Palin Ignores the Questions

Last night I wrote that Sarah Palin completely ignored the questions from the moderator.

Chris Matthews picked this up as well and was scared by Palin's comment that the VP should have more power.

Not only did she say I'm not going to do any more interviews, it seemed, but she was saying, I'm not going to listen to uh Gwen Ifill tonight. She said I'm not going to uh give the answers the moderator wants to ask for. What an extraordinary statement. I'm not going to play by the rules and when I get elected I want more power in the office than it's had before. Hmm. Not too much humility here.

Biden asks how are McCain's policies different than Bush's?

Here's a key point from last night's debate and key argument of this election.

How are McCain's policies different than Bush's?

Liveblogging the VP Debate

I will be liveblogging the VP debate on Twitter and will post it here after the debate.

Head on over and check it out.

**Update**

Here's it is...

commoniowan: The debate was a wash. If you came in liking Palin then you thought she did a good job. If you didn't like her then you probably thought she was annoying. She isn't going to swing many independents. Biden did his job by challenging McCain's record and linking him to Bush's policies and laying out Obama's plans.

commoniowan: Palin didn't answer any of the questions. She had her talking points and attacks on Obama and ignored the questions completely.

commoniowan: Biden says that it is all about dignity, respect, and hardwork. We want to bring that back. "It's time for America to get back up together."

commoniowan: Palin wants more chances to talk to Americans, but the media won't let her. We need more fighting in America or we lose our freedom.

commoniowan: Biden says McCain has been no maverick on every issue that matter most to people's lives. Not on health care, education, tax cuts, or war.

commoniowan: Oh yeah, Palin was asked what her achilles heel was. She responds by saying that her and John McCain are perfect for each other.

commoniowan: Wow, Palin's talking about her strengths of being an executive and being part of the heart of America and the CNN dials go nowhere.

commoniowan: To quote my 2nd grade students "Oh snap!" Palin slams Ifill for saying that Palin said she didn't know what the VP even did.

commoniowan: Palin: "John McCain knows how to win a war." That doesn't mean he has to make up for Vietnam by staying in Iraq forever.

commoniowan: Biden: "I never supported John McCain's strategy in Iraq. John McCain's strategy was exactly the same as Dick Cheney's."

commoniowan: Palin: "Wow, man, I am just so much a Washington outsider." CNN voter dials drop.

commoniowan: Biden asked about intervening in Darfur and says we can take a lead if we take a hard stand and stop the genocide.

commoniowan: Biden gets the focus back on McCain by saying he hasn't heard anything about how McCain's plans are any different than George W. Bush's.

commoniowan: Palin talks about being all mavericky and that Biden is just pointing fingers and looking backwards because he isn't a maverick like her and McCain.

commoniowan: Biden brings up that Ahmadinejad doesn't even control the military in Iran and that the clerics do.

commoniowan: Biden: McCain still believes the front on the war on terror is Iraq. He is wrong, it is in Afghanistan.

commoniowan: Palin response " ... (crickets chirping)... then reads rightwing talking points about waving the white flag and surrendering."

commoniowan: Biden: "We will end this war. For John McCain there is no end in sight."

commoniowan: Palin is asked about their plan for the Iraq War and Biden calls her out for not mentioning what their plan is.

commoniowan: Palin agress that she agrees with Biden and Obama on gay marriage and equal rights for same sex couples. I am sure that will ruffle the feathers of some evangelicals.

commoniowan: Palin is asked about equal rights for same sex couples and tries to dodge the question and now I am lost.

commoniowan: Palin calls Joe, Senator O'Biden.

commoniowan: Biden: I think it is man made. "If you don't understand what the cause is, it is virtually impossible to come up with a solution."

commoniowan: Palin: Can't say that man affects climate, but will say what man should do to fix it. Doesn't that mean you think man affects the climate?

commoniowan: Palin says there is a toxic mess on Main St. and it is affecting Wall St. I think she got it backwards.

commoniowan: Palin talks about taking away the tax breaks for oil companies in Alaska. Would she plan on doing that if she were elected vice president?

commoniowan: Palin hasn't promised much of anything because she has been hiding from the media.

commoniowan: Palin dodges the question again and gives her own answer about something else.

commoniowan: Biden calls McCain's health care benefit tax the ultimate bridge to nowhere but the explanation was a little hard to follow .

commoniowan: Biden on McCain's plans to tax health care benefits... "WIth the one hand you giveth, the other hand you taketh."

commoniowan: Palin forgets to mention that McCain plans to tax health care benefits and won't do anything to cover more people.

commoniowan: Palin believes the government is the problem, yet wants to lead the problem. And we wonder why our government can't get anything done when Republicans are in control.

commoniowan: Biden "We have a different value set" and explains why everyone does better when everyone does better and the middle class is strong.

commoniowan: Palin cut property taxes as mayor and left Wasilla millions in debt.

commoniowan: Palin repeats the lie that Obama will raise taxes on those making as little as $42,000. Obama will cut taxes for people making less than $250,000.

commoniowan: Biden brings us back to reality, Obama talked about sub-prime mortgage crisis 2 years ago while McCain has continually pushed deregulation.

commoniowan: Palin: Not Americans fault the economy is hurtin', but it is a chance for us to learn our lessons.

commoniowan: Palin is speaking in talking points and cliches..."team of mavericks", "getting down to business", "hockey moms", "joe six pack".

commoniowan: Palin mentions soccer moms. I didn't know they play soccer in Alaska.

commoniowan: Biden said that a downside is if people make money off the bailout. I think he meant if irresponsible CEOs make money and taxpayers don't.

commoniowan: Ifill asks if the bailout bill debate represents the best of times or if it was the worst of times in Washington DC.

commoniowan: Joe Biden needs to debate John McCain tonight and let Palin get herself in trouble.

Polling Trends

Obama's poll numbers are rising across in pretty much every battleground state. Yesterday, polls showed Obama getting over 50% of the vote in the traditional battleground states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

FLORIDA: Obama 51, McCain 43

OHIO: Obama 50, McCain 42

PENNSYLVANIA: Obama 54, McCain 39

The reason for Obama's bump has a lot to do with the economy becoming such a big issues. However, Sarah Palin is helping Obama's poll numbers out as well.

Public Policy Polling surveyed four states immediately after the Republican convention and then again three weeks later. In those states, Gov. Sarah Palin's favorability has dropped by a net average of 12 points, and Sen. Barack Obama's standing in the horse race has improved by an average of seven points.

Obama up 55% to 39% in new KCCI Poll

A new KCCI poll done by Research 2000 shows Barack Obama with another large lead in Iowa.

The new poll interviewed 600 Iowans on Monday and Tuesday who regularly vote in elections for opinion on the upcoming presidential election.

The latest KCCI poll shows that if the election were held today, 55 percent of those surveyed would vote for Obama, 39 percent for McCain. The poll has a magin of error of 4 percent.

Obama has lead in Iowa by double digits in 4 of the past 5 polls done since the conventions.

However, the McCain campaign is seeing things differently...

"We've seen such a variety of polls. Sometimes we're up. Sometimes we're down. I think the bottom line is this is going to be a very close election," said Dave Roederer, McCain's Iowa campaign state chairman.

I think it is safe to say that no other state, besides Obama's home state of Illinois, knows Obama as as well as Iowa.

The poll shows that Iowans believe Obama is qualified to be president. 65% of Iowans think Obama is qualified to be president compared to 63% for McCain. 55% of Iowans think Joe Biden is qualified, while just 37% think Sarah Palin is qualified.

Homer Simpson Tries to Vote for Obama

McCain's Interview With the Des Moines Register Editorial Board

Here's highlight video from John McCain's interview with the Des Moines Register's editorial board that is getting a lot of play around the blogosphere...



You can watch the entire interview here.

Sirota: The Uprising Against the Bailout Plan and What to Expect Next

David Sirota on the House voting down the bailout plan and what might be coming next...

Those who are surprised by this turn of events just haven't been paying attention to what's going on out in the country - they haven't been paying attention to, for instance, the social survey research showing rising rage against both our corrupt government and Corporate America. During my 3 month book tour, I faced a wave of skepticism from the Establishment media about my thesis. This earthquake on the floor of the U.S. House should end that skepticism once and for all.

Just as I said in the book that it's not clear what is going to come out of the Left-Right grassroots uprising throughout the country, it's not clear what is going to come out of this uprising in Congress. Will Democratic leaders tack to the hard right, load the bill up with corporate tax cuts and pass this bill with only Republican votes? Or will they actually be leaders of the Democratic Party, make this bill a vehicle for the kind of New Deal-style investments and regulations that are necessary to start rebuilding this country, and pass this bill with full Democratic Party support?

Sirota goes more in depth in a recently released strategy memo called Turning a Wall Street Giveaway Into an Economic Rescus for All Americans.

Iowans Support VOICE and Clean Elections

Iowa CCI conducted a poll of political donors across the state about their attitudes towards the influence of big money in politics and public financed elections...

CCI recently conducted a survey of current political donors to gauge their support of VOICE and taking big money out of politics. We conducted this survey because we believe that political donors would also support public financing to reduce the role that money plays in campaigning and the reliance on large contributions to candidates. The survey results show that those with a financial stake in the outcome of state elections believe that the current system is broken. We contacted 2,861 donors and conducted interviews with 1,502 people who were chosen because they donated to political candidates for state office. The charts that follow show the findings of this study, which break down support for VOICE by income, amount donated and political party.

http://www.voterownediowa.org/news/zata3-iapublicfinancingsurveyreport.pdf

While many may expect political donors to be content with the current system, our survey reveals that donors across the political and financial spectrum are in support of a system where people matter more, and money matters less.

The poll shows Iowans are against the influence of big money in politics.

When asked, "Many people believe there is too much money in the political process. Do you agree or disagree?" nearly nine out of 10 (88 percent of) donors said they agreed. Just six percent of respondents said they did not believe there was too much money in politics.

These sentiments go across party lines as well, with 89 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of Republicans, and 82 percent of Independents agreeing that there is too much money in politics.

The poll shows strong support across party lines for public financed elections and specifically the VOICE bill.

73 percent of political contributors support public financing as laid out in the VOICE Act as a way to reduce the role money is playing in our political process. (Only 20 percent were opposed.)2

This support also crosses party lines - 75 percent of Democratic donors, 70 percent of Republican donors, and 74 percent of Independent donors favor VOICE.

The support is pretty even across income levels as well...

Eighty-one percent of those polled that have a household income over $100,000 supported VOICE, and 74 percent of those with a household income less than $100,000 supported VOICE. (This leaves out a group who did not disclose their household income, which still supported VOICE at 65 percent.)

The last 2 legislative sessions, political leaders refused to allow the VOICE bill to come up for a vote. The VOICE legislation would bring voluntary clean elections to Iowa.

The VOICE bill would require candidates to get $5 donations along with their signatures to qualify. All of this money would go into a fund that would be used by candidates that have met the requirements to earn public money. The rest of the money would come from unclaimed property and a check off on your state income taxes.

Under the VOICE bill no taxpayer money would be used unless you want to mark the check off on your state income taxes. Overall, the system would cost around $10 million or less than 1/10 of 1% of the state's annual budget.

McCain Forgot Corporations Don't Pay Taxes

In Friday night's debate John McCain said the tax rate in the United States on corporations is too high.

McCain must have forgotten that most corporations aren't pay any taxes at all.

The Government Accountability Office is set to release a report that says most U.S. corporations pay no federal income taxes.

And most foreign companies that do business in the United States aren't paying corporate taxes.

The study says about two-thirds of American corporations paid zero income taxes to Uncle Sam between 1998 and 2005.

An even higher percentage of foreign corporations avoided federal corporate taxes.

Wells Dairy Repays Values Fund Money after Failing to Create Jobs

In May I wrote about Wells' Dairy failing to create the jobs they promised when they received taxpayer money under the Iowa Values Fund.

On Friday, Wells Dairy agreed to repay the money...

Wells' Dairy Inc., the maker of Blue Bunny ice cream, has repaid the state $1.25 million of $2.9 million in forgivable loans it received to build a new headquarters in Le Mars.

The state has found Wells' Dairy did not meet its job creation commitments.

The company, which had been mulling a move to Nebraska or South Dakota, had agreed to create 128 jobs and retain 346 existing jobs for a total of 475 positions overall. It had also committed to complete a new $25 million corporate headquarters.

The state's review found that Wells' Dairy fell 158 positions short of its employment projection.

Palin Takes Questions from the Audience on MADtv

MADtv got into the Palin comedy sketches with this video of Palin taking questions from the audience.