Obama's the One

Five months to the day from the first Iowa Caucus on January 3rd, Senator Obama claims the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States.

Comments

[Joe]

As expected. Now to fight McCain :)

Speaking of which, I had to read the following comment twice. I thought for a minute that the comment was about McCain...

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSWAT00958120080603

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"He is an impressive man, who makes a great first impression," McCain says of Obama, according to a copy of prepared remarks he will deliver later on Tuesday.

"But he hasn't been willing to make the tough calls, to challenge his party, to risk criticism from his supporters to bring real change to Washington. I have."

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Naturally, that'd be why he went with Bush 95% of the time, supports illegal wiretapping on US Citizens (in spite of a few flip-flops), endorsed torture, wants war with Iran, and sneaks around raising funds with Bush ...

If you ever run comparative ads, you won't have much trouble. From the "we'll be welcomed as liberators" in Iraq comment of McCain's, to the grainy video of him sneaking off to the fund raiser with Bush, McCain has tons to answer for.

[Joe]

Obama just sent out another email about that a few minutes ago:

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Joe --

I'm about to take the stage in St. Paul and announce that we have won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

It's been a long journey, and we should all pause to thank Hillary Clinton, who made history in this campaign. Our party and our country are better off because of her.

I want to make sure you understand what's ahead of us. Earlier tonight, John McCain outlined a vision of America that's very different from ours -- a vision that continues the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.

But this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past and bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

It's going to take hard work, but thanks to you and millions of other donors and volunteers, no one has ever been more prepared for such a challenge.

Thank you for everything you've done to get us here. Let's keep making history.

Barack

[Joe]

Stop Iranian bomb by 'all possible means' -Olmert

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN03419397
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And people wonder why I worry about Bush starting an Iran war.

I know, in general terms, how nuclear bombs are made, as do most people who have taken advanced enough physics classes. They're quite hard to make. In other words, I don't think a war is necessary to stop their uranium enrichment program, lest someone soon try to sell us on one. There are better options if one is willing to pursue them.

Alas, I can't help but feel like we're going to be sold another war, and I'm not buying.

[Diamond]

I just want to enjoy this moment.

[Kasturba]

I hope people who are thinking of casting a defiance vote for McCain watched him today. That speech was awful.

Karl Rove is weeping somewhere. And that is a thought worth savoring.

[Joe]

Do you have a link to a transcript of McCain's speech? I rarely get to see TV being at work, so I have to get everything from the internet (which, yes, means that YouTube is blocked as well).

[suekzoo]

Joe,

Here's some reviews of McCain's speech. It wasn't pretty.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/the-lime-green-monster-mc_n_105044.html

And here's the transcript:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10820.html

[Kasturba]

Reading it isn't enough. You have to watch it. He tried to be mocking, but merely came across as catty. Very strange. This rhetorical style isn't for him.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/ has the speech. They have multiple posts about it so go all the way down for all the bright green screen shots to hear what they (and other commentators) have to see. Drudge has the transcript too.

[Regina]

Can I just commend most of you on this blog who are Obama supporters? I just read comments on the Politico and a number of other blogs tonight, and Obama people are eviscerating Clinton for her moving speech. And then I read here, from Mr. Super himself, that it is standard not to concede in the speech and instead to work it out in the past. I am glad at least you all are good people supporting Obama, unlike other commenters on other sites.

[Kasturba]

Dear Regina,

I too have monitored many blogs and I think there are many Republican trolls trying to incite anger and division. Not all of them. But enough of them. And possibly some of the worst offenders. I read a lot of both sexist and racist remarks (as a non-white woman I tend to be sensitive to both). I don't necessarily think they are supporters. Just trouble makers. Ignore them and vote for the candidate you believe in.

[Joe]

Regina: I think that's because it's a smaller group here. Sure, there have been hard feelings, but the more you talk with the same people, the more you get to know them. One of those things about the Internet is that everything comes out harsh because people don't know or care about other's feelings all too often and they may never see that person ever again.

Anyhow, I look forward to working together from here on. Because the real problem is with the Republicans who are all too eager to divide us. Seems like they plan to continue ruining all the good things that President Clinton was doing back when they were too busy haunting him with scandals to notice things like that huge surplus. At least, until Bush turned it into a huge deficit.

[Heidi]

I watched Barack Obama's speech tonight in a restaurant that had the tv's playing in every room. When Obama made his speech and declared himself the nominee, a man at the table next to us scooped his child out of the high chair, held him and told him, "Your future just got better today".

I didn't think I'd see anyone in a restaurant in Texas get that giddy over a democratic candidate. The entire restaurant was hushed during Barack Obama's speech.

A friend of mine from London called me mid meal (it was the middle of the night for her AND I haven't heard from her in about two months) to congratulate me and "all Americans" for looking beyond race to ensure we give our country and our allied countries the chance to improve our standing in the world.

My parents who are retirees in FL called me to tell me that they have decided to vote for Barack Obama in the Fall. They have never voted for a democratic candidate in my lifetime. They voted for McCain in the primary. They know how hard I've worked for the Obama campaign, in my home state of Texas and moving on to Indiana to help there. They told me that they weren't just calling me to tell me that they were happy for me that my candidate won the primary. They said that after listening to John McCain, they realized that he was not telling the truth after he praised Hillary Clinton and has been talking about fighting global warming and promoting the gimmick called "The Gas Tax Holiday". They said if they're going to have a candidate go outside of their comfort zone, they may as well vote for the one who is telling the truth and called me to tell me that they have decided to vote for Obama in the general election.

Obama's speech and win tonight was wonderful. The personal responses I've seen from strangers, friends and family was incredible. Obama has done it and will do it again in November.

By the way, my parents have just called again after visiting a web site I referred them to: republicansforobama.org - they created an account and they gave their first donation.

And I thought Obama had a good day!

[Joe]

> I too have monitored many blogs and I think there are many Republican trolls trying to incite anger and division.

True. Lately "jakesmith" has posted the same diatribe to nearly every news story that allows comments. Sometimes he pretends to be a Hillary supporter, and maybe he'll pretend to be an Obama supporter, but he's really a Republican troll as anyone who remembers his comments earlier this year would know. I've read so much news lately that I recognize him, JakeD and RAT-The by name any more.

Anyhow, I hope we can all work together now. It's not good to tear each other down when we're facing Republicans who seemingly want to tear America down, and I say that as an ex-Republican who finally realized what they were doing and couldn't support it.

[Heidi]

Regina,

Not all Obama supporters are hateful bloggers, just like all Clinton supporters aren't. And the others who answered you are right. Some of the bloggers on CNN and other blog sites are trolls who are just trying to start arguments.

I have always had great respect for Hillary Clinton. I will admit that her campaign has ticked me off some during this primary, but I usually get over it within a day because I know that Clinton and Obama are fighting for the same causes. When all is said and one, the commonality between the candidates shows through to me more than their differences.

I could forgive the Clinton campaign almost anything and I could see myself as a Clinton supporter doing the same for the Obama campaign. In the end, it's the media pundits that try to interpret for us that really divides us more than the campaigns themselves (the RFK statement is a good example of the media falsely interpreting things for us).

God bless you and all who are open minded. Please consider voting for Barack Obama in November. I welcome a joint ticket and would gladly vote for Hillary Clinton as our VP.

[Joe]

Thanks for the links to McCain's speech. All I can say is "ooogh!" Some quotes from the reviews:

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Josh Marshall, over at TPM, noted: "Here's how bad it is. All the Fox commentators are giving competing explanation for why McCain's speech sucked."

[...]

Summing up GOP sentiment was prominent Republican media consultant, Alex Castellanos, speaking on CNN: "Last I checked this was not a speech-making contest, thank God."

[Steve]

Now work hard for registered new voters in the 17-19 more important states.

OR, WA, NV, NM, CO, MN, IA, MO, WI, MI, OH, PA, NH, VA, NC, GA, FL, and for me maybe MS

It's the most important work actually.

They are 500.000 AA not registered in GA for exemple.

If the campaign and the organization work good for that, BO win in november.

[Tony in MI]

Heidi writes "I have always had great respect for Hillary Clinton. I will admit that her campaign has ticked me off some during this primary, but I usually get over it within a day..."

Ditto. And you know what? The part than ticks me off is actually something that I've wanted in the Democrats for years. I want toughness, a willingness to fight hard.

[LindaS]

So I'm one of those who don't get over it in a day :-). I had mostly neutral feelings toward Clinton last fall and in January--but I also didn't want her to run due to the baggage from the '90s. But after seeing her attitude toward Barack and some of the slimy attacks from her campaign aides, as well as her own equivocating, I lost any and all respect I ever had for her. She became a patriarch in the extreme and I don't think it was necessary. It's one of the reasons she has been such a polarizing figure.

[Jay]

For those of you that cling to your theories about elections, believe in the messianic rantings of a pied pieper, believe that the tooth fairy is alive--I wish you all a pleasant election season with your nominee, Obama. As for me, I am going to vote for the guy that can't make a speech but has backbone, trustworthiness, a record of accomplishment and the ability to reach across party lines. You have left those that care about this country above party, no choice, but to vote for McCain.

[Truth]

Jay, I respect your decision. Can you give me the one issue you like best about McCain? Im talking about an actual issue like the equivalent of Obamas Making Work Pay or Obamas removal of the Social Security cap. I can argue pros and cons with both examples.

This is not an attack. In fact, I have found very few Obama supporters that can name and discuss Obamas platform points. If I said something like Making Work Pay is confusing. The detail is missing and economists are stating it is basically an EIC that will not be cliamed by anybody other than the ultra-poor (under $19K) It is a true concern and instead of pointing me to something that would help me give it more support I get attacked. Then they wonder why *I* am so ignorant.

So, Jay, lets start talking about the realities of both candidates. Youd make Obama supporters look the fool if you come up with something from McCain that could have a positive effect on many Americans and reasonably discuss it.

[Regina]

One issue where I agree w/ McCain instead of Obama is the gas tax holiday. My husband is a truck driver, and the tax holiday would be more than 'mere pennies' for us. I am in favor of sensible tax cuts when the taxes are regressive. Gasoline and food taxes for instance are regressive. Clinton and McCain wanted to eliminate the gas tax at least temporarily (and perhaps that would have led to a further reduction) and Obama wanted to keep the gas tax.

[Jay]

To truth: I will give you 2 issues aside from the gas tax holiday which I favor as well. First, I do not approve of meeting unconditionally with dictators of the kind in Iran and other places. Bargaining with the Russians is not akin to this type of diplomacy. The Russians didn't want to blow themselves up to make a point. The second issue is on taxes. Obama wants to raise the capital gains tax from 15 to 28%. He was asked during one of the debates, why he favored it since it would actually decrease revenues. His answer was because he thought it was fair to do. Such answers leave me with no doubt this man is not ready for the Presidency. More importantly, I don't trust Obama to do anything that he says and already have seen him in action on the one political problem he had to deal with-his church. He failed miserably on that one. Care for me list 5 others? It really isn't necessary. Since I don't trust him, I can't vote for him even if I agree with him on several things. He is not ready to be President. McCain was ready 8 years ago and if he had been nominated and elected I think things would be a lot better right now. Of course, I would voted for Gore at that time and did against Bush, but that was then, and this is now.

[Truth]

Jay, I agree with you that I would vote for John McCain 2000 over Obama 2008 in a heartbeat, but pause with McCain 2008. With that in mind, I think there is a chance candidate McCain 2008 that I like less is just to get the Republican base and once he is elected, McCain 2000 will return. Not what I look for in a candidate but it doesn't seem that far fetched.

However, Obama just seems to be trying to agree to everything that sounds "good" to his base (in front of him at the time) but I fear once in office he will not get it done (or will go so liberal that it is just the mirror of Bush's mistakes). And I agree 100% on the 28% capital gains tax (said it here before). That issue alone scares the hell out of me. When is the public going to learn you don't have to kill industry to be "fair". There is a middle ground (Hillary) where everybody can do well.

What is driving me crazy is the media that played stupid during the Primary when Hillary talked about electability now seem to magically understand and say that this new electoral map is a fantasy and it will be a hard fought General Election. It is every other news story now. When they aren't talking to Keith Olbermann or Chriss Matthews, they admit it. "This black southern state strategy is a lost cause. The increased black vote would not make up the loss of non-black vote. On top of that, is is proven that non-black vote gets energized when they see the black vote energized. So the gains may actualy be less than the losses they generate." Oh now they understand? Tim Russert might be the only talking head I still respect after all this. He can be seen as being too hard on ALL of the candidates, which is what reporters are supposed to do. I'd basically fire the rest of MSNBC for their incredible bias during the Primaries.

I actually like McCain's $2,500/$5,000 refundable tax credit for health care as well. The reason is it isn't that complicated but the benefits are multi-fold (already stated reasons in past). Do I want single-payer more? Absolutely, but I think we are still years away from that w/o Hillary in charge. So McCain's plan is immediate relief until we slowly change it over to single-payer (if ever). If McCain introduced this legislation NOW and worked hard at it, he'd have my vote.

I will have to disagree with you on talking to Iran however. It was one of the things I liked best about Obama, but that Obama doesn't exist anymore.

[Joe]

I've looked into that a little more, but all I've seen is one quote about the "28%" capital gains tax. What Obama actually said, as best I can find is that he would raise it, but would NOT do more than double it (he said no when asked if he'd double it, which is where they got 28%).

I haven't seen him advocate any particular value, but I haven't seen a quote where he said he'd raise it that high, only one where he would NOT raise it that high. So if he has promised anything, it was only that he'd put it to LESS than 28%.

Unless you have a link with more direct evidence that you can provide?

[Jay]

Obama Pushes for Higher Investment Taxes
September 19, 2007 03:02 PM ET | James Pethokoukis | Permanent Link

As part of his "Tax Fairness for the Middle Class" plan, Barack Obama is in favor of nearly doubling the capital-gains tax rate from 15 percent to 28 percent. Leaving the fairness issue aside for a moment—as well as the impact of higher taxes on economic growth—the Obama plan could also be called a "Ways in Which Government Can Collect More Taxes to Pay for New Spending" plan, since Democratic candidates are all scrambling to figure out ways to plausibly pay for new healthcare, education, and infrastructure spending if elected.
from US News and World Report- there are many other sources as well, just quoted this one because it goes back to 2007.

[Joe]

Here are the reports I saw:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Obama_talks_capgains_rate_with_CNBC.html

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/would_raising_the_capital_gains_tax_rate.html

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Obama has indicated he would accept a top rate of 28 percent, saying in an interview on CNBC that he "would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton, which was the 28 percent. I would – and my guess would be it would be significantly lower than that." Hillary Clinton said during the April 16 ABC News Democratic debate in Philadelphia that she wouldn't raise the rate above 20 percent "if I raised it at all." That's the level to which the top capital gains rate was reduced in 1997, midway through her husband's administration.
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There are lots of folks who latched onto the 28% idea, but I'm reasonably sure he never actually endorsed that except as a limit.

[Joe]

Or here, even the NY Post which I don't think is too friendly to Obama:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03282008/news/nationalnews/barack__id_hike_capital_gains_tax_103875.htm

"I haven't given a firm number," Obama told CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, speaking of how much the levy would rise over the current rate of 15 percent. He "guessed" it would be "significantly lower than" the 28 percent it was under President Bill Clinton.

[Blame]

Call me a cynic but I ignore promises over tax.

The tax cutter cuts one tax, and then raises another.

A promise to not raise a specific tax (beyond a certain point) is equaly useless.

Another tax might do (carbon?), or the old tax can be modified & renamed, or simply some unexpected event (like a recesion - politicians never seem to expect them) makes the election promise impractical.

I believe Obama is sincere on his package of measures to help the less affluent. I also believe that he knows that the middle classes are feeling the pinch. I believe he is enough of a realist to know that deficit spending can't go on indefinitly.

Doubtless ending the war will help, cutting subsidies is an option, and I am sure there are some efficiencies to be had, but he is going to have to get the bulk of this money by taxing the rich.

Rather unamerican to be sure, but think. The old Republican contact has broken down. It was to keep taxes low and promote industry. The rich got rich, everyone else got jobs.

But now the rich got richer by transfering those jobs to china.

[Truth]

Joe, doubling it would be 30% so 28% would still technically be on the table. You’ve actually highlighted another major problem with Obama is that when you ask him a straight out question, he answers so he can’t be held liable for anything he says. He is actually promising nothing (and everything).

He's been asked directly if he'd take it to 28% and he answers "I wouldn't raise it higher than under Reagan/Clinton". Reagan raised it up to 28% and Clinton lowered it to 20%, so at one time they both had a 28% capital gains rate. The only concrete thing you can take is that he will raise it AT LEAST 20% but will probably be closer to 28%.

What do you think of Obama's middle class tax cuts? He talks about it, but I can't find a shred of evidence supporting it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrZbbnXkfhU

[Joe]

> You’ve actually highlighted another major problem with Obama is that when you ask him a straight out question, he answers so he can’t be held liable for anything he says. He is actually promising nothing (and everything).

It's harder to find one that doesn't that. McCain has the 2013 'promise' to end the war, conveniently right after the 2012 elections.

One of those links I just posted has some stuff about middle class tax cuts buried in the middle, BTW:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Obama_talks_capgains_rate_with_CNBC.html

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Sen. OBAMA: Well, you know, what I've said is that we should go back to probably a top marginal rate of 39 percent what it was before the Bush tax cuts. So I would roll back those Bush tax cuts, I would not increase taxes for middle class Americans and in fact I want to provide a tax cut for people who are making $75,000 a year or less. For those folks, I want an offset on the payroll tax that would be worth as much as $1,000 for a family. Senior citizens who are bringing in less than $50,000 a year in income, I don't want them to have to pay income tax on their Social Security. And as part of my overall approach to housing, I actually want to provide an additional 10 percent mortgage deduction, a credit, mortgage interest credit, for those who currently don't itemize. Because if you live in a house that's pretty expensive, like I do, and I itemize, I get a pretty big break from Uncle Sam. If you own a $100,000 house and you're making 65, $75,000 a year, you're not getting that same deduction. I think that they deserve a break as well. That will actually help relieve some of the pressure on homeowners.

[Truth]

Joe, I've heard all about his "Making Work Pay" $500 (single) / $1000 (married joint return & children). The details aren't there. The top people have said it is just an EIC with a fancy name. EIC is not for the middle class. It is for the VERY poor. It is for those making under $19.000. If $0 to $19,000 is middle class then we truly have lowered our standards..

Anybody with any intelligence can itemize their mortgage interest and property taxes. A $100,000 house? I can't even find a shack for that, so we are talking ultra-poor again.

The whole Social Security is issue doesn't need some $50,000 break. It is simple, don't tax Social Security payments. Allow 401k/IRA to be taxed at a long term capital gains tax rate (oh wait, he is raising that to 28%)

He should just call it the "stupid poor people" tax relief. Calling it middle class relief is an insult to my common sense.

Champion of the lower & middle class tax brackets would be
10% -- 0%
15% -- 0%
25% -- 25%
28% -- 31%
33% -- 36%
35% -- 39.6%

For a single person only taking the standard deduction, there would be zero federal tax burdern until 38,001.

Everybody under $233,676 will see a tax decrease and everybody equal or above will see a tax increase (but still lower than Clinton era except in the multi-million earners that become relatively equal)

I'd take it a step further and do this:
10% -- 0%
15% -- 0%
25% -- 20% <- this was lowered
28% -- 33% <- this was raised
33% -- 36%
35% -- 39.6%

This would put even more money in the pockets of those making $38,001 to $250,000 where the real soul of the American economy exists.

Obama’s “Middle Class tax cuts” remind me of the Bush’s “Clear Skies” act and the like. It will continue the migration of the middle class household to the poor household. I’m sorry if you can’t understand why I refuse to support that.

[Joe]

I don't know if you've read it, but there's a bit more in here (PDF):

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/EconomicPolicyFullPlan.pdf

It mostly mentions seniors, though, and simplifying taxes for people and a few other things.

[Truth]

I've read it Joe. My understanding from reading various explanations (not by Obama because he never has any detail) is that it gives somebody a refundable tax credit on their share of the FICA tax (so it doesn't get taken directly from the FICA fund). Why even tie it to FICA if it really has nothing to do with it? Why won't somebody interviewing him take him to task on this (and his economic plan in general)? I'm tired of his free pass.

The only real thing Obama has going for him is "new politics" but you guys seem to slowly be saying he is just like the rest of them. Why were you slow to come to this conclusion?

[Joe]

He's still more new than the rest, in terms of that. Besides, I believe I said it was his tech policy that really drew me to him, and I still maintain that his is the best of the lot.

Taxes simply aren't my thing; we have a lawyer who is a friend of the family and he does my taxes every year. If you have questions, you could always try emailing or contacting the campaign directly. And even with your breakdown, I'm not too far above the $19,000 income mark for getting a tax break, anyhow.