TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Obama Gets A Burger In Clearwater

ADVERTISEMENT

By WILLIAM MARCH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

CLEARWATER - Arriving in Pinellas County to prepare for Friday's first presidential debate, Barack Obama stopped at a Clearwater pub to chat up lunchgoers, then held a news conference to announce principles he said must be included in the nation's Wall Street bailout.

The U.S. senator from Illinois said the bailout plan must include compensation for taxpayers when the economy recovers, and that it must require executives of financial companies that receive assistance to forego multimillion-dollar salaries and "golden parachutes."

He said it must include assistance for families facing home foreclosure, and that administering the plan cannot be left to any one individual.

Obama also denounced what he called President Bush's "stubborn inflexibility" and "my-way-or-the-highway intransigence" in negotiating a bailout plan with Congress.

"The president has had oversight over this economy for the last eight years. We now find ourselves in an enormous mess," he said.

He said it's "wholly unreasonable" for taxpayers to "hand this administration or any administration a $700-billion blank check with absolutely no oversight or conditions, when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess."

Obama is staying at the historic Belleview Biltmore until Thursday to get ready for his first debate with John McCain, to be televised from Mississippi on Friday.

Stopping For A Cheeseburger

After arriving around mid-day, he made a stop at O'Keefe's Tavern and Restaurant near downtown and ordered a cheeseburger.

Going from table to table at the restaurant, adjacent to Morton Plant Hospital, Obama quickly found himself in conversations about health care.

"He's the only one who talks about preventive medicine and the importance of nutrition," said Nadine Pazder, a dietitian and president of the Florida Dietitians Association. A couple of her tablemates, fellow dietitians Emily Friedman and Anne Szabo, got their photo taken with Obama.

Walter Varrionuevo and J.R. Richardson, clinical engineers, talked to Obama about health-care costs.

Jeanne Hopper and Shirley Craig happened to be driving in downtown Clearwater when they saw Obama's motorcade, followed it, and ended up meeting him in the restaurant.

"We're very big supporters," Craig said. Both are planning to go to Obama's rally today at Dunedin's Knology Park.

Choosing the Tampa Bay area for his debate prep and making sure to work in a few photo opportunities while he's here is a way for Obama to keep his name in headlines in a battleground state while he is staying secluded to work toward the debate.

Washington lawyer Greg Craig will play the role of McCain in Obama's debate rehearsals. Craig, a foreign policy expert and member of President Clinton's impeachment defense team, also played President Bush in John Kerry's preparations in 2004.

Snappier Sound Bites

One goal of the prep work will be to make sure Obama gets to the point quicker than during the primary debates, an aide said. The often loquacious Illinois senator has been delivering snappier sound bites recently on the campaign trail at the encouragement of his campaign advisers.

The McCain campaign, responding to Obama's news conference, didn't disagree with any of the principles Obama laid down for the bailout bill, but said McCain was the first to call for a bipartisan oversight board and prohibition on golden parachutes.

"Barack Obama is simply following in John McCain's footsteps," showing "indecision and a lack of leadership," spokesman Tucker Bounds said.

Since the economic meltdown hit crisis stage last week, McCain has begun to criticize excessive CEO salaries.

Last week, he called for an investigative commission similar to the one set up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and on Monday he discussed the need for an oversight board to guide the bailout plan.

Obama also proposed general principles for the bailout last week, but made them more detailed on Tuesday.

Obama expressed respect for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson but said, "The power to spend $700 billion of taxpayer money cannot be left to the discretion of one man."

He called for "some sort of independent board that includes some of the most respected figures in our country, chosen by Democrats and Republicans."

He also said:

•The cost of the bailout may require delaying or phasing in education and health care spending programs he has proposed, but not his proposed tax cut for the middle class, which he said is necessary for economic recovery.

•After the bailout, the government should impose a "financial stability fee on the entire financial services industry to repay any losses to the American people to make sure we are never asked again to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT