McCain Campaign Press Release - The Case for John McCain

The Maverick We Need Now: George Pataki Makes The Case For John McCain

By George Pataki

New York Daily News

November 3, 2008

NY Daily News

Today our country stands at a critical juncture. Our economy is in turmoil, we have thousands of our brave men and women fighting abroad and America's confidence has been eroded.

In Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, we have two candidates with very different visions for the future of our nation.

To me the clear choice to guide us through the challenges we face is John McCain.

Over and over again, in times of crisis and on the issues that matter most to Americans, McCain has been there.

It's no secret that our economy today is in trouble.

To recover from this economic crisis we are going to need the right policies. If Obama is elected the question isn't if he is going to raise taxes - the question is how much he will raise taxes.

Obama believes in raising taxes so Washington has more of our money to "spread the wealth around."

For John McCain, working hard, paying your own way and keeping your hard earned money is the right policy.

Sen. Obama says he wants to cut taxes for 95% of taxpayers - the problem is 40% of taxpayers aren't paying taxes now. Under Obama's plan more than $400 billion would be paid out in cash to people who currently don't pay any federal taxes at all.

How do you cut taxes for people who aren't paying any at all? You don't, but you do buy votes by promising to send them a check from Washington, unless your tax dollars have already been wasted on pork for corrupt interest groups like ACORN.

What Obama proposes is a grab bag of election year giveaways; that if allowed to take effect will mark a massive expansion of a new kind of federal welfare.

And for New York's economy which is so dependent on Wall Street for revenues, the impact of Obama's tax increases would be even more profound.

At a time when any sensible person knows that you don't raise taxes on the small businesses that create the jobs that we all desperately need, Obama's tax policies would do just that.

The first responsibility of our government is to provide for our security. To ensure that security we must be successful in Iraq and Afghanistan.

McCain embodies that belief and has been outspoken throughout his campaign with the mantra, "I would rather lose an election than lose a war."

McCain has always charted his own independent course on the war in Iraq. He was critical of the Bush administration when he believed that the wrong decisions were being made. But he also had the courage to be a strong and consistent supporter of the Surge for one simple reason ... because he knew it would work.

If the choice had been up to Obama, the Surge would have never happened, our troops would have been brought home in defeat and more death and chaos would have followed in the Middle East.

The lesson of Sept. 11 is clear to me: We must fight our enemies abroad or they will fight us here. Sen. McCain understands this basic principle. I am not sure Obama does.

McCain is the right person in these dangerous times to keep Americans safe.

The Obama campaign has tried desperately to make this election a referendum on the previous eight years.

But McCain has always been his own man.

The simple fact is that while McCain has been in Congress, he has always stood astride from the Washington status quo. He has refused earmarks.

He has been an adamant proponent of spending restraint.

And finally, McCain has never been afraid to reach across the aisle to find the solutions to tough issues and break the partisan gridlock that is so prevalent in Washington.

A few weeks ago, Sen. Biden said that "we're gonna have an international crisis to test the mettle of this guy." The "guy" he was referring to was Obama.

In these dangerous times we can't afford on-the-job training for the untested.

America needs President McCain.

John McCain: fiercely independent, his mettle tested, his strength unquestioned and the character of a true American hero. He is the right man to lead our country for the next four years.

Pataki was governor of New York state.