This is his announcement…

If everybody remembers correctly, what Obama pledged to do was sit down and try to come to an agreement with McCain on public financing. This never happened between McCain and Obama themselves, but their campaigns talked.
Rightfully so, McCain’s camp is attacking this reversal…
“Today, Barack Obama has revealed himself to be just another [...]

Why?
I’ll give you one guess…
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil surged to a new record high on Monday of nearly $140 a barrel, propelled by weakness in the U.S. dollar which offset the bearish impact of plans by Saudi Arabia to boost output.
Folks, how much longer can we ignore that our monetary losses and oil prices gains [...]

He’ll be accused of offering the typical Democratic tax and spend plans, but with the housing market tanking because of free market loopholes and the prices of basic goods skyrocketing due in part of out of control war spending, I’m thinking the middle class would appreciate some fiscal attention refocused on their needs.
From the AP:
Speaking [...]

We’re spending our money to help them build nuclear energy plants?
Why?
Yes, I realize they’re a friend, but let’s not forget that Saudi Arabia is not a democracy and giving them nuclear energy, when they could be one of the biggest users of solar energy with as much sun as they get, doesn’t make really make [...]

I think yes. McCain thinks no.
First, his side…

Now, mine…
Once again it appears that McCain is trying to reframe the goal of the surge by saying it’s a success because fewer troops are getting killed. And while he’s correct that casualty rates are dropping, our men and women are still dying at an average of 1 [...]

How did the BBC find out what happened to untold billions in Iraq, but we somehow haven’t yet?

I’ll be checking this out later tonight, so I’ll have more thoughts then.

The WSJ reports that some savvy homeowners are buying new homes in the same neighborhood that are far cheaper, and then walking away from their old homes and letting them fall into foreclosure.
The practice is called buy and bail, and while some call it fraud, I call it just desserts for the mortgage companies.
As one [...]

Apparently, the BBC has been able to find where some of it went…
The search for the missing billions also led the programme to a house in Acton in West London where Hazem Shalaan lived until he was appointed to the new Iraqi government as minister of defence in 2004.
He and his associates siphoned an estimated [...]

And this idea comes from no less than the Conservative government…
Canadians will be offered bicycles, public transit passes or cash if they agree to scrap their old gas-guzzling vehicles, the government said on Wednesday.
Ottawa says five million of the 18 million cars and trucks in Canada were made before 1996, when tougher emissions standards were [...]

Folks, $4 gas isn’t going away any time soon.
From the AP:
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices made their biggest single-day leap ever Friday—clearing $139, dragging the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 400 points and raising the once-unthinkable prospect of $150 oil and even higher gas prices by the Fourth of July.
The meteoric rise of nearly [...]

…if the RNC will keep their spending in check.
To what degree isn’t quite clear, but now that Obama is the general election candidate, he’s honoring his promise to try and work out a deal with McCain.
From USA Today:
Obama said he’ll accept public financing for his campaign — which would limit the amount of [...]

Well, at least some of them…
Barack Obama’s campaign is open to paying off some of the more than $20 million in debt accrued by defeated rival Hillary Clinton, a top adviser said.
“Certainly that is something that would be on the table,” the adviser, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, told Bloomberg News reporters and editors [...]

Now those are the numbers he was hoping for, and his cash on hand is impressive.
From NY Times:
All the time spent fund-raising is beginning to pay off for Senator John McCain, whose campaign said Thursday that it raised a record $21.5 million in May and ended the month with $31.5 million in cash on hand.
While [...]

WSJ explains why:
[...] close advisers to Sen. Obama signaled an Obama-Clinton ticket was highly unlikely. People in both camps cited what several called “a deal-breaker” — Bill Clinton may balk at releasing records of his business dealings and big donors to his presidential library.
Remember, many feel (including myself) that the financial records of politician’s spouses [...]

First this…

Obviously this is a really bad call on McCain’s part, especially since the Joint Chiefs have recently said, very explicitly, that members of the military should not be involved with these political campaigns…
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning [...]

I guess when a politician is this radioactive, you don’t want to stand close to him for too long.
From NY Times:
The senator and Mr. Bush avoided any meaningful public appearance together, planning just the briefest of photo opportunities at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in the evening. Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush emerged from opposite [...]

Feeling the pinch at the pump? Starting to rethink your extracurricular driving activities?
You’re not alone…
Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less — that’s 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it “the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history.” Records have been [...]

I doubt many people other than political junkies will find this interesting, but American Public Media’s show Marketplace (if you listen to NPR, you’ll know it) has just launched Budget Hero, a game where you can set the budget priorities and see how it stacks up against reality. What’s nice about this is it lists [...]

Her 2006 returns are a good start, but as I’ve said in the past, full disclosure for presidential candidates is becoming a must. Especially since it’s obvious that nearly all of their assets are in her name and she recently sold off mutual funds linked to Sudanese companies.
From the AP:
Cindy McCain has released her 2006 [...]

It’s not a good sign for your campaign when you’re worried that anti-war protestors will outnumber people who will attend a fundraiser…in your home state’s capital.
From the Phoenix Biz Journal:
A Tuesday fundraiser headlined by President Bush for U.S. Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign is being moved out of the Phoenix Convention Center.
Sources familiar with the [...]