Barack Obama Elected President!

[Roman]

IA. And that's the damn shame, especially when you hear that the former CEO of Merrill-Lynch made out with $160 million dollars in compensation. At first I thought it was $80 million, but to find that out.....

Disgusting.

[George008]

That's not the logic I was intending to convey..My point was that Sarah Palin drew 60,000 people without rock concert lead ins..I don't know if some were there just for the concerts before Obama's speech, but I think it to be possible..You cant say that about any of the 60,000 for Palin, as there was no concert.

I will give you this...Of course the majority of Democrats do not want the market to fail, but there are some out there that see it as an opportunity for Obama to make political gain.

Just as some Republicans see the possibility of gain for McCain through racist Dems.

It's not right, but some out there think this way...On both sides..

Oh sure...

[Roman]

You know what I think is the difference between atheletes and CEOs of companies?

On top of the fact that if they don't perform, they're gone and they don't get paid (Which is only in the NFL, the only pro league that does not gurantee contracts) how would a athelete get major league compensation for running the team into the ground?

You're a starting quarterback, the team goes 0-16, the fans blame you for it......but when you leave the team, you get a $100 million dollar bonus?

[Greg's GL]

Word. Great argument.

And using that analogy, I see nothing wrong with penalizing CEOs that are responsible for this mess we're stuck with. Jess is right - I don't think any of us are crazy about the notion of our tax dollars going to bail these companies out but without it we're screwed.

Therefore, why reward these CEOs with a huge severance because of their failure?

[George008]

I was thinking mainly of MLB. Just for example, Mike Hampton is the highest paid Brave and he has been out of work for almost 3 years. He signed a contract for 15 mil per year. He has been receiving this money every year without even throwing a single pitch. The Braves took a risk by signing a contract with him, and they are paying dearly.

I wonder if, once the Dems solve the Wall Street mess, if they will start to regulate what professional baseball players make?..Just kidding...

[Roman]

Casey, did you read my post?

Didn't I say that the NFL was the only league that did NOT gurantee contracts?

[Roman]

CEOs should be rewarded on these points:

1. Creating and maintaining jobs in their companies.

2. Not shipping jobs overseas.

3. Growing the profit margine while helping create business prosperity here at home.

That's a cold piece of game to get richER by running a company into the ground.....while we ALL foot the bill for these horrible business practices.

[George008]

Yeah...I did. You're right, the NFL would not be a good example to use, for the point I was trying to make. I see your point. You are saying CEO's should not have guaranteed contracts, much like NFL players.

IMO it should be up to the company to pay whatever they please to recruit the best talent...It may not always work out, but I feel that regulating salaries will diminish the ambition for one to become a CEO and diminish the likelihood for one to take on the increased stress and pressure that comes along with the job.

I was letting you know that MLB is the most similar situation to the CEO salary issue IMO. I guess I should have specified which pro sport I was thinking of by using the analogy..

[Tishy]

I don't know if this has been posted, but I find this repulsive

CNN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor, a practice her police chief fought to keep as late as 2000.

A former Alaskan lawmaker says it seems unlikely that Gov. Sarah Palin was unaware of Wasilla's policy.

Former state Rep. Eric Croft, a Democrat, sponsored a state law requiring cities to provide the examinations free of charge to victims. He said the only ongoing resistance he met was from Wasilla, where Palin was mayor from 1996 to 2002.

"It was one of those things everyone could agree on except Wasilla," Croft told CNN. "We couldn't convince the chief of police to stop charging them."

Alaska's Legislature in 2000 banned the practice of charging women for rape exam kits -- which experts said could cost up to $1,000.

Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, often talks about her experience running Wasilla, population approximately 7,000, and that has prompted close scrutiny of her record there. Wasilla's practice of charging victims for their rape exams while she was mayor has gotten wide circulation on the Internet and in the mainstream media. Watch CNN's Jessica Yellin check the facts in Wasilla »

Some supporters of Palin say they believe she had no knowledge of the practice. But critics call it "outrageous" and question Palin's commitment to helping women who are the victims of violence.

For years, Alaska has had the worst record of any state in rape and in murder of women by men. The rape rate in Alaska is 2.5 times the national average.

Interviews and a review of records turned up no evidence that Palin knew that rape victims were being charged in her town. But Croft, the former state representative who sponsored the law changing the practice, says it seems unlikely Palin was not aware of the issue.

"I find it hard to believe that for six months a small town, a police chief, would lead the fight against a statewide piece of legislation receiving unanimous support and the mayor not know about it," Croft said.

During the time Palin was mayor of Wasilla, her city was not the only one in Alaska charging rape victims. Experts testified before the Legislature that in a handful of small cities across Alaska, law enforcement agencies were charging victims or their insurance "more than sporadically."

One woman who wrote in support of the legislation says she was charged for her rape exam by a police department in the city of Juneau, which is hundreds of miles from Wasilla.

But Wasilla stood out. Tara Henry, a forensic nurse who has been treating rape victims across Alaska for the last 12 years, told CNN that opposition to Croft's bill from Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon was memorable.

"Several municipal law enforcement agencies in the state did have trouble budgeting and paying for the evidence collection for sexual assault victims," Henry said. "What I recall is that the chief of police in the Wasilla police department seemed to be the most vocal about how it was going to affect their budget."

Croft has a similar memory. He said victims' advocates suggested he introduce legislation as a way to shame cities into changing their practice, and Wasilla resisted.

"I remember they had continued opposition," Croft said. "It was eight years ago now, but they were sort of unrepentant that they thought the taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for that."

He does not recall discussing the issue with then-Mayor Palin.

The bill, HB270, was before the legislature for six months. In testimony, one expert called the practice of billing the victim "incomprehensible." Others compared it to "dust[ing] for fingerprints" after a burglary, only "the victim's body is the crime scene."

During a rape exam, the victim removes her clothing and a medical professional gathers DNA evidence from her body. There is also a medical component to assess her injuries. That component has led some law enforcement agencies to balk at paying.

Henry, the forensic nurse, said charging victims "retraumatizes them."

"Asking them to pay for something law enforcement needs in order to investigate their case, it's almost like blaming them for getting sexually assaulted," she said.

The Alaska Legislature agreed. The bill passed unanimously with the support of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, the Alaska Peace Officers Association and more than two dozen co-sponsors.

After it became law, Wasilla's police chief told the local paper, The Frontiersman, that it would cost the city $5,000 to $14,000 a year -- money that he'd have to find.

"In the past, we've charged the cost of the exams to the victim's insurance company when possible," Fannon was quoted as saying. "I just don't want to see any more burden on the taxpayer."

He suggested the criminals should pay as restitution if and when they're convicted. Repeated attempts to reach Fannon for comment were unsuccessful.

Judy Patrick, who was Palin's deputy mayor and friend, blames the state.

"The bigger picture of what was going on at the time was that the state was trying to cut their own budget, and one of the things that they were doing was passing on costs to cities, and that was one of the many things that they were passing on, the cost to the city," said Patrick, who recalls enormous pressure to keep the city's budget down.

But the state was never responsible for paying the costs of local investigations. Patrick was also a member of Wasilla City Council, and she doesn't recall the issue coming before council members, nor does she remember discussing the issue with Palin.

She does recall Palin going through the budget in detail. She said Palin would review each department's budget line by line and send it back to department heads with her changes.

"Sarah is a fiscal conservative, and so she had seen that the city was heading in a direction of bigger projects, costing taxpayers more money, and she was determined to change that," Patrick said.

Before Palin came to City Hall, the Wasilla Police Department paid for rape kits out of a fund for miscellaneous costs, according to the police chief who preceded Fannon and was fired by Palin. That budget line was cut by more than half during Palin's tenure, but it did not specifically mention rape exams.

In a statement, Jill Hazelbaker, communications director for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, said that "to imply that Gov. Palin is or has ever been an advocate of charging victims for evidence gathering kits is an utter distortion of reality."

"As her record shows, Gov. Palin is committed to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice," Hazelbaker said. "She does not, nor has she ever believed that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence gathering test."

Those who fought the policy are unconvinced.

"It's incomprehensible to me that this could be a rogue police chief and not a policy decision. It lasted too long and it was too high-profile," Croft said.

The rape kit charges have become an issue among Palin critics who say as governor she has not done enough to combat Alaska's epidemic problem of violence against women. They point to a small funding increase for domestic violence shelters at a time when Alaska has a multibillion-dollar budget surplus. Victims' advocates say that services are lacking and that Palin cut funding for a number of programs that treat female victims of violence.

In the past week, Alaska's challenges with sexual assault have been in the spotlight again -- in connection with an ongoing inquiry into whether Palin abused her power by firing the head of Alaska's Department of Public Safety. Palin's office released e-mails showing that one area of disagreement between her and Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was his lobbying in Washington for $30 million to fund a new program of sexual assault response teams.

The McCain-Palin campaign insists that fighting domestic violence and sexual assault are priorities for Palin. And they say she has been looking at other programs to support. As governor, Palin approved a funding increase for domestic violence shelters -- $266,200 over two years. And she reauthorized a Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

[George008]

Again, I don't want to cause an uproar but many small towns/cities take the same measure with rape victims.

It's kind of ugly, but law enforcement feels that having victims pay for their own doctor/hospital visits weeds out those that are false reports. The county seat of the county I live in went through a similar situation. My county acutally went from paying for exams to not paying because there was an increase in false reports...

[Greg's GL]

^^^^ Tishy - ICAM the practice of charging victims for their own examinations is downright horrible. Really, how could someone ask a woman who has just been through the most traumatic physical and emotional turmoil of her life to pony up $1000 for her own exam?!?!

This alone proves that SP is no feminist. I can't even believe that she would have no way of knowing about this.

We've discussed this issue previously, but thanks for bringing it to our attention again. How a former Hillary supporter could seriously contemplate voting for McCain because SP is his running mate just makes no sense to me, especially in light of this article.

[George008]

Very disturbing information....

Why isn't this in the mainstream news??

OBAMA TRIED TO STALL IRAQ TROOP WITHDRAWAL

Obama wants all of the credit for withdrawal...

[Greg's GL]

I can't say that I'm surprised by your reaction to this. The rationalization that it "weeds out" false reports is no excuse to put someone through this kind of stress after enduring what would have to be a living nightmare.

Oh, and let's hope that the rape doesn't result in a pregnancy, because under a McCain/Palin ticket you would not have a choice but to keep the baby. Adding insult to injury.

How about the morning after pill, Casey? Would your ticket advocate the use of that medication in a situation like this? Or would she still have to carry the baby to term?

[Greg's GL]

The New York Post isn't exactly the pilar of responsible journalism, is it? Until it's verified by a respectable journalistic source, this should be taken with a grain of salt.

However, it's not like it's without precedence. Ronald Reagen negotiated the release of the hostages until after he was in office.

[George008]

I didn't say I agreed with it. Just want everyone to know that there are two sides to every story..

John McCain on abortion..

On “Meet the Press,” McCain said he had “come to the conclusion that the exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are legitimate exceptions”