Oregon Elephant

This editorial in the Washington Post today is a great, well-balanced view of McCain's history on government regulation. The bottom line - he's generally anti-government regulation, but has always been an advocate of common sense regulation of the financial markets, and has a much clearer record on this than Obama does. Here's an interesting snippet: Mr. McCain was an early voice calling for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt, charging that he "seems to prefer industry self-policing to necessary lawmaking. Government's demands for corporate accountability are only credible if government executives are held accountable as well." In 2006, he pushed for stronger regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- while Mr. Obama was notably silent. "If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financi...

I admit, being a McCain supporter, I certainly have my issues with Obama (such as the fact that he's woefully unqualified to be President), but the criticism of him for being a community organizer seems a little silly. Community organizing, according to Wikipedia , is: Community organizing is a process by which people living in proximity to each other, are brought together to act in their common self-interest. Community organizers act as area-wide coordinators of programs for different agencies in an attempt to meet community needs for various services. Community organizers work actively, as do other types of social workers , in community councils of social agencies and in community-action groups. The Wikipedia article goes on to talk about the history of community organizing, and how it goes back to well before the days of Saul Alinsky . It also shows that community organizing principles were used in the building of many grassroots groups, such as the Christian Coalition . No...

He is a right-leaning centrist. He doesn't just follow the party line, but he is more conservative than not. He's not a demagogue or idealogue. He's a good family man. He's pro-life, but not rabidly so (just like me). He's willing to work on solutions to problems, not just make speeches criticizing the other side. Recently he worked with Senator Jack Reed on a bill to lengthen unemployment benefits, for example. He's a commonsense leader, in the TR mold. That's why I'm supporting him. Click on the image above to go to his campaign website.

Christopher Cox, SEC Chairman, responded to McCain's call earlier today for him to be fired: "While I have great respect for Sen. McCain, we have sometimes disagreed, and this is one such occasion. The SEC has made plain that we have zero tolerance for naked short selling. In this market crisis, the men and women of the SEC have responded valiantly as they always do -- with the utmost dedication and professionalism. Addressing the extraordinary challenges facing our markets, the independent and bipartisan SEC has taken the following decisive actions." My take: It seems to me that Cox is treating McCain like a senile old uncle...with the appearance of deference and respect, but with a knowing wink.

Wow...McCain is talking tough today. McCain said today that SEC Commissioner Christopher Cox, a former Republican Congressman who spent 17 years in the House, should be fired: "The Chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the President and has betrayed the public's trust," McCain said, reading deliberately from set remarks at a rally in Cedar Rapids. "If I were President today, I would fire him."

In a sweeping statement reminicent of some of the things Barack Obama has said, Senator McCain said today at a townhall meeting: "We're going to reform how Wall Street does business and put an end to the greed that has driven our markets into chaos." My take: Whoa. Put an end to greed? While he's at it, why doesn't he end pride, envy and covetousness? I know he probably didn't mean what he said...but still...not the best use of the language I've ever seen.

You can read here about a massive pay raise for the Governor, judges and legislators being proposed by a state commission. Wow...and this, in the middle of economic crisis in the U.S. Jeff Kropf has an interesting idea...merit pay for public officials. I'm not against the idea...but how would you measure it? It would seem to me that any system of evaluation for politicians would inevitably become partisan (liberals might see cutting taxes as bad, if public services were reduced...conservatives might see passing a gun control law as bad, etc.). Anyway...it's an interesting idea...and certainly worth examining.

So in the last few days: FNMA (Fannie Mae) and FHLMC (Freddie Mac) were essentially taken over by the federal government. They process about 50% of all the mortgages taken out in the United States ($5.3 trillion). What used to be these companies will now be a Federal Agency under the Treasury Department. Stockholders in these companies essentially lost their entire investment. AIG, the largest insurance company in the United States, with 20 million customers worldwide, has reached an agreement with the Federal Government where AIG will have access to $85 billion worth of credit, to be paid back at 11%+ (a VERY high rate). The Federal Government will own 80% of AIG. A Question What the heck happened to letting the market sort things out? This seems like a HUGE government takeover of business. So far, I've heard almost no objections from conservatives to this massive government involvement. An Answer The truth is, the feds simply had to act. As bad as it is to gobble up these...

The Oregonian is reporting that unemployment in Oregon has hit 6.5 percent. That's slightly higher than the national figure of 6.1% being reported. Just a tangible, Oregon-related number to show the impact of the mess we're in... Here is a graph from the Oregonian article linked above that shows the employment trend in Oregon:

Yes, it's true...try to keep this straight...the Oregon Education Association (the teacher's union), had it's own employees go on strike, for better health-care coverage (among other things). I have to admit...it just seems to give the term "poetic justice" a whole new meaning. Here's the story in the Oregonian...

Well, the big interview is over...in some ways I am less concerned about Palin...but mostly I feel the way I did before. Some highlights: Positive She got through it without any major gaffes. To be honest, this was the main goal. Although she wasn't stellar, she showed her ability to think on her feet when given an unexpected question. Sometimes it wasn't pretty, but it wasn't a bloodbath. She was able to pivot the question on "task from God" to pride in her son nicely. It didn't hurt that attention has been paid to how Charlie Gibson twisted her words. Negative She seemed nervous and tentative. She didn't seem nearly as confident as when giving a speech -- and, let's be honest, did not seem as "Presidential" as Obama. The foreign policy answers seemed rehearsed and wooden. I didn't at all get the feeling the words were coming from her. Even if you're being coached, you need to find a way to translate the information into words that a...

Amanda Carpenter reports on research some are doing on Joe Biden's grandson, and whether he was conceived "out of wedlock", as they say. My two cents: I think this is getting completely out of control. We as conservatives have absolutely no moral authority complaining about the intrusive coverage of Sarah Palin's family if we do the same thing to Joe Biden. I thought it was wrong when they did it to Governor Palin, and it's wrong to do it to Senator Biden. One of the things that causes me to be a conservative is that I really do believe there is a moral code you should govern yourself by. And to dig into Joe Biden's grandson's state of birth (he was born in 1993, so he's 15 now) is just wrong.

When it comes to the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate, I'm with David Frum ...I think it's an irresponsible choice that could (will?) come back to haunt McCain. Of course, there are scurrilous charges that have no merit. Of course, there is media bias. But here are some details that are coming out that are issue-based, and much more troubling to me: She favored many earmarks as Mayor that John McCain specifically criticized (reformer? or opportunist?) She favored the "Bridge to Nowhere" before she opposed it She said in an address to her church that the Natural Gas Pipeline was a "task from God" and that people should "pray for it" (yes, it's the Huffington Post...but they have video) My take: I think it's clear she was a rash choice. I'm not at all comfortable with her as VP. I would strongly have preferred someone like Romney, Pawlenty, Cantor, even Mike Huckabee to her. I think (and I get no plea...