Photos by Ted MalloryBarack responds to questions, challenges
at town meeting Saturday
at town meeting Saturday
By Ted Mallory
DENISON, IA- Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama responded to several questions from an audience in the Denison High School Gym, Saturday March 31.
Obama stopped short of saying he’d revoke the No Child Left Behind law, but he did say that he’d make sure the law fully funded the mandates it requires.
“No Child left the money behind,” he complained. He believes that “schools are dealing with children who are uninspired and unmotivated and teachers who are underpaid.”
He also said that he thought that rather than purely standardized testing, students progress should be measured based on what level the student begins at. He’d also like to see an emphasis put on early childhood education since children learn more between birth and age three than at any other time.
Obama addressed concerns about NAFTA and CAFTA. He pointed out that he voted against CAFTA and believes that the burdens and benefits of trade need to be balanced so that workers and farmers don’t get the short end. He opposes allowing corporations to receive tax incentives when they move off shore. He believes that the U.S. needs to enforce the rules of treaties so that other nations don’t dump their products on U.S. markets without opening their markets to American goods. He also said that it is important to hold trading partners to basic labor and environmental standards.
The Illinois Senator explained that the United States spends 50% more per capita on health care than any other nation in the world. He feels that it is important to emphasize preventative care. It is far more cost effective to treat diabetes than it is to amputate limbs lost to the disease. He suggested that one way to lower costs is to pool resources. He proposed opening the same Federal health insurance program which Senators and Congressmen receive to all Americans.
One woman complained about the removal of a monument to the Ten Commandments from a federal judge’s court in Alabama and expressed fear because churches in other countries were accused of hate-speech crimes because of their teachings agains homosexuality.
Obama explained that he was a Christian and invited listeners to visit his church on the South side of Chicago. He explained that he does not believe that Christians are unduly persecuted in the United States, but rather, judging by the attendance at Washington prayer breakfasts among other factors, he felt that the faith was flourishing. He noted that the founders, while believers themselves, believed that the government should not impose any one interpretation of religion on its citizens. He also thought that it was in the best interest of churches not to get “entangled” with the government and thereby risk watering down their message or having to wrestle with red tape.
Obama expressed his support for voluntary prayer groups and Bible study clubs in public schools. However, when it came to a judge, he said that it was important that non-Christians not be made to feel that they were not entitled to the same level of justice that Christians are in the American system. Click here to read further comment on my Pirate Prayer Blog.
When asked about America’s nuclear stock pile, Obama pointed out that even the likes of former Nixon National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has proposed eliminating our entire nuclear arsenal. Senator Obama agrees with many Generals that we could the number of nuclear weapons from the tens of thousands we have now to just one thousand, and save at least $13 billion dollars without sacrificing national security.
“We spend more money on defense than the next thirty countries combined,” he explained. He wants to more vigorously peruse the principles of the Non-Proliferation Treaties that the Bush administration has allowed to all but die, which includes seeking to prevent other countries from gaining nuclear weapons while helping them find peaceful energy sources. He pointed out that in the future, the enemies which the U.S. will face are more likely to be terrorist groups than nation-states, so it is vital to contain the spread of nuclear weapons before they fall into the wrong hands.
Finally, Obama boasted that he opposed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning and proposed that the U.S. begin bringing its troops home on May 1, 2007 with the goal of being completely out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. He promised to use the $100 billion dollars a year currently being spent on the war to rebuild our military which has been strained past the breaking point and to improve the care and treatment of U.S. veterans and their families.
Obama stopped short of saying he’d revoke the No Child Left Behind law, but he did say that he’d make sure the law fully funded the mandates it requires.
“No Child left the money behind,” he complained. He believes that “schools are dealing with children who are uninspired and unmotivated and teachers who are underpaid.”
He also said that he thought that rather than purely standardized testing, students progress should be measured based on what level the student begins at. He’d also like to see an emphasis put on early childhood education since children learn more between birth and age three than at any other time.
Obama addressed concerns about NAFTA and CAFTA. He pointed out that he voted against CAFTA and believes that the burdens and benefits of trade need to be balanced so that workers and farmers don’t get the short end. He opposes allowing corporations to receive tax incentives when they move off shore. He believes that the U.S. needs to enforce the rules of treaties so that other nations don’t dump their products on U.S. markets without opening their markets to American goods. He also said that it is important to hold trading partners to basic labor and environmental standards.
The Illinois Senator explained that the United States spends 50% more per capita on health care than any other nation in the world. He feels that it is important to emphasize preventative care. It is far more cost effective to treat diabetes than it is to amputate limbs lost to the disease. He suggested that one way to lower costs is to pool resources. He proposed opening the same Federal health insurance program which Senators and Congressmen receive to all Americans.
One woman complained about the removal of a monument to the Ten Commandments from a federal judge’s court in Alabama and expressed fear because churches in other countries were accused of hate-speech crimes because of their teachings agains homosexuality.
Obama explained that he was a Christian and invited listeners to visit his church on the South side of Chicago. He explained that he does not believe that Christians are unduly persecuted in the United States, but rather, judging by the attendance at Washington prayer breakfasts among other factors, he felt that the faith was flourishing. He noted that the founders, while believers themselves, believed that the government should not impose any one interpretation of religion on its citizens. He also thought that it was in the best interest of churches not to get “entangled” with the government and thereby risk watering down their message or having to wrestle with red tape.
Obama expressed his support for voluntary prayer groups and Bible study clubs in public schools. However, when it came to a judge, he said that it was important that non-Christians not be made to feel that they were not entitled to the same level of justice that Christians are in the American system. Click here to read further comment on my Pirate Prayer Blog.
When asked about America’s nuclear stock pile, Obama pointed out that even the likes of former Nixon National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has proposed eliminating our entire nuclear arsenal. Senator Obama agrees with many Generals that we could the number of nuclear weapons from the tens of thousands we have now to just one thousand, and save at least $13 billion dollars without sacrificing national security.
“We spend more money on defense than the next thirty countries combined,” he explained. He wants to more vigorously peruse the principles of the Non-Proliferation Treaties that the Bush administration has allowed to all but die, which includes seeking to prevent other countries from gaining nuclear weapons while helping them find peaceful energy sources. He pointed out that in the future, the enemies which the U.S. will face are more likely to be terrorist groups than nation-states, so it is vital to contain the spread of nuclear weapons before they fall into the wrong hands.
Finally, Obama boasted that he opposed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning and proposed that the U.S. begin bringing its troops home on May 1, 2007 with the goal of being completely out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. He promised to use the $100 billion dollars a year currently being spent on the war to rebuild our military which has been strained past the breaking point and to improve the care and treatment of U.S. veterans and their families.
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