Factcheck Friday! The End Is Near!

Only four more days and it will be over (for a few months). Here is the latest update from Factcheck.org to help clear the misconceptions and half-truths.

Important Public information!!!

The following is a public service announcement. Pay attention. It could save your life.

Spread the wealth...

I have been doing some reading and it is interesting that there has been a lot of talk about "spreading the wealth". I guess this means that you would take money from the wealthy and redistribute it to the lower income level of the population. This has been a thought of the federal government for a long time. Here are two examples of this thought, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. The two big socialists (as you know).



Teddy Roosevelt was for a progressive tax system. That means that the higher your income, the higher percentage of tax you would pay. Theodore Roosevelt championed the idea that the rich should not only pay more money but a higher rate, arguing explicitly that it contradicted the spirit of socialism. (source: http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/10/teddy-roosevelt-socialist-advo.html).



Ronald Reagan helped promote one of the most widely used tools of redistribution of wealth, the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The United States federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC or EIC) is a refundable tax credit. For tax year 2007, a claimant with one qualifying child can receive a maximum credit of $2,853. For two or more qualifying children, the maximum credit is $4,716. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings can also claim a child as their qualifying child provided they shared residence with the child for more than six months of the tax year. However, in tie-breaker situations in which more than one filer claims the same child, priority will be given to the parent. A foster child also counts provided the child has been officially placed by an agency or court. There is a much more modest EIC for persons and couples without children that reaches a maximum of $428.^[1] (Source: Wikepedia)

Enacted in 1975, the initially modest EIC has been expanded by tax legislation on a number of occasions, including the more widely-publicized Reagan EIC expansion of 1986. Many people have used this to better their lives.

Neither of these two past presidents were socialists. Nor are either of the current presidential candidates.

Funny Debate re-mix

If you are sick and tired of the election...watch this!

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

I want my MTV...

I read this morning on one of the Tech Blogs that I read regularly, Gizmodo that MTV has a new online offering. I grew up in the 1980's. I remember when the "M" in MTV stood for music. I remember rushing home from school and turning on Dial MTV with Adam Curry to see what video was on top for the day. MTV has returned to the music...(at least online). MTV has a new web offering http://www.mtvmusic.com/ you can watch all the videos you grew up with. MTV has made it's entire library of videos available. So you can watch that NKOTB video you have been longing for.


Here is a taste.

The All-American Rejects |MTV Music

The Smiths |MTV Music

The Cure |MTV Music

Information on the Financial Crisis...

In the past few months people have been throwing blame left and right about who did what to cause the situation we are in. It is a complicated situation with many sources of responsibility. I don't pretend to know what it all means, but if you have never heard of a "Credit Default Swap" then this information is for you.


Here are two stories from "This American Life" about the credit crisis.



Story #1 Click Here

Update: Story #2 Click Here



Here is a story from "60 Minutes".

Factcheck Friday!

It's Friday again. Time to get our fill of accurate information from the gang at Factcheck.org. Do your research, fight the smears and learn the truth.

Had to share...

There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this nation – we all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from. There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women from Virginia and all across America who serve on our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.


We have always been at our best when we've had leadership that called us to look past our differences and come together as one nation, as one people; leadership that rallied this entire country to a common purpose – to a higher purpose. And I am running for President of the United States of America because that is the country we need to be right now.

This country and the dream it represents are being tested in a way that we haven't seen in nearly a century. And future generations will judge ours by how we respond to this test. Will they say that this was a time when America lost its way and its purpose? When we allowed the same divisions and fear tactics and our own petty differences to plunge this country into a dark and painful recession?

Or will they say that this was another one of those moments when America overcame? When we battled back from adversity by recognizing that common stake that we have in each other's success?

This is one of those moments. I realize you're cynical and fed up with politics. I understand that you're disappointed and even angry with your leaders. You have every right to be. But despite all of this, I ask of you what's been asked of the American people in times of trial and turmoil throughout our history. I ask you to believe – to believe in yourselves, in each other, and in the future we can build together.

Who is this quote from?
If you think you know put it in the comments.

Fashion Statement...

It has come out in the press recently that like John Edwards, the McCain-Palin campaign spend an exorbitant amount on fashion. This time it was not a haircut, but a wardrobe. In reading about this and other election news I found this:



(Look at his shoes)

Here is the quote from the picture:
"Senator Obama was doing press interviews by telephone in a holding room between events. Sometime later as he was getting ready to begin his event, he asked me if I was photographing his shoes. When I said yes, he told me that he had already had them resoled once since he entered the race a year earlier. Providence, R.I., 3/1/2008."

My Dad used to have shoes like this. I remember him wearing them to church every week.

I found this from this site http://byudemocrats.org. Here is the link to the post. Here is the text of the post.
With all the controversy over Joe the Plumber and the ability to relate to the ‘average’ American, I was personally refreshed from this set of photographs. Obama, to me, is a man that just does what he should. He loves his country like anyone else. He loves the people he meets as much, if not more than his opponents. But in the end, I see a man who is well educated in both things like the academics of constitutional law and the interpersonal intelligence that any leader of our country needs to have. Beyond just being a guy I’d like to go get a beer with (non-alcoholic of course!, this is BYU), he is someone I can personally trust to run my country.

Here is a link to more candid pictures of candidate Obama.
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html

Pot...Kettle

If you have ever been frustrated by Fox News then Keith Olbermann is for you. Here is a clip from a recent show about the "robo-calls" from the presidential race.

I am America...We are America together.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."

The Star-Spangled Banner Lyrics

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I am America. I am a husband and a father. I love my family. I work to provide for my family. I want my children to have a better life than I, as my father before me. I am an Eagle Scout. I pray daily. I am a church going person. I attend church most Sundays. I believe in agency for all men as given by God. I believe in personal responsibility and I believe in being my brothers keeper and helping others; these ideas are not mutually exclusive. I have lived in large cities. I have lived in small towns.I am America. I love America. I am Pro-America. We don't have to agree. We don't have to be the same. We don't have to like the same teams. We can still be friends. We don't all have to be the same, that is not America. We are America. You and me. Where we come from where we have been. Big City Small Town. Difference is what makes us great. I use a Mac; you a PC. We are America.

Together America.

For more from me see...

America is my iPod

I am making a new commitment not to keep up on the blog, I do that already. I want to keep up by actually writing things with substance. Currently the Presidential election is everywhere, so it is hard to not think about it (at least for me). It frustrates me that we all seem so polarized. When I know that people are not that way. There is a lot of common ground that people have. In the past that was something that brought people together not something hidden allowing only differences to be seen. As Americans we used to embrace our differences, doing that gives us strength. This was not intended to be political, so to the point. On my way to work this morning I was listening to my iPod (through my stereo) as usual and I listened to how different the songs were that played. First was "I am a Rock" by Simon and Garfunkel, then was "My Maria" by Brooks and Dunn, then "No Excuses" by Alice in Chains and finally "Trouble Me" by 10,000 Maniacs. These are all very different songs by very different artists.

"I am a Rock", reminds me of growing up. My dad had an 8-Track of Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits. I still like that song and it amazes me that it was released in 1966. I don't have too many songs that were released in 1966 on my iPod. Simon and Garfunkel are definitely a unique sound and my have to grow on some people.

"My Maria", I started listening to some country music in high school. I had a friend who was a country fan and I wanted to broaden my musical horizons to include something that she liked (after we went out and I realized that she had gone out of her way to do the same for me). There are other country artists that I like and listen to that will appear on these posts from time to time (after all I am from Idaho!).

"No Excuses", when I was serving as a missionary in the California Carlsbad Mission I knew people that were into a music that I had not really got into in high school, alternative rock. I loved modern rock. The Smiths, New Order, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys; I was fluent in all of these. But there was a new sound that was a little more edgy and Alice in Chains had some tracks that to this day I still enjoy. "No Excuses" is one of them.

"Trouble Me", this song falls into the preiviously mentioned 'modern rock' genre. 10,000 Maniacs are a group that I have enjoyed since junior high. This is a very relaxing track that reminds me of when my wife and I were dating.

All of these songs are unique and different. In the coming months I will look at the different tracks that my iPod groups together and the pattern they weave in my life.

Different is good. We are all different.

Use your own mind to make decisions based on Fact and Truth...not fear and hatemongering

Be informed. Don't listen only to partisan rhetoric. Use your mind and intellect to investigate the truth. Use REAL sources not just the media. On this blog I have shared a lot if information that I received from Factcheck.org. This is a non-partisan group. They do not support any political candidate or party. Factcheck.org is a good resource for accurate information without any agenda. Do not be like some of the people in the following clip...

Third and Final Presidential Debate mis-speaks debunked

Here it is, time for Emi Kolawole and the crew from Factcheck.org to set the record straight;even about Joe the plumber.

FactChecking Debate No. 3

Time to sort out truth from fiction. Here is the truth from the non-partisan Factcheck.org.

Source:http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_debate_no_3.html
FactChecking Debate No. 3

October 16, 2008

Sorting out fact and fiction in the presidential candidates' final debate.

Summary

Spin and hype were apparent, once again, at the third and final debate between McCain and Obama:

• McCain claimed the liberal group ACORN “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history ... maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.” In fact, a Republican prosecutor said of the first and biggest ACORN fraud case: “[T]his scheme was not intended to permit illegal voting.” He said $8-an-hour workers turned in made-up voter registration forms rather than doing what ACORN paid them to do.

• McCain said “Joe the plumber” faced “much higher taxes” under Obama’s tax plan and would pay a fine under Obama’s health care plan if he failed to provide coverage for his workers. But Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher would pay higher taxes only if the business he says he wants to buy puts his income over $200,000 a year, and his small business would be exempt from Obama’s requirement to provide coverage for workers.

• Obama repeated a dubious claim that his health care plan will cut the average family’s premiums by $2,500 a year. Experts have found that figure to be overly optimistic.

• McCain claimed that Obama’s real “object” is a government-run, single-payer health insurance system like those in Canada or England. The McCain campaign points to a quote from five years ago, when Obama told a labor gathering that he was “a proponent of a single-payer health care program.” But Obama has since qualified his enthusiasm for Canadian-style health care, and his current proposal is nothing like that.

• Obama incorrectly claimed all of McCain’s ads had been “negative.” That was true for one recent week, but not over the entire campaign. And at times Obama has run a higher percentage of attack ads than McCain.
  
  
• McCain described Colombia as the "largest agricultural importer of our products." Actually, Canada imports the most U.S. farm products, and Colombia is far down the list.
  

• Obama strained to portray himself as willing to break ranks with fellow Democrats. His prime example was his vote for a bill that was supported by 18 Democrats and opposed by 26. Congressional Quarterly rates him as voting with his party 97 percent of the time since becoming a U.S. senator.

For details on these and other misleading claims, please read on to the Analysis section.

Idaho Politician in the News Again!!!

Look what I found at the unequivocal notion...


From Politico/ source: http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/1008/Sali_gives_opponents_spokesman_bunny_ears.html

October 15, 2008 Categories: Idaho Sali gives opponent's spokesman bunny ears You can't make this stuff up. During a local television interview with the spokesman for Democrat Walt Minnick, Rep. Bill Sali (R-Idaho) and his staff were trying to disrupt the interview by making faces and giving the flak bunny ears. From KTVB-TV: Congressman Bill Sali and his campaign staff disrupted a NewsChannel 7 reporter and a representative for his opponent during an interview Tuesday in Downtown Boise. KTVB reporter Ysabel Bilbao was interviewing Walt Minnick's campaign director John Foster Wednesday afternoon. During the interview, someone loudly yelled and was laughing during the interview at the Grove plaza. Bilbao and Foster initially ignored the intrusion, but quickly noticed the source of the heckling -- Sali and members of his staff. Foster stopped the interview and noted the commotion. “I am sorry I was a little bit distracted,” Foster said. “I think at some point you even have to question his maturity.” Foster said he saw Sali making faces at him and holding up “bunny ears.”

By Josh Kraushaar 10:25 PM

Update:

Another story from Daily Kos

ID-01: Idaho, We Have to Talk

by mcjoan

Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 09:49:16 AM PDT

Don't make me come back there. You know I love you. You know you'll always be my home. But what is it about whackos that just so enamors you? This is what you chose to send to DC:

KTVB reporter Ysabel Bilbao was interviewing Walt Minnick's campaign director John Foster Wednesday afternoon. During the interview, someone loudly yelled and was laughing during the interview at the Grove plaza.

Bilbao and Foster initially ignored the intrusion, but quickly noticed the source of the heckling -- Sali and members of his staff.

Is that really how you want your Congressman to behave? Are you really okay with that?

Now I know you love your characters, from Helen Chenoweth and her canned salmon to George Hansen, almost reelected just before he was sent to prison. Is it that you have so much disdain for government that sending these people who are incapable of anything but stupid stunts and grandstanding you're making some kind of nose-thumbing statement? Don't even make me talk about Larry Craig.

You do realize that you're paying for it, right? You're paying for it by having not only a laughingstock representing you, but in his complete inability to actually do anything of substance to help the state.

But you're paying for him, too, all of you who hate having to see any of your hard-earned dollars going to the government. Your taxes are not only paying him to serve in Congress, but paying for his campaign, too.

Three members of Idaho Rep. Bill Sali's congressional staff are also now campaigning for his reelection, with at least two of them still drawing some kind of government salary.

An online Sali campaign roster, stamped "completely confidential," lists Wayne Hoffman, Tina Jacobson and Jonathan Parker, respectively, as campaign media manager, North Idaho campaign director and campaign strategist.

Meanwhile, on the congressional salary database Legistorm, the same three individuals are shown to have pulled down federal salaries through the reporting period ending in June (the latest available).

It is not illegal for congressional staff members to "donate" their time to reelection campaigns. But House rules are clear that any campaign work should either be done on the staff member's "own time" unless the staffer takes a leave of absence or reduces his or her work to half-time status.

That campaign page has since been taken down, but New West has a screen shot of it.

That means he's stealing from you, Idaho. Are you really going to put up with that?

Time and time again, you throw over the tradition of electing real statesman--William Borah, Cece Andrus, Frank Church--to send in the clowns. Why? These are exceedingly serious times. You don't have to look any farther for proof than at Micron, of your largest employers and leading businesses. It's struggling, having to lay off 1,500 workers--1,500! Do you think Silly Bill Sali is going to be able to do a damned thing to help those people? To do anything to position Idaho for the financial storms that are going to keep coming?

Please, people, for once think about doing what's best for the state. And for all you people like me, you Idaho expats, send some money home, help the Idaho Dems get the word out to early voters about their choices this election. And talk to your friends and family back home. Idaho deserves so much better.

• ::

Factcheck Friday...NOT!.

No it is not Friday, just an update from the crew at Factcheck.org to clarify some points from the Second Presidential Debate last night. Here it is...go ahead get your fix.

One month left...

If you haven't been paying attention to the Presidential Election, here is a refresher.

Factcheck Friday...The Veep Edition

Last night was the VP debate and neither candidate fell on their face. But each of them had their own exaggerations and misleading statements. The crew at Factcheck.org straighten it out for us.

Boise State Game....

Tammy and I had the opportunity to attend the Boise State v. Louisiana Tech football game on Oct 1st. It was fun. Tammy came and picked me up from work about 3:00 PM. Then we headed over to the stadium to find parking. She did a great job we found a good spot and we did not have to pay to park (that annoys more than anything- you pay for an event and then you have to pay to park (how are you supposed to get the the event?)). Then we had to pick up an orange Boise State shirt (we were sitting in an orange section).

After browsing around the BroncoShop, we still had about 30 minutes before they were letting people into the stadium so we went to "Broncoville". They open up the practice field for kids to play on before the game and they have tables and chairs and jump houses and lots of fun stuff. Plus, the kids get to play where the team practices. We took advantage of the table and chairs and relaxed as they showed a replay of the Boise State v. Oregon game.



Then we made our way up to our seats. The tickets were my dads. He has season tickets in section 109 row r, first two seats on the isle. He had seats for years up in the nose-bleed section, but through trading up he has been able to get these seats more centered in the field. It was a lot of fun. Boise State handily defeated LA Tech 38-3. Kudos to the defense for not allowing any touchdowns. We had a great time. Tammy and her brother Tim were even texting to one another across the stadium.



It was a fun date. I love going to the games with Tammy. We reminisced about going to the games when I was going to Boise State and we lived on campus. We used to walk to the games from our apartment (no parking issues then). We have been to many games together; with many more to come.

Boise...State

P.S.-
Cort, Emily and Gavin went to the game and were able to sit in the "Bronco Bunch" area down near the field. Emily's brother Doug won tickets through Idaho Elks so they were very close to the south end zone. Here are a few shots of Cort on the sidelines.