Mockery and Derision

GALLUP DAILY TRACKING: Obama 50% McCain 42%

RASMUSSEN REPORTS: Obama 50 % McCain 42%

ADDITIONALLY:

-Virginia: Obama +1.4%

-NORTH CAROLINA!: Obama +.7%

-New Mexico: Obama +6%

-Ohio: McCain +1.2%

-Florida: McCain +.7%

We’re all going to die. Soon. That’s the news out of Washington today, with the bailout bill failing on the House floor, and the Dow dropping 777 points as a result.

Bear markets are called that for a reason. Because they produce bears. And those bears will eat your children, and your retirement savings. Just listen to the news. You’ll see.

Who knows what to make of this crisis? I mean, really. Personally, I’m inclined to, dare I say….believe this Administration when they say this needs to be passed. A lot of people say it doesn’t.

But the President is like my drunk, infirmed grandpa, living upstairs in the attic. He doesn’t ask for anything, doesn’t make a nuisance of himself. I put some soup at the bottom of the stairs and he seems content to live out the last of his Presidential fantasies in peace. But then, imagine that grandpa comes down one day and asks for a bypass surgery. He hasn’t so much as muttered a word in months. What would you do? I’m inclined to believe him.

Say what you want, but the President isn’t completely dumb. Gone are the days of his proposing constitutional ammendments banning gay marraige. He doesn’t ask for anything anymore. So maybe, just maybe, we should take some heed when he does.

But, true to form, the Administration did a horrible job once they had our attention. They need to make the case, everyone needs to make the case, that this isn’t a Wall Street bailout.

“But Mike, I thought it was!“

No, it’s not. CEO pay has been capped under any form of the bill that will pass. And the result of not passing this bill is that credit will effectively come to a halt without stabilization in the markets.

Now, who does that hurt? Does it hurt the vaunted “Wall Street”, people who already HAVE high net worths and money in their bank accounts? Of course not! It hurts YOU, the middle class, people who rely on credit everyday to make ends meet. Which is EVERYONE, by the way. This is a Main Street bailout all the way, by being a Wall Street bailout.

If you own a home, own a car, have a credit card, a 401k, an IRA, a mutual fund, or money in any bank anywhere, you do business on Wall Street! YOU! Not some fatcat oil tycoon, bathing in money and reeking of cigars. YOU. So no matter what, you’ll feel the effects of a bailout or the lack thereof. 

If a bill never passes, will the fallout be as bad as the Administration says? Will the plan, if passed, work? I don’t know. But let’s at least frame the debate in the right way. Because this isn’t taxpayer money going to make the rich richer. It’s taxpayer money going to stave of what’s predicted to be a major recession.

Having said that, I’m changing my money to Euros, and setting beartraps outside my apartment. Godspeed to you all…and good luck. 

Support the Troops? McCain Consistently Votes Against Our Troops!

McCain’s voting record does not support our combat troops:

5/2008: McCain voted AGAINST the Webb G.I. Bill. Obama voted FOR the bill.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/22/gi-bill-passes-senate_n_103091.html

9/2007: McCain voted AGAINST bill to minimize periods of time between deployment of units sent to Iraq. Obama voted FOR the bill.
http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00341

4/2006: McCain voted AGAINST $430,000,000 to VA for Medical Services. Obama voted FOR the bill.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00098

3/2006: McCain voted AGAINST increasing Vet medical services $1.5 billion in FY2007. Obama voted to INCREASE funding for vet medical services.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00041

3/2004: McCain voted AGAINST increasing Vet-medical care by $1.8 billion. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=2&vote=00040

10/2003: McCain voted to TABLE an amendment for $322,000,000 for safety equipment for USforces. “Table” means the vote never hits the floor.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00376

10/2003: McCain voted to TABLE a vote for $1 Billion for National Guard and Reserve Equipment in Iraq dueto shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, & tactical vests. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00116 http://capwiz.com/vva/e4/cinfo/?id=157301

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America give the following grade for their voting records:
John McCain D
Barack Obama B+

Disabled American Veterans also graded the two candidates:
Barack Obama 80% voting record
John McCain 20% voting record

So as hopefully all of you know, the first debate is finished. And if you didn’t watch it, please log off this site, resign your citizenship, and leave the nation. You obviously don’t care enough about this country to make the massive sacrifice of sitting on your couch and drinking soda while other people debate a future you care little about.

But anyway, the debate. I found it inconclusive, with neither candidate getting a clear win out of it.

But it shouldn’t have been that way. Obama should have gotten a clear win out of this one, on a topic where he really needs to make headway: national security.

We saw again tonight what is both a blessing and a curse for the Obama campaign. Senator Obama is a brilliant man. Graduate of Columbia and Harvard. President of the Harvard Law Review. And often times, he has a tendency to be too smart, and make arguments that are too cerebral and thought out, and not base 0r aggressive enough. Which is exactly what you don’t want out of a candidate on debate night.

McCain is in no way hindered by the same problem. No-one will ever say that the man who graduated in the bottom 1% of his class at Annapolis is too though out or intelligent. And he has a tendency Obama clearly doesn’t have: McCain loves to fight, merely for the sake of fighting.

Time and again tonight we saw McCain distort the truth, distort positions where he and Obama agree just so he could take a shot at him. He called Obama naive, inexperienced, not aggressive enough against Russia, and lacking in judgement.

And instead of attacking right back, instead of calling McCain out as a liar and a fraud, Obama made great, shockingly boring arguments in retort.

This isn’t what you want. We need more fight out of our guy, more aggression and derision. Think back about all the great debate qoutes you’ve ever heard. Most of them came from Reagan. And they were aggressive and humorous, and they stuck the knife in because that’s what needed to be done.

Why stick the knife into McCain? BECAUSE IT”S FUN! why not? He’s doing it to us, right and left, and it’s the only thing keeping him in this race. Why not jam it back at him?

Personally, I love making fun of McCain. I love hacking away at a man who wants to keep my friends dying in Iraq, who wants to ruin my family’s economics, and deny my country the policies it needs to move forward. He’s proven himself to be a liar, a hypocrite, and a phony. He’s a veteran for God’s sake, and loves to cloak himself in the mantle of veterans who he wont stand up and support. So when he says he’ll support veterans, says he “loves them” like he did tonight, I need a candidate to stay strong and say “NO YOU DON’T!. You don’t have a record of standing up for the very veterans you say you support. When every veterans group in this country has declared you an inferior advocate for their needs, you don’t get to say you support them. I DO.”

That’s what we need. We need an aggressive candidate who will call our opponent out for his lies and deceit. And we need it now.  

So for those of you that live under a rock, here’s what went on today:

Sen. Obama called Sen. McCain early yesterday, talked about the economic crisis and asked to put partisan politics aside and issue a joint statement declaring support for the bailout legislation. McCain then went public before the joint press statement could be done and stated he wants to temporarily suspend the campaign, take all ads off the air, and go to Washington. And of course, to postpone the debates for another time. That “other time” coincidentally happens to be when the only Vice Presidential debate is supposed to be held, thus relieving Sarah Palin from any danger of having to answer a question in public ever again.

On the surface that would seem like a fine idea. Why not set partisan campaigns aside in this crisis, take the ads off the air, go on up to Washington to get something done for once. But it negates the fact that people are already in washington, getting stuff done, people much more involved and important to the bailout plan than Obama and McCain. It also negates the obvious motivation for Sen McCain’s actions.

McCain is losing. He’s losing nationally, he’s lost the momentum, and he’s starting to slip badly in the remaining battleground states. Obama’s on the way to a big win, and he’s just getting started with ever increasing ad buys in the states that matter, a trend that’s clearly going to continue until election day. Lest we not forget, Obama has something McCain has little of this election: money.

So from McCain’s perspective, time off from the campaign, especially on his terms, would give a much needed breather and reestablish some momentum for the coming weeks ahead. One problem: Sen Obama didn’t fall for it. It takes two people to suspend the campaign, and Sen Obama has made it clear he wont pull his ads, and wants the debates to continue as scheduled on Friday.

Thus proving my previous point that only three Democrats get national politics in the last 50 years: JFK, Bill Clinton, and Obama. And the entire campaign is now about a topic Obama polls 30 points ahead of McCain in: the economy.

So for a hack like me, there’s no better sight than seeing Sen Obama roll right through McCain like this. You’ve got it now, just keep it up. And forget this antiquated notion of “bipartisanship”. Bipartisanship has never one anyone an election. And it wont this year either.

 PS:

Ohio: McCain +1.6

PA: Obama +3.3

FL: McCain +2.1

NV: McCain +1.7

NH: Obama +2.0

VA: McCain +0.8

WI: Obama +3.2

MI: Obama +3.9

MN: Obama +2.8

IN: Mcain +2.3

CO: Obama +5.4

NC: McCain +4.2

“A few moments ago, President Bush called Senator Obama and asked him to attend a meeting in Washington tomorrow, which he agreed to do. Senator Obama has been working all week with leaders in Congress, Secretary Paulsen, and Chairman Bernanke to improve this proposal, and he has said that he will continue to work in a bipartisan spirit and do whatever is necessary to come up with a final solution. He strongly believes the debate should go forward on Friday so that the American people can hear from their next President about how he will lead America forward at this defining moment for our country,” said Obama-Biden spokesman Bill Burton.

For the love of God, don’t cancel the debates!

I listened to JFK’s speech accepting the Democratic nomination today. I recommend it to all of you, who love strong democrats and annoying Boston accents.

 Couple things stuck out to me. I think JFK’s the leader of an exclusive, and small, club of Democrats that actually get national politcs. See also: Clinton, Bill. See also: Obama, Barack. See also:….noone else.

 Listen to the speech and you’ll see one thing: noone ever had to tell JFK to attack. He did it, he did it often, and he did it well. And for every speech he gave extolling the virtues of man, he gave two trashing communism. Not because it was constructive, because it kept him in the winner’s circle.  JFK stuck the knife in like it was his job, because it was. And it won the election for him.

So let’s get some negative ads on the air! Ignore all the mock outrage and shock you’ll get from people that secretly love to see candidates torn limb from limb. You know the McCain camp is going to do it, so let’s beat them to the punch. I’m more than willing to go on tv and say McCain touched me in my Charlie Browns. Someone has to.

I’m not saying you have to run that ad. I’m just saying, What Would JFK Do?

From Talking Points Memo:

“Obama Dramatically Ramping Up Overall Ad Spending; Now Outgunning McCain
By Greg Sargent - September 23, 2008, 6:22PM
In a sign that the Obama campaign is getting serious about tapping his financial advantage over McCain with six weeks to go, Obama’s overall spending on TV ads has jumped 50% in the last two weeks, while McCain’s has held steady — and Obama is now outspending his rival even as he’s up on the air in more states.

In the week ending Sept. 21, Obama spent $9.4 million on TV ads in roughly 15 states, up from $6.5 million in the week that ended two weeks ago, Evan Tracey, who tracks national ad buys for the Campaign Media Analysis Group, tells me. Tracey’s analysis is based on fresh data he obtained this afternoon.

Obama’s increased spending — which has gone up at the rate of over 20% per week over the past three weeks — is largely fueled by boosts in spending in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, according to Tracey.

“They’re ramping up,” Tracey says. “They’re cranking up the volume.”

In contrast to Obama’s ratcheted up spending, his data shows, McCain’s outlay has held steady at around $7.5 million in roughly a dozen states — a number that Obama’s expenditures have now surpassed.

Here are some of the states where Tracey’s data shows that Obama’s spending has jumped:

* In Florida, where the jump is perhaps most dramatic, Obama’s spending has climbed to $1.9 million for the week ending on Sept. 21, from $1.2 million the week before that and $807,000 the week before that. Obama has closed in on McCain in the polls.

* In Colorado, Obama’s spending has jumped 20% a week; it’s at $810,000 for the week ending Sept. 21, up from $500,000 two weeks ago. Obama has edged ahead in the polls.

* In Nevada, where McCain has steadily held a very narrow lead, Obama’s spending is at $500,000 a week, up from $230,000 two weeks ago.

* In Pennsylvania, where Obama has led by increasingly tight margins, the Obama camp has increased its spending 20% since last week”

Are we finally done with laissez-faire, trickle down economics?

Does anyone actually understand the state of our current economy, just how perilous things are? Does anyone understand why we are where we are today?

Well, I’ll tell you Dear Readers. I’ll amble down from my mountain of knowledge, and explain to you the economy as I understand it.

Today, we are in an awful position economically. Whether you feel it or not, the fact remains, we are. A Recession is somehwhat loosely defined as “two or more consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.” We are not CURRENTLY in a recession. But we don’t have the numbers yet for this quarter, and no one will tell you they look good.

The federal government has recently had to bail out global insurance giant AIG from bankruptcy, just the latest in a long line of government bail outs of major financial institutions to avoid bankruptcy. This latest bailout may well reach a total of 1 trillion dollars in taxpayer money. Let me make this clear: this money is coming out of thin air. Literally. Imagine if you had the power to close your eyes, focus reallllly hard, and there would be 1 trillion dollars in your bank account. Well the federal government has that power. We are currently, as a nation, 10 TRILLION dollars in debt. 10 trillion.

These aren’t small mom and pops the government is bailing out. They’re massive conerstones of the financial markets. So why are they failing? Simply put, they’re failing because of deregulation.

In the 1980’s many politicians, among them Phil Gramm, John McCain, Ronald Raegan, and Alan Greenspan, all pushed fo a deregulation of the financial industry. And they got what they wanted. A massive amount of federal regulatory power and oversight were reversed, with the consequence that loans and practices that once weren’t allowed suddenly were. This is great you say. I couldn’t get a loan for a house before, but now I can you say. Housing prices are always going up you say. Things couldn’t be better.

That is, unless housing prices weren’t ALWAYS going up. What if, like any other subset of the economy, housing prices go through ebbs and flows, good years and bad years, as well. Suddenly you have to sell your house. Now you can’t pay back your mortgage. You forclose.

This is the situation we’re in. When you declare bankruptcy and forclose, the bank that owns your mortgage loses a lot of money. And if a lot of people have to do that, it becomes contagious. Banks start to fail. The banks themselves declare bankruptcy. The economy collapses. This is the situation we find ourselves in.

So the government finds itself in the awkward position of having to inflate the economy by creating trillions of dollars in new debt to bail out these financial institutions because it’s by far the lesser evil than letting the economy collapse. But like any debt, it will eventually come home to roost. You can’t simply retain trillions of dollars in debt, run up trillions of dollars in new debt every few years, and expect that debt wont have to be paid. The economy, all economies, function on consumer confidence. Imagine the global depression if the US governemnet defaults on its debts and collapses.

Once again, this isn’t theory. It’s where we are. The debt is due to many factors, not the least of which a war we’re we’ve spent 2.3 trillion dollars, and the loss of control over what’s happening in our economy due to the loss of regulations that keep it under control.

And now, as a volunteer for the Obama campaign, I’ve heard a lot of wariness on the part of voters who feel John McCain would be a better handler of the economy as a President. Let me make this clear: this is HIS mess. It’s his, and his fellow Republican deregulators who feel there shouldn’t be any safeguards against an economy that has no incentive to regulate itself. John Mccain has made clear in recent weeks that he still doesn’t understand the economic mess, or what it takes to fix it. And he wants to continue spending billions every month to keep soldiers dying in Iraq.

Barack Obama has a lot of proposals for what to do with education. Health care. Alternative energy sources. But perhaps the most important tenant of an Obama administration is pay as you go government. For every dollar Senator Obama wants to spend as President, he wants to pay for it with increased revenue, or a decrease in spending somewhere else. He also has promised NOT to raise taxes on the middle, lower, or even most of the upper classes. He wants to raise taxes on the top 1% of the tax bracket, the very people who reaped MASSIVE breaks from the Bush administration. He also wants to close loopeholes for industries that currently have unfair and unneccesary holes in the tax code, that allow them to do the majority of their business in America and pay no taxes for that privelidge.

Barack Obama is clearly the smartest man we’ve had run for President in ANY of our lifetimes. He understands the issues, the electorate, and what it takes to solve these problems we find ourslelves so deep in. John McCain says the “fundamentals of our economy are strong” one day, and the very next day calls for the firing of the SEC chairman, a firing that NOONE else has called for. The chairman is simply doing the best he can to regulate an industry in which John McCain was instrumental in getting rid of the regulations that protect it. So let’s not mince words. John McCain is a living, breathing disaster. He doesn’t understand you, he doesn’t understand your problems, and he doesn’t understand your life. Barack Obama does. And that’s why I support him for President.

This is straight from talkingpointsmemo.com.

“Embarrassing
Well, we’ve heard the interview now. And John McCain either doesn’t know who the Prime Minister of Spain is, thinks Spain is a country in Latin America, or possibly both.

In case, you haven’t seen our updates from last night, yesterday John McCain was interviewed on the Florida affiliate of Spanish radio network Union Radio. And in the interview McCain appeared not to know who the Prime Minister of Spain was and assumed he was some anti-American leftist leader from South America.

After the interviewer presses him a couple times on the point and tries to focus him on the fact that Prime Minister Zapatero isn’t from Mexico and isn’t a drug lord either McCain comes back at her saying, “All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. And that’s judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region.”

Then there’s a moment of awkward pause before she says. “But what about Europe? I’m talking about the President of Spain.”

McCain: “What about me, what?

Interviewer: “Are you willing to meet with him if you’re elected president?”

McCain: “I am wiling to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for humans rights, democracy and freedom. And I will stand up to those who do not.”

At this point, the interviewer gets tongue-tied presumably because she can’t get over McCain not knowing what Spain is.

–Josh Marshall”