The Presidency of America's Maverick

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Will you be doing state by state margins?

Kinda , I’ll do states decided by 5 points or less (could do 10 or less as well)

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2000 Election Results:

Presidential Election Results:

Senator John McCain(R-AZ)/Former Senator John Danforth(R-MO) 292 49.2%
Vice President Al Gore(D-TN)/Senator Bob Graham(R-FL) 246 47.6%
Activist Ralph Nader(G-CT)/Economist Winoa LaDuke(G-MM) 0 2.6%

States Decided By Less than 5%:

Washington: McCain 47.7% Gore 47.5% Nader 4.2%
Iowa: Gore 48.6% McCain 48.2% Nader 2.1%
Minnesota: McCain 46.9% Gore 46.5% Nader 5.6%
Maine: Gore 47.3% McCain 46.7% Nader 5.2%
Michigan: Gore 49.4% McCain 48.3% Nader 1.9%
Pennsylvania: McCain 49.7% Gore 48.1% Nader 1.9%
Arkansas: Gore 49.8% McCain 47.7% Nader 1.4%
Wisconsin: McCain 48.8% Gpre 46.7% Nader 3.7%
Oregon: McCain 48% Gore 45.8% Nader 5%
Florida: Gore 50.4% McCain 47.8% Nader 1.4%
Tenneesse: Gore 51% McCain 47.7% Nader 1%
New Mexico: McCain 49.6% Gore 46.2% Nader 3.7%
West Virginia: Gore 51.4% McCain 46.6% Nader 1.6%

States Decided Between 5-10 points:

Ohio: McCain 51.2% Gore 45.9% Nader 2.6%
Missouri: McCain 51.7% Gore 46.2% Nader 1.7%
Nevada: McCain 51.6% Gore 45.4% Nader 2.5%
Louisiana: McCain 52.6% Gote 45.7% Nader 1.2%
Vermont: Gore 49.5% McCain 42.3% Nader 7.1%
Virginia: McCain 52.3% Gore 44.6% Nader 2.2%
California: Gore 51.8% McCain 43.9% Nader 3.9%
Georgia: McCain 53.9% Gore 45.1% Nader .6%
New Jersey: Gore 53.1% McCain 43.8% Nader 3%
Deleware: Gore 54.1% McCain 43.2% Nader 2.1%

Senate Election Results:

Republicans 52(-2)
Democrats 48(+2)


House of Representatives:

Republicans 227(+4)
Democrats 208(-4)


Gubernatorial:

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President Clinton reacts to results of the election:



Clinton: Last night I had the opportunity to speak to President-Elect McCain and congratulate him on his victory's in yesterday's election and had the opportunity to invite him to the white house to talk about ways to ensure a smooth transition. I was impressed with the President-Elect's victory speech and calls for unity and it is important for all of us to remember like the President-Elect said that we are all Americans first not Democrats or Republicans first which is why I also look forward to working with him over the next few weeks in helping unite our nation as well.

I also had the opportunity to speak to Vice President Gore and congratulate him on a well run campaign and thank him for all the effort he put into this adminstration for the last 8 years because I absotuley would not have the successes I have without his effort. It was an honor having him as my Vice President for the last 8 years and I wish him success for any future plans whether its in the private or public sector. Thank You , May God Bless You and May God Bless America

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President-Elect McCain names Head of Transition Team and Chief of Staff as he prepares for transition meeting with President Clinton

Head of Transition Team: Indiana Senator Richard Lugar



Chief of Staff: Campaign Advisor Mark Salter




President-Elect McCain meets with President Clinton at White House for Transition Meeting:


Source: https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/05/04/kosovo.congress/

Shaw: The President and President-Elect met for a few hours at the White House today in a meeting they both called excellent and talked over ways they could create the smoothest transition possible, and also talked over many national security issues as well. After the meeting, they went to President Clinton's favorite restaurant in Washington DC to have a lunch where they are right now.


Former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson to become new head of RNC after new year



Shaw: We have been told that President-Elect McCain will appoint former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson to head the RNC after the new year . Senator Simpson like President-Elect McCain is a strong supporter of campaign finance reform, a moderate-conservative which is why the President-Elect named him to become the new head of the RNC. Bill what changes will be made to the RNC under Senator Simpson's leadership

Schnider: We are told that Senator Simpson will ban the party's committees from raising funds not subject to the federal limits which will mean he will crackdown on what the President-Elect likes to call soft money. This also is a smart legislative play by President-Elect McCain as this means that Republicans will be more likely to vote on his campaign finance legislation to avoid a situation for the next 4 years in which only the Democrats can benefit from soft money.

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President-Elect McCain selects his foreign policy team:

Secretary of State: Former National Security Advisor Colin Powell



Secretary of Defense: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge


 
National Security Advisor: General Norman Schwarzkopf



UN Ambassdor: Professor Condoleezza Rice



Woodruff: These picks weren't much of a surprise with the exception of Mrs.Rice who was a top foreign policy advisor to the Bush campaign and it seems like President-Elect McCain decided to name her UN Ambassador. He also has followed through on his pledge of having his secretary of state, defense and national security advisor be people who served in the military.

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I hope McCain will be able to stop 9/11 but he might just do the same thing as Bush as he has the same foreign policy team basically.

While it may seem similar on paper, remember Bush/Cheney sidelined Powell significantly in favor of Rumsfeld and people like Ridge were given lesser roles while Rice a much more higher position in OTL .
McCain will listen to Powell’s advice far more than Bush did and also the fact their is no Don Rumsfeld , and no Paul Wolfowitz both of which held significant influence in the Bush admin

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President-Elect McCain selects his Economic Team:

Secretary of Treasury: Economist Robert Lucas Jr



Secretary of Commerce: New York Governor George Pataki



Secretary of Labor: Former Maine Governor John McKernan



OMB Director: Representative John Kasich




Schnider: President-Elect McCain so far when it comes to economic policy has a mix of conservatives and moderates with Mr.Lucas and Congressman Kasich being part of the Conservative Wing and Governors Pataki and McKernan being part of the more moderate wing. Governor Pataki while he endorsed Governor Bush early on had become more neutral by super tuesday which is probably why he was able to get this position.

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President-Elect McCain fills out significant portion of his cabinet:

Attorney General: Representitive Lindsey Graham



Secretary of Health and Human Services: Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson



Secretary of Education: Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Keegan



Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: San Deigo Mayor Susan Golding



Secretary of Transportation: Represenatative Tillie Fowler



Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Representative Jack Quinn




Greenfield: President-Elect McCain has continued to fill his cabinet with a mix of moderates and conservatives like expected and its clear from his picks the Senator was to make it clear that he wants to lead a non ideological administration . His most controversial pick here is gonna be Representative Graham due to his rule in President Clinton's impeachment trial but given the fact he is good friends with President-Elect McCain , its not surprise the President-Elect made that pick

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McCain rounds up his cabinet by selecting his environmental team :

Secretary of Energy: Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski



Secretary of Interior: Former Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield



Secretary of Agriculture: Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey



EPA Director: Alaska Governor Tony Knowles



Schneider: Well I think this pick means that while the US will move to increase domestic oil production, the President-Elect will balance that by addressing environmental issues too but the question is how the President-Elect handles the balance. Also it will create more or less a team of rivals with Governor Knowles and Senator Murkoski being opposed to each other on many issues so lets see how that goes.

As for Senator Murkoski's replacement, the state legislature in Alaska has passed a bill which has gotten veto proof majority support which while it would still allow the Governor to appoint Senators special elections must be held within 90 days of the vacancy. So while Republicans majority will be cut down to 51-49 , they will have the opportunity in a special election which probably will be held by the first week of may to make it 52-48 once again.

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President-Elect McCain officially resigns from the senate and Governor Hull announces that McCain ally, Grant Woods, will fill his vacant senate seat



Source: https://ktar.com/story/2300490/former-republican-arizona-ag-grant-woods-is-now-a-registered-democrat/

Woodruff: Earlier today President-Elect John McCain announced he would resign from the senate as he prepares to take the Presidency next month and called serving in the senate one of his highest honors and thanked many of his friends in the senate as well. With the seat vacant Governor Hull announced former Arizona Attorney general and close ally to President-Elect McCain, Grant Woods would be filling that state's now vacant seat. He will be sworn in on January 3rd 2001.

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President-Elect McCain holds first press conference since the election:



Media Member 1: President-Elect McCain many people have noticed that your cabinet is filled with people who differ ideologically so the question many have is how can you ensure that your administration will run smoothly with many differing views

McCain: Many Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln have had very ideologically diverse cabinets which as you know was called the team of rivals and it worked cause while they had differing ideas on how to accomplish a certain goal, the goal was the same and the same is true of the cabinet I picked. The men and women in my cabinet yes have differences but all agree on the goal and thats what important.

Media Member 1: One big difference is for example Senator Murkoski and Governor Knowles disagree a lot on the issue of energy and the environment so wouldnt their policies they set clash

McCain: No cause like I said I believe that we need to strike a good balance between one increasing our energy production here in the US using traditional sources while also protecting our environment. We can and we will do both

Media Member 2: Senator McCain you have said your top priority is passing campaign finance reform, but what are your other priorities for the first 100 days

McCain: Well other than campaign finance reform which will be the top priority of my administration, another priority is getting a budget passed which will one help rebuild our military and two continue to pay of the debt.

Media Member 2: What about some other reforms, what will be your other priorities on that front in your first 100 days

McCain: We will move on multiple fronts at once in that regard and by the end of the first 100 days I expect that the main components of bills such as tax reform, education reform, lowering the price of prescription drugs should be ironed out in the various committees and we should be on the individual details phase of the bills by then.

Media Member 3: Who are some past leaders you plan to look too when you govern this nation

McCain: Well as you know my favorite President is Teddy Roosevelt and I will look towards his presidency and his career to help guide me in the years ahead. I will also look towards my predecessor in the Senate , Barry Goldwater who really helped create the modern conservative movement in  this nation as he stood firm on key principles despite being seemingly alone in the fight for decades but it was thanks to him other leaders such as Ronald Reagan were able to rise and be as successful as they were and I will look towards my state's long time senator for guidance as well.

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President Clinton holds final Press Conference:



Media Member 1: President Clinton, when history looks backs say 30-40 years now what would they say would be your biggest accomplishment

Clinton: Well I dont know exactly what history will say but what I do know is that during the past 8 years we were able to create over 23 million jobs , bring 7 million Americans out of poverty, see incomes rise for all Americans and put our nation on path to paying of our national debt.  We also able to reform welfare, expand trade relations with nations all over the world .

Media Member 1: What do you say to critics in your own party who say you were not a Democrat in the tradition of Jackson, FDR and Kennedy.

Clinton: Well I would say thats just not true because what defined our party is not some narrow policy views but the principles in that we put the working people of this nation first and we did as you can see from the historic drop in poverty , record low unemployment and increased home ownership.


Media Member 2: What legislative failure would you say was the biggest during the past 8 years

Clinton: I would say the failure to pass healthcare reform was definitely our biggest failure as our healthcare system does infact not work for many people in this country and we do need to address it and while we were able to pass other reforms such as the Family and Medical Leave Act and CHIP , broader healthcare reform is needed and I hope one day it does pass.

Media Member 2: Did you learn any lessons from it

Clinton: Of Course I did and that is that moving fast and proposing too much change can lead to problems and thats what happened. In hindsight we would have proposed a healthcare reform bill that did not do as many things as fast as then we could have had better chance of getting a bill passed.

Media Member 3: Like President-Elect McCain , 8 years ago you came in as the change candidate do you have an advice you would like to give to the President-Elect

Clinton: That is bringing change is not easy, and there will be many failures but do not lose hope because that is what the forces who are for the status quo want you to do.

Media Member 3: What are some reforms you are excited to see

Clinton: Well I hope the campaign finance reform bill , President-Elect McCain as talked about for years becomes law as doing so is very important in restoring trust in our democracy.

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President Clinton's Farewell:



Clinton: My fellow Americans, tonight will be the final time I will speak to you as your President and before I leave office a couple days from now I want to first thank you for giving me the honor twice of representing you as your president . I also want to reflect on the past 8 years as well as give my thoughts about the future of this great nation of ours. 8 years ago when I took office we just came at the end of the cold war and I believed that moment gave us a once in the opportunity to make our nation more prosperous ever. Over the past 8 years we have seen over 23 million jobs been created, millions of people brought up from poverty into the middle class and we saw wages increase across the board for Americans. Our founders believed that we could create an America where the lives of the next generation is better than the life of the previous generation and it is certinatly true today as we will enter this new century more at peace and more prosperous than ever before and I belive that we can continue that tradition going.

To do that we must reform our education system to meet the needs of the 21st century as the only way we can be successful in the future is by educating our next generation which is why over the past 8 years I have pushed to include more instruction about use of computers in school as using a computer becomes more and more an essential skill to have in our economy. We have also expanded the access to the world wide web in our schools and I believe it is essential that every school in our nation can have access to the internet for our education system to be able to meet the needs of this century.

Lastly we must continue to build closer and closer relationships with nations all around the world as the fact is doing so is the best way to keep the peace. Trade helps increase economic ties between nations which in turns reduces tensions between people of nations as well which is a good recipe for peace. While doing so might not seem easy , I can tell you that history has proven time and time again that removing barriers that divide nations around the world increases the prospect of peace just like it has for Western Europe since WW2. As someone who has gotten to know President-Elect McCain for the past few weeks I can tell he will be deeply committed to making sure we can preserve peace around the world and while I may disagree with him on most of the issues , I can tell you that I will be proud to have him represent me as my President because President-Elect McCain is one of the most honorable and decent men I have ever met and I wish him well.

Thank You again, May God Bless You and May God Bless America

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Has Bill Clinton spent the morning of January 20th, 2001 signing pardons a go-go in this timeline?

He will do that and it will be mentioned in the Inaugration Update

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The inauguration of John Sidney McCain :

President Clinton defends controversial pardons on way out of office

Woodruff: President Clinton on his last day signed 140 pardons which in a controversial move included his brother Roger Clinton who was convicted in 1985 of cocaine possession and drug-trafficking. The President defended his action by saying it didnt have anything to do with family relations . These actions though were criticized by many Republican leaders some of which are now calling for reform of the pardon system.

President McCain gives his inaugural speech after new Vice President and President take oath of office:



Danforth Sworn in by Justice Thomas:

Thomas: Senator, put up your right hand and repeat after me

Danforth: I, John Claggett Danforth, do solemnly swear
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
that I take this obligation freely,
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;
and that I will well and faithfully discharge
the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
So help me God.

Thomas: Congratulations, Mr.Vice President

McCain sworn in by Chief Justice Rehnquist :

Rehnquist: Senator, put up your right hand and repeat after me

McCain: I, John Sidney McCain, do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my Ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
So help me God.

Rehnquist: Congratulations, Mr. President

President McCain gives his inaugural address:

McCain: Mr.Chief Justice, President Clinton, President Bush, President Carter , President Ford and distinguished guests and my fellow Americans , this occasion where we celebrate the peaceful transition of power which thanks to the our founders and the constitution they wrote became common place which before would be considered unthinkable and this inauguration is also a celebration of them(Applause). While we have had many inauguration days that marked the transition from one party to another, or one set of policies to another my hope is history will remember this day as the day where we began our transition from special interest groups and lobbyists to you the people(Applause).

For too long these groups have used their lobbying power and taken advantage of a broken campaign finance system to structure the political debate here in Washington on their terms instead of the terms of the constituents that sent members of Congress to Washington which in turn led to the faith our people had in politics to drop but I can promise you that we will change this broken system(Applasue). While I will be willing to compromise on many issues and policy goals , on this issue there will be no compromise(Applause) as the only way we can reach consensus on many of the problems facing our nation, they won't happen until the interests of the American people is taken into account than the interest of lobbyists(Applause).

Our nation has faced many problems before and many of them far worse then the problems we currently faced but we continued to fix our problems and make our nation a better place and it will be no different now and it will be no different another 200 years from now as well(Applause). Our nation has come a long way in the past 200 years from abolishing the evil practice of  slavery, to expanding voting and civil rights to all Americans, to creating a more prosperous country than any nation in the history of the world but we still have work to do to keep our American Dream alive(Applause). Thank You May God Bless You and May God Bless America

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President McCain signs first 5 executive orders of his presidency:



Executive Order 13198: A 5 year ban on anyone who works in the executive branch from becoming lobbyists after they leave and a permanent ban on them from them becoming lobbyists for a foreign government or foreign country.

Executive Order 13199: A ban on any prospective employee being hired for a job within the executive branch if they sign policy-related pledges to third party groups

Executive Order 13200: A pay freeze on government employees making $125,000 or more annually

Executive Order 13201: A Requirement that any new proposed regulation do a cost-benefit analysis before its implementation and that the analysis be disclosed to the public

Executive Order 13202: Restores President Reagan's Mexico City Policy

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All Cabinet Appointees confirmed with easily with exception of  Congressman Graham and Congressman Kasich who get narrowly confirmed
 


Source: http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/cabinet-room.htm

Secretary of State: Colin Powell Confirmed Unanimously
Secretary of Treasury: Robert Lucas Jr Confirmed with a vote of 84 Ayes and 16 Nays
Secretary of Defense: Tom Ridge Confirmed with a vote of 98 Ayes and 2 Nays
Attoreny General: Lindsey Graham Confirmed with a vote of 55 Ayes and 45 Nays
Secretary of Interior: Mark Hatfield Confirmed Unanimously
Secretary of Agriculture: Bob Kerrey Confirmed Unanimously
Secretary of Commerce: George Pataki confirmed Unanimously
Secretary of Labor: John McKernan Confirmed  Unanimously
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tommy Thompson Confirmed Unanimously
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development:  Susan Golding Confirmed Unanimously
Secretary of Transporation: Tillie Fowler Confirmed Unanimously
Secretary of Energy : Frank Murkoski Confirmed with a vote of 65 Ayes and 35 Nays
Secretary of Education: Lisa Keegan Confirmed with a Vote of 84 Ayes and 16 Nays
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Jack Quinn Confirmed Unaimously
UN Ambassdor: Condoleezza Rice Confirmed with a Vote of 92 Ayes and 8 Nays
OMB Director: John Kasich Confirmed with a Vote of 56 Ayes and 44 Nays
EPA Director: Tony Knowles Confirmed with a Vote of 97 Ayes and 3 Nays



Dates of Special Elections to fill seats of members of Congress who joined the cabinet :

Alaska Senate:
Date: May 1st
Interim Senator: Dennis Egan
Rating: Lean R

SC-3:
Date: May 1st
Rating: Safe R

FL-4:
Date: May 1st
Rating: Safe R

NY-30:
Date: May 1st
Rating: Lean D

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Senate passes President McCain campaign finance reform proposal by an overwhelming margin

Shaw: The Senate Today passed President McCain's campaign finance reform proposal by an overwhelming 87-13 margin. The reason for this margin many beleive have a large part to do with new RNC Chair basically putting the provisions of this bill into Republican party rules which meant that without this bill the Republicans would not be severely limited in their ability to get soft money while the Democrats would not which incentivized Republican senators to vote for the bill

Woodruff: Here are the main provisions of the bill which also includes other anti corruption measures as well


Main Provisions of Campaign Finance Reform Bill:

- Ban on unregulated soft money to political parties

- requires all contributors to a PAC to be publically disclosed

- crackdown on issue advocacy ads especially

- increase "revolving door restrictions" to ban elected members of congress , their senior staff and other high ranking buercrats from being lobbyists for 5 years and having a lifetime ban on lobbying behalf of foreign governments for life


Shaw: Another reason we suspect why so many Republicans who oppose campaign finance reform voted for this is the fact that Presdient McCain has said he would use his bully pulpit to get this done and many Republicans would not want to be faced with having to face a primary challenger who has their own party president backing. Sill despite this 13 Republicans did vote against this bill and as of now it looks very likely it will pass the house and be signed into law


President McCain remarks about signing campaign finance reform bill after house passes senate bill unchanged




McCain: Thank You, Thank You. For many years many Americas became more and more cynical of our political system and started tuning it out due to the fact that it seemed like lobbyists, and special interest groups were given more attention to by our government than the average American voter and they were right it was. The reason for that was a broken campaign finance system which allowed large special interest groups to donate large sums of money to political parties or PACs which then would spend it on committees , and also the revolving door where high ranking members of our goverment would become lobbyists after their time as politicians. Today thanks to the work done by many in congress, we will finally put an end to that system and return power back from lobbyists and special interest groups to the people

(McCain Signs Bill)

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President McCain meets with former rival and Texas Governor George W Bush to discuss education reform

Woodruff: For the past few hours , Texas Governor and former Republican primary rival to President McCain George W Bush has been in a meeting with the President and the Education Secretary to discuss education reform. Now lets go there to hear a joint statement

Bush: I want to thank President McCain for holding this meeting today because there is no issue more important in my opinion than making sure our children have a decent education and the fact is our current system isnt working anymore . One of the good parts of our system is that it gives different states a chance to implement certain policy and be a model for what we can do as a nation and I believe the system we have in place in Texas would certainly be a good model. We have been able to move many kids from failing schools into private and charter schools with little to no cost for the family and test scores have proven that system has worked.

McCain: I want to also thank Governor Bush for coming here today because the fact is what Texas has done over the past few years has worked and while of course there are differences in details between implementing on a national level and a state level it is something we should consider implementing. Due to this my adminstration will allow states and local cities to use block grant money for voucher programs if they want.

Keegan: The Department of Education will also begin to work with states to develop state wide testing programs that will allow parents to accurately get an assessment of where their kids are at in their education . We also will be working with the states to find ways where we can create incentives to send the highest quality teachers to the areas in most need of them as that is one of the best ways we can change things.

McCain: That will be all

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Highlights of  McCain's First Budget: More Money for Defense and Education, cuts in corporate subsidies and all pork barrel and earmark spending



https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/07/14/president.2000/kasich/

Shaw: OMB Director John Kasich today released the first McCain budget and some of the highlights there include a 75 billion dollar increase in military spending, 20 billion in education which will mostly go to block grants and some of the things that will be cut is 30 billion in what the administration calls corporate subsides , and an end to all pork barrel and earmark spending. So Bill what are the chances this proposal could pass through congress

Schnider: Well its always easy in campaign commercials to claim you will cut corporate subsides and for national leaders to claim they will do so to but much harder to do so in practice as many of these subsidies benefit particular regions or districts in the country meaning that cutting such subsidies would be difficult for the house to pass since of course members are elected by district. Take one example of the Appalachian Regional Commission Road Program which they claim would save over 500 million dollars and while that is true , Represenatives of the Appalachian region cant vote for it or they would lose their seats and this is just one program, so imagine if you applied it to the more than 30 programs.

So Could it pass but I realistically dont see more than a 5th of these proposed subsidies being cut

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McCain signs an executive order which will pull the US out of the Kyoto Treaty but also signs executive order creating commission to research potential global warming solutions.

Shaw: President McCain today signed multiple executive orders today that are both supported and opposed by environmentalists. Lets get to the one that is opposed by environmentalists first

Executive Order 13203: Pulls US out of the Kyoto Treaty within a year

Shaw: The President's justification was that the Senate a few years rejected the Kyoto treaty by a 95-0 vote and the President claimed that while the US is interested in signing a treaty that will deal with global warming, he made it clear that any treaty must be ratified by the Senate to go into affect and not only did Kyoto fail to reach the threshold needed to ratidy a treaty it did not even receive a single vote to do so and for that reason , the US has no choice but to withdraw from the treaty.


Now lets look at some of the executive orders environmentalists will have a positive view of

Executive Order 13204: Creates a Commission which will be under the EPA which will be tasked to research global warming solutions and the economic impacts of each solution as well

Executive 13205: Asks Commission to research the climate and economic impacts of a cap and trade system

Executive 13206: Asks Commission to research the effectiveness of green infrastructure plans and other ways how the US can best invest in renewables

Executive Order 13207: Reject any permits that would authorize drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

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President McCain visits Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in first international visit of his Presidency  


Source: https://www.biography.com/video/john-mccain-full-biography-2071928650

McCain: I want to thank Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien for hosting me here to discuss issues relating both our nations as keeping a good relationship between our nation is critically important to both our nation's future. Both our nations have many similar cultural values and interests and I can tell you that despite me being an American I am a hockey fan(laughing) though that is one area where both the Prime Minister and I wont come to an agreement because we both want different hockey teams to win both in the NHL and in the Olympics(laughing).

Chretin: We certainly will not come to an agreement on that but like President McCain said both he and I have discussed various ways where we can work together to improve trade, cultural and political relations between our nations and I am confident that we will be able to . We also discussed issues such as the environment and energy and how both our nations can best balance those interests and I can tell you dealing with those issues will be much easier if both our nations work together on it then work separately. So I am glad President McCain and I are on the same page here and hope to continue to be as well.

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President McCain gives first address in front of Join Session of Congress:

McCain: Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens, it is my high honor to speak to you in this chamber as your President(Applause) and I look forward to working with you over the next 4 years to making our nation a better place. Over the past decade voter turnout in elections across the board dipped as our people became more and more cynical of how our politics had become due to the fact that it seemed like Washington was representing special interests and lobbyists instead of the people and I am proud that in the last month we have taken the first major steps in returning our government to the people(Applause). We did so by passing campaign finance reform that reduces the power of these special interest groups but while that is a major achievement we still have much to do , and that is why I ask this body to outlaw pork barrel and earmark spending as well(Applause). Thanks to Pork Barrell and Earmark spending we have seen instead of politicians voting on whats write they vote on what gets them the most pork barrell spending and that is time we end that practice for good.

Our next steps is also creating a new budget policy that shows our goals for this new century. Over the past 10 years we have become complacent and reduced our military budget thinking that the cold war is over we can stand by and relax and while yes there may be no existential threats to our nation like the Soviets were, we must remember we also fought the cold war to expand freedom and democracy to the world and that mission sadly has a lot of work to do(Applause). As we saw in Rwanda, inaction to stop some of the worst atrocities we have seen led to a genocide being perpetrated and we saw in Kosovo that taking action stopped a similar type of genocide from happening again. That is why I have asked this body to increase our military budget so 1 we can restore the morale of our military but two so we can remain a strident defender of human rights all around the world(Applause).

We also must invest here at home which is why I believe that we should give Americans tax relief
to help them share in our prosperity(Applause) and helping small businesses stay on their feet(Applause). Second we must reform our education system which is why I am asking you to increase money in the amount of education block grants we give to the states in this budget and give states the freedom to use the education block grants the way they like(Applause). The reason is solutions that work in one state may not work in another so we must give states the ability to implement unique reforms that best help their states and we will work with the states to implement these reforms as well(Applause). The only requirement is that we will require that states test kids from 3rd to 8th grade in Reading, Math every year, Writing in 4th and 7th grade, and Civics in 5th and 8th grade(Applause) so parents know how their kids are progressing in school.

Thank You, May God bless you and May God Bless America

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Treasury Secretary Robert Lucas Releases Tax Plan:




Woodruff: Treasury Secretary Lucas released the administration's tax plan and here are some key components, many which wont surprise viewers as its taken straight from his platform

Tax Rates:

- Tax Rate Cuts: Lowest Bracket will be brought down to 10% with the threshold being brought up to $70,000 for couples, rates being cut by 5% for couples making between $70,000 and $400,000 and 2.5% for couples making more than $400,000

- Standard Deduction: Raised to $5000/$10,000

- A permanent ban on Internet sales taxes

- Members of the armed forces deployed overseas would pay no income taxes

- Allow Taxpayers to invest up to 20 percent of their Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts

- Creates a tax free Family Security Account

- Removes Offshore Tax Deferral

[OSR stands with Israel]

House Passes Modified Line Item Veto Bill

Shaw: While the President wanted a bill that would outlaw Pork-Barrell Spending and Earmarks , the House decided instead to do something else called a modified line item veto. The key components of the bill are the same as the original line item veto bill except this time if the president decides to line item veto any part of the bill, the modified bill goes to both houses of congress for a up and down vote and only if both houses of congress approve of the modified bill would it become law. If either house rejects the changes, then the original bill goes back to the President which the President must either sign or fully veto .

Attorney General Lindsey Graham Believes that such a bill would not violate seperation of powers but our legal expert at CNN said that the constitution of such a bill will likely be decided at the supreme court a year or two from now.


Senate passes modified line-item veto bill into law and President McCain signs it


Shaw: Only a week after the house passed the modified line item veto bill , the senate has passed it as well quickly getting approved by committee and then being quickly approved on by the full senate. Bill why did it pass so quickly in the senate

Schinder: Well the reason is pretty simple, remember a budget battle is going on right now and while cutting pork , earmarks, corporate subsidies is something they may wanna do in theory , in reality that would be impossible so doing this allows them to cut those things without taking a political hit for it or as much. As for whether it will stand we will see because as soon as the President uses it like we expect him to for the budget , one of the groups affected will sue and it likely will go up to the Supreme Court where nobody knows how they will rule.