The GOP is salavating over the prospect of of wiping out a large contingent of organized labor under a Democratic majority in hopes of ushering in it’s next white night in 2012.  I can hear the slogans now, “Democrats destroyed Detroit,” “Democrats against unions.” 

The automobile industry is very important to our economy.  Four percent of our GDP to be exact.  It is not just the workers in Detroit that will be affected id=f Detroit dies.  There will be a ripple effect that can reverberate throughout the country.  Part suppliers in the seven main industrial states make up  600,000 members of our work force.  Of course there definitely needs to be strings attached to any loan given.  But ultimately the loan should probably be given.  The strings that should be attached?  Detroit MUST agree to go green and streamline there processes so that it is more competive with China and other countries.  CEO’s riding around in private jets is not the way to let American tax payers and Congress for that matter know that you are serious. The strings must have teeth.  Leave me a comment and let me know what is your opinion.

Maya Soetoro-Ng was not in Chicago with her brother on election night even though he offered to fly the family into the Windy City for the results.  Maya knew exactly where she wanted to be on the night that millions of Americans will remember as a pivotable turning point in our nation’s history.

Maya Soetoro-Ng could have accepted her brother’s invitation to be at his side on Election Night in Chicago. But Barack Obama’s sister knew where she belonged.

As she had for much of the past eight years, Soetoro-Ng stayed in the two-bedroom apartment on Beretania Street where she had taken care of their maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham.

Dunham had died of cancer just two nights before at the age of 86, with Soetoro-Ng at her side. Then, on the day that Obama was elected as America’s first black president, Dunham’s koa urn arrived and Soetoro-Ng surrounded it with pictures of Dunham’s late daughter, Stanley Ann Dunham, Dunham’s grandchildren and her great-grandchildren, “all of us who benefited so much from her steady voice and hand,” Soetoro-Ng wrote

Maya also gives some insight into the strength and wonderful sense of humor of their grandmother Madelyn Dunham

Dunham, whom Obama called “Toot” after the Hawaiian word for grandparent, tutu, never showed self-pity or fear as she faced the end of her life, Soetoro-Ng wrote.

But Dunham could be wickedly funny.

“When she saw the number of flowers that had been sent to her,” Soetoro-Ng wrote, “she said, ‘Oh my … with all of this hullabaloo, it’s going to be embarrassing if I DON’T die.’ I gave her a chuckle and of course told her that I wouldn’t at all mind such an embarrassment, and then I invited her to stay and dance with me into the new year. She couldn’t stay, but she certainly tried, and defied expectations again and again.”

Maya gave permission to her friends to release the letter to the press.  Read the whole letter for yourself. 

Watch CBS Videos Online

Transcript

When President-elect Obama gave his victory speech Tuesday night in Chicago’s Grant Park, he was quick to give credit. “To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics,” the president-Elect said, “You made this happen.”

Who was Obama talking about and how did they do it? Ninety minutes after the speech ended, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft sat down with them in a Chicago hotel suite. It was 1.a.m. Wednesday and the reality of it all was just beginning to sink in.

“We just left Grant Park. What are you feeling’?” Kroft asked.

“Little numb. A little tired. A little overwhelmed,” David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist and political alter ego, replied.

The group also included David Plouffe, the camera shy campaign manager and field general who made it all happen. “Yeah. I mean, it’s been a 22-month road, and a lotta twists and turns. But you know, I think he filled the stage tonight,” Plouffe told Kroft.

There was senior aide Robert Gibbs, who was always at Obama’s side, his former and future press secretary. “And it was fun to watch all the people come out who’ve been part of the campaign. And…,” Gibbs rasped, clearing his throat.

He told Kroft he lost his voice “within the last few hours.” (Read remainder of transcript by clicking the transcript link above)

PROGRESS

until the first polls open.  We get one chance, one opportunity, one moment, to make history by ensuring that Sen. Barack Obama is elected President of the United States of America.  We are prepared and have done all the ground work, now we have to deliver.  The Get Out The Vote element of this campaign is the most important.   Yesterday we had 13,000 people on the streets of Virginia.  They  knocked on 500,000 doors.  All the other battleground states need to step up to keep up.  Send me information on the ground game in your state. How can you help….what can you do…..phonebank?  Canvass for Obama in the battleground  state of Virginia and turn Virginia blue for the first time in 44 years!  Help at least five people  get to the polls on Election Day.  Lend your skills as an attorney to Obama’s voter protection program.  Donate to this built from the ground up campaign.  This is the last stretch, do not take anything for granted, ignore the polls, help get out the vote.  Volunteer at your local Campaign For Change  office and help to Get Out The Vote today and tomorrow.   This is our time, this is our moment,  DO YOUR PART to make this happen.  www.Barack.Obama.com

The GOP and John McCain are saying that voters should vote for either so that Democrats don’t win the particular branch of government that the person speaking at the time is not running in.  This is the argument that the GOP is using to urge voters to vote for their candidate to stop the Democrats from winning the majority in Congress and also winning the Executive office.  Yes, this is what the congressional candidates have in their arsenal to try and prevent their democratic rivals from winning their Senate and House seats on Nov 4th.  Don’t vote for my opponent because John McCain is going to lose.  Sen. McCain’s closing argument, don’t vote for Sen. Obama because my congressional colleagues are going to lose all the seats in contention in their States and Districts on Nov 4th.  Neither the GOP nor McCain offer any real solutions to the real problems facing Americans but again are trying to use the same scare tactics that they used in 2004.  They are hoping that Americans have a short memory, and by short I mean nonexistent.  They hope Americans will forget that it was GOP policies, endorsed wholeheartedly by Sen. John McCain,  and the policies of  its leader George W. Bush, who McCain voted with 90% of the time, that caused our current crisis. 

This is a losing argument for Sen. John McCain and the GOP and it just shows how both are completely out of touch with the American people. They are basically admitting that either is going to lose so vote for me.   We have absolutely nothing in terms of policies to help you and the policies proposed by our democratic opponents are far superior than anything we can come up with so vote for us because we don’t want them to be successful.  Rediculous closing argument. 

To be effective, a Democratic president needs the support of a Democratic congress.  We need a real break from the last eight years and a completely new direction.  Lets do what we need to do in order to make that happen.  This will be a very close race, so please VOTE and encourage others to vote.

The McCain campaign has spent $150,000 in the last three months on Sarah Palin’s makeup and wardrobe.  My question is…didn’t Sen. John McCain opt in for public financing?  You remember…the 84.1 million federal funds that McCain received to use between the Republican National Convention and the General Election.  Therefore, is the$150,000 dollars that McCain used for “pantsuits and blouses” public funds?  Hmmm?  The American economy is teetering on a recession and McCain uses the funds of hardworking Americans, voluntary or involuntary, to fund Sarah Palin’s a new and OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive wardrobe????  I would be very interested to know where those shopping spree funds came from, whether it was from funds raised by the McCain campaign, or are they from the public funds that McCain is using to finance his campaign?  This ladies and gentlemen is why Sen. John Mccain is so woefully out of touch with your average American.  This is also why he should not be in charge of America’s purse strings.  A month ago Cindy McCain was reported to have worn a $300, 000 outfit during the Republican National Convention. Yet McCain says that he identifies more with “Joe the plumber,” whose name isn’t Joe and who is not a real plumber, than Obama.  A bit like the fraud that the McCain campaign is trying to perpetrate on the American people.  The McCain campaign is pushing Gov. Sarah Palin as “Jill Sixpack” and the average woman but I do not know any “Jill Sixpack” who spends $150,000 in three months on clothing.  I guess that’s just how the McCains and the Palins roll.

The Independent vote is in and Sen. Barack Obama won last night by an even wider margin than he did in previous debates.  In a CNN poll of several hundred independent debate watchers, 57% of the independents said that Obama won the debate.  Only 31% said McCain won the debate.  In a CBS poll, 53% of uncommitted voters said that Obama won the debate while only 22% said that McCain won.  A Fox News focus group was asked which candidate won the debate and a “clear majority” of the group said that Obama won.  Finally, an MSNBC poll showed that Obama won the debate 20 to 7.  It looks as if this final debate was not the game-changer that McCain was hoping for. 

And by the way, Joe the plumber, who makes over a quarter million dollars a year, is not your average Joe.  To compare this plumber who is making over $250,000 a year to Joe sixpack or your average Joe who makes under $50,000 a year is insulting to our intelligence.  The McCain campaign believes that because his name is Joe and he is a plumber that they can bamboozle voters into believing that this guy is your average American struggling to make ends meet in this floundering economy.  Well Joe is quarter millionaire Joe.  Yes, Joe who makes more than 95% of Americans will have to pay the same tax percentage that was paid by that tax bracket during the Clinton administration……you remember, when the economy was flourishing.  The amazing irony, as highlighted by Sen. Obama, is that had Joe the plumber been receiving the tax cuts for the middle class that Obama proposes when Joe was working 12-hour days and trying to save enough money to buy his plumbing business, Joe the plumber could have bought his plumbing business alot sooner than he has under the Bush-McCain tax plan.

The topic of tonight’s debate is the economy, the economy, the economy.  Not exactly Sen. McCain’s strong point.  Thus Sen. Obama should be prepared for Sen. McCain to raise several distractions.  This is McCain’s last stand and he is desperate to change the subject.  Therefore, as far as the McCain campaign is concerned, nothing is off the table. Obama should expect McCain to employ the politics of hate and whatever else he comes up with in an attempt to change the subject and appeal to the worse part of the human spirit.  McCain has already said that he plans to bring up the William Ayers thing to Obama’s face tonight.  Unlike prior debates, the candidates will be sitting at a table facing each other with Bob Schieffer moderating.  Both candidates should be on their toes because Schieffer plans to get specifics. 

Heaven forbid McCain should have a real plan for the economy…way to much to ask for.

Georgia early voting exceeds prior records.  As of today, early vote totals in Georgia are close to 500,000!  Un-freakin-believable!  And the kicker is that 37% of the early voters are African-American.  Woohooo!  Given that polling suggest that at least 90% of black folks vote for Sen. Obama, I’d say that that is pretty good news for the Obama campaign. Can a democrat win Georgia??  Hmmm.  For all those black folks out there who are determined to vote on Election Day, I have this to say….VOTE EARLY.  I voted early and had a better experience than I have had in previous general elections.  I voted without the hassle of long lines, dirty tricks, traffic, weather, etc.  I went in, just as I have every past Election Day and voted on the equipment.  It was an exhilarating experience and I highly recommend it.  I walked around all day with a rediculous smile on my face.  And guess what, you can help get others to the polls on Election Day instead of worrying about getting there yourself.  Read Georgia article.

Early vote totals have now reached 499,582 — about 75,000 more than were cast early in all of 2004. (The state is also newly encouraging early voting this year, so that’s a major factor.)

And the ratio of African-American voters remains extremely high: 37% of the early votes were cast by black voters, who make up just 29% of the state’s electorate.

Obama Campaign’s Response to McCain’s ACORN LetterSeptember 23, 2008

Honorable John C. Danforth

Honorable Warren B. Rudman

McCain-Palin 2008

P.O. Box 16118

Arlington , VA 22215

Dear Senator Danforth and Senator Rudman:

           We have received your letter of September 15, 2008, informing us of the formation of what you call the “Honest and Open Election Committee” by the McCain-Palin Campaign.

            However attractively labeled, this seems a starkly political maneuver to deflect attention from the reality of the suppression strategies pursued by national,state and Republican party committees.  This has been the shameful history of the party from the Goldwater “Operation Eagle Eye” program to the present day—a history replete with instances of systematically planned and executed programs to block access to the vote for targeted communities of voters.

           In 2004, the Republican Party, on the eve of the general election, mounted challenges to tens of thousands of voters in Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin based on “caging lists,” that is, lists of returned mailers or based on similar information providing no legitimate grounds whatsoever for such challenges.  None of these challenges, to our knowledge, was upheld and accusations of voter fraud by national Republican Party leaders were proven utterly baseless.

           Now,in 2008, the Republican Party again appears determined to engage in tactics and strategies to deny the right to vote to qualified citizens:

·        In Michigan, the chairman of Macomb County Republican Party has threatened to use lists of persons whose homes have been foreclosed to challenge those persons at the polls.  Only after public exposure, did he deny that this was the plan for Macomb County, and this matter is now before the federal district court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

·        In Florida, the RNC has mailed non-forwardable letters to Democratic voters asking them to “confirm” their party affiliation as Republican—thereby raising doubts about their registration status and creating the basis for possible challenge lists.  Even top Republican election officials in Florida, including the Secretary of State,have publicly condemned this tactic.

·        In Wisconsin, the Republican Attorney General, who serves as co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in the state, has filed suit challenging the refusal of the state’s own election administration authorities to throw thousands of voters off the rolls based on dubious and impractical matches of identifying information.

·        In Ohio, Republicans are challenging the decision of the Secretary of State to allow first-time voters to obtain an absentee ballot at the time they register even though the law clearly affords this right.

Manifestly, the confusion,uncertainty, deprivations of rights and interference with efficient election administration created by these tactics, and similar ones that the Republican Party has used in recent election cycles, cannot be effectively addressed by the creation late in the day of “committees” with gloriously self-serving names. Rather, the best way to address them is for responsible Republican leaders like both of you to speak out, loudly and forcefully, to condemn these tactics, to insist that they be shut down once and for all and then to make sure that they are.

   This is what we would hope that you could accomplish.  If your concern truly lies with ‘Honest and Open Elections”, then your work is properly and effectively begins at home–with the Republican operatives who are planning and running these suppressive programs and who are being directed in these activities by the same national McCain and party leadership that recruited you to this “Committee”.

Sincerely yours,

David Plouffe,

Campaign Manager, Obama for America

• Job Creation: A New American Jobs Tax Credit. Obama is calling for a temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years.
• Relief to Families: Penalty-Free Withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s in 2008 and 2009. Obama is calling for new legislation to allow families to withdraw 15% of their retirement savings – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without facing a tax-penalty this year (including retroactively) and next year
• Relief to Homeowners: 90 day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners that are acting in good faith. Financial institutions that participate in the Treasury’s financial rescue plan should be required to adhere to a homeowners code of conduct, including a 90-day foreclosure moratorium for any homeowners living in their homes that are making good faith efforts pay their mortgages.
• Responding to the Financial Crisis: A Lending Facility to Address the Credit Crisis for States and Localities. Obama is calling on the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to work to establish a facility to lend to state and municipal governments, similar to the steps the Fed recently took to provide liquidity to the commercial paper market.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
“A Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class”
As Prepared for Delivery
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Toledo, Ohio

EXCERPT 

We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now – who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills.  We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class and we need to do it now.  Today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners.  It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S. 

We’ve already lost three-quarters of a million jobs this year, and some experts say that unemployment may rise to 8% by the end of next year.  We can’t wait until then to start creating new jobs.  That’s why I’m proposing to give our businesses a new American jobs tax credit for each new employee they hire here in the United States over the next two years. 

We will also save one million jobs by creating a Jobs and Growth Fund that will provide money to states and local communities so that they can move forward with projects to rebuild and repair our roads, our bridges, and our schools.  A lot of these projects and these jobs are at risk right now because of budget shortfalls, but this fund will make sure they continue. 

…At a time when the ups and downs of the stock market have rarely been so unpredictable and dramatic, we also need to give families and retirees more flexibility and security when it comes to their retirement savings.  …Since so many Americans will be struggling to pay the bills over the next year, I propose that we allow every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009.  This will help families get through this crisis without being forced to make painful choices like selling their homes or not sending their kids to college.

…For those Americans in danger of losing their homes, today I’m also proposing a three-month moratorium on foreclosures.  If you are a bank or lender that is getting money from the rescue plan that passed Congress, and your customers are making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments and re-negotiate their mortgages, you will not be able to foreclose on their home for three months.  We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet. 

…It also means promoting a new ethic of responsibility.  Part of the reason this crisis occurred is that everyone was living beyond their means – from Wall Street to Washington to even some on Main Street.  CEOs got greedy. Politicians spent money they didn’t have.  Lenders tricked people into buying home they couldn’t afford and some folks knew they couldn’t afford them and bought them anyway. 

We’ve lived through an era of easy money, in which we were allowed and even encouraged to spend without limits; to borrow instead of save.

Now, I know that in an age of declining wages and skyrocketing costs, for many folks this was not a choice but a necessity.  People have been forced to turn to credit cards and home equity loans to keep up, just like our government has borrowed from China and other creditors to help pay its bills.

But we now know how dangerous that can be.  Once we get past the present emergency, which requires immediate new investments, we have to break that cycle of debt. Our long-term future requires that we do what’s necessary to scale down our deficits, grow wages and encourage personal savings again.

It’s a serious challenge.  But we can do it if we act now, and if we act as one nation.  We can bring a new era of responsibility and accountability to Wall Street and to Washington.  We can put in place common-sense regulations to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.  We can make investments in the technology and innovation that will restore prosperity and lead to new jobs and a new economy for the 21st century.  We can restore a sense of fairness and balance that will give ever American a fair shot at the American dream.  And above all, we can restore confidence – confidence in America, confidence in our economy, and confidence in ourselves.

Wow….more Republicans fall out of line after being frightened away from McCain and his campaign.  RedState co-founder Joshua Trevino wrote on his blog yesterday that he just could not bring himself to vote for the McCain-Palin ticket.  And rather than keep this treachery to himself, Trevino decided to confess for all his fellow republicans to see.  His fellow republicans in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, and all the other battleground states.  This suggests to this observer that perhaps Trevino is saying that, in his eyes, McCain-Palin is not equipped for the task of leading the nation.   See article.

In the end, I couldn’t do it. My California ballot arrived in the mail today, and I opened it fully intending to vote for John McCain. I filled out the state propositions first — yes on 8, no on everything proposing a new bond or new spending — then the local offices, straight Republican excepting Kevin Johnson for (nonpartisan) Sacramento mayor. Finally, the vote for President of the United States: an academic exercise in California, where Barack Obama will surely win by a crushing margin. But good citizenship demands voting as if it matters. Do I believe in John McCain? Not as much as I used to. Do I believe in Sarah Palin? Despite my early enthusiasm for her, now not at all. Do I believe in the national Republican Party? Not in the slightest — even though I see no meaningful alternative to it. So, my choice for President in 2008, scrawled in my ballot as an act of futile protest, is Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. If nothing else, I am confident this is the first of several votes I will cast for him in years to come.

There is open mutiny in the GOP regarding John McCain and his campaign.  William Kristol, GOP conservative columnist, said this weekend on Fox News Sunday that McCain is running a “stupid” and “pathetic” campaign.  Kristol went on to say that the campaign has no strategy and they are flailing around with absolutely direction.  Kristol further opined that the McCain campaign does things that don’t work and they keep on doing them.  The campaign and it’s candidate are giving conflicting messages to put it mildly.  The entire operation is in complete disarray.  This is a blinding bright light peaking into what a McCain administration would look like and how McCain would would lead it.  Complete chaos.  Do you really think that McCain is capable of running this country given the state of of his campaign?  The McCain campaign strategy is a series of reactions with no long term plan. The Arizona senator has proven this by not bothering to put together a transition team, having no economic plan, having no exit strategy for Iraq, and on, and on.  McCain strategic plan for winning this election…..hope for a national security emergency to pop up at the last minute.  However, even if such an emergency did happen, McCain has showed that he is the worst candidate to handle it.  In both debates, Sen. Barack Obama has demonstrated leadership and a calm level headininess that we expect from our leader in a national security crisis.  McCain’s reputation as a warmonger and his demonstrated tendency to overreact and respond in an excitable and reactionary way shows that he is more likely, in a national security emergency, to make the situation much worse.  The senator from Arizona has no vision for putting America back on track. 

American Research Group has just released its West Virginia poll and Sen. Barack Obama is ahead 50% to 42%.  West Virginians were asked the following question:

If the general election were being held today between John McCain for president and Sarah Palin for vice president, the Republicans, and Barack Obama for president and Joe Biden for vice president, the Democrats, for whom would you vote - McCain and Palin, Obama and Biden (names rotated), or someone else?

A pool of 600 likely voters said that they would vote for Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden to be the next president and vice president of the United States of America.  This is a bleak sign for Sen. John McCain.  Bush carried West Virginia both in 2000 and 2004.  If McCain is eight points behind in West Virginia, the paths to victory are dwindling even further for the Arizona senator.

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.

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!

Well it appears that the Treasury department is still trying to pull something over on the American people.  Why is Wall Street executives receiving a one on one with Treasury officials?  Read full story here.

Well, Treasury officials had a secret conference call with Wall Street executives.  Unfortunately for them, some bloggers were on the call.

The ‘Treasury boys’ on the call made it clear that “the tranching is a mere formality, and the Treasury boys as much as said so. They could take the $700 billion max as soon as the bill has passed.”  That was always obvious.

And they admitted that “the exec comp provisions sound like a joke, They DO NOT affect existing contracts, they affect only contracts entered into during the two years of the authority of this program and then affect only golden parachutes.”  Both of these provisions were ‘concessions’ sought by Democrats.  Of course, no one could have predicted this bill’s ‘concessions’ to Democrats were farcical.  No one at all.

There’s more….full account.

1. The tranching is a mere formality, and the Treasury boys as much as said so. They could take the $700 billion max as soon as the bill has passed,

2. However, they do not plan any action immediately, will wait a couple of weeks. They want to focus their efforts on stronger companies but also made noise about protecting the financial system. This, by the way, is the Japanese convoy system all over.

3. There seemed to be a lot of tap dancing about what price they will pay for assets and no straight answer about their policy on warrants. They did say that if the amount sold was greater than $100 million, they would take warrants. FYI, the current draft allows them to pay up to the price at which the assets were initially booked (yikes) . I wonder if this is obfuscation, if they have an idea of what the plan to do but will not admit it in any public forum.

4. As the person who listened to the call stressed, DealBreaker wasn’t clear on the bifurcated process. If you come to the Treasury and you are in trouble, you get reamed. Bear/AIG style treatment, execs probably fired. But if you participate on a voluntary basis, the intent is to make it very user friendly. That is consistent with Paulson’s position during the negotiations.

5. The exec comp provisions sound like a joke, They DO NOT affect existing contracts, they affect only contracts entered into during the two years of the authority of this program and then affect only golden parachutes. More detail on that point, but I don’t need more detail to get the drift of the gist.

As part of the deal, Citigroup will absorb up to $42 billion of losses on Wachovia’s $312 billion pool of loans — but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will absorb losses beyond that. In return, the banking giant has given the FDIC $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants as compensation.In a statement, the FDIC, which insures the nation’s retail bank deposits, emphasized that Wachovia did not fail and that the Deposit Insurance Fund would not be affected.

“For Wachovia customers, today’s action will ensure seamless continuity of service from their bank and full protection for all of their deposits,” FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair said in a statement. “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual.”  Link

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? “