bloviators.net BloviBlog

Earlier this week Senator and Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden said of Barack Obama:  “Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. . . . I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. And he’s gonna need help.”  Biden even added that the Democratic base “would have to stand with them because it wouldn’t be apparent that Senator Obama would have the right response.”  Too bad they cannot seem to give the same benefit of the doubt to President Bush and the Iraq war, which now seems to be headed towards victory when everyone wrote the effort off as a lost cause more than a year ago.

Biden was trying to speak about the world testing an Obama presidency in some way, however whatever his intention was the words just did not come out right, and since then John McCain and Sarah Palin have been pounding the Obama campaign for it.  Biden’s comments seem to fit right into McCain’s claim that Senator Obama is simply not ready to lead, and that the American people should not elect someone who will need on the job training during such a crisis as Biden seems to be promising us.

One would assume such a statement would be big news, but assuming that would also require an assumption that the mainstream media was not already in the tank for Barack Obama.

The NY Times buried Biden’s quote in an article on page A18 under the headline “Obama Briefly Leaving Trail to See Ill Grandmother.”  Similarly, NBC and MSNBC News both have refused to run the full text of Senator Biden’s quote.  If there were any remaining doubt that these organizations were not in the tank for Obama this act should resolve those questions.

The Bloviator finds himself agreeing with Sean Hannity in that 2008 is truly the year that journalism died.  My last remaining hope is that once Obama is elected…and that is the way things are headed right now…the media will turn on him and start to report on the issues of the day again rather than spending their time covering up their candidate’s mistakes.  Who does the press think they are, anyway, to decide what the American people should and should not know about?  Their job is to tell us everything – it is our job to decide what is important and what is not.

So much has happened again this week, so much that it’s been hard for The Bloviator to keep up with things.  Obama’s ads popped up in XBox games, we had the third and final Presidential debate – starring Joe the Plumber, the New York Times trashed Cindy McCain, the Supreme Court upheld a decision making it easier for voter fraud to occur in Ohio, and Sarah Palin makes an, albeit short, appearance on SNL.  Topping all of that, The Bloviator has been busy in his real life too (you know – the Clark Kent stuff), so there have not been that many posts this past week.  So, let’s get to the Wrap-Up…

Presidential Debate #3 and ‘Joe the Plumber’

First things first, The Bloviator wants to know where the John McCain we saw on Wednesday night has been for the last few months.  Senator McCain was fired up and, while he could have hit Obama harder on topics like his tax-cut that isn’t really a tax-cut, McCain did a pretty good job of hitting Obama where it counted.  For the first 45 minutes of the debate it looked as if McCain had Obama on the defensive, hitting him over and over again on taxes and even scoring a great hit when he told Senator Obama that if he “wanted to run against President Bush” he “should have run 4 years ago.”  That was a good line, but it may be coming at a point too late in the race to matter.  With under 20 days until election now most voters have already made up their minds…and those who were still undecided will likely pull that lever for Obama out of nothing more than pure hatred for President Bush.

Senator McCain pushed Senator Obama on his response to ‘Joe the Plumber’ earlier in the week where Obama said, among other things, that he wanted to “spread the wealth around” in his administration.  That sounds a lot like socialism to The Bloviator, and McCain attacked that as nothing more than a welfare program.  McCain brought up Joe more than 20 times through the course of the debate, and at this late point in the game, if anything is going to resurrect McCain’s campaign it is Joe the Plumber – or more appropriately Obama’s response to his question.

Aside from from pointed questions and responses about the negativity in both campaigns, and McCain’s constant attacks using Joe the Plumber as a “Joe six-pack” metaphor, the rest of the debate was pretty much just the same old talking points we’ve heard from the candidates for the past many months now.  While McCain came out strong and kept on hitting, Senator Obama more or less kept his cool and just let McCain punch himself out.  By the end of the debate Obama was back on his game and just spouting the same old lines we’ve heard from him for over a year now.

Can we no longer ask candidates tough questions?

If you’ve heard any newscast since Senator Obama dropped the “spread the wealth around” response on Joe Wurzelbacher, you’ve likely been subjected to the smears of this ordinary America.  Joe, whose real name is Samual Joseph Wurzelbacher, did not go out of his way to see Senator Obama.  He did not seek to crash a campaign rally or anything of the sort.  Senator Obama was in Joe’s neighborhood so he decided to ask him a question…and it was a good question.  In fact, as Senator McCain said recently, Joe managed to get more honesty out of Senator Obama than all the mainstream media and press have been able to for the last 20 months.

It is because of this honest question, and the honest answer Obama gave him, that the media have systematically scoured through Joe’s personal life.  They have uncovered that Joe is really named Samuel (Joe is his middle name…big deal), that he is not actually licensed as a plumber (he currently works under someone else’s license…call the FBI), he owes around $1,200 in back taxes, the list just goes on.  In 48 hours the liberal media managed to uncover more about Joe the Plumber than they have found about Barack Obama in 20 months.  This is a scary thing to The Bloviator.  All Joe did was ask a simple question, and he got a simple answer.

Senator Obama’s answer reeks of socialism, and for that the media attacks and attempts to discredit Joe rather than asking Obama about his position.  The moral of this story seems to be that if you intend to ask Obama a question that makes him look bad you’d better make sure there is nothing in your past that can be used against you, because Obama’s Gestapo will be coming for you in the night.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

In a move that is no big surprise for anyone in politics, former Bush Secretary of State and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell announced on Sunday morning that he is endorsing Senator Obama for President.

The Bloviator really could care less who endorses who for what, as I do not think endorsements mean anything and policies and track records mean everything, however I feel I must ask a simple question.  Powell was for the Iraq war in a way that almost no one else was back in 2003.  It can be argued that without his testimony in front of the UN holding that vial he claimed was filled with WMD agents from Iraq, the US would have never gone into that war.  On the contrary, Senator Obama claims to have opposed the war from the start.  Do you think you’re going to hear Obama come out and denounce Colin Powell for his role in bringing the US into this war?  The Bloviator isn’t holding his breath.

Now, I should also say that I admire and respect Gen. Powell a great deal, but in his press conference this morning he claimed that the recent negativity from the McCain campaign was part of his reason for deciding to support Obama.  Powell went so far as to say that McCain had called Obama a muslim.  I feel I must point out this could not be further from the truth, and in fact Senator McCain stopped to chastise someone at a recent rally for suggesting that fact.  One would think that Gen. Powell could have at least had his facts straight.

Sarah Palin Appears on SNL

This Saturday evening there were two Sarah Palins on Saturday Night Live, the character played by Tina Fey and the real deal, Governor Palin herself.  I should preface that I have not paid one bit of attention to SNL for many years now as it has been many moons since that show was anything close to funny.  However, it still gets Tivo’d in my house, so I happened to see the two short skits the Governor was in this week.

I have only one comment about the appearance.  What was the point again?  Governor Palin did herself no service by appearing on the show, except perhaps to look Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels in the face behind the scenes.  Her skits were not funny, and she had about 60 seconds of total speaking time.  The only thing of note Palin managed to accomplish was to deliver the “live from New York, it’s Saturday night” line.  Perhaps I’m just biased against SNL as I truly hate that show now, but I just do not see what Governor Palin gets out of a deal where she in turn validates the jack-asses on SNL by proxy of her presence.

Security Clearance Shopping Season Starts Earlier and Earlier

It was announced on Sunday morning the the government has approached both Senators McCain and Obama to determine who will have potential seats in their respective cabinets so they can begin the initial research portion of the security clearance process.  This is reported as a needed step due to potential terrorist activity immediately following the election, however The Bloviator wonders if this is actually a move to vette some of Senator Obama’s potential cabinet members before he has a chance to take office as President (as it does look more and more like Obama is going to the White House).  No, I am not a subscriber to the “right-wing conspiracy” mentality, but seeing as how Obama would not even qualify for security clearance in his own administration this may be a prudent step to take while the government still has the power to do so.  More on this story as it develops over the coming days…

In the interest of time…

Other events of note this week included the fundraising Al Smith dinner at which the candidates both appeared and gave very funny speeches, the roller-coaster that is the Dow, and the horrible article in the New York Times attacking Cindy McCain, however The Bloviator is out of time in this week’s Wrap-Up, so analysis of those items will be forthcoming in the next few days.

 
This past week was a doozy, including lots of fireworks from each presidential campaign, a 20% drop in the Dow and other markets, accusations of voter fraud, a boring debate, and an OJ Simpson conviction.

“Nuts” to ACORN

As I discuss at length in my post, Something’s Rotten at ACORN, there are accusations of voter fraud by the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, or ACORN, in at least 12 states across the country.  Barack Obama is doing his best to distance himself from the group, even though his campaign paid one of their proxy groups more than $800,000 to help register voters on behalf of the Obama campaign.  Obama has…sort of…condemned any illegal actions ACORN may be involved with, but when asked about the group and their links to Senator Obama, his campaign tries to change the subject to Republican “voter suppression.”

The reality is that voter fraud and suppression, by either side or by neutral groups, is completely unacceptable.  Actions such as those of ACORN, should they prove true as the many, many investigations shake out, amount to stealing the election from the American people.  The Bloviator does not quite understand why such actions would be necessary from the left as their candidate is supposed to be the second coming and should not need any help from us mere mortals.

North Korea Tests Missiles, Removed from US Terrorism List

North Korea tested medium to long range missiles earlier this week after moving several missile launchers to the coast at the beginning of the week.  We are told the tests were successful, however in today’s day and age we must take everything North Korea claims with a grain of salt.  Remember their “successful” underground test of a nuclear weapon in 2007 that turned out to be, at least according to US officials, a failed test?  I have also heard reports that Kim Jong Il has resurfaced at a sports event after he was presumed to have a severe stroke, although no pictures of the Korean leader have been circulated.  

In a classic example of bad timing on the part of the US State Department, North Korea was removed from the State Department’s list of terrorist-sponsoring nations this Saturday.  This move the the US government was actually our part of a deal reached between the US and N. Korea months ago in return for their destruction of key nuclear facilities and allowing UN weapons inspectors to return to the nation.  Recently, though, in a series of saber-rattling moves by N. Korea, they have begun to reassemble some of these dismantled facilities, have kicked-out the UN inspectors, and have requested the IAEA remove the seals placed on their reactors.

So…while the removal of N. Korea from the terrorism list was our part of the deal we have now given the appearance that we are soft on this issue and will give in to foreign dictator’s demands if pushed enough.  The Bloviator thinks this was a bad call, or at least bad timing, on the part of the State Department.

Dow goes down, down, down…is it Obama’s fault?

The roller-coaster ride in US and world markets continued this week as the Dow and other key indexes were down another 20% in the first 8 days of trading in October.  It now seems that every day either President Bush or Secretary Paulson will make a “don’t panic” speech timed with the daily opening of the markets, which is promptly followed by a several hundred point loss during the course of the day’s trading.  Given the track record of the past week The Bloviator wishes that the President and the Treasury Secretary would just shut the hell up.  Telling American’s not to panic is a recipe for disaster, and we need to stop the panic selling before there are no markets left.

On top of the daily “don’t panic” speeches from Bush & Paulson, I wonder how much of the recent selling has to do with the recent polling in the Presidential election.  With just 23 days remaining before the election time is short, and as the economy continues to dive into the tank it looks more and more like Barack Obama is going to be the next President of the United States.  Obama makes no secret of the fact he intends to double capital gains taxes.  If I had a large market portfolio I might be tempted to sell off now too, before the taxes on whatever income I might receive double while market value continues to fall.  

It does not take a graduate economist to figure out it is a bad idea to raise taxes in an economic downturn or recession, but that is precisely what Barack Obama promises to do.  He has had many chances, including in both recent debates, to back down from that position but he continues to boldly champion his plan to raise taxes on the very class of citizens that create the precious jobs we will need to recover from the current situation.  Our society is on a dangerous crossroads between capitalism and socialism, and The Bloviator fears we are already headed down the wrong road.

OJ Simpson Convicted…Karma or Racism?

Thirteen years – to the exact day – O.J. Simpson was found guilty in Nevada of a host of felonies, including kidnapping, armed robbery, and ten other counts related to his self-described “sting” operation involving sports memorabilia.  Sentencing is scheduled for December 5th, and Simpson will be held without bond until then.  As soon as the ‘Juice’ had been taken from the courtroom after the jury’s verdict was read his attorneys began to claim that racism and vengeance were the primary factors in the conviction, however the jury members say that the recordings made during the crime were the most compelling evidence.

True, it may be difficult to find anyone in this country that does not know about the 1995 double-murders and the following trial in which OJ was acquitted.  Memorable one-liners like “if the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit” come to mind immediately.  It is insulting to think that the jurors, all of whom where interviewed and approved by both the prosecution and the defense, are somehow incapable of separating their opinions about the 1995 murders and the 2007 armed robbery.

Regardless of which side of the argument you happen to be on, one thing is almost certain – the ‘Juice’ is going to do time this time around.  His legal team promises to appeal, but there does not appear to be much chance of success…although OJ has proven to be a modern-day Houdini when it comes to the legal system.

Supports to McCain:  ”Take it to him”

If you happened to see the second Presidential debate you might not think John McCain has much passion and fight left in him.  That debate was an exercise in dullness, with both candidates reading from their campaign’s talking points and neither getting fired up about anything.  Senator McCain and Governor Palin have been traveling the country this week holding town hall style rallies, and several citizens have stood up and literally begged McCain to take the fight to Senator Obama.

McCain was asked in Wisconsin why he is allowing “socialist to take over our country” from a citizen upset about the potential of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama controlling our country.  The gentleman went on to say he was “mad” and that “it’s time for you two [McCain and Palin] to start fighting for us.”

Similarly, McCain was literally begged to attack Obama when a supporter said ”We have the good Reverend Wright. We have [the Rev.] Pfleger. We have all of these shady characters that have surrounded him.  We have corruption here in Wisconsin and voting across the nation. I am begging you, sir. I am begging you. Take it to him.”

On Friday McCain had to step back and tell his crown not to “fear” an Obama presidency, which was received by silence and boos from the crowd.

Perhaps McCain will get the message…voters are upset and many are fearful that an Obama administration will be the straw that breaks the fragile camel’s back.  At this point, though, The Bloviator is less than optimistic.  I’ve said many times recently that this is no longer McCain’s race to win, but Obama’s to lose.  We’ll see on November 4th.

Alaska “TrooperGate” Report Released

The so-called “TrooperGate” report surrounding Gov. Sarah Palin’s potential abuse of her powers was released on Friday evening…with mixed results.

The report claims that Governor Palin abused her powers in that she did not stop her husband, Todd, from his attempts to get trooper Wooten fired for his alleged misconducts and threats against the Palin family, however there was no wrong-doing cited on the part of the governor and no sanctions or disciplinary actions were imposed.  Apparently the governor abused her powers by not preventing her husband from following up and pressing the issue.

The Bloviator fails to understand how not preventing a private citizen from asking questions within their rights is an abuse of power.  Is this Democratic senator French’s “October surprise” that he promised earlier this year?  The McCain campaign calls this report the result of a politically motivated “kangaroo court” and dismisses the findings as a $100,000 waste of Alaskan taxpayer dollars.  At best this report is based on speculation and here-say, at worst it is a politically motivated attack on the popular governor.  

Georgia Congressman Injects (more) Race into campaign:

Democratic Congressman John Lewis from Georgia attempted to inject race into the campaign by comparing the atmosphere of some recent McCain rallies to former Gov. George Wallace’s racially inflammatory statements in the 1960’s.  Lewis’ comments are a little surprising as McCain cited the Congressman as someone he would consult if he became president earlier this year at Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church forum.

Lewis, speaking of segregationist and former Gov.  George Wallace, saying Wallace “never threw a bomb.  He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.  Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

Lewis concluded that “Senator McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all.  They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy.”

Senator McCain took great offense to the Congressman’s statement, commenting that ”Congressman John Lewis’ comments represent a character attack against Governor Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale.  The notion that legitimate criticism of Senator Obama’s record and positions could be compared to Governor George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign.”

McCain called on Obama to “immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments.”  The Obama campaign released a statement over the weekend distancing themselves from Lewis’ comments, and even Lewis himself has since changed his tune a bit, however when directly questioned about Lewis’ comments on the campaign trail Sunday Senator Obama effectively ignored the question and offered no comment.

 
The Bloviator wonders if the election is over.  According to the polling and the mainstream media, the jig is up for John McCain and Sarah Palin.  The latest Rasmussen polling, which includes voters leaning one way or the other, shows McCain is now running at an 11% deficit.  That’s a pretty big margin, and with the markets heading further into the tank, unemployment numbers climbing, and the third quarter earnings due out just a few days before the general election the deck seems to be stacked against the Republicans in a big way.

Tuesday’s debate was, in a word, worthless.  Barack Obama continued to read straight from his campaign’s talking points and comparing everything John McCain does or wants to do with President Bush.  John McCain did not come out swinging or show any passion on any issue, and just basically read from his campaign’s talking points as well.  This was not helped by the fact that the questions were literally horrible, Tom Brokaw essentially moderated the same two or three questions throughout the entire evening and only focused on the economy and a little bit for foreign policy.  Yes – the economy is important, but voters want to hear answers to questions about topics such as abortion, gun rights, property rights, and anything else that has an effect on our everyday lives.  This did not happen – and the only real sticking points of the debate were the constant requests from Brokaw that the candidates follow the time limit rules of the debate.  What a waste of my Tuesday evening.  I will not even be providing a detailed analysis of the debate as I truly felt it was a worthless undertaking.

The main question now has two parts.  First, whether or not there is enough time for McCain to forge some sort of a comeback.  I know we all have the memory of a goldfish so most of us probably do not remember when the McCain’s primary campaign died out and he was left for dead, travelling between stops on commercial airlines and carrying his own luggage, and somehow he managed to fight his way back to the top and secure the nomination.  Judging by how volatile the polls have been this year it would appear as if these last few weeks do offer enough time for a comeback.  The second, and more important part of the question, is what can McCain do to get the country excited about him again.  This is the key – and we will have to wait and see, but every passing day is a day wasted for his campaign.  If McCain has any hopes of winning he has to do something – and something BIG – fast.  If not, his only hope is that Obama somehow loses this race.

 
This will be the first of what will become a weekly series where I summarize the notable events that occurred over the past week.  Today’s series, not surprisingly, will largely focus on the presidential campaigns and some of the newsworthy (and some not so worthy) bumps along the road.  So, in no particular order, let’s get to it.

 Ohio’s “non-partisan” bussing project:

It is not easy to get as many people registered and to the polls as possible in the swing states, so stepping in to fill the void are several non-partisan organizations with bussing projects.  Sounds innocent enough, right?  Well – just a few problems.  Ohio has no rule against registering and voting at the same place and time, which is different than most other states in the country.  This was instituted to help with the turnouts, as it is common (in all states, just no in Ohio) for people to register and then never show up on election day.  None of this really seems like a problem yet.  

However, there have been increasing numbers of reports that these busses are picking up what tend to be mostly homeless people and are bussing them to registration centers.  They register and then fill out an absentee ballot at the same time, which is all legal.  They then board the busses again and, according to reports, are being bussed to another registration center where they repeat the process all over again.  So, if we are to believe the reports we now have voter fraud on our hands.  

To add another layer into the mix, the supposedly non-partisan organizations who are handling these programs are – in at least one confirmed case – encouraging those who they transport to vote for Barack Obama.  I saw a great interview with one of these bus drivers on cable news earlier this week where the driver openly admitted that she was encouraging her busloads of people to vote Obama.  It was only when the TV interviewer asked “but aren’t you supposed to be a non-partisan organization?” that the driver seemed to realize her mistake and quickly ended the interview.

Practices such as this, from either or neither party, are completely unacceptable.  We all know the states are technologically ignorant and do not even have the most simple safeguards in place to flag and prevent individuals from voting multiple times, so for now this is a problem we seem to be stuck with.  This may just be a situation where the campaign that is willing to break the rules the most will walk away the winner.

Children of the Corn Obama:

Earlier this week an internet video, which has apparently been around for a while now, found it’s way into the mainstream.  It featured a group of young schoolchildren singing the praises of Obama and how he was going to lead us and solve all our problems.  The video claims to be a spontaneous thing, just thrown together, however it was produced, scripted, rehearsed, filmed and edited over many days.  That sounds more like a plan than something spontaneous to The Bloviator, but that’s not the point here.  Having been young at one time myself, I understand how impressionable children can be at those ages (most of these kids appeared to be between 7-9 years old).  Whoever their parents are should be ashamed of themselves for using their children to promote their political agendas.  There is no way children that young could have any idea what the differences between the candidates are, or for that matter even understand the basics of the election process.

This seems to be the brainchild of a west-coast music teacher, no surprises there.  What is surprising is that the Obama campaign’s official website apparently linked to this video.  Well…more accurately, they linked to this video until the story broke in the mainstream media, at which time the link and any mention of the project mysteriously vanished from the campaign’s website.

A pundit I saw on television earlier this morning made some light of the issue – he hopes that those children all grow up to be Republicans and card carrying members of the NRA just to spite their parents to using them in such a shameless (and downright creepy) election ploy.

New York Times finally catches up to the William Ayres Story (sort-of):

It’s like with the mail, better late than never, right?  The New York Times ran a cover story on Saturday that finally addressed the links and associations between Barack Obama and the admitted terrorist and founder of The Weather Underground.  If you’ve been living on Mars the last 19 months, the Weather Underground was the organization responsible for American on American terrorism in the late 1960’s.  Their founder, and participant in bombings which included the Pentagon, was William Ayres.  The same William Ayres that helped introduce Barack Obama into Illinois politics and who sat on a board of directors of the Woods Fund in Chicago with Obama.  The campaign has tried to distance themselves from the domestic terrorist (something that is hard to do when you live in the same neighborhood…literally), however the links are undeniable.  

The New York Times appears to have taken their talking points straight from the Obama campaign, however, glossing over and in some cases ignoring the persistent and major links between the presidential candidate and the unrepentant domestic terrorist.  The Obama campaign’s main point of defense and deflection?  That Obama was just 8 years old when Ayres was an active terrorist.  Think about that for a second – it is likely you were not born with Hitler was exterminating the Jewish people in the Holocaust – but that does not make it any less wrong.

This story has been out there for over a year now and has not gained any significant traction.  This is not because the story does not deserve attention, as it most certainly does, but is instead an indicator of how far into the tank for Obama the mainstream media actually is.  If you or I had associations like those Obama does we would never be able to get any governmental security clearance, but we’re going to elect him into the most powerful position in the country.  Shame on we Americans on this one for letting the media get away with burying the facts that do not suit them or their cause.

Bush…Bush…Bush:

This week brought more of the same old Bush bashing from the left.  If only President Bush was running for office again this year these constant attacks might actually have a point.  The Bloviator is disappointed yet not surprised by the left’s almost constant attempts to tie Senator McCain’s policies and ideas to those of the unpopular President.  

Unnecessary, and needless, injection of race into the campaign:

A few days ago a Florida schoolteacher was suspended and reprimanded for writing an acronym, C.H.A.N.G.E. – come help a (n-word) get elected – on his classroom’s whiteboard.  This statement was unnecessarily hateful and has no place in this or any campaign, from either party.  Remember Obama’s comments a few months ago in which he said “you know, he doesn’t look like all those other Presidents on those dollar bills” and “did I mention he’s black?”

The Bloviator hopes that everyone, including Obama himself, will refrain from further injecting race into politics.  This helps no one and only serves to feed the needless hate and tensions that we’ve been working so hard to erase from our society.

McCain announces Michigan pull-out:

Late this week Senator McCain announced that his campaign was going to pull out of Michigan, conceding the race there to Obama.  Governor Palin, however, does not seem ready to concede defeat there and is heading back in with her husband Todd in an effort to turn things around for their campaign.  Judging by the recent polling in just about every swing state, however, their campaign is going to need some new energy just about across the board.  This may just be another sign that this race is no longer McCain’s to win, but Obama’s to lose.

Bail-Out Rescue Package Passes House & Senate:

The bail-out package began over a week ago as a two and a half page proposal from Treasury Secretary Paulson.  This was then “politicked” over by the Senate and House leadership for about a week, and a modified…and now more than one hundred page…proposal went to the House floor for a vote last Monday.  The only problem was that the leadership did not have the votes to pass the measure, and it failed by a 228-205 margin.  The markets reacted to this, the Dow plunging 777 points before Monday’s close.  So, what does the House do?  They go on vacation for two days.

Enter the Senate, who again modifies the package, and after floor debates the measure…now over four hundred pages thick…passes the Senate by a vote of 74-25.  Once the House got back from their days off, the measure, which started as a bail-out but is now creatively coined a “rescue” pacakge, passed and was quickly signed by the President.

Need additional details?  Just read some of the prior posts on the subject – I haven’t the will to recap it all again.  The only questions now – will it work, and was it a good idea?  The Bloviator hopes all this was worth it, especially since it’s going to cost us so much.

 
Last night was the first, and only, debate between Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden, and what a show it turned out to be.  About half of the audience was tuning in to watch what they expected to be the last stop on the Palin train-wreck of the past week while the other half tuned in to (hopefully) watch the Governor redeem herself after what appeared to be disastrous interviews, specifically her performance with Katie Couric late last week.  It became obvious after the first few minutes of the debate that Gov. Palin was not going quietly into the good night.

The Bloviator will post a more in-depth analysis of the debate once I have had a chance to review the transcript in detail, but I could not resist posting a few comments this morning.

Wait – you mean George W. Bush is NOT really running again in 2008?

My favorite moments of the debate surround one of my own rants of late – that George Bush is not running for re-election in 2008.  There are no shortages of comparisons between John McCain and George Bush on policy, practice, ideals – you name it.  The only problem with that argument, at least to someone who has actually been paying attention to the political process all along and not just during the election season.  Senator McCain has worked across the aisle with Democrats and independents on important legislation more than any other senator, and in many cases he has taken strong positions against his own party.  This has created a lot of waves over the years.  Some specific examples include the McCain-Feingold bipartisan campaign reform act of 2002, the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform act, and the McCain-Lieberman bill that imposed caps on greenhouse gas emissions.  None of these measures were popular with the Republicans, and in some cases, were not popular with the Democrats either.  The point is that Senator John McCain is fully capable of marching to the beat of his own drum when it comes to what he believes in.  Anyone who attempts to call John McCain a “third Bush term” is either just plain ignorant, or is trying to distort the record.

But I digress – I think that Governor Palin did an excellent job of calling attention to Senator Biden’s constant rhetoric surrounding the policies of the current administration.  At one point, and I am paraphrasing, Governor Palin told Senator Biden that she thought the Obama-Biden ticket was supposed to be a champion for change…looking ahead to the future.  She added that for a ticket that is so forward-looking, they sure seem to be living in the past.  Perhaps those efforts from Governor Palin will wake up some of those angry Americans who are voting for change out of hatred for President Bush alone.

What McCain Should do Now:

After his running mate’s performance in last night’s debate, John McCain should clearly see that his campaign staff – those who have wanted to sequester Governor Palin and keep her away from the media – deserve to be fired.  Anyone who would consciously prevent someone who can perform like that away from the media, town hall meetings, and the American people just does not get it.  Governor Palin demonstrated her unique ability to connect with the average American last night, and when you are running against two elitists that connection with the regular folks is a must-have.

For weeks now I have been hearing the call from everyone who knows Sarah Palin to “let Sarah be Sarah.”  After last night’s performance there should no longer be debate on the issue.  Send Sarah Palin out there.  Send her often…and send her out with no purse strings.

If John McCain wants to win the election in November he needs to learn some lessons from Gov. Palin’s performance last night.  He needs to go on the offensive and speak his mind rather than getting lost in the details of politics.  The American people do not want to hear “Washington Insider-Speak,” we want that “straight talk” that McCain claims to enjoy so much.  McCain needs to stop telling us who voted for what on bills no one has ever heard of and start speaking directly to the American people about how his administration will help us – the regular folks.

The Bloviator is tired of hearing about “tax cuts” that are really tax increases, health-care reform that will only make it harder for all of us to get care, and who is (or is not) to blame for the current mess on Wall Street.  If Senator McCain doesn’t get his act together we may have a situation where the election is not his to win, but only Obama’s to lose.  We might already be at that point, which is a very unnerving thought to The Bloviator.

 
The Bloviator spent his Friday night watching the much anticipated first of three Presidential debates between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain.  Download a full text transcript of the debate.

Win, Lose, or Draw?

As soon as the debate ended both campaigns released statements claiming their candidate had walked away with the win, but The Bloviator disagrees.  In fact, I was a little disappointed with them both.  It looked like McCain was making too much of a point to restrain himself, which was no doubt an effect of the coaching from his handlers.  On the other hand I thought Obama detracted from his usual cool, calm, and collected persona by trying to interrupt McCain during some of his responses.  His attempts to speak over McCain’s responses were likely part of his strategy to get under Senator McCain’s skin.  Neither of these strategies were all that becoming to either candidate and really only made them both seem artificial and perhaps a little over-coached.

I was expecting a little more from each candidate, but instead of what I would call a true debate we ended up with each side basically reading from their campaign talking points throughout the evening.  There were really no decisive moments from either side, no really memorable quotes, no major slip-ups, and neither candidate caught the other in a “gotcha” moment.  If you are keeping up with the BloviBlog you likely know that I am constantly up to my neck in daily politics, presidential and otherwise, so there was really nothing all that new to me in either candidate’s positions.  Taking a step back, however, I recognize that not everyone devotes as much time to the daily political grind and news cycles as I do, and with so many millions of Americans watching last night it was a good opportunity for both candidates to highlight what the stand for.

Regarding who “won” the debate, I guess that depends on who you were supporting prior to the debate.  CNN has an online poll showing 66% favoring Barack Obama, MSNBC.com shows 51% to Obama, FoxNews.com is showing a web poll where the results are tied at 50% -50%, and I heard a Fox News poll conducted via phone & text messages (with a much larger sample size than their web poll) resulting in 84% favoring a McCain win.  We will likely have to wait a day or two before we get ahold of any scientific polling, but even then the results are likely to be split – like everything else in this election – along party lines.  The scientific polling will really only aide in determining if either candidate was able to sway any of the must-win independent voters.

What the candidates didn’t say:

To The Bloviator, the statements that resonated the loudest from both candidates were the ones they did not actually make.  To his credit, Jim Lehrer did his best to reign in the candidate’s responses and keep them on topic.

The first question was “at this very moment tonight, where do you stand on the financial recovery plan”?  

Obama answered that we must move “swiftly” and “wisely,” and then highlighted his proposals to ensure the bail-out package is fairly managed.  He claimed that we must ensure there is oversight, that the taxpayers “have the possibility of getting that money back” along with any gains.  He also added that we should not offer “golden parachutes” to the CEOs of the bailed-out companies and that there needs to be some sort of homeowner assistance package attached.  What Obama didn’t say:  Anything specific.  Obama notes in a follow-up that he has not seen any of the bill’s language yet, so perhaps he gets a pass on not knowing any specifics – however one would assume he could offer something at least semi-specific since he claims to be involved in the process every day via phone.

McCain stated that the package has transparency in it, and must include “accountability and oversight.”  He called for options for loans to failing businesses rather than the federal government simply assuming control over those loans.  A little more specific than Obama’s responses, but still not enough to satisfy the 44% of Americans who are opposed to any sort of bail-out package.  Obama then attacked McCain on his position that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.  McCain essentially gave the same answer his campaign has this past week, that he has “a fundamental belief in the goodness and strength of the American worker.”  What McCain didn’t say:  The fundamentals of the American economy ARE strong.  The economy posted 2.8% growth last quarter, which includes this time of financial crisis.  Even during this financial meltdown our economy is growing at a respectable rate, and Senator McCain should have drove that point home.  Growth in the face of disaster is no small feat and truly highlights the resiliency and robustness of our economic markets.

In a follow-up question, Jim Lehrer asked what were the fundamental differences between McCain and Obama’s plans to lead the country out of economic crisis.  

McCain responded that “the first thing we have to do is get spending under control” in Washington, speaking specifically of earmarks and other pork-barrel projects.  He quoted Tom Coburn when he called earmarking a “gateway drug.”  McCain then highlighted that Senator Obama asked for $932 million (that’s nearly a billion dollars) in earmarks for his state since he entered the Senate a few years ago.  As McCain points out, that’s about a million dollars a day for every day since Obama took office.  

Obama retorted that he agreed with McCain that the process had been abused and he had suspended his requests “until we cleaned [the process] up.”  Senator Obama attempted to contrast the $18 billion in earmark requests with Senator McCain’s plan to cut what could amount to $300 billion in tax cuts for “some of the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.”  Obama keeps talking about his “tax cut” for the middle class, but calling it a tax cut is just not true.  In fact, that tax “cut” is actually an increase in taxes for the wealthy and a $1000 “tax credit” for the middle class.  The Bloviator thinks the best way to cut taxes is not to take them in the first place.  What Obama didn’t say:  Those “wealthiest corporations” provide jobs and economic security to the American people.  Cutting their taxes allows them to grow, creating new jobs and opportunities for everyone.  There is a stark contrast between the economic policies of Senators Obama and McCain.  Obama wants to essentially steal from the “rich” to give to the poor, whereas McCain wants to give opportunities to the poor to succeed on their own.  If Senator Obama’s plans are enacted what incentive to the poor and middle-class have to succeed?  It creates a scenario where if you succeed you are penalized, so you may as well fail and get a hand out.  South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham stated after the debate last night that if you’re for class warfare, Senator Obama is your man.

Jim Lehrer then asked each candidate what they would have to give up as a result of having to pay for the financial rescue plan.

Neither candidate really had a good answer on this one, not wanting to have to change their already vague positions on economics and taxes.  Obama used the Bill Clinton cop-out, saying that we don’t yet know what our tax revenues are going to be” so it will be “hard to anticipate right now what the budget is going to look like next year.”  Isn’t that what forecasting is for?   Senator McCain’s answer was actually better in that at least he addressed the problem, saying “no matter what, we’ve got to cut spending” and that “we need to examine every agency of government” looking to eliminate excess spending.  

However, when pressed a bit more, Senator Obama capitulated that “there may be individual components [of Obama's energy plan] that we can’t do.”  McCain proposed a “spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs and entitlement programs.”  Obama retorted that the “problem with a spending freeze is you’re using a hatchet where you need a scalpel.”  The Bloviator doesn’t think we need a scalpel, we need a chain-saw.  What McCain didn’t say:  Senator Obama is willing to give up on unspecified aspects of his energy independence plan, which is critical to America’s national security, but is not willing to budge on his huge tax increases.  It does not take a genius (or a Bloviator) to understand that raising taxes in the midst of economic turmoil does not stimulate growth of any sort.  Drilling holes in the ground will produce large revenues in a short term.  Combine that with other forms of alternative energy and we not only put a stop to the largest transfer of wealth in US history, but we also create jobs and revenue within the US surrounding the new energy programs.  Why Obama would rather raise taxes to play Robin Hood instead of working to wean the country off foreign energy imports perplexes The Bloviator.

Jim Lehrer asked some questions related to the Iraq war and it’s parallels with Vietnam, and the war in Afghanistan.  While the candidates responses to these questions are important, they were no different than what you have been hearing for months, and since I see I am already over 1,500 words in this post (which is turning into more of a thesis than a blog entry) I will not bore you with the campaign’s same old talking points.  

I am compelled to make one specific point, though.  Obama continued to call attention to the escalating violence in Afghanistan, speaking as if the violence had been at this level for the last several years.  Senator McCain wrongly let him get away with those comments.  What McCain didn’t say:  The reason we have seen a recent uptick in violence in Afghanistan is directly related to our success in Iraq.  The more heat we put on the terrorist insurgents in Iraq the more appealing it is to them to cut and run to fight another day – and they are running to Afghanistan.  When we’re finished kicking their butts in Iraq we will, of course, chase them back into Afghanistan and kick their butts there…but if we leave Iraq before we finish the job we leave a vacuum that will assuredly be filled by insurgents.

In the interest of The Bloviator’s sanity, the last major point I will address has to do with the differences in how each candidate would handle the escalating situation with Iran.  The Senators parsed words and traded jabs surrounding who would talk to whom, and how, etc. when it comes to handling the situation with Iran.  McCain blasted Senator Obama’s comments from earlier in 2008 where he indicated he would meet with foreign states without preconditions, saying that “this is dangerous. It isn’t just naive; it’s dangerous.”  

McCain subsequently scored what may be The Bloviator’s favorite point of the evening, summarizing Obama’s policy of meeting without preconditions with a rhetorical question:  ”So let me get this right. We sit down with Ahmadinejad, and he says, “We’re going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,” and we say, “No, you’re not”? Oh, please.”

Again – you can  download a full text transcript of the debate here from bloviators.net.