McCain mirrors Bush

McCain repeats Palin’s lie: Alaska ‘provides 20 percent of America’s energy requirements.’

In her interview with ABC News last week, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin asserted that Alaska “produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.” After FactCheck.org pointed out that Alaska is actually responsible for only 3.5 percent of the country’s domestic energy production, Palin began re-phrasing her claim. But in an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday McCain continued to repeat the debunked claim:

HANNITY: By the way, senator, she, she’s very convinced she can convince you into drilling in ANWR.

MCCAIN: Hahahaha, you know, that’s what happens when you throw two mavericks together. So, I’d, listen, I, she, you know, we talk about experience. What’s one of the major, if not the major challenge to America? Energy independence. Who knows more about energy than the governor of the state that provides 20% of America’s energy requirements?

Though McCain likes to tout Palin as America’s foremost energy expert, such claims have been undermined by her incorrect and confusing statements on the subject. Yesterday, CNN described Palin’s suggested oil export ban as “not exactly easy to understand.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/19/mccain-hannity-energy/

Flashback: In 2004 Bush Campaigned For Re-Election On The Backs Of Subprime Mortgages

During the 2004 campaign, President Bush declared his pride in making America what he called “an ownership society.” He promoted expanding home-ownership as the best way to ensure a strong economy, campaigning constantly on the idea:

5/6/04: “Thanks to being the most productive workforce in America, and I might say, thanks to good policies, this economy is strong and it’s getting stronger. … Home sales were the highest ever recently. That’s exciting news for the country.”

8/28/04: See, I love an ownership society. It’s a hopeful society. It’s a society that provides stability in times of change.

8/9/04: If you own your own home, and building equity in your own home, and you’re changing from job to job, it provides great security and relief.

8/6/04: Home ownership is at an all-time high now in America. That’s fantastic news. Isn’t it wonderful to have somebody for the first time be able to say: welcome to my home; I’m glad you’re here at my piece of property.

Of course, what the current enormous crisis " rooted in subprime mortgages " proves is that promoting home ownership without regulatory safeguards is inherently risky. As economist Paul Krugman explained, “orrowing to buy a home is like buying stocks on margin: if the market value of the house falls, the buyer can easily lose his or her entire stake.” And that’s just what happened: More homeowners now owe more money than their homes are actually worth, while foreclosure filings in August rose 12 percent from July " and represented a 27 percent increase from Aug. 2007.

Further, the quest for an all-encompassing ownership society led to the policies that have created the crisis. From dramatically low interest rates to ignoring the warnings about predatory lending to quashing state regulations that would have helped prevent such massive Wall Street investment in subprime loans, Bush and his allies built an economy on a house of cards that was bound to collapse.

Today, Bush declared, “There will be ample opportunity to debate the origins of this problem.” That debate will need to focus on his own failed promise of an “ownership society” as an economic panacea.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/19/bush-ownership-society/

New poll: Zero percent of Americans think national economy is improving.»

A new American Research Group poll shows that “[n]o Americans say that the national economy is getting better,” while 82 percent say it is getting much worse. Only 17 percent approve of President Bush’s handling of the economy, with 78 percent disapproving. Even among Republicans, more disapprove of his economic performance than approve:

Among Republicans, 46% approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 48% disapprove. Among Democrats, 97% disapprove of the way Bush is handling the economy and 2% approve. Among independents, 8% approve and 87% disapprove of the way Bush is handling the economy.

Bush’s overall approval rating fell to 19 percent, from 30 percent last month, with 76 percent disapproving.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/22/bush-approval-19/

Court orders Bush administration to release torture photos.

An appeals court today ruled that the Bush administration “must release 20 photographs of U.S. soldiers and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan” that were demanded by the ACLU, which is seeking information on prisoner abuse. The court “rejected the government’s claim that releasing the photos would endanger the lives or physical safety of U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. A lower court judge had already ordered that identifying facial features be removed from the pictures before they are released.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/22/court-release-photos/

Dirty Secret Of The Bailout: Thirty-Two Words That None Dare Utter

Jason Linkins

A critical - and radical - component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press. Section 8 (which ironically reminds one of the popular name of the portion of the 1937 Housing Act that paved the way for subsidized affordable housing ) of this legislation is just a single sentence of thirty-two words, but it represents a significant consolidation of power and an abdication of oversight authority that's so flat-out astounding that it ought to set one's hair on fire. It reads, in its entirety:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/dirty-secret-of-the-bailo_n_128294.html

Historic Disapproval: Bush Hits All-Time Low Amid Economic Meltdown
Obama Leads McCain 50-46 in Latest ABC News/Washington Post Poll

McCain's laboring under the Bush legacy. With the current economic situation, a record 70 percent of Americans disapprove of George W. Bush's job performance; a career-low 26 percent approve.

Bush's Disapproval Rating Highest in History

Just two presidents have had lower approval (Richard Nixon and Harry Truman) than President Bush, and none has had higher disapproval in polls since 1938.

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Politics/story?id=5920248&page=1