Donations to McCain's campaign from the oil industry
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
ExxonMcCain'08
The Politico.com reports that the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday will launch an “Exxon-McCain ’08” campaign website where ExxonMcCain'08 lapel buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs, complete with gas-pump logo, will be available. Click on the bumper sticker below.
Donations to McCain's campaign from the oil industry
Donations to McCain's campaign from the oil industry
Obama Leads McCain In New AP-Ipsos Poll
AP-Ipsos Poll - A new AP-Ipsos poll just released shows Barack Obama leading John McCain nationally by 6 percentage points. The Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows that Obama is leading his Republican rival 47 percent to 41 percent. McCain has a 10-point lead among whites and is tied with Obama among men. Obama leads by 13 points among women and has huge leads with minorities and the young. Poll Press Release PDF
McCain Chooses Big Oil Over American Families For Gas Price Relief
Robert L. Borosage: The Audacity of Contempt at (Huffington Post) - "Exxon reports a new record in the history of corporatedom. So Barack Obama suggests that we provide every American with a $1000 tax rebate to help pay for rising prices, paid for by levying an excess profits tax on the oil companies. What does the maverick battler of big oil say? No way. McCain angrily dismisses the idea, saying that it would lead the oil companies to reduce their drilling in the US -- but this is based upon what might generously be called a big lie. . . McCain's not about to support a tax on the big oil companies whose executives are helping to fund his campaign. But that won't stop him from selling himself as a maverick promising to "battle Big Oil." If nothing else, he has the audacity of contempt for the very voters he needs to win." Read the full editorial
Republican incumbent for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, Sam Johnson, age 78, Republican incumbent for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, Ralph Hall, age 85, and Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn all stand with Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, age 72, on the issue of continuing big federal tax breaks (gifts) to big oil even as big oil rakes in new record highs in corporate profits quarter after quarter from struggling American families! (See- Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all)
In addition to calling for a excess profits tax on big oil companies, Barack Obama proposed Monday that President Bush, if he is truly interested in immediate gas price relief, immediately sign an executive order to sell 70 million barrels of oil from the government operated strategic petroleum stockpile. This immediate supply of crude oil into the oil markets could serve to break the back of speculative commodity traders who many believe are responsible for as much as 50% of the price increase to $4 per gallon of gasoline Americans are paying to big oil companies.
The so-called "Enron Loophole" was created and attached to U.S. Senate legislation in December 2000 by McCain's former campaign co-chair Senator Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron executives. It was this "loop hole legislation" that Enron exploited to speculatively manipulate electricity commodity trading in California energy markets in the summer of 2001, spawning artificial electricity shortages, steep climbs in electricity prices and rolling brownouts across California. It is this legislation that continues to allow unbridled and unregulated oil and gas commodity trading that has propelled gasoline price increases by as much as an additional 50 percent since mid-2007. Republicans in the Senate recently blocked legislation offered by Senate Democrats that would have closed the so-called "Enron Loophole."
Republican incumbent for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, Sam Johnson, age 78, Republican incumbent for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, Ralph Hall, age 85, and Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn all stand with Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, age 72, on the issue of continuing big federal tax breaks (gifts) to big oil even as big oil rakes in new record highs in corporate profits quarter after quarter from struggling American families! (See- Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all)
In addition to calling for a excess profits tax on big oil companies, Barack Obama proposed Monday that President Bush, if he is truly interested in immediate gas price relief, immediately sign an executive order to sell 70 million barrels of oil from the government operated strategic petroleum stockpile. This immediate supply of crude oil into the oil markets could serve to break the back of speculative commodity traders who many believe are responsible for as much as 50% of the price increase to $4 per gallon of gasoline Americans are paying to big oil companies.
The so-called "Enron Loophole" was created and attached to U.S. Senate legislation in December 2000 by McCain's former campaign co-chair Senator Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron executives. It was this "loop hole legislation" that Enron exploited to speculatively manipulate electricity commodity trading in California energy markets in the summer of 2001, spawning artificial electricity shortages, steep climbs in electricity prices and rolling brownouts across California. It is this legislation that continues to allow unbridled and unregulated oil and gas commodity trading that has propelled gasoline price increases by as much as an additional 50 percent since mid-2007. Republicans in the Senate recently blocked legislation offered by Senate Democrats that would have closed the so-called "Enron Loophole."
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
NYTimes: GOP Drops While Dem Voter Rolls Grow Across U.S.
NYTimes.com, "Well before Senators Barack Obama and John McCain rose to the top of their parties, a partisan shift was under way at the local and state level. For more than three years starting in 2005, there has been a reduction in the number of voters who register with the Republican Party and a rise among voters who affiliate with Democrats and, almost as often, with no party at all.
Voting experts say the registration numbers may signal the beginning of a move away from Republicans that could affect local, state and national politics over several election cycles. In several states Democrats have surprised their own party officials with significant gains in registration." Read the Full Story
This is a trend that has also been observed in traditionally Republican Collin County. During the 2008 Democratic Primary more people voted on the Democratic Primary Ballot than voted for John Kerry (68,935 votes for Kerry) in the 2004 Presidential general election. More than 20,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 Precinct Conventions on March 4th all across Collin County and approximately 4,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 County Convention in Collin County.
There are likely several factors that explain this progressive shift in Collin County. Part of the shift may be explained by Republicans loosing faith in their party leaders. More than half of Republican voters now believe that their Republican leaders, who have controlled America's direction for more than eight years, have taken the country down the wrong track (55%), up from 51% in June, according to a July 2008 Reuters/Zogby national poll of likely voters.
Another part of the shift may be explained by the dramatic population growth across Collin County and the voter demographic shift such growth engenders.
From now and until election day all the Democratic Groups around Collin County will be busy registering new voters and campaigning for the party's local and national candidates. Then, starting on the first day of early voting on October 20th and continuing all the way through to the closing minutes of voting on Election Day November 4th all the Democratic Groups will be busy getting people out to vote.
The Democratic Candidates who will appear on Collin County ballots this fall need your help -- They MUST have your help to win here in traditionally Republican Red Collin County!!
PLEASE contact you neighborhood Obama campaign organizer, the Democratic Party of Collin County, the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County, any of the local Democratic candidates' campaign organizations or any of the other Democratic groups active here in Collin County. Look in the left-hand sidebar of this blog page to find all of the Democratic candidates (see - Democratic Candidates '08) running for office in Collin County that need your help.
PLEASE VOLUNTEER to help Get Out The Vote (GOTV) in this "Change'08" election year!!
Voting experts say the registration numbers may signal the beginning of a move away from Republicans that could affect local, state and national politics over several election cycles. In several states Democrats have surprised their own party officials with significant gains in registration." Read the Full Story
This is a trend that has also been observed in traditionally Republican Collin County. During the 2008 Democratic Primary more people voted on the Democratic Primary Ballot than voted for John Kerry (68,935 votes for Kerry) in the 2004 Presidential general election. More than 20,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 Precinct Conventions on March 4th all across Collin County and approximately 4,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 County Convention in Collin County.
There are likely several factors that explain this progressive shift in Collin County. Part of the shift may be explained by Republicans loosing faith in their party leaders. More than half of Republican voters now believe that their Republican leaders, who have controlled America's direction for more than eight years, have taken the country down the wrong track (55%), up from 51% in June, according to a July 2008 Reuters/Zogby national poll of likely voters.
Another part of the shift may be explained by the dramatic population growth across Collin County and the voter demographic shift such growth engenders.
| Collin County Historical Populations | ||
| Census | Pop. | %± |
|---|---|---|
| 2008~ | 758,500 | +8.5% |
| 2006* | 698,851 | +11% |
| 2004* | 625,000 | +27% |
| 2000 | 491,675 | +86.2% |
| 1990 | 264,036 | +82.6% |
| * - Estimated | ||
- 28.70% under the age of 18,
- 7.40% from 18 to 24,
- 37.90% from 25 to 44,
- 20.70% from 45 to 64, and
- 5.30% who were 65 years of age or older.
From now and until election day all the Democratic Groups around Collin County will be busy registering new voters and campaigning for the party's local and national candidates. Then, starting on the first day of early voting on October 20th and continuing all the way through to the closing minutes of voting on Election Day November 4th all the Democratic Groups will be busy getting people out to vote.
The Democratic Candidates who will appear on Collin County ballots this fall need your help -- They MUST have your help to win here in traditionally Republican Red Collin County!!
PLEASE contact you neighborhood Obama campaign organizer, the Democratic Party of Collin County, the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County, any of the local Democratic candidates' campaign organizations or any of the other Democratic groups active here in Collin County. Look in the left-hand sidebar of this blog page to find all of the Democratic candidates (see - Democratic Candidates '08) running for office in Collin County that need your help.
PLEASE VOLUNTEER to help Get Out The Vote (GOTV) in this "Change'08" election year!!
Possible that Obama Leads By 100+ Electoral Votes
Huffington Post, "Despite Media Narrative, Obama Leads By Over 100 Electoral Votes According To Independent Groups. It's quite instructive to see how the independent groups (and even right-leaning ones) currently see the state of the race through the only prism that matters -- the Electoral College."
Read the full Huffington Post Posting
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Read the full Huffington Post Posting
WaPo Blog: Swift Boat Veterans Take Aim At Obama
Washington Post Blog, "Just as they sought to destroy John Kerry in 2004, the founders of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group are aiming their guns at this season's presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. But unlike four years ago, when the Swifties spent millions to discredit Kerry, their hit on Barack Obama so far hasn't cost them a dime.
The opening assault came over the weekend in the form of a mass email to would-be sympathizers. "As liberal as Kerry was, America faces an even more liberal threat today: Barack Obama," wrote John O'Neill, a founder of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who co-authored the book "Unfit for Command," the attack (or smear) on Kerry's Vietnam War record."
Read the rest of the story
The opening assault came over the weekend in the form of a mass email to would-be sympathizers. "As liberal as Kerry was, America faces an even more liberal threat today: Barack Obama," wrote John O'Neill, a founder of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who co-authored the book "Unfit for Command," the attack (or smear) on Kerry's Vietnam War record."
Read the rest of the story
Monday, August 4, 2008
West Texas Wind Turbines
Giant wind turbines are not uncommon in the wide open West Texas plains. But there's a big problem getting that electricity out to the big cities like Dallas and Houston.
Listen to this Marketplace Radio Report:
Tom Daley, Democratic candidate for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, age 44, and Glenn Melançon Democratic candidate for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, age 42, do understand the dramatic revolution to American industry, white and blue collar job availability and personal life style that 21st century clean alternative energy technologies can bring to a 21st century America and Texas. Both Democratic congressional candidates, whose districts meet down the middle of Collin County, stand with U.S. Senate Democratic Candidate for Texas, Rick Noriega, and the Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, for the deployment of clean alternative energy technologies for a better America and a better Texas.
Listen to this Marketplace Radio Report:
Tom Daley, Democratic candidate for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, age 44, and Glenn Melançon Democratic candidate for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, age 42, do understand the dramatic revolution to American industry, white and blue collar job availability and personal life style that 21st century clean alternative energy technologies can bring to a 21st century America and Texas. Both Democratic congressional candidates, whose districts meet down the middle of Collin County, stand with U.S. Senate Democratic Candidate for Texas, Rick Noriega, and the Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, for the deployment of clean alternative energy technologies for a better America and a better Texas.
American Tax Payers Paying the Price for Republican's Zeal to Deregulate
Immediately after Republicans eliminated the regulatory guidelines of prudent banking practices, unscrupulous home mortgage lenders were free to unfairly prey on both American home buyers and securities investors. Mortgage lenders were free to aggressively market risky sub-prime home mortgages to unsuspecting home buyers and then speculatively trade those risky sub-prime loans in securities markets to such unrestrained levels that the U.S. Federal Reserve and FDIC are now forced into government bailouts of banks and private securities companies to avert economic disaster.
The U.S. Federal Reserve and FDIC were forced into such a Federal bailouts of Bear Stearns in March 2008 and IndyMac Bank in California in July 2008 over these risky sub-prime mortgage loan trading practices. The depth of sub-prime mortgage loan risks to the U.S. economy are yet unfolding with thousands more American homeowners losing their homes every month through foreclosure.
Republicans would rather allow banks and brokers to take unmitigated and unregulated risks, to profit the few, and then socialize the bailout cost of those "too big to fail" by adding the rotten fruits of their bad decisions onto the public debt.
The United States is in the second inning of a recession that will last for at least 18 months and help kill off hundreds of banks, influential economist and New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini recently told Barron's in an interview.
Taxpayers will pay a big price for helping bail out the rest of the financial services industry as well, Roubini said; likely in excess of $1 trillion and possibly closer to $2 trillion. The banks will become insolvent because of mounting losses as a result of the housing bust and because they have only written down their sub-prime loans so far, he said. Still in front of them are their consumer-credit losses, for which they lack the reserves, Barron's reported. He also said there are hundreds of millions of dollars outstanding in home-equity loans that could be worth zero, too.
Democrats favor legislation that will restore the federal banking regulatory authority that the Republicans discarded in their zeal to eliminate any and all protective government oversight in every quarter of American financing and commerce.
Read RawStory's article, "Expert on bailouts: Bank regulators should investigate themselves" for additional background.
The U.S. Federal Reserve and FDIC were forced into such a Federal bailouts of Bear Stearns in March 2008 and IndyMac Bank in California in July 2008 over these risky sub-prime mortgage loan trading practices. The depth of sub-prime mortgage loan risks to the U.S. economy are yet unfolding with thousands more American homeowners losing their homes every month through foreclosure.
Republicans would rather allow banks and brokers to take unmitigated and unregulated risks, to profit the few, and then socialize the bailout cost of those "too big to fail" by adding the rotten fruits of their bad decisions onto the public debt.
The United States is in the second inning of a recession that will last for at least 18 months and help kill off hundreds of banks, influential economist and New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini recently told Barron's in an interview.
Taxpayers will pay a big price for helping bail out the rest of the financial services industry as well, Roubini said; likely in excess of $1 trillion and possibly closer to $2 trillion. The banks will become insolvent because of mounting losses as a result of the housing bust and because they have only written down their sub-prime loans so far, he said. Still in front of them are their consumer-credit losses, for which they lack the reserves, Barron's reported. He also said there are hundreds of millions of dollars outstanding in home-equity loans that could be worth zero, too.
Democrats favor legislation that will restore the federal banking regulatory authority that the Republicans discarded in their zeal to eliminate any and all protective government oversight in every quarter of American financing and commerce.
Read RawStory's article, "Expert on bailouts: Bank regulators should investigate themselves" for additional background.
WaPo: GOP Tries To Scare New Voters Away From the Polls
The Washington Post - Editorial Section, "In Virgina, as in other states, loads of first-time voters are registering to cast ballots in the fall elections . . . As registration drives accelerate, including those run by the Barack Obama campaign and its allies, it's no wonder that Republicans are increasingly anxious about retaining their hold on a state that GOP presidential candidates have carried since 1968. What is surprising is their utterly baseless charge of "coordinated and widespread voter fraud" . . . The allegation of a "very serious and troubling trend" of registration fraud is unsupported by election officials, police or prosecutors. It is couched in the toxic language of gauzy innuendo, insidious suggestion and simple fear." Read the rest of the story in the WaPo.
House Republicans On Floor Of Empty Chamber in Drill More Holes Push
RawStory.com - Read the full story
Excerpts from RawStory:
It will take more than ten years for drilling new oil wells in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and in off shore locations to drop prices by perhaps as much as a few cents per gal.
On the other hand, while Republicans pontificated in an empty House chamber to gin up an election year political diversion, Barack Obama proposed Monday that the government sell 70 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum stockpile. This immediate supply of crude oil into the oil markets could serve to break the back of speculative commodity traders who many believe are responsible for as much as 50% of the price increase to $4 per gallon of gasoline Americans are paying to big oil companies. (Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all)
The so-called "Enron Loophole" was created and attached to U.S. Senate legislation in December 2000 by McCain's former campaign co-chair Senator Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron executives. It was this "loop hole legislation" that Enron exploited to speculatively manipulate electricity commodity trading in California energy markets in the summer of 2001, spawning artificial electricity shortages, steep climbs in electricity prices and rolling brownouts across California. It is this legislation that continues to allow unbridled and unregulated oil and gas commodity trading that has propelled gasoline price increases by as much as an additional 50 percent since mid-2007. Republicans in the Senate recently blocked legislation offered by Senate Democrats that would have closed the so-called "Enron Loophole."
Excerpts from RawStory:
|
It will take more than ten years for drilling new oil wells in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and in off shore locations to drop prices by perhaps as much as a few cents per gal.
On the other hand, while Republicans pontificated in an empty House chamber to gin up an election year political diversion, Barack Obama proposed Monday that the government sell 70 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum stockpile. This immediate supply of crude oil into the oil markets could serve to break the back of speculative commodity traders who many believe are responsible for as much as 50% of the price increase to $4 per gallon of gasoline Americans are paying to big oil companies. (Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all)
The so-called "Enron Loophole" was created and attached to U.S. Senate legislation in December 2000 by McCain's former campaign co-chair Senator Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron executives. It was this "loop hole legislation" that Enron exploited to speculatively manipulate electricity commodity trading in California energy markets in the summer of 2001, spawning artificial electricity shortages, steep climbs in electricity prices and rolling brownouts across California. It is this legislation that continues to allow unbridled and unregulated oil and gas commodity trading that has propelled gasoline price increases by as much as an additional 50 percent since mid-2007. Republicans in the Senate recently blocked legislation offered by Senate Democrats that would have closed the so-called "Enron Loophole."
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