[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/18/art.palin.gi.jpg caption="Palin is no longer attending an anti-Iran rally."](CNN) - Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin has been uninvited from attending a rally against Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next week in New York, one day after Hillary Clinton nixed her appearance at the event because the Alaska governor was slated to be there.
“In order to keep the focus on Iranian threats and to ensure that this critical message not be obscured, the organizers of the rally have decided not to have any American political personalities appear,” the organizers, which include several Jewish groups, said in a statement.
In a statement, John McCain expressed disappointment over the decision.
"Governor Palin was pleased to accept an invitation to address this rally and show her resolve on this grave national security issue, regrettably that invitation has since been withdrawn under pressure from Democratic partisans," he said. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with Republicans, Democrats and independents alike to oppose Ahmadinejad's goal of a nuclear armed Iran. Senator Obama's campaign had the opportunity to join us. Senator Obama chose politics rather than the national interest."
A spokesman for the event, Glen Rosencrantz, would not confirm a Politico report that several high-profile Jewish Democrats had pressured the organization to nix Palin from the event.
But in a conference call with reporters Thursday, Ira Forman, the Executive Director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said his group strongly disapproved of Palin's invitation to the event.
“We have a presidential election where the McCain-Palin ticket want to use what’s supposed to be a very, very bipartisan-type of operation to, again, use it as a campaign event," he said.
(CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sending a letter to President Bush pressuring him to offer a "comprehensive and effective systemic response to ongoing market turmoil."
"We need to hear from you about a comprehensive and effective systemic response to ongoing market turmoil — one that will restore stability, grow our economy, create jobs, and insulate hardworking, middle-class Americans on Main Street from Wall Street’s crisis," Pelosi writes in the letter.
She also says Congress will be willing to stay on Capitol Hill beyond the target adjournment date of September 26 to deal with the problem.
Full letter after the jump
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/18/art.bidenakron0918.ap.jpg caption="Sen. Biden is sticking by his recent comments on taxes."]
AKRON, Ohio (CNN) – Hours after drawing Republican fire over a comment that those making more $250,000 per year will be expected to pay higher taxes because “it’s time to be patriotic,” Joe Biden told supporters in a small union hall Thursday afternoon that the wealthy are patriotic but “we have not asked anything of them.”
Earlier, John McCain and Sarah Palin seized on the original remark from Barack Obama’s running mate. “To the rest of America that's not patriotism,” said Palin at an Iowa rally. “Raising taxes is about killing jobs and hurting small businesses and making things worse." McCain called the comment “just plain dumb.”
Biden said both Obama and McCain are in favor of tax cuts - but the decision over who gets them is a question of values.
“Is it a higher value that [those making more than $250,000] get that tax cut?” Biden asked. “Or should we take that $130 billion and give it to families making less than $150,000 all the way down the ladder? What do you value? Tell me what you value.”
“The point I want to make to you,” Biden added, “is wealthy people are just as patriotic as poor people. We just have not asked anything of them.”
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