Pitiful

6 Days Left

It's been a while, and boy oh boy is there a lot to write about over the past week (and coming week!).

The biggest frustration in my view this week comes from the Obama Campaign. According to Nielsen, 33.6 million people watched his infomercial (not me...I was busy playing pool). The 30 minute prime time spot cost Obama nearly $4 million.

This is the same man that originally promised to run a publicly funded campaign, then backed down from that promise. This is the same campaign that raised more than $272 million since January 2007 (twice as much as John McCain), and still has the balls to email me today saying they are stretched too thinly, "without a safety net," and need more of my money.

There is a lot I like about Obama, and I truly think he'll make better decisions than McCain. But backing down on his promise of public funding has set a nasty and expensive precedent for future candidates.

Obama not exactly helpful to small businesses

On his website, Obama writes, "Barack Obama and Joe Biden will help small businesses by cutting health care costs, improving access to capital and investing in innovation and development." But in the majority of cases, this is just not true.

His "improving access to capital" promise is not applicable to many small businesses: "...citing IRS data, the campaign notes that "56.8% of total small business income is earned by businesses in the top two [tax] rates, which Barack Obama has pledged to raise." Full article here

In essence, since most small businesses fall into the top two tax rate brackets, most small businesses will be taxed more heavily than they are currently being taxed. The counter-argument is: "shouldn't business owners making $250,000+ per year be able to afford a little more tax?" The answer is "yes," if the business owner has no employees to pay.

Let's look at a small start-up business making $500k per year. If that start-up has 6 employees then we are now looking at 6 individuals sharing that 500k revenue. For the sake of argument, let's forget about business expenses and just consider all 500k revenue to be split evenly. Each employee would earn ~$83,000 per year, putting them well in Obama's "non taxed middle class," so they should see more money in their pocket, right? Wrong. If the business gets taxed higher, the tax expense is passed on to the employees so they may not see a salary raise in the next year, or they may find their benefits reduced, or they may have to start paying for parking. In this example, I'm being very generous in assuming that this start-up business has no expenses and no investors. Add those realistic factors into the mix and the small business which makes enough to pass the $250k threshold, but not enough to be considered a money pit, suffers even more.

Obama is good at the "us against them" pitch between classes, but his tax proposal would actually increase taxes on many small businesses which would force business owners to tighten up on salaries and benefits for the "us" part of his equation.

When Obama tells you he's going to reduce taxes on small businesses, be wary. His definition of "small business" is misleading to a great extent.

Obama's not allowed to lie either...

McCain to Letterman: "I screwed up."

Joe the Plumber

...won't actually be hurt by Obama's plan. He's "not even close" to making that much money. Even if he becomes more successful than any other plumber in Ohio by making more than 250k a year, his taxes will increase by only 3%...cry me a river.

Acorn and Voter Fraud

Here are the facts (after all, this blog is about truth!)

Acorn verifies the legitimacy of every registration its canvassers collect. If they can't authenticate the registration, or it's incomplete or questionable in other ways, they flag that form as problematic ("fraudulent", "incomplete", et cetera). They then hand in all registration forms, even the problematic ones, to elections officials, as they are required to do by law. In almost every case where you've heard about fraud by Acorn, it's because Acorn itself notified officials about the fraud that's been perpetrated on them by rogue canvassers. Most officials who run to the media screaming "Acorn is committing fraud" know all of the above but don't bother to share those facts with the media they've run to. None of this is about voter fraud. None of it. Where any fraud has occurred, it's voter registration fraud and has resulted in exactly zero fraudulent votes.

You'll hear that Donald Duck, Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Mickey Mouse and (new this year) the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys football team have all had fraudulent registrations submitted in their names. That's true. And we know this, why? Because Acorn told officials about it when they followed the law and turned in those registrations, flagged as fraudulent.

This Acorn "fraud" business is just a republican media scam. Don't believe me? Ask the Brits.

CNN Defends Palin! Or at least stops lying about her

Good article about email rumors and how hard they are to combat.

The Truth About Obama's Tax Cuts

I was asked by a self described Conservative Jeffersonian friend to respond and give voice to a Wall Street Journal Article on Obama's "sleight of hand" tax cuts. The article appears in WSJ's opinion section, and utilizes an Obama Tax Increase graphic from the American Enterprise Institute which discusses tax rates, but not tax credits which offset the tax rates under Obama's plan. The tax credits which are highlighted and deplored in the text of the opinion, but ignored in the AEI graphic, are not leftist policy as the WSJ suggests. (Tax credit is actually the crux of McCain's healthcare/tax solution).

The opinion criticizes Obama's plan, calling it a "clever pitch, because it lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he's also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%." Well, this is nothing new or clandestine. Obama has been very upfront about opposing tax cuts for the top 5% (who won't feel it in their everyday life), and providing more economic help to low income Americans. McCain, unfortunately, supports a healthcare tax credit which doesn't give enough to Average Joe, but provides tax cuts to the super wealthy which perpetuate the favors given to the top 5%. By comparison, Obama appears to be a Robin Hood-like figure. Is it welfare for the poor? Is it a tax credit, cut, or handout? Whatever verbiage you use, you cannot deny that Obama is making an effort to help those who need it. McCain's effort to help those who need it is lacking. Lacking in his rhetoric, in practice, and in the WSJ opinion piece. In fact, there is only one mention of John McCain's efforts to help normal Americans in the entire piece. I count seven different efforts on the part of Obama in this piece to help normal Americans.

So what's the point here? It's partially a political rant, but moreover, this is more evidence to be careful about what you read! Compare multiple sources, don't be afraid to question the writer/publisher, and be sure to educate yourself. Don't rely on others with their own agendas to educate you.

I Heart Rachel Maddow

Tonight on Rachel Maddow's show, conservative David Frum criticized Maddow, essentially saying that the humor and sarcasm on her show is equivalent to the shouts and jeers of McCain's campaign supporters about Obama...the likes of "kill him," "he's a terrorist," etc.

Maddow had notes and questions for discussion of issues, not discussion of the tone and format of her own show. Nonetheless, she responded quickly and directly, saying that the tone and humor used in her show is a method of delivering news, but is in no way comparable to actual violent threats that are made by McCain supporters and which are left un-denounced by McCain during his rallies.

Personally, I have been more angry over the past couple months than I can ever remember as a result of what's going on in the news. Maddow's humor actually allows me smile on occasion in the face of ethical, political, and media failure, without forgetting that these failures are serious and cannot be sustained. Thank you Rachel for helping me not feel so alone in this ridiculous, maddening, and sometimes unbelievable time.

Outright Lie.

Friday: A legislative investigator found that Palin violated state ethics laws and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.

Saturday: "I'm thankful that the report has shown that there was no illegal or unethical activity there" - Gov. Sarah Palin

WTF?

McCain's foot goes missing...is found in his mouth.

This weekend, John McCain vowed to "whip" Obama's "you know what" in the final debate on Wednesday. Hmm...old white dude promises to publicly whip young black dude. Really?

Though McCain has dishonorably criticized Obama for being a Muslim, a Christian, and an Arab all at once, he's not stupid or racists enough to harken back to the days of slavery discipline when saying he'll "whip" Obama in the debate. It's just a lipstick on a pig figure of speech.

Even though McCain's not a bigot (really...I don't think he is), it's just not wise to say he'll "whip" his younger black opponent in public. Once again, McCain displays a Joe Biden-like quality of gaffing in his rhetoric.

My advice to McCain: slow down, breath, think, think again, revise your sentence, speak.

Debate

During the second question, one thing really struck me - when not behind a podium, John McCain's age is more apparent than ever. Last night, millions of Americans saw him hunched over, walking and gesturing slowly. McCain's age and health have been pretty well ignored throughout this campaign, but I think last night's performance, coupled with Palin's increasing publicity, could bring these issues out.

Betty Boop Palin

I'm in Disbelief

Our economy is the worst it's been in 70 years, and we're fighting a war in Iraq, while contemplating re-starting another in Afghanistan. These are facts.

Last night, Sarah Palin very notably smiled her way through a vice presidential debate. At times she winked at the camera, and yes even laughed. Is her physical affect a true representation of her assessment of the health of our country? If so, she is more out of touch with her constituents than even I believed.

More on Fox News