A Horrible Day For McCain
The US applies a strategy of “appeasement” by sitting down with Iranian officials and Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki agrees with Obama’s 16 month timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
That just about undercuts McCain’s entire foreign policy campaign in one fell swoop…
Does President Bush Pay People For This?
If I ranted and raved about everything this horrible President did then there’d be nothing else to post on this site. But this one is so ludicrous I just can’t resist. After years of insisting he would never agree to a timeline in Iraq
he has flip-flopped and agreed to a timeline time horizon:
President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have agreed that a “general time horizon” is needed for the reduction of U.S. combat troops in Iraq, the White House said.
A time horizon? You would think that this was written by some Jon Stewart intern but no…
Montagano Looking Strong
Third District Democratic congressional candidate Mike Montagano is only one of 22 candidates nationwide to have raised more money than the incumbent. He’s also only one of 9 candidates to have more cash on hand than the incumbent. From the Montagano press release:
“Any time you outraise an incumbent, especially someone like Souder who funds his campaign with contributions from oil companies and then votes to give them tax breaks despite rising gas costs, it gives your campaign a huge amount of momentum,” Montagano explained.
I had a couple of different people suggest to me that Montagano wasn’t doing enough campaigning. I tried to explain to him that the guy has been everywhere and is out raising money which is exactly what he needs to do at this point. He simply cannot win unless he’s competitive in the fundraising arena.
Meanwhile, the challenge is starting to mount for Mark Souder:
- Montagano crushed Souder in primary votes
- Montagano has outraised Souder
- DCCC has added Montagano to their Red to Blue Emerging Races List
- Indiana is in play for the Presidential race
- Evan Bayh could be Obama’s VP choice
I never would’ve guessed it months ago but Montagano may be the Democrats’ best chance to pick up a Congressional seat in Indiana. And don’t think that will go unnoticed by the national party…
Nancy Pelosi is at it again
Well it did not take her long; the Democrats in Congress are considering another wasteful economic stimulus package!
The last wasteful economic stimulus package was passed in a bi-partisan fashion and served to increase the annual budget deficit even further and hence will increase the national debt to even higher levels.
The last economic stimulus package has mostly been distributed to taxpayers; however, some taxpayers are still waiting for their checks due to not filing their tax returns in a timely manner.
As expected the first economic stimulus package has not had a noticeable effect on the economy; however, before it is even entirely distributed the Democrats want to borrow even more money we do not have and spend it.
Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats ran on a platform of fiscal sanity. They promised to institute Pay-as-you-go rules which would prevent the budget deficit from increasing even higher. The Democrats have suspended their Pay-as-you-go rules several times on issues that are “too important” for Pay-as-you-go. Every single time they suspend the “paygo” rules they are violating their campaign promise and they are passing more debt on to future taxpayers.
For example the Democrats suspended the Pay-as-you-go rules when they passed another economic stimulus package earlier this year.
The press is reporting that Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic allies are considering a second economic stimulus package that would likely be centered around the following four points:
1. Increased spending on roads and other infrastructure. Out of their four ideas this has the highest chance of success; however, Federal spending on infrastructure and roads is already at an all time high without increasing it further. Needless to say, I am against this.
2. Expanding unemployment benefits even further. I have discussed this in earlier posts; however, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats seem determined to create an unemployment system that will discourage workers from finding new jobs and will allow unemployed workers to draw money for even longer. Needless to say, I am against this.
3. Ensuring even more money is spent on home-heating assistance for the poor. The Federal government is already slated to spend over 3 billion dollars to subsidize home heating. Apparently this is not enough for Nancy Pelosi. Needless to say, I am against this.
4. And the worst idea is to slate some Federal money for States who are struggling with budget problems. This is a terrible idea and I am not surprised that it is supported by Nancy Pelosi. California has created a fiscal mess for itself and I imagine Nancy Pelosi wants to take money from the fifty states and redirect it to those states who have made poor financial decisions. Needless to say, I am against this.
Unfortunately I imagine the Republicans will join with the Democrats and they will create a re-election stimulus package in an effort to ensure most of the incumbents are re-elected.
This economic stimulus package is an awful idea and the Democrats have completely abandoned their 2006 Campaign promise to restore fiscal sanity in Washington DC.
My predictions for the Presidential Election
I feel that Barrack Obama will be the next President of the United States. I think he will beat McCain in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan and that he will win enough other battleground states to win a relatively close election (Close per Electoral Votes).
I think he will choose Bill Richardson, the current Governor of New Mexico as his running mate.
I think that Barrack Obama will serve for one term and then be defeated in 2012. I think he will be defeated because I think the US economy is going to struggle over the next four years, because the media will turn on him and he will not be seen as “The Messiah” anymore, and because he will do at least of few of the things on the below list:
1. We will still have troops in Iraq past the 18 months he has promised; this will infuriate the Democratic base.
2. He will try to nationalize health care (Though he will fail).
3. He will let many of the Bush tax cuts expire and he will likely raise taxes. I prepare taxes for a living; almost all of the people I prepare taxes for feel that they pay too much in taxes; even those who pay no Federal income tax and even those who get more back from the Federal Government in various tax credits than they paid in!
4. He will pass some Global Warming tax that will hurt American manufacturers and force even more jobs overseas. This will not be popular with unions and will be a factor that will cause the economy to continue to falter.
5. The National Debt will increase markedly. He will spend even more money and the National Debt will increase.
6. He will grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. This will infuriate many Americans.
7. He will not have a comprehensive energy policy. He will not allow more domestic drilling and he will not increase nuclear power to the extent it should be increased.
I think that Barrack OBama is going to spend a lot of money in Indiana and he is going to campaign in Indiana. In past years Indiana has been a solidly Republican state; however, I think it is going to be much closer this year. I think McCain will win Indiana; however, by a relatively small margin. I think Barrack Obama will help the Indiana Democratic Party gain some more ground in Indiana; however, I think Mitch Daniels will be re-elected as Governor.
What are your predictions?
Mike Sylvester
Obama Baby Off To HQ Grand Opening
Olivia and I are getting ready to walk out the door to head to the grand opening of the Fort Wayne Obama headquarters. See you there!
Obama Baby Fired Up & Ready To Go!
Obama wrong on his views concerning “English only”
You really should take the time to follow this link and learn more about Barrack Obama’s views on whether or whether or not we should pass “English-only” laws and his views concerning bilingualism.
One part of his speech is dead wrong.
He states and I quote “Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English — they’ll learn English — you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual. We should have every child speaking more than one language.”
The part that is wrong is when he says that “they’ll learn English.”
Many immigrants are not learning English anymore because they do not have to. Most products now have instructions in Spanish and English. Most parts of the US have many Spanish speaking radio stations. We have Spanish speaking TV stations.
A few years ago I worked at a factory near Hamilton, Indiana. A large percentage of our workforce was from Mexico. We had to have at least one interpreter on each shift so that we could communicate with the Mexican workers we had that spoke no English.
We desperately need “English-only” laws in the US. English is the language that holds us together and binds us as a nation. The US Government should do all business in “English-only.”
From a political standpoint Barrack Obama should pay attention to The Rasmussen Reports.
Per Rasmussen Reports: Eighty-three percent (83%) place a higher priority on encouraging immigrants to speak English as their primary language. Just 13% take the opposite view and say it is more important for Americans to learn other languages.
It is frightening that only 83% of those polled think that we should have a higher priority on encouraging immigrants to speak English as their primary language.
There are parts of what Barrack Obama said that I agree with. We should emphasize foreign languages more in our schools and I do wish more Americans spoke more than one language.
Mike Sylvester
Congressional approval ratings reach a historic low
According to the Rasmussen Reports those people who feel Congress is going a good or excellent job feel to a historic low of 9%.
9% of Americans polled feel that Congress (House and Senate, Democrat, Independent, and Republican) are doing a good or excellent job.
You can read the report here:
13% of self identified Democrats think Congress is doing a good or excellent job.
8% of self identified Republicans think Congress is doing a good or excellent job.
3% of those for do not self identify with either Republicans or Democrats think Congress is doing a good or excellent job.
So much for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and their various campaign promises… So much for the Republican minority as well.
Congress is doing a pitiful job (Both Democrats and Republicans) and just about everyone knows it…
Mike Sylvester
McCain Is Computer Illiterate
Good grief. You can’t even manage a McDonald’s without knowing how to use a computer let alone run the country. So he’s now admitted that he doesn’t know anything about economics or technology - of course those kind of go hand-in-hand in today’s age. Maybe we can just get him to stay in a Holiday Inn Express…
Democratic State Convention - Part 2
Andre Carson leads off the convention by making a grand entrance with some rap music in the background - not something you hear at most political events but it was kinda cool. Next there was some mundane business to go through and then the nominee for the Superintendent of Public Intstruction, Richard Wood, spoke.
Some guy in the crowd keeps playing a cowbell when each speaker is introduced. Every time I hear it I have to laugh because all I can think of is the classic SNL Blue Oyster Cult skit - MORE COWBELL.
Next came an extremely effective campaign video giving a bio on Linda Pence, nominee for attorney general. The video talked about her career fighting big oil companies and polluters. Whoever made that video should be doing more of that for all the candidates. Pence comes out and tells everyone she’s a tireless and relentless worker and will continue to do that for the citizens of Indiana. She tells the crowd she prosecuted greedy corporate executives who stole from American investors. She emphatically adds “I put them behind bars!”
Unfortunately I have to leave early but you can check out Left in Aboite and Left of Centrist for more convention coverage.
