The Heights of Drama

The drama of the news of the last few days has been astounding. Is there a reason to watch anything else? No other dramas, scripted or unscripted, have been quite so compelling as the news. It is like the whole country has become completely unhinged. The flagrant disregard for truth has turned everything into a side show. George Bush and his administration had such disdain for the truth that it has permeated the very fabric of our beings; John McCain has taken it one step further by branding the media as fabrication-mongers when he and his campaign have completely disassociated themselves from any truth-telling whatsoever.

Somehow, the American people are supposed to parse all of this “newspeak” for the truth, the desire for which has spawned a myriad of fact-checking organizations each with their own non-partisan claim to truth. The pieces may fall where they may for the time being but, at the end of the “real” day, which will occur sometime between election day and inauguration day, the pieces are really going to fall and the outcome of this bloodbath of lies will be upon us all. All I know for the moment is that there is no logical reality, no objectivity, and no meaningful discussion of the facts; it is all spin all the time glorified by stunts. Into this climate we will choose a President, fortify our economy, and chart a 21^st century course to prosperity?

When loyalty causes one to champion stupidity; and integrity is only as good as what you said the previous day; and comedy is reality is comedy without irony and Wall street soars on irrationality; the shovels are calling each other spades. When Gwen Ifill falls down the stairs, breaking her ankle while apparently carrying documents for the most contentious Vice Presidential debates in the history of American politics…oh, she did and if anything else could possibly go wrong and it will, we only have to look forward to one of those falling pieces clunking us in the head with a big dose of reality; then and only then can we renew our faith in America.

What a Difference a Weekend Makes...

Much clarity has been given to certain situations though many more waters have been muddied...

The Bailout Fails: In a vote of 228 Nay vs. 205 Yea, the House of Representatives failed to pass the $700 billion bailout package with a resounding 2 to 1 nay on the part of the Republicans. Thank you Republicans. There, I said it. I am happy this bill did not pass because I did not know all of the details and I think it was too large a sum to make such a hasty decision.

I understand that this is really about Commercial Paper and not bailing out Wall Street but then don't put forth a bill with little explanation granting vast powers to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who is from Wall Street and has private interests (mainly Goldman Sachs) to protect. There are many other methods, all equally valid, that would assist in returning liquidity to the Credit markets. This is about confidence in lending; banks and others are all undermined by their own lapsed judgment in lending. The Federal Reserve is doing all it can by dropping additional hundreds of billions into the global markets but still the Commercial paper market remains frozen. If banks don't lend to each other then small businesses and individual borrowers suffer the most. It is possible that the Fed is overextending itself, more to follow on this I am sure.

The rest of it is that the markets do need to correct; we accept correction in every other market except this one? In any case, a bailout package should, at its core, provide relief to struggling home owners; there has to be a provision to allow borrowers to re-negotiate their loans with a fixed interest rate between 6.5% to 7% and a longer loan term of 40-50 years. The point is the loan amount remains the same but the payments become more affordable and when the markets return to health these borrowers will be able to refinance to a shorter term loan or better interest rate. This way the prudent people who did choose affordable loans do not feel punished for being prudent.

Dow drops 777.68 - A Day That Will Live in Infamy: The Dow suffered one of the worse days in history dropping nearly 500 points the instant the House vote was closed; it was already hovering around $280 points down pre-vote. We watched it in real time; most of my coworkers checked in on the CNN Money site which crashed momentarily; MarketWatch, my preferred choice, stood firm though refreshed at an agonizingly slow pace. All hell instantly broke loose; political spin, partisanship blaming; John McCain claiming credit for bringing together the bailout package then having to sidestep himself when it failed damningly by his own party. Ouch. Also John McCain appeared with Gov. Sarah Palin in a joint interview to save her from remarks she made about Pakistan that he criticized Obama for saying in the debate. Double Ouch.

Saturday Night Live Palin Skit Dead On: Yet another Sarah Palin skit was unveiled on Saturday night this weekend with a send-up of Gov. Palin's interview with Katie Couric. All it required was Tina Fey, who does a very convincing comic caricature of Palin, essentially espousing verbatim Palin's exact phrases from the interview. Hilarious but sad; Palin is living the Peter Principle. Enough said.

Last But Not Least: This is the most engrossing reality show on record as we watch our economy and politics explode, the Republican party implode and the Democratic party standing to bear the brunt of this economic disaster if Obama is elected. He will be blamed if the devastating outcomes of this debacle persist over the next 4 years and of course, it will be doubly damning because he is 1/2 a black man. Sad but true. At the end of the day, politics and fear aside, we all have to give ourselves a financial housekeeping. Plan for the worst and you will survive. The net effect of all of this is that decrease in consumer spending will kill our GDP splintering all industries and the credit card market will be next in line to send up its wave of bad debt. It does not look pretty out there. What were the economic terms that we had before "market correction?" Depression, recession, inflation? Think about McCain & Palin leading us through these times...try not to cringe while doing so.

A Few Words About the Presidential Debate

Going into the debate, there were certain inalienable truths. McCain is much better on foreign policy but not on the economy. Obama had much greater strength on the economy but not on foreign policy. In addition, he also had to show America that he was truly Presidential and hold his own alongside John McCain.

McCain was not able to fully convince us that his economic policy was sound; in fact after the charade of going to Washington to save the taxpayer from a debt worse than fate, he did nothing in this debate to comfort them. Obama showed a good grasp of foreign policy but more importantly he appeared confident and completely Presidential. For those not sure about voting for the black man, he sure gave them much to re-consider. Score this debate in favor of Obama.

Who Would Want to Lead This Country?

How is it that Sen. John McCain, a rich old white man from Arizona can command the same poll results as Sen. Barack Obama who is clearly promising us a different America? John McCain can be the same as George Bush and practically unoriginal but Barack Obama has to be the most extraordinary black man to even have a chance to be President.

How do Americans let the Republican party convince them that Barack Obama is elitist because he worked hard to attain the education that we routinely tell Americans will pave their way for a brighter future? Yet, John McCain, the son and grandson of Admirals who benefited from his military connections and his wife’s wealth, were it not for being a POW, gets a free pass from being labeled “privileged.”

After today’s antics with John McCain’s rush to Washington to be the hero of the proposed bailout plan, then watching the plan unravel under stress of a protest plan submitted by conservative house Republicans and the injection of Presidential politics – Barack Obama was compelled to be present - then not saying much but staking his appearance at tomorrow’s Presidential debate on an outcome coupled with Sarah Palin’s utterly unintelligible answers in her interview with Katie Couric, an interview where many of the questions were similar to those previously asked by Charlie Gibson, and she still did not have any good answers for, which clearly shows that she should not have been sequestered and should have been given the opportunity to practice and now appears to be undermined by a lack of confidence, and you have the recipe for campaign disaster. Thank goodness the campaign is run by Karl Rove acolytes; what will they pull out of their hat tomorrow?

On another note, with Washington Mutual (WAMU) seized by the FDIC this evening becoming the worst bank failure in U.S. history, underscores the urgency of some sort of bailout plan. Deciding on what avenue to take now seems to be the bane of Congress and the American people, none of us having the breadth of knowledge and understanding of complex financial instruments and how this all functions in today’s global economy, except Congress is supposed to go on recess tomorrow so they can all run home and campaign making a push for a decision tomorrow guaranteed to yield nothing less than disaster.

While the rest of the world is laughing at America, they are because if I didn’t witness this in real life, I would think that I was watching a movie; a satirical circus pageantry envelopes the most powerful country in the world while it attempts to choose the next leader of the free world and heal the economic calamities befalling it. An educated black man arises to save the people from ruin because the maniacal white man, who comes complete with the charming, but disarming, sidekick hailed as mavericks as they unleash their diabolical plan for world domination, finally and suddenly implode leaving trail of Republican destruction behind them.

Sadly, this is not a movie, this is the great meltdown of 2008. If you choose McCain-Pailn, you deserve your own stupidity and the boat you rode in on it or you choose Obama-Biden, who though better suited for the job, will face the greatest odds challenging a Presidency in the history of the nation with little margin for error. Good luck with that.

Bailout or Else: The GOP Politics of Fear in Full Swing Yet Again

Having now presided over the biggest economic collapse in recent history, George W. Bush and friends are out to convince the American people that the best and only solution is to hand over $700,000,000,000 to the Treasury Secretary to bail out Wall Street and that it should be done expeditiously and with as minimal oversight as possible. This Administration has perfected the Karl Rove politics of fear methods so completely and, unfortunately, so successfully that they have no qualms rolling it out whenever they need to force the hand of the American people.

Right now we are witnessing almost to the letter the same playbook used to rush us into war 6 years ago. Tonight the President spoke on television right before Congress is to go on break, like he did 6 years ago, giving us the old “act now or doom will befall you” speech. These same tactics were employed during Bush’s re-election campaign and are now being employed in more extreme fashion in John McCain’s campaign. So far, they have been successful at these methods even though the outcome has always been disastrous for the American people.

Though the Congress is trying more diligently this time around to mitigate the damage of hasty decision-making; this plan seems destined to come to fruition in some form albeit with greater restrictions. Why isn’t anyone else coming up with an alternative solution? Why is this expensive bailout the only way to bring order to the markets? While the GOP continues with their lies, fear and deceit, the American people are once again swept up into a situation where they are taken for a ride and this time around instead of fearing the GOP; they fear the intelligent black man who actually does want to help them.

You Want $700,000,000,000 for What?

So, let us get this straight. Spreading risk infinitely by bundling packages of mortgages then slicing those up and selling as securities is fine when the market keeps going up; the reverse is true when markets crash and this spread of risk gets multiplied 10 fold because no one knows how widespread it is or what percentage of those bundles is truly bad debt. This falls into the realm of perception; good mortgages and bad mortgages were packaged together, what percentage of any slice of these securities is more good than bad; more bad than good? Nobody knows but everyone is afraid that these securities are worth less than they think.

When the value of real estate kept escalating, this type of securitized debt was a goldmine. Everybody made money and all was right with the world. The greater the risk, the higher the reward. Greed will make you forget the rules of the game; you start chasing the money-maker like a gambler caught up in the belief that if you bet more, you will win more. Soon you find yourself over-leveraged, your investors/backers get scared and call your debt but you don't have the capital to back it all. Las Vegas or Wall Street? Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and others forgot the rules and ended up overexposed when mortgages started defaulting and the value of housing started to tumble. Investors got spooked and any perceived value in these bundles plummeted. To make matters worse, these securities were insured by insurers such as AIG giving us a house of cards situation. Ever tried to insure a bad asset? It is like having a pre-existing condition when you shop for health insurance.

How is the average American supposed to understand this? How are they supposed to understand that despite the greed, the big bonuses and rewards, we still have to bailout these be-ast-turds? Why? Perception. There is a complete lack of confidence in the financial markets. It is possible that some of these assets are worth more than we think, after all most of these mortgages are still backed by a real asset; brick and mortar construction. Real estate may lose value but rarely is anything worth zero. Perception is 9/10ths just like possession.

Who knows how this will all shake out. All I know is that for the average American to understand these complex credit instruments and to make a choice about anything based on this knowledge is impossible when the experts don't know what to make of it all. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson spent 30+ years on Wall Street and he is running to the government for an emergency loan of an unprecedented $700,000,000,000. What the hey? We are all supposed to figure this out by Friday? Good luck with that, taxpayer. Whatever the outcome, we will be fleeced!

Bailouts 'R Us

The Federal Government is now the money store. Financial companies get in line, they’re practically giving it away, even foreign banks will get a piece of the bailout pie. Small business people, we need to unite! When do we get our bailout? I would like the Federal Government to forgive the SBA loan used to purchase a franchise that, due to a series of unfortunate events, failed leaving us with mountains of debt. We accepted our lessons, licked our wounds and moved on pledging to pay down that debt while resigning ourselves to the enormous damper on our lifestyle for many years to come. We did not make any money or recognize any return on this investment; we took our knocks, plotted a new course of action and pressed on.

I know that our failure will not bring down world markets but it brought down ours. We were not greedy, we didn't overextend ourselves, we were not reckless and we worked very very hard. Sometimes things just don't work out but thankfully our prudent decision-making and prior savings allowed us to weather the financial setbacks that befell us. From our standpoint, the Wall Street bailouts, mortgage bailouts and other free passes are difficult to swallow. Besides struggling to pay for our own debt, we now have to pay for others. We know many small business-people; all are carrying a huge debt-load and struggling to make ends meet day-to-day. Where is their break? Where was ours?

America should forgive the SBA loans of small businesses that failed, are currently failing or are drowning in debt; this would help a lot and go a long way to helping another vital sector of the economy get back on their feet. So airlines, car companies, and others get in line…behind us.

Lies Lies and More Lies

The political stretching of the truth has become less of a game of word-play and innuendo and more of a sad tale of blatant telling and re-telling of outright lies. While Obama's team has utilizes the conventional method of truth stretching, the McCain campaign has resorted to outright lies. His VP pick came out of the gate lying and still has not stopped even though the lies have been debunked across most media outlets.

How does the populace of a country in a time of deep economic and ideological crisis continue to accept these lies without complete and utter outrage? It is mind boggling to say the least. John McCain's campaign is based on character and 'country first' yet he has resorted to the type of egregious lying that not only typically defames one's character but completely underscores one's personal desire to win at any cost thus undermining the whole 'country first' mantra.

If the rules of the game are that whoever tells the most lies, wins; what does that say about the American people's judgment when it comes to choosing a leader? Good judgment is also one of the traits that John McCain claims is the mark of a good leader. John McCain exhibited poor judgment in the methods used to select his VP and continues to exercise poor judgment by choosing to lie repeatedly on the campaign trail. Haven’t we had enough lies and deceit over the past 8 years?

Bailout Bonanza Continues to Prevent Trickle Down of Bad Debt

The Federal Government reversed itself after 2 days of record declines in the financial markets; it is pretty clear that there is no faith in the financial markets without the government guarantee. The mantra of “too big to fail” has completely taken over though I do not understand the criteria used to choose who wins and who loses. Why let Lehman fail but not AIG? As I write the Fed and the Congress are feverishly meeting to create a new government entity to buy up the rest of the bad debt out there. If this is the case, Lehman got a bum wrap.

However, it was good news for the market and it leaped over 400 points. I am not convinced this is the best solution no matter how much we fear financial failure because I am not convinced that it is a good idea for the government to keep borrowing funds for all of these bailouts. If the government had the money that would be fine but it doesn’t. The taxpayer is on the hook for the largest transfer of debt in American history.

Before George Bush was elected President, the discussion centered on his ability to ruin just about everything he touched. 9-11 saved him from himself for a while and delayed the inevitable. There was a point when he enjoyed incredible popularity much to my dismay, I might add. We were “winning” the war on terror and Americans improved their standard of living; trading up to bigger houses and better things because George Bush was right prosperity did trickle down. Unfortunately, we did not realize the sleight of hand; victory and prosperity were an illusion. And while the war rages on and the rest of us take on 2^nd jobs and plunder our 401k’s to remain afloat, the government has chosen to bail out some of the richest companies in the world supposedly to prevent all of that bad debt from trickling down.

Finally The Financial Truth Flows Through the Markets

The world-wide financial markets are in crisis right now. Wall Street investment banks are failing and/or scrambling to stay afloat either through a merger or cash infusion. The Dow lost 504.48 yesterday and 449.36 today; almost 1000 points in 2 days. Meanwhile markets in Russia, Asia and other parts of the world are hemorrhaging; Russia has had to halt trading over the last 2 days.

As you know, I knew these days were coming and I welcome them. We have to let the financial truth flow through the markets so we can figure out where we are so we can know where we have to go. All of the lies and propping up caused the market to disassociate from reality. The markets have been on a roller coaster ride this whole year because investors had no idea where to plant their feet. I have gone over all of this in previous posts.

I hope all of this fallout means we are getting closer to a financial reality based on the fundamentals. Yes things are terrible right now and I have always said that the market should reflect it. All we did was delay the inevitable; the government invested over $500,000,000,000 into trying to shore up the markets and it didn't help at all. Now investors are worried the government has over-extended itself.

I'd rather know the truth because knowledge is power; with the right information, we can find solutions. We have found them before and we will find them again. In the meantime, it is going to be terrible, I am not looking forward to going through any of it. At least we all know that we are in it together because that's all we have right now. We need to help each other as Americans first and people second.

All I can hope is that Americans do the right thing and elect the President that will bring us together. President Bush and the GOP have done nothing but divide Americans into nasty splinter groups blaming and re-blaming while they capitalize on our prejudicial weaknesses leaving us proving once again that there is truth in those unavoidable cliches:

UNITED WE STAND; DIVIDED WE FALL.

There is no way for McCain to bring us together and you all should know that by now. Do you really think he will inspire us to do anything? Ask yourselves deep down inside if lies, deception and downright nastiness is the way to help America. Obama will make mistakes, all Presidents do, but at least we will be United, something we have not been for a long, long, time.

Taxpayers Bail Out AIG

Like I said yesterday Citizens, prepare yourselves!!! We are in it for good this time. One of America’s largest insurance companies, American International Group (AIG) has failed. Yesterday, NY Governor Paterson relaxed the insurance regulatory rules to allow AIG to borrow $20,000,000,000 from one of its subsidiaries which wasn’t nearly enough because they were looking for an additional $40,000,000,000 to borrow from the Feds. Now it turns out the Feds have loaned them $85,000,000,000 today in exchange for 80% ownership in the company. I just want to know how it is that AIG was looking for $60 billion yesterday but was loaned $85 billion today. I just can’t stand it anymore.

Why are we saving AIG and not Lehman Brothers? Yesterday, the government said it would no longer bail out private companies. Today they say if they don’t continue, our financial system will collapse; the number of companies deemed too big to fail is growing. Has anyone stopped to add up all of the bailouts this year? What is the total? How much debt will it take for the government to realize it too has reached its limit? Do you all still believe in the free market economy? If the market is supposed to find the best price, reward good business practice and regulate itself, then these companies should fail because others will take their place. Isn’t that the theory Republicans?

Wall Street can go ahead and jump for joy every time the government bails them out but they have no idea what misery will trickle down to the rest of America. Trickle down theory works both ways; if wealth trickles down so does debt. This economic policy is clearly not working in the new global economy. There are no financial borders in which to preserve capital and bolster the wealth of a nation.

Debt has fueled growth for all of us. We all borrowed and things were fantastic. The middle class improved its standard of living on debt. Business improved its profits on debt and the Government paid for war, entitlements and subsidies with debt. Everyone was HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY! The debt has come due my friends and while we the middle class are now struggling to repay our debt the government is borrowing to pay for its debt and is called on to help big business pay their debt. The individual is held accountable but not big business?

WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BORROW FROM PETER TO PAY PAUL!!!

We are supposed to be one America. Find me a reason why we should continue the same economic policies that is not racist and partisan and small minded and liberal and elitist and blue and red and conservative and republican and democrat and everything in between? Tell me how we are going to afford all of this war on terrorism that is supposed to keep us safe when at this point we cannot afford our own military.

The greatest country on earth is begging Asia and the Middle East for funds. Work this all out and tell me how you can vote for John McCain? Barack Obama has his problems, believe me, but the time is now to boldly go where no one has gone before. The last time we tried, we were brow beaten and deceived and cheated and frightened into voting for 4 more years of George Bush?

Oh, that worked out real well.

R.I.P: More Wall Street Firms Go Bust

If you read me, you know that I have been screaming about the financial markets and all the debt that is being used to prop them up. Everyone kept telling me that I was being a “negative nelly” because I have been complaining that the unprecedented use of debt instruments was unsustainable. Every day we hear about more financial institutions who have bitten off more debt than they can chew; today we lost two more, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

Now I think it is particularly ironic that the Republican’s own economic policies have fed upon themselves. 168 yr old Lehman Brothers, one of the hallmarks of Wall Street has crumbled under the weight of the debt driven economy. Merrill Lynch skirted the same fate by selling itself to Bank of America. The venerable bull got beaten by its own financial bull$#!%.

Citizens and businesses alike have been turning to the government for bailouts. Today, the government drew a line in the sand and refused to bailout Lehman. American International Group (AIG) is begging to borrow $40,000,000,000 and other institutions are quietly shopping themselves to foreign investors. For the umpteenth time this year, the Fed has increased the amount it will lend to financial institutions. I am concerned about how much the government has borrowed this year, at least $1,000,000,000,000, for bailouts, the Iraq War and the 2008 budget shortfall. There is plenty more nasty financial news to come, Citizens. Prepare Yourselves!

Today I Found a Job

Today, against the tide of a declining economy, I found a job on Long Island. No matter the economy, even if America is in a recession, there will still be people working; it depends on how a business allocates its resources and whether or not you are fortunate to have the desirable skills of the moment. I am returning to my previous profession in IT after 6 years of child rearing and domestic responsibility. I am not a programmer or developer or engineer but I work in business intelligence documenting and evaluating real time use of eCommerce applications and end user functionality. This is a necessary and vital metric for companies that do a lot of business of the web.

I am looking forward to starting my new job and garnering a paycheck and perhaps feeling just a tad more worthy now that I will be making a financial contribution to the household. It is a unique experience to be able to stay home and raise your children but it remains an incredibly challenging gap to overcome on a resume. Explaining to a potential employer your new found relevance is a daunting task after being out of the workplace for 6 years. Then, when you find your way back in, you still have to request concessions; you have to negotiate for flexibility because you cannot abandon your children’s carefully chosen trajectory.

Up until this point their path has been laden with extracurricular activities and unsparing parental involvement, some may call it indulgence, that is now threatened by your absence. Juggling and paying for after school care becomes a mad dance between you, the school, the school bus, the after care provider and most importantly their geography as I found out. The geographical boundaries of your child’s school take precedence, you can’t have a provider that is not in the geographical area serviced by your child’s school bus. OOps!

This is why people go "home" and/or move closer to their families when they have children because childcare and activity scheduling is practically impossible otherwise unless you have ample funds to afford it. One child is sometimes manageable but daycare for two children means a bill so large that it is more cost effective for someone to stay home. Generally, if you are rich, you can help yourself or poor, the government will help you; if you are middle class the choices mean the difference between realizing any benefits from working or working to pay for daycare in which case why go through the hassle and expense?

Nevertheless, I was kicking and screaming when I left work 6 years ago because I had suddenly lost my individual worth but after a while I realized I had regained it as a mother. Now, I have to go back to work, I am suffering in reverse, once again kicking and screaming but this time for interrupting my motherhood with work.

September 11

September 11 needs no distraction from me. I watched MSNBC this morning as it ran its newsreel of the event synced in real time. A friend of mine said “isn’t it a little macabre for them to be doing that?” and I said, “don’t you remember? 9-11-2001 never forget?” I think it was entirely appropriate to relive 9-11 because it helped us keep the promise; my husband and I ruminated on how that fateful morning unfolded for us 7 years ago. He was fortunate to work from home today relieving him of his usual 4 hr commute into Manhattan, a commute that he had made that day 7 years ago that turned into a 12 hr journey home. Today’s broadcast brought back the emotion of every minute.

For us, the most deeply rooted sentiment was that this day was business as usual, people going to work like we did everyday, ordinary people who work in office buildings, checking their email and reviewing their tasks for the day, abiding by the strict work ethic...that could have been us. At the time we both worked for a company that had clients in the building, on any given day he could have been there, but that day the only people who survived were the people who didn’t get to work on time, just that one day.

To All Who Want to Vote for McCain

Dear Americans, we can sit here and bicker over the most trivial of matters and continue to take our eye off the ball. The elephant in the room is the economy. No matter how you slice it, the government has followed Reagan's trickle down economic theory for the past 8 years while deregulating more industries and allowing us to get into a war that is costing us $10,000,000,000 a MONTH.

This economic policy is no longer working; our financial institutions, the government and most Americans are deeply in debt. The government is borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from China and the Middle East to bail out our financial institutions. Are you people blind, deaf and dumb? The economic policy of the last 8 years is erasing the middle class every day.

Do not get duped again by the lies of the GOP. This is the party of George Bush, they are the ones who got us into this economic mess and now they have Americans believing that the same policies will get us out.

McCain will continue this economic policy and it will not help 95% of Americans. Walk down the street in your town and look around you at the economic desperation, your jobs being threatened, your neighbors losing their homes and your struggle to pay the bills. Is this really what you all want more of?

Vote for the GOP and vote yourself poorer, vote for more tax breaks for the rich, vote for more war, vote against separation of church and state and more importantly vote against America. They are not doing what’s best for America, they just want to keep their power. I'd rather fail with Obama and say at least we tried than do nothing for 4 more years.

Why Can’t She Speak?

During the Democratic Primaries, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigned for 18 months, every single question was asked, and every rumor was treated as news. They each went on numerous interview shows and participated in 20+ debates. Has everyone forgotten?

Sarah Palin has been in the race for almost 2 weeks now. She is running to be Vice President of the United States. The press, on behalf of the American people, has the right to ask questions; reserving or requesting special treatment for her undermines everything this woman has achieved.

Sarah Palin ran for Mayor and rose through the ranks until she ran for Governor. She should be disgusted that the McCain campaign is traipsing her out to stump the same convention speech day after day while sequestering her from answering any unscripted questions. McCain is really acting as if he doesn’t have any faith in her abilities. That is a shame. She should demand more respect than that; after all she is the Governor of a State; not a rinky-dink Senator.

Why does she need so much time to study for interviews? Her first quiz will be a lightweight gabfest with Charlie Gibson of ABC News later this week. Her silence and the need for all of these “crib notes” sessions makes the case more pressing; If she is really ready to be Vice President, why does she need so much prep time? What is the McCain camp afraid of? Why don't they trust her to speak for herself? Let her speak for herself! I, for one, want to know what she has to say.

Gov. Palin and Reproductive Rights

When McCain chose Palin to be his Vice President, she was heralded as the poster child for religious-right conservative values. Though she is an ambitious woman, do not be mistaken, she does not support any progressive women's rights; the most critical being reproductive rights. Gov. Palin is a fundamental pro-life advocate. Gov. Palin is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Women, think it through. If your daughter is raped or the child is a product of incest, do you really want to force your daughter to have that child? Men, do you?

Barack Obama stated in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, “we may not agree on abortion but we can certainly agree on the fact that reducing unwanted pregnancy is vital to the abortion debate.” The single most substantive method of teen pregnancy prevention is education yet Governor Palin favors abstinence-only training in lieu of sex education. There is plenty of documented evidence showing that abstinence-only training does not work including within her family. Only education and contraception can prevent pregnancy; wishing that teenagers can put aside their hormones until marriage is not. Forcing a 17yr old to marry to remove the stigma of being an unwed mother is also not a solution.

Clearly, in a nation as diverse as America, we cannot have a policy that does not teach but leaves females to a consequence of parenting as punishment for sexual transgression on their part or by an aggressor. We should not force our females to be single mothers or to marry when it is clear that the father will not accept responsibility for the pregnancy. It is unrealistic to expect pre-marital abstinence on the part of the American female in a culture that is over-sexualized and rewards men for their conquests. Hormones are very powerful! Females need education so that they can combat the pressure and desire to be sexually active and to uphold the sanctity of her body. It is a tall order.

Women, if you choose Palin, you may be giving up your future choice. Men, if you choose Palin, you will help her take that choice away from all women. If you are pro-life, we respect your choice as you respect ours. Gov. Palin chose to have her baby; her daughter is choosing to have hers. I want my daughters to choose too and I certainly don’t want McCain and Palin attempting to uphold their views and enact legislation to stop all of us from having our choice.

Nevertheless, for better or for worse, under current laws, everyone can function, pro-life and pro-choice. We are not a religious state, we are not a theocracy like the Middle East states we denounce; we are democracy. McCain-Palin would seek to reverse abortion rights that would unleash devastating consequences for our female citizens. I know there are many Americans who support strict conservative ideals and this is fine but the rest of us prefer separation of church and state.

Let’s Face Facts: The Republican Economic Policies Have Failed

Now that we have had time to digest both Political Conventions, the gloves are off. In the next 60 days Americans have to decide once and for all the direction of this country. Many people were impressed with both shows and it appears that the polls are neck and neck once again. While we all want what’s best for the country, we all need to do a little math and ask ourselves the age old question; “Are we better off today than we were 4 years ago; in this case 8 years ago?”

We have had a Republican President for 8 years with a Republican Congress for 6 of those years. They lowered taxes for business and the wealthy that along with the billions spent on war and subsidies for large corporations etc. reversed the economic policies that Clinton had in place. The wealth was supposed to trickle down and spur economic growth. Sadly, the growth was not real, it was built on debt and we are now paying dearly for it. Many thought the Democratic Congress could accomplish positive change over the last 2 years but since they did not have enough of a majority to turn the tide, they now look really bad; part of the problem instead of the solution.

Though the following numbers are even worse now, these are documented facts as they are from the 2004 census:

-Median Household Income increased under Clinton from $40,422 in 1993 to $46,129 in 2000 when Bush took over. It has declined under Bush since then. In 2004, it was down to $44,389.

-Employment rate declined under Clinton from 6.9% in 1993 to 4% in 2000 when Bush took over. It has increased under Bush and in 2004; it was up to 5.5%.

-Poverty rate under Clinton declined from 15.1% in 1993 to 11.3% in 2000 when Bush took over. It has increased under Bush to 12.7%.

And don’t forget the most important. When Bush took over from Clinton the national debt was about $5.5 trillion dollars. The debt is now $10.6 trillion dollars. Yes, in 8 short years Bush has added $5 trillion to the debt; as much as the entire debt that we had in the whole history of the United States when he took office. He is also leaving the new incoming President, who ever that is, with a 2009 budget deficit of nearly $500 billion dollars; yes that is $ ½ a trillion dollars deficit for one year of running the government.

The Republicans have run the country into the ground. They were the only ones who got rich here. The middle class is suffering under staggering debt and losing their homes. Meanwhile the government has already lent Wall Street Banks over $500 billion dollars and they still give themselves million dollar bonuses even when they fail.

I am not saying that the Democrats are necessarily going to do much better; Obama has offered some pricey panaceas given the state of the budget and the debt. However, we cannot let John McCain keep the same failing policies while bringing even more right-wing religious conservatives into government with him. We all know that “Hope” is not a strategy but in this case, an uplifted spirit is still better than negative divisive politics. The Democratic Convention made me feel like anything could happen; the Republican Convention made me shake in my shoes. In these tough times, hope may be all we have and I’d rather have a positive spirit over the next 4 years than a negative one.

Republican National Convention: McCain Wraps it Up

After another round of biographic videos and speeches in praise of John McCain, the decorated war hero, POW and Senator, wooed crowds with his non-distancing from the policies of George W. Bush as if the mere act of not mentioning him by name, Bush and his father were referred to as the President of the United States and the 41^st President respectively, would accomplish that task.

Comfortable in his new right-wing conservative blanket, John McCain ironically pitched his maverick self that has been MIA for some time as the agent of change to the very people who forced him to abandon the notion in the first place. Basically, the wrong Republicans are in office and he would be a better Republican. However, it was a gracious speech that had some nice touches and stayed away from the mocking negativity that permeated the arena yesterday. Cindy McCain’s speech and introduction of her husband was too long and, frankly, boring since the emphasis on war and service had been worn out after 3 days.

Once again, we were asked to transcend reality and join in the St. Paul fantasy that the Republicans have not been in power for the last 8 years and by not mentioning President Bush we can actually believe it. Unfortunately, there was not enough to sway this independent, as the specifics of McCain’s platform seemed to champion policies already in place. Other than trusting McCain to return to his maverick self, we are left to believe that the antiquated ideals of the Republican base will be beneficial for all Americans.

Republican National Convention: Gov. Palin Delivers to Base

Tonight’s line up of guests was an attack dog spectacle that pandered to and for the Republican base but not much of anybody else. Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee delivered although Mitt Romney faltered in believability. Once again the night centered on John McCain’s record of service with pointed jabs at Sen. Obama and the fact that he has completely surrendered to the Republican base. Gov. Palin arrived to thunderous applause and added her own two cents; long on the same rhetoric but short on her own introduction. Unfortunately, Rudy Giuliani spoke excessively long causing the RNC to nix the Sarah Palin biographic video, which I was really interested in seeing, and caused her speech to run past prime time. Maybe they will show it tomorrow.

It was strange to watch a set of people reach back to Ronald Reagan, bypassing both Presidents Bush entirely and completely, and with straight or actually condescending faces act like none of the problems that they were denouncing was caused by their very own party. No matter how much we all want to dismiss it; we have had a Republican President for the past 8 years with a Republican Congress for all but 2 of those years. Blaming big government; largely expanded by President Bush, blaming the democrats for wanting to quit the Iraq War; a War that Bush started and blaming Obama and the democrats/liberals for all the current ills as if the Republican’s had nothing to do with it. It felt very odd and cold to us watching from home but played very well inside the stadium.

The speakers simply did not reach out to any other folk other than to pretend that the last 8 years didn’t happen and that a decorated hero of a 40 yr old war who has spent the last 26 years in the Senate was the best bet for America going forward; that the party that has created this current mess and given us a President with the lowest approval rating, who they now take great pains to distance themselves from, is the choice to get us out of it because they will bring us back to a conservative 1950s America with a twist; an ambitious woman will be Vice President. Yet we Americans also fear the Democratic alternative. We can choose more of an even frightening version of the same or take a leap of faith; in truth it can't be any worse than the last 8 years.

Republican National Convention: Drumroll Please!

At last the Republican National Convention begins after a 3 day barrage of “other news.” With trepidation receded about Hurricane Gustav and the new revelations about Gov. Sarah Palin taking their spin, the Republicans had one last hurdle; how to distance themselves from Pres. Bush. This was accomplished by beaming him in from the White House where he was presidentially monitoring storm conditions, I suppose, while his wife and parents were in St. Paul. Well, not everybody can be invited to the party.

Nevertheless, the evening went well focusing on the slogans of “country first” and “service” wrapped up in a coating of “strong on defense.” John McCain’s military service was perfectly re-cast by Fred Thompson, former Senator and actor, in a rousing speech that stirred the stadium. First Lady Laura Bush delivered one of the most political speeches of her tenure by way of introduction to President Bush’s address which incidentally was much shorter than her introduction. Former Presidents Bush and Reagan were honored but the implication was that McCain followed closely on the heels of Reagan rather than the current President Bush.

The highlight of the evening was Sen. Joe Lieberman’s speech. Lieberman ran on the democratic ticket 8 years ago as Al Gore’s Vice Presidential pick and is currently classified as an Independent though he still refers to himself as a democrat and votes generally along democratic party lines. Lieberman’s speech was almost well received but it was hard to dismiss that the fact that the Republicans turned him down as McCain potential VP.

The Republicans did the best they could considering the circumstances but it was clear that the fulcrum of the Convention will be Sarah Palin’s speech tomorrow. McCain’s speech is expected to be foregone conclusion since it is clear that he is now running on his military record and does not portend to reach beyond that.

Labor Day Surprises

Hurricane Gustav narrowly misses New Orleans but still packs a wallop to the gulf coast. The Republican National Convention is cancelled for today due to fear of mishandling another hurricane disaster. It will officially begin tomorrow but with more curiosity than ever. The big news of the day is that McCain’s apparently squeaky clean conservative choice for VP is not so squeaky after all. It figures. No one is squeaky clean; I don’t know why Americans always keep expecting it of people running for office.

Gov. Sarah Palin was greeted like a breath of fresh air for the Republican party even though she is under investigation for possible ethics violations. However the big twist on her platform was revealed today; her 17 yr old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. Thankfully, she will be forced into marriage so it will all be made whole and the stigma of an being an unwed mother, not to mention daughter of the most conservative woman to hit the Republican stage will be averted so it seems. However, it will make it difficult for Palin to continue her support for abstinence-only training when she cannot get her own daughter to abide.

Fox News was already down-playing the pregnancy as a private family matter. Since it is being handled “correctly,” Palin’s daughter will marry her guy; no conservative rules have really been broken. What price political ambition? No matter the spin, this revelation will definitely undermine the conservative party platform that she was chosen to uphold.