McCain, Obama & Wall Street "Reform": The Good,
Bad & Ugly

post from Open Left - Front Page on 15 September 2008 04:59:31 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

Cross-posted from Campaign for America's Future.With the presidential campaigns issuing competing[...]

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Disguising Disagreements in Strategy-Talk

post from Open Left - Front Page on 15 September 2008 04:52:26 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

In my last post on the race, I tried to trace what looks like a broken conversation about the[...]

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Nikolas Kozloff: Obama's Sobering Choices

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 15 September 2008 04:50:37 PM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Nikolas Kozloff

Since the inception of the presidential campaign, Barack Obama has promised to transcend America's petty and divisive politics. During a recent appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, the Senator from Illinois remarked that the U.S. was in the midst of an electoral "silly season" and that the public should pay more attention to pressing economic concerns. Savaged by a wave of negative claims from the McCain camp in recent weeks, Obama is desperately trying to turn the conversation back to bread and butter issues. But McCain is not letting up. Why should he? For now, the GOP's strategy of exploiting American cultural politics is reaping great dividends.
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Palin Distorts Record, Gets Heckled at Colorado
Event

post from TalkLeft on 15 September 2008 04:48:00 PM. © TalkLeft

The Denver Post has more on Gov. Sarah Palin's campaign event in Colorado today: She repeated her lie about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere and was heckled by a woman in the back who sporadically yelled "You're Not Qualified."

The audience response to the heckler: It turned to her and shouted "U.S.A., U.S.A."

Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a long-time Obama supporter, has this terrific response to Palin:

"If Governor Palin wants to represent 'change' in Washington," U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, said in a statement, "she could try something like telling the truth about her record of support for the bridge to nowhere or for other pork-barrel earmarks, her outdated and extreme positions on women's issues, her heaping of millions of dollars in debt upon the small town of Wasilla, Alaska, or her abuse of power investigation.

More....

"The Republican presidential ticket does not represent change; this ticket represents the same old lobbyist-driven attempt to preserve the George W. Bush policies."

The press is not happy Palin still isn't taking questions. Of course, she can't, she's not fully prepped yet. But she better hurry up -- as Bob Dylan sang decades ago, "You better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone." I'm beginning to see the rock around her neck.

On a related note, Obama isn't about to let McCain- Palin co-opt the faith voters the way they've tried to steal the change voters. Via G-d-o-Meter at BeliefNet, he's rolling out a line of faith merchandise. You can view a few here, here and here.

Coming soon:

God-o-Meter hears that the campaign will be unveiling gear for other Christian denominations very soon, along with "Clergy for Change," and "Pro-Israel Pro-Obama" merchandise.

Update: About 100 protesters were on hand for the Palin event, many of them women:

More than 100 protestors, including Women Against Palin and Mamas for Obama, massed outside the Westernaires horse arena by about 8 a.m. They also picketed down at the fairgrounds' gates. Subjected to mostly good-natured chatter from Palin supporters, they smiled through some occasionally nasty heckling.
Madeline Cohen, 37, said she showed up to protest because she was "enraged" by McCain's choice of a running mate."It felt like a slap in the face to women that the Republicans selected a woman who is so profoundly unqualified to lead this country, a woman who opposes abortion in all cases," Cohen said.

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Social Security: What If…

post from All Spin Zone on 15 September 2008 04:47:00 PM. © All Spin Zone

Found this elsewhere on the web - and on a bloody day in the financial markets, it seems most appropriate:

Privatizing social security

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Three Years After Katrina, Bushs FEMA Still Sucks

post from Firedoglake on 15 September 2008 04:45:49 PM. © Firedoglake

Good to see that George W. Bush has learned the lessons of Katrina.The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution[...]

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And Now The Partisan Perspective

post from American Street on 15 September 2008 04:41:00 PM. © American Street

“Bush’s greed killed the golden goose of the paper for oil economy.” ~ Stirling NewberryThe Zen Mistress nails it:Expect all candidates to be spitting out the word ?change? at machine-gun pace today. McCain and Palin will continue to talk about ?cleaning up? Washington and, thereby, Wall Street. However, when McCain and Palin talk about ?change? [...]

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Cheney Turned Down Request To Oversee Katrina
Recovery Because ‘He Doesnt Do Touchy-Feely’

Just after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney refused President Bush’s request to head up a “cabinet-level task force” aimed at speeding the recovery effort, writes the Washington Post’s Barton Gellman in a still-embargoed section of his new book, “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency.”

When asked by Bush if he would “at least go do a fact-finding trip for us,” Cheney responded saying, “That’ll probably be the extent of it”:

Days after the storm had passed, when he finally returned to Washington from Crawford, Bush assembled his senior staff in the Oval Office. He was going to set up a cabinet-level task force, he said.
“I asked Dick if he’d be interested in spearheading this,” Bush announced. “Let’s just say I didn’t get the most positive response.” Bush nodded ironically toward the vice president, putting on a show for the others: Card, Rove, Bartlett, Condi Rice. His expression, the tone of voice, had a hint of edge. Can you believe this guy? […]
“Will you at least go do a fact-finding trip for us?” Bush asked.
“That’ll probably be the extent of it, Mr. President, unless you order otherwise,” Cheney replied.

Gellman writes that White House counselor Dan Bartlett “came to see Cheney’s demurral ‘quite frankly as pretty good judgment.’ Cheney ‘doesn’t do touchy-feely,’ Bartlett said.”

Cheney’s refusal to lend the weight of his office to the Katrina recovery effort is not surprising, as he has a record of underestimating the seriousness of Katrina’s devastation. As the storm hit, Cheney was reluctant to cut his vacation short. In September 2005, Cheney commented dismissively, “I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole Katrina exercise.”

During his fact-finding trip to the affected region, Cheney was famously insulted on live television. As 2005 came to a close, Cheney scrambled to take advantage of the Katrina tax relief act, which was aimed at spurring Katrina-related increases in charitable donations. When his tax returns were released, however, it appeared that “none of [Cheney’s] charitable contributions actually went to Katrina-related charities.” Since then, Cheney has reportedly “tried to kill proposals to increase…aid for Hurricane Katrina victims.”

Murray Waas has more here.

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http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/15/cheney-refused-katrina/

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Lou Dobbs bought racist "Obama Waffles" at Values
Voters Summit

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 15 September 2008 04:36:22 PM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Amy Weiss

At the Values Voters Summit in D.C. last weekend, Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss were selling boxes of "Obama Waffles" for $10 per box. The box of waffle mix features a caricature of Obama reminiscent of stereotypical racist cartoons. The Family Research Council (FRC), the group that runs the conference, stopped the selling of the waffles and said they didn't realize before that they contained "offensive material."

The AP describes the waffles:

While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama's politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the old image of the pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian.

On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero, above a recipe for "Open Border Fiesta Waffles" that says it can serve "4 or more illegal aliens." The recipe includes a tip: "While waiting for these zesty treats to invade your home, why not learn a foreign language?"
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Dave Lindorff: Anyone Want to Buy a Private
Pension Plan Going Once

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 15 September 2008 04:33:17 PM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

That deafening silence you hear coming from the McCain campaign is straight-talkin' John touting his plan for privatizing Social Security -- not.

With Wall Street banks falling like dominoes, a hundred billion dollars vanishing overnight, and the Treasury Department scampering about with trying to prop up failing enterprises from Bear Stearns to Fannie Mae, and with domestic and global equity and bond markets swooning, Americans are afraid to open those envelopes that come every quarter telling them the value of their hard-earned 401(k) retirement plans.
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