once again the jokes write themselves...

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by callat703:
  You always have to read all of what Jake Tapper has to write:
 
 "The Obama campaign argues that in January 2008, Obama "was the only candidate to propose a fiscal stimulus plan centered on tax rebate checks for the broad majority of Americans. The bipartisan bill that passed less than a month later was centered on rebate checks to the broad middle class along the lines of what Obama proposed."
 
 That is true.
 
 Obama proposed a tax rebate aimed at middle class families. Clintonâ??s approach, conversely, focused on specific programs targeted at individuak problems, such as home-heating and mortgage subsidies."

well then, how convenient of him to not vote on his own proposal.

[Sage 703]

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
  well then, how convenient of him to not vote on his own proposal.

You mean the proposal that   passed 81-16, two days after Super Tuesday?  While Obama was locked in a heated primary campaign with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards?  And the proposal that John McCain did not vote on, despite being present in Washington?
 
 Tell me, how would Obama's vote have affected the known outcome?
 
 EDIT: I double checked on McCain's vote; while the source I link to above says McCain did not vote on it, I believe it refers to the cloture vote, and not the final vote on the bill itself.    McCain voted yes to the bill itself.

[Sage 703]

Originally posted by callat703:
  Note that the McCain surge in the polls is already fading out, and fading out fast:
 
   Real Clear Politics Poll of Polls
 
 Still not too worried about the outcome.  The economy is going to completely negate the Palin impact, and require her to have more nuanced, detailed policy positions.  Obama's sharper focus on McCain's record is also having an impact.  
 
 My prediction: Obama back up by 2-3 points in the polls within two weeks; he might even open a larger lead than that.  Then we hit the debates and the game changes again.

This trend continues:
 
   Real Clear Politics Poll of Polls - 9.17
 
 Today's Gallup poll has Obama up by 2 points.  I may revise my prediction above and guess that Obama will be up 4-6 points going into the debates.

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by callat703:
   

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
   well, i guess obama was feeling   lonely
 
 In Vienna, Ohio, this afternoon, McCain said that Obama today "claimed that the Congressional stimulus package was his idea. Thatâ??s news to those of us in Congress who supported it. Senator Obama didnâ??t even show up to vote."

You always have to read all of what Jake Tapper has to write:
 
 "The Obama campaign argues that in January 2008, Obama "was the only candidate to propose a fiscal stimulus plan centered on tax rebate checks for the broad majority of Americans. The bipartisan bill that passed less than a month later was centered on rebate checks to the broad middle class along the lines of what Obama proposed."
 
 That is true.
 
 Obama proposed a tax rebate aimed at middle class families. Clintonâ??s approach, conversely, focused on specific programs targeted at individuak problems, such as home-heating and mortgage subsidies." [/b]

yes, let's read more of jake tapper while we at it. . .
 
 "those involved in the drafting of the legislation say it was more a matter of agreeing on a good idea and was not a matter of, as Obama claimed, his proposal having "formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress."

[godsshoeshine]

why did you cut off "But though the bill that eventually passed more closely resembled Obama's than either Clinton's or McCain's"
 
 besides, blog with no named sources

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
  why did you cut off "But though the bill that eventually passed more closely resembled Obama's than either Clinton's or McCain's"
 
 besides, blog with no named sources

the point remains the same. . .while the first stimulus package was similiar to what obama presented, the posting (and references to the washington post) made clear that congressional authors and negotiators weren't using the obama package as their blueprint.
 
 we can quote and re-quote all we want from that posting. . .the point still remains that obama did not have nearly the input, if any at all, on what the final stimulus package looked like.  he could have stated the relation between his plan and what was eventually passed a number of different ways, but by inflating his own worth and importance, his statement is almost entirely false.

[vansmack]

No comment.

[Sage 703]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  No comment.

Link is down, presumably due to high traffic.  Can you reprint?

[Sage 703]

I recommend checking out the new, two minute long ad Obama is airing in battleground states.  Just him speaking to the camera about the economy:
 
 http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1799203760

[vansmack]

Originally posted by callat703:
  Link is down, presumably due to high traffic.  Can you reprint?

Circa midnight Tuesday the 16th of September (EST) activists loosely affiliated with the group 'anonymous' gained access to U.S. Republican Party Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account gov.palin@yahoo.com and passed information to Wikileaks. Governor Palin has come under criticism for using private email accounts to conduct government business and in the process avoid transparency laws. The zip archive made available by Wikileaks contains screen shots of Palin's inbox, two example emails, address book and a couple of family photos. The list of correspondence, together with the account name, appears to re-enforce the criticism. Wikileaks may release additional emails should they be of political substance.
 
 Note: The 'ctunnel.com' in the browser screen shots is a proxy service used to prevent the activists from being traced.

[Sage 703]

I guess nobody told her that one of the big reasons not to use a personal email account as governor is internet security.

[Sage 703]

Is it just me, or is the email thing a pretty big deal?  Doesn't that reflect a pretty serious oversight in security?  Who else may have hacked into Sarah Palin's email account?  What else might she have discussed there?

[godsshoeshine]

vital military secrets might have been leaked

[Sage 703]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
  vital military secrets might have been leaked

Perhaps not vital military secrets, but how about sensitive information about Alaska's oil infrastructure?

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  Sure.  But you could you break it down for me between individuals in lower and middle management (presumably thousands) vs. decision makers at the top (say, about 50)?

according to this  article, which is probably incomplete, "Merrill Lynch & Co.'s chief executive, for example, has raised more than $500,000 for McCain's campaign. Obama has received at least $1.5 million collected by three senior executives at Lehman Brothers.....Three executives from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have raised at least half a million dollars for Obama.  That firm is Obama's top source of campaign money overall; its employees have contributed more than $690,000 to his campaign, according to the center."
 
 So, looks like Obama is still getting more money from both the "decision makers" and the regular employees.