“This bill offends my principles but I’m going to vote for this bill in order to preserve my principles… to preserve [the free enterprise system]. This is a Herbert Hoover moment.. he made mistakes during the Great Depression… Let’s not make those mistakes… If we fail to do the right thing, heaven help us—if we [...]

This podcast discusses the proposed legislation to bailout Wall Street, McCain suspending his campaign to return to Washington and his call to postpone this Friday’s debate, a debate preview and a discussion of foreign policy issues (both obvious and not so obvious), and more…
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Reprinted in full…
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. This is an extraordinary period for America’s economy. Over the past few weeks, many Americans have felt anxiety about their finances and their future. I understand their worry and their frustration. We’ve seen triple-digit swings in the stock market. Major financial institutions have [...]

McCain will be there too.
From the campaign…
“A few moments ago, President Bush called Senator Obama and asked him to attend a meeting in Washington tomorrow, which he agreed to do. Senator Obama has been working all week with leaders in Congress, Secretary Paulsen, and Chairman Bernanke to improve this proposal, and he has said [...]

No change from yesterday.

Gallup talks bailout…
The major news story of the day continues to be Congress’ deliberation of the massive bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration and, in particular, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. It is unclear what effect the ultimate fate of that legislation will have on the presidential race over the next several [...]

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll shows many more Americans blame Republicans for the financial crisis than blame Democrats. 47% said Republicans are to blame. 24% said Democrats. 20% blame both and 8% blame neither.
This is bad news for Republicans. The economy is a potent election-year issue and voters often punish the party they blame [...]

Just how much of lame duck is he? Ask yourself the following: do I really care what he has to say about the economy?
Still, here’s his statement:

So yes, not much “there” there, and the fact that he didn’t take questions is a sad, but certainly not unexpected at this point.
Still, what can he really say? [...]

“Everything is f**king spin.”
- John McCain talking about the Bush White House in Bob Woodward’s new book.
Now that is the type of stuff I wish I heard publicly from McCain. Because if he spoke out like this more often (maybe not as harshly) he’d probably lose some of the base, but how many independents would [...]

“I am glad that the administration has finally shifted to accepting a timetable for the removal of our combat troops from Iraq.”
- Obama on the Bush administration’s new Iraq withdrawal agreement
So in response to Alan’s question of whether or not this new timetable helps Obama or McCain…my money is on Obama since it plays right [...]

With a start date of June 30, 2009 no less!
From AP:
The negotiations over a withdrawal timetable follow long insistence by President Bush that setting any schedule for U.S. troops to leave would be dangerous. The draft agreement with Iraq would link troop reductions to achievement of certain security milestones, although the details have not been [...]

This from Telegraph…
Mr Saakashvilli may also have banked on support from his closest ally, US president George W Bush, whose administration is said to have given tacit support for a Georgian assault on South Ossetia in the believe that the territory could be recaptured within 48 hours.
Obviously this is unconfirmed, but it would make a [...]

For those who, like me, are looking for a more comprehensive but still layman-oriented analysis of the Russian/Georgian military conflict, check out Charles King’s article in the Christian Science Monitor. Basically, we’re witnessing two nations making very poor decisions. I think King hits on the raw truth of this conflict when he writes:
Russia illegally attacked [...]

On Thursday, Democratic platform committee members were provided a draft of the Democratic National Committee’s 2008 platform. Titled “Renewing America’s Promise” and broken out into four distinct sections, “Renewing the American Dream,” “Renewing American Leadership,” “Renewing the American Community,” and “Renewing American Democracy,” the platform is a strong counter to the current Bush administration policies [...]

Disheartening news for the next President…
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US government’s budget deficit is expected to balloon to a record 482 billion dollars in the next fiscal year, largely due to an emergency economic stimulus and a slowing economy, a White House report showed Monday.
The report revealed that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) [...]

Apparently it’s not actually torture unless the one doing the interrogation intends to cause severe pain or suffering. And if it “accidentally” happens over the course of months or years, well…you can’t make an omelet…
So how do I know this? Well, the ACLU requested the following memos under the Freedom of Information Act and pieces [...]

Is a time horizon a timeline? Well, not really. But a time horizon is what comes right before a timeline is set. So what the news finally represents is an acknowledgement that, at some point in the future, the US will have to leave.
From NY Times:
The agreement, announced in coordinated statements released Friday by the [...]

“I think the American people have had enough of inflexibility and stubbornness in national security policy.”
- McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann on how Obama is like…Bush?
I guess Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Malki is like Bush too since he’s insisting on a timetable?
Ahh, politics…

Those were the words from President Bush to world leaders at the recent G8 Summit…and the response was understandably shocked.
From the Telegraph:
The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”
He then punched the air while [...]

They’re not Obamacans, they’re Obamacons…and they’re pissed at George W.
From SF Gate:
[...] the Iraq war and President Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” that led to an expansion of government have ruptured the coalition. Many conservatives are aghast at the rise in spending and debt under the Bush administration, its expansion of executive power, and what they see [...]