The Crash of 2008: Wall St Melt Down

Well this past week has been an avalanche of shock for Wall St, Main St, and pretty much all around the world.

Monday news of Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, then Merrill Lynch being sold off to Bank of America, and then today's news of the Fed's loan to keep AIG afloat cost Dow Jones another 450 points. This week we've seen the steepest drop since 9/11, about $700 billion dollars in investments disappeared in one day.

What's interesting is the change in tune of McCain, who before was a champion of deregulation, yet is now on a mission to clean up Washington and Wall St. To take on the "good ole boys" and put an end to fat cats on Wall St.

I am in disbelief, and so should you. I don't know who McCain is fooling, and it's clear he's so desperate to be President he doesn't care that he looks like an idiot.

"Earlier this year, for example, when the economy began showing signs of trouble, McCain promised voters “specific proposals to address our economic challenges.” However, he also promised that “they will be based not on big-government intervention, and not on raising your taxes, not on increasing government regulation but unleashing the forces of the free market and capitalism.”

A decade ago McCain pushed unsuccessfully for a moratorium on all federal regulations. Asked about that by the Wall Street Journal this spring, McCain said, “I’m always for less regulation. But I am aware of the view that there is a need for government oversight.

“I am fundamentally a deregulator,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “I’d like to see a lot of the unnecessary government regulations eliminated, not just a moratorium.”

That approach borrows a lot from the philosophy of McCain’s close friend and economics advisor, former Treasury Secretary Phil Gramm. As a U.S. senator, Gramm was widely considered the architect of our largely deregulated financial system that helped create this mess."

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/09/17/marketed_0917.html

What was Gramm's contribution to all of this? He is responsible for introducing a nifty piece of legislation - the Gramm Leach Bliley Act which essentially cancelled the Glass-Steagall Act which was put in place by FDR during the Great Depression to separate commercial and investment banking.

Deregulation of Telecommunications, Energy, and Banking industry has been increasing since the Reagan administration. You would have thought we would have learned our lesson after the disaster of Enron, MCI, and World Com, but clearly the Republicans love affair with deregulation is never ending.

Although the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, was signed by Clinton, it was pushed through by a Republican Controlled Congress. This law effectively deleted the prohibition on commercial banks owning investment banks and vice versa. The problem is that the investment banks were not held to the same stringent capital requirements as set for normal banks. Oh and by the way, Gramm was the brilliant campaigner for McCain who said that we were "a nation of whiners", and that we were suffering only from a "mental recession".

This year's housing crisis with the bad subprime mortgage loans proved too much for the investment banks, and now we find ourselves in this nightmare of a situation.

Yet John McCain's answer is to put together a commission - like the 9/11 to figure out what went wrong!

If this isn't a wake up call for America, I don't know what is. McCain is clearly unable to take leadership and outline a plan for what needs to be done. Other than to spout off tough talk about knowing how to handle it.

In two new television ads Wednesday, McCain asserts that he is the right leader to keep Americans' savings safe.

"I'll meet this financial crisis head on," he says in one ad. "Reform Wall Street. New rules for fairness and honesty. I won't tolerate a system that puts you and your family at risk. Your savings, your jobs — I'll keep them safe."

Really Mr. McCain? If you know what to do, please stop bragging, and tell Bush what to do then!

Obama's speech at a rally in Golden, Colorado provides a stark contrast in leadership and vision.

John McCain - the Would Be War President

McCain seems to always be on the war path. He loves to go about on the campaign stump talking about winning the war in Iraq. he sings songs about bombing Iraq. His automatic belligerent and tough talk against Russia during the Georgia situation has provided us a glimpse of what kind of President he would be.

I saw during the Republican Convention, the crowd when talking about fighting terrorists and during the tough talk speeches given by the key note speakers such as Guiliani, Thompson, and of course McCain, and it frightened me, that we have simple thinking voters where they see War as a movie like "Top Gun", or a TV Show like "24", where war is glorified with clear cut heroes.

The reality is that war is not all glory and honor. War is destruction, death, and sorrow not only to the soldiers who are sent to fight them, but to the innocent civilians caught in the middle. This is why it must be taken as a last resort, and undertaken as coalition with the international community for a common good and just cause. But where we can, we must always try for diplomacy first.

See this video to really understand the impact of war

WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS VERY GRAPHIC - NOT FOR MINORS!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w

Still think you are better off ?

This past weekend, we all saw the single largest bailout by the US Tax payers for the Mortgage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Contrary to Sarah Pahlin's mistaken understanding, neither of these are public institutions. They simply have the guarantee of the backing of the US Government. So while the executive leadership made disastrous decisions, and corporate lobbyists brainwashed the Republican Congress to avoid necessary regulation, the mortgage industry imploded.

This is essentially one of the largest and most expensive corporate welfare programs that have taken place under a Republican administration. This of course does not help our budget deficit.

Today the CBO has come out with a very bleak projection for the US Economic outlook.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/09/news/economy/cbo_budget_update/?postversion=2008090912

"The budget deficit will jump by $246 billion to $407 billion this year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in a report released Tuesday."

"Over the long run, growing budget deficits and the resulting increases in federal debt would lead to slower economic growth," the agency said.

The budget deficit shot up 153% from last year's shortfall of $161 billion. The government's fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The agency attributes the jump to "a substantial increase in spending and a halt in the growth of tax revenues."

Now more than ever, the country needs to wake up and choose Obama to lead us out of this mess. We can not afford another Bush administration or worse - which is what McCain would offer!

It's clear based on economic history, Democratic Presidents are much better at managing the economy than Republican Presidents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/business/31view.html?em

This is NOT a difficult election.

Either we change the policy and leadership or we stick with MORE of the same.

The Decline of the Republican Party

I thought I couldn't be surprised or shocked to the depths and ruthlessness of the Republican Party, but it seems they still have the power to shock us.

They just showed a "tribute" of 9/11. How they could do this - to trivialize and use a nation's tragedy for political purposes is so reprehensible.

They have truly crossed the line, and it's clear that they truly have no sense of decency or honor.

If McCain wants to peddle his POW experience for political gain, that's his to use. However to use the death of so many Americans to further his political agenda is just indefensible.

What's worse is the audience are clapping their hands in support of this disgusting display of politics.

When one chooses to show a tribute in a memorial setting, with a non-partisan setting, with the families and people affected to share in a memorial is one thing, to replay the two towers slowly collapsing in a Republican Convention is a clearly not for any honorable purpose.

McCain has demonstrated yet again, he puts his political ambitions first.

Sarah Palin a Pitbull Wearing Lipstick

Last night’s speech by Sarah Palin was completely unremarkable and full of arrogance. Her speech was delivered with snide sarcasm, and behind the “ah shucks, I’m from small town America” façade, she has lived up to her persona as a “pit bull with lipstick”. What surprises me is the lavish praise coming from the mainstream media (MSM) when she has yet to demonstrate any remarkable skill other than being able to give a speech written by some speechwriter filled with sarcasm and disrespect.

She is not a novice to campaigning, and she has given speeches in the past. Furthermore, she was speaking to the Republican base, if she hadn’t been able to preach to the choir, I would have found that scenario remarkable. I am in disbelief in how low the bar has been set for Sarah Palin. She has not yet proved her qualification to be Vice President. Again, this is not about experience. From the very beginning, my concerns for Palin has not been about experience, but her qualification, in addition to the judgment McCain displays in even picking Palin as a candidate.

Yesterday, there was breaking news that US troops had gone over the border into Pakistan to deal with outbreaks in violence spilling into Afghanistan. VP Dick Cheney was immediately sent over to assess the situation. We are living in a complex world, with serious international issues. Palin is simply NOT qualified to face dictators or world leaders to deal with these complex issues.
In regards to the rest of her speech, it was completely devoid of any real solutions or preview for what the McCain & Palin ticket stands for, other than the usual hate-filled rhetoric typical of the Republican Party. In fact the entire night was full of divisive partisan rhetoric, only the continued demonization of the “angry left” and fear-mongering speeches that McCain has offered in the past. They hope to prey on the “9/11” fear of Americans to get people to vote for them.

The entire speech was laughable and full of hypocrisy, in that she continued to state the false facts about her being the great reformer, and hinted that that any questions about her record can only be categorized as a witch hunt by the Media. The fact is Alaska ranks as the #1 state for all pork barrel projects, and that she hired lobbyists to garner even more funding for her state of Alaska. This is a state swimming in oil tax revenues with a significantly smaller population than that of other states, which could truly use the money for investment in their people. In addition, she had 3 projects that were highlighted by McCain as examples of wasteful government spending. So ironically, the very wasteful spending that McCain rails against, she has been an eager advocate for in the past. In addition, despite the party and the show that the Republicans put on, Palin still faces investigation by her State Legislature for abuse of powers. She’s shown that the way to govern is to be vindictive and take actions to suit her desires, not the will of the people.

She also demonstrated yet again the inability of the Republican party to understand the difficult economic issues faced within the US, as she disparaged the work of “community organizers”.

“Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.”

Unlike empty promises and the inability of the Republican Party to meet head on the challenges of dealing with destruction in the wake of natural disaster of Katrina, these “community organizers” are the ones hard at work rebuilding homes. Community Organizers are the ground troops in America directly dealing with the problems that everyday Americans face, providing “Meals on Wheels” to the elderly, they are the “Big Brothers and Big Sisters” who help inner city children, they are the ones giving hope to those who have none.

“But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.”

Sarah Palin, who has not contributed to a single meaningful progress in the State of Alaska, other than selling the governor’s plane on ebay, was downright ignorant in her failure to recognize the true impact and help to low income families that Obama was able to help with his Tax Credit legislature during his time in the State Senate. Or the fact that Obama brought attention and resolution to bring care of veterans as part of the Senate Foreign Arms Committee, something McCain has yet to do. He has worked with Dick Luger to bring about true campaign reform, and not just the superficial act of reform.

So while Republicans only talk about caring for Americans, Democrats actually make a difference in the lives of many Americans.

Her attempt to dismiss Obama as not being tough on terror was offensive and quite frankly un-American. This is a FACT, not opinion.

“Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights?”

Essentially Palin and the Republicans mock the Democrats as being too weak on terror, just because we insist on respecting human rights. They are implying that Democrats, and Obama in particular would compromise the safety of Americans, in other words, they are accusing Obama of treason.

We are a nation of laws, the US Constitution, the democratic principles for which America stands for, along with the Geneva Convention clearly require us to renounce TORTURE, and make it plain that this is not acceptable. Improper search and seizure, and rendition without judicial process goes against the very principles upon which our nation and the founding fathers built.

McCain, who was a POW as he likes to remind us, should KNOW BETTER.

Either we are a nation of laws or we are not. We have NO moral leg to stand on to reprimand China or Russia, when we do not set the example.

Again this idea of “Victory” in Iraq is a mirage. Victory is not about saying “US is #1” and how we defeated the Iraqis. Furthermore, Palin and McCain CLEARLY have not discussed this supposed victory with General Petraeus, who would be the LAST person to say that it is in sight. Success in Iraq means cleaning up the mess that we made. It’s about leaving a stable country with infrastructure, water, electricity, security, and an economy in progress. The destruction and instability we brought about in Iraq has led to increased growth in the terrorist organizations. We are LESS SAFE because of the disastrous policy of the Bush and Cheney neo-con policies.

The bottom line is that McCain and Palin are campaigning not on their own qualities or principles, but on the basis of dividing America, and getting voters to fear the other candidates. Although they attempt to bring people down to the lowest common denominator, and campaign on negative and racist themes, their lack of understanding of the urgent economic problems facing America, and inability to demonstrate the judgment and integrity that Americans are looking for in the next President and Vice President of the United States, will only eventually lead to their failure on election day.

The Republican Party has had control of the White House for the past 8 years, and control of Congress for 6 out of the past 8 years, their leadership has led to the problems and issues we face today. Simply put, John McCain and Sarah Palin do not represent any sort of change, but the continued failed policies of the Bush Administration. Sarah Palin, I hope has enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame. She is an empty politician, with zero substance.

Time and time again, I can only contrast their empty, meaningless, angry rhetoric with the hope and understanding that Obama brings to the table regarding the future of America. On the day that Gustav threatened the Gulf Coast, while McCain was eagerly looking for photo opportunities to politicize the natural disaster for his political gain, these are the words that Obama had to say:

"That spirit of looking out for one another, that core value that says I am my brothers’ keeper, I am my sister’s keeper, that spirit is most evident during times of great tragedy, it’s most evident during times of great hardship, it’s most evident when natural disasters strike because we understand that only God has control and so it takes it out of the realm of politics. We all understand that we have to come together. "

"But that spirit can’t just be restricted to moments of great catastrophe. Because as I stand here today and look out at the thousands of folks who have gathered here today, I know that there’s some folks that are going through their own quiet storms."

"All across America there are quiet storms taking place. There are lives of quiet desperation. People who need just a little bit of help. Because if there’s a poor child out there, that’s my child. If there’s a senior that’s having trouble, that’s my grandparent. If there’s a guy who’s lost his job, that’s my brother. If there’s a woman out there without healthcare, that’s my sister. Those are the values that built this country. Those are the values we are fighting for."

McCain's Hubris and Stupidity on display

The pettiness and the absolute stupidity of the GOP is just unbelievable. I think they need to take a good long look in the mirror and just see what they have become. Even Richard Cohen, the conservative journalist, is ashamed of what mockery the Republicans are making of the whole Republican Election, with the nomination of Sarah Palin. He can not believe how ridiculous the Republicans are with the claims for why Sarah Palin is their most qualified VP nominee. We are truly witnessing the unfolding of the Emperor has No Clothes!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090101715.html

The Republican Party are absolutely pathetic in their attempts to blame the negative attention on the Obama Campaign, when clearly he has told the nation in no uncertain terms, that there should not be any attacks or negative comments made on Palin’s children or family, and that he wants to focus on the issues.

The BIG difference between the Republican and the Democratic pundits and surrogates is that at least the Democratic supporters tell the truth. The Republicans just LIE and they feel insulted when you question them or point it out to them. Rovian Republicans are so ruthless in smearing and attacking successfully, they don’t care if it’s true or if it’s a lie, as long as they can attack negatively, people will believe it. This is why Democrats are sometimes considered wimpy, because we don’t stoop to their level.

NEVER have I heard McCain say that he would fire anyone on his staff for spreading false rumors about the candidate’s family, but here we have Obama setting the example. He was that exasperated that the tone of the campaign has come down to a soap opera, he made it very clear that if he had knowledge of anyone taking part in this in his campaign, they would be fired. We have SERIOUS issues in this nation to deal with, and the fact that we can’t focus on them because of the media circus surrounding McCain’s poor selection of Palin as the VP nominee is just ridiculous.

It’s just shocking to me that the McCain Campaign can’t take responsibility for the picking a terrible VP, and instead they are blaming everyone. I am fed up with the Republican Party’s inability to take accountability for their actions. This is happening time and time again. It happened with Iraq, it happened in Katrina, and it happened with the financial crisis. If they had properly done their job, and vetted this woman, they would have seen that she was unqualified. But they made a horrible decision, and now the truth is coming out. So they are desperately trying to spin this anyway they can, and blame everyone for being unfair. Where was their sense of fairness when they let the rumors fly about Obama being a Muslim, and the jokes that Fox News made when they commented that Michelle and Barack shared a “terrorist” jab. All of these statements made by the Republicans and Fox news were FALSE. The McCain campaign makes ridiculous commercials linking Britney Spears and Paris Hilton to Obama, and McCain just stupidly smirks and says “we are just having a little fun”.

Well it’s not funny when you attack someone’s character, particularly when it is NOT true. Senator McCain blatantly participates in character assassination, and he gets away with it. But when questioned about his judgment in picking Palin, all of a sudden the world is against him. America should demand more from their leaders. With Barack, he has tried to run a decent campaign, and has only responded negatively when McCain attacks him, to set the record straight. With Obama, he clearly takes responsibility for his actions, and ensures everyone is clear what his principles and values are. When Obama makes negative comments, it’s always about the issue or policy NEVER about the person or the character of that person.

But hey, where is their sense of humor with all the fun the liberal bloggers are having about the absolute disaster and stupidity that is Sarah Palin - at least when they have fun, it’s with the truth!

They are whining about the fact that the media is unfair. Of course the Republicans as usual can only dish it out, they can’t take it.

Everything that is coming out about Palin is true:

• She was a member of the Alaska Independent Party – a group whose sole mission is Alaska first and to secede from the United States. So I guess McCain’s ridiculous “Country First” logo doesn’t apply for her.
• She was a major of a small town, and left them in debt by $20 million dollars.
• She did request pork projects for her town and for the state. She was for the Bridge to Nowhere. Although she later abandoned it, she still kept the money for other projects. I wonder if Congress should demand that money back from Alaska?
• She was only governor for 18 months, and this is a state which has NO budget issues, no natural disasters, and has made no decisions regarding the National Guard deployment in Iraq or in Alaska. Futhermore, she is governor of a state that has less people than the state of Delaware!
• She only received her passport recently.
• She has no Foreign Policy experience.
• She has no national government experience.
• The ONLY domestic policy that we are aware that she supports is overturning Roe v. Wade, preaching abstinence, teaching creationism in schools (denying evolution), and wanting to burn books.
• She has demonstrated her vindictive and unchristian personality, by her callous laughing at an interview on a radio show with the DJ’s calling her Republican State Senator, Lydia Greene, a “bitch” and “a cancer” for the State of Alaska. This is a State senator who is a cancer survivor.
• Palin is CUT from the exact same mold as George W. Bush, she demands loyalty tests from her administration, and if she feels crossed, she fires them.
  

Again, like Bush, she has lawyers who are trying to stonewall the Alaskan Legislative investigation over abuse of power. This is a REPUBLICAN controlled and led investigation, and her lawyers want to cite “governor’s privilege” to private documents. If Palin had done NOTHING WRONG, why are they so determined to keep her emails a secret? I find it ironic that Americans have no say to being wire-tapped, but Palin who is the great reformer won’t even be candid and honest about what happened with the State Commissioner being fired. If she has nothing to hide, then the investigation by the state legislature should find nothing wrong.

All in all, she is unprofessional, unqualified, and lacks any honest Christian charity and decency. Clearly she fits in with McCain, who made cruel jokes about Chelsea Clinton and laughed when a supporter asked him “how do we beat the bitch” when referring to Hillary Clinton. Yes, these are two candidates in a pod. Chelsea Clinton at the time was a minor, and couldn’t fight back, but yet he has the lack of decency and honor to make cruel jokes about her, and to make jokes about women being raped.

What I find difficult to swallow is that they are claiming she has Foreign Policy experience because Alaska is near Russia. In addition, she visits the troops in the hospital, and has her PHOTO taken with them! So basically she is using them for her own purposes. The fact that she visited Iraq ONCE, stopped by Germany, and landed in Ireland for a re-fueling purpose means that she is an expert on Irish, German, and Iraqi affairs.

SERIOUSLY????

If Obama had tried to make the claim, that he is a Foreign Policy expert, because Illinois bordered Canada, he would have been crucified by the Media and the Republican party. This is how insane it has become.

Just how stupid do they think we are? Well if I knew the bar was that low, I would say I should be the next Ambassador to the UN, having lived in Switzerland, and worked near by the UN in Geneva.

Now McCain in a temper tantrum is refusing to go on Larry King Live on CNN, because Campbell Brown had the unmitigated gall of doing her job, and asking Tucker Bounds why Sarah Palin should be considered qualified. He couldn’t answer the question, and he looked foolish and stupid. Just because they were the idiots to pick Palin, now they want to attack CNN for being unfair? It was a simple enough question, and if they had nothing to hide, they would be able to answer it without any issues.

I didn’t think it could happen, but it now has. I have completely LOST ALL RESPECT for John McCain. McCain can bring up the fact that he was a POW as many times as he wants, for me that well has now run dry. I have heard it one too many times as an excuse for why he has messed up, that I can’t dredge up any further sympathy. We have many Vietnam Vets who were once POWs, and have served many tours of duty, that doesn’t mean we need to make them all Presidents. In addition, his blatant lack of support for the Veterans is just too much hypocrisy for me to swallow. Americans really need to know that McCain has been given a grade of D- by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans AND the Disabled Veterans association, while Obama has been given a grade of B+. McCain conveniently says in all of his stump speeches that he supports the troops. Well he has voted against too many legislative bills AGAINST Veterans, more recently, he has spoken out against the improved bi-partisan GI Bill Sponsored by Senators Graham & Webb. He argued against it, and then when the vote was taking place, he didn’t even bother to show up to vote.

He doesn’t have any judgment, common sense, decency, or intelligence. He is a LIAR and makes it clear that he doesn’t put country first. He just wants to be President, and will do anything he can to get there. It’s clear that he put his campaign and election needs first, before the country. If McCain wants to be President, he needs to say full stop, the BUCK STOPS with me. But all we will ever get from him is temper if we question his judgment or excuses – that’s the reality.

I have had ENOUGH of this PATHETIC excuse for a Presidential Candidate.

Sarah Palin for VP is McCain's gamble

Chuck Todd couldn't keep reminding us how much McCain loves craps and to gamble. I think the American Voter would do well to keep this in mind.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/29palin.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

The entire media world is a buzz and in shock over this announcement. I think there are various comments floating to how "cute" she is and about her inspiring family story. As a story, you can't deny the human interest story where she recently gave birth to a baby who has Down's Syndrome. However, I don't believe this warrants justification as qualification to be VP of the United States. Pundits and politicians alike are critiquing McCain's choice, and the opinions range from the ecstatic to the perplexed.

I think this is all a circus, and of course this acts like catnip for the MSM. So they will be discussing and analyzing this to death.

Speaking of circus, I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the forum at the Nutter Center, which is where my high school graduation took place. I think about when Obama made his VP announcement in Springfield, outside the steps where Lincoln once made great speeches, and was speechless to see McCain's pep rally to announce his VP choice. I kid you not, there were cheerleaders to get the crowd excited about McCain's arrival, as it did not start promptly at noon, unlike Obama's rally which did. I couldn't believe it, for a "historical" announcement, we might as well have been at a basketball game!

There are those who will say it's a great choice, and a gamble for McCain to pander to Hillary voters and answer the call of change. Clearly, McCain, like Hillary, has realized the argument for experience for Obama is not working, given the high caliber of his intelligence, and his fast rising experience on the national political stage. So now, McCain is on the "change" bandwagon.

The problem I see for McCain, is that this was never about change for change sake. Furthermore, if McCain thinks that sticking any woman to the VP slot is what women want, then he is seriously mistaken. To compare Sarah Palin as being more qualified than say Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Christine Whitman, or Hillary Clinton, is laughable.

The election has always been about the disgust of the American voter with the economy, and that "change" is required to bring about new leadership. If McCain wanted to regain his "maverick" brand, I would have respected him more if he had selected Lieberman. Palin does not represent change, rather she is just a female version of George W. Bush. So from my perspective, McCain STILL does not get it.

Both were relatively new comers to the political scene, very homey and western, loves hunting, and have very conservative social values. Neither are known for their keen intellect, although to be fair to Palin, I don't know how intelligent she is, so I guess I will have to see her in action. What I know of her, is that she has a B.S. in Journalism, so I assume she can write and speak publicly to some reasonable ability.

Sarah Palin, a former runner-up Miss Alaska, has NO experience on the national level, nor does she have any exposure to foreign policy. Now I am sure this self-professed "hockey" mom is a great family person, however, I am not confident of her leadership skills not knowing how her term as Governor has gone. In addition, prior to being a governor of only 18 months, she was a mayor of a small town with a population of less than 7,000. This is not to disparage small town mayors or governors, but I struggle to see how with her background and education, she will stand toe to toe against the likes of Putin or Chavez.


What's laughable is that they are trying to beef up her credentials by giving her Governor's title a make-over. They are saying she has Chief Executive experience. Chief Executive experience for all of 18 months??? This is supposed to reassure us that she can step in as President of the United States?

Ironically, the pundits and reports are asking for opinions about her, and saying "we should be fair". So wait, we are supposed to baby her because she's a woman?? How insulting, if she can't take the criticisms, and if she isn't tough enough to stand on her own merits, she has NO business being a VP Candidate.

For the Republican party who tried to paint Obama as risky, this is beyond the pale, and typically hypocritical of the party. And to try and compare Palin to Obama is insane. Obama had more experience and political awareness than Palin before he has even run for President of the United States. Four years ago, Obama was the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, and he has 6 years experience in the Senate, and voters have been aware of Obama for almost two years - about the same amount of time she has spent as Governor.

In addition, she herself is under legislative investigation for abuse of power. What is it with these Alaskan politicians who seem to think they are above the law? What's interesting is that the Anchorage Newspaper made this observation:

But there is something in Sarah Palin's personality that prohibits her from saying, "I screwed up." She seems to obsess on something and will do almost anything to get her way.

The sad part of it is if she would at any point just come clean, Alaskans would forgive her... But nobody likes someone who cannot admit when they are wrong. Sarah Palin is a classic example of that.

http://www.adn.com/opinion/comment/fagan/story/496302.html

As a female voter, to select this woman who's political platform goes against every single modern woman's concern, I am in disbelief over McCain's out right patronization. After Obama's brilliant speech last night, which was seen by more than 38 Million Americans, those Independents and Hillary supporters who kept an open mind, clearly saw what's at stake, and for those I think Obama has been able to reach out to them.

For the few remaining die-hard PUMAs, this choice doesn't change anything for the Obama. If they were unwilling to vote for Obama after his speech, this VP announcement doesn't really take anything away from the voters that Obama was able to reach. However, the risk for McCain, is that the die-hard PUMAs may take a look at Palin's clear social conservative values, and realize that this is not for them.

The very fact that this VP Candidate is a heart-beat away from the Presidency, for a 72 year old candidate, disturbs me greatly.

Frankly, I don't mind if McCain goes to Vegas to gamble, I just prefer he does not do this with America's Future with a clearly inexperienced, untested, and unqualified candidate such as Palin.

Direct From General Petraeus's mouth!

Today I came across a Newsweek Article, where the writer interviewed General Petraeus - the man who McCain continually praises, and whose advice he would always heed.

Well there is no doubt, that with Rumsfeld out of the picture, and not micro-managing his generals, leaders such as Petraeus are able to focus on putting in the right strategy and doing their job without being snow-flaked to death by Rumsfeld.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/154587

The MSM (Mainstream Media) has questioned whether the surge has worked to no end. The funny thing is, until this article, I haven't seen any response to what Petraeus thinks.

Here's some VERY interesting points that Petraeus makes:

A. Has the SURGE Worked? Can we say Mission Accomplished now?

He [Petraeus] will not consider it a complete victory, the defeat against Al Qaeda and the insurgency.

Nordland:" Why then don't we just say it?: Al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated.”
Petraeus: "You won't find a single military leader in this theater who will say that."
Nordland: "You could be the first, general."
Petraeus: "Yeah, I could, but I won't be."
Nordland: "At least can't we say 'strategically defeated'?"
Petraeus: "We'll leave that to the academics. "

What you might ask??? I don't understand - McCain told me that the surge worked!

B. Is the surge the success factor for why we saw a reduction in the violence?

Petraeus is careful not to credit all the progress to the surge of U.S.
troops in 2007. The sea change came last year from a series of movements now known as the Awakening, when Sunnis, organizing around traditional tribal leaders, decided to turn on Al Qaeda as "an organization that embraces an extremist ideology, employs indiscriminate violence, and practices oppressive social customs," in the general's words. One of those customs was a ban on smoking. "That was the turning point when they cut the fingers off the first person who was smoking," he jokes. "Can you imagine an Anbar sheik being told he can't smoke?"

Oh so Obama was right - there were other factors for why the surge helped! The Sunni Awakening happened FIRST, then was supported by the surge. So McCain, who is supposed to be a foreign policy expert, got it wrong!


C. So would the Sunni Awakening have continued WITHOUT the surge???

Possibly, he concedes, but the surge came at that time and helped empower Sunni leaders, paying their fighters and backing them up on the streets. This is where Seneca the Younger comes in: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

There was also, Petraeus says, "a civilian surge—[U.S. Ambassador Ryan]
Crocker has seven ambassadors on his staff" and in the economic section of the embassy alone, staffing went from 130 to 200 this year with State Department augmentees; for the first time, all of the American Embassy's vacancies are filled, and with volunteers rather than draftees. And Iraqis have had an even bigger surge in their own security forces.

Oh so the "military" surge HELPED, but it WOULD NOT have been successful without the Sunni Awakening and the CIVILIAN surge, and most importantly, paying the Iraqis to fight against Al Qaeda and NOT our troops!

Has McCain read this article I wonder? I keep going back to the point, if McCain doesn't understand the situation on the ground, how can we expect to trust him to put in place the RIGHT strategy and policies???

Personally, I don't feel safer with some academically challenged candidate, who graduated 894 out of 899 in his class, and probably spent more time drinking and partying, and was only able to graduate from the Naval Academy because his father and Grandfather were Admirals in the US Navy!

What is it with the American Voter who is uncomfortable with an intelligent Presidents? Aren't presidents supposed to be smart??? Why do we scorn and diminish a man like Obama, as an "arugula eating elitist"? Here is someone who worked hard to get to where he is, graduating with honors from Harvard, all with STUDENT LOANS - isn't this the American story? Apparently not.

Apparently McCain's wealth is the ultimate American Dream - according to the idiots at Fox News ("what's wrong with being rich?"). McCain got to where he is and got his wealth honestly. He got into the Naval Academy, because he was a "legacy", and was fortunate to have married a Wealthy Heiress. He got his money the easy way, he married into it!

As someone who loves eating arugula, I prefer my Presidents to show a high level of intelligence, and ability to reason with cool thoughtfulness. But in a ridiculous commentary, I heard one pundit say, that "the American Voter wants to elect a President they can have a beer with." Are you kidding me???? I hope that the American Voter is smarter than that - but who knows??

I don't want a tempermental, cranky man who is known for his explosive temper, with his finger on the trigger. But don't take my word for it, see what his OWN Republican colleagues have to say about McCain! Tom Delay was pretty harsh when he said that "There are no redeeming qualities about McCain - he's a hypocrite" I guess it takes one to know one.



McCain is well know to send nicely worded apologies to those he loses his temper with, but the thing to keep in mind, is that after you push the button, there is no way to take it back!

It's the Economy Stupid!

As I look at the state of our Economy, it’s incredible how much has changed in 8 years, and not for the better. This is not only my opinion, but the opinion of countless Americans. From the various polls that have been mentioned and discussed, we know that a majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. In fact, when it comes to the Economy, more Americans believe by a significant majority, that Obama is more qualified to tackle the issues on Economy, Taxes, Health, and Energy (Gas).

The economy is an important issue facing Americans today. It impacts them on a micro level – personally, in terms of their ability to literally have a home, to buy necessities, and save.


From the Wall St. Journal, we can see the declining trends in income, during the Clinton Administration, we saw a real (inflation adjusted) and steadily increasing rise in income. But in 6 years since Bush has taken office, we’ve seen a drop in income for median Middle Class Income.

And while Bush has lowered Taxes, the middle class has seen the value of their tax cuts being eaten away by inflation, represented in higher food and fuel prices. Furthermore, it’s visibly shocking to see the decline in National Savings Rate. So Americans are consuming, but using debt to drive consumption!

In addition, I had mentioned in an earlier posting, that the Tax Cuts that the Bush Administration has put in place, effectively benefited the top 1% of the earners more than the middle class.

To give you an idea of what that means, we look at the 2006 income distribution as referenced by US Census Bureau.

Median Income Ranges

1st Quintile $ 0 - $ 26,999
2nd Quintile $ 27,000 - $ 46,999
3rd Quintile $ 47,000 - $ 71,199
4th Quintile $ 71,200 - $109,150
5th Quintile > $109,151
Top 5% Income $191,060 – and higher

Essentially, 22% of the population, on average for 2006 incomes, make more than $191,000.

However, what’s striking to me is 51% of the population, in 2006, made less than $72,000, many having families. Given the rising costs of fuel, food, and housing, it is no wonder that many families continue to struggle. In addition, excluding the top 5% Income, we have, on average ,about 78% of the population making $191,060 or less.

When we talk about our personal economy, we can not ignore the impact of Taxes. Everyone dreads paying taxes, and it is a large factor driving disposable income. So let’s put it all on the table, once and for all. McCain continually puts out false information on who is hurt and benefits between the two candidates Tax Plans. What puzzles me is that Average Americans continue to be deluded that McCain is going to go to bat for them! He doesn't understand nor does he care about the middle class, otherwise his policies would reflect his priorities.

From the Washington Post (a conservative newspaper), they put in a nice chart to compare average impact of the two candidates’ tax policies. This is coming from the Tax Center Policy of the Brookings Institute. I have read the tax analysis, and have come up with slightly different numbers depending on the year 2009 vs 2012.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST2008060900950.html

However, the Washington Post does give a fairly accurate comparison.

My one problem with Washington Post's chart, is that it does not further breakout the $603,403 to $2.87 million income bracket, because it gives a false impression that people making $603,403 an increase of $115,974 in taxes under Obama's plan. One has to keep in mind that it's an average, and that of course the incremental tax will be vary for those making $603,403 vs. $2.87 Million.

On a blanket statement, yes we can say McCain’s tax plan does in total give a higher tax cut than Obama. However, the devil is always in the detail, and if you look to see how much the Top 5% and top 1% Earners benefits vs. the middle class, it is very clear that Obama’s tax plan would benefit the majority of the population, more than McCain. McCain provides a disproportionate tax cut to an income bracket, to whom it has less an incremental impact, than to the middle class.

Paul Krugman noted economist, provides an layman’s perspective on the tax hoopla, and the McCain Lies regarding tax-cuts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/opinion/22krugman.html

Why do I care so much about the other people’s income? Simply put, without average American incomes being sufficient to purchase goods and everyday consumer items, I am out of a job. I work for a Large Consumer Packaged Goods Company, we place a lot of emphasis on brand, quality, and performance of our products, but our products are not on an infinite price elasticity curve. At some point, consumers will turn away, and buy cheaper knockoffs.

Henry Ford had it right; he is recognized with being the father of modernizing industrial assembly and production, as well as recognizing the benefits and efficiency of improving the quality of his employees, thereby reducing turnover and improving productivity. Although he can not be by any stretch of imagination labeled a socialist, as he opposed unions, he did however advocate “welfare capitalism”, and had a policy to pay his workers a wage, where they could also afford to buy the very items they produced.

There is a cycle in our capitalistic economy. Wages and Income are tied to consumption rates, and in turn, those consumption rates grow our GDP, and when our GDP and overall incomes rise, everyone benefits.

Obama understands this, this is why his focus is more on increasing Average American's disposable income, and truly growing the economy, rather than focusing on the deficit, which was what Bill Clinton did. Bill Clinton and Robert Rubin, felt that the key to the economy, was to get the deficit undercontrol, and they were right. However, we are in a period of both a recession and an inflation, and the primary focus is the get the economy back on track, and here Obama's Chicago Economics background comes very much in play.

McCain with his "I don't know much about Economics" mentality, has been poorly advised by his economic advisors. But with such people like Phil Gramm famous for castigating Americans as "whiners" and saying the recession is all in our heads, and who sits on the board of UBS, one of the major banks involved in the mortgage and securities investigation, I'm not surprised at McCain's cluelessness.

I’m not done on the subject of Taxes, but we need to also take a look at Macro issues, such as the Deficit!

Why I am Voting for Obama

McCain's House Gaffes continue to be in the news, and already voters are starting to take notice. Obama has taken this to his advantage to drive home McCain's inability to relate to the Average American, and thus McCain's inability to fundamentally understand the problems in the economy.



People will parse the argument that because he is so rich, he doesn't know and shouldn't be expected to know off the top of his head what he owns both in personal and investment properties. If that's their defense, my question is, how can we expect a man who can't even manage his finances to some extent, be able to manage a country? I don't expect McCain to do his taxes, but he should have some understanding of what his net worth is, and how many homes he has. Others will argue, well it's actually Cindy's, on this point, I think the Republicans have no room to argue, as this is EXACTLY the same argument they used to sink John Kerry on Therese Heinz.

Some liberal pundits will argue this is a sign of his age - I don't agree. I think it's more of a lack of ownership of his own finances, and the fact that he is so rich, he doesn't know or need to know. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame him for being rich. Per his point from the Saddleback Forum, many rich people are unhappy. So given how much wealth he and his wife have, he must be one unhappy man.

But that's not the point of my post. It's more to illustrate the point, that John McCain is out of touch with the Average American, and that's just one reason why I can't cast my vote him. But this isn't the only reason, and there is hard data and arguments to support my point.

I'll be honest with you, for most of my life I have voted Democrat, initially because my parents were democrats, but more recently because of both the micro and macro issues we face. In particular, with the past 8 years, the country has been going in a very wrong and dangerous direction. Recently, an acquaintance of mine has challenged me on why I should vote for Barack Obama. I think that's a fair question, as much as I doubt what the average American knows (this is from reading up on the Pew Research on Media Matters), do I know exactly why I am voting for Obama? I have several concerns on the direction of our Country, and I feel that Obama is our best solution.

Our Foreign Policy is in disarray, and we are in danger of losing not only the principles for which America has stood for, but our inability to influence the international community. The War in Iraq was a mistake, and has not made American safer. Rather it has made us more at risk with our foreign, military, and economic policies compromised.

On the state of America's Economy, we have seen such a reversal in our progress, with the gap between the rich and the poor growing so significantly, that you'll find that Robert Rubin, the Chief Economist under the Clinton Administration who felt that free market policies were more important than class differences, is reversing his position.

Why should we care? The economy's ability to grow is based on organic growth of goods and services, produced and sold. When you have 80% of the population unable to buy with out using credit, and a lack of real savings increasing in the US Economy, you get a double whammy. Manufacturers, Retailers, and Service Providers see a drop in sales and profit. This then leads to a scenario where we see unemployment increasing or jobs being sent overseas with companies trying to cope with rising costs and maximize what profit they can. Given the lack of organic growth, and in trying to meet Wall St expectations, the first big win corporations can make is to reduce cost, and labor accounts for a large percentage of costs. With unemployment on the rise, people can afford less, and thus we have a vicious downward spiral. With less ability to save, we have less going into investments, which could help expand the economy.

Then we have the Federal Deficit, which poses a problem not only on our ability to be flexible in applying appropriate Fiscal and monetary policy, but it causes a national security risk, and a very precarious situation with the value of the dollar. We have all experienced the devastating affect of the rapid fall of the dollar, with the price of Oil skyrocketing. Currently under the Bush administration, we have the largest percentage of debt being owned by FOREIGN NATIONAL INTERESTS.

The deficit has ballooned due to the irresponsible Tax cuts and the Iraq War. Some of you may scoff and say they like having tax cuts - I won't disagree with you. So how did that $600 tax credit work for you? Under the Bush Administration, the tax policies put in place has benefited the top percentage of earners MORE than the middle and upper middle class.

According to the Center for Tax Policies, with data from the CBO and the Brookings Tax Policy Center,

• The Bush tax cuts have contributed to revenues dropping in 2004 to the
  lowest level as a share of the economy since 1950, and have been a major
  contributor to the dramatic shift from large projected budget surpluses to
  projected deficits as far as the eye can see.


• The tax cuts have conferred the most benefits, by far, on the highest-income
  households — those least in need of additional resources — at a time when income
  already is exceptionally concentrated at the top of the income spectrum.


• The design of these tax cuts was ill-conceived, resulting in significantly
  less economic stimulus than could have been accomplished for the same budgetary
  cost. In part because the tax cuts were not as effective as alternative
  measures would have been, job creation during this recovery has been notably
  worse than in any other recovery since the end of World War II.

Based on this, those earning more than $1 Million garnered 15% of the tax cut benefits, and the top 1% received on average $34,992 in tax cuts. But at what cost?

Why am I so focused on the Bush Administration? Because McCain would continue the same bad policies.

While the right wing attack machine is eager to paint Obama as a traditional tax & spend democrat, a socialist, and near communist, the truth behind Obama is more complex then the what the average American can imagine. This is what the Republicans are hoping to bank on, as they run negative ads and false facts about Obama and his economic plan, they are gambling that most Americans will not invest the time to really understand the complexities and investigate the facts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/magazine/24Obamanomics-t.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

I don't give Obama a free pass either, unfortunately, given the level of negative campaigning, Obama has had no choice but to run harsh ads as well at McCain. But if you compare the percentage of campaign funds on negative advertisements vs. their own messages, McCain spends a disproportionate amount of time and campaign funds attacking Obama, and less on the realities of what he brings to the table. This should tell you that McCain's platform is SO weak, he can't even convince the American Voter to select him as President on what his policies will accomplish. When he's not attacking Obama, his constant message is "Surge worked", "Drill here - Drill Now", "I want to give Tax Cuts", and "I know how to win wars".

Both have taken liberties on their advertisements, but when you check with Factcheck.org, you will find McCain is more labeled with "Liar Liar Pants on Fire" than Obama.

Furthermore, Obama has had to reassess his opinion on Offshore Drilling. It was clear he hated to do it, and he made it as a very limited concession. It's difficult to maintain your position when 72% of Americans are in favor of Offshore Drilling, even when you know this is only a gimmick, and not a real solution.

In the next week, I am going to explore in more detail on the following issues that I think are important, and validate for myself why I should vote for Barack Obama.

1. Economy - as they say "It's the Economy Stupid!"
2. Tax Cuts - Comparison of McCain vs Obama
3. Iraq War
4. Foreign Policy
5. Domestic Policy & Constitutional
6. Health Care
7. Cultural America - Immigration, Religion, & Abortion
8. Environment

We are truly at a cross roads- not only in our American History, but in our World History, and the decision we make will have such a far reaching impact for not only ourselves, but our children.

A Question of Patriotism

What is it with extreme right wing conservatives who believe that they have the market cornered on Patriotism? I have to say this is one of the most frustrating and negative tactics that increasingly enter our political landscape.

Obama gave a speech today at the VFW Forum in Orlando, Florida, where he was adamant about not questioning McCain’s patriotism or his motives, and that he is looking for the same courtesy from McCain.

But one of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can't disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism. I have never suggested that Senator McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America's national interest. Now, it's time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same.

Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country. I love America, so do you, and so does John McCain. When I look out at this audience, I see people of different political views. You are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. But you all served together, and fought together, and bled together under the same proud flag. You did not serve a Red America or a Blue America -- you served the United States of America.

So let's have a serious debate, and let's debate our disagreements on the merits of policy -- not personal attacks. And no matter how heated it gets or what kind of campaign he chooses to run, I will honor Senator McCain's service, just like I honor the service of every veteran in this room, and every American who has worn the
uniform of the United States.

McCain and his surrogates have been very snide with their innuendos that Obama is being presumptuous (read “uppity”), ambitious, and willing to lose a war to win an election. If you’re willing to lose the war, it implies treason which makes you un-patriotic, so I don’t buy any claims from McCain and his surrogates that, that’s not what they were doing. Moreover, it is still a pervasive stereotype that anyone who has a “liberal” point of view or anyone who criticizes Bush or McCain, a POW, is an anti-American, a terrorist supporter, hates America, is a coward, etc.

Today, I read two articles written by Philip Butler, a POW and Naval Academy classmate of John McCain, and a blog by John Cafferty on CNN, and the responses their opinions generated.

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html

Typically, all negative comments were accusing the authors of their lack of patriotism or *gasp - horror of horrors * of being a liberal. Why is it that Mr. Butler, who was a POW with McCain in the same location, but for longer, is being maligned, yet McCain who glorifies war and toughness is held up as a hero? Moreover, to paint Cafferty as drinking the liberal “Kool-Aid”, is just plain silly. I tend to think of John Cafferty, as a curmudgeonly commentator, a middle of the road, common sense guy – certainly no one who can be accused of being a liberal.

Our democracy and freedom should mean that we as Americans have a right to express our own opinions, without being maligned on our patriotism. I mean isn’t that one of the benefits the Bush administration is touting for why we invaded Iraq and got rid of Saddam? That the Iraqi people were living in tyranny, unable to voice opposition to Saddam without fear of being arrested or worse - sentenced to death?

I am not naïve to think that every international situation can be resolved peacefully. During the Saddleback Forum, both McCain and Obama were asked is there evil in the world and what should be done about it. Both candidates professed that they did believe in the existence of evil. I also believe that there is evil in the world.

People question why do bad things happen…how can God let the atrocities occur? My opinion is that God doesn’t let these things happen, people themselves cause them. God gives us the free will to do what we want. It is up to the individual how that free will is exercised. As to what can be done about it? Well, Obama was right, we need to confront it. McCain was wrong, we can’t defeat it - only God can truly defeat evil (again my personal view). Evil doesn’t end with just one war. McCain’s comment is very arrogant from a Christian point of view.

So yes, I do think there are certain situations where force is required. But War is not glorious. It asks a heavy sacrifice on our soldiers, as can be attested by the loss of life, limb, high case of PTSD and suicides. It causes just as heavy a toll in civilian populations, and it causes economic destruction. It’s been 5 years, and Iraq’s economy is still in shambles. This lack of financial stability is so crucial to getting Iraq on it's feet, and reducing our national security risk.

This is why we have to be judicious about bringing the case for War. Unfortunately, we are in danger of being “bullied” by neo-cons and extreme right wing conservatives, that anyone who opposes war is a coward, un-American, and not a true patriot.

During the Nuremburg Trials, the Nazi Leader Hermann Goering was interviewed by Gustave Gilbert, an Intelligence officer and Psychologist. There is a very enlightening conversation in Gilbert's book 'Nuremberg Diary’ from April 18, 1946,

Goering: Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.

Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.

Goering: Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

So if we were to take a feather from the Republican Neo-con playbook, are we to infer that Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the neocon gang are being un-American and using Nazi tactics??

By the way, anyone else getting irritated with McCain’s annoying boast “I know how to win wars”? He says it every chance he has, almost as much as he mentions the “surge worked”. If he knows how to win wars, why didn’t he share his wisdom with Rumsfeld or Bush?

Note: With regards to the surge, I find it amazing that McCain constantly gets the timing of the surge and the Anbar Awakening mixed up, and the fact that he has not been honest with what the surge really accomplished. But the public opinon is still that he is a Foreign Policy Expert. A majority of the public is not aware that a significant contributing factor, for why we are able to keep the insurgency down, is due to the fact that we are PAYING Iraqi’s not to be insurgents. Essentially paying them a bribe not to rise up against our Troops. Talk about the ultimate welfare program! Although, there will be some Iraqi’s whose hatred of the “occupiers” and their own sense of nationalism is more important than any money they receive to feed their families. It was the fact that Iraqi's were getting tired of being terrorized in their own neighborhoods by Al Qaeda, that led to such events as the Anbar Awakening and the Sunni re-engagement. This all happened BEFORE the SURGE!! McCain keeps harping that it was the surge that led to the Anbar Awakening, and the reduction of violence.

Faith and Politics Part 2: Cone-gate

All the blogosphere was caught up today on a comment that Andrea Mitchell made on "MTP", where there were some allegations that McCain may not have been in the "Cone of Silence" as Pastor Rick Warren had stated as part of the forum set up. Interestingly, McCain's camp immediately fired off a letter to NBC Executive Steve Capus complaining of partisian politics.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12594.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/us/politics/18mccain.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

In addition McCain's camp made a statement of outrage Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.
“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

I find it interesting that their extra defense is that "McCain is a former POW". Again they use that as a shield, as if John McCain is excused from any and all future wrong doing. No one can deny that he served his country honorable. This is not to take away from the time that he has served as a POW, but what does that have to do with his infallibility as a man?? He even admitted that he has been a very imperfect man. This is a man who is reverting to using negative campaign tactics used by Rove's proteges to win an election. These are the same people who smeared his honor and spread rumors about his adopted daughter Bridget in the 2004 Election campaign.

From my point of view, his moral values do come into play. We are talking about a man who cheated on his wife, and quickly divorced her upon his return from the Vietnam War, to marry a much younger, wealthy heiress. He made a vow to God - for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, and quite frankly, he broke it. Oh but that's right, according to Hannity (and the rest of the crazy people at Fox news), it's all justified because he was a POW. He was allowed to cheat and abandon his disabled wife who, before her debilitating car accident, was a model. Because she had gained weight, he deserves a "hot" wife after nearly 5 years as a POW.

This type of allegation, on whether he was fed some advance intelligence, will be very difficult to prove, and could backfire as "sour grapes" for the Obama supporters. However, what is not in question is that McCain was on his way to the event, and not in the "cone of silence" as was suggested. He was in a motorcade and arrived 30 minutes prior to when he was supposed to go on. I think what has everyone talking are two specific examples where McCain jumped to answer the question - BEFORE Warren even has a chance to ask what those questions are...

REV. WARREN: All right, let's go into the tough ones. That was just (opening ?). Let's deal with abortion. I, as a pastor, have to deal with this all the time -- every different angle, every different pain, all the decisions and all of that. Forty million abortions since Roe v. Wade. Some people -- people who believe that life begins at conception would say that's a holocaust for many people. What point is a baby entitled to human rights?
SEN. MCCAIN: At the moment of conception. (Cheers, applause.) I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president and this presidency will have pro-life policies. (Cheers,
applause.) That's my commitment. That's my commitment to you.
REV. WARREN: Okay. We don't have to go longer on that one. (Laughter.)
Define marriage.
SEN. MCCAIN: A union -- a union between man and woman, between one
man and one woman. That's my definition of marriage. (Applause.)
Are we going to get back to the importance of Supreme Court justices, or should I mention it?
REV. WARREN: We will get to that.
SEN. MCCAIN: Okay. All right. (Laughter.) Okay.
REV. WARREN: Man, you're jumping ahead. You know all my questions.

REV. WARREN: All right, let's talk about education. America ranks 19th in high school graduations, but we're first in incarcerations. Everybody says they want more accountability in schools. About 80 percent of America says they support merit pay for the best teachers. Now, I don't want to hear your stump speech on education.

SEN. MCCAIN: Yes, yes, and find bad -- (laughter) -- find bad teachers another line of work. (Laughter, applause.)
REV. WARREN: You know, we're going to end this -- you're answering
so quickly.

The question that was put to Obama earlier was 1) Do you think better teachers should be paid better, 2) Should they be paid more than poor teachers...which is what McCain's "yes. yes..." answers were responding to, so how did McCain know to answer that way without hearing Warren's questions???

REV. WARREN: Okay, let's go to education. America right now ranks 19th in
high school graduations. We're first in incarcerations.
SEN. OBAMA: Not good.
REV. WARREN: Not good. Eighty percent of Americans, a recent poll said
they believe in merit pay for teachers. Now, I'm not asking do you think all
teachers should get a raise. Do you think better teachers should be paid better, they should be paid more than poor teachers?
SEN. OBAMA: I think that we should, and I've said this publicly, that we should set up a system of performance pay for teachers, negotiated with teachers, worked with the teachers to figure out the assessments so that they feel like they're being judged
fairly, that it's not at the whim of the principal, that it's not simply based
on a single high-stakes standardized test. But the basic notion that teaching is
a profession, that teachers are underpaid so we need to pay them all more and
create a higher baseline, but then we should also reward excellence. I think
that is a concept that all of us should invest in. (Applause.)

But it seems that McCain's problems are not just limited to whether or not he was truly in a cone of silence or whether he had some advantage on knowing what the questions were in advance. The other hot topic that came up was whether or not one of the POW stories that McCain shared, where McCain relates that there was a guard who formed a cross in the dirt to secretly share that he was a Christian, was plagerized. The question came up, as McCain had not previously told this story until his 1999 memoir was published (all his earlier memoirs, including the personal account he wrote for US News & World Report in the mid 70s did not mention this incident).

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-first-person-account.html

The reason for the whispers is due to the fact that it seemed awfully similar to the passage in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book "The Gulag Archipelago ". One other additional point of interest are the recent claims where McCain has professed his admiration for Solzhenitsyn and his works.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/08/is-mccain-now-copying-solzheni.html

This is not the first time that McCain is being accused of "plagerism", for when the initial incidents with Georgia and Russia came out, McCain immediately seized the moment to make a statement to show his Foreign Policy prowess (even before Bush had a chance to make a statement), and ended up giving a history lesson on Georgia, in his press conference, that appeared to be remarkably similar to the explanations about Georgian from Wikipedia. Here I suspect that McCain didn't purposely plagerize, he was just unfortunate to have a lazy campaign writer who probably didn't know enough about the Georgia history and conflict with Russia.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/08/did-mccain-plagarize-his-speec.html

All in all, this is going to most likely stay in the blogosphere, with the divided opinions between the left and the right. The right feeling injured and angry that McCain is being demonized, and the left feeling fustrated that again McCain is getting a free pass on incidents that Obama would not have been let off the hook for.

Faith and Politics

Tonight we saw something quite unique in the Faith Forum moderated by Rick Warren, at the Saddleback church where both McCain and Obama have appeared together for the first time since the primaries ended.

What was unique was that this was being moderated by a Pastor, and secondly it was a true apples to apples comparison, as both candidates were given their turn to answer the same set of questions. The questions ranged from how faith shaped their decisions and life, their views on abortion and stem cell research, evil, moral failures both personal and America's moral failures, and of course taxes. There has been a lot of discussion of how this would impact the two candidates, and from my point of view it did two things:

1. It definitely crystalized the view points that uncertain voters may have had about both candidates.
2. It also showcased the two very different styles of the two men, and what kind of approach or leadership they would bring to the White House. In some way, their generational gap was also quite evident.

Although some have speculated that this might be an opportunity to steal some greater portion of the evangelical base, I am not convinced that anything has significantly changed. I think the conservative evangelicals who place "sin" issues such as abortion and opposing of gay marriages were more clear on their support for McCain. For McCain, he was able to appeal to his religious conservative base by emphathically stating his pro-life position. This was particularly evident when he responded to which Supreme Court Justices he would not have nominated. For Obama, any doubts on his faith and his Christian beliefs were laid to rest. Obama was more comfortable about referencing faith and parts of the teachings of the New Testament in his answers. This may have reassured some who had questions on his religious beliefs (although it's even sad to have to prove one's own religion in this day and age).

One interesting question was in regards to Moral Failures. Obama again referenced his teen issues and temporary use of drugs. He did go into some introspective on what drove him in his moral failure and how he has changed. McCain very briefly and very uncomfortably stated the failure with his first marriage as his moral failure, and then quickly moved on to a new topic. As described by a CNN analyst, the room was described as being "so quiet, you could hear a pin drop". It's been suggested that his answers were very to the point, and that maybe something that is generational (Update: speculation exists whether McCain knew upfront what the questions were). What is interesting is that despite the John Edwards scandal, the same scrutiny is not applied to McCain and his character. It's not like he was a teenager making a mistake. He was a 40 year old man who cheated on his disabled wife, and divorced her while getting married to his 2nd wife. But for the family focus and moral values group, this is apparently a minor point.

The style of Obama was much more intellectual, and thoughtful. It's clear that as he gives his answers, he is truly looking back on his past, his faith, his principles, and how they come into play with his leadership.

McCain's answers, if purely judged by "superficial" style, where short and sweet answers may be considered the hallmark of a leader, has succeeded in meeting that definition. What troubled me most about McCain, is the lack of honesty his answers demonstrated. His answers were very much "prepared" or canned, almost like if you were to go on an interview and someone asked -

"What kind of worker do you see yourself", if you said "A hard worker, someone motivated and dedicated." Or if you were asked "Do you think you are intelligent" - if you answered simply "Yes", would either of those responses be enough to get you the job?

I didn't get a clear sense of McCain's honesty, his true principles - except when he spoke about his time as a POW and hunting down Osama Bin Laden. I think that was the only time I saw his honesty and passion. Otherwise his answers were very much geared to the republican base. I was surprised by how he tried to package himself as "Pro-Life", when he has voted "Pro-Life" only to follow party loyalties, and not out of any true passion for this issue. Witness the fact that he is contemplating Ridge and Leiberman as VPs - both of whom are Pro-Choice.

When Warren asked Obama to define the word "rich," the Illinois senator teased the pastor about the mammoth sales of his book, "The Purpose Driven Life." Obama noted his plan to add a new Social Security payroll tax to incomes above $250,000 a year.

McCain said, "some of the richest people I've ever known in my life are the most unhappy." He said being rich should be defined by having a home and a prosperous and safe world. Without mentioning Obama, he said some want to increase taxes. "I don't want to take any money from the rich. I want everybody to get rich," McCain said. When pushed on an exact number, he joked: "If you're just talking about income, how about five million?" He added, "I'm sure that comment will be distorted."

But when it came to the question regarding what defined "rich" and who would be taxed, the candidates again gave two very different answers. McCain clearly dodged the question and gave a rather simplistic and dishonest answer. He absolutely refused to acknowledge what income would be considered rich, and what amazed me is that the audience bought into the argument that we can continue to have this large deficit and have tax cuts. McCain gave an example, which I thought was irrelevant, but I am sure people will grasp on this as the root of all evil in government spending - which was an example of $3 Million spent on bear DNA research (which by the way he voted for). If McCain thinks that we can sustain tax cuts and simply cut discretionary spending, he is living in a dream world. Here's an example, suppose you are living pay check to pay check, and you have a $50,000 credit card bill, leasing an SUV, would cutting out a daily $4 Latte change your financial situation?

Our deficit is nearing HALF A TRILLION Dollars , Obama acknowledged this and made it clear that we can not continue to have this deficit, because it affects our National Security. The bulk of our spending is primarily made up of defense (in particular the Iraq War), Social Security, Medicaid, Infrastructure, and the servicing of our national debt - which is owned by foreign countries such as China!

When asked Obama responded directly to what defines "rich". Obama indicated that for those making less than $150,000, they would get a tax cut. Those making more than $250,000 would get a slight tax increase. Obama was clear about the need for Americans to have to make sacrifices, and he referenced his grandparents' generation, and the sacrifices of a nation made during WWII. McCain did initially scoff Bush's philosphy for America "to go shopping" after 9/11. He made some statements of how Americans should have enlisted (which many did), join the Peace Corps, etc. But again, when it came to energy and taxes, two very hard issues, McCain advocated tax cuts and gave pithy catch phrases like "Drill Here - Drill Now".

It alarms me that after 8 years of short catch phrases that were packaged as American policy - i.e."Americans don't cut and run", "Mission Accomplished", Americans still hoot and hollar over simple answers. Are we really seeing the dumbing of America, where thoughtful answers don't rate as high in popularity as catchy phrases you might hear at a pep rally - like "We're #1"?

Towards the end, when asked why they wanted to run for President, they both provided servitude and country as their reasons. Looking back at this first "debate", and what we can take away from this as voters, I think ultimately, it comes down to who's leadership style and philosphy is more suited for America's future. McCain's simplistic, easy and gimmicky answers, and his hawkish "shoot from the hip" foreign policy style quite simply scares me. I think we have had enough of 8 years of "Cowboy" diplomacy.