LSJ Blogs: People's Politics

GM’s 100th Birthday Present

Well at least one bailout made it through this week. So the “too big to fail” crowd can put a feather in their collective cap. The house and Senate have both passed a spending bill that is too big to fail. If the President were to veto it, which he will not, the federal government would shut down on Wednesday. This bill (600 billion plus) keeps us going until March. Wow!! Such a deal. Congress providing enough money to get “W” out of town. I suspect both Republicans and Democrats support that idea.

 But, buried in the bill is the auto industry bailout. I’m not sure, but I think is could be called an earmark. But, then it’s not directed at a single company (2 actually). So maybe it fails the MSM test for earmark. If it is an earmark, at $25 billion it should be called an EARMARK.

It’s the Economy, Senile!

I can’t believe the financial bailout failed today. How could this have happened after McCain suspended his campaign for almost half a week to make sure a rescue plan went through?

It must be the Democrats, undermining McCain just to rob him of the credit he deserves. No, wait, the Democrats voted for the bailout (140-95); it was the G.O.P. that defeated it (65-133). What the heck? McCain not only failed to save the country; he failed to rally the support of his own party? What does it say about a party when it cannot get its members to vote for a bill that its own sitting president and its own chosen presidential successor both urge them to vote for?

Can this really be true in America today?

Allegedly the Obama campaign is asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign which has resulted in a remarkable press release from the Missouri Governor’s office.  It seems the St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce as well as the St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch (both known Obama supporters) have in fact threatened to bring libel charges against those who speak out falsely against Barack Obama.  The definition of "speaking out falsely" has not been clarified yet.

Round One To Obama

After spending a few days trying to weasel out of the debate, John McCain finally deigned to show up in Oxford to debate Barack Obama last night. He actually did better than I expected him to. He was pretty well prepared and if your drinking game centered on him saying "my friends", you stayed quite sober. Barack Obama had his best debate thus far. When you compare his performance last night to those against Hillary, it was like night and day. Much more forceful, much more polished, much less of the "er"s as he waits to complete his sentences in his mind. In terms of substance, both did quite well. A person scoring a transcript of the debate might well call it a draw and if you said either one had a slight edge it would be hard to dispute. But debates are not "won" with the public on technical merit, style is everything. On that basis, McCain had his clock cleaned by Obama last night.

It's Off — It's On — It's Suspender Man!

Political history exam question: Name the last major presidential candidate to suspend and then restart his campaign. Yes, Ross Perot ’92. Perot ’92 now joins Dole ’96 as John McCain’s spirit-guide for this election. (Though, to his credit, Dole suspended his senate career for the sake of his campaign rather than vice versa.)

What was McCain thinking in the last four days that led him to this ridiculous on again-off again strategy? What was he possibly trying to gain?

Who’s on First? The Bailout Plan

Have terrorists been putting LSD in the Washington DC water supply? What in the world is going on in Washington when George Bush, the Democrats and Barack Obama are at odds with the Republicans and John McCain on the 700 billion dollar Bailout Bill? Henry Paulson, Jr. the Secretary of the Treasury gets on his knee (literally!!) in the White House and begs the Democrats to not bad mouth the Republicans!  And it looks like Mr. McCain, who has been more wishy-washy on the Bailout than a swiffer pad, will debate later tonight, after all!

Reid and Pelosi at it again

With a great deal of fanfare last week, Nancy Pelosi bragged that the House passed a bill lifting the ban on off-shore drilling.  While it was true that the bill did lift the ban outside of 50 miles if the states agreed, it was so poorly constructed that the dems knew it would never get through the Senate and that Bush would veto it even if it got that far.  The only reason for the bill was to give the House dems political cover saying that “we tried to pass energy legislation, but the evil republicans blocked it.”  This was a bogus sham at best and downright lying if we are to be truthful in the analysis.

In Defense of Replacing Dunnings as Prosecutor

My post awhile back referencing the fact that Nick Bostic should replace Stuart Dunnings III as Prosecutor in November was answered by another post defending Stuart Dunnings III’s actions. That post compared the way Dunnings handled the McCollum case with the way his predecessor handled another high-profile case back in the day. I appreciate the try, but I think it misses the point…

Thanks John, Dick, and John

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring in the financial negotiations in Washington, but thanks to John McCain, Senator Richard Shelby from Alabama, and Representative John Boehner from Ohio, we are not going down the ridiculous path proposed by Paulson and Bernanke.  A $1 trillion bailout is not the American way nor is it the best solution.  The courage shown by McCain in “suspending” his campaign and going to Washington to try to help straighten out this mess is actually amazing.  The political class calls it grandstanding or a political stunt; I call it working on what he should be working on.  Obama’s response that he is available by phone if needed is weak and shows a tremendous lack of leadership.

While McCain may not be able to stop the train on the bailout, and he may lose the election because of his current efforts, I salute him for his efforts.  Giving the government, the very same people that brought us this mess, an additional trillion dollars is insane.  I believe Paulson and Bernanke are trying to do “something,” but frequently “change” is worse than the situation it was trying to correct unless the change is well thought out.  The W plan was wrong; hopefully we can do better.

It's a touchy subject, isn't it?

I keep reading posts on this website and others regarding racism and its effect on the Presidential Election. Some say that if Obama isn't ahead by 5 points by election day, then he won't be able to overcome the racist margin of error inherent in all polls. I am 31 years old and have always wanted to believe that racism isn't as big of a deal as people have said it is... primarily because I don't see it in my life, my friends, my family.  But this election has brought it more to the forefront for me... and I've seen it in unexpected places.  Let's talk about it...