The zen-like calm…
He could have done a little better defending the actual “issue,” but still a very good performance.
Read MoreTag "politics"
I was at a bakery today doing some cake testing for my wedding, and they had these cookies with Obama / McCain on them. The baker went on to tell me that they are participating in an unscientific poll for the 2008 presidential election by selling cookies with the candidates on them. For every cookie purchased, they are counting that as 1 vote for that candidate.
While we were in there some lady walked in and purchased 4 McCain cookies. It was officially on at that point.
I’ll try and post the final results in the next couple of weeks.
Read MoreSo when I first heard Scott McClellan had endorsed Barack Obama, my first reaction was “figures.” I zipped right by it and didn’t think about it again all day. And then I came home, turned on CNN, and watched a few minutes (that’s all I could stand) of Larry King. McClellan was on as an Obama “supporter,” and I was fairly impressed. So then I began to rethink this endorsement a little.
Scott McClellan is, being a former Bush Press Secretary, the kind of guy who knows how to handle the media. He knows how to frame. He knows how to duck and pivot. But most of all, he knows how conservatives think and how they attack. This is a guy who could potentially become a very effective talking-head for Obama. I mean, he was cutting the shit right out of everything that was thrown at him. So this could actually end up being something of real value to Obama.
Read MoreFrom Politico:
As part of a plan to reinvigorate his flagging campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is considering additional economic measures aimed directly at the middle class that are likely to be rolled out this week, campaign officials said.
Among the measures being considered are tax cuts – perhaps temporary – for capital gains and dividends, the officials said.
Hilzoy slams it:
Because what everyone is really worried about right now is how they’ll manage to pay the taxes on their massive capital gains.
Grasping in the dark…
Read MoreThis is a big one. It has found its way into just about every conservative’s talking point repertoire, swiftly followed by the story of “coddling” by Democrats who “blocked” oversight. This is another one that I don’t have to do much work on, because a news org has rightfully done its job. From McClatchy:
As the economy worsens and Election Day approaches, a conservative campaign that blames the global financial crisis on a government push to make housing more affordable to lower-class Americans has taken off on talk radio and e-mail.
Commentators say that’s what triggered the stock market meltdown and the freeze on credit. They’ve specifically targeted the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the federal government seized on Sept. 6, contending that lending to poor and minority Americans caused Fannie’s and Freddie’s financial problems.
Federal housing data reveal that the charges aren’t true, and that the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis.
Check out the article for a point by point breakdown. If you had to pick one fact to remember, then make it this one:
During those same explosive three years, private investment banks — not Fannie and Freddie — dominated the mortgage loans that were packaged and sold into the secondary mortgage market. In 2005 and 2006, the private sector securitized almost two thirds of all U.S. mortgages, supplanting Fannie and Freddie, according to a number of specialty publications that track this data.
In 1999, the year many critics charge that the Clinton administration pressured Fannie and Freddie, the private sector sold into the secondary market just 18 percent of all mortgages.
Kind of hard to be the sole driver of the crisis when you’re not even the major player…
Read MorePublius wrote a really good post on the fall of the GOP, and possibly paths forward for the beleagered party. Here’s a taste:
In short, the GOP has made an unholy alliance with the mob — and now the long-term debt is coming due. And they deserve it. After all, it’s not that the GOP establishment merely tolerated them, or treated them like the crazy uncle you basically nod at but ignore. They’ve been riling them up — feeding the hate. They’ve based campaigns on things like gay marriage and immigration and terrorist appeasing. They go on the Rush Limbaugh show, and validate his venom. They tell people who don’t have time to learn otherwise things like giving mortgages to poor minority families caused the housing crisis (Daniel Gross has the appropriate response to that — essentially, “it’s not risky to lend to minority families, it’s risky to lend to rich white people.”)
And you know, it sort of makes sense. If I thought Obama was a Muslim terrorist communist committing perpetual voter fraud, I might get mad too at the prospect of an Obama presidency. And so that’s what you have — a lot of angry, proudly uninformed conservatives out there. And they’re not going away.
Like Mickey Mouse’s brooms in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, they were summoned for a specific purpose, but are now out of control. They’re like a armed heat-seeking missile gone astray in the water.
Check out the whole thing.
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The report’s out:
Finding Number One
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides
The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.
Here’s the AP’s lede:
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state’s public safety commissioner. The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn’t the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor.
Palin, however continues to lie.
Gov. Sarah Palin again insisted on Saturday that an investigation by Alaska lawmakers into the firing of her former brother-in-law found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part,” and added that “there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired.” (The report did in fact conclude that she had abused the power of the governor’s office.)
So here’s the bottom line. Palin did something unethical, but not illegal. Watch conservatives stress the latter, while everyone else with a conscience stresses the former.
Btw, I’m watching Fox News as I type this, and they just covered the story, and it’s just unbelievable to me that anyone can think that this channel is unbiased. Question from anchor: “So is this thing over, or are we going to have people still trying to say that she abused her power?” Correspondent: “I think this is effectively over, because people want to talk about real issues like the economy at this point.”
Ridiculous.
Update:
The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.
Gotta love those reformers…
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Keep your eyes peeled. Here’s a taste from the NYT:
By now, the outlines of the matter have been widely reported. Mr. Monegan believes he was ousted because he would not bow to pressure to dismiss Trooper Wooten. The Alaska Legislature is investigating the firing and whether the governor abused the powers of her office to pursue a personal vendetta. Its report is due Friday.
Ms. Palin has denied that anyone told Mr. Monegan to dismiss Trooper Wooten, or that the commissioner’s ouster had anything to do with him. But an examination of the case, based on interviews with Mr. Monegan and several top aides, indicates that, to a far greater degree than was previously known, the governor, her husband and her administration pressed the commissioner and his staff to get Trooper Wooten off the force, though without directly ordering it.
Peace out, Ayers. Hello, Monegan and Wooten.
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