Republicans Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin

There are those in the Republican party who are pushing Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the future leaders of the Republican party.  Television journalists have picked up on this and are now given both a lot of coverage. President-elect Obama's election and the democrats addition of seats in the House and Senate in this months election have the republican party in a tizzy.

 

Governor Jindal has been in office for less than a year so as of this date he does not really have a record to run on.  Nor has it been established yet that he has good judgement, an important element in governing.  In fact he has been out of state a lot campaigning for McCain and in state for John Kennedy who ran against Mary Landrieu and her senate seat.  Jindal talks a good game but his ideology is like other Republicans who put themselves on a pedestal and look down on everyone else who does not share their ideology.

 

Jindal's administration after taking office passed a ethic reform bill that most people think has no teeth.  While preaching ethic during his campaign for governor, his own campaign had to pay a fine for violating the ethic laws.  Jindal's leaders in the Louisiana legislature passed a bill giving lawmakers a big fat pay raise and then Jindal said he would not step in. When public pressure got so great he finally vetoed the bill.

 

Governor Palin during the presidential campaign showed she is a typical republican who's method of campaigning is to personally attack her opponents instead of telling the people what shestands for and what her policies would be.  She wanted to identify with the soccer moms and create an identify as a good old girl with a wink and a smile.  National candidates should identify with the nation but Palin continued to divide the people.  Remember her comment about the real America.

 

She is now bashing those who said she was a drag on the Republican ticket.  The people had it right, she and McCain just had nothing to offer.  If Jindal and Palin represent the best the Republican party can offer as future leaders of the party they will continue to be a turn off.

The Republican Governors Conference

Republican Governors met in Miami on November 13 to map a future for their party after the GOP's devastating election day defeats.  The governors said the future of the GOP rests within their ranks (the governors) and not Washington politicians (Senators and Congressmen). 

 

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty said that in his view, the Republican party needs more than a combover.  Other comments included a need to reach out more as a party and become more inclusive.

Gov. Palin said, "we are the minority party, let us resolve not to be the negative party.  Let us reach out to Barack Obama, show him how lower taxes provide opportunity for the private sector to grow." 

Obviously, the theme of their conference was that Republicans are looking to their governors to fill the leadership vacuum.  But lets look at what has actually taken place with in the Republican party, both on the national and state level.

 

During the 2008 presidential election, Republican governors failed to reject and denounce the personal attacks by the McCain-Palin ticket and the divisive issues they conjured up.  Once again, the governors failed to promote an inclusive campaign and were silent on the issue; they just went with the flow.  Many of them even appeared on television and used the talking points of the national Republican party.  They did not practice what they now preach. 

 

Gov. Palin's above comments are laughable when she says "lets not be the negative party."  She had a great opportunity to actually be positive as a V.P. candidate and change the tone and she blew it big time.  

 

If the Republican governors really want to change their party than they need to stand up and speak out to the neocons who have been running their party and say enough is enough.  Time will tell if they have the wisdom, character, and judgment to do so.

Karl Rove Lost His Genius

Republicans and journalists have said many times that Karl Rove was a genius planner of GOP campaigns.  His M.O. of personal attacks was taught to him my his mentor, Lee Atwater, the originator of the Willie Horton T.V. attack add; when Atwater passed away, Rove took up the torch of the politics of personal destruction.

 

However, the last two elections have not been kind to Rove.  During the 2006 Congressional elections, he maintained up to election eve that the Republicans would keep control of the Senate and House.  Rove, however, was wrong and the Democrats won both chambers of the Congress.  His personal attacks strategy was again on display for Senator McCain's campaign for President, but the voting public sent him (and his tactics) down to defeat again.

 

Mr. Rove's tactics represent a Republican party that still can not articulate what it stands for.  It points out a lack of character when the party who has been in power for 8 years can't talk about their record or successes and most resort to lying about and distorting their opponents' positions.

Tax Facts

The following information was published by Parade Magazine in its October 12 issue.  The below covers income from less that $19,000.00 (the bottom 20% of earners) to $111,600.00.  I think everyone will agree those brackets cover the "middle class" that both candidates talk about.  The readers can judge for themselves just what plan helps the "middle class" the most.

  Obama's Plan:

 

If you make:                                                 Your average tax savings would be:

Less than $19,000.00                                                                            $567.00

$19,000.00 - $37,600.00                                                                         892.00

$37, 600.00 - $66,400.00                                                                       1118.00

$66,400.00 - 111,600.00                                                                        1264.00

 

McCain's Plan:

 

Less than $19,000.00                                                                               $21.00

$19,000.00 - $37,600.00                                                                           118.00

$37,600.00 - $66,400.00                                                                           325.00

$66,400.00 - $111,600.00                                                                         994.00

A Must Watch Video: Gen. Colin Powell

O M G: Powell Endorses Obama

Today on Meet the Press, Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs will endorse Senator Barack Obama for President.  Sure, a Powell endorsement of Obama was always rumored, but I never thought that it would actually come to fruition. Powell, a long time Republican, I though, was sure to either stay neutral or endorse his party's candidate, John McCain.  And while Powell no doubt deserves some blame for the Iraq War, politically, this endorsement is huge for Obama and an even bigger embarrassment for John McCain.  

The Truth About Taxes

Parade magazine recently ran an article that examined the tax plans of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. Tax policy expert Alan Viard of the Conservative American Enterprise Institute said the following:

 

While the aggregate tax cut is bigger for McCain, a larger number of voters get more money under Obama's plan.  Obama is choosing to emphasize tax cuts for the middle class, whereas McCain's strategy is to keep rates lower at the top as a way to facilitate long-run growth.  For example, a person with an income of $1 million could see his taxes increase under Obama by $94,000, whereas under McCain's plan he could save $48,000.. 

 

For those who follow the economy and past tax plans of Republicans, one can quickly see McCain's tax plan represents the failed ideology of trickle down economics.  As recent as seven years ago, President Bush pushed his tax plan that benefited the wealthy and said that his tax plan would create a sustained economy, new job creation, and investments by the business community.  So far, those objectives have never been reached, and instead we have had two recessions, Wall Street and financial market melt downs, and the use of billions of dollars of taxpayers money to bail out corporate America.

 

The country can no longer afford this Republican tax give away at the expense of the average American. Where is the long-run growth that Republicans promised?  Nowhere to be found, and now it's time for the middle class to have the benefit of tax relief.

Think About It

Personal Attacks, a Republican Trademark

Weeks after the Republican National Convention that showcased VP candidate Governor Palin, her absence from the news media and her debate with Senator Joe Biden have given the American people a chance to digest what McCain-Palin stand for.  How have the people responded?  They have pushed the Obama-Biden ticket to the top of the polls with Obama-Biden leading in most so called battleground states.

 

So now both McCain and Palin are doing what define Republicans best: personal attacks against their opponent. As I have written before, Republicans can not articulate where they stand on the issues, so they turn to vile personal attacks.  

 

Obama is and will continue to handle the trash talk better than John Kerry did in the 2004 election against his Bush.  Every time McCain-Palin open their mouth the American people get a preview of just how radical they really are.

 

Their personal attacks are a sign of weakness and a inability to be civil at a time when our country and its people face serious problems.  Contrary to their campaign logo, McCain-Palin are not putting America first.  The American people must beware of those who are desperate to win.  

Reality: Will It Prevail On November 4?

Republicans always find a way to ruin the economy and lose jobs for the country and its people.  They lack fiscal discipline and respect and as a result have no broad based economic policy.  President Bush, John McCain, and the Republicans are so out of touch with reality that it has reached a pitiful state.

 

The problem with the financial industry has been know for some time but no action was taken.  Same can be said for the record escalation of oil and gasoline prices and the problems that cropped up on Wall Street early in his Presidency.  The country has lost jobs every month so far this year and the stimulus package came after the fact.  The President has been AWOL in facing these problems and taking action.

 

Iraq and Afghanistan will be turned over to the next President and Mr. Bush continues to dodge the issues and the problems his policies created.  With the Presidential elections only 4 weeks away, Senator McCain and the republican party are still in denial and offer more of the same.  Hopefully the public will cast their vote for reality on November 4.

The First Debate: Analysis and Fact Checking

The dust from the first debate has settled and several things have become clear.  First and foremost, as I touched on last night before the debate, almost clairvoyantly,  McCain's temperament was perhaps his biggest downfall last night.  At times, the Senator from Arizona would grunt and gesture awkwardly with his hands; his face often was shown on national television displaying disturbing expressions.  Moreover, McCain's dismissive attitude toward Obama, although surely making Republicans smile, might not play so well in this country with the undecided voters who will decide this election; indeed, several focus groups conducted during and after the debate showed that Obama won the debate by a significant margin among undecideds and that McCain's attacks labeling Obama as "naive" and "unprepared" were among the audience's least favorite moments of the entire hour and a half.

As far as who won the debate, it truly is in the eye of the beholder.  For my money, for whatever it's worth, Obama won by a landslide; he appeared Presidential; he had complete dominance over the economic portion of the debate; he demonstrated a great volume of knowledge on foreign affairs, and most importantly, he kept his cool.

Fact Check Time: As with any debate, one or both of the candidates end up lying on their or the other's records.  Last night was no different.  Here are some of those moments along with the fact checking.

Charge: One of the most memorable moments was the exchange between the two candidates on former Secretary of State and current McCain adviser, Henry Kissinger.  Obama claimed that Kissinger encouraged meetings with foreign leaders without preconditions; McCain said Kissinger would never suggest such a thing. 

Facts: At a forum last Saturday with former Secretaries of State, Henry Kissinger agreed with the other former Secretaries and said:

"I am in favor of negotiating with Iran....What is it going to do if we can't achieve what we're talking about? But I do not believe that we can make conditions for the opening of negotiations. We ought, however, to be very clear about the content of negotiations and work it out with other countries and with our own government."

Charge: Another moment of contention was when Obama charged that McCain's plan wold give $4 billion in tax breaks to oil companies.  McCain attempted to dodge the charge.  Here are the facts as reported by the Associated Press:

Facts:

"The $4 billion in tax breaks for the oil companies is simply part of McCain's overall corporate tax reduction plan and does not represent an additional tax benefit. In other words, the corporate tax reduction applies to all corporations, oil companies included."

Charge: McCain and Obama argued over whether or not Obama voted to cut off funding for U.S. troops.  Here are the facts, again as reported by the AP:

Facts:

"Despite opposing the war, Obama has, with one exception, voted for Iraq troop financing. In 2007, he voted against a troop funding bill because it did not contain language calling for a troop withdrawal. The Illinois senator backed another bill that had such language and money for the troops."

Charge: At one point in the debate, McCain claimed that Dwight Eisenhower wrote a resignation letter on the eve of D-Day to be sent if the invasion did not go well.  The AP has the facts:

Facts:

Eisenhower prepared to take responsibility in the note to be delivered in the event of D-Day disaster but did not offer to resign.

John McCain: Not Maverick; Erratic

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong."

Who said this?  When did they say it?  If one was watching the news as of late, the guess could be made that Bill Clinton said this during the 1990s when the economy was prosperous and both Wall Street and Main Street were satisfied. 

But it wasn't Bill Clinton who said this.  And the person who said this wasn't talking about the '90s.  John McCain said the above quote on Monday, September 15, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the stock market had its worst day since 9/11.  The American economy, ever since that fateful Monday, has been in a steep dive with no end in sight, leading many to believe that a depression is on the way.

Yes, on Monday the "fundamentals of our economy" were "strong", but by Tuesday John McCain reinvented himself as a the modern day Teddy Roosevelt, rallying against the corruption of Wall Street Barons.  

John McCain continued that theme through last week and into this week when talk of a $700 billion bailout plan was proposed by the White House.  John McCain, sensing a political gold mine, decided to suspend his campaign, call off the debate, and fly to Washington to save the day.  

There was, of course, a few issues to be had with the above statement.  For one, is it really fair to say that your campaign is suspended when your television ads are still playing, your campaign personnel are going on cable news 24/7 to attack Barack Obama, and Sarah Palin, your Vice-Presidential pick, is holding campaign rallies across Pennsylvania?  Secondly, why call off the debate?  Isn't a crisis time like this a time when the American people most need to hear from their leaders, especially the two men who could inherit this economic crisis?  More on the calling off of the debate in a minute.  Finally, John McCain was not needed in Washington.  He is not on the Senate Banking committee, the Senate committee negotiating with the White House.  John McCain, putting it bluntly, went to Washington to look pretty.  He accomplished nothing, and, sadly, Congress is now further away from settling on a plan than they were before John McCain came to their rescue. Why are they further behind?  Well, according to several members of the House and Senate, John McCain did what he said he wouldn't: politicize the event and in turn make a bipartisan effort into an extremely partisan one.  

The debate, as we now know, is back on.  No solution has been reached, but John McCain is, as usual, going back on his word.  It's clear to me and should be obvious to all why McCain attempted to postpone the debate.  Just a few hours after making his "I'm not going to the debate" statement, McCain suggested that the Vice-Presidential debate next week should just be replaced by a Presidential one.  How convenient!  Sarah Palin, the least qualified and knowledgeable VP candidate in history, wouldn't have to face tough questions yet again. Thankfully, Barack Obama and Joe Biden stood firm; Friday's debate would go on, with or without John McCain, and the Vice-Presidential debate would be next week no matter the circumstances.  Left with the option of either going back on his word or leaving Obama with one and a half hours of free national exposure, McCain chose the latter.  

So the debate will go on and we'll finally see McCain and Obama face-to-face confronting each other on the crucial issues facing America, but the happenings of the past two weeks surely brings into question McCain's judgment and rationality.  Perhaps even more than the debate, these last two weeks have drawn a clear contrast between Obama and McCain:  Obama is cool under pressure, while McCain acts erratically. 

Another Drunk On Wall Street

Lehman Brothers Holding, an investment Bank, just this week filed the largest bankruptcy in American history.  At the same time, Merrill Lynch, the world's largest recognized brokerage, avoided the same fate with a $50 billion transaction to become part of Bank of America Corp., which has the most deposits of any U.S. bank.  This deal will create a financial giant --- just what the people need: another monopoly in the financial markets.

 

The Dow Jones average responded to this news by dropping 504 points; approximately $700 billion evaporated from retirements plans, government pension funds, and other investment portfolios, reported business writers from the Associated Press.  This is the same industry Republicans want to shift Social Security money in the form of private accounts.  How would you like $700 billion to disappear from Social Security over night because of the reckless actions financial institutions take.

 

The worst part is that while this meltdown is taking place, the CEOs are still being given millions of dollars in bonuses, stock options, and other financial rewards.  Republicans have been in bed with corporate America from the beginning with policies that favor the wealthy and free them from any restraint or oversight. The sky is the limit.  Despite what T.Boone Pickens says, a record of wealth has been transferred from the average workers to the pockets of corporate America; CEO's make 400 times the average worker.  

 

So called economic and stock market experts on CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC end up aiding and abetting the Republicans and corporate American greed.  The only thing they are an expert at is giving out propaganda that follows the conservative Republican ideology. 

 

If the American people are really concerned about the future of their children, John McCain and the Republican party are not the answer in November.  They would only continue the policies of transferring more and more wealth from the average American to the wealthiest 1% --- that is the Republican policy. 

This Is a Start, But Dems Must Get Tougher

Debunking the Lies

President Bush: a "C" For Protecting America

Seven years after the 9-11 attacks, the federal government has made only limited progress toward preventing a catastropic nuclear, biological, or chemical attack on U.S. soil and stemming the proliferation of WMD abroad, according to a report issued on 9/10/08 by 22 former U.S. officials.

 

The Bipartisan Partnership for a Secure America, a panel co-chaired by Lee Hamilton, gave the U.S. an overall grade "C".  Once again, Mr. Bush's tough talk about keeping America safe are contrary to the facts.  John McCain, if elected president, will continue the Republican tough talk and we will still be in Iraq fighting the wrong war under his leadership.  McCain is a military veteran, and we should be proud of that, but he lacks common sense when it comes to fighting the people who harmed us on 9-11 and instead fighting a war in Iraq for 100 years.

 

By the way, McCain publicly said he knew how to win wars.  Has any one heard him say what war he has won?  I am surely not aware of any wars he has won.  And if he knows how to win wars, maybe he should share this knowledge with the proper authorities so we can actually win the two wars we are fighting, instead of keeping this information secret and only releasing it if he is elected President.  When you think about it, McCain is almost blackmailing the American people to vote for him to win the war.  Once again, this just proves that the Republicans lack the basis values of truth, or any other value for that matter.  

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac: Another Government Bailout

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson recently announced the take over of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the federal government.  The move was done, said Paulson, in a bid to help reverse a prolonged housing and credit crisis with the idea being to keep owners in their homes.

 

It has been estimated that the bailout will cost at least $250 billion, but Paulson said he could not say for sure.  Regardless, it is another bill the tax payers will be saddled with, and once again it happened on the Republican watch.  While speaking about the financial crisis a few weeks ago, President Bush who thought the mic were off said, "Wall Street got drunk."  What he failed to say was Wall Street got drunk because of his own policies --- no oversight and a lack of regulation by the regulators charged with that responsibility.

 

We have the Wall Street scandal of manipulating the market, the mortgage scandal, and the federal bail out of Bear Stearns along with the infamous Enron scandal --- all on Mr. Bush's watch.  I have mentioned in previous articles how Republican administrations seduce the public with tax cuts that benefit the wealthy and then get into the tax payers pockets a hundred different ways. If the voters took time and examined the fiscal and economic record of the last three Republican presidents, Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43, which covers a 20 year period, they would be shocked to find how badly they performed compared to the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton.

 

Bottom line: a vote for John McCain in November is a vote for the continuation of this Republican pattern with its reckless policies.

Rachel Maddow: The Smartest Voice on Cable

Take a look at two of her segments from tonight's show:

The Rachel Maddow Show airs weeknights on MSNBC following Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann. I would recommend everyone watches it.

The Presidential Debate Moderators

The moderators for the three Presidential debates have been named and are Jim Lehrer of the Lehrer News Hour, Tom Brokaw, former NBC News anchor, and Bob Schieffer of CBS and moderator of Face the Nation.

 

All three have been around for a long time and John McCain is one of their fair head boys and has appeared many times with Schieffer and Brokaw.  In my judgement, all three leave a lot to be desired as debate moderators.

 

Jim Lehrer has appeared as a moderator in past presidential debates and really showed his bias as a moderator in the 2000 debates when he questioned Al Gore's character.  He soft balled questions to Bush and now after almost 8 years of Bush we know whose character he should have questioned.

 

Tom Brokaw is now doing Meet the Press on a temporary basis and his performance with his questions are silly at best.  He is a Republican supporter that comes through when he questions Democrats.  You can count on that showing up during the coming debates.

 

Bob Schieffer is a McCain supporter and his questions on Face the Nation are soft.  Several weeks ago Schieffer used the Republican talking point and asked the question: "Why can't Obama acknowledge the surge in Iraq is working?", as if the Iraqi government has accomplished all the things  the surge was supposed to have them accomplish.

 

The voters are faced with so much propaganda by the news media.  First, on all the regular news programs, journalists interview the same 10 or 12 members of Congress over and over and the people never get the opportunity to hear the thoughts of the other 400 plus members.

 

Then we have moderators for the debates whose questions will favor one candidate over the other, instead of neutral questions that will bring about answers that inform the American people of what the candidate would do if elected.  It is time for the people to stand up and be counted in this election.  The news media, journalists, and moderators offer no help.

Republican Hypocrisy

Sorry that I've been away for so long, but I evacuated this past friday for Hurricane Gustav and am still evacuated.  I have a lot to write and a lot to say on the happenings of the last week.  However, getting to an internet connection is no easy feat here (I am staying in a family member's house in Alabama).  I had to, however, get an internet connection to post this video.  Even though this is from Comedy Central, it should be the headline on every single news program in this country.  The pure hypocrisy of Republicans is clearly exposed in this 5 minute clip: