Extension of jobless Benefits

It is obvious that America has faced one of the worst financial crises. In response, to the horrible economic climate the senate has voted to extend unemployment benefits by seven weeks in every state. The bill calls for benefits to be extended by 13 weeks in states with an unemployment rate of at least 6 percent. President Bush announced that he will sign the bill, which was approved by the House in October. In September, Bush had threatened to veto a broader stimulus bill that included the extension of jobless benefits. In most states, unemployment benefits are paid for a maximum of 26 weeks. Ironically, the Senate vote came on the same day the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of people filing for unemployment insurance had reached a 16-year high. U.S. job losses have been increasing. This month, the Department of Labor reported that the economy lost 240,000 jobs in October, bringing the total number of jobs shed in 2008 to nearly 1.2 million. The unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent, a 14-year high, last month. Companies reporting layoffs in past week include Citigroup, which slashed 20 percent of its work force, or 50,000 jobs, the biggest cut by a corporation in 15 years. Financial services firm Fidelity Investments announced that it will cut 1,700 jobs and Sun Microsystems reported that it would lay off 6,000 people, or 18 percent of its work force. (To see actual article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/20/senate.jobless/index.html)
This problem is so terrible; the problem is not solved so until it is many people will continue to lose their jobs. The economy determines whether or not many families can afford to live or simply just get by in this chaos. This is the least the government could do by not fixing this problem when it wasn’t so bad. But wait until many people are unemployed to actually do something profitable. It won’t make a difference because the problem is maintaining a job where increasing the duration of benefits may not be enough for many families or anyone for that matter.

Obama Poised to Rebrand America?

Obama is confident to restore America's image internationally so now everyone is waiting to see his efforts in action. This task will not be so easy for Obama to complete; he has his work cut out for him. America's notorious image has declined in every region around the world. Obama's victory as president of the United States represents America starting over in terms of fixing America's problems. America's reputation has taken quite toil thanks to opposing factors such as the Iraq war. Dick Martin, author of Rebuilding Brand America states, “Changing America's standing in the world was going to be the work of a generation, and it would have to start with some kind of grand gesture that demonstrated that things were changing. His election in itself is that kind of grand gesture." To many people like Martin, Obama is an incarnation of change and is admired for that quality. Police estimates that more than 200,000 people came to watch Obama's victory speech. Bush's presidency was very much unpopular so for America's image to be restored by Obama is very much hopeful.
Obama’s efforts to change America’s image is a movement in its self because it was so easy for America to “mess up,” it is hard to actually rebuild. Being president is a job that is not suppose to be easy and requires so much work. Although Obama’s efforts seem too good to be true, it was also too good to be true for him to be president and he did it. It was a challenge to persuade America that the right man for the job would be African American. Obama’s approach is to include Americans with his process as well still be cautious. The faith Obama have given Americans is exactly how he works. Now all we can do now is wait to see that process that we are promised.

WHO WANTS TO WORK FOR OBAMA???

"The Obama transition team is sending a seven-page, 63-item questionnaire to every candidate for Cabinet and other high-ranking positions in the incoming administration. The questions include everything from information on family members, Face book pages, blogs and hired help to links to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, American International Group and troubled banks as well as lawsuits, gifts, resumes, loans and other topics of interest. Keep in mind that there are about 7,000 positions to fill which includes 15 Cabinet positions and nearly 200 ambassadorships as well as agency heads and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisers, and top aides to those officials. This sounds like a big job but that's not even half of it. The largest part of the questionnaire asks appointed officials (some that are in high rank positions) and their spouses to list real estate and other business transactions, affiliations and relationships as well as personal financial and tax information. The questions also go in depth about writings of any kind, speeches, testimony, online communications and even personal diaries.
One can argue that Obama's question seem very contradicting because some of the questions he want answered are some things that was pointed out about him. For a example, one of the questions requires immigration status of any kind. Obama's grandmother who was not a citizen was living in the U.S. Another example would be that he was accused of having ties to William Ayers so it seems that his questions are bias/contradicting.
However, I believe that it’s very logical to want to know the people that you’re working with especially in this time of turmoil. If this much intense information and background check was implied many of our problems would’ve been avoided. It is wise to take this precaution where Obama would be aware of the people he is working with as well as any situation that could arise from the result of the questions. I think a lot could be accomplished just by simply asking questions.

Palin says she would be "honored" to help Obama

Palin said that she would be honored to help Obama "even though he hung around an 'unrepentant domestic terrorist.'" She said that she would help Obama with the issues she spoke about during the campaign. She also states that she is concerned about Obama's ties to William Ayers. "If anybody still wants to talk about it, I will," she said. "Because this is an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up, to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol. That's an association that still bothers me, and I think it's fair to still talk about it."Palin seems like a "sore-loser," she needs to get past the fact that she and John McCain just didn’t win the election. Obama don’t need her help she didn’t know what she was doing for the most part during the campaign. Her judgments against Obama didn’t have any impact during the campaign, so what is her reason to put people against Obama now that he is president? It's annoying that after her loss that she is still trying to attack Obama with the same claim that still haven’t worked. Obama came this far alone and he can accomplish his plans and visions alone. She has lost her popularity and created a worst image for her taking cheap shots at Obama when the election is over. She can always go back to Alaska and implement her ideas there “maybe to an audience that wants to listen.”

ITS NOW OR NEVER...THE TIME IS NOW !

Today is the most historic day in history; many voters are hitting the polls in large numbers. We will either have the first African American president or the oldest president and first female vice-president. Many voters feel excited to votes because this is one of the most important elections. The voting turn out is historic because many people of different races and some people who are disabled also took place in today's election. Many voters had to wait on long line due to the long lines to vote. The attendances for this election have been very high, where as in some states like New Hampshire 100% of voters registered all voted. The 2008 presidential election is the most expensive in history. "Obama repeatedly shattered fundraising records by soliciting donations over the Internet. As of Tuesday, Obama had raised more than $639 million, compared with the $360 million raised by McCain." CNN polls shows that Obama has the advantage with the 5% undecided votes and electoral votes.
Obama haven’t lost his lead in the campaign. I think that Obama will win the election because of his advantage and due to his charisma and determination on change. Obama is still receiving support with the amount of money he was able to raise in comparison to McCain. At this point every action that each candidate does seems like a competition. I think it is possible to tell who is really going to win by polls and each candidate status of popularity at this point, which is where I feel Obama has won. It is obvious that he impacted many voters with his speeches as well as with plans that can actually save America from its crisis. Obama campaign on change has given him many supporters. So I personally feel that Obama has the edge and will win the election.

Is Obama's aunt an illegal immigrant?

Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango from Kenya is living in the Unites States and is facing some problem with immigration. Associates Press revealed that Obama's aunt speaks about living in the United States illegal in memoirs. It also claims that Zeituni is living in government houseing in Boston dispite the fact that the immigration judge denied her request for asylum four years ago. Zeituni not leaving the country wouldnt be a criminal act but an administration violation. CNN wasnt able to show her immigration status. Obama's campaign havent responded to CNN's comment. Zeiituni donated to Obama's campaign on different occasions and taken the titile as a "volunteer resident health advocate." The spokesperson for Obama's campaign says that Obama dosent know about the immigrant status of his aunt and that the necessary procedures would be taken.
I dont think that this issue would really impact Obama's campaign because its not a big issue. Then again it is close to election and it can be percieved in so many ways, with McCain finding every little thing to attach Obama it could be a bad positon for Obama. As long as it doesnt seem that Obama's aunt is not getting special treatment as someone who is in the country illegally, Obama's campaign wouldnt be affected. This can serve as another issue for his patriotism to be questioned because he is looked as a non-American.

Obama 'congradulates' McCain on Cheney Endorsement

Obama's target is the swing votes and he is very determined. Obama started with a morning rally in Henderson, Nevada and later went to Pueblo, Colorado and Springfield Missouri. Dick Cheney says that he will be voting for John McCain. Obama attacked Cheney for supporting McCain by endorsing him where he complimented McCain for receiving the endorsement. He also states that the endorsement didn’t come easy and he deserves it. According to Obama, “He knows that with John McCain, you get a twofer: George Bush's economic policy and Dick Cheney's foreign policy. But that's a risk we cannot afford to take." In other words, Obama says that McCain will have both qualities of both Bush and Cheney, whose policies and plans didn’t help America. So he is saying that McCain have qualities from two people who haven’t exactly steered America in the right path. In Nevada, Obama spoke about his tax plan defending it against "socialist" claims. Clinton joined Obama in Beckley, West Virginia where he supported and defended Obama's economic plans.
Biden says that he hopes that McCain end his campaign on a positive note because McCain is constantly attacking Obama. He feels that McCain is being personally vicious. Biden is holding events in Bowling Green, Ohio and Marion, Ohio. However, Palin went to Central Florida where she focused on financial concerns where many people are over the age of sixty five. Palin also shifted her focus to attacking Obama.
The election is so close and both McCain and Obama needs to step their game up because it now or never. At this point, attacking any candidate wouldn’t do much justice because it’s the time that should be taken to prove how worthy each candidate are. The toughest job for the candidates right now is to persuade the swing states to vote for them. I think that Obama took a better approach than Palin with his attacks at McCain. I think Palin was too harsh and Obama was more direct so it wouldn’t affect his image. But Palin on the other hand can impact voters by coming across too strong at her opponent.

A last push to deregulate

The White House is ready to pass a set of laws that have weakened the government before President Bush leaves office. The laws include the ones that didn’t work during the "Bush Era," and would be hard for the next president to fix. Some of the policies would be more flexible on private industries such as farms and other policies would help clear obstacles like activities that contribute to Global Warming. These laws can be undone through public opinion. The White House spokesman, Tony Fratto said that the White House is doing all it can that regulations last for a long time because it serves the best interest of the nation. There are so many new regulations considered and only a few are actually considered. Few regulations will be considered with President Bush diminishing role as president. This much activity in the White House has many lobbyists busy who fears that the industry wouldn’t be a priority so lobbyist are working hard to prevent that from happening. It's important to make sure that well established laws stay for a long time. However, I feel that Bush policies shouldn’t be trusted due chaos he brought during his presidency. Although, the laws are said to be based on public opinion some of the laws that are trying to be established are not being considered, but isn’t public opinion valuable? It's hard to realize that many of Bush's policies are getting deregulated, there should've been this much activity in The White House when Bush was president. I’m curious of what The White House is considering as laws that work; I don’t see any policies worth keeping. I don’t think the lobbyists should try to fix anything that hasn’t work because it’s the job of the new commander in chief to really fix the mess in The White House.

Palin accuses Obama for having ties to a "radical professor" at Columbian University

Palin says that Obama has ties to Columbian University professor, Rashid, Khalidi; stating that he used to be the spokes person for the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Of course Obama's website says that Palin's remarks are false. Palin feels that she is not negative campaigning but "calling someone out of their record.”But what does that means if it's not suppose to created bad media for Obama's campaign? Palin also states that Rashid Khalidi is another radical professor from the neighborhood who spent a lot of time with Obama.
However, the McCain campaign has repeatedly try to show that Obama has also has ties to the 1960's radical, William Ayers, founder of Weather Underground and a professor of Illinois. This just shows how desperate both McCain and Palin are in terms of their own campaign is not going well so the only thing left is to make their opponent, Barack Obama look bad. The Obama
The Obama campaign called Pallin’s remarks "recycled manufactured controversy from the McCain campaign to distract voters’ attention from John McCain support of President Bush. It also raises the question of why wasn't this issue brought to attention six months ago? The answer to that is that there's a week left from picking Obama who has an advantage and electing him as president.
Obama said McCain has spent the last few days calling him "every name in the book and don't know what's next. By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich," Obama said.
McCain is just trying to distract voters because time is winding down to the election and he lost his advantage. All he has is Palin who looks more radical than Obama bringing up allegations now that the election is close. I’m sure it wouldn’t do much justice because the election is leading to Obama no matter what story she tells. It is weird that both McCain and Palin decide to bring up bad stories about Obama now, where was this earlier in the campaign? It just looks like a secret weapon gone badly.

Palin's Off Script Comments

McCain's aides were upset that Palin spoke "unscript" and brought attention back to her wardrobe which has risen some controversy. She spoke about The Republican National Committee's (RNC) spending $150,000 on her family. Palin's remarks about the spending was that her wardrobe is rediculous and the clothes are not her property and and the things that the RNC purchased for her, she is not taking them. McCain adviser told CNN that the comments that Palin made were not the remarks given to her to talk about. However, Palin's aide defends her by saying that Palin felt that she needed to defend her self against the controversy of her wardrobe. CNN sources revealed that there were tension between McCain's and Palin's aides. McCain's sources revealed that this wasnt the first time Palin has spoke about things that she wasnt suppose to and it seem that she is trying to defend her self with putting McCain's campaign at risk. Both Palin'and McCain's advisors discussed that when Palin was elected that her media attention would be limited because she is not ready McCain's source says that Palin lacks the understanding on many important issues as well as keeping her up to speed.
It is obvious that Palin wasnt the best candidate that McCain could have elected to be his vice president candidate. It's obvious that Palin is a puppet in the whole campaign just someone that some people could relate to. When she speaks on her own, Palin shows how inexperienced she is and creates bad media for McCain's campaign. This just points out repeatedly that Palin really does not know what she is doing and if given the opportunity to be president, that she would not know what to do with that as well.

Is race a factor when it comes to voting?

Theres a new poll that states that race wouldnt be a big factor when it comes to voting. For Obama to be the first African American president would be a symbolic change. But many people feel that many people is voting for Obama because of his race. Many Republicans say that race influences their votes where they wouldnt be voting Democrats this year claimed by CNN polling director,Holland. He also states that the amount of votes Obama may be loosing due to his race will be equal to the amount of votes he is getting, where race would work with and against Obama. The poll will also show that age will also be a factor too. McCain would be the oldest president, so for many voters his votes would also impact McCain's standing as well.
When deciding on a candidate there are many factors that will either make or break each candidate. Both McCain and Obama has potential down falls that can be seen through polls. So to point out that race is the reason why some people are supporting Obama is contradictory because some people is voting for McCain may be for the same reason. Theres so much to consider, but the main focus on voting has a lot to do with what each candidate would do to office.

Biden vs. Palin

In terms of how each candidate should act towards this debate is evident especially since they both have some kind of weakness, such as Palin inexperience. The way each candidate approach each other has been counted for such as how Palin asked Biden if she may call him Joe which also shows similarity towards the young and old distinction is being played with Obama and McCain as well. Palin has also taken the approach to applaud Biden for his opinions instead of "bashing" his claims. This was a smart role for Palin since her inexperience would be questioned if he was to cynical towards Biden when her accountablity is constantly questioned.On the issue of same sex, both Palin and Biden both were opposed. How ever, Biden claim that he want to give same sex couples the same crediablity as heterosexual couples. But Palin says that she supports the "traditional family values." Before being direct about where she stood, she made sure that Biden also agreed. This action made me question if she did this for understanding or to not make her self look like the "bad guy."On the issue of deregulation, Palin avoided the question that was asked of her and replied that she will answer the question the way she feels that she need to. Thus, instead of answering the question, Palin just talked about her credentials which had nothing to do with what was really asked. Biden says that the reason she is avoiding this question is because show that her "team" support deregulation.Palin says that it is not patriotic to raise taxes for Big Business when it would decrease the "growing economy."( This means that she want Big Business to prosper for sake of the economy-not mentioning the American people that she is so "passionate" about).I noticed that Biden emphasizing on important difference he share with Palin really had an affect on the audience and the way one would think about the positon they are placed in. When Biden broke down the health plan it is evident that the audience did have an affect to that. His ability to emphasize on his points than to really ridicule Palin, seems to make him more attracting to watch and listen. How ever, Palin has occasionally been playing the "mom card" where she feels that she can relate to everyone "since her family is so diverse" and her connection to the kitchen table. Biden has also shared his experience of being a parent to make his point of experience actually noticed since Palin obviously gave her self the image of being a "mom."

McCain sudden change of view

The video of Senator Obama blaming lobbyist for financial crisis points questions McCain's effort to actually improve the government. Obama claims that McCain talks about all the experience he had in the where he helped create the chaos that is faced today. He voted on the same disaster policies over and over again that hasnt improve anything which contradicts the fact that he is " the one" that can fix the mess in Washington. Obama also questions the fact of his ability if he helped cause the mess so electing him to actually fix what is wrong wouldnt make sense if he supported the problem.

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.