More Republicans disappointed with McCain

Put Country at Risk with Sarah Palin VP pick.

Matthew Dowd, a prominent political consultant and chief strategist for George W. Bush's reelection campaign eviscerated John McCain on Tuesday for his choice of Sarah Palin as vice president.
Dowd proclaimed that, in his heart of hearts, McCain knew he put the country at risk with his VP choice and that he would "have to live" with that fact for the rest of his career.

"No, I don't agree," said Mark McKinnon, a former McCain aide, after chiding Dowd for claiming particular insight into McCain's soul.

"Well," responded Dowd, "that's even more disturbing than my thought" -- the implication being that it would be truly frightening if McCain didn't know how bad Palin truly was.

Time columnist Joe Klein summed up what seemed to be the panel's Palin consensus.

"It was a gimmick," he said of the pick. "It was one of the most disastrous decisions I have seen in a presidential campaign since I've begun covering them."

John McCain playing the lobbyist game.. hmmmm...

John McCain has said a number of times, he is against lobbyists.

Birds of prey

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called lobbyists “birds of prey” Wednesday and vowed to enforce a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of his administration.

“Whenever there’s a corrupt system, then you’re going to have these birds of prey descend on it to get their share of the spoils,” McCain said in a half-hour interview with Politico following a town-hall meeting in the southern part of this swing state.

McCain’s plan for the strict admonition on future lobbying by White House aides is part of a policy he imposed on his campaign staff this spring after questions were raised about their past clients.

“I would not allow anyone who worked for my administration to go back to lobbying,” McCain said. “They would have to make that pledge.”

But... I guess times are a changing for the McCain campaign based on the investigative report from the Washington Post.

Verizon and AT&T offerings to the McCain campaign

BY JAMES V. GRIMALDI
Washington Post Staff Writer

Early in 2007, just as her husband launched his presidential bid, Cindy McCain sought to resolve an old problem - the lack of cellphone coverage on her remote 15-acre ranch near Sedona, Ariz., nestled deep in a tree-lined canyon called Hidden Valley.

Over the past year, she offered land for a permanent cell tower, and Verizon Wireless embarked on an expensive public process to meet her needs, hiring contractors and seeking county land-use permits.

Verizon ultimately abandoned its effort to install a permanent tower in August. Company spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said the project would be "an inappropriate way" to build its network. "It doesn't make business sense for us to do that," he added.

Instead, Verizon delivered a portable tower known as a "cell site on wheels" - free of charge - to the McCain property in June, after the Secret Service began inquiring about improving coverage in the area. Such devices are used for providing temporary capacity where coverage is lacking or has been knocked out, in circumstances ranging from the Super Bowl to hurricanes.

n July, AT&T followed suit, wheeling in a portable tower for free to match Verizon's offer. "This is an unusual situation," AT&T spokeswoman Claudia B. Jones said. "You can't have a presidential nominee in an area where there is not cell coverage."

Ethics lawyers said Cindy McCain's dealings with the wireless companies stand out because her husband is a senior member of the Senate commerce committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission and the telecommunications industry. He has been a leading advocate for industry-backed legislation, fighting regulations and taxes on telecommunication services.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his campaign have close ties to Verizon and AT&T. Five campaign officials, including manager Rick Davis, have worked as lobbyists for Verizon. Former McCain staff member Robert Fisher is an in-house lobbyist for Verizon and is volunteering for the campaign. Fisher, Verizon chief executive Ivan G. Seidenberg and company lobbyists have raised more than $1.3 million for McCain's presidential effort, and Verizon employees are among the top 20 corporate donors over McCain's political career, giving his campaigns more than $155,000.

McCain's Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, senior strategist Charles R. Black Jr. and several other campaign staff members have registered as AT&T lobbyists in the past. AT&T Executive Vice President Timothy McKone and AT&T lobbyists have raised more than $2.3 million for McCain. AT&T employees have donated more than $325,000 to the Republican's campaigns, putting the company in the No. 3 spot for career donations to McCain, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

"It raises the aura of special consideration for somebody because he is a member of the Senate," said Stanley Brand, a former House counsel for Democrats and an ethics lawyer who represents politicians in both parties.

The hypocrisy of the McCain campaign is really starting to show and the media is bringing it all to us to read.

Donor access to McCain

Over the years, Mr. McCain has nurtured a reputation for bucking the Republican establishment and criticizing the influence of special interests in politics. But an examination of his leadership of the Republican institute — one of the least-chronicled aspects of his political life — reveals an organization in many ways at odds with the political outsider image that has become a touchstone of the McCain campaign for president.

Certainly the institute’s mission is in keeping with Mr. McCain’s full-throated support for exporting American democratic values. Yet the institute is also something of a revolving door for lobbyists and out-of-power Republicans that offers big donors a way of helping both the party and the institute’s chairman, who is the second sitting member of Congress — and now candidate for president — ever to head one of the democracy groups.

Operating without the sort of limits placed on campaign fund-raising, the institute under Mr. McCain has solicited millions of dollars for its operations from some 560 defense contractors, lobbying firms, oil companies and other corporations, many with issues before Senate committees Mr. McCain was on.

By the time AT&T financed the 2006 institute awards dinner, Mr. McCain was no longer the committee’s chairman, but the firm’s merger with BellSouth, pending before the Federal Communications Commission, was of major interest in Congress, which has significant sway over the F.C.C. Mr. McCain rarely opposed telecommunications mergers, but he had raised questions about a previous AT&T merger, with MediaOne, during the 2000 presidential campaign and pledged to hold hearings on telecom industry consolidation. In 2006, however, Mr. McCain remained silent on the AT&T-BellSouth deal, which was eventually approved by the F.C.C.

George Bush - Budget Surplus to Budget Doom

President Bush and his administration inherited a budget surplus from the Clinton administration in 2001. The economy looked to be in relatively good shape based on mid-term economic update.

Budget surplus info from 2001

Washington, DC, August 22, 2001 – The FY 2001 budget surplus is $158 billion, the second largest in U.S. history, according to the Mid-Session Budget Review released today by the Office of Management and Budget

Debt Repayment: From 2002 – 2011 surpluses will allow a total of $2.0 to $2.2 trillion in debt repayment. At the end of 2011, the public debt will total around $1.1 trillion. At 6.1 percent of GDP, this will represent the lowest debt burden since 1917. Public debt will fall to $3.3 trillion at the end of the current year, from a high of $3.8 trillion in 1997.

Document Online: Mid-Session Review, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2002 (August 2001) is available online at www.omb.gov.

Almost 8 years later. Let's look at the economic situation based on July 2008 info.

Current budget deficit 2008-2009

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. budget deficit will widen to a record of about $490 billion next year, an administration official said, leaving a deep budget hole that will constrain the next president's tax and spending plans.

more info from the government.

Let's look at the current economic situation as of October 2008.

Cost of the economic crisis

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The global financial crisis is turning into a bigger drain on the U.S. federal budget than experts estimated two weeks ago, ballooning the deficit toward $2 trillion.

Bailouts of American International Group, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac likely will be more expensive than expected. States are turning to Washington for fiscal help. The Federal Reserve said this week it will begin buying commercial paper, the short- term loans companies used to conduct day-to-day business, further increasing costs. And analysts now say the $700 billion bank- rescue plan passed by Congress last week may have to be significantly larger.

``I always assumed they would be asking for more money along the way if it was necessary, and it looks like it's going to be necessary,'' said Stan Collender, a former analyst for the House and Senate budget committees, now at Qorvis Communications in Washington. ``At the moment, there's nothing happening here that's positive for the budget. Nothing.''

The 2009 budget deficit could be close to $2 trillion, or 12.5 percent of gross domestic product, more than twice the record of 6 percent set in 1983, according to David Greenlaw, Morgan Stanley's chief economist. Two weeks ago, budget analysts said the measures might push deficit to as much as $1.5 trillion.

How in the heck did the Republicans create this economic mess? Fiscal stupidity of the Bush administration is a great answer. John McCain will not make it better; he will stay the course.

Why is the rest of the world falling down with the USA. This chart will show why.

U.S. Debt Held in Foreign Countries

On July 31, 2008, the total federal debt stood at $9.586 trillion. Of that amount, $4.182 trillion was owed to the various “trust funds” (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, federal employees retirement funds, etc.) because the government “borrowed” that money from them. That leaves $5.404 trillion of debt “held by the public.” Of that amount, $2.728 trillion is held domestically by banks, mutual funds, and other U.S. investors. This leaves $2.676 held by foreign countries, institutions and individuals.

Pulse of the Canadian Economy

Canadian Economy updates

The above link shows information of Canada's current economic situation.

	Population 3rd quarter 2008 33,311,389 Unemployment rate September 2008 6.1 % Inflation rate August 2008 3.5 % Real GDP July 2008, % change 0.7 % Exports 2nd quarter 2008, % change -1.5 % Imports 2nd quarter 2008, % change 0.6 % Exchange rate September 2008 - $CAN buys US$ 0.9449 Prime interest rate September 2008 4.75 % S&P/TSX Composite Index September 2008 (1975=1000) 11,752.90 Federal debt 2008 - $ millions 457,637.0 Retail sales July 2008 , % change 0.1 % Housing starts September 2008,thousands 217.6 Composite leading indicator August 2008, % change 0.2 % Last modified: 2008-10-10 Source: Statistics Canada