Topline Messaging Points:

Topline Messaging: "Call To Action Tour":

This week, John McCain is traveling across the country outlining his plan for comprehensive health care reform.

For too long, our nation's leaders have talked about reforming health care. Now it is time to act.

John McCain believes we can and must provide access to better health care, at lower cost, for every American.

John McCain believes the key to health care reform is to restore control to the patients themselves. We want a
health care system in which everyone can afford and acquire the treatment and preventative they need. Health care
should be available to all, and not limited by where you work or how much you make. Families should be in charge of their
health care dollars and have more control over care.

Today In Pennsylvania, John McCain Outlined A Pro-Growth, Pro-Jobs Strategy To Get Our Economy Back On Track. John McCain's strategy includes taking the near-term actions needed to provide immediate help to American families while also taking the longer-term steps necessary to secure America's economic prosperity and leadership in the world.

Across America, families are facing economic challenges. Gas prices are rising, mortgages are threatened, and thousands have lost their jobs. Now is the time to act and John McCain has outlined several near-term, tangible plans to address some of the challenges confronting Americans today

Helping Americans Confront Higher Living Costs:

John McCain Is Now The Presumptive Republican Nominee For President

John McCain Is Now The Presumptive Republican Nominee For President. After a hard-fought contest, John McCain has secured the 1,191 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination for president.

John McCain Is The Man To Lead Our Party To Victory In November. McCain's broad electoral appeal will expand the states in play in the general election and help GOP candidates across the country.

John McCain Has The Experience, Judgment And Character To Lead America In A Dangerous World

Today, President Bush signed H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. The U.S. economy is structurally sound for the long term, but growth has slowed. To address short-term economic uncertainties, the President last month called on Congress to pass an economic growth package that is robust, temporary, and puts money back into the hands of American workers and businesses. The President thanks members of both parties for passing good legislation that meets these criteria. The bill the President signed today:

Includes a bipartisan economic growth package that spurs investment and strengthens the Nation's economy.

In a stunningly disingenuous maneuver, Governor Strickland today announced his plan to combat Ohio's impending budget shortfall:

Gambling.

Though he called it an expansion of the lottery, his measure to introduce state-run video gambling machines in bars and taverns around Ohio is nothing short of a complete reversal from his position last August.  At that time, he called these machines dangerous and said they would spawn criminal activity.  Apparently, he now thinks they are the cure for Ohio's projected budget shortfall.

Senator George Voinovich reacted to the announcement with the following statement:

Rep. Boehner: “The Democrats running for President will help us as much as the Democrats in Congress. The primaries are far from over, but all you have to do is look at the frontrunners. They’re all pushing for the same thing: higher taxes, big government health care, and frankly, weakened national security.” (Rep. John Boehner,
Remarks At RNC Winter Meeting, Washington, D.C., 1/17/08)

One day before the sixth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings today discussed this landmark education law at Horace Greeley Elementary School in Chicago.  As the 2007 Nation's Report Card shows, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is helping raise achievement for all kinds of children, in all kinds of schools, in every part of the country.  Students are achieving record success, with minority students, poor students, and students with disabilities reaching all-time highs in a number of areas.  As a result, the achievement gap is beginning to close.