Tag: Obama

OMG! It Is About Race!

That is what some of the blouted windbags on conservative radio would have you believe about the Powell endorsement of Obama.  These ill tempered parasites have started their cute little program of slandering Powell because he came out in Obama’s corner on Sunday.

To infer that Powell does not have the intelligence to make an informed decision is just flippin’ insulting to a good American vet.  The conservs set about trying to lessen the impact of the endorsement by saying that it is no big deal and then before they take a good breath they are picking apart everything he said.  The Repub surrogates are trying everything to lessen the impact of this endorsement by employing mouthpieces like Rush to do their dirty work of attacking Gen. Powell.

Sad that a man that apparently did take his time and with much thought then his decision is attacked.    Powell went into a 7 or 8 minute explanation of why he chose Obama and worked without notes or a teleprompter.

It looks like tthe McCain campaign is desperate and will say and do anything to try an find something that will register with the undecided.  But I think that attacking Gen, Powell is probably not their wisest course.

Tax Calculator–Check For yourself

Taxes have emerged as an issue in the 2008 presidential race, with John McCain charging Barack Obama with planning to raise taxes, despite the Obama campaign’s pledge to reduce taxes for 95 percent of working families.

To help clarify the differences in the tax proposals of the two candidates, the Obama campaign this week launched an easy-to-use online tax calculator to help voters learn what they will save on their taxes under the Obama plan as opposed to McCain.

See here: http://taxcut.barackobama.com/

I know everyone is chomping at the bit on just who will be paying more  or less in taxes.  Check for yourself then make a decision.  Stop listening to the bullsh*t.

Hoot Dere It Is! Powell Endorses Obama

Retired General Colin L. Powell, one of the country’s most respected Republicans, stunned both parties on Sunday by strongly endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and laying out a blistering, detailed critique of the modern GOP.

Powell said the election of Obama would “electrify the world.”

“I think he is a transformational figure,” Powell said. “He is a new generation coming … onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.”

Moderator Tom Brokaw said: “There will be some … who will say this is an African-American, distinguished American supporting another African-American because of race.”

“I can’t deny that it will be a historic event when an African-American becomes president,” Powell continued, speaking live in the studio. “And should that happen, all Americans should be proud — not just African-American, but all Americans — that we have reached this point in our national history where such a thing could happen. It would also not only electrify the country, but electrify the world.”

“And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities — and you have to take that into account — as well as his substance — he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.”

Powell said that he is “troubled” by the direction of the Republican Party, and said he began to doubt Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Now what will the spin doctors have to say about this? Better they will not attack Powell the way they are attacking Obama. They may have cajones but they are not that big.

What A Crock Of Crap

Please tell me that you are not this stupid to believe a crock of crap when you hear it.

Sen. John McCain stepped up his rhetoric against his Democratic rival on taxes in his weekly radio address Saturday, comparing his plan to “socialist” programs.

In the radio address, McCain didn’t directly call Obama a socialist, but he let the now-famous Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher nearly do it for him.

“You see, [Obama] believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe, in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism,” McCain said Saturday.(Is The McCain paying this yahoo’s tax bill?)

Suddenly—17 years after the Soviet Union’s collapse and the supposed “death of socialism”—the “S” word is being bandied about by American politicians and media pundits.  This is just another pathetic attempt to bolster some support for a dying campaign.

Once again the Repubs show their lack of concern for anyone outside of their circle of influence.

Please, because some worn out wannabe claims it so, does not make it so..  Before all start throwing the word “socialism” around, I suggest that you learn the definition of the word.  Obama is NO Socialist.  And to call his so shows a serious lack of understanding and the IQ of your shoe size.

Does Ayers Equal Keating In The Media?

I was hoping by now that I would not have to address this subject too much more.  But as usual I was mistaken at the stupidity of a political season.

The two stories are not at all similar. Obama has had passing contacts with Ayers over the years, mostly via the board of a small non-profit; Obama once held a fundraiser in Ayers’ house. (Ayers, who helped carry out a handful of nonlethal bombings in protest against the Vietnam War, is an academic in Chicago and well known in education policy circles. Federal charges against him in connection with the bombings were dropped in the 1970s.) The New York Times story that launched Ayers back into the media spotlight found that “the two men do not appear to have been close.”
It’s hard to describe McCain’s role in the savings-and-loan scandal as “peripheral”; as one of the Keating Five, he was a key player in the highest-profile political scandal connected to the financial disaster. Though a Senate investigation cleared McCain of serious wrongdoing (it did flag his “poor judgment”), McCain’s ties to Keating were well-established: He had received over $100,000 from Keating, had traveled on his private jet and had vacationed in the Bahamas with him; McCain’s family and Keating were also involved in a business venture together.
McCain has claimed for many years that the shame of the Keating scandal was what motivated his interest in campaign finance reform. But does that mean that the Keating history is off limits? Should reporters treat criticism of McCain’s conduct in the scandal as a low blow, given that more recent stories have suggested that the senator is still doing favors for influential constituents, lobbyists and contributors (New York Times, “A Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain,” 4/22/08; Washington Post, “McCain Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer,” 5/9/08)?

There is an unfortunate tendency among campaign reporters to suggest “both sides” are equally at fault in situations like this. In this case, the McCain campaign’s accusation that Obama is friendly with a terrorist is considered somehow on par with Obama raising McCain’s political record on a matter of actual relevance.

For now Obama does not need to go there, McCain is doing a fine job of hitting his political thumb with the hammer of negativity. (damn that was good!)

UpDate: Obama’s Economic Plan

Just when you thought that I was an Obama supporter….BAM!….he throws a wrench in those works……

On the eve of the Bush administration’s announcement that it is plowing another $250 billion into the banks to stave off an imminent financial meltdown, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled his own economic plan, touting it as a “rescue plan for the middle class.”

In reality, the proposals that he and other Democrats are now putting forward amount to little more than window dressing for the real rescue plan—that is, transferring hundreds of billions of dollars in public funds into the private coffers of Wall Street.

Whatever campaign promises he—or for that matter his Republican rival McCain—makes in the closing weeks of the election campaign, the reality is that the overriding task of the next administration will be to impose the full burden of the bank bailout onto the backs of American working people.

Under these conditions, the proposals put forward by Obama are striking above all in their timidity and inadequacy in the face of the worst economic crisis confronting American and world capitalism since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Rolling out his so-called rescue plan in a speech delivered in Toledo, Ohio on Monday, Obama began by acknowledging the depth of the crisis already confronting large sections of the population, including the three quarters of a million workers who have lost their jobs over the course of this year.

Given the deepening economic crisis, the American working class is headed for a direct confrontation with the incoming administration, no matter whether it is headed by McCain or Obama.

Presidential Debate–Round 3

Who the hell is “Joe the Plumber”?  The candidates have tried to put a personal face on the election and that face belongs to Joe.

Mercifully tonite debate is the last one.  As usuual it was about as exciting as watching flies mate.  This debate was watched because everyone was waiting to see if McCain took the bait and touched on Ayers.  He did.  He bombed.  Obama handled the question with calmness and put it to bed, probably not for Palin, but rather for anyone with half a brain.

Obama was calm, as I have said and very collected.  He did not hit the ball out of the park, but he did not strike out.  He was on track with his policies and he stated them very openly and calmly.  He never stumnbled that I saw.  He did let McCain get a zinger in when he said that if Obama wanted to run against Bush he should have run 4 years ago.  Not bad.  And will make it to ALL the MSM for the day, it will be the line.

Now on to McCain, he took on Obama’s policies at every turn, which you would expect, but I did not hear a whole lot of talk about his policies, at least which would be clear to good ole Joe.  At times he looked frustrated and angry. At least he actuaslly looked at Obama this time.  Also, McCain never mentioned the middle class by name for the third debate.

As I suspected the debate was McCain being more lively and Obama being more cautious.  Since he leads in the polls, he did not want to jeopardize that lead.  Alrighty then, you want the winner and the loser.  McCain tried, but he could not rattle Obama.  Obama just did the old “bob and weave”.  McCain gets some points for his engagement of Obama, but in the end Obama was the winner by a slim margin.  Why?  He did not make a mistake.

Tonite’s The Nite–Yet Again

Tonite will be the last in the string oif presidential debates….may I have an AMEN?  Hopefully they will be a little more thrilling than the last three, 2 presidential and 1 VP.  It should be popular because of the negative attacks that have been flying around in the last week or so.

What could this debate hold for the viewer?  That will depend on which candidate shows up.  The angry old man or the “happy” warrior.  Obama has bascially offered a challenge to McCain to say the negative stuff to his face or shut up.  Will McCain take the bait and face the music?  If he does, hius chances will diminish.  Why?  Polls are reflecting the fact that the people are not thrilled with the personal attacks when the economy is going up in flames.

Hell, even staunch conservs are telling McCain to knock it off or lose the election.  Writers like George Will, Kristol, Inghram to mention only a few are slowly abandoning him.  Even surrogates are not too thrilled with him, people like Mitt and Crist.

Will the viewer get a discussion on issues or will it be one of those things where the candidate only answers questions they like?  What will we see tonite?  A lurching McCain, lurching from position to position, or the guy who reminds us every other word that he was a POW.  Or maybe we will see a candidate that has FINALLY pick a position and will stay with it.

I will be posting my analysis of the debate here later in the day.  I usual record it and watch it twice before I make my post…so good luck and good viewing.

Morale Is Everything

Political battles like military ones can be won or loss because of morale.

Just look at this election climate.  Obama is rising in the polls mostly because he has held the moral high ground, at least as best he could.  He has stayed with the issues, especially the economy and it is paying off.  Within the Obama campaign morale is high and that translates into confidence and that will translate into votes and a win for Obama.

On the other side of the political coin, is McCain.  The camp is struggling.  The issues have not been kind to McCain.  He was hoping for an election focusing on the national security and the economy jumped up and bit them in the ass.  The campaign looks disorganized flitting from one issue to another and changing tone in mid stride.  Morale is low in the McCain camp that is why they are using all the negativity they can, they have little else.

McCain surrogates are abandoning ship like rats, Mitt, Crist, Kristol, Will all have little good to say about the campaign.  As people abandon the morale dips and as the direction of the campaign looks rudderless, morale will keep going down.  The low morale will equate into a loss in November.

Can McCain save his campaign from the curse of the low morale?  Someone had better find a new direction and stick with it or he will be the Senator from Arizona that lost the presidential election to a black guy from Illinois.

Is It Truly Populism?

Barack Obama and John McCain, both laying claim to the populist ground, have different approaches to implementing the financial markets rescue plan. The Democrat is focused on recapitalizing banks while halting foreclosures and creating new jobs, while the Republican wants to purchase and refinance mortgages of troubled homeowners.

Obama promoted a package yesterday aimed at the middle- class, including temporary tax breaks on retirement savings, and federal loans for small businesses. McCain’s campaign today said the Arizona senator will propose reducing taxes on long-term capital gains to 7.5 percent in 2009 and 2010, and expand on his plan to devote $300 billion to cutting mortgage payments for over-extended homeowners.

Obama’s new proposals featured a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures for some homeowners and letting people withdraw as much as $10,000 from tax-deferred retirement accounts without penalties.

McCain advocated Treasury action to refinance troubled home mortgages during an Oct. 7 debate with Obama. The Republican’s campaign says the financial markets crisis can’t be resolved without steps to halt slumping home prices.

Obama opposes McCain’s plan because it would reward banks by paying full value for troubled loans, said Jason Furman, the Democratic campaign’s top economic adviser. “The McCain plan is paying face value to the banks, and is really unbelievable,” Furman said.

Obama supported easing a credit crunch for small businesses, and local and state governments, by giving them access to Treasury loans. Under the Democrat’s proposals, the Treasury also would have to use part of the $700 billion to unfreeze credit for student loans, car loans and credit cards.

These are the same things that one hears everyday on the news….I just want to make sure that they all have the same info.