_SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID of NEVADA: "Sen. McCain and the Republicans have centered their answer to our vital energy needs on one solution: offshore drilling. Sen. McCain calls for it in every speech ... White House analysts, congressional analysts, and the oil industry all agree that offshore drilling won't add one drop to our energy pool for at least 10 years... Will it do any harm? The answer is, we just don't know, and neither does he."
THE FACTS: Reid is correct when he says opening areas of the U.S. coast, now off limits, will produce no new oil for years; energy experts predict seven to 10 years. McCain has acknowledged the time frame, but argues it could have a psychological effect on oil markets if the U.S. commits to more production. Many experts believe such an effect would be temporary and likely do little to lower prices.
_REP. CHET EDWARDS of TEXAS: "In the last two years, Sen. Obama helped pass the new GI education bill."
THE FACTS: The GI bill became an issue during the presidential campaign because it illustrated a stark difference between the two candidates. Obama, a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, supported the bill; McCain, a veteran himself, did not. Each side accused the other of playing politics with the issue.
The bill, part of a larger war funding bill President Bush signed into law, increased education benefits for troops and veterans. McCain, siding with the Pentagon, said he opposed it because the enhanced benefits could encourage people to leave the service early during a war. McCain and Republican colleagues proposed a bill to tie increased benefits to length of service. Obama showed up for the Senate vote; McCain, who has missed more than half the votes in the Senate during the current Congress because he was campaigning, did not.
_FORMER SECRETARY of STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: "Sen. McCain says that American troops should remain in Iraq perhaps as long as they have been stationed in Korea and Japan, as if there were no difference in history, religion or culture between our friends in Asia and those in the Middle East."
THE FACTS: Democrats have made much of McCain's "100 years" comment at a town-hall meeting earlier this year in New Hampshire. It was in response to a questioner who had challenged him about President Bush's view that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 50 years.
"Maybe a hundred," McCain said. "We've been in South Korea. We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That'd be fine with me as long as Americans, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it's fine with me. I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaida is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day."
McCain also has said he envisions victory in Iraq and the return of most U.S. troops by January 2013 — the end of his first term if elected. He also says withdrawal should be based on security conditions in Iraq, not hard deadlines.
THE FACTS: Obama did none of this single-handedly, but as a member of the Illinois Senate. He helped expand an existing children's health insurance program. He also helped pass legislation to raise the income threshold for eligibility and make the temporary program permanent.
_SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER of WEST VIRGINIA: "John McCain has served his country with honor. But his refusal to change course even in the face of the failed policies of Bush-Cheney is reckless and will not keep us safe."
THE FACTS: After the U.S. led the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, McCain initially said he had no doubt U.S. forces would be "welcomed as liberators" in Baghdad. But McCain changed his mind after visiting the Iraqi capital later that year. Back in Washington, he began calling on the Bush administration to send more troops to beat back an insurgency that was responsible for spiraling violence. That put him at odds with the White House, most Republicans and military leaders. McCain's position jeopardized his presidential campaign, but he put on a brave face, telling audiences he'd "rather lose an election than lose a war."
In January 2007, Bush announced he was sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq. They have been credited with helping improve security in Iraq.
THE FACTS: Clinton, helped by a decade-long economic expansion, recorded four straight years of budget surpluses. They ended in 2001, whittled away by a recession that started that year, and the cost of fighting terrorism after 9/11 and President Bush's tax cuts. Bush has recorded some of the highest deficits in history in dollar terms including a record $413 billion imbalance in 2004.
The Census Bureau reported this week that median household income grew by 1.3 percent last year to $50,233, the third straight annual increase. It still fell short of the previous peak, reached in 2000, when inflation is included. The bureau said the number of families living below the official poverty threshold last year was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from 2006. But the latest report covered 2007 before the current economic slowdown had begun to take its toll.
BIDEN: "Because Barack made that choice, 150,000 more children and parents have health care in Illinois. He fought to make that happen.
THE FACTS: Reid is correct when he says opening areas of the U.S. coast, now off limits, will produce no new oil for years; energy experts predict seven to 10 years. McCain has acknowledged the time frame, but argues it could have a psychological effect on oil markets if the U.S. commits to more production. Many experts believe such an effect would be temporary and likely do little to lower prices.
THE FACTS: The GI bill became an issue during the presidential campaign because it illustrated a stark difference between the two candidates. Obama, a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, supported the bill; McCain, a veteran himself, did not. Each side accused the other of playing politics with the issue.
The bill, part of a larger war funding bill President Bush signed into law, increased education benefits for troops and veterans. McCain, siding with the Pentagon, said he opposed it because the enhanced benefits could encourage people to leave the service early during a war. McCain and Republican colleagues proposed a bill to tie increased benefits to length of service. Obama showed up for the Senate vote; McCain, who has missed more than half the votes in the Senate during the current Congress because he was campaigning, did not.
THE FACTS: Democrats have made much of McCain's "100 years" comment at a town-hall meeting earlier this year in New Hampshire. It was in response to a questioner who had challenged him about President Bush's view that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 50 years.
"Maybe a hundred," McCain said. "We've been in South Korea. We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That'd be fine with me as long as Americans, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it's fine with me. I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaida is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day."
McCain also has said he envisions victory in Iraq and the return of most U.S. troops by January 2013 — the end of his first term if elected. He also says withdrawal should be based on security conditions in Iraq, not hard deadlines.
_SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER of WEST VIRGINIA: "John McCain has served his country with honor. But his refusal to change course even in the face of the failed policies of Bush-Cheney is reckless and will not keep us safe."
THE FACTS: After the U.S. led the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, McCain initially said he had no doubt U.S. forces would be "welcomed as liberators" in Baghdad. But McCain changed his mind after visiting the Iraqi capital later that year. Back in Washington, he began calling on the Bush administration to send more troops to beat back an insurgency that was responsible for spiraling violence. That put him at odds with the White House, most Republicans and military leaders. McCain's position jeopardized his presidential campaign, but he put on a brave face, telling audiences he'd "rather lose an election than lose a war."
In January 2007, Bush announced he was sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq. They have been credited with helping improve security in Iraq.
The Census Bureau reported this week that median household income grew by 1.3 percent last year to $50,233, the third straight annual increase. It still fell short of the previous peak, reached in 2000, when inflation is included. The bureau said the number of families living below the official poverty threshold last year was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from 2006. But the latest report covered 2007 before the current economic slowdown had begun to take its toll.
BIDEN: "Because Barack made that choice, 150,000 more children and parents have health care in Illinois. He fought to make that happen.