While President Bush and Senator McCain have decided that helping big business and neglecting working families will somehow get us out of this economic recession, Senator Obama this morning outlined a plan that will keep the American Dream alive for millions of Americans.

His plan protects families from foreclosure on their homes, reforms bankruptcy laws that are stacked against them and protects consumers against abusive lending practices. Obama’s plan also implements important changes to Wall Street to restore confidence in the markets and protect workers’ hard-earned retirement.

In addition to his immediate solutions to turn around our economy, his commitment to raising the minimum wage and creating secure jobs that can support a family will put us on a clear path to creating a new American Dream.

We agree with today’s New York Times editorial board’s conclusion today that we need “a president who is willing to recognize when the government’s help is essential — and who is ready to use government power wisely.” We believe Senator Obama passes this test and is clearly America’s best choice for president.

Barack Obama has a new ad up in Indiana. The ad highlights Obama’s campaign pledge to not take money from lobbyists.

Deciding not to wait for his Democratic rivals to make up their minds, John McCain is up with the first general election ad of the year. The ad mixes footage of the GOP nominee on the campaign trail with clips of McCain imprisoned in Vietnam.

“What must a president believe about us? About America?” the spot asks. “And, what must we believe about that president? What does he think? Where has he been? Has he walked the walk?”

The ad is title “624787″ after McCain’s Navy serial number.

This is a sad milestone and my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the 4,000 soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their service.

This great loss is a stark reminder that President Bush’s failed and disastrous policies have real and tragic consequences. It is a stark reminder that even in the midst of the Iraq recession, nothing compares to the human costs of this war and occupation. It is a stark reminder that our nation was misled into a senseless war that now must end.

Five years ago the Bush administration misled the American people into believing there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; misled many to believe Iraq posed an imminent threat, and; misled the nation about a false connection between the tragic events of 911 and Saddam Hussein.

As we enter the sixth year of the U.S. occupation in Iraq, the best way to honor these brave men and women is to fully fund the redeployment of our troops and contractors from Iraq and invest the billions of dollars in monthly savings in supporting our nation’s veterans, including the more than 28,000 wounded in Iraq.
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Incredibly, President Bush would have us believe that the rights of citizenship are only as good as the ground a citizen literally stands on. In recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving Mohammad Munaf and Shawqi Omar, a Bush Administration lawyer argued that “American citizens, when they go abroad, they have to take what they get.”

Munaf and Omar, both American citizens, were arrested in Iraq by American military personnel and have been in the custody of U.S. authorities operating as part of Multi-National Force Iraq. Both of these Americans are challenging attempts by the Bush Administration to deny them access to U.S. courts and transfer them into Iraqi custody, where they could very well be subjected to torture and given the death penalty.

The Bush Administration insists that even though the men are being held at a U.S. Army-run detention center near the Baghdad airport, the U.S. has no control over what happens to them. Because 26 other nations are represented to a lesser degree in the U.S.-led and dominated military command, the Bush Administration has reasoned that Omar and Munaf are not entitled to the habeas corpus protections found within the Constitution and, thus, cannot challenge their detentions in American courts. Read the rest of this entry »

There is no doubt we have a serious challenge before us; mortgage foreclosures are on the rise, home prices are on the decline and investor confidence in the secondary market is dwindling. The bottom line is foreclosures do not have to happen. The data shows almost half of homeowners who are in distress, but get counseling are able to stay in their homes.

I support the initiative of mortgage brokers and loan servicers to work with troubled borrowers to keep home owners in their homes if they can afford it. I also believe we need to ensure that, going forward, borrowers are not offered attractive loans they will not be able to repay when their introductory “teaser” rates expire.

Recent weeks have seen a ratcheting up of promises by outside groups to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the presidential race. On the right, $2 million is expected from a conservative 501(c)(4) called “Defense of Democracies” for election-related opposition to House Democrats who oppose the President’s electronic spying plan. Another non-profit, Freedom’s Watch has pledged to spend some $250 million opposing the Democratic nominee.

And progressive groups recently floated a $400 million target for both electioneering communications and voter mobilization efforts. While the Campaign Finance Institute reports that a record $143 million was spent in 2006, that then-shocking total today looks like chump change.

A short history of how we got here is in order. As a new legal analysis and summary by the Brennan Center makes clear, before passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (“BCRA”), campaign finance laws applied only to “express advocacy” – an advertisement for or against a candidate that used specific “magic words,” such as “vote for” or “vote against.” This test made it impossible to distinguish “sham issue ads” (ads that avoided these magic words, but were nonetheless intended to influence an election) from genuine issue ads (ads that advance a position on a public issue). Read the rest of this entry »

In recent weeks and months it has become obvious that we face challenges in the housing market that demand reforms to ensure responsible access to credit and prevent the current situation from repeating itself.

I was happy to see that Secretary Paulson and the Working Group on Financial Markets recently outlined a proposal that – in many ways – mirrors aspects of legislation we passed in November to strengthen oversight of loan originators and provide for strong licensing standards in the mortgage industry.

Our legislation was the product of a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers on the Financial Services Committee to propose a balanced response to the credit crunch, and I believe that work on that bill helped cement a strong working relationship between a coalition of Democrats and Republicans on our committee. I’m looking forward to our hearing next week, where we’ll hear from witnesses about a number of proposals to better enlist the FHA in helping those who face problems with their mortgage.

Obviously we must be cautious not to over-regulate or promote bad behavior, but it’s important that we learn from shortfalls of the past. With the Secretary’s proposal and our bill, we have a framework to work with when we reconvene next week.

For five long years, our brave sons and daughters have served their country with honor and courage in Iraq. They did not choose this tragic and unnecessary war, but they have done everything their country has asked of them, and much more. In time, the misguided decisions and failed policies of others will be held accountable by the harsh judgment of history.

But now is not a time to debate how we got into Iraq, or how we will leave. It is a time to mourn. To date, U.S. forces have suffered 4,000 killed in action and almost 30,000 wounded. And many of those wounded will suffer the trauma of war, both physically and mentally, for the rest of their lives. As a nation, we must commit ourselves to care for them with as much as it takes, for as long as it takes.

We pray that God will embrace all of our fallen heroes with perfect shelter and peace. And we pray that he will send strength and comfort to their families who must bear this terrible burden. And finally, we pledge our continued efforts to end this war soon.

Former Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Mike Gravel spoke with The Hill’s Erica Wisniewski on Wednesday to explain his recent move to the Libertarian Party.