After a disastrous week leading up to the debate last Friday, and now that polls reflect what was plainly obvious that night — that Barack Obama won the debate against John McCain — it is time to officially declare that the wheels have come off the McCain campaign. Here’s a tick-tock of the slow-mo train wreck:
This has been making the e-mail rounds, but it’s kind of fun to think about:
I’m against the $85 billion bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85 billion to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200 million bona fide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301 million +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200 million might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.
So, divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion. That equals $425,000. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30 percent. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25.5 billion right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500 in their pocket. A husband and wife would have $595,000.
What would you do with $297,500 or $595,000?
Pay off your mortgage — housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans — what a great boost to new grads.
Put away money for college — it’ll be there.
Save in a bank — create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car — create jobs.
Invest in the market — capital drives growth.
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance — health care improves.
Remember, this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we’re going to redistribute wealth let’s really do it … instead of trickling out a puny $1,000 (“vote buy”) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U.S. citizen over 18.
As for AIG — liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale: We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
Sure it’s a crazy idea that can never work. But can you imagine the coast-to-coast block party!
Florida embarrassment, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Corruption), made headlines when he disparaged Sarah Palin, saying, “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”
Now Hastings is apologizing. But not to Palin. He’s apologizing to hunters.
“I regret the comments I made last Tuesday that were not smart and certainly not relevant to hunters or sportsmen,” Rep. Alcee Hastings said in a statement issued Monday.
Hastings did eventually apologize to Palin too, although he might not have needed to. He actually made a pretty good point, I think.
Last week, at a panel on the shared agenda of Jewish and African-American Democrats during the annual conference of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Hastings told attendees what he intended to tell his Jewish constituents about the importance of supporting Sen. Obama in November’s presidential election. “If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Hastings said last week. “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through,” he added.
Most of the offense taken by Hastings’ remark came from the Republican Jewish Coalition (who knew there was such a thing?). They are calling the comment, “the worst kind of divisive politics” while running ads that might actually earn that title.
“There should be no place in our country for this sort of political discourse. We can constructively disagree on the issues without denigrating others,” added [JRC Executive Director Matt] Brooks.
True, true, Matt. I can see you’re a stand-up guy. Very considerate and respectful and above personal attacks. So why are you “denigrating” Barack Obama?
The Jewish Republican Coalition has already launched its own series of election-related ads in Jewish newspapers throughout the country. The latest ad refers to some Obama’s advisers as “pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, and even hostile to America” and states that “You can know a man by the company he keeps.”
Following is one of the ads. Nice.
House Republicans killed the Wall Street bailout bill today because their feelings were hurt by remarks made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to one of their leaders:
“You’ve been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp. … You just wonder, where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?”
— Gingrich, in 1995, explaining why he shut down the federal government
Without mentioning her by name, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., No. 3 Republican, said: “The partisan tone at the end of the debate today I think did impact the votes on our side.”
Reacting to the Republicans’ reason for killing the bill, House Finance Chair Barney Frank, who shepherded the bill through negotiations last week, spoke for millions:
Frank said that was a remarkable accusation by Republicans against Republicans: “because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country.”
According to the AP, in her remarks, Pelosi blamed the “right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation” for the crisis. This may be a “partisan” statement, but it also reflects historical facts.
The immature behavior these House Republicans exhibited today has a striking precedent. In 1995, GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted that he had shut down the federal government because he felt slighted by Pres. Clinton on an overseas trip:
As the government budget standoff continued Thursday, House Speaker Newt Gingrich indicated the Republican hard line was due, in part, to a “snub” from President Clinton during their recent trip to Israel for the funeral of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta called the Gingrich comment “bizarre.”
The speaker said Wednesday that tough terms in the government spending bill President Clinton vetoed Monday night were included partly as the result of pique he and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole felt on Air Force One during flights with the president to and from Israel for the funeral.
Gingrich and Dole had complained earlier about their lack of discussions with Clinton during the 25 hours of flying time. But Gingrich went a step further Wednesday by saying the incident contributed to the government shutdown.
“This is petty,” said Gingrich, indicating his displeasure at the way the two were treated. “You’ve been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp. … You just wonder, where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?”
That “snub,” the Georgia Republican said, was “part of why you ended up with us sending down a tougher continuing resolution” — the stopgap spending bill that Clinton vetoed Monday. That veto led to the partial shutdown of the federal government, now in its third day.
“Not once did either of them say, ‘Let’s go in the back and sit down and try to cut a deal,” Panetta said. “Frankly, it would have been inappropriate. Everybody knew this was about a funeral. … This is bizarre. And even if that were the case — which it isn’t — why would you want to shut down the government because you feel snubbed?”
These people have no business being in government. The problem is, they wouldn’t last a day out in the real world.
Obama/Biden 47%
McCain/Palin 42%
Undec 8%
– Nearly two in three RVs, 63%, surveyed by the Diageo/Hotline tracking poll this weekend watched Fri.’s debate.
– Debate watchers believe Obama prevailed in Oxford. 41% say Obama won the first debate, while 24% say McCain; 20% say they both won. Among Indies, 28% say Obama won vs. 23% for McCain; one in three Indies say they performed equally.
– Viewers also rate Obama’s performance higher than McCain’s. Two-thirds say Obama did an excellent or good job, while 53% believe McCain did the same. Meanwhile 30% say Obama did only fair or poor, while 44% say the same about McCain. Among Indies, Obama has a 58%/37% debate performance rating, while McCain’s is 49%/46%.
Pundits say that Trump’s $5,000 midterm bribe was an overreach,
And they agree that if lies were a crime, he’d be impeached.
Despite all the dividend promises he’s made,
The fact is, not one has ever been paid,
So even before the midterms, he already owes us $8,000* each.
*$5000 stimulus checks via “DOGE dividend”; $2000 stimulus checks via a “tariff dividend”; $1000-plus checks via “savings” from expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
