Text Of John Mccain's Speech in Virginia Beach

John McCain's speech in Virginia Beach as prepared for delivery, via the McCain/Palin website:

Three weeks from now, you will choose a new President. Choose well. There is much at stake.

These are hard times. Our economy is in crisis. Financial markets are collapsing. Credit is drying up. Your savings are in danger. Your retirement is at risk. Jobs are disappearing. The cost of health care, your children's college, gasoline and groceries are rising all the time with no end in sight. While your most important asset -- your home -- is losing value every day.

Americans are fighting in two wars. We face many enemies in this dangerous world, and they are waiting to see if our current troubles will permanently weaken us.

The next President won't have time to get used to the office. He won't have the luxury of studying up on the issues before he acts. He will have to act immediately. And to do that, he will need experience, courage, judgment and a bold plan of action to take this country in a new direction. We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change. The hour is late; our troubles are getting worse; our enemies watch. We have to act immediately. We have to change direction now. We have to fight.

I've been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old, and I have the scars to prove it. If I'm elected President, I will fight to take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it.

I'm not going to spend $700 billion dollars of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. I'm going to make sure we take care of the people who were devastated by the excesses of Wall Street and Washington. I'm going to spend a lot of that money to bring relief to you, and I'm not going to wait sixty days to start doing it.

I have a plan to protect the value of your home and get it rising again by buying up bad mortgages and refinancing them so if your neighbor defaults he doesn't bring down the value of your house with him.

I have a plan to let retirees and people nearing retirement keep their money in their retirement accounts longer so they can rebuild their savings.

I have a plan to rebuild the retirement savings of every worker.

I have a plan to hold the line on taxes and cut them to make America more competitive and create jobs here at home.

Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse. Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands and strengthens our economy.

The explosion of government spending over the last eight years has put us deeper in debt to foreign countries that don't have our best interests at heart. It weakened the dollar and made everything you buy more expensive.

If I'm elected President, I won't spend nearly a trillion dollars more of your money, on top of the $700 billion we just gave the Treasury Secretary, as Senator Obama proposes. Because he can't do that without raising your taxes or digging us further into debt. I'm going to make government live on a budget just like you do.

I will freeze government spending on all but the most important programs like defense, veterans care, Social Security and health care until we scrub every single government program and get rid of the ones that aren't working for the American people. And I will veto every single pork barrel bill Congresses passes.

If I'm elected President, I won't fine small businesses and families with children, as Senator Obama proposes, to force them into a new huge government run health care program, while I keep the cost of the fine a secret until I hit you with it. I will bring down the skyrocketing cost of health care with competition and choice to lower your premiums, and make it more available to more Americans. I'll make sure you can keep the same health plan if you change jobs or leave a job to stay home.

I will provide every single American family with a $5000 refundable tax credit to help them purchase insurance. Workers who already have health care insurance from their employers will keep it and have more money to cover costs. Workers who don't have health insurance can use it to find a policy anywhere in this country to meet their basic needs.

If I'm elected President, I won't raise taxes on small businesses, as Senator Obama proposes, and force them to cut jobs. I will keep small business taxes where they are, help them keep their costs low, and let them spend their earnings to create more jobs.

If I'm elected President, I won't make it harder to sell our goods overseas and kill more jobs as Senator Obama proposes. I will open new markets to goods made in America and make sure our trade is free and fair. And I'll make sure we help workers who've lost a job that won't come back find a new one that won't go away.

The last President to raise taxes and restrict trade in a bad economy as Senator Obama proposes was Herbert Hoover. That didn't turn out too well. They say those who don't learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. Well, my friends, I know my history lessons, and I sure won't make the mistakes Senator Obama will.

If I'm elected President, we're going to stop sending $700 billion to countries that don't like us very much. I won't argue to delay drilling for more oil and gas and building new nuclear power plants in America, as Senator Obama does. We will start new drilling now. We will invest in all energy alternatives -- nuclear, wind, solar, and tide. We will encourage the manufacture of hybrid, flex fuel and electric automobiles. We will invest in clean coal technology. We will lower the cost of energy within months, and we will create millions of new jobs.

Let me give you the state of the race today. We have 22 days to go. We're 6 points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want them.

What America needs in this hour is a fighter; someone who puts all his cards on the table and trusts the judgment of the American people. I come from a long line of McCains who believed that to love America is to fight for her. I have fought for you most of my life. There are other ways to love this country, but I've never been the kind to do it from the sidelines.

I know you're worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future. Will we continue to lead the world's economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren's future be brighter than ours?

My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.

I know what fear feels like. It's a thief in the night who robs your strength.

I know what hopelessness feels like. It's an enemy who defeats your will.

I felt those things once before. I will never let them in again. I'm an American. And I choose to fight.

Don't give up hope. Be strong. Have courage. And fight.

Fight for a new direction for our country.

Fight for what's right for America.

Fight to clean up the mess of corruption, infighting and selfishness in Washington.

Fight to get our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children's future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Now, let's go win this election and get this country moving again.

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Virginia Man Kills Girlfriend, Their Two Children, Then Commits Suicide

Crime

Responding to a 911 call, Stafford County Sheriff's deputies went to the Walt Lou Trailer Park in Stafford County, VA., and found a man and a women dead of gunshot wounds and two children, a 1 year old and a 2 year old, shot in the head in their cribs.

The children were taken to a local hospital but died as a result of the gun shot wounds.

The man, Aaron Poseidon Jackson, age 24, apparently shot the his girlfriend, Latasha Nicole Thomas, age 23, with an AK-47 type assault rifle, then he took a handgun, went to their children's bedroom and shot both kids in the head while they lay in their cribs.

The children have been identified as Nicole Aaron Jackson, age 2 and a half years and Aaron Neptune Jackson age one and half years.

According to investigators, Latasha had called a family member two times during the day and asked to be picked up because she was being physically assaulted by the children's father, but approximately at 9:30 pm, she called that family member back and said there was no need because "everything was ok".

The family member was already on the way to the trailer when the last call came, so they decided to continue over there and when she got there she received no response to her knowing on the door.

Worried, she went to a neighbor who told her that they heard a gunshot about 10 minutes before she arrived. She then called 911, but it was too late.

This is the second incident in less than a week where a child has been killed in Stafford County.

Last week it was reported that Anthony Lemontez King Jr, 22 years old, was arrested and charged with felony murder, felony child abuse, and causing injury to a child, after and 2 month old infant died of Shaken Baby Syndrome from an incident on April 23, 2008, to which emergency responders found the infant unresponsive at a North Stafford home.

They rushed the child to Mary Washington Hospital, and later transferred the baby to St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond where the infant was pronounced dead on Tuesday, April 29, 2008.

King was arrested after investigators determined he was responsible for shaking the baby, causing the injuries.

Originally King was charged with child abuse, but after the baby died, murder charges were included and he is being held without bond at Rappahannock Regional Jail.

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One Dead and at least 200 injured as storms sweep through Virginia

(This Suffolk, Virginia, house was destroyed by an apparent tornado Monday.--Photo CNN)

As massive storms swept through central and southeastern Virginia, one person has been reported dead and at least 200 reported injured.

Suffolk city spokeswoman Dana Woodson said one person died when two apparent tornadoes passed through the city Monday afternoon. Bob Spieldenner from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management said at least 200 others were injured there.

At least 18 others were injured when the storm hit Colonial Heights, Spieldenner said. Three of those were taken to hospitals.

Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk was damaged, but remained operational and was accepting patients, Spieldenner said. The injured also were being taken to another hospital in the city, Woodson said.

"Multiple buildings have been destroyed, homes have been destroyed," Woodson said. She said the areas around the hospital and in the community of Driver were hardest hit.

Virginia's Governor, Tim Kaine, declared a Virginia-wide state of emergency as hazardous weather continued through the central part of the state.

Jeff Judkins, the city's emergency management coordinator, said there also were reports of people trapped inside cars. It's the worst damage he's seen in the area, he said.

An emergency shelter will be established by Monday night, Suffolk spokeswoman Dana Woodson said.

There does seem to be a question as to whether the death was a result of the storms or unrelated.

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Florida Man Threatens to Recreate The Virginia Tech Killings

Calin Chi Wong lives in Homestead Florida and was arrested last week for threatening, via the Internet, to re-enact the Virginia Tech killings that killed 32 people in the deadliest school shooting in US history.

Police in Oregon notified Homestead police that Wong had made threats in a chatroom conversation that he wanted to copy the attacks at Virginia Tech.

Wong communicated to a chatroom saying, "As we all know, around a year ago this guy named Cho shot up Virginia Tech because no one believed him. I'm soon to the point to reenact the whole event if this doesn't get squared away soon."

Those Internet chatroom conversations, although worrisome, were not the most troubling aspects of this case.

According to Detective Antonio Aquino with Homestead police, Wong owned more guns that most local SWAT teams.

When police arrested Wong he was in possession of four AK-47s, two sniper rifles and seven semiautomatic pistols as well as more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition, some that could pierce armor, and 100 rounds in a heating clip with bullets meant to take down aircraft or military machines and last but not least, a school book bag lined with bullet proof vests.

Aquino further states, "There's also rounds that were in there, extremely large rounds that are enough to go up to 2 miles in radius, It's enough to take down an aircraft.

Allegedly Wong had gotten ripped off in on online transaction to purchase even more weapons, so he called the police!

Police believe Wong's parents ignored some very crucial warning signs. One example comes from something the father told Detective Aquino, "He had remembered him saying that was going to shoot and kill people. He was thinking that his son was a good kid, but he was just upset because of what happened with the loss of the money over this firearm transaction."

Wong was charged with making written threats to kill or do bodily injury via the computer and bonded out for $7,500. Additional charges are pending, he said. A telephone listing for Wong could not be found. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer listed.

The charges against him were for making threats, which is a second-degree felony and not strong enough to hold him without bond, police said.

Authorities said Wong had to be released on bond unless the state specifically requested that he be held until trial.

Wong felt isolated and cut off, authorities said. He'd been buying and selling guns for about two years and now word was getting around about Wong's age. Dealers stopped selling to him and he was being banned from certain gun-sale web sites.

Wong told police he never really was planning a killing spree, it just made him feel good to make the threats because thousands of people were paying attention to him.

The investigation into Wong's actual intentions is developing.

Note to parents, when your child tells you they are planning to murder people...LISTEN.

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Two People Wounded After Sniper Fire on Virginia Highway

[Update] 3/28/08- Two teens have been arrested.

There is a manhunt in Virginia for a sniper(s) that shot and wounded two people while they were driving along the Interstate-64 highway in Albemarle County this morning. The highway was closed for over five hours.

The area between exit 118 in Charlottesville and 96 in Waynesboro were closed for over five hours after a sniper or snipers, fired on and hit five vehicles along an eleven mile stretch of the westbound section of the interstate.

The woman that was wounded was brought to Augusta County Medical Center by ambulance and the man that was hurt was able to drive himself to the hospital. Both were treated and released from the hospital.

It is not immediately clear if the wounds were from the bullets or from the shattered glass.

It is believed that there was more than one shooter and the police have identified where the shots were fired from as being The westbound offramp at the Ivy exit--mile marker 114, The overpass at Route 690 around mile marker 106 and The Virginia Department of Transportation building at Yancey Mills.

According to state police Col. Steve Flaherty, "I really don't have a good feel for how long this went on. We have evidence that it was more than one suspect."


The Albemarle County website announced the closing of the County's schools:

Albemarle County Schools will be closed today, Thursday, March 27. School officials have been in ongoing discussions with law enforcement personnel and the School Division has decided to close schools for the entire day to make sure that no students or staff are placed in any potentially dangerous circumstances while the investigation into the shootings along I-64 continues and the situation remains unresolved. Further information about the status of the schools will be announced as soon as it is available.

The Albemarle County Police Department is working jointly on this investigation with the Charlottesville Police Department, the Augusta County Sheriff's Office, the University of Virginia Police Department, the Staunton Police Department, the Virginia State Police, the U.S. Marshalls Service as well as both the FBI and ATF.

The police are asking anybody with information to please call the Virginia State Police in Charlottesville at (434) 293-3223, or the local Crime Stoppers at (434) 972-4000.

[Update] Police are following up on a possible sixth vehicle that may have been shot overnight.

Police have found shell casings about 40 feet from the VDOT vehicle that was unoccupied when it was shot up and they are being sent to the ATF lab to determine whether they came from the same gun.

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February 12 Primaries for GOP and Democrats

Today the GOP and the Democrats have primaries in District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

This will be updated with the primary results as they come in.

GOP:

District of Columbia- McCain 68% Huckabee 17%

98% reporting

Virginia-McCain wins with 50% and Huckabee 41%

100 % reporting

Maryland- McCain 55% Huckabee 29%

92% reporting.

Democrats:

District of Columbia-Obama as per NBC. Obama 75% Clinton 24%

98% reporting.

Virginia- Obama wins with 64% Clinton 35%

100% reporting.

Maryland-Obama 59% Clinton 37%

92% reporting.

Icy weather and traffic prompted Maryland to extend voting hours until 9:30 p.m. at polls across the state, state elections officials said.


Totals are subject to change until 100% of the vote is in.

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