We're Screwed!!!!

Springsteen, Joel To Hold Joint Concert For Obama

The Boss and the Piano Man are officially hitting the campaign trail.

On Tuesday, Obama donors were informed that Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel will join the Democratic nominee for his "last event in the Tri-State region before the election," at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

Of Course!

What, if any, is the female version of doofus?

Palin's Joke About Biden Backfires

On the campaign trail, Gov. Sarah Palin jokes about listening to Sen. Joe Biden's speeches since she was in second grade.

In a just-released CBS News segment, Katie Couric asks if that isn't an odd thing to say given her own running mate's age.

Said Palin: "Oh no, it's nothing negative at all. He's got a lot of experience and just stating the fact there, that we've been hearing his speeches for all these years. So he's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years."

Today's Update

via TPM today:

Obama Maintains Big Lead In Today's Tracking Polls
By Eric Kleefeld - September 30, 2008, 1:08PM

Here's a wrap-up of the four major national tracking polls for today -- the first day on which we've gotten three-day tracking polls that were taken entirely after Friday's debate. Barack Obama continues to hold a big lead:

• Gallup: Obama 49%, McCain 43%, with a ±2% margin of error, compared to a 50%-42% Obama lead yesterday.

• Rasmussen: Obama 51%, McCain 45%, with a ±2% margin of error, compared to a 50%-45% Obama lead yesterday.

• Hotline/Diageo: Obama 47%, McCain 41%, with a ±3.2% margin of error, compared to a 47%-42% Obama lead from yesterday.

• Research 2000: Obama 51%, McCain 41%, with a ±3% margin of error. Yesterday, Obama was up 51%-42%.

Adding these polls together and weighting them by sample sizes, Obama is ahead by a margin of 49.8%-43.1%, virtually the same as yesterday's 49.8%-43.1% lead.

Obama calls on Americans to support rescue plan

Sent from Express News
RENO, Nev. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday called for Americans to get behind attempts to salvage a $700 billion rescue plan for the financial sector, saying that if Wall Street fails ordinary people will also be hurt.

"This is no longer just a Wall Street crisis. It's an American crisis, and it's the American economy that needs this rescue plan," Obama told about 12,000 people at a rally at the University of Nevada at Reno.
By JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer

One-in-four chance McCain may not survive 2nd term

Sent from Express News
WASHINGTON - If John McCain is elected and goes on to win a second term, there's as much as a one-in-four chance America could see its first woman president - Sarah Palin.

It's actuarial math.
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press Writer

Obama Runs Constructive Criticism Ad Against McCain

Naive And Rash?

of course, in our hearts we've all known that Gramps (and HRC before him) would go after Bin Ladin in Pakistan if necessary even as he (and HRC before him) slammed BHO's vow to do so.

Here's a quote from two years ago, before Johnny Mac (and HRC before him) was being beaten by the junior senator from the state of GT12.:

Q: So if you were president and you knew that bin Laden were over there, you had a target spotting, you could nail him, you'd go get him?

McCain: Sure. Sure. We have to, and I'm sure that after the initial flurry, that whoever our friends are, wherever he is, would be relieved because, as I mentioned to you before, he's still very effective in the world, very, very effective.

The Fundamentals Of Our Economy Are Strong

All the cluelessness in one YouTube!

Watch Gramps Protect His Little Girl

This woman could kill Feminism

AFL-CIO Mails It Out

Here's the latest mail piece from the AFL-CIO. It hits Sen. McCain on health care, and it'll be sent to more than a million union members across seven states, according to an AFL-CIO spokesperson.

Barry Talks To Us About This Whole Mess

Two minutes of your time please...

Welfare Kings

Free marketer, libertarian Andrew notes:

It's funny, isn't it, that when it comes to poor black women, the ethos is always welfare to work. But when it comes to millionaire white men, it's always work to welfare. Maybe a little welfare reform on Wall Street is overdue.

Do We Need This Bailout?

The Today show does what the ALL of our leaders have failed to do so far ... 'splain to us WTF is happening out there and why it matters to me....

Must See TV below:

Dead End?

AP, which has bent over backwards to tilt headlines and framing in Gramp's campaingn, sees things going very bad for him now....

Analysis: With bailout, McCain reaches dead end

Last Wednesday, McCain suspended his presidential campaign to insert himself into a $700 billion effort to rescue America's crumbling financial structure. In so doing, he tied himself far more tightly to the bill than did his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

Then, as the bailout plan appeared ready for passage Monday in the House, McCain bragged that he was an action-oriented Teddy Roosevelt Republican who did not sit on the sidelines at a moment of crisis.

Within hours, however, the measure died in the House mainly at the hands of McCain's own Republicans.

After the House vote, Obama — campaigning in swing-state Colorado — declared that McCain had "fought against commonsense regulations for decades, he's called for less regulation 20 times just this year, and he said in a recent interview that he thought deregulation has actually helped grow our economy."

"Senator, what economy are you talking about?" Obama said.

Sensing Obama's advantage, spokesman Bill Burton piled on:
"This is a moment of national crisis, and today's inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington."

McCain has been routinely wrong-footed on the slumping U.S. economy throughout the campaign, starting last year when he said he was not as up on that subject as he would like to be.

Polls consistently have shown voters place greater trust in Obama to pull the country out of a financial crisis that has not been matched since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

McCain — apparently obsessed with those facts — gambled last Wednesday by declaring he had suspended campaigning to bring his considerable bipartisan credentials to bear in congressional negotiations with the Bush administration.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sent the enormous bailout package to Congress 11 days ago and said passage was urgent.

Surge!

Politcal Wire:

Diageo/Hotline: Obama Surges in Battleground States

An early look at today's Diageo/Hotline tracking poll shows Sen. Barack Obama now holds a double-digit lead in key battleground states. Among registered voters surveyed in Colorado, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and Nevada, Obama tops McCain 50 to 40%. Just a week ago, Obama led 45% to 42%.Nationwide, Obama leads 47% to 41%.

The Research 2000 tracking poll has Obama leading 51% to 41%, while Rasmussen has Obama up 51% to 45%.

An Ending?

Salon hesitantly predicts/suggests that the Rubicon has been crossed

But mostly it has to do with the fact that a 72-year-old candidate literally embodies a party and an ideology that have grown old in a hurry, and how the personal resentments that candidate exhibits toward his opponent merely confirm that party’s fear of new ideas and the future. Strip away the superficial narratives and horse-race distractions and we see that McCain is a late adopter, the inheritor of a dying movement that mythologizes a past that never really existed and, even if it did, isn't returning anyway. This is why the senator from Arizona flails around, gasping for air and behaving as if he were unaware that he and his followers have reached the point where nothing -- not even a young, cheeky, tabula rasa governor from a separatist state -- can save them.

Impossible

PPP Poll: Obama Moves Ahead in North Carolina
A new Public Policy Polling survey in North Carolina finds Sen. Barack Obama has taken the lead over Sen. John McCain for the first time, 47% to 45%.

Key finding: "Over the last year there's been a strong relationship between the number of North Carolinians listing the economy as their biggest concern, and Obama's standing in the polls. In January when just 39% of voters said it was their biggest issue John McCain led by 14 points. In August with it up to 48% Obama trailed by just three. Last week with 58% listing it number one the race was tied, and now with the number up to a record 64% Obama has taken a small lead. He is up 55-38 among respondents citing the economy as their main concern."

Also not helping McCain: A dramatic decline in approval of running mate Sarah Palin.

Time To Get Off The Trail Again

Last Week:

"I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not.... With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol -- and I intend to join it.

"It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal to meet the crisis. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time. So I am returning to Washington...."

So... Back To DC, Johnny?

What Indians?

McSame's camp is trying to blame the Dems for the failure of the the deal.

60% of Dems voted for the deal.

33% of Republicans voted for it.

This AM McCain was creditting his leadership in bringing about a deal.

This afternoon Chris Mattews looks at that leadersip and observes

"He's like a cavalry commander who said 'Charge!' and the Republicans went into retreat,"

Time To Move To Ireland

GT12 didn't think we'd have to leave the US of A until McCain became president....

But now that he's already failed to get his own party to bail us out of the clusterfuck that his party's patrons got us into we're thinking: "maybe we sell GT12 Central while we can still get 'money for parts' and high-tail it to the land of our birth (where, Gramps pointed out on Friday, Corporate taxes are loooowwwww)."

Sheesh! We are so fucked.

How The Sausage Gets Made

Mr JK points us toward the eternally updating Glenn Greenwald here.

GT12 still believes that an imperfect bill now to keep credit flowing was the right thing.

Suddenly the fear of constituents that Mr Greenwald is usually railing against is a good thing....

Like, Well, Our Economy Today

Singer Plant rules out Led Zeppelin reunion

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant has put paid to persistent rumours that the rock giants were planning to reunite for a tour.

The famous foursome got back together for a one-off charity gig in London last December, and the media has speculated ever since that they could stage a comeback tour that would be expected to sell out arenas around the world.

Band insiders have said that Plant, who is touring the United States with Alison Krauss, has been the most reluctant to get back together, and a statement on his website on Monday made clear his intentions.

"Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are currently touring the USA on the last leg of their 'Raising Sand' tour," he said, adding that the tour finished on October 5.

"After those dates, Robert has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years.

"Contrary to a spate of recent reports, Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin."

He called the reports "both frustrating and ridiculous," before adding: "I wish (guitarist) Jimmy Page, (bassist/instrumentalist) John Paul Jones and (drummer) Jason Bonham nothing but success with any future projects."

Fairly Representational Today

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update, based on Sept. 26-28 polling, shows Barack Obama with a 50% to 42% lead over John McCain, unchanged from the prior report.

Cramer On The Plan

It's Hard To Ask For Money

Well, She Was Doing A Job That They Couldn't

Carly reappears to harrass Gramps

Future SNL Material To Be Released This Week

TPM:

CBS To Air More Footage Of Couric Interviewing Palin This Week

A CBS source confirms to me that more footage of Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric will indeed air this week, in advance of the debate.
The question of whether there's more footage of Couric talking to Palin arose this morning after Howard Kurtz published a column with this buried at the end:
And the worst may be yet to come for Palin; sources say CBS has two more responses on tape that will likely prove embarrassing.

The CBS source clarifies to me that these taped responses from Palin are not a part of the big trainwreck interview that aired last week.

Rather, the source says, in addition to the big interview, Couric also interviewed Palin as part of its Vice Presidential Questions series, in which the same questions were also posed to Joe Biden.

Couric's interviews with both Veep contenders will air on Wednesday and Thursday. I couldn't verify Kurtz's contention that Palin's answers will "likely prove embarrassing," but we now know that they will definitely air.

Mr G Baker, This Is What I Was Talking About

And the poll numbers have backed me up ...

Mark Ambinder explains:

There was something Pat Buchanan said that night that is at once blindingly obvious and yet very important; Obama's debate performance placed him solidly in the American political mainstream.

Think of the "bitter" comment, his middle name, the flag pin, the Chicago connections. Low information voters wouldn't be out of line if they had a pretty strong impression of Obama formed by these attributes.

The sober performance and the congeniality towards McCain worked so well because so many people expected to see someone dangerous. Obama, in the debate, just did not read as an Ayres-Wright Chicago Elite Radical. Even the throwaway line: "we'd lower everybody's taxes if we could" quietly undercuts the notion of old-school liberalism.

It's possible that this weird racial/ideological caricature was priced into our (campaigns, media) debate expectations, and with Obama coming off as a sensible, middle of the road senator actually did him a world of good as far as the reassurance of sensibility.

A Snooze Is As Good As A Win

Very Little Writing Needed

Barry Begins To Move Away

Sarah Sags

Reading the comments on 538 today - BTW, Obama has statiscally greater chance of winning in aLandslide than McCain has of winning at all - I saw this report from Evangelical land

... A few of you might remember me as the guy who was talking about Sun lunch conversation after services at my Baptist Church. Everyone who has been badmouthing Obama was actually shocked how presidential he seemed. It seems the McCain camp really set up an untenable CW in its base, if they actually watch these things.

Not more than 10% of my friends today say that they really are excited about Palin anymore. (ALL of this group loved her when she was announced). Conversation got really quiet and embarrassed when we started talking about her. My favorite quote was "I love Sarah Palin on her social positions, like, marry her level, but oh my gosh, half of us here at this table would be more qualified to be VP." - from a 100% Republican voter. Also, everyone was mad at McCain for his role in the hated bail out. I think that the polls are going to continue their side in this kind of environment. The views I'm reflecting were those held by a crowd of 25ish, with only Republicans and a sprinkling of independents (I am one of those). This is insane. NO ONE would have talked like this about Bush 4 years ago at a lunch of these people.

...The change in this crowd's views in the last 3 weeks has been incredible as the Palin stuff has become to obvious to deny to oneself anymore.

Great Polls Of Fire

We mentioned that several 'insta-polls' were conducted.

Nate Silver at 538 notes a huge Obama victory:

The CBS poll of undecideds has more confirmatory detail. Obama went from a +18 on "understanding your needs and problems" before the debate to a +56 (!) afterward. And he went from a -9 on "prepared to be president" to a +21.

FoxNews' Focus Group Gives the night to Barry


CNN's Poll:

Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether
you think each one better described Barack Obama or John McCain during tonight's
debate:

• Was more intelligent: Obama 55%, McCain 30%
• Expressed his views more clearly: Obama 53%, McCain 36%
• Spent more time attacking his opponent: McCain 60%, Obama 23%
• Was more sincere and authentic: Obama 46%, McCain 38%
• Seemed to be the stronger leader: Obama 49%, McCain 43%
• Was more likeable: Obama 61%, McCain 26%
• Was more in touch with the needs and problems of people like you: Obama 62%, McCain 32%

Politcal Wire Reports:

During and after the debate, Democracy Corps conducted focus groups among 45 undecided voters in St. Louis, Missouri.

Though these voters "had an unmistakably Republican tilt," McCain "could only manage a draw among this group.

Of our 45 initial undecided voters, a quarter moved to Obama and a quarter to McCain after the debate with the rest remaining undecided.

Moreover, by a 38 to 27 percent margin these voters said that Obama won this debate."

Videos of the focus groups and dial testing will be posted tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Marc Ambinder notes a finding from a Democratic strategist running another focus group: "Whenever Sen. McCain leaned on Obama for being naive and repeated the phrase 'Sen. Obama doesn't understand,' the tracking lines nosedived."

And, If Karl Rove Was right about this before the debate then by Super K's standard, McCain was pummelled

Mr. McCain needs to come across as optimistic, loose and likable. He must guard against revealing his lack of respect for Mr. Obama. And he must grab the "change" banner from Mr. Obama by describing a few things he'll do internationally that are new and different.

So....

Bottom Line .... As happened in all the Dem debates last fall and this spring, pundits were under-impressed by BO but intant polling and focus groups showed overwhelming support for the man from Hyde Park.

Because the debate was on Friday this response will probably be sheltered somewhat from influence of disappointed pundits. What should remain is that BO showed that he smart enough and seasoned enough to handle Foreign Affairs. He passed the Commander-in-Chief test. This test, btw, is a Pass/Fail test, not a ranking or graded one. BO needed to only to pass this test to 'beat' McCain.

Obama's performance, while still too cool for Chris Matthews (who wants him to win) or Pat Buchanan (who doesn't) was his best this campaign season. He was strong, confident and respectful.... Presidential.

That should give us hope going forward.

!!! Sent by My Miraculous Wireless Handheld Invented by John McCain !!!

John McCain's Experience Working With Financial Meltdown

A History Of The Keating Five .... he's always been a fraud

Caribou Barbie's First Big Splash - New Video!

100% legit footage of the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant featuring Sarah Palin.

Not Subtle

I saw this this AM whilst tolerating Morning Joe...

Apparently MSNBC is pulling it...

O'Dear

“there’s only one ethnic joke that can be told in American politics and that’s Irish jokes.”
John McCain, 09/21/08

ThinkProgress:

Politico’s Ben Smith reports today that Seamus Boyle, the president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, has taken McCain to task in a public letter:

It was really an insult to a whole nationality to be stereotyped as drunks. The Irish are a jovial people who enjoy life, work hard, help the needy, support our community and our country yet get depicted as drunkards and partiers. As you stated in your speech yesterday the Irish have a great education and work ethic. Senator, I was not the only one offended and I received numerous complaints from a variety of people throughout Pennsylvania and other parts of the country. On behalf of these people, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and myself and my family, I wish you would refrain from demeaning the Irish or any other ethnic group by telling such jokes in the future. I think an apology is in order to those millions of Irish in the United States who were offended by your joke.

Oh Dear

Wall Street to GOP: Drop Dead

I am a lifelong ( 51 years old) "rock-ribbed" conservative....The level of ignorance of financial and economic reality displayed by [Newt Gingrich], Rep. Boehner, Sen. Shelby , et al, has been frightening and sad. I thought the GOP had a better grasp of such matters than the Dems. Apparently not. And if this has been pure election gamesmanship as I suspect? The willingness to play politics with the U.S. financial markets is appalling and disgusting.

I am a huge Reagan fan and admirer.I have voted GOP every election since 1976. Until now. Today. September 25, 2008. As soon as I finish this email I am going to try and get my $1000 McCain/Palin credit card donation back as I will not be voting GOP this year after watching this circus and the theatres passing as leadership displayed by the GOP. I am embarrassed to have been an erstwhile supporter of this gaggle of self-serving jerks. I hope the GOP lose their asses come November. They shall deserve it.

Will Gramps, Jorge or Barry Please Explain This To The American People

Ambinder provides easy to follow bullet points on this economic crisis:

Item: banks can't loan to each other...money rates are surging. see the picture above. How can banks function with those rates? (They can't.)

Item: Chinese banks are no longer allowed to lend in overnight markets to US banks as of yesterday

Item: WaMU fails; is taken over by JP. Morgan

Item: if another bank fails, will the FDIC be able to secure all its deposits? (It has $50b. Bank balance sheets are usually a lot greater.)

Item: where will Congress get $200b to keep the FDIC afloat if more banks fail?

Why We Have To Elect Barack

Because this is what 8-10 years of craving the presidency does to a guy.

GT12 has always held that Gollum/Smeagol is the model for understanding Gramps.

Whatever honor, courage and sobriety he might once have held (GT12 personally can't see anything except irrational narcissism in his history but whatever...) was long ago leached out of him.

Now he's just this guy (via wiki):

During his centuries under the Ring's influence, he developed a sort of split personality: "Sméagol" still vaguely remembered things like friendship and love, while "Gollum" was a slave to the ring and would kill anyone who tried to take it. In The Two Towers, Samwise Gamgee named the good personality "Slinker" (for his fawning, eager-to-please demeanor), and the bad personality "Stinker" (for obvious reasons). The two personalities often quarreled when Gollum talked to himself (as Tolkien puts it in The Hobbit, "through never having anyone else to speak to") and had a love/hate relationship, mirroring Gollum's feelings for the Ring and for himself.

And ultimately, if we don't get Barry this year, he'll probably look about the same.

And let's not even think of what will happen to Hillary.

The Suspension Lie

You realize that there was nothing different between Obama's schedule and McCain's yesterday, except that Barry had not declared that he had suspended campaigning....

Nothing Changed for McCain - except standing up David Letterman....

Washington Monthly:

Toobin interjected: "[C]an I just quarrel with the premise of this? Who says he suspended his campaign? He didn't suspend his campaign. He's been campaigning all day. He gave a speech in New York. He's giving interviews all night. He's raising money. His surrogates are attacking Barack Obama. I think this is posturing of being apolitical. And, frankly, I think we're being kind of gullible in falling for it. He didn't stop his campaign. He's campaigning."

Stephen Hayes from The Weekly Standard, leapt to McCain's defense, noting that the campaign had "pulled his ads down." So, Toobin interjected again: "No, he didn't pull his ads down. His ads have been on. And he's done exactly what Obama has done all day. And Obama admits that he's campaigning. It's the middle of the campaign. I don't see why we should treat what he's doing as anything different from what Obama is doing."

Worm Turning

Conservative National Review Online pundit Kathleen Parker calls for Sarah to politely quit the race:

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Status Quo for Gramps

McCain Pool Report

McCain now boarding plane at DCA with Cindy, Salter, Rudy Giuliani, wife Judith, and other aides plus pool.

Heading to Memphis, 1:50 minute flight, then motorcade to site

General atmosphere is utter confusion.

VA

Political Wire:

Rasmussen: Obama Takes Lead in Virginia

A new Rasmussen Reports poll in Virginia shows Sen. Barack Obama pulling ahead of Sen. John McCain, 50% to 45%, "as the Wall Street financial crunch has put economic concerns front and center."Last Sunday, McCain was up two points.

Key findings: "Just nine percent (9%) of Virginia voters rate the economy as good or excellent while 57% say it is in poor shape. Just five percent (5%) say the economy is getting better; 83% say it is getting worse."

Turning Purple

TPM:

In yet another sign of Barack Obama's surge in the polls, CQ has upgraded their ratings for him in three states that have been cornerstones of the Obama campaign's strategy to expand the electoral map into states where Dems don't usually compete:

• Indiana: Previously rated "Republican Favored," now "Leans Republican." The last time this state voted Democratic was in the 1964 Lyndon Johnson landslide.

• North Carolina: Previously rated "Republican Favored," now "Leans Republican." The last time this state voted Democratic was 1976, when Jimmy Carter was the South's favorite son.

• Virginia: Previously rated "Leans Republican," is now "No Clear Favorite." Like Indiana, the last time this state voted Dem was in 1964.

From CQ's analysis: "Though the 'bounce' in polls enjoyed by Republican candidate John McCain following his nominating convention early this month briefly called this strategy into doubt, Obama's recent resurgence to a lead in most national polls -- and gains in many state polls -- has revived his party's hopes of winning in states lost by Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004."

A Sin

I doubt it matters of course ....

"[T]here is the factor that we all know exists and that few people will talk about: the race factor.... Somebody's going to vote for somebody not on the basis of the content of his character but on the color of his skin and that's just called sin with a capital S because racism is a sin. And we all knew that racism has been in a lot of the white church,"

- National Association of Evangelicals chief lobbyist Richard Cizik.

War Criminal!

This is, to us fans of the Constitution, is big.

The Atlantic today chips away at the Pres's plausible deniability:

In March 2004, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales made a now-famous late-night visit to the hospital room of Attorney General John Ashcroft, seeking to get Ashcroft to sign a certification stating that the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program was legal. According to people familiar with statements recently made by Gonzales to federal investigators, Gonzales is now saying that George Bush personally directed him to make that hospital visit.

Gonzales has also told Justice Department investigators that President Bush played a more central and active role than was previously known in devising a strategy to have Congress enable the continuation of the surveillance program when questions about its legality were raised by the Justice Department, as well as devising other ways to circumvent the Justice Department’s legal concerns about the program, according to people who have read Gonzales’s interviews with investigators.

Why I Live In Chicago

Because this is 12 miles from where I grew up

Bush Listening To Schumer?

AP:

Schumer said Bush should also "respectfully tell Sen. McCain to get out of town. He is not helping, he is harming. Before Sen. McCain made his announcement, we were making progress." Schumer was referring to McCain's announcement earlier in the week that he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington for the negotiations on the financial industry crisis.

Blink!

Early Polls

After two days of McCain Hysterics:

Diageo/Hotline Poll: Obama Widens Lead

Today's Diageo/Hotline tracking poll will show Sen. Barack Obama opening up a seven point lead over Sen. John McCain, 49% to 42%.Key finding: On the economy, Obama has a 48% to 34% advantage over McCain.

Detroit Free Press: Obama Way Ahead in Michigan

A new Detroit Free Press poll shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain by 13 points, 51% to 38%.

Morning Call Poll: Obama Holds Lead in Pennsylvania

A new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll in Pennsylvania shows Sen. Barack Obama ahead of Sen. John McCain, 47% to 43%.Key findings: "Fully 46 percent of respondents pointed to the 'economy/jobs' as the most important issue in their decision on how to vote. And state voters express considerably more trust in Obama to handle fallout from Wall Street, 44 percent to 28 percent."

Research 2000: McCain Slips in Missouri

A new Research 2000 poll in Missouri finds Sen. John McCain holding a one point lead over Sen. Barack Obama, 47% to 46%.Last week, McCain was ahead by four points.Key finding: "A majority of those polled weren't sure which candidate could best handle the financial crisis. Just over a quarter said they trusted Obama the most, while 20 percent favored McCain."

Meanwhile, a new SurveyUSA poll in Missouri gives McCain a two point edge, 48% to 46%.

Strategic Vision: Obama Leads in Michigan, New Hampshire

Political Wire got an advance look at two new Strategic Vision polls which will be released tomorrow:Michigan: Obama 48%, McCain 45% New Hampshire: Obama 46%, McCain 45%

All War, All The Time, With EVERYBODY

Ed Rollins discusses the state of the Republican thing ... and describes, without saying so,John McCain's perfect vision of the world: him against everybody.

I apologize for ever suggesting that a H Clinton Presidency would be no worse than Gramps' Administration.

Go, Big O

The Obama campaign whacks McCain:

"...make no mistake: John McCain did not 'suspend' his campaign. He just turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign. It's become just another political stunt, aimed more at shoring up the Senator's aimed more at shoring up the Senator's political fortunes than the nation's economy. And it does nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis."

It's On Bee-yotch!

Stunt Over.

Breaking: McCain To Attend Debate

By Greg Sargent - September 26, 2008, 11:28AM

John McCain will attend the debate. From his campaign:

Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.

What Now?

Slate Predicts:

McCain's next 10 Hail Mary stunts.

1. Returns to Vietnam and jails himself.

2. Offers the post of "vice vice president" to Warren Buffett.

3. Challenges Obama to suspend campaign so they both can go and personally drill for oil offshore.

4. Learns to use computer.

5. Does bombing run over Taliban-controlled tribal areas of Pakistan.

6. Offers to forgo salary, sell one house.

7. Sex-change operation.

8. Suspends campaign until Nov. 4, offers to start being president right now.

9. Sells Alaska to Russia for $700 billion.

10. Pledges to serve only one term. OK, half a term.

-- NBC News Survey Results:

--
NBC News Survey Results: Do you think the debate should happen?
91% - Yes
9% - No
Reply with MENU for more alert group options.

The End Of McCain?

And Letterman's the Republican-esque of the Big Two Of Late Night!

Don't Fuck With Him

-- NBCNews- Keith Olbermann will

--
NBCNews- Keith Olbermann will be on Letterman 2nite in place of McCain who has cancelled his appearance.

A Buy-In, Not A Bailout

Cause people will ask....

GT12 believes that we gotta do this 'bailout'... as long as the terms are good.

We need taxpayer equity position in the firms we are loaning money to, and let's add lots of other rules, since we're now partners.

We don't have time to tell you all but please watch this MSNBC clip. The contributors are people I respect and the lay it out nicely for morons like me.

WaPo-lling

Washington Post has a poll out today that says BHO has a 9 point lead over Gramps nationally. Seems a bit too high to me but the internals are interesting (if also probably a bit too positive).

It appears that Gramps may gone 'a lie too far". Washington Monthly notes

[T]he poll asked respondents which candidate is "more honest and trustworthy." Obama enjoys a healthy, double-digit lead, 47% to 36%.

Just as importantly, this is a recent development. When voters were asked this same question about candidate honesty in mid-July, Obama and McCain were about tied (Obama had a three-point lead). The same poll asked the same question in August, and again, they were about tied (Obama led by just one point). Shortly after the Republican convention, McCain was perceived as more trustworthy by six points.

And now, that trend has completely reversed, and Obama leads by 11 points on honesty and trustworthiness.

I mention this in part because there's been a noticeable trend of late of political observers expressing their disappointment in the McCain campaign's relentless lying and shameless dishonesty, and I've wondered whether voters would pick up on any of this. If the poll results are any indication, they have.

On the economy:

Just 9 percent of those surveyed rated the economy as good or excellent, the first time that number has been in single digits since the days just before the 1992 election. Just 14 percent said the country is heading in the right direction, equaling the record low on that question in polls dating back to 1973.

More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support. The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent.

Two weeks ago, in the days immediately following the Republican National Convention, the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent.

As a point of comparison, neither of the last two Democratic nominees -- John F. Kerry in 2004 or Al Gore in 2000 -- recorded support above 50 percent in a pre-election poll by the Post and ABC News.

Palin Fades

Sarah Palin's poll numbers are fading, with her unfavorable rating going up 10 points in two weeks. The percentage of independents with favorable views of Palin dropped from 60% to 48% over the same time frame, including a huge 18-point drop among independent women.

And as she fades, so does Republican enthusiasm

62% of Obama supporters are "very enthusiastic," while 34% of McCain's backers said the same. Immediately after the Republican convention, about half of McCain's supporters were "very enthusiastic." What's more, the Post noted, "Among Republicans, conservatives and white evangelical Protestants, strong enthusiasm for McCain's candidacy has dropped by double digits."

And Indies start leaning our way big time

independents now prefer Obama by a wide margin, 53% to 39%, and Obama's advantage among independents on the economy is now a whopping 21 points.

World Is Safe For Another Six Months!

Huzzah!! No man-made will-suck-up-all-matter-on-earth black-holes in our future until at least spring....

GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- The European nuclear research organization says repairs and the onset of winter will delay the startup of the world's largest particle collider until spring.

Spokesman James Gillies of the European Organization for Nuclear Research says it will take too long to finish announced repairs before the November shutdown.

Gillies said Tuesday that it will take several weeks to warm up the damaged area from near absolute zero before experts can go in and make repairs.
Then the machine will have to be rechilled over another month.

He told The Associated Press that the decision was made Tuesday that this will take until the winter shutdown starting in mid-November.

Gillies says the resumption of the Large Hadron Collider should proceed quickly next spring.

A Day In The Life

Mr G Baker monitored Farm Aid for us while we hung w/ the elites...

And Your Mother Swims Out To Meet Troop Ships

We take no shit around here in the City of Big Shoulders

Politico:

Daley Fires back

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, cast as the leader of a "corrupt" machine in a McCain campaign spot yesterday, isn't pleased:

"You had the Keating Five. We had the biggest scandal in America called savings and loan. The biggest scandal. People lost their homes because of greed. And no one is inferring [wrongdoing by] Sen. McCain and the others, who were always known as the Keating Five. So, if people start throwing dirt and mud, remember it comes back and hits you right in the face," Daley said.

Was the mayor suggesting that Obama get down and dirty by running an ad that reprises McCain's role in the Keating Five?

"It would be a great ad. Remember: People lost their life savings, their own homes for a guy named Keating out of Arizona," Daley said....

[The mayor's brother] William Daley is identified in the ad as a "lobbyist," a role that, the mayor was quick to point out, his brother has never played.

"If they want to put me there [in the ad], fine. . . . Put me there. You don't have to put my brother Bill or my wife or anybody else. . . . Could you see an ad about Sen. McCain's wife and how wealthy they are? That would be unfair," the mayor said.

7.5 Years Too Late

And only because they want to make the Dems look like 'Big Government Types'

House GOP rises up against Cheney

There was a time when Dick Cheney could turn back a Republican revolt on Capitol Hill.

That time is gone.

House Republicans rose up en masse against their vice president on Tuesday morning to blast an administration proposal that would grant Treasury historic authority to start buying hundreds of billions of dollars in devalued mortgage-related assets, according to members present.

... A full-throated Republican revolt could create huge problems for the administration and congressional Democrats scrambling to assemble a package to reassure jittery markets. It could also preserve the Republicans’ options after the fact – if the bailout doesn’t work or proves deeply unpopular with voters, they can say they opposed it.

McCain Pays For Gay Services

Well, his Chief of Staff apparently is a sister....

Too Many Words

Or, rather one word, Deregulation, too many times

1000 Words

OK, who's having fun in this picture ... and who wishes someone was back surveying the Arctic Coast line for Commie infiltration?

NYC - This Year's Photos

This being our 6th visit to NYC, a lot of our tourists needs were met long ago… none-the less these shots give you a view into our whirwind weekend

Ron Carter, perhaps the most important bassist in the history of Jazz (I know I know there’s Mingus but he was so much more than a bassist…) (phone camera shot)

Seven years later, this North Village memorial still moves

Antibalas warming up the Fela! Audience (phone camera shot)

We finally found The Chelsea Hotel on this trip. If you don’t know why this building is important you probably found this GT12 by accident. Here’s the Chelsea’s Blog

The Chelsea Lobby

We don’t see parking like this in Chicago

Told you we went to Mood

We spent Sunday morning in Woody Allen land on the upper West Side. The have lovely benches in the meridians where weary shoppers can sit and watch the wealthy go by.

Jed Does It Again!

MoDo reports on a meeting between BHO and Jed Bartlet ...

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well ... let me think. ...We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know ... I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

...You’re a 47-year-old black man with a foreign-sounding name who went to Harvard and thinks devotion to your country and lapel pins aren’t the same thing and you’re in a statistical tie with a war hero and a Cinemax heroine. To these aged eyes, Senator, that’s what progress looks like. You guys got four debates. Get out of my house and go back to work.

Maybe Not Forgiven Yet

Chris Rock Talks about Bill's tepid analysis of BHO and tries to remind Bubba that Hillary LOST

Iraq - The Sequel

John McCain beleived that Iraq was 'provable direct threat'.

Pelley: Would it be your policy in your administration to engage in preemptive war against a country that might pose a threat to the United States a country that hasn't attacked us.

McCain: If it's a provable direct threat. Suppose that the Iranians had nuclear weapons. And you had a whole lot of other information about Iranian intentions and you could make the case to the American people and to the world, I think it's obvious that we would have to prevent what we're absolutely certain is a direct threat to the lives of the American people.

We Can Out-Jingo You Old Man

GT12 does not believe that anyone should buy a car not made by a Japanese Auto Maker ... We do not approve this message

Poll-A-Thon

Keee-Rist! There's a poll from some state like every five minutes these days, some good, some just crap. You can find one to support almost any fantasy you are harboring about this campaign...

But overall, things are currently going our way....

From Politcal Wire in the last 24 Hours (in order of release, 'oldest' first):

CNN Poll: Obama Improves National Lead

A new CNN/Opinion Research Poll finds that by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans blame Republicans "for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks -- one factor that may have contributed to an apparent increase in Barack Obama's edge over John McCain in the race for the White House."Obama now leads McCain among likely voters, 51% to 47%.

Granite State Poll: McCain Holds Small Lead

A new WMUR/Granite State Poll in New Hampshire shows Sen. John McCain ahead of Sen. Barack Obama, 47% to 45%."Pollsters asked half the voters who they would vote for if the election were held today, and the other half were asked who they plan to vote for looking ahead to the November election. Among those who were given the more immediate timeframe, 8 percent were undecided, but among those given the longer timeframe, 20 percent were undecided."

WP Poll: Obama Leads in Virginia

A new Washington Post poll in Virginia shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 49% to 46%. Key finding: "Fifty percent of respondents said the economy is the most important issue in their choice of president and Obama holds a 10-point advantage on who would better handle the problem."

Fox News Poll: Battlegrounds Remain Close

A set of new Fox News/Rasmussen polls show four of the five battleground states are similar to the presidential election four years ago. Virginia, however, is more competitive than it was in 2004.

Florida: McCain 51%, Obama 46%

Michigan: Obama 51%, McCain 44%

Ohio: McCain 50%, Obama 46%

Pennsylvania: Obama 48%, McCain 45%

Virginia: McCain 50%, Obama 48%

Quinnipiac: Obama Ahead in Key Battlegrounds

By very large margins, voters in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin say Sen. Barack Obama, not Sen. John McCain, is the candidate of change, helping lift Obama into the lead in these battleground states, according to four simultaneous Quinnipiac polls of likely voters.

Colorado: Obama 49%, McCain 45%

Michigan: Obama 48%, McCain 44%

Minnesota: Obama 47%, McCain 45%

Wisconsin: Obama 49%, McCain 42%

Said pollster Peter Brown: "With a lousy economy, an unpopular war and an even less popular Republican President, it's difficult to find voters who don't want change."

NBC Poll: Obama Leads in Florida

A new NBC News/Mason-Dixon poll in Florida finds Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 47% to 45%.

First Read has more details: "Obama leads McCain in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Polk counties) by a 49%-43% margin. Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker says the key to winning Florida statewide is usually through Tampa Bay, and Obama's six-point lead in the area explains why he's ahead in this poll. Moreover, outside of Nevada, there is probably not another state that has been hurt more by the housing and credit crunch, and that may be benefiting Obama right now. Also potentially troublesome for McCain in this must-win GOP state, he leads by just six among Hispanics (49%-43%), which in Florida is made up of a majority of Cubans. (If Obama does pick off younger Cubans, he may close the overall gap thanks to his large lead among non-Cuban Hispanics in the I-4 corridor.) Also, McCain's four-point lead among seniors (48%-44%) is not as big as he needs it to be to offset the electorate-changing demographics among blacks and young

ARG Poll: Obama Holds Lead in Pennsylvania

A new American Research Group poll in Pennsylvania shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 50% to 46%.

Scandal Early, Scandal Often And Never Ever Reform

Because no one else has, Jon Alter reviews the crucible of McCain's political formation - Not reformation - , the Savings and Loan Collapse of the 80's and Gramps Membership in The Keating Five.

Can't Get Enough Of George

These days anyway.

George Will continues his tarring of McCain:

Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked the Wall Street Journal to editorialize that "McCain untethered" -- disconnected from knowledge and principle -- had made a "false and deeply unfair" attack on Cox that was "unpresidential" and demonstrated that McCain "doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street any better than Barack Obama does."

... Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.

Sarah's Lies

Sully collects the points:

So for the record, let it be known that the candidate for vice-president for the GOP is a compulsive, repetitive, demonstrable liar. If you follow the links, here is the proof. I repeat: proof:

- She has lied about the Bridge To Nowhere. She ran for office favoring it, wore a sweatshirt defending it, and only gave it up when the federal congress, Senator McCain in particular, went ballistic. She kept the money anyway and favors funding Don Young's Way, at twice the cost of the original bridge.
- She has lied about her firing of the town librarian and police chief of Wasilla, Alaska.
- She has lied about pressure on Alaska's public safety commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law.
- She has lied about her previous statements on climate change.
- She has lied about Alaska's contribution to America's oil and gas production.
- She has lied about when she asked her daughters for their permission for her to run for vice-president.
- She has lied about the actual progress in constructing a natural gas pipeline from Alaska.
- She has lied about Obama's position on habeas corpus.
- She has lied about her alleged tolerance of homosexuality.
- She has lied about the use or non-use of a TelePrompter at the St Paul convention.
- She has lied about her alleged pay-cut as mayor of Wasilla.
- She has lied about what Alaska's state scientists concluded about the health of the polar bear population in Alaska.

You cannot trust a word she says. On anything.

We All Need A Vacation

Check Yer Facts You Mo-Rons

Alzheimer's: It's not just for the candidate anymore:

Sorry, Wingnuts: McCain's Campaign Manager Pushed For Boost In Minority Homeownership

By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - September 22, 2008, 5:08PM

An emerging meme on the right, one that's being championed by the likes of Neil Cavuto and others, is that the mortgage crisis happened not because of deregulation, but because brokers were pressured into making loans to "minorities and risky folks," as Cavuto tastefully put it.

But guess who actively sought to boost minority homeownership? John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis.

As The New York Times reported today, Davis was president for several years of the Homeownership Alliance, an industry advocacy organization formed mainly by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Alliance's core mission is to boost the number of mortgages granted.

But take a look at this picture from the alliance's annual report in 2004, unearthed by a reader, showing Davis at a Congressional reception praising minority homeownership:

"We have an opportunity in the next decade to increase minority homeownership and significantly reduce the minority homeownership gap," Davis is quoted saying here. "The future of the housing market rests heavily on the economic success of minorities. Homeownership is likely to grow faster among minority Americans in the next decade if all the stakeholders in the housing industry work together to make it happen. The Homeownership Alliance is working toward this goal."

All War, All The Time

This from Palin's Op-Ed in the New York Sun [WTF is the New York Sun? We didn't see any of them this w/e] - an intended speech for the anti-Ahmadinejad rally that she was bumped from.

They are running on War With Iran

"We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator's intentions and to call for action to thwart him. He must be stopped. The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us."

Chris Dodd Wants Mr TW To Know He's Being Heard

Kevin Drumm sums up Chris Dodd's decision to give this bailout a progressive structure:

Authority for bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure. This was considered a poison pill in a housing bill that passed Congress earlier this summer, but it has gained much more currency now that Washington wants to bail out Wall Street.

A provision that would require the Treasury to take a 65 percent portion of 20 percent any profits [sic] it makes from the newly purchased assets and put it into the federal government's HOPE program, an affordable housing program.

An oversight board that not only includes the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the SEC, but congressionally appointed, non-governmental officials.

Limits on executive compensation. This is a major stumbling point for Paulson in his negotiations with Congress, but cracking down on Wall Street executive salaries will be a major selling point for lawmakers. Dodd and Frank have put in place what's known as a "claw back" provision aimed at revoking compensation that executives received based on fraudulent claims.

An independent inspector general to investigate the Treasury asset program, appointed by the president.

Jumping The Pig?

McCain Bigwigs hold a conference call to tell the press to stop calling them all liars, but lie and err their way throughout, creating a result much the opposite of what they hoped ...

Politco:

Sen. John McCain’s top campaign aides convened a conference call today to complain of being called “liars.”

They pressed the media to scrutinize specific elements of Sen. Barack Obama’s record.

But the call was so rife with simple, often inexplicable misstatements of fact that it may have had the opposite effect: to deepen the perception, dangerous to McCain, that he and his aides have little regard for factual accuracy.

The errors in McCain strategist Steve Schmidt’s charges against Obama and Sen. Joe Biden were particularly notable because they seemed unnecessary.

Schmidt repeatedly gilded the lily: He exaggerated the Biden family's already problematic ties to the credit card industry; Obama’s embarrassing relationship with a 1960s radical; and an Obama supporter’s over-the-top attack on Sarah Palin when — in each case — the truth would have been damaging enough.

“Any time the Obama campaign is criticized at any level, the critics are immediately derided as liars,” Schmidt told reporters.

But as he went on to list a series of stories he thought reporters should be writing about Obama and Biden, in almost every instance he got the details wrong.

READ ON ... it is quite the picture of implosion ... I think that we have gotten in their head. The Authoritarian Movement may finally be receiving real push back

Kudlow Leads The Way

TPM Notes that insane Larry Kudlow's class-warfare position is winning in Republican Circles.

Republicans have decided that their argument on the credit crisis will be to argue that Democrats created the crisis by forcing banks to give too many loans to black people and other minorities.

A Culture Of Accountibility? Naaahhh. That's only for the poor and the non-white.

Bitch Whistle!

Like a 'Dog Whistle' only Gay.

Wonkette Reports:

New Lincoln Penny Honors Republican Homosexuals

Now that American Capitalism has completely failed and the U.S. currency is even more worthless, the folks at the U.S. Mint are having some fun by releasing this new Lincoln Penny, which reminds us that all Republicans are terrible closet-case homosexuals having grim bathroom encounters in these Log Cabins on the edge of town, by the interstate rest stop.

Abraham Lincoln was our first gay president. As a social liberal, he thought slavery was “wrong,” so he freed the slaves and attempted to kill all the Southern whites, so America could heal. But many white Southerners survived, including Jesse Helms and George Allen, and that’s why we still have all these problems today, as Trent Lott famously noted.

Lincoln was enjoying his favorite pastime — seeing RENT at a Washington theater — when a wingnut blogger killed him.

None-The-Less

What If No Bail Out?

James Pethokoukis calculates the cost of doing nothing:

What would be the dollar cost of not bailing out Wall Street? Try a number north of $30 trillion. (The awful math is detailed below.) That's why Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke were so scared last week. And, yes, I think "scared" isn't too strong a word. You don't think they convened an emergency nighttime meeting of congressional leaders and then walked out with something close to a blank check for a trillion bucks because they thought we were headed for an outright recession, even a fairly nasty one?

This could be it, couldn't it?

Let's All Get A Little Sumpin Fer Ourselves

Finally, a use for those Tolkien Books the bookclub sent me!

What Happens On Main Street Affects Wall Street

With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their "distressed assets", i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we'd give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government's help!

Use the form below to submit bad assets you'd like the government to take off your hands. And remember, when estimating the value of your 1997 limited edition Hanson single CD "MMMbop", it's not what you can sell these items for that matters, it's what you think they are worth. The fact that you think they are worth more than anyone will buy them for is what makes them bad assets.