Clipmarks | masbury's 'politics' clips

Whaddya know? People ARE talking about race!

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:00:53 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Here are some honest folks putting it right there on the table where everyone can see it.

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

But, boy, do we have a long way to go. Check out this article about Obama organizers doing their best in Buchanan County, Virginia. Here's an excerpt:

...Obama's supporters, as they push to win this dead-even battleground state, are talking directly about race

When Cecil E. Roberts, president of the coal miners union that shapes politics in much of this mountain region, talks to voters, he tells them that their choice is to have "a black friend in the White House or a white enemy." When Charlie Cox, an Obama supporter, hears friends fretting about Obama's race, he reminds them that they pull for the nearby University of Tennessee football team, "and they're black."

Union organizer Jerry Stallard asks fellow coal workers what's more important: improving their work conditions or holding onto their skepticism of Obama's race, culture or religion. "We're all black in the mines," he tells them.

Tags: race, election, politics

BBC: Presidency "has all but slipped from [McCain's] grasp"

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:02:17 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Sen McCain’s path to victory is an almost impossibly narrow one.

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

After two weeks in which the US presidency has all but slipped from his grasp, John McCain was celebrating two small victories yesterday that seemed to keep his campaign at least hanging by its fingertips.

This week, for the first time since this topsy-turvy campaign got under way in earnest over the summer, opinion polls have indicated a decisive shift. Sen Obama has opened up a solid lead of five to six percentage points in national polls. But more important, a succession of state polls have suggested a clear shift in his direction in the likely electoral college vote that determines who wins the presidency. He appears to have grabbed decisive leads in states such as Florida, Ohio and Colorado, all states won by George Bush in 2004, which had been on a knife-edge, and has turned other Bush states that were previously leaning towards Sen McCain, such as Missouri and North Carolina, into genuine toss-ups.

Sen McCain’s path to victory is an almost impossibly narrow one.

Tags: mccain, politics, obama

BBC: "It is no longer a toss-up election"

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:06:06 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: McCain's only hope is to shock the race somehow. He succeeded in doing it at the convention. He tried and failed during the bailout crisis.

Clip Source: timesonline.typepad.com

For a period, it was possible to view the McCain versus Obama election as a toss-up, but we have gone beyond that point. It is no longer a toss-up election.

And events that take place during the campaign should not be reported as if it was a toss-up.

Obama is decisively ahead.

His lead is clear, it is reflected in state races and it is consistent.

McCain's only hope is to shock the race somehow. He succeeded in doing it at the convention. He tried and failed during the bailout crisis.

But there aren't very many opportunities to repeat the trick and last night was one of those. It was a long shot, but still a shot.

So Sarah Palin needed to win last night. Of course Republicans feared disaster, but avoiding disaster wasn't enough. Avoiding disaster means the race goes on smoothly and serenely.

And if it does that, Obama wins.

So by not losing Biden won.

Tags: mccain, obama, election, politics

NYT: Concerns rise about Palin's readiness

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:07:37 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Some leading conservatives publicly turn against her: "She's out of her league." Couric interview, though kindly done, raises red flags; sets an image she may not be able to overcome

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

By Adam Nagourney

she heads into a critical debate facing challenges from conservatives about her credentials, signs that her popularity is slipping and evidence that Republicans are worried

“I think she has pretty thoroughly — and probably irretrievably — proven that she is not up to the job of being president of the United States,” David Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush

“And this is a moment of real high anxiety, a little bit like 9/11, when people look to Washington for comfort and leadership and want to know that people in charge know what they are doing.”

A number of conservative columnists and thinkers have publicly turned against her, or criticized Mr. McCain for choosing her, including George Will, David Brooks and Kathleen Parker, who wrote a column entitled “She’s Out of Her League” for the National Review Online.

“And Dan Quayle never in his life has performed as badly as Sarah Palin in the last month.”

Tags: palin, politics, mccain

Pollster.com: Electoral Vote Map, 9-29

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:19:12 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Obama's lead is widening basically everywhere, except PA and FL. He continues to maintain a lead in solid electoral votes." Somewhat satisfying, because the primary-days pitch was that O couldn't win big states. I count, though (check me here), in states with 10 or more votes: McCain, 6; Obama, 10; toss-up, 5.

Clip Source: www.pollster.com

LCG Electoral Vote Map

Below is our updated map. Obama's lead is widening basically everywhere, except PA and FL. He continues to maintain a lead in solid electoral votes.

Tags: election, electoral votes, politics

Social welfare programs do not keep a country from prosperity

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:03:26 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks:

The Nordic states have also worked to keep social expenditures compatible with an open, competitive, market-based economic system. Tax rates on capital are relatively low. Labor market policies pay low-skilled and otherwise difficult-to-employ individuals to work in the service sector, in key quality-of-life areas such as child care, health, and support for the elderly and disabled.

The results for the households at the bottom of the income distribution are astoundingly good, especially in contrast to...American social policy. The U.S. spends less than almost all rich countries on social services for the poor and disabled, and it gets what it pays for: the highest poverty rate among the rich countries and an exploding prison population. Actually, by shunning public spending on health, the U.S. gets much less than it pays for, because its dependence on private health care has led to a ramshackle system that yields mediocre results at very high costs.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

America's supply-siders claim that the best way to achieve well-being for America's poor is by spurring rapid economic growth and that the higher taxes needed to fund high levels of social insurance would cripple prosperity.

On average, the Nordic countries outperform the Anglo-Saxon ones on most measures of economic performance. Poverty rates are much lower there, and national income per working-age population is on average higher. Unemployment rates are roughly the same in both groups, just slightly higher in the Nordic countries. The budget situation is stronger in the Nordic group, with larger surpluses as a share of GDP.

The Nordic countries maintain their dynamism despite high taxation in several ways. Most important, they spend lavishly on research and development and higher education. All of them, but especially Sweden and Finland, have taken to the sweeping revolution in information and communications technology and leveraged it to gain global competitiveness.

Tags: community, politics, altruism, generosity, welfare, economics

Bring home troops from around the world

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:12:57 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Former special assistant to Reagan argues US troops in Japan and S. Korea should be phased out.

Clip Source: www.atimes.com

A reason to bring US troops home

It seems that old military commitments also never die

- they live on forever.

That's certainly the case with America's security guarantee for South Korea

The North became an international pariah while the South became one of the world's 12 largest economic powers

US presence in Japan, currently at 33,200 troops, makes even less sense

Japan long ago enjoyed an economic miracle that turned it into the world's second-ranking economic power

the prospect of renewed Japanese aggression is about as likely as an invasion from Mars.

Yet nothing's really changed in America's military role

the idea that the United States should step back and turn over regional security duties has occurred to almost no one in Washington

Washington's insistence that its allies remain subordinate belongs in the wastebasket of history

disappearance of any need to defend countries that have grown wealthy while their potential enemies have dissipated

let America's Cold War commitments

fade away

Tags: military, politics

Voters blame Repubs for economy

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:24:56 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Obama gains among men and seniors, two core McCain constituencies - both groups have flipped, narrowly favoring O.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- By a two-to-one ratio, Americans blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks, a new national poll suggests.

That may be a contributing factor to an apparent increase for Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain in the race for the White House.

Forty-nine percent of those questioned say Obama, D-Illinois, would display good judgment in an economic crisis, six points higher than McCain, R-Arizona.

And Obama has a 10-point lead over McCain when it comes to who would better handle the economy overall.

These numbers seem to be affecting the battle for the presidency. Fifty-one percent of registered voters are backing Obama, five points ahead of McCain, who is at 46 percent.

Where did Obama make his gains?

"In two core McCain constituencies: men, who now narrowly favor Obama, and seniors, who have also flipped from McCain to Obama," said Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst.

Tags: mccain, obama, politics

GOP senator: A 'stretch' to say Palin is qualified

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:31:56 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: here's a true maverick

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she's qualified to be president.

She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview

You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

Hagel, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

But I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world

I think that's just a requirement

Tags: politics

Obama donor ranks swell with Palin nomination

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:06:32 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: 500,000 new donors after Palin enters race

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Obama backers break cash records as Palin redraws campaign battleground

Barack Obama pulled in $66 million last month, smashing his previous fundraising record amid clear signs that Sarah Palin has mobilised many grassroots Democrats against her as much as she has energised the Republican Party.

Mr Obama's fundraising total for August beat his monthly record of $55 million (£31 million) and was the highest in US presidential history. It came with the addition of 500,000 donors, many of whom signed on to the campaign after the extraordinary entry of Mrs Palin into the race as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

Tags: palin, obama, politics

Obama opens comfortable lead in Iowa

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:55:16 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Up by 12!

Clip Source: www.gazetteonline.com

Poll: Obama opens comfortable lead in Iowa

DES MOINES - Iowa has long been viewed as a battleground state, in part because of narrow margins of victory in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, but Barack Obama appears to have opened up a wide lead against John McCain.

THE POLL: The Des Moines Register, presidential race in Iowa of likely voters.

THE NUMBERS: Barack Obama 52 percent, John McCain 40 percent.

DETAILS: Conducted Sept. 8-10 by telephone with 801 Iowans. Sampling error margin plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

MORE: www.desmoinesregister.com

Tags: obama, iowa, mccain, politics

NYT: Palin DID want book removed; hadn't read it

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:31:51 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Former campaign mgr: "It was disturbing." "I'm still proud of Sarah," she added, "but she scares the bejeebers out of me." Author of book: [she is] an enemy of intellectual freedom; "one of the enemies of the First Amendment" and a "disastrous choice" for vice president

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

On Sunday, the New York Times fleshed out rumors that as mayor of Wasilla, Palin had asked the town's librarian to remove certain books from the library's shelves. Citing contemporary news accounts and witnesses - including Palin's predecessor, John Stein, and her former campaign manager, Laura Chase - the paper reported that:

[I]n 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book "Daddy's Roommate" on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to Ms. Chase and Mr. Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.

"Sarah said she didn't need to read that stuff," Ms. Chase said. "It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn't even read it."

Tags: palin, censorship, politics

NYT: Palin hired cronies, pursued vendettas

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:06:03 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Appoints high school classmates, unqualified, to top Alaska positions. Reminds one of "You're doing a heckuva job, Brownie;" and of Dave Letterman's characterization of Bush's appointments as "No Crony Left Behind."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The Wasilla City Council, with Sarah Palin, the future governor and vice-presidential nominee, at the center, in a 1998 photograph. Throughout her career, Ms. Palin has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and blurred the line between government and personal grievance.

So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages

she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials

Tags: palin, vendettas, politics

Factcheck: the false rumors about Palin

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:45:07 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Dems and Repubs and Indies can agree that these allegations are neither true nor helpful. Further, McCain and campaign conflate the false charges of kooks with the serious questions about Palin's qualifications, and declare them all out of bounds. Not so fast ...

Clip Source: www.factcheck.org

Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn’t cut it at all.

She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library.

She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party

Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president

Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools

We'll be looking into other charges in an e-mail by a woman named Anne Kilkenny for a future story. For more explanation of the bullet points above, please read the Analysis.

Tags: mccain, palin, rumors, lies, politics

NYT: "Avalanche of criticism" over McCain lies

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:55:08 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Repub strategist: “liberty taken with truth ... more McCain than Obama” McCain "increasingly called out by news organizations, editorial boards and independent analysts"

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Senator John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week

for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Senator Barack Obama

he falsely claimed that Mr. Obama supported “comprehensive sex education” for kindergartners

Mr. McCain repeatedly, and incorrectly, asserted that Mr. Obama would raise taxes on the middle class

A McCain advertisement called “Fact Check” was itself found to be “less than honest” by FactCheck.org

“The last month, for sure, I think the predominance of liberty taken with truth and the facts has been more McCain than Obama,” said Don Sipple, a Republican advertising strategist.

Being called out
Indeed, in recent days, Mr. McCain has been increasingly called out by news organizations, editorial boards and independent analysts like FactCheck.org. The group, which does not judge whether one candidate is more misleading than another, has cried foul on Mr. McCain more than twice as often since the start of the political conventions as it has on Mr. Obama.

Tags: mccain, lies, politics