Political Punch

maria,

I think you are actually claiming that Obama Did 'elude' confidence, but it's all in who you are speaking to, like Giuliani at the convention.

If you want to make the claim that he is advocating a bank run, I think you might consider that argument a time or two before elaborating further.

Sigh, back into the trenches...

Well on the other side we have
Donald Luskin, Economic Advisor
to the McCain Campaign:

"Whatever the political outcome this year, hopefully this will prove to be yet another instance of that iron law of economics and markets: The sentiment of the majority is always wrong at key turning points. And the majority is plenty pessimistic right now. That suggests that we're on the brink not of recession, but of accelerating prosperity.

Maybe this will turn out to be the best of times -- at least since the Great Depression."

---------------------------------------
Now there is a bit of Panglossian genius. With an 'iron law' tossed in
for good measure.

Obamas comments this morning where he stated this was the worst disaster since the 1930 Depression....was reckless and melodramatic.

A President is supposed to elude confidence during this trying times while offering solutions on how to handle the current crisis.

Obama did NEITHER.

Instead he chose to sound like a chicken with his head cut off claiming the sky was falling.

Did Obama tell you that Lehman Brothers may have went under because they gave him more money then all but one other Senator....395,000.00....guess who the other Senator was???? Hillary!

On July 22, Obama mentioned the Senate Banking Committee saying, "which is my committee". But I'm betting he's not spreading that lie by taking false credit for that committee today.

Who's the chair of the Senator oversight board responsible for Banking and Finance? What has that committee done that would have helped to mitigate the circumstances that we find ourselves in?

Lehman's collapse was caused by loaning money to people to buy homes they couldn't afford because of a mindset that every American should be able to own a home - whether or not they can afford it. That philosophy might have worked, except that too many Americans have a difficult time discerning "needs" from "wants" and feel they're entitled to everything now; in other words, they haven't a clue as to how to be financially responsible. Thanks to greed on the part of both buyers and lenders, the rest of us are now being dragged down into their hole.

What would Obama have done to prevent this? And did he actually try to do anything as a member of the Senate? Since he seems to believe that everyone is entitled to everything, I can't imagine he would have stepped in to stop these irresponsible loans from taking place.

Obama did speak out on Lehman's collapse. He didn't blame it on McCain, but said his kind of philosophy contributed to it. Unlike McCain, who said the fundamentals of our economy are strong, Obama acknowledged a crisis. No paintball attack, but reason. Are we mature enough to listen to something other than sensation or denial?

So who's to blame in Washington for Fannie/Freddie? This may be a good place to start looking.

Top Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008

1. Dodd, Christopher J S D-CT $133,900
2. Kerry, John S D-MA $111,000
3. Obama, Barack S D-IL $105,849

Interesting that Obama made the #3 spot, though he's only been in Washington since 2005.

Perhaps Obama isn't throwing the spotlight on McCain because he doesn't want its glare to shine back on him.

Lehman and Merril Lench have both suffered from the housing crisis, a result of deregulation. Phil Gramm, recently ousted from the McCain campaign, has been a major crusader for decades against government regulation. McCain, like Bush, has extolled deregulation for years. No doubt, there's a basis for calling McCain down on this, but Obama isn't petting a chihuahua by not doing this immediately. Perhaps he cares more about people rushing to the banks and their 401Ks than he does scoring political wins.

The only thing I've heard that "trickles up" is the tingling feeling up Keith Olberman's leg when Obama speaks.

Seriously, this current financial crisis can be traced to that old favorite, greed. Subprime lending regulators sat on their hands while mortgage brokers took advantage of people who were a bad risk. Then Fannie and Freddie were also asleep at the switch, gobbling up thousands of bad loans without applying proper scrutiny.

How is this Obama's fault? Or McCain's?

Sally,
Can you tell us where you got that from?

Kindly substantiate the allegation that Barack Obama asked Iraq Officials to stall Troops Withdrawal till after the elections

Posted by: Dare Nigeria | Sep 15, 2008 12:45:35 PM

Just google your question. The story was in the NY Post and I quote:

"According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.

Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops - and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion."

"McCain today claimed that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong." Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | Sep 15, 2008 12:51:23 PM

The economy grew 3.3% last quarter. Democrats want change- like putting us into a recession.

That's change you can believe in.

"Google phil gramm deregulation and you'll see who is behind this financial mess.

Phil Gramm was McCain's top economic adviser before being sacked for calling us a "nation of whiners" experiencing a "mental recession"."

Gramm was dead right.

Does Obama think the economy is weak?

What did he do to make it different?

Oh, that's right.

Nothing.

Well yeah, if this were the Soviet Union, or as the lefties called it, "Nirvana", the government would have control of all financial institutions and wouldn't that be wonderful. GO O'BABBLE !

Brooklyn Dem,

Please stop poking fun at McCain's ignorance of the economy. He has confirmed himself, that the economy is not his strong suit.

Google phil gramm deregulation and you'll see who is behind this financial mess.

Phil Gramm was McCain's top economic adviser before being sacked for calling us a "nation of whiners" experiencing a "mental recession".

McCain today claimed that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong." Maybe he confused fundamentals with fundamentalists.

Sally,

Can you tell us where you got that from?

Kindly substantiate the allegation that Barack Obama asked Iraq Officials to stall Troops Withdrawal till after the elections

Obama asked Iraqi officials to stall the withdrawal of troops until after the election.

This guy is unbelievable...

Why is this race even close?

"I have to say that "pain has trickled up" sounds silly...what does that even mean?"
-----
What it means is that the "middle class" these idiots are aiming at is going the way of the HUGE desperate underclass the neo-Democrats have abandoned.

The "pain" has "trickled up" from underclass blacks, the elderly/disabled dispossessed, the "rural" and working-class whites, etc. -- most of the country -- to the "middle class" that funds the banking and credit scams that fund the fancy lifestyles of, among others, the Bidens and Obamas.

The Economy is color blind.

The Lull is felt in the pockets of everyone irrespective of race.

It appears you have forgotten that it is Politicians that Win Elections; It is Politicians that formulate and implement policies and they same Politicians got us here and; if a bad choice is made, the same Politicians will continue to make bad policies that will eventually wreck the economy.

McCain said today in Florida that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong".

He just doesn't get it.

I have to say that "pain has trickled up" sounds silly...what does that even mean?

But remember that President Bush got Eight years and see where it has landed us.
-----
If "new Democrat" Gore, on the advice of Democratic saboteur John Kerry, hadn't been so hot to throw the election into the Florida courts, Bush would never have BEEN president.

If "new Democrat" John Kerry hadn't sabotaged the campaign of Howard Dean -- whose people's-choice status was REAL, unlike the manufactured Obama "movement", DEAN would be president.

Why anybody would like to see these people in charge of the White House is beyond me.

Samantha,

Isn't that one of the axioms of Democracy - CHOICE.

Vote for whoever satisfies your yearnings.

But remember that President Bush got Eight years and see where it has landed us.

I was not around during the great Depression but from stories told by my Grans, the Economy may be knocking persistently on the door of depression and I wonder what the REAL VALUE of your Wealth would be by then.

keep your hand out waiting for that tax cut. Just don't be surprised when it doesn't materialize.

Why is Wall Street in trouble today? The truth is that lenders were greedy and borrowers were greedy. Homebuyers are as much to blame as lenders. No one in Washington wanted to be the bad guy to step in and cut off the housing dreams of Americans. It takes two to tango (lenders and borrowers) and no one wanted to stop the dancing at the risk of being called a party pooper.

Irresponsibility all the way around from Wall Street to Main Street to Washington.

The activites of the Biden boys -- and of Biden Sr., who was FOR the credit mobsters before he WASN'T for 'em -- have a lot more to do with the "current crisis" than anything McCain has EVER done -- as someone in the McCain campaign presumably will suggest by the end of the day.

The credit mess is where the Democrats COULD, if they had any guts, get rid of Biden.

"Instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up."
-----
An obscene amount of "prosperity" has trickled down to The CHANGEling, however.

Marylou,

I need to remind you that If we had not had a Republican President in the W.H, we would have been singing a different tune.

You castigate Obama while pretending oblivion to the road that was taken which got us to where we are today.

From the boom of Clinton's years to the doom of G.W Bush's years.

Years that have seen the surge of Locusts and Caterpillers that have mercilessly eaten into the Economic fabrics of the Country.

Samantha, Can you answer one question for me? Why would you vote for a man who said openly that he knows nothing about the economy! Isn't the economy a very important issue that a President should have a modicum of knowledge or concern about? Why should he be concern when he is wealthy and own 9 homes..with the economy the way it is now..people like McCain don't feel the pain.You guys mirror the pretension line you always throw around "America is the richest country in the world" Yea Right! We burrow money from China to buy oil from the Saudi' and we are the richest country in the world..that is the pretension that's killing us. We need to stimulate our economy and bring back the Clinton years of prosperity..Obama can and will do a better job than McCain in that area and that's all that matters! It economy stupid! Heaven help us all and save us from the Republicans!

Marylou, I don't understand why you believe this. I do not think I am dreaming. I am reading independent news sources, with input from trust economists. John McCain's own friend and confidant, Alan Greenspan, has discredited McCain's plan, while expressing some limited optimism for Barack Obama's (considering the source, this is akin to incredible enthusiasm). It is for all to read on Bloomberg, a totally independent, yet decidedly right-leaning financial source.

Please tell me why anyone should believe you.

Who says that high school grads only make minimum wage as adults. My mom was a single parent on welfare.------I did not need or want others to help me.

---------------------------------------

Samantha,

Your Mum was opportuned to be on Welfare. You owe your syrvival to Welfare and there are so many single Mothers that are looking for the same opportunity your Mother had.

They need other People to help them as your Mother was helped to put you through High School.

Anyone in the middle class who thinks they're going to get a tax cut from Obama is dreaming. He can't possibly pay for all of his handouts and government growth with just a tax on the wealthiest of us, not to mention ramping up the military in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And then there's that little nuisance called the National Debt. And the World Welfare he wants to impose called the Global Poverty Act.

Tax cuts are Obama's bright shiny object to get votes from the middle class. Once he has them, we'll see the tarnish but it will be too late to turn back.

No, I am an independent. I am not ashamed to vote for McCain. I love my country much more than your candidate that won't wear US flag
-----------------
Yes, I'm sure YOU often wear a "flag".

And the self-prclaimed "meverick" didn't have a flag pin at the convention. He must be "un-Americun".

People who vote based on jewelery really amaze me. It scares me our elections are decided on such non-issues.

It amazes me more that rubes keep falling for the same rhetoric every election. Rrpublicans are "patriotic" and Dems "hate the US". When it's the Republicans who have been the most corrupt individuals in our nation! Just look at the news and see how many have been indicted since Bush took office.

You have two GOP candidates who are of mediocre intellegence. McSame grauated in the BOTTON 1% of his class. Palin had to go to multiple schools to get a journalism degree. I PREFER MY LEADERS TO BE THE SOME OF THE SMARTEST OF OUR NATIO. But you don't care. You don't even care if they lie to you. (Which has been proven multiple times. EVEN CARL ROVE said yesterday McCain has been lying - on FOX no less.

Just wave a flag, play the national anthem, and say "freedom" a few dozen times and the easily manipulated will vote still for you. (Who cares that the Republicans have TAKEN AWAY more civil liberties and freedoms than any administration in the past 50 years right?)

It appears you don't know the gravity of the problem the Economy is going through.

Lehman Brothers has just declared bankruptcy. The Going Concern of more Companies on Wall Street are under threat, The DOW took a plunge and you worry about Flag Pin and Revd Wright.

You Republicans really kill me, you want everyone to get a high school educastion then expect those slobs to be content manking minimum wage salaries. While you and yours get 6 figure incomes and expect them to be just happy to get by with a raise mabey every decade or so.
_________________________________________

Who says that high school grads only make minimum wage as adults. My mom was a single parent on welfare. I went to High School and college and graduate school. I make six figures. So why I am evil? For succeeding??? I worked and paid my school off. I did not need or want others to help me.

"Unfortunately, that is the fundamental plank of Barack Obama’s economic philosophy — raise taxes and concentrate power in Washington."

I need to know--does anyone actually believe Barack Obama intends to raise taxes on the American middle class? The independent information I've read has me saving $1,200 a year more under Obama's plan than McCain's.

Does anyone believe McCain when he says this?

Kitty ; Your right I got my facts wrong. 500,000 new donars...pretty impressive.

Its gloomy but this is just the beginning. With McCain geared towards pursuing almost the same Policies of President Bush, more Companies are expected to go belly up in the next one year.

The Economy is comatose and this is not time for affiliation. It is a time to do the right thing because if heaven falls, it will fall on every American, the doldrum will resonate round the World as global businesses would be affected.

The decision has to be made - whether to vote for the Candidates that are capable of pulling the Economy out of the abyss or to vote along Party line.

It is a hard choice, bit it has to be made because the future of each and everyone of us depends on the outcome of this Election.

You Republicans really kill me, you want everyone to get a high school educastion then expect those slobs to be content manking minimum wage salaries. While you and yours get 6 figure incomes and expect them to be just happy to get by with a raise mabey every decade or so.

McCain really just doesn't understand what is going on with the economy and he was Chairman of the Commerce Committee. All he did there was cater to the lobbyists and let them write legislation, like the 1996 Telecommunications Act (how did that work out BTW? All you former employees of bankrupt telecom firms raise your hands.) Can we really expect him to offer a solution. This is a man who doesn't even understand or use the basic technology that underpins our current and future economy.

The Bush Administration has completely lacked any budget discipline, and McCain has promised to continue with his same policies (same tax cuts, more spending on programs we cant pay for, continue the unnecessary war in Iraq that we can't afford). With the Chinese only able to lend us so much (by buying government bonds), the government's bank (Federal Reserve) simply prints more money, weakening the value of existing dollars and all other dollar valued investments (hello stock market).

Bush and his appointees allowed the financial industry to run wild, the government to over-spend and over-borrow, and the debts to pile up. We are adding nearly $2 billion to the national debt - every day! The current debt at this exact moment is = $9,689,240,964,640.43

For all those Bush/Cheney 2000 & 2004 voters, your children and grandchildren thank you for making such an irresposible choice - twice. My money is on you to make that choice a third time with the most irresponsible choice on the ballot - McCain/Palin 08.

Yours trully,

Bud
Republican for 21 years (and never a Democrat in my life!), but fed up with mindless GOP politicians and Rovian politics.

McCain is now gaining in Minnesota. My sister in law is their and was a Hillary supporter and said she and her husband and 20 year old son are now for McCain. She said Obama has been just flapping around like a dead chicken. My other sis in law in Wisconsin is also for Mccain.
Obama lost a lot of Hillary supporters like us.

harry: You Republicans talk the same old tired song and dance. Destroy small business, lose jobs..... Same stupid remarks Nixon spat out when he ran against Kennedy when he wanted to raise the minimum wage to $1.25 an hour. Same old tune just the second verse should be getting better but anin't it worse.

harry: We will call Bushes tax cuts what they actualy are:

Borrowed Money from Japan & China

kitty: the rich already did that trick but a nice little computer geek from Lichenstine dropped the dime.

McCain = Bush/Palin = Cheney in a dress = "one lie after another" in order to energize the base of the Right. The previous eight years of "one lie after another" stole 9/11 as an excuse to start an unnecessary war.

Obama should just call his so called tax cuts what the really are--Welfare.

He'll kill small business, kill jobs.

Give handouts to those that don't even pay taxes.

linda get your story straight. he didn't register 500,000 new voters last month. he got 500,000 new contributors. big difference. but who cares, it's jsut the truth you're misquoting.

Kitty,
Those statistics did not come from the Obama campaign, they came from the Bush administration and the General Accounting Office. I guess you think Enron was a crock, too. That multi-billioin dollar corporation did not pay a dime in income taxes, and there are many more like it. I am a tax partner in a CPA firm, and I see the tax returns of some of these corporations. Tax reform and fairness are desperately needed in this country. Just because it doesn't conveniently fit your ideology
does not make it false.

danny, when all the rich conservatives you speak take their money overseas, who are you goign to blame then?

Dems:Remember what got Obama this far: the grassroots of his organization. We need to get out and volunteer our time to register voters, man phone banks,take people to the polls. Palin is a side show. It's all about McCain McCain McCain. 500,000 new voters last month alone.This is where we will win it. OBAMA 08

Hokie freak better half, you sound like a Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity disciple. These two guys are commedians for heaven sake! You are just as naive as the little girl on the view with Barbara Walters. Aren't you ashame to be a Republican? your party has run this country's economy into the ground. Thousands of your fellow Americans have lost their jobs to overseas, thousands have lost their homes to forclosures, 4000 young and impressionable our troops died fighting in an unjust war(you probably believe that Iraq was responsible for 911),(the focus should have been the unemployment rate is the highest it has been in many years..the American dollar is weak, We borrow money from China to buy oil from the Saudi's, 30,000 of our troops have been incapacitated as a result of this unjust war and would never enjoy life as we know it, hundred have returned home with post traumatic syndrome, and men who were once loving husbands are now abusing their wives, some have even killed their spouses..all because of this stupid war that has our economy in the shambles(10 billion dollars a month to sustain the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan! Don't you Republicans have any shame? What's wrong with you guys!is it a mental illness that people cannot see what's happening to our country? Heaven help us all!

c'mon conservatives, you've had 8 years of your free market and tax cuts that are supposed to make everything hunky dory with the economy. Isn't that how it is supposed to work, make sure that the rich and powerful have their way and they will allow the crumbs to fall down to the rest of us?

das2, that's acrock. it's a talking poiint obama throws out there to make people think he is on their side. when you and obama can show the tax returns for all of these companies, then it's ok to make these claims. until then, it's just words. whatsamatter? can't back up the claim? No suprises there.

hey winter, so you're against email/computer use at work now? isn't that an obama talking point against mccain? you know the one where his own people weren't able to google mccain's war injury. instead they made fun of it. maybe they didn't do it on purpose. so they are either mena or woefully inadequate. yes, that's teh team i want running my country: obama/pelosi/biden/dean

Kitty,
The problem is that most of these companies, according to the GAO recently, are not paying ANY income tax, as they are deducting the hundreds of millions of dollars in CEO salaries that are being paid to those running these same companies into the ground. The FAILED POLICIES of the Bush/McCain/Phil Gramm administration are front and center today with the failure of Lehman and Merrill Lynch. I guess Bush/McCain can stand up and defend what's happening - oh that's right, when Bush speaks this morning, he is refusing to take any questions. That's because he has no justification for how the deregulation policies have miserably failed the investing American public.

Lets see, if we didn't worry about Wall Street melting down with thousands of jobs being lost, then I guess we would then be Republicans, the ones who caused the losses and made all the crappy loans avalible to cause this meltdown.

More failing banks and investment firms, foreclosures at an all time high, unemployment yet Dictator Bush and his little "mini-me" McBush just say everythign is just hunky dory! Go figure!

Jiff

Why are all these democrats worried about the stock market. the stock market is full of those very companies Obama can't wait to tax to oblivian. whatsamatter? faced with the possibility of making it on your own, those corporations look like your savior now? lol keep your story straight. otherwise, you look like fakes.

What you hear rattling in your pocket is the left over chasnge from your economic stimulus check which was borrowed money from China.

Morgan...I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The McCain supporters have no problem making up lies about Obama.

The truth (unlike your points these can be factchecked)about McCain/Palin:
Palin's husband was a cardcarrying member of the Alaska Independence Party--yes, their platform is based on seceding from the US. Sarah Palin actually spoke at one of their conventions.
John McCain was a member of the Keating 5, the savings and loan scandal in the 80s. He admitted his involvement and got out of punishment because he played the POW card.
Cindy McCain stole narcotics from her own charity, had a doctor write fake prescriptions in the names of her employees without their knowledge, and then fired those employees when they tried to turn her in.
Last week the McCains were caught lying humiliated by those diehard journalists from The View.

It is very pathetic when two grown people go on TV and stand before us and lie over and over even when confronted with the truth, they insist they aren't lying. McCain/Palin are two peas in a pod and lying is what they are about.

Obama/Pelosi/Biden/Reid. That's real change. Change left in your pocket. Keep the change Barack. We don't need the four of you running the country.

Our economy is so good even the Mexican Peso is worth more today than ever. Thank you Bush/McCain & Company go Obama.

More of Wall Street and our banking industry are in melt down today and guess who you can point a finger straight in the face of??? Phil Gramm McCain's own economic advisor who is still on his staff just hiding behind the curtians.

I'm voting Republican because Government should relax regulation of Big Business, Big Money, Big Banks, but leave those citizens impacted by the deregulation to completely fend for themselves.

Those touting McCain's across the aisle accomplishments need to quit generalizing and look at his actual record. McCain has astonishingly few pieces of legislation with his name on it for the decades he's been in the Senate. His so called "maverick" attitude and vicious temper have made him impossible to work with in the Senate and most will not work with him on any legislation.

Obamabots need to wake up and smell the coffee: The Obamas are millionaires; belong to the corrupt Chicago machine which is how he worked the system and manipulated his way from neighborhood organizer to U.S. Sen.; have proven socialist leanings; check out their connections to Public Allies in Chicago; Joe Rezko; Hasn't accomplished any significant legislative measure in either the State Sen. or U.S. sen. Since being in the U.S. Sen, has spent most of his time campaigning and fighting with Hillary and Bill. O'Reilly made him so uneasy...thought Obama was going to fall off his chair, he was so nervous and leaning forward in his chair.....an empty suit...Vote for McCain-Palin!

I say No way, No How, No Obama/Biden!!

I'm an Independent, and there's no way I'm voting for Obama. How would he manage the economy--probably like his asbestos removal project from his "community organizer" days that left a blighted development in even worse shape or like his days on the Woods Fund giving 160M dollars away to school in Chicago, with 0 to show for it. Or maybe like his 500M campaign that still hasn't established a brand and is losing in the polls in a Democratic election. Voted straight party line 97% of the time. In the sack with the corrupt Illinois political machine. You think Washington's bad--look at Illinois.

Obama--CHANGE YOU CAN'T AFFORD!

Let's call out McCain and his greedy cronies for the deceitful people they are. They don't care about the American people, all they care about is power. Power to make more money at the expense of the American people. I'm sick and tired of it and so should everyone else. John McCain does not want to help you---don't be stupid!

Obama’s economic philosophy...Cook county Sales taxes : THE HIGHEST IN THE NATION: 10.25% basic sales tax, plus: Car rentals in the city are taxed at 20%. Hotel rooms are taxed at 15.4%. Soft drinks (packs, cases, or individual bottles) are taxed at 13.25%. In October 2007, a 10 cent per-bottle tax was proposed for bottled water as a potential source of additional revenue to help balance government budget deficits.
No handguns allowed but skyrocketing murder rate.

If either candidate attempts to wade into the free market, which eats its own, they too will be consumed. Let's let Obama go first, he is the one.

Under Obama's tax plan, 85% of Americans will pay LOWER taxes.

Under McCains newly found love for tax cuts for the wealthy, 85% of Americans get to foot the bill for the top 10% of wealtiest Americans.

Who is REALLY reforming the way our government works? One guy is keeping the staus quo, the other is creating a government for the MAJORITY of people.

We'll take the SMART guys over "maverick" and "moose hunter".

Raising taxes on small businesses that are the vehicle for job growth and creation--there's another wonderful Obama idea to help crash an already sick economy.

And in times of great peril, who's going to be best positioned to unite the country and reach across the aisles? Obama, who never voted for anything except the straight liberal ticket, or McCain, who's been working across the aisle his entire career.

OBAMA--CHANGE YOU CAN'T AFFORD.

Better go back to that hopey/changey Kool-Aid you're selling.

"The economy is shoewing signs of improvement"
John McCain- June 2008

Really? Where? Oil comapnies are still seeing record profits. And I guess defense contractors are still raking it in.

Apparently, THAT is what McCain calls "improvement"

Comparison of Obama and McCain economic plans

Obama’s Tax Plan favors low and middle income families.
McCain’s Tax Plan favors the top 1 to 2% of household incomes

Who is on your side?

Senators John McCain and Barack Obama have presented very different plans to reform health care in the United States. The Urban Institute/Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center (TPC) provided what appears to be the first evaluation of each plan's effect on costs and coverage outcomes.

1 While the TPC findings are preliminary, there is a wealth of information contained in them; some of their implications, however, may not be immediately apparent even to those relatively well-versed in the U.S. health care debates. The punch lines of the TPC analysis can be stated relatively simply:

Efficiency. Over the 10-year period analyzed by the TPC, Senator Obama's plan provides far greater "bang-for-the-buck," spending far less per capita for its coverage of the uninsured population.

Cost. The costs of the plans over the 10-year period are in the same ballpark: the Obama plan costs roughly $1.6 trillion, while the McCain plan costs $1.3 trillion (the Obama plan spends roughly 20% more than McCain’s)

Coverage. The Obama plan makes a much bigger dent in covering the uninsured population. On average over the 10-year period, the Obama plan covers over 47% of the forecasted uninsured population, while the McCain plan covers less than 5%

Whoopi Goldberg, Ashley Judd, Rosie O’Donnell, Matt Damon, Lindsay Lohan and Ludacris are all voting for Obama. Those are six good reasons for me to vote against him. Here are another six: ABC, CBS, NBC,, MSNBC, Newsweek, New York Times.