Wednesday, 25. June 2008, 16:42:02
So it is campaign time again and time for all good voters to endure the SHOW.
I am in awe at how people get so passionate about their choice for president. It seems they just don't remember from one election to the next about promises made and promises broken. Wouldn't it be easy to latch onto the idealism promised by one or the strength and experience of another? Yet a look at the past shows we just can't do that. We do remember presidents of past, right? Are we naive enough to think that we will actually choose one that will do better?
But at last, we must choose the lesser of two evils. Keep this in mind as we listen to what they are saying to us.
Obama Polishes His ResumeObama has released his first post-primary ad, a 60-second spot that's airing in 18 battleground states. In effect, "Country I Love" is Obama's first ad of the general election campaign, and as such it invites scrutiny.
The ad talks about laws that Obama "passed," but in fact, he sponsored only one of the three bills mentioned and cosponsored another. The third included provisions from some bills he'd sponsored earlier, but his name wasn't attached to the one that passed. And two of the three laws were accomplishments of the Illinois Legislature, not the U.S. Senate.
Obama's Lame Claim About McCain's MoneyObama announced he would rely totally on private donations for his general election campaign, opting out of the system of public financing and spending limits.
One reason, he said, is that "John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs."
This is a large exaggeration and a lame excuse. In fact, donations from PACs and lobbyists make up less than 1.7 percent of McCain's total receipts, and they account for only about 1.1 percent of the RNC's receipts.
McCain's energy policy pronouncements.McCain has spent the week focusing on energy policy, making some surprising, and inaccurate, statements.
He said that ending a moratorium on offshore oil drilling "would be very helpful in the short term in resolving our energy crisis." When analyst pointed out that offshore drilling would have no effect until 2030, McCain changed his stance to say it would have a "psychological impact that I think is beneficial."
McCain tried to paint Obama as an opponent of nuclear power, yet Obama has supported bills that contained nuclear subsidies.
McCain's ad, rightly says that he bucked his party in supporting action on climate change years ago. But its images of windmills and solar panels are misleading in that he supports subsidies for nuclear power, which isn't pictured, and opposes them for wind and solar energy.
McCain continues to say that a suspension of the federal gas tax will lower prices for consumers, though hundreds of economists say he is wrong.
Obama's Inflated Health "Savings"Obama says his health care plan will garner large savings – $120 billion a year, or $2,500 per family.
RAND predicts the health care system overall will save $42 billion a year on average throughout the next president's term. Richard Hillestad, a RAND senior principal researcher who led the study, confirms that the health care system won't reach $77 billion in savings until 2019.
McCain claims he "supported every investigation" into the government's role regarding the hurricane, when in fact he twice voted against an independent commission.
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