CQ Transcriptswire

Sept. 22, 2008

SPEAKER: SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.

GOV. SARAH PALIN, R-ALASKA

PALIN: Senator Lieberman, I thank you for that introduction. That was kind and I thank you all. All of you, thank you for that warm welcome to Pennsylvania. It’s so good to be here in (inaudible). Thank you.

I feel that Philadelphia freedom right here in Delaware County. Thank you so much for inviting us to be here. It’s great to be in the hometown, too, of the Flyers and I see a lot of hockey moms out there for McCain. Hockey moms! Thank you.

It is great to be here and I brought along someone you might recognize. I want to introduce to you Alaska’s “First Dude,” my husband, Todd Palin.

Todd is a commercial fisherman and a production operator up in Alaska’s North Slope oilfields. He is a proud member of the United Steelworkers Union and he is the four time winner of the Iron Dog, the world’s longest snow machine race. Two thousand miles!

And the more John McCain hears about that Iron Dog race, the more often he says Todd’s crazy. It is a tough race. So I’m glad to have Todd on the campaign trail. With us also we have Willow and Piper Palin.

OK, Pennsylvania. Over the next 43 days John McCain and I are going to take our message and our mission of reform to voters of every background in every party or no party at all and with your vote we’re going to Washington to shake things up.

Pennsylvania, this is a time when principles and political independence mean a heck of a lot more than just a party line. And Americans are tired of the old politics as usual and those who only run with the Washington herd and that’s why we need to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House.

John McCain and I believe that now is the time to put government back on the side of the people. And you know, as mayor and then as governor I always knew that I was accountable to the people who hired me, that was the people of Alaska. And in a McCain/Palin administration we will never forget that we’ll be there to work for you, the people of America.

John and I, we have a plan, and if we are so privileged to get to serve you, I’m going to have some new responsibilities as vice president. Government reform, energy independence.

And helping families and children, those with special needs. That’s going to be at the top of our list.

First, I will help lead our reform effort. John and I are the only candidates in this race with a track record of truly being able to make change happen, not just talking about it but making change happen.

I want to ask you a few questions, Media. Let me ask you a few questions. Our opponent, he likes to point the finger of blame but tell me has he ever lifted a finger to help.

AUDIENCE: No!

PALIN: Has he ever reached out a reformer’s hand to the other side of the aisle?

AUDIENCE: No!

PALIN: In order to get others to say yes to change, has he ever told his own party no?

AUDIENCE: No.

PALIN: When it comes to reform, he likes to say I will, but has he ever been able to say we did?

AUDIENCE: No.

PALIN: John McCain and I want reform. We want transparency in Washington. As the governor of Alaska I just think (ph) like, put the state’s checkbook online so that everybody can see where the money is being spent. We want to do the same thing in D.C.

John wants to do the same thing with the Treasury bill. We believe that the American people have the right to know which firms the Treasury is helping and what that selection is based on and how much that help will cost you. It’s your money and you do have a right to know where it’s going.

Truly in this race there is only one man of action, one proven reformer who will clean up Wall Street and Washington and that man is John McCain .

OK. The second thing that I’ll be leading in a McCain/Palin administration is our mission of energy independence.

Here in Pennsylvania I know that high gas prices, they’re making a full tank feel like a luxury and the cost of living is going up and the cost of groceries is going up. Everything is going up. But the value of your paycheck is going down all because of energy costs.

Now, our opponent says that he wants to help Americans who are struggling with high energy costs. He says he wants to but time and time and time again he has sided with special interests and against solutions that would help Americans keep their homes, fuel up their energy tanks and pay their energy bills.

Now maybe if he had been the governor of an energy rich state maybe he’d get it or maybe, maybe if he had been on the front lines helping to secure our nation’s energy independence, maybe then he’d understand.

As governor of Alaska and former chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, I’ve overseen a very large portion of the U.S. domestic supply of oil and through a heck of a lot of competition, a lot of hard work, recently I got agreements to build a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to bring Alaska’s North Slope gas reserves down to the very, very hungry markets here. It’s going to help you.

We know what it’s going to take, John and I do, we know that it’s going to take American ingenuity and produced by American workers.

And that’s why we’re going to expand our use of alternative fuels also and we’re going to drill now to make this nation energy independent.

AUDIENCE: Drill, baby, drill. Drill, baby, drill. Drill, baby, drill.

PALIN: And finally, friends, helping families who have children with special needs, it is an issue very near and dear to my heart. With the recent birth of our perfectly beautiful baby boy, we joined so many other American families know that some of life’s greatest joys sometimes come with some unique challenges.

And as governor I’ve fought for these two years more funding for education for those with special needs for more opportunities and as vice president I’m going to make sure those children have a friend and an advocate in the White House.

I’m going to do this because John McCain and I have a vision for an America where government is on your side and where every child is cherished.

Pennsylvania, it is such a privilege to be John McCain ’s running mate and to serve beside him as vice president would be the highest and most humbling of honors. John McCain wore the uniform of his country for 22 years.

Talk about, tough, too. He spent five and a half years as a POW. He knows what it takes to overcome challenges. Remember what was a decisive moment in the war in Iraq where John McCain fought for the strategy that has brought victory in Iraq just within sight. And as the mother of one of those troops, that’s exactly the kind of man I want as commander-in-chief.

There is someone here in this crowd also that knows exactly where I’m coming from and the other Blue Star Moms do also. One of these moms, Nancy Hoffman Hardy (ph), her son Matthew and my son, they’re serving together and in the coming weeks the Hardy’s son David will be deployed to Iraq with the Pennsylvania National Guard. Please join me in thanking Nancy and her family for the sacrifice that they’re making.

Thank you, Nancy.

You know what, friends? Let’s take a minute anyway to honor and thank some of the exceptional Americans right here in this crowd, I see some of you with your hats on, the men and women, I want you to raise your hand. Those who have served our country, we honor you, we thank you, we owe you. Thank you.

Thank you, veterans. Thank you, those who are serving today.

Pennsylvania, our opponents talk a lot about how they will fight for you. But since my running mate - he is not going to say this on his own behalf, I’m going to have to say it for him. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you.

AUDIENCE: John McCain ! John McCain !

PALIN: John McCain is...

AUDIENCE: John McCain ! John McCain ! John McCain !

PALIN: John McCain is the only great man in this race, the only man who is ready to serve as our 44th president and with your help, on November 4, we’re going to send him to the White House.

But before we do that, before we go to Washington to shake things up we have a special surprise for Senator McCain. Today we have a very special veteran with us. Paul Teutel. Paul is a Vietnam veteran and the founder of the Orange County Choppers, a custom motorcycle company.

He runs the motorcycle company with his sons, Paul Jr. and Mikey and he built - you guys, he built a special bike honoring all POWs and Vietnam vets and he brought it by to give Senator McCain a chance to see it up close. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to introduce Paul Sr., Paul Jr. and Mike Teutel.

PAUL TEUTEL: How is everybody doing? I’d just like to say it’s a big honor for us to be here tonight and I just have a question. How many people out there love their country and the military?

We’ve been involved in supporting the military for a long time, I think most people know that. The bike that I rode up here is a POW- MIA bike and this bike was built in honor of all the POW-MIA people and as we all know Senator McCain was a six year POW and all the people that have been POWs and MIAs, this bike represents all that.

The other thing I’d like to say is that we’ve been big supporters of our military and I think that we have built a tribute bike to every branch of the military. And we’re going to continue the support. Thank you.

(UNKNOWN): All right. Ladies and gentlemen, Senator John McCain .

MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Paul Teutel. Thank you. It’s marvelous. Sarah and I are going to get onto that chopper and ride it right to Washington and raise Hell.

Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you, Senator Arlen Specter , Senator Joe Lieberman, my brave and courageous friend and also with me, Senator Lindsey Graham from the state of South Carolina.

I just want to tell you how happy I am to be introduced by Governor Palin. But I can’t wait until I introduce her to Washington, D.C. And (inaudible).

We’re going to reform, we’re going to shake things up, we’re going to change the culture, my friends. If you have noticed, she has sparked a fire that will sweep across this country and take us to the White House and change America and that’s what it’s all about.

Let me offer a little advance warning to the big spending, greedy, do nothing, me first, country second crowd in Washington and on Wall Street. Change is coming, change is coming (inaudible).

I want to say thank you, Media, thank you, Pennsylvania and let’s have a little straight talk tonight. I want to mention first, Pennsylvania will be a battleground state, you will be up late, we need to win Pennsylvania and I need your vote and I need you to get the vote out and I need you to work.

The next 43 days you get no rest. You get out the vote for us, my friends because we need it and we can’t win without you. We need this fire and passion that’s here in Media tonight and we need it to spread. My friends, I’ll be counting on you. I’ll be counting on you because there’s a lot at stake. We need to reform in Washington and on Wall Street, you know what. Financial markets are in crisis and times are tough.

I know. I know and you know. The events unfolding can be difficult. Difficult to understand for many Americans. On Friday I laid out my plan for addressing this crisis and at its heart my plan is about keeping people in their homes and safeguarding the life savings of all Americans.

By protecting our financial system, financial system and capital markets, these are my priorities, but, my friends, Senator Obama has declined to put forth a plan of his own. I’m not surprised.

His campaign said today it would outline his plan and this afternoon instead of offering a single solution, he just gave another speech full of political attacks. One week after this crisis began, Senator Obama still has not offered any plan of any kind.

In a time of crisis, leadership is needed. Senator Obama has been MIA, my friends, that means missing in action.

We’ve seen him play this game before. He’s the same senator who voted present nearly 100 times on difficult issues.

A hundred and thirty times.

My friends, Senator Obama may not realize it, but you don’t get to vote present when you’re president of the United States of America. You don’t get to vote present.

And the truth is we don’t have time to wait for Senator Obama to recover from his paralysis and face this crisis. Congress must act and act quickly. I laid out my priorities last Friday. I spoke with Secretary Paulson today. I’ve been looking at the plan the administration has put forward. I urge Congress to study this proposal carefully and consider the remedy this crisis.

Let me give you some straight talk. I am greatly concerned that the plan gives a single individual unprecedented power to spend a trillion dollars without any meaningful accountability. When we’re talking about a trillion dollars of taxpayers’ money, trust me just isn’t good enough. You know that.

We won’t solve a problem caused by poor oversight with a plan that has no oversight. We’re facing this crisis as an antiquated regulatory system, uncoordinated agencies that haven’t been doing the job and that’s a fact.

I believe we need a high level oversight coordinator to ensure that throughout this crisis, the government is a careful steward of the taxpayers’ dollars.

We need to hold accountable the firms we help. We can’t have the taxpayers footing the bill for floated golden parachutes like we see in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. We can’t see that. The Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy (inaudible).

You know top executives there are asking for $2.5 billion in bonuses after they ran the company into the ground. The senior executives of any firm bailed out by Treasury shouldn’t be making more than the highest paid government official. Obviously.

I urge transparency throughout the process because the American people have the right to know which firms will be helped, what that selection will be based on and how much that help will cost.

The details of the process and the transaction itself should all be made available online to the public.

As Congress examines this package I would encourage all members to set aside the pressures in Washington and Wall Street as we determine what to do, we need to put our country first and what’s best for Main Street. Not Washington, not Wall Street, but Main Street.

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!

MCCAIN: My friends, we’ve got to help people stay in their homes. We’ve got to protect American savings. We’ve got to keep students with loans in school.

But what we need in any reform is accountability for Wall Street and accountability for government and a commitment to protecting people’s homes and life savings and restoring our financial markets.

My friends, times are tough for our economy and I expect more tough economic news before the election. I’ve got to give you that straight talk. My commitment to the American people is to fix the Wall Street mess, reform Washington and most importantly enact a pro- growth agenda, create jobs for Americans, get this country back on track.

While Senator Obama doesn’t seem to know what to do in the current crisis, we know what his plans are for the economy. Last week Senator Obama’s running made said, get this, raising taxes is patriotic. Raising taxes in a tough economy isn’t patriotic, it’s not a badge of honor, it’s just plain dumb.

The billions in tax increases that Senator Obama is proposing will kill even more jobs during tough economic times. I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going to raise your taxes, I don’t care who you are.

(inaudible) straight talk about (inaudible). Your vote will determine the next president of this great country which we all love. A lot of you have these economic challenges on your mind. Let’s start there.

A vote for me will guarantee immediate pro-growth actions (inaudible) hard-working families (inaudible) small businesses which are the backbone of our economy and an end to (inaudible) in Washington.

My friend, the pork barrel spending and out of control spending has led to corruption and I don’t say that lightly. I want to tell you right now, the next time I am president of the United States a pork barrel bill comes across my desk I will veto it, I will make them famous, you will know their names. You will know their names.

(inaudible) asked for $932 million in pork barrel spending. Nearly a million dollars for every day he’s been in the United States Senate.

Folks, that’s not change. A vote for Barack Obama will guarantee higher taxes, fewer jobs and an even bigger federal government. These policies will deepen our recession. A vote for me will guarantee the forces that have brought down our economy will be out of business. I’ll end the corrupt policies of Wall Street and (inaudible) in Washington, DC.

(inaudible) vote for Senator Obama and leave this country at risk of one of the most severe challenges to America’s economy since the Great Depression. You see, when it comes to growing the economy, (inaudible) Washington, Senator Obama just doesn’t get it.

Americans have had enough of business as usual. Americans have had enough of the cozy relationships between politicians and power brokers. The days of me first, country second will end on November 4th when you vote for me and Senator Palin.

We made the tough choices that make us unpopular in our own party. Senator Obama has never taken on his party on any issue at any time. We pushed the reforms that ruffled feathers and angered the entrenched interests. I was not elected Miss Congeniality again this year in the United States Senate.

We will never forget who we work for. We work for you.

So that’s how we see this election. Country first or Obama first.

I have a feeling I know which side you’re all on.

When it comes to cutting taxes for seniors, for working families, for small businesses, my opponent does not put the hardworking people of this country first. When it came time to support our troops fighting to protect our freedoms and way of life, my opponent said he would never deprive them of the funds they needed to fight and then he just did exactly that.

Barack Obama voted against funding the equipment our troops rely on as they fight to protect us.

That’s not putting the men and women of our military first. When it comes time to reach across the aisle and work with members of both parties to get things done for the American people my opponent can’t name a single time in which he fought against his party’s leadership to get something done for the country. That’s not putting the interests of the country first.

And now faced with an economic crisis, the country is looking for leadership. The country is hungry for change. They want a leader who will stand up to entrenched special interests in Washington and Wall Street and they deserve a president who knows when to put politics aside and act in the interest of the nation.

The choice is clear. You have my word. I will always put this country first.

Thank you, God bless you, God bless America, we need you on November 4th. Thank you.

Source: CQ Transcriptions, Sept. 23, 2008

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