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.

McCain Lies: One Simple Video Shows His Distortions

Spread this around. The video succinctly points out all the deliberate lies and out of context quotes used by McSame. McCain is desperate. He needs to be put in his place.

Sanctimonious Republicans

When you think of all the truth bending and outright lying by McCain and his trophy VP Sarah Palin, and to a bigger extent the lecturing the Right Wing tend to give on morality, keep this ditty in mind:

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

One of the Ten Commandments. In every Bible. Not only do they break it, they LOVE breaking it. Palin is a Jesus freak, you'd never know it with her introduction to the world - full of deception, doublespeak and lies. The sarcasm toward the lower class, vis a vis the community organizers jab, was quite pious.

The Straight Talk Express is Busted, Over, Extinct

After skirting the direct question from reporter Robert Caldwell, of WCSH in Portland, ME, "What credentials does Gov Palin have in National Security", McCain, who admits to not knowing much about the economy, stumbles and spits out this gem:

McCain: I said the greatest challenge of our time is national security threats and I’ve also said jobs and economy is the number one issue facing America so, but the point is that Gov. Palin is right on the issues. She understands energy which is one of the fundamental issues of our security….She was right on Iraq, she was right on Russia….

Q: You say you’re sure she has experience, but again I’m just asking for an example. What experience does she have in the field of national experience.

McCain: Energy. She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America..

Knows more about energy than anyone else? Really? Not just oil, but the entire field of energy. Wind, electric, solar, hybrids? I'm sure she can ramble for days on the benefits of green energy.

A small TV station in Maine has exposed the VP sham in one question.

Robert Caldwell's interview with McCain video here, very good

Matthews: "It is impossible to fail as much as this President has."

Chris Matthews on Rachel Maddow's show: “It is impossible to fail as much as this President has.”



CLICK HERE to watch the video [will open in new window]

A Real President

Barack Obama is our next President. McCain can use his lame tactics all he wants, the real mandate in this country, not the mandate of any candidate, is that we need change. "Bush Hugger" McSame is not the answer, Obama is.

This Ad Is All About Grandpa McSame

Video hits the right chord, part humor, part serious, all facts. McCain is old guy and out of touch with what is going on in 2008. He can't even find this blog or know how to email me. In this complex world with its global problems, we don't need a President you wouldn't trust with the TV remote.



America is like a massive tech company. Do you want the guy at the top to be clueless? Imagine if McCain were running Microsoft and he has no idea how his company works, would you buy the stock? You'd sell it instantly. If this video offends like-minded people who are geriatrics and don't use computers, that's ok, their ignorance is bliss. For the rest of us, competence and intellect is what we need. This is a race to the top, not to the bottom.

Palin Interview With Charlie Gibson

One of the better exchanges from the ABC interview between Palin and Gibson, highlighting the absurdity of her credentials and her "experience by osmosis" the Republicans are trying to pass off.

Behold the braintrust that is Palin.

PALIN: We’ve gotta keep an eye on Russia. … You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.
GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they’re doing inside Georgia?
PALIN: Well, I’m giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relations with all of these countries, especially Russia.

Translation: It means jack shit. It's like saying you live next to a gas station so, by proximity alone, you have the experience to deal with OPEC.

Watch this video and feel how small her brain is. Like watching a bad beauty pageant. She's like a bad poker player who gets aggressive when she's bluffing.



Note: every Vice President over the last 30 years had met a foreign head of state before being elected.

Natural Born Drillers

The Oil Industry in human form.