Dear Barack Obama,

The jobless rate went up yesterday to 6.1% nationally with a loss of 84,000 jobs... Here in California that number is even higher on the whole. Los Angeles for example has an 8.1% unemployment rate and the state is at 7.1%. People are loosing their homes. I sympathize cause I've already lost mine and my wife and I are coming out of bankruptcy.

I watch all the news stations and saw you somewhere out in what appeared to be western Pennsylvania talking about the poor jobs report...What I didn't see was a follow-up in that same excerpt, that same couple of sentences, about how you are going to put America back to work. Please tell us. We want to believe!

As you well know this election is close. It might very well be won on 'sound bites' that those not so close to the news cycle will be following... You must be tired, you look tired...I know I would be if I were you but we've got less than 60 days to win this election. I believe in you and what your team will do to take this country back for the people and what you and your team will do to unite the electorate. Please find the strength within and the energy to get more aggressive on the economy. I grew up in the Pennsylvania Dutch country and lived in the suburbs outside Detroit Michigan as well, two key battleground areas. The people want to believe. You are the candidate of hope and change! Please hit the eonomy harder and lead us all back to greater prosperity.

Sincerely,

A concerned American and a strong believer in you

As an English major, McCain could have had a better acceptance speech.

He thinks that if he borrows some of Obama's rhetoric and make it look like the Republican Party has truly been the oppressed party of the past 8 years and that George W. Bush, a self-defined Republican, doesn't have a negative legacy, even though Bush has a negative legacy and the Republican Party has been the OPPRESSOR party.

But, honestly, "partisan rancor?" It's like insulting somebody and saying that they were insulting you. At least Barack Obama stated our country's problem at little nicer, and a little less fear-mondering.

Honestly, his speech is as cheap as a McDonald's Happy Meal.

How do you manage to turn the nation's largest government surplus into the nation's largest government deficit? Ask George Bush.

I heard a lot of political "buzzwords" this last week at the RNC convention. However, two key words I've noticed are slowly being phased out from the Republican lexicon: fiscal responsibility.

Republicans castigate liberals as tax and spend, but in reality tax and spend makes more sense than to spend without taxes. A government that runs deficits is forced to borrow from the Federal Reserve, which in turn prints more money which devalues the dollar. This policy leads to higher prices, reduced savings, and ultimately ends with dire economic consequences. American tax payers, already struggling to balance their own budgets, eventually must foot the bill to end the bleeding.   Read More »

Was the song Diane Keaton as Annie Hall sang in the 1977 movie, Annie Hall. But, I am not here to talk about my favorite movies.

It does seem appropriate for what I am here to show you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM3oww9Vk-c


Seems the "party of change" is only the party that recycles already rotten tactics.

If you saw John McCain's speech you like I heard no mention of economic policies to bring jobs back to this great nation, no real health-care reform for those with skyrocketing costs or perhaps as with many friends of mine, no health-care insurance period. He did talk about removing barriers for Corporations doing business in the US, no trade restrictions for business(which will result in more lost jobs as McCain would push for the South American Free Trade Agreement to be put into law), privitization of Social Security, elimination of Unemployment Insurance as we know it (eluding to the unemployed being given menial jobs before paying them the unemployment money they themselves paid into the fund)and a drill drill drill rhetoric.

The latest McCain campaign strategy is to paint the Obama-Biden ticket as being "on the fringe". We must, each of us refocus this election on the economy and other issues at hand! I urge each of you to reach out and write to a friend in a battleground or red state letting them know the facts. Let's put Amercia back to work and restore our standing of prestige in the world order!

Has anyone had any success at this?

Everyone here talks a good game, but really we need to be more constructive in what we are doing if we are going to win. I like the idea of using this site to gather small donations from friends to help the DNC. It not only helps the candidates we like get elected, but it also makes them less accountable to corporate donors and more accountable to us.

This is my site. I've only got 1 donor. That donor happens to be me. LOL. We should all at least take a little time and try to do this.

http://www.democrats.org/page/outreach/view/total/lars   Read More »

Surprisingly borrowed from the Associated Press:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform â€" not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state â€" by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right â€" change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington â€" throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

Please Note: The facts aren't "borrowed" from the AP, although they did come in the form of an article within the AP

I've watched all the RNC attack dogs speak this evening during the Republican Convention. After Sarah Palin's speech energizing their base with vicious attacks on Barack Obama, the smear and several factual inacuracies have been duly noted. 'Sarah the Barracuda' as she was known in high school, has bitten us all and this deed will not be forgotten!

Sarah Palin was FOR the 'Bridge to Nowhere' before Congress told her state, Alaska would have to pay for the project. As Mayor, Sarah Palin hired a consultant to bring earmarks to her city when she's publicly claimed to be against earmarks. Sara Palin has not even traveled outside the US until last year and she managed to leave office with the city of Wasilla in debt (perhaps better spoken of as an 8,000-10,000 person town rather than city). I've even heard she attempted to fire a librarian who refused to ban some books at the library not to mention the current 'trooper gate' scandal. And not to mention, I haven't even touched on her far right Creationist views including no sex education whatsoever in the class room other than abstinence. It resulted in her 17 year old having a child out of wedlock so like it or not it's news.

What we as Democrats truly can benefit from is to get Sarah Palin in front of a camera speaking her true views in an unscripted atmosphere. She was scheduled to appear on Larry King Live but the McCain campaign canceled her appearance for fear of this very thing.

The time has come to step into the ring. There is no room for error. We must keep our attacks to arguments that make sense to swing voters, independents and Republicans on the fence. I'd like you to remember one thing and that's McCain and Palin = MP and that spells Military Police which is not good for my America!

I just read from the Huffington Post about Palin's acceptance speech, and, honestly, what nerve has she to call Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders in government the "Washington elite?"

What does the elite look like to you Sarah?

I had no idea that people who lost their homes to foreclosure; workers who lost their jobs to outsourcing; families who lost their families to the war in Iraq AND returning veterans who go homeless AND wounded veterans with poor health care to handle the readjustment; people who get arrested without a warrant and call for habeas corpus for politics and just to get inhumanely tortured; women who want the right to make reproductive choices without resorting to a back alley abortion or a wire hanger; GLBT Americans who want hate crime legislation enacted; people who want civil rights and liberties preserved and maintained rather than disregarded for the sake of "protection"; and the list gets longer. I had no idea Palin considers a majority of Americans and the people who honestly stand up and DO THEIR JOBS and represent their constituents are the "elite."

Governor Palin, just look in the audience you are speaking too. Look at those rich, white faces. Have you ever noticed that the audience at the Republican National Convention looks like they are at a business convention? I guess there is a reason why they call it the RNC.

Gov. Palin,

Look at yourself. You are an eltist because you cater to a party that only cares about 1% of America, and tries to keep the rest of us in line by scaring ourselves out of our freedoms and rights.

Sarah,

You are a member of the Washington Elite. Stop peddling that reality into a party that has nothing to do with your group!

see why http:www.fluni.com

In 2006, we went a long way towards defeating corruption in the Congress. The former Republican Congress, led by such men as Tom Delay was shown the door by American voters. Despite this, we still have a long way to go towards defeating Corruption in the Congress. As long as men like Exxon Ed Whitfield are allowed to haunt the hallowed halls of Congress, we have work to do.   Read More »

I understand how close our troops might be with each other, like brothers and sisters.

And, even though we all know McCain's POW story inside and out, it is kind of well....interesting that a former POW that McCain knew in Vietnam states this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70


Makes you question his leadership abilities, doesn't it?

During Gustav and possibly as Hannah follows we're at a Crossroads. How do our candidates look Presidential while not appearing to politicize the situation? How do we as not only Democrats but as Americans help those in need during this time? How do we as Democrats counter the RNC and the tone of their convention? Our future as a nation is in peril under a McCain-Palin ticket. I pray for the safety of all Americans and for our candidates to be given wisdom to make the right decisions during these trying times. I'll be gathering my attack material and holding it close to the vest till the storm passes. God bless the USA!

After witnessing an incredible convention we must now retire to the War Room and strategize! The RNC know that their convention couldn't come close so McCain will probably give his acceptance speech from the gulf coast region to appear Presidential. We must counteract the effects... If Barack Obama rolls up his sleeves and arrives in the region it might help but seeing a mulitude of Obama T-shirt wearing volunteers pitching in feeding those in the path of the storm and rebuilding the area is our best offense and our defense. Obama contributing personal funds could steal some RNC thunder as well. Now is the time to think smart and react swiftly and decisively.

We must use our response to their convention to praise their concern for the country and more so our party's action during this disaster. We must appear as the party of action and they of talk. The convention itself is a moot point.

McCain's age must be addressed indirectly and not by the campaign itself. We need to come out with both barrels blazing yet utilizing a silencer. Sara Palin's extreme right wing views must be addressed indirectly a as well and not by the campaign itself.

Remember the hare is quick and experienced, exuding confidence. It is the tortoise though that takes the time to think through the task at hand, moves forward continually, exudes patience and inner calm. Displaying a keen sense of awareness, it is he who wins the race.

I try my hardest to be respectful of the other side's perspective and point of view, and, though it was hard out here for a liberal Democrat these past 8 years, I have always tried to be respectful, especially because I have Republican friends.

My goal when talking with them is to just not bring up politics with them. It's been a hard goal to accomplish, because, in this day and age, how can you not? But, with my politics, I get so passionate, so assertive, and so competitive I lose sight and fear that I lose friendship, this is why I don't know what to do with a friend of mine who is shoving Palin info down my throat and expects me to not say anything about kicking his party's inflated gray butt cheeks this coming November. Just the other day I was talking to a classmate of mine and I said : "Sorry, I hate it when I get all preachy to people who may or may not share my political views." Luckily, my classmate wasn't offended. But still.

Can't America just ag