Haiti

Is anyone tired of hearing about Haiti yet? I sure as hell am. Haiti this, Haiti that. Who gives a fuck? Haiti is too goddamn far away to give a damn about. Am I the only one on this? It just seems to me that most Americans care more about what is happening in other parts of the world instead of worrying about what is happening in their own backyards. I’ve heard that Haiti has received more contributions from Americans than did Katrina victims. Isn’t that nice? Fuck the people in New Orleans! Let’s help the people in Haiti! New Orleans is still suffering in the aftermath of Katrina but no one gives a fuck. Look at Bush, he still doesn’t give a fuck. Even he wants to help Haiti, but where the fuck was he during Katrina? He was enjoying ice cream and birthday cake with John McCain: “Fuck the niggers in New Orleans, I’m gonna enjoy this here ice cream and cake with my good pal Johnny McCain.” 

You’ve just gotta love America. No wonder we are crumbling. We care more about other countries than we do our own. We’re over there in the middle east blowing up brown people while we brainwash our citizens into believing the soldiers are dying for their freedom. Our freedom was already bought and sold hundreds of fucking years ago. I can’t believe people buy this bullshit. We’re so busy worrying about other countries and other stupid shit to realize that our own freedoms at home are diminishing. But no one notices and no one seems to care. Well fuck America and fuck Haiti. I know some of you are thinking it too but I seem to be the only one with the balls to say it.

Obama Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.

The proposal is politically problematic for President Obama, however, since it is similar to one he denounced in the presidential campaign as “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” Most Americans with insurance get it from their employers, and taxing workers for the benefit is opposed by union leaders and some businesses.

In television advertisements last fall, Mr. Obama criticized his Republican rival for the presidency, Senator John McCain of Arizona, for proposing to tax all employer-provided health benefits. The benefits have long been tax-free, regardless of how generous they are or how much an employee earns. The advertisements did not point out that Mr. McCain, in exchange, wanted to give all families a tax credit to subsidize the purchase of coverage.

NYT

What a fucking hypocrite. Fuck you, Obama. Keep this shit up and you can kiss 2012 goodbye.

Arizona Gov. Napolitano to become Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano will become the Obama administration's secretary of homeland security. I guess this will help John McCain in his reelection to the senate in 2010. The rumor going around was that Napolitano was going to try to capture McCain's senate seat when he completed his fourth term, and she completed her second and final term as governor. Early polls have predicted that Napolitano was favored to win in a Napolitano versus McCain race. A statewide poll taken in August of last year showed Napolitano leading McCain 47-36 percent. She's apparently more popular than McCain with an approval rating hovering about 60 percent, and in 2005 was named one of America's five best governors, calling her “A Mountaineer on the Political Rise.”

I bet McCain is breathing a little easier tonight.

Sarah Palin needs to go home/Future of the GOP

Is anyone else getting tired of hearing about Sarah Palin? All I hear is Palin this, Palin that. Why is she giving interview after interview? I heard that she is still giving her stump speech in interviews. Doesn't she know that she lost the election? Is she trying to make up for the lost opportunities during the campaign? She said she wished she gave more interviews during the campaign. Then why the hell didn't she?

Doesn't Palin still have a job in Alaska to attend to? Last I checked she was still Governor of Alaska. Why the hell isn't she doing her job? I wonder what her approval rating in Alaska is right now. Who is running the state, anyway? It's no surprise that the residents are wearing pins that say "Where's Sarah?"

I am tired of hearing this nonsense about the Republicans nominating Palin for President in 2012. Are the Republicans seriously considering this? One of the main reasons why McCain lost was because of Sarah Palin. Didn't they get the memo? As many as 60% of voters said that they thought Palin wasn't qualified to be President. Is it possible she'll be considered Presidential material in four years? Maybe. She's probably trying to redeem herself with all these interviews. But people aren't going to forget the blunders she made during the 2008 campaign.

Why are we even talking about this, anyway? Has anyone heard from Geraldine Ferraro lately? I didn't think so. What about John Edwards? Oh yeah, him. He ran in 2004, and lost, tried again in 2008 and what? You guessed it. He lost. Sure, let Palin run in 2012. If Palin is all the Republicans have to offer, then that's fine with me. It will seal President Obama's second term.

Would someone please tell Sarah that the people in Alaska want their Governor in Lipstick back? And tell her to forget about a Presidential run in 2012, it would be a waste of her and the Republican's time.

The Republicans should go with Bobby Jindal. He looks like a promising candidate for the future of the GOP. But I think they should probably hold him until 2016, because more than likely, Obama will win his second term. I mean, if we couldn't get rid of Bush in 2004, what makes you think we'll get rid of Obama in four years? 2016 is the year the Republicans just might have a chance at reclaiming the Presidency. They should run Jindal then. For 2012, I guess they could stick Tim Pawlenty in there for laughs.

My prediction for the election

Here's my predictions for Election Day:

Obama will win the popular vote 52-46 and the electoral vote 396-142.

Democrats will have 57 seats in the senate and 249 in the house.

Here's the map:

Much to McCain's chagrin, he will not carry Pennsylvania and will not win the Presidency.

Obama will win Florida 49-45, an unexpected upset in Georgia, a victory by 2 points, North Carlina 2 points, Virginia 5 points, Pennsylvania 7 points, Ohio 5 points, Indiana 2 points, Missouri 2 points, Colorado by 5 points, Nevada 4 points, New Mexico 9 points, and somewhat predicted upsets in Montana and North Dakota by a few points. Oh, and I forgot New Hampshire, I am sure Obama will win there by about 7 points.

Around 8pm they will call Virginia for Obama, along with Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida. They will announce Obama the winner by 9pm.

Voter turnout will be historic, 180 million Americans will have voted in this election.

McCain will concede around midnight.

Happy voting everyone.

Electoral Analysis

The latest polls show that McCain is in trouble in Georgia and other, formerly Republican strongholds. McCain leads Obama by a mere 2 points (48.8-46.2) in Georgia, and 5 points (49-44) in his home state of Arizona, where a few polls show the race as close as 2 points.

Both candidates are tied in usually reliable Republican states like Indiana, Montana, North Dakota and the ultimate swing state of Missouri. McCain has weak leads in South Dakota 50-41, Mississippi, 53-45 and West Virginia, 51-43.

Obama is ahead in every swing state, with his lead growing every day and is getting stronger in Democratic states, while McCain is getting weaker in Republican states.

Latest polls:

State Obama McCain

Nevada: 50 43
Colorado: 51 44
Ohio: 50 43
Virginia: 51 44
N. Carolina: 49 47
Florida: 48 45

Obama is strong in all of the states Gore and Kerry won in 2000 and 2004. As long as Obama hangs onto all the states Gore won in 2000, which total 264 electoral votes, he will need to pick up just one more state equaling 6 electoral votes or more to get to the magic number of 270.

Here are the states Obama has a chance of picking up, in addition to the states Gore won in 2000:

Virginia with its 13 electoral votes, on top of the 264 safe Gore electoral votes, would put Obama over the top with 277 electoral votes.

Colorado, a state with 9 electoral votes, would give Obama a 273-265 lead over his opponent. There is a good chance of a pickup in the state, as he has been leading consistently since February.

Nevada would put Obama at the 269 mark, and if he doesn't pick up Virginia, or any other battleground state, then the race would be a tie and this could benefit Obama with a Democratic congress.

Ohio would clinch it for Obama. With it's 20 electoral votes, he wouldn't need to pick up any other state. McCain needs Ohio to win and without it there is just no realistic victory for McCain.

North Carolina, with it's 15 electoral votes would be a big blow to McCain and like Ohio, McCain can't win without it.

Florida, the state's 27 electoral votes that determined the 2000 election, is a Republican stronghold, and without it, Bush wouldn't have won and McCain can't win without it, either.

A Georgia win for Obama would cripple McCain with it's 15 electoral votes. And a win here is possible, with a high turn out among African American voters. African Americans make up 29% of the electorate in the state and is enough to swing the state to the blue column.

Missouri is the ultimate swing state, with it's 11 electoral votes, has voted for the ultimate winner of the election for the past 100 years, getting it wrong just once in 1956. It will be interesting to see if the "Show Me" state lives up to it's reputation of voting for the winner.

Indiana hasn't voted for a Democrat since 1964. And with it's 11 electoral votes, could help put Obama over the top. The chances of Indiana going blue this year are very good. Bush won Indiana by landslide margins in 2000 and 2004. Obama being ahead in the polls there by as many as 7 points is not a good sign for McCain.

A loss in Arizona would kill McCain. McCain needs every electoral vote he can get and without his home state's 10 electoral votes he is finished. Due to the changing demographics in the state, Arizona would have been a swing state in the beginning, but in this late stage of the game Obama has now been able to turn it "purple."

Obama has a knack at turning Republican strongholds purple, and North Dakota and Montana are no exception. Obama and McCain are currently tied there, and should Obama pull off a win in both of these states while not winning any other swing state, with their combined 6 electoral votes, they could tip the election in Obama's favor.


The polls close around 7-7:30 PM on the east coast. If they announce that Obama wins any of the following states: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio. You can rest assured that Obama will be the next President of the United States and it will be a relatively short election night. I'm hoping this is the case, if not, we're going to be in for a long, nail biter.

Regardless of what the polls say right now, this election is not over. Don't become complacent. Make sure you get out and vote. Make sure to get your friends and family to the polls as well.

Myth about the 2004 election

There is a myth about the 2004 election: John Kerry was ahead in the polls throughout the 2004 campaign and still lost the election. I'm glad someone finally debunked the myth that Kerry was ahead in Oct 2004 going into election day. Some of us know that is not true. Kerry was never consistently ahead the way Obama has been this election year.

Take a look at this graph provided by RCP. It shows that Bush was ahead in the popularity polls consistently from September until election day in 2004.




Now compare that to this year (graph provided by pollster):

As you can see from the graph above, Obama has been consistently ahead since September (and since the beginning of the primaries in January) just as Bush was ahead from September till election day in 2004.

Now, if that's not enough to convince you, let's look at the electoral polls:

2004:



2008:

Both graphs provided by Electoral Vote.

As you can see in the 2004 graph, Bush lead Kerry consistently from September till election day and ultimately won the election. The 2008 graph shows that Obama has lead McCain consistently as far back as April. Kerry never had the leads that Obama has had in this election. If you want to look at this election from a 2004 perspective, Obama = Bush, McCain = Kerry, although Obama has had the upper hand in this race from the beginning.

Now if anyone claims that the polls showed Kerry leading Bush in all polls in 2004, direct them here.

The Conventions

Have you been watching the conventions? Particularly the Republican convention that's taking place in Minneapolis this week. Did you see all these crazed supporters waving their signs? Some of them homemade and many of them provided by the campaigns. Let me ask you a question. What is the point of waving these signs around in a building full of people supporting the same candidate? I do not understand this. Who are they going to convince with the signs? Is it to convince themselves that they're doing the right thing by supporting their candidate? "If we all carry a sign then it must mean we're doing the right thing."

I mean, if the convention hall was hosting a competitive rally, with Obama supporters, McCain supporters, Ron Paul and Bob Barr supporters, then it would make sense. Otherwise, I think it's a waste of time waving around a sign showing you're no different than the rest of the brain dead supporters. You support John McCain. I get it. That is why you are at the Republican convention in the first place. Why else would you be there? To protest? The protesters usually get thrown out, so I don't see the point in going. I figure, if you're in a building full of fellow supporters, why bother waving a sign? Put down the sign and save your arm. I bet there were a lot of sore arms at the end of the day.

Am I the only one that feels this way?

U.S. to announce over $1 billion in aid for Georgia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration will announce on Wednesday an aid package of more than $1 billion to help Georgia rebuild after its war with Russia over the separatist enclave of South Ossetia last month, U.S. officials said.

The aid was to be unveiled as Vice President Dick Cheney began a trip to the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine designed to show U.S. support for its allies in the region despite Russia's military intervention.

Moscow sent tanks and troops into Georgia last month to crush the Georgian government's attempt to reassert control over South Ossetia.

Russia's action, and its subsequent recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian region, as independent states has drawn condemnation from the West but few tangible actions to punish Moscow.

Sources familiar with the U.S. aid package said it was expected to total about $1.07 billion for reconstruction, with $570 million to be disbursed this year and $500 million subsequently. None of the money is expected to go for military aid, a highly sensitive issue to Moscow, the sources said.

A significant proportion would be devoted to budget support as well as to rebuild housing, transportation and other infrastructure destroyed in the conflict, one source said.

The White House plans to approach the campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain to seek their commitment to continue the assistance after President George W. Bush leaves office on January 20, the sources said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to announce the aid package Georgia and Bush was to issue a statement about it.

I am getting tired of stunts like this. Why the fuck should we fork over a billion dollars to aide Georgia, when we can't even afford our own expenses? How come we don't force Russia to pay for the damages they've made in Georgia's country?

These asshole Republicans have no problem sending our money overseas and helping other countries but we can't give money to our own citizens to help them. We seem to care more about other countries than we do our own. Isn't this fucking sad? Fuck the other countries! Fuck the Republicans! You assholes are going to have your asses handed to you in November.

Congress

America doesn't overly approve of the job Congress is doing in Washington. Currently their approval rating is 17.3% - while Bush's approval rating is 30%. And regardless of their approval ratings or productivity, they still get a paycheck. Something is wrong here, don't you think?

Well, I've proposed an idea that might help congress become more productive. What we ought to do is is pay them minimum wage until they work on a plan to reduce the deficit. Cut off all lobbyist money from these assholes. Make them do their job and fire them all if necessary.

I think that might put fire under their asses. Let them feel how it's like to work for minimum wage. Show them what it's like to really work for someone, and don't let them forget that they work for us.

If that's too radical for ya, then how about this:

Currently,

Congressmen & Senators earn $165,200
Majority & Minority Leaders earn $180,100
Speaker of the House earns $208,100

In my opinion, that is more than what they're worth. I'd cut all their salaries in half, thus:

Congressmen & Senators would earn $82,600
Majority & Minority Leaders would earn $90,050
Speaker of the House would earn $104,050

Maybe that will motivate them a little bit and remind them that they work for the citizens of the USA.

And once they balance the budget and help kill the deficit, I still wouldn't let them off easy. I'd make their approval rating determine their salary. Fuck 'em. I think that would encourage them to work together and get things done, wouldn't you say?

Media Coverage on Election '08

If you have been paying attention this election season, then you know it's been a wild ride. And if you haven't, you must be living in a cave if you don't know what is going on, because the election coverage is EVERYWHERE. The media coverage is a little ridiculous. Does anyone care how many houses John McCain owns? Or what car he drives? Are they really interested in this stuff? You don't see the media covering the issues, though. Where does Barack Obama or John McCain stand on such and such an issue? Ask anyone and see what the response is. Chances are they don't know. I think the media should focus on the issues and ignore this celebrity gossip crap. If they are going to cover the campaigns, then they need to do it right and inform the citizens so that they can make an educated decision come November. Now, I know people should do their own research, but how many people actually do it? Not many. They rely on what the media has to say. And one only has to look at the outcome of the 2000 and 2004 elections to understand this.