The Guerrilla Campaign

by Mary Pitt The most memorable points made in the McCain/Obama debate, from my lowly viewpoint, was the plight of poor old Joe, the Plumber The story was that Joe has worked for a plumbing company for twelve years, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Now he wants to buy the company and "give jobs" to other men. He is worried that, should he do well and earn over a quarter of a mil a year, he may have to pay a higher rate of taxes then he would now. Having some experience in running a small business and having employed up to seven people at any given time, the efforts of both my husband and me never came close to turning that much profit in a year. For that matter, we never, by each holding separate jobs at the same time, our individual wages never matched the figure that Joe has been earning for the past twelve years. Let's do some math: If Joe has truly worked twelve hours a day for seven days a week, if he was earning union wages, let's say conservatively, $25.00 pe...

Let’s take a look at this two clips, shall we? And then we’ll have a quiz. Congressman asks Justice Dept. about Qwest wiretap charges By John Godfrey Last update: 6:45 p.m. EDT Oct. 15, 2007 http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/congressman-asks-justice-dept-about/story.aspx?guid=%7BE944A27D-75C3-4D12-8CA4-2C22302AB947%7D […] Once-classified documents that were unveiled in the insider-trading case of Nacchio also suggest the U.S. government didn't offer lucrative contracts to the company after Nacchio refused to cooperate with what the documents call "improper government requests" in February 2001. The documents, submitted as part of Nacchio's defense in the insider-trading case, don't elaborate on the government requests. Nacchio has said in the past he didn't comply when asked by the National Security Agency, which heads up U.S. electronic surveillance, for access to the private phone records of Qwest customers. […] Speaking from the White House lawn Oct. 10...

The 30-Year Lie of the Market Cult Written by Chris Floyd http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1627-the-god-that-failed-the-30-year-lie-of-the-market-cult.html Perhaps the most striking fact revealed by the global financial crash -- or rather, by the reaction to it -- is the staggering, astonishing, gargantuan amount of money that the governments of the world have at their command. In just a matter of days, we have seen literally trillions of dollars offered to the financial services sector by national treasuries and central banks across the globe. Britain alone has put $1 trillion at the disposal of the bankers, traders, lenders and speculators; and this has been surpassed by the total package of public money that Washington is shoveling into the financial furnaces of Wall Street and the banks. These radical efforts are being replicated on a slightly smaller scale in France, Germany, Italy, Russia and many other countries. The effectiveness of this unprece...

by Mary Pitt 10/08/08 I was watching the candidates as they deplaned for the debate. First, Obama skipped down the steps alone and galloped over to shake the hands of the flight crew. When the McCains arrived, Cindy walked down the steps first. Only the polite thing to do but something looked different. She walked slowly with her back against him and her hands braced on the rails as if to prevent his pitching forward. Once on the ground, she fell back to walk behind him but she walked very closely with her hand behind his back as if to steady him These little "tells" may not be noticeable to just everyone but, since I so recently was responsible for an elderly, unsteady man, it appeared obvious to me that this campaign has taken a toll on John's strength and they are being very careful to hide that fact from the public. I think you can sometimes tell more about a man's physical health by the solicitude or lack thereof on the part of his wife and the actions of Cindy M...

Sure, Barack Obama knows somebody who was a radical 40 years ago when Obama was 8. We all do, even you, john. But, you, john, were a traitor during that time. Remember those anti-American propaganda movies you made for the Vietnamese while you were a POW? Hey, don’t give me any crap about being tortured. There were a whole lot more of your fellow POW’s who stayed true to their country, while undergoing far worse torture than you did. and, sarah, how’s about we talk about the traitor you sleep with, and allegedly had children by? You know about the Alaska Independent Party’s hatred of America, and it’s desire to secede. You should, you and your husband are involved with it. Well, listen. The DOW is down 24% since Jan 1. 270 more US military were killed in Iraq since Jan 1. 2.2 million more American workers have lost their jobs since Jan 1. Factories are closing, people are losing their homes, their savings, their health insurance. Our country’s infrastructure is falling apart, and so ar...

Palin hits Obama for 'terrorist' connection 10/4/08 http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/04/palin.obama/index.html ENGLEWOOD, Colorado (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday slammed Sen. Barack Obama's political relationship with a former anti-war radical, accusing him of associating "with terrorists who targeted their own country." Palin's attack delivered on the McCain campaign's announcement that it would step up attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate with just a month left before the November general election. "We see America as the greatest force for good in this world," Palin said at a fund-raising event in Colorado, adding, "Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." Palin made similar comments later at a rally in Carson, California. [...] With friends like these ... McCain finds his own radical ...

by Mary Pitt Friday, October 03, 2008 11:18 PM As a small voice from the back of the room, I have one question regarding the discovery of the illiquidity of all the huge corporate conglomerates who have taken over the finances of this ostensibly democratic nation. When is somebody going to jail? Now, I don't profess to truly understand the ins and outs of our financial system and I have absolutely no concept of anything over a million of anything. I think I am in good company as you would be safe in assuming that the majority of the American people are in the same boat as I. However, those of us with intact brain cells do remember the Enron fiasco when Congressional hearings were held which exposed the various forms of chicanery which had been perpetrated by the corporate moguls and their compliant accountants. It seems that they had engaged in what they termed "creative accounting" in order to induce pigeons, (pardon me, investors), to continue to trust them with trust f...

Paulson's Reasons for Delaying Day of Reckoning by Jonathan Weil 10/3/08 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_weil&sid=aMaWyNFImi4o Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- If you think this bailout is expensive, just wait until you see the next one. The $700 billion rescue plan approved by the U.S. Senate won't fix the core problem with the nation's ailing financial institutions. And it almost guarantees that you and I will have to pony up for an even costlier bailout someday, maybe soon, if the House of Representatives passes it tomorrow. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has correctly identified the quandary: Lots of shaky banks and insurance companies are showing strangely high values for assets that aren't worth squat in the market. Many need more capital and can't raise it. And he's right in saying the outlook is grim if we don't get this fixed. What's stunning is how little the taxpayers would get in return for their money under Paul...