Politics or Poppycock

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Archive for October 17th, 2008

Palin’s ‘Pro-America Areas’ Remark: Extended Version

Posted by James O'Rourke on October 17, 2008

washingtonpost.com 

Updated 4:01 p.m.

By Juliet Eilperin


In order to clarify comments made by GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin last night at a Greensboro, N.C., fundraiser about being in a “pro-America” area of the country, Elizabeth Holmes from the Wall Street Journal sent out a slightly more detailed version of her pool report that came out yesterday, which was then e-mailed around by the campaign.

The upshot? The District is neither “real America” nor “pro-America.” Other parts of the nation? It’s unclear, but if you live in a small town, you’re probably patriotic from Palin’s point of view.

“We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe” — here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers — “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.”

She continued: “This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom.”

In an e-mail, Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt emphasized that the Alaska governor was not insulting D.C., she was merely highlighting the virtues of far-flung cities and towns across the nation.

“She was reinforcing the message that the best of our America isn’t confined to our nation’s capitol,” Schmitt wrote.

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Webb Tells Virginians: ‘You Should Trust Barack Obama’

Posted by James O'Rourke on October 17, 2008

washingtonpost.com
Oct 17, 2008
By Shailagh Murray


ROANOKE — Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, a favorite son of western Virginia, offered a rousing introduction to Sen. Barack Obama and a few choice words about Sarah Palin at an event here today.

On Obama, he sought to dispel some myths. “I know what it’s like to be involved in a Karl Rove campaign, and it’s not fun, folks,” said Webb, referring to his bruising battle in 2006 against GOP incumbent George Allen. “And the last several months we have seen that same type of campaign conducted against Barack Obama. What they do is they say, ‘That person’s not like you. That person doesn’t understand you. You can’t trust ‘em.’”

“Let me tell you,” Webb continued. “First of all, Barack Obama is like you. He knows what it’s like to struggle.”

He offered a few biographical facts, to clear up possible misconceptions. “There’s a lot of comments that have been made about certain ethnic issues in this campaign,” Webb said. “I would like to say we know Barack Obama’s father was born in Kenya. Barack Obama’s mother was born in Kansas by way of Kentucky. We are going to see on Election Day the election of the 14th president of the United States whose ancestry, whose family line goes back to the mountains of this area.”

“I grew up moving all over the place,” Webb told the crowd. “I was a boxer for eight years. I served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. I’m a very skeptical person. When I say I trust somebody, I mean it. I trust Barack Obama and you should trust Barack Obama.”

Moving on to Obama’s rival, Sen. John McCain, Webb called the Arizona Republican ” a friend,” but questioned his leadership skills, citing the GOP nominee’s pick as a running mate.

“Do you really think that Sarah Palin is the most qualified person?” Webb asked, to resounding boos. “How many people here like country music? I like country music. There was a song about two years ago, it was called, ‘I know what I was doing, but what was I thinking?’”

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Webb on Palin: McCain wondering, ‘What was I thinking?’

Posted by James O'Rourke on October 17, 2008

October 17, 2008

From CNN Senior Political Producer Sasha Johnson
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Senator Jim Webb thinks that McCain is now regretting his VP selection.
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ROANOKE, Virginia (CNN) – Introducing Barack Obama at a Friday campaign event, Virginia Senator Jim Webb questioned John McCain’s vice presidential pick and said it was a decision the Republican nominee now probably regrets.
“Do you really think that Sarah Palin is the most qualified person in the Republican Party?” asked Webb. “I don’t know how many people here like country music? I like country music. There’s a song about two years ago it was called ‘I know what I was doing but what was I thinking?’ I think John McCain is probably singing that song right now,” he added, referring to the Dierks Bentley tune “What was I thinking?”
“If you’re trying to talk to friends about clear distinctions in terms of judgment, temperament, vision, this is something you can really ask them to take a look at,” he said.
Webb said the choice of a running mate was the one real window into the kind of judgment a future president would exhibit in office. He said he did not really “understand the process” by which McCain picked Governor Palin but said Obama’s choice of Biden was “thoughtful,” and Biden is “capable in a moment of stepping forward” into the presidency.
“I watched the vice presidential debate and I thought Joe Biden did a very good job and at the beginning f the debate Governor Palin turned around and said ‘nice to meet you can I call you Joe’ and I was thinking Joe what you really ought to do is say ‘yeah, you can call me whatever you want — in two months you can call me Mr. Vice President,’” Webb said. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Liberal Supermajority

Posted by James O'Rourke on October 17, 2008

online.wsj.com


Get ready for ‘change’ we haven’t seen since 1965, or 1933.

If the current polls hold, Barack Obama will win the White House on November 4 and Democrats will consolidate their Congressional majorities, probably with a filibuster-proof Senate or very close to it. Without the ability to filibuster, the Senate would become like the House, able to pass whatever the majority wants.
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AP

Though we doubt most Americans realize it, this would be one of the most profound political and ideological shifts in U.S. history. Liberals would dominate the entire government in a way they haven’t since 1965, or 1933. In other words, the election would mark the restoration of the activist government that fell out of public favor in the 1970s. If the U.S. really is entering a period of unchecked left-wing ascendancy, Americans at least ought to understand what they will be getting, especially with the media cheering it all on.

The nearby table shows the major bills that passed the House this year or last before being stopped by the Senate minority. Keep in mind that the most important power of the filibuster is to shape legislation, not merely to block it. The threat of 41 committed Senators can cause the House to modify its desires even before legislation comes to a vote. Without that restraining power, all of the following have very good chances of becoming law in 2009 or 2010.
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- Medicare for all. When HillaryCare cratered in 1994, the Democrats concluded they had overreached, so they carved up the old agenda into smaller incremental steps, such as Schip for children. A strongly Democratic Congress is now likely to lay the final flagstones on the path to government-run health insurance from cradle to grave. Read the rest of this entry »

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Obama accuses McCain of wanting to cut Medicare

Posted by James O'Rourke on October 17, 2008

 

The Seattle Times Company

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that Republican rival John McCain wants to cut $882 billion from Medicare over a decade to finance his health care plan and the result would be more costly drugs, diminished services and lower quality care for seniors.

By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent

ROANOKE, Va. —

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that Republican rival John McCain wants to cut $882 billion from Medicare over a decade to finance his health care plan and the result would be more costly drugs, diminished services and lower quality care for seniors.

“It’s entirely consistent with Sen. McCain’s record during his 26 years in Congress where, time and again, he’s opposed Medicare,” Obama said. “In fact, Sen. McCain has voted against protecting Medicare 40 times.”

Campaign officials said the $882 billion estimate was drawn in part from a study by the Center for American Progress, a public policy organization stocked with prominent Democrats.

In response, McCain’s campaign issued a statement saying Obama was “simply lying.” The statement said the Republican planned to trim spending, but said his plans “do not cut a single benefit.” Read the rest of this entry »

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The Myth Of ‘Joe The Plumber’

Posted by James O'Rourke on October 17, 2008

thinkprogress.org

ECONOMY

The Myth Of ‘Joe The Plumber’

Last weekend, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) visited a quiet neighborhood outside Toledo, OH, and ran into a man named Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. Wurzelbacher, known as “Joe,” asked Obama if he believed in the American Dream and expressed his concern about having to pay higher taxes should he fulfill his desire to own a small plumbing business. ”I’m getting ready to buy a company that makes $250,000 to $280,000 a year,” he told Obama. ”Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?” Obama explained that his tax plan is premised on the idea that “if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. If you’ve got a plumbing business, you’re going to be better off if you’ve got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you.” Obama then added, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” Wurzelbacher became an instant conservative hero. Right-wing media immediately latched on to him — who called Obama’s economic plan “socialist” — and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) quickly jumped on the bandwagon, lionizing “Joe the Plumber” in the final presidential debate last Wednesday. “What you want to do to Joe the Plumber and millions more like him is have their taxes increased and not be able to realize the American Dream of owning their own business,” McCain said to Obama. But the reality is far different. In fact, a progressive tax policy is exactly how “millions” like “Joe the Plumber” can realize the American Dream — a concept that McCain once understood years ago.

PROGRESSIVE TAX POLICY: President Bill Clinton decided early in his term in office that expanding the middle classnot tax cuts for the rich — would be the engine of economic growth, while his successor, President George W. Bush, argued the opposite. But the as the results have shown, a progressive tax policy enacted by President Clinton achieved far superior results for the economy. By the end of Clinton’s second term, unemployment stood at very low 3.9 percent while today it has risen over 6 percent. The poverty rate was lower in 2000 than it is today. The median household income (adjusted for inflation) was over $3,000 higher eight years ago. Bush inherited a $237 billion federal budget surplus, which he has turned into a $482 billion deficit (and growing fast). Building on this formula, the Center for American Progresss put forward a progressive, “comprehensive tax reform plan to restore fairness, simplicity, and opportunity to our tax system while generating the resources necessary to meet our nation’s commitments,” such as energy independence, education, and health care. In order to achieve these goals, the plan centers on increasing the take-home pay of those making under $200,000 a year, with those making more seeing an increase relative to the current tax policy.

THE REAL ‘JOE THE PLUMBER’: Earlier this week, Fox News’s Neil Cavuto summarized the right wing’s fascination with Wurzelbacher. “You’re the type of guy who these tax increases of [Obama's] could affect, or where the cut-off is could effect, and you don’t fit this gazillionaire model,” Cavuto told him during an interview.  But according to tax analysts, the problem for McCain and the right in focusing on Joe the Plumber is that “the underlying premise that Wurzelbacher would face higher taxes under Obama is neither true nor typical of how the vast majority of small businesses would fare.” Moreover, even if Wurzelbacher buys the business, it is “unlikely” that his purchase “would give him a taxable income of more than $200,000 — leaving him unaffected by Obama’s proposal.” Even if he did earn $280,000 per year as he projected he might, Wurzelbacher “would pay just $773 more in taxes under Obama’s plan than McCain’s,” hardly a crippling blow to his business. The Toledo Blade reports that Joe the Plumber currently earns well under $100,000 per year. In that case, he would save more under Obama’s plan than McCain’s. “Rather than a game-changing blow for the McCain campaign, ‘Joe the plumber’ is turning into a bad case of blowback,” said Rogan Kersh, a public service professor at New York University.

HELPING BUSINESSES THROUGH HEALTH CARE: Many critics have argued that letting Bush’s tax cuts for the top two marginal income tax rates expire would have an adverse affect on small businesses such as Wurzelbacher’s potential future plumbing company. But according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “only 1.9 percent of filers with any small-business income are projected to face either of the top two income tax rates in 2009.” The rising cost of health care is making it harder for small businesses to grow and create jobs. In fact, Wurzelbacher himself has experienced the the high cost of health care. St. Charles Mercy Hospital filed a lien against him in March 2007 by for $1,261, records show, although it has since been paid off. Currently, many small businesses are overwhelmed by health care costs. They either “pay the overblown and disproportionate costs in purchasing and administering a health care plan or, worse, offer no health care plan at all and suffer the competitive disadvantage in attracting and retaining talented labor.” But a progressive tax policy will allow the government to invest in health care reform, thus providing help to small businesses by expanding coverage for their employees and relieving employers of the burden.

Posted in *Economy, *Healthcare Issues | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Barack Obama for President

Posted by James O'Rourke on October 17, 2008

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Friday, October 17, 2008; The Washington Post

THE NOMINATING process this year produced two unusually talented and qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.

The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain’s disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama’s relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.

The first question, in fact, might be why either man wants the job. Start with two ongoing wars, both far from being won; an unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan; a resurgent Russia menacing its neighbors; a terrorist-supporting Iran racing toward nuclear status; a roiling Middle East; a rising China seeking its place in the world. Stir in the threat of nuclear or biological terrorism, the burdens of global poverty and disease, and accelerating climate change. Domestically, wages have stagnated while public education is failing a generation of urban, mostly minority children. Now add the possibility of the deepest economic trough since the Great Depression. Read the rest of this entry »

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