So the bailout failed to pass because of House Republicans. Sullivan's take here, Yglesias here, here, and here. Cesca here and here.
My thoughts? It seems the House Republicans failed to deliver on the votes promised on a compromise bill. House Dems should draft a real progressive reform bill and pass it on pure party lines and really hammer it home that the Republicans have pretty much fucked Main Street.
And the market seems to be in a race to the bottom.
EDIT: Markets close in a moment. Final damage: -777. Ouch.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Oktoberfest
Some friends and me went to Oktoberfest here in Des Moines last night. And it was lame. I didn't have any fun, and everything was really expensive. Maybe my expectations were too high? Oh well...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Live blogging First Debate
8:08 - Obama dodges first question, and McCain lies and talks about oil?
8:09 - Lehrer gets them back on track, but Obama still goes off on tangents. I hope this isn't his flow of talk for the night....
8:10 - McCain again ignores the fact that he said, "Thanks, but no thanks" (:eyeroll) to regulation. He even reportedly proposed it yesterday in his important talks in DC
8:12 - Obama rallies, but still doesn't say much beyond seemingly populist rhetoric. Come on! You've laid out a good plan! Stick to it! Loved the "fundamentals of the economy are strong" jab.
8:14 - McCain still didn't answer the original question, but neither did Obama
8:15 - Earmarks again... No. Going to war with deficit spending and no plan to get out it killed the credit markets.
8:16 - A specific example?! *gasp* How dare Obama bring empirical evidence into this mud fight! The gall!
8:18 - Federal indictments...like Sen. Stevens of Palin's state...Who she led a fund raising organization for...
8:20 -
And holy shit, is McCain making excuses for companies moving jobs overseas? Yep.
8:25 - Exhibit A:
http://www.stefanhayden.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/obama_mccain_taxcut.gif
8:26 - Lehrer ate his Wheaties...some good questions being asked.
8:28 - Like Bridges to Nowhere? Sorry, couldn't resist--I do agree with what he's been saying.
Stop spending? That's it, John? High fives though for eliminating ethanol subsidies...
"Defense spending..." Anyone else hear that hawk coming?
8:30 - Rhetoric plans for the night:
McCain: "Pork barrel bad! Spending bad! Lower taxes good! Fire bad!"
Obama: Fix economy/etc from the ground up
Who sounds more presidential? Especially considering this last week...
Also, wasn't this debate supposed to be about foreign policy?
8:32 - A spending freeze?! Are you fucking kidding me? And McCain can fuck off about veteran benefits. Remember his convention speech? And instead of Walter Reed Hospital, a picture of Walter Reed Middle School came up? Fuck him.
Off shore drilling FTL.
Nuclear power FTW. (Obama is for this buddy. Don't people prep for debates anymore? Jeezus)
8:36 - I feel bad for Lehrer. Neither candidate is answering his questions...
McCain's worry about the Federal government controlling healthcare? He seems pretty eager to pass a bill which would put the mortgage market into the hands of the government...So he's only a partial socialist.
Owing China money because we went to war on credit! Who the fuck do you think loaned us money? Visa? Get the fuck out of here
8:38 - "Orgy of spending." Sounds hot. My nips are SO hard right now!
That's McCain's second time claiming not to be Miss Congeniality...he definitely doesn't have Sandra Bullock's legs
8:39 - No John, you said that walking through the market in Baghdad was like walking through a market in Indiana.
8:44 - Obama sinks a three by framing, for once, the proper context as to why the surge was necessary. Swish!
8:48 - McCain offers attacks on character (patriotism!), Obama offers details on policy. Hmm....
8:50 - Re: Afghanistan/Pakistan policy -- Obama leads the way, Bush and McCain adopt the strategy as their own only after it seems painfully evident.
8:52 - "Washed our hands of the region" to go to Iraq! Which you supported John!
John, you know Pakistan and United States troops have been trading fire, right?
"You don't say that" - John McCain: Transparency in Government! *eyeroll* Remember, "Bomb, bomb, bomb-bomb, bomb, Iran"?
8:59 - Bracelet stories = populist rhetoric. McCain's style is telling stories, just like grandpa! And just like grandpa, we should just smile, nod, and go on talking about what matters.
9:00 - Once again, Sullivan nails it:
9:04 - A League of Democracies! In the Hall of Justice!
9:08 - That's what grownups do John. They talk about their issues. They don't make broad threats or anything like that. Kissinger, Henry freaking Kissinger, said that he would meet with those leaders in precisely the same manner!
9:17 - I disagree greatly with Obama there. I don't think we should let Georgia in to NATO. Do we really want the possibility of our troops going to the Caucus mountains because of a territory dispute involving maybe 10,000 people? For realsies people.
9:21 - Russia's economy is in the shitter. Why doesn't anyone mention this?
9:22 - And Obama does! Adam leads the way!
9:24 - BOOOOO on clean coal! Contradiction of terms! Coal != clean, people!!!!
Ok, neither of them is allowed to say, "Walk the walk, talk the talk" things. Get a new cliche!
9:26 - Poor Lehrer. He's trying so hard to keep these guys in line.
9:28 - McCain is celebrating the reorganization of government. Into bigger government. Into more bloated government. Isn't he supposed to be the conservative one? (Smaller government, right?)
9:29 - Biggest threat to USA: A snuk in Ms. Clinton's snizz.
9:36 - It's all starting to sound the same....and I'm not paying too close of attention right now.
Whew. It's over.
I'd score it pretty even in "Gotcha!" moments. But attitude wise, Obama takes it hands down. He is much more presidential in his tone, manner, and demeanor (redundant?)
9:40 - Sullivan's take:
And a very interesting point from Bob Cesca:
8:09 - Lehrer gets them back on track, but Obama still goes off on tangents. I hope this isn't his flow of talk for the night....
8:10 - McCain again ignores the fact that he said, "Thanks, but no thanks" (:eyeroll) to regulation. He even reportedly proposed it yesterday in his important talks in DC
8:12 - Obama rallies, but still doesn't say much beyond seemingly populist rhetoric. Come on! You've laid out a good plan! Stick to it! Loved the "fundamentals of the economy are strong" jab.
8:14 - McCain still didn't answer the original question, but neither did Obama
8:15 - Earmarks again... No. Going to war with deficit spending and no plan to get out it killed the credit markets.
8:16 - A specific example?! *gasp* How dare Obama bring empirical evidence into this mud fight! The gall!
8:18 - Federal indictments...like Sen. Stevens of Palin's state...Who she led a fund raising organization for...
8:20 -
9.15 pm. Does McCain really believe that earmarks are the only problem with government spending? They're bad, but they are not anything like the real problem.Sullivan leads the way, and Obama echos the claim. It is a truth claim
And holy shit, is McCain making excuses for companies moving jobs overseas? Yep.
8:25 - Exhibit A:
http://www.stefanhayden.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/obama_mccain_taxcut.gif
8:26 - Lehrer ate his Wheaties...some good questions being asked.
8:28 - Like Bridges to Nowhere? Sorry, couldn't resist--I do agree with what he's been saying.
Stop spending? That's it, John? High fives though for eliminating ethanol subsidies...
"Defense spending..." Anyone else hear that hawk coming?
8:30 - Rhetoric plans for the night:
McCain: "Pork barrel bad! Spending bad! Lower taxes good! Fire bad!"
Obama: Fix economy/etc from the ground up
Who sounds more presidential? Especially considering this last week...
Also, wasn't this debate supposed to be about foreign policy?
8:32 - A spending freeze?! Are you fucking kidding me? And McCain can fuck off about veteran benefits. Remember his convention speech? And instead of Walter Reed Hospital, a picture of Walter Reed Middle School came up? Fuck him.
Off shore drilling FTL.
Nuclear power FTW. (Obama is for this buddy. Don't people prep for debates anymore? Jeezus)
8:36 - I feel bad for Lehrer. Neither candidate is answering his questions...
McCain's worry about the Federal government controlling healthcare? He seems pretty eager to pass a bill which would put the mortgage market into the hands of the government...So he's only a partial socialist.
Owing China money because we went to war on credit! Who the fuck do you think loaned us money? Visa? Get the fuck out of here
8:38 - "Orgy of spending." Sounds hot. My nips are SO hard right now!
That's McCain's second time claiming not to be Miss Congeniality...he definitely doesn't have Sandra Bullock's legs
8:39 - No John, you said that walking through the market in Baghdad was like walking through a market in Indiana.
8:44 - Obama sinks a three by framing, for once, the proper context as to why the surge was necessary. Swish!
8:48 - McCain offers attacks on character (patriotism!), Obama offers details on policy. Hmm....
8:50 - Re: Afghanistan/Pakistan policy -- Obama leads the way, Bush and McCain adopt the strategy as their own only after it seems painfully evident.
8:52 - "Washed our hands of the region" to go to Iraq! Which you supported John!
John, you know Pakistan and United States troops have been trading fire, right?
"You don't say that" - John McCain: Transparency in Government! *eyeroll* Remember, "Bomb, bomb, bomb-bomb, bomb, Iran"?
8:59 - Bracelet stories = populist rhetoric. McCain's style is telling stories, just like grandpa! And just like grandpa, we should just smile, nod, and go on talking about what matters.
9:00 - Once again, Sullivan nails it:
9.53 pm. McCain concedes the failure in Afghanistan. Obama seems very authoritative. He seems to be passing the presidential. His exchange on Pakistan seemed to me to be a real turning point. He basically outed McCains distortion of his position and yet managed to seem more aggressive in foreign policy than the Republican. He's no Dukakis. He's no Kerry. He's winning on the issue of national defense. That's new. And McCain keeps gong back to claims that he knows more. And goes back to the Reagan era. This is the first exchange on national security in a presidential debate where the Democrat out-hawked, in a responsible way, the Republican.
9:04 - A League of Democracies! In the Hall of Justice!
9:08 - That's what grownups do John. They talk about their issues. They don't make broad threats or anything like that. Kissinger, Henry freaking Kissinger, said that he would meet with those leaders in precisely the same manner!
9:17 - I disagree greatly with Obama there. I don't think we should let Georgia in to NATO. Do we really want the possibility of our troops going to the Caucus mountains because of a territory dispute involving maybe 10,000 people? For realsies people.
9:21 - Russia's economy is in the shitter. Why doesn't anyone mention this?
9:22 - And Obama does! Adam leads the way!
9:24 - BOOOOO on clean coal! Contradiction of terms! Coal != clean, people!!!!
Ok, neither of them is allowed to say, "Walk the walk, talk the talk" things. Get a new cliche!
9:26 - Poor Lehrer. He's trying so hard to keep these guys in line.
9:28 - McCain is celebrating the reorganization of government. Into bigger government. Into more bloated government. Isn't he supposed to be the conservative one? (Smaller government, right?)
9:29 - Biggest threat to USA: A snuk in Ms. Clinton's snizz.
9:36 - It's all starting to sound the same....and I'm not paying too close of attention right now.
Whew. It's over.
I'd score it pretty even in "Gotcha!" moments. But attitude wise, Obama takes it hands down. He is much more presidential in his tone, manner, and demeanor (redundant?)
9:40 - Sullivan's take:
I give Obama an A - and I give mcCain a B.
And a very interesting point from Bob Cesca:
Jamie from C&L just e-mailed me with this. Where is McCain's lapel pin? Doesn't McCain believe in the American flag?
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