LOU!!
Kanjorski should not have run this time around (as I've noted before): His health is an issue, and quite frankly he's been coasting for some time now. That all said, he's a damn sight better that Lou!!, whose only claim to fame is a race-baiting local ordinance which was never implemented and did not pass judicial scrutiny on constitutional grounds.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Credit reports
I'm about to apply for some credit to help in paying for a geothermal system (via Keystonehelp.com)
Through the FTC's site I was led to annualcreditreport.com, through which one can check all three credit reporting agencies. The first agency showed a Dell account that I thought was closed but was still open--no balance but showing a $5000 credit line. I got Dell to close it right away. The next agency showed four accounts which had closed 9-10 years ago and should have been off the report as being too old.
For the most part the information was correct, but it is a good idea to look over your free annual credit report and prune outdated information and correct errors.
Through the FTC's site I was led to annualcreditreport.com, through which one can check all three credit reporting agencies. The first agency showed a Dell account that I thought was closed but was still open--no balance but showing a $5000 credit line. I got Dell to close it right away. The next agency showed four accounts which had closed 9-10 years ago and should have been off the report as being too old.
For the most part the information was correct, but it is a good idea to look over your free annual credit report and prune outdated information and correct errors.
PA in-play?
Looks like McCain thinks PA might be in-play now. I seriously doubt it, but welcome the attention as we've been having a real problem drumming up volunteers to fill shifts for GOTV. Apparently many people think PA is in the bag.
Meanwhile, their new yard sign is out:
Meanwhile, their new yard sign is out:
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
K-Lo redefining "conservative"
Andrew Sullivan posted a bit of tet-a-tet with K-Lo about conservatives and the GOP. I happen to agree with Sullivan, that conservatives traded in their cred the moment they started holding party loyalty as being more important than political philosophy (Democrats have, in the past, been slammed for not being cohesive as a party. But having a group of people who refuse to compromise their political values is more important than having party unity, particularly when the Democrats can actually evolve as a party.
More to the point: K-Lo uses as an example: "Remember Rush blasting McCain during the primaries?" This completely misses the point. The prime example of what the GOP has become isn't that Rush blasted McCain during the primary. It is that Rush came back to McCain when it was clear McCain was the GOP nominee, despite McCain not changing any of his positions.
More to the point: K-Lo uses as an example: "Remember Rush blasting McCain during the primaries?" This completely misses the point. The prime example of what the GOP has become isn't that Rush blasted McCain during the primary. It is that Rush came back to McCain when it was clear McCain was the GOP nominee, despite McCain not changing any of his positions.
GOP voter "fraud": Destroying the fabric of democracy?
We've seen this before, where the GOP starts a short-sighted, strong concerted effort to demonize something they don't like. In this case, they don't like new Democratic voters, so they make up "voter fraud" and portray ACORN as, essentially, un-American.
In the not-so-distant past, the GOP laid waste against the federal government itself, saying that government was the problem (while simulaneously asking to be elected to federal government positions). The result is the inability of pretty much anyone on the Right to think about what goverment is good for (and, given the ineffective and dreadful efforts at warmaking, even the last bastion of goverment (the military) is being called into question.
Slamming the Press, and government, and voter registrants simply isn't a good long-term strategy.
In the not-so-distant past, the GOP laid waste against the federal government itself, saying that government was the problem (while simulaneously asking to be elected to federal government positions). The result is the inability of pretty much anyone on the Right to think about what goverment is good for (and, given the ineffective and dreadful efforts at warmaking, even the last bastion of goverment (the military) is being called into question.
Slamming the Press, and government, and voter registrants simply isn't a good long-term strategy.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Obama endorsements
More as I come across them:
Bryan/College Station (TX) Eagle
Every 20 or 30 years or so, a leader comes along who understands that change is necessary if the country is to survive and thrive. Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the 20th century and his cousin Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan -- these leaders have inspired us to rise to our better nature, to reach out to be the country we can be and, more important, must be.
Barack Obama is such a leader. He doesn't have all the answers, to be sure, but at least he is asking the right questions. While we would like more specificity on his plans as president, we are confident that he can lead us ever forward, casting aside the doubts and fears of recent years.
Bryan/College Station (TX) Eagle
Every 20 or 30 years or so, a leader comes along who understands that change is necessary if the country is to survive and thrive. Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the 20th century and his cousin Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan -- these leaders have inspired us to rise to our better nature, to reach out to be the country we can be and, more important, must be.
Barack Obama is such a leader. He doesn't have all the answers, to be sure, but at least he is asking the right questions. While we would like more specificity on his plans as president, we are confident that he can lead us ever forward, casting aside the doubts and fears of recent years.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The final push by the Right
Increased hysteria, whipped up by lies and smears.
Obama is a Black Muslim, Anti-Christian Socialist Plotting with an Evil Jewish Billionaire
Of course he is.
Ben Smith with some side-by-side hysteria.
Don't these people know that independents and moderates, who make or break elections, don't care about winger hysteria? A hard lesson that the Democrats had to learn from 2004.
Obama is a Black Muslim, Anti-Christian Socialist Plotting with an Evil Jewish Billionaire
Of course he is.
Ben Smith with some side-by-side hysteria.
Don't these people know that independents and moderates, who make or break elections, don't care about winger hysteria? A hard lesson that the Democrats had to learn from 2004.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Ohio GOP suit bounced
SCOTUS rejects GOP suit in Ohio
Decided on standing reasoning, it appears.
So ends another GOP fishing expedition, designed to distrupt the process just long enough to steal an election.
Decided on standing reasoning, it appears.
So ends another GOP fishing expedition, designed to distrupt the process just long enough to steal an election.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
ACORN and Obama
More scare tactics, of course. FactCheck.org takes on the ACORN allegations:
It's true that the voter registration wing of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now has run into trouble in several states. ACORN employees have been investigated and in some cases indicted for voter registration fraud. Most recently, more than 2,000 registrations in Lake County, Ind., have turned out to be falsified.
But does this constitute "destroying the fabric of democracy"? More like destroying the fabric of work ethic. There's been no evidence that the ACORN employees who submitted fraudulent forms have been paving the way for illegal voting. Rather, they're trying to get paid for doing no work.
It's true that the voter registration wing of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now has run into trouble in several states. ACORN employees have been investigated and in some cases indicted for voter registration fraud. Most recently, more than 2,000 registrations in Lake County, Ind., have turned out to be falsified.
But does this constitute "destroying the fabric of democracy"? More like destroying the fabric of work ethic. There's been no evidence that the ACORN employees who submitted fraudulent forms have been paving the way for illegal voting. Rather, they're trying to get paid for doing no work.
It's a long way down.
Via Andrew Sullivan, a mailer from Virginia:
Update: Looks like the flier used Bin Laden as its model. Man, close up like that, it really looks like Barack Obama. Wonder if that was the point?
Update: Looks like the flier used Bin Laden as its model. Man, close up like that, it really looks like Barack Obama. Wonder if that was the point?
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Does home ownership make sense?
Houses are not investment vehicles, treating them as such is pretty foolish and potentially destructive. And the economy as a whole is far less flexible when too many workers are tied down in one spot with a home. And when fringe exurbs are developed to allow for more lower-income families to own, it leads to enormous inefficiencies and a massive amount of energy wasted on extreme commuting.
Rob Horning with a nice post.
Rob Horning with a nice post.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Ralph Stanley (!) cut a radio ad for Obama
Playing in SW Virginia. Enough to pick off some voters? I dunno, but it is probably giving some people pause.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Racism in politics
I see it pretty much every day, where people are using words like "Muslim" or "big city" as code words to allow them to find a reason to reject Barack Obama because of his race. Truth be told, in my hometown area (Cleveland-Lorain) there is a strong undercurrent of work anxiety by blue collar workers which has been exploited many times in the past by companies in racist ways, by trying trying to divide up the workers along race lines to make the union less effective in negotiations. Such tactics cause racism to take root in communities, even ones where blue collar workers literally live and work together side-by-side.
Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan, here's an awesome speech by the AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka (particularly the first 3/4) where he confronts racism directly.
Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan, here's an awesome speech by the AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka (particularly the first 3/4) where he confronts racism directly.
Stop those catalogs!
Sometimes we forget that we can cut down on the catalogs, by registering with the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service.
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