Barack Obama for President

10:36: MSNBC awards Nevada to Obam. 338 EV.

10:17:  MSNBC awards Florida to Obama. 333EV.

10:14: MSNBC called CO for Obama. 306 EV.

10:07: MSNBC called VA as well, giving Obama 297.

10:00: While they havn’t called VA yet, MSNBC called CA, OR, and WA for Obama giving him 284 votes and enough to be our next President of the United States of America!!!!!!!!

9:25: Fox News just awarded Obama Virgina, giving him 220 EV. Add CA and you get 275!

8:25: MSNBC and CBS calls OHIO for Obama. No Republican has ever won the Presidency without winning Ohio.

7:42: Fox News calls PA for Obama and North Carolina for Hagan.

7:40: CNN calls PA for Obama.

7:37 PM: MSNBC calls North Carolina as a Democratic Pickup in the Senate (WOW!). MSNBC and CBS has already called PA for Obama.

Since  others are jumping in with their guesses, here are my predictions.

This is what I feel is the absolute maximum number of votes that Barack Obama can get.

However, this is the map that I predict will win Obama the election.

I also predict that Bill Jefferson will defeat Helena Moreno and move on to the general election. Personally, I have some real problems with voting with Helena Moreno (namely her acceptance of the endorsement of the R.D.O.). However, I just cannot bring myself to “vote for the crook”.

Finally, I predict that Landrieu will defeat Kennedy for the Senate seat but that the Democrats will only manage to get 59 seats (though I hope I am wrong and we manage 60).

Update: I think we may have 60 in the bag, thanks to Chambliss refering to black voters as “the other folks” who are voting. Good job Saxby. Way to show your true colors.

Today, Elizabeth Hasselback, speaking at a Palin rally, falsely accused Barack Obama for being a hypocrite for supporting equal pay for equal work while supposedly not paying his women staffers equally. How did Hasselback (or whoever gave her the information) determine this? Well, they took the combined salary of all the men and divided that total by the number of men and compared that to the salary of all the women and divided that total by the number of women. I guess it never occured to her that this is an illogical way to look at the data. (And here is the data on Barack Obama’s senatorial staff payroll).

Now, using our thinking caps we can all see how Republicans are just desperately trying to find some attack to nail Obama with and they miserably.

Now, these are two of Obama’s staffers. This is the amount of salary they made over 6 months. Hmm, seems to me that JOAN made more than NICHOLAS. Now, unless Joan and Nicholas have some weird parents, it looks like the woman makes more than the man.

If you look at all the Staff Assistants on his payroll you will see these employees worked for Obama the entire 6 months.

Now, the lowest salary is $13,999.92. The people who got paid the lowest salary are named ERIC, JASON, and INDIRA. So individually, more men than women got the lowest salary. So why does Jeffrey get paid more than Indira? Well Jeffery has worked for Obama since July 10th, 1006 (not counting his internship). Indira has worked for Obama since March 26th, 2007. Seems rather clear why Jeffery would make more than Indira for the same position. He has more experience.

Mary, who is the highest paid female staff assistant (and 2nd highest paid staff assistant overall) only makes $15,999.96 compared to Jeffery’s $18,000. Why is that? Well, Mary has worked for Obama since January 3rd, 2007. So she worked for Obama longer than Indira but less than Jeffery. So it seems to make sense that Mary would get paid more than Indira but less than Jeffery, doesn’t it?

And this goes under the assumption that if you have the same job title that you will have the same responsibilities (something that cannot necessarily be assumed).

It is obvious that the Republicans are reaching now. I really think we all need to sit back question Mrs. Hasselback’s view.

The paper that endorsed Bush in 2000, made no endorsement in 2004, and has been a solid supporter of ultra-conservative Bobby Jindal has decided to endorse Barack Obama for President.

There are very few undecided voters in Louisiana. I am not sure what percentage of those voters based their decision on who the T-P endorses. So I doubt this will help Obama win Louisiana.

However, if anything, you should read the comments afterwards. Interesting to say the least.

See it here

McCain is saying that Barack Obama will say anything to get elected.

Really?

If there was ever an instance of the pot calling the kettle black, this is it.

I don’t know how McCain can look himself in the mirror.

Obama is canceling all campaign events on Thursday and Friday to visit with his Grandmother who has fallen ill. My thoughts and prayers are with the Obama family.

On Fiscal Policy:

Barack Obama clearly won the first portion of the debate. John McCain tried to make it a “class warfare” issue and tried to play the socialism card. However, Obama clearly debunked McCain’s claims by pointing out that over 95% of small businesses make less than $250,000 and that is where the most jobs are created.

John McCain repeated the misleading statement about Ireland’s 11% tax rate. Yes, they may have that tax rate, but do they have the same loopholes for the wealthy? This is something McCain leaves out.

What will you cut because of the current economic crisis:

Obama will cut programs, line by line, in order to save money to pay for his programs. He would invest in energy programs that will prevent us from having to borrow money from China to send it to Saudi Arabia.

McCain brought up the lie that Obama is against drilling, which he is not. McCain said he would have a spending freeze, which some have labeled as him using a hatchet. McCain defended his stance by saying that he would use a hatchet and then use a scalpel. Um, if you use the hatchet, the scalpel is kinda useless don’t you think?

McCain would also fight for a line item veto. Apparently McCain doesn’t remember the Supreme Court ruling stating that the line item veto violates the Constitution.

McCain brought up earmarks that he would cut and veto. However, as Obama pointed out, earmarks are a very small part of the federal budget.

McCain also brought up the bill that Obama voted for that contained “goodies” for oil companies. I guess McCain forgets that when it came to adding those “goodies” to the legislation, Obama voted against them. Obama only voted for the main bill that he supported that unfortunately contained some provisions he didn’t like.

Setting the tone of the campaign:

McCain blamed Obama for failing to do a series of town hall debates for the reason that the debate took an ugly turn. Who is he trying to fool? That answer was just pathetic.

McCain complained that Obama did not repudiate the claims made by another elected Democrat. Did McCain repudiate the claims that Obama pals around with terrorists when Sarah Palin made her claim? Of course not!

McCain then brought up public financing and Obama’s changing his mind about accepting it. I have a video about that here. Basically, Republicans are against government handouts but they criticize Obama for refusing to accept a government handout. It is sheer hypocrisy.

McCain said that attacks on his healthcare plan are an attack ad. Being critical of POLICY is not an example of an attack ad. If this campaign only contained criticisms of policy then we would be in a much better place. But McCain runs ad like this and this, hardly criticisms of Obama’s policy. They are personal attacks and the kind of vindictive attacks that the American public are sick of.

McCain said that Obama falsely claims that McCain is against federal funding for stem cell research. McCain IS against federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, and that is Obama’s point.

McCain then went on to make personal attacks against Obama by questioning his relationship with Ayers and ACORN. Obama’s response blew McCain out of the water.

“The fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign Senator McCain says more about your campaign that it says about me”

McCain kept on digging himself deeper and deeper. If anything loses McCain this election, this may very well be it. I think McCain basically scuttled the ship that is his campaign there. He came off looking very desperate.

Why would the country be better off if your running mate became president?:

If anyone really needs to hear the candidates explain this, you are not paying attention to this election. Sarah Palin is absolutely unqualified to be Vice President.

By what specific percentage will you reduce our reliance on foreign oil in your first term?:

Obama gave a timeframe of 10 years to eliminate our reliance on middle eastern oil. McCain failed to list a number of years or a percentage in his first term.

The discussion got to free trade. Well, Obama is against unfair trade agreements that don’t take into account fair labor laws. If one country lacks the labor laws that we have, that puts our workers at a disadvantage. Clearly Obama has it right on trade.

Would you control healthcare costs over expanding healthcare coverage?:

This one is really simple. Obama’s healthcare plan both expands coverage and reduces costs. I have a video comparing the two plans here. By providing preventive care, we will reduce costs and increase coverage.

McCain continued the lie that Obama will fine “Joe the plumber” for not providing healthcare. If you go to Barack Obama’s website, he clearly states that small businessmen (like “Joe the plumber”) wont pay any fines and that he will provide tax credits to those businesses who do provide healthcare. And when Obama said “zero”, McCain looked like a deer in headlights, and this also might be a moment that loses McCain this election.

McCain also said that Obama’s plan is a “single payer system” which is absolutely false. Single payer systems do not allow people to have their own plans.

Roe v. Wade and judicial litmus tests:

McCain rejects a litmus test, will only appoint Supreme Court justices who are qualified, but he doesn’t believe that anyone who supports the ruling of Roe v Wade is qualified. How about that for spin… he won’t have a litmus test unless he does.

Obama believes women are in the best position to make that decision, that there is a right to privacy in the Constitution, and that States should not be able to ignore that right to privacy via state referendum. Obama also brought up the Ledbetter case. We are absolutely on the same page.

Obama clearly stated that he would be against all late term abortions as long as the bill contained provisions to help the woman save her life or health. I am in 100% agreement with him. And I would personally add that anyone who would prevent a woman from saving her life… is a monster.

Obama then went on to discuss the desire of reasonable people on both sides of the abortion debate to reduce the number of abortions that take place. Democrats added that to their platform this year. What Obama forgot to mention was that the Republican’s eliminated that from their platform this year as well. Republicans eliminated the goal to reduce abortions and only kept the desire to make a law punishing people for getting them. How sad is that?

Conclusion:

McCain clearly lost this debate. McCain made part of his attacks in this debate on Obama’s eloquance (is that akin to him saying that Obama is so well spoken?). From his continued foolish personal attacks on Obama during the question on if you could clean up this campaign to his “deer in the headlights” look when Obama said that the fine “Joe the Plumber” would pay is “zero” fines for failing to provide healthcare, he just lost. Period.

Now, Obama came off as Presidential. He fended off McCain’s personal attacks. He correted McCain’s lies. He was just better tonight and clearly won this debate. Now, if you want another reason to vote for Obama, ask Republican Dick Luger who endosed Obama’s approach to diplomacy by saying:

He correctly cautions against the implication that hostile nations must be dealt with almost exclusively through isolation or military force… In some cases, refusing to talk can even be dangerous

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Sometimes those checking the facts need to fact checked as well. I pointed this out previously on the embryonic stem cell issue. Now, the fact checkers are being critical on Obama for stating that he will counter the increase in spending created by his proposed programs by cutting other spending from the budget. The yahoo “fact check” says:

OBAMA: “Actually I’m cutting more than I’m spending so that it will be a net spending cut.”

THE FACTS: The bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama would increase spending by $425 billion over four years and reduce spending by $144 billion for a net increase in the deficit of $281 billion. Obama has said he’ll cut pork-barrel programs and the costs of the war in Iraq to pay for his programs — as well as raise taxes on the wealthy — but the specifics of his new spending plans outweigh the few spending cuts he’s identified.

Really? According to the Washington Post: 

The non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculates that Obama has promised a total of $990 billion in new spending over his first four-year term. At the same time, he has also proposed spending cuts that amount to around $989 billion, so the net cost roughly balances out. The debt will continue to increase, more or less in line with current projections, based on keeping most of the Bush tax cuts.

“Obama has talked about a lot of new spending initiatives, but he has also talked about new ways to curb spending,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee, whose detailed budget analyses are available here. “I give him points for holding the line.”

I will point out that Maya MacGuineas was a former McCain advisor in the 2000 campaign. It is rather unfortunate that the fact checkers can sometimes be unreliable.

I didn’t have the ability to live blog tonight. However, I did record the debate and I have some comments.

A) I really think that when you go back and look at the video, McCain made a real fool of himself on Obama’s “spending increase”. I mean, Barack Obama said that McCain would tell the voters that Obama would increase spending but fail to tell you about the places where Obama would cut spending (and that those spending cuts would be greater than the additional spending). What did John McCain do a minute later? He told the voters that Obama would increase spending and failed to mention that Obama would also initiate spending cuts. Did John McCain just not remember what Obama said a minute before?

B) In the Saddleback forum, John McCain called Meg Whitman wise and described her as one of three people he would look to for advice. Now he has elevated her to a potential candidate for Secretary of the Treasury? With our economic problems, Meg Whitman is probably one of the last people we need in that important position.

C) John McCain criticized Obama, again, for saying he would attack Al Queda across the border of Pakistan if Pakistan was unable or unwilling to act. McCain quoted Teddy Roosevelt saying that Obama should speak more softly. McCain then went on to discuss how he saw KGB in the eyes of Putin, that the “bomb Iran” song parody was just a joke, and in the last debate described clearly (and not very softly) how he would circumvent the Russian veto on the U.N. Security Council. Again, very hypocritical for McCain (and Obama was very clever to attack back with the Bomb Iran comment again).

D) On healthcare, McCain  attacked Obama for supposedly setting up fines if you don’t follow the supposed mandate for healthcare. Obama stated that this was a falsehood. I did a simple search for “fine” under Barack Obama’s healthcare plan. I came up with zero results. McCain said that Obama’s fine would hurt small business. In fact, he stated in the debate:

If you are a small businessperson and you dont insure your employees, Senator Obama will fine you.

I found this in Obama’s healthcare plan.

Large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt from this requirement.

So there you have it. Small businesses will not be mandated to cover their employees or help them get their own plans. Period. The fact checkers confirm this. So this is a clear McCain lie.

And the only mandate for healthcare is that children are required to have healthcare. Obama plans to expand the CHIP program to make that possible. So again, there would be no need for any sort of “fine” because CHIP would be there to help parents provide healthcare for children.

E) The only criticism of Obama I have tonight is that he still did not attack the false McCain claim that his plan for Iraq would amount to some sort of defeat in Iraq. Obama did say that we would have a responsible withdrawal of troops, and that is great and I fully support that. However, Obama MUST attack McCain’s false claims about “defeat” or “surrender” in Iraq. And again, I have no idea why he refuses to do it.

At the end of the debate, it is a clear Obama victory. He explained the majority of his plans clearly. He showed why his plans are better. He defended his beliefs against false McCain charges on most of the issues, and did so in a very cool and calm manner. Basically, he came off looking more Presidential. Perhaps there is a good reason for that.