Norm Coleman shows his knowledge on economics

September 23, 2008 at 6:10 pm (Economic policy)
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Here in Minnesota we get the chance to vote for two heavy weights on economics, John McCain and Norm Coleman.

Last week, September 15, 2008, McCain said this:

But in case you were worried that the down ticket candidates wouldn’t be as insightful on economics issues.  Norm Coleman was quoted in the Mankato Free Press as saying this:

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said the massive government bailout of failing financial institutions is not only necessary but could make money for the federal government.

“The government could make 10 or 20 times what it pays on this, possibly,” Coleman said during a campaign stop at Christy’s Cafe in North Mankato Saturday morning.

I mean with that sort of return, why aren’t investors lining up to buy these financial institutions?  Is the government the only one that see such a great deal out there, or is it only Norm Coleman?

-Josh

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Is the McCain-Palin ticket the true change line up?

September 5, 2008 at 9:45 pm (2008 Presidential Candidates)
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Well at the top of the ticket we have seen much change.  McCain was against the Bush tax cuts, but now favors making them permanent.  McCain was calling the religious right “agents of intolerance”, but later embraced their support.

On the lower half of the ticket, Palin was for the “bridge to nowhere” before she was against it.  She was supporting Ted Stevens before she distanced her self from him.

I think they are ticket of change, change their minds, forget their previous position.  Maybe we can call them the Amnesia Ticket because they are counting on Americans forgetting their original positions.

-Josh

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So I can raise my arm above my head – what does that mean?

September 5, 2008 at 12:01 pm (2008 Presidential Candidates)
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The most bizarre piece of information from the 3 days of speeches at the RNC was John McCain cannot raise his arms over his head.

We all know he was a POW, and as a POW he was tortured.  Do we really need to learn all the physical limitations that torture has caused him?  I don’t know why we had to hear about it from multiple speakers.

-Josh

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Does Sarah Palin have more experience than John McCain

September 3, 2008 at 12:26 pm (2008 Presidential Candidates, Barack Obama)
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Yesterday my sister and her husband renewed their wedding vows.  Both of them and my parents were all wearing light colors or white.  Me, I was wearing a blue shirt, clearly I didn’t get the memo.

Now listening to every single Republican defend Sarah Palin’s experience, it is clear that they ALL got the memo.  The most common way to describe her experience, and in a way to make it superior to Barack Obama is to focus on her executive experience.  This executive experience that they mention is being the mayor of Wasilla and governor of Alaska, but not at the same time, now that would be multi-tasking.

Now it is true that she has more executive experience than Obama, and more than John McCain.  So if we follow this line of reasoning, shouldn’t she be at the topic of the ticket as she has more executive experience than John McCain?

Of course if the Republican party could make a rational argument, we might see it, but right now they are applying two standards in defending her experience, she has more executive experience than Obama, McCain, and Joe Biden, but only mention it in comparison to Obama, not McCain.  Or at least not in comparison in McCain to make he seem less worthy of being on the top of a ticket.

-Josh

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Question of the Day – September 2, 2008

September 2, 2008 at 11:52 am (2008 Presidential Candidates)
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Can America risk a president that makes decisions and then seeks information that would have been useful in the decision making process after making the decision?

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Do Republicans act too rashly?

September 1, 2008 at 11:18 am (2008 Presidential Candidates)
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In many ways the Bush administration has been rightly criticized for overriding policy decisions to meet political interests, which is definitely a very calculated way of governing.

In this way, a possible McCain administration may look very different.  After all he barely knew Sarah Palin when selecting her as his veep.

As the Atlantic Monthly reports, there are many things that the McCain campaign didn’t seem to know about her.

A few days before John Kerry introduced John Edwards as his running mate, a select few members of Kerry’s research staff were given five names, told to adopt the mindset of Republican opposition research, and to prepare a political dossier. What were the likeliest lines of attack that Republicans would use? What political pitfalls might the professional attorneys who conducted the vetting process have missed?

By the day of the announcement, Kerry’s research team had a comprehensive folder prepared about Edwards that included suggested responses for dozens of potential attacks against Edwards’s resume, character, and positions.

This year, the intense secrecy with which McCain advisor A.B. Culvahouse completed his vetting of Sarah Palin preserved the surprise. And ultimately, McCain aides say they’re sure that the rewards will be worth the risks. But as the Palin pick turns 72 hours old, McCain’s campaign is learning as much about her from the media and from Democrats as they are from what minimal political preparation they had.

Now when you think about McCain’s anger and his singing of bomb Iran, do you really want an Commander in Chief that seems to make decisions without the full facts or knowledge of the situation?  For me, the answer is a very definite no!  I mean look at this laundry list of things they didn’t know about Palin:

They’ve bragged that Palin opposed the famous “Bridge to Nowhere,” only to learn that Palin supported the project and even told residents of Ketchikan that they weren’t “nowhere” to her. After the national outcry, she decided to spend the funds allocated to the bridge for something else. Actually, maybe it’s more fair to say that coincident with the national outcry, she changed her mind. The story shows her political judgment, but it is not a reformer’s credential.

Likewise, though she cut taxes as mayor of Wassila, she raised the sales tax, making her hardly a tax cutter.

She denied pressuring the state’s chief of public safety to fire her sister-in-law’s husband even though there’s mounting evidence that the impetus did indeed come from her. Ostensibly to clear her name, Palin asked her attorney general to open an independent investigation—the legislature had already been investigating. (I am told that the campaign was aware of the ethics complaint filed against her but accepts Palin’s account.)

McCain’s campaign seemed unaware that she supported a windfalls profits tax on oil companies and that she is more skeptical about human contributions to global warming than McCain is.

They did not know that she took trips as the mayor of Wasilla to beg for earmarks.

They did not know that she told a television interviewer this summer that she did not fully understand what it is that a vice president does.

As we are reminded of the need for fully informed and competent government, John McCain does little to make us think his governance will be a marked improvement from the current resident of the White House.

-Josh

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What will FEMA do?

August 31, 2008 at 11:51 am (2008 Presidential Candidates)
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With hurricane Gustav bearing down on New Orleans, are we going to see a repeat of the response lack of response to Katrina?  Or are we going to see a response like the hurricanes that landed in Florida in 2004?

Remember 2004, we had hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne wreak havoc on Florida.  But the relief effort was strong.  Personally I think two things factored into the proper response we saw in 2004, one Florida was critical to Bush getting re-elected, and two his brother was governor of the state.

Yet in 2005, with no election looming, Bush was no where to be seen with New Orleans going under water.  Now McCain has criticized the Bush Administrations response to Katrina, yet on the day that Katrina was wreaking havoc on New Orleans, they were together celebrating John McCain’s 69th birthday, you could read about that (and see photos) at Huffington Post.

So when you think of the response we will see this week to hurricane Gustav, it isn’t an example of learning from your mistakes.  But instead the reality that these Republicans only decide to practice effective government when it will impact their election chances.

-Josh

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John McCain disses American families

July 27, 2008 at 8:35 am (2008 Presidential Candidates, adoption, Equal Rights)
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On This Week this morning, he came out for (because he can’t come out against gay adoption) two parent (traditional=man and woman vs same sex) adoption.

So to the well over 100,000 children who have been adopted by single parents, apparently your parent and your family doesn’t fit his world view of what is best, I think it is an insult.

Of course that doesn’t count the over 20,000 children a year that “age out” of the foster care system.  These are children that exit foster care without parents, they may not have a place to go for Thanksgiving or Christmas, may not have an adult to call and share their successes or have a sympathetic ear when they struggle, or someone to be there when on their wedding day or birth of their child.

Apparently he is no maverick on this issue.

-Josh

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Some thoughts on the process of democracy

July 22, 2008 at 10:11 pm (democracy)
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On Facebook, a friend from high school, invited a number of his friends and me to join him in supporting Ralph Nader for president. This friend is disillusioned by Obama’s recent FISA vote, and maybe other things that I am not aware of.

Another friend from high school responded about the need to not cast a protest vote this election, and likes Obama, so disagreed with him.

This is my response to both of them:

Thank you for giving me hope for democracy.

This is what democracy is about, making your case, persuading your fellow citizens to your point of view and having a discussion about it.

Now I agree with both of you. Looking at the Supreme Court and the likely center-left judges that are going to retire, probably holding on to their seats until George W Bush’s term is over, in the next administration and the need to have the appointments come from someone that hasn’t lurched right to gain the nomination. So on that point, I will not vote for Ralph Nader. My preference was John Edwards, but I will vote for Obama, and would have voted for Clinton.

That being said, I do agree with what Naomi Klein said at the National Conference for Media Reform, that we need to hold Obama accountable and keep the pressure on for progressive and populist policy. That he will have corporate pressures trying to swing him to the supposed center, that is really right of a majority of Americans on a large number of topics, including universal health care, is a reality, the question is will we be pulling the other end of the rope in that tug-of-war for his position?

Yet, the need to break open our democracy, to give it a booster shot that will come with a larger (more than two) diversity of parties, is dire. The question, is voting for Ralph Nader the way to achieve this, personally I don’t think this is it. While, I don’t discredit the desire to vote for 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th parties, should you vote for him because you are tired of the existing system, as a protest vote? Well, that is your choice, and that is what is most important. But let me tell you about what I think is the best way to break open the system to more parties.

Instant Runoff Voting – this is the best way to give other parties a chance. That way you can vote for your first candidate, but not necessarily throw the election to a candidate that can’t garner over 50% of the vote. Remember, the DFL lost to Governor Tim Pawlenty twice because of other parties and he never garnered more than 50% (I thought his rap name should be “less than 50 cent”). This method is gaining popularity in many municipalities, including Minneapolis, and could lead the way for wider adoption at county or state level, if citizens like it.

Open Debates – in the post Ross Perot era, the presidential elections have been in the stranglehold of the Commission on Presidential Debates (est. 1987) which is a bipartisan organization that controls the process to the betterment of the main two parties. If you have ever seen the footage of Ralph Nader being threatened with arrest for attempting to enter a 2000 debate with a ticket, it will make you realize that democracy, the process is on life support in America.

Locally, I have to give great kudos to KSTP that had hour-long debates for the US Rep contests in 2006 that were open to all candidates (might have had some threshold, but low if they did). I am not sure if it was all MN, or just the 5 metro area elections. Regardless it was a great public service, which is sadly lacking in broadcast media these days.

At the national level, the 2004-other party candidates, Libertarian, Green, Independent and Constitution did get time on NOW. I will never vote Libertarian or Constitution party, but I think it is vital for our truly functioning and healthy democracy that they get the same opportunity to share their ideas with America.

Those are my two cents on democracy the process.

-Josh

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Would Obama increase taxes on those who make less than $250,000?

July 20, 2008 at 8:23 am (2008 Presidential Candidates, Economic policy)
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That is a claim he made in June and just thinking about the payroll tax had me wondering how he could manage that. In 2008, the payroll tax cap on Social Security is set at $102,000, so that any amount of earned income above that is not subject to the Social Security payroll tax.

So his statement that those whose income is under $250,000 won’t have an increase their payroll taxes can only be wrong. Maybe he is trying to say that he has other tax cuts that will offset the increases to the payroll tax, but I haven’t seen or heard that nuance.

Here is what Factcheck.org reports on his overall plan and those that will see increases:

Obama (June 12, 2008):”If you are a family making less than $250,000 a year, my plan will not raise your taxes. Period. Not income tax, not payroll tax, not capital gains tax, not any of your taxes. And chances are you will get a tax cut.”

The most comprehensive nonpartisan analysis of Obama’s tax proposal available is the Tax Policy Center’s comparison of McCain’s and Obama’s economic plans. That analysis mostly supports Obama’s claim that his plan won’t raise taxes, though it says that families earning between $169,480 and $237,040 would see an average tax increase of $486 under Obama’s plan. All those earning less than $169,480 would see tax cuts. In fact, that hypothetical taxpayer with the $32,000 in taxable income would get a $502 tax cut under Obama’s plan. McCain’s plan, by contrast, would leave that person’s taxes unchanged.

So the statement doesn’t hold up. But the analysis shows those earning less that about $170,000 will see cuts, yeah me. And the comparison of the person making $32,000 in taxable income, would only get a cut under Obama, none under McCain. That is a bit of difference in the candidates tax plans. You may want to recall what McCain said from the Senate floor regarding the 2001 tax cuts:

But I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief.

Apparently he has lost his direction as his plan changes NOTHING for that taxpayer with a taxable income of $32,000 while Obama’s has a tax cut for that same taxpayer.

-Josh

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