Sunday Roundup

Increasingly desperate, John McCain and the GOP are throwing the kitchen sink at Barack Obama. No wonder they called Joe the Plumber. So this week brought racist mailers, a tidal wave of robocalls, more Bill Ayers, Sarah Palin's love of the "pro-American areas of this great nation," and McCain's outlandish claim that ACORN is "destroying the fabric of democracy." Not unwarranted wiretapping, waterboarding, extraordinary rendition, or the denial of habeas corpus. ACORN. Bringing this toxic collection together in one despicable no-goodie bag was Rush Limbaugh, who charged that Obama -- aided and abetted by Ayers and ACORN -- is "smack dab in the middle" of a 30-year plot to teach black children to "hate, hate, hate" America. It's going to take more than a plumber to pull McCain's -- and his party's -- reputation out of the sewer.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[Sparty1]

I've watched the political season faithfully and I've seen the most AA Republicans the past 2 yrs. These AA Republicans need to thank Sen. Obama b/c they would NOT have been asked to be pundits on any show. We didn't even know that they've got this many AA Republicans. I'm an AA woman and I'm shocked that no one has put them on the spot to ask them about the racist calls or the fliers from CA.

[RealityBeatsDenial]

George Will needs to go to a proc.tologist -- or Joe the Plumber. Just get the job done, Sir Class Elitist George.

[red-or-green]

WASHINGTON – Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081019/ap_on_bi_ge/the_influence_game_housing

[monicaangela]

Thank you for the link. This article proves that McCain is definitely out of touch, he doesn't even know what's going on in his own campaign or who he's hired to help run it.

[Oldbuck]

What a quote its going to take more than a plumber to pull McCain campaign and party out of the sewer. Wished I had though of that one. I really think McCain's party is a cope able as he is they had their finger prints all over the economy mess and had not values as they like to call them to put up front.

[creetlecathy]

McCain's biggest mistake wasn't to pick Sarah Palin, but it was to pick Bush's former dirty campaign team. The lesson that McCain apparently learnt - or maybe the trauma he suffered - from the 2000 primaries against Bush was that in order to win a presidential election in the US you have to use wedge issues and repeatedly hit your opponent below the waist line. But clearly the difference between 2000 and 2008 is that the American electorate has finally had it with this type of politics. Barack Obama has demonstrated that you can win a campaign without straying from the high road. For that reason alone he deserves to be president of the United States!

[pakmn74]

I am not sure what this Joe the plumber from georgia is talking about. First of all, when Obama refers to income, he is talking about adjusted gross income on the tax return and not the top line or revenue number. He is not talking about what you bill the customer. The adjusted gross income number is after all labor cost of employees and all other operating costs. The tax rate is supposed to go from 35 to 39% for adjusted gross income that exceeds $250,000. Now, if this "joe the plumber" has a problem with paying an additional 4% taxes on adjusted gross income over $250,000 (not on any of his income below this number), all I can say is that it is being extremely selfish. If a person cannot be happy keeping $61 out of every $100 he makes (over the $250K), I doubt very much that he would be satisfied keeping $65 out of ever $100 he makes.

[elizaconnors]

I have been saying the same thing on other posts. Joe (and many members of the press that report about him) is confusing revenues with taxable income. This is causing unnecessary anxiety and hand wringing and needs to be clarified.

Also, as you have so aptly noted, only taxable income above the $250k will be taxed at the higher rate.

Good work!

[Eliminator]

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/joe-plumber-more-joe-keating-family-

Joe the Plumber? More like Joe the Keating Family Operative
By David Neiwert Thursday Oct 16, 2008 8:59am
I guess it's no wonder John McCain was so happy to use "Joe the Plumber" as a debate prop last night -- he's a partisan Republican who also happens to be a member of McCain's old friends, the Keating family.

From Martin Eisenstadt:

Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.

Now I guess we know why Joe is telling the press that Obama is a "socialist" and that the Obama tax plan "infuriated" him. After all, it would hit families like the Keatings and their minions the hardest.

Not to mention that Obama's economic-recovery plan would put the crimps on influence peddlers like McCain's old friends, the Keating Five.

But he sure made for a good one-day story.

[ElectronoftheOne]

That link doesn't work.

[logicfirst]

in fact, they are not related. but he is still a person who has clearly misrepresented himself and the details of his own life

[dane250]

Palicain talks about Socialism and Welfare talk about hypocracy, when Mcain received 89 Million from the Taxpayers, my friends that is Welfare. When Iraq gets 1 trillion for a war we should never have fought(The only reason for the war was for GW to get reelected) and which republicans bungled up. That is called Welfare to the GOP,
You betchya !!
BTW Why is Iceland begging 5 Bln from Russia? I though Russia was NATO's Enemy
and Palicain said we would have to go to war with them, here's the trip....
ICELAND IS IN NATO !!!

[thepianodiva]

So true, Ms. Huffington, so true. You wrote:

"Not unwarranted wiretapping, waterboarding, extraordinary rendition, or the denial of habeas corpus"

Watch the PBS special about the whole torture-prisoner scandal that is coming out even more now. It is horrible, awful, evil. That these things were done by the USA government in our name is shocking and sickening. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et.al need to be brought up on war crimes.

[iralarry]

I suspect they may be if enough of US open up about it to our elected leaders. Just because lawyers rewrote constitutional law and re opinionated the Geneva Convention does not resolve them of recrimination under the law. ALL the heads of that snake should be cut off.

I saw that documentary. Unthinkable retribution! That's all it amounted to as not nearly the intel produced ever equated with the suffering imposed on people of questionable worth and the damage the Bush administrations lies produced in the eyes of the world. It would have been better to just kill them. Really, it would have been better. Even their precious BIBLE states unequivocally to kill your male enemy. Of course you may even take as a bride a female enemy you are attracted to, but what the heck!! Thats the BIBLE for ya.

Pathetic handling all around.

[AndrewInToronto]

It is all too fitting that one of the few bills on which Sen. McCain had voted was to support at the beginning of this year retroactive immunity for civil rights violations by telecom companies, while Obama was voting against initially. Otherwise, Sen. McCain has almost been silent on important issues such as veterans' affairs which he claims to advocate. Maverick cum duplicitous bully in his behaviour.

[MinnMajor]

What is truly disturbing about this election is the wave of ugliness, born of desperation, which appears to be sweeping through Republican ranks. Rising voices of fear are becoming clearly audible at Republican rallies, where words such as "radical" terrorist" and "socialist" are being leveled at the Democratic ticket. Republican "experts" -- appearing on nationally-televised talk shows -- have openly insinuated that Obama has a "Marxist" (ie "communist") agenda.

These "experts" refer to "our" (Republican) cause. I thought "our cause" was supposed to be America's cause. Looks like Republicans don"t consider non- Republicans to be true Americans (Elite-ism?????).

Are Republicans becoming so desperate that their only recourse is to spread fear, foment hatred, and promote hysteria? Are we seeing a resurgence of McCarthyism?? If this is true, then America has problems far greater than the current economic crises.

[thepianodiva]

Good questions? When did "socialism" become something that no one could even think? I thought this was a free country?

[carriellbee]

I guess it has become doubleplusungood crimethink.

[bryantherockinamigo]

It is very strange to me that GOP types think that low taxes are the most important issue. With all of the international and domestic crises, and with 47 million Americans without health insurance - low taxes does nothing to rouse my passions. I don't get it. I'd pay a little more to take care of people. We've socialized banking WHY NOT HEALTH CARE? Stop with the taxes-will-kill-us crap.

[Whatashame]

Buying into Banks is socialism and the Republican party along with their president just did it with 150 billion. The repulicans will say anything to win this election.
Give me a freaking break..

[ElectronoftheOne]

The joke is that as federal income taxes are cut, property taxes, state and local, and sales taxes are increased to fund the necessary services that come up short without funding from the feds. So, it's in one pocket, out the other.

Interestingly, the top-ranking "happiest country in the world" in a recent study was Denmark, where citizens also pay the highest taxes, but have no worries about healthcare if they get sick, how they'll fund their children's educations, or how they'll support themselves when they're too old to work.

[carriellbee]

The br@inw@shing we receive via the education system and the MSM prevents most people from seeing this.

[Bitsko]

While channel surfing the other day, I came upon the Mike Huckabee show on Fox News and his guest was Joe The Plumber. Needless to say, I zipped immediately over to Turner Classic Movies.

[DocGonzoSBN]

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) today endorsed Obama, in part echoing Colin Powell's sentiments that Obama was a transformational figure with the ability to bring this divided country together. It also asserted that McCain's choice of an unqualified vice presidential nominee revealed a serious judgment flaw. And, while laying the blame of negative campaigning at the feet of both candidates, believed that RNC and McCain's campaign crossed the line of tactfulness through the "muslim" Obama mistruths, continued tying of Obama to Ayers and refusal to focus on a consistent plan to bring America out of its current crisis.

[booker52]

The Salt Lake Tribune today endorsed Sen Obama!!!

[loveu2]

How about the Chicago Tribune endorsing Obama! They have NEVER endorsed a Democrat!