The Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News endorsed Obama on Oct. 25, 2008:
Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency - but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain.
According to an Oct. 22 Op-Ed piece in the NYTimes by Nick Kristof, A 22-nation survey by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) found that voters abroad preferred Mr. Obama to Mr. McCain in every single country — by four to one over all. Nearly half of those in the BBC poll said that the election of Mr. Obama, an African-American, would “fundamentally change” their perceptions of the United States.
Wow!! Perhaps Obama will electrify the world, as Gen. Colin Powell said.
All this talk about "Joe the Plumber" and his rant about how much he will benefit from John McCain's tax plan caused me to do some research.
According to the May 2007 occupational earnings report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual income of “plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters” in Ohio was $47,930.
Anyone making $47,000 per year will definitely benefit from Obama's tax plans.
Hey, Joe the Plumber, do some research before jumping to conclusions. In other words, follow the guy who will benefit your pocketbook and not your political party!!
On Sunday morning, Oct. 19, I was excited to hear General Powell's endorsement of Obama.Powell called Obama "a transformational figure."An Obama blogger mentioned on another thread that the word "transformational" is a "buzzword" for military members. This is TRUE!The military has been undergoing a "transformation effort" for several years. This means, for example, that the Army is trying to "shrink its footprint" and become much "lighter" and "faster,"....focusing less on big heavy tanks in favor of lighter Bradley vehicles and up-armored HUMVEES. Also, reducing the "overhead" and the size of command structures by deemphasizing the 20,000 person Corps, in favor of more 3,500 person brigades.Suffice it to say that Powell's use of the word "transformational leader" will ring POSITIVE with "some" military members, signaling that Obama is the person to continue the much needed military transformational efforts.Nice endorsement from a former great military leader--General Colin Powell.
With all the talk about “small businesses,” here are a few quick facts from the U.S. government’s Small Business Administration’s website (www.sba.gov)
1. What is a small business?
An independent business having fewer than 500 employees
2. How many small businesses are there?
In 2007, there were 27.2 million U.S. small businesses.
3. How many small businesses had employees?
Census data show that of the 27 million U.S. small businesses, only 6.0 million had employees, while over 20 million businesses were without employees in 2005.
4. How important are small businesses to the U.S. economy?
Small firms: • Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms. • Employ about half of all private sector employees. • Pay nearly 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll. • Have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade. • Hire 40 percent of high tech workers (such as scientists, engineers, and computer workers).
The last thing McCain wants, or needs, is to be labeled as a HYPOCRIT….no politician wants to look like a hypocrit at anytime or any issue!!
Team Obama has been trolling through John McCain's voting record in the Senate, and this nugget landed in vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's Aug. 27, 2008, convention speech: "He voted 19 times against the minimum wage for people who are struggling just to make it to the next day." (We'll give Biden a pass for skipping the word "raising," which was in his prepared remarks.)
PolitiFact.com from the "St. Petersburg Times" found that not all of McCain's 19 votes in opposition to increases were pure votes on the minimum wage, and some were procedural, as is the Senate's way. But McCain has voted repeatedly, 19 times, against Democratic attempts to raise the minimum wage.
In Frank Rich's Oct. 5 Op-Ed NYTimes piece, he raises the question of whether the GOP will dump McCain for Palin. See following excerpt:
"So how can a desperate G.O.P. save itself? As McCain continues to fade into incoherence and irrelevance, the last hope is that he’ll come up with some new game-changing stunt to match his initial pick of Palin or his ill-fated campaign “suspension.” Until Thursday night, more than a few Republicans were fantasizing that his final Hail Mary pass would be to ditch Palin so she can “spend more time” with her ever-growing family. But the debate reminded Republicans once again that it’s Palin, not McCain, who is their last hope for victory."
"You have to wonder how long it will be before they plead with him to think of his health, get out of the way and pull the ultimate stunt of flipping the ticket. Palin, we can be certain, wouldn’t even blink."
According to ColorOfChange.org, if you live in Michigan and you're in danger of losing your home to foreclosure, Republicans will try and take away your right to vote.
Voters who appear on a foreclosure list—even though they may still live in the home that’s being foreclosed—will be challenged at the polls to show proof that they still live at the address. The Republicans attack on these poor people is the last thing they need!! .
Many of the individuals involved in foreclosure are low-income and minority, and likely to vote for Obama.
Similar tactics are being used across the country, but the McCain campaign simply sits in the background, quietly benefiting from voter suppression. McCain could end this with one phone call.
The Obama campaign is fighting against this plan in the courts, but they need our help to expose these dishonorable tactics and make this a national story.
If enough of us step up, we'll give the press a reason to expose McCain and what's happening in Michigan.
Please go to ColorofChange.org and sign the petition to stop these deplorable tactics. Voter suppression is wrong. Let’s show McCain he can’t get away with this!!!!
McCain will tax your "employer-provided" health insurance by treating it as income to you and making you pay taxes on the money paid by your employer to provide you with health insurance.
According to a Sept. 16 NYTimes Op Ed piece by Bob Herbert, these changes will set in motion nothing less than the dismantling of the employer-based coverage that protects most American families.
A study coming out Tuesday from scholars at Columbia, Harvard, Purdue and Michigan projects that 20 million Americans who have employment-based health insurance would lose it under the McCain plan.
There is nothing secret about Senator McCain’s far-reaching proposals, but they haven’t gotten much attention because the chatter in this campaign has mostly been about nonsense — lipstick, celebrities and “Drill, baby, drill!”
“It means your employer is going to have to make an estimate on how much the employer is paying for health insurance on your behalf, and you are going to have to pay taxes on that money,” said Sherry Glied, an economist who chairs the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Ms. Glied is one of the four scholars who have just completed an independent joint study of the plan. Their findings are being published on the Web site of the policy journal, Health Affairs.
According to the study: “The McCain plan will force millions of Americans into the weakest segment of the private insurance."
Labor Group Starts Ad Campaign in Battleground States
According to the New York Times Politics Blog, the powerful labor group, known as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced on Sept. 15 it would launch a $2 million television ad campaign in six battleground states on behalf of Senator Barack Obama.
This is the second major ad campaign undertaken on Mr. Obama’s behalf by the union and comes as the S.E.I.U. increasing the number of its members deployed around country working full-time for the Democratic ticket. The ad buy is targeted for Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa, and stresses the theme of the economy.
Before this campaign is over, the Republicans will again surface the charge that Obama is reluctant to take a stand and has voted "Present" about 130 times during his 8 years in the Illinois Senate.
What they don't say is during his 8 yrs. in the Illinois Senate he cast more than 4,000 votes.....over 4,000 votes. Don't know the percentage of 130 vs. 4,000, but bet it's pretty small...miniscule, in fact.
A McCain supporter blogging on the Obama website stated that Obama should not be commander-in-chief because he has no military experience.
Well, based on my research, almost a third of our country's Presidents (Commanders-in-Chief) DID NOT have prior military experience in the U.S. armed forces.
A list of those Presidents follows:
As you can see from the list, some of these individuals were some of our nation's BEST presidents. So much for the need for a president to have prior military service. Right?
Below a few votes by John McCain against veterans: McCain voted against an amendment providing $20 billion for VA medical facilities [5/4/06]
McCain voted against providing $430 million to the VA for outpatient care and treatment for veterans [4/26/06]
McCain voted against increasing VA funding by $1.5 billion by closing corporate loopholes [3/14/06]
McCain voted against increasing VA funding by $1.8 billion by ending abusive tax loopholes [3/10/04]
The man even voted against giving combat duty troops more time at home between extended tours.
Source: Capitol Hill Blues
During his address to about 350 people who paid $28,500 for a VIP dinner, Obama told these supporters to stay cool for the next 79 days.
Among other things, the Act provided $1.6 billion to enhance investigation and prosecution of the violent crime perpetrated against women.
The National Organization of Women (NOW) heralded this legislation as "the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades."
VAWA was reauthorized by Congress in 2000, and again in December 2005. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush in January 2006.
VAWA will be up for reauthorization in 2010.
With Obama as President, and Biden as VP, the reauthorization of VAWA should be a piece of cake!!
Joe R. Biden, Jr.
1. Age: 65 (Nov. 20, ’42)
2. Born in Scranton, PA (Irish Catholic heritage)
3. Roman Catholic (religion)
4. Grew up near suburban New Castle County, Delaware
5. Graduated from Syracuse Univ. Law School in 1968
6. Admitted to Delaware Bar in ’69.
7. Three children by his first wife, Neilia, who died in a car accident along with his infant daughter in ‘72
8. Elected to the U.S. Senate in ’72 at age 30 (the minimum age to become a Senator—making him the 5th youngest Senator in U.S. history….took office on Jan. 3, 1973
9. He is the longest serving U.S. Senator in Delaware history, and commutes an hour and a half by train from his home in Wilmington to DC each day
10. One daughter by his second wife, whom he married in ‘77
11.Hospitalized for two (2) brain aneurysms in ’88…kept him from the Senate for seven months
12. Like Obama, Biden has taught “constitutional law” at Widener Univ. Law School since ‘91
13. Biden Chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee for 8 yrs. (‘87-’95) and presided over U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Robert Bork in ’87, and Clarence Thomas – ‘91
14. Biden crafted many federal crime laws, including “the Violence Against Women Act of ’94, which combats domestic violence and provides billions of dollars to address gender-based crimes.
15. He has continuously joined Republicans in support of stricter “bankruptcy laws”
16. Chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from June 2001 thru 2003.
17. He supported the Bush Administration and voted for the final resolution to support the War in Iraq.
18. Biden supported a plan to end the “sectarian violence” in Iraq that would partition, or “federalize,” Iraq and give the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis their own regions within Iraq
19. Biden launched presidential campaigns in 1988 and 2008. His 1988 campaign was derailed when aides to Mike Dukakis accused Biden of plagiarizing a speech given by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Biden dropped out of the 2008 presidential race after capturing 1% of Iowa’s delegates.
The McCain campaign alleges that Obama has done nothing while in the U.S. Senate.
Well, nothing could be further from the truth. During the 109th and 110th Congresses alone, Obama introduced or co-sponsored some 570 Bills. And, he authored and/or co-sponsored some 830 pieces of legislation while in the Illinois Senate.
Below is a brief summary of his major legislation:
BRIEF SUMMARY of 570 bills Obama 109th, 110th Congress introduced into the Senate (up to 2/2008) VETERANS AND ARMED FORCES: Improve Benefits Suicide prevention Needs of homeless veterans Homes for veterans GI Bill enhancement Military job protection Dignity in care for wounded vets Housing assistance for low income veterans Military children in public schools Military eye injury research and care Research physical/mental health needs from Iraq War Proper administration of discharge for personality disorder Security of personal data of veterans FOREIGN POLICY: Iraq war de-escalation US policy for Iraq Divestiture from Iran Sudan divestment authorization Millennium Development Goals Multilateral debt relief Development bank reform Nuclear nonproliferation ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, CLIMATE CHANGE 32 pieces of legislation ranging from SUSPENDING ROYALTY RELIEF FOR OIL AND GAS, REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON OIL, Increase fuel economy standards for cars, INCENTIVES for fuel efficient vehicles, Reduce green house gas emissions, Coal to liquid fuel promotion, Reducing global warming pollution from vehicles, Fuel security and consumer choice, Alternative energy refueling system, Low income energy assistance, Oil savings targets, Fuel economy reform, Plug-in electric drive vehicles, Drinking water security, Spent nuclear fuel tracking and Accountability, Water resources development, Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act HOMELAND SECURITY Review of FISA National emergency family locator Amend US Patriot Act Chemical security HEALTH CARE 21 pieces of legislation ranging from Children’s health insurance to Health information technology to Hospital quality report cards to Stem cell research PUBLIC HEALTH: 20 pieces of legislation ranging from Violence against women to Biodefense and pandemic preparedness and response to Prohibiting Mercury sales and sales of lead products CONSUMER PROTECTION/LABOR 14 pieces of legislation ranging from Fair minimum wage to Credit card safety to Habeus Corpus Restoration to Bankruptcy protection for employees and retirees CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS AND ACCOUNTABILITY 12 pieces of legislation ranging from Lobbying and ethics reform to Legislative transparency and accountability to Restoring fiscal discipline to Transparency in earmarks Voting/Elections 9 pieces of legislation ranging from prohibiting deceptive practices in Federal elections to requiring reporting for bundled campaign contributions Education 11 pieces of legislation ranging from Support for Teachers to Public database of scholarships, fellowships and financial aid Hurricane Katrina 6 pieces of legislation ranging from Emergency relief to Gulf coast infrastructure redevelopment LinkHis State Senate (over 830 pieces of introduced legislation) - here:Link
Below are dozens of McCain’s flip-flops.
* McCain supported the drilling moratorium; now he’s against it.
* McCain strongly opposes a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.
* McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program violated the law; now he believes the opposite.
* McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
* McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.
* McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.
* He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
* McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
* McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.
* McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syrai. Now he believes the opposite.
* He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.
* McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
* He wanted political support from radical televangelists like John Hagee and Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.
* McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.
* McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”
* McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.
* McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.
* In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.
* McCain has changed his economic worldview on multiple occasions.
* McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions.
* McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.
* McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off than they were before Bush took office.
* McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.
* McCain believes his endorsement from radical televangelist John Hagee was both a good and bad idea.
* McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.” His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.
* McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal.
* In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.
* McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
* McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now he’s against it.
* On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own legislation.
* In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.
* McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
* McCain said he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.
* McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.
* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
* McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.
* On a related note, he said 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and insisted he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.
* In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.
* McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
* McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
* McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
* McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
