Obama Decimates McCain In July Fundraising Efforts

It seems that July isn't much different from June when it comes to fund-raising numbers from the Obama and McCain campaigns. Barack Obama blew out John McCain in June, and he did the same thing last month. He didn't just beat him by a few million, he didn't just do it with 65,000 brand new donors, he did it because the American people desire change and do not expect or believe it will come from John "McSame" McCain.

From The Political Wire:

Sen. Barack Obama raised more than $51 million in July, the AP reports. His campaign began August with $65.8 million on hand and has had more than 2 million donors.

In contrast, Sen. John McCain raised $27 million in July and had just $21.4 million in cash on hand. He has had approximately 600,000 donors.

Those figures aren't even close. Now Republicans generally try and remind themselves that they at least have the fund-raising prowess of the RNC to counter the candidates' discrepancy. In July, they have no such comfort. As far as raising money goes, there is no contest between Obama and McCain. When Americans tune into the race after labor day en masse, they'll see there is a similar relationship between the two men in terms of policy, issues and character.

12 Yr. Old Girl Who Witnesses Bombs In Georgia Punk Fox News

Fox News has led the charge in the corporate media to spin lies about the conflict between Russia and Georgia. The narrative they peddle is that this whole thing is Russia's fault and that Georgia is a good democracy. However when Shepard Smith had young Amanda Kokoeva on his program, she showed him up with a heavy dose of truth....and all he could do was cut away to commercial.

McCain Lies About His Energy Votes

John McCain claims to not have missed one crucial vote on our nation's energy legislation. Yet like most things that exit his mouth, this one is a flat out lie. When it comes to telling the truth, Mr. Maverick has no idea on how to do that, maybe that is what makes him a maverick. Perhaps he forgets that people can track members' votes in the Senate, but nevertheless, the facts speak for themselves.

From ThinkProgress:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) currently holds the title of most absent U.S. senator, missing over 60 percent of votes this session. In an interview with Walter Isaacson at the Aspen Institute yesterday, McCain claimed he has not “missed any crucial vote” on energy legislation:

McCAIN: I have a long record of that support of alternate energy. … I’ve always been for all of those and I have not missed any crucial vote. But my citizens in Arizona know that when I’m running for the President of the United States I have to be out campaigning.

McCain’s has actually missed several “crucial” energy votes. In July alone, he missed every single energy vote brought to the floor. This session, McCain has skipped votes supporting renewable energy tax credits four times, all of which were filibustered. In June, for example, McCain missed a vote on the landmark Lieberman-Warner climate change legislation.

McCain has also been the “crucial” absent vote on key legislation. In December, legislation stripping tax break giveaways to Big Oil and investing in cleaner sources failed by one vote, 59-40 (Vote #425); McCain missed that vote to campaign. In February, McCain skipped a vote on extending tax credits to renewables, which also failed by one vote (Vote #8). Both times, McCain was the only senator absent.

It really is amazing how those pesky facts get in the way of McCain's incredibly amazing "Straight-Talk Express." And for the last week his train had unfettered access to the public, since Barack Obama was in Hawaii. Despite that, the polls show the race virtually unchanged from the time Obama went to the Aloha State until he got back.

Steve Behar Speaks Out Against MTA Fare Increase

Steve Behar's city council campaign still has over a year to go, but that isn't stopping him from speaking out for straphangers and against the MTA's proposed fare increases. Steve is running in District 19 and that means his potential constituents need more and better mass transit solutions in Northeast Queens. Taxing commuters with fare increases (that haven't done anything thus far from this year's increase) isn't the answer. However, there is a better way.

From Steve Behar's Op-Ed in The Astoria Times:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has proposed two additional transit fare hikes on top of the fare hike enacted earlier this year. Gas is over $4 per gallon and we all agree it is in our best interest for our environment, economy and national security to use more public transportation.

It does not make sense to call for the increased use of mass transit and increase the cost and lessen the service of our current mass transit system. But elected officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson, continue to hide behind the MTA and allow it to hoist fare hikes onto the shoulders of Queens' hard-working middle class.

Any additional fare hike is unacceptable. For far too long, opaque authorities have operated in the state without public oversight. We do not elect MTA officials to their positions and, when the MTA raises fares and the public protests, it provides cover for our elected officials.

Patterson has asked the MTA to look its books. Bloomberg has stated, "That's just bad management." State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is looking at the MTA's books and will release the results of his investigation by September. As our elected officials criticize the MTA administration, the same high-paid officials remain in their posts. Even MTA board member Andrew Saul urged lawmakers to re-examine legislation that would restructure the MTA and streamline its operations.

For once, it is time to take a long-term view. The city and state need to focus on getting more people to use mass transit. Driving less means a cleaner environment, a more stable economy less dependent on foreign oil and a stronger nation no longer dependent on oil from unfriendly nations.

We need more local bus service to make it easier to commute to and from work. Since most trains travel straight through most of Queens, we need more Long Island Rail Road service. We need more express buses, including the use of "rapid transit buses" to make a Queens-Manhattan commute without a car easier for residents not near an LIRR station. We need more energy conservation, substitution of carbon-based fuels and advances in technology to create biofuels and cheaper and more efficient solar and wind powered energy.

We had our first energy crisis in the 1970s. Why have we not learned our lesson yet? We need lower-cost mass transit, not more expensive mass transit. Without leadership and vision from an MTA that answers to the public, this will never happen.

The first step must be a moratorium on all proposed MTA fare increases. Second, the MTA must be audited and restructured in a way to streamline its operations and make its officials accountable to the people it serves. Third, city and state officials must make a real effort to increase mass transit and make it an easy and inexpensive option for the hard-working people of the five boroughs.

A long-term view is exactly what the MTA needs. The city and the state must realize that our subway system is vital to our economic health and not let it continue to deteriorate. Getting the MTA to tighten it's budget and learn to audit itself is another must. Plenty of cities around the country and the world operate fantastic subways, shouldn't New York be able to say the same thing?

Remember This Soldier!

Anyone who hears a Republican criticize a Democratic member of not supporting the troops should see this and shove it right back into the GOP's hypocritical mouth:

Jeff Weaver Sees Greek Tragedy In John McCain

First of all, in case you do not know, Jeff Weaver is the architect of the "Straight-Talk Express." No, not the term you hear flaunted around on the trail these days by the Arizona Senator. This was created over a decade ago by a GOP strategist who saw promise in a different kind of Republican....or so he thought. Weaver led the 2000 campaign and the 2008 attempt, only to be let go in the middle of last summer when McCain was all but out. Now Jeff Weaver is ready to straight-talk the straight-talk express, or what is left of it.

From The Texas Monthly:

Weaver is starkly pessimistic about the Republicans’ prospects this year. “We’re sailing into a hurricane in a wooden boat,” he told me. “We’re the party in power, so we’ll get blamed for the home loans crisis and government bailouts. There’s the ‘third [Bush] term’ issue, a recession, the wrong-track number—it’s ninety in Michigan, there may be a higher number somewhere, like Chechnya—gas prices, Nixon-like job approval, and an unpopular war. This isn’t like 1988, when we could win by talking about flag lapel pins and Willie Horton. Today, if you talk about these things, it’s talking about small ball. It will just piss people off.”

Sure enough, a few days later, when the McCain camp released a memo accusing his rival of self-aggrandizement, accompanied by a television ad negatively comparing Obama’s “celebrity” to that of Britney Spears’s and Paris Hilton’s, Weaver told Marc Ambinder, of the Atlantic Monthly, that his successors were adopting a style that “diminishes John McCain.” Calling the ad’s premise “childish,” Weaver noted, “John’s been a celebrity ever since he was shot down.”

Weaver is no longer shy about offering his critique of the campaign, or of the Republican party. He is, in many respects, a man with nothing to lose. At 49, he has twice been within reach of the ultimate achievement for a political consultant, to run a successful campaign for president of the United States. Twice he fell short. Nor have his struggles been confined to the political. In 2002 he was diagnosed with leukemia and started sixteen months of chemotherapy. (He has been free of the disease for almost four years.) As he told the New York Observer in 2004, shortly after the news broke that he had helped put McCain in touch with Democratic nominee John Kerry, leading to speculation that the Arizona senator might become Kerry’s running mate, “Get divorced, quit your job, switch parties, and get leukemia in one year—this is not a recipe for success.”

The article in TM goes much further into depth about Weaver's life and his upbringing in the Republican party with the help of another GOP politician and McCain confidante, Phil Gramm. Perhaps Weaver just got sick of the negativity he saw from the party he has worked for in the last twenty-plus years. Or maybe the break started with his separation from one-time partner and fellow Texan Karl Rove in the eighties. Whatever the case may be, it is refreshing to hear some candor from a (former) GOP insider.

Barack Obama Fights Back Against A Fringe Bigot

Barack Obama's campaign may call Jerome Corsi a fringe bigot who is peddling lies, but he is much more than that. Corsi is what the GOP is banking on. They have no issues to win Americans over. The only thing McCain and the Republicans are offering is more of the same, another four years tacked on to the last miserable eight. So they must smear Obama in order to have a chance at winning. Unfortunately for Corsi and his ilk, Barack is going to fight back and he isn't taking names.

From RawStory:

The Obama campaign picked apart the book's claims in a rebuttal titled "Unfit For Publication," to be posted on the Obama campaign's rumor-fighting Web site, FightTheSmears.com. The title is a play on the book Corsi co-authored against 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military service called "Unfit For Command."

"Jerome Corsi is a discredited liar who is peddling another piece of garbage to continue the Bush-Cheney politics he helped perpetuate four years ago," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. "His is just one of what will likely be many more lie-filled books rushed to print this election cycle, which are cobbled together from debunked Internet sources to make money and advance a partisan agenda. We will respond to these smears forcefully with all means at our disposal."

Corsi's book is off to a swift start and is No. 1 on The New York Times' hardcover nonfiction best-seller list, even though Obama's campaign would argue the book should be listed as fiction.

The fiction Corsi is peddling is nothing of the sort to lull children off to sleep. The book is a white supremacists dream (in fact he has promoted the book on two white supremacist radio shows so far). He drags up old rumors that have been discredited, he writes about his mom's "second man of color to be her mate." Corsi accuses him of using drugs and slams Islam simply because his middle name is Hussein. Corsi is nothing more than a piece of shit liar who is financed by people that can not debate Obama on the issues. This man has zero credibility and should be treated as such.

I'll leave you with this:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Corsi defended raising the issue of drugs without any evidence.

"I don't need more," he said. "I'm putting this question forward. I'm putting the evidence forward. Voters can make up their own minds."

Corsi writes for World Net Daily, a conservative Web site whose lead headline Thursday was "Astonishing photo claims: Dead Bigfoot stored on ice."

Now for those conservative Republicans out there that are still frothing at the mouth over this, just try and imagine someone with Corsi's background wrote the same type of drivel about McCain.....that is right, you can't, because it doesn't exist.

Happy Birthday Social Security

Who else would be better to wish the program a happy 73rd birthday than Franklin Delano Roosevelt's grandson?

Jackson Browne Sues John McCain

"Running on Empty" is one of Jackson Browne's greatest hits and a rock 'n' roll classic. However, it is at the center of a lawsuit brought against John McCain by the award-winning artist. See, John McCain and the RNC used the song in a commercial to mock Barack Obama, but they forgot to ask for permission to use it. Now the Republicans have to deal with Browne in court.

From The Wall Street Journal:

The suit alleges that Senator McCain and the Republican Party failed to obtain a license for the use of Mr. Browne's song in the television commercial. In the commercial, Senator McCain and the Republicans mock Democratic candidate for President Barack Obama for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation.

In addition to a claim for copyright infringement, the suit alleges that by using a song famously associated with Mr. Browne, Senator McCain and the Republican Party violated the United States Lanham Act by falsely suggesting that Mr. Browne is associated with and endorses Senator McCain's candidacy. The suit also alleges that the use of Mr. Browne's voice in the commercial violates Mr. Browne's right of publicity under California law. The suit seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of Running On Empty and any other Jackson Browne composition, as well as damages.

"We are confident that Jackson Browne will prevail in this lawsuit. Not only have Senator McCain and his agents plainly infringed Mr. Browne's copyright in Running On Empty, but the Federal Courts have long held that the unauthorized use of a famous singer's voice in a commercial constitutes a false endorsement and a violation of the singer's right of publicity," Lawrence Iser of the Santa Monica, California law firm Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert said. "In light of Jackson Browne's lifelong commitment to Democratic ideals and political candidates, the misappropriation of Jackson Browne's endorsement is entirely reprehensible, and I have no doubt that a jury will agree."

I've never gotten why conservatives and/or Republicans like to use liberal artist's recordings so much for their ads and campaign rallies. Perhaps it is because they want to co-opt the messages within the song (especially Reagan's use of Born in the USA) and flip them upside down. Though I think in this case there is simply no talent on the right and being creative is typically a liberal trait. Of course, when it comes to being sneaky, deceptive and hypocritical....the GOP takes the cake. And this year, McCain is their (dimly) glowing candle on top of that pie.

Congressman Bill Sali, Idaho's Resident Idiot

Somehow, some way, Bill Sali gets to represent Idaho's 1st district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but his tenure in the Idaho State House and the political makeup of the state got him in the seat two years ago. Sali has made many blunders, provoking ire from all directions. His latest outburst however, is just downright loony.

From ThinkProgress:

Rep. Bill Sali (R-ID), who is participating in the GOP’s ongoing “Drill Now” energy stunt, has a unique idea about how to bring down gas prices: extracting oil from trees. In a meeting in his Capitol Hill office, Sali reportedly told a candidate for Idaho’s House of Representatives, Byron Yankey, that there “‘could be up to 40 barrels of oil‘ in a single tree.” Yankey wrote on his campaign blog:

Congressman Sali informed us that a solution to the high price of gasoline was to make petroleum from “all those trees in our forests.” … He continued by saying there “could be up to 40 barrels of oil” in a single tree.[...]

Sali is apparently confusing cellulosic ethanol with oil, so let’s review the differences for the representative:

– Cellulosic ethanol is a renewable fuel “derived from the stalks and stems of plants.” Sali voted against cellulosic ethanol tax credits.

– Oil is a nonrenewable fuel found in the ground. Sali received $35,000 in campaign contributions from oil and gas companies since January 2007.

Sali is a confused man, but judging his campaign coffers, his motivations are crystal clear. Though maybe he would rather clear-cut the trees and extract possible oil shale. Whatever it takes to please the oil lobbyists, Bill Sali is game.

Huckabee Thinks Romney Flip-Flops Too Much

Huckabee may think that Romney is too much of a flip-flopper, but that sounds like a perfect match for McCain:

NM Repub Accuses Dem Of 'Cutting Troops Throats'

The violent language that the right wing uses in this country knows no bounds. Commentators like Sean Hannity and Michael Savage spew their hate on the airwaves and eventually it is regurgitated by schmucks like Ed Tinsley. Tinsley is running for Congress in the open seat of New Mexico's second district. At a recent debate, this is what he had to say about Democrats and supporting the troops.

From NM FBIHOP:

Did we find Ed Tinsley's macaca moment? To be honest, I would think that Tinsley was the least likely of the serious Republican candidates to come off and say something this incredibly stupid. Steve Pearce talks off the cuff and doesn't care what others think; Darren White has a legendary temper. And Dan East... well, I have very little idea about him at all -- and he has virtually no chance against Ben Ray Lujan.

But Tinsley, at the Association of Commerce and Industry (ACI) candidate forum this weekend, Tinsley said: "How can I call my two nephews over there right now... and tell them I'm running against a guy that will cut your throat. That will cut the bottom out of your funding. That will..."

Tinsley was cut out by the booing and "shame on you" chants from the crowd. This was no liberal shindig either, the ACI is a moderate to conservative association but no matter what most Americans views are, they do not take kindly to hearing that disgusting language. It has no place in that forum and certainly no place in Congress. The voters of New Mexico's 2nd district will definitely take that into account come November.

Oh and by the way, the party that stymies funding for the troops isn't the Democrats, that would be the hypocritical GOP. Unfortunately as the article reads, the local media did not report the controversial comments but the internets have a funny way of getting stories like this where they need to go.