A Political Glimpse from Ireland

Polling Down Hill

Going into my 3rd week in South Korea, I have to say my schedule has not gone the way I planned . I am still sort of disorganized at work which is why I haven’t started to post at least once a day which was my original goal this past week. This past weekend was choo-sook which is kind of like the Korean thanksgiving so there was lots of sales in the stores and people running around shopping for their respective families. I tried to get all my work done on Friday so I could enjoy the long weekend which happened for the most part however I just didn’t feel like answering emails or doing much of anything. I just wanted to “veg” for lack of a better word and I can say I have achieved that feeling of slowing down. That feeling is something I have desired for the last two weeks due to my constant rushing around at work.

Tomorrow is another day, and another week at work in which I hope to finally establish that all important feeling of “I know what I am doing” at work. Once this is all set, I expect to be back to blogging full time. For the moment here are some photo’s I have captured of the surrounding area:

Week 1 Korea

Week 2 Korea

Senator McCain is in the lead, nationally, according to many pollster’s which is a bit disturbing but I am going to take on this news with a positive spin. A MoveOn advert a few months ago stated that even if Senator Obama maintained his lead, his differences in the polls would have been very close to Senator Kerry in 2004 and might have cost him the race. The race is still close but with Senator McCain in the lead, it allows the Obama team to play the “under-dog” card which Senator McCain has been played on his numerous television appearances.

This card can be played slowly so that a torrent of support can build up behind the proverbial Obama levees and when the moment is just right they should be unleashed to take the election. Again, this is all speculation but if the Obama campaign’s raised total in August tells us anything, it indicates that the democrats and Obama followers have been feeling the pressure. Quite a few posts ago, I used the Pollster.com front page poll to illustrate the strength of the democratic position, now I am going to use it again to illustrate how the race has narrowed:

There have been alot of suggestions thrown around by various bloggers and media personalities, what the right choice is, no one knows, except Senator Obama’s campaign manager.

How Much More Historic Can You Get?

One more day before I am off to Korea and I am getting a little bit more anxious, but last night’s speech took my mind off of traveling onto the amazing week the Democrats have had. I am really impressed and I can say that Senator Obama hit exactly the right notes using a mix of issues and rhetoric while telling people why we cannot afford another 4 - 8 years of Senator McCain. This speech was aggressive while maintaining a message of hope and change that has resonated with so many Democrats. This speech, I believe, will be the catalyst to propel the democrats into a victory in November. Even though I will be further away from America in the coming months, I know Senator Obama will be the next President of the United States:

The McCain’s Wrong Round-Up

John McCain’s campaign has been hitting a constant theme in his most recent attacks, stating that Senator Obama is going to increase the size of the federal government. This theme resonates with conservatives who believe that a larger government is inefficient and wastes the tax payers money. The problem with this theme is that Senator McCain is wrong once again as stated by Politifact.com:

John McCain’s campaign is trying to paint Barack Obama as a big spender. In a new radio ad, an announcer says Obama wants to implement “$863-billion in new government programs - a 23 percent increase in the size of government.”

The percentage-increase claim is so far off base that we’re going to grant McCain several questionable assumptions - and then show that he’s still way off.

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And lastly, how can McCain argue that an increase in discretionary spending is the same as an increase “in the size of government”? Here’s what Pounder had to say about that: “By size of government, we are referring to government spending outside of mandatory spending. It’s the argument that outside of mandatory spending, this is the most immediate way that Barack Obama will have an impact on government spending and when you include his spending proposals it accounts for a 23 percent increase.”

That’s the equivalent of saying, “By size of government, we are referring to a government with no Social Security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no food stamps, no federal employee retirement benefits and no interest on the national debt.”

Senator McCain’s 2nd mistake this week is to continue to mislead his base with attacks against Senator Obama’s tax plan however as I have stated in numerous posts, Senator McCain’s tax plan spends more money in his first term not to mention maintains the tax cuts for the richest Americans rather than those who need it the most:

Lastly the Sunlight Foundation is an organization that keeps track of politicians wealth, do you want to guess how elite Senator McCain is? $36,431,099 in 2006 according to Senator McCain’s personal disclosure forms. Senator Obama for that same year was worth just shy of $800,000. For those of you who think Senator McCain understands what it means to be in the middle class or that his policies help middle America, think again.

McCain’s Memory

Today, the big furor is over Senator McCain stating he could not remember how many houses he owns… I wish I could be speechless at this very moment, instead I wish I was rich enough to be able to forget how many houses I do own. This is the candidate the conservatives want to support? … John McCain, simply, is too old to be President. Forgetting age, he is out of touch with the people in America who are suffering due to the current housing situation:

Now this is what I call Senator Obama stepping up to the plate to show McCain he can attack as well as any Republican. Well done Sir:

The Facts on Affordable Health Care

I can’t promise this is the last post about healthcare but the Center For American Progress recently published a comprehensive article on Healthcare and its associated costs:

With health care costs escalating four times faster than wages, it’s no surprise that both ends of the political spectrum concur that affordable health care is an important goal.

I am currently looking for a new job because my current occupation is not as productive as I would like it to be, but talking to my friends about the healthcare issue, I often bring up the story about my $200 a month premium I used to pay for my own health insurance in Massachusetts working for a health care company. If I paid that much, I can’t imagine what the ordinary American is paying…  The problem is how do we achieve affordable healthcare? This is where the politics diverges and we have freedom of choice on one hand with some people losing out or covering everyone without freedom of choice on the other hand. The CFAP has an excellent counterpoint table for common conservative statements:

Please do read the whole article because the need for affordable healthcare is well argued and if the issue is not addressed, it will only worsen in the next administration.