Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) gave her first policy speech of the campaign today in Pittsburgh, focusing on policy adjustment for special needs children. Palin said the money politicians are extracting through earmarks for “pet projects” such as “fruit fly research in France” should be reallocated to “take care of the most vulnerable children.” Mentioning motivation from “God’s vision of perfection versus the world’s vision of perfection,” Palin said she would triple the funding for special needs children by 2011 if elected Vice President.

Palin stated that the public school systems are failing to render enough help for special needs children like her son, who has down’s syndrome. She spoke about federal funding to follow every special needs child without “bureaucratic complications or barriers”. She pledged to “finally fully fund” the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as well as Individualized Education Programs. Palin said parents of children with disabilities have “enough complications already” and should have more options in schools for their children, whether they be private or public schools.

While Palin and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) intend to “reduce taxes to promote growth” if elected, Palin scrutinized Senator Obama’s (D-Ill.) plan to raise taxes because it would have “serious and harmful consequences” for parents of special needs children, who might lose funding for things like Special Needs Trusts.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Doug Holtz-Eakin from Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign team held a conference call to rebuttal some issues brought up in Sen. Barrack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign speech on economic policy held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Burr began by saying that if the American people focus on the campaign rhetoric they will find big differences between what candidates propose and what they have done. (more…)

Jason Furman, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) economic policy advisor, along with Austan Goolsbee held a conference call as a preview for Obama’s speech to take place in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of his “Change That Works for You” campaign. The purpose of the call was to contrast the economic proposals of presidential candidates Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). (more…)

President Bush had lunch with Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, and his wife Cindy McCain, at the White House. Afterward Bush gave his formal endorsement of McCain.

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Gov. Granholm speaks about Super Tuesday II, issues important to the Midwest, and her choice for the Democratic nomination. (8:14)

 

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Chief Strategist of the Clinton campaign Mark Penn and Communications Director Howard Wolfson held a conference call to discuss the “State of the Race.”

Mark Penn said that “millions of people” know who the right person is to be the manager of the US economy where, he said, the next president is likely to inherent all the economic problems left by the current administration. He said that Clinton can end the war in Iraq and protect the country. He attacked Obama for a statement in 2004 when he said that he didn’t know how he would have voted on the 2002 Iraq war resolution. Then he said that momentum is tipping in favor of Clinton on the “most important issues” and he predicted a her success in tomorrow’s contests.

Howard Wolfson spoke very critically of Barack Obama. He highlighted two developments that he said arose in the last couple of days. The first concerns a memo that is circulating in Canada about the Obama team having allegedly discussed details regarding his position on NAFTA with Canadian officials despite denying that any discussion on NAFTA had taken place. But Wolfson said that the Canadian press revealed that a “senior member of Obama’s economic team” spoke with Canadian officials saying that Obama’s message on NAFTA in Ohio is “just rhetoric.” Wolfson said that this is a “major story” in Ohio and told listeners that this news comes after Obama has been “unfairly attacking” Clinton on trade. The second issue Wolfson brought up was the controversy involving real estate developer Tony Rezko who is in court facing federal charges of attempted extortion, money laundering, and fraud. Rezko was an Obama supporter with alleged ties to his campaign. Wolfson said that the Clinton campaign is urging Obama to “come clean” and reveal everything they can about relationship between Obama and Rezko but that they are refusing.

Sherrod Brown talks with Talk Radio News Service Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner about the upcoming Ohio primaries and the issues that voters in his state are concerned with.

 

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Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, speaks about her endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president and the specific challenges in foreign relations that the next president will have to face. (10:36)

 

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General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of Europe and presidential candidate in 2004, speaks about Hillary Clinton’s ideas for the war in Iraq, her performance on the campaign trail and the media coverage he would like to see of his candidate. (6:18)

 

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Talk Radio News Service Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner and Washington Correspondent Meredith MacKenzie interview Phil Singer a spokesman for the Hillary Clinton campaign about the run up to Super Tuesday, when 22 states will have a primary or caucus. (7:13)

 

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