Crian Padayachee: Hey Griper, things are back to normal, my cousin left and I am now catching up. Good times though, we have flood warnings all over [...]
Griper: howdy amigo. just thought i'd check to see how Ireland was doing over there.
Well I was just watching a bit of a CNN a few hours ago when they announced that we will definitely hear Senator Obama’s pick for Vice President this week. I would probably not believe this statement if it wasn’t for the convention next week that I took off two days off of work to watch (Yes that is sadly true ). The problem is that with less than a week to go, even with all the speculation in the media and the blogosphere; I am nowhere close to gleaming the most likely possibility. The latest data from CNN’s Veepstakes:
The above screenshot indicates that Senator Biden is now the most likely choice according to the market but this is probably due to his trip to Georgia. Governor Sebelius is slightly below him but I imagine this is because she is a popular choice but not the most likely due to the Obama campaign stating they would not choose a female VP. So where does that leave us? I don’t know and like many people have said, it could be someone we don’t even suspect. With that in mind, watch the video below and leave your choice of most likely VP for Senator McCain and Senator Obama, the winner gets bragging rights:
I was going to write another politically orientated post tonight but given that it is approaching 1am, I decided to post my first piece of music. I don’t think this will be a regular thing but a change every now and then keeps life exciting. Is politics like a piano? The way I see it, the piano is one of the very few instruments that can convey a complex melodic and harmonic interplay. This interplay is analogous, in a way, for the relations between Democrats and Republicans. Anyway I don’t want to delve to deeply into this idea, here is my favorite piece: Schubert Impromptu Op. 90 No. 3 by Krystian Zimerman:
Eli Pariser at MoveOn.Org released a new video entitled: “5 things you should know.” This video touches on a few issues that some liberals like myself need to know in order to ensure an Obama victory in the general election. Everyone who has visited this blog has questioned the use of polling so I won’t go over this point again but here are the 5 things you should know:
The Polls
The Smears
The Misperceptions
The Myths
Our Path To Victory
Please watch the video for more detail but personally my number 1 goal from now until the election is to correct the misperceptions people have about Senator Obama e.g he is Muslim, and some of the deliberate smears spread around in emails and in books, you will notice that I have included the Obama campaign’s recent release of a document debunking every smear in the two most recently released Obama books:
The GAO recently released a report in July 2008 entitled:
Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations,1998-2005
I cannot take credit for finding this story as that clearly goes to the folks over at C&L but I felt like they did not make the necessary conclusions. One of the big divisions between those on the left and right, Obama and McCain, liberals and conservatives is that liberals believe Corporations should pay their fair share in taxes while conservatives believe that excessively taxing corporations reduces their competitiveness (something to that effect). The Tax Policy Center recently released and updated analysis of the respective candidates tax proposals in which they state Senator McCain’s position:
Corporate income tax reductions. Corporations currently pay tax at rates of 15, 25, 34, and 35 percent and are also subject to 3 and 5 percent surtaxes in certain income ranges. Senator McCain proposes to cut the maximum corporate income tax rate from 35 to 25 percent.
The problem with reducing the maximum corporate tax rate by 10% is that 54.9% of U.S controlled corporations offered no tax liability for at least one year between 1998 - 2005. During that same time corporate sales in the USA totaled $2.5 trillion dollars according to Senators Levin and Dorgan who requested the study:
Now let’s pause and think for a moment the amount of money the American government would have lost if the corporate tax rate had been reduced to 25% at that time. The Government would have then recieved 25% of a possible 45.1% of companies whose tax liability achieved the maximum tax bracket. Given the rising cost of the Iraq war and other possible conflicts, can we afford to give companies and even greater break then the one they already enjoy? What about the oil companies, where do they fit into this, I would personally not be surprised if someone lookes through their financial statements to discover how much of an advantage they have been taking of the tax system.
Senator McCain has been hemorrhaging republicans of late with a few GOP members actively supporting Senator Obama:
The group, called Republicans for Obama, is led by two moderate Republicans — James Leach, a former U.S. representative from Iowa, and Lincoln Chafee, a former U.S. senator from Rhode Island — along with Rita Hauser, a prominent fund-raiser for President George W. Bush.
This is no surprise to some politicians and conservatives who have experienced the complexities of Senator McCain’s flip floppishness in the past. You might ask what of PUMA? They are allegedly millions strong who will vote for Senator McCain if Senator Obama is nominated however thanks to the excellent investigative journalism at the DailyKos we find out the truth:
The truth? The overwhelming and unstoppable PUMA coalition that Bowers and other selected-not-elected leaders have repeatedly claimed numbers in the 2-2.5 million members range could only get together sixty people for the “conference” and, because they didn’t meet the 250 registrant requirement imposed by the Wardman, they had to move the conference to … get this … the Country Inn next to Dulles Airport in Sterling, VA. Is it any wonder they got way secretive and polished up their double agent decoder rings before this monumental event? Their “conference,” which was scheduled to be held at a picture-perfect symbolic location in the heart of our nation’s capital (the press woulda loved it!), had to be moved due to poor attendance numbers to a crappy, middle-of-nowhere airport hotel located approximately 30 miles away from D.C. proper.
This little excerpt does not do the whole article justice but do head over there if you have been worried about the PUMA’s like I have been. Now that I am less worried about Senator Obama’s problems with a minority of the Democratic Base, what about Senator McCain, how is he going to convince conservatives that he is really conservative? Yesterday I wrote about the USA Today game in which you could match your opinions with the respective candidates however the key thing to note is that Senator Obama and Senator McCain have similar policies on 3 issues.
Same-Sex Marriage
Global Warming
Immigration
It could be argued that Senator McCain effectively leans progressive on the issues of Global Warming and Immigration upsetting a lot of conservatives. I am not going to make that argument given the time constraints tonight but it can be said without hesitation that these stances reflect the big pool of independents in the general election. If Senator McCain can win these independents decisively then he just might take the election though the likelihood of that happening is slim at best. Rachel Maddow has the politicians take on ditching McCain:
). The problem is that with less than a week to go, even with all the speculation in the media and the blogosphere; I am nowhere close to gleaming the most likely possibility. The latest data from CNN’s Veepstakes:
