Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Does Someone From the Obama Campaign Read Bubble Meter?

Probably not, but it's fun to speculate.

A week and a half ago, the day after Sarah Palin was picked as McCain's running mate, Bubble Meter pointed out that Sarah Palin was lying when she claimed to have opposed "The Bridge to Nowhere." Now some points that Bubble Meter highlighted on August 30th are making it into Barack Obama's stump speech. They are also finally being covered by the mainstream media.


Bubble Meter, on the "Bridge to Nowhere", August 30, 2008:
First, Governor Palin was for it before she was against it.
Barack Obama quoted in The Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2008:
"You can't just make stuff up. You can't just recreate yourself. The American people aren't that stupid," he said. It's like "being for it before you were against it," Sen. Obama said, a reference to a damaging statement John Kerry made in 2004.
Bubble Meter, August 30, 2008:
Second, she changed her position on the bridge when it became a national issue and when it became apparent that Alaska would have to pay part of the cost itself.
Barack Obama, September 8, 2008:
"When it came to the bridge to nowhere, she was for it until everybody started raising a fuss about it..."
Bubble Meter, August 30, 2008:
Third, even though Alaska got rid of the bridge, THEY KEPT THE FEDERAL MONEY! All they did was decide to spend your federal tax dollars on other stuff. They got rid of the symbol of wasteful earmark spending, but they kept the actual wasteful earmark spending.
The Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2008:
And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere.
Finally, The Wall Street Journal points out that not only is Sarah Palin no opponent of earmark spending, she is actually the worst governor in the entire U.S.A. regarding earmark requests:
Gov. Palin has requested $750 million in her two years as governor — which the AP says is the largest per-capita request in the nation.
I apologize for the recent string of political posts in this housing bubble blog. I am fascinated by the presidential election, but I will try to restrain myself. ...unless you guys like this sort of thing.

8 comments:

  1. I have no problem with it.

    Perhaps more on topic, Palin said the following the other day regarding Fannie/Freddie:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO4k1fIjivg
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/08/palin-makes-her-first-gaf_n_124792.html

    Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers."

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  2. Would be nice if you just stuck to politics which are directly related to housing.

    I know it's fun to show how edgy you are by preaching to the choir though.

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  3. Making your candidate choice clear isn't the best thing for this blog.

    If you want to do that, start your own version of the Daily Kos.

    And in DC, you aren't having any effect on this contest anyway.

    Middle America will choose your next leader.

    They always have.

    You don't have to like it, that's just the way it is.

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  4. Stick with blogging about what you know. BTW, Obama's earmarks are $1 Billion => http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/us/politics/14campaign.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin including $1 million for the hospital where his wife works.

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  5. Anonymous said...
    "Stick with blogging about what you know. BTW, Obama's earmarks are $1 Billion => http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/us/politics/14campaign.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin including $1 million for the hospital where his wife works."

    Actually, if you had read the article you cited, you'd see that Obama's earmarks are $740 million, not $1 billion. The $1 billion claim is an exaggeration of 35%.

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  6. Ok, you got me. I should have said "nearly" $1 Billion. On the other hand, there is a big difference between Obama's support of legislation for earmarks and Palin's accepting earmarks for Alaska. Do you honestly believe any governor would return the money to Washington?

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  7. I really miss having a blog about D.C area real estate to be honest.

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  8. Actually, Obama did request nearly $1 Billion (okay $935.7 Million) to be more precise. I do admire his transparency, however, and wish all politicians would do the same.

    Requested 112 Projects Totaling $399.8 Million For FY 2008. (obama.senate.gov)

    Requested 139 Projects Totaling $334 Million For FY 2007. (www.barackobama.com)

    Requested 79 Projects Totaling $201.9 Million For FY 2006. (www.barackobama.com)

    ReplyDelete