Willey Warns Dems as Clinton Sharpens Attacks on Obama

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After losing a string of ten primaries and caucuses to Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton is looking to regain her footing by competing hard. The NY Times reported today that Senator Clinton did not waste time in signaling that she would now take a tougher line against Senator Obama.

Former White House aide and Democratic fundraiser, Kathleen Willey is concerned not only for Senator Obama, but also for the Democratic Party for which she worked so hard in the past.

"As the Democratic race continues and Hillary seeks to break Obama's momentum," Willey says, "I believe we are going to see a lot more of the same Clinton tactics that I and a number of insiders have experienced."

Indeed, the Clinton camp may have hatched a new strategy. Roger Simon of Politico.com reported that a high-ranking Clinton official said the campaign intends to go after Obama's delegates if they are needed to win the nomination. Simon reported that the Clinton camp sought to get pledged delegates -- not the contested "superdelegates" -- to switch sides, regardless of the states' caucus results.

"Just when the Dems are supposed to be pulling together, the Clintons are doing whatever it takes to get to the top," says Willey. "In their desperation, they are creating another scenario for war within the Democratic party."

In another divisive move, according to the Associated Press, Hillary's advisor Harold Ickes is now contradicting his stance as a member of the Democratic National Committee. In that capacity, Ickes voted to impose sanctions stripping Michigan and Florida of their 313 delegates because they scheduled early primaries without DNC permission. The only candidate to campaign in those states, Hillary won the contests and now needs the delegates so, in a complete about-face, Ickes, a top advisor to Clinton, is now arguing to undo the penalty and allow the delegates to count for,Hillary. According to AP, Ickes' contradictory positions on whether to count the delegates for Hillary "illustrate some of the internal division within the party as Clinton and Obama run neck-in-neck in the Democratic presidential race."

Willey says that when she first started working at the White House as a loyal Democrat, she had the naive belief that the Clintons genuinely cared about the Party above themselves. But, Willey says, it didn't take her long to be disabused of that notion. "When push comes to shove, the Clinton's don't care about the Democratic Party," she adds. "They only care about the Clinton party!"

Willey came to prominence in 1997 after being subpoenaed to testify in the Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton. She is the author of "Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton," by WND Books .

SOURCE Kathleen Willey

McCain Promises Three Times to Veto Any Tax Increase

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ - For at least the third time in the last two weeks, Sen. John McCain pledged to veto any tax increase if elected President.

1) On Sunday, Feb. 17, appearing on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," McCain made an unequivocal promise to oppose any tax increase if elected President:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: "So on taxes, are you a 'read my lips' candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?"

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: "No new taxes, I do not -- in fact, I could see an argument if our economy continues to deteriorate for lower interest rates, lower tax rates and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates, which are the second-highest in the world, giving people the ability to write off depreciation in a year, elimination of the AMT. There's a lot of things that I would think we should do to relieve that burden, including, obviously, as we all know, simplification of the tax code."

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: "But under no circumstances would you increase taxes?"

MCCAIN: "No."

The video clip of this exchange may be viewed at

http://youtube.com/watch?v=g_zU-Cov6Cs

2) On Sunday, Feb. 3, during an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Fox
News Sunday," host Chris Wallace had the following exchange with Sen.
McCain:

CHRIS WALLACE: "As president, will you veto any tax increase passed by
a Democratic Congress?"

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: "Yes."


The video clip of this exchange may be viewed at
http://youtube.com/watch?v=k5_dsxBEJVY

3) Also on Feb. 3, McCain was a guest on CBS's "Face the Nation,"
hosted by Bob Schieffer. Again, he was asked to commit to veto a tax
increase:

BOB SCHIEFFER: "Let's just say that you do become president and a Democratic congress raises taxes. What would you do? Would you veto it?"


SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: "Sure. Sure I'd veto it. I think if we're gonna be in
some shaky times, and by the way I believe the fundamentals of America's
economy are still strong, then the worst thing you can do is increase taxes
at that time."

The video clip of this exchange may be viewed at

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I5Xvx17scJk

For two decades, ATR has asked all presidential and federal candidates to commit to their constituents, in writing, to oppose any and all efforts
to raise income taxes. Every Republican nominee since Ronald Reagan has made this commitment, as well as over 90 percent of incumbent GOP House and Senate members.

Meanwhile, neither of the two remaining Democrat candidates -- Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- has made any form of commitment, written or otherwise, to veto tax increases.

Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases.

SOURCE Americans for Tax Reform

Hillary Clinton Encourages Americans to Report Voting Problems on Campaign Website

Hillary Clinton today encouraged voters to visit her campaign website to report any and all voting irregularities. Voters can report problems at www.hillaryclinton.com/pollingproblems.

"I ask all Americans to contact my campaign if they have trouble voting," said Clinton. "My volunteers and staff will make a best effort to respond and contact election authorities when appropriate. Americans should not be denied the opportunity to vote because of election problems or irregularities. All Americans deserve to have their voices heard."

Source: www.hillaryclinton.com

Hillary+Clinton Hillary Politics Democrats Election Super+Tuesday

Hillary Clinton Statement on January Employment Report

Today's report that our economy actually lost jobs in January confirms my view that we are sliding into a second Bush recession. During the same month that President Bush declared that the state of our union was strong, the economy lost 17,000 jobs, the worst jobs performance in four and a half years.

This data shows what so many of the families I meet every day already know: this economy is failing middle class families. Washington must act immediately and aggressively to head off our growing economic crisis.

This report underscores why it is absolutely critical that we include in any stimulus package extended unemployment insurance for those who are losing their jobs and looking work in our ailing economy. And while I am heartened to see that the House moved quickly to pass a stimulus package, we need more than tax rebates and business incentives to fix our ailing economy. That is why I have called for expanding heating assistance for those facing skyrocketing heating cost, and enacting a comprehensive solution to the housing crisis, including a 90-day foreclosure moratorium and a 5-year interest rate freeze on subprime mortgages.

Source: www.hillaryclinton.com

Hillary+Clinton Clinton Hillary Election Politics Democrats