The Presidency of America's Maverick

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Breaking News: America under Attack as Terrorist attack New York City and Washington DC:



Shaw: If you are just coming in , we have extremely tragic news to report to you and that is that terrorists have attacked both New York City and Washington DC by hijacking airplanes and crashing them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. All we can do now is pray for the safety for the people in these cities but its very possible that there will have been more fatalities from these attacks than Pearl Harbor and possibly worst than any day of the civil war as well. Right now we have gotten word that the President who was supposed to address a townhall in Atlanta today, is being taken to an undisclosed location by Air Force One and is canceling the rest of his healthcare tour as well. Members of President McCain's cabinet have been moved to the bunker and members of congress have been evacuated from the capitol building as well. Lets go back to Aaron Brown who is in New York to get more

Brown: Yes as you can hear firefighters, the police, and other emergency vehicles as they are all helping with the rescue effort near the world trade center. We have also been told that Governor Pataki has activated the national guard and they are heading down to secure the area as well.

Shaw: We would like to stop you right here because the Mayor of New York City is about to make a statement so lets here from him

Guiliani: Today has been an extreme tragic day for not only our city but our entire nation and my heart goes out of the victims of this tragedy. In order to ensure the safety and security of the people of this city,  I have ordered all schools and public places to remain closed for the rest of the day and the next two days . I have also just spoken to President McCain and he has told us that the full resources of the US government will be used to help our city recover from this tragedy and he has pledged to do whatever he can in his power to bring those people to justice. I want to let our people know that despite how dark this moment is for our city , we will rebuild and together we will make New York stronger than we ever have been before. God Bless all the people of New York and may God Bless America


Breaking News: 4th plane crashes in Pennsylvania

Shaw: We have some more breaking news and that is a 4th plane has crashed in a field in Pennslyvania. How it crashed their we have no idea or what the plane's original target was but this day keeps getting more and more tragic with this latest news.

Greenfield: What we do know is that the President from air force one had ordered all planes to be grounded and any planes still in the air after the order was in effect would be considered hijacked and would be shot down. Whether this plane was shot down or not we have no idea but all we can do is pray for the families of these victims.

President McCain gives Oval Office Address responding to attacks:



Note: Photshop done by DPK

McCain: My fellow Americans, today our way of life came under attack by cowardly and despicable people who hijacked commercial airplanes and used it to attack the World Trade Center and Pentagon . Thousands of our fellow Americans who had begun their day like they would any other day were suddenly killed by these despicable and evil terrorists and I can pledge to the families of the victims of today's attacks that we will bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice. I have ordered all resources of the federal government be used to investigate and find out not only who perpetrated these attacks, but also who helped them plan , fund these attacks and gave harbor to these terrorists.

These terrorists attacked us to frighten us and bring chaos to our nation but I can tell you that they have failed in their goals because while they do have the ability to bring down the structures our tallest buildings, but cannot even dent the structure of the United States of America. They attacked us because we are everything they try to deny to others and that is the great beacon of freedom and opportunity in the world. Many times throughout our history from the revolution, to the civil war to the second world war that beacon was viewed under threat but not only did we preserve it but we were able to live up to it even more than we ever have and we will continue to remain the beacon of freedom and opportunity.

Tonight I ask all of you to give your prayers to the families of the victims of today's attacks and join me in a moment of silence as well. May God Bless All of You and May God Bless the United States of America

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President McCain visits New York City and promises a swift and decisive response :



Source: https://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/26/early.polls/index.html

Woodruff: President McCain visited New York today , met and thanked the first responders at ground zero for their service and is currently going to make a brief statement right now

McCain: Walking around the city of New York today and meeting the people of this great city and the first responders at ground zero today made it clear more than ever that while the terrorists were able to take down our tallest buildings, they have not only failed in their ultimate goal in breaking our country's spirit but have showed that that spirit is more alive than ever.  It is that very spirit of the people of this country that helped build up our nation , guide us through many crises and truly made our country the United States of America we all love. Walking around this great city has made me more confident then ever to proclaim that the state of our union is strong and I want to let the people who knocked the world trade center down know that they will hear from all of us soon.

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Excerpts from President McCain Address to a Joint Session of Congress:



Souce: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/app/uploads/2019/02/RTX6LFXE-1024x683-e1549455385158.jpg

Speaker Hastert: Ladies and Gentleman , its my high honor to welcome to you , the President of the United States!!

Congress Floor: Standing Ovation


President McCain: Mr Speaker, Mr.President Pro Tempore, members of congress, and my fellow Americans:

Last Tuesday  our nation was attacked by a terrorist group called Al-Qaeda who hijacked our airplanes and used it as weapons against our nation. The purpose of these attacks was to frighten our country into turning on each other and surrendering to their demands but I can tell you that they have failed(Standing Ovation). Instead of turning on one another , our country has come together regardless of race, gender, politics and has shown how heroic they really are. From the first responders at ground zero, to the passengers who stormed flight 93 despite knowing they would die did so to save the lives of other Americans and they have shown the world that the state of our union is strong(Standing Ovation). Americans from all walks of life have shown the terrorists that while they may be able to take down our tallest building they will never be able to take down the our country(Standing Ovation).

Now the terrorists who did this will face justice for their actions along with any country that supports them will share their fate(Standing Ovation). Without the help of the Taliban , Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda would never have been able to grow as powerful as they become and have the ability to carry out these types of terrorist attacks so today I am making the following demands to the Tailban

1.   hand over Osama Bin Laden and all the leaders of Al-Qaeda to the US where they can face justice

2.  give us the location of every training site in your nation

3. Stop all funding for any and all terrorist organization

We will be giving them 15 days to mee these demands and if they dont meet these demands in that time period I want to let them know that we will view that as an declaration  of war against our nation(Standing Ovation) , and we will respond with a declaration of war against you as well(Standing Ovation). While these threats may seem new we have faced similar threats before and the forces of freedom have prevailed over evil every time just like we did in World War Two when the world came together to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan and just like we did then we will prevail today(Standing Ovation).

Lastly I want to discuss some ways we can prevent attacks such as the one that took place last Tuesday from taking place again, and the first step is to recognize all the departments that deal with our homeland security and put them under one new cabinet level department called the Department of Homeland security and I would be pleased to nominate Former CIA Director Robert Gates to head the new department(Standing Ovation). We also must increase airport security and give our intelligence agencies more tools to percent terrorist attacks as well(Standing Ovation).

Thank You May God Bless You and May God Bless the United States of America

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Over 90% of Americans approve of Job President McCain is doing along with supporting an Invasion of Afghanistan if demands are not met

President McCain's Approvals:

Approve: 93%
Disapprove: 4%

Opinion of Invading Afghanistan if Demands are not met:

Approve: 92%
Disapprove: 5%

 
Greenfield: I think the fact that the President's approvals have hit the highest in American history at over 90% along with the fact that over 90% support invading Afghanistan if the demands the President made arent met shows that we are more united than we ever have been on the onset of what many are calling a new global war against terrorism. This is important because to fight such a war we need to come together as a nation, regardless of party identification which is exactly what has happened.

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Breaking News: US Declares War on Afghan Government after Demands arent met



Note: Photshop done by DPK

McCain: My Fellow Americans, as you know in my speech to Congress I gave a list of demands our nation was making to the Afghanistan Government and warned them that if the demands weren't met in 15 days it would be considered an act of war against our nation and we would respond as such. After 15 days not only have they not met the demands, and due to that the United States Congress today have officially declared War against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan . The Tailiban regime have oppressed their people for years , have provided safe haven to terrorists but I can tell the people all across the world that that evil regime is going come to an end. Before I end this speech I want to ask all of you tonight to join me in praying for the men and women in uniform tonight.

Thank You , May God Bless You, May God Bless the Men and Women in Our Military and May God Bless America

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Congress Passes Bills giving Intelligence Agencies more surveillance powers, creating a cabinet-level department called the Department of Homeland Security and a mandatory sentencing bill and President McCain signs them into law.


Summary of Bills:

Department of Homeland Security Act:

- Creates a cabinet-level department named the Department of Homeland Security

- The head of the Department will be called the Secretary of Defense

- Reorganizes many departments which deal with protecting the homeland security of the United States  into one unified and integrated Department.

Nominee to head Department of Homeland Security: Robert Gates

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act :

https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/security/011031summary.shtml


Mandatory Sentencing for Terrorism Act:

- Anyone over the age of 18 involved in a terrorist attack will receive the death penalty

- Anyone under the age of 18 involved in a terrorist attack will be sentenced to life in prison



Robert Gates Unanimously Confirmed by United States Senate  to head new Department of Homeland Security:



Shaw: Former CIA Director today was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to head the new Department of Homeland Security. 

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Breaking News: US and Nothern Alliance Forces take Kabul :



Shaw: We have some breaking news in to report and that is that four weeks after the invasion of Afghanistan begin, the US and Nothern Alliance Forces have taken Kabul the capital of Afghanistan from the Taliban.

CNN Military Correspondent: At this point, it looks like the Taliban have given up trying to fend of the invasion and is in full retreat mode at this point. US Forces though are still aggressively moving in to ensure they can capture top leaders of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda including the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, Osama Bin Laden. Right now they are moving into the last major stranglehold of the Tailban and that is Khandar.

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Breaking News: Osama Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders killed in raid at Tora Bora



Shaw: We are hearing the President is about to deliver some breaking news so lets head straight to the oval office



Note: Photoshop done by DPK

McCain: My fellow Americans, last night our military conducted an operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks that killed thousands of innocent men, women and children. We also were able to kill other top leaders of Al-Qaeda who were trying to escape Afghanistan along with Bin Laden and make sure that those people do not take his place as the leader of the most despicable terrorist organization in the world. I can also report to you that we have successfully been able to remove the Taliban government who gave safe haven to terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda from power as well over the past two months and now we begin the long road ahead to help rebuild Afghanistan and make sure for certain that Afghanistan never again becomes a breeding ground for terrorism like it was when the Tailban was in control of the nation.

Thank You , May God Bless You, May God Bless the Men and Women in our Military and May God Bless America

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Realized I forgot an update for the 2001 Off-year Election, but the results are the same as OTL with Warner winning in Virginia, McGreevey in New Jersey and Bloomberg in New York City

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Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after major accounting scandal causes stock to plummet below one dollar

Shaw: Enron once a major energy company based in Houston has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy after further fallout from one of the largest accounting scandal in American history resulted in his stock price plummeting to below one dollar.

CNN Financial Ananylst: Enron which came under SEC investigation in October was found to be concealing losses by misusing mark to market accounting. Enron on many instances was found to list values of deals they signed even after they collapsed and failed to yield profits and an example of this was that despite Blockbuster withdrawing from a contract they continued to claim future profits . Enron was also found to have used something called special purposed vehicles or enties to hide its debts , toxic assets from investors.

Shaw: My question is how were they able to get away with this for so many years

Anaylst: That's the perplexing question , given they are a client of Arthur Anderson one of the Big 5 accounting firms but the SEC has filed an inquiry into them as well to see if they had any part in this .

Shaw: So will their be anything else done

Analyst: Yes we are hearing the Department of Justice is considering opening a criminal investigation into Enron as well




Source: https://www.mcc4tax.com/the-role-of-accounting-in-enrons-downfall/

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Former President Clinton praises President McCain war time leadership in an interview with Larry King:



King: Thank You President Clinton for joining us today

Clinton: My pleasure

King: As you know the past decade had been considered a very divisive time in our politics with things seemingly getting worse and worse each year so are you in any way surprised how our country has come together over the past few months and how politicians on both sides of the isle have been working together in ways we haven't seen in a long time.

Clinton: I am not surprised at all and the reason is in times of crises especially during times of war we have seen throughout our history our country put politics aside and come together like during World War II where despite the fact that the 3 years leading up to Pearl Harbor had seemed to be extremely divided, after Pearl Harbor our country came together from all sides: Democrat, Republican, Liberal , Conservative and since the attacks on Setember 11th we have come together again because we are truly Americans first.

King: Do you give the President any credit for this

Clinton: Absolutely, as great leaders set great examples and President McCain has set a great example for all of us to be because over the past few months he has truly both in words and in actions has worked to make it clear that we are in its together not as Republicans or Democrats but as Americans.

King: Do you believe that the War on Terror would eventually require us to confront more nations than just Afghanistan

Clinton: If other nations in the region who are currently funding and giving harbor to terrorists we will have no choice but to confront them. Like the President has said multiple times this is not a war against Afghanistan this is a war on terror and specifically against states that fund and harbor these terrorists. Whether that requires military confrontation or other ways of confrontation is only something the President can say given he is the one who has access to the daily brief and the ones getting official recommendations from a wide variety of experts.

King: Thank You for joining us

Clinton : No problem

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The unemployment rate jumps to 5.8% showing recession is still ongoing

Woodruff: Unemployment in December jumped to 5.8% as the effects of the recession caused by the burst of the internet bubble which began in the middle of 2000 and later got worse by the attacks on September 11th last year are still causing unemployment numbers to go up. The Dow Jones fell bellow 10,000 for the first time in over 3 years and the Nasdaq has dropped over 61% since its peak as well. Treasury Secretary Robert Lucas in a press conference said that he believes the tax cuts which will begin to go into effect this year should help stimulate the economy, and asked if he was willing to do further stimulus and he said if required yes the administration is but said the President would only sign a stimulus bill into law if most of the benefits go directly to the people and not special interest groups and bureaucracies.

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Excerpts of President McCain's 2002 State of the Union Address:



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McCain: Members of Congress, distinguished guests and my fellow Americans four and a half months ago our nation was attacked by terrorists in hopes of weakening the state of the union and my fellow Americans we have shown since then not only were they wrong but that the state of our union has never been stronger and has never been more united than we are today(Standing Ovation). The brave men and women in our military have liberated the people of Afghanistan from the government who not only gave harbor to the terrorists that attacked us but had the goal of wanting to oppress people all across the world like they did in Afghanistan but thanks to our military along with the military of our allies all across the world and allies in Afghanistan itself the Tailban will no longer have control of Afghanistan(Applause). That doesnt mean our work is over as we now must make sure we can create a stable government in Afghanistan that protects essential liberties such as Free Speech and religious freedom along with keeps the nation itself secure so no terrorist group like Al-Qaeda can ever rise up there again(Applause).

While Afghanistan may no longer pose a threat to our nation, that doesnt mean our work is done as countries such as Iraq continue to post a threat to our nation , our allies and to its neighbors. Saddam Hussain has continued to flout the international community by kicking out weapons of mass destruction inspectors who were ensuring that Suddam Hussain follows by the Gulf War cease-fire agreement of Iraq not having any weapons of mass destruction. Every moment the Iraqi government refuses to allow the inspectors is a moment where they remain a threat to our country but especially its own people who it oppresses in brutal ways and has used weapons of mass destruction against its own people. Others nations in the region such as Iran and Syria also brutally oppress their own people as well, exports terrorism and seeks those weapons as well but I can tell the leaders of those nations something, we wont let them get those weapons(Applause).

While of course winning this war on terror is crucial for our nation, so is helping our nation recover from this recession we are currently experiencing and thanks to the tax reform we passed last year we are on step one in that goal(Applause). Number two is we must pass a stimulus program where most of the benefits go directly to the people and not to special interests groups who many times tend to receive these programs. My proposal of ensuring this is passing a 70 billion dollar infrastructure block grant that will help rebuild many of our roads and bridges while giving jobs to many struggling Americans as well(Applause). Number three we must increase accountability in our market so investors can remain confident that financial statements put out by companies are accurate(Applause) and are not fraudulent and do not use accounting tricks to make them seem more profitable than they actually are(Applause) and one way we can do that is by significantly regulating the use of Mark to Market Accounting(Applause). Scandals, like we saw out of Enron, is unacceptable in our modern economy and we must do all we can to make sure such a scandal does not happen again(Applause).

Thank You May God Bless You and May God Bless America

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Transportation Secretary Tillie Fowler announces Infrastructure package



Fowler: As the President said last night in his state of the union address one of the best ways to ensure a stimulus package benefits the people is to do an infrastructure package as that way we can improve not only our roads, bridges that people use but also helps create jobs as well. As the President also mentioned last night we would like Congress to authorize 70 billion dollars in infrastructure block grants to the states that are allocated based on the population of each state


Congress agrees to 80 billion dollar infrastructure block grant package which allocates 60 billion dollars based on population and splits the remaining 20 billion equally among each state and President McCain signs package into law

Shaw: After a week of the infrastructure package being held up in the senate due to senators of many smaller states demanding more funding, house and senate leadership agreed to a deal that would satisfy both the smaller and larger states with a larger 80 billion dollar package being agreed to with 60 billion of that 80 billion allocated based on the population of each state and the remaining 20 billion allocated equally among the states. The President signed the bill into law but made it clear that the administration would go after states who try to abuse the block grants for special interest purposes

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guliani announces he will run for New York Governor



Woodruff: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guliani announced earlier today he will run for the New York Governor this November. He said that the city and state still has lots of work to do to rebuild after the September 11th attacks and believes he can help the city and state achieve that goal as Governor. In response to his entry many prominent Republicans announced they wouldnt run for Governor and even many prominent Democrats such as Andrew Cuomo and Carl McCall announced they wouldnt run either.

Shaw: Many are speculating that given New York allows candidates to be nominated by multiple political parties, that the former Mayor be be nominated by both the Republican and Democratic parties for this November's election.

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Great timeline, very much in line with how I've imagined a Gore vs McCain race would have gone.

One small caveat though, the field wouldn't be cleared for Giuliani. He was a highly controversial mayor and polarizing figure and even in the aftermath of 9/11 when his reputation was riding high it's extremely unlikely if not impossible that the Democrats would cross endorse him. He'd probably win by a comfortable margin but he definitely wouldn't be unopposed.

Hmm I thought given that Guiliani endorsed Cuomo in 1994,  Mario Cuomo would consider supporting Guiliani given that Rudy would seem nearly guaranteed to win a general election and I believe they had a good relationship as well.

Andrew Cuomo also said this about Rudy in OTL:

Andrew M. Cuomo said today that Gov. George E. Pataki did not deserve credit for leading New York through the difficult weeks after the World Trade Center attack, declaring that he had merely ''held a leader's coat'' as he stood at the side of Rudolph W. Giuliani last fall.

''There was one leader for 9/11: it was Rudy Giuliani,''

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/nyregion/cuomo-s-criticism-of-pataki-s-role-after-9-11-sets-off-furor.html

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Secretary of State Collin Powell announces the US will be withdrawing from 1994 Agreed Framework with North Korea and placing Sanctions on them as well as Iraq, Iran and Syria.



Powell: As you know 8 years ago we had agreed to a deal with the North Koreans that we would agree to begin the process of normalizing relations with them in exchange for them dismantling their nuclear weapons progam. 8 years later it is clear that the North Koreans had no intention of upholding their end of the deal as they have tried to cheat on multiple occasions and due to that we have decided to withdraw our nation from that 1994 agreed framework and reimpose the sanctions we had gradually removed over the past 8 years.

We have also decided that we will be placing new sanctions on Iraq, Iran , Syria as its clear these 3 nations are rouge states who oppress their people and export terror across the region and we will into stand for it.


Media Member 1: Secretary Powell, does this mean that a military option will be taken of the table when it comes to Iraq, or is still on the table

Powell: Nothing as been taken off the table , as the fact is Suddam Hussain continues to flagrantly violate the cease-fire agreement of the first gulf war and these additional sanctions we have put in place hopefully can convince the Iraqi government to honor the cease-fire agreement because if they don't there will be no choice but to forcefully remove him from power.

Media Member 2: Have you worked with the UN and other international organizations on this

Powell: Absolutely we have and we will continue to do so

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President McCain signs bipartisan public accounting reform bill into law

Woodruff: In a wake of an accounting scandal that took down Enron and is in the process of maybe doing the same to one of the 5 largest accounting firms , Arthur Anderson, the White House and Congress began working on making reforms to reform public accounting standard to make sure such a scandal doesnt happen again. Here are some of the major reforms passed into law

- Significantly restricts the practice of Mark-To-Market Accounting
- Requires Financial officers to certify that financial information is accurate and reliable
- Requires companies to disclose all material off-balance sheet items
- Companies must explain in their annual reports the structure of the internal controls they use
- Disclose any major changes

The President called it a major piece forward in making sure large corporations remain accountable and we increase transparency in our financial system as well.

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Latest Gallup Polls on President McCain's approvals and other issues:

Woodruff: Lets look at the latest Gallup Polls on President McCain's approvals and other important issues which was taken between the 17th of April and the 19th of April.


President McCain's Approvals:

Approve: 81%(+4%)
Disapprove: 13%(-4%)

House Generic Ballot Polls:

Republicans: 45%(+1%)
Democrats: 42%(-1%)


Woodruff: As you can see President McCain's approval ratings have gone back above 80% where it remains at astronomically high levels but the race for the house remains close with Republicans having a slight edge but with 13% of people undecided. Now lets look at some issue polls


Should the US remove Suddam:

Yes: 27%
Only if he continues to not follow cease fire agreement: 44%
No: 29%

Woodruff: Gallup also asked the people who didnt answer straight yes or no how long the US should wait and it seems like most say while we should wait more than 3 months, we shouldnt wait more than a year

How long should the US wait:

Less than 3 Months: 16%
3-6 Months: 27%
6-12 Months: 42%
More than a year : 15%

Woodruff: Moving to Domestic issues Gallup asked people what issue we would like to see the congress tackle next and this is what people said

What domestic issue should Congress tackle next:

Prescription Drug Reform: 35%
Further Economic Stimulus: 27%
Immigration Reform : 25%
Entitlement Reorm: 13%

Woodruff: Looks like a Plurality of Americans believe Congress should deal with prescription drug reform first and from what we are hearing they are exactly gonna do that. Now lets look at our final poll where they asked what they think should be done for the economy

Should Congress pass more stimulus whether in tax cuts or spending increases:

Yes: 52%
No: 48%

Woodruff: On that issue people are pretty much divided

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Breaking News: Supreme Court upholds Modified Line Item veto in 5-4 vote



Shaw: We have some breaking news coming out of the Supreme Court and that is they have upheld the modified Line Item veto act passed last year with a narrow 5-4 vote. As you may all remember in 1998 the supreme court struck down the line item veto in a 6-3 decision but even in that decision it self the justices who struck it down had varying different levels of opposition to it. Stevens, Gingsburg, Souter and Thomas had the largest opposition with justices Scalia and Kennedy having more moderate opposition to it. This modified bill it seems like satisfied their concerns with a line-item veto and due to that it will now be upheld with one liberal justice, Justice Breyer, voting in favor of it and one Conservative Justice, Justice Thomas, voting to strike it down again.


The White House responded with the news by saying its a good day for America and gives us the ability to fully reduce the powers of special interest groups. Also becuase of this ruling the sections of past bills the President struck out with the modified line-item veto will before a district court had brought back by striking down this law will be struck down again as the Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision on that issue decided that since the line iterm veto is now constitional so was the President's past use of it.

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Breaking News: Sandra Day O'Conner announces she will be retiring from the Supreme Court at the end of the session



Shaw: We have some breaking news to report and that is that Justice Sandra Day O'Conner has announced she will be stepping down from the Supreme Court at the end of the session and will be retiring. We are told the President is about to make a statement about this news right now so lets go to the White House

McCain: A short while ago I received a letter from Justice Sandra Day O'Conner where she was announcing that she would be retiring from the court at the end of this current session at the end of June. Since being nominated as the first-ever female Supreme Court Justice by President Reagan back in 1981, Justice O'Conner has served on the highest court with honor and as a fellow Arizonian has made us proud of having someone who served the court with such honor.

Reporter: Have you had any thought of who you plan to nominate to the court and will it be someone with a similar judicial philosophy as Justice O'Conner

McCain: Well I just received this news right now so I havent had much time to think about it and I think at least for the next couple days we should be talking more about the accomplishments of Justice O'Conner rather than speculate who the next supreme court justice will be. To answer your queston though, we will be releasing a shortlist of 4 potential justices sometime in the next couple of weeks .


Reporter: Ok thanks


Final shortlist of potential supreme court appointees released :


- Deborah L Cook
Current Position: Associate Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court

- Ronald M George
Current Position: Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court

- Priscilla Owen
Current Position: Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court

- Mike DeWine
Current Position: United States Senator from Ohio

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President McCain nominates Ohio Supreme Court Justice Deborah L Cook to fill seat of retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Conner



McCain: Thank You , Thank You . As you know one of the most important decisions a President could make is appointing a justice to sit on the highest court in our nation being that the Supreme Court is the final attributor of the law.  Given that power my belief is justices on the Supreme Court should not legislate from the bench and should only make rulings based on what our constitution and what our laws state and not on their personal views on the issues. Justice Sandra Day O'Conner throughout her career was someone who did exactly that and my beleif is that Ohio Supreme Court Justice Debroh L Cook will do the same as a Supreme Court justice which is why its my pleasure to appoint her to the court. She has shown throughout her tenure as a Supreme Court justice in Ohio her commitment to making ruling based on the laws and constitution of the state of Ohio not her personal beliefs and I have confidence she will do the same as the Supreme Court justice of our nation.


Cook: I want to thank the President for giving me the honor of having the chance of representing our nation as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. I also want to thank Justice O'Conner for all her years as a service on the highest court in the land and my hope is I can follow in her giant footsteps as a great justice who making rulings not based on personal belief but on the constitution and the law.


Schnider: Alright so the President has officially nominated Deborah L Cook to be the next justice of the supreme court and we are hearing that the Senate judiciary committee has made her confirmation hearing as their first priorty after they come back from recesses so the full senate can have a vote on whether to confirm her or not by mid-September. The reason is given the situation in the middle east the Senate will have to deal with some major issues in late September early October and they dont want to be dealing with a Supreme Court appointment then

Greenfield: My belief is given the fact that you have a Supreme Court vacancy and a possible confrontation with Iraq do deal with which are two major major issues, the Senate may come back from recess a week earlier so they can have the time to deal with both issues.

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Can we expect Deborah Cook to be similar to Sandra Day O'Connor or is she significantly more conservative?

Will Mitch the Turtle bring a lawsuit against the campaign finance reform bill up to the Supreme Court like in real life?

She is more conservative though I wouldn’t say significantly so as she was Someone who was on McCain’s shortlist in 2008 as well . As for McConnell not really given the fact that McCain not only has a powerful bully pulpit but the head of the RNC is someone who is anti money in politics himself so he really wouldn’t want to risk his career just to bring that lawsuit at this moment .

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I guess that more big Republican names are about to announce intentions to run for Senate in 2002 due to McCain's overwhelmingly high approval ratings.

I’ll post a list of the battleground senate races where i will list out the main candidates in each race and the how it’s rated as well once we get into the October updates .

Yes you are right , their is gonna be one major republican candidate who didn’t run in OTL who will be running for the senate .


I’ll let you guys guess who that candidate is in the meanwhile

[OSR stands with Israel]

President McCain calls for UN to send an ultimatum to Iraqi Government: Comply with cease fire agreement or be removed from power



McCain: Thank You Thank You, its my honor to give a speech in front of this assembly tonight on this urgent matter. For the past 11 years the government of Iraq has violated every agreement they made at the end of the Gulf War, committed more atrocities than ever and even tried to assassinate former President Bush and its clear that Suddam Hussain does not intend to stop in his despicable attempt to get revenge on the rest of the world for his defeat in the Gulf War and to stay in power no matter how many people he continues to oppress. He earlier this year announced he would fund Palestinian terrorists and had made it clear that unless we do something he is a clear and present danger to the people of Iraq, the people in the region and also to people all around the world.

The time for negotiations has come and gone and it is now time we make it clear that unless he starts to stricty follow all the terms of the cease-fire agreement, stop funding all terrorists and cooperate in the global war on terrorism by the end of January of next year we will forcefully remove his regime from power and make sure Suddam Hussain recives justice for all the atrocities he has committed in his decades in power. While many may ask why the urgency, we must remember we do not live in the same world as we lived in two years ago and the terroist attacks against our nation last year on September 11th show we cant afford to wait longer and risk that type of attack happening anywhere around the world again. It is time we pass a resoultion that makes it clear that Suddam Hussain must follow every word of it or be removed from power. Thank You