McCain's Office Attempts to Clarify Comments on Wildfires

ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- In comments made over the weekend, Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, blamed illegal immigrants for the wildfires that have raged across his state of Arizona.

"There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," McCain said Saturday at a press conference. "The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border."

The Senator from Arizona’s comments set off a wildfire of their own, as the Wallow fire blazes across his state across 500,000 miles.

A forest service spokesman on the Wallow fire in Arizona says there's no evidence that this specific fire was caused by immigrants.

"There's no evidence that I'm aware, no evidence that's been public, indicating such a thing," said Tom Berglund, spokesman for the federal group managing the Wallow fire.

Latino groups are angered at McCain for "fanning the flames of intolerance."

McCain’s office pushed back on Monday, emphasizing that the Senator said “some” wildfires are started this way – not all, and that he was speaking about other fires, not the Wallow fire.

“The facts are clear. For years, federal, state and local officials have stated that smugglers and illegal immigrants have caused fires on our southern border,” Brooke Buchanan, communications director for McCain said in a statement. “During the press conference on Saturday, Senator McCain was referring to fires on the Arizona/Mexico border, not the Wallow Fire.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

White House Touts Growing Foreign Direct Investment In The US

ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Despite recent signs that economic growth is slowing, the White House is touting foreign direct investment in the U.S. in an effort to convince the public, and voters, that the president’s policies will help create long-term growth.

Foreign direct investment in the U.S. rebounded from 2009 levels and grew by 49 percent in 2010, according to a new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, but still not enough to reach the 2008 level. The U.S. continues to be the number one destination for foreign investment worldwide.

“At a time where we need to use every tool in our toolbox to continue to put Americans back to work and grow the economy here at home, promoting foreign direct investment is an important opportunity to accelerate our economic recovery,” President Obama said in a written statement.

According to the White House, foreign-based companies create well-paid jobs for American workers and boost job creation. In the U.S. there are 5.7 million workers employed at these foreign direct investor plants, including 13 percent of the entire American manufacturing workforce. These are jobs that pay well. The average pay is over $70,000 per worker, over 30 percent higher than the average pay.

President Obama is encouraging foreign investors to keep it coming. “My administration is committed to ensuring that the United States continues to be the most attractive place for businesses to locate, invest, grow, and create jobs.  We encourage and support business investment from sources both at home and abroad,” the president said in a statement underscoring his administration’s commitment to an open investment policy.

“In a global economy, the United States faces increasing competition for the jobs and industries of the future.  Taking steps to ensure that we remain the destination of choice for investors around the world will help us win that competition and bring prosperity to our people. Consistent with our national security and while ensuring a level playing field for American investors, we will do just that,” he said.

The report finds that the U.S. is attractive because of its open economy and very low barriers to foreign direct investment. Last year close to 90 percent of foreign direct investment came from Canada, Europe and Japan, according to the report.

“This remains the most competitive and most desirable place for investment in the world and that investment has had a great impact on the economy,” CEA Chairman Austan Goolsbee told reporters Monday.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Sarah and Bristol Palin Score Trademark Status

Randy Snyder/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Don’t try slapping Sarah Palin’s name on anything. She’ll soon be Sarah Palin®.

Last year, an attorney for Sarah and Bristol Palin filed applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark their names. Palin’s application cited two instances in which her name would be a registered trademark: The first for "information about political elections" and "providing a website featuring information about political issues,” the second "educational and entertainment services including “motivational speaking.”

The application for Bristol, Palin’s 20-year-old daughter, covers "educational and entertainment services, namely, providing motivational speaking services in the field of life choices."

The deadline to challenge Bristol Palin’s application passed June 10 and the deadline to challenge Sarah Palin’s passed on Friday. That means both Palins should receive their trademark within three months, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman Stir GOP Presidential Race

Governor [dot] State [dot] Tx [dot] us/LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- As the battle for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, the GOP may again look to a Texas governor to win back the White House, while an unlikely contender who worked for President Obama will enter the fray this week.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry stole the show this weekend at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, firing up conservatives with an anti-government, Tea Party message.

"November 2012 is not very far away, but we've got to be ready to elect Republicans up and down that ballot who will make government smaller so that opportunity can get bigger," Perry said, adding, "our loudest opponents on the left are never going to like us, so let's quit trying to curry favor with them."

Perry would instantly be a formidable candidate for the Republican ticket, as he is the longest-serving governor in the country.  And unlike the rest of the U.S., the Texas economy has been booming.

Drawing chants of "Perry 2012" and "run, Rick, run," Perry spoke on conservative values and slammed Obama's employment record on Saturday.

"That mix of arrogance and audacity that guides the Obama administration is an affront to every freedom-loving American and a threat to every private sector job in this country," Perry told the crowd.

"They clearly think that they know best.  And let me tell you I vehemently disagree.  They don't know best," he said.

Perry boasted about his record as Texas' governor, reminding the audience that Texas has seen nearly half of all new job growth in the country, and that the state's budget has been balanced over the past two years.

Whether Perry decides to run or not, the Republican field is about to get more crowded, as Jon Huntsman -- who most recently served as Obama's ambassador to China -- is launching his campaign for the presidency on Tuesday.

Huntsman has already launched an unconventional television commercial campaign that features an unidentified man riding a motocross bike across a desert, and little else.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

On Father’s Day, Obama Takes Daughters Out for Ice Cream

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama took his daughters Malia and Sasha, along with his niece and nephew, out for ice cream Sunday night.

The Father's Day outing to Thomas Sweet, an ice cream spot in Georgetown, comes the day before his daughters travel with their mother to Africa.

The symbolic outing capped off several days of the president trying to emphasize fatherhood.

In an e-mail message on Sunday, Obama announced an initiative to support fathers.  He said his administration will help men who want to be good fathers facing challenges spending time with their kids.  The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Major League Baseball, Groupon, LivingSocial and the WNBA are among the organizations and businesses that will offer discounts and special offers for fathers and kids.

Drawing from his own experience of growing up barely knowing his father, Obama has tried for several years now to use his influence to encourage fathers to do their jobs.  In 2008, then a candidate for president, Obama told a black church in Chicago, “We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception.”

He added, “Too many fathers are MIA, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Ann Romney Makes Rare Personal Message on 'Husband Day'

Darren McCollester/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- In a rare personal message from Ann Romney, wife of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, the mother of five wrote about why Sunday was not just Father's Day in their household, but "Husband Day."

"With five boys and sixteen grandchildren, we have a total of six fathers in the Romney household with whom to celebrate Father’s Day," wrote Ann Romney on her husband's presidential website Sunday.  "That’s a lot of fathers.  For me, though, today is not so much Father’s Day as Husband Day.  My husband has been a great father to our boys, and they certainly know that and show that every day of their lives.  But Mitt has been a remarkable husband to me."

Ann Romney went on to describe her own health struggles over the years -- in 1998 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and then, in 2008, she was diagnosed and treated successfully for early stage breast cancer.

Of Romney's support during her battle with MS, Ann Romney wrote, "It was Mitt’s love and support that truly healed me.  My husband put everything aside for me.  Devotion is a word that I now understand in a new way.  Our five boys saw this side of their father, too.  So did the one grandchild who was old enough to understand."

"If Father’s Day is a truly special occasion in our home, I hope you understand why," wrote Ann Romney.

The presidential candidate drew attention to his wife's post by tweeting, "Thanks Ann for your touching Father's Day post," just hours after posting a photo of him and his own father, the late George Romney.

Mitt and Ann Romney have been married for more than 42 years.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

John McCain Chastises 2012 Republican Field for Isolationism

ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took aim at his party for what he called its growing movement towards isolationism, chastising the current GOP presidential field for not supporting U.S. military intervention in Libya and calling for speedy troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.

"This is isolationism. There's always been an isolation strain in the Republican party, that Pat Buchanan wing of our party," McCain told Christiane Amanpour, anchor of ABC’s This Week. "But now it seems to have moved more center stage."

At the first major Republican presidential primary debate held recently in New Hampshire, several candidates criticized U.S. military involvement in Libya, while on Afghanistan former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney said, "It's time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can" based on the advice of military commanders.

"I wonder what Ronald Reagan would be saying today?" questioned McCain, saying the isolationism is a stark departure from traditional Republican foreign policy positions. "That is not the Republican party that has been willing to stand up for freedom for people for all over the world."

McCain says he’s confident though, that the party will find the right candidate for th 2012 election.

While McCain is best known as President Obama's rival during the 2008 presidential election, he has been a strong proponent of Obama's intervention against the regime of Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, who McCain described as "crumbling."

"If we do not continue this effort in Libya, if Gadhafi remains in power, it could have profound consequences," McCain warned.

McCain said he disagreed with Republican candidates like Michele Bachmann who said at the GOP debate that the U.S. had "no vital national interest" there.

"I strongly disagree with her and others," McCain said. "The fact is our interest are our values. And our values are that we don't want people needlessly slaughtered by the thousands if we can prevent such activity."

With President Barack Obama's July deadline to begin troop withdrawal in Afghanistan approaching, McCain said the U.S. cannot give up recent gains through a swift withdrawal, saying he would support a "modest withdrawal" of five to ten thousand support troops in the coming months.

"We abandoned Afghanistan once and we paid a very heavy price for it in the attacks of 9/11," McCain said. "We do need to move into the eastern Afghanistan and finish this fight with one more season."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Perry Addresses Republican Conference, Still No Hint of 2012 Run

Governor[dot]State [dot]Tx[dot]us(NEW ORLEANS) -- Amid chants of “Run, Rick, Run,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry sounded like a candidate at a speech in New Orleans Saturday, as he revved up a crowd with talk about social conservative values and criticism of President Obama.

“That mix of arrogance and audacity that guides the Obama administration is an affront to every freedom-loving American and a threat to every private sector job in this country,” Perry told the crowd at the Republican Leadership Conference. “They clearly think that they know best.  And let me tell you I vehemently disagree.”

Perry introduced himself as a leader grappling with how to solve the problems afflicting the country. 

“It doesn’t matter what your zip code is or where you’re from. We’re all facing the same challenges in America. I stand before you today a disciplined conservative Texan, a committed Republican and a proud American, united with you in the desire to restore our nation and revive the American dream.”

Perry bragged about the economic success in Texas -- from creating nearly half of all new jobs in the country in the past two years to balancing its budget -- along with reinforcing social conservative values such as strengthening right-to-life legislation.

During his speech, Perry asked attendees to text a phone number with the word “Forward,” which resulted in a reply text routing users to Perry’s website featuring a video entitled “Moving America Forward.” 

The Texas Tribune reported that Perry 2012 buttons were a hot ticket item at the booths at the convention this weekend.  An adviser for Perry told the Texas Tribune Saturday that a decision about a presidential run is still weeks away. Perry did not give any hints about a 2012 run during his speech but stressed the importance of electing Republican officials across the board.

Perry received multiple standing ovations during his speech and left the room to chants of “Run, Rick, Run” and “Perry 2012.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

President Obama and Speaker Boehner Tee Off

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner may be at odds over taxes, the debt ceiling and the conflict in Libya, but on Saturday, they both appeared to have put aside their differences for a round of golf.

The game, at Joint Base Andrews' golf course in Maryland, gave the two men four hours to socialize -- with or without discussion of the last week's tense negotiations. Both men play regularly, but Boehner is known as one of Capital Hill's best golfers. Boehner was ranked 43rd among 150 prominent Washington golfers, while Obama is 108th.

But golf isn't just a competition, it's also an opportunity to socialize.

"Four hours is plenty to know a lot about somebody. It builds camaraderie, you build a relationship," golf pro Ed Collins said.

The two men certainly have a lot to talk about. In the last week, the White House and Boehner have disputed budget cuts and the conflict in Libya, which the U.S. military is involved in without congressional permission.

They also have a difference of views about the game itself.

"The president sees golf as a way to escape Washington, and Speaker Boehner sees golf as part of the politics of Washington. It's how you raise money, it's how you get business done. And the president doesn't see golf that way," ABC News political director Amy Walter said.

"At best, it's a great photo op," Walter said. "I doubt anything really substantive comes out of it. ... It can be an opportunity for two people from Washington to prove that Washington can actually get along."

Boehner invited a fellow Ohio Republican, Gov. John Kasich, to play, and Obama brought Vice President Biden. Obama and Boehner rode in a cart together, and Biden and Kasich in another.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Herman Cain Declines to Sign Pro-Life Pledge

ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain declined to sign Susan B Anthony List’s Pro-Life Presidential Pledge, while the organization says five other GOP 2012 candidates have signed the pledge.

SBL List called on each GOP presidential candidate to agree to four specific anti-abortion pledges including only nominating pro-life judges and selecting pro-life appointees to key positions in their administrations if they were elected president.

Cain issued a statement to explain why he chose not to sign the pledge.  He said he agrees with the first three parts of the pledge because he “adamantly” supports the appointing pro-life judges and selecting pro-life appointees to his Cabinet and the Executive Branch as well ending taxpayer funding for abortions, but he had a problem with the last part of the pledge.

“The fourth requirement demands that I 'advance' the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. As president, I would sign it, but Congress must advance the legislation,” he said.  “I have been a consistent and unwavering champion of pro life issues.  In no way does this singular instance of clarification denote an abandonment of the pro-life movement, but instead, is a testament to my respect for the balance of power and the role of the presidency.”

SBL List announced at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans that Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum signed the pledge.  According to the organization, Mitt Romney and Gary Johnson declined to sign it.

“We applaud those candidates who did sign the pledge for vowing to support and advance the protection of life at all stages if elected to the White House,” said Marilyn Musgrave, a former congresswoman and Project Director for SBL List. “Their signatures demonstrate that mere lip-service to protecting women and the unborn is not enough—it must be backed up by concrete action.”

When asked about his position on abortion, Herman Cain has repeatedly said that he is “pro-life from conception.”

Cain is expected to speak at the National Right to Life Convention along with other GOP presidential candidates in Jacksonville, Florida on June 24.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio