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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Trouble brewing: McCain says ‘there never existed a deal’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The following statement was just issued by the Republican presidential campaign of John McCain. The key is this phrase: “There never existed a ‘deal’”…..
To wit:
To address our current financial crisis, John McCain suspended his campaign and returned to Washington, D.C., today to help build a bipartisan consensus for a proposal that would protect the American taxpayer.
Despite today’s news reports, there never existed a “deal,” but merely a proposal offered by a small, select group of Members of Congress. As of right now, there exists only a series of principles, including greater oversight and measures to address CEO pay. However, these principles do not enjoy a consensus in Congress.
At today’s cabinet meeting, John McCain did not attack any proposal or endorse any plan. John McCain simply urged that for any proposal to enjoy the confidence of the American people, stressing that all sides would have to cooperate and build a bipartisan consensus for a solution that protects taxpayers.
However, the Democrats allowed Senator Obama to run their side of the meeting. That did not work as the meeting quickly devolved into a contentious shouting match that did not seek to craft a bipartisan solution.
At this moment, the plan that has been put forth by the Administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect that taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street.
The bottom line is that as of tonight, there are not enough Republican or Democrat votes for the current plan. However, we are still optimistic that a bipartisan solution will be found. Republicans and Democrats want a deal that will protect the taxpayers.
Tomorrow, John McCain will return to Capitol Hill where he will work with all sides to build a bipartisan solution that protects taxpayers and keeps Americans in their homes.
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Petroleum exec says governor should cancel Georgia-Alabama football game to save gas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In an op-ed piece on Wednesday in the AJC, Tex Pitfield, president and CEO of Saraguay Petroleum in Atlanta, said Gov. Sonny Perdue ignored a warning from Pitfield to invoke gasoline rationing well before Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coast and its refineries.
Pitfield had another suggestion today.
In a radio interview, the petroleum company chief said he’d advise Perdue to cancel Saturday’s game Georgia-Alabama, to prevent the burning of the precious gasoline required to move a hundred thousand and more people into Athens and out again.
The business executive, obviously not a Perdue fan, also takes a shot at the governor for leaving on a trade mission to Europe on Saturday. (Which means he’ll miss a tremendous game.)
You Bulldogs can rest easy. The game will go on. But you might want to make sure the tank is full before you set out for nirvana.
“The governor is not going to consider a ridiculous idea like this,” Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said late Thursday. “We’re also not going to stop living our lives. People understand there are common-sense things they can do.”
Watching Georgia-Alabama on TV is not one of them.
Tim Bryant, the radio host at WGAU (1340AM) in Athens, was kind enough to send us the sound clip of his interview with Pitfield. Listen to the interview here.
But this is the gist of the exchange:
Bryant: This town explodes on game day weekends. The roads get clogged, people pour in from all corners. What are they going to find when they get here?
Pitfield: If I was governor, I’d cancel the game. That is just a huge amount of gasoline, that this structure, this system, this state cannot handle the expenditure on right now.
That gas needs to be used for people to go to work, and for people to take care of their families. I did the same thing with my tennis team yesterday. I told them that I wasn’t going to start wasting gas to go play tennis.
And I’m sorry. I know I’ve got a target on me right now by a couple hundred thousand football fans. Game should be canceled. People need to stay home…..
Bryant: Our local economy depends so much on the dollars that are generated by that kind of traffic.
Pitfield: I don’t think we have even begun to see the blood on the streets that this is going to produce. I think you’re going to see a number of small gasoline stations fail. I would think you may see some distributors fail.
There’s no question that we’ve already seen a number of transportation companies fail. It’s a far bigger puzzle than just the cost of fuel — but the availability of fuel. People can’t hang on much longer. This is getting really bad.
I’m amazed that the governor of Georgia, who for all intents and purposes, is the president and CEO of a multi-billion-dollar corporation — and the corporation is on its knees. It’s been given the death blow.
And here he is, he’s jetting off to Europe on Saturday with complete abandon.
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Says Towery: Zell Miller considered a 2004 race for the White House
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a new book about the 2008 race for the White House, Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage says that, four years earlier, Zell Miller considered jumping into the race as an independent.
The following tidbit was posted this morning:
“Zell didn’t want to hurt Bush. In fact, he thought a third-party effort might move more moderate Democrats away from Bush’s opponent … His real motivation was to push for a whole set of issues he thought the national Democrats had abandoned. That included his initiative to see the so-called ‘Black Belt’ - an area of the South that is predominantly African-American and has been stuck in poverty for generations - receive almost a ‘Marshall Plan’ degree of assistance to pull folks out of the trap of poverty, poor health care, and substandard education.”
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The people Obama needs to win: White high school graduates who may or may not go to church
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Democratic Leadership Council this morning issued a report on the swing voters Barack Obama will need to push him over the finish line in November.
Not surprisingly, says the DLC, Obama’s fate rests in the hands of “white voters with at least a high school education, but no college degree.”
The DLC, you’ll recall, is dedicated to pushing the party toward the center and has produced the likes of Bill Clinton and Chuck Robb.
Click here to read the entire document. The part that hardcore Obamites are likely to dispute is the DLC’s contention that the American voting population remains unchanged — as of 2006.
Supporters say Obama has brought a new cast of characters — younger, more people of color — into the voting process.
That said, put this in your mind: Remember that family next to yours when you grew up — the one where the wife went to church, but the husband scoffed and stayed home to catch the kick-off? That’s the swing family that Obama needs, says the DLC:
A typical female voter in that category will likely be between 30 and 59 years old, married with no children living at home, a Republican or independent, moderate or conservative, not a member of a union, pro-life, and for smaller government. She’s most likely to live in a suburb in the South and have a gun in her household. Finally, she’s more likely to be a Catholic and a weekly churchgoer.
Her male counterpart has only a slightly different profile. He’s also likely to be between 30 and 59 years old, live in a suburb or small town in the South or Midwest , and be married with no children living at home. He’s likely to be a Republican or independent, moderate or conservative, not a member of a labor union, pro-life, and in favor of smaller government. Finally, he’s most likely to be a Protestant, but not a weekly churchgoer.
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She’s taller than McCain, but otherwise you’d think they’re twins
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said he won’t debate Democrat Barack Obama on Friday.
Not to worry.
A stunt double has already raised her hand and volunteered her services as a stand-in at the Oxford, Miss., forum.
“If John McCain wants to bow out, I’m willing to step in and take his podium on Friday,” said Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, the former Georgia congresswoman. “The financial meltdown won’t come any closer to a resolution because a presidential debate is postponed. Now is the best time for Americans to see how prepared their leaders are to handle emergencies.”
McKinney isn’t alone. This morning, the campaign of Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr sent a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Read it here. The letter from Barr campaign manager Russ Verney says:
“Bob Barr, Libertarian candidate for president, is prepared to participate in Friday night’s planned presidential debate. Former congressman Barr is on the ballot in at least 46 states, far more than is necessary to theoretically win 270 electoral votes.
“Congressman Barr’s participation will provide a substantive and vigorous debate of the issues facing our nation.”
Ralph Nader, the independent candidate for president, has volunteered, too, according to other web sites.
Photo credit: Jenni Girtman/AJC
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