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Compare & Contrast

by Steven D
Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 03:34:46 PM EST

TOLEDO, Ohio (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama on Monday proposed four steps to create jobs and to cushion Americans against the effects of the economic downturn as he campaigned in an area hit hard by the slowdown. [...]
-- A temporary $3,000 tax credit to companies for each new job created in the United States over the next two years.
-- Penalty free withdrawals from 401(k) and IRA retirement accounts up to a maximum of $10,000 this year and next.
-- A 90-day moratorium on foreclosures for homeowners who are living in their homes and making good-faith efforts to make their mortgage payments.
-- A call for the Treasury to help unfreeze markets for individual mortgages, student loans, car loans, loans for multifamily dwellings and credit card loans.
The plan also calls for temporarily eliminating taxes on unemployment insurance benefits and having the Fed and Treasury prepare for guaranteeing a broader range of liabilities of the banking system.

And McCain's big new idea for his campaign:

McCain has added a new line to his stump speech: "We've got them just where we want them."

Inspiring, isn't it?

Compare & Contrast | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Compare & Contrast (4.00 / 2)

l used to think that dole/kemp was the most inept presidential slate and campaign the RATs ever produced...mcstain's makes theirs look like it was run by geniuses.

l'm trying not to be overly optimistic about the outcome of the election, or harbouring overtly vengeful thoughts...but really, his campaign has turned into a sideshow of inept, tone-deaf pandering to the lowest common denominator...and l'm lovin' watching it implode.

l hope mc/palin and the RATs experience a defeat of historic proportions come nov.

the revolution will not be televised...Peace

by dada on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 04:44:09 PM EST

Re: Compare & Contrast (none / 0)

You know, I'm 60 years old, and I don't think I've ever heard a president deliver a State of the Union address 3 weeks before he's even elected. Clearly, His O-ness is going to take FDR's First Hundred Days and try to go him one better.

by Phil in TN on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 04:05:37 PM EST

Re: Compare & Contrast (4.00 / 2)

In all honesty, I view Obama as President already...perhaps a president-in-waiting, if you will. And I KNOW that's premature. There are still 3 weeks, and anything can happen: e.g., Osama bin Laden pops up via tape (or is discovered to be dead already and we will have taken "credit"). This thing is so not wrapped up. As good as things look now (Closing in WV and GA? Leading in ND, though w/in MoE?) I know that things can turn on a dime, and we have to actually get people to the polls.

All that said, he just looks like the president and has since his overseas trip. It's more than just his bearing; it's that he's been right about nearly everything. Even at the meeting that Shrub called during the lead-up to the bailout package--who really was paying any attention to him? No one. To me, the president was in the wrong seat.

I don't even listen to Bush anymore, not even to curse him. He just doesn't even seem relevant, and he hasn't seemed relevant for months. He's like a gnat: briefly annoying and forgotten just as quickly.

I don't mean to suggest that once we have a new president and a filibuster proof Senate majority that we forget his lies. Not at all. But it just seems like a holding pattern for some reason.

Again, I haven't lost my mind: I'll be in VA this weekend.

Presumptuous is the new uppity.

by AP on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 04:23:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Compare & Contrast (none / 1)

An Osama tape will only serve to remind everyone that Senator Country Last has been talking about knowing how and promising to get bin Laden for the past year without letting anyone in on the actual plan. When over 80% of respondents identify the economy as their critical issue and only 12-13% identify war on terror/Iraq/etc as their primary issue, the "scary guy in a turban" thing isn't going to work this time around - for the Republicans.

What struck me is not only the words but the tone. It's the confident yet audacious voice of a man that knows he's got a country to run. I would love to see the campaign's internals about now.

by Phil in TN on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 04:34:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Compare &amp; Contrast (none / 1)

He just doesn't even seem relevant, and he hasn't seemed relevant for months.

I've had a similar feeling lately. I was trying to read some old Molly Ivins stuff about him recently and although it was funny in a pathetic sort of way, I came to a point that I just didn't care to read any more.

"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live." Dorothy Thompson, Journalist

by Indianadem on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 04:38:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Compare &amp;amp; Contrast (none / 0)

No tape this time. We're in the midst of our October surprise. The financial meltdown and OBL wherever he is - in the cave or pushing daises, smiles.

In the last 7 years, we've bankrupt ourselves.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

by idredit on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 05:03:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Compare &amp;amp;amp; Contrast (none / 0)

I dunno. OBL strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn't hold back when he feels like gloating. And he's got a lot to gloat about. He managed to severely damage the American juggernaut with a handful of devoted followers and a few stolen airplanes. Now look at us - $10 trillion dollars in debt, military stretched to a breaking point, our economy in a shambles.

Now realistically he can't take all of the credit. Someone other than Bush in the Oval Office wouldn't have fucked up EVERYTHING so royally. But rhetorically he probably would if he could. And he'd probably be happiest if we elected someone else who was going to keep doing what we're doing right now - until there's no chance of recovery and we're forced to leave the Middle East entirely to its own devices.

So if he's alive I expect a tape. A gloating, self-congratulatory tape about how the mighty American juggernaut has fallen, how it's all his doing, and how Americans should expect much worse in the coming years. That's actually why I don't think he's alive anymore. If he were, we would have gotten a tape by now. There's no way he wouldn't want to gloat about the mess we're in and take credit for it.

by nonynony on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 05:18:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Compare & Contrast (none / 0)

"We've got them just where we want them."

This means that McCain has tricked Obama into winning.

by sjct on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 04:20:40 PM EST

Re: Compare & Contrast (none / 0)

"We've got them right where we want them"

I know what that means in my old neighborhood, but I don't think it's possible McCain can think that's what the phrase means.

I'm fairly certain it's not Obama that's feeling "The Squeeze."

by vicki (nosnivelling at hotmail dot com) on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 04:35:13 PM EST

Re: Compare & Contrast (none / 1)

"McCain has added a new line to his stump speech: "We've got them just where we want them."

Politico:
The Campaign is divided- McCain's new plan collapsed due to internal confusion
Presented with 30 options for new economic measures, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has - at least for now - chosen none of them.
His campaign had been planning to roll out new proposals this week that would be aimed at restoring confidence in financial markets and encouraging investors to return.
On Sunday, hours before attending a big strategy meeting at McCain campaign headquarters, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Bob Schieffer on CBS' "Face the Nation" that McCain was planning "a very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy, by allowing capital to be formed easier in America by lowering taxes.
"But when the meeting ended, so did plans for a new economy push. The campaign now says no new policy announcements are planned. Participants in the meeting refused to say what happened.
"We're locked down," said one official.
Politico reported McCain advisers' descriptions of the plan in articles on Saturday and Sunday.
Jackie Calmes of The New York Times, who first reported the plan's collapse on Sunday night, pointed to "internal confusion" about the matter.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

by idredit on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 05:12:29 PM EST

Who will pay for the message (if there is one)? (none / 0)

The RNC got its millions of dollars loan from Wachovia (even when normal workers are losing their homes and cars due to the credit squeeze).

So... is the RNC going to invest that money into McCain's failed campaign or buy ads trying to shore up a handful of states where the Republican incumbent is suddenly in the Siege Perilous? They will vote with the pocketbook.

If they protect a half dozen seats in Congress, that would mean their internal polling shows McCain going down like a concrete block and taking large numbers of incumbents with him to the bottom of the briny deep. In order to preserve the Grand Old Party, they'll try to keep as many seats as possible.
If they buy ads supporting McCain, that means they still think he has some sort of chance. McCain could have attracted the money if he had a new theme or strong message. Why should they spend the money on ads that are proven not to work? Bad investment! If there is anything Republicans know, it is how to invest.

by hauksdottir on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 08:20:48 PM EST

Compare & Contrast | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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