FANTASTIC early vote going on out there! So exciting for me to see. I've made my rounds in the neighborhoods too...and just wanted to mention to tell everyone you know to do the Texas Blue Step...VOTE BLUE.
ASIDE: Make it real simple and vote a straight democratic ticket. Spread the word. Here's my little photo collection from yesterday.
http://www.downballotblue.com
I miss calling voters for Barack Obama.
When I first joined the campaign, I made about 300-400 (maybe 500) calls this week.
School and work is getting in the way of my 'work' for Obama.
I am commiting to make 300 phone calls this weekend, no matter what!
I might need some encouragement to motivate me on Friday and Saturday night.
So. If you have time, meet the challenge and do some phone-banking also and let me know how you are doing.
The race is on!
Talking Points Memo has been reporting on this for some time, but I don't think it gets enough attention. It appears that some reporters are reluctant to calling out John McCain on his false ads which have been discredited by most journalists. Candy Crowley of CNN claimed that it's "not my role to determine who is the bigger liar." So... no matter which candidate is the biggest liar, Candy must present those lies in the same way as she presents statements from the other campaign? I'm not sure this is "unbiased reporting." McCain's dishonest ads are not only testing the Obama campaign but also the media's role in covering the campaigns. McCain and Republicans continue to set the media up by claiming they have liberal-bias. Then, while the newsrooms are scrambling to ensure there is not even a hint of bias, the McCain campaign dares the media to object to blatant lies and distortions in his ads. It's a brilliant strategy, because it leaves the media to second-guess their coverage of the distorted claims.We all know the truth at times gets stretched in political campaigns, but even CNN has a segment called "Keeping Them Honest." If reporters are not interested in keeping public officials honest, then maybe we should just have a new type of election free-for-all. Lie about any facts you want to - the media will not tell voters whether the claims are true or false – then see how many votes you can get for it. I guess the McCain campaign is waging a "new" kind of politics after all.
Germaine SmithEastTexasOnline.com/Blogs
1. You’re tired of special interests and lobbyists writing the federal government’s fiscal and foreign policies, and you want a candidate who passed the most comprehensive ethics reform bill since Watergate.
2. You want your government to be more transparent and open about how they spend our tax dollars. See the “Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008” - (S. 3077)
3. You make $250,000 or less and want a $2,200 tax-cut (McCain’s plan would only provides a $1,200 tax-cut for that range according to the independent group the Tax Policy Center).
4. You believe senior citizens drawing $50,000 or less per year in social security should not pay income taxes at all.
5. You don’t think the recent economic policies have been good for the country (McCain) and that we are just a nation of whiners (Phil Graham – McCain’s Chief Economic Adviser).
6. You believe that every American has the right to affordable health care.
7. You think we need a sound energy independence policy that won’t be written by oil companies who make record profits while we pay record prices for gas.
It’s time we all stopped believing the stereotypes and started getting the real facts about the candidates’ policies. In short, stop repeating talking points and start thinking for yourselves.
Palin's pregnant child proves abstinence education works!
If keeping our girls pregnant and our teens covered in genital warts and taking Valtrex herpes treatment everyday for life is your goal.
The press kept bringing up Chelsea Clinton's fictional pregnancy and wondering how they (the press) would've handled her fictional pregnancy.
Chelsea Clinton's mother and father educated her on safe sex and proper condom use and it's silly to talk about her fictional situation, when a real pregnant teen and her careless parents attempt to move into the Whitehouse.
While using a condom isn't 100% effective, having sex without any protection or education increases the chances of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease exponentially.
I know this blog is ugly, but sometimes the truth is ugly.
Dennis Kucinich told America to Wake up! Wake up! Wake up America!
I believe most Americans woke up last night, during Barack Obama's acceptance speech.
Our candidate, hit every issue affecting U.S. workers and retirees, even our hard-working octagenarian Retiree/Walmart associates!
Sen. Obama, thank you once again.
YES WE CAN
PS If you aren't awake yet, what are you dreaming about?
Open you eyes, baby!
Get up and get at 'em!
Jonathan Oberlander, Ph.D. wrote a recent article for the New England Journal of Medicine comparing the two health care proposals of John McCain and Barack Obama.
Key Elements of John McCain's Plan
Key Elements of Barack Obama's Plan
You can read the full article here: The Partisan Divide — The McCain and Obama Plans for U.S. Health Care Reform. Dr. Oberlander is an associate professor of social medicine and of health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Germaine Smith
Why has the media embraced this book and it's author?
Corsi's book belongs in the fiction department.
"Fortunate Son" was much more realistic and factual than "Obama Nation," but the media spurned, ignored and crucified J.H. Hatfield until he finally committed suicide. Corsi is merely an opportunistic writer, not a reporter. Please read the book in the bookstore(a fool and his money). It shouldn't take an attentive reader long to see the truth. While you are there look at his other writings. Corsi's subjects and ideas range from widely ridiculous to just plain foolish. Don't take him seriously.
I'm not sure if a candidate's tax plans are important to your decision making, but if it they are check out this article in "The Wall Street Journal and this article in "The New Standard". Now here's "Clayton's Most Unprofessional Opinion." Taxes aren't important to me personally(drum-roll please), because I'm so poor I can't afford to pay attention(and there's the rim-shot). Ha! But seriously folks, the tax plans are very important to me on a much larger level. Good and fair tax laws increase, reward and encourage the middle-class, ignore the poor and of course punish the rich. I don't want rich people actually penalized for making money, but if some are taxed down into the upper-middle-class(not likely), I know people in much worse situations. Above all, I don't want the middle-class paying as much tax as possible. Rich people pay lots of taxes and pay lots of money(tax-deductible) to their lawyers and accountants to trim as much as possible off that amount. If we see their "real" income , they pay little or nothing and the super-rich know how to actually receive huge refunds.
I hear people say, "It's not fair to tax rich people, more than poor people." I have an answer for them, "Life ain't fair!" You are fortunate to be a rich person(it doesn't matter how) and have been rewarded "unfairly." Is it fair, that a guy drives a $100,000 car, works 35 hours a week and earns $700,000 annually, but another guy rides a bus, works a combined 60 hours a week from two jobs and makes minimum wage? No, but like I said, "Life ain't fair!"
Life isn't fair, that's why we make laws. Our taxes can't fix everything, but they help.
I played with the IRS tax estimator today and used fictional criteria to come up with the numbers. The fictional information I used is listed at the bottom of the page. Joseph Magnum-of-Cristal: Earned 1 million dollars Pays $45,033 or .045 of his income for taxes* Joe Six-pack-of-Bud: Earned $100,000 Pays $11,794 or .12 of his income for taxes* That's not cool. You'll notice that Joseph has more tax credits and deductions than Joe, but I figure in the real world Joseph's CPA would make sure his client gets a few breaks. I also figured that Joe's CPA (most likely himself or an in-law), wouldn't be clever enough (or maybe brave enough) to take all possible deductions. Joe also makes less and can't contribute as much to his I.R.A. or other tax shelters.
*Clayton's math might not be "correct." If I made an error, please let me know and I'll correct it promptly!
Joseph Magnum-of-Cristal's IRS criteria:
I received this email from a resident of Tyler, TX.
Question: Are you for or against drilling for more oil here in the U.S. in a safe way, in addition of putting together a 10 year plan for other fuel resources such as fuel cell cars using Hydrogen, to get us totaly independent of forign oil in 8 to 10 years? This can be done using our Shale rock recources, drilling off shore, Drilling in North & South Dakota, Alaska, and using the Hydrogen from our Oceans to provide the fuel. Also building more Nucular plants and using the wind as a resource.
Answer: Oil companies ARE drilling for more oil here in the U.S. everyday from East Texas to Montana to Pennsylvania to Califonia and everywhere in between. Should we be drilling on the outer continental shelf? Probably, and companies from all other nation should be held to the same high environmental standards. Should we be drilling in ANWR? Probaly NOT, as a May 2008 report from the U.S. Department of Energy indicates, "An increase in production from ANWR would reduce that somewhat perhaps by 2 percent out to 2030. And that really is not enough to significantly alter world oil prices." (Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge)
We certainly need to divert the $700B / year, going out of the U.S., toward long and short term solutions to our energy crisis/needs. Shale rock is only economically feasible when prices are relatively high.
See OnTheIssues.org data on Rep. Louie Gohmert and Sen. John Cornyn's poor (%17) rating on energy issues.
Write your congressman and tell them that we want them to act now to support alternative and renewable energy! Senator Obama has already indicated his support for environmentally responsible and safe drilling on the outer continental shelf. Nuclear should be evaluated on a cost/benifit basis.
Thanks for asking my opinion!
I don't understand why the public buys the branding of candidates as "flip-flopping" or "wishy-washy." When a person changes their mind, it is usually after discovering a flaw in a previous idea. Scholars and fishermen refer to this as "thinking."
I don't know why educated people blindly follow the herd in this type of discourse.Only an idiot makes a bad decision and sticks to it, despite mountains of evidence showing the idea's flaws.Intelligent people change their minds, sometimes a thousand times per day, in a process known as thought. I know it's unfathomable to some, but it's true.
A fisherman starts his morning with worms and commits to the bait. He gets no bites all day. The folks fishing around him get their limit fishing with minnows. They even offer him free bait, but he sticks to his worms and goes home with an empty stringer.
I'll hire "wishy-washers" or "flip-floppers," before hiring idiots unable to make decisions, change directions, before damaging the company or going home with empty stringers.
America contracted a nearly fatal disease on November 7, 2000.
America is a tough country and although the infection is tenacious she will survive.
Right now America’s sores are healing, although the source of infection is still present in our body. The source of infection is G. W. Bush and America is strong enough to recover from him alone, but Barack Obama speeds our healing time and boosts our energy.
When America gets up from the sick-bed and begins working again, we can wear our citizenship with pride and enjoy the envy of the entire Earth!
The United States of America is the best nation on Earth and soon she'll get the best leader on Earth.
Thank you Senator Barack Obama. I am very proud of you and America.
Don’t forget to vote!
This is it.
I started voting at 18 and never stopped, but seldom felt emotionally and intellectually connected to a single candidate.
H. Ross Perot made me excited about politics. I recognized the smartest candidate running in 1992 and I watched, heard and read everything available to the public. I voted for Mr. Perot in 1992 and again in 1996. I knew he wouldn’t win, but I wanted America to understand, Clayton Riggs votes for the right candidate, not always the winning candidate.
I proudly and fondly tell my fellow Texans about my votes for Mr. Perot. They laugh at me and say “You threw your vote away.” Of course, they are dead wrong. My vote counted and America witnessed the most successful third-party presidential candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. Mr. Perot earned18.9% of the popular vote and scared the shit out of the Republicans and the Democrats.
I continued voting and waiting for the right candidate.
The right candidate deserves my time, money and most importantly my vote.
On July 27, 2004, the right candidate appeared . . . and he wasn’t even in the race!
He spoke with authority and conviction. His words stuck with me and I couldn’t wait to hear the speech again and again. “The Audacity of Hope” rang in my head. I watched, heard and read the speech countless times.
Barack Obama is the right candidate and with my help, he will also be the winning candidate.
The truth is that U.S. demand for oil compared to the supply, has decreased.
Using data from the Energy Information Administration (the official energy statistics of the U.S. government). Comparing 2008 data to 2002, we find that compared Supply/Demand for oil is down by 2.1%. However, gas prices have increased by 152% since 2002. Again, the demand for oil goes down and gas prices skyrocket. Finally, I did a correlation analysis to determine how much gas prices depend on the supply/demand for oil. From 1994 to 2001, the demand for oil accounted for 56% of the increase in gas price. However, from 2002 to 2008, the demand for oil only accounted for 10% of gas price increases. The official government data shows that:
1) there is no increase in the demand for oil when compared to oil supply 2) the large increase in gas prices has nothing to do with the supply/demand for oil.
Read the full article here: http://www.easttexasonline.com/city/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47:oilgas&catid=39:national-politics-articles
From www.BusinessWeek.com (6/12/08):
First Round to ObamaSo where does the reality lie? According to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, two Washington think tanks, this round goes to Obama. The TPC took a look at the various tax proposals put forth by the two candidates and estimated that Obama's plan would lead to a boost in aftertax income for all but the highest earners, while taking a smaller bite out of government tax revenues than would McCain's plans.
Len Berman, a former Treasury tax official who is now a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, says if Obama's proposals—which include plans to rescind the Bush tax cuts on couples making more than $250,000, close corporate tax loopholes, and tax private equity earnings known as "carried interest" as ordinary income—were adopted in 2009, for example, married couples with earnings in the lowest quintile of the population would see their aftertax income rise 5.8%. Those in the next quintile would see an increase of 4%. Those breaks would be paid for by those with high incomes: the top 1% of taxpayers would see aftertax income fall 8.4%.
Under McCain's proposals, by contrast—including an extension of the Bush tax cuts for all taxpayers, a corporate tax cut, and a larger reduction in estate taxes than Obama would support—far more of the benefits would go to the top. If his plans went into effect in 2009, married couples in the bottom fifth of the population would see aftertax income go up just 0.2%, while those in the next quintile would see a 0.7% hike. But those in the top quintile would see a bump up in aftertax income of 2.7%.
"It's just flat wrong" to say people would do worse under Obama, says Berman. "Most lower- and middle-class people would pay less taxes under Obama than they would under the proposals being put forth by McCain."
Barack has done a great job of mobilizing communities to get involved in this nomination process. His speaches about how "we are the ones we've been waiting for" are great and true. However, this message does not seem to strike the same chord in all democratic voting blocks.
It may be time for the Obama campaign to talk more about how he will fight the special interests in Washington, protect social security and revive the economy (even if the President doesn't have a lot of control over economy). In a sound-bit, Barack mentioned that if you are tough you don't have to talk tough - and he is absolutely right. The problem is that there are still a lot of folks who don't know him or how passionate he is about fighting to make America better for all Americans.
Germaine Smith - Tyler, TX
