Hail to the Chief

This is the time. This is the person. President Obama.

After a grueling campaign and a spate of nerves today, I was happy for an early, landslide victory for Obama.

Hope.

'Nuff said

BARacK for OBAMA

Jaeger, who lives in our condo complex along with his very wise human family members -- Grace and Cliff -- wears his allegiance proudly. Jaeger, we're with you -- barking all the way to the voting booth.

The race, the case, a hope for grace.

Conservative columnist and author, Peggy Noonan wrote of her support for Barack Obama in today's WSJ, Opinion (November 1-2, 2008) for president. This is some of what she said:

The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes: He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking; his victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief.

We witnessed from him this year something unique in American politics: He took down a political machine without raising his voice. A great moment: When the press was hitting hard on the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter, he did not respond wit ha politically shrewd "I have no comment," or "We shouldn't judge." Instead he said, "My mother had me when she was 18," which shamed the press and others into silence. He showed grace when he didn't have to.

She goes on to set the scene of a colleague whose 10-year-old duaghter walked in the room to see "Obama Wins" and "Alabama" on the TV screen. The girl said, "Daddy, we saw a documentary on Martin Luther King Day in school. That's where they used the hoses." The year was 1963, the hoses used against civil rights demonstrators. Says Noonan,

This means nothing? This means a great deal.

I might have to read her new book about grace in American politics.

'Nuff said.

This truly is a frightening Halloween

Despite my effort to ignore the economy, every day brings new, outrageous information about how capitalism has been hijacked to benefit the few at the expense of the many. In today's WSJ (Banks Owe Billions to Executives, Ellen E. Schultz, October 31, 2008), Schultz says:

"...overlooked in these efforts [to reign in executive bonuses and pay for banks that have received taxpayer handouts in the billions] is the total size of debts that financial firms receiving taxpayer assistance previously incurred to their executives, which at some firms exceed what they owe in pensions to their entire work force."

The practice of deferred pay to executives is good for executives, "who delay taxes and see their deferred-pay accounts grow, sometimes aided by matching contributions."

When did not paying taxes while receiving money from other tax payers become patriotic?

She goes on,
"Obligations for executive pay are large for a number of reasons. Even as companies have complained about the cost of retiree benefits, they have been awarding larger pay and pensions to executives. At Goldman, for example, the $11.8 billion obligation primarily for deferred executive compensation dwarfed the liability for its broad-based pension plan for all employees. That was just $399 million, and fully funded with set-aside assets."

'Nuff said.

McCain to continue Bush's "kleptocracy"?

Syndicated columnist David Sirota's column today (Here's hoping "White House Cribs" never makes onto the air", Seattle Times, October 27, 2008), talks about the redistribution of wealth during Bush's tenure saying that

"President Bush gave to those making more than $342,000 a year began dramatically shifting the overall tax burden from the rich onto the rest of us. Meanwhile, because of lobbyist-crafted loopholes, most corporations pay zero federal income taxes.." The result -- "When counting all taxes (income, payroll, property, etc.), billionaires and Big Businesses often pay lower effective tax rates than their employees." He goes on to say, "In the age of Halliburton fraud and ExxonMobile subsidies, our government spends $93 billion a year on corporate welfare. (For comparison, that's roughly three times what it spends on a traditional welfare program like food stamps.)"

For the entire article go to http://action.credomobile.com/commentary/index.xml

Both fly, one's a bug -- trick or treat on the Waterfront

Some pictures of Andy from past Halloweens as an aviator and a fireman followed by this year's costumes.



Yesterday's weather was picture perfect for a day trick or treating on the Waterfront. With Sylvia, aka Butterfly, and Andy, aka Superman, we flitted and flew on the candy trail concluding with fun-filled festivities at the Aquarium. Out of the ordinary -- the diver in the tank was costumed, the jelly-fish tank was made into a boat, there was a door to "no where" on the octopus tank (and the octopus was looking unusually scary in keeping with the Halloween theme), the pirates showed up looking very "piratey" and the festivities were upped a notch with the great kid band, the Recess Monkeys. These guys are great! Andy rocked with the other costume bedecked munchkins and I ferried two very tired kids home.

Palin's not qualified say Alaskan women

Friend Kathy sent me this link. It is an interview with two Alaskan women on Sarah Palin. It's honest and enlightening.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/alaskans-get-it.html