Tom Friedman's Wife's Mall Development Company Nears Bankruptcy

Ha, ha.

Moon of Alabama: Friedman Talks His Book

Read the whole thing.

The Real John McCain

The real John McCain cares nothing for anyone who's not rich. Should we increase the minimum wage? "Of course not."

BARTIROMO: What about a minimum wage increase? Would you consider?

MCCAIN: As long as we take care of small businesses. Small businesses right now -- I see them every day -- they say, You increase the minimum wage, I lay off workers. Is that what we want to do right now? Of course not.

Callous rich fuck.

No Kidding

Keith Obermann to Sarah Palin: You, governor, are a fraud.

Duh!

John McCain: For Socialism Before He Was Against It

From ThinkProgress:

At an October 2000 town hall on MSNBC’s Hardball, an audience member asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about why the rich pay higher taxes than the middle class. McCain defended progressive taxation, stating, “I think it’s to some degree because we feel, obviously, that wealthy people can afford more”:

[T]he very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don’t pay nearly as much as you think they do when you just look at the percentages. […]

So, look, here’s what I really believe, that when you are — reach a certain level of comfort, there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more. … And frankly, I think the first people who deserve a tax cut are working Americans with children that need to educate their children, and they’re the ones that I would support tax cuts for first.

The problem with switching every position you've ever held in your life for an election -- in the YouTube age -- is that every prior position is on videotape.

And sadly, look how much younger John McCain is in this 2000 townhall meeting.

Barbie Needed A New Wardrobe

Sarah Palin, in a red leather jacket, waves as she steps on stage before a crowd at a baseball field in Grand Junction, Colo., on Monday.


The RNC spent more than $150,000 putting lipstick on Sarah Palin. Might have been better off sending her to a crash course on civics. I think the 2004 President Barbie (above, left) is more qualified than Sarah Word Salad.

Politico:

The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

Best comment on this story, by David Kurtz at TPM:

Nothing says Main Street quite like Saks Fifth Avenue.

New Obama Ad: "Golden Years"

I love the combination of attacking McCain's {crappy) healthcare plan with reminding the voters that McCain is a gambler -- electing him would be a crapshoot.

Republicans Are Only Against Socialism for The Rest Of Us

David Gergen on redistribution of wealth as practiced by the Republican Party. Since 1979, the bottom 80% of the American population have lost $600,000,000,000 in wealth, and the top 1% has gained that $600 billion.

McCain/Palin are throwing "socialism" out there to keep that money from flowing back to the people.

Who Is John McCain Going to Work For?

Bush & McCain's Base: The Haves

Top donors to the McCain campaign:

Merrill Lynch $349,170
Citigroup Inc $287,801
Morgan Stanley $249,377
Goldman Sachs $220,045
JPMorgan Chase & Co $206,392
AT&T Inc $183,663
Credit Suisse Group $175,503
PricewaterhouseCoopers $163,670
Blank Rome LLP $153,426
US Government $152,118
US Army $150,470
Wachovia Corp $147,456
Greenberg Traurig LLP $145,737
UBS AG $141,365
Bank of America $133,975
FedEx Corp $121,904
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher $120,246
US Dept of Defense $118,125
Lehman Brothers $115,707
Bear Stearns $108,000

New Obama Ad: 90 Percent

Transcript:

Obama: "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message."

McCain: "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush."

Narrator: "True, but you did vote with Bush 90% of the time. Tax breaks for big corporations and the wealthy but almost nothing for the middle class. Same as Bush. Keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while our own economy struggles. Same as Bush. You may not be George Bush, but..."

McCain: "I voted with the President over 90% of the time, higher than, uh, a lot of my, uh, even Republican colleagues."

I admire the Obama campaign's message discipline. McCain = four more years of Bush.

Take the Pledge

This pledge to protect Social Security is being circulated by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. I pledge to oppose privatization of Social Security.

The Golden Pledge

Some People Get a Golden Parachute...
For Everyone Else,
There's the Golden Promise: Social Security

Americans have lost nearly $2 trillion from their retirement accounts in the last 15 months* while Wall Street's financial elites are making away with billions.

Social Security is a golden promise guaranteeing Americans that if we work hard and play by the rules, we will earn the right to retire with dignity. We must not gamble this promise away on risky privatization schemes that guarantee only massive benefits cuts and turn our life's work into a chip for Wall Street’s elites to bet.

Therefore, I pledge to oppose privatization of Social Security -- the diversion of payroll taxes into private accounts -- by any name.

Seriously Out of Touch

Why the Rich Love McCain's Tax Plan

In a nutshell, because under George Bush, 31% of the tax cuts were given to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Under McCain's plan, 58% of tax cuts will go to the wealthiest 1%.

McCain Will Slash Medicare and Medicaid

How does John McCain plan to pay for his horrible, no good health care plan? By making huge cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, according to this article in today's Wall Street Journal.

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.

[]

...Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.

In other words, John McCain, wealthy beyond belief, plans to balance the budget by slashing medical care for elderly, poor and disabled Americans.

Millionaire guts medical care for peopole who can afford it the least. Who in their right mind would vote for this guy?

McCain Says "I'm Not a Rich Man"

Except, of course, that he is,as Sarah Palin would say, very, very rich (LIAR!) Jed Lewison reminds of how very rich John McCain is: