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Palin abused powers!
Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, a investigation by the Alaska Legislature has concluded.
A report on the bipartisan inquiry that was released Friday by lawmakers in Anchorage, concluded, however, that she was within her right to dismiss her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, the trooper’s boss.
The public portion of the report concluded that Ms. Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act by allowing pressure to be exerted to get Trooper Michael Wooten, her former brother-in-law, dismissed.
In the 263 pages that were released, the independent investigator, Stephen E. Branchflower, a former Anchorage prosecutor, said that Ms. Palin wrongfully allowed her husband, Todd, to use state resources as part of the effort to have Trooper Wooten dismissed.
The report says she knowingly “permitted Todd Palin to use the governor’s office and the resources of the governor’s office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired.”
[more at link] Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, ... more -
Obama & McCain Run Like It's 1932!
This year's election now mirrors the Roosevelt/Hoover match-up. That's good news for Obama.
Hope versus fear, new versus old: Barack Obama and John McCain have placed their bets. These are the terms on which the 2008 presidential campaign will be decided.
That's why it's unfair for political bystanders to attack Obama and McCain for offering few specifics as to how they'd fix an ailing economy. And it's foolish to ask them to jettison their campaign promises in order to pay homage to the God of Balanced Budgets.
Each campaign has given voters ample notice about the inclinations, temperaments, habits, philosophical leanings and advisers they would bring to the White House. That's enough.
Piles of prescriptions would be useless because this crisis is moving so fast. New ideas could become obsolete in a few days -- or require substantial redrafting on the run, as happened with McCain's sketchy mortgage purchase plan floated during Tuesday's debate.
In this financial catastrophe, last week's unthinkable idea quickly becomes this week's imperative. The Bush administration is wisely contemplating following the lead of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in having government take ownership shares in many banks to get them more cash and allow them to lend again.
If Obama had suggested such a thing, he would have been condemned as a socialist and the administration might well have had to shelve a necessary idea. Better that the candidates acknowledge that they are powerless until after Nov. 4.
As for cutting back on their programs because the government is spending and lending so much to save the economy, the candidates should just say no to the deficit carpers.
Yes, the federal government faces a huge deficit, bloated during eight years in which many now crying out for fiscal responsibility put up little resistance when the administration started two wars and cut taxes at the same time. Where were the deficit hawks then?
The time to balance budgets is when the economy is humming. Now, the government is obligated not only to prop up the economy but also to bring back long-term growth. That will require transformative investments in infrastructure, health care, education and new green technologies.
If you think the number of Americans without health insurance is too high now, wait until this recession really kicks in. Few investments would help businesses more than offloading a share of their health care costs to the government. It's social justice with an economic kick.
In fact, if these various bailout plans work, the government should get much of its money back during an economic recovery. If they don't work, balancing the budget will be the least of our problems. The short-term costs of healing the economy should be considered apart from the rest of the budget. We should create a separate Economic Recovery Authority to handle the outflow and (we hope) inflow of cash from various bailout plans.
Obama and McCain are giving us a clear sense of who they are and how they would lead. It would seem that Obama has been studying the 1932 Great Depression campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The key to Roosevelt's victory was not a big program but a jaunty sense of optimism in the midst of despair that led to his signature inaugural line -- "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Less famously, Roosevelt declared in his acceptance speech that "this is no time for fear, for reaction or for timidity." This year's election now mirrors the Roosevelt/Hoover match-up. That's good news for Obama. ... more -
"Northern Exposure" causing birth defects: Palin's plan
"...As governor of a state with a birth-defect rate that's twice the national average, and which has the gloomy status as repository of toxic chemicals from around the world, Palin has pursued environmental policies that seem perfectly crafted to swell the ranks of special-needs kids."
There's no reason to doubt Sarah Palin's sincerity when she talks about her commitment to family and--more specifically--special-needs kids. When she introduced her son, who has Down syndrome, to the audience at the Republican convention, the family tableau drew cheers. And she issued a promise. "To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message for you," she told the crowd. "For years, you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters, and I pledge to you that, if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House."
Unfortunately, as governor of a state with a birth-defect rate that's twice the national average, and which has the gloomy status as repository of toxic chemicals from around the world, Palin has pursued environmental policies that seem perfectly crafted to swell the ranks of special-needs kids. It's true that Alaska's top leaders have placed industry wishes over environmental protection for years. But, instead of correcting this problem, she's compounded it. Peer into her environmental record, and Palin ends up looking a lot like George W. Bush.
In the past 20 years, research has shown that exposure to some metals and to chemicals such as pesticides, flame retardants, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can cause birth defects and permanent developmental disorders both prenatally and in the first years of childhood. And Alaska is vulnerable to some of the worst environmental pollutants out there. In a state whose wealth depends on the exploitation of its natural resources, the toxic byproducts of mining and energy development, such as arsenic, mercury, and lead, are particular problems. Alaska Natives, such as the Inuit people, eat a diet that is heavy in fish, seals, and whales--animals that are high on the food chain and therefore more likely to be contaminated with high doses of PCBs and mercury. And the state is vulnerable not only to homegrown pollution, but also to industrial pollution: Trace gases and tiny airborne particles are contaminating the polar regions, carried there on atmospheric and oceanic currents, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The mess of pollutants in Alaska has clearly taken its toll. In general, the state has double the national average of birth defects. While the causes are unknown, environmentalists point to the region that includes the North Slope, an area slightly larger than Minnesota, where most of Alaska's oil is produced. The byproducts of oil production can cause serious nervous system disorders, and the North Slope and its environs, home to Alaska Natives and itinerant oil workers, has the highest prevalence of birth defects in the state--11 percent--compared with 6 percent statewide and 3 percent nationwide.
Read more at the link. "...As governor of a state with a birth-defect rate that's twice the national average, and which has the gloomy status as re... more -
944 & Rock the Vote
I thought this was another perfect example of music pairing up with a fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine that reaches to the younger demographic to encourage voting. 944 Magazine has paired up with MTV's Rock the Vote and they feature daily blogs, news, upcoming events in a multitude of cities with featured videos & media, and of course a link encouraging individuals to register to vote. I thought this was another perfect example of music pairing up with a fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine that reaches to t... more
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Obama knew what McCain was going to do
Remember in late July when Barack Obama predicted John McCain's attack strategy? Remember McCain's howls of protest in response? Well, it turns out that Obama was right about McCain's attacks. As it turns out, Obama knew McCain better than McCain knew McCain. Remember in late July when Barack Obama predicted John McCain's attack strategy? Remember McCain's howls of protest in respo... more
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McCain Endorsement Retracted: "He is not the McCain I endorsed,"
He endorsed John McCain in the presidential primary, but now former Republican Gov. William Milliken is expressing doubts about his party's nominee.
"He is not the McCain I endorsed," said Milliken, reached at his Traverse City home Thursday. "He keeps saying, 'Who is Barack Obama?' I would ask the question, 'Who is John McCain?' because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me.
"I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign, when he ought to be talking about the issues."
Milliken, a lifelong Republican, is among some past leaders from the party's moderate wing voicing reservations and, in some cases, opposition to McCain's candidacy. He endorsed John McCain in the presidential primary, but now former Republican Gov. William Milliken is expressing doubts about his pa... more -
Sarah Palin's radical right-wing mentors
[This is one of the most disturbing investigative pieces I've read yet about Palin's ties to hard-right secessionist/dominionist groups. Read the whole thing and spread the word about Sarah "Puppet" Palin, or as I like to call her, "Bush in drag"]
On the afternoon of Sept. 24 in downtown Palmer, Alaska, as the sun began to sink behind the snowcapped mountains that flank the picturesque Mat-Su Valley, 51-year-old Mark Chryson sat for an hour on a park bench, reveling in tales of his days as chairman of the Alaska Independence Party. The stocky, gray-haired computer technician waxed nostalgic about quixotic battles to eliminate taxes, support the "traditional family" and secede from the United States.
So long as Alaska remained under the boot of the federal government, said Chryson, the AIP had to stand on guard to stymie a New World Order. He invited a Salon reporter to see a few items inside his pickup truck that were intended for his personal protection. "This here is my attack dog," he said with a chuckle, handing the reporter an exuberant 8-pound papillon from his passenger seat. "Her name is Suzy." Then he pulled a 9-millimeter Makarov PM pistol -- once the standard-issue sidearm for Soviet cops -- out of his glove compartment. "I've got enough weaponry to raise a small army in my basement," he said, clutching the gun in his palm. "Then again, so do most Alaskans." But Chryson added a message of reassurance to residents of that faraway place some Alaskans call "the 48." "We want to go our separate ways," he said, "but we are not going to kill you."
Though Chryson belongs to a fringe political party, one that advocates the secession of Alaska from the Union, and that organizes with other like-minded secessionist movements from Canada to the Deep South, he is not without peculiar influence in state politics, especially the rise of Sarah Palin. An obscure figure outside of Alaska, Chryson has been a political fixture in the hometown of the Republican vice-presidential nominee for over a decade. During the 1990s, when Chryson directed the AIP, he and another radical right-winger, Steve Stoll, played a quiet but pivotal role in electing Palin as mayor of Wasilla and shaping her political agenda afterward. Both Stoll and Chryson not only contributed to Palin's campaign financially, they played major behind-the-scenes roles in the Palin camp before, during and after her victory. [This is one of the most disturbing investigative pieces I've read yet about Palin's ties to hard-right secessionist/dominio... more -
SNL: Update Thursday: Debate Open
Obama and McCain debate the issues in the Town Hall Debate; Featuring Bill Murray.
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Aliens Rock The Vote
One in ten people in America are silently screaming right now. They’re surrounded by election fever but cannot vote for our next president. They care about our country –– passionately enough to leave their own behind –– but are frozen out of the electoral process.
Aliensvote.net is giving this massive minority a voice. It’s a site where the estimated 29.1 million aliens residing in America can cast a vote. Their votes won’t count in the election, but at least their wishes can be heard. After all, they pay taxes, have homes, businesses, children, and futures here, and contribute to our society in a myriad of ways. One in ten people in America are silently screaming right now. They’re surrounded by election fever but cannot vote for our next presi... more -
White House won't say if McCain has shared Bin Laden-capturing techniques
In last Tuesday's presidential debate, John McCain said that that he will "get Osama bin Laden, my friends." He's been promising that for over a year, but it was only a couple of months ago that someone finally pressed him to describe what he would do differently than President Bush. McCain replied: "I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden."
That made me wonder whether McCain has shared this critically important knowledge with the President, so today I went to the White House and asked. Here is my conversation with Press Secretary Dana Perino:
Q John McCain said recently that he knows how to get Osama bin Laden. And a couple of months ago he said that he knows how to improve our capabilities so that we would capture bin Laden. Has Senator McCain shared his knowledge with the president?
MS. PERINO: Maybe you haven't been here. I've been very astute at not getting involved in the 2008 election, and I'm not going to start now.
Q It has nothing to do with the elections.
MS. PERINO: Yeah, it does. It has everything to do with the election. That's exactly why you're asking the question. And I'm not going to answer it.
Since the White House won't answer my question, we're left with four possibilities:
1). McCain thinks he knows how to capture Osama, has told Bush how to do it, and it's not working;
2). McCain knows how to capture Osama, has told Bush how to do it, and Bush is waiting for the most politically opportune time to execute the plan;
3). McCain knows how to capture Osama, but is keeping his plan a secret, therefore putting his own political fortunes over those of his country; or
4). McCain doesn't have a clue about how to catch Osama.
I don't know which is worst, but I suspect number four is closest to the truth. In last Tuesday's presidential debate, John McCain said that that he will "get Osama bin Laden, my friends." He's ... more -
Original 'Maverick' family upset that McCain coopts their name (VIDEO)
Before "maverick" became an overused trademark of the McCain-Palin campaign, it was a word meaning an unbranded strayed calf. But before that it was the family name of 19th century Texas lawyer and land speculator Samuel A. Maverick, who let some cattle he had acquired in payment of a debt run wild on land he owned while he lived comfortably in town.
Samuel Maverick's descendants have remained prominent in Texas affairs, and some of them are not happy about John McCain's co-opting their family name. "It's very irritating, because he is not a maverick," Fontaine Maverick told CNN.
According to Fontaine, the real "original maverick" was her grandfather, Maury Maverick, "a radical politician from San Antonio who served two terms in Congress (1935-1939). There, he led a bloc of progressive Democrats who sought to push Roosevelt and the New Deal to the left. The press quickly labeled this group 'The Mavericks.' While hugely popular with the the many poor Hispanics in his district, Maverick was far too liberal for the conservative Texas Democratic establishment. In 1938 he lost the Democratic party primary after being slandered as a communist."
"Grandfather Maury was no coward," Fontaine told Huffington Post's Charles Karel Bouley. "He chased the Klan right out of San Antonio once, stood up to the mob... Maury was burned in effigy in San Antonio, for his defense of members of the Communist Party's right to assemble, for his defense of the Hispanic community, support for those who didn't have a voice."
Fontaine's uncle, Maury Maverick, Jr., who died in 2003, became disillusioned with politics but continued to follow in his father's footsteps as a civil rights lawyer for the ACLU. He defended unpopular causes and opposed the Iraq War even on his deathbed.
"It's driving our family crazy," Fontaine says, "upsetting us and the legacy of my family, and we really with the campaign would stop misusing the word and the phrase. ... And Palin, I'm not sure she even knows the history of the word of or my family, but one thing is clear to all of my family, she truly is not a Maverick." Before "maverick" became an overused trademark of the McCain-Palin campaign, it was a word meaning an unbranded strayed calf... more -
Colbert on Bill Ayers issue (VIDEO)
When MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough appeared on the Colbert Report on Wednesday, Stephen Colbert immediately got him off balance by noting, "The last time you were here, you admitted that you took money from Jack Abramoff."
"What's with that!" yelled Scarborough. "This is all you have for me?"
"That was just the preamble of the question," Colbert explained. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to reveal anything about your relationship with William Ayers while you were here."
After Scarborough had denied having ever been involved in bomb-making, Colbert asked, more seriously, "No, but are you covering this whole thing, that Obama's buddy-buddy with Ayers?"
"We talked about it," Scarborough acknowledged, adding, "It is not relevant to where the story is right now."
"But that's why you talk about it, right?" asked Colbert. "You've got to talk about it even if it's not relevant."
"I don't think you understand," explained Scarborough. "We talk about it because it's not relevant."
"I've heard you guys say, like, 'We shouldn't be talking about this -- this is the McCain campaign making us connect the dots," insisted Colbert.
"You get it backwards," replied Scarborough. "You see, what we do is we talk about it for a very long time, and then we reveal -- after the ratings come in and it helps us out -- that we shouldn't be talking about it."
Colbert then asked, "How does McCain win this one, Joe? How does McCain bring it out of the pooper?"
"It's too late," Scarborough replied, as the audience cheered. "When there was peace and propersity you could talk about certain issues, but you can't at this point -- you have to talk about the economy."
"Look how MSNBC has changed you!" marveled Colbert.
"I know," admitted Scarborough ruefully. When MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough appeared on the Colbert Report on Wednesday, Stephen Colbert immedia... more -
'Rednecks for Obama' want to bridge yawning culture gap
When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or rather two of them, holding the banner: "Rednecks for Obama."
In backing the first African-American nominee of a major party for the US presidency, the pair are on a grassroots mission to bridge a cultural gap in the United States and help usher their preferred candidate into the White House.
Tony Viessman, 74, and Les Spencer, 60, got politically active last year when it occurred to them there must be other lower income, rural, beer-drinking, gun-loving, NASCAR race enthusiasts fed up with business as usual in Washington.
Viessman had a red, white and blue "Rednecks for Obama" banner made, and began causing a stir in Missouri, which has emerged as a key battleground in the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.
"I didn't expect it would get as much steam and attention as it's gotten," Spencer told AFP on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis, the state's biggest city and site of last week's vice-presidential debate.
"We believe in him. He's the best person for the job," Viessman, a former state trooper from Rolla, said of Obama, who met the pair briefly on that July day in Union, Missouri.
The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.
"He said 'This is incredible'," Spencer recalled.
It's been an unexpectedly gratifying run, Viessman said.
Rednecks4obama.com claims more than 800,000 online visits. In Denver, Colorado, Viessman and Spencer drew crowds at the Democratic convention, and at Washington University last Thursday they were two of the most popular senior citizens on campus.
"I'm shocked, actually, but excited" that such a demographic would be organizing support for Obama, said student Naia Ferguson, 18, said after hamming it up for pictures behind the banner.
"When most people think 'redneck,' they think conservatives, anti-change, even anti-integration," she said. "But America's changing, breaking stereotypes."
A southern comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, defines the stereotype as a "glorious lack of sophistication".
Philistines or not, he said, most rural southerners are no longer proponents of the Old South's most abhorrent ideology -- racism -- and that workaday issues such as the economy are dominating this year's election.
"We need to build the economy from the bottom up, none of this trickle down business," Spencer said. "Just because you're white and southern don't mean you have to vote Republican." When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or ... more -
Todd Palin's testimony shows he worked to get trooper fired
Todd Palin talked with more than a dozen Alaska state officials, many of them repeatedly, in his crusade to get a state trooper fired who he considered to be a bad cop, a dishonest person and a threat to the Palin family, according to his sworn statement given yesterday to a legislative investigator in Alaska.
The 25-page statement from Governor Sarah Palin's husband, in response to questions submitted by the investigator, shows that Todd Palin's efforts started before his wife became governor and accelerated during the first 19 months of her administration.
He also suggested there was bad blood between the governor and former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan over two other matters, including an inquiry from Monegan to the governor about whether she once failed to put her infant son Trig in a car seat while she was driving.
The other dispute involved the unavailability of a state trooper airplane for the governor's use when travelling to the Alaska's rural areas.
On the car seat matter, Monegan sent an email to the governor on June 30, 12 days before he lost his job, that said: "Via a soon-to-be-retiring legislator, we received a complaint that had you driving with Trig not in an approved car seat; if this is so that would be awkward in many ways."
The governor fired back from her private email account: "I've never driven Trig anywhere without a new, approved carseat. I want to know who said otherwise - pls provide me that info now."
Todd Palin, in his sworn statement, said this was a "false rumour", and that the governor was a passenger in a truck, "on a private farm road without traffic at low speed".
On the trooper airplane, "It seemed that whenever Sarah needed this plane, it was unavailable," Todd Palin said. "We were concerned that the department of public safety was retaliating against Sarah for selling the Murkowski jet that department of public safety officials enjoyed using." In 2007, the governor sold a jet her predecessor, Frank Murkowski, bought in controversial defiance of the legislature.
Todd Palin was waging the campaign against his ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten, who had divorced the governor's sister in 2006 and who is involved in a custody fight.
Two investigations - one by the legislature and one by the state personnel board - are under way over whether Governor Palin or members of her administration abused their powers in pushing for Wooten's firing, and whether their efforts resulted in the governor's dismissal of her public safety commissioner, Monegan, in July. Todd Palin talked with more than a dozen Alaska state officials, many of them repeatedly, in his crusade to get a state trooper fired ... more -
"Keep the n*gger out of office"
OCTOBER 8--Angered by a delay in the receipt of his voter registration card, a Louisiana man today threatened to shoot election officials, claiming that he urgently needed to cast a ballot to "keep the nigger out of office," according to police. Wade Williams, 75, was arrested this morning on a felony terrorizing charge after allegedly calling the Registrar of Voters and warning that he would come to the state office and empty his shotgun unless he got his registration card. Using profanity and racial slurs, Williams told a state official "about needing to vote to 'keep the nigger out of office," according to an Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office affidavit, a copy of which you'll find here. Though the document does not name the candidate to which Williams is so violently opposed, it seems likely he was referring to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. After being arrested at his Monroe home, Williams was booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center, where the below mug shot was snapped. En route to the jail, he "continued his 'tirade' about niggers and also stated that he had a shotgun, but had it hidden at his residence," reported Lt. Michael Judd. (2 pages) OCTOBER 8--Angered by a delay in the receipt of his voter registration card, a Louisiana man today threatened to shoot election offici... more
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National Rifle Association endorses McCain
WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association is endorsing Republican presidential nominee John McCain despite differences with the Arizona senator on gun-show rules and campaign finance restrictions.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and the chairman of the NRA's political action committee planned stops Thursday in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Colorado and Nevada to talk about the move.
LaPierre said the two agree on many issues important to the group.
"He's cast more than 60 votes in the Senate in support of the Second Amendment," LaPierre said.
The NRA's Political Victory Fund has spent more than $2.3 million opposing Democratic nominee Barack Obama. The chairman of the political action committee, Chris W. Cox, says its spending in the presidential race will grow to "eight figures" by Election Day. Besides ads, encouraging battleground-state gun owners to vote will be a key focus, he said.
The PAC was running an ad Thursday in USA Today accusing Obama of waffling on gun-rights issues and challenging his statements that he supports the right to bear arms. Obama has said he respects the Second Amendment but doesn't think it precludes "some commonsense gun laws so that we don't have kids being shot on the streets of cities like Chicago."
The NRA PAC's future spending will target Obama on gun issues and start publicizing the records of McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, LaPierre said. McCain's selection of Palin was a plus, LaPierre said.
"She's a hunter, she's a Second Amendment supporter and she's a tremendous asset to the ticket," he said.
I am a staunch believer in all things Constitutional, but I do not agree with associations influencing politics. It was McCain that screamed the loudest about Obama's corporate contributions. This smacks of hypocrisy to me. I can't believe their reasoning behind their support. Palin? WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association is endorsing Republican presidential nominee John McCain despite differences with the Ariz... more -
Voter purges in 6 states may violate law
NEW YORK - Tens of thousands of eligible voters have been removed from rolls or blocked from registering in at least six swing states, and the voters' exclusion appears to violate federal law, according to a published report.
The New York Times based its findings on reviews of state records and Social Security data.
The Times said voters appear to have been purged by mistake and not because of any intentional violations by election officials or coordinated efforts by any party.
States have been trying to follow the Help America Vote Act of 2002 by removing the names of voters who should no longer be listed. But for every voter added to the rolls in the past two months in some states, election officials have removed two, a review of the records shows.
The newspaper said it identified apparent problems in Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina. It says some states are improperly using Social Security data to verify new voters' registration applications, and others may have broken rules that govern removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election.
Democrats have been more aggressive at registering new voters this year, according to state election officials, so any closer screening of new applications may affect their party's supporters disproportionately, the Times said.
The result is that on Election Day, voters who have been removed from the rolls could show up and be challenged by political party officials or election workers.
Read the rest of the story at link.
What a legacy we are leaving for our children. How do you tell them that our electoral process is as corrupt as any third world dictatorship. NEW YORK - Tens of thousands of eligible voters have been removed from rolls or blocked from registering in at least six swing states,... more -
Debating the financial meltdown
Conn Carroll and Danny Schechter discuss McCain's debate night policy surprise.
On Tuesday night in the second presidential debate, John McCain announced for the first time that he supported the idea that the federal government should buy up all the bad mortgages at the root of the financial crisis. Senior Editor Paul Jay moderates a discussion between Conn Carroll and Danny Schechter on what exactly is meant by this proposal.
Danny Schechter also known as "The News Dissector," is a former network TV producer and radio newscaster. He currently edits MediaChannel.org. He has written nine books on including his most recent release, "Plunder: Investigating our economic calamity and the subprime scandal". He also produced the film "In Debt We Trust: America Before The Bubble Bursts".
Conn Carroll is the Assistant Director for The Heritage Foundation's Center for Media and Public Policy and he serves as editor of The Foundry, the think tank's rapid-response policy blog. Before joining Heritage in 2007, he worked at Washington's premier political tip sheet The Hotline as a Senior Writer.
See also: http://current.com/items/89388982_mccain_s_ill_conceive... Conn Carroll and Danny Schechter discuss McCain's debate night policy surprise. ... more -
McCain's ill-conceived mortgage proposal
Danny Schechter: McCain to spend billions on project but where is money to come from?
After a technical problem brought an abrupt end to the debate between Conn Carroll and Danny Schechter, Danny joined Senior Editor Paul Jay in a one-on-one discussion about the financial crisis in the debate. Danny critiqued McCain's haste in proposing a poorly thought-out mortgage plan as well as Obama's oversimplification of the financial crisis into a problem of regulation. Danny also criticized the lack of any thorough analysis of the crisis on anyone's part, along with an absence of any new ideas on how to effectively address the situation.
Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector," is a former network TV producer, radio newscaster, and edits MediaChannel.org. He has written nine books on media themes. His latest, Squeezed: America As The Bubble Bursts was inspired by his latest film, In Debt We Trust: America Before The Bubble Bursts.
See also: http://current.com/items/89388995_debating_the_financia... Danny Schechter: McCain to spend billions on project but where is money to come from? ... more -
Republican Scumbaggery & Voting Schinanigans
In what may be the most pathetic villain campaign since the War on Christmas, Republicans have picked a new bad guy: the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. You may know them as ACORN. As you can see in the name, they are community organizers, those horrible people Sarah Palin mocks for trying to help the poor. I’m sure Jesus would hate them, too. ACORN has been busy signing up new voters, which means they are largely poor, minority voters. That means Democrats. That means Republicans have to portray another group working to better our country via democracy as evil.
This recent hate barrage against ACORN started when the press began writing about the huge number of people the group was registering.
"Since the last federal election in 2006, volunteers like Graham combined with the enthusiasm generated by the Obama-Clinton struggle to add more than 2 million Democrats to voter rolls in the 28 states that register voters according to party affiliation. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 voters in the same states."
So, what to do? Accept that your party is quickly becoming the second fiddle of American politics and adapt to the situation by changing your platform, or attack the people taking part in democracy? Well, if you’re a Republican, the answer is obvious........ In what may be the most pathetic villain campaign since the War on Christmas, Republicans have picked a new bad guy: the Association o... more
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2008 Election
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2008 Election
