Thirteen Cars and Seven Houses?

It looks like John McCain has been caught in another lie, he has previously said he only owns American built cars, but government records show he owns thirteen cars, and two of them are foreign made, one is a Honda, the other is a Volkswagen.

In addition to the foreign made cars, McCain has a lot of gas guzzlers including a 2007 half-ton Ford pickup truck, a 2008 Jeep Wrangler, and a 2001 GMC SUV.

How many cars do the Obama’s own? Just one, a Ford Escape Hybrid. They also own only one house, yet for some reason they still call Obama the elisist and McCain the workingmans man.

Not Change

McCain is not change, and neither is his wing man, Pallin. Obama is the change candidate, he is the candidate that used the change platform. Since the Republican convention it seems the Same Old Party has been trying to adopt change as it’s new name, with little challenge from Obama (swift boats anyone?). However Barack Obama is now visibly hitting back in an email he sent to supporters this afternoon:

[McCain's] new ad uses what news organizations are calling “naked lies” to reinvent two politicians whose records embody the same culture of corruption and far-right policies we’ve seen from the Bush administration.

The biggest whopper in the ad (that’s still being repeated day after day by McCain and Palin on the campaign trail) is that Governor Palin stopped the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” — in fact, she supported it, and even hired a lobbyist in Washington to get more pork-barrel projects like it.

If the McCain-Palin campaign wants to have a debate about who is prepared to bring the change we need, we’re more than ready.

More than this not being change, the McCain story has been floundering on their experience equals judgment claims too. It seems they can’t use judgment to come up with their own campaign motto’s (the best judgment would be actually joining the progressive platform, not just using it’s campaign language).

On the Issues: Why Obama Was Right and John McCain Was Wrong on the Surge

In January of 2007 John McCain wrote an editorial about the need for a surge of American troops in Iraq. He wrote, “During my visit to Iraq last month, it was clear that security is the precondition for political progress and economic development.” He went on to say, “Until the government and its coalition allies can protect the population, the Iraqi people will increasingly turn to extr-governmental forces, especially Sunni and Shiite militias, for protection. Only when the government has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force will its authority have meaning, and only when its authority has meaning can political activity have the results we seek.” It has been more than a year since that surge and in a safer more secure Iraq we are still seeing a government not up to the challenge.

At the same time that John McCain was moving closer to President Bush on the war in Iraq Barack Obama was laying out the case why the surge wouldn’t work. In his floor statement he said this, “The fact is that we have tried this road before. In the end, no amount of American forces can solve the political differences that lie at the heart of somebody else’s civil war.”

So who was right and who was wrong? The GAO who conducted a report on the surge in September that hasn’t much changed said that Iraq had “failed to meet all but nine of the security goals Congress had set as part of a list of 18 benchmarks of progress.” Two of these goals had been the elimination of havens for militia forces and the deployment of three Iraqi military brigades that would be there to assist the U.S. in the security plan that was created for Baghdad. Two other benchmarks that had been described as one being economic and the other political the GAO rated as partially met. Speaking of political goals this same report said that only one of the eight goals in that arena had been met, and even today the Iraqi Parliament has missed deadline after deadline to set a date for new national elections that are pass due.

So if the true meaning our purpose of the surge in Iraq was just to secure the nation than John McCain is right. However he is being less than honest when he suggests that to be so. His own comments saying, “During my visit to Iraq last month, it was clear that security is the precondition for political progress and economic development,” prove this to be the case.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Can She Do It? When Democratic Insults Go Too Far.

John McCain rocked the political world this week when he named first term Governor of Alaska his Vice Presidential nominee. Some call it calculated. Some call it dump, stupid, and petty. However it did the job. Took the story off the great convention the Democrats threw and placed it on John McCain. It also energized the conservative base in ways they haven’t been all year long. Now the major question is can she do it? Can she take away those Hillary Clinton voters that haven’t and still aren’t warming up to Senator Obama? My guess is it might.

To answer this question you have to really understand the Clinton voter. To get off to a start, they aren’t just the liberal I support abortion women of Emily’s List. Women made up the base that sustained Hillary Clinton in the hardest days of her campaign. They became unwavering votes and supporters as volunteers and donors. They are the brick her campaign was built on, but they aren’t the audience that Sarah Palin will be reaching out to.

In the end of the primary season Hillary dealt Barack Obama a series of major blows in small towns and big states like Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. These victories came with the support of women but built more on the middle class blue collar workers. These are those voters that Sarah Palin was selected to reach out to.

The Democratic response to this nomination has as often with bolted leaders who are more full of themselves then what is good for the country or the party been offensive. My grandmother who has never voted for a republican sent me this email today: ” I never considered voting for McCain before today. Every day I see (John) Kerry, Barbara Boxer, and others speak of her in their dissmisive tone my blood boils. The fact is she knows how it is to have children and higher ambitions at the same time. They don’t appeal to my type of Democrat. Never have and never will. I suggest Obama tell them to shut the hell up before they cost him the election.”

After John McCain nominated Palin Barack Obama said this about the selection, “Yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.”

Upon hearing of the Palin selection Clinton said, “We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”

These statements are a realization that playing the small town America doesn’t count, no experience card, and tokenism won’t work. It is time others did as well and focus on what matters.

It matters that Sarah Palin is in favor of more drilling at the expense of focusing on alternatives.

It matters that Sarah Palin agrees with John McCain that universal health-care is unneeded.

It matters that Sarah Palin believes that the Supreme Court was right to overturn the DC gun ban.

It matters that Sarah Palin is supportive of the McCain foreign policy agenda.

When did we start to ignore Obama’s campaign of an issue focused debate instead of personal and unhelpful attacks? I know when we allow idiots who have proven themselves to be unable to win national elections like Daschel, Dodd, and Kerry to issue these attacks on our behalf.

We are better advised to follow Obama’s lead on this one. She can’t win the Hillary vote unless we push them to her.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

PTA President is not Vice-Presidential Material

Senator McCain celebrated his birthday by picking a hockey mom turned governor as his running mate. It was an interesting day to make the pick because,  it was also the senator’s birthday. John McCain turned 72 on Friday, this means, if elected, he would be the oldest president in our nations history.

The Governor talks with a slightly squeaky voice. She wears glasses and fashions a hair style that give the appearance of a cold and rigid attitude.

Palin listed her less than impressive resume:

Kids Basketball Coach

“Hokey Mom”

PTA President

City Council of Wasila

Mayor of Wasilla Alaska (town of 5470) This is the same town that she said she cut government spending….one has to ask how much spending there really in such a small town…

Governor of Alaska (Alaska is the same size as Charleston, South Carolina)

She said in her speech that she rejected the Alaskan, “Bridge to Nowhere.” This was an interesting statement, because the legislation was drafted by Alaska senator and John McCain loyalist, Ted Stevens.

When I heard of the decision, I thought:”This must be the only woman that would run with John McCain.” After all this is the same John McCain that voted against the Violence Against Women Act. The same John McCain that has supported anti-choice legislation time after time after time again. This is the same John McCain that did not support an equal pay/equal wage bill, just last April.

This woman is not qualified to be vice-president. John McCain’s age makes this pick questionable and even dangerous. In a world where the United States is liable to numerous national security threats, I don’t believe this “Hokey Mom” would be fit to serve as commander in chief, in the event of something happening to John McCain. A McCain/Palin White House would be a recipe for disaster and America cannot afford another one of those.

Sarah Palin- A Leader of Her Own But No Hillary Clinton

Alaska’s first female governor is making history today. She is the first woman in the GOP to be tapped to lead a national ticket as Vice President. Many will make great arguments on her readiness and her record. Let there be no debate that she is by far a spectacular individual with an powerful story full of wonderful accomplishments. She has a great record as a student, a daughter, wonderful marriage, inspiring mother, successful business woman, motivating Mayor, member of the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the most popular Governor in America.

Her story is a great one. The daughter of two educators and public servants dedicated to moving the newest state in the union forward. She grew up working hard and valuing her education. Her marriage has been one of strength and unity. To look at her family it tells the story of America. Talented children with the oldest willing to give of himself to serve America aboard. She can tell the story of growing developmental problems in American children having one herself recently born with a developmental challenge. When one looks at her political career not to be inspired is hard. She took on the sitting Republican Governor whom she saw is corrupt underachieving. She took him on and then won. After that she took on the former popular Democratic Governor and won. In one election this woman beat two male governors.

Her story is great. Her abilities are greater. However let no mistake be made. Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton.

Senator Clinton has worked hard to combat the negative effects that guns have on our community. Sarah Palin has spent her life working with and being a member of the NRA.

While in 2002 Sarah Palin was running for Lt. Governor as the the best pro-life candidate any candidate can be Hillary Clinton was fighting to ensure that President Bush and the GOP majority didn’t restrict a woman’s right to choose.

While Senator Clinton has joined Senator Obama in an unprecedented effort for universal health care for all Americans, Sarah has joined a team that degrades the need for health care for all as socialism or Hillarycare.

So yes we all should congratulate the historic moment of her nomination. We should take note of the road she has traveled. However it is important to remember…Sarah Palin is a woman…she is not Hillary Clinton.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

John McCain at the DNC

While I was walking into the Pepsi Center tonight, Mitt Romney was walking out. He was walking so fast, and unfortunately I was unable to get a picture. It was unusual to see what could have been the Republican nominee at the Democratic Convention. It was as if Hillary Clinton were to make an appearance at the Republican Convention next week. There are easy ways to explain unpredictable events such as this. Mitt Romney must have been a guest on one of the network news shows.

Romney was at the DNC to provide John McCain’s side of the story. A side of the story that was already being told all night by the numerous Democrats and the few Republicans that spoke.

What we’ve learned tonight from the Democrats is that a President McCain would not be good for the economy, healthcare, women, minorities, and America. What I wanted to hear more about is why John McCain won’t be good for future generations, and young people specifically.

I guess it can also be said that all of those issues I mentioned above do have a direct influence on America’s young people. A strong economy for the future depends on what we are doing right now to plan for it. And a strong America today can lead the way for a stronger America tomorrow.

McCain Attacks Obama for not Picking Clinton

I shouldn’t be surprise that the straight talk express has jumped the tracks again… but for some reason I am. John McCain has decided to stop talking about the issues and bring up the Obama VP issue. That’s fine if he wants to critique Joe Biden’s stance on issues, but he’s attacking the VP choice of a person who isn’t even selected as the VP:

Republican John McCain launched a new ad Sunday claiming rival Barack Obama passed over Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate for “speaking the truth” about his liabilities.

The ad, called “Passed Over,” features a clip of Clinton and repeats criticisms the New York senator made during the Democratic primaries over Obama’s alleged lack of specifics on issues, negative campaign tactics and his relationship with Antoin Rezko, a former Obama fundraiser convicted in June on corruption charges.

I’m sure the campaign made two ads in preparation for his announcement. One of them is the one we’re talking about right now. The other would be seeking to disenfranchise the Democratic yet Hillary haters while at the same time mobilizing the anti-Hillary Repulblicans.

Is this what American politics has come to, when one party won’t run on it’s own failing platform, but instead chooses to divide another party?

And finally I’d like to say to all the Hillary Clinton supporters, please do vote for Obama, he is way better than McCain who wants to ban pretty much everything (abortion, privacy, safe food, good veterans care and more) except for guns. And if you can’t bring yourself to vote for someone who supports what you believe in, please at least vote for someone who supports what both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stand for.

Remember, ThinkYouth will be covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention live from Denver next week.

McCain Hates Lobbyists?

Politico is reporting that McCain is calling lobbyists “birds of prey” and says they won’t have any place in his administration. Then why, I am wondering, does he have 134 of them working for his campaign?

McCain is trying to steal Obama’s idea of change and say that he is going to bring change to the White House, but he can’t even talk about world affairs without being influenced by good old fashioned lobbyists. As most people know, one of his top advisors used to lobby for the nation of Georgia.

And let’s just say, that McCain does fire everybody that worked on his campaign and hire completely different advisors for his administration. A. Why doesn’t he just hire some of those advisors now? B. Why should we believe he is going to do that? and C. Who are these new advisors going to be and will they have the same positions as his current lobbyist advisors?

McCain is just creating more questions than answers and completely avoiding the fact that if he gets elected, it will be due to the efforts of lobbyists, in which case, he might owe a favor or two…

Is Bush to Blame for the Georgian War?

For the past several days there’s been heavy fighting in Georgia, particularly in the break away region of South Ossietia. But could Bush administration policies be to blame for the quick escalation in tensions that lead to all out war?

In 2002 special forces trained Georgian troops to fight in the Chechnya region, as part of his war on terror. Georgian forces received further training prior to the 2003 US violation of the “territorial integrity” of Iraq. The government has also received over $150 million in US aid for security purposes, and that’s on top of nearly $300 million for “effective governance.”

But why would Bush care so much about this tiny eastern European country? For one a major oil pipeline that skips both Russia and Iran runs through this country, supplying oil from the black sea to western countries. Secondly this conflict stems from the cold war, and feelings over the sphere of influence.

McCain meanwhile used the same strong arm tactics that sparked the conflict in the first place. He called for Russia to be removed from the G8, and said that Russia should immediately halt it’s military operations, while mentioning nothing of Georgia halting it’s action. While Russia should defiantly be condemned for jumping into another nations internal conflicts, it should be noted that the Georgian president activated his shiny new American trained army to begin fighting rebels in the province of South Ossetia.

Barack Obama meanwhile called on restraint from both sides, while also siding with an American ally. He made this statement, “I reiterate my call for Russia to stop its bombing campaign, to stop flights of Russian aircraft in Georgian airspace, and to withdraw its ground forces from Georgia.”

The Energy Plan America Really Needs

First it was FISA, now Barack Obama appears to have caved and wants offshore oil drilling, but thankfully this time he appears ready to do some negotiation:

Senator Barack Obama said on Saturday that he would reluctantly consider accepting some new offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in exchange for stripping oil companies of tax breaks and extending several tax credits to spur the search for alternative fuels.

This is not enough to reduce oil prices, and the only thing it increases is risk to the environment (oil spills and global warming). I’d be willing to support this plan if it had more strings attached:

1. Invest heavily in bus rapid transit along highways and other commuter thoroughfares. Bus rapid transit is like a subway system without the trains, and instead of a stop every block, routes have only select stop areas. The fare is also payed at the station, speeding bus boarding.
2. Invest in mass transit systems like subways and light rail which often times spurs walkable transit oriented development that encourages a car free lifestyle.
3. Continue to expand congestion pricing, which uses free market ideas to charge road users increasing amounts of money to use a road, which encourages people to drive less, use mass transit, or drive at less congested times (when prices are lower, due to lower demand).
4. The money for this would come from the National Highway Trust Fund. While it’s tempting to spend all the money saved from leaving Iraq on domestic programs, that money is money America doesn’t have to spend.
5. If oil from the strategic oil reserve is released it must be tied to reducing the speed limit on national roads. This reserve should only be used for emergencies, like when America invades Iran and the Middle East gets together and says no more oil for the Americans.

But McCain’s energy plan is even worst, with his advocating for drilling in ANWR and his gas tax holiday scam. But my point is to challenge the Democrats to create true energy reform, not just band aids and funding for futuristic concepts, but use technologies that are already available.

More Deaths in Afghanistan than in Iraq

More US and NATO troops were killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq for the second straight month:

Militants killed more U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan in June than in Iraq for the second straight month, a grim milestone capping a run of headline-grabbing insurgent attacks that analysts say underscore the Taliban’s growing strength.

The fundamentalist militia in June staged a sophisticated jailbreak that freed 886 prisoners, then briefly infiltrated a strategic valley outside Kandahar. Last week, a Pentagon report forecast the Taliban would maintain or increase its pace of attacks, which are already up 40 percent this year from 2007 where U.S. troops operate along the Pakistan border.

So it seems as soon as the situation in Iraq gets stabilized chaos breaks out in Afghanistan. And then just in time for a general election the press seems to be ignoring the situation in Afghanistan, and coverage in general of America’s wars.

The only option for victory in these countries is to let Arab nations that know the cultures and politics proceed with reconstruction. Meanwhile American withdrew it’s forces, but continued to release funds to rebuild what we destroyed.

McCain doesn’t have a good plan for Afghanistan, he wants highly trained swimmers searching for Osama bin Laden in the desert badlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan. McCain likes to tote a “secret plan” for victory, but Bush talked of a secret plan in 2004, and nothing seems to be improving in the two war fronts.

Supreme Court fails on 2nd Ammendment

*Picture from ABCNEWS.COM

Many people support gun rights for defense and for hunting uses. But, handguns are not needed for any of those two purposes. Handguns can easily be concealed and used for a series of crimes. You do not need a pistol to hunt for deer or other wild animals. By the means of protecting yourself, you are still allowed to have rifles and shotguns, which cannot easily be concealed.
Read more

McCain and His $300 Million Prize

McCain calls for $300 million prize for a better car battery. He believes this will further the technology advancements for better fuel and environmentally friendly cars.”The prize would amount to $1 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency,” McCain said during a town hall-style meeting at California’s Fresno State University.

But this seems contradictory to what McCain also believes, ‘Market Competition’. McCain cites numerous  studies that the competition of the American Market is enough for American companies to have competition and to further their own advancements. If that is true then why is a compensation/prize needed? Many car manufacturing companies are already researching and experimenting with technology. It seems that this plan is just a “headline” and not a solution

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