McCain’s Insidious Redistribution of Wealth

Senator McCain’s gambit of labeling Senator Obama a socialist by redistributing the wealth obscures his own insidious redistribution of wealth. Basically, Obama is taking from the rich and giving to the middle class. He believes that the economy should be grown from the bottom up. Middle class consumer spending will bolster the economy. Basically, McCain is taking from the middle class and giving to the rich. He believes that the economy should be grown from the top down. The rich creating jobs with their money will bolster the economy.

Senator McCain is redistributing the wealth by not giving tax breaks to those less able to afford taxes, instead giving it to those more able to afford taxes. He is redistributing wealth by sending it upward from the middle class to the wealthy class. McCain believes in the trickle down theory where the wealthy let the wealth trickle down to the middle class. It has trickled for 8 years leaving the middle class struggling.

Barack Obama has a different plan: Let the wealth trickle up. Give breaks to the middle class and let us grow the economy while the corporations and financial institutions pay us back some of our $700 billion.

The Democrats’ October Surprises

Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama was less a surprise than the fruition of what many in both parties anticipated for months. It was, nonetheless, perfectly timed to supercharge the Obama campaign’s afterburner wrap to Election Day. Mid-summer, an Obama campaign official predicted that its strategy would keep the race close until the final push where Obama would blow McCain out of the water with the electoral version of “shock and awe”. Welcome to shock and awe.

General Colin L. Powell – former National Security Adviser to George H. W. Bush, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Commander of Coalition Forces in the Gulf War, Secretary of State to George W. Bush, and a Republican of international prominence commanding bipartisan respect if not admiration. For Barack Obama it doesn’t get much better. For John McCain it doesn’t get much worse. To deter pundits from parsing his words, General Powell laid out in the clearest manner possible why he will vote for Barack Obama, one of which included ready to lead the country on day one.

This is big even for those sadly included in the voter bloc of the euphemistically dubbed “low information voters”. Yes, folks – the pundits agree that the ignorant comprise their own demographic.* The Powell endorsement gets through to virtually every eligible voter in a campaign that has registered huge numbers of new, impassioned voters, has ordinary folks talking about little else, and has energized the country to a greater degree than any election in recent memory.

So a heads up on surprises. You’ve seen them and neither is a surprise. General Powell lighting the match igniting the Obama afterburner is one tactic in Barack Obama’s strategy to win the election. Yes, Senator McCain, Senator Obama does know the difference between tactics and strategy.

* Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” created a pie chart displaying the demographics for the undecided bloc. 45% of undecideds in Jon’s pie were in the “STUPID” slice.

McCain’s Hussein Gambit - Barack HUSSEIN Obama Must Mean ...

To Shirley Ellis’ “The Name Game” – the inanity of the McCain campaign’s Hussein gambit.

Howdy, Seege :-)

In the heat of the political moment during this election season we may on occasion overlook the fact that we can disagree, yet be civil or better yet be friendly. This afternoon a fellow member of a Yahoo group, fed up with partisan political messages sent to the group, challenged me to list the duties of the Vice President of the United States. Having sent information about a PBS poll on Sarah Palin’s preparedness to be president, my new friend Seege wanted to know if I knew about that which I preached. He expressed great surprise that I knew both of them. Seege is a supporter of Senator McCain. Seege, if you’re reading this, please know that I have enjoyed our correspondence.

Welcome to “About Nothing”. Here’s a poster for you :-)

When Sucking on the Issues, Go Personal

Senator McCain sucks on the issues. Even his “new” idea in debate #2 for the feds to renegotiate mortgages sucks. Here’s why: It’s not new, but part of the bailout bill. Those mortgages would be bought by the feds at their original value, not face value. The banks are made whole by this overpayment. The taxpayers would foot the bill for this classically inane business transaction. His own right wing base hates it. While the latter would usually be a good enough reason for me to support it, not in this case.

So what to do, what to do? Down and sinking in the polls, looking just a bit silly wandering around the debate platform, what is Senator McCain to do? Simple. Attack Barack Obama’s character with innuendo and fear mongering. Barack Obama was born with the middle name “Hussein”. He’d have that name whether he was a garage mechanic or presidential candidate. And what of it? It’s Arab and sounds just a tad “terrorist-ish”. OK, so McCain surrogates now include his middle name when referring to him. Maybe that will attract more enthusiastic McCain supporters screaming “Kill the terrorist!”

Raising the idiotic issue of Obama’s association with a 1960’s domestic terrorist turned college professor is, sadly, the best McCain has right now. That’s his best?! That’s what he has Sarah “6 Pack” Palin shouting about?! Good luck with that one.

Apparently, according to a recently released study, the 1982 based “Bradley Effect” has not plagued Barack Obama – not in the presidential primaries or his races in Illinois. Basically, the Bradley effect is in play when voters tell pollsters one thing and do the opposite in the privacy of the voting booth. Nonetheless, McCain can hope for it to play a role in the election, so how about pushing the Black thing? Remind voters that Barack Obama is a big scary Black man. Appeal to the basest instincts of a slice of the American electorate and hope that racism will turn the election your way. Isn’t that a charming strategy for one seeking to be our next president?!

If it quacks like “same old – same old” it probably is. McCain’s been doing a lot of frenetic quacking.

Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

Governor Palin Lowers the Bars

Post VP debate we are told that not screwing up spelled victory for Governor Palin. This year’s standard for vice-president: “Nope, she sure didn’t screw up tonight! How ‘bout that! She’s pretty smart, now, ain’t she?” The media, pundits and GOP are to blame for ramming the Palin “no screw ups” standard down the voters’ throats. Starting both candidates on a baseline of zero, Sarah Palin didn’t hit negative territory so she did a bang-up job. The good governor remained at baseline zero for 90 minutes.

Is Sarah’s folksiness a “bit much”? I think it is, gosh darn it. I mean gee whiz, Governor – people don’t always talk that way, do they? Is the governor just like us? You know – she just might be. I mean really – how many of us can rattle off what we read at the drop of a hat?

Oh … that many of us …

Do we really want the backup to the most powerful man in the world to be just like you and me? Don’t we want someone a little bit better – just a tad more qualified than you, me, Cousin Phil or Aunt Tillie? I don’t see you, me or, average soccer mom Sarah “Joe 6-Pack” Palin as the backup president of the United States. The country needs and deserves better than baseline zero.