Wow!! 25,000 To 30,000 Show Up For Obama In Charlotte Today!

By- Suzie-Q @ 4:00 PM MST

25,000 to 30,000 Show Up For Obama in Charlotte Today!

Daily Kos- by DJShay

Sun Sep 21, 2008 at 01:27:26 PM PDT

Barack Obama was in Charlotte today and even I was shocked at the size of the crowd. I got in line about 8:30 am, gates didn’t open till 11:00 am, and there was already a line 2 city blocks long. A reader at the Charlotte Observer blog sent in this pic.

• DJShay’s diary :: ::

Notice the street sign say’ 9th street. The Rally was held at 4th street, so you can see the line stretched beyond 9th street to get in at 11:30. The Charlotte Fire Dept estimated the crowd size:

The Obama campaign said the Charlotte Fire Department estimated the crowd at 20,000 inside the gates, plus 5,000-10,000 outside.

The crowd got so large, they lifted the barriers to areas that had previously been cordoned off to try and accomodate the overflow. Some people even started breaking through hedges and climbing low walls just to be able to hear him:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/…

People from all over the state came to see Obama. Some had never attended a political rally in their lives.

http://obsprimary.blogspot.com/

Alton Hancock and his wife Jane drove down from Black Mountain. Because of their age, they were given chairs against the protective fence on the grass in front of old City Hall. It was their first-ever presidential rally.

“I’ve never been so thrilled with a candidate for president as I am with this man,” said Hancock, 76. “He’s got intellect, heart, temperment and an understanding of all the people.”

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Palin Scares People And Pushes Them To The Left??

By- Suzie-Q @ 2:45 PM MST

One thought pushes fence-sitters to the left: Palin

By Adam C. Smith, Times Political Editor
In print: Saturday, September 20, 2008

What they’re saying about Palin

“The one thing that frightens me more than anything else are the ideologues. We’ve seen too many.”

Donn Spegal, 80, St. Petersburg, Republican Air Force veteran

“I’m truly offended by Palin. You’re somebody’s mom and what are you going to do, say, ‘Excuse me, country, hold on?’ “

Philinia Lehr, 37, Largo, Republican full-time mother

“That was almost insulting. Do they think we’re really stupid? … I’m definitely leaning toward the Democratic side now. Sarah Palin scares … me.” ”

Rhonda Laris, Temple Terrace, Democrat

“She is Dick Cheney with a dress on.”

Bill Chever, 56, St. Petersburg, Independent Air Force veteran

FULL STORY HERE

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The Bush Legacy: Squandering Taxpayer Money

By- Suzie-Q @ 2:00 PM MST

Bush’s Legacy Of Squandering Taxpayer Money

Think Progress- By Ali at 2:32 pm

Yesterday, President Bush announced his $700 billion plan to buy out troubled financial institutions. Demanding enormous faith in his administration’s stewardship, the plan “would place no restrictions on the administration other than requiring semiannual reports to Congress, granting the Treasury secretary unprecedented power to buy and resell mortgage debt,” and to hire outside firms “to help manage its purchases.” Further, the proposal provides no oversight mechanism:

Sec. 8. Review: 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.

Bush is demanding unprecedented control over billions of dollars — with no oversight. His history of mismanaging taxpayer dollars should make Americans skeptical of his buyout plan:

IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION

–$142 million wasted on reconstruction projects that were either terminated or canceled. [Special Inspector General for Iraq, 7/28/08]

–“Significant” amount of U.S. funds for Iraq funneled to Sunni and Shiite militias. [GAO Comptroller, 3/11/08]

–$180 million payed to construction company Bechtel for projects it never finished. [Federal audit, 7/25/07]

–$5.1 billion in expenses for Iraq reconstruction charged without documentation. [Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction report, 3/19/07]

–$10 billion in spending on Iraq reconstruction was wasteful or poorly tracked. [GAO, 2/15/07]

–Halliburton overcharged the government $100 million for one day’s work in 2004. [Project on Government Oversight, 10/8/04]

KATRINA

–Millions wasted on four no-bid contracts, including paying $20 million for an unusable camp for evacuees. [Homeland Security Department Inspector General, 9/10/08]

–$2.4 billion in contracts doled out by FEMA that guaranteed profits for big companies. [Center for Public Integrity investigation, 6/25/07]

-An estimated $2 billion in fraud and waste — nearly 11 percent of the $19 billion spent by FEMA on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as of mid-June. [New York Times tally, 6/27/06]

–“Widespread” waste and mismanagement on millions for Katrina recovery, including at least $3 million for 4,000 beds that were never used. [GAO, 3/16/06]

DEFENSE CONTRACTS

–A $50 million Air Force contract awarded to a company with close ties to senior Air Force officers, in a process “fraught with improper influence, irregular procedures, glaring conflicts of interest.” [Project on Government Oversight, 4/18/08]

–$1.7 billion in excessive fees and waste paid by the Pentagon to the Interior Department to manage federal lands. [Defense Department and Interior Department Inspectors General audit, 12/25/06]

–$1 trillion unaccounted for by the Pentagon, including 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units. [GAO, 5/18/03]

Given Bush’s history of gross fiscal mismanagement — including an unprecedented number of no-bid contracts and Bush’s resistance to closing fraud loopholes or increasing oversight of contracts — why should Americans trust another $700 billion to his care? Paul Krugman writes, “Let’s not be railroaded into accepting an enormously expensive plan that doesn’t seem to address the real problem.”

Update– Matt Stoller has some reactions from anonymous Democratic members of Congress.

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ABC Pundits Slam McCain’s Handling Of Financial Crisis

By- Suzie-Q @ 12:05 PM MST

Raw Story- David Edwards and Andrew McLemore
Published: Sunday September 21, 2008

How did McCain look during the financial meltdown on Wall Street this week?

Not good, said the pundits on ABC’s This Week, who criticized the Republican presidential candidate’s response to the worst economic crisis in years as inept and confused.

Much of the disapproval centered on what the guests claimed was a lack of presidential poise and leadership as McCain faced a $700 billion proposal from the Bush administration to bail out Wall Street.

“I suppose the McCain campaign’s hope is that when there’s a big crisis, people will go for age and experience,” George Will said. “The question is who in this crisis looked more presidential, calm and unflustered. It wasn’t John McCain, who, as usual, substituting vehemence for coherence said let’s fire somebody and picked one of the most experienced and conservative people in the administration.”

Cokie Roberts compared McCain’s optimism about the American economy – he said the “fundamentals of our economy are strong” days before the financial fallout — to former Republican President Herbert Hoover.

Hoover also praised the economy after bank failures and job layoffs, saying “the fundamental business of the country… is on a sound and prosperous basis.”

The Great Depression followed soon after.

“He’s a Republican and whenever Republicans get into this kind of mess… the specter of Herbert Hoover comes out to haunt them,” Roberts said.

Sam Donaldson cited McCain’s past voting record as contradictory to his current claims of tough regulation and wondered if the senator was “getting his talking points confused.”

“I think the question of McCain’s age is back on the table,” Donaldson said.

Polls have shown more voters trust Sen. Barack Obama with the economy, though others show McCain on top when voters were asked which candidate could better handle a crisis.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j422UZ1PVKXp0gH6HCwaY4pg5n7gD93B6UQ80

But a Democratic pollster said Obama’s position could improve if the economic crisis worsens.

“Obama is in a position to improve his poll numbers, given the confidence in his handling of the economy,” said Tom Eldon of Schroth, Eldon & Associates.

This video is from ABC’s This Week, broadcast September 21, 2008.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “The Raw Story | ABC pundits slam McCa…“, posted with vodpod

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Afternoon Jukebox… Summer Wine

By- Suzie-Q @ 12:00 PM MST

The Corrs with Bono – Summer Wine

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Saturday Night Live Return: Franken Helps Write SNL’s McCain Skit (VIDEO)

By- Suzie-Q @ 9:00 AM MST

Al Franken’s Saturday Night Live Return: Franken Helps Write SNL’s McCain Skit (VIDEO)

Huffington Post |  Nicholas Graham   |   September 20, 2008 10:46 PM

Saturday Night Live’s opening skit knocked John McCain for running misleading ads about Barack Obama. As Politico reported earlier tonight (see below), Al Franken, a Democrat currently running for the Senate in Minnesota and a former SNL cast member, had a hand in crafting the skit. Scroll for Franken’s McCain skit or, WATCH FIVE OTHER JAMES FRANCO-HOSTED SNL SKITS HERE

WATCH FRANKEN’S MCCAIN SKIT:
WATCH IT HERE

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EARLIER Politico reports that Al Franken had a hand in writing tonight’s Saturday Night Live skit about John McCain.

Al Franken, the former “Saturday Night Live” star now running in a high-profile Senate race in Minnesota, helped craft the opening sketch mocking John McCain that is slated to kick off the NBC comedy show tonight, according to two well-placed sources inside the network.

Franken, who hasn’t been a staff writer on the show for 13 years, “phoned in” a spoof of McCain recording campaign ads in an edit booth, said an NBC source. Seth Meyers, the show’s current head writer, wrote it, but the sketch was hatched by Franken, a longtime liberal satirist and comedian.

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