Economic Crisis Will Cause Health Crisis

Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist, published a thought-provoking piece about the economic crisis and its effect on urgency of universal health care. I'll quote the first and last paragraphs, but you really should read the whole article to understand the excellent analysis:

The whole world is in recession. But the United States is the only wealthy country in which the economic catastrophe will also be a health care catastrophe — in which millions of people will lose their health insurance along with their jobs, and therefore lose access to essential care.
. . .
The bottom line, then, is that this is no time to let campaign promises of guaranteed health care be quietly forgotten. It is, instead, a time to put the push for universal care front and center. Health care now!

It has always baffled me that those who claim to support economic freedom are satisfied with the reality that most people are tied to their employers if they want health care for their families. Now that middle-class families are losing health care benefits, perhaps the wisdom of breaking that link will become more apparent to more people.

No Questions, No Answers, No Substance - Day 2

Day 2 of still no accountability, no questions, no answers, no substance. Steve Kraske even wrote about it in the KC Star today.

Palin relied on a teleprompter Monday, and she faced renewed criticism over the weekend that she wasn’t ready for the job because she won’t subject herself to interviews with reporters. Several requests from The Star were rejected in connection with her visit Monday. Palin’s first national interview will be Thursday with ABC’s Charles Gibson in Alaska.

Let's see how the first one goes. Will Charlie Gibson take the gloves off and challenge her or was he selected to give her a lay up (or, kinda like shooting bears from a helicopter)? Why is it so important, ask Pat Buchanan.

Jon Stewart - put them side by side

No Questions, No Answers, No Substance - Day 1

Why won't the McSame campaign let Sarah Palin talk to reporters? We all know why - she doesn't know ANYTHING about running our country. She landed in KC on Sunday at 4:00, didn't have a rally until 10 on Monday, but was too busy to talk to reporters. Obama, McCain and Biden - all on the Sunday morning talk shows. No Sarah Palin. They are hiding her.

So, everyday we are going to keep track of the number of days until she sits down without a script and answers tough questions (like what does HUD stand for, what are the 3 branches of government, name the capital of Kentucky).

The watch is on!!

Quote of the Day

Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama for leaving the comforts of a big firm and becoming a community organizer. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities."

Quote of the Day - "Or, you know, maybe someone needs to remind Sarah Palin that Jesus Christ was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor."

Palin No Longer Unknown

Obama says the kids are off limits - as it should be.

Gov. Sarah Palin, however, is fair game. If the Republicans are going to ask Missouri swing voters to elect the oldest president ever, we should at least know who we are electing as VP.

Gov. Palin used to be a member of the Independence Party in Alaska, whose platform is:

It seeks "the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska" and aims to be "self-sufficient" by using profits from Alaskan oil and gas resources. It claims that the vote held in 1958 which led to Alaska becoming the 49th state of the US was corrupt and did not offer a proper choice.

These guys even advocate to leave the union. Well, I think McSame's maverick image has shifted over to desperate. If we are seriously taking into consideration experience, I think swing voters will pick Obama/Biden.

A Picture Tells It All

Senator Joe Biden gave a great speech, but you saw that.

Here's what I think will stick out in my mind - that kid holding his grandpa's hand. We all know that almost every second of the convention is staged. What cannot be staged is wrapping your arms around your grandpa's neck. 4 year old boys don't respond well to prompting, they don't hug people they don't love and they don't go walking around holding the hand of someone they haven't spent time with.

Clearly, that little kid knows and loves his grandfather. Joe obviously spends time with him. Several times in his speech (and in his son's, Beau Biden, speech), he got tears in his eyes talking about his family. Heck, I got tears in my eyes.

The picture in my mind that will stick out most from this convention is of grandfather and grandson. I'm sure glad that is the kind of man that will be our next vice-president. Oh ya, Obama showing up to support his VP was a great way to end the evening.

And she's a class act

I missed much of the roll call vote (bumped into MLK III), but got there after Missouri voted (Missouri, where our hard working, intelligent people demand that you Show Me . . .").

New Mexico gave the standard speech ("the great people of New Mexico who work hard and play by the rules . . ."), but then instead of voting 51% for Barack and 49% for Hillary, they gave their votes to Illinois. I thought that was a nice compromise for unity.

Illinois then gave the standard speech ("The intelligent and good looking people from the land of Lincoln . . ."), but then assigned the votes to New York. Just as that happened, something began to stir on the floor.

Hillary and a mass of about 30 other folks came marching onto the floor. After the standard speech ("New York, where our citizens care about liberty and truth . . .") Hillary Clinton ended the drama of the voting by moving to suspend the rules and electing Barack Obama by acclamation.

Hillary is a class act.

Hillary is Amazing

I went to the "release the delegate" speech by Hillary today.

There I was, an Edwards then Obama supporter; would someone tell on me? This wasn't nationally televised, this was a speech to her pledged delegates.

Hillary said that some people would vote like her, for Barack. Some people would vote what they thought the people of their state wanted and some people would vote their hearts. I totally believed her when she said this election is too important to focus on your primary candidate, it was time to elect Obama.

She mentioned the Supreme Court and how it is a 5-4 split. The next president will get to appoint as many 3 new justices. Women's issues will be defined by the Supreme Court as much as the next president.

In this room filled with Hillary delegate, only one single knucklehead yelled some thing about 2012. The entire rest of the room was focused on a win in 2008. Now that is unity.

The Carnahans Rock

This morning's Missouri delegation meeting featured not one, not two, but three Carnahans.

Congressman Russ Carnahan told of how he graduated from college a semester early and drove his dad to every county in the state when Mel first ran for governor. Russ also talked about when Mel lost that first bid, he worked just as hard for the Democratic nominee.

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan is inspiring. She spoke of the need for hard work, about the need to address health care and about how we can work for party unity.

Senator Jean Carnahan makes me feel lazy. She's no spring chicken, yet she spoke of her work across the country for Obama. She tolds stories of her faith, of the need for God's people to work hard for justice and how this is too important of an election to sit on the sidelines.

Missouri is fortunate to have the Carnahans as our first family.

Unity

Despite the media attempting to make a fight, everyone that I met at the convention is unified behind Barack Obama.

I'm glad Hillary got to speak - she lit up the place. People of all stripes (i.e. Obama people too) were trying to get the Hillary signs. I had invested lots of myself in Edwards, so it hurt when he lost (and even more when he admitted to cheating on Elizabeth). The Hillary folks had invested even more into thier candidate. She deserved to speak and her supporters deserved to raise the roof in her honor.

What a fantastic message Hillary delivered - the reason we are engaged in this campaign is not about Hillary or Obama, it's about health care for everyone, honoring our commitment to the troops, responsibly ending the war, having an energy policy.

It isn't a story line, people are unified. And, I bet that we have not seen the last of Hillary.

Platform Passed and view from the Nose Bleed Section

T
I am in the Pepsi Center. No lines whatsoever and was whisked through security with no problems. I think it pays to get here early because I think the lines will be held up later.

My alternate pass gets me to the upper level of the Pepsi Center. I am just a little left of the stage but way up.

There is a huge screen right in front of me. Also to my right, we have tvONE, the A.P. (fire Ron Fournier), a Spanish lanuage station and some other media.

Events on tap for the evening are Michelle Obama, our own Claire McCaskill. You can find a list of all speakers on my favorite Convention blog, DemConWatch.

I think I may get floor credentials tomorrow. But they will be tough to come by after that. I'm just pleased to be inside the Hall. We are about 3.5 hours away from Claire's speech and then Michelle's speech.

HRC slams against the media meme of a divided house.

The media meme of a divided house is picked up by the McCain campaign with a new ad.



Upon hearing of the ad, Hillary hit back and said, ""I'm Hillary Clinton, and I do not approve that message." Hillary is a great Democrat and is hitting it out of the park for Obama. Will post video if I can get ahold of it.

p.s. Word on the street is that Ted Kennedy will speak tonight. I can't wait!

Eye on the Swing States

Don't you love swing states - like Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia.

Maybe the #1 Senate race in the country - where a Dem could knock off an R - is North Carolina. How's this for a report to make you smile.

InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position: McCain holds narrow lead, Dole-Hagan tied in North Carolina

By Tom Baxter
Southern Political Report

August 20, 2008 — In the latest InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position survey of North Carolina, John McCain holds a narrow lead over Barack Obama, while Republican incumbent US Sen. Elizabeth Dole is locked in a dead heat with Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan.

In the president race, McCain leads Obama by two points, 45-43 percent. That's within the poll's margin of error of 3.8 percent. Libertarian candidate Bob Barr was pulling 5 percent of the vote in the Tarheel State, which Green Party candidate Ralph Nader polled about 1 percent.

While Obama hasn't overtaken McCain, this poll comes after what some have taken to be a shaky period for the Democratic nominee, climaxed by the two candidates' appearance over the weekend at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, a session in which McCain was widely judged to have helped mend his differences with conservative religious voters.

The Dole-Hagan race could not be closer, according to the poll, with the two candidates essentially tied at 40 percent each.

The poll of 614 registered likely voters was conducted Aug. 19, and was weighted for age, race and political affiliation.

Un-American

Let's face it, telling lies about a person's patriotism is wholly Un-American.

Here's the lie:

Hello everyone,

As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to 'The War Zone'. I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram.

As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.

So really he was just here to make a showing for the American's back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.

I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.

If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier

Here's the truth:

"After checking my sources, the information that was put out in my email was wrong.

Kuddos to Snopes.com for finding and reporting the truth. Bush/Cheney/Rove started this unpatriotic crap with the swift boat attacks. All of us agree that America is the greatest country on earth. Let's talk about how to improve life for our citizens, not to tell lies or use fear and lies to bring out the worst in our country.

McCain Straight Talk = Double Speak

McBush has developed a reputation for straight talk - here's some good examples

How Obama Won

The Washington Post has an interesting article on how Obama won.

The result may have lacked the glamour of a sweep, but last night, with the delegates he picked up in Montana and South Dakota and a flood of superdelegate endorsements, Obama sealed one of the biggest upsets in U.S. political history and became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter to wrest his party's nomination from the candidate of the party establishment. The surprise was how well his strategy held up -- and how little resistance it met.

"We kept waiting for the Clinton people to send people into the caucus states," marveled Jon Carson, one of Obama's top ground-game strategists.

"It's the big mystery of the campaign," said campaign manager David Plouffe, "because every delegate counts."

It may be a political nerdy article, but you are reading a political blog.

Claire Makes Us Proud

Once again, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill makes all of Missouri proud.

McCain Says Economic Problems are Only in Our Minds

McBush says our economic problems are all in our heads. $4 gas is not in my head. The low value of the dollar compared to the euro or a barrel of oil is not in my head. Kids in Haiti eating mud is not in my head.

Everyone in the world (including the Chinese who hold the note on America's $9 trillion in debt) knows that George Bush cares about oil more than the dollar, so a barrel of oil is a better investment than the dollar. All that will change when Obama gets to the White House.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) suggests much of America's economic woes may be merely 'psychological'.

In a recent interview with Fox News, McCain said the fact that America's oil and gas prices have reached all-time high has deeply concerned him.

"I'm very concerned about it…. And obviously the way it's been going up is just terrible," claimed the Arizona senator.

"But I think psychologically - and a lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological - the confidence, trust, the uncertainty about our economic future, ability to keep our own home," he added.

McCain explained that his proposal to eliminate the federal gas tax for three months would provide Americans the necessary 'psychological boost' to deal with their economic problems.

"Let's have some straight talk. It's not a huge amount of money, but it might be nice to be able to save a few bucks and maybe buy something else the next time that they have to fill up their gas tank, and say, you know, I'm going to be able to afford that little extra expense now," he concluded.

Political pundits remain skeptical of McCain's prescription for US gas problems, arguing that most of the tax break will go to corporations, not families.

Sen. Byrd Endorses Sen. Obama

The wonderful thing about the human spirit is that it can change. Case in point is that Sen. Robert Byrd has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan and a one- time opponent of civil rights legislation, is endorsing Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Obama is vying to be the nation's first black president.

The West Virginia senator says Obama has the qualities to end the Iraq war.

In a written statement, Byrd called Obama "a shining young statesman, who possesses the personal temperament and courage necessary to extricate our country from this costly misadventure in Iraq."

Byrd is the longest-serving senator in history and third person in the line of presidential succession.

See, there is hope for our Country and World. If a former KKK member can endorse a black man, think of what is possible in our world.