Republicans just love their trickle down economics.  Make the mucky-mucks happy at the top, and the good times will eventually dribble down onto the hoi polloi.  What we've got now shows that they have it exactly backwards.  What we are seeing now is, and you heard it hear first...

Trickle Up Economics

I just heard on National Public Radio that the consumer confidence index is at the lowest ever point since they started tracking such things.  It gives lie to the "trickle down" that has supposedly happened.  What's going on?

1. The first ones to get hit by an economic crisis are those on the bottom.  Low-paying jobs are lost, industry is shut down.
2. No salary leads to lessened purchases.
3. Lessened purchases leads to less sales tax being collected.
4. Lessened sales taxes leads to not enough money coming into the state coffers...
5. leading to big state deficits.
6. Which finally ends up with:
7. Reduced state services to everyone.

Bad times lead to worse times for the state.  When the folks on the bottom and middle class can't buy things, everyone is punished.  Except, of course, for those folks on the top, insulated by their golden parachutes. 

Trickle down just gets those folks underneath sodden with an unmentionable sprinkle, trickle up hurts us all.  Tax cuts for the rich, per McCain and company are great for the top.  Cutting taxes for the middle, per Obama and company, gets the sales tax sources back in play are helps the economy.

Here's an interesting read on MSNBC: Pipeline Process Flawed

Remember Palin's impassioned speech on the pipeline, the great job she did, yada, yada, yada??

• The bidding process narrowed the selections down to one company.  And, guess what, that company has ties to her administration.
• Told by legal advisers not to have direct contact with the bidders, she did so anyway.
• A few years earlier, the winning bidder offered to do the pipeline without a state subsidy.  This time around, they walked away with a hefty $500 million subsidy.
• In doing a feasibility study, the person doing the study used to work for the company.

Of course, the pipeline may never be built.  Lots and lots of environmental and legislative hurdles.  But as president, Palin could push 'em through.  Oh.  Wait.  The pipeline goes though Canada.  So much for pull up there, eh?

Speaking of Canada...  that $500 million bonus?  Forget "Buy USA!" Tanscanada Pipeline is a Canadian company.  Go Canucks!

Now no one is suggesting bribery (hey, how's that for a RNC type statement!), or even an actual quid pro quo, but we are talking about a team that's supposed to be getting rid of those government sweetheart deals.  Palin should read about Caeser's wife.

If you can't get your spending priorities straight during your campaign, how can you be expected to get them straight when you're running the country?

A report in MSNBC has revealed that Palin's stylist was paid more than McCain's foreign policy adviser!

Amy Strozzi, who works on the reality show "So You Think You Can Dance" and has been Palin's traveling stylist, was paid $22,800, according to campaign finance reports for the first two weeks in October. In contrast, McCain's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was paid $12,500, the report showed.

I guess it costs a lot of money to put lipstick on a hockey mom, eh? 

But then again, the stylist getting paid more than the foreign policy wonk shows just how close the McCain camp is to playing things the same way that Bush's crowd did.  Hey, we got ourselves the best war that money can by based on high quality advice. 

So, to summarize today's lesson:

• You can spend a lot of money on flash and get a pretty picture.
• You can spend a little money on intelligence and get a nasty war.

Caveat emptor, me lads...

It doesn't get much lamer or more venal than this: a McCain campaigner fakes getting attacked by a black man:

...told investigators that she suspected the man then noticed a John McCain sticker on her car, became angry and punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground and telling her "you are going to be a Barack supporter," police said in a statement.

She said he continued to punch and kick her while threatening "to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter," police said. She said he then sat on her chest, pinned her hands down with his knees and scratched a backward letter "B" into her face using what she believed to be a dull knife.

Did she come up with this on her own, or was she talked into it by a campaign operative.  Whatever the cause, the aim of the fake attack was to give the message barack supporter = motivates black man = attacks white woman.

That's right folks!  You elect the black guy to office and all them uppity colored folks are going to be out there raping and robbing decent white women!

Sounds like at least some in the McCain camp are getting pretty desperate.

UPDATE...

Charges are being pressed... here's more details: The Latest Outrage.  The girl is sick...and stupid, to boot. The "B" carved into her face is backwards.  Yup... she was looking in a mirror when she did it.  "Hey, looks ok to me!"  Now it will get very interesting...what will the McCain camp say about this...or will they just pretend it never happened.

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah...  look at what you wore!



(from the Huffington Post)

You'd think for $150,000 her fashion advisers would have picked out something with elephants.  Then again, her fashion advisers are probably all closet Democrats and pulled a fast one!

The pound is down the US$1.63 and the Euro is down to $1.32.  The Dot and I might just be able to afford a trip overseas next summer without breaking the bank (as if they weren't already broken, eh?).  So, what's that got to do with Obama and Company?

Lots.

For the last seven years I've always made sure I've got my "He's not My President!" button on when I travel to Europe.  If I'm lucky, I get mistaken for a Canadian.  If I'm not, I'm subject to all sorts of rants & rages until I let the ranter know that I'm ranting & raging against Bush and company, too.  A lot of folks say "So what if the rest of the world hates us."  Guess what?  The rest of the world has a choice when buying things.  They can buy from us.  They can buy from China.  They can buy from Russia.  So, if you really, really, hate someone, who do you buy from?  Certainly not the one you don't like very much.  As my late father once said, "I won't appeal to your better nature, for you obviously don't have one, so I'll appeal to your greed."

Being liked overseas is, simply put, better for our nation's bottom line.  I've sold my software overseas since the mid 1980's.  It's a lot easier to interact with potential customers when they don't think your country is run by idiots.

And what of this election?  Check out this Recent Entry in the London Telegraph.

While Obama isn't the universal selection of Europeans, he is head and shoulders above McCain.  He's up in the heavens when compared with Bush.  The "change" they see in Obama isn't a change towards radicalism, it's a change back to the US working as a partner with Europe rather than a bully.  It's a change back to using discourse rather than arms to settle differences.  It's a change to building up rather than breaking down.

And that's just Europe.  Africa sees a man with the same color of skin.  He has ties of blood to Kenya.  Africans feel that they will get a fair hearing from a man who has sat with tribal elders as an equal.  The middle east sees a man with the middle name of "Hussein".  Now that name may raise hackles in the US, but in the Middle East it means that here is a man that won't shoot first and ask questions later.  Even though there are no real ties to the Middle East, they'll see that middle name and feel a kinship.  And that kinship will bring people to the table that would never come there for a man whose middle name is "Sidney".

I've always been proud to be an American.  I've been embarrassed to be one over the last couple of years.  When confronted I always say "America's smart.  We'll eventually get rid of the idiots and have reasonable people at the top again."  This time around I'm pretty hopeful that we will.

I think McCain is an honorable, if misguided, man.  I think he's bought into the Big Lie that Bush et. al. have been pushing since Little W. took office.  He may even believe it.  But, I think he feels very, very, bad when he's done something wrong.  It's just that he can't say no to his RNC handlers.  We'll probably be seeing a burst of negative ads that will go down well with the unwashed masses, but will in the end give McCain grief whenever he looks in the mirror.

But what about Sarah?  We've got:

• Ethics issues in Alaska (nothing illegal, but...)
• Expense issues (legal by "the book", but...)
  
• Getting paid per-diem to live in her own home while governor.
• Getting the state to pay for husband & kids to travel to "state" events.
• Acceptance of hate speech at her rallies
  

She seems excel at "skirting around the edges" of ethical issues.  Hence, my title for her of "Spiro Light".  Now you kids might not remember good old Spiro T. Agnew, VP under Richard Nixon.  Like Palin, Agnew's GOP handlers gave him great lines such as "nattering nabobs of negativism".  Palin get's "Drill, baby, Drill".  Not as catchy, but she didn't have William Safire as a writer.  Why "lite".  Palin (at least not to date (hmmm... I'm sounding like one of those GOP folks implying things about Obama, aren't I?)) hasn't been formerly charged with anything, but she sure likes to dip into the public coffers and pull the state strings if it will do her some good.  What my stomach tells me is that if Palin were to end up in the VP office (Ghu Forbid!), there would be a lot more found out than what we see now.

Boy, this turned into a real rant, didn't it?  I guess I'm just getting Real Tired of Palin's wink-wink, down-home, you-betcha persona.  For goodness sake, just look at her... she's a lightweight who's never run anything larger than a middle-sized US city.

Hey!  I've gone big-time!  A user of the PLATO computer-based education system emulator (See: cyber1.org) has written that I'm censored at his place of business!

I'm censored???  Wow!  I've not been so honored since I was almost kicked out of South Africa back in '79 for running a notes file called "indaba"! Woo-Hoo! Luckily my SA friends, black, white, and "colored", stood up for me (as in, "send him back and we all quit") and Control Data backed down.  I had to promise to Be Good.  Which I was.  Mostly.

I must be doing something right, eh?

...<< MORE >>

Gosh, I wish I could get the state to pay for my kids trips!

Sarah's done it again.  Check out this new report at MSNBC.

But wait...there's more.  After McCain taps Palin as VP (to quote MSNBC):

After Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain
chose Palin his running mate and reporters asked for the records, Palin
ordered changes to previously filed expense reports for her daughters'
travel.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, what with her getting paid expenses by the state while she was at home.

Just what DID McCain do to vet her, anyway???
...<< MORE >>

It looks like Minnesota's very own Michelle Bachman has gotten on the tiger and is having a heck of a time getting off.  This time we don't have a Member Of The Audience making an audacious statement...we have the candidate herself.  Take a listen...



She is so out of touch with everyone, Republicans included, that folks are sending in big bucks to her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg.  Big Bucks as in over $750,000 from individual donars.  Big Bucks as in the DNC is going to be spending a million on advertising.

What is it with folks like Bachman?  Does she ...<< MORE >>