Who Won?
It's good to be back home. We left our 18- and 19-year-old kids taking care of the house, so you can imagine. When they picked us up at the airport they warned us that the kitchen sink was the first sign of the Apocalypse. Really, I thought the grass in the front yard was the first sign. The kitchen sink was the second. It appears they went all week without washing a dish. One day when we called from Australia they said they'd had chocolate pudding for lunch, with tuna sandwiches for dessert. Well, there was no sign of a party, so I guess we can count our blessings. Either there wasn't one, or they do know how to clean up. I'll take either explanation.
Australia was beautiful, it is so refreshing to see the world from an entirely different point of view sometimes. It's easy in the United States to think that everything in the world is like it is here. Even a place as similar to the US as Australia is surprisingly different, both the land and the people.
I am still half-dazed with jet lag and trying to catch up after two weeks out of the country, so I'm not going to try to dig up something new for you. Instead, like you, I just watched the presidential debate. So tell me, what'd you think?
Australia was beautiful, it is so refreshing to see the world from an entirely different point of view sometimes. It's easy in the United States to think that everything in the world is like it is here. Even a place as similar to the US as Australia is surprisingly different, both the land and the people.
I am still half-dazed with jet lag and trying to catch up after two weeks out of the country, so I'm not going to try to dig up something new for you. Instead, like you, I just watched the presidential debate. So tell me, what'd you think?
posted by JimK at 10:50 PM
37 Comments:
what makes you think anyone here is interested in presidential politics, Jim?
McCain did land some good points and won on points by adjusting the trajectory of the conversation. In short, the public conversation will now concern many things McCain said for at least a week until the next debate. McCain has a plan to relieve the plight of homeowners with unaffordable mortgages rather than just giving money to bankers. He also has a health plan that will increase the number of people with health insurance instead of slowly turning health care into a governement program.
Karl Rove, who was widely quoted this weekend as saying Obama would win if the election were today, was saying last night that McCain had turned things around.
McCain did miss a few opportunities. The latest revelations about Ayers raise new doubts about Obama's ties to radical groups.
Turns out that Ayers wrote a proposal for a grant to turn education from reading and math to a focus on "radicalizing students politically" (direct quote from his proposal) when he was on the Woods Foundation Board with Joebama. Amazingly, he received a 50 million dollar grant and gave Obama the task of handing it out. Obama chose the radical groups to award the money to, building ties with groups like ACORN whose headquarters was raided yesterday by the FBI under a federal warrant.
More to come.
I agree with Obama: it looks like another wheel has come off the Straight Talk Express. McBush looked old and doddering at times last night and some of his antics while Obama was speaking were strange, grimacing and waving his hands. McBush also seemed angry while Obama kept his cool. It's understandable, because McBush prefers the townhall format but so many of the questions from this audience were about the economy, an issue that more Americans trust Democrats to fix.
But why did the McShame's decide to leave the venue immediately after the debate was over? CSPAN had to point out that they'd left to explain why all the feed afterward showed only the Obamas greeting well-wishers in the crowd.
MSNBC's poll shows 83% thought Obama won last night and 13% thought McBush did.
CBS news found Obama Wins Debate, McCain Comes in 3rd
CNN reports NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) — A national poll of debate watchers suggests that Barack Obama won the second presidential debate.
Fifty-four percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey conducted after the debate ended said that Obama did the best job in the debate, with 30 percent saying John McCain performed better.
FOX News only recorded comments, not votes, and most of their viewers thought McBush won.
And here's a report from the heartland, the Kansas City Star, on the various polls that are tracking voters opinions. They summarize
Given the polling available prior to the debate, it is clear that McCain needed a major victory in the second debate to close the gap with Obama. He did not succeed.
McCain's inability to capture undecided voters in tonight's debate with sharp, angry attacks on Obama also suggests that negative advertising in the remaining campaigning time will not be effective...unless he can find some major bombshell. Otherwise, he is likely to be perceived as an unpleasant, surly person with a temperament unlikely to produce bipartisan results in a Democratically controlled Congress.
One's hope for the future of America rises.
rrjr
Andrea-not anon
I really like McCain talking about cronyism in Washington- hey, as an old serious crony- he should know all about it
As to the raid on Acorn- it was one office in Nevada. I think we are seeing some similar issues to CRG- but ACORN, unlike CRG- tried to show the local BOE that what their canvassers had that was fake- unlike the Showerheads who tried to pass the fake stuff off as real.
"ACORN said that it has forwarded suspicious registrations to election officials during the past year but they "routinely ignored this information and failed to act. " After a July meeting, Clark County elections officials "asked us to provide them with a second copy of what we had previously provided to them. ACORN responded by giving election officials copies of 46 'problem application packages,' which involved 33 former canvassers."
"FOX News only recorded comments, not votes, and most of their viewers thought McBush won."
Actually, CBTS, 86% OF FOX viewers thought McCain won. They're biased obviously but compare their ratings with those of other cable news channels.
MSNBC which is obviously biased in favor of Obama, has the lowest ratings of the cable news shows.
Obama said nothing anyone will remember. McCain's comments will dominate the news.
There's more to winning a debate than getting a plurality of those who care to call in afterwards.
Obama didn't make a particularly good impression. He sat their looking testy and pissed off most of the time. Several times Brokaw had to tell him to sit down and shut up. Not very dignified.
Other then give a few speeches, have you guys located any accomplishments of Obama yet.
I know you've been looking high and low.
"I agree with Obama: it looks like another wheel has come off the Straight Talk Express."
I agree with McCain and Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden: the Presidency isn't the place for on-the-job training.
Obama's remarks on Pakistan show he hasn't got enough experience to handle relations with other countries. You don't run around telling everybody you think you'll have to invade a country. You will foreclose the possibility of dilpomatic progress that way.
Iran is another case. You don't start negotiations with a sworn enemy who is proposing to launch a second Holocaust by proposing Presidential-level talks. You insist on an irreducible standards of civilized behavior first.
Obama already is proposing to repeat Herbert Hoover's economic errors. Who knows what his unsystematic and unsophisticated approach to foreign policy will yield.
And who knows how many Americans will undergo a reality check in the booth in Novemeber.
McCain and Palin will prepare them for it.
How is your 401K doing, Anonymous?
rrjr
"How is your 401K doing, Anonymous?"
Moved it all to money funds in April. The adminstrator tried to talk me out of it but I wanted to wait things out.
I'm trying to decide when to get back in stocks. Probably soon. I should be able to retire alot earlier now.
How about you?
I hear MC teachers aren't getting a raise this year. What's Fairfax doing?
Joebama is such a liar. Here's some examples from just last night:
OBAMA: Said McCain's proposal to give people a tax credit in exchange for treating employers' health insurance contributions as taxable wages amounts to "what one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away.
THE FACTS: Obama's suggestion that McCain's health care plan is a wash for families is a lie. McCain offers families a $5,000 tax credit to help them buy health insurance. The corresponding increase in taxable wages would result in a much smaller cost than the value of the tax credit, at least at first. Over time, the value of the tax credit may diminish as premiums rise. However, the Tax Policy Center estimates that McCain's plan would increase the federal deficit by $1.3 trillion over 10 years - mainly because it would lead to less tax revenue coming in, meaning it is a true tax break overall.
___
OBAMA: "Actually I'm cutting more than I'm spending so that it will be a net spending cut."
THE FACTS: The bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama would increase spending by $425 billion over four years and reduce spending by $144 billion for a net increase in the deficit of $281 billion. Obama has said he'll cut pork-barrel programs and the costs of the war in Iraq to pay for his programs - as well as raise taxes on the wealthy - but the specifics of his new spending plans outweigh the few spending cuts he's identified. Additionally, saying he's going to cut spending in Iraq is a crass deception when he says he's going to shift the troops to Afghanistan.
___
OBAMA: Blamed some of the problem of terrorism in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region on Bush administration policy in Pakistan, saying "We can't coddle, as we did, a dictator, give him billions of dollars and then he's making peace treaties with the Taliban and militants."
THE FACTS: Obama oversimplifies ex-President Pervez Musharraf's approach to making peace deals. In fact, the U.S.-backed Musharraf focused more heavily on military action, launching blistering attacks on the militants at times and negotiating peace deals with them at others. Obama also ignores the fact that Pakistan's newly elected civilian government, also U.S.-supported, is seeking the same kind of peace deals and has stepped back from heavy-handed tactics that were pursued by the Musharraf government.
___
OBAMA: "I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Sen. McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperity would rain down on all of us."
THE FACTS: McCain has indeed favored less regulation over the years but supported tighter rules and accountability on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years before the start of a financial crisis prompted in part by those giant mortgage underwriters. Obama was not a leader in that unsuccessful effort. Some of the current problems can be traced to legislation passed in 1999 that lifted many regulations over the financial industry. That deregulation was championed by President Clinton, who signed the legislation, and by former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, now a top Obama economic adviser.
_________
Boy, does that Joebama lie like a tired old dog!
He sure does!
Mr. Obama may be enjoying some temporary success by a policy of deceit but cheaters never prosper.
Looks like the truth won't come out about Obama's dirty tricks until after the election.
One is reminded of Watergate:
"KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 8) -- The son of a Democratic Tennessee state lawmaker pleaded not guilty Wednesday to hacking the e-mail account of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
David Kernell, 20, of Knoxville, Tenn. entered the plea in federal court in Knoxville, the same day prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging him with intentionally accessing Palin's e-mail account without authorization.
Kernell, an economics student at the University of Tennessee, was brought into court wearing handcuffs and shackles on his ankles.
He was released without posting bond, but the court forbade him from owning a computer.
Kernell's father is longtime state Rep. Mike Kernell of Memphis, chairman of Tennessee's House Government Operations Committee.
David Kernell was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Knoxville and faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Trial is set for Dec. 16."
Obama's campaign is in free fall.
Of the five polls released today, three have him leading by 1 point, 2 points and 4 points, respectively.
He probably really regrets his lack of preparation for last night's debate.
Ouch!
I am amazed at just how ignorant one man can be, but for those who are interested, check out pollster.com. They have all the polls, methodology, etc.
With only five toss-up states left, Obama leads, 320 - 163 EV.
andrea- not anon
Anon- posting as different people doesn't mean we don't know it's you. I would suggest you have multiple personalities but we have all learned you have no personality.
"INDIANAPOLIS -Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday urged Americans not to panic over the faltering economy, saying "there are better days ahead" — especially if he is elected president.
Obama ridiculed his Republican opponent, John McCain, for recently saying "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." But in his 35-minute speech on a muddy harness-racing track, he made a similar argument.
"America still has the most talented, most productive workers of any country on Earth, especially Canada" he said. "We're still the home to innovation and technology, colleges and universities that are the envy of the world. Some of the biggest ideas in history have come from our small businesses and our research facilities. That's why I want to regulate and tax these small businesses more so we can bring down the deficit."
"Obama repeated his lies that McCain's proposals would cause many Americans to lose their employer-provided health insurance because the Republican would tax those benefits. He said the $5,000 tax credit McCain would give people would not be enough for them to buy private insurance, a claim that McCain disputes.
Under McCain's proposal, employer provided health insurance would be taxable. One's employer would still cover the same share but their payment on your behalf would be taxable. Individuals would have their taxes reduced however because they would receive a $5000 credit which would far exceed the tax owed. Obama knows this and is trying to confuse voters.
That's a lie and, yet, ignorant people like Dana continue to support him.
Why?
"With only five toss-up states left, Obama leads, 320 - 163 EV."
Well, your friends here have made the legitimate point that state polls lag the national ones.
The electoral map will be back to normal next week.
Obama's house of lies is coming down.
Get out now!
Red Baron said "Obama's campaign is in free fall. Of the five polls released today, three have him leading by 1 point, 2 points and 4 points, respectively.".
LOL, your confirmation bias is showing again - you ignore that which disagrees with your pre-desired conclusion to focus on the minority of points that support it. Without seeing them its obvious that the polls you ignored have a much larger lead than 4 points, but of course you don't want to look at that, it would spoil your delusion.
The polls released today show:
US: Obama 52, McCain 41 (Gallup 10/05-07)
US: Obama 45, McCain 44 (Hotline 10/05-07)
US: Obama 51, McCain 45 (Rasmussen 10/05-07)
US: Obama 49, McCain 45 (GWU 10/02, 10/05-07)
US: Obama 51, McCain 41 (Daily Kos 10/05-07)
US: Obama 47, McCain 45 (Zogby 10/05-07)
An average of a 5.3% lead, down from 5.5%. Only in Red Baron's mind is a .2% drop a free fall. He's almost sympathetic to watch in his desperation to make an insignificant fluctuation an overwhelming trend.
Once polls take into account the full impact of the debate we'll again see an increase for Obama given his decisive trouncing of Mccain in the debate, not that he needs it though, with every poll showing even a slight edge for Obama he's going to win and as Dana pointed out with 320 EV to 163 it isn't even going to be close.
CNN and Anderson Cooper fact-checked Barack Obama’s claims to have barely known William Ayers — and call it dishonest.
CNN followed up on Kurtz’ work with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and debunks that notion. They also — amazingly — report on the nature of the grants made by the CAC while Obama ran it to Ayers’ favored schools with radical agendas.
CNN has learned that Obama has lied about his “coming out party” at the home of William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn in 1995. Obama has said that Alice Palmer arranged the fundraiser and the venue, but CNN spoke to two people who attended the event, who claim Obama lied. Palmer had nothing to do with that event outside of being invited to it. Obama and Ayers planned the event themselves.
Obama has lied repeatedly about his relationship with the unrepentant domestic terrorist. He spent years working for Ayers, promoting Ayers’ causes. Even CNN won’t buy the Obama line any longer.
Andrea, Red Baron's posting as different people just highlights the dishonesty that motivates him to post anonymously. He's a liar at heart and pretending there's more than one person supporting his viewpoint is just another way to do it.
Preya, you're pathetic. Half the polls having him leading by 4 or less. One has a 1 point lead.
Just three days ago they ALL had him leading by 8 points.
Obama has big problems.
No one likes him.
Red Baron said "The electoral map will be back to normal next week.".
It is at normal - Obama's got a massive lead. If you're suggesting that situation is going to reverse itself we'll take that assurance with the same confidence we put in your assurance that Huckabee was going to be president and the Republicans were going to clean up in the 2006 elections.
Red Baron said "Half the polls having him leading by 4 or less. One has a 1 point lead. Just three days ago they ALL had him leading by 8 points. Obama has big problems. No one likes him.".
LOL, yeah, no one likes him, that's why he's leading in the polls. Once again Red Baron, and read this slowly so you can get it through your simple mind: In proper statistics you look at ALL the polls and their average, rather than just cherry-picking the few that meet your pre-desired conclusion and that has Obama leading by 5.3%. God, you're willfully stupid.
Preya, you idiot.
When the polls all said he was leading by eight points that was the average. When the all change and half of them drastically, the average goes down.
What you also don't realize is that certain elements of Obama's candidacy make it imperative that his overall lead is decisive in order to assure victory.
His lead has never been decisive and when the American people wake up to his lies, he'll be in trouble.
Let's see how it looks if I use Red baron's dishonest poll cherry-picking and confirmation bias to favour Obama:
"Half of the national polls have Obama leading by up to 10 points. Obama has made massive gains on Mccain and is pulling away at light speed, the public increasingly detests Mccain, this election's over".
See how that works the other way Red Baron? You have no valid reason to favour your scenario over the one I just presented based on your type of dishonesty.
Raging Red Baron sprayed spittle while screaming "Preya, you idiot.
When the polls all said he was leading by eight points that was the average. When the all change and half of them drastically, the average goes down.".
I don't recall an average of the polls being 8% although a few individual polls were. I think you're lying - prove me wrong. In any event even if it were true a 5.3% lead for Obama is still huge and EVERY SINGLE poll has him winning. He's going to win.
Red Baron said "What you also don't realize is that certain elements of Obama's candidacy make it imperative that his overall lead is decisive in order to assure victory. His lead has never been decisive and when the American people wake up to his lies, he'll be in trouble.".
LOL, a lead doesn't get much more decisive than 320 EV to 163. Your senile old man is getting crushed. You'd better start getting used to president Obama.
"See how that works the other way Red Baron? You have no valid reason to favour your scenario over the one I just presented"
Yes, I do.
The overarching picture has changed in McCain's favor.
Your statement is also not analagous to mine. It would be if you said half have Obama leading by six or more but you can't do that because that would also represent a negative change for Obama.
Face it, overall the mood is shifting in McCain's favor. What until today, the day after the debate is factored in.
btw, I've generously allowed you to cite the Daily Kos which has Obama leading by ten points. You'll note that realpolitics doesn't include them.
That's because the Daily Kos is a biased and unreliable survey. They are so slanted to ultra-liberalism that they thought Hillary Clinton was reactionary.
"In any event even if it were true a 5.3% lead for Obama is still huge"
No, it's not.
Red Baron said "The overarching picture has changed in McCain's favor".
LOL, yeah, sure when every poll has him losing somehow in Red Baron's fantasy land that's in Mccain's favour.
Red Baron said "Your statement is also not analagous to mine. It would be if you said half have Obama leading by six or more but you can't do that because that would also represent a negative change for Obama.".
My distortion is exactly analagous to your distortion. Just as you did I ignored the facts to favour a desired outcome. You focused on minimizing Obama's lead, I focused on maximizing it. By your logic its just as valid to say "half of the polls released yesterday have Obama leading by up to 10 points".
The reality, which I accept and you do not (because reality is too painful for you) is that all the polls indicate an Obama lead of 5.3% which is for all intents and purposes the same as the previous 5.5% lead he had.
Once again, I don't believe you are correct when you claim the previous average of polls had an 8%Obama lead and you have failed to confirm that you are not lying.
Obama is crushing Mccain with a 320 to 163 EV lead. It isn't even going to be close. With the exception of the notoriously biased Fox news all the polls have Obama crushing Mccain in the debate. Once that's factored in Obama's lead is going to expand even more. Mccain has absolutely nothing to change the dynamics of this race. Get used to president Obama and the end of Republican tyranny and economic mismangement.
Your wishful thinking that somehow the situation is going to change is akin to your assurances to us that Huckabee is going to be president. You've been a miserable failure at predicting the future, get over it, your senile old man's lost already.
At a McCain rally on Monday, television stations caught audio of a crowd member calling Obama a "terrorist," while Dana Milbank reported that "[o]ne Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, 'Sit down, boy.'" Also on Monday, at a Palin rally, one member of the audience yelled, "Kill him!"
Very nice. Palin is also repeating lies that even McCain has had to stop using:
Later, in the tax policy section of her speech, Palin managed to repeat a thoroughly debunked claim about Obama's voting record that even McCain himself has stopped using.
"He voted 94 times for higher taxes. Even on middle class -- hard working everyday families across this great nation -- making $42,000 a year," she said.
As FactCheck.org noted in August, McCain's campaign originally claimed Obama voted to raise taxes on families making $32,000 a year, but have since changed their tax ads to say that Obama's vote would impact individuals making $42,000 per year -- not families as Palin repeated today. Still, FactCheck called the new McCain ad script "better, but still deceptive" -- a standard that Palin failed to meet this morning.
From Dispatches from the Culture wars:
Palin: Katie Couric is Picking on Me!
You have to read this ridiculous post-debate interview Palin did with Fox News. This cracks me up:
Palin told Carl that she was "annoyed" at some of the interviews she has done, "Ok I'll tell you honestly the Sarah Palin in those interviews is a little bit annoyed because it's man no matter what you say you are going to get clobbered. If you choose to answer a question you are going to get clobbered on the answer," Palin said. "If you choose to try and pivot and go on to another subject that you believe that Americans want to hear about you get clobbered for that too."
Yeah, see! It has nothing to do with the fact that she had no idea what she was talking about on one issue after another. It has nothing to do with having her rank ignorance of major issues exposed to the world. It has nothing to do with the fact that she appeared to be completely unable to put together a coherent sentence or thought in those interviews. Even if she hadn't looked like like an incompetent ignoramus, she still would have been clobbered. Thus it doesn't matter that she looked like an incompetent ignoramus. QED.
She then aimed to defend herself for some of the criticism she got for the Couric interview. She was blasted for not answering Couric's question on any of the periodicals she reads or even a Supreme Court decision that she disagreed with. She defended some of the circular answers she gave the CBS anchor saying that she did not get to cover some of the topics she saw as important, "But in those Katie Couric interviews I did feel that there were a lot of things that she was missing in terms of an opportunity to ask what a V.P. candidate stands for. What the values are represented in our ticket. I wanted to talk about Barack Obama increasing taxes, which would lead to killing jobs. I wanted to talk about his proposal to increase government spending by another trillion dollars."
Can you believe that journalists don't just ask her questions that lead to her pre-written answers attacking the other side? Can you believe that journalists actually ask questions that require having to think and display an understanding of complex issues? Now that's just uncalled for, golly gee you betcha doggoneit. Joe Sixpack is not gonna like this.
She then slammed Barack Obama calling him disqualified to be President of the United States, "Some of his comments that he has made about the war that I think may -- in my world- disqualifies someone from consideration as the next commander in chief." Palin said, "Some of his comments about Afghanistan and what we are doing there supposedly- just air raiding villages and killing civilians. That's reckless. So I wanted to talk about things like that. So I guess I have to apologize about being a little annoyed, but that is also an indication of being outside that Washington elite and being outside the media elite also and just wanting to talk and just wanting to talk to Americans without the filter and let them know what we stand for."
Yeah! No one should ever talk about anything our government does wrong because such criticism might actually lead to better policies and practices that would prevent them from happening. Because criticizing the military for anything disqualifies someone from being president in Palin's deluded little world. And darn it, she doesn't want any journalist getting in the way of her ability to spew simplistic and manipulative talking points like this to the common man, the average Joe, the regular Tom, Dick and Harry, those wonderful small town folks on main street.
The more this goes on, the more ridiculous it gets. The rest of the world must be laughing at us. And damn well they should. This woman isn't qualified to take a tour of the White House, much less occupy an office in it.
thanks for sharing all your reading material, Preya
I believe we can now see how you become so mixed up
Anonymous,
Ayers did not come up because McCain would be seen as making an attack, something not suitable for a town hall setting. Also, from what I understand, Palin and McCain made no Ayers reference in their speech today.
And how could you forget the "that one" comment. I think we know why.
Lastly, and I will ask again, if you are going to cut and paste items, please say where you received them from. Don't passed off right wing and conserative articles and unbiased news reports.
Mccain debate lies from 365gay.com:
John McCain expressed incredulity in the presidential debate Tuesday that Democrat Barack Obama would tip off the enemy by saying publicly that he’d attack al-Qaida in Pakistan under certain conditions. “Remarkable,” McCain said during the presidential debate, meaning remarkably irresponsible.
Lost in his withering criticism: McCain took the same position as Obama, a year ago, when he said, “Sure. We have to,” when asked if he’d go after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
One of the night’s sharpest exchanges was over what should be done if the U.S. knew the whereabouts of bin Laden and his terrorists in sovereign Pakistan, and Pakistani officials were unable or unwilling to strike. Obama repeated that he’d attack across the border in that instance.
“Sen. Obama likes to talk loudly,’ McCain said in response. “In fact, he said he wants to announce that he’s going to attack Pakistan. Remarkable.”
McCain went on: “I’m not going to telegraph my punches, which is what Sen. Obama did. And I’m going to act responsibly, as I have acted responsibly throughout my military career and throughout my career in the United States Senate.”
In an October 2007 interview with Military Times, however, McCain’s position was indistinguishable from Obama’s.
Asked if “you’d go get him” if U.S. forces had a fix on bin Laden in Pakistan, McCain said: “Sure. Sure. We have to, and I’m sure that after the initial flurry, that whoever our friends are, wherever he is, would be relieved because, as I mentioned to you before, he’s still very effective in the world, very, very effective.”
McCAIN: Said he would provide a $5,000 refundable tax credit for families to buy health insurance “rather than mandates or fines for small businesses as Sen. Obama’s plan calls for.”
THE FACTS: Obama’s health care plan does not impose mandates or fines on small business. He would provide small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on health premiums paid on behalf of their employees. Also, large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or contribute to the cost of coverage would be required to pay a percentage of payroll toward the costs of a public insurance plan. But small businesses would be exempt from that requirement.
McCAIN: Said one way out of the financial crisis is to “stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us.”
THE FACTS: Although he didn’t spell it out, he was referring - as he has in the past - to purchases of oil from countries hostile to the U.S. The figure is inflated and misleading. The U.S. is not spending nearly that much on oil imports and roughly one-third of what it does spend goes to friendly countries such as Canada, Mexico and Britain.
McCAIN: Said Obama had voted for tax increases “94 times.”
THE FACTS: This inflated count, heard before, includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.
MCAIN: “Oil drilling offshore now is vital so we can bridge the gap between imported oil … and it will reduce the price of a barrel of oil. … We’ve got to drill offshore and do it now.”
THE FACTS: The government estimates that opening the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and eastern Gulf of Mexico to drilling “will not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.” Even then, it would only increase domestic oil production by 3 percent.
pretty lame list, Preya
you guys are getting paaretty desperate
RCP Average 10/01 - 10/08 -- 49.1 43.5 Obama +5.6
Gallup Tracking 10/06 - 10/08 2761 RV 52 41 Obama +11
Rasmussen Tracking 10/06 - 10/08 3000 LV 50 45 Obama +5
Hotline/FD Tracking 10/06 - 10/08 852 LV 47 41 Obama +6
Reuters/CSpan/Zogby Tracking 10/06 - 10/08 1203 LV 48 44 Obama +4
GW/Battleground Tracking 10/05 - 10/08 800 LV 48 45 Obama +3
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl 10/04 - 10/05 658 RV 49 43 Obama +6
CBS News 10/03 - 10/05 616 LV 48 45 Obama +3
CNN 10/03 - 10/05 694 LV 53 45 Obama +8
Ipsos/McClatchy 10/02 - 10/06 858 RV 47 40 Obama +7
Democracy Corps (D) 10/01 - 10/05 1000 LV 49 46 Obama +3
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