Bye Joe

Fun Election Facts for the Kids

Barack Obama’s historic summit with Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher happened in Lucas County, Ohio. Obama carried the county 65-34 over John McCain.

And despite proving he knows LESS than anyone else about politics or economic theory, Joe decided to set up his own web site:

Mr. Wurzelbacher said he planned to launch a Web site, www.secureourdream.com, with the goal of making it a political watchdog. “We will keep a check on both the Republicans and the Democrats for not only living up to their promises, but also not let them dictate to people how to live and spend their hard-earned fortunes,” he said.

He added that he also planned to launch www.secureourdream.org, which he said will be a charity branch of the watchdog site to raise money “for all sorts of charities and causes for fellow Americans.”

Praising his countrymen for being very generous to various charities, he said he hoped people would donate at this Web site. He said his Web site would be run in a very transparent way so everyone will know how much money is raised and distributed.

When asked about how much money he would take from the site, he said: “Yes, I would make money to some degree from this charity Web site, but not a whole lot because a majority of the portion collected through this Web site would go to help fellow Americans get a decent living.”

He said his plan to distribute wealth is different than Mr. Obama’s because, “I am talking about redistribution without taking,” and Mr. Obama “wants it to go through the government, so [my plan is] a lot more different than his slogan of redistribution of wealth.”

Uh, yeah.  He continues to demonstrate that stubborn facts don’t get in the way one bit.  Even when FOX news (of all places!) present them to him.  Good on Joe.  I wonder if I should set up a donation button here.  I could use the money.  Oh, wait.  I wasn’t hand-picked by the GOP for a stealth campaign.

What’s more American than a Mutt?

The Search for the First Puppy – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com

Today, the Humane Society of the United States issued a statement suggesting it intended to hold Mr. Obama to adoption:

“We are grateful to the Obama family for previously announcing they will rescue a dog — a real message of hope and change for all the dogs in shelters waiting for a loving home and those currently suffering in abusive puppy mills,” the statement said.

I’ve never been able to understand why the All American Mutt has never found a place in the Oval Office. After all, it’s the dog that resembles America the closest of all – A little of this, a little of that, a pinch of something else, a dab of another thing – All mixed into a goofy, clumsy mess of something very special.

In the middle we are

From Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish

This is my first election year without a TV or local radio. I have been completely dependent on the internet and print media for my electoral news.
Instead of bulleted paragraph points in a brochure or snippets of speech chosen for me by an editor or the oddness of my brain, I have read (and reread) or watched (and rewatched) entire speeches and election platforms online.

The result of all this exposure dawned on me when I glanced at my ballot. Instead of the straight Republican ticket of previous years, my ballot this year is a jumbled, bi-partisan alphabet soup of R’s, D’s, and I’s. I feel so much hope and delight about this!

I split my ticket like mad today. I voted Democrat. I voted Republican. I voted Libertarian. I voted null. I voted firmly on two ballot issues.

This is the third election I’ve been able to do this. Why? Because the Internet makes it easy for me. It’s easy to see where the candidates really stand on issues by looking at their records and reading their own words. I can go to sites like VoteSmart, OpenSecrets, and FactCheck and sort fiction from fantasy. I can check the local issues ahead of time by looking at archives of my local newspaper, reading expert opinions, including that of scientists and scholars. A person no longer has to rely on the bias of a reporter or a campaign flyer.

This season I was able to figure out what would happen to my taxes under various plans on a local, state and national level to a fair degree of accuracy given the meaning behind my votes.

A person no longer has to invest hours of time into investigating the issues. I no longer buy the excuse that people don’t have the time to invest in researching the issues or the candidates. All it takes is a few minutes of time. Just a few minutes of turning off the television, surfing away from the game site, leaving your personal feelings about politics at the door and seeking objective answers among the din.

It’s out there. All you have to do is take it.

Party Line

From the The Edmond Sun, Edmond, OK

Whether and how we vote ultimately reflects our conclusion about which candidate would do the better job in office, regardless of their party affiliation. That calls on voters to talk to candidates, ask questions and expect answers, and invest some time to become informed.

We’d do that much before buying a refrigerator. With so much more at stake, we ought to do as much homework before we vote on Tuesday.

Walter Jenny Jr., Secretary of the Oklahoma Democratic Party.

From an Islamic perspective

The Search For Chattanooga’s Undecided Voters

But probably most surprising is West African native Ismail Massally. A resident of the United States for more than 20 years, he and his family are traditional Muslims and see a lot of good in both candidates. “When I look at the conservative side, it represents some of our beliefs as a Muslim. On the other side, Barack seems like he is trying to help the less-fortunate people. So I’m not really sure which one I would choose. This election is very important for everyone, not only in this country but around the world. We need some unity around the world.”

Without the ridiculous anti-Muslim rhetoric in the McCain campaign, they are more closely identifiable with traditionalist Islamic social values. They are, more or less, the same as Christian values, after all. I’ve never been able to understand why the big three can’t get along. They share the same god and essentially the same values, after all.

This just keeps getting worse

Who is still backing McCain and Palin? Why? Have we really sunk that low as a nation?

It’s a separate branch, Nancy. You can’t break it down any more than that. Palin isn’t making it more simple for children, she’s not Biden (who knows full well what the role of the Veep is), she’s not being expansive describing what she’s going to do on the side with a “permanent office”.

And the idea of sequestering Biden is ridiculous. You can’t sequester Biden.

Koni

I have a completely unreasonable crush on Mr. Putin. It just got worse. I had no idea that his dog looked like this:

My dog:

*swoons*

I’m seriously not a person who gets “celebrity” crushes like this and I have absolutely no idea where this one came from. Well, kinda. He’s got a great mind and isn’t afraid to use it. That’s what I first admired. I ♥ intellect.

Debate LuLz

Factcheck.org: Sorting Debate Fact From Fiction | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com

Budget Ballyhoo

Both candidates got ahead of themselves when it came to balancing the budget and eliminating the deficit. Obama said every one of his spending increases was paid for.

Obama: Now, what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut. … Every dollar that I’ve proposed, I’ve proposed an additional cut so that it matches.

McCain said he could balance the budget within one term.

Schieffer: Do either of you think you can balance the budget in four years? You have said previously you thought you could, Sen. McCain.
McCain: Sure I do. And let me tell you…
Schieffer: You can still do that?
McCain: Yes.

And that’s when I started laughing and turned off CNN. If I wanted to watch Comedy Central I’d have gone to Hulu and gotten caught up on my Jon Stewart episodes.

Plumbers do that well?

Obama on Taxes | The FactCheck Wire

Obama said that “I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans.” He also said the cut would go to “95 percent of families.” The latter is correct. The Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center analyzed the two candidates’ tax plans and found Obama’s would cut taxes for 95.5 percent of households with children. Overall, the TPC found that Obama’s plan would produce a tax cut for 81.3 percent of all households.

Obama was also off the mark when he said “if you make less than a quarter million dollars,” you will not pay higher taxes. That’s true of couples or families, according to his tax plan. Individuals would have to make less than $200,000 in order to not pay higher taxes.

Obama also said that middle-income Americans would get three times as much of a tax cut under his plan than under McCain’s. It is true that the TPC estimates that those making between $37,595 and $66,354 a year would see an average savings of $1,118 on their taxes under Obama’s plan. McCain’s would save those same folks $325 on average.

We’ll also note that when Obama says McCain would give $200 billion in additional tax breaks to “some of the wealthiest corporations in America,” he’s talking about McCain’s plan to lower the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent for all companies.

Why doesn’t McCain give tax breaks to businesses which reap lower profits and are truly local owned and operated businesses? They are the ones that are having a hard time right now. They are the ones who can’t get loans, hire local people, and need the help. The multinationals are barely going to feel this blip. Wal-Mart will thrive in a damaged economy. So why give them yet another tax break and let the debt rise even higher? It’s not as if they will leave the country. Their customer base is here. The same goes for all the other companies that McCain spoke of. Offshoring? It’s been largely abandoned for homeshoring.

I’m also laughing my head off at the indignant people who think that $250,000 is middle class. You all don’t get out much, do you? That’s a quarter of a million dollars.

The median income in my area is $35,000. We buy houses for less than $100,000 because that’s what we can afford, we pay for them diligently, struggle to make ends meet, work really hard, pay outrageous amounts for schools, and are absorbing some outrageous increases in goods and services now. A lot of us have sacrificed to make our lives cozy and our lives sane. We don’t get to take many vacations, but when we do, it’s usually a marathon of diy projects on the house because so much needs to be done, and it’s less expensive to do it ourselves.

So, when you make a quarter of a million dollars and over, whine about your 401Ks, and your trips to Europe being ruined, we don’t have much sympathy. Not really. Is this class warfare? You bet it is. In your face. I’m sick of hearing how so many of you worked really hard to be where you are and with it, the implication that we do not. There are at least 80% of us and the increasing cost of living is going to effect us far harder than it will you.

You might not be able to go to Europe for vacation this year, and I’m not all choked up about that. Maybe hanging out on a beach in a nearby state would be acceptable for you, no? Keep that money in America, you patriotic soul? Meanwhile, we’ll be here on our vacation, trying to make repairs on the house.

Honestly, this is where the GOP doesn’t get it.

Domino Effect – Finally

A Conservative for Obama

It gives me comfort just to think that after eight years of George W. Bush we will have a president who has actually read the Federalist Papers.
- Wick Allison, Editor In Chief, D Magazine (Former Editor of National Review)

It makes me quite hopeful too.