Barack Obama Elected President!

[Roman]

Earmarks aside, McCain would have said yes to bill

By DAVID ESPO – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Sunday he probably would have voted for legislation to keep the federal government running after midweek, even though it was packed with the kind of "outrageous pork-barrel spending" he has long opposed.

"That's the way they always do," the Arizona senator said dismissively of fellow lawmakers. "You put in the, you put in the good deals, and then you put in the pork, as well." He said separate votes should be allowed on the bill's different provisions.

McCain did not vote on the measure when it cleared Congress on Saturday, although he returned to Washington after Friday night's campaign debate in Mississippi. McCain said he was working on other matters at the time of the vote, including negotiations on a bailout of the financial industry.

"I certainly would have done everything in my power to remove those earmarks," he told ABC's "This Week" in an interview. "But I may have voted for it if, I probably would have ended up voting for it, but I decry a system where individual members are, are faced with taking all this unacceptable, outrageous stuff that has contributed to the largest growth in spending since the Great Society."

By one estimate, the bill includes 2,322 pet projects sought by lawmakers for their home districts and states, totaling $6.6 billion.

The measure is needed to keep the government running after the new budget year begins Wednesday. The same bill also lifted a long-term ban on offshore oil drilling and included billions of dollars to subsidize loans to the battered auto industry.

McCain reversed course earlier this year to announce support for additional drilling to help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The auto industry loans, designed to help car makers retool their factories to produce more efficient models, are particularly important in swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.

McCain said he intends to resume campaigning full-time on Monday, after a week in which he announced he was suspending all such activity to return to Washington and become involved in negotiations on the financial industry bailout.

Polls suggest the race now slightly tilts Obama's way, with the fading of the gains McCain made with his Republican National Convention this month and the emergence of the economic crisis as the dominant issue.

But more than five weeks remain in a campaign that already has undergone innumerable swings in momentum. The calendar includes three more nationally televised debates, including one scheduled for Thursday between vice presidential running mates Sarah Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, and Joe Biden, a Democratic senator from Delaware.

McCain said he hopes to be able to support a newly negotiated $700 billion deal to help the financial industry, but said he wants to see the details first. "This is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with," he said.

His decision to return to Washington to insert himself in the negotiations between the Bush administration and Congress drew strong criticism from Democrats, who said his presence hurt rather than helped. He defended his decision strongly.

"I'm a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. I've got to get in the arena when America needs it," McCain said. "And if that judgment wants to be made that I, whether I helped or hurt, I'll be glad to accept the judgment of history."

On other issues, McCain:

_Appeared to concede that his health care plan would result in higher taxes for some. McCain favors a $5,000 annual tax credit to help individuals and families afford health insurance, but that could leader employers to drop their current plans, including some that could not be replaced for $5,000.

"It depends on, on, on what plan they have," McCain said. "But that's usually the wealthiest people. Ordinary working Americans have the kind of, or an overwhelming majority have the health insurance plans that this tax credit, refundable tax credit, will actually put more money in their pockets for the purchase of health care than what they had before."

_Defended Palin from increasing criticism, including from some conservatives, that she is ill-prepared to become first in line of succession to the presidency.

"They can complain all they want to," he said. "...I'm so happy that she is part of the team. And she's brought a kind of exuberance and a kind of excitement that makes you really think that political campaigns again can still be something that is an exciting trip."

[Wales2004]

You know this is all Obama's fault because if he had agreed to the Town Hall meetings then McCain wouldn't have had to associate him with Raines/Fannie Mae and no one would have bothered with Rick Davis and/or his firm getting money from them for nothing.

I read that McCain was on This Week whining again about the Town Hall meeting......obviously the more times he brings it up, the better he looks.

Have you read or heard anything about how some "conservative" religious leaders are making a push to challenge the fact that their churches would lose tax exempt status if they endorse a candidate? They wanted some non "conservative" church leaders to go along to, I guess, make it look like a more unified effort but admit that since they have are the majority.

[Roman]

JM needs to worry about how he performs in debates and stop pushing the "Town hall meeting" shick. Neither candidate won that deabte, although Obama has seemed to poll better than McCain afterwards.

I hadn't heard that, Wales. Hopefully that won't slip in unnoticed.

[Roman]

And you know what else he needs to do?

Stave off the conservatives in the "liberal media" who are calling for SP to either step down or be removed.

The only thing I can think of nowis that she was told to say whatever silly [!@#$%^&*] she can think of to throw Biden off his game and for the Obama/Biden campaign to take her very lightly, then she'll come out blazing.

[Wales2004]

I hope this means that he's actually going to read it because I'm sure it's now greater than the original three pages he hadn't read before he amped up the urgency.

I guess that his hands are tied on the earmarks as a senator but as President he can just veto everything with earmarks (and maybe I missed whether or not he decided all earmarks were bad).

This morning I heard a clip of him asking why Obama won't admit that he is going to tax people that make $42,000 a year. Maybe it's because everybody's income gets taxed regardless.

Now if he meant increase taxes then it is probably because Obama said he would only seek an increase on those making over $250,000 which is obviously more than $42,000.

Since the Obama campaign has been chiding him for not using the term middle class during the debate.....guess who got mentioned by McCain this morning? None other than the middle class. I haven't seen coverage on Obama yet so I don't know what terms McCain has caused him to use now.

[Wales2004]

I don't expect their plan to work and I'm of course very much against it. The only reason I could see a political issue being raised in the pulpit is if there were a measure on the ballot specifically targeting churches. Pushing candidates from the pulpit has nothing to do with any sort of religious guide to the best of my knowledge and it defintely is not rooted in anything Biblical since these are purportedly Chrisitan church leaders that are pushing this.

If that was a game plan then they gambled on the people who have seen the interviews and are mystified being able to easily shrug that off. I think she might turn out to be okay in the debate and she is personable but I will wait to see how relevant her responses to the questions that are asked.

[Roman]

September 28, 2008

McCain retracts Palin's Pakistan comments

Posted: 01:15 PM ET

From CNN's Emily Sherman

CNN

Watch: Gov. Sarah Palin answers questions at Tony Lukes in South Philadelphia.

WASHINGTON (CNN)— Sen. John McCain retracted Sarah Palin's stance on Pakistan Sunday morning, after the Alaska governor appeared to back Sen. Barack Obama's support for unilateral strikes inside Pakistan against terrorists

"She would not…she understands and has stated repeatedly that we're not going to do anything except in America's national security interest," McCain told ABC's George Stephanopoulos of Palin. "In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position… This is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitve policy statement made by Governor Palin."

Saturday night, while on a stop for cheesesteaks in South Philadelphia, Palin was questioned by a Temple graduate student about whether the U.S. should cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

"If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," Palin said.

During Friday night's presidential debate in Mississippi, Obama took a similar stance and condemned the Bush administration for failing to act on the possibility terrorists are in Pakistan.

"Nobody talked about attacking Pakistan," Obama said after McCain accused the Illinois senator of wanting to announce an invasion. "If the United States has al Qaeda, bin Laden, top-level lieutenants in our sights, and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out."

McCain emphasized Sunday, Palin "shares" his view on the matter.

[Roman]

How helpful were McCain and Obama in bailout negotiations?

Posted: 01:10 PM ET

From CNN's Emily Sherman

Congress and lawmakers have been working around the clock to reach a deal for the financial rescue plan.

WASHINGTON (CNN)—Now that Congress and lawmakers have reached a tentative agreement on the financial rescue plan, some Senators are beginning to weigh in on how helpful or unhelpful it was to have their collegues John McCain and Barack Obama back in Washington D.C.

"I actually think Senator McCain and Senator Obama were one of the catalysts of this effort," Republican Senator Judd Gregg told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "Having them here in Washington highlighted dramatically for the American people just how dangerous this situation was to folks on main street."

Not everyone is in agreement with Gregg. Also appearing on CNN, Senator Chris Dodd echoed a line from many of his Democratic colleagues, saying their presence had the adverse effect.

"Will all due respect," Dodd said. "That delayed and slowed down this process. I think we would have gotten closer to an agreement," had they not come "parachuting in."

He added, "Respectfully, John McCain did not help. In my view, that was a political stunt."

Senator John McCain, who suspended his presidential campaign last week to focus on the financial crisis, said Sunday he was not looking for credit, that Congress and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are the ones who deserve all of the credit for the bailout negotiations.

"I'm never going to not get engaged when the taxpayers and middle class of America are in danger of losing everything literally that they've worked all their lives for," McCain told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. Adding, "I won't claim a bit of credit."

However, McCain strategist Steve Schmidt said Sunday, the Republican nominee does deserve recognition for bringing the parties together.

"What Senator McCain was able to do was to get all sides to the table which resulted in a vastly better bill," Schmidt told a group of reporters Sunday.

Asked if McCain deserves credit, Senator Obama said the Arizona senator is not the one who deserves the credit.

"I was on the phone every day with Secretary Paulson and the congressional leaders, making sure that the principles that have ultimately been adopted were incorporated into the bill," Obama told CBS's Bob Schieffer explaining, "I think, [that] is an indication of the degree to which, when it comes to protecting taxpayers, I was pushing very hard and involved in shaping those provisions."

Sen. Gregg defended McCain against criticism he was putting on a 'political stunt', emphasizing his day-to-day involvement in the negotiations.

"I think he's been extremely constructive dealing with the House Republicans and getting them comfortable with the importance of doing something and doing it the right way," Gregg said.

Though there is only a tentative deal for the $700 billion bailout, the target is to have a deal by Sunday evening, before financial markets open around the world.

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

Good god she is scary.

The President of the USA is also meant to be the leader of the free world. And as a citizan of that free world there is no way in hell that I want her in the job.

[Toups]

LMAO!!!! Palin just gets even more pathetic. McCain has to retract her statement for her?

[Roman]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/m...os-roger-simon/

[Ryan]

I dunno if this was posted:

[Ryan]

Article by Kathleen Parker of the National Review: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDZiM...WMyYTUxZDkwNTE=

-----

September 26, 2008, 0:00 a.m.

Palin Problem

She’s out of her league.

By Kathleen Parker

If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin.

To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.

Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman.

Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who attacked her personally deserved some of the backlash they received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick — what a difference a financial crisis makes — and a more complicated picture has emerged.

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.

Yes, she recently met and turned several heads of state as the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York. She was gracious, charming and disarming. Men swooned. Pakistan’s president wanted to hug her. (Perhaps Osama bin Laden is dying to meet her?)

And, yes, she has common sense, something we value. And she’s had executive experience as a mayor and a governor, though of relatively small constituencies (about 6,000 and 680,000, respectively).

Finally, Palin’s narrative is fun, inspiring and all-American in that frontier way we seem to admire. When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother.

Palin didn’t make a mess cracking the glass ceiling. She simply glided through it.

It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.”

When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.

What to do?

McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

— Kathleen Parker is a nationally syndicated columnist.

© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

[Tishy]

John McCain made a terrible error in selecting Sarah Palin. I don't like this but I feel that this is true, because she is female, she will be scrutinized much, much more than anyone else. Geradine Ferraro was. Barack Obama was at first but since the choice of Palin, he's been backburnered. She needed to know everything backward and forward and be able to answer any question instantly. Look how Bill Clinton answered the pot question.

No matter what happens come November 4th I predict one thing. All of us will remember Tina Fey saying this, "I can see Russia from my house!"

[David_Vickers]

Nope, Casey, if you had read the article, it stated that Obama getting the funds for the garden was NOT part of the investigation. The people who got the money are the ones being investigated not Obama.

And that's real trouble that Palin is in, yet again.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were even funnier than last time imho. Ironic that Tina actually used a lot of Palin's words in the sketch. lmfao.