VP Debate – Biden Won!

 

Joe Biden gave us a clinic on how to debate last night. Know your facts: Biden was on top of the data and had real substance to refute the lies of the Romney/Ryan campaign. Be passionate: Biden displayed his passion repeatedly for the Middle Class. Amplify your opponents weakness: Biden hit on all the mendacity and weaknesses of the RR ticket, e.g., Romney’s 47% comments, the 20% tax cut that the RR campaign will not detail how they’ll pay for it (unidentified tax loopholes and deductions) and most importantly, Medicare. Ryan’s plan turns Medicare into a voucher program. Yes, Mr. Vice President we trust the President with Medicare. Lastly, throw the occasional curve ball: Biden revealed that Ryan requested stimulus money not once, but twice because he said he needed to create jobs in Wisconsin. Ryan’s a hypocrite.  Last night was a win for Biden, Democrats and the country. Of course, Republicans are dervishing about Ryan’s performance, but Biden clearly proved that he is the Vice President and should keep the job.

Memo to Democrats: ‘Chill’ the [bleep] out, people

Jonathan Capehart’s Opinion Post in the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/memo-to-democrats-chill-the-bleep-out-people/2012/10/10/5c36f61e-12f8-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_blog.html

“This race began as a toss up. It is now a toss up,” my colleague calmly writes. “Barring some unforeseen event, it will remain a toss up until the end. Which it was always going to be from the start.”

 

Slave states vs. free states, 2012

This article by Michael Lind in Salon.com gets to the real matter of the Southern Strategy. It’s not just about race, it’s about class and caste as well.

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/10/slave_states_vs_free_states_2012/

“The traditional Southern regional economic strategy, then, depends on the control by Southern employers of a huge pool of low-wage workers with little or no bargaining power in their dealings with their local bosses or the foreign (that is, extra-Southern) investors and corporations who are invited in to exploit their labor.”

The New Republican Conspiracy

Today, Jack Welch became the latest spokesperson for the Republican Party’s conspiracy theorists. The Jobbers, as they are being called, are now the latest of the many fringe elements of the Party. Just a few days ago the conspiracy theorists were bringing the allegation of rigged polling, of course, because all the polls favored Obama. Now with today’s report of the unemployment rate falling to 7.8% in September, JW thinks that the numbers are “unbelievable”. Only minutes after today’s official unemployment rate announcement by the Labor Department, JW was tweeting his nonsense, and he didn’t stop there. He followed up his tweet with further ridiculous commentary implying that the President’s camp somehow had changed the numbers. Chris Matthews of MSNBC tried to get him to walk back his verbal attacks that implied that the numbers were rigged by the “Chicago guys”. Of course, JW refused to back down. What a surprise.

Is this guy serious? Yes. These Republicans actually believe their own lies and rhetoric. Take Allen West, for example. As an African American, I find Allen West to be the worst kind of African American politician. Allen West is a black version of Newt Gingrich, a blowhard who is always trying to be seen and heard by making the most audacious and ridiculous of commentary. He was so quick to agree with Welch and add fuel to the fire when every sensible person not only found JW’s comments implausible, but ludicrous.

What the Republican conspiracy theorists won’t talk about, or more than likely, it’s that they just don’t know about it, is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics produces the unemployment rate under strict security so as to not influence financial markets. In fact, the data was compiled prior to Wednesday’s presidential debate, and according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report, the data is locked down for a whole week prior to making the information public.

The fact that the rate dropped by three-tenths of a percent in a month (August rate was 8.1%) is reportedly not unusual and has happened many times in the last decade. According to Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, “at least once a year, you should expect that large a move”.

What these Republicans hate is that they were stripped today of one of their main talking points. The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in four years and it is now officially under 8%. Apparently, we are better off than we were four years ago. Oh, I guess that Republican talking point is gone now too. Two Republican talking points destroyed with one unemployment report…gotta love it.

I know a lot of people were freaking out about Obama’s debate performance this past Wednesday, but, Obama’s debate performance will not make or break his campaign. JW disingenuously linking today’s unemployment rate announcement as a cover for Obama’s lackluster debate showing is just stupid. These two things have no bearing one upon the other, and to link them is nothing less than slanderous and disrespectful to President Obama.

Today, Republican fears have come into fruition, because the unemployment rate announcement of 7.8% clearly establishes and validates that Obama is moving the country in the right direction. That’s good news for Dems and bad news for thems. FORWARD.

L. Jackson/10.5.12