11.05.08
All I can say is…
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
America, get ready for change like never before. And not the Regan/Bush/McCain style of change either.
McCains bogus (lie filled) ads
Just saw another ad from McCain. Stating that they will not continue/increase federal spending. That they will put a “freeze” on federal spending. Really. You call continuing to fund 2 illegal wars to the tune of billions per year.. that’s a freeze. A 50 year base in a country (Iraq) that we are illegally occupying and whose majority of citizens want US occupiers to leave. And of course that continued tax breaks for corporations that cause financial harm to this country… to the world, for that matter. Yeah… that NOT increasing spending. That’s putting a freeze on national spending. People, please remember to check the facts. McCain = Bush. Plain and simple. It would not surprise me in the least if we inter into another illegal war for the financial benefit of the McCain’s and their “close buddies” just like the Bush family has done for the last 20+ years McCain wants your money And mine. So does his wife! She’s got a “high fashion addiction” that needs to be fed. And when have her husband provide it for her when a nation of struggling citizens can?
I find it particularly interesting to note (as so many have before me) that the majority of McCain’s ads have been accusatory, attacking, and some bordering on downright unethical. McCain has spent millions of dollars to talk about Obama negatively. Nearly 94% of what has come from the McCain camp has been directly negative regarding Obama. Maybe if they had spent more of that time talking about what their intentions for this country are, they have a better run. Too bad for them.
Understanding The Electoral College
From Reuters Election Center
What is it?
U.S. voters go to the polls on Nov. 4 to vote for a new president, but under the Constitution, the Electoral College actually elects the next president of the United States, not the popular vote.
Who are the electors?
There are 538 members of the Electoral College, allotted to each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their representation in the U.S. Congress. The smallest states have three members while the largest state, California, has 55. Washington, D.C., which has no representation in Congress, has three, the same as the smallest state.
It takes 270 votes to win election. The electors are pledged to one candidate or the other but there is no federal law requiring them to vote that way. There have been several incidents in which a “faithless elector” has voted for someone other than the major candidates.
How are electors assigned?
In 48 states and the District of Colombia, it’s winner take all: the candidate who wins the popular vote wins all of the state’s electors. Nebraska and Maine have a proportional system of awarding electors.
Electors, who are picked by the respective political parties, make two selections — for president and for vice president. They may not vote for two candidates from their own state.
Winning the popular vote, but losing the White House
Because a candidate could run up a big vote count in some states but lose others by narrow margins, the winner of the popular vote might not have the most electoral votes. The Electoral College has three times picked the candidate who lost the popular vote — Republicans Rutherford Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and George W. Bush in 2000.
Tiebreaker
If no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses among the top three candidates with each state having only one vote.
The House has twice decided the outcome of the presidential race — in the 1800 and 1824 elections.
John McCain and Barack Obama could potentially end up in a tie by carrying a certain combination of states, though it is very unlikely. Here are some scenarios, using 2004 state results as a starting point:
- McCain wins New Hampshire but loses Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa.
- McCain loses Nevada, Iowa and New Mexico.
- McCain loses West Virginia, Iowa and New Mexico.
- McCain wins Michigan, but loses Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa.
- McCain wins New Hampshire but loses Iowa, Nevada and Colorado.
Why was it created?
This unique system was the result of a compromise by the writers of the U.S. Constitution in the 18th century between those who wanted direct popular election and those who wanted state legislatures to decide. One fear was that at a time before political parties, the popular vote would be diluted by voting for an unwieldy amount of candidates.
Despite periodic attempts at reform, the system has survived mostly intact for more than 200 years.
Election Day 2008 Issues
Election 2008
OK. Here we go. Today is the day. Come on Barack… Lets get this done. And PLEASE, don’t disappoint. I’m keeping my eye on this Middle-Class America status. Which is it? 250k, 180k, 200k? I will admit that I have been a bit biased in my overview of candidates. Who’s not, though? At least I can admit it, right? Well, to be frank, most of what Barack Obama has been stating has been consistent and unfaltering. He is certainly a representative of consistency. Quite unlike McCain who has changed strategy, approach, pitch and message. McCain does NOT represent the majority of the country or what the majority of the country wants. He represents much of the same as G. Bush. (Does no one feel that impeachment/war crimes trial in order for the famed Bush? I sure as hell do. For if the same scenario occurred in another country, our government/president would certain lead a charge to do just that.) Obama, on the other hand, seems to be on the same page as the majority of the population here. That majority being “middle class.” He appears to have a deep and personal understanding of what it means (and is) to be a struggling, dedicated American. Black or otherwise. Something that John McCain and his $300k outfit per event wife CERTAINLY do not have even the remotest understanding of.
With that said, the definition of middle class, as defined by the Obama Campaign, has changed several times over the course of the campaign. I don’t know if the purpose is proactively dynamic sort of evolutionary), simply an active response top a very organic election. Does the government currently define middle class? And regardless of the answer to any of these, why such a wide range of numbers… from $100k to $250k? Just last night I saw a new Obama ad and it clearly outlined the Dems definition as anyone making less than $200k per year. If that holds true, I would take that as an acceptable figure. And a reasonable one, at that. If that’s the magic number, please stay with it and please make the policies work.
We (I) are holding you to your words.
10.07.08
Leave it to a Racist Maverick and his Lipstick Pitbull
OK, so the latest non-sense to come from the Palin/McCain camp is that Senator Obama has ties to domestic terrorism via his acknowledged prior acquaintance ” with terrorists who targeted our own country”. She is speaking of Obama and…
…his brief political relationship with Bill Ayers, a founding member of the radical Weather Underground, which was involved in several bombings in the early 1970s, including attacks on the Pentagon and the Capitol. Obama was a child at the time of the bombings.
She (Palin) referred to an article in Saturday’s New York Times about Obama’s relationship with Ayers, now 63. But that article concluded that “the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called ’somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.’” CNN
Ok, you made me do it. I’m going to recall a previous statement, or two, that I made about McCain and his recent (even current) relationship(s) with white supremacists and other unsavory people in this country. These are claims that McCain doesn’t even deny. He just chuckles and redirects the question/answer session to something else. (sound familiar?) Looks to me like you are scared of the black man, John and Sarah. No wonder you can’t even focus on your campaign. The 8pt lead that Mr (President) Obama just took from you this week has got to be killing you. I suppose then you would expect a person of color to say things like…lock up your wife cuz she’s one sexy B. (Not really… your wife is NOT all that she thinks she is make-up and apathy down look so good on too many women). I mean, you know that’s all us black men are into anyway, right? We’re going to slang crack, beat up prostitutes, and drink beer and smoke newports and weed till we choke! associate with unsavory individuals and speak of unsavory things. I mean, that’s what “black folk” do, right? Alright then answer me this. If you find that your competition has ever visited Russia, or China, or North Korea, on his personal time to take a vacation, are you going to demand that he admit to some (maybe your) accusation that he is somehow linked to communism? I think McCain/Palin is in fear of letting down the racist forefathers WHEN he loses this presidential race.
For the record, Bill Ayers is now a professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, holding the honor of Distinguished Professor. I don’t support any of his tretchorous past. I do, however, support the notion, the truth that people can and do change. Who they were may certainly not be who they are. To be fair, the same could be said about McCain and Palin. When I look deeply at them, I just don’t see it, though. To me they represent all that is wrong with this country. Selfish, self-serving, unreliable, “above the law”, and not at aall right for this country. not even the states that the currently represent. After there presentations over the last few months, they should not only lose this presidential race, they should lose their current state/federal seats.
I know this doesn’t really tear into Palin so much. I’m getting there. In a post in the near future….
Do the research. Learn the truth. Call out the liars!
Know What Your Government is Doing…the Bailout Bill
Here is the complete text of the revised (amended) Bailout Bill (Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) as voted on by both the Senate and the House. (It’s in pdf form. Download it, read it, learn it.)
This is no stabilization or stimulation package, no help for the poor, the working, the about-to-lose-their-homes-and-businesses Americans. This is yet another ploy that will ultimately make several more already wealthy citizens more money and less responsibility. Does anyone remember just a few days back when bush was pressing us all to approve the bailout bill “expediently”? “It needs to happen now”, I think I heard him say. And yet here we are.. nearly 1000 points down in the market over the last week including a 508 point drop just today.
I won’t lie, I haven’t read the entire revised bill, but you can bet I will! I don’t think that the majority of the Senate NOR the House have read so much as a single page of the bill. Ask your! Ask your Senate and Congressional offices to explain it to you. I bet they cannot. So we will have to do it ourselves.
