CHICAGO National Restaurant Association to speak at this year’s NRA Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show. —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
A packed McCormick Place auditorium heard a version of McCain’s stump speech that was tailored only somewhat for his foodservice audience. McCain criticized what he said was rival Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s inexperience and “reckless judgment” regarding foreign policy, including his stated intention to initiate high-level diplomatic dialog with foreign heads of state regarded as rogue leaders and avowed enemies of U.S. allies. —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
“Summit meetings must be much more than get-acquainted meetings,” said McCain, who also accused Obama of resorting to “old politics” by “playing on fears of foreign trade” and being instrumental in stalling approval for new trade pacts with Colombia and South Korea. —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
However, McCain’s own foreign policy came under attack from a small group of women who interrupted his speech with chanted accusations he was “cooking up” an extension of warfare initiated by President Bush. The protesters, dressed in long pink aprons bearing anti-war slogans, were quickly escorted from the hall by NRA officials, generating loud applause. —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
McCain praised restaurateurs for knowing “a thing or two” about workforce growth, saying that foodservice employers were “likely to create an additional 2 million jobs in the next decade.” But he warned that while the industry expected to afford payroll expansions, other politicians “are planning to tax the American people by $1 trillion.” —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
He received strong applause for his pledge that “we’re going to phase out the alternative minimum tax.” —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
Although restaurateurs have vilified as inflationary the federal government’s policies encouraging diversions of corn crops for the production of ethanol, McCain made no mention of that gas extender, though he has reversed himself and now supports it as an alternative fuel while remaining opposed to all subsidies for its production. —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
As for food inflation, McCain said Americans should be “disgusted” with Congress for stuffing the $307 billion farm bill with tax breaks for wealthy farmers even as people struggle with “food prices at historic highs.” However, he made no mention of farm bill provisions that would encourage soybean production for trans-fat-free oils and decrease incentives for corn-based ethanol, provisions of the law that are favored by the NRA. —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
Speeches, soirees highlight NRA confab —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is his party’s presumed nominee for president, was the only candidate among the top three to accept an invitation from the
