Houses Add Up To A Snag For McCain

Washington Post: Republican's Campaign Has Cast Obama As Elitist

(CBS)  This story was written by Jonathan Weisman and Robert Barnes.

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Sen. John McCain's inability to recall the number of homes he owns during an interview yesterday jeopardized his campaign's carefully constructed strategy to frame Democratic rival Barack Obama as an out-of-touch elitist and inspired a round of attacks that once again ratcheted up the negative tone of the race for the White House.

A week dominated by vice presidential speculation and the run-up to the Democratic National Convention was quickly overtaken by the McCain miscue. In an interview with Politico.com, the presumptive Republican nominee was asked how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, heir to a beer distributorship, owned.

"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain replied. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."

Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee pounced with remarkable speed. By mid-morning, reporters had received a video log featuring Cindy McCain's childhood estate in Phoenix, an Architectural Digest spread on another property the McCains had owned previously, and tax records and photos detailing seven houses and condominiums -- in Coronado and La Jolla, Calif.; Phoenix and Sedona, Ariz.; and Arlington. By 11 a.m., the Obama campaign had produced a television advertisement titled "Seven" and was answering the question McCain could not.

"It's seven, seven houses, and here's one house Americans can't afford John McCain to move into," the ad concludes over an image of the White House. (If a California beachfront condo that Cindy McCain purchased for their children this year is included, the number of homes owned by the McCains rises to eight.)

That provoked a furious response by McCain campaign and Republican National Committee aides, who charged hypocrisy and argued that the senator from Illinois had received help purchasing his South Side Chicago mansion from businessman Tony Rezko, a convicted felon.

"Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses?" asked McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

The senator from Arizona also quickly assembled a response ad, in which a narrator intones, "Barack Obama knows a lot about housing problems." The spot raises Obama's relationship with Rezko, saying that "one of Obama's biggest fundraisers helped him buy his million-dollar mansion," and charges that in return "Rezko got political favors."

By the day's end, the Democratic National Committee was threatening to escalate the fight further by highlighting McCain's connections to the "Keating Five" savings and loan scandal, in which the senator ended up before the Senate ethics committee.

"They go Rezko, we go Keating," said a Democratic strategist, speaking on the condition of anonymity to divulge potential campaign strategy. "If they want to escalate, bring it on."

For a Democratic candidate suffering from a barrage of attacks on his "celebrity," McCain's inability to recall the scope of his family holdings was a timely break.

"I guess . . . if you don't know how many houses you have, then it's not surprising that you might think the economy was fundamentally strong," Obama told an audience in Chester, Va. "But if you're like me, and you've got one house, or you are like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so they don't lose their home, you might have a different perspective."

Obama campaign aides and Democratic National Committee researchers had been sitting on film clips, tax records, photos and other information on McCain's real estate holdings for weeks. The now-defunct Progressive Media USA, a liberal activist group, had done polling on the potential line of attack and concluded that it alone would have little impact against McCain, whose "brand" as a maverick Republican has proved difficult to crack.

But Obama aides were collecting documentation of separate incidents they wanted to string together as a narrative: McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm's comment to the Washington Times that the United States was "a nation of whiners" stuck in a "mental recession" and overstating the current economic woes; a McCain assertion that the economy is fundamentally strong; and the Arizonan's comment Saturday at the Saddleback Civil Forum in California defining the threshold for being rich as an income of $5 million a year.

When McCain made his comment to Politico, Obama communications director Dan Pfeiffer flashed the green light.

Even if the slip doesn't resonate broadly with the electorate, it could have meaning for the one group Obama has had the most difficulty with: working-class white voters, said Democratic strategist Tom Matzzie.

It also muddles what had been a clear Republican line of attack on Obama. Throughout the summer, the GOP had worked furiously to turn one of Obama's greatest strengths -- his ability to whip his supporters into a passionate movement -- into a weakness, framing him as an inexperienced, featherweight celebrity who is not ready to lead. Obama's edge in many national polls has dwindled since that line of attack was launched.

But McCain's wealth was bound to eventually become entangled in the debate. The McCain campaign grudgingly released Cindy McCain's 2006 tax returns in May but refused to release the more detailed schedules that delve into the source of her wealth. Her 2007 tax returns have still not been released.

Those 2006 returns showed a woman with income that year of more than $6 million. Of that, just $299,418 came from wages and salary. The bulk of it -- $4.55 million -- came from real estate rentals, partnerships and other passive ventures.

Those real estate holdings include a Sedona ranch with three dwellings, worth $1.1 million; a Phoenix condominium suite that had originally been two units, worth $4.7 million; an $847,800 three-bedroom high-rise condo in Arlington; an oceanfront condo in La Jolla, Calif.; a half-million-dollar loft in Phoenix purchased for their daughter Meghan; another Phoenix condo, worth $830,000; and two beachfront condos in Coronado, Calif, one of which is valued at $2.7 million. The other was purchased just this year, as McCain was lamenting the difficulties that struggling Americans were facing just to make their mortgage payments. Cindy McCain told Vogue magazine the family needed the second condo because the first was getting too crowded as their family grew.

McCain's confusion could be rooted in the scattered nature of the family's holdings. Public records show they were purchased by various McCain family entities, with names such as Dream Catcher Family LLC and Wild River LLC, and at least one is listed as rental real estate.

The ferocity of the McCain campaign's response to Obama made it clear how seriously it viewed the potential for damage from the Arizonan's remarks.

"Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people 'cling' to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who's in touch with regular Americans?" Rogers demanded. In an interview, he was even more animated, saying Obama lived in a "frickin' mansion" in Chicago and adding that he is confident McCain resonates more with regular Americans.

"In terms of who's an elitist, I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy-headed-professor type based on his life story."

But recent events, some of them attributable to McCain or his advisers, have threatened McCain's regular-guy image.

Saturday night, during an appearance with the Rev. Rick Warren, an evangelical leader, McCain was asked to define the word "rich" and responded: "I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?" Warren and the audience laughed, and McCain quickly added: "But seriously, I don't think you can -- I don't think seriously that -- the point is that I'm trying to make here, seriously -- and I'm sure that comment will be distorted -- but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues."

McCain had distanced himself from Gramm after the "whiners" comment but welcomed him back to the campaign at a meeting of advisers last week.

And liberal bloggers have struck as well, pointing out that McCain's standard campaign uniform of blue "Navy" baseball cap and khakis is anchored by a distinctive pair of $500 Ferragamo loafers.

Staff writer Michael D. Shear and research editor Alice Crites contributed to this report.

[wardoglrs]

Both the Dems & the Repuds are corrupt time to end the two party system and replace it with nothing

[dnsallday]

It doesn''t matter if McCain can''t keep track of all his houses. He can send the hired help out to count them for him.

[j0hnwi11iams]

McCain traded in his integrity for a wealthy Heiress. Now he wants to trade even more for the presidency. He will drive the US into the ground for the benefit of his wealthy friends.

[jackspratt3]

McCain is out of touch with ordinary people. He owns more homes than he can count, he thinks the economy is doing fine and he will do anything to protect giveaways to the wealthy. He''s no maverick and definitely no friend of ordinary people. Barack Obama is right to push back after all those silly and misleading ads McCain ran that lie about raising taxes on the middle class and being like Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears. McCain once said that "Chelsea Clinton is so ugly because her father is Janet Reno." He is not only not a friend of ordinary people; he is not even a nice person. But political campaigns are all about image and posturing. So the image is what people are being asked to embrace. A little dose of reality might save us from another politician in the pocket of the wealthy.

[im4honesty]

"But McCain''s wealth was bound to eventually become entangled in the debate. The McCain campaign grudgingly released Cindy McCain''s 2006 tax returns in May but refused to release the more detailed schedules that delve into the source of her wealth. Her 2007 tax returns have still not been released."

"Those 2006 returns showed a woman with income that year of more than $6 million. Of that, just $299,418 came from wages and salary. The bulk of it -- $4.55 million -- came from real estate rentals, partnerships and other passive ventures."


NET WORTH... more than ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR$ Didn''t America have another president that was obscenely rich??? Oh yeah... BUSH!!! But, don''t worry, Americans, he feels your pain.

[firststate]

%u201CThe reality is he is the person who has been the Washington insider. . . What I need to do is make it clear and not let Senator McCain get away with this Washington double-talk,%u201D [ABC News, 2/4/00] said George W Bush before McBush remade himself in W''s image.

[misha128-2009]

How can we afford to trust John McCain to answer the proverbial 3AM phone call??? -- It could take hours or days for Lieberman to track McCain to one of a dosen or more residences to whisper the answers into McCain''s free ear.

[misha128-2009]

Voltaire777 - Duped republicans (that "revel in their own ignorance") say, "Vote for Exxon John!"

[taotxzen]

TIME Blames Speculators: "We Are Slaves To This Black Gold Standard"

August 22, 2008

Is it possible that oil prices are rigged? You bet. Here''s how:

Just how would you raise prices if you were an oil supplier? Controlling the supply -- as in the 1973 OPEC embargo -- has become less effective with more sources of oil worldwide. And oil suppliers clearly cannot raise prices by controlling demand in the physical oil market; ultimately, they need to sell their oil, not buy it. However, with the market inefficiencies that we expose here, oil suppliers can regain the upper hand by artificially inflating demand using a different market. To understand this mechanism, we must take a glimpse into the future -- the futures market, that is.

The price of oil reported in the news is actually the price of oil in the futures market. In this market, traders do not exchange physical barrels of oil, but instead trade contracts which obligate them to exchange oil at a quoted price at a specific date in the future, usually months in advance. Such a contract allows companies to hedge positions by locking in prices early. Airlines might buy futures contracts to reduce their exposure to rising fuel prices.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

Conversely, oil companies might sell futures contracts to assure a profit against future price drops. It''s all about reducing risk and uncertainty. But what if oil suppliers were instead buying oil futures, compounding their own risk and reaping enormous profits from the explosion in the price of physical oil?

The futures market has become the public driving force in pricing oil. But the vast majority of oil consumed in the world is purchased through private deals, given the massive undertaking of physically delivering millions of barrels. However, a series of private deals cannot establish a market price. Because pricing in the futures market is transparent, in that trade activity is publicly available, it establishes the widely accepted benchmark for the price of oil. In other words, the futures market serves as the price discovery mechanism for the oil the world consumes.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)


Senate Republicans Block Oil Speculation Bill
Jump to Comments

July 25, 2008

Today, Senate Republicans blocked a vote on legislation to rein in speculation in the oil markets. Instead, they are calling for votes to expand oil drilling at home as well as expansion of nuclear energy.

In a 50-43 vote, Democrats failed to gain enough support to bring the bill forward for consideration on the Senate floor and now face another week of energy debate as Republicans threatened to hold up the measure to hammer home their %u201Cdrill more, use less%u201D policy.

%u201CThere%u2019s clearly nothing more important in the country for Congress to deal with%u2026than the price of gas at the pump,%u201D said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The Minority Leader said his party would continue to hold up business on the Senate floor until Democrats allowed them to offer a series of amendments on expanded offshore drilling, oil shale development, nuclear power and other energy solutions.

[taotxzen]

NEWSFLASH: McCain Never Tortured


Bush, Cheney and Even McCain Don%u2019t Believe John McCain Was Tortured

By: Logan Murphy

Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic hits it right on the head. John McCain has gone back on his word not to play up his POW experiences during the presidential campaign, so this is absolutely fair game. He%u2019s not just exploiting his time as a POW, he%u2019s lifting other people%u2019s stories to gain sympathy. Couple that with his vote in the Senate to allow Americans to use the same torture %u201Cenhanced interrogation techniques%u201D that were used on him and he leaves himself wide open for this one. It was just a matter of time%u2026

In all the discussion of John McCain%u2019s recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

According to the Bush administration%u2019s definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.

Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks of the agony of long-time standing. A quarter century later, Don Rumsfeld was putting his signature to memos lengthening the agony of %u201Clong-time standing%u201D that victims of Bush%u2019s torture regime would have to endure. These torture techniques are, according to the president of the United States, merely %u201Cenhanced interrogation.%u201D

[taotxzen]

Ohio voting machines contain critical vote-dropping glitch

By: SilentPatriot

How are these things still legal?

A voting system used in 34 states contains a critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped while being electronically transferred from memory cards to a central tallying point, the manufacturer acknowledges.

The problem was identified after complaints from Ohio elections officials following the March primary there, but the logic error that is the root of the problem has been part of the software for 10 years, said Chris Riggall, a spokesman for Premier Election Solutions, formerly known as Diebold.

The flawed software is on both touch screen and optical scan voting machines made by Premier [formerly known as Diebold] and the problem with vote counts is most likely to affect larger jurisdictions that feed many memory cards to a central counting database rapidly.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)


The Statistically Impossible 2004 Election of George Bush:

Variance between the 2004 exit polls and the final result:

The margin of error for a confidence interval is +/- 4% for the 50 state exit polls

Wisconsin
Bush plus 4%

Pennnsylvannia
Bush plus 5%

Ohio
Bush plus 6%

Florida
Bush plus 8%

Minnesota
Bush plus 7%

New Hampshire
Bush plus 15%(!)

North Carolina
Bush plus 9%

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

Note that in ever case where there is a variance in exit polls vesus the final vote count it is always in Bush%u2019s favor.

Florida and Ohio were the two most important swing states in the 2004 United States presidential election.

The difference between the Florida exit poll and the final results are 8.2 percentage points. This is more than double the +/- 4% error rate for this exit poll. This 105% increase in the error rate is statistically next to impossible to happen.

The difference between the Ohio exit poll and the final results are 6.5 percentage points. This is a 62.5% increase in the /- 4% error rate for this exit poll. A 62.5% increase in the error rate is statistically very unlikely to occur.

Together, the likelihood of Florida and Ohio both seeing such differences from their exit polls to the final results are statistically impossible.

[hhroams]

MCSAME CLAIMS TO BE A MAVERICK---ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO BECOME A MAVERICK IS RUN YOUR MOUTH A LITTLE--THAT DOESN''T MEAN THAT YOUR ARE NOT STILL CORRUPT!!!!!!!

[hhroams]

A GOOD SIGN OF SENILITY---YOU CAN''T REMEMBER HOW MANY HOUSES YOU OWN!!

[misha128-2009]

Sorry about the two earlier repeated posts -- I had a manual dexterity issue.

[misha128-2009]

Sorry about the two earlier repeated posts -- I had a manual dexterity issue.