American Values

by: Dan Jacoby

Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 00:18:49 AM EDT

As the McCain campaign's ... let's call them "inaccuracies" ... mount up, they are certain to turn again to that old Republican standard, "values." The argument will be that the "liberal" Barack Obama and his "liberal" running mate are out of touch with American values, while the veteran McCain and his "hockey mom" running mate are perfectly in line. This will be expanded to claim, once again, that the entire Democratic Party is out of touch and the entire Republican Party represent American values incarnate.

This begs the question, is the values claim as inaccurate as the rest of McCain's statements and advertisements?

The real Sarah Palin

by: Dan Jacoby

Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 10:25:30 AM EDT

As Governor:
She supported the bridge to nowhere before she opposed it.  Her support came while running for governor.
There are actually two bridges to nowhere; she still supports one of them (the Knik Arm bridge).
Her "ethics reform" package would be laughed off the map in most of the country -- for example, campaign contributions uner $1,000 don't have to be reported.
She appointed Marty Rutherford, a former TransCanada (oil & gas co.) lobbyist, to run her gas pipeline project.
That ethics reform bill?  It came because to Veco (an oil co.) executives were convicted of bribing lawmakers.  Guess where she got a lot of campaign funding when running for Lt. Governor -- yup, Veco.
Since becoming governor, in just two years, Palin has asked for $589 million in federal pork.
In July, the state legislature voted unanimously to fund an investigation into the abuse of power regarding her firing of the Public Safety Commissioner because he wouldn't fire her former brother-in-law.
She is in bed with Big Oil -- when running for governor in 2006, she took $13,000 from oil industry lobbyists (that's a lot in Alaska).
She has vetoed $20 million spending projects for wind energy -- twice.

Yeah -- she a politician all right.

Quayle Hunt

by: Dan Jacoby

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 12:03:32 PM EDT

Last week, presumptive Republican nominee for President John McCain surprised the political world by choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. As self-appointed pundits bombard us with phony and irrelevant "theories" as to why he would choose her, the truth goes eerily silent.

Governor Palin has almost no experience, and has clearly not demonstrated any readiness to lead. She has legal and ethical problems surrounding her attempt to get someone fired from a state job for the heinous "crime" of divorcing her sister. Now it turns out that this "abstinence-only" politician doesn't practice at home what she preaches in public.

This has to be the worst choice for a running mate since George H.W. Bush picked Dan Quayle. So why would John McCain pick her?

More after the fold.

Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton

by: SteveinNYC

Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 15:48:12 PM EDT

Acting on behalf of its more than 1.4 million members, the AFT executive council on Wednesday endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, citing her proven ability to advance our nation's key priorities, and her bold plans for a stronger America.

"Our members have told us that they want a leader they can trust to strengthen public education, increase access to health care, promote commonsense economic priorities and secure America's place in the world," said AFT president Edward J. McElroy. "Hillary Clinton is that leader."

Chris Bowers at Open Left calls it, "the biggest endorsement of the campaign for me so far."

I know AFT people, both the teachers and the organizers. They are friends, family and colleagues. They are smart, extremely hard working, and also very progressive. I trust the decisions they make. If they decide to endorse Hillary Clinton, that means a lot to me . . . The AFT endorsement of Hillary Clinton improves my image of Hillary Clinton.