A reader e-mailed me this picture. I thought I would share it with you all.
Showing posts with label Palin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palin. Show all posts
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Great Debate Reaction
After any big event, I like to use my Facebook friends as a barometer of public opinion. I have friends of all different backgrounds and beliefs from across the country, so it is interesting to see what they think.Here is a quick snippet of Facebook statuses from friends in regards to the Vice Presidential Debate.
Jaya S. is wondering if it's rude that she might want Joe Biden for President. Yikes? Gobama though!
Ben S. Palin Rocks!
Trevor K is debated out, after watching both the US & Canadian election debates..LOL.
Kellie W. Holy crap balls, Palin may actually have a set of balls!
Rick W. wonders if the fourth grade class watching Palin feels dissed by not receiving a shoutout too.
Kenny G. sees how divided this country is in the status updates of his friends. So much hostility and mean-spiritedness on both sides. Makes me sad. :-(.
Andrea K. is laughing at the "Tina Fey in 08" picket sign in the background on MSNBC.
Joni N. didn't win the game of Palin Bingo. But "You Betcha" she marked out "Maverick."
Adam T. is happy how the debate went and had fun playing some Palin Bingo.
Al B. is still voting McCain/Palin and PROUD of it! You fu__ing ROCK Sarah Palin!!!
Fausto F. Oh Gwen is getting sassy! "Everyone gets extra credit tonight."
Sonia M is watching the debate...They're talking but they're not saying anything.
Ron R. is FRIGHTENED there are more than three people on the face of the planet that think Sarah Palin's ready to be 2nd in command of my country. Yikes!
Mark B. doesn't think that Sarah Palin knows the fundamental principals behind ANSWERING THE QUESTION! WTF!?!?!
Julie P. not a fan of Biden's dentures...McCain/Palin 2008!!
Laura L. can see Russia from her house!
Crystal B. is pissed, someone stole her McCain/Palin yard sign! Haters.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Fact Checking The Debate
Tonight’s debate was not nearly as train wreckish as I thought it would be. Joe Biden didn’t swallow his foot and Sarah Palin actually had a few answers prepared.They both spouted off a great deal of facts and figures. They talked about voting records and called each other out on fudging the details. But, the average American sitting at home had no idea if those facts were even legitimate.
The guys over at the Associated Press did a little fact checking for us and came up with some interesting findings.
Here’s the article:
Some facts adrift in veep debate
Facts went adrift on taxes, deregulation and more Thursday when Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden clashed in the vice presidential debate.
Some examples:
PALIN: Said of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama: "94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction."
THE FACTS: The dubious count includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.
___
BIDEN: Complained about "economic policies of the last eight years" that led to "excessive deregulation."
THE FACTS: Biden voted for 1999 deregulation that liberal groups are blaming for part of the financial crisis. The law allowed Wall Street investment banks to create the kind of mortgage-related securities at the core of the problem now. The law was widely backed by Republicans as well as by Democratic President Clinton, who argues it has stopped the crisis today from being worse.
___
PALIN: "Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell."
THE FACTS: Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska led an effort in 2005 to tighten regulation on the mortgage underwriters — McCain joined as a co-sponsor a year later. The legislation was never taken up by the full Senate, then under Republican control.
___
BIDEN: Warned that Republican presidential candidate John McCain's $5,000 tax credit to help families buy health coverage "will go straight to the insurance company."
THE FACTS: Of course it would, because it's meant to pay for insurance. That's like saying money for a car loan will go straight to the car dealer.
___
PALIN: "We cannot afford to lose against al-Qaida and the Shia extremists who are still there, still fighting us."
THE FACTS: She appeared to confuse the two main Muslim sects in Iraq. Al-Qaida is solely made up of Sunni Muslim militants. Through the course of the war, U.S. forces fought ferocious opposition from both the Sunnis and the country's dominant Shiite sects. Now, both groups are largely maintaining a cease-fire with the U.S. A much-diminished al-Qaida, mainly foreign fighters, remains the primary threat.
___
BIDEN: Said McCain supports tax breaks for oil companies, and "wants to give them another $4 billion tax cut."
THE FACTS: Biden is repeating a favorite saw of the Obama campaign, and it's misleading. McCain supports a cut in income taxes for all corporations, and doesn't single out any one industry for that benefit.
___
PALIN: Said the United States has reduced its troop level in Iraq to a number below where it was when the troop increase began in early 2007.
THE FACTS: Not correct. The Pentagon says there are currently 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 17,000 more than there were before the 2007 military buildup began.
___
BIDEN: "As a matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that he wants to do for the health care industry — deregulate it and let the free market move — like he did for the banking industry."
THE FACTS: Biden and Obama have been perpetuating this distortion of what McCain wrote in an article for the American Academy of Actuaries. McCain, laying out his health plan, only referred to deregulation when saying people should be allowed to buy health insurance across state lines. In that context, he wrote: "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
___
PALIN: Said Alaska is "building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets."
THE FACTS: Not quite. Construction is at least six years away. So far the state has only awarded a license to Trans Canada Corp., that comes with $500 million in seed money in exchange for commitments toward a lengthy and costly process to getting a federal certificate. At an August news conference after the state Legislature approved the license, Palin said, "It's not a done deal."
___
PALIN: "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year."
BIDEN: "The charge is absolutely not true. Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. The vote she's referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way."
THE FACTS: The vote was on a nonbinding budget resolution that assumed that President Bush's tax cuts would expire, as scheduled, in 2011. If that actually happened, it could mean higher taxes for people making as little as about $42,000. But Obama is proposing tax increases only on the wealthy, and would cut taxes for most others. In the March 14 budget resolution supported by Obama and Biden, McCain actually did not vote.
___
PALIN: Said a McCain-Palin administration "will support Israel," including "building our embassy ... in Jerusalem."
THE FACTS: Moving the U.S. Embassy from its present location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a perennial promise of presidential candidates courting the Jewish-American vote. In fact, moving the embassy is actually required by U.S. law. But successive administrations of both parties, including President Bush's, have made the same pledge only to find that the realities of Middle East peacemaking have forced them to invoke a waiver to delay it. Jerusalem is claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians, and Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. The city's status is a key issue of disagreement in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
THE FACTS: The dubious count includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.
___
BIDEN: Complained about "economic policies of the last eight years" that led to "excessive deregulation."
THE FACTS: Biden voted for 1999 deregulation that liberal groups are blaming for part of the financial crisis. The law allowed Wall Street investment banks to create the kind of mortgage-related securities at the core of the problem now. The law was widely backed by Republicans as well as by Democratic President Clinton, who argues it has stopped the crisis today from being worse.
___
PALIN: "Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell."
THE FACTS: Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska led an effort in 2005 to tighten regulation on the mortgage underwriters — McCain joined as a co-sponsor a year later. The legislation was never taken up by the full Senate, then under Republican control.
___
BIDEN: Warned that Republican presidential candidate John McCain's $5,000 tax credit to help families buy health coverage "will go straight to the insurance company."
THE FACTS: Of course it would, because it's meant to pay for insurance. That's like saying money for a car loan will go straight to the car dealer.
___
PALIN: "We cannot afford to lose against al-Qaida and the Shia extremists who are still there, still fighting us."
THE FACTS: She appeared to confuse the two main Muslim sects in Iraq. Al-Qaida is solely made up of Sunni Muslim militants. Through the course of the war, U.S. forces fought ferocious opposition from both the Sunnis and the country's dominant Shiite sects. Now, both groups are largely maintaining a cease-fire with the U.S. A much-diminished al-Qaida, mainly foreign fighters, remains the primary threat.
___
BIDEN: Said McCain supports tax breaks for oil companies, and "wants to give them another $4 billion tax cut."
THE FACTS: Biden is repeating a favorite saw of the Obama campaign, and it's misleading. McCain supports a cut in income taxes for all corporations, and doesn't single out any one industry for that benefit.
___
PALIN: Said the United States has reduced its troop level in Iraq to a number below where it was when the troop increase began in early 2007.
THE FACTS: Not correct. The Pentagon says there are currently 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 17,000 more than there were before the 2007 military buildup began.
___
BIDEN: "As a matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that he wants to do for the health care industry — deregulate it and let the free market move — like he did for the banking industry."
THE FACTS: Biden and Obama have been perpetuating this distortion of what McCain wrote in an article for the American Academy of Actuaries. McCain, laying out his health plan, only referred to deregulation when saying people should be allowed to buy health insurance across state lines. In that context, he wrote: "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
___
PALIN: Said Alaska is "building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets."
THE FACTS: Not quite. Construction is at least six years away. So far the state has only awarded a license to Trans Canada Corp., that comes with $500 million in seed money in exchange for commitments toward a lengthy and costly process to getting a federal certificate. At an August news conference after the state Legislature approved the license, Palin said, "It's not a done deal."
___
PALIN: "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year."
BIDEN: "The charge is absolutely not true. Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. The vote she's referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way."
THE FACTS: The vote was on a nonbinding budget resolution that assumed that President Bush's tax cuts would expire, as scheduled, in 2011. If that actually happened, it could mean higher taxes for people making as little as about $42,000. But Obama is proposing tax increases only on the wealthy, and would cut taxes for most others. In the March 14 budget resolution supported by Obama and Biden, McCain actually did not vote.
___
PALIN: Said a McCain-Palin administration "will support Israel," including "building our embassy ... in Jerusalem."
THE FACTS: Moving the U.S. Embassy from its present location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a perennial promise of presidential candidates courting the Jewish-American vote. In fact, moving the embassy is actually required by U.S. law. But successive administrations of both parties, including President Bush's, have made the same pledge only to find that the realities of Middle East peacemaking have forced them to invoke a waiver to delay it. Jerusalem is claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians, and Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. The city's status is a key issue of disagreement in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Sarah Palin Action Figures
Palin-mania has hit a new high. A month ago no one knew who this moose-hunting governor was and now she has an action figure.You can own your very own pint-sized version of the hard-nosed hockey mom for a mere $27.95. She joins the political ranks for Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama, who are already immortalized in plastic.
How is it that the Vice Presidential candidate is more popular than the actual person vying for the top spot? Her sudden popularity is mind-boggling. But, it should be interesting to see little boys and girls across the nation battling evil with their little Palin dolls.
One question though: What is her super hero name?
One question though: What is her super hero name?
Friday, August 29, 2008
"Just Not In My Lifetime"
“I thought that it would happen eventually, just not in my lifetime.”I heard some variation of those words twice in the last two days – about two different events. The first time was while interviewing a group of elderly black voters about Barack Obama’s historic nomination and the other was while interviewing a group of middle-aged Republicans about Sarah Palin.
I remember during the primary season welling up with pride when I saw Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton leading the way for the Democrats. I remember covering Obama and Clinton appearances and seeing people of all races, creeds and cultures coming together to push each forward. I knew we were on the edge of something special – I had no idea just how far it would go.
Now this morning, I wake up to the news that the Grand Old Party was considering a woman as the Vice Presidential pick. Where the hell did that come from? It’s a brand new day people – change is in the air everywhere you turn and there is thankfully no escaping it.
I’m so proud to be an American today. Only in this country could we see the events of the last year. 2008 will go down in history as the beginning of an era of diversity and equality. How far will this go? A gay or lesbian presidential candidate some day? Can it happen? Only time will tell.
No matter which party walks away victorious in November, the glass ceiling is at least cracked – if not shattered.
God Bless America.
VP Watch The Sequel
A real quick one before I go to the morning meeting.Sen. John McCain is set to announce his running mate this afternoon in just a few hours and he’s got something up his sleeves. I woke up this morning to two surprises – Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty says it's not him and so does Mitt Romney. Say what?
My next logical conclusion – Joe Lieberman it is. Forget logical thinking, there seems to be a new front-runner out of nowhere. Fox News is reporting that Alaska governor Sarah Palin is likely the choice. If this is true, the game has in fact changed.
What some Democrats are calling the “Biden Blunder” could become a fatal mistake.
I don’t know much about Palin, but from what I understand she has more executive experience than Obama, McCain and Biden. An already interesting race could heat up.
We’ll talk again after the announcement.
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