News PageA Moment In History.It was on September 26, 2007, that TIME magazine published an article in which Senator Lindsey Graham was quoted as saying that Iraqi leaders had 90 days in which to resolve their political differences. If they failed to do so within 90 days "it means the major players don't want to." Senator Graham said. That was 5 months ago, 60 days beyond Senator Graham's 90 day deadline. Senator Graham coupled his deadline with a promise: "If they don't deliver in 90 days, I will openly say the chances for political reconciliation are remote." Yet, Senator Graham stands by his statements that "The Surge", which was implemented to allow the Iraqi leadership time to resolve political differences, was successful. Earlier, in an interview with David Broder of the Washington Post, the "Dean" of the Washington Press Corps, published on September 16, 2007, Senator Graham said much the same thing. "What we can do is effect the outcome. But if we don't see progress on two of the three big issues -- oil revenues, de-Baathification, provisional elections -- in 90 days, it may not happen. Iraq could be a failed state." Yet, on February 26, 2008, Senator Graham told the Fox News Corp., "The truth is that political reconciliation in Iraq is going better there than it is here at home." This is the type of statement, in light of the previous statement from September, in light of the public rejection of divisive politics we are seeing here at home in the presidential primary support for Senator Barack Obama, that best illustrates why it is time for Senator Graham to come home from Washington. Senator Graham has become so corrupted by the power in Washington that he can either no longer see the truth, or he can no longer speak the truth. It is time for better representation in Washington for South Carolina. It is time for representation that is not tied to the failed policies of an incumbent president but to the will of the people of South Carolina. It is time for someone serious about representing the people of South Carolina, serious about about making America stronger, and serious about moving this state and country forward. America Is At The Mall.
On October 3, 2007, President George Bush vetoed popular legislation expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) saying that he would not sign legislation with too much government spending. Congressional Democrats responded saying that the occupation of Iraq was too much government spending and proposed legislation enacting a war surtax to help pay for the war in Iraq. Senator Lindsey Graham responded to the idea of a war surtax by saying: "You pay for the war by winning the war. This is not an accounting exercise. How did we pay for World War II? Everybody rolled up their sleeves and did the best they could." I really do not understand how Senator Graham could say such a thing. Even if it were true, this picture taken in a Marine Corps office in Ramadi, Iraq belies the idea that everybody in America is rolling up their sleeves and doing the best they can to pay for the war in Iraq. But Senator Graham is not correct; Americans paid surtaxes to help pay for WWII. Americans were also asked to buy War Bonds to help pay for WWII, something so famous that surely even Senator Graham is aware of that fact. This is the type of disingenuous representation we have come to expect from Senator Graham, who voted against expanding SCHIP and voted in favor of sustaining the President's veto. An expanded SCHIP would have provided health care coverage to needy South Carolina children and was supported by a majority of South Carolinians. But Senator Graham opposed expanding SCHIP because "the program [would] now cover adults and families earning as much as $82,600 a year." In New York, Senator Graham, not in South Carolina; and then only if the president approved such coverage. |
