The secret is finally out. Where did all the money come from? Bill Clinton has disclosed the 208,000 donors to the Clinton foundation and presidential library. This was largely a requirement for Hillary to take the Secretary of State position and show no “outside influences.” 

In total Clinton’s foundation raised at least $41 million from foreign governments (good to know when you are about to be Secretary of State).

I give up. I am done. Please don’t show me any more. I voted on Friday. I have never voted early but, frankly, the idea of waiting another week

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced yesterday he will be voting for Barack Obama. 

I have a lot of respect for Powell. He is a retired general and a Republican; and was once thought of as a Presidential candidate himself. But don’t expect to see Powell on the campaign trail. It has never been his style. 

I do expect McCain to discount the endorsement – but that won’t fly for most Americans, as Powell’s reputation and credibility are enviable. Any shooting at Powell’s decision will only make McCain look more desperate and not credible. 

What does this mean? 

For the most part, it is significant blow to the McCain camp saying “Obama is not qualified to be Commander and Chief.” Powell said, “He [Obama] has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.” 

Is also sends a significant message to the Republican Party as Powell is a republican, endorsed Bush, and served as Secretary of State. 

Powell noted that either candidate would be qualified to be president and the next president will need to restore America’s standing and reputation in the world. 

The AIG bailout is getting more and more representational of a monumental screw- up than a legitimate government assistance bailout.

If you remember, the government agreed in September to give $85 billion to faltering AIG to avoid a collapse in the economy (mmmm, how did that work out for you?).

With the second of three Presidential debates behind us, the intensity certainly picked up and largely stuck to my predictions. McCain came out swinging and largely had Obama clarifying his positions. Make no mistake, McCain had no real choice (since he is down in the polls) but to attempt to place doubt on Obama’s ability to be Commander and Chief. 

Post-Poll results consistently show Obama with the win this round. The majority felt Obama was more in control and communicated his position better than McCain. Both continued to run over their allotted times despite moderator warnings. With all that actual extra pontification, did they stick to the facts? Come on…this is politics… 

Fact Check… 

Question: Did Obama vote to raise taxes 94 times? 

Answer: Misleading. There is usually “extra stuff” in a bill that makes statements like this not entirely accurate. Among some of the Obama votes; Seven were for measures that would lower taxes form many, but also increase taxes on some corporations. Eleven of the votes were to raise taxes on people making in excess of $1 million a year. 23 were against proposed tax cuts and 53 were budget resolutions (which may or may not have resulted in tax cuts). 

Question: Did McCain oppose sending (more) Marines to Lebanon in the 80’s? 

Answer: Correct. Sending “more” was an important word to add and McCain better clarified his position this time (as oppose to his statement from the first debate). 

Question: Did McCain lead on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform? 

Answer: Mixed. McCain was a participant although his warning came a year after the legislation was introduced. He was not a “sponsor” of the bill. 

Question: Did Obama get the “second-most” money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? 

Answer: Misleading. No donations actually come from the companies. If you measure employee contribution, Obama was second overall. However for the current election McCain leads in receiving those donations. 

Question: Is it true Obama wants to attack Pakistan? 

Answer: False. This was repeated by McCain on multiple occurrences however Obama said he would target “terrorist” in the event Pakistan would not be “able or willing” to do so. He was not considering attacking the Pakistani people or country as a whole. 

With only one debate remaining, expect the intensity (and divergence from the facts) to continue. 

Perhaps more importantly, what was your opinion on the debate? 

The Senate may have proved to be so great at fishing this week I think we should move them to ESPN or at least the Outdoor Network. 

The House is debating the economic bailout today and they are optimistic they will pass the $700 billion bailout (oh yea, and the other $110 billion in pork additives to buy their votes). Did I say that?

Come on; let’s just go over the facts. 

1. The Bailout gets shot down in the House. They don’t like it; they think it is a bad way to help. It falls 13 votes short of passing. 

2. Senate decides to take a shot. They add some pork to help sway those that didn’t vote for the bailout. Is this not bribery? “Hey, I know you think the bailout is a bad idea, but what if I throw in some stuff – completely unrelated – that you want?” 

3. House Approves the Bailout, the President signs it. 

Now the House all of a sudden “feels good” about the bailout? 

Rep. John Boehner, the House Leader, said “Is it perfect? No. But its clearly better than it was a week ago,” “I’m optimistic about today.”

Mmmmm Pork. No not the kind you may find next to eggs during your morning meal. I am talking about the pork “sweeteners” the Senate added to the bailout plan in hopes that the House members will bite. 

This is beyond sad and I can’t say I have seen a better example of a messed up government. Take a bad situation (the economy) and make it worse by throwing on a bunch of personal @#$! to get the bailout approved. 

Sure they call it adding “incentives”  to have the House push the Bailout through – it just looks like a load of you-know-what to me. 

So what gems will we get on top of the $700 Billion Bailout if the House approves it? 

Pork Additive #1 - Provisions to keep movie and television production in the U.S. It allows production companies to deduct the cost of “producing” the movies from their taxes. 

How Much? – It will cost taxpayers about $478 million over 10 years 

Pork Addictive #2 – Allow plaintiffs who won damages from the Exxon Mobile spill to average their awards over three years (as oppose to treating it as single year income). 

How Much? – It will cost the taxpayers about $49 Million. 

Pork Additive #3 – Allow a seven-year recovery cost for people who build motorsports racetracks. 

How Much? – It will cost the taxpayers $100 Million. 

Pork Addictive #4 - Allow citizens who do not pay state income tax also deduct what they pay in sales tax. 

How Much? – It will cost the taxpayers about $3.3 Billion 

Ok, there is too much to list and I am getting depressed. In all there is about $110 Billion Dollars in pork additives that will put even more stress on a bad situation. 

I think throwing this stuff in is borderline extortion – the “hey, we are not going to help the American economy unless I get some stuff for me” needs to stop. Spending is out of control. 

Stop thinking in terms of Left and Right and start thinking in terms of Right and Wrong! 

What do you think about this? Feel free to comment!