Our economy is in horrendous shape and Sen. John McCain thinks that the American people haven’t noticed?  Yesterday, the dow plunged almost 700 points, the NASDAQ dropped 95 points, ands the S&P dropped 75 points, but what is the McCain campaign focused on?  Baseless inflammatory accusations against Sen. Barack Obama.  Where is your plan Sen. McCain?  Where is your plan to fix the economy?  Inciting right-wing lunatics into making violent threats against your opponent is not a plan. I t is however, a desperate, pathetic attempt to win at any cost.  People are worried about their job, their home, their retirement account, their savings account, and the fact that McCain thinks that he can distract voters with insidious nonsense rather than offering real solutions, is insulting to the average voter’s intelligence. 

I guess that we should not be surprised by McCain or the Republican party when it comes to the level of distraction in which they will engage in order to steal this election.  The swift boatee has now become the swift boater.   The fact that the McCain is banking on a not so silent whisper campaign of racism as it’s primary campaign strategy is dishonorable and pathetic.  It also speaks to the erratic, ridiculous, and spasmodic  nature of the Arizona senator’s managing style.  For example, lets discuss the transition plans of both candidates shall we?  McCain’s transition team is nonexistent…McCain has decided not to worry about such things now because he doesn’t want to jinx it.  Yes, that is actually his true reason and spoken like a true gambler I might add.  This is unprecedented.  No primary candidate in history has ever not had an elaborate and intricate plan of transition into the White House for when the current occupant exit.  Why…because the new occupant has to hit the ground running and will not have time to engage in the very detailed vetting process of making appointments, staffing key positions, developing policy positions, etc.  Obama on the other hand has developed an elaborate network that is staffed with dozens of key people with very impressive resumes to help prepare for his possible move to the White House in January 2009.   It has never been more critical that the transition from one administration to the next is as seamless as possible given the current state of our nation’s affairs.  I guess McCain’s plan is to just wing it.

Finally, this is a time that we as a people need to come together and unify the country to try and navigate our way out of our current economic adversity.  However, McCain and his campaign has decided that divisiveness and winning at all cost is much more important.  Apparently, the current state of our nation in crisis is a distant last when it comes to the unbridled desires of John McCain.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is offensive. 

Sen. John McCain has been goading Sen. Barack Obama for months to have a townhall meeting perceiving himself as some kind of master of this style of debate.  Well, last night McCain got his shot and guess what?  Obama took the school and the town in which it’s located.  CNN conducted a poll of independent  voters watching the debate and Obama won the debate 54% to 30%.  Fox News (yes that’s right), CNN, and CBS, independent viewer polls show that Obama won the debate. By the way Sen. McCain, yes the majority of voters have heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Voters in this election are a pretty smart group.  They are newly engaged, and to your detriment, they are paying attention to this presidential race.  So you saying that the average voter probably don’t know what is Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, is condescending and insulting to the average American’s intelligence.

As for McCain’s claim that he wants to buy up home mortgages and renegotiate those mortgages at the ”face” value of those homes….really?  Is that why McCain’s own party tried to prevent and intimidate the citizens of Michigan affected by foreclosures from voting?   Yea…somehow it is doubtful that McCain or his party has the interest of  citizens caught up in the subprime debacle at the top of their priority list.  And by the way…this is a proposal that has already been passed by Congress and is existing law.  And guess what, Sen. Obama endorsed a similar, better idea two weeks ago and the proposal is included in the $700 billion dollar bailout package.  So McCain’s claim that it is his idea is completely false.  The a better proposal and law is already on the books and had McCain did a search on “the Google” he could have found out that information before claiming the bad idea as his own.   McCain has been in Washington for 26 years, where was all the concern or effort to help “put Americans back to work” during his 26 year tenure?  All of a sudden, now that he is running for President, McCain is a friend of the working class.  Sen. McCain is again trying to mislead the American people.  We do not trust you to do what you claim because of the history of you and your campaign misleading the public.  

As for McCain’s claim that we are sending $700 billion dollars a year to countries that do not like us very much…he repeats this false claim in most of his speeches regarding energy independence.  Factcheck.org had this to say:

“We’ve got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t want us very – like us very much” ([McCain] actually used the figure three times in the debate.) He’s talking about what we spend importing oil, and he’s said the same thing at the last debate and numerous other times. At current oil prices, the correct figure is about $493 billion. About a third of that goes to Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which were still on the friendly side of the ledger last time we looked.

As much as the McCain campaign is trying to change the subject by personally attacking Sen. Barack Obama’s character the economy issue is not going away.   At one point yesterday the market dropped 800 points.  People do not care about William Ayers, they care about their sinking 401K.  When the McCain campaign announced last weekend that they are going to change the subject from the economy to disparaging Obama’s character, the economy responded with…not so fast.  This is typical of this campaign, let’s try and trick the American public, again, into returning a Republican to the Executive Office.  And when I say “this campaign,” I mean a continuation of the Bush campaign of 2000 because the majority of McCain’s advisers and other senior campaign officials came from that group.  Honestly, I really do not understand how anyone could vote to entrust John Sydney McCain III with the office of President of the United States.  I say that in light of McCain’s recent history of erratic reactions to crisis’ and his past judgment at critical moments in the last eight years.   McCain has admitted that he does not understand the economy and is relying on Phil Gramm (Mr. deregulator himself) for economic advice.  How any person, given the current state of our country and after suffering through the last eight years of Republican rule, can vote for the McCain-Palin ticket who is interested in advancing America’s interest abroad is beyond this writer.  McCain cannot even run his campaign.  By business standards, McCain has bankrupted his campaign twice.  Is that the person you want running the biggest corporation in the world in this economic crisis?  This writer has not seen or heard a plausible plan from the McCain campaign on how they would address the meltdown of the financial markets, reduce the deficit, or end the war in Iraq.  For those voters voting for McCain in this election…I just don’t get it.  It’s like one pundit said lasty weekend, the McCain campaign is a series of tactics with no short or long term strategy.  McCain’s plan for America is exactly the same, a series of bad tactical reactions with no long term vision.  As conservative republican columnist Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal said “[McCain and Palin] are just not big enough for the moment.”

Gov. Palin has a history of attempting to quiet speech that she disagrees with.  Back in Alaska…   (link)

Palin has acknowledged she twice raised the issue in 1996 of how books could be removed from the shelves, but said it was only a “rhetorical question” and that she did not ask for any books to be banned.

Palin’s church at the time, the Assembly of God, had been pushing for the removal a book called “Pastor I Am Gay” from local bookstores, according to the book’s author Pastor Howard Bess, of the Church of the Covenant in nearby Palmer, Alaska.

“And she was one of them,” said Bess, “this whole thing of controlling information, censorship, that’s part of the scene,” said Bess.

Can you imagine what she would attempt to do “if [she] and Senator McCain are so blessed as to be chosen to serve?”  Well, you don’t have to wait…she gave her opinion about the press this past weekend.

As we send our young men and women overseas in a war zone to fight for democracy and freedoms, including freedom of the press, we’ve really got to have a mutually beneficial relationship here with those fighting the freedom of the press, and then the press, though not taking advantage and exploiting a situation, perhaps they would want to capture and abuse the privilege. We just want truth, we want fairness, we want balance……. got to have a mutually beneficial relationship here with those fighting the freedom of the press………..and then the press, though not taking advantage and exploiting a situation, perhaps they would want to capture and abuse the privilege.

I guess Gov. Palin believes that freedom of speech and freedom of the press is a privilege not a right.  Our Founding Fathers have something to say about that and they said it in the first amendment of the Constitution.  Read it!

John McCain’s new strategy….attack Sen. Barack Obama’s character with mud whether it is true or not.  The new strategy is, according to the McCain campaign,…the continued the politics of personal destruction.  I guess Sen. McCain forgot that his campaign has been doing that for the last two months.  The McCain campaign will continue to try and distract voters from the issues, in this instance, the economy.  So instead of coming up with plausible solutions to this economic crisis, the McCain campaign strategy is to distract, distract, distract, away from the real concerns of the American people.  Voters are dealing with the realities of the present.  You know, the subprime meltdown, gas prices, education.  But the McCain campaign wants to distract away from such things and instead smear Obama with lies that were debunked during the primary.  I must say, on Sunday, the McCain surrogates did not disappoint.  From Sarah Palin at a campaign rally in California, to Nancy Pfotenhauer on CNN’s Late Edition, all attempting to slander Obama based on detestible acts engaged in by some guy almost 40 years ago.  At which time, I might add, Obama was eight years old and playing in a sand box. 

One other tactic that members of the the McCain campaign and its surrogates utilize is to overtalk their opponent in a way that prevents the opponent from exposing the fatal flaws in the majority of their claims, arguments, and positions.  All of the McCain surrogates do it.  They talk and talk trying to run out the clock on the segment in a blatant attempt to prevent the opponent from getting a word in edgewise.  Nancy Pfotenhauer does this ALOT.  Carly Fiorina also used to do it ALOT until she was silenced for saying that McCain is not qualified to run a company. 

The McCain campaign has also decided to issue attack ads against the Illinois senator.  Whether such ads are false or misleading does not matter to McCain.  As long as they attack and mislead the public about Obama’s character.  For example, the McCain campaign has an ad out that claims that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times.  This is completely untrue and misleading to the American people.  McCain and his campaign know that these are budget resolutions or amendments that in and of themsleves could not result in higher taxes.  In fact, if we use the exact same methodology used by the McCain campaign to come up with this claim, McCain has voted to raise taxes 400 times.  They fail to mention this little tidbit in their ad.

Tim Dickenson penned a scathing article about the real John McCain in Rolling Stone this week.  Not the fictionalized, media created “maverick” John McCain, but the real John McCain and the rise to below mediocrity that he actually represents.   The article is long but it is COMPELLING and well worth the read.  It gives you all the details about John McCain’s real life and not the fairytale that he and his handlers have been spinning for years now.  Further, it gives FULL details of McCain’s ACTUAL war record as well as real insight into McCain’s true character.  A MUST READ!!  Some of the highlights are below.

The real John McCain as a member of the KEATING FIVE:

“McCain saw the political pressure on the regulators,” recalls Black. “He could have saved these widows from losing their life savings. But he did absolutely nothing.”….

McCain was ultimately given a slap on the wrist by the Senate Ethics Committee, which concluded only that he had exercised “poor judgment.” The committee never investigated Cindy’s investment with Keating.

The real John McCain, husband and father:

Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam……

On the grounds between the two brick colleges, the chitchat between the scion of four-star admirals and the son of a prizefighter turns to their academic travels; both colleges sponsor a trip abroad for young officers to network with military and political leaders in a distant corner of the globe.

“I’m going to the Middle East,” Dramesi says. “Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran.”

“Why are you going to the Middle East?” McCain asks, dismissively.

“It’s a place we’re probably going to have some problems,” Dramesi says.

“Why? Where are you going to, John?”

“Oh, I’m going to Rio.”

“What the hell are you going to Rio for?”

McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.

“I got a better chance of getting laid.”

The real John McCain. Both George W. Bush and John Sydney McCain III had an eerily similar life path:

At each step, with the aid of their fathers’ powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives’ evangelical churches.

In one vital respect, however, the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a much better pilot.

The real John McCain only puts ”country first” according to Lincoln Chafee, a former GOP senator, when it doesn’t interfere with his own personal ambitions.  Chafee is said to be appalled by McCain’s readiness to “sacrifice principle for power.”

And forget all the “Country First” sloganeering, he adds. “McCain is putting himself first. He’s putting himself first in blinking neon lights.”

The real John McCain’s temperament:

McCain didn’t play well with others. Indeed, he concedes, his runty physique inspired a Napoleon complex: “My small stature motivated me to . . . fight the first kid who provoked me.”

Sen. John McCain has closed up shop in Michigan.  The Arizona senator has virtually conceded the state and its 17 electoral votes to Sen. Barack Obama.  Michigan was a key state to the McCain strategy of trying to pick off a democratic state in order to succeed on November 4th.  It is becoming increasingly more difficult for McCain to carve out a path of victory on Nov 4th..  There are not many options at this point. Polls show that Obama has a double digit lead in the state.  Read full story.

John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush.

A McCain aide confirmed the move and chalked it up to the state’s Democratic tilt and the resources Obama had put in place there.

“It was always a long shot for us to win,” said the aide.  

McCain will now turn his attention to bolstering his defenses in Ohio and Florida while putting more resources into Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and the second congressional district of Maine, where there is a sole electoral vote available.  

Most of us are on pins and needles in anticipation of tonight’s vice presidential debate featuring Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin.  Most think that Biden will wipe the floor with Palin and under normal circumstances that may be true.  However, these are not normal circumstances. The McCain fought and fought hard to get a more structured format where Palin’s lack of knowlege will not be as obvious.  Also, Palin is a skilled debater,  she did win the Alaskan gubernatorial debate against a seasoned democratic opponent.  Further, Palin has been practicing night and day almost since she was selected as McCain’s running mate.  Palin is also a quick study.  Lastly, Palin has a folksy and affable personality where she can deliver her out-of-the-mainstream views in an ingratiating or affecting way.  Her delivery is less jarring and less offensive than most right wing candidates.  Sen. Biden really needs to be respectful but clear as to why this woman is unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Most of all, Biden needs to be succinct.  The McCain campaign has already sent out the talking points regarding Gwen Ifill’s book that has not been released yet claiming that the 27 year veteran journalist cannot be objective.  Hopefully, such talking points will not deter Ifill from asking both candidates the tough questions.  We don’t think that it will.  Besides, Ifill also moderating the vice presidential debates in 2004….she is a seasoned professional whose credentials and objectivity is beyond reproach.  Interesting as to why the right wing would be questioning her objectivity at this particular time.  We are sure that the Biden and Ifill are sexist talking points are already drafted for Friday’s news cycle.  Gwen Ifill will do her job and do her job well the same as always.  Give me a freakin break!

Last night the Senate passed the Bailout bill 74-25.  Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Joe Biden voted for the bailout rescue plan.  In total, 39 democrats, 34 Republicans, and 1 independent (Lieberman) voted in support of the Bill.  There will be a Main Street benefit by way of the defrosting of credit.  The Bill allegedly will significantly increase the availability of credit and prevent a deep recession.  In the last few weeks, consumers have noticed that it is more difficult to get credit for home loans, car loans, and other types of consumer and small business loans because banks are not lending.  Until banks are able recapitalize, the industry is holding on tight to the credit strings.  The hope is that the Bill will provide much needed stability to the financial markets.  When businesses cannot get loans to make payroll, employees lose their jobs or don’t get paid.  Consumers then stop spending money and consumer buying slows down resulting in states bringing in lower tax revenues.  The broader economy is then impacted.  It’s all interconnected.  One good thing and per Sen. Obama’s suggestion, the bill will raise the FDIC insured amount from $100,000 to $250,000.  If there was more time perhaps a better bill could be crafted but given the alleged urgency of the situation it is the best available remedy of the moment.  Today Congress will be whipping votes and there should be a second vote in the House of Representatives on Friday.

The question being asked by a few bloggers is whether Tom Brokaw of Meet the Press will be objective when it comes to his moderating duties in the second presidential debate on October 7th.   The second debate will be a townhall meeting format but apparently the moderator will have some power to determine the direction of the meeting.  Many are suggesting that Mr. Brokaw may attempt to sabotage Sen. Obama after viewing Meet the Press last Sunday.  I guess the townhall meeeting could be stacked with McCain supporters.  Further, Media Matters points out Brokaw’s blatant bias for Sen. McCain.   The New York Times says that Brokaw is some sort of special “liason” for the McCain campaign. You be the judge.  The following was sent out by MoveOn.org:

Sunday on Meet The Press, Tom Brokaw moderated a debate between McCain strategist Steve Schmidt and Obama strategist David Axelrod on topics ranging from Iraq to the Wall Street bailout. At the end, Tom Brokaw did something strange. He opted to give himself the last word and told the audience:

In fairness to everybody here, I’m just going to end on one note. And that is that we continue to poll on who’s best equipped to be Commander in Chief, and John McCain continues to lead in that category despite the criticism from Barack Obama by a factor of 53 to 42 percent in our latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Gentlemen, thank you very much.

1.We checked, and the latest NBC poll actually has no question about Commander in Chief.2 We contacted NBC about this, and it turns out Brokaw was referring to a poll taken weeks ago–right after the Republican convention and well before Friday’s big national security debate.3 And in each of NBC’s last two polls, Americans chose Obama over McCain.

Can you email Tom Brokaw today? Let him know that this election is very close, and we need journalists to be responsible. Giving himself the last word in the debate, and citing an outdated poll number as if it was current, was a mistake. As a responsible journalist, he should apologize for both.

Here’s where to contact him:
Tom Brokaw, Meet The Press feedback form: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/…

Then, help us track our progress by reporting your comment here:
http://pol.moveon.org/…

Barack Obama was widely praised after Friday’s presidential debate for his knowledge of foreign affairs and national security. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos summed up the consensus this way: “Overall, bottom line, the winner is Barack Obama…his number one goal was to show that he belonged on that stage…he could hold his own on national security, he did that tonight, he gets the win.”

Every major poll after that debate showed Americans thought Obama won–and a CNN poll said voters trusted Obama over McCain to handle Iraq.  Plus, three major polls released on Sunday showed Americans choosing Obama over McCain.

So Brokaw’s insertion at the end of the debate wasn’t just random–it painted an inaccurate picture of the race for voters. Can you contact Brokaw today?

Thanks for all you do.

The following is a story from an Ohio resident who convinced a racist to vote for Sen. Barack Obama for president.  An African-American woman wearing an Obama t-shirt was approached by a Caucasian elderly woman while sitting on a bench in a state park in Ohio.  The woman then asked the African-American woman if she was voting for Obama and the AA woman answered in the affirmative.  The conversation then went as follows:

(caucasian woman): “It’s nothing against you,” she said, “but I think we’re not ready for a black President.”

(AA woman): I kept it light. “I’m ready!” I joked.  Then I said, “Barack Obama is so much more than ‘just our first black President.’” Then I went on to talk to her about Obama’s policies in general terms and to generally try to get her to think of him as something other than “a black president.”

She kind of hemmed and hawed. Finally I said, “If you were to suddenly fall into this lake (the running/walking trail is around a lake) and need mouth-to-mouth, and there was me, who knows CPR, and a white person who didn’t, would you rather me not give you mouth-to-mouth because I am black?”  

She thought about it for a really long minute! Yes, folks, she thought about it! Let me pause to say this woman must be REALLY racist if she could tell me, an African American Obama supporter, she wasn’t comfortable with a black man being President.

Finally she said, “I’d want you to save me. No doubt about it.”  

So then I said, “Well, our country is just like you would be if you’d fallen into the lake. It is in dire straights. And the only person who can save it, happens to be the black guy.  Do we really want to watch our entire future be jeopardized because of something like this?”

“I never thought about it like that,” she said.  ”That puts a new spin on it.”

Then she said, “But my friends will all think I have gone nuts if I tell them I will vote for Obama.”

I told her, “You don’t have to tell them who you are voting for. It’s like when you pray for people (I got the feeling she was also religious) you don’t have to tell people what prayer you’ve said on their behalf–but they will still get all the benefit.  If Obama wins,” I told her, “you will have made their lives better, whether they realize it or not.”

“You’re telling me to lie?” she said jokingly.

“Yep,” I said. “If that’s what is going to get you to vote for Obama!”

“You’re smart,” she said. “I think you just converted me.”

“I’m not as smart as Obama!” I told her.

For all the phonebankers and canvassers who have experienced this situation more than once.

Last Thursday Sen. John McCain dropped everything to come to Washington DC to solve the Wall Street meltdown.  The Arizona senator cancelled his appearance on David Letterman, appeared on CBS, suspended his campaign, and immediately came to Capitol Hill for a meeting with President Bush.  Then on Sunday McCain and his senior campaign manager took full credit for the bipartisan agreement that came about on Sunday evening.  McCain patted himself on the back for bringing House Republicans to the negotiation table.  Leadership.  Monday the Republicans voted the bill down.  Why?  Because their feelings were hurt.  Give me a break.  These people were elected to be stewards of the American economy as well as the American public as a whole.  You do not abdicate from that fundamental responsibility because your feelings got hurt.  It appears that Republicans have put their interest in being re-elected above the interest of the American people.  If John McCain, as an aspiring official leader of the republican party, cannot even unify his own party for the benefit of  the nation, what kind of leader will he be in the White House?  By the way, where is the current leader…..President Bush?  Why was he unable to rally his party behind this bill that he claims is essential to stabilize our financial markets?  This is President Bush’s proposal yet his own party will not support it. 

 Link to actual pdf of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY

TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as ____________________.

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Authority to Purchase.–The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

(b) Necessary Actions.–The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:

(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;

(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;

(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;

(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and

(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.

Sec. 3. Considerations.

In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for–

(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and

(2) protecting the taxpayer.

Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.

Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.

Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Exercise of Rights.–The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.

(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom.

(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.

(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.–The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.

Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.

The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time

Sec. 7. Funding.

For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure.

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.

The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.

Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.

Sec. 11. Credit Reform.

The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.

Sec. 12. Definitions.

For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.–The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.

(2) Secretary.–The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.

(3) United States.–The term “United States” means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.

It is John McCain and the House Republicans (Far, far, right republicans or conservatives) who are trying to destroy the bailout deal that was on its way to being solidified Thursday afternoon.  Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said as much  yesterday:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We’re not the ones trying to blow this up; it’s the House Republicans.”

“I know, I know,” Paulson replied.

Until McCain air-dropped down onto Capitol Hill, after an almost six month absence, and caused a break down of the negotiations, Congress was on its way to sealing the deal.  The fundamentals of the deal had been agreed upon and both sides were on their way to a developing consensus.  Then McCain showed up.  A blind man can see through this very obvious and desperate attempt to resuscitate an ailing campaign that is caught in a downward spiral.  The consensus of Republicans and Democrats on th Hill is that McCain severely disrupted the negotiation process by dropping in and injecting presidential politics and partisanship into an almost completed bipartisan effort.  The Arizona senator did not propose an alternative plan, McCain came to DC to cause chaos for the sake of causing chaos.  He was silent almost the entire time during the meeting with Bush.  No offering of solutions or even possibilities.  But it is essential that he be on Capitol Hill at this time (snark). 

House Republicans, consistent with McCain’s belief and tacit support, propose that the bailout be funded through private money.  They also propose a suspension  of  “mark-to-market regulatory rules for long-term assets.”  More deregulation!! Seriously!  The proposal has already been rejected as not feasible by Secretary Paulson, a member of the Republican party by the way.  Free-market, free-market, free-market, free of all government regulation was McCain’s public mantra before last week.  The proposal by the House Republicans is a completely ridiculous non-starter and an obvious ploy by House Republicans to help McCain with his excuse not to show up at the debate tonight and face the American people.  Such Republicans claim that Paulson’s plan “fundamentally alters the nation’s free-market system in that it broadly socializes firms’ money-losing mortgage assets and places the U.S. on a slippery slope whereby profits will also be nationalized.”  Last week, McCain listed his conditions for a bailout plan, the bipartisan proposal included such conditions.  Apparently,  McCain looked at his falling poll numbers and changed his mind.  Lets call it what it is, McCain is gambling with the American economy in order to rehabilitate his campaign.  He is willing to gamble America’s standing in the world to win this election.  And by the way, the world is listening.  The German Minister of Economics is now saying that America will no longer be a powerful nation.  McCain has always been a gambler but now he is a gambler gambling with someone elses money.  McCain first, Country second.

Sen Barack Obama is leading Sen. John McCain 49-47 in North Carolina according to latest Rasmussen polls.  Why is this significant?  Well Rasmussen is owned by Republican pollster Scott Rasmussen.  Notice how they always conduct their polls in cahoots with Fox News.  That’s why.  Not really legitimate in terms of pollsters.  So the fact that they have Sen. Obama ahead by 2 points in the traditionally red state of North Carolina is very significant.  Last week McCain was ahead by 3 points according to Rasmussen.  Rasmussen is the last of the McCain arsenal, if they can’t even distort there surveys so McCain comes out on top, it is a scary situation for Sen. McCain.   This is the first time in eight Rasmussen polls that Obama has ever had the edge over McCain in North Carolina.  Link

McCain, the voters are paying attention.

John McCain has asked to call off the debate on Friday because he feels that his immediate presence is needed in Washington DC.  McCain has not been to work since April but now he feels that he should miss the debate to address the financial situation.  As scary as the idea, in and of itself, of McCain being the person handling the economic turmoil that our financial industry finds itself in, McCain makes this decision at a time when we the voters need to hear his plan for getting us out of this mess.  Attempting to postpone the debate makes him appear unprepared, desperate, and unable to handle more than one thing at a time.  Hey wait…turns out that McCain isn’t prepared.  Link

The debate on Friday was to focus on Mr. McCain’s perceived strength, foreign policy. Mr. McCain had not planned to devote large blocks of time to debate practice as did Mr. Obama, who was holing up with a tight circle of advisers at a hotel in Clearwater, Fla., on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to prepare. Mr. McCain had a preparatory session on Wednesday afternoon at the Morgan Library in Manhattan, but advisers said it had been interrupted by his decision, announced immediately afterward, to suspend his campaign 

For the record, though McCain claims that his suggestion is an effort to rise above politics, his decision to delay the debate could not be more political.  The polls came out yesterday showing Sen. Obama with a growing lead and McCain and his campaign panicked.  Obama is within four points of McCain in West Virginia!!!!!!  West Virginia is solid red country!!!  They realized that Sen. Obama has the wind at his back and the McCain campaign are trying to turn off the fan with a political stunt because they can’t do so with a good economic plan (they don’t have one).   Not only does McCain think that the current situation warrants a delay of his debate but warrants a canceling of the vice presidential debate.  Seriously?????  Do they really think that the American people are going to put Palin in the White House without hearing her debate and speak in a non-McCain staged environment.  McCain does not sit on any of the relevant committees that are currently in deep negotiations.  Several Congressmen have come out and said that McCain’s presence would actually hurt the process.   The crisis began a week ago..you remember……when McCain said that “the fundamentals of our economy is strong.”  Why didn’t McCain cancel the debate at that time?  McCain appears frantic and erratic……he does not appear to be the steady leader we expect of a future President.   If we had a debate in 1934 during D-Day we think that McCain can make his way down to Ole Miss without the the nation falling into a vortex.  You need to be able to multitask as the leader of the free world.  What’s next…..should we suspend the election until McCain catches up?  The main stream media has rejected McCain’s latest ploy as pure politics. 

It was stated best in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal:

Last we checked, the President of the United States was still George W. Bush, the Secretary of the Treasury was still Henry Paulson, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was still Ben Bernanke, and Congress still had 533 members not running for President who are at least nominally competent to debate and pass legislation.

So count us as mystified by Senator John McCain’s decision yesterday to suspend his campaign and call for a postponement in Friday’s first Presidential debate so that he and Barack Obama can work out a consensus bill to stabilize the financial system. This is supposed to be evidence of leadership?

 Washington Post

Can McCain pull this off - persuading the public to forget how he and his fellow Reagan Republicans changed the nation’s economic rules in ways that allowed Wall Street to run amok, and refocusing its attention on his decisiveness at this moment of crisis? I doubt it…….McCain’s ploy was transparent.

The Dallas Daily News

Democrats accused Mr. McCain of pulling a stunt to halt a slide in the polls. They also tweaked him for declaring the economic situation so dire it requires suspension of his campaign, a week after he declared the fundamentals of the economy are sound.

Some independent analysts agreed. “It is a stunt. It is a ploy,” said David S. Birdsell, dean of the school of public affairs at Baruch College in New York, an expert on presidential debates.

He called it a “very high-risk strategy” for Mr. McCain to take responsibility for brokering a solution to the economic crisis. “He’s not president yet,” Dr. Birdsell said, adding that pulling out of a debate is unprecedented. “That notion that we take one of the most sacred obligations and rituals of American politics and suspend it because there’s an urgent national question is highly problematic.”

Rocky Mountain News (CO):

If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America. In this case, Barack Obama is right.

New York Times Editorial

We don’t know if Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama will do any good back in Washington. But Mr. McCain’s idea of postponing the Friday night debate was another wild gesture from a candidate entirely too prone to them. The nation needs to hear Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain debate this crisis and demonstrate who is ready to lead. 

National

Rasmussen          Obama 48   McCain 48
Hotline/Diageo    Obama 47   McCain 43
Gallup                 Obama 47   McCain 44

Battleground State Polls

SurveyUSA here

VIRGINIA     Obama 51 - McCain 45

Quinnipiac here: 
COLORADO:        Obama  49  - McCain  45
MICHIGAN:         Obama  48  - McCain  44 
MINNESOTA:      Obama  47  - McCain  45
WISCONSIN:        Obama  49  - McCain  42

Trust to handle the economy:
CO:    Obama 47 - McCain 41
MI:    Obama 50 - McCain 38
MN:    Obama 45 - McCain 45
WI:    Obama 47 - McCain 40

NBC/Mason-Dixon 
FLORIDA:   Obama  47 - McCain 45

Arkansas:               Obama 41 - McCain 53
Massachusetts:     Obama 55 - McCain 39
Oregon:                  Obama 52 - McCain 41
Pennsylvania:        Obama 50 - McCain 46
Vermont:               Obama 56 - McCain 38
National:                Obama 48 - McCain 46

PPP here

COLORADO:        Obama 51 - McCain 44

INadv/PollPos
OHIO:     Obama 46 - McCain 46

This past weekend on This Week, George Will said that John McCain’s response to this financial crisis made conservatives “fearful” of McCain’s decision making process.  We have been saying this all along.  McCain tends to make knee-jerk, impetuous, impulsive decisions out the box and then tries to clean up after himself later.  This could not be more evident than when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.  The McCain campaign has chosen to shield Palin from the press in hopes that the American people will forget that she is applying to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  We pointed out back in May that people should look at McCain’s temperament and decide if the Arizona senator is the type of person we want making decisions for our nation in times of crisis.  Will said on Sunday that McCain “showed his personality [last] week.”  We agree.  McCain is showing us how he will lead, we should pay attention and believe him.  When you have a hard core GOP conservative like George Will raising red flags about McCain’s temperament……again, pay attention.  Will expands on his concerns below.

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked the Wall Street Journal to editorialize that “McCain untethered” — disconnected from knowledge and principle — had made a “false and deeply unfair” attack on Cox that was “unpresidential”

In any case, McCain’s smear — that Cox “betrayed the public’s trust” — is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are “corrupt” or “betray the public’s trust,” two categories that seem to be exhaustive — there are no other people.

Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed? “

Sen. John McCain, at the helm every time the nation has experienced a financial crisis, now claims that he is the one that will fix this problem.  McCain was in Congress and was implicated in the Keating Five scandal or more popularly known as the savings and loan crisis.  You know, the crisis that resulted in a government bailout of  $126 billion dollars. 

McCain was also one of the Senators who helped pass the deregulation bill that caused the current crisis.  McCain had this to say about the bill’s passing on 60 Minutes last night:

Q: In 1999, you were one of the senators who helped pass deregulation of Wall Street. Do you regret that now?

McCAIN: No. I think the deregulation was probably helpful to the growth of our economy.

If you had any doubt as to how a McCain administration would handle the current financial crisis, the above quote is your answer. Incompetence and denial, denial, denial, denial.  McCain is a pure free-market ideologue.  He believes that the government should get out of the way and let the private sector regulate itself….well it is that exact ideology that is directly responsible for the greatest collapse of the financial industry since the Depression.  To put the cherry on top, the McCain campaign refuses to rule out that Phil Gramm, architect of the deregulation bill that caused this crisis and referred to Americans as a “nation of whiners,”  will be the Treasury Secretary in a McCain administration.  Also, remember McCain’s plan, until last Friday, to privatize social security?  Imagine the state the nation’s social security program had we followed McCain’s advice and invested in stock market.  Thanks for everything Senator McCain but it is really time to turn the page.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina on Sunday, Sen Obama gave his requirements for any bailout for the financial industry.  Bush appointed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson seems to want Congress to sign a blank check for 700 billion dollars giving him full discretion to spend it anyway he chooses.  When asked on Meet the Press on Sunday as to whether he would curtail excessive CEO compensation, Paulson opined such a requirement may discourage companies from participating in the program.  Not so much.  Meanwhile he is asking for 5% of the gross national product to spend as he pleases.  Hasn’t he been at the helm this entire time and could have raised the alarm about the potential of this happening years ago…..now he wants the Americans to just trust that he will prudently spend 700 billion in the best interest of the the majority.  I think not.  So, Mr Paulson, you and the other republicans keep saying how this needs to be a “clean bill.”  Well, if by “clean bill” you mean no oversight and no safeguards and assistance for the American taxpayers/main street………you’re on something.  As for Mr. Paulson’s objectivity, one reader summed it up perfectly:

Reuters reports today that “The incoming Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for half a year of work as the chief executive of the Goldman Sachs Group.” The massive bonus was, not surprisingly, approved by Goldman Sachs at the very same time Paulson was both CEO and Treasury Secretary designate. This raises a very simple question: What is Goldman Sachs buying with this brazen payoff to someone they knew was headed to one of the most powerful government posts in America?
 

Sen. Obama insists that the following conditions must be included in any financial industry bailout.

Excerpt from Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in North Carolina on Sunday Sept 21, 2008 

The era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has led us to a perilous moment. They said they wanted to let the market run free but instead they let it run wild. And now we are facing a financial crisis as profound as any we have faced since the Great Depression
 
But here’s the truth:
 
Regardless of how we got here, we’re here today.  And the circumstances we face require decisive action because your jobs, your savings, and your economic security are now at risk.
 
We must work quickly in a bipartisan fashion to resolve this crisis to avert an even broader economic catastrophe. But Washington also has to recognize that economic recovery requires that we act, not just to address the crisis on Wall Street, but also the crisis on Main Street and around kitchen tables across America.
 
As of now, the Bush Administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan. Even if the U.S. Treasury recovers some or most of its investment over time, this initial outlay of up to $700 billion is sobering.  And in return for their support, the American people must be assured that the deal reflects the basic principles of transparency, fairness, and reform.

First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money.

Second, taxpayers shouldn’t be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street.

Third, taxpayers should be protected and should be able to recoup this investment.

Fourth, this plan has to help homeowners stay in their homes.

Fifth, this is a global crisis, and the United States must insist that other nations join us in helping secure the financial markets.

Sixth, we need to start putting in place the rules of the road I’ve been calling for for years to prevent this from ever happening again.

And finally, this plan can’t just be a plan for Wall Street, it has to be a plan for Main Street.  We have to come together, as Democrats and Republicans, to pass a stimulus plan that will put money in the pockets of working families, save jobs, and prevent painful budget cuts and tax hikes in our states.

David Brooks writes in the New York Times that Sarah Palin is unqualified:

In the current Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward argues that the nation’s founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

……..

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

Sen. Chuck Hagel said to the Omaha World-Herald 

“But I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world,” Hagel said. “I think that’s just a requirement.” 

So is Palin qualified to be president?

“I think it’s a stretch to, in any way, to say that she’s got the experience to be president of the United States,” Hagel said.

Ross Douthat agrees at the Atlantic:

Now that we’ve seen the entirety of the Palin-Gibson tete-a-tete, I concur with Rich Lowry and Rod Dreher. The most that can be said in her defense is that she kept her cool and avoided any brutal gaffes; other than that, she seemed about an inch deep on every issue outside her comfort zone. Yes, the questions were tougher than the ones that a Tim Kaine or Tim Pawlenty probably would have been handed, but they were all questions that a vice-presidential nominee needs to be able to answer. And there’s no way to look at her performance as anything save supporting evidence for the non-hysterical critique of her candidacy - that it’s just too much, too soon - and a splash of cold water for those of us with high hopes for her future on the national stage.

And in the Washington Post, Richard Cohen lets loose on McCain:

McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains — his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that’s all — but just as honorably. No more, though….

His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir — the person in whose hands he would leave the country — is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not.

In the Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward

In the current Weekly Standard, conservative Steven Hayward argues that the nation’s founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Sarah Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

What the nations leading women are saying about Sen. Barack Obama and why they support him.

“Change has never been easy, it’s always been hard-fought with bumps and bruises along the way, but these women leaders have had the tenacity to charge on. I am honored to have the support of such remarkable women who have broken down barriers and paved the way for change for my daughters and generations of women. In accepting their support I also accept the great responsibility to carry the torch by advancing women’s rights and bringing the change women need,” said Senator Barack Obama. “For every Sally Ride, Tory Burch, or Billie Jean King, there are hundreds of young women out there whose dreams seem a little more possible. As president, I will work to safeguard and support those dreams for my daughters and future generations of Americans through policies that further opportunity for all.”

“As the son of a single mother, Senator Obama embodies the American dream and is on the side of working women. For generations, women have fought to advance their rights and achieve equality,” said Stacey Snider, Chairman of DreamWorks who was named as one of Fortune’s 50 most powerful women in business.  “We are indebted to them for opening doors that were previously locked shut. But there is still work to be done. Women still just make 77 cents for every dollar men make for the same work. Senator Obama is the presidential candidate with a record for standing up for women; and he will advance our rights by enacting laws that close the income gap. In this defining moment in our history, women must exercise our vote and elect Barack Obama president in November.”

“Barack Obama understands the struggles that middle class Americans are facing every day,” said Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President Emerita, AFL-CIO.  “John McCain has voted with President Bush 90% of the time and will continue the failed policies of that administration.  In contrast, Barack Obama will open the doors of opportunity for the middle class by reducing their taxes, protecting their jobs, making college affordable, and ensuring that every American has access to quality, affordable health care.  He will strengthen families by making equal pay for equal work a reality, expanding family leave, and securing our seniors’ retirement security.  I am proud to support Barack Obama.”

“There is no doubt that Barack Obama has awakened a new generation of political involvement in America,” said motivational speaker and Olympic gold-medalist and the first African-American to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics Dominique Dawes.  “He speaks to the hope and personal responsibility that inspires my generation.  I am proud to endorse Barack Obama because I know he will work to ensure that the American dream is within reach for every child across the country.”

This list consists of the hundreds of women who support Sen. Barack Obama because of his vision and unwavering commitment to the strengthening and equality of women.

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