Your Look, Your Money

An interesting commentary by CNN’s Campbell Brown appeared on CNN.com yesterday about Brown’s outrage that people are making such a big deal that Sarah Palin bought $150,000 worth of new clothes and footing the bill was the Republican National Committee.  Brown rightly points out there is a double standard when it comes to men and women in the public eye and how they look.  I don’t think anyone questions that.

We know she didn’t use tax money, that’s not what most are in an uproar about.  The problem also isn’t that she used Republican donor money for her clothes.  I mean, if the donors themselves aren’t ticked at such frivolous use of their money then in my opinion, they can afford to have their donations spent on clothes.

The problem, I believe, lies in Palin purporting herself to be just like “the rest of us” middle class Americans.  Now, I’m not sure about you, but $150,000 is about five times what I make in a year.  It’s about twice as much as my wife and I make in a year combined.  As I understand it, our combined incomes place us in the “middle class” along with millions of other Americans.  So my question and I think most everyone’s complaint is this: what person, claiming to be a Jane “Hockey Mom” Sixpack, Middle Class American, just like the rest of us, goes to Neiman Marcus and spends $75,000 a month on clothes?  That’s my question, and that is the problem we have with Palin spending $150,000 on clothes and I think it goes directly to her qualifications.  If she is so passionate about being just like us and knowing the struggles we go through on a day to day basis and wanting to reform government to be more in touch with said stuggles, instead of an obscene $150,000 at Neiman-Marcus, make it $1500 at Walmart, or $3000 at Target.

Oh, Ms. Brown?  I understand there is a double standard in this country when it comes to how men and women look when in the public eye and I don’t like it either.  Perhaps instead of complaining about how many emails you get if you have a bad hair day on TV, maybe you should reply to your emailers and tell them that how your hair looks has no impact on how well you do your job.  Maybe draw attention to the double standard and openly criticize it, instead of telling everyone “it’s just part of the job.”   Unless you think the Federal budget should have a section for “Vice-presidential Wardrobe”.

Tags: Campbell Brown, double standard, Sarah Palin, wardrobe

Debating the Debate

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

I’m back after suspending my blog to rush to Washington D.C. and help with the economic crisis!  So who watched the debate last night?  I did and at the conclusion my initial reaction was that Obama won in terms of foreign policy and a stalemate in terms of the economic questions.  We heard how Obama and McCain differed on foreign policy tactics, but the elephant in the room was the economy and it’s downward spiral.

I can’t say I was genuinely impressed by the candidates’ responses to Jim Lehrer’s economic questions.  Of course they’ve spent the vast majority of their prep time focusing on foreign policy, so one has to give a little slack.  We didn’t hear many specifics as to what would happen to the new budget once the financial rescue plan is unveiled, which to some degree is expected.  You can’t really say what you’re going to change or eliminate until you know what kind of numbers you’re dealing with.  That’s pretty much what Obama stuck to when repeatedly pressed by Lehrer to give examples of spending he’d cut given the current bailout plan and it’s estimated price tag.  McCain and his “spending freeze on everything except veteran’s care and defense” consideration slapped me in the face like a wet rag.  Are you serious?  Gas prices skyrocketing, health care prices skyrocketing, roads and bridges falling apart, a vastly outdated energy grid, lagging education and you want to freeze spending on it all?  I agree with continued support for veteran’s care, but the continued defense spending just goes to show that John McCain is in the perpetual mindset of “we’re at war with everybody, everyone is a threat”.

Following along that line of thought, John McCain repeatedly said that losing in Iraq is not an option.  We cannot lose in Iraq.  Victory in Iraq at all costs.  I guess I’m confused as to what we’re trying to win exactly.  As Mr. Obama so eloquently put it, John McCain has been wrong on Iraq since the get go.  Someone needs to tell me what we’re trying to win over there.  How do you win an occupation?  The “win in Iraq at any cost” strategy just scares the living hell out of me.  I’m so very proud of all our troops that have fought in Iraq, some on multiple tours, but it’s time to get them out of the quagmire and back home. Or at least, to somewhere an actual threat to the safety of this country exists.  The threat isn’t, hasn’t been and won’t ever be in Iraq.  I’ve had that belief since day one.  I even protested against the war at the very beginning.  I don’t know what John McCain and his extensive foreign relations experience has seen over the last several years, but I think it’s time for a fresh view on foreign policy.  The viewpoint we’ve held for 8 years hasn’t done much good for this country.

I also don’t understand how ignoring other countries that are not behaving the way you want them to is seen as punishment.  I mean, we’re not on the playground in 5th grade here.  Ignoring someone because you don’t like them is not my idea of ‘presidential behavior’.  So when John McCain made a big deal out of Obama saying he’d sit down with foreign leaders that are posing threats to the peace of the world (Iran, N. Korea, etc) without precondition, I didn’t see a problem with that.  McCain seems to think that even looking in their direction constitutes American justification of their words and actions.  I don’t see it that way.  If you talk to them, one of two things can happen: They listen or they don’t listen.  If they listen, you proceed with talking them down or out of what they’re doing, if they don’t listen, you step it up to the next level.  Where’s the problem with that?  The ideology of ignoring them while pointing a bomb at them from long range is completely outdated and in my opinion, immature.  That’s not inherent thought process the leader of the free world should follow.  Our leader should be above that, beyond that and not so brutish as to threaten before talking.

I was most impressed by Obama saying he will improve America’s standing in the world.  That’s something I feel is critical to improving our economy and our foreign relations.  America is seen as a bully right now.  We’re seen as threatening, if we don’t like what you’re doing we talk about attacking you.  Is that what you want this country to be?  A menacing giant?  We lead by example, and our example for the last eight years has been atrocious.  It’s time for a new world outlook and last night McCain proved you won’t get that from him.

That’s all I’m feeling able to write on what took place last night.  I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts along the way.  Plus, next week we get the highly anticipated vice-presidential debate.  Speaking of which, Joe Biden was available for interview following the debate last night and expectantly, Sarah Palin declined multiple invitations for interviews.  In her stead, the GOP offered Rudy Giuliani (a clear equivalent) who strikingly spouted off pure rhetorical GOP propaganda like he’s paid to continually do.

Oh how I can’t wait until next week.

Tags: Barack Obama, debate, John McCain, President

Keep on Bailing

Most everyone knows now that AIG failed.  Here we are again with a major U.S. financial and/or insurance institution collapsing in on itself and guess who came to the rescue?  The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve!  *cheers*  I’m wondering, along with many of you probably, how much more of this our country is willing/able to take?  Bear Stearns, Merryl Lynch, Fannie and Freddie, now AIG.  Bailouts left and right and it leads me to wonder: why not just let these companies fail?

Letting them collapse without help would probably be the equivalent of dropping a bomb on what is left of the American economy and financial system, but are we only putting off the inevitable by continuing to bail out this giant corporations who are have been badly managed?  I don’t know.  I’m not an economics or financial expert and I don’t purport to be, but it seems like a band-aid is being put over a gaping bullet wound.

I do remember from my economics classes that the market is self correcting so it should right itself eventually but at what cost?  How bad is it going to have to get until it just implodes and the rebuilding from square one process has to start again?  I’m sure more and more money can be thrown into failing corporations but, like I said, it feels to me as if The Fed and the government is just trying to stave off the inevitable.

Maybe I’m wrong.  As just your average ordinary tax payer, maybe I have no clue what I’m talking about.  But even my economically ignorant eyes have seen the alarming trend of the financial situation in this country.  How far is it going to go?  How bad is it going to get?  And how much more money can be spent on bailouts?

Tags: AIG, bailouts, collapse, federal reserve

News Bits

I’m gonna do a mash up of a bunch of news headlines and I’ve seen just by scrolling through my Google Reader in the last 15 minutes.  Here goes nothing.

Apparently the Chinese putting lead paint in the children’s toys wasn’t enough, now they’re messing with baby formula.  According to the International Herald Tribune, the second baby has died over 1200 babies have been sickened by the contaminated milk powder.  The chemical additive found in the baby formula is melamine you may remember this from tainted pet food then entered the United States last year it’s the same chemical.  The report calls into question weaknesses in China’s regulatory system…  But are we really sure they have a regulatory system?  And if so, just what kind of “regulatory” system do they have?  Did not hear something about the U.S. government starting to require country of origin labels on food products?  Seems to better step this up just a little bit.

O.J. Simpson is back in the news, who cares?

According to CNN it seems that since both presidential candidates are barking over their respective energy plans Congress has decided that they might want to take some action of their own.  Not surprisingly the focus in the bills that are being worked on and both houses of Congress is on offshore drilling.  Set to expire at the end of the year is the 200 mile ban on offshore drilling and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says she does not have the votes needed to renew the 200 mile ban.  Unless Congress comes up with a compromise bill, offshore drillers will be able to begin drilling as close as 3 miles offshore.  Does anyone else realize that offshore drilling isn’t going to do much for our current energy crisis?  In the long run, assuming if they find oil, it might help boost production and capacity in the United States.  But what is it going to do for the average Joe at the gas pump today?  Not a whole heck of a lot.  And we wonder why Congress’ approval rating is in the toilet…  wait, no we don’t.

Computer giant HP is cutting 24,600 jobs as it integrates Electronic Data Systems Corp.  Half of the job losses will come from their United States work force.  My brain is fried over such a large number.  24,600 jobs?!  My brain can’t even process how big of a job cut that is!  I remember when MBNA got bought out by Bank of America and they started cutting jobs but I don’t think it it was even close to this scale.

I’m still trying to amass as much information as I can on the effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas.  Right now my eyes are going cross eyed from the homework I’ve been doing to my for my class so I don’t feel I’ll be able to do justice to a post if I wrote it now.  I’ll scour the new some more tomorrow and see if I can come up with an accurate synopsis of everything that’s happening.

That’s all for now.

Tags: news bits

No More Seasoning!

Easily the funniest story I read today.  Pappy’s Seasoning, not just a tasty dry rub for meats, also a tasty dry rub for the victims of the house you’re robbing.  No I’m not kidding.  Here’s proof from fresnobee.com.

Here’s the jist of the story; the burglar broke in ransacked the house of two farmworkers, from the kitchen he grabbed a bottle of Pappy’s Seasoning and began applying it to one of the two men while he slept.  He then used an 8 inch sausage link and slapped the other man in the face and head repeatedly with it.  This woke both men up.  The suspect then fled the house in his t-shirt, boxers and socks leaving his pants and wallet behind.  Clearly not a well seasoned burglar.  (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Get it?  Get it?!)The suspect was hiding in a nearby field where police found and arrested him. The seasoning was recovered.  Unfortunately the sausage was dropped and eaten by a dog.

Lt. Ian Burrimond of the Fresno Sheriff’s Department said deputies “had no trouble linking the suspect to the crime”.  HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! Get it?!  LINKING??  Sausage?!  ….hello?)

Alright, I’m done.

Tags: burglar, face slapping, Pappy's Seasoning, sausage