Barack Obama News Blog

Quotes from the Democratic debate

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

"For the first time in our history, we're in a position where those who are the wage earners are paying a bigger chunk than they should. It's got to shift back."

HILLARY CLINTON

-On the number of black teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS: "This is a multiple-dimension problem. But if we don't begin to take it seriously and address it the way we did back in the '90s when it was primarily a gay men's disease, we will never get the services and the public education that we need."

Democrats Focus On Race In Debate

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

WASHINGTON -- An historically diverse field of Democratic presidential candidates - a woman, a black, an Hispanic and five whites - denounced an hours-old Supreme Court desegregation ruling Thursday night and said the nation's slow march to racial unity is far from over.

"We have made enormous progress, but the progress we have made is not good enough," said Sen. Barack Obama, the son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, challenged those who would suggest otherwise. "There is so much left to be done and for anyone to assert that race is not a problem in America today is to deny the reality in front of our very eyes."

Dems Say March to Racial Unity Not Over

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

Democratic Presidential hopeful former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. answers questions during the televised Democratic presidential candidates debate at Howard University in Washington Thursday, June 28, 2007.

Quotes from the Democratic debate

Democrats denounce desegregation ruling

Immigration bill dies in Senate

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

Washington —- An overhaul of the nation's immigration laws was crushed Thursday in the Senate, with the forces of the political right and left overwhelming an attempt at bipartisan compromise on one of the most difficult issues facing the country.

The 46-53 tally fell dramatically short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and seek a final vote on the bill. With no way to move the legislation forward, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pulled it from the Senate floor for the second time this month, and this time, it is not likely to come up again before a new president comes to power.

"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment," said President Bush, who has pushed a comprehensive reworking of immigration laws since he came to Washington. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find a common ground —- it didn't work."

Reaction to High Court's school ruling

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

Some reaction to the Supreme Court decision Thursday rejecting school integration plans in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle:

"I believed so much in what we are doing, I just felt we had to win. The goal here is to make sure all kids have access to great schools." - Kathleen Brose, president of Parents Involved in Community Schools, who sued the Seattle school district after her daughter failed to get into a highly regarded high school.

"I'm confident the Jefferson County Public Schools leadership team will develop new guidelines for student assignment that will continue this community's commitment to diversity and educational excellence." - Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

Dems put off by court ruling

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidates stood united Thursday night against the Supreme Court and its ruling, earlier in the day, to roll back school desegregation laws.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said the court "turned the clock back" on history.

Reaction to the Supreme Court's decision on school integration

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

"This is a very lame excuse to tell a school system that they don't have to use race as an arbiter to help kids achieve and get a fair deal. In a world that still has the vestiges of racism, that's a ridiculous rationale." - Warlene Gary, CEO of the National Parent Teacher Association* * *

"These decisions take away the right of local communities to ensure that all students benefit from racially diverse classrooms. Recent evidence shows that integrated schools promote minority academic achievement and can help close the achievement gap." - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.* * *

Readers' letters: June 29, 2007

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

I applaud Sen. Lindsey Graham, even though I am unsure about the merits of the immigration bill he helped write. Then why applaud? Because, again (remember the Supreme Court confirmations?), he is cooperating with others, including Democrats, to address a major issue of national interest.

Many people criticize Congress for partisan sniping in lieu of legislating. Sen. Graham is showing that there is another way. It appears he is engaging in principled compromise, essential to lawmaking in a democracy. The alternative, popular today with members of both parties, is to pander to core supporters by espousing and voting for only hard-line positions, which have no chance of becoming law.

Some opponents of the immigration bill say it provides amnesty for illegal immigrants, which is false. Amnesty implies granting a new status, with no strings attached. To the contrary, the bill requires illegal immigrants to take steps to "earn" a new status.

Stump speeches taking a page from the Bible

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

Does Scripture have a place on the campaign trail?

In a previous blog post at chicagotribune.com/seeker about U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's speech Saturday to the United Church of Christ, I mentioned how journalist Bill Moyers tried to rally 10,000 of his brethren to save democracy. In doing so, Moyers reflected on the Gospel of Matthew as a road map for quiet revolution and social change.

When asked earlier this year how Matthew factored into Obama's political thinking, the Illinois Democrat told me:

The people killed amnesty

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

Who will win in '08?

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

There are two ways to predict the winner of the 2008 presidential race: Check the polls or read some history. The polls tell you that with President Bush's approval ratings abysmally low, with the war in Iraq becoming increasingly unpopular, with the GOP lacking a dominant candidate, and with the party divided over immigration, social issues and even religion (Mitt Romney's Mormonism), the next president is bound to be a Democrat. History begs to differ.

The history I have in mind is 1972. By the end of that year, 56,844 Americans had been killed in Vietnam, a war that almost no one thought could still be won and which no one could quite figure out how to end. Nevertheless, the winner in that year's presidential election was Richard M. Nixon. He won 49 of 50 states -- and the war, of course, went on.

Iraq unpopular as Vietnam

Democrats take turns trying to outdo each other

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

The Democratic presidential candidates tried to outdo each other instead of attack one another in a Thursday night debate in which they were asked how to solve many of the nations social ills.

All eight railed against a Supreme Court decision putting major new limits on school desegregation plans 53 years after the historic Brown v. Board of Education case that ended state-backed segregation in schools.

There is so much left to be done and for anyone to assert that race is not a problem in America today is to deny the reality in front of our very eyes, said New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Park Ridge native.

Dems court black America, blast ruling

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

Democratic presidential candidates won applause from a predominantly black audience Thursday by accusing the Supreme Court of retreating earlier in the day from the goal of eliminating school segregation.

Sharing the stage at a Thursday night forum on minority issues, the candidates denounced the court's decision that struck down race-based plans to promote diversity in school systems in Louisville and Seattle. The 5-4 court majority concluded that considering race to integrate classrooms amounts to reverse discrimination.

The passions that split the court spilled into the nationally televised candidate forum, but the Democratic candidates seemed to be of one mind on the issue. Every candidate who expressed an opinion came down squarely against Thursday's ruling. Some vowed to seek its reversal.

Dems denounce court desegregation ruling

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

WASHINGTON --A historically diverse field of Democratic presidential candidates - a woman, a black, an Hispanic and five whites - denounced an hours-old Supreme Court affirmative action ruling Thursday night and said the nation's slow march to racial unity is far from over.

"We have made enormous progress, but the progress we have made is not good enough," said Sen. Barack Obama, the son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, drew the night's largest cheer when she suggested there was a hint of racism in the way AIDS is addressed in this country.

July budget patch in wings, but Capitol wrangle continues

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:16:04 +0000

SPRINGFIELD State lawmakers are poised today to approve a temporary budget for July to keep the lights on and checks flowing, but state political leaders arent optimistic that an agreement on a full budget will be reached anytime soon.

I think well be here for a long time, House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters earlier this week. State lawmakers already blew a May 31 constitutional deadline to strike a deal and are nearly a month into overtime session having made little progress in negotiations.

The last time lawmakers were in a similar spot was 2004. That year they approved a budget just before the end of July, scurrying to finish so Democrats could get to the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Coulter's words help Edwards raise cash

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

Test vote looms after immigration bill survives challenges

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

The Senate's revived legislation to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants faces a critical test Thursday after surviving potentially fatal challenges.

Attempts from the right and left to alter key elements of the delicate bipartisan compromise failed Wednesday, including a Republican proposal to deny illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and Democratic bids to reunite legal immigrants with family members.

The Senate killed, by a 56-41 vote, an amendment by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to provide more green cards for parents of U.S. citizens. By a 55-40 margin, it tabled a proposal by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., to give family members of citizens and legal permanent residents more credit toward green cards in a new merit-based points system.

8.5 percent hike in foreign spending OK'd

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

In the week of June 25, the House will debate fiscal 2008 spending bills and possibly energy legislation, while the Senate will take up bills on union organizing and immigration reform.

Here's how members of Congress from Illinois voted on major roll calls in the week ending June 22.

Foreign operations budget

Conservative author's remarks aid Democrat Edwards' presidential campaign fundraising

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

WASHINGTON ? Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Wednesday encouraged his supporters to donate to his campaign in response to "hateful" comments from conservative author Ann Coulter.

Edwards made his first comments to The Associated Press in response to Coulter's suggestion that she wished he would be "killed in a terrorist assassination plot." His campaign cited her remarks in two e-mails and a telephone text message to supporters for donations, with the fundraising deadline on Saturday.

It's not the first time Coulter has given the Edwards campaign a financial boost. In March, she called Edwards a "faggot" and the campaign used video of the comment to help raise $300,000 before the end of the first quarter.

Immigration bill faces Senate showdown

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

Test vote looms after immigration bill survives amendment challenges from right and left

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

WASHINGTON ? The Senate's revived legislation to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants faces a critical test Thursday after surviving potentially fatal challenges.

If you haven't heard of 'congestion pricing' you will

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

Once you slide down the slope of charging fees for everything imaginable, it's a short trip to "pay for drive."

If you're not rich or famous, don't bother running for president

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

WASHINGTON -- Money may not be everything in politics. But without plenty of it, a presidential candidate is nothing.

That has always been more or less true, but the 2008 competition is about to set the gold standard for big spending. The way things are going, it is already building toward the first billion-dollar campaign in history. If you aren't rich or famous, you can't play at the top level.

The conservative-dominated Supreme Court just upped the ante by uncorking restrictions on so-called "issue" advertisements funded by corporations, unions and other well-heeled institutional sources that target a specific candidate shortly before a primary or general election. It widens opportunities for the unlimited, unregulated special-interest spending that is the source of much political corruption.

Coulter Attacks Give Edwards A Boost

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Wednesday that conservative author Ann Coulter's attacks are personally hurtful and it's important that he respond to them.

While Edwards made his first comments to The Associated Press in response to Coulter's suggestion that she wished he would be "killed in a terrorist assassination plot," his campaign was also using her remarks to bring in donations in the final week before his next fundraising deadline.

Adios, Republican stronghold

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:13:55 +0000

Both parties are courting the swing voters of the state's fastest-growing ethnic group.

With an enormously popular governor in office and control of both legislative chambers, Florida Republicans have plenty of reason for confidence heading into the 2008 election season.

But there are ominous signs for the Florida GOP when it comes to the state's fastest-growing ethnic group. Consider: