More calls for Hilliary to drop out

(March 29, 2008) – Like I was sayin… it ain’t over until the lady sings.  More and more prominent democrats are calling for Hillary Clinton end her campaign for the dem nomination.

In the last few days, several prominent democrats have urged Clinton to bow out clearing the way for an Obama nomination.  Senator Chris Dodd and Senator Patrick Lehey have both indicated that they believe there is no way for Clinton to secure the nomination and have called for her to end her campaign. 

This week, speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi urged the “super delegates” to back whomever has the most popular votes.  The DNC chairman, Howard Dean, has called for the “super delegates” to declare which candidate they support by July 1st in an effort to avoid a nasty convention floor battle.

Clinton has vowed to keep up the fight even to the floor of the DNC convention.  The DNC would like to avoid a nasty fight which would turn off independents as well as some dem voters.  However, Clinton will not bow out so easily.

John McCain seems to be benefiting from this the most.  As the two dem candidates continue to take shots at each other, they unwittingly provide McCain ammunition for the general election.  This week, Clinton put forth the argument that Obama has received the most cash from companies involved in the sub-prime mortgage business.  That is debatable depending upon how you slice the data, but in any case, McCain received the least cash from those companies compared to Clinton and Obama.

It will be interesting to see how far the dems are willing to drag their party down in order to secure the nomination.

Clinton and Obama spar over Sub-Prime Donations

(March 28, 2008) – Like I was sayin… the devil is in the details.  Yesterday, Hillary Clinton accused Barack Obama of taking more cash from the companies involved in the current sub-prime mess.

 However, it depends on how you slice the list of donors.  Here is a great article from the WSJ that breaks it down.  Apparently, if you limit the list to the top 10 issuers of sub-prime mortgages on different dates, either Clinton or Obama received the most.

The problem that the Clinton Campaign overlooked is that over all, Clinton has received slightly more money from the sub-prime industry with $2.8 million for Clinton and $2.67 million for Obama.  On a side note, John McCain only received $1.28 million.

It is almost unbelievable that the Clinton Machine would make such a mistake by trying to point this out.  Firstly, they have received more money from sub-prime players than Obama.  Do they really still believe that people will just take what Clinton says as the truth without checking it out?  In the past this may have been the case, but will the popularity of Obama, the Clintons can no longer rely on the MSM to push the Clinton agenda across the board.

Secondly, with either Obama or Clinton facing McCain in November, this is a gift to McCain as if taking donations from companies that make bad financial decisions is wrong, McCain comes out the best.

This just seems to be another miscalculation by the Clinton Campaign that will hurt them in the end.  It will also end up hurting the eventual Dem nominee.  Clinton has been accused of being willing to do anything to win and this seems to be the case even if it drags down her party.

Sniper Fire and Other Lies

(March 26, 2008) – Like I was saying… fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, you might be a liar.  Hillary Clinton says she hasn’t “mis-spoke” in years, but the record is a little more unforgiving.

Here is an article I found on real clear politics by Dick Morris.  The article lists a number of items she “mis-spoke” about in the past and has admitted to “mis-speaking” about including:

• Chelsea was jogging around the Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (She was in bed watching it on TV.)
• Hillary was named after Sir Edmund Hillary. (She admitted she was wrong. He climbed Mt. Everest five years after her birth.)
• She was under sniper fire in Bosnia. (A girl presented her with flowers at the foot of the ramp.)
• She learned in The Wall Street Journal how to make a killing in the futures market. (It didn’t cover the market back then.)

It also has a great list of things that she hasn’t admitted to and probably never will.

She keeps saying that she has negative ratings because people don’t think she is human.  I believe that her record makes her less likable than the rest of us.

Hillary not sure if she was greeted by sniper fire or an 8 year old

(March 25, 2008) -  Like I was sayin… if they get caught in a lie, they can always blame their memory.

Democrat presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has been trying to convince us that she is ready on day one to be the commander-in-chief.  However, her recent comments would seem to indicate otherwise.

 One of the qualifying ”experiences” she puts forth is a trip to Bosnia in the 90’s where she had to dodge sniper fire while running to her vehicle rather than attending a welcome ceremony.  However, I have seen several articles like this one that contradicts her story.  Apparently, rather than running for cover, she was greeted by the Bosnian president and an 8 year-old-child.

She is now saying that her memories different than those of her staff and that she only misspoke.  So which was it, sniper fire or an 8 year-old?  Hint: the 8 year-old doesn’t sound like “bang”.

Can we trust somebody that is willing to out and out lie about an event in order to win?  The even more troubling question is can we trust the presidency to somebody who isn’t sure if that noise is the phone ringing at 3:00 a.m. or a tank rumbling through the white-house?  What about somebody that confuses an 8-year-old for a sniper?

50 cent a Gallon Gas Tax proposed by Mich. Democrat

(March 20, 2008 ) – Like I was sayin…. you can’t have it both ways.  Democrat Congressman John Dingell wants you to pay MORE at the pump.

With gas prices escalating and the American consumer wondering how to make ends meet, John Dingell, a Mich. Democrat, wants to raise gas taxes by 50 cents a gallon.  The only good news is that he wants to wait until after the 2008 elections to propose the increase.  You see, it is more important to get his party elected that it is to do what he thinks is right.  If he is so sure this is the right thing to do, why is he waiting until after the 2008 elections to push this?

His argument is so full of holes, it is hard to understand why he would propose such a thing.

Here is a link to an article that lays it out.

Firstly, he wants to raise the gas tax as a cure for the “sick” planet.  There is so much information contrary to the global warming hoax, this is almost laughable.  Don’t get me wrong, we need to conserve and find ways to end our oil dependence, but taxing us into oblivion is not the answer.  The fact that the planet has been cooling for the last 10 years doesn’t seem to matter. 

Secondly, he wants to raise taxes to lower the consumption of gas.  The idea being, the more you tax something, the less of it you get.  This runs contrary to the current dem push to raise taxes to fix the economy.  If taxing gas leads to less gas consumption doesn’t taxing corporations and investors lead to less growth and less investment? 

Just remember this November when you go to the polls, you can vote for the party that wants to take more and more of your money away or the party that believes taking less from you leads to a better America.

Pork Spending to Continue

(March 14, 2008) – Like I was sayin… they love to spend our money.

For years, presidential candidate John McCain has been against pork barrel spending in congress.  Pork spending is when a senator attaches an amendment to a spending bill to pay for pet projects.  Yesterday, John McCain voted for a 1 year moratorium on pork spending which failed to pass.  Obama and Clinton also voted for the bill even though they had over $390 million of earmarks in fiscal year 2008.

The issue that most Americans have with the practice is that the spending is attached to defence and other spending bills without debate.  There is also a lack of accountability of who benefits the most from the pork spending.  For instance, if my construction company donates or raises 100k for a political campaign and a pork item spends 10 million on a new cancer care wing of a hospital that my company builds, it pretty much is a payback at the expense of the American tax payer.

Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-partisan watch dog group, 71 senetors voted against the measure to stop pork spending for 1 year.  From the site, you can contact your senator and let them know what you think.

Kevorkian to Run for Congress?

(March 12, 2008) – Like I was sayin… what?  Assisted-suicide doc Jack Kevorkian plans to run for Congress in MI.

I read today that Jack Kevorkian plans to run for Congress in MI this year.  You may remember him as helping 130 or so terminally ill people commit suicide in the 90’s.  I don’t want to get into a debate about assisted suicide here, but can you run for Congress after being convicted of 2nd degree murder?  Can he even vote for himself?

The prosecutor responsible for sending him to jail believes Kevorkian’s run is a publicity stunt. 

We will have to wait and see if he gets the required 3000 signatures to be on the ballot.

Romney for VP?

(March 12, 2008) – Like I was sayin… if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  I saw articles this morning indicating that Romney was open to being on a McCain Romney ticket.

In an interview yesterday, Romney indicated that he would do anything to help McCain become president including running as the VP.

I believe this would help and hurt McCain.  Romney would add the conservative values item to the ticket as well as his speaking/debating skills.  He has also done the health-care thing in his state without having the government run it.

Negatives would the “guy most likely to lay you off” tag that dems will try to hang on him.  There will also be attempts to bring up the Mormon thing.

I would also like to see McCain wait until there is a dem candidate.  Depending upon the winner in that contest, the obvious choices could change.  I would imagine that if Obama wins, there will be a push to add an African American to the ticket and likewise a woman if Hillary wins.

I don’t think that adding an African American will help much as they will be most likely branded as not “black” enough since they would be a republican.  But, it would take some of the vote of people who would vote for Obama just because he is African American (not that he doesn’t deserve their votes, just that some people in both parties don’t look too deep when selecting a candidate to vote for).

In any case, McCain will need to add somebody that would help fire up the conservative base who might otherwise sit this one out.  It should be an interesting 6 months.

Hillary, Tell us about your experience again.

(March 11, 2008) – Like I was sayin… I’ve been to the hospital, but that doesn’t make me a doctor.

I am often taken back when I hear Hillary talk about her years of experience and that she is ready on day one.  She also talks about her years of leadership experience.

I know that Bill put her in charge of his administration’s national health care effort.  That was an utter failure.  But what other things has she done that makes her qualified to be the President?

She often puts forth statements about her vast international experience.  I have read that she didn’t have a security clearance, didn’t sit in on National Security meetings, and never sat in on meetings in the white house situation room.  Just how did she get this experience?

She also talks about all these travels for international trouble spots.  Here is a great article from Greg Craig, a formal director at the State Department.  The article sort of tears holes in many of Hillary’s claims.

When it comes down to it, she doesn’t have much more experience than Obama in international affairs.  I know she flew lots of places, but I don’t want her to be a pilot either….

If they can’t get a primary right, can they run the country?

(March 11, 2008) – Like I was sayin… some times you just have to keep trying until you get it right.

I have commented before about the whole super delegate thing.  I can’t believe that the dems actually put together a process that can be used to over-ride what the votes want.  It bothers me that they believe that is a fair process.

Then I see that they are trying to figure out how to get the MI and FL primary issues resolved.  First the DNC tells MI and FL if they move their primaries, the delegates don’t count.  Everybody agreed and the votes happened.  Being behind, the Clinton camp is pushing now for those votes to be counted.  They have a slim argument in FL, but in MI, Clinton was the only candidate on the ballot.

The real concern is that they are willing to make a bad decision that excludes the votes of some of the largest states and then afterward decide that maybe that isn’t such a good idea.  Did they not see this coming?

I am not saying that political parties don’t/can’t make mistakes, but this was a big one.  It will be interesting to see how this gets resolved.