Saturday, May 10, 2008
Obama Takes Superdelegate Lead
I am happy to report that Barack Obama has finally overtaken HRC for the superdelegate lead and now leads 274-270.5.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Obama to Pay Clinton?
Over the years there have always been stories about how people running for office and lost saw their finances in ruin and their debts run to the ceiling. It is because of these horror stories that many very well qualified candidates have stepped off the stage when they saw the numbers just didn't add up.
Now there are loud rumors and reporting that the Obama campaign will cut a deal with the Clinton campaign that would include paying off her campaign's debts. This raises a number of intellectual and emotional questions.
1. What financial incentive does Hillary have to get out if Obama will just bail her out?
2. Why should Obama supporters be saddled with paying for the losing campaign that did nothing but call them irrelevant latte drinker's and blacks from small states?
3. Even if Obama agreed to pay for her true expenses to the little guy, should Obama have to pay off her campaign's lingering debt to Mark Penn?
4. Hillary lent herself money, that would seem to be her own at risk capital, in light of that fact, shouldn't this debt be treated as her own "buyer beware"?
Clearly, this is only a few of the issues that this can boil in my mind but make no mistake about it, this is not about the money to pay the delivery service bill or the pizza guy.
The real issue is that if the Obama campaign does write Hillary Clinton an 11.5 million dollar check to pay her back for what she lent her campaign. Should this happen the right will spin this and MSM will pick it up as being nothing more than a political pay off to get her out of the race.
Besides, did John McCain pay Mitt Romney back for the money he invested out of his pocket in his campaign?
Now there are loud rumors and reporting that the Obama campaign will cut a deal with the Clinton campaign that would include paying off her campaign's debts. This raises a number of intellectual and emotional questions.
1. What financial incentive does Hillary have to get out if Obama will just bail her out?
2. Why should Obama supporters be saddled with paying for the losing campaign that did nothing but call them irrelevant latte drinker's and blacks from small states?
3. Even if Obama agreed to pay for her true expenses to the little guy, should Obama have to pay off her campaign's lingering debt to Mark Penn?
4. Hillary lent herself money, that would seem to be her own at risk capital, in light of that fact, shouldn't this debt be treated as her own "buyer beware"?
Clearly, this is only a few of the issues that this can boil in my mind but make no mistake about it, this is not about the money to pay the delivery service bill or the pizza guy.
The real issue is that if the Obama campaign does write Hillary Clinton an 11.5 million dollar check to pay her back for what she lent her campaign. Should this happen the right will spin this and MSM will pick it up as being nothing more than a political pay off to get her out of the race.
Besides, did John McCain pay Mitt Romney back for the money he invested out of his pocket in his campaign?
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Myanmar's Katrina and Hypocrisy
It is stunning to see that at least 22,000 people died over the weekend in Myanmar in a cyclone that has many similarities to Hurricane Katrina.
Much like here, the government failed to do what was necessary to warn the citizens and has been slow to accept food, medical, and disaster aid from the outside world.
However, this tragedy has also brought us a monumental dose of chutzpah coming from the Bush administration.
Yesterday, they sent out Laura Bush to complain about the slow response by Myanmar's government as well as to complain that the government won't let disaster assessment and recovery teams in to do their work.
All of this comes from an administration that watched the news for 5 days before getting help to the people in New Orleans and who flew over the top of one of America's great cities and did nothing.
Clearly, Laura was sent out because she would seem the least controversial on the subject, but at the end of the day, this hypocrisy and stagecraft is why America and the world can't wait to get rid of the Bush's
Much like here, the government failed to do what was necessary to warn the citizens and has been slow to accept food, medical, and disaster aid from the outside world.
However, this tragedy has also brought us a monumental dose of chutzpah coming from the Bush administration.
Yesterday, they sent out Laura Bush to complain about the slow response by Myanmar's government as well as to complain that the government won't let disaster assessment and recovery teams in to do their work.
All of this comes from an administration that watched the news for 5 days before getting help to the people in New Orleans and who flew over the top of one of America's great cities and did nothing.
Clearly, Laura was sent out because she would seem the least controversial on the subject, but at the end of the day, this hypocrisy and stagecraft is why America and the world can't wait to get rid of the Bush's
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Death Takes a Holiday
The only 2 things that are supposed to be inevitable in life are death and taxes. Well if John McCain and Hillary Clinton had their way at least one of these would take a holiday.
The problem is that it is not so easy to make the gas tax disappear for the summer since doing so basically means giving it up for all time. After all, does anyone really think you could get people to swallow an $.18 per gallon increase come the fall? People are naive if they think the oil companies aren't going to just look at this as more money they can ultimately tack on to the cost thus not giving us any holiday at all.
If the government wants to go after big oil it could do a windfall tax and then use that money to fund tax rebates back to consumers. This type of action would also prevent less than honorable pricing activities from occurring.
However, the bigger problem is the obviously bloated price of a barrel of oil. Even if you allow for the slide in the dollar and the increase in global demand the price should only be around $65 a barrel. Unfortunately, oil is the current get rich quick scheme for investors, hedge fund managers, and other speculators who see the continued rise in prices the same way you might look at the rise in the price of your stock with a smile.
The problem is that it is not so easy to make the gas tax disappear for the summer since doing so basically means giving it up for all time. After all, does anyone really think you could get people to swallow an $.18 per gallon increase come the fall? People are naive if they think the oil companies aren't going to just look at this as more money they can ultimately tack on to the cost thus not giving us any holiday at all.
If the government wants to go after big oil it could do a windfall tax and then use that money to fund tax rebates back to consumers. This type of action would also prevent less than honorable pricing activities from occurring.
However, the bigger problem is the obviously bloated price of a barrel of oil. Even if you allow for the slide in the dollar and the increase in global demand the price should only be around $65 a barrel. Unfortunately, oil is the current get rich quick scheme for investors, hedge fund managers, and other speculators who see the continued rise in prices the same way you might look at the rise in the price of your stock with a smile.
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