Obama versus McCain (versus the rest)

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Any discussion yet on the fact that Biden and Obama both voted to maintain funding for the Bridge to Nowhere?

Neither Obama nor Biden, being realist politicians, have made the elimination of earmarks the central issue of their campaigns or, indeed, the experience of doing so their chief qualification for the job.

On Day One Palin came out and not only said she was anti-earmarks (which was not true), but that she was anti-bridge (which was also not true). That's why this is a story.

Obama & Biden likely voted for the Bridge in a deal to let some of their own earmarks go through. That's just the way it works, and most everyone knows this, even if we'd prefer it not to be the case. That's why no one cares about their votes.

[DaddyTorgo]

wow - that is one ugly, pathetic answer to clip one.

really - Russia's right next door? I didn't realize. And there's so many Russians in Siberia. Uh huh. Trade missions? AKA you invite the Russian fisherman over for dinner.

Canada? Really? You want to cite your experience talking with the governor of the Canadian north (isn't Canada's border-area with Alaska largely deserted of people?) as foreign policy experience? As friendly as we are with Canada i'd say that is at-best like talking to another American governor. That's a joke.

[cartman]

Hmmm, I tried to post the amendment that was voted on, but it was too long, and came back blank.

In any event, here is a link to the amendment that was voted on. Note, this wasn't a funding bill, but rather an amendment to an existing bill that was being debated. The "Bridge to Nowhere" was buried down in it. The amendment failed 82-15.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/...mp/~r109nK73qV

[flere-imsaho]

Now that I think about it, I wonder if I, at age 35, have spent more time living and travelling in foreign countries than Sarah Palin has spent living and travelling in the lower 48 states....

[kaosfere]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

What did McCain vote on this one?

He didn't bother to vote.

Senate Vote On Passage: H.R. 3058 [109th]: Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban...

He's also been missing more votes than Obama all year:

Sen. John McCain [R-AZ] - Voting Record - GovTrack.us
Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL] - Voting Record - GovTrack.us

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

And it's frightening to me that someone who can't even put a coherent answer together (let alone one that actually has substance, but even just one that's coherent) is someone that is being pushed to be the 2nd most powerful executive in this country.

I think it's more that she's been told by her handlers to not go off the script. AT ALL. FOR NO REASON. So, if a question comes up that she hasn't been prepared for, she just fumbles it away. Either that or she's horrible at ad-libbing.

SI

[flere-imsaho]

Taken from another board:

The capper: “She’s not always responsive when she’s asked questions,” Couric said of Palin. “It was a really interesting experience for me to interview her yesterday,” she added.

Katie Couric thinks the VP is a lightweight. Ponder that for a moment.

OK, I'll stop now....

[kaosfere]

I should add, in spite of my statistics, that I really don't think a Senator's absenteeism during a campaign season is really worth examining closely. It's something all sides do, and it is accepted and expected.

I provide those figures merely to demonstrate that, really, things have been going along all year this way. Whether or not you think it's a matter of crucial importance that two Senators who've hardly been present all year rearrange their schedules at the last minute on an issue that's been brewing for weeks is likely a matter of your political viewpoint.

That said, while I'm linking to Senate records, and for completeness' sake:

Joe Biden's voting record on matters of national import
Sarah Palin's voting record on matters of national import

[sterlingice]

Ok, I admit- I LOL'd ^^

SI

[fantom1979]

My surprise with the Palin interview is her complete inability to express her policies and ideas on the questions being asked. I am pretty sure, even though I am voting for Obama, that I could answer most of those questions better just from watching fox news and listening to McCain's speeches. Its bad that I am screaming the talking point out before the candidate is.

[I. J. Reilly]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think it's more that she's been told by her handlers to not go off the script. AT ALL. FOR NO REASON. So, if a question comes up that she hasn't been prepared for, she just fumbles it away. Either that or she's horrible at ad-libbing.

SI

I think she’s getting all of the prepared answer out for each question, but getting all the words in the proper order seems to be a challenge. It’s like she just blurts out each word individually as it comes to her.

Palin’s inner-dialogue for the Rick Davis lobbying question: “Okay, there I think I got them all. Oh dear, the question isn’t over yet! Gosh, I’ll just say recused a few more times until we’re done.”

[Flasch186]

Now I just dont see how this going to come across as good to the 'people' when the 'people' view this, mostly, as a Wall Street issue instead of Main Street issue. I just dont see how the spin will stick when Obama's comeback, "A President has to be able to handle more than one issue at a time." is soundbite material.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/candidate...ncial_meltdown

McCain campaign won't commit to debate on Friday

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign expressed cautious optimism Thursday as congressional Republicans and Democrats agreed in principle on a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry hours before the two presidential candidates were to meet with President Bush on the crisis.

Even so, the action didn't appear to be strong enough to convince McCain to attend Friday's scheduled presidential debate. His campaign has said he wouldn't participate unless there was consensus between Congress and the administration, and a spokesman said the afternoon developments had not changed his plans.

"There's no deal until there's a deal. We're optimistic but we want to get this thing done," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said.

Obama still wants the face-off to go on, and is slated to travel to the debate site in Mississippi on Friday.

The debate over the debate is the latest campaign twist as McCain and Obama try to navigate the uncharted politics of the financial meltdown and show leadership at a time of national angst.

"With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol — and I intend to join it," McCain said after addressing former President Clinton's Global Initiative in New York on Thursday before heading to Washington.

Obama argued the debate should proceed because a president needs to be able to handle more than one issue at a time.

"Our election is in 40 days. Our economy is in crisis, and our nation is fighting two wars abroad. The American people deserve to hear directly from myself and Sen. McCain about how we intend to lead our country. The times are too serious to put our campaign on hold, or to ignore the full range of issues that the next president will face."

In Oxford, Miss., debate organizers continued to prepare.

At a news conference, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, said he expected the presidential debate to go ahead, though he said he had no inside information. "This is going to be a great debate tomorrow night. We're excited about it," Barbour said.

Television networks, too, were moving forward. "We're proceeding as if it's on and will until someone tells us that it's not," ABC spokeswoman Cathie Levine said.

The two candidates spoke to the Clinton Global Initiative — McCain in person, Obama via satellite — before the meeting in Washington with Bush and House and Senate leaders from both parties. One of them is certain to inherit the economic mess, including the aftermath of the unprecedented plan to rescue the financial sector.

Presidential politics was running smack into the delicate negotiations over how to stop further weakening the sagging economy without putting an enormous new burden on taxpayers or rewarding corporations or their executives who share the blame for the woes.

On Capitol Hill, Democratic and Republican negotiators emerged from a closed-door meeting to report an agreement in principle. They said they would present it to the Bush administration in hopes of a vote within days.

Rogers said McCain didn't participate in that meeting, but was in talks with Republican leaders afterward. Conservative Republicans were among the holdouts, and there were indications they were waiting for McCain to make a move before they did.

As Thursday began, McCain said he didn't believe the administration's plan had the votes to pass without changes. "We are running out of time," McCain said. However, he said he still was confident a bipartisan compromise could be reached before markets open on Monday, one that would stabilize the markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners and "earn the confidence of the American people."

He again portrayed his announced halt to campaign events, fundraising and advertising as an example of putting the country ahead of politics. But in doing so he also hoped to get political credit for a decisive step on a national crisis as polls show him trailing Obama on the economy and slipping in the presidential race.

Despite McCain's stated campaigning hiatus, his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, paid a highly visible visit to memorials in lower Manhattan to those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Democrats derided McCain's claim to have halted his campaign as a political stunt, though Obama himself didn't go that far.

For his part, Obama urged a swift resolution that would get the legislation passed, saying "action must be taken to restore confidence in our economy ... Now is a time to come together — Democrats and Republicans — in a spirit of cooperation on behalf of the American people."

Obama also rolled out a new 60-second TV ad to run in "key targeted states" in which he cited economic policies endorsed by Bush and McCain as essentially to blame for the troubles.

"For eight years we've been told that the way to a stronger economy was to give huge tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest. Cut oversight on Wall Street. And somehow all Americans would benefit," Obama says in the ad. "Well now we know the truth. Instead of prosperity tricking down, the pain has trickled up. We need to change direction. Now."

[timmynausea]

RCP now has North Carolina as a toss up. The 3 most recent polls (basically from 9/17 until 9/23) have been tie, tie, Obama +2.

RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 - North Carolina: McCain vs. Obama

[flere-imsaho]

There's a rumor that if McCain doesn't show for the debate, Obama will turn it into a nationally-televised town hall instead.

I'm going to guess this is a rumor being spread by the Obama campaign (or surrogates thereof) to goad McCain into showing up anyway.

I still think we've missed a quality chance to move the VP debate earlier, just in time for the weekend!

[Flasch186]

This has to be somewhat historic, to have a candidate saying they might not show up a day before hand, no?

[cartman]

And here is a link to the full text of the second measure where Obama and Biden voted for the "Bridge to Nowhere". Again, it was a line item in an overall spending bill for the Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia, and independent agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006. This passed by a vote of 93-1.

GovTrack: H.R. 3058 [109th]: Text of Legislation, Enrolled Bill

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

There's a rumor that if McCain doesn't show for the debate, Obama will turn it into a nationally-televised town hall instead.

I'm going to guess this is a rumor being spread by the Obama campaign (or surrogates thereof) to goad McCain into showing up anyway.

I still think we've missed a quality chance to move the VP debate earlier, just in time for the weekend!

it'd be a shame if McCain didn't show up, but that would be somewhat amusing to see -- wonder if the networks would let him get away with it as a way of expressing their anger towards McCain?

[DaddyTorgo]

thanks cartman! you're a fountain of knowledge eh fatboy?

[cartman]

I'm not fat, I'm big boned.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by cartman

I'm not fat, I'm big boned.

lol believe it or not i've used that line myself.

and apparently i've decided that today is the day i start treating you in a way befitting of your nickname (see wrestlers thread) - hey it gave me a laugh, which is cool

[ace1914]

You know its bad for McCain when you have a full page without, Issi and JohninGA in here.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by ace1914

You know its bad for McCain when you have a full page without, Issi and JohninGA in here.

They've suspended their posting during this time of crisis.

[ISiddiqui]

I'm not exactly sure why the frequency of posts by certain people means McCain is doing badly. Talk about grasping for straws.

Well, if you want me to say something, how's about:

Obama's $100K Englewood garden grant being probed :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: The Watchdogs

A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.


The garden was never built. And now state records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood.


Smith wrote another $20,000 in grant-related checks to K.D. Contractors, a construction company that his wife, Karen D. Smith, created five months after work on the garden was supposed to have begun, records show. K.D. is no longer in business.


Attorney General Lisa Madigan -- a Democrat who is supporting Obama's presidential bid -- is investigating "whether this charitable organization properly used its charitable assets, including the state funds it received," Cara Smith, Madigan's deputy chief of staff, said Wednesday.

May not end up with anything, but is not the best thing to come out now.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

A softball ("one or two examples") that descends into a farce because a) she's been caught in a lie of her own making (John McCain has never been a fan of regulation) and b) she has no idea what she's talking about.

Putting aside if Palin knows McCain's record on securities bills (she likely doesn't but I doubt Obama knows Biden's record on the same specific topic either), McCain has indeed voted for more regulation on certain bills:

RedState: Stump The Veep

McCain voted for Sarbanes-Oxley, and voted against the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (one of only four Republicans to do so) and the 1998 Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (which passed 79-21), for example, and joined with Carl Levin to propose that if companies "don't account for their stock options as a cost in earnings reports, then they cannot claim them later as tax deductions." Of course, I can tell you those things because I'm a securities lawyer and I have access to Google; I'm not sure McCain would have all those examples at his fingertips offhand, much less Palin (indeed, I often find that people even in my business are surprised to hear that he voted against the PSLRA, and obviously Couric couldn't find them or she wouldn't have falsely stated as fact that McCain "almost always sided with the, less regulation, not more").

[ISiddiqui]

Maybe I'll say one more thing to make ace happy.

According to CBS's Bob Schieffer:

I am told, Maggie, that the way McCain got involved in this in the first place, the Treasury Secretary was briefing Republicans in the House yesterday, the Republican conference, asked how many were ready to support the bailout plan. Only four of them held up their hands. Paulson then called, according to my sources, Senator Lindsey Graham, who is very close to John McCain, and told him: you’ve got to get the people in the McCain campaign, you’ve got to convince John McCain to give these Republicans some political cover. If you don’t do that, this whole bailout plan is going to fail. So that’s how, McCain, apparently, became involved.


He has gotten what he wants, he’s going to have this meeting, kind of a summit today with the president and Barack Obama. I’m told that the leaders of both parties are getting close to having some kind of a bill. The question, though, is whether rank-and-file Republicans, especially, are going to vote for this.

Video is here:


Schieffer: Paulson Pleaded for McCain to Save Bailout | NewsBusters.org


(Biased site, but the video from CBS ain't doctored)

[mtolson]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

hmmm, the Right's comments about Obama being the 'god' of the Libs.



The perception that having hundreds of thousands of Germans at a pseudo-concert for him.

This really didn't help, I still don't get it. And yes, I am being serious. Are you referring to the fact that he gave a speech at a FREE concert ?

[Big Fo]

The McCain campaign is paying people to ghost-write letters to the editor for local newspapers in swing states.

Sep. 24, 2008 | "You can be whoever you want to be," says an inviting Phil Tuchman. "You can be a beggar or a millionaire. A mom or a husband. Whatever. You decide!"

I volunteer in political campaigns now and then. After a series of outings for Obama and a first mission as a phone banker for John McCain, I returned to McCain's headquarters in Arlington, Va. The offer was too alluring to delay -- they wanted to put me into action as a ghostwriter. Next to commercials and phone banking, writing letters to the editor is the most important method of the McCain campaign to attract voters. At least that is what's written in the guidelines that McCain campaign worker Phil Tuchman presents to me.

Today he is training six ghostwriters. What on earth is the appeal of McCain for the former Soviet bloc? Last time I was here, an exuberant Polish guy was phone banking next to me. Today, a Russian in yellow suspenders is shimmering at the same table, looking just like an actor who is famous in the Netherlands for star turns as a genius who suppresses his dark side with painstaking self-control.

The assignment is simple: We are going to write letters to the editor and we are allowed to make up whatever we want -- as long as it adds to the campaign. After today we are supposed to use our free moments at home to create a flow of fictional fan mail for McCain. "Your letters," says Phil Tuchman, "will be sent to our campaign offices in battle states. Ohio. Pennsylvania. Virginia. New Hampshire. There we'll place them in local newspapers."

Place them? I may be wrong, but I thought that in the USA only a newspaper's editors decided that.

"We will show your letters to our supporters in those states," explains Phil. "If they say: 'Yeah, he/she is right!' then we ask them to sign your letter. And then we send that letter to the local newspaper. That's how we send dozens of letters at once."

No newspaper can refuse a stream of articulate expressions of support, is the thought behind it. "This way, we will always get into some letters column."

It is the day after Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican convention. Today, she is our main subject. The others are already enthusiastically hammering their keyboards. I am struggling with a tiny writer's block. "Dear Editor ..."

Phil Tuchman has handed out model letters, and talking points and quotes from Sarah Palin's speech. But whom do I want to be?

Let's loosen up my fingers a little first -- and my principles, too. Am I actually allowed to make up letters? At the moment, it seems to be the only way to demonstrate how this is done in a campaign. So yes. I start practicing attractive sentences about Sarah Palin:

"Her biggest plus to me is that, besides being amazingly smart and qualified, she managed to remain a woman like us. She is the PTA hockey moms. She is the working mothers of special needs children. She is every caring mother of a challenging teenager."

Her pregnant daughter Bristol (17) is not a talking point. A talking point is her son Track (19), who will be deployed to Iraq.

"And most of all, she is just like any mother of a child who deploys to Iraq in the service of this country."

Now we are getting somewhere. I look around. I type:

"My son, too, is there."

Oh god, you liar. Now build up suspense. New paragraph.

"And my heart needs him back safe so much."

Yes, yes. Well done. Another paragraph -- why not? Now let's pump some iron in that mother, for after all, we are not with the Democrats here. Look up the right, patriotic phraseology in the model letters.

"But when I see him again, I also want to see his face glow with pride. Just like the day he told me he enlisted."

Yes, like that. And now full speed in the direction of McCain's plans to continue the war. Sell that war. With a mother's heart.

"That is why Senator John McCain could count on my vote from day one."

But whatever happened to Sarah Palin in this story? I gaze out of the window. This takes 10 minutes. Then:

"With Sarah Palin, I have even more reason to trust in victory. She represents my heart."

Hmm. Does that sound like total doublespeak? Or does it sound like logical reasoning to a McCain supporter? I cannot come up with anything better.

"Sincerely ..." I leave the dots for somebody else's signature.

Does Phil Tuchman want to read it?

Phil bends over my computer screen and reads. This takes a while. I am expecting roars of laughter or to be kicked out. Then he says drily: "I like that. It appeals to the hearts of people. Can you write more letters?"

-- By Margriet Oostveen

salon.com link

This stuff just gets better by the day.

[Young Drachma]

To be fair, the ghostwriting letters thing is not something pioneered by the McCain campaign. Any campaign I've been involved with at any level has folks write letters and will ghostwrite letters for people. A lot of times it's just a practical thing, folks don't know how to write and want to support the campaign, but don't know how to do it. This makes it easier for them.

It's not a big deal nor some moral outrage.

Hell, I've worked on non-partisan campaigns for referendums or ballot initiatives where letter ghostwriting occurred.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

To be fair, the ghostwriting letters thing is not something pioneered by the McCain campaign. Any campaign I've been involved with at any level has folks write letters and will ghostwrite letters for people. A lot of times it's just a practical thing, folks don't know how to write and want to support the campaign, but don't know how to do it. This makes it easier for them.

It's not a big deal nor some moral outrage.

Hell, I've worked on non-partisan campaigns for referendums or ballot initiatives where letter ghostwriting occurred.

Hell, I've gotten ghostwritten letters from the ACLU (yes, I'm a card carrying member) that I've been instructed to send (though I never have the rare times I got one).

[Young Drachma]

The "liberal media" needs to stop showing those videos of Palin's visiting preacher praying over her. It just reflects their inability to understand religious folks. It's not helping their cause and the issues are totally different than the whole Jeremiah Wright situation.

Anyone whose been to a non-denominational church or has some sort of experience with churches of a more pentecostal leanings make something like this seem not all that strange.

So it's sorta frustrating because I imagine folks with more religious upbringing will see this and take it as a personal affront. Lucky for Obama, it probably won't hurt him, because the rankling over the economy should mute it.

But seeing the video isn't helping anything for anybody, except maybe getting the base warmed up

[Big Fo]

Ah, I didn't know the ghost-written letters thing was that common. I'd never heard of the practice and the article made me laugh.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I'm not exactly sure why the frequency of posts by certain people means McCain is doing badly. Talk about grasping for straws.

Well, if you want me to say something, how's about:

Obama's $100K Englewood garden grant being probed :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: The Watchdogs




May not end up with anything, but is not the best thing to come out now.

Well I hope they investigate the shit out of it and they find out the truth as to whether or not there is any wrongdoing here. And I also hope he cooperates fully with the investigation!

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by mtolson

This really didn't help, I still don't get it. And yes, I am being serious. Are you referring to the fact that he gave a speech at a FREE concert ?

You asked how I felt that Obama had gotten a 'Rock Star' aura and am doing my best to convey that. I really didnt think it was in doubt and that, for at least a while, through no fault of her own, Palin also had gotten the 'Rock Star' aura (even the Right's campaign had talked about how she had emboldened and reinvigorated the supporters)

[Flasch186]

BTW, I just saw a Democratic ad that focused on McCain's Melanoma and I thought it was a hideous ad done in very poor taste. They had doctors on there talking about the dangers of Melanoma with closeup pictures of McCain's surgeries and I think it is a disgusting ad that shouldnt be aired. Not because it's bad that McCain had skin cancer but that a 527 is exploiting that! I hate 527's and that is a low frickin blow and doesnt deserve to be shown on TV. So ridiculous.

[SirFozzie]

Agreed. If you're going to hate on the 527's for the swiftboating, you have to hate this as well.. completely classless

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Agreed. If you're going to hate on the 527's for the swiftboating, you have to hate this as well.. completely classless

+1

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ace1914

You know its bad for McCain when you have a full page without, Issi and JohninGA in here.

{shrug} If you checked the first, I dunno, 50-100 pages of this thread you'd see my appearances are pretty random & sporadic at best.

As for more recently, what can I tell you, sometimes work interferes with posting more than it does with others. Lots easier to post when I'm waiting for stuff between phone calls than on days where I'm on the phone for the bulk of 8-12 hours straight.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

BTW, I just saw a Democratic ad that focused on McCain's Melanoma and I thought it was a hideous ad done in very poor taste. They had doctors on there talking about the dangers of Melanoma with closeup pictures of McCain's surgeries and I think it is a disgusting ad that shouldnt be aired. Not because it's bad that McCain had skin cancer but that a 527 is exploiting that! I hate 527's and that is a low frickin blow and doesnt deserve to be shown on TV. So ridiculous.

Saw this ad today in WV.

A pretty odd advertisement overall, but it certainly caught my eye (whereas most political ads cannot get me to look up from the computer).

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

BTW, I just saw a Democratic ad that focused on McCain's Melanoma and I thought it was a hideous ad done in very poor taste. They had doctors on there talking about the dangers of Melanoma with closeup pictures of McCain's surgeries and I think it is a disgusting ad that shouldnt be aired. Not because it's bad that McCain had skin cancer but that a 527 is exploiting that! I hate 527's and that is a low frickin blow and doesnt deserve to be shown on TV. So ridiculous.

Holy shit, you are kidding me?!

Sounds as bad as the Saxby Chambless ads against Max Cleland (if not worse)

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Holy shit, you are kidding me?!

Sounds as bad as the Saxby Chambless ads against Max Cleland (if not worse)

ISiddqui: YouTube - McCain is 72. He's had cancer 4 times. is the commercial in question. (just hunted it down)

Even the Kos Kiddies are pretty much against this ad

[ISiddiqui]

Sometimes I just don't understand the 527s... who do they think this is going to sway?!

[DaddyTorgo]

i wish all the 527's on both sides would STFU and go away

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Even the Kos Kiddies are pretty much against this ad

Let's not get carried away.

[SirFozzie]

The ones I read were.

[Big Fo]

Yeah, I can't imagine anyone thinking that putting this on the air will win Obama any votes. The doctor sort of looks like he is smiling for fucks sake. Totally unnecessary.

And if you're going to release such a shitty commercial, at least show a few seconds of Sarah Palin sputtering through one of her few interviews to drive home the point that "yeah McCain could die soon and look what we'd be stuck with then."

Classless intent with bad execution to boot.

[EagleFan]

Could someone tell Obama that the winner of the election doesn't take over immediately after the election is over...

[Arles]

Ouch for Barney Frank:

Originally Posted by From the NY Times

September 11, 2003
New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
By STEPHEN LABATON
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago."
"Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

...

"Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

[cartman]

If the Republicans are seriously trying to state that they couldn't do anything they wanted from 2000-2006, then I don't know what else there is to say. It really didn't matter what a Democrat said, the Republicans pretty much got their way on anything they wanted. They were really close to getting the rules changed on debate in the Senate to almost eliminate any say from the minority party.

[Arles]

Interesting comments by Obama:

Originally Posted by Obama

I wanted to have a chance to talk to you, because obviously this
is a moment of great uncertainty in America.
As I mentioned at the rally today, the era of greed and
irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has led us to a
financial crisis as serious as any we’ve faced since the Great
Depression.

And there’s much blame to go around for causing this crisis, but
we’re now here.

Every American has a stake in solving this crisis and saving our
financial system from collapse, because if we don’t act soon, then
people’s jobs, people’s savings, the economic security of millions of
Americans will be put at risk.

So the clock is ticking. We have to act swiftly.

He then says:

QUESTION: Are you still going to stay here in Florida and prepare for the debate, or are you thinking of going back to Washington?

OBAMA: You know, what I’m going to do is I’m going to — what
I’ve told the leadership in Congress is that, if I can be helpful,
then I am prepared to be anywhere, anytime.

What I think is important, though, is that we don’t suddenly
infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics at a time when we’re in
the middle of some very delicate and difficult negotiations.

So, you know, I think the message is, if you need us, if I can be
helpful, I’m prepared to be there at any point.

So, we're facing the next depression if we don't act. But, hey congress, Obama's busy preparing for the debates so you can call him if you need him, but try to figure this out yourself. Barack really needs his beauty sleep for the debates... That's some quality leadership there.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Arles

Interesting comments by Obama:



He then says:

So, we're facing the next depression if we don't act. But, hey congress, Obama's busy preparing for the debates so you can call him if you need him, but try to figure this out yourself. Barack really needs his beauty sleep for the debates... That's some quality leadership there.

You see, that is just Obama playing the media like a Stradivarius. I'm just shocked he's been able to get away with it for so long. You'll see.