Obama at 50%

Not a fan of horse race politics, but I like to big up my man Barack. Currently the Gallup Poll is Obama at 50% to 44% for a sliding McCain. Goes to show, in a tough week with real issues, more Americans choose Obama to lead us. Big jump in the polls this week for our next President. They know another Republican term will crush this country.

Daily Gallup Poll

Yet Another Grandpa Moment For McCain

I respect my elders, I think Grandparents are the best. But I don't need one running the country in 2008. On it's own, its no biggie, but collectively McSame is just not sharp enough to be President. He keeps getting his facts wrong. Couple with his poor judgement, this is a deadly mix. Hyperbole intended.

Here is a quote, via E&P, where mixes up the National Guard and the Army regarding Palin's son, a person you would think he could better remember.

'I also know, if I might remind you, that she is commander of the Alaska National Guard. In fact, you may know that on Sept. 11 a large contingent of the Alaska Guard deployed to Iraq and her son happened to be one of them. So I think she understands our national security challenges....'

"The ceremony Palin attended at Fort Wainwright last week didn't involve the Alaska National Guard. Palin's son is in the Army, and his unit - 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division - deployed to Iraq."

Mr Military McCain continues to get a free pass by his own base. Haven't Republicans learned from Bush that you need to know your shit or you're going to run this country into the ground?

Massive government, massive debt, massive bailouts. Low IQ leaders. That's the GOP.

Don't Just Fire One Guy

Via BobGeiger.com:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was kicking some butt yesterday. Addressing a crowd in New Mexico, Obama responded to John McCain's silly claim that if he were president he would fire SEC Chairman Christopher Cox -- the president doesn’t have the authority to fire the SEC chairman -- by saying that it's time to fire all of Team Bush and don’t let anyone who looks so much like him win in November.

"In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other-way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path. Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration. Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problems and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you."

Republicanism is over.



TEXT

Todd Palin Attempts To Dissolves The Alaska Legislature

So if Sarah Palin is likened to Bush for her incurious approach to government, cronyism and vindictiveness for insubordination, then her husband and "First Dork Dude" Todd Palin must be "Dick" Cheney for his utter contempt for the rule of law in a democratic society. Todd was among 13 people subpoenaed by the Alaska Legislature. McCain-Palin presidential campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan, and top U.S. terrorism prosecutor from New York, announced today that Todd Palin would not appear, because he no longer believes the Legislature's investigation is legitimate. No longer legitimate? That's why they sent up their top lawyers to slow this down. That's why Todd's email is all over Government business as seen in Sarah's hacked Yahoo account.

Wasn't Todd an Alaska Independent Party member for 7 years? He doesn't want to be part of the lower 48 anyways. That's what make their RNC "Country First" signs look ridiculous. It's not country first, it's me first, then Alaska because it has cool snowmobiles, then maybe country if I agree with it.

What if Michele Obama refused a subpoena? The Republicans would be throwing a fit.

Palin's Yahoo Account Hacked

[Now she knows what it is like to be spied on. Bush does it all the time, without warrants.]

Check out what Sarah Palin was emailing from her personal Yahoo account. Government business? You bet. Included were several from addresses belonging to her aides, including a draft letter to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a discussion of nominations to the state court of appeals, and several bearing "DPS", the acronym for the Alaska Department of Public Safety. DPS supervises the Alaska state troopers.

"Could the e-mails in question be relevant to the brewing ethics storm over Palin's push to sack her former brother-in-law from the force?"

I'm sure McPain is re-thinking that one day vetting brunch meet-and-greet he had with her. Maybe the VP nomination would have changed if she answered "any outstanding investigations we should know about" like the magic-believing evangelical she is and said, "yes, because I'm highly vindictive."



Wikileaks page on Palin email hack

UPDATE:
Read about the hack on Wired Magazine. Turns out it was a student from Tennessee.

Sarah Palin: Hit The Repeat Button

via 23/6:

Sarah Palin has to repeat the lie verbatim or else she might forget how her story goes.

ABC News: Yet Another Network Nailing McCain

Republicanism is done. Soundbytes are the norm, feast on these videobytes:

• "Mr. Deregulation" McCain broke down the long standing firewalls in the 90's that enabled the Banks, Investment Houses and Insurance Companies to morph into the Wall Street house of cards situation we have now. His mentor Phil Gramm's legacy, too.
  
• As George Will points out, McCain, who now sees regulation as the answer, has a "conversion of convenience". The kind of conversion that happens in literally one day that one would have after maybe a single conversation. That's a principled leader!
  
• On March 25, 2008 McCain was calling for more Wall Street deregulation. Out of touch, foot on the conservative peddle, ramblings of a confused old man.
  

Where Is Bush?

In all that has happened in the past three days, plus what went down over the weekend, where is Bush? Just like on 9/11 and after Katrina, he is no where. Hiding like the failure he is.

Not like he could do anything, or understand what is going on, but it would be a good sign to be a little more visible.

UPDATE:
Bush gave a short 2-minute speech today, 9/18, but did not take questions. I guess it’s tough to face the music when his administration is responsible for the worst economic collapse we’ve seen since the Depression.

CNN Reports On Every McCain Campaign Lie

Obama wants to teach sex to kindergarteners? Lie.
Palin opposed the Bridge to Nowhere? Lie.
Palin hasn’t taken earmarks as Governor? Lie.
Alaska produces 20% of America’s energy? Lie.
Palin visited Iraq and Ireland? Lie.

The Democrats will point out the lies, the Republicans will just see it as business as usual. You can actually see all the lies here at the McCainpedia website. As of today there were 57 lies they fact checked.

The Outsiders, A Walk Through

Washington DC and Wall St are old school institutions.

McCain and Palin, or McPain, are going to reform these large and influence-laden entities as outsiders. Both are distancing themselves from the 8-year Bush Republican shitstorm they are a part of. They have no friends in the Democrats. Palin has to be introduced to Washington, take a course in economics and, at the same time, digest about 200 years of World Policy.

How do you suspect these two are going to accomplish this? By uniting Republicans and Democrats? By understanding the intricacies of these massive problems and formulating answers that address both the needs of today and the future?

Introduce yourself, learn everything, tell people how to do their job, all without the Republican base or partisan Democratic help? Guaranteed failure.

If you believe that I have a bridge in Alaska I want to sell you.

The fact is, 72 year old McCain is the embodiment of the old boy network he disdains. The lobbyists he exhorts as the problem run his campaign. Like Obama says, "The Old Boys Network? In the McCain campaign that's called a staff meeting." Watch the video.

Reagan's Words Ring Hollow, Yet Scary

As I reflect on modern day Republicanism and it's mass failure to "help" America, I think back to their halcyon days of yesteryear. According to Conservatives and Republicans, Ronald Reagan, circa 1980, said the scariest words were: "I’m from the government, and I’m here to help." Seems that sentence is the slogan de jour for the GOP in these financially tough times. How do they explain George W. Bush's administration bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, injecting massive capital into Wall St failures and buying insurance giant AIG? Seems all that small government, "let the markets adjust" economic rhetoric is complete bullshit for these guys. The US is a socialized country when it comes to large failures, spread the pain. But when it comes to profits, it's all about privatizing it for the well off. Fair play. But don't call it capitalism. It's not. True capitalism would tear this country to pieces.

But I guess Reagan's words were right in the sense the government will "help" you lose your rights, they can now wiretap you, spy on you, detain you forever, torture you, suspend habeas corpus, have Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown show up after a hurricane, have mental midget Alberto Gonzales protect your rights, have John Bolton represent you in the UN, and the list of Republican "help" goes on. Government is inefficient, I get that. But the Republicans have made it incompetent. Big difference.

So take that big incompetent government you're supposed to hate, even though it bails you out at every crisis, and think if the Republicans got there way, Reagan's words would mean, "I’m from the government, and I’m here to make you have a baby because I've taken your choice away. You have to have this baby." Imagine a more personal decision that the government wants to make for you? You don't decide, the government already did for you.

Stay free, vote Obama.

Obama Leads, Palin Bounce Over

Barack Obama takes back lead in the recent Gallup Poll, 47% to McSame's 45%. That is a seven point swing since Sept 7th [down by 5, now up by 2]. Will that make the Drudge Report or Fox Noise? Or any news cycle?

The RNC bump was good for a while, but over time, zero attention to the middle class, petty distractions, lies and lack of transparency will kill the Republican ticket.

Our Next President

The Republicans have ruined this country. Their "divide and conquer, divide and rule" style coupled with zero oversight and greed have brought us here. Government by the people, for the people is what we need. Vote Obama.



Transcript:
In the past few weeks, Wall Street's been rocked as banks closed and markets tumbled. But for many of you -- the people I've met in town halls, backyards and diners across America -- our troubled economy isn't news. 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. Paychecks are flat and home values are falling. It's hard to pay for gas and groceries and if you put it on a credit card they've probably raised your rates. You're paying more than ever for health insurance that covers less and less. This isn't just a string of bad luck. The truth is that while you've been living up to your responsibilities, Washington has not. That's why we need change. Real change. This is no ordinary time and it shouldn't be an ordinary election. But much of this campaign has been consumed by petty attacks and distractions that have nothing to do with you or how we get America back on track. Here's what I believe we need to do. Reform our tax system to give a $1,000 tax break to the middle class instead of showering more on oil companies and corporations that outsource our jobs. End the "anything goes" culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions. Fast track a plan for energy 'made-in-America' that will free us from our dependence on mid-east oil in 10 years and put millions of Americans to work. Crack down on lobbyists - once and for all -- so their back-room deal-making no longer drowns out the voices of the middle class and undermines our common interests as Americans. And yes, bring a responsible end to this war in Iraq so we stop spending billions each month rebuilding their country when we should be rebuilding ours. Doing these things won't be easy. But we're Americans. We've met tough challenges before. And we can again. I'm Barack Obama. I hope you'll read my economic plan. I approved this message because bitter, partisan fights and outworn ideas of the left and the right won't solve the problems we face today. But a new spirit of unity and shared responsibility will.

Republicans And Jonh McCain In A Nutshell

Think of what McCain said during the Republican primaries, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." Sums him up perfectly.

Via Washinton Monthly:

"[In 1999], McCain had joined with other Republicans to push through landmark legislation sponsored by then-Sen. Phil Gramm (Tex.), who is now an economic adviser to his campaign. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act aimed to make the country's financial institutions competitive by removing the Depression-era walls between banking, investment and insurance companies.

That bill allowed AIG to participate in the gold rush of a rapidly expanding global banking and investment market. But the legislation also helped pave the way for companies such as AIG and Lehman Brothers to become behemoths laden with bad loans and investments.

McCain now condemns the executives at those companies for pursuing the ambitions that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act made possible."

In other words, McCain personally gave the financial industry a green light to do exactly what they did. And now he's outraged. McSame is tring to reinvent himself on the fly.

It's precisely why McCain's economic message has been so oddly incoherent this week. Turning on a dime, he's gone from supporting fewer regulations to supporting more, from supporting less oversight to supporting more. McCain is slamming Wall Street execs for playing a dangerous game after McCain helped throw out the rules.

This is the mind of a 72 year old man who never had to be consistent, he could always play the outsider roll. But when you change your position so many times that "flip-flip" is a vast understatement, you just look like you'll say or do anything to get elected.

Read on

Obama's Tax Plan Benefits "The Everyman"

Chartjunk website

A more accurate model for Obama's tax breaks. See how much the average guy will benefit. See how top heavy McCain's plan is. The rich getting richer. That's protectionism for the wealthy.

Imagine If Social Security Were Privitized By McCain

So John McCain today says:

"Too many people on Wall Street have been recklessly wagering instead of making the sound investments we expected of them.... Too many people on Wall Street have forgotten or disregarded the basic rules of sound finance.... Too many firms on Wall Street have been able to count on casual oversight by regulatory agencies in Washington."

Ezra Klein of The American Prospect points out:

"Three years ago, John McCain signed on to George W. Bush's efforts to privatize Social Security. He surveyed Wall Street and decided that it was a stable enough institution to entrust with the nation's pension funds. Three years ago. And this wasn't just an attempt to cozy up to Bush: McCain was arguing for privatization in 1999. So McCain's argument is that Wall Street is built atop an unstable regulatory foundation and is shot through with most of the seven deadly sins. That the situation has been allowed to fester so long is evidence that "people were asleep at the switch." Even so, McCain has consistently argued that much of Social Security should be turned over to ... Wall Street. Either he wanted to tank the nation's pensions funds or he was one of the people asleep at the switch. But those are really the only two options here."

McCain doesn't get it and doesn't care.

Full Ezra Klein article here

As seen in the comments: "Our whole capitalist system is based on the assumption that people are greedy--or rather that they will work in their self-interest and maximize their utility. That's why we need governments to step in a regulate in order to stop dangerous things that the firms in the financial sector might do that is in their individual self-interest but is not in the interest of the country, or even Wall Street as a whole."

New Obama Ad: “Fundamentals Are Strong” Is The New “Stay The Course”

McCain is fundamentally clueless. The top 2% and owners of 7 houses see things differently. “Fundamentals Are Strong” is the new “Stay The Course”. Out of touch.

Obama Hammers McCain On The Economy

Democrats can exhale, the campaign is changing direction and is moving into real issues. Forget McSames distractions and SNL skits, watch this great video of Obama taking Grandpa McCain to the tool shed regarding the economy.

"John McCain cannot be trusted to reestablish proper oversight of our financial markets for one simple reason: he has shown time and again that he does not believe in it,"

The problem with Republicans is they confuse the free market with a free license to let special interests take whatever they can get. And when McCain offered up his stale commission idea to study the problem, Barack countered:

"Just today, Senator McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book - you pass the buck to a commission to study the problem. But here's the thing -- this isn't 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out. I'll provide it, John McCain won't, and that's the choice for the American people in this election."

With 7 weeks to go, Barack Obama is going to contrast his style with John McCain. Naturally, the last 8 years of Bush will weigh heavy on him and his inability to re-brand himself as "Republican Who Voted With Bush 90% Yet I'm Different" will cement his doom. As Barack points out:

"His outrage at Wall Street would be more convincing if he wasn't offering them more tax cuts. His call for fiscal responsibility would be believable if he wasn't for more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and more of a trillion dollar war in Iraq paid for with deficit spending and borrowing from foreign creditors like China. His newfound support for regulation bears no resemblance to his scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement."

The voters will see, The US will see. The Republican days of greed are over. Barack Obama is our next President.

Washington monthly article here

Addendum:
Direct quote from John McCain today on his commission:

"I warned two years ago that this situation was deteriorating and unacceptable," McCain said on "Good Morning America" on ABC. "And the old-boy network and the corruption in Washington is directly involved and one of the causes of this financial crisis that we're in today. And I know how to fix it and I know how to get things done."

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly points out the elderly one's logic:

"Is it me, or is this message a little disjointed? McCain knows precisely why this crisis unfolded, and he wants a commission to help him determine precisely why this crisis unfolded. McCain saw this coming two years ago (for which we're supposed to give him credit), but as a policy maker and presidential hopeful, he didn't lift a finger to try to prevent or address it before it became a crisis (for which we're not supposed give him credit)."

McCain Advisor Rips 'SNL' Skit

So the McCain campain, via advisor/surrogate Carly "HP Flunkie" Fiorina, says the SNL skit, yes the SNL skit, the other night was "sexist, in the sense that just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean that she lacks substance." Sexist? Two women being different is sexist? Or is she calling Hillary a man? So by Fiorina's remarks, to not be sexist, is she saying that Palin deserves a pass from any accusations of lack of substance because she's a woman? But that's what you get when your campaign slogans are divorced from reality: a campaign surrogate on auto pilot who doesn't know when the "sexist" card applies and when it doesn't. The incompetent woman doth protest too much, methinks.

The Washington Monthly points out:

"And in this case, if Palin was presented as superficial and lacking substance, it might have something to do with the fact that she's never heard of the Bush Doctrine, doesn't know that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac didn't receive tax dollars, doubts that human activity is responsible for global warming, thinks entitlement reform has something to do with finding "efficiencies" at the "agencies," and to date hasn't demonstrated any expertise in any area of public policy."

Zing! A sketch comedy show pwned you. Carly responds to SNL skits now. Pop culture mockery flusters the GOP. Just a few weeks ago McCain himself was justifying his Paris/Britney smears by calling them funny and light. Lighten up Grandpa.

Washington Monthly article

Lack Of Tranparency

I keep hearing about the smart guys on Wall St losing so much money because of a lack of transparency and greed. Lehman Brothers and AIG are the biggest victims today making the news cycle, but I see this in a broader symbolism, as a mirror of the Republican mindset under Bush and Cheney. They used secrecy, shadow governments and "black ops" to get their agenda past the masses in an attempt to grab as much power as they could. Like the unregulated markets they champion, the GOP tried to exploit their collective lack of oversight, at the same time changing the three branch rule of law to tip in their favor through enhanced presidential powers [Unitary Executive Theory]. Bush would never call out Rumsfeld or Condi Rice as failures, Cheney's power was protected by all. They were living a dream where facts went unchecked and loyalty trumped competence.

And just like the old Wall St companies being brought to their knees by this lawless hubris, the Republican brand will enter a moral Chapter 11 for the next few years, destroyed by Bush/Cheney leveraging the Rove-style politics of culture wars and not properly using risk analysis with their foreign policy that has trapped the US in costly endless wars. The value they has in 2000 and 2004 are like worthless paper these days. The Republicans used margin buying on 9/11 and exponentially used fear to stay in power. Those days are over.

America expects more and their mandate will bring Barack Obama to the White House.

Obama's New Ad: McCain Has His Pants On Fire

Liar, Liar. The tipping point has begun for McCain. Obama is our next President.

Historic Day On Wall Street

Lehman Brothers Files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch agrees to sell itself to Bank of America for $50 billion, half of its 2007 value. Insurance giant AIG is teetering on collapse looking for a $40 billion lifeline from the Federal Reserve.

NYT article

I'm sure "Straight Talk" McCain, totally detached from reality, thinks the economy is doing well. What a farce. Rather than just give an honest assessment of the situation, McSame would rather pull a "heckuva job" move out of Bush's Book Of Denial. America needs a leader who sees problems for what they are, not political interpretations that may or may not make his/her party look good. McSame's blind optimism is good for his grandson's little league team, but our economy, and the true understanding and acknowledgment of crises, is what makes a leader.

I understand McCain is Bush and their Republican policies are the same. They let corporations control them, even as they outsource and run this country into the ground with greed. The Republicans borrow and spend mindset has torched our economy. Does America realize this?

Back in the real world, Obama on why the crisis means it's time for a change:

"I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It's a philosophy we've had for the last eight years -- one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It's a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises."

Watch the trailer for I.O.U.S.A. and see how borrowing against our debt is going to rock us. Soon.

McSame: Opposite of Hope

McCain is the new Rove. Opposite of hope.

Palin And Hillary Together

Life imitating art. Tina Fey nails the Palin accent. Opening sketch from last night's SNL.