California Conservative

Following Monday’s vote on the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout, two things should be clear to the American people: Barack Obama is a sideline watcher and Nancy Pelosi cares more about playing hyperpartisan politics than she cares about doing what’s right for the American people.

When John McCain jumped into the mess last week, 4 House Republican were on board with the bailout. When the final tally was counted yesterday, 65 Republicans voted for the bill. John McCain’s jumping into the fray meant another thing: House Republicans got a seat at the table, allowing them to negotiate into the bill some meaningful provisions that would’ve protected taxpayers to a certain extent. John Boehner worked hard to get Republicans on board. That’s the picture of leadership.

By comparison, Barack Obama wanted to stay away in the worst way. He only returned to Washington because President Bush invited him. That isn’t the picture of leadership. The minute the meeting ended, his jet was winging him away from Washington. He didn’t lift a finger over the weekend. Yes, he stayed in touch with Secretary Paulson but he didn’t call House Democrats urging them to vote for this bill.

He essentially voted present again. That’s unacceptable, especially considering the fact that this was supposedly the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. In my opinion, there’s two reasons why he isn’t interjecting himself into this crisis. (more…)

Last Thursday, Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit reported that St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce and St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch were forming an Obama truth squad:

St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce and St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch are threatening to bring libel charges against those who speak out falsely against Barack Obama.

KMOV aired a story last night, that stated that St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, both Obama supporters, are threatening to bring criminal libel charges against anyone who levels what turns out to be false criticisms of their chosen candidate for President.

Now, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is running this quote from Jennifer Joyce about the OTS:

As a citizen, I believe that elections should be about issues. I also have enormous respect for our First Amendment and freedom of speech. My sole purpose in participating in this initiative is about getting truthful information to the voters. This has never been or never will be about prosecuting people.

Clearly there are those who are attempting to twist the purpose of this initiative for their own benefit. This attack is a great example of how the truth is distorted in campaigns and what we’re trying to stand up against.

Ms. Joyce’s line that she has “enormous respect for our First Amendment” is downright laughable. (more…)

This afternoon, John McCain said that he’s suspending his campaign until the financial crisis is solved:

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

In response, the Obama campaign said that Friday’s debate is still on:

However a senior Obama campaign official said Obama “intends to debate.” “The debate is on,” a senior Obama campaign official told ABC News.

This is a PR blunder of disastrous proportions on the Obama campaign’s behalf. If he’s the only one on stage Friday night, people will know that he chose politics over solving a crisis. Postponing this debate isn’t a big deal. Solving this crisis is important.

Rest assured that Sen. Obama will look petty if he’s the only one on stage Friday night. This plays into Sen. McCain’s Country First theme. It will create a Me First theme for Sen. Obama.

Technorati Tags: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Banking, Crisis, John McCain, Country First, Barack Obama, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Sen. Biden has provided alot of fodder for late night comedians thus far. How much more late night fodder the Obama-Biden can take is anyone’s guess. Here’s Sen. Gaffemeister’s latest:

Here’s the transcript:

Part of what a leader does is to instill confidence. It is to demonstrate that he or she knows what she’s talking about & communicates with people. If you’re following & listening, we can fix this.

When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television & he didn’t just, you know, talk about the princes of greed. He said, “Look, here’s what happened.”

FDR got on TV immediately after the stock market crash? Do tell. Let’s start with a history lesson. FDR wasn’t president when the Stock Market crashed. Hoover was. Second, There weren’t more than a virtual handful of TV’s in operation in 1929. For that matter, people were still probably arguing where this new thing called radio was a passing fad or if it would last.

Sen. Gaffemeister is right. Part of what a leader does is “demonstrate that he or she knows what she’s talking about.” By that definition, he’s just told America that he isn’t a leader. I expect him to distance himself from this comment ASAP. That still won’t change opinions, though. He’s still making a fool of himself.

Technorati Tags: Joe Biden, Stock Market Crash, FDR, Television, Leadership, Gaffes, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

As time unfolds, two important things are becoming increasingly obvious. The most important is that John McCain is a leader. He isn’t afraid to make a decision. When Russia invaded Georgia, Sen. McCain didn’t hesitate in calling Russia out for invading a sovereign nation. When last week’s Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac meltdown happened, he eventually put a plan together that would stabilize the situation.

The other thing that’s apparent to all who are looking is that The Obamessiah won’t pull the trigger on any decisions. When Russia invaded Georgia, the Obamessiah called for restraint on both parties’ behalf. Two days later, from a beach in Hawaii, Sen. Obama finally arrived at the place where John McCain was at since a couple hours after the invasion.

When the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac meltdown happened, Sen. Obama said that he’d put a plan together by Thursday. As Jeff Emanuel points out, that plan didn’t show up until today: (more…)

This Washington Post article highlights a new truly nonpartisan political organization. I know you’re wondering how an organization can be both nonpartisan and political. That’s a fair question so I’ll explain. Here’s Dictionary.com’s definition on nonpartisan:

not supporting or controlled by a political party, special interest group, or the like.

Next, I point you to this observation:

The New Agenda’s commitment to being nonpartisan reflects the split among its Clinton loyalists over who to support in the general election. But it also allows the group to try to press its anti-sexism agenda with both parties. Siskind said New Agenda has found the McCain campaign more receptive to its overtures, holding meetings with McCain surrogate Carly Fiorina and senior campaign strategists.

Put in this context, it’s perfectly legitimate to say that the group is nonpartisan. (more…)

I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t said something that he’s later reversed course on. Often, people are called hypocrites for doing that. That’s actually misusing the word. Here’s Dictionary.com’s definition of hypocrite:

a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

The reason I mention this is to preface this McCain video about Sen. Obama’s hypocrisy:

Here’s the transcript of the video:

ANNCR: What Obama says…
BARACK OBAMA: It would be unacceptable for executives of these institutions to earn a windfall.
ANNCR: …Is not what he does.
Meet Jim Johnson, former Fannie Mae CEO. Fannie cooked the books and Johnson made millions.
Then Obama asked him to pick his VP. And raise thousands for his campaign.
Barack Obama. More empty words.

Perhaps a close parsing of Sen. Obama’s words is needed. After all, Sen. Obama only said it would be “unacceptable for executives of these institutions to earn a windfall.” He didn’t say it would “unacceptable for executives of these institutions to help him pick his vice president.”

The most important point of this sarcastic bit is that Sen. Obama isn’t about whether he’s a hypocrite. It’s that he isn’t who he says he is. It’s thar he fits the true definition of hypocrite.

Technorati Tags: Hypocrite, Jim Johnson, Fannie Mae, Washington Insider, Obama, John McCAin, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

I just got this email outlining the presidential debate schedule and format:

Debate Schedule Is Set
Sept 16, 2008

The campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain announced they have formally accepted the lineup of presidential debates this fall.

“The campaigns have come to the earliest agreement on presidential debates reached in any general election in recent history,” the joint statement said.

The campaigns said they also accepted the Commission on Presidential Debates’ rules on third-party candidates, guidelines that make it unlikely that either Libertarian Bob Barr or independent Ralph Nader will be included unless they get a large and unexpected rise in the polls. The rules require a candidate to reach at least 15 percent in an average of five national public opinion polls.

The debates are all scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Eastern and will last 90 minutes: (more…)

Joe Biden, aka Slow Joe 2.0, is living proof of why airheads shouldn’t be tapped as the VP nominee. This speech offers abundant proof that Sen. Obama should’ve ignored experience and went with someone talented. Listen to this long list of whining complaints:

We’ve seen eight straight months of job losses. Nearly 46 million Americans without health insurance. Average incomes down, while the price of everything, from gas to groceries, has skyrocketed. A military stretched thin from two wars and multiple deployments.

A nation more polarized than I’ve ever seen in my career. And a culture in Washington where the very few wealthy and powerful have a seat at the table and everybody else is on the menu.

Eight years later, we have another Republican nominee who’s telling us the exact same thing:

This time it will be different, it really will. This time he’s going to put country before party, to change the tone, reach across the aisle, change the Republican Party, change the way Washington works. (more…)

Captain Ed highlights another investigation into ACORN’s voter fraud registration practices. This happens like clockwork in election years. If it’s an even-numbered year, ACORN will be accused of voter fraud. If history repeats itself, ACORN workers will get convicted this year, too. Here’s what the Detroit Free Press (DFP) is reporting:

Several municipal clerks across the state are reporting fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications, most of them from a nationwide community activist group working to help low- and moderate-income families.

The majority of the problem applications are coming from the group ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which has a large voter registration program among its many social service programs. ACORN’s Michigan branch, based in Detroit, has enrolled 200,000 voters statewide in recent months, mostly with the use of paid, part-time employees.

“There appears to be a sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications,” said Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office. “And it appears to be widespread.”

(more…)