At a press conference to be held later today, the DNC plans on revealing the Republican ticket for this upcoming election. John McCain’s running mate is of course…
EXXON-MOBILE!
I know this may shock some of you. You MAY have been thinking Mitt Romney or some other misguided Republican surrogate. But who has done more to prop up John McCain and carry the Republican machine this election cycle than Exxon-Mobile? Not only has Exxon-Mobile donated well over $2 million to the McCain campaign, but Exxon-Mobile has also posted record quarterly profits as Americans struggle to afford the lofty price of gas. What’s more Republican than leasing a candidate and his votes and fleecing the average American?!?
Personally, I think Exxon-Mobile is the PERFECT choice for the Republican ticket in ‘08.
Approaching McCain’s VP pick, America wonders (worries), who is the next Cheney???
After eight years of Bush’s maniacal mastermind, it’s time to start thinking about who the next virulent VP will be.
Perhaps Mitt Romney? A real people-pleaser. And if by people, you mean George Bush and John McCain. Mitt Romney has shifted his positions to align himself with the President himself and McCain.
Maybe Governor Crist? That’s if you want a man who breaks the laws of campaign fundraising and steadfastly praises the work of Bush when it comes to Katrina recovery and the war in Iraq.
Okay, what about Tim Pawlenty? If you’re comfortable having a VP who has a history of breaking the law, standing by Bush, and fear mongering, then Pawlenty is your man… Or you could ask Dick Cheney to hang around for four more years and serve as McCain’s VP.
“Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after (Republican John) McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.”
McCain and the Republican National Committee received a burst of oil money after that shift. The New York Times said “the largest collective response from a single company” — more than $300,000 — came from Hess. On its Caucus blog, the paper delves into “whopping” contributions from two people with apparently modest incomes.
Despite an array of personal attacks by Republicans, Obama promises to only question McCain the politician, NOT the person
“I’m not going to assault Senator McCain’s character. I’m not going to compare him to pop stars. I will, however, compare our two visions for our economic future.
Senator McCain wants to keep giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. I want to end them and start giving incentives to companies that create jobs here at home. Because I don’t think 463,000 lost jobs this year is economic progress.
He wants to give $300 billion worth of tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Under his plan, more than 100 million middle class families won’t see a penny in direct tax relief. I want to put a tax cut of up to $1,000 into the pockets of 95% of working Americans. And if you’re a family making less than $250,000 a year, my plan won’t raise your taxes one penny — not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.
Senator McCain is opposed to regular increases in the minimum wage — I want to index it so that it rises with rising costs. He thinks the Earned Income Tax Credit is fine as it is — I want to expand it. He has no plans to make childcare more affordable or help people get paid sick leave — while I do.” -Senator Barack Obama, August 2, 2008.
National Urban League Annual Conference, August 2, 2008.
Senator Obama has responded to John McCain’s “Celebrity” ad calling it “demonstrably false”
“Is that the best you can come up with?… Is that really what this is election is about? Is that what is worthy of the American people? Even the media has pointed out that Senator John McCain, who started out talking about running an honorable campaign, has fallen back into the predictable political attacks, the demonstrably false statements. Here is the problem… These negative ads, these negative attacks, spending all this time talking about me instead of talking about what he’s going to do. That’s not going to lower your gas prices. That’s not going to help you stay in your home if you’ve fallen behind on the mortgage. That’s not going to help you find a job if it has been shipped overseas. It doesn’t do a single thing to help the American people. It is politics as a game. But the time for game playing is over.” -Senator Barack Obama, July 30, 2008.
Senator Obama in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on July 30, 2008
Senator Obama’s new “Low Road” ad in response to John McCain’s “Celebrity” ad
McCain sees cash windfall from his recent change in position on offshore drilling
McCain has hopped in bed with George W. Bush when it comes to Big Oil, and it’s paying big dividends. After years of opposition to offshore drilling, John McCain mysteriously reversed his position and is now seeing his pockets bulge full of Big Oil cash.
In June, John McCain raised $1.1 million from Big Oil donors; more than he had raised in the 18 months prior to his reversal on offshore drilling.
Along with his shift to support the drilling, McCain also supports $4 billion in tax breaks to be gained by the top five major oil companies.
Again, like his Republican predecessor, John McCain has chosen political and financial gain for himself and his priveleged cronies over protecting the average American’s financial welfare.
Ad assailing Barack Obama for “snubbing” troops proves to be off-base
The Republican smear campaign was working in overdrive to tear down Senator Obama’s successful foreign policy trip abroad. Their feeble attempt to taint Senator Obama’s highly touted trip resulted in a short video clip slamming Senator Obama for “snubbing” our brave troops.
The ad attacks Obama on choosing playing basketball over visiting wounded troops, and ultimately canceling the visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center due to the fact cameras would not be allowed in to view him visiting the troops. The obvious insinuations from the fictitious ad are that Barack Obama does not care about the troops and Barack Obama is a calculated political figure who only does things for the accolades that accompany them.
The truth of the matter is that Barack Obama had no say in the decision. Despite planning for the trip for several weeks, Senator Obama was advised by the Pentagon to not visit the troops due to the potential political conflict of interest. The truth is video cameras were not going to be permitted to tag along in the first place. Senator Obama had planned to visit our brave men and women for weeks, knowing full well cameras would not be part of the visit. So any insinuation by the McCain campaign that Senator Obama “snubbed” our troops because he would not get face time is utterly false.
Fact is Senator Obama has visited troops in U.S. and Iraq, outside the gaze of TV cameras. However, that doesn’t plan well for the Republicans, so they won’t want you to know that factual tidbit.
For more “fact checking”, which the McCain camp again has neglected to do, visit Newsweek.
Calling into question both his intelligence and ability to adequately serve our country, McCain piles on with the gaffes
Quick Geography Quiz
1.) True or False: Iraq and Pakinstan share a border.
Answer: False. If you answered “True”, you would be 1) Wrong and 2) in the company of John McCain of failing to recognize Pakistan and AFGHANISTAN share a border.
2.) True or False: Vladamir Putin is the President of Germany.
Answer: False. But don’t tell that to John McCain who recently proclaimed Russian President Vladamir Putin was in fact the President of Germany.
3.) True or false: Czecholoslavakia is a presently existing nation.
Answer: False. In 1993 Czechoslovakia became what is now known as the Czech Republic. But don’t tell that to John McCain, who still clings to 1992 in his mind. Let’s all think for a moment how tremendous 1992 was. 1992 gave us “Wayne’s World”, “Ren and Stimpy”, Kris Kross and their backwards clothing, and Barney people! BARNEY! Who can blame John McCain for wanting to continually relive such a wonderful time?!?
The New York Times has an interesting and insightful Op-Ed piece pertaining to John McCain and the economy.
Here is a brief look at Frank Rich’s article:
In 2000, he told an interviewer that he would make up for his lack of attention to “those issues.” As he entered the 2008 campaign, Mr. McCain was still saying the same, vowing to read “Greenspan’s book” as a tutorial. Last weekend, the resolutely analog candidate told The New York Times he is at last starting to learn how “to get online myself.” Perhaps he’ll retire his abacus by Election Day.
Mr. McCain’s fiscal ineptitude has received so little scrutiny in some press quarters that his chief economic adviser, the former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, got a free pass until the moment he self-immolated on videoby whining about “a nation of whiners.” -Frank Rich (New York Times)