Remember this really damning picture of McCain celebrating his birthday with Charles Keating, the villain of the last big taxpayer bailout of unrestrained Republican greed? Here’s the article where bmaz got that photo (pdf from The Phoenix Sun Gazette, September 12, 1993).

Everyone should see this picture and know this story. It should be a cautionary tale. Obama needs to point this out and the media needs to get the message across to the American people that the last time we had a crisis even close to this it was at the hands of Charles Keating and the “Keating Five” — including John McCain. His current posse is no better, and his recent buffoonery only validates that he has no real idea what he’s doing with the economy.

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Wow!  After two long weeks of great reading and poll shifting the dust is finally starting to settle and the facts are beginning to seep into the consciousness of average Americans.  It’s been a wild ride, but the race has only begun. Here’s my two-week roundup of stories and events that caught my attention.  Certainly it isn’t everything over the last two weeks, so updates may follow.  I also will try and exclude topics I’ve already discussed at length in other posts.

There is a great post up at Mudflats right now (actually quite a few great posts) about Sarah Palin from the Alaskan politician’s perspective.  The guest poster, Les Gara, is the kind of politician I wish I could support in my own home district.  His examples are clear and his contentions are substantiated.  The post is well worth the read, as is anything from Mudflats.  Here’s my highlight:

Did I mention the personal attacks against our local public officials only started after Sen. McCain sent his flacks up to our small state on August 29?  They came with a mission to make America believe a Republican-initiated investigation, started with a unanimous committee vote of 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats, was a “partisan” plot.  That’s only a tough sell if people know the facts.

You know there are problems with the economy when even Alan Greenspan says this is the worst economy he’s ever seen. What’s even more striking is that Greenspan goes further to say that America could not afford Senator McCain’s tax proposals. Unless you’re a complete atomaton, the typical argument that Democrats will “raise your taxes” while Republicans fight for lower taxes will simply not fly this year. McCain has frequently stated he can clean up the budget by cutting earmark spending, but cutting pork alone will not come close to balancing the budget. Eliminating the needless bloodshed and drain of resources that is the Iraq War would certainly be a bigger step toward getting spending under control.  

One of the surprising, yet inspiring, stories from the campaign trail was the turnout at the “Alaska Women Reject Palin” rally in Anchorage, Alaska over the weekend. The photos alone give me hope for our political process.  Many are calling this the largest protest rally in Alaska’s history.  Below is my favorite photo/sign from the rally.

Stories about Sarah Palin’s affinity toward crony hiring practices became evident over the weekend as well. Once elected to public office, she fired professionals and hired former classmates from Wasilla High School. She went a step further to trim down her own duties as Mayor, passing the buck on responsibility while accepting all the credit.  If that alone doesn’t scream of “politics as usual” and a repeat of the Bush-Cheney administration, I don’t know what would actually get that message across.  Willed ignorance seems to run rampant in this country.  

Then there was the barrage of all-out lies from the McCain campaign, beginning with “Thanks, but no thanks” and continuing through a few ads that were only on TV for a short period of time but generated a lot of buzz in the media and blogosphere.  This is not only disheartening, but also disturbing.  The Associated Press and many other trusted news sources have called shenanigans on the McCain lies and admit this is “testing voters”.  I really hope we pass this test, diligence is patriotism.

Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri sets the story straight on Sarah Palin’s record with earmarks, pointing out that she asked for nearly $750 million in federal funds in her two years as Governor of Alaska.  To call Gov. Palin an earmark reformer is to call Nick Nolte a model citizen.  Here’s a link to the ThinkProgress story, and the video is below. The argument given by Carly Fiorina is also a far cry from the early arguments that she’s here to eradicate the earmark completely, now she thinks we simply “must ask for less of them.”  And just to put things into perspective in terms of expertise, here’s a reminder of Carly Fiorina’s effectiveness at Hewlett-Packard.

You’ve no doubt heard about the money Palin took from the state to live at home, if not from the news then from Weekend Update on SNL.  What you may not have heard about are the questions surrounding whether or not Gov. Palin actually paid taxes on that income.  It’s interesting to see Republicans try to pose one of the most money-hungry state officials as the leader in reform.  If that’s reform, I’m filthy rich.

Senator McCain keeps repeating how he’s enjoyed introducing Palin to the American people, and how he can’t wait to introduce her to Washington. On the campaign trail, this comment often follows his declaration of a willingness to reach across party lines. It makes me recall the recent grilling McCain faced on The View about exactly how she’ll reform Washington.  McCain said just today at a town hall meeting in Orlando “wait ’til the pork-barrelers and the earmark spenders meet her”.  This was laughable in the sense that most of Washington already knows her well, after she requested (and received) the largest per capita earmark spending in the nation over the last two years. Someone tell Senator McCain that he won’t get to introduce her, he’ll simply be the one scheduling the reunion.

One of the best things the primary season gave us was the triumphant return of Saturday Night Live to the top of the satire game.  Some of the material provided by the Democratic Primary would hold up against any former cast of SNL, which is something I never thought I’d be able to say again about the show. This Saturday’s show with Michael Phelps hosting did not disappoint and certainly got off to a hot start. This was also the highest-rated premiere of SNL in six years, according to MSNBC. Here’s the clip.

The rumor that was most swiftly debunked about the extent of Sarah Palin’s “list of books to ban”, which did not exist.  We do know now that the book which provoked the conversation with the librarian about removing books from the shelves.  The book is called Daddy’s Roommate and is geared toward helping children with homosexual parents better understand the situation.  Salon.com also has information on a Baptist pastor who was also targeted by Palin’s effort to ban books. After being encouraged to read the book for herself, Palin refused, instead favoring the removal of the book.  The story played out and the librarian ultimately kept her job, but the question itself is scary to anyone who loves the 1st Amendment.

Just as an example of how widespread the criticism is for recent false ads coming out of the McCain campaign, here are some links, and keep in mind the actual firestorm only began over the weekend.  The Turd Blossom, Karl Rove himself says the recent McCain ads have “gone too far”.  FactCheck.org (a non-partisan group) found lies about Senator Obama’s tax plans. Jon Taplin has a video and some audio clips, but Gordon brings the highlight of the post in the comments section — just take a look at the 9th commandment (the 8th if you’re Catholic). Then there’s this week’s Sunday New York Times, which was ultimately a collection of facts correcting the lies of the McCain camp.  

Today, Carly Fiorina spoke with Andrea Mitchell and explained away the lobbyist issue by saying the McCain campaign has the most strict rules for conflicts of interest.  I wonder if those rules were applied as a top McCain adviser was plucked by the Bush Administration to oversee the (now government run) Freddie Mac? I wonder if Randy Scheunemann’s associations with Georgia have been a conflict of interest as the McCain campaign beats the Cold War 2 war drum? Has that conflict of interest been “strictly regulated” when Charlie Black pushes for a Columbian Free Trade Agreement? The same Columbia where simply wanting to unionize will cause your family to make final arrangements. Sounds like one hell of an agreement to me. Later in the same hour Andrea Mitchell called shenanigans on a McCain campaign spokesman who tried to claim the recent McCain ads are “documentedly true”. That’s the kind of think Americans need to see from our journalists, don’t be biased, but don’t be fooled. Andrea has certainly learned something from her time spent near the late great Tim Russert.

Monday morning also brought the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the buyout of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America. Of course, the campaigns were both asked about the situation, and Senator McCain had to re-state that he thinks the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Chris Matthews pointed out on Hardball today that President Herbert Hoover said the same thing about the economy as we sank into the Great Depression. McCain says that a lack of regulation is to blame. He fails to point out that one of his own campaign advisers, Phil Gramm (of “we’ve become a nation of whiners” fame) helped cause much of the current turmoil in the marketplace. That lack of regulation did not exist just 8 short years ago. Senator Obama makes a great observation, saying that this situation is in year 8 of President Bush’s administration, which has taken a toll on our entire economy. 

Finally I must point out that the McCain campaign is applying pressure on Ron Paul of Texas to support the Republican ticket. Ron Paul has been responsible for much of the mobilization of libertarians and constitutionalists who are fed up with the reckless Bush Administration. It’s no wonder he refuses to support the McCain campaign, which looks to be equal to or worse than Bush-Cheney. I’ll close the post with a couple of questions I (would) have for Senator McCain.

On what specific issues have you bucked your own party, and where do you stand on these issues today?

In your first 100 days in office, what specific reforms would you push and how will they positively affect the American people?

Here is a 65-minute video of Senator Obama speaking at Google, to the tech industry. I know it’s a long video, but it’s worth the watch if you’re curious to know more about the potential of technology and the internet in the next administration.

John McCain never uses the internet — or computers for that matter. He’s admitted his lack of techno-savvy publicly. It’s no surprise that he treats it like an enemy or something to be controlled. Back in 2006, he supported fines for blogs that allow open comments. Making MySpace work to prevent sexual predators from using their site is perfectly legitimate, but there is absolutely no legal concern about commenters on blogs. It’s a spurious claim at best, and Orwellian at worst.

More links:  McCain - OnTheIssues.org, Obama - OnTheIssues.org, Mother Jones on McCain’s Technology Policy, JohnMcCain.com, BarackObama.com.

Concerning John McCain’s official site and his stance on technology, he seems to miss the idea that technology needs a clear vision.  Vague terms and generalizations are not going to get the job done.  Most of his contentions are roundabout Republican talking points.  ”John McCain will not tax new innovation by keeping capital gains taxes low.”  That’s great John, but capital gains doesn’t only affect technology and innovations.  And it’s not the only way to encourage innovation.  Someone should introduce Senator McCain to the X-Prize.

Senator Obama’s technology stance is very exciting for me, not because I’m in the tank but because government transparency is something I’ve advocated and wanted for a long time.  Obama understands that technology is a great way to improve government in general.  If everything the government did were available on Google, would they get away with wasting our money?  As a techie, I am really interested in an Obama administration.

An excellent diary over at the DailyKos details some of the new VP nominee’s ideas on the First Amendment. Not only does she have no concept of history in general but she clearly has even less understanding of the Framers’ intent. Banning books is about the closest anyone can come to outright declaring their desire to control thought.

My bet: Sarah Palin resigns from the ticket by this Saturday, citing her family and a need to be a good mother/grandmother. The McCain campaign will act shocked and as if they aren’t glad to get rid of this albatross, but ultimately will name Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as her replacement. History will still be at stake, as Gov. Jindal’s parents are Indian immigrants. He’s a natural choice, considering the profile of Hurricane Gustav and the great job Jindal has done handling the situation.

Or was this deliberate? Is she John McCain’s Harriet Myers? Someone abrasive who makes it easier to swallow McCain/Lieberman or perhaps even McCain/Romney.

I thought I’d link this Sarah Palin Digest here, it’s a great place to see everything we know about this “reformer”. Props to ThinkProgress for the great reporting.

It’s pretty pathetic when you’re not even able to understand a question and think on your feet enough to react to information that insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Such is the degradation of a once great public official.

Senator McCain seems to believe he’ll safely and quickly bring gas and fuel prices down by drilling off the coast of Florida.

Safety: The technology is safer, but safer and safe are not the same thing. There were over 80 reported spills during Hurricane Katrina. This is like thinking your clothes are still clean if you only got a little barbecue sauce on them.

Economy: It will take anywhere from 10 to 30 years to actually see any economic benefit or increase in supply of oil. You will see nothing from this. Oil companies will.

This explains why today President Bush announces his support for opening the same areas to drilling. After leaving office, you can bet your ass George Bush will again be soaked in Big Oil. His Dick, Cheney too.

What about this: There are tons of land-based drilling contracts that oil companies are not acting upon. It’s cheaper, safer and easier to drill on land. But if those three factors are true of the process, then the prices and profits are not nearly as high. They don’t drill until the prices are high. The solution is to use other sources. Don’t think so much of gas pricing for cars just yet, think of all the other sources we can replace. To ease the demand on gasoline but also lower the costs of other sources of energy first. When other sources are cheaper than oil, we’ll see people switch with no public policy necessary.

Every public building rooftop in sunny America should be covered in photovoltaic cells, allowing infrastructure to become our power plants. A similar experiment in Los Angeles actually was able to power nearly 150,000 homes and will begin new projects to power more. This doesn’t immediately address gas prices, but energy becomes cheaper, and conversion research carries a stronger incentive.

This is just a farce to help our current administration stay rich and above-the-law after leaving office. Reject this nonsense, the American people — not oil companies — solve our own problems.

Technorati Tags: politics, mccain, bush, oil, war

Jon Taplin had a great post that kind of epitomizes two of the key arguments that have been kicked around early in the general election season.  

First, the lavish lifestyle the McCains live show a stark contrast to the image they try to present.  They are not like the common family. They don’t identify fully, even with their peers in the military and education community.  

Second, John McCain is less fiscally responsible in his personal life than Barack Obama.  Given his lack of an heiress wife, Obama’s actually doing more with less than John McCain, who has never experienced a decade working two jobs to pay back student loans while raising children.  One could argue what McCain experienced was far worse, but I’d argue what Obama experienced was far more common and therefore identifies with more people.  This is further supported by the book royalties for the two candidates in the last year:  $4 million from two books for Obama, compared to less than $200,000 for McCain.

Interesting, to say the least. However the media frames the “working-class” seems to miss the boat with issues like this, where I know more people working their ass off to pay off student loans, to pay for school as they go, to pay for daycare so they can attend school, to pay for college even after they return from Iraq because the GI Bill is outdated, to barely pay their bills and never even have a shred of hope at attending college. I know very few husbands of heiresses. Granted, I know no heiress. I know some people who have been wealthy and healthy all their lives, but only because the lived a frugal, fiscally conservative lifestyle.

Compare that the the utter crap John McCain told Matt Lauer today and you have one of the worst examples of a fall from grace I’ve ever seen. I’ve campaigned for McCain in the past, and I’ll probably just stop admitting that. An absolute hero in 2000 has been reduced to literally ignoring facts and the American people and towing the party line. It’s actually not even the party line, just the extreme idiot wing of the party. George Bush’s third term? Did anyone pay attention to the first two?

Of course some of your best friends are Democrats, they are just as much to blame. We don’t want them to have the power now, we don’t want any of you pieces of garbage to control our nation. We want the power back in the hands of the people. Break this mold for Posterity, as our Founding Fathers did for us.

P.S. - Nice little slip “lower Americans”. Thanks, dick. People who work their asses off to barely get by are the ones who enable paper-pushers for shoddy bureaucracies to keep their jobs. And some drink that skunky crap your wife sells, enabling you to fly around in her private jet when your campaign is low on money (even if it’s contrary to a rule bearing your name). You should figure out a way to start respecting the American people, average ones.

Technorati Tags: mccain, iraq, war, bullshit

John McCain seems to not need a memory. Or facts. Or ideas even. He simply lies about Barack Obama’s tax plan and misquotes his “bitter” comments in such an interesting way…

Yes, Senator McCain, I cling to the Constitution, and I am bitter. Do you know why? Because your party and the president whose policies you whole-heartedly endorse have trampled all over the Constitution, the nearly 800 year old writ of habeas corpus, and our civil liberties. And yes, I must now cling to my gun. Not because I think those hippie liberals will take away my right to defend my family or go hunting, but because the essence of the 2nd Amendment is slipping.

Read the 2nd Amendment, there is no doubt the Founding Fathers were skeptical of government themselves. Our right to bear arms will always protect our freedom — from the government. Yes we use them for sport and personal protection, but the root of this freedom came from people who knew what it was like to be oppressed and have no rights or representation.

So Senator McCain, I cling to my gun and the Constitution. I find this works best when the Constitution is under attack. Maybe if you could correctly identify or quote anything, you’d understand just WHO they are under attack from — ideologues, on both sides.

When it comes right down to it, anyone who understand the incredible personalities of our Founding Fathers knows any one of them would cold-cock any or all of our elected officials for gross offenses to the Constitution. Less than 1% of those we’ve elected to represent the people are actually representing our interests. This isn’t so much about any one party as it is about partisanship in general. It’s phony. It’s old school. A dying school, I pray, for the sake of my country.

Technorati Tags: politics, mccain,, constitution

If you like 26-year-olds being able to retire, then you love the 15% capital gains tax. If I have extra money and put it in the market to make more money, I pay that 15%. If I work my ass off 60-hours a week in a warehouse, I’m paying around 30%. That’s pretty awesome, huh? And truly, why are we taxing work (something we want people to do) at all?

Most people in America, at or around age 65 are forced into retirement. This is common practice, and perfectly acceptable in modern business. Maybe it is a good idea, but if we’re doing anything at all we should at least apply the rule to everyone. So I guess the question is…why do we allow people well past our own working age to run for the highest office in the land, if they’re no longer fit to work for the United States Postal Service? How can we have a commander-in-chief well past retirement age for our Army officers?

He’s losing grip on everything he once was. I’m ashamed of the campaigning I did for him in 2000, although I still wish it had been him over President Bush in the first place. This is what he has become:

Technorati Tags: mccain, obama, change, progress, politics

Since he only had one word on which to hinge his entire argument yesterday on Hardball.  Much thanks to Chris Matthews for simply showing how some who have prominent positions and loud voices on talk radio have no idea or concern for the facts, they only concern themselves with apologizing for the current, corrupt administration.

Here are the only two ideas I have to improve the quality of Kevin James’ thoughts, ideas, and hopefully broadcasts if he’s actually allowed to sit behind a microphone.

AND A

Dictionary

 
Technorati Tags: politics, hardball
 

This is absurdity ad nauseam, and I know Michael Savage isn’t taken seriously by 90% of his listeners, but I can’t even believe he thinks this nonsense is legitimate. Reverend Wright can easily be described as a harsh critic of American foreign and domestic policy, but he’s served this country for 6 years in the military and 3 decades in his Chicago community. His church is ethnically diverse, not an all-black congregation preaching separation. Still, Reverend Wright is an ego-maniac, no doubt.

Rod Parsley, on the other hand, is literally trying to start a religious war and crusade. He believes somehow that America was created to destroy Islam, ignoring the language of the 1st Amendment. It is clear that the government shall stay out of the way, and the affairs of religion. If his extremist church believes there’s a call to arms against Islam, it has nothing to do with the American government. It really has nothing to do with reality. His conception is perverse and incites violence, but by the very Constitution he ignores, his voice is protected.

The same document, complete with our 1st Amendment for 217 years gives Reverend Wright the same freedom to speak his misguided mind. The problem I have is with the coverage and the cutting of 30 years of sermons down to a 30-second clip. If Reverend Wright were truly an America hater and separation advocate, wouldn’t they be able to continually produce clips, rather than simply playing endlessly the same 30 seconds of his long career?

All I believe is that everyone should be fairly informed, not halfway informed. If my coverage appears slanted, I’d implore it is simply because the preponderance of evidence in current events is so drastically slanted in one direction. I’d protect, tooth-and-nail, everyone’s right to freely practice their faith. This includes Islam. Not because, as Michael Savage says, “the libs are gonna jump in and say that they believe in Islam, because most of them would believe in anything except Christianity,” but because I believe in the Constitution and specifically the 1st Amendment. I believe more in this country than religious ideology because it is America — not any church — which has given me most in life.

America promises two basic things, freedom and opportunity. In some cases, opportunity has been found wanting but the goals remain the same. Success rates vary over the years, but we continually find the American dream exist where freedom and new ideas meet opportunity. I’m a political scientist by training, and one who wholeheartedly believes in empirical analysis rather than reactionary zeal.

Here is the article from Media Matters that provoked this diatribe. And here’s a video of Parsley being a rod, and some clips of how Senator McCain sees this “moral compass and spiritual guide.”

“We get off on warfare!” -Rod Parsley

Compare that with the entirety of Reverend Wright’s message in the infamous “chickens are coming home to roost” sermon.

The difference is also evident in the rhetoric of the campaigns. Senator Obama says we should have a dialogue with all nations, not to appease or deal with terrorists as President Bush ignorantly and recklessly stated in Israel last weekend. Two years ago, Senator McCain said we would eventually have to “deal with Iran” in reference to a question about his diplomatic approach with dictators. The question was not about potential military action.

Here’s a clip of John McCain discussing diplomatic dealings with Hamas two years ago.

And today’s video of a McCain campaign surrogate explaining the new, updated stance on what McCain meant two years ago:

Obama wishes to have a diplomatic, yet strong position in the world. Bringing our troops home to rest, be with their families, help the homeland recover from natural disasters and protect our citizens at home will benefit our national security. Endless war at the monetary expense of future generations and the psychological expense of an entire generation of our young, often poor and minority populations.

It’s nothing new that the military is one of the best opportunities this nation offers for youth to move up in the world if they come from an impoverished area. The problem is when unjust wars are waged at their expense. In that sense, supporting the poor and disenfranchised is supporting the troops and those who support and suffer most with the troops — their families.

 
• When three-fifths of our men and women returning from Iraq are diagnosed with PTSD and depression — it is time to support our troops.
• When evidence that our government has urged Army doctors to stop prescribing PTSD and depression, in favor of the cheaper-to-treat “adjustment syndrome” — it is time to support our troops.
• When more children in a region already negatively disposed to America are orphaned in a war they don’t understand, much like those who perpetrated the atrocity of September 11 — it’s time to support our troops by taking them out of harm’s way.
• When there is an “al-Qaeda in Iraq” now, where there was not before as a result of failed policy that takes our attention away from Afghanistan where our real enemy exists — it is time to support our troops by putting them in the best position to succeed and bring justice to the victims of bin Laden.
• When those who fight, risk death and lose mental health and limbs to serve this country for only two years are denied education benefits — we must support our troops.

 

That is the way Senator Obama wishes to support the troops.  Make no mistake, he’ll be going after bin Laden, and anyone else who threatens to attack us or our allies.  He just won’t pretend talking to someone is like giving them Czechoslovakia in an attempt at appeasement.  Talking gives us a chance to look them in the eyes and say, you will not bully us.  And it gives the person with the most power a chance to work toward a solution, rather than simply declaring another war and orphaning another generation of foreign children. Here’s Obama’s response to historically ignorant attacks from President Bush and John McCain:

It is un-American to leave your children worse off than your parents left you, not to exercise your 1st Amendment right to free expression.

Senator McCain was also exposed by the DailyKos for having lied about former President Reagan’s negotiations and dealings with Iran.  This man has clearly lost his bearings.  Whether it is to do with his age or is incredible lust for the presidency, his ideas have become polluted and convoluted in a way that betrays his previous “maverick” status.

Technorati Tags: politics, obama, mccain, war, iraq, iran, appeasement, diplomacy

This is not uncommon.  This is how the current administration is treating the troops, and how Senator McCain will continue to treat them if he is elected.  He’s already contended that giving education benefits to soldiers who serve the country for only two years would hurt the military by decreasing retention.  This is already more disgusting than the Vietnam War.  Coming from Iraq, 60% of soldiers return with clinical depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.  People I know, people you know, four thousand of them — gone.  But still worse is that those who return are not the same as well.  A depressed generation, guilty of doing nothing but serving their country. 

The fascinating thing that always struck me about the Cold War was how ill-defined it was.  It was hot, but it was a series of proxy wars.  And when you look at the puppeteering, and the arming of militants to combat Soviet-backed militants in places like Afghanistan, you understand that Jeremy Glick is both directly affected by 9/11 and informed about the entire history of the situation.

See also:  Iran Contra, Iraq-Iran War, Taliban history
Technorati Tags: war, iraq, education, mccain

A recent AP article describing the mutual fund sale of $2 million in oil-related companies operating in Sudan by Cindy McCain. The information actually came from a McCain campaign spokesperson, which I take to mean it is relevant for public consumption of the entire picture of all three candidates. We can discuss acquaintances, pastors, spouses and certainly investments in order to find out what kind of character will lead our nation. This sale led me to some digging, where this Reuters article on a possible cure for the genocide going down in the Darfur region of Sudan offered a chance to split my perspective.

Cindy McCain sells funds, ceasing her investment in a company doing business in Sudan. Was she funding the genocide, or is she now helping to stop it? Or both? Possibly, the answer is that her investment was in fact helping to fund militant groups responsible for murder, rape and torture at alarming rates and that pulling support does remove her influence from the conflict. Her husband, however, would have a larger responsibility in this region if he were to be confirmed by the people this November 4th.

John McCain is speaking in Phoenix today (05/05/08), fielding typical questions along with a few ‘Cinco de Mayo’ immigration questions. It’s laughable that reporters say things like “since it’s Cinco de Mayo, I wanted to ask you about immigration.” McCain has been one of the more rational Republicans on the issue. He was asked a few questions about Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his relationship(if any) with the controversial sheriff. Sheriff Joe boasts great results, and makes people feel safe. That is, unless you are darker than a paper bag, which is probably why McCain made no close association with Arpaio.

Four minutes after talking about suspending the gas tax for the summer and “taking it out of general revenues”, Senator McCain begins talking about deteriorating bridges and roads.  First of all, we’re not “taking it out” of anything, it’s money not coming in to the federal government.  Secondly, that money would normally be coming in and going straight to the highway trust fund, or the fund that repairs and improves our transportation infrastructure.  

At least Senator Clinton proposes to make Big Oil pay a windfall profits tax after their record-breaking year.  This would indeed lead to different behavior, costing us more anyway, but at least it isn’t robbing Peter to pay Paul.  There’s no sense in making Americans less safe on the road while provoking more people to drive when the ultimate goal in this time is to have less oil consumed.  It is simply a political game to make candidates look good, but in reality, even this will cost us.  

We cannot allow games to be played with legislation in order to pander and get more votes.  That’s not the purpose or role of government, and every counter-productive action we take is like taking two steps away from the concept of a more perfect Union.  Don’t fall for these gas tax holiday tricks, demand real action from your government. Start by using the rooftop of any government building for solar cells, which would generate a hell of a lot more energy than the hot air coming out of Washington generates.

Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post as an excellent account of one man’s quest to save $100 from the gas tax holiday. 200 economists and a few Nobel prize winners also disagree with this proposed gas tax holiday. I’d simply implore everyone to read these and/or do their own math with their own vehicles. I hope you have a gas guzzler, because you need to consume 556 gallons of gasoline in order to save $100 (saving 18 cents/gallon).

556 x $0.18 = $100.08 

12 gallon tank filled 46 times

20 gallon tank filled 28 times

Is that worth us paying Congress to even consider?

Technorati Tags: politics, mccain, gas, tax, economy

…just not the 110th United States Congress. When President Bush passes the buck on the housing crisis, he sends a solar wave of hypocrisy through the nation strong enough to power every home in America for the year. Maybe that’s a bit idealistic, but we truly have a revisionist in the White House. This current housing crisis couldn’t possibly have been created by bank deregulation and bankruptcy reform of the 109th Congress.

When you sell office supplies and your boss is underqualified and only became manager because of personal connections, work can be a source of frustration. When your personal connections begin causing entire populations to be ignored in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane, it becomes a much larger issue. Mike Brown, Michael Chertoff, Alberto Gonzales are only a few of the more well-known examples of Bush administration cronies, but they provide enough of an example of how ill-served the American public can be when cronies are appointed. This angers me no matter who is doing it, but by far the most gross example of overstretched qualifications are those appointments by the current faux-Republican, neo-Conservative administration. With recent comments exposing his lack of respect for humanity, one could put Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in that grouping as well.

Economic factors are always difficult to directly correllate and I have a feeling I may have overstretched this link. The 109th did deregulate banks and make it much harder for hard working families to file for bankruptcy. In some way this surely has affected the housing crisis, in lender’s attitude and consumer’s vulnerability. I’m just not convinced it’s a direct cause -> effect relationship, so don’t get the impression I’m blaming the entire housing crisis on the 109th or one piece of legislation.

Elizabeth Edwards has written a beautiful op-ed piece for the Sunday New York Times (4/27/08) imploring the media to do its job. It seems like it should go without saying, but the media has failed the American people and democracy in general for the better part of the last decade. The media is often referred to as the 4th branch of government, because a free press acts as a check on political power. If the truth is available, it’s much harder to be hoodwinked.

Is this how we support our troops?  Slap on the yellow ribbon magnet and off we go?  Ignoring their medical bills and the horrors they face in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis hardly seems like supporting the troops. Claiming there were 790 suicide attempts among veterans last year, when the actual number was closer to 12,000 is simply reprehensible coming directly from the Veteran’s Affairs office.

History will not judge this administration kindly.

John McCain is on another speaking tour, this time talking about poverty. The It’s Time for Action tour, at least one major news outlet likens this tour to President Bush’s ‘compassionate, conservative campaign’. We now know what a sham that was. It’s not to say that he doesn’t have a few good ideas, it’s that he wants to talk about something he doesn’t - and couldn’t possibly - understand. This further calls into question one of the traditional roles of the First Lady, if he brings his heiress wife into that role. Their hearts may very well be in the right place, but every policy plan McCain rolls out reeks of true legislative elitism. Here is a snippet from the Think Progress story about his economic policy:

The Center for American Progress has the breakdown and analysis of Senator McCain’s economic plan and its impact on the poor. To say he’d be further forgetting these parts of America is an understatement. He’s spent the past year shattering every rational person’s view of him as an unabashed maverick and turned him into a true pandering Republican party loyalist. Partisanship is not what the American people need. Hollow claims of helping the poor is not what the American people need.

$8 an hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year yields $16,640 before taxes. If you don’t think there are single parents out there unable to find a better job, making this much stretch for two or more people. It happens. If you don’t know many people actually living on this much, you’d think it were impossible. You might even believe people who lived on this much did so by choice, or by some guilt of their own. It’s just not always a black-and-white issue.

A lot of the response I hear to things like this are that people are unmotivated, addicted, or otherwise prone to poverty. What I don’t hear is any honesty about the advantages given to those enabled to speak on the issue. I rarely hear people working face-to-face with people in poverty, telling them the low-down on why they are poor and will remain poor. I rarely have someone on the ‘front lines’ of this issue willing to dismiss the struggles of the suffering.

Senator McCain is highly capable and has spoken the truth on many occasions in the past.  He is still living up to that legacy in many respects.  He recently criticized the response to Hurricane Katrina, going so far as to point the finger at President Bush.

Asked at an outdoor news conference if he traced the failure of leadership straight to the top, Mr. McCain, who has vowed to campaign with President Bush, said, emphatically, “yes.”

John McCain can observe a problem and shed light on issues to more people, but as far as understanding this issue, he’s just never been poor or even close.   Many who have never experienced poverty have done great things to improve the quality of life for others less fortunate, and I have no doubt a McCain presidency may yield some benefits for those in poverty.  To offer welfare with no teeth is as cruel as offering nothing at all.  

The problem with poverty is that if you live in poverty, it’s all you see.  If you never live it, you’ll never see.  The subject itself breeds a discontent that makes the entire issue hard to discuss, but it must be done.  It must be done with people who live the experience.  Go ask a grandmother in the poorest neighborhood of your city what happened to her neighborhood.  Ask a worker who was laid off and saw his wife leave, taking the kids, why he might be more open to criminal activity.  This is not to justify behavior, it is simply to understand the problem.  

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A day’s work is a day’s work, neither more nor less, and the man who does it needs a day’s sustenance, a night’s repose and due leisure, whether he be painter or ploughman. - George Bernard Shaw