Socialism doesn't make my butthole pucker

Since the economic bailout, there’s been a lot of talk about socialism. At least one of my more liberal friends predicts the bailout equals the death of socialism’s staunchest rival: capitalism. The hinging factor in this argument is not merely that the government has bankrolled the private financial market – it is that our government is literally buying stock in the country’s largest banks. By definition, this move does amount to a socialist strategy. It certainly falls under the umbrella of “a broad set of economic theories … advocating social or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.”

The Republican ticket’s VP candidate, however, doesn’t agree with this analysis. According to this CNN article, Palin answered she did not agree the bailout was a socialist move. It was simply a “shoring of banks,” she said, that was necessary for “not only the housing market but the credit markets also, to make sure that that’s not frozen.”

Palin, however, not surprisingly turned a 360 during the same Colorado Springs press conference. While defending the bailout as a purely capitalist move, she called Barack Obama’s tax plan an “experiment with socialism.”

This has yet to be proven. His plan calls for a tax increase for anyone making more than $250,000 a year and a tax credit for middle- and low-income workers. Essentially he’s helping those who need it and taxing those who don’t – and admitting that he himself is one of the few who can afford to pay more.

Maybe it is socialism, and maybe it isn’t. If his plan called for all of the extra taxes garnered from the rich to be directly distributed in the form of those lower-income credits, than yes, it’s socialism. If the two items of business remain separate from one another … well, it could still be socialism.

Here’s my question – who fucking cares? The wealthy and powerful have been demonizing socialism since the early 1900’s. It’s no surprise – the main thrust of Karl Marx’s theory is that capitalism is meant to keep the wealthy wealthy and the poor poor. A socialist agenda would see these rich legislators and their richer special interests losing out. Oh, the humanity.

That’s not how Palin and McCain argue their case, however. Instead of using the phrase “the rich,” they talk about how much this plan will hurt “small businesses.” Their argument assumes that we either make more than $250,000 a year or that we are simply ignorant. They’re counting on the uneducated, the uninformed and the traditional voters (and by “traditional” I mean “old”) to vote wildly against Obama simply because they’ve labeled him with this 20^th-century epithet. It harkens back to a time when the American people were led to believe democracy was in danger.

I’m sorry, but the fact Obama wants to “spread the wealth around,” as McCain has been so eager to point out, doesn’t instantly anger me. For one thing, Obama’s plan would see the wealth going into my pocket and not coming out of it. It would take my wife and I 10 years or more to make $250,000. For another thing, I agree with Obama – the rich can and should pay more. It’s absurd to believe that we can pull ourselves out of this recession (yes, I said it … recession) without taking a tax hit. McCain decries increased taxes as an insensitive and unneeded hardship upon Americans. Well, suck it up. If we want things in our society – like universal health care or, say, a balanced budget – we have to be willing to pay for them. And if you’re living comfortably, quit complaining about it. My wife and I cling to each and every check we make. If you don’t have to worry about whether you can feed your daughter for the next week, you’ve got no room to whine.

Prediction Not Good For McCain

Game. Set. Match.

John McCain is in a pickle. A big one. He has lost all three debates, according to both CBS and CNN news post-debate flash polls. Both of these polls were taken just after the debates and featured undecided voters who had not yet made up their minds about who to vote for in less than three weeks.

That’s not the bad part for John McCain.

The bad part is all the polls indicate that John McCain needs some major catching up to have even a remote chance of pulling an upset victory. It’s possible, but highly unlikely.

All the polls don’t really matter when it comes to the horse race. After all, Al Gore was ahead in the horserace in 2000, 17 days out, but lost. (He did win the popular vote.) Polls are a good indicator of where the country is headed, but not all together accurate. The best way to predict a winner right now is to look at the electoral map and the state-by-state data. Well, we’ve done that and it’s not good for John McCain.

Keeping the so-called toss up states in mind, Kill The Cat can now project Barack Obama the winner of the 2008 presidential election, if it were held today. Here’s how:

We have moved both Virginia and Florida from Toss-Up to Obama. The Real-Clear Politics average shows both of those states leaning toward Obama and all polls are outside the margin of error. The other toss-up states remain in yellow. If John McCain were to pull a rabbit out of his ass and win them all, he would still be short the 270 needed and Obama would emerge victorious.

There are two states in the toss-up category that we have given McCain because we feel, ultimately, McCain has them put away. Those states are Indiana and West Virginia. We almost moved North Carolina out of toss up into Obama, but the polls are still within the margin of error there. Now keep in mind, it is still 19 days away to the big day and none of this is set in stone.

But here is the quandary.

The entire war is now being fought in battleground states that Bush won in both 2000 and 2004. Now that McCain has pulled all of his resources out of Wisconsin and Michigan, the only blue state McCain hopes to blush is Pennsylvania, and that’s not reality, Greg. So, McCain is now playing defense in all the battleground states. That puts him in a VERY bad position and the probability he will keep all of them in his corner is dubious.

The plus side to all of this is that voters don’t really seem to be connecting to Obama on a personal level. Fortunately – or un – for Obama, is the voters aren’t connecting to McCain either so they are going to Obama by default; they are scared of more Republicanism. McCain needs a personal message and, like, yesterday.

PREDITCTION:

Obama wins. He will win in the popular vote and the electoral college. The only way all this can change is an outside influence. (I.E. a major international incident or the stocks rebound to well over 10,000.) I could be wrong about all this, but I’m not.

Senator McCain, if you have ever believed in the power of prayer, now would be the time you drop to your knees.

FRIDAY FUNNYBONE, 10 October, 2008

FRIDAY FUNNYBONE; 3 October, 2008

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FRIDAY FUNNYBONE: 26 Sept, 2008

If It's Not The Economy, It's Stupid!

There is no denying the Obama campaign had a dismal week last week. It’s not looking any better this week as McCain’s polling numbers continue to climb. McCain has all but sewn a lock on Ohio and Florida and in polls released just this morning, Obama is now in a world of hurt in New York and Minnesota – states which have been solidly democrat in the past but now appear to be in play.

Yet with all of Obama’s problems, the right is still screaming media bias when it comes to Sarah Palin. Me, I don’t buy it. If anything, the media is helping the Palin effect seize the Obama glitter out of the campaign. The media loves Palin and it’s obvious.

How so? If those in the main stream news and my fellow bloggers really hated the Republican nominee for Vice President, they would leave her alone. They wouldn’t even mention her. In politics, even bad press is good press because it gets your name out there and people will remember your name even when they can’t remember the other guy. Three weeks ago, this country had no idea who Sarah Palin was or even how to pronounce her last name. She has had hard media attention since her introduction and now everyone in America knows who she is, even if they don’t like her. Now, I am not out conducting polls, but I am willing to bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in Cindy McCain’s pockets that in a nation wide sample conducted right now, more people would be able to tell you who Governor Sarah Palin is in regards to her role in the presidential race than they could of Joe Biden. Why? When do you hear Biden’s name? How often do you see Joe Biden on television? How often do you hear pundits and commentators and analysts and left wing bloggers and right wigned bloggers talk about Joe Biden? In comparison to Sara Palin – almost never. It’s all Palin all the time. Sounds like a new 24 hour network by Rupert Murdock.

The media is who jumped all over Troopergate. It was the media who ran with the lipstick/pig fiasco and it’s the media who are now jumping up and down over a stupid tanning bed. The media is not hurting her, they are helping her and the Charlie Gibsons and Keith Olbermanns and Lou Dobbs of the world either know this and continue with it, which I am more inclined to believe – or they are completely stupid and need to get their heads out of their asses.

The best way to hurt her is to ignore her. Nothing can kill a political career like apathy. Just ask Jimmy Carter and Bob Dole. But they – the media – won’t leaver her alone. And the more they cover her, the better it is for the McCain campain. The more she’s smeared, the worse it is for Obama.

What does the McCain camp need to do to win? At this point, do what you are doing and hope that team Obama doesn’t change tactics. You are doing what you are supposed to do, playing hard ball with a heavy bat – even if she does wear lipstick.

What does the Obama team need to do? This one is easy: Stop running against Governor Palin. You’re running against John McCain. Make this about him. Make this about his failures. About his record in the senate. Make this about him not being up to the challenge to lead. Make this about his misstatements. Make this about him saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong – make this about him making that particular statement on the very day the stock market tumbled in its hardest and fastest free fall since 9/11. Make this about McCain being out of touch.

Senator Obama, ignore Sarah Palin. And if the media doesn’t – make them. How? Give a speech similar to the one you gave on race, but make it about sexism. Make it about Palin – in a positive light. Tell the American people that you support a woman running for president. Tell them you want equal pay for women. Tell them you want reproductive rights for women. Tell them you want women playing in the NFL. Give a speech on women and how you respect them and how you feel they are the true backbones of this country and how you have more respect for single, working mothers because they have to juggle a work schedule with the hardest job in the world. Praise Governor Palin for all her personal accomplishments. Praise her for her great work she has done with her family. Tell the American people that she deserves to be where she is because she worked hard. Then instruct – order – the media to lay off of her. Once you leave that podium – never bring her up again. If someone asks you about her, turn it on John McCain and the economy.

Senator Obama, you are losing this race and you need to do something about it. You have underestimated John McCain and if you want to make this a good fight, do not let the media paint Palin as another Agnew or Quayle.

Governor Palin may be out of touch and she may not have the experience – but let Biden hit her on that.

Everyone needs to stay on message. Obama, McCain, Biden the media – and yes, even the voters.

FRIDAY FUNNYBONE; 12 September, 2008