What Are Bush, McCain, and Palin Afraid Of?

First, John McCain didn't want to kick off the Republican National Convention in Minnesota on the night that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were scheduled to speak, because of Hurricane Gustav.

Then, Sarah Palin met with world leaders in New York but the press were not allowed to attend the meetings--and her handlers were adamant that she not take questions from reporters.

Today, John McCain announced that he wants to cancel the first Presidential Debate in light of the Wall Street Bailout.

It is clear from this behavior pattern that the Republicans are hiding a number of things--and avoiding confrontation of some of the most serious economic issues and foreign policy issues of this campaign. Is this really the behavior we want to see from our Executive branch?

Cutting George W. Bush and Dick Cheney out of the Republican National Convention benefits McCain because the end result is that there are no photos or associations of the current administration with the Republican Party or the McCain/Palin ticket. And therefore the Democrats' argument that a vote for McCain is a continuation of the policies of Bush/Cheney ultimately weakens because the lack of pictures or documented speeches ultimately breaks that association in the impressionable voter's mind. Yet McCain tries to spin it in a way that makes him sound like he has the interests of the victims of a natural disaster in mind.

The shielding of Palin is astounding for someone who could be in such a high-profile position. They seem to be protecting her from making a gaffe like the "Bridge to Nowhere" at all costs. Some are even calling her overprotection "sexist." After 8 years of Bush, we need someone who genuinely thinks on her feet and speaks from the hip, as opposed to someone who is scripted and censored at every turn.

And finally, there is John McCain. He is not known for his speaking ability. Since Palin joined his ticket, McCain has been stumping with Palin all across the country, sort of lurking in the background as a beady-eyed puppet... A strategy that is perfectly fine for knee-jerk voters but one that ultimately loses an election because of the ground lost campaigning together instead of with a divide-and-conquer strategy. And canceling the debate in light of the economic crisis is a cheap political trick. As with the above example of canceling the RNC in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, McCain is able to inject phoney compassion to make it look like he cares more about the economic crisis than "partisan politics."

In contrast, here is what Obama said in a statement responding to McCain's vote to cancel:

“It is my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess,” Mr. Obama said. “It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

The Commission on Presidential Debates also thinks that "the public will be well served by having all of the debates go forward as scheduled," so I sincerely hope that McCain shows up to face the problems this nation is facing and talk about them on live television, where we can truly see where both candidates stand and how they both think on their feet.

The $700 Billion Mistake

I knew something was wrong with the Congressional bailout when I was listening to an NPR interview with Newt Gingrich and actually agreeing with him!

The bailout is opposed by Republicans and Democrats alike. McCain opposes it. Obama opposes it. So why is Congress being urged to act soon on the bailout? Let's take a look at the details and why this is such a huge mistake.

Once again, the BBC has great analysis on where the doubts in the bailout plan are concentrated. To summarize, this is a bad idea because:

1. There is currently no provision for oversight of how the money will be distributed.
2. There is currently no provision for a wider bailout that helps homeowners at risk of losing their homes.
3. There is currently no guarantee that the pay for bosses of the firms being bailed out will be limited.

Here is the White House position on the bailout: "In a statement, Mr. Bush said that failure to act would have 'broad consequences'. White House officials have emphasised that they expect 'strong, transparent oversight' of the rescue plan" (from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7629823.stm, emphasis added). We have heard this plea before, when Congress was asked to push through the Patriot Act and then fund a war in Iraq that had absolutely no connection to the September 11 attacks.

I had a discussion with my father (a Republican) about taxes, and he seemed to be under the impression that Obama was more likely to raise taxes than McCain. After seeing this type of behavior from a Republican administration, we need to understand that neither McCain nor Obama have the option to repair the national economy without raising taxes.

We're in a big mess right now, and it's going to cost money to get us out of it. Neither candidate has a choice: taxes will go up in the next administration. The difference between Obama and McCain is that Obama supports tax breaks for the middle class (80% of the population) v. McCain's tax breaks for the wealthiest of Americans (less than 1% of the population).

We've already made what could amount to a $3 trillion mistake called the War in Iraq. We don't need to cause additional inflation, devalue the U.S. Dollar, and get this far into debt just to bail out some fat cats who had a bad day at the track. You wouldn't run your personal finances with this much deficit spending, so why would you choose to spend your hard-earned tax dollars this way?

Write to your Congressperson today! Here's how:

1. Find your member of Congress.
2. Write them an e-mail urging them to vote against the bailout.
   Your letter doesn't have to be long. Just tell your Representative or Senator:

To: US Congress

I oppose the bailout. “Nationalizing Every Bad Mortgage in America Is Not the Answer”

Sincerely,

Your Name