Currently, as this Republican president is about to leave office, our country is 9.7 trillion dollars in debt, the unemployment rate is 6.1%, we have a $357 billion dollar budget deficit, and gas is $4 a gallon.  We are also on our way to a fifty year high deficit.  Eight years ago, when President Bill Clinton, a democrat left the office, we had a 4.2 unemployment rate, $281 billion dollar budget surplus, we were only 5.7 trillion dollars in debt, and gas was $1.46  a gallon.  In addition, last month alone America lost 84,000 jobs.  McCain, in his attempt to re-brand himself,  claims that the Republicans have lost their way.  This is a proven falsehood, the last six Republican Presidents have been fiscal spendthrifts.

In 1981 the gross national debt, compared to the nation’s annual income, reached its lowest point since 1931. Despite his claim to hate the debt, Reagan instituted unprecedented peacetime deficit spending.  This is not partisan politics, this is straight off the White House web site.   Bush II repeated Reagan’s performance and turned the debt upward again. Bush II’s own Office of Management and Budget provides all the data.  See graphs and facts here 

As to the question….are you better off today than you were 8 years ago?  When Bill Clinton left office eight years ago, we had a budget surplus and the economy was thriving.  Things have turned abyssmal during the Bush administration.  Further objective evidence is that by every economic performance metric, except one, democratic presidents have out-performed republican presidents.  In the last fifty years, the democrats have done much better in terms of economic growth, reducing the deficit, and strengthening the middle and working class than republicans.  Therefore, logic dictates that if as a voter you are really interested in turning around this sinking economy and putting more money in your pocket, it is the democratic party that has the track record of doing just that. History further demonstrates that the republican claim that it is the party of fiscal conservatism is a myth.  No President has been more proof of such myth than George W Bush.  And, given the fact that the majority of the McCain campaign staff have made a beeline from Bush to McCain there is no CHANGE in sight if McCain has his way.  On NPR’s All Things Considered in April this year McCain claimed:

“I can eliminate $100 billion of wasteful and earmark spending immediately–35 billion in big spending bills in the last two years, and another 65 billion that has already been made a permanent part of the budget.”

The problem is that the Office of Management and Budget only identified $16.9 billion total in appropriations bills for 2008.  “The figure includes such items as $4 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could not be eliminated without halting hundreds of construction projects around the country. Another big chunk goes to military construction, including housing for servicemen and their families, which McCain has also promised not to touch.”  Sooo…exactly how does McCain cut 35 billion dollars in spending from 16.9 billion?  Sounds like “voodoo economics.”  Just goes to further demonstrate that the Arizona senator just doesn’t get it.

Listen, the leaders and big-time players of McCain’s campaign staff  were hired directly from the Bush unemployment line.  There is absolutely no chance that a McCain administration will be any different than Bush.  More fiscal irresponsibility and no accountability.  Especially if McCain gets away with dressing the emperor in new clothes and claiming he’s a different emperor.  Even Karl Rove now admits that he gives strategy advice to the McCain campaign.  Bush-McCain are exactly the same.  Please pay attention to history.  It clearly shows that the McCain and republican claim of  owning fiscal conservatism is imaginary.  History is our best guide as to which party is best equipped to get us out of this mess and history shows that that party is the democratic party.  Think about it folks, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.  Don’t be distracted by the lipstick………vote your interest and your pocketbook

Larry Bartles of Princeton University

My examination of the partisan politics of economic in equality…….reveals that Democratic and Republican presidents over the past half-century have presided over dramatically different patterns of income growth. On average, the real incomes of middle- class families have grown twice as fast under Democrats as they have under Republicans, while the real incomes of working poor families have grown six times as fast under Democrats as they have under Republicans. These substantial partisan differences persist even after allowing for differences in economic circumstances and historical trends beyond the control of individual presidents. They suggest that escalating in equality is not simply an inevitable economic trend— and that a great deal of economic in equality in the contemporary United States is specifically attributable to the policies and priorities of Republican presidents.

Any satisfactory account of the American political economy must therefore explain how and why Republicans have had so much success in the American electoral arena despite their startling negative impact on the economic fortunes of middle- class and poor people. Thus, in chapter 3, I examine contemporary class politics and partisan change, testing the popular belief that the white working class has been lured into the Republican ranks by hot-button social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. Contrary to this familiar story, I find that low- income whites have actually become more Democratic in their presidential voting behavior over the past half-century, partially counterbalancing Republican gains among more affluent white voters. Moreover, low- income white voters continue to attach less weight to social issues than to economic issues—and they attach less weight to social issues than more affluent white voters do. The familiar image of a party system transformed by Republican gains among working- class cultural conservatives turns out to be largely mythical.

Republican, Ed Koch has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President today.  When asked why, Koch said  “[McCain's] designation of Palin as vice president.”  Koch said that he was shocked at the report about Palin banning books at the local library.  Koch went further to say.

“Any time someone goes to the library and says, ‘I want to ban books,’ and the librarian says ‘no,’ and she threatens to fire them — that’s scary,” he said. 

In Koch’s endorsement of Sen. Obama he wrote “the issue for me is who will best protect and defend America”

I have concluded that the country is safer in the hands of Barack Obama, leader of the Democratic Party and protector of the philosophy of that party. Protecting and defending the U.S. means more than defending us from foreign attacks. It includes defending the public with respect to their civil rights, civil liberties and other needs, e.g., national health insurance, the right of abortion, the continuation of Social Security, gay rights, other rights of privacy, fair progressive taxation and a host of other needs and rights.

If the vice president were ever called on to lead the country, there is no question in my mind that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is a plucky, exciting candidate, but when her record is examined, she fails miserably with respect to her views on the domestic issues that are so important to the people of the U.S., and to me. Frankly, it would scare me if she were to succeed John McCain in the presidency.

This is just common sense.  Who cares if Palin is a woman, are we going to jeopardize the security of our country just to elect a female as president? 

Registered voters are being illegally purged from the voter rolls and being disenfranchised in several battleground states.  Many states are not following federal law which mandates procedures for voter registrant removal from the voter rolls.  “The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) limits the circumstances in which a state may cancel a voter’s registration,” the Fair Elections Legal Network, a Washington-based voting rights consortium.  We have cited examples of alleged/actual illegal activity in Michigan, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, and Ohio.  It is that time in this political race were the dirty tricks begin to manifest in various forms of dress but the goal is clear…….disenfranchise voters.  It is important to be ultra vigilant with respect to your registration, the registration of your family members, etc.  Go to your states Secretary of State or Board of Elections website to verify/confirm that you are registered to vote. If you have moved you may have to reregister with your new address/change your address.  Check your states rules with respect to changing your address.  Also, check your voter status online if possible. See the articles here and here and here.  Please send us an email at progress@progresspolitics.com if there are any irregularities in your state or more specifically with your voter registration.

Thus far we have heard of Michigan:

In Michigan, the issues are more complex. Advancement Project’s Heard said there has been an overall lack of “transparency” regarding several aspects of the state’s voter purge process. In 2006, he said, Michigan election officials did a statewide mailing to all voters that did not mention the mailing would be used to verify voter registration information. Still, Heard said the returned postcards were used to remove 230,000 registered voters from voter rolls within 90 days of that year’s general election, which also violates the NVRA, he said.  

In MICHIGAN, voters can check status here

For VIRGINIA, check voter status online here.  

Colorado:

In swing-state Colorado, the Republican Secretary of State conducted the biggest purge of voters in history, dumping a fifth of all registrations. Guess their color.

In COLORADO, voters can check status  here     

Florida:

In swing-state Florida, the state is refusing to accept about 85,000 new registrations from voter drives – overwhelming Black voters.

In FLORIDA, voters can check status here 

New Mexico:

In swing state New Mexico, HALF of the Democrats of Mora, a dirt poor and overwhelmingly Hispanic county, found their registrations disappeared this year, courtesy of a Republican voting contractor. 

Nevada and Ohio:

In swing states Ohio and Nevada, new federal law is knocking out tens of thousands of voters who lost their homes to foreclosure.

In OHIO, voters can check status online here 

In NEVADA, voters can check status online here

The following are quotes from McCain’s fellow republicans with respect to the Arizona senators choosing Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Very interesting.

Alaska’s Republican State Senate President: Palin Not Prepared, Thought Pick Was A Joke. State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news.  ‘She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?’ said Green, a Republican from Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. ‘Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?’”  [Anchorage Daily News, 8/29/08]

Alaska’s Republican House Speaker Has Nothing Positive To Say About Palin’s Qualifications.. “State House Speaker John Harris, a Republican from Valdez, was astonished at the news. He didn’t want to get into the issue of her qualifications.  ‘She’s old enough,’ Harris said. ‘She’s a U.S. citizen.’”  [Anchorage Daily News, 8/29/08]

Conservative Rick Rydell: Questionable Vetting. Conservative host Rick Rydell said there are some benefits to the state, but it’s a gamble for McCain to pick an unknown with what he considered ‘questionable vetting.’ ‘It seems almost like a Hail Mary pass at the end of a football game,’ Rydell said in an interview after his show Friday.  Rydell said McCain has destroyed his argument about Barack Obama’s lack of experience.”  [Anchorage Daily News, 8/29/08]

California Republican Delegates Worried About Palin Pick. “California Republican delegates Karen and Robert Bonadio (father and daughter) said they are worried about McCain’s pick for VP. They like her story a lot . . .  But the Bonadios heard that Palin and her family are hunters, actually going out into the countryside to shoot wild creatures that weren’t doing anything to her. That offends the L.A. delegates greatly, and they really don’t want to hear that different parts of the country may have different cultures and views of such things.  The Bonadios don’t know that they want such a smalltown person as vice president. And they intend to make that point clear this week if they get another chance to talk with the senator.”  [LA Times, 8/31/08]

St. Louis Republican Delegate Deeply Concerned With Palin Selection. “Several Republican delegates said they too were shocked by the selection of Ms. Palin and, while they wished her well, were deeply concerned that she did not have the experience in foreign policy or national security to be commander in chief. ‘We’ve been told for the last few months that experience is what matters most in the next White House,’ said John Scates, a delegate from St. Louis. ‘But McCain is picking someone whose experience is little to nothing or, at best, unknown.’” [New York Times, 8/31/08]
 

Conservative Columnist: Palin Pick Near Suicidal. “‘The Palin selection completely undercuts the argument about Obama’s inexperience and readiness to lead’ wrote syndicated conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer. ‘To gratuitously undercut the remarkably successful ‘Is he ready to lead’ line of attack seems near suicidal.’” [Ottawa Citizen, 8/31/08]

Alabama Republican Delegate: Palin Not Qualified. “As they began gathering in Minneapolis-St. Paul for the start of their convention on Monday, some Republican delegates said they were concerned that Ms. Palin did not have the experience in foreign policy or national security to be commander in chief.  ‘We’re in a global war, we’re in a global economy, so it’s less than honest if someone says that this woman is qualified to lead America right now,’ said Todd Burkhalter, a Republican delegate from Mobile, Ala.”  [New York Times, 8/30/08]

Republican Operatives Worry About Palin Pick. ““‘I want to believe this is a game-changer, but when I close my eyes I see New Orleans in 1988,’ said a dumbstruck Republican operative, recalling the convention where Vice President George H.W. Bush tapped Dan Quayle” . .  . ‘Hell, I don’t know anything about her,’ a top Republican fund-raiser sputtered. ‘She may attract some independent women, but I can’t think of a state where she can make a difference.’” [New York Daily News, 8/29/08]

Describe Palin Pick As “Desperate” And Contrary to McCain’s “Country First” Slogan. “Shannen Coffin, a former White House counsel to Dick Cheney, the vice-president, said choosing Palin seemed ‘desperate’ and that it would be difficult to attack Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, on the grounds of inexperience. ‘It is hard to imagine Palin playing the same sort of role that modern vice-presidents like Gore, Bush, Cheney or Mondale played,’ he said.  “…. [McCain] is one arrogant SOB. McCain is essentially telling the world that he doesn’t really need a Vice President…. Rather, the Office would seem poised to return to the ‘proverbial warm bucket of p***’ category.  “Anti-abortion conservative Republicans applauded the choice as daring and modern, but others criticised her lack of foreign policy expertise and inexperience in a national election.  David Frum, President George W. Bush’s former speech-writer, warned: ‘The McCain campaign’s slogan is ‘country first’. If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat from the presidency?’”  [TimesOnline, 8/31/08]

Alaskan Republicans Have Reservations About Palin. “[A] growing chorus of Alaskans expressed reservations. ‘She’s not qualified, she doesn’t have the judgment, to be next in line to the president of the United States,’ Larry Persily, who until June worked in the governor’s Washington office as a congressional liaison, said in a phone interview.  A supporter of Palin’s campaign for governor, Jim Whitaker, the Republican mayor of Fairbanks, also questioned Palin’s readiness to serve as vice president.  Whitaker said that while he is ‘still an avid supporter’ of Palin as governor, he will continue to back Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.”  [Bloomberg, 9/1/08]

Republican Strategist: I’m Perplexed.. “David Marin, a principal at the Podesta Group and a Republican congressional strategist said, “I’m perplexed. Maybe the choice is pure genius. Maybe McCain has energized the base, re-established his maverick credentials, re-emphasized his reform agenda, and added historic new cracks to the odious glass ceiling, all with a single decision. Maybe Palin will amaze us all and be able to stand toe-to-toe with Biden. Maybe she’ll add some much-needed sizzle.  But I thought the McCain campaign was about experience at a time of national crisis. And I thought he understood the outcome will ultimately rest with independents, with ‘post partisans.’ I guess it’s a good thing most people vote for president, not VP, because, right now at least, this has Bentsen-Quayle written all over it.”  [Politico, 9/1/08]

Former McCain Advisor: Palin Pick Suggests Lack of Confidence. “‘It was certainly a surprising pick,’ says Dan Schnur, who served as McCain’s communications director during the Arizona senator’s 2000 presidential campaign. It’s the sort of pick, he says, that you would expect when a candidate is ‘behind 10 or 15 points in the polls.’  But with McCain and Obama running neck and neck, most analysts would anticipate a safer choice. ‘So it seems the senator and his advisers aren’t as confident’ as they might be, Schnur says.”  [NPR.org, 8/29/08]

Pat Local Conservative Blogger: McCain’s Worst Mistake. “Sherry Whitstine, a local [Alaska] conservative blogger, was dumbfounded by Palin’s selection, and not in a good way. Palin is ‘small potatoes,’ said Whitstine, who is still struggling to come to grips with McCain’s decision. ‘[Trying to make Palin] the VP of our country is probably the worst mistake of [McCain's] entire life,’ Whitstine said.”  [Chicago Tribune, 9/1/08]

National Review senior editor Rick Brookhiser.“Either McCain thinks the war on terror isn’t serious, or he thinks the vice-presidency isn’t,” 

Former counsel to Dick Cheney Shannen Coffin“The choice also says a lot about McCain. First, that he is a bit desperate,” Coffin writes on the National Review site The Corner. “Second, that he is one arrogant SOB. McCain is essentially telling the world that he doesn’t really need a Vice President…. Rather, the Office would seem poised to return to the ‘proverbial warm bucket of p***’ category.”

Pat Buchanan Mocks Palin With Joe Scarborough. “On MSNBC on August 29, 2008 (before the announcement), Pat Buchanan had this to say about Sarah Palin:. “You mentioned the word commander in chief. And it is — it is hard to see Sarah Palin as commander in chief within the next year or something like that. I think that’s the real risk that just — this woman, she might be outstanding. She might get women, get conservatives, energize the base. But I think the argument made against her would be that she just is not ready to be commander in chief, and she could be eaten alive in a debate with Joe Biden.”  Buchanan went on to acknowledge that Obama has done more to validate himself, saying “No, you are right. He validated himself, Barack Obama, by beating everybody all the — over 18 months.”  [MSNBC, 8/29/08; YouTube]

Karl Rove: Palin “Risky” Pick. “Before the news of her daughter’s pregnancy broke, Karl Rove told the Maine Republican delegation that Sarah Palin is a “risky” choice for vice president.  [TheAtlantic.com, 9/1/08; PolitickerME.com, 9/1/08]

Washington Post: Republicans Nervous. “S]ome Republicans remained nervous about the party’s ticket, worrying about the potential for more surprises in the days ahead. ‘Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy is probably much ado about nothing — I think,’ one GOP strategist said. ‘If there’s more, it will raise questions about the whole vetting process because she’s such an unknown.’ Another McCain loyalist said he doubts the controversy will last. ‘It came out in the vetting, and if that’s true, then the vetting worked,’ he said. ‘If that’s not true, then I would have concerns.’” [Washington Post, 9/2/08]

Prominent Republican Writer Says Palin Pick Neither Wise Nor Responsible. “Former Bush speechwriter, David Frum, said this about Sarah Palin: “Ms. Palin’s experience in government makes Barack Obama look like George C. Marshall. She served two terms on the city council of Wasilla, Alaska, population 9,000. She served two terms as mayor. In November, 2006, she was elected governor of the state, a job she has held for a little more than 18 months. She has zero foreign policy experience, and no record on national security issues.  All this would matter less, but for this fact: The day that John McCain announced his selection of Sarah Palin was his birthday. His 72nd birthday. . . If anything were to happen to a President McCain, the destiny of the free world would be placed in the hands of a woman who until recently was a small-town mayor.”  He concluded by saying, “Ms. Palin is a bold pick, and probably a shrewd one. It’s not nearly so clear that she is a responsible pick, or a wise one.” [AEI.org, 9/2/08]

Veteran Republican: Palin Pick Reckless.  “Each new fact we learn about Sarah Palin–her reversal on the bridge to nowhere, her disagreements with McCain on issues from windfall profits to global warming, emerging facts about troopergate–contribute to the feeling that this whole Palin thing is being made up as we go along. It may be fun to read about, and it sure is fun to cover, but it also supports the judgment of the Palin pick that I first heard from a Republican veteran shortly after the announcement: ‘Reckless.’”  [Slate, 9/1/08]

Brilliant response by Sen. Obama to the GOP’s attempt to belittle his work as a community organizer.

Sen. McCain said last night that he too will bring change to Washington DC.  Yet the same McCain has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time AND laid out an economic plan last night that is almost exactly the same as the economic policy of George W. Bush.  Perhaps someone should define change to Sen. McCain.  Simply entering office with a female version of Dick Cheney does not mean that your ticket represents change.  It means that it’s Bush style politics dressed in heels and a military cloak.  Guess what….George W. Bush also was a governor of a state outside of Washington DC.  Sen. McCain has been in the senate for 26 years!  After election day, with the amount of Rove and Bush cronies that are running McCain’s campaign, the Arizona senator will owe a slew of favors to lobbyists, special interests (oil companies), etc..  McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, is already involved in her second “abuse of power” investigation in only a very short political career.  If this is not a red flag indicating a Bush-Cheney style of leadership, I don’t know what is. 

In addition, Palin was an unnecessary, reckless, and impulsive political risk by McCain in a blatant political  pander to his far right conservative base.  The choice of Palin was also an arrogant, dirisive, and gratuitous risk.  There are so many female GOP candidates that would have shook up the race in terms of making history, but McCain, without conducting a proper vet, chose someone that neither he nor his campaign knew much about.  By the way, for those who say that McCain is the safer choice, McCain’s history of taking many of these types of unnecessary risks speaks against that conclusion.  As a pilot, McCain was involved in at least three crashes that may have been avoided had he bothered to read his flight manuals.  This seems like a person that not only takes unnecessary risks with his own life but risks the lives of others in the process.  How does anyone get into an airplane and wing it knowing the devastation that crashing could bring to others on the ground and in the air?  Perhaps when I was a teenager such a candidate would  have been appealing….you know……..when most of us had no sense of our own mortality.  However, as an adult member of the electorate, I am not looking for a rebel rouser making decisions regarding peace and war in the White House.  Especially a rebel rouser who has a reputation for being a war monger.  We had that with the shadow presidency of Dick Cheney.  It really takes balls to go into the White House and take a country to war based on your own personal agenda.  After the last eight years, we need a safe and steady hand on the tiller.

So, regardless of how “maverick” McCain claims that he will shake up or bring change to Washington,  it may be more of a credible argument if his party were not the party currently in power and he had not voted with Bush 90% of the time during Bush’s tenure in office and 95% of the time in this last year.  It is McCain’s policies that will be implemented in his administration, and McCain’s policy proposals are very, very, similar to the policies of the Bush-Cheney administration, especially when it comes to the economy and foreign policy.  Unfortunately for McCain, CHANGE is much more than a banner.

The McCain campaign just released an ad comparing Sen. Barack Obama’s experience to Gov. Sarah Palin.  This is an irrelevant comparison. Palin is not at the top of the ticket, Sen. John McCain is.  It will not be Palin’s policies that will be implemented in a McCain administration, it will be John McCain’s policies.  And as we know, McCain has voted with Bush 90% of the time.  Sen. McCain’s economic policy is a carbon copy of the economic policy of George W. Bush.  The McCain campaign comparing their vice presidential candidate to the democratic presidential candidate is an attempt to lull Obama into engaging Palin when McCain is his opponent.  It is McCain that will shape the policies of a McCain administration.  My guess is that once Palin has out lived her usefulness, she will be sent to the corner and told to keep quiet.  McCain will insure that the Bush policies continue if this ticket is put in the White House.  With Palin’s extremist far right views, Gov. Palin is just a female version of Dick Cheney without the influence.  Therefore, the Obama campaign should not be suckered by the McCain campaign into comparing Sen. Obama’s accomplishments to Palin’s, Palin should only be compared to her counterpart Sen. Joe Biden.  This election is about competing visions for America and how each vision will be implemented by Obama or McCain.  Palin’s petty remarks should be sent directly to Biden, don’t stop, don’t pass go, don’t collect $100. 

Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has just plead guilty to two felony charges.  The Mayor will spend 120 days in jail and pay a one million dollar fine.  Also, as part of the plea bargain the mayor will also resign.  The Detroit City council president will assume the mayor’s responsibilities.  The mayor has not officially resigned yet but pleading guilty to a felony charge removes Kilpatrick in and of itself.  The action stems from the Mayor allegedly lying about his reasons for firing a police officer as well as a litany of other charges.

It’s about bleeding time.

Governor Sarah Palin gave a speech last night laced with sarcasm and mocking rhetoric directed at Senator Obama and his wife Michelle.  While Sen. Biden’s speech appealed to the best part of us, Gov. Palin’ speech appealed to the worst part of us.  Still keeping in mind that this race is about John McCain and his judgment because he is the person to whom the buck would stop (one 15-minute VP interview), we feel the need to devote at least one post to Gov. Palin’s speech.  Palin’s speech had the Cheney style smugness that is the hallmark of the current administration.  It wasn’t a surprise when we found out that Dubya’s speechwriter crafted the speech. One wonders how  she will do on her own without the strategists and speechwriters.  If she is the new light of the right…..then put her out there.  There are questionable reports that the teleprompter may have broken during Palin’s speech last night….okay, so Palin can actually memorize a speech after practicing for several days.  What skill!  Anyone who thinks that any part of that speech last night was not scripted is either smoking something or thinks the rest of us are smoking something.  During the day yesterday the McCain campaign portrayed Palin as a victim of sexism, yet as the camera panned the auditorium last night  we saw buttons like ” we have the hottest VP”  and “hot chick.”  The hypocrisy is palatable.  Also, Palin did a good job of not mentioning her extremist views regarding abortion (no abortions even in cases of rape or incest), global warming ( not man made), etc..  The Alaskan governor failed to mention that after being in office for less than 20 months she is already the subject of an ethics investigation.  In addition, she failed to mention that she raised taxes as governor, she coveted pork-barrel projects as mayor, she attempted to ban books at the local library, and she believes the war in Iraq is “a task from God.  Palin also told a number of lies in her speech last night but because she gave a good delivery to the GOP audience the media is spinning it as brilliant. Now it’s time to look at her speech without the beer goggles.  There were gross mischaracterizations of her own history as well as that of Sen. Obama’s.  She said that she told Congress “thanks but no thanks” to the “bridge to nowhere” when she lobbied for and received millions in earmarks ($223 million “bridge to nowhere” funds to be exact).  Also, the “bridge” led to a town of about 50 residents…….that works out to be about 4.5 million per resident…..very fiscally responsible with our tax dollars.  Not to mention that she was for the “bridge to nowhere” before it became politically unpopular in Alaska and then she was against it.  So tell me, how much do you trust someone who in their first national speech to a national audience looks straight into the camera and tells easily refutable lies.  Brazingly, unapolagetically lied in an effort to dupe the public.  That takes balls.  Do you trust that this person will do anything that she promises?  Isn’t that exactly what George Bush and Bill Cheney did when selling the war in Iraq, etc..  Palin described how she had actual responsibilities as mayor and mocked Sen. Obama’s experience as a community organizer even though as a community organizer Sen. Obama was able to get laid off steel workers jobs that had been shipped overseas among his many other accomplishments during that time.  Palin exact quote was the following:  

Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.

Yes Gov. Palin, as a “small-town” mayor you did have responsibilities.  You had the responsibility not to leave your town that boasted a surplus as you entered office but a $20 million deficit as you left.  This is a town with a $6 million dollar budget and 53 employees.  I guess Palin’s motto is spend, spend, spend.  Like the current Bush, Palin’s overconfidence overshadows her incompetence.

Palin also asserted:

“There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform _ not even in the state senate.”

Well Gov. Palin, Sen. Obama worked with Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana ”to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year.”  Sen. Obama also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.  I will not even go into Sen. Biden’s record.   Exactly what legislation have you written……you didn’t mention that last night.

Further, is the McCain/Palin ticket really taunting itself as change when it is the party currently in office and is responsible for the majority of the problems that our country is mired in. Why are you telling us how bad the opponent is without telling us what your plan is?  There was nothing about how you will be able to improve the lives of the average American.

Sarcasm is not an effective negotiating tool when you’re facing a crisis in Georgia or the Middle East.  Sarcasm is not an effective tool in a sinking economy.  In other words, lots of zingers mixed with sarcasm does not a competent leader make.  Oh…by the way….Sen. Palin….you received 1500 votes to become mayor of Wasilla, Sen Biden received almost 80,000 votes during the primary.

The following statement was just released from the Obama Campaign in Response to Governor Palin’s Speech

“The speech that Governor Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush’s speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we’ve heard from George Bush for the last eight years.  If Governor Palin and John McCain want to define ‘change’ as voting with George Bush 90% of the time, that’s their choice, but we don’t think the American people are ready to take a 10% chance on change,” said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

The media keeps going on and on about if Palin turns out to be great, this will have been a brilliant decision by McCain.   Uhhhh….sorry, it doesn’t work that way.  The point is that Sen. McCain jeopardized the security of this country based on a whim.  For goodness sake…she is linked to a group that advocates Alaska seceding from the United States.  Isn’t that kind of a deal breaker if you plan to pledge to be the vice president of the UNITED states.  After misleading the public for the past five days claiming that Gov. Palin was properly vetted, the McCain campaign has finally admitted that they did not really vet this person before offering her the VP spot.  Reckless.  It is irrelevant how tonight turns out for Palin, if she does end up doing a bang up job, Sen. McCain had no idea about her abilities and therefore just got lucky with her ability to deliver a good speech.  That’s it….luck.   Not brilliant and informed decision making based on some profound wisdom……….just luck.   McCain nor his campaign has any idea of the type of leader Palin is or would be.  Thus far, all the information that McCain and his campaign are spouting about Palin being a “reformer” or a “maverick” has turned out to be false.  It is prima facia irresponsible to choose a person that will be a heart beat away from the presidency after a single 15-minute meeting.  The President will be responsible for staffing many critical and influential positions in his cabinet, it is very, very, scary to know that this is how such decisions will be made.  Gov. Palin will probably give a good speech this evening, after all she has been held up in her hotel room in Minnesota practicing for three days.  This says nothing about her character, judgment, or track record when it comes to the addressing the complicated issues facing our nation involving Al Queda, Russia, North Korea, etc..  Before you say that Obama gives a great speech, Obama has proven his character and judgment to the American people by actually WINNING the democratic nomination with over 20 million actual votes of confidence from citizens of the United States.  McCain himself didn’t win as many votes.  Obama has also shown the American people how he would deal with the national security and economic issues of this nation.  The point is that there is still disturbing information being discovered about the Alaskan governor and McCain, nor his campaign, has any idea what to expect.  A good performance tonight will not change that fact.  This is about the judgment and temperament of the top of the ticket.  In other words, this is all about John McCain. 

Two top McCain campaign officials now admit that they Gov. Palin did not go through a full vetting process.  Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the information about her daughter until that meeting.  So Sen. McCain lied when he said that “my vetting process was completely thorough, and I’m thankful for the results.”  Didn’t Fred Thompson say something last night about ”character.”  The McCain campaign does not know what may turn up in Palin’s background.  Palin was basically chosen on a whim.  Judgment.  McCain chose Palin even though he really wanted to choose Sen. Joe Lieberman.  So, wouldn’t the maverick thing be to choose Lieberman and go against the far right of his base as he is reported to detest.  No, instead, McCain chose Palin, who is as far to the right and out of the main stream as you can get.  The Arizona senator did so to pander to the far right.  McCain did so without even bothering to properly check her out first.  Now the McCain campaign is trying to make lemonade out of lemons.  The “reformer” label is completely false given her past positions and history in the Alaska.  McCain and his surrogates are deceptively presenting Ms. Palin as a crusader against indicted Ted Stevens’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” However, the record shows that Palin initially supported Stevens boondoggle, diverting the money to other projects when the bridge became a political disaster. Further, in June in a speech to the Wasilla Assembly of God, Ms. Palin proclaimed that it is ”God’s will” that the federal government contribute to a $30 billion gas pipeline she wants built in Alaska.  That’s a real reformer move.  The McCain surrogates are scrambling as they try to defend Palin’s readiness to lead.  On CNN, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds tried to defend the McCain’s vice presidential pick but came up blank when asked to name one specific decision Palin has made as commander of Alaska’s national guard.  Now the McCain campaign has blacked out all appearances on CNN, claiming that the reporter was over the line because she asked about Palin’s foreign policy experience.  Are you kidding me?  On Fox News, McCain confidante Sen. Jon Kyle was asked if Palin is ready to be President…Kyl’s response “in time.”  Huh….we are talking 62 days!  Again, this goes to the lack of discipline and risk taking nature of Sen. John McCain.  We’ve had a “maverick” shadow president in Dick Cheney.  Cheney was sworn into office as vice president and has done whatever he pleased the last 8 years without any accountability.  We need a steady hand on the tiller folks….there is too much at stake.  Choosing an individual as your vice president after one 15 minute meeting does not a steady hand make.  Further, leadership is taking a stand in the face of party opposition.  Sen. Obama received tremendous pressure to choose Sen. Clinton as his vice presidential candidate but he chose the person whom believed best able to contribute to his governing.  Sen. McCain made an impulsive choice after the far right threatened a revolt if he had chose Leiberman, the person that he was going to choose up until a day before his veep announcement. Obama also received threats and petitions from Clinton supporters but stood firm in his right to choose his own vice president.  McCain succumbed to the partisan pressure of the far right.  Our country has many problems, we need a President with sound judgment and strong leadership skills.  McCain’s choice of Palin flies in the face of such characteristics. 

Candidate John McCain has expressed serious concern regarding the recovery efforts for the victims of Gustav, but is this another case of Candidate McCain versus Senator McCain.  This is what McCain said right after Katrina:  “American citizens have proven time and again how generous and selfless a people we are, and now we have an opportunity to come to the aid of those in need.” A week later he stridently said “Our work to help the victims of this national tragedy has just begun, and Congress must do all that is necessary to fund essential relief and recovery efforts and help those in need.”  However, this is Sen. McCain’s voting record in the months following Katrina: 

Sen. McCain spent months not only opposing but leading the Republican opposition against every senate bill proposed to help Katrina victims or that mandated investigations of what actually happened with respect to the governments response. 

Senator and Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden authored a bill S.Amdt. 1661 ”….to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina.”  Among other things, the legislation would have provided interoperable communications equipment to enable first-responders “to find, unite, and transport children impacted by Hurrican Katrina to their parents, legal guardians, or next of kin.”  The legislation would also have provided funding for victims of domestic violence in affected areas.  Biden argued ”[t]he National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has reported that over 1,000 children have been displaced by this storm — that means they are not with their parents or guardians — and in this amendment we provide $10 million for that effort,” Biden continued. “We also provide $9 million to support domestic violence victims impacted by the storms. We all heard of the reports of sexual assaults in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and we will support those victims who have not been moved to new shelters.”  However, with John McCain’s help, the Republican-led Senate shot down the funding  41-56 , while Biden and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding. 

Further“[w]hen Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) proposed the creation of a Congressional Commission to “examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.. and make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future,” John McCain was once again exactly where George W. Bush wanted him to be: On the “nay” side of a straight party-line vote  (44-54) that killed that legislation.”  And don’t think that this was a solely partisan effort by the democrats, the bill called for a wholly bipartisan panel made up of a 10-member group and stating specifically that “not more than 5 members of the Commission shall be from the same political party.”   McCain voted for Bush and against the victims of Katrina.  Barack Obama was one of the co-sponsors of that bill and both he and Biden voted for immediate oversight on the bungled Katrina response.”

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So when Candidate John McCain made his grand exploitation trip to Louisiana later this week and if he decides to complete the exploitation by giving a speech from one of the hurricane ridden states, keep in mind, not his words of sympathy or resolve that it will never happen again.  Instead keep in mind Senator McCain’s deeds and actions following Katrina the last time.  Keep in mind that Senator McCain voted against Katrina victims at every opportunity following the disaster.  

Anyone who isn’t convinced that electing McCain would be the same as a third term of Bush should be aware of a story just posted by the Anchorage Daily News.  Apparently, even though Gov. Palin has invited the bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee in Alaska to investigate her and hold her accountable, the McCain campaign seem more interested in cover-up and unaccountability.  The bi-partisan panel is investigating Gov. Palin regarding an allegation that the governor abused her power by firing an employee who refused to fire the governor’s brother-in-law who was involved in a bitter custody battle with the governor’s sister.  The committee’s findings are scheduled to be released on October 31st, four days before the general election.  Is this familiar to anyone….the Bush administration, Rove, and the firing of several Attorney Generals because of their political beliefs?  The McCain campaign has gone to Alaska and challenged the bi-partisan panel’s authority to even conduct the investigation.  The project manager of the bi-partisan panel, Senator Hollis French, democrat,  says that there is likely damaging information to the Governor.  Palin has a track record of getting rid of employees that did not back her during her run for governor.  As a matter of fact, after being sworn into office, Gov. Palin ask such employees to voluntarily resign.  When a couple of them did not, she fired them.  Now, the McCain campaign is pushing for the troopergate investigation to be transferred to the state Personnel Board.  Such Personnel Board is stacked or made up of three Gov. Palin appointees.  Sound familiar.  Bush/Cheney/McCain, all the same.   Haven’t we had enough of this kind of politics.  Seriously, voting McCain into office is a validation of the Bush/Cheney style of leadership and gives a McCain administration no reason to change that style of leadership.  Do we as voters really want that?   See story below.

The state has hired a private lawyer to represent Gov. Sarah Palin’s office in the Legislature’s investigation into the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. The lawyer already has challenged whether lawmakers even have authority to oversee the inquiry.
…

Van Flein said the investigation should be handled by the state Personnel Board, not the Legislature, because it’s “statutorily mandated” to handle ethics cases. The three-member Personnel Board is appointed by the governor.

To be clear, this is less about Sarah Palin and all about the judgment of Sen. John McCain.  If McCain had exercised the kind of judgment and conducted the type of thorough investigation befitting a choice of individual for the second most powerful position in the free world, perhaps we would not be having this discussion.   The media has uncovered quite a bit of troubling information about Gov. Palin in the last couple of days simply by conducting a google search.  Judging from the McCain campaign responses, they did not bother to conduct such a search.  When requesting a response from the McCain campaign about the various facts below, McCain surrogates appear befuddled and confused.   As a matter of fact, the McCain campaign is currently engaged in a post-selection vetting process.  Though we are sure that Gov. Palin is a good person, Sen. McCain has demonstrated the kind of rash, reckless, shoot first ask questions last, shoot…ready…aim, invade Iraq then find non-existent WMAs, rush to judgment that is the hallmark of the current Bush administration.  This is the first and most important presidential decision that McCain will make as a candidate for the top spot.  The decision of who will serve in the second most powerful position in the world. How such a decision is made is indicative of a candidate’s style of governing.  After the revelation of the following facts, McCain may have failed his first presidential task.  It appears as if gambler McCain picked up the dice, blew on them, and rolled.  Unfortunately for him, it appears that he may have rolled craps.  The following is information McCain could have easily learned had he bothered to properly vet Gov. Palin.

1. Palin is linked to the Alaskan Secessionist party.   Sarah Palin is linked to and her husband was a member of the Alaska Independence Party.  Palin reportedly attended the AIP convention in 1994.  AIP’s motto is “Alaska First.”  Also, Gov. Palin sent a video message to the 2008 AIP convention telling the group “to keep up the good work.”  The group’s goal is to have a vote on Alaska’s state status on the question of whether the state should secede from the United States.
2. Palin was mayor of the town of Wasilla, population at the time, around 5000, less than the population of most high schools in the U.S.
3. Palin was almost recalled as mayor because of an alleged abuse of power scandal
4. Palin reportedly, as mayor, left the small town of Wasilla $22 million dollars in debt
5. Palin directed fundraising for indicted Ted Stevens 527 group (“bridge to nowhere” Senator)
6. Palin was for the “bridge to nowhere” before she was against it
7. Palin currently being investigated in another abuse of power scandal involving a state trooper
8. Palin called Iraq a war for oil (opposite of McCain’s position)
9. Palin admits that she has “not really focused on Iraq”…huh?
10. Palin admits on Larry King that she is not sure what a Vice President does
11. According to Alaskan National Guard General:  Palin played no role in national defense….as governor of Alaska, she is not even consulted.
12. McCain only recently  sent a dozen communications operatives and lawyers to Alaska to further investigate Palin
13. Even though the McCain campaign is attempting to position Palin as anti-earmark, Palin has lobied for and received millions in earmarks as governor and mayor.
14. The state of Alaska has requested 31 earmarks totaling 197.8 million from next year’s federal budget….this is pivotal considering McCain’s promise to make all politicians who request earmarks famous by vetoing all earmarks that cross his desk if he were to become president.  The reformer label the McCain campaign is pushing Palin as doesn’t fit.
15. Palin’s mother-in-law may vote for Sen. Barack Obama and is not sure what Palin brings to the ticket other than she is a woman and a conservative.
16. That Palins approval rating is not the touted 80% but 67% and sinking.
17. “[A] number of leading [Alaskan] Republican officeholders in the state who mocked Palin’s qualifications. “She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?” said Lyda Green, the president of the State Senate, a Republican from Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. “Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?”
18. Alaska top Republican, John Harris, the speaker of the House, when asked about her qualifications for Veep, replied with this: “She’s old enough. She’s a U.S. citizen.”
19. Daily News-Minerin Fairbanks Alaska:   Most people would acknowledge that, regardless of her charm and good intentions, Palin is not ready for the top job. McCain seems to have put his political interests ahead of the nation’s when he created the possibility that she might fill it.
20. Editorial in the Anchorage Daily News:  Palin joins the ticket with one huge weakness: She’s a total beginner on national and international issues.
21. Palin only obtained a passport one year ago.
22. Palin has never traveled to Russia despite its proximity to Alaska
23. Regarding the “bridge to nowhere” and earmarks, in June Palin gave a speech to the Wasilla Assembly of God, Ms. Palin proclaimed that it is ”God’s will” that the federal government contribute to a $30 billion gas pipeline she wants built in Alaska.

Judgment

Well it appears that the the GOP refuses to let anything stand in the way of their need to party.  Several lobbyists threw parties that GOP politicians attended in light of the anticipated devastation that hurricane Gustav threatened to provide to an American city. One party goer pretty much said tough luck.

Senator John McCain has chosen and unknown, untested, trophy candidate as his vice presidential nominee.  Does anyone really think that Gov. Sarah Palin really is prepared to lead this county in the event of of a national security emergency.  One out of three vice presidents has had to act as president during their tenure.  For those who think that this will not happen in light of McCain’s status as a 72 year-old, four-time cancer survivor, they are deluding themselves. 

For those of you who are comparing Obama to Palin, Sen. Obama has a track record of being right on several of the most important foreign policy decision of this decade.  The Illinois senator has proven that he has the judgment and temperament to be president.  First, Sen. Obama spoke out against the Iraq War, Sen. Obama pushed for a timetable for Iraq (we now have a timetable), Sen. Obama pushed to keep Pakistan in the dark as to our strategy for taking out key members of Al Queda on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border (after doing which we took out a key member of Al Qaeda), Sen. Obama said we should talk to our enemies.  President Bush spoke with North Korea, after Obama had been saying to do so for a year, afterwards North Korea agrees to begin dismanteling its nukes. The Bush administration is now talking to Iran. Not to mention that Sen. Obama has run a 50-state campaign against a formidable candidate and won.  Lastly, Sen. Obama proved himself to the American people, and as a result, the AMERICAN people in their vote of confidence, voted him into his current position as the democratic nominee.  Sen. McCain  put Palin in her position and he hasn’t proven to the American people that we can trust his judgment on anything, let alone choosing a neophyte to become a heartbeat away from the presidency.  This is a irrational and desperate decision that was made by McCain after meeting with the Alaskan governor once….ONCE, before making her the offer to become his running mate.  

Scary Fact: Governor Palin was asked the following question in 2006 about the Pledge of Allegiance:

Q: Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance

Slight problem, the Pledge of Allegience was not written until 1892, 56 years after the death of the last founding father.  Thus the founding fathers never knew of or said the Pledge of Allegiance.  The Pledge of Allegiance was not made the official Pledge until 1942, six years after Sen. John McCain was born.  Further, Palin was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.  The AIP has since the 1970s been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can SECEDE from the United States.  Are you kidding me?  The motto of AIP is instead of “Country First,” is “Alaskans First, Alaskans Always.”  So she does not know the history of the U.S. and was a member of a group that does not want Alaska to be part of the United States.  Do you think that the McCain campaign could have found out this information if they had bothered to properly vet Palin before choosing her as the VP candidate?  Judgment.  This is the person to whom Sen. McCain would like to entrust the safety and security of the American people. 

Apparently, McCain also does not have confidence in the abilities of his running mate because the campaign has relegated her to fund raising for down ticket candidates.  The McCain campaign said that 80% of Palin’s time will be spent fundraising for donations that the McCain campaign cannot spend after today because the Arizona senator opted for $87 million in public financing.  If Palin is such a great choice and has energized the republican base, why not put her out on the trail as much as possible in order to secure votes?  Why…because Palin is a trophy candidate.

The McCain campaign sites as Palin’s foreign policy experience, the fact that she has a son going to Iraq and the fact that Alaska is close to Russia!  Are you kidding me!!!  McCain’s veep choice decision comes off as rash and erratic.  How else do you explain risking the security of the country in the hands of a governor of a state that boast a population of 685,000?  San Jose, California has a larger population than the whole state of Alaska.  Does that mean that the mayor of San Jose is ready to be president?  Just the city of Chicago is four times the size of the state of Alaska. As for her mayoral experience of presiding over Wasilla, population at the time, about 5000, there are high schools that have more students than Wasilla has residents.  There are a significant number of republican female governors and senators who are at least qualified and many significantly more qualified than Palin.  There are republican female political figures who would have been much more sensible and practical choices for McCain if the Arizona senator had put country first as he claims he will always do.  This is not a “maverick” decision, it is an arbitrary and erratic one, made for obvious political reasons. 

Choosing their running mate is the first presidential decision that each of these candidates had to make. We the voters were able to witness the decision making process of the candidates.  Do they take the time to think through the implications of the decision to the country?  Do they think that if something happens to me, I trust this person to lead the country? Or, do they think, I want to win regardless?  Or, I choose this person because she looks good on the ticket (shock value), regardless of whether she is capable of leading the country?  Is the vice president decision a reasoned decision or a reckless and impulsive one solely for political gains?  You decide.  Another interesting tidbit,  the McCain campain has only as recent as this week sent attorneys to Alaska to more deeply vet Governor Palin.  Shouldn’t this have been done before choosing Gov. Palin for the second most powerful job in the free world.  Judgment.   Sen. Obama took the time and effort to put all of the potential veeps through a vigorous vetting process.  Sen. McCain met with Palin once…..once for 15 minutes, and is only now, after announcing his choice, is deeply vetting the Alaskan governor.  There is a difference between maverick and reckless.  Choosing a neophyte running mate based on one 15 minute meeting leans more towards reckless than maverick. 

This is characteristic of McCain’s methodology when it comes to making decisions. In the Naval Academy, McCain has said that he came very close to flunking out and ended up barely graduating fifth from the bottom of his class, 894 out of 899.   Many of McCain’s long time friends have said of the Arizona senator “if you didn’t want to live on the edge, then don’t hang around with John McCain.”  Living on the edge is one of McCain’s trademarks, boasting actors such as Marlon Brando and James Dean as his heroes.  It’s very interesting how reminiscent his current attitude is in comparison to his attitude as a young adult.  Sen. McCain has himself revealed that during his aviator training that he chose recreational reading “at the expense of learning my flight procedures which I probably should have given a higher priority to” and could not remember how to eject after his plane crashed.  Such antics resulted in a couple of near death experiences for McCain.  Okay, so instead of learning the rules and mechanics of flying a plane in flight school he decided to get in the plane and wing it?   Is this really the safe choice for America in terms of its Commander-in-Chief?  Are Americans actually comfortable with someone who is so easily willing to play chicken when it comes to life and death.  Some may define this as a maverick quality…..this writer defines it as unnecessary risk taking and reckless behavior.  So for those of you who are conned into buying the maverick meme being pandered by the McCain campaign and the main stream media,  I say that this is an erratic, impulsive, and irresponsible decision by someone who proclaims to put country first.

Whose judgment do you trust?