McCain and Obama Tax Plans

The Washington Post recently published a very useful graphic of how Sen. McCain's and Sen. Obama's proposed tax plans will affect taxpayers at a variety of income levels. For those of you trying to make sense of this issue, this should provide a good starting point:

According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. For the approximately 147,000 families that make up the top 0.1 percent of the income scale, the difference between the two plans is stark. While McCain offers a $269,364 tax cut, Obama would raise their taxes, on average, by $701,885 - a difference of nearly $1 million.

Real Answers to Real Problems

The sky was the limit for Sarah Palin, it seemed, until it turned out that she was only a pig smeared with lipstick McCain found in some barn.

No one can know for sure if Barack Obama meant to take a shot at Sarah Palin's pit bull comment during the RNC, comparing her hockey mom persona to a pit bull with lipstick.  That is, no one can know except for the Republicans.  They KNOW that Obama purposefully insulted Palin and demanded for an apology for the "sexist remarks" made by the Illinois Senator.  This could have potentially been disastrous for the Democratic Party, if it wasn't so swiftly and properly handled by Obama.  "What their campaign has done this morning is the same game that has made people sick and tired of politics in this country.  They seize on an innocent remark, try to take it out of context, throw up an outrageous ad because they know that it's catnip for the news media," Obama said in a speech in Virginia not long after his controversial remark.  Obama played this very smart, where he could have been stupid.  The wrong way to go at this type of defamation would be the general public's approach: if McCain said it in reference to Hilary Clinton, what's wrong with Obama saying it?, because not only would it belittle him to fight on the same level as the "lies and phony outrage and Swift-boat politics" of the Republican side, but effectively it would make him acknowledge -whether he apologized or not- that he used it in malicious content, instead of an "innocent remark".  He dismissed it completely, opting to not defend his remark at all which would have made him look guilty.  At the same time he chose to connect with the American people lamenting, "You know who ends up losing at the end of the day?  It's not the Democratic candidate, it's not the Republican candidate.  It's You.  The American People, because, then, we go another year, or another four years, or another eight years, without addressing the issues that matter to you."  How selfless of him...

For the record, both McCain and Obama used the "lipstick on a pig" phrase, and both directed this phrase not at a person, but at a person's policies.  In fact the only difference between them was that McCain's comment was never under fire until now.  And it's easy to see why it wasn't.  It didn't come less than a week after the so-called person he was insulting made a very similar comment to his.  It didn't come at the same time that one of his crowds began chanting in reference to the same so-called person he was making fun of, unlike the Obama supporters who recently chanted, "No pit bull, No pit bull!". We will never know if Obama meant to insult Palin.  The bottom line is he shouldn't have taken the risk, especially so soon after Palin's RNC speech, as to give nothing for the Republican Party to go on.  Now he has apologized to the American people, but on behalf of the Republicans, who are seemingly continuously trying to distract the American people from the real issues.  But was it entirely their fault?  Someone had to spark the issue in the first place.  Obama started the mess, and cleaned the mess...for now.

Now on to the real issue, was Obama actually reading the "lipstick on a pig" comment from the palm of his hand during his speech?

Who is Sarah Palin?

I thought this article was interesting since we all want to know more about Sarah Palin! This article talks is about "1o things you didn't know about Sarah Palin"!

September 11 for the Candidates and Its Significance

Despite the last two weeks where the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, and the Republicans' candidate, John McCain have been sparring against each other on the issues facing citizens in the upcoming election had a one assumed cease-fire today as both men visited the remains of the World Trade Center; giving their respects to those who died in the attacks. After both men walked up to a reflection pool at the top of a long ramp, they each picked up one flower: Obama a pink one and McCain a yellow one; stood on the side of the pool and placed both flowers in. They then took a few seconds in silent remembrance.

Barack and John then spoke to members of the fire and police departments and then after a small discussion with others at the site, they left. A person close by is quoted to have heard Barack say to John, “All right sir, see you soon.” Even as both men are in a close race for the Presidency, it shows that they still have civility to each other; something most Op-Ed writers say has vanished once Obama received the nomination. While this is good, it also brings up the issue of terrorism that seems have to have gone into the back of voter's minds as of late, September 11th will always be remember in the hearts and souls of Americans.

Does Palin really have what it takes according to Tucker Bounds?

I watched McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds speaks with CNN's Campbell Brown about Gov. Sarah Palin. One of the issues that keeps coming up is how inexperienced Obama is to Palin; but when asked about those differences Tucker Bounds continue to not answer the question specifically, instead listed the things that Palin have done for Atlaska. Sharing the things that Palin has done didnt help answer the question of how are those things she have done relevant to becoming commander in chief such as what kind of expertise she has. Tucker Bounds talks about her experience but doesnt specify on them which I thought was weird if Palin is suppose to be so "experienced." Listing qualities of McCain doesnt help the fact that she doesnt look like a good candidate especially since she suppose to have so much experience that cant exactly be explained or the fact that she supposed to be the next commander in chief if something happens to McCain. To differnciate between Obama and Palin seems almost impossible since neither has actually been commander in chief, which cant be assumed that Palin is more of an candidate than Obama.

Matt Damon on Sarah Palin

One thing we know is that the line between politics and entertainment is increasingly blurry, particularly as politicians and their campaign managers foster the instant-gratification, sound-byte-loving sensibilities of voters.

Perhaps because they often fear they will damage their careers by offending fans who do not hold their views, major movie stars — despite Hollywood's specious reputation as a bastion of tradition-flouting liberals — very rarely speak in pointed terms about specific politicans, candidates and/or parties. Notable exceptions exist, of course, but in general, stars who command 7- or 8-figure salaries tend to keep a relatively low profile.

When someone known most widely for his star turn in the international box-office successes of the Bourne trilogy — films that challenge the action genre's typical nationalism — would risk alienating fans and even losing potentially lucrative roles in order to talk politics, it's worth taking a look at.

Mark Warner's Democratic Convention Speech

As I watched the Democratic National Convention, I was inspired by speech after speech as each speaker gave their own thoughts and plans for America, as well as their concerns on the direction the country has taken in the recent years. The time slot held by Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was given to former Virginia Governor Mark Warner. I was ready to listen to another speech filled with hope rhetoric and inspiring stories of hardship, yet I was thoroughly disappointed while listening to Warner's speech, which was misguided and seemed to lack any general direction. I felt as if the speech was too colloquial; there was nothing smart or eloquent about it. Warner repeatedly asked and answered his own questions such as, "...which candidate knows that we don't have another four years to waste? Barack Obama." In the beginning of the speech, Warner talks about his work on developing the first cell phone, a story which lacked a point or had any real value to the rest of the speech. Very few Americans can relate to being a budding entrepreneur and making a fortune off of a cutting edge technology which is why his experience was such a poor choice deliver to this audience. Warner also gave a sad attempt at a throwback to Obama's 2004 speech in which Obama famously spoke about not being a country of blue or red states, Warner proclaimed, "...it doesn't matter whether it's got a "D" or an "R" next to it, because this election.... this election is not about liberal versus conservative. It's not about left versus right. It's about the future versus the past." Whether or not this point was meant to be a deliberate resemblance of Obama's speech, it lacked the reference. In short, Warner's speech was uninspiring and half baked. This slot in the convention should have been offered to a Democrat who could actually provoke some thought and inspiration during this pivotal election.

Bristols body, Sarahs choice

I found an interesting article on Palins stance on teen pregnancy. With all the hoopla surrounding her daughter, its an interesting look at how far parental consent can be carried

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