There is one thing and only one thing that gives Obambi any kind of leg up, and that is blanket opposition to the war in Iraq, a turn and run plank in his platform. Anything short of that – like the same safe, timely, phased withdrawal that McCain will propose gives him bupkis.

Jaibones on March 28, 2008 at 8:48 AM

heh…

The commercial is a series of soundbites including things like, “We’ll end this war.”, “We’ll change things for the better.”, etc.

One line in particular really stuck with me. Referring to ExxonMobile specifically, Obama says, “We’ll penalize companies making windfall profits.” No lie. No joke. That is the exact word for word statement in the commercial.

Who’s going to declare exactly what a “windfall” profit is? I don’t think anybody is really qualified to be that judge. So the guy is effectively advocating penalizing profitable companies. I guess the dividends that get paid out to all the shareholders of that profitable company, including any retirees on fixed incomes who depend on those dividends for their survival, don’t matter in Obama’s grand scheme.

I don’t know which was more stupid and the better indicator of his overall lack of economic understanding. The statements in the commercial or the fact that he chose to waste so much of his own money advertising them on a station and during programs where they would be least effective.

They must have something stored away in the Cayman Islands or a Swiss Bank account.

Obama wants it both ways. He wants the Left to believe that he will start pulling more money out of the economy for a big slate of government programs, while he wants the middle class to believe that all of these programs won’t cost them anything — and meanwhile, his options remain “open”. It sounds more like “I’m making this up as I go along.”

The essence of Obama, or any liberal. Bottle and sell it! Good luck. The fools will buy it, the rest will vote against it. The tally will be on the second Wednesday, following the second Tuesday in Nov., this round in 2008.

- Tax the snot out of everybody making more than $75,000/year.
- Index the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index.

Wow. He obviously didn’t pay attention in Economics 101 did he? The Obama years will make the Carter years look like rampant economic growth!

One dem candidate is a joke, and scary as hell, the other is one of the most hated and obviously evil politians in the country. And out of all our republican candidates, we voted McCain as our guy? Um, no. This was/is tailor-made for him, with the goal of pulling the entire Republican party sharply to the left, and the rest of the country with it.
If someone else has an explanation that makes more sense, bring it on. Please.

shibumiglass on March 28, 2008 at 9:16 AM

My explanation is that Bush has so damaged the repblican brand, the party has to move to the left to be competitive. Retrenchment is the best option for conservatives, as we can hopefully keep radicals off the high court, at least slow down gov’t spending, and maybe cause enough ruckus to prevent a blanket amnesty. Think of this a a ‘rebuilding year’.

Obama didn’t have an answer set to go to Bartiromo’s question because he hadn’t needed one until then, because the question never had been asked. Just throw out the proper buzz words about taxing the rich (or national health care, or global warming credits, or whatever else is taken as a social/cultural panacea on the left) and never get into the details of how that might adversely affect the current economy, because the reporters are too infatuated with you to care to ask how this might work during an economic slowdown. Meanwhile, the party activists know and care as much about maintaining a market economy as they do running a NASCAR pit crew at Daytona, so they’re either not paying attention to the question, or think the question is illegitimate to even ask.

It would be nice to think others in the media would follow-up on Barak’s muddled answer to Maria’s question, especially since NBC is her employer. But sadly, all this means is that, along with Fox News, CNBC will be another channel Obama will be dodging interviews with for the foreseeable future.

As a “poor person”, you have the “right” (under the social welfare system there) to – among many other things – a refrigerator and television (i.e. paid for by the state).

Only one detail: the top tax bracket starts at 70,000 Euros.

No way out of that mess. Best way is to stay out of it from the begiinning.

“I would not increase taxes for middle class Americans and in fact I want to…. provide a tax cut for people who are making $75,000 a year or less,” he said. “For those folks, I want an offset on the payroll tax that would be worth as much as $1,000 for a family.

Huh? thats it? oh hell.. Obama gonna throw a bunch of people under the bus.

The national economy is, essentially, made up of those who buy and sell on a daily basis–every American man, woman, and child. It’s not just Wall St., bankers, or business owners.

And in a downturn, what this economy needs is more money (and more freedom) to do that buying, selling, investing, etc.

Yet what Obama is saying is this: “I want to help our economy by taking money out of the economy.” Translate: “I want to help the American people by taking money away from the American people.” 310 million people get less because 535 politicians know how to spend it better.

And this man is lauded as a brilliant mind? Wise up folks.

The Bush tax cuts are routinely demonized b/c of the reduction in capital gains. The tax cuts also reduced the marriage tax penalty; lowered the bottom tax rate from 15% to 10%, and increased the child tax credit to $1,000 per child under 17 (which, BTW, begins to phase out for couples earning $110,000 or singles earning $75,000).

The IRC began as a few hundred pages…it is now over 10,000 pages long!

Tax rates are progressive, and I believe they should be proportionate. With a flat tax, the country could move away from the class warfare, and (God willing) I wouldn’t have to listen to brain-washed Democrats. Moreover, Democrats are always saying they approve of tax cuts for the middle class, but where’s the beef?

The last Democrat to make a major tax cut was JFK in 1960!! WTF?!?

“I’m going to be sworn in in January …”

No question about it. In fact, why bother with the election at all.

This guy gets creepier by the day. All of you who whine and moan and pound on your highchairs about how you’ll never vote for “Juan McCain”…when this guy is sworn in and his cabinet takes shape and the left talks about what is now America–complete with taxpayer-funded abortions for all and the NEA as the sole authority on education in America and gay pride month and marriage for all and Supreme Court Justice Laurence Tribe and talkfests with Ahmadamnnutjob and Chavez and Raul and some nice big ol’ taxes on oil coampanies and a capitulation in Iraq, and oh, the newly created cabinet post of Secretary of the Environment filled by Al Gore–well, you just reach over your shoulders and give yourselves a big ol’ pat on the back.

Way t’ go.

“I’m going to be sworn in in January …”

No question about it. In fact, why bother with the election at all.

This guy gets creepier by the day. All of you who whine and bitch and piss and moan and pound on your highchairs about how you’ll never vote for “Juan McCain”…when this guy is sworn in and his cabinet takes shape and the left talks about what is now America–complete with taxpayer-funded abortions for all and the NEA as the sole authority on education in America and gay pride month and marriage for all and Supreme Court Justice Laurence Tribe and talkfests with Ahmadamnnutjob and Chavez and Raul and some nice big ol’ taxes on oil coampanies and a capitulation in Iraq, and oh, the newly created cabinet post of Secretary of the Environment filled by Al Gore–well, you just reach over your shoulders and give yourselves a big ol’ pat on the back.

Way t’ go.

It sounds more like “I’m making this up as I go along.”

but, boy, he sure can deliver a good speech.. can’t remember any substance afterward but I believe he can support what I hope for in a candidate that can unify..

/sarc off