unnaturally upbeat and energetic for a man whose job is to figure out what disasters might befall the American homeland, and then lay plans to prevent or cope with them.

Today on the presidential campaign trail

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:48 PDT

IN THE HEADLINES

On trip to Mideast and Europe, Obama to meet with heads of state and opposition leaders ... McCain economic adviser Gramm leaves after 'nation of whiners' flap ... John McCain, Conan O'Brien agree that age jokes are getting old, look for new punch lines ...

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McCain, Conan agree: Age jokes getting old

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:55 PDT

How old is John McCain? So old, the jokes about it are getting old. So at a taping Friday night of NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," the host asked the Republican presidential candidate for some new material.

"We all agree on a take on you, which is your seniority," O'Brien said, as McCain, 71, pretended to fall asleep in his chair.

Speaking for all late night comedians, O'Brien said, "we're tired of this take on you," and asked the Arizona senator to give them some fresh material.

Obama to meet with leaders in Mideast, Europe

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:04 PDT

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama intends to sit down with European leaders as well as King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of a campaign-season trip that aides described Friday as substantive rather than political.

The Illinois senator also is slated to meet with opposition leaders in Israel and Britain.

Officials have yet to provide precise dates for the trip, and have confirmed few details about the itinerary, citing security details. On a conference call with reporters, they said they were not yet ready to disclose where in Berlin Obama will speak when he delivers an address on U.S.-European relations.

McCain, Obama hedge on costly new Marine One

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:19 PDT

John McCain and Barack Obama vow to reform the nation's defense procurement if elected president, yet each is unwilling to take a firm stand against the skyrocketing cost of a plum White House perk: the new Marine One helicopter.

Originally carrying a hefty price tag at $6.1 billion, the fleet of 28 helicopters being built to fly the next president is now projected to cost $11.2 billion.

At $400 million apiece, the helicopters far exceed a prime example McCain uses on the campaign trail to rail against congressional pork-barrel spending, a $230 million "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska. The British have bought the same base model helicopter for $57 million each.

McCain pledges to help auto industry rebuild

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:34 PDT

Republican presidential candidate John McCain pledged Friday to help auto workers rebuild their industry and in the process jump-start the entire U.S. economy.

On the day McCain visited one of the areas hardest hit by the economic downturn and rising gas prices, one of his top advisers, former Sen. Phil Gramm gave up his campaign position a week after saying the country was a "nation of whiners" facing merely a "mental recession."

Earlier in the day McCain was standing in a town hall meeting with hundreds of people and several shiny new cars and sounding at times like a confident, encouraging salesman as he praised General Motors' plans for a long-range electric car.