Electing McCain Takes the Philippines Off The Map
September 5, 2008
Senator McCain’s Asian policy paper on his campaign website and his own policy statements take great effort to point out the needs of continued leadership in regards to India, China, Japan, and South Korea, but never once mention the Philippines, despite the efforts the Philippines has made in regards to the War on Terror and the continued efforts against Islamic fundamentalist terrorism (see: www.asianamericansformccain.org/2008/06/01/mccains-asia-policy ). For a nation that has considered itself a major ally and partner over the past 60 years, during the Second World War, the Cold War, and the War on Terror, such an omission should be considered problematic.
Second, in regards to immigration, while John McCain (R-AZ) has prided himself as being someone who is interested in genuine immigration reform, it would seem that his choice for Vice President is interested in a policy quite the opposite in direction. During the 2000 presidential election, as Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin along with State Senator Jerry Ward (R-AK), held several fundraisers for anti-immigrant demagogue Pat Buchanan (see: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-1425097-OT8AaTx&t=2 ). This was at a time when Buchanan said, “we are losing our country” in regards to immigration (5/2000). This was also a campaign wherein Buchanan called for a moratorium on the immigration (5/1999). Considering the endeavors that many of our friends and relatives have taken to unite their families and bring them to this country, such a policy seems to go against our best interests.
Third, in terms of health care reform, both Senator McCain and Governor Palin have stated that they believe in “flexibility in government regulations that allow competition in health care…” They also believe such policies “will drive down health care costs and reduce the need for government subsidies.” But as anyone who has had to deal with the skyrocketing price of heath care costs over the past, the proposed “ownership society” has left too many people unable to afford adequate health care in the richest nation on Earth. With 46.6 million Americans uninsured, including 10 million children (roughly 1 in 6 Americans), according to the U.S. Census Bureau, free market health care, which Senator McCain and Governor Palin support, is not providing the coverage and affordability to recipients in most need (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXzY1FvYpnE).
Fourth, in regards to the War in Iraq, McCain is proposing four more years of a foreign policy that has continued to alienate our allies and our population at home, while Palin has demonstrated that she has neither any ideas or policies to contribute to the ticket. In a Time interview two weeks ago (8/14/2008), Governor Palin proposed that the only solution for energy independence would be to allow drilling in the Alaskan wildlife reserves, an action that would take at least 12 years to make an impact (see: www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1837536-2,00.html). Considering that we as a nation have spent over a trillion dollars and over 4,000 American lives have been lost in the war in Iraq, shouldn’t we deserve better of our leaders than the same policies of the past 8 years?
Fifth, it should be of great concern that the person who is proposed as being only a heartbeat away from the most powerful office on Earth, has only met the candidate once before 2008 (see: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-1425097-OT8AaTx&t=8 ). As former Clinton White House Chief of Staff John Podesta said in a recent interview, “A potential vice president with the ideology of Dick Cheney and fewer qualifications than Dan Quayle should send arctic shivers up our spines… Vice presidents matter. In our history, nine have become president when the sitting commander in chief unexpectedly died or resigned. McCain, a 72-year-old cancer survivor, may be rolling the dice to grab a chunk of Hillary Clinton’s voters, but he is asking all of us to gamble on Sarah Palin if she were to become president at a time of national crisis.”
The McCain-Palin ticket has ignored our heritage and contributions to this country, despite the 4 million Filipino-Americans who live across the United States. They have forgotten the Philippines when considering a foreign policy, and have turned a blind eye to the needs of the Filipino American people with regard to immigration and health care reform. McCain and Palin have no new ideas on how to responsibly deal with the war in Iraq. Worse, based on the fact that the Vice President is supposed to be an extension or enhancement of the Executive Branch, Palin lacks the vision and judgment needed to be second-in-command. Based on these reasons alone, one has to wonder why the Republicans believe such a choice actually enhances the party. Under the leadership of the past eight years, international regard for the United States has declined, fewer Americans can afford adequate health care or higher education, and we have taken on a federal debt which our children and grandchi! ldren will inherit and spend years paying for. McCain and Palin offer little deviation from the policies of the Bush administration. Some say electing Senator Obama would be a “gamble,” but it is an even greater risk to vote for four more years of the same failed policies.
September 4, 2008
Jose Ricardo G. Bondoc
Political Consultant
www.sfnewsfeed.us
This Press Release/Message/Article is posted for public information purposes. The Manila Mail is not in anyway connected or affiliated to the person, company or entity that submitted this press release. For more information on this article, please refer to the contact information provided in the posting.
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2 Responses to “Electing McCain Takes the Philippines Off The Map”
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Jose Bondoc says “Electing McCain Takes the Philippines Off the Map” - How can naked propaganda, not a press release, like this end up in your website?
Mr. Bondoc, a political consultant he calls himself, should do his homework. And not just his homework as a democrat peddler.
For starters, history proves that the Philippines has gotten more in foreign assistance from republican than democrat presidents.
Let us not go far. Just compare how much Ronald Reagan-George Bush Sr. transition gave us compared to Bill Clinton - $800 million under just a single legislation. This was almost ten times what President Marcos got in his entire term. This does not even include the yearly food aid, disaster aid and NGO direct aid.
I can hardly remember anything President Clinton gave us.
On another plain, McCain has signed up for Senate Bill 1315, and Governor Palin know the Filipinos well, afterall we are in great numbers in Alaska. In fact last year, she declared November 10 as Thelma Buchholdt Day in honor of the first Filipino elected state delegate in the United States.
Barack Obama also signed up for S1315 for recognition and more benefits for Filipino Veterans who fought in World War II. It passed the upper house with a vote of 96-3-1. But right now it is in gridlock in the lower House of Representatives that is dominated by democrats and led by a democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker.
Why? because of democrat intramurals between Pelosi and Filner, the sponsor of the bill. Now who will be responsible if this bill does not pass? Pelosi? Filner?
No. It will be Mr. Obama. Now how can Obama pass his bloated promises if this early he cannot walk both sides of the aisle for the Filipino veterans?
Let us be specific, guys, and not camouflage as press releases our shallow and judgmental partisan fears and hyperventilation that sound really ludicrous. I doubt it very much if Mr. Bondoc even knows that there is a State Department that makes sure the United States has a friendly and viable relations with the Philippines. Taking the Filipinos off the map when they comprise the biggest minority in this country after the Blacks and the Hispanics? Give me a break.
I can go on and on but that would be giving Mr. Bondoc his education that I am not responsible for.
Equity for our veterans should be a bi-partisan issue — it comes down to basic principles of justice and fairness, but sadly there have been partisan fault lines. Contrary to Adolfo’s indications, the reason that the Bill was being held up was because of Republican opposition to providing full benefits to our Filipino Veterans. It has been largely Democrats in the House, particularly those from California like Nancy Pelosi and Bob Filner, who have been championing Filipino Veterans Equity. And while the vast majority of House Dems have been supporting Equity for our Veterans — the opposite is true for House Republicans.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/109862/US-Congress-to-deal-with-Filvets-bill-in-September
As for Senators Obama and McCain’s records on the Veterans Equity issue — it was Senator Obama–and not McCain–who became a co-sponsor of the Veterans Equity Act in 2007, providing critical support to ensure the passage of the bill as a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. His Senate staff is well-versed on our veterans issues and he has regularly reaffirmed his commitment to the cause of our Filipino war heroes:
June 2007 http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=72310
Feb 2008
http://www.google.com/search?q=obama+filipino+veterans+equity&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
June 2008
http://www.filipinovoices.com/barack-obama-greets-filipinos-on-philippine-independence-day
I could not find evidence of such longstanding support from John McCain.
Now that a version of the Fil Vets bill has finally passed in the House — albeit a much inferior version to the one passed in the Senate, now is a time that we do need to unite to ensure that the version that comes out of the Committee is S.B.1315 — the bill that provides full justice for our veterans. Regardless of what presidential candidate you’re supporting, I hope you’ll take time to call you congressional representatives and senators to make sure these brave Filipinos finally are awarded their proper benefits.