So here are three major factors that contributed to our country’s world’s current financial misfortunes: prolonged periods of historically low interest rates (even negative real interest rates), the complete deregulation of such derivatives as credit default swaps, and encouragement from Washington that the inflated housing boom was nothing to worry about. It’s rare that you can pin so many large factors on one person, but, well, former Fed chief Alan Greenspan set the low interest rates, led the pressure on Congress to keep derivatives markets wholly deregulated, and was the voice from Washington that said everything was fine.
From Rachel Maddow…
I always felt like Allen Greenspan had some kind of “God Complex” when it came to the economy. I never understood why we gave one guy so much power over our economy (especially, for so long). It now seems obvious, that this was a bad idea.
What do you think? How much blame can be put on Greenspan for our economic crisis? Does he gets points for admitting he made a mistake? Let me know what you think in comments.
I’m getting pretty sick of the “Joe the Plumber” stuff. Joe isn’t even a licensed plumber, and he blatantly lied to Barack Obama, with his question on the economy. Now, the McCain Campaign is using this in negative ads. I don’t see how having more people “claim” to be Joe the Plumber, over and over, is a smart campaign move? And, this ad is just ridiculous. Let me know what you think in comments.
So…What are they saying? Are they just like Joe the plumber, who makes over $250,000.00 a year? Do they know that guy isn’t a licensed plumber and doesn’t make even close to the income he claimed, and he never had any intention of buying a small business? Do they know, that under Barack Obama’s plan, Joe the plumber would have his taxes lowered? Do they realize, that unless they have incomes greater than $250,000.00, their taxes would be lower too?
What do you think of all the “Joe the Plumber” hoopla? Are you sick of it? Let me know in comments.
In recent weeks, the McCain campaign has been attacking ACORN, a widely respected voter registration organization, claiming ACORN knowingly participated in “voter fraud.” In reality, this is just another calculated attempt by the McCain campaign and the RNC to suppress new and marginalized voters.
* On a side note…There are already problems in Florida with voter suppression. I just heard this on our 11 o’clock news…
Because foreclosures are so high here, if your home has been foreclosed on, you can not use that address to vote. You must file papers with a new address, or not vote. The news report stressed, that anyone caught voting using an address from their foreclosed home, will be subject to arrest (3rd degree felony), and a $5,000 fine. The report is not mentioning that this form of intimidation is considered voter suppression, on the contrary, it is warning anyone who has not had their address changed, they better not attempt to vote. I was shocked, the news stations in Florida, are actually aiding in voter suppression.
Yesterday, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously argued that the Vice President is “in charge of the United States Senate“:
Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”
PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.
Take a look at a clip from another typically vapid and disastrous Sarah Palin television interview and see what it looks like when the reporter is actually uninterested in clarifications or follow ups. I guess that’s what Palin has moved on to these days. Local affiliate interviews with reporters who won’t ask anything hard.
But that doesn’t actually mean Palin gives correct answers. Oh, no! Far from it! All it means is that the reporter asking the questions doesn’t give any indication of being aware that the answers are incorrect.
If women are going to be taken seriously they need to be held to the same standards as men. A man who said something so incredibly ignorant would be pilloried.
This latest gaffe, actually implying that the vice president has legislative authority, makes what she said with Couric seem harmless. This woman has no business being anywhere near the White House. John McCain’s judgment is a joke. Making America pay for it through a possible Palin presidency is dangerous.
And, adding insult to injury…
Guess how much the RNC is shelling out during this economic crisis for Sara Palin’s wardrobe???
What do you think? Should Sarah Palin understand what the “actual” job of the vice president is? Or, do we just expect that if McCain is elected, Sarah Palin can do what ever she wants to do?
Personally, I don’t think she is stupid (at least on this issue). I think, if elected, she plans on ignoring the constitution every bit as much as the Bush administration did. Let me know what you think in comments.
If you apply the Sarah Palin standard the majority of the people who lost their lives in that big-city, eastern, liberal bastion of New York City would not be considered as “real Americans”. Nor would those “Washington insider” Pentagon employees or the majority of passengers on Flight 93 meet the Palin standard.
And when you think about it, a large number of US troops probably do not meet the Palin “real American” criteria either.
Of course, as suggested by Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), the media can always conduct an in-depth investigation to see if members of our military are “pro-America”. After all, swearing an oath of allegiance isn’t enough proof. And if you don’t tow the GOP line, being a decorated general and former Secretary of State doesn’t count for much either.
When during the course of the final US Presidential Debate moderator Bob Schieffer gave both Senators McCain and Obama a chance to accept responsibility for the negative campaign rhetoric of their campaigns, John McCain chose to blame everything on Barack Obama’s failure to agree to his proposed town hall meetings and whined about his feelings being hurt by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).
WASHINGTON — Representative John Lewis, the Georgia Democrat and civil rights leader, said Saturday that Senator John McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, were “sowing the seeds of hatred and division” in a way that reminded him of former Gov. George Wallace and “another destructive period” in the nation’s history.
John McCain didn’t get it. This was his moment to truly raise the level of political discourse and reach out to the America people. This was his chance to prove that he, John McCain, could be a leader for ALL Americans. But instead, John McCain did the typical “Washington insider” thing, played to his right-wing conservative base and blamed everything on “the other guy”.
This was John McCain’s chance to put “Country First” but instead the self proclaimed “maverick” pandered to the people who scream “Traitor”. “Treason”, “Off With His Head” and “Kill Him”. Instead of taking a few moments to simply state that he does not condone that language, behavior and viewpoint, John McCain stated that Barack Obama should denounce the comments and concerns of a civil rights leader who is intimately acquainted with what happens when hateful rhetoric escalates into hateful actions.
Instead of doing the right thing, John McCain sent a message, albeit by his silence, to the radical fringe that he is proud of all of the people who attend McCain/Palin rallies.
John McCain stated tonight that he wants to change the culture in America.
Well, after you watch the following video clip ask yourself which candidate do you want to shape the culture for the next eight years. And then, pray that you can live with your choice.
The Sarah Palin Troopergate story has uncovered more about McCain’s VP pick than you might realize. Rachel Maddow does a great job at explaining the story and what it means to abuse power. I personally like her “alternate universe” analogy (it’s so m-theory). And, you gotta give her credit for calling “non-truths” what they really are…
It’s not even JUST Troopergate anymore. Housegate is moving in…
Remember back to the first week in September, when it seemed like every day there was a new “gate”? Actually, believe it or not, “Troopergate” used to be known as “Palingate” in Alaska because we naively believed there was only one. Oh, how innocent we were.
Since that long ago time, our naivete has fallen away, and “gates” have been springing up like mushrooms all over Alaska: Troopergate, babygate, bookgate, pastorgate…the list seemed endless. Add to that a whole host of more recent and harder to say “gates” – Leaving-your-town-in-debt-gate, collecting-per-diem-while-living-at-home-gate, charging-victims-for-rape-kits-gate, trying-to-rid-the-world-of-wolves-and-polar-bears-gate, and we’ve been busy people. We’ve been focusing on John McCain’s I-didn’t-vet-my-running-mate-so-I’m-going-te-let-everyone-else-do-it-gate.
But now, a brand new “gate” surfaces. I present “House Gate”. There will be more digging on this one in the days to come, but here’s what we know now. – ready full post here
Palin omits Obama’s “terrorist ties” from her rally speeches in the spirit of stopping negative attacks. It lasts until Palin tells crowds Obama does not want women to be “punished with a baby” when addressing his abortion stance. But she does follow it up by saying “it is not mean spirited”
. . .
Glamoracy asks if women would “hate” Palin if she was a liberal. Let me answer on my behalf – if she was for any form of women’s equality (ERA!) , did not make rape victims pay for their rape kits, did not say “she tolerates” when she speaks of gay rights, recognized the need to improve our nations health care, stopped implying Obama is UnAmerican because of propaganda that failed to work a year ago, could name a Supreme Court case or a paper she read each day I would not be as scared to have her as number two.
There are some conservatives who want John McCain to “take the gloves off” and fight Barack Obama like there is no tomorrow. There are some conservatives who are furious that he isn’t going after Obama with something akin to saturation bombing. Let’s be honest here. These are the johnny come lately conservatives who are only supporting McCain because he chose Sarah Palin for VP. Then there are the non-Republican conservatives who pretend to be Republican to make as much trouble as possible. They don’t even like Palin. These are the conservatives who don’t want a Republican to win under any circumstances. As usual, they are making as much mischief as possible.
The johnny come lately conservatives who are supporting John McCain becasue of Sarah Palin, don’t understand him. Because they aren’t ‘students’ or fans of John McCain they neither understand nor appreciate the honor of the man. They don’t realize that John McCain is behaving like John McCain. There are no excuses. There is nothing hidden below the surface. There is only the honor of John McCain. Those who cannot appreciate the fact that McCain would rather lose with honor than be victorious with dishonor, don’t understand the very nature of the man.
This is the real John McCain. He will never back down from a fight. He has always fought with honor. If you don’t realize this, go back and look at his time as a POW in North Vietnam. The honor he displayed as a tortured prisoner of war is the same honor that will not allow dishonorable attacks on Barack Obama. It’s that simple. He has displayed this honor all of his life. Why stop and compromise now?
Why Does The McCain Campaign Want To Convince You To Be Scared of Obama?
Is the McCain campaign having it’s cake and eating it too? Are they for or against calling Barack Obama a terrorist? Do they think the only way they can win, is to scare the voting public into thinking Obama is not a true American?
Did you ever wonder who started the rumors about Obama? If so, here is a very interesting article in the New York Times – The Man Behind the Whispers About Obama…
The most persistent falsehood about Senator Barack Obama’s background first hit in 2004 just two weeks after the Democratic convention speech that helped set him on the path to his presidential candidacy: “Obama is a Muslim who has concealed his religion.”
That statement, contained in a press release, spun a complex tale about the ancestry of Mr. Obama, who is Christian.
The press release was picked up by a conservative Web site, FreeRepublic.com, and spread steadily as others elaborated on its claims over the years in e-mail messages, Web sites and books. It continues to drive other false rumors about Mr. Obama’s background.
This one really takes the cake. I’m no theologian, and I won’t claim to know what God is thinking. But, I’m just going to take a wild guess here, and assume God doesn’t like this kind of thing very much.
Is this guy kidding? Did he just threaten God? When did this election become a war between the good Gods and the bad Gods? Personally…I think there are good people and bad people, not good Gods and bad Gods. What do you think?
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.
The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated.
Answering the question, Where are all the women political bloggers? Well, if you are here, you have found them. We are dedicated to giving women bloggers a voice, starting with our list of over 500 women political bloggers. And now, in addition to guest bloggers, and our growing community, we will also feature regular contributing editors.
