Joe The Contractor

“Joe The Plumber” is actually “Joe The Contractor”. The business Joe works for only makes approximately 100 grand annually. Joe himself approximately 40 Grand. Oh, and he doesn’t pay his taxes anyway. 

The Name Game

What’s in a name? Not much.

What McCain Is Doing

Sullivan sums it up well. I am getting more scared, angry, frustrated, and disgusted every minute:

There was always going to be a point of revolt and panic for a core group of Americans who believe that Obama simply cannotbe president – because he’s black or liberal or young or relatively new. This is that point. As the polls suggest a strong victory, the Hannity-Limbaugh-Steyn-O’Reilly base are going into shock and extreme rage. McCain and Palin have decided to stoke this rage, to foment it, to encourage paranoid notions that somehow Obama is a “secret” terrorist or Islamist or foreigner. These are base emotions in both sense of the word.

But they are also very very dangerous. This is a moment of maximal physical danger for the young Democratic nominee. And McCain is playing with fire. If he really wants to put country first, he will attack Obama on his policies – not on these inflammatory, personal, creepy grounds. This is getting close to the atmosphere stoked by the Israeli far right before the assassination of Rabin.

For God’s sake, McCain, stop it. For once in this campaign, put your country first.

Countdown to Troopergate

The investigation findings will be released today.

But that did not stop the “McCalin” campaign from pulling a Bush/Rove and releasing their OWN truth.

We spent 8 years being lied to, do we really want another 4? This is not the time for those that create their own reality.

 

There Are No Words

I am disgusted by what the McCain camp is doing. I refuse to post the ad the McCain has released today, because it stinks of lies and hatred. It is the most desperate attempt at coming up from behind I have ever seen. This is worse than Bush in 2000. McCain should be ashamed of himself. But if you read the Rolling Stone article, you probably could guess that he is not.

If this works, and the American people buy into these false accusations about Obama and Ayers, then this is not the country I thought it was.

Yes. We. Can.

Know Hope.

“The Resentments of Sarah Palin”

Great article by Noam Scheiber from TNR. Money quote:

Palin, by contrast, may be the first conservative politician since Nixon to experience resentment so authentically. For her, it’s not so much a political tool as a motivating principle. A trip through Palin’s past reveals that almost every step of her career can be understood as a reaction to elitist condescension–much of it in her own mind.

So Called Overhead Projector

Statement from the Adler Planetarium HERE

To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support – which was not funded – to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere. The Adler’s Zeiss Mark VI projector – not an overhead projector – is the instrument that re-creates the night sky in a dome theater, the quintessential planetarium experience. The Adler’s projector is nearly 40 years old and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It is only the second planetarium projector in the Adler’s 78 years of operation.

Science literacy is an urgent issue in the United States. To remain competitive and ensure national security, it is vital that we educate and inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

The Half Truth

A theme is developing around Sarah Palin, it is about half’s. Are there people out there that really think a McCain/Palin ticket is a good idea? Do they realize, not only would she be half a heart beat away from the presidency, but her campaign speech is filled with half truths. This doesn’t seem to bother her, because she continues to speak them loud and clear. Just today she retold the story of the plane she sold on eBay, she loves that one. The half truth is she did put it on eBay but the full truth is, as we all know, it never sold on eBay. She sold it independently at a sizable loss. 

She needs to take a course in ethics. Let’s face it, Sarah Palin’s true dream is really Hollywood and for some reason this is an easier gig. It has all the trappings including the paparazzi/press. McCain must have been envious of Obama and his “celebrity” status. Instead of trying to emulate this amazing man he just went and got himself a wanna-be starlet to parade in front of the crowds. If it wasn’t so scary it would be damn funny.

Stop the Tax Lie

I keep hearing the Republican talking point, “Obama will raise your taxes.” Whenever John McCain says Obama will raise your taxes, what he means is, “Obama will raise my taxes,” because unless you are making more than $603,000 a year, your taxes aren’t going up!

Unfortunately, I don’t fall into that bracket, but if I did, I would be embarrassed to complain about paying more. Has anyone noticed the massive debt incurred under this administration.

If you dig deeper, you will also find that John McCain wants to tax employer-provided health insurance. Which is a back door way to raise the taxes of the average American family by more than $1,323.

The truth of the matter is that none of this will matter to the next President, as they will be hamstrung by the collapsing economy and the legacy of one of the most massive buildups of government and government spending in the history of the country over the last 8 years.

If you need a cheat sheet, here is a good one.

 

Tax Cheat Sheet

The energy wiz can’t talk no good English

From the supposed ”foremost energy expert in the country”

“Of course, it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag, you know, the molecules, where it’s going and where it’s not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans who get stuck holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It’s got to flow into our domestic markets first.”

Gotta love the Onion

The thing is, these days this qualifies as real news.

Palin Unveils 9/11 Firefighter Cousin, Reformed Lesbian Niece, Naturalized Mexican Half Brother

(Thanks, Lexi)

John McCain is Lying

(Thanks, Evan)