I Am Confused

From My Own Little Corner Okay, I am officially confused. After listening to John McCain say that Barack Obama is the most liberal senator in the senate, today he said that if we want eight more years of George W. Bush, then we should vote for him. Okay, so then George W. Bush is the most liberal president that we have ever had? I am seriously beginning to wonder about the thought processes of John McCain. Yesterday he told Pennsylvania that he heard that there had been some pretty nasty things said about them. Then he said that he couldn't agree more. When the people booed, he said that he couldn't disagree with them more. By the time he was done I was so thoroughly confused that I am still not sure that what I heard was what I heard. Then there was the speech several weeks ago, when he referred to us as "my fellow prisoners". Now I know that the campaign trail is long and arduous, but if campaigning is going to affect him like this, then what will the strains of the presidency do to his stability? I know that he was a prisoner of war and that he served his country in the armed services and continues to serve as a senator, but I don't know if that is necessarily a reason to vote for him, or that it qualifies him to run this country, especially at this particular time. In looking forward to the country that my children will inherit I personally feel that it time to take this country in a new direction. The old boys network hasn't done such a great job these last 40 years,(with the exception of Bill Clinton and to a lesser extent, Jimmy Carter, although he was dealt a bad hand) and the party that gave us Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush needs to be replaced and the other party needs to have a shot at fixing what the Republicans have so thoroughly tried to destroy. They promised that if we had a Republican President and a Republican congress, that they would REDUCE the size of government, decrease the amount of our deficit, make us safer, NOT nation build, and oh, so many others. Well, they had their chance, and the end result is a country that I barely recognize anymore. So, in two weeks we will go to the polls and elect a new President, and as I stated earlier, I am confused by John McCain's latest campaign and smear tactics. However, the one thing that I am not confused about is the direction that I want to see this country that I love go in, and as a result I will be voting for change. I will be voting for Barack Obama, and I am doing so proudly. May your God bless, and keep, you and yours. Pray for peace and enlightenment. Don't forget to vote on November 4Th.

"Kennedyesque" or "Nixonesque"

From My Own Little Corner I just finished watching the latest debate. This debate was a town hall style and, according to all the pundits, it was supposed to be John McCain's night. Neither threw any mud, with the exception of the "that one" remark by John McCain. Saying that about his opponent was uncalled for and showed a total lack of respect at the least and total disdain at the most. Both tended to ramble at times and in some instances the question asked was not answered, but overall, it was pretty much what I expected. I liked the information that Barack Obama gave about health care, the environment, the economy, and catching Osama bin Laden and dealing with Pakistan and Iran. John McCain did not impress me with his style or his answers. He appeared angry most of the time that he wasn't being allowed to attack Barack Obama. He was condescending to the audience (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-you probably never heard of them before), and thought that he was funny, and that doesn't work when you aren't preaching to the choir. Senator McCain said that the new Secretary of the Treasury would buy out the mortgages of people in trouble. That is great. But what about the people with NINJA (no income, no jobs, no assets)loans? How will you guarantee those loans? And he called the bailout a rescue plan, when I don't think the majority of the country thinks that paying for the stupidity of large companies, that give huge severance and stock packages to the CEO's that caused this mess, is a rescue. It is tossing money down a rat hole. Barack Obama offered a plan for medical coverage that, to me, seemed reasonable and plausible. I would love to be able to purchase the same coverage that our congressmen and president have. John McCain thinks that you can get health care for $5000.00 a year. I'm sorry, but if you have a family, preexisting condition, are elderly, or any other number of problems, there is no way. Trust me on that one. I also thought that Barack Obama's plan for stabilizing the economy was more feasible. It is time to review the budget of this country and get rid of the excess baggage. And if you think that you can buy services or products without money, then you haven't learned anything from the latest economic crisis. You need to have income and in this country, like it or not, that comes from taxes. It is time for a fair taxation plan. That includes getting rid of the excessive tax breaks that are being given to these huge companies that have been lobbying congress for all these years. You know, like the oil companies? And it includes making sure that the people with more money pay more taxes. That means if you make over $250,000.00 a year your taxes will go up and if your income is below $200,00.00 they will go down. I didn't really hear a plan from John McCain other than a freeze on spending on everything except military and some essential programs. Does that include keeping the veteran's benefits in place or will he freeze them too? And who decides what is essential? A man with assets in excess of $100,000,000.00? After all the dust settled, I felt that Barack Obama came off as intelligent, willing to work with anyone to get the job done, and eager to hear the opinions and problems of every day Americans. John McCain just looked tired and annoyed most of the evening and like he would rather be anywhere than there. He left very quickly after the debate and didn't seem the least bit interested in what the audience had to say. I thought that Barack Obama seemed very "Kennedyesque" and John McCain kind of "Nixonesque". As I sit here and watch the coverage on CNN I just heard David Gergen make a comment that I hope isn't true. He implied that people might not vote for Barack Obama because he is black. I can only say that I certainly hope that he is wrong, that most people will vote for what is best for this country, and not based on a party or a man's race. After watching them answer all the questions, I can honestly say that there is now no question who is better able to serve as commander-in-chief of the United States. And in my own humble opinion, that man is BARACK OBAMA. May your God bless, and keep, you and yours. Pray for peace and enlightenment. Remember, VOTE November 4!!!!

Let the Mudslinging Begin

From My Own Little Corner So, Sarah Palin wants to start the mudslinging, does she? Is she sure about that? There are some "associations" in her past and in John McCain's past that I am not so sure they want people to be reminded of.

Ever hear of the Alaskan Independence Party? Like that name? They are a political party in Alaska that Sarah Palin's husband Todd (first dude) belonged to from 1995 to 2002. Their motto is "Alaska First--Alaska Always", a far cry from "Country First". This political party wants a vote for secession from the union for Alaska, the 49Th state. Sarah Palin has had her dealings with this group also.

Earlier this year, Palin sent a video message to the AIP for its annual convention, where AIP vice chair George Clark told the small crowd that Palin "was an AIP member before she got the job as a mayor of a small town –- that was a non-partisan job. But you get along to go along -– she eventually joined the Republican Party, where she had all kinds of problems with their ethics, and well, I won’t go into that. She also had about an 80 percent approval rating, and is pretty well sympathetic to her former membership." (1)

Now, I do not intend to imply that Sarah Palin is a secessionist. Unless you use her reasoning, then there is guilt by association. The main difference here is that Barack Obama was EIGHT YEARS OLD when Bill Ayers, the terrorist member of the Weather Underground that he is supposedly "paling' around with" was being accused of his terrorist activities. The charges were eventually dropped for FBI misconduct. Sarah Palin was Governor of Alaska when she sent her video message to the AIP.

And don't forget the investigation into abuse of power allegations concerning the firing of Walt Monegan, the commissioner of public safety on July 11, 2008 because he wouldn't fire her ex brother-in-law. Neither she nor her staff have complied with the subpoenas issued by the court and have refused to testify at the hearings. She had originally agreed to cooperate with the investigation until shortly after she became the nominee for vice president.

Then there is the association of John McCain with the Keating Five in the late 1980's and early 1990's. For anyone not aware of the Keating Five, here’s a very simple summary:

Charles Keating owned a savings and loan in California. He was illegally using the money of his bank’s customers to give loans to himself and friends that they didn’t have to repay, and to speculate on risky real estate investments, which was strictly forbidden by U.S. law (and was one cause of the Great Depression).

When the feds found out what was going on and launched an investigation into Keating and his company, Keating called five U.S. Senators whom he had wined, dined, and lavished with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations and personal gifts.

Keating asked the five Senators to tell the feds to bug off, and the five Senators, later known as the Keating Five, obliged, meeting with federal investigators twice and pressuring them to stop investigating Keating’s crimes. They bought Keating some time, but the feds didn’t give up and eventually Keating was nailed. The reason the feds were so persistent was because Keating wasn’t playing with mere chump change. Keating blew $3.4 billion through illegal personal loans and bad investments, and the FDIC had to reimburse Keating’s customers who had been ripped off.

(Background Info - Keating wasn’t the only Savings and Loan owner who was committing fraud, 20% of the S&L’s that failed during that three year period were found to have been caused by fraud and/or insider trading. The failure of the Lincoln Savings and Loan and other S&L’s pushed the country into a recession, costing the U.S. government $126 billion dollars in FDIC insurance payouts to investors. All of this came to a crescendo during the first year of the presidency of George H.W. Bush, who pushed through the S&L bailout plan to keep the economy afloat.)

When the involvement of the Keating Five was made public, a scandal erupted and the Senate Ethics Committee launched their own investigation into whether the Keating Five had violated Senate ethics rules. The other four Senators left office either immediately or within one term. John McCain was formally rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for exercising “poor judgment” for intervening with the federal regulators on behalf of Keating, but because McCain accepted Keating’s gifts of travel and vacations to Bahama while McCain was a member of the House of Representatives (he served one term there before moving to the Senate), the Senate claimed they had no jurisdiction to censure McCain. (However the meetings to pressure federal regulators occurred during the first few months of McCain serving in the Senate in 1987, so that excuse doesn’t hold up). (2)

These are just 2 of the skeletons in the closet that could be used to counter the latest claims from Sarah Palin. As I have said before and to quote the American proverb, "People in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones".

Everyone has had an association with someone that they regret. The difference between us regular Joes and the candidates, is that with us nobody is trying to use it to their advantage or against us.

So let's stick to the problems that face our country and what the candidates are going to do about it, and quit with the mudslinging.

May your God bless, and keep, you and yours. Pray for peace and enlightenment.

Sources

1. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/members-of-frin.html
2. http://mccainkeatingfive.com/?p=6