Steven Pinker asks: We're About To Enter An Era Of Increased Regulation--But Can We Make Sure Not To Overdo It?

My one word answer? NO! I want regulations and oversight so damn tight that those fucking Wall Street assholes can't fucking SNEEZE without filling out permission forms in triplicate!

omg Greg - you're so frickn' funny!

The McLame / Keating 13 minute movie is now up on You Tube!

KEATING ECONOMICS: John McCain & The Making of a Financial Crisis

In the S & L Crisis of the late 1980s, there was Neil Bush - son of the then President and Brother of the current one. Now, we have the PRESIDENT'S COUSIN at Lehman Brothers. Me thinks that there is something 'rotten in Denmark!'

The rescue plan, now law, was so rushed that the usual congressional scrutiny is only coming now, after the fact.

"Although it comes too late to help Lehman Brothers, the so-called bailout program will have to make wrenching choices, picking winners and losers from a shattered and fragile economic landscape," said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the committee's senior Republican.

Waxman said that in January, Fuld and his board were warned the company's "liquidity can disappear quite fast."

Despite that warning, he said, "Mr. Fuld depleted Lehman's capital reserves by over $10 billion through year-end bonuses, stock buybacks, and dividend payments."

Waxman quoted Fuld as saying in one document, "Don't worry" to the suggestion that executives go without bonuses.

That suggestion came from Lehman's money management subsidiary, Neuberger Berman. Waxman quoted George H. Walker, President Bush's cousin and a Lehman executive who oversaw some Neuberger Berman employees, as responding with a dismissive tone to the idea of going without bonuses.

"Sorry team," he wrote to the executive committee, according to Waxman. "I'm not sure what's in the water at 605 Third Avenue today.... I'm embarrassed and I apologize."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081006/ap_on_go_co/meltdown_lehman

Hi Greg, Kath and DBDBD! It's a beautiful day here in Memphis. Mid 80's, the odd white cotton cloud here and there in the sky, low humidity, just beautiful. I hope everyone else's day is just as pretty!

Good afternoon fellow Democrats.

Yes we can!

Si se puede!

Change we can believe in!

Fight the Smears!

So Old Man McCain is going to take the gloves off Tuesday night and come out Strong against Barack???? LMAO! All Barack has to do is keep talking about the Economy and the fact that McCain spent 26 years driving us into this freaken mess and he will drag out of there with his tail between his little stumpy legs!

Hey Bob, check it out.

Also, per a Suffolk University Virginia poll taken form October 3-5 (PDF), Obama now leads McCain 49-37, and 52% of those polled say that the economy/jobs will be the issue that matters most when deciding their vote.

Obama Has Double-Digit Lead In Virginia

Hi Bob, Hi Pam.
Did you see the article that I posted about Bush's cousin receiving millions in bonuses from Lehman while Lehman is going under and begging for a bailout!

GregL on October 6, 2008 at 03:08 PM

I agree, wholeheartedly. The days of caveat emptor (i.e. Let the Buyer Beware), Reagan's "trickle down economics", and Laissez-faire commerce are over! The fat cats have, once again, proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the love of money is indeed the root of all evil.

yeah, I saw it MaryMac. so what's new? They are all crooks, and the Republicans love them and protect them!

Pundits on TV just saying, unless McCain can hit a home run tomorrow night, this election is Obama's!

heehee

Hi Mary - Indiana is cool with a hazy sky - not wait that's crude from Chicago blowing this way. Northern Indiana's sky's are mostly either a grey or on a good day a greenish color.... I think the fall color this year is looking bleak..must be connected to Wall Street. 60% of the American people think we could go into a Depression.... George Bush will have something else tagged forever to his name - besides the worst President ever, he'll go down with the stamp that he brought on the 2nd Great Depression....Someone here at work a few minutes ago said that Bush didn't bring it on - it was 911 that brought us to where we are now. I simply gave her a disgusting look and said - a good leader would have brought us through 911 - without the economy tanking jerk...

I don't feel we'll slide into a Depression. I think there are too many safe guards in place. But just in case, I went out and bought two extra huge toilet paper bundles this last weekend....just in case....

Good afternoon, all.

Medicare cuts: A top economic adviser to John McCain, Doulgas Holtz-Eakin, says that in a McCain administration, there would be big cuts to Medicare.

McCain is acting erratic again. His health care plan has had more twists and turns than the plot of "Lost."

Now he wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid...more? What next? Re-introducing the Great Plague virus hoping it will kill off enough people so McCain won't have to deal with the problem?

McCain and Republican lawmakers don't understand the economic or health care problems facing average Americans...or how their own policies would work. McCain is making it up as he goes along to fix the inadequacies in his proposed program...and his numbers still don't add up.

Kath: I got an email from some idiot this morning telling me how this is all Pres. Clinton's fault! I can't believe someone doesn't know better than to send me something like that! I bet they will next time. I sent back over 80 emails of different articles and sources showing, beyond question, how it actually started with their beloved ronnie raygun and his assinine tax/economic policies! I'm sure, as most typical re-THUGS, they will not read any of it as they have no interest in facts for the truth!
How can people be so stupid? Amazing!

Bob, nice to 'see' you. See - my congratulations from last week were only a few days pre-mature! Actually, I was congratulating you and all of the other VA Dems for 'forcing' McCain to pull resources out of MI to put in VA - but - either way - I'm HAPPY! Good Job!
As to Tuke for Tennessee, I'm working but it's an up-hill battle. The guy Bob is running agains, Sen. Alexander, is a very popular former Governor. You may or may not remember but we had a huge scandal some years ago that involved a Governor selling pardons. The guy was a slime and after he was caught, Alexander stepped in, conducted himself with dignity and somehow managed to restore some sense of integrity to the Governor's office. I completely disagree with Sen. Alexander politically speaking; however, I will (as will most Tennesseans) be grateful for the way he handled everything back then. That's why he's all but unbeatable!
That does not mean that I'm not trying and that I won't continue to try. Even if it does not work this year, maybe Bob Corker will be more vulnerable next time.

Waxman quoted George H. Walker, President Bush's cousin and a Lehman executive who oversaw some Neuberger Berman employees, as responding with a dismissive tone to the idea of going without bonuses...

"Sorry team," he wrote to the executive committee, according to Waxman. "I'm not sure what's in the water at 605 Third Avenue today.... I'm embarrassed and I apologize."

marymac_memphis on October 6, 2008 at 03:33 PM

For getting caught? Or not getting out with more money?

mary, these Republicans crooks think they have a right to act irresponsible...and capitalize from it.

Yeah Mary -people are pure dumb these days. Another co-worker was going on and on and on about Sarah dumbass and all she could say was that she liked her. I kept asking her - tell what Sarah dumbass stands for and what will she do to straighten this country out. All she could say was that she liked her.... now here's a bitch who votes. That's why we had 8 lousy years of a man who had no business being in the White House what so ever. He was no way a leader and now we are paying the price of the Bush Crime Family (and they are all crooks including Barbara white head grandma bitch). As far as I'm concerned - they should all be brought up on charges and sent to prison - every last one of the Bush family. They are all pure evil.

Did someone say we have spell check now - if so - where is it????

I can't believe that Palin has the nerve to try to bring someone's church into the conversation. She's got to realize that this will lead to people asking her about the cult she's part of.

It's worse than McCain trying to talk about Obama's stance on the economy when he was part of the Keating five.

I hope they make a video for her too. That would be great. Maybe if their lucky her witch doctor knows a way to curse the internet or something.

Well, it's quitn' time here. You all have a nice evening.

Keep on Rockn'

Before I go - one more...

Mike - I could see a commerical... a dark cloudy Halloween night when suddenly a piercing scream rings out - a fire is seen in the distance with a women tied to the stake... and then it goes black with a voice over - Didn't we try this already once in our country and it didn't work - why go back? And have a picture of Palin with her anti-witch rev - laying hands on her and slewing out the witch in her (maybe it didn't work after all??) :/

Well now I'm off - the trolls can take over as they always do after hours when no one is around and no cares...

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on October 6, 2008 at 03:49 PM

I did see that. That seems like an awfully big spread to me. I would discount it, for now, unless we see some other more established polls come out like that.

Remember this. If on Election Night you see VA and especially NC go for Obama, start the celebration party early. VA + NC + PA + OH or FL = Obama Landslide.

21SALLY-* ON OCTOBER 6, 2008 AT 04:38 PM

That prediction came true, then Jeb (you may have seen previous mention of the Bush crime family) helped turn the tides in Florida and the people got screwed into this disaster.

Yep - another case of Fox guarding the hen house!

Paulson taps former Goldman Sachs executive to run $700 billion rescue program

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An official says the administration has decided to pick a key Treasury Department official to be the interim head of its $700 billion rescue effort for financial institutions.

The official said Monday that Neel Kashkari, Treasury's assistant secretary for international affairs, will soon be announced as the interim head of Treasury's new Office of Financial Stability. The official asked not to be identified by name because the selection has not been announced publicly.

The 35-year-old Kashkari is a former Goldman Sachs Inc. banker, the investment giant once headed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The new office was created by the emergency legislation enacted Friday to fund the largest government bailout in history.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081006/meltdown_kashkari.html

Palin Sued for Private E-Mails About State Business

By Matthew Mosk

ANCHORAGE -- In a lawsuit filed in Alaska Superior Court, a Republican activist seeks to force Gov. Sarah Palin to produce copies of official correspondence she sent and received on private e-mail accounts.

Andrée McLeod filed the suit Wednesday and publicized it in a news release today. "Rather than using her state e-mail account, throughout her two-year tenure as Governor of Alaska, defendant Sarah Palin, as a matter of routine, has used, and, on information and belief, continues to use, (at least) two private e-mail accounts... to conduct official business of the State of Alaska," the suit alleges...

McLeod has questioned whether Palin was using private e-mail accounts to conduct state business in a manner that would skirt open-records laws. In one notable e-mail, a Palin aide apologized for discussing state business on a public account. "Whoops!" Palin aide Frank Bailey wrote, after addressing an e-mail to the governor's official state address. "Frank, this is not the Governor's personal account," a secretary reminded him...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/04/palin_sued_for_private_e-mails.html

Whoops? You betcha.

You know - all good Dems - I can not believe that anyone would ever admit to having voted for the idiot that we have in the White House right now - especially not voting for him twice. You would think that they would be too embarrassed to even show their faces in public but - obviously - they don't have that much sense - cause if they did, they never would have voted for Bush to begin with! What a bunch of foolish idiots!

The Golden Parachute Survives
Friday 03 October 2008
by: Mike Lillis, The Washington Independent

The creators of the financial mess may go unpunished.

For supporters of the Bush administration's $700-billion Wall Street bailout, it stands as a key selling point: a provision that limits pay packages for the heads of companies helped by the taxpayer-funded rescue program.

There's just one problem: It would do little to cap executive pay or rein in the enormous retirement packages - the golden parachutes - that have come to symbolize corporate excess.

Not only is the compensation provision vague, it is punched full of loopholes and leaves many issues of executive pay for the White House to decide later. Legal and political experts say the bill will do almost nothing to limit CEO compensation - even for companies that benefit handsomely from the taxpayers' generosity.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

When Treasury Sec. Henry M. Paulson Jr. unveiled his controversial bailout plan without CEO pay limits, voters were outraged. Lawmakers scrambled to insert a change - responding to the reasonable sensibility that some of the nation's wealthiest people shouldn't get a windfall through a bailout necessitated by the crisis many of them helped create. Unfortunately for taxpayers, some experts say, the current bill won't prevent that from happening.

For example, under current law, businesses may claim a tax deduction for all salaries under $1 million. The bailout plan would lower that ceiling to $500,000 - but only in cases when the Treasury Dept. buys up more than $300 million of the company's toxic assets, not including those purchased directly from the company. In addition, the salary-deduction rule would apply only to five employees per company. That means participating firms would lose, at most, $2.5 million in deductible claims.

"It's not even a rounding error for a big financial institution," said Adam J. Levitin, a credit expert at Georgetown University Law Center.

In addition, as Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Cal.), an opponent of the rescue bill, pointed out, the tax-deduction language targets the companies but has no effect on the executives themselves.

The provisions to end golden parachutes are also plagued with gaping loopholes. The bill does nothing to alter terms of existing contracts, for example, instead allowing retirement packages negotiated before the bailout to proceed. For future employees, meanwhile, the bill would prohibit golden parachutes only when the executive is fired, or the company fails, despite the federal help.

http://www.truthout.org/100508C

Sally-* on October 6, 2008 at 04:38 PM

I agree and we Democrats are not going to "coast" to Election Day like VP Gore did nor are we going to let the GOP steal another one like they did with FL in 2000.

Great video.

Hey Sarah Palin

Whats going to funny after this election is over, all the pundits, that have been on the tube, standing behind Palin. Is going to say we knew she was just plain bad for the ticket, BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT. They will turn on her 180 degrees, just wait and see.

They'll send her back to Alaska, just like a puppy dog, with her tail between her legs. And then she'll know how she was played for a fool.

McCain fudges his Navy record

"I crashed a plane in Corpus Christi Bay one Saturday morning. The engine quit while I was practicing landings...I took a few painkillers and hit the sack to rest my aching back for a few hours....I was out carousing, injured back and all, later that evening.
--John McCain, "Faith of My Fathers."

Controversy has surrounded a series of crashes involving planes piloted by John McCain while serving in the U.S. Navy.

In his autobiography, the Republican presidential candidate maintained that a couple of the accidents were caused by engine failure. But an official investigation by the Naval Aviation Safety Center makes clear that the first accident, in March 1960, was caused exclusively by pilot error.

The Facts

During the course of his flying career with the U.S. Navy, John McCain was involved in at least five major mishaps or crashes involving his plane.

The most dramatic incidents occurred in 1967. He barely escaped with his life after a missile exploded aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Forrestal, in July of that year, killing 134 of his fellow crew members. In October, McCain was shot down over Vietnam by a surface-to-air missile.

U.S. Navy records make clear that no blame can be attached to McCain for either of these incidents. McCain was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on his return from Vietnam and cited for his "superb airmanship" in the abortive raid on the power plant in Hanoi that ended with his capture and imprisonment by the North Vietnamese.

Mystery has surrounded the precise circumstances of the three earlier incidents, and particularly an accident on March 12, 1960, while McCain was still in flight school at Corpus Christi in Texas. The McCain campaign has either ignored or failed to respond to requests by The Washington Post and other news organizations for the release of the candidate's full military records, which could shed light on the accidents and the pilot's personal involvement.

The official Navy report into the Corpus Christi accident on March 12, 1960, concludes that the AD-6 Skyraider trainer crashed because McCain failed to "maintain an airspeed above the stall speed." It attributed the accident to "the preoccupation of the pilot coupled with a power setting too low to maintain level flight." The single-engine prop plane sank to the bottom of Corpus Christi Bay. McCain was rescued by a helicopter after swimming to the surface.

The accident report excluded a series of other possible factors, including engine failure and disorientation of the pilot due to vertigo. It recorded pilot error as "the sole contributing factor" to the accident. A copy of the report was obtained by The Washington Post from the Democratic National Committee, which conducted research at the Naval Historical Center in Washington. McCain's responsibility for the accident was first reported by the Los Angeles Times here.

McCain had another accident with a T-2 trainer jet in November 1965, while flying between New York City and Norfolk, Va. The Naval Aviation Safety Center was unable to determine the precise cause of the accident or the degree of pilot error. McCain wrote later that his engine "flamed out" and he had to eject.

In his autobiography, McCain recalls another mishap around December 1961 when "I knocked down some power lines while flying too low over southern Spain. My daredevil clowning had cut off electricity to a great many Spanish homes and created a small international incident." He landed his Skyraider back on the USS Intrepid after the incident, which does not appear to have triggered a safety investigation.

The Pinocchio Test

McCain's claim that he crashed into Corpus Christi Bay in December 1960 after his "engine quit" is a considerable stretch. U.S. Navy Safety records make clear that the plane crashed because his power setting was too low and he was failing to pay sufficient attention to his landing pattern.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/10/mccain_fudges_his_navy_record.html

It appears that McCain has flown erratic most of his life. If he wasn't the son and grandson of Admirals do you think he would have been allowed to continue his flight career?

Well, we at least now understand why McCain recently said the Spanish leader was his enemy?

Will we see more "daredevil clowning" by McCain tomorrow night at the second debate?

NorthHartford on October 6, 2008 at 04:50 PM

And John McCain was held for five years, or so, by the North Vietnamese so I guess, by your rationale, that makes John McCain a Manchurian Candidate and \ or a Communist.

For those still interested in the truth, as opposed to what this individual is drivelling on about, read below.

Next Generation Swift Boaters

In 2004, Harold Simmons was the biggest funder of the manipulative smear group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. In 2008, Simmons is the sole donor funding a vicious attack ad in some battleground states that uses tortured logic and clumsy innuendo to invent a tie between Barack Obama and terrorism.

The ad goes completely beyond the pale by cynically exploiting the tragedy of 9/11 in an unfounded connection with Chicago academic William Ayers. Then it claims that Ayers somehow �launched� Barack Obama�s career � an assertion so outlandish that not even Simmons� fellow discredited Swift Boater Jerome Corsi included it in his smear book.

The ad may even be a criminal violation of campaign finance laws. Simmons has previously been fined tens of thousands of dollars for campaign finance violations � including forging the signatures of his own daughters to make political contributions from trust funds.

Minnesota Star Tribune: Swift Boater Behind Anti-Obama Ad

Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, a major backer of Republican John McCain�s presidential campaign and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth four years ago, is the sole donor to an advertisement attacking Democrat Barack Obama over his relationship with one-time radical activist William Ayers.

And don't forget to remind us of the lies about Sen. Obama being a closet Muslim hellbent on the subjugation of all caucasians and turning the White House into the 21st Century HQ for the Black Panthers. Now go bleach and starch your sheets. I imagine you have some more "meetings" to attend before the election.

Remember this. If on Election Night you see VA and especially NC go for Obama, start the celebration party early. VA + NC + PA + OH or FL = Obama Landslide.

Posted by BobVADemocratHawk on October 6, 2008 at 04:44 PM

Bob i think that Obama will win all of the states, you have listed, plus Indiana.

NorthHartford on October 6, 2008 at 04:50 PM

You aren't connecting any dots just throwing stuff at the wall. So anyone who ever served on the same board or worked at the same place...20 years later..are all Weathermen?

You frightened Republican stooges see terris everywhere except in your own Party.

Perhaps if your heroes had followed Bin Lauden into Pakistan six years ago someone would take your GOP smear campaign serious now? Or if you had allowed our Special Forces to take him out at Tora Bora instead of allowing the Afghani warlords make fools of us?

You have no credibility. You have no judgment. You have no brains...just a lot of erratic "clowning around". Look at the economic and military disasters you have created with your bravado.

You have no shame either.

Good ahead and continue throwing out lies and rumors. We have the facts and your two dysfunctional candidates to work off. They don't act presidential and they have a lousy agenda.

That's the facts.

McCain Voted To Protect Domestic Terrorists Who Carry Out Violence At Abortion Clinics

This morning on CBS’s Early Show, McCain-Palin campaign spokesperson Nancy Pfotenhauer attempted to defend Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-AZ) debunked claims that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has been “palling around” with former radical William Ayers. Referencing a recent New York Times article, Pfotenhauer claimed that if McCain “hung out with somebody who had bombed abortion clinics” it would be a legitimate topic of discussion. She explained:

PFOTENHAUER: The article also concluded is that if Senator McCain had hung out with somebody who had bombed abortion clinics, no one would consider [raising the issue] illegitimate.

Here's more information concerning Palin's accusation of O8ama "palling around with terrorists". Follow the link to think progress.org where the whole story lists several legislations to restrict terrorism against pro-choice abortion activists in which ohn McCain opposed.

And John McCain was held for five years, or so, by the North Vietnamese so I guess, by your rationale, that makes John McCain a Manchurian Candidate and \ or a Communist.

Good point, Bob. Maybe Biden and the rest of our surrogates should throw that suggestion out over and over again. It would demonstrate how silly all these accusations being thrown out by the McCain camp are.

Obama, need to run a ad, on all of the Major News Networks, that McNuts intends on cutting Medicare, And Medicaid, to all of are Seniors, that are 65 and over. Can you belief this frigging itiot?

Barack Obama Opens Largest Electoral Vote Lead Ever
10/6/08

State Pollster Date Obama McCain Barr Nader
National DC 10/1-5 48% 45% 2% 3%
GA R2000 9/29-10/1 43% 50% - -
VA Suffolk 10/3-5 51% 39% - -
VA SUSA 10/4-5 53% 43% - -
NM AJ 9/29-10/2 45% 40% - -
NH SUSA 10/4-5 53% 40% - -
Subscribe: Poll Summaries To Your Inbox

Gallup Tracking: Obama 50, McCain 42.
Rasmussen Tracking: Obama 52, McCain 44.
Hotline Tracking: Obama 47, McCain 41.
Battleground Tracking: Obama 50, McCain 43.

AVERAGE: Obama 50, McCain 43
Obama +7%

Barack Obama has moved above 350 electoral votes in the poll of polls estimate for the first time ever. Virginia is supposed to be a firm Red State but we have two polls that each show Obama ahead by double digits.

Method Obama McCain
Latest Poll Per State 345 184
Poll of Polls 355 174
Survey USA 262 276
Rasmussen Reports 306 205
Quinnipiac 269 128
CNN 283 148
American Research Group 287 251
Insider Advantage 214 160
Research 2000 188 198
Strategic Vision 211 175
Public Policy Polling 219 144
Mason Dixon 181 139
Zogby 271 240
National Average 46.9% 42.8%
Weighted Nat'l Avg 48.4% 44.6%

Chassie - Hi - Nice to 'see' you! How are things down in S. Georgia? Are you near Valdosta?

NorthHartford on October 6, 2008 at 05:29 PM

Your accusations are no different than those that were made by Joe McCarthy in the 1950's Senate hearings. President Eisenhower deplored what his Party did back then.

MATT, I think it might be constructive to ask Dwight Eisenhower's grandaughter Susan to release some of those quotes made by the President at the time and read them in the MSM. (I have some of those quotes if you need them.)

And troll, your VP candidate has too many connections and videos of her recent association with an African witch hunter to want this to happen.

Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period of intense anti-communist suspicion inspired by the tensions of the Cold War.[1] He was noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the federal government and elsewhere. Ultimately, McCarthy's tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led to his being discredited and censured by the United States Senate. The term "McCarthyism," coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy's practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist pursuits. Today the term is used more generally to describe demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.[2]

NorthHartford on October 6, 2008 at 05:29 PM

You misspeak. The lies you refer to are available on the web and the e-mail servers of virtually all of the right-wing smear groups.

The truth can be found at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/ .

This is very encouraging!

Democrats Could Hit 60 Senate Seats
Sunday 05 October 2008
by: Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, The Politico

The possibility that Democrats will build a muscular, 60-seat Senate majority is looking increasing plausible, with new polls showing a powerful surge for the party's candidates in Minnesota, Kentucky and other states.

A poll out Friday shows Sen. Norm Coleman could now easily lose his Minnesota seat to comedian-turned-candidate Al Franken. A Colorado race that initially looked like a nail-biter has broken decisively for the Democrats. A top official in the McCain camp told us Sen. Elizabeth Dole is virtually certain to lose in conservative North Carolina.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has seen his race tighten dangerously close over the past week - and Democrats are considering moving more money into the state very soon. And there is even talk that Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss is beatable in conservative Georgia after backing the economic bailout package opposed by many voters.

"Before the economic crisis, we had a number of races moving our way," said Matthew Miller, communications director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "But now we're seeing Republican numbers plummet." GOP officials largely agree.

http://www.truthout.org/100608T

SandyH on October 6, 2008 at 05:33 PM

To republicans (when it comes to a democrat) anyone you may have ever known or met during your lifetime you are personally responsible for their actions whether or not they occurred prior to or after your association with that person. It is such a crock of sh-t that no reasonable person can get their head around that way of thinking.

I once knew a guy who offed his exwife. I wonder if that makes me culpable?

If that's the best they got...congratulations President Obama!

Posted by marymac_memphis on October 6, 2008 at 05:54 PM

Good evening marymac, good to see you also, i live, 1 hr. and 15 minutes, from Valdosta, slightly north east.

I see Dusty and his band of Merry Trolls are back providing the comedy on the blog.

It's too bad that even they will benefit from PRESIDENT OBAMA.

chassie on October 6, 2008 at 05:20 PM

I would not count on NC or IN. But my most conservative estimate has this race at a tie, 269-269 in which case, we win. I still believe if you see VA and NC go for Obama its game over right there unless McCain pulls an epic upset in CA.

marymac_memphis on October 6, 2008 at 06:01 PM

It's too early for that, Mary. The Senate will probably end up 57 D, 41 R, and 2 I.

I think we all need to settle down and keep working for our respective campaigns. We still haven't had the October surprise(s) and a month is a long time in politics. The sheeple's memory is not that long. This race still could go either way.

Actually sally, it's not that you are not posting facts, no one has claimed that he didn't know Ayers. The claim is that it's not really an issue weather or not you know someone. Knowing someone doesn't mean you agree with them. McCain has "known" every senator in the last 26 years. Several of them are in jail now. By your logic, McCain is guilty of every crime they committed. Of course, he is guilty of several of their crimes, you know, since you brought it up.

59BOBVADEMOCRATHAWK ON OCTOBER 6, 2008 AT 06:19 PM

Since you mention our own areas, I was wondering if anyone else is in the same trouble we're in way up here. I've got the local thugs running around trying to impede peoples chance to vote. At first I thought it couldn't work, but now I see the deeper problem. In making it difficult for these people to vote, they deter at least a few of them. The local Dem's are fighting, but I'm afraid of the impact it's already had. The local news is barely giving it any attention, so I'm bringing it up everywhere I can in hopes it will make national news. Just to sum up the article, they are saying they're just defending election laws, but they only feel the need to do it democratic strong holds.

http://mtstandard.com/articles/2008/10/04/state/hjjbijjghgejij.txt

Posted by mike_n_montana on October 6, 2008 at 06:19 PM

It's really quite simple for republicans.

If you can see something out your window you are an expert in everything related to that view. Everyone you meet, you are personally responsible for everything they have ever done or thought of doing in their life.

So, if I were a republican (gag) I would be an absolute expert on transportation, meteorology, commerce, horticulture and the mating habits of squirrels and I may have some implication in the sex crimes of Larry Craig since I shared a plane ride with him once...

Knock Out: CNBC Confirms Lehman CEO Punched at Gym

Network verifies reports Richard Fuld was attacked for financial institution's bankruptcy.

By Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
10/6/2008 3:59:29 PM

It seems anxiety from the financial crisis is reaching new highs, but the tipping point for one individual came at the Lehman Brothers gym in the midst of the company’s collapse.

While former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld was testifying before the House Oversight Committee Oct. 6, CNBC reported he had been punched in the face at the Lehman Brothers gym after it was announced the firm was going bankrupt. CNBC and Vanity Fair contributor Vicki Ward said Fuld was attacked at the gym on a Sunday following the bankruptcy.

“Frankly, I sat there and listened and I’m with the guy who apparently, the day before Barclays announced they were coming in and Lehman had already filed for bankruptcy, went over to him in the gym and punched him because that’s how I feel when I, you know, when I watched that,” Ward said on the Oct. 6 “Power Lunch.” “I didn’t think he was contrite at all, I thought he was arrogant.”

Ward confirmed previous reports about the incident that reportedly occurred Sept. 21 and said the information came from “two very senior sources.”

“From two very senior sources – one incredibly senior source – that he went to the gym after … Lehman was announced as going under. He was on a treadmill with a heart monitor on. Someone was in the corner, pumping iron and he walked over and he knocked him out cold. And frankly after having watched this, I’d have done the same too.”

Ward determined Fuld deserved the beating based on his testimony before the committee.

“I thought he was shameless,” Ward said. “I thought it was appalling. He blamed everyone. He blamed, as you say, ‘naked short sellers’ over and over in case we didn’t get the point, when in fact hedge funds like Harbinger had money locked up in Lehman and was shorting it to try and make the most of the money that they already had. He blamed everybody but himself.”

Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September 2008 and its assets were later snatched up by the British bank Barclays for $1.35 billion, which included Lehman’s Midtown Manhattan office tower with a $960 million price tag.

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081006150152.aspx

I would like to propose a new Federal Holiday. On the first week of every October we should have a "Slap your CEO in the mouth" week.

BobVADemocratHawk on October 6, 2008 at 06:19 PM

Bob: Those are not my numbers, I was just posting an excerpt and link to an article from The Politico that I found on Truthout. I don't know if 60 is a reasonable guess, but, it sure would be nice to have the White House and sizable majorities in both houses of Congress. We might be able to finally get a Democratic Agenda passed! That would be a breath of fresh air!

Elections have life cycles. They have beginnings, middles, and ends. The beginnings tend to be exciting. The middles tend to be exhausting. And the ends tend to be ugly. The ends are ugly because the candidates are desperate and their teams are scared. They are ugly because the echo chambers have filled with sound, and because the strategists are quietly confident that the electorate will have time only to absorb smears, not recognize and punish their perpetrators.

Right now, we're entering the ugly period.

Sarah Palin says that "[Barack Obama] is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country." Republicans are preparing to elevate threatening Muslim associations like Rashid Khalidi, a Columbia University Middle East History professor with longtime Palestinian sympathies, and Ali Abunimah, who I've never even heard of, but who has a usefully Arab-sounding name. The ads on Jeremiah Wright are, of course, being readied even as we speak.

The problem with elections is that few candidates can accept that there are years in which they should lose. Not because they are possessed of insufficient virtue, or because they would be poor leaders, but because their party has failed, and the economy is poor, and the Iraq War was a mistake. Because they were unlucky, and it is simply not their year, and their depressing job is simply to sustain the continuity of the two-party system. If McCain were to accept the likelihood of loss, his incentives would be to ensure he falls with honor. Instead, he insists, understandably, on holding fast to the increasingly slim possibility of winning. But that requires an increasingly vicious and desperate strategy that is, by turns, racist, bigoted, fear-mongering, and dishonest. Barack Obama does not picnic with Bill Ayers or seek to plant bombs beneath the White House. It's unclear if he could even identify Khalidi or Abunimah in a crowd. Conversely, no one doubts he could spot the executive director of AIPAC with ease, and probably ask about his children by name. McCain knows all this, but a recognition of that knowledge would require an acceptance of his likely loss. McCain will not accept that loss, and so he will deny this knowledge, and his campaign strategy will be shaped accordingly.

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=10&year=2008&base_name=_elections_have_life_cycles

mike_n_montana on October 6, 2008 at 06:29 PM

The GOP will make it difficult for people to vote in all of their strongholds such as IN, MT, and NC, for example. The only chance the GOP has is a major Obama gaffe or voter suppression. Everyone needs to be prepared. Thanks for the info, Mike.

Obama should just come out and say, McCain loves the America he was born into, rich, well connected America. I, Obama, love the America I was born into , the middle class. It's not that he doesn't care, he just cares about the upper class.

Man, tomorrow night McCain is going to look like a short, squat, not so bright, angry, old man. Obama will be cool as a cucumber. You know how we were all waiting for palin to actually step over the bar, that was on the floor. Now we will be waiting to see if McCain doesn't just BLOW!

Think about it, he has been given special treatment his whole life, because who his father and grandfather were, not because of anything he has done. He probably thinks, that Obama has a lot of Kahuna's to be going against a powerful man and well conected rich insider. Who does barack Obama think he is? That is the stuff that makes someone BLOW! Keep your fingers crossed.

Posted by NorthHartford on October 6, 2008 at 06:38 PM

The republican party was for the stock market. To hell with the country of America. CAFTA, No-Bid Haliburton Invasion Contracts, Big Oil, Consumer Product Safety, who needs it, not republicans. Regulation, let the Free Markets decide.

If your middle class and you vote republican, you just might be a dumb ass.

Posted by mike_n_montana on October 6, 2008 at 06:29 PM
I have seen remarks by others on this blog about similar tactics in other states.
This voter challenge drive is just more of the same. The local Republicans ran the dirtiest campaign I'd seen in a while against Jon Tester in 2006, with constant push polling, and bogus phone calls purportedly from the Democratsand now they're handing out more of the same.
This from the party that brought us tantrum throwing, complete with 4 letter words, and bogus budgets during the past legislative session.
They are acting more like school yard bullies than anyone with a shred of decency and leadership ability.
BTW mike_n_MT did you see the piece in the (sub)Standard last Sunday, I think it was, that Lt. governor Bollinger wrote about the challenges? He is not amused with his party's leadership, and he's got the backbone to say so.
I'd put a link, but I'm not a good enough typist to get all the i's and j's straight on the link so it would work right.

Posted by NorthHartford on October 6, 2008 at 06:47 PM

It's called capitalism. He wrote two books and people with free will chose to buy his books, therefore he made a lot of money.

McCain on the other hand is kept by his wife in luxury, with her daddy's money from a beer distributorship. That's why cindy dresses in $300,000 dollar outfits when people are loosing their homes in droves, she just doesn't get it.

Barack earned his money, McCain lives off of his wife's money that her daddy earned and left to her. Johnnie is a kept man, yes cindy, whatever you say cindy. Cindy, can I have some money to go to the store? He's disgusting.

There is a new EVENING OPEN THREAD.

If your middle class and you vote republican, you just might be a dumb ass.

newsjunkie on October 6, 2008 at 06:45 PM

And probably lost your retirement savings and are too stupid yet to figure it out.

"Democrats Could Hit 60 Senate Seats"

wow, my dream may come true!

The day they strip Lieberman of his seats, I shall get a convoy together, and go over to his Hartford Office, and we shall all Honk, and Honk and Honk!!! :)

I am getting a big kick out of the latest Repug scheme. They KNOW McCain is in the garbage, so their latest ploy is, "Well, you don't want all of one party in. That is not good'

LIKE THEY WERE NOT IN THE MAJORITY AND THE WHITE HOUSE FOR 14 YEARS !!! They are freaken right THAT was not good!

Well, since you asked for some Republican politicians who are corrupt, criminal and perverted, allow me!

Sex Scandals:
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october172007/repub_scandals_10_17_07.php

Republican Criminals:
http://washparkprophet.blogspot.com/2005/11/republican-criminals.html

Pediolphia:

http://www.armchairsubversive.org/

other Criminals, Corrupt and perverts:

http://hackenbush.org/hackenblog/blogives/00002689.htmhttp://hackenbush.org/hackenblog/blogives/00002689.htm

http://recoveringliberal.com/?p=593

http://www.republicancorruption.com/

http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/gopcorruption.html

http://senate2008guru.blogspot.com/2007/08/republican-culture-of-corruption-2007.html

Florida: McCain vs. Obama

Polling Data

Poll Date Sample Obama (D) McCain (R) Spread

RCP Average 09/27 - 10/05 -- 49.3 45.3 Obama +4.0

FOX News/Rasmussen 10/05 - 10/05 1000 LV 52 45 Obama +7

CNN/Time 09/28 - 09/30 770 LV 51 47 Obama +4

InAdv/PollPosition 09/30 - 09/30 532 LV 49 46 Obama +3

Suffolk/WSVN 09/27 - 09/30 600 LV 46 42 Obama +4

Quinnipiac 09/27 - 09/29 836 LV 51 43 Obama +8

SurveyUSA 09/27 - 09/28 599 LV 47 48 McCain +1

PPP (D) 09/27 - 09/28 941 LV 49 46 Obama +3

("Nuts, and McNuttier, is fading fast.")