Fantasy Politics USA

Bill Richardson has a plan to help college students pay off their student loans. He plans on releasing the details of his plan in a couple of weeks but at a house party he released a couple of the major ideas behind it. As part of the college loan, “we’ll pay them off, if you give your country one year of national service: work in a forest, clean up a forest … work in a hospital, go in the military, go in the Peace Corps, go in Vista,” he said. He suggested loan incentives for people that plan on using their education to help the community. “I want to specifically link amounts and loan structure to national service,” Richardson said. “For two or three of those years, the government will pay off your loans, but you’ve got to give us a year of national service.” Richardson said none of the other candidates are even talking about education. “Nobody talks about education. It’s not at the top of the polls,” Richardson said. “I happen to think this is the most important issue facing our families, economic development and competitiveness.” The education of our youth is the foundation of our future. With the rising cost of education many in the middle class are getting squeezed out. Plans like Richardson’s will try to address this problem.
Alan Cosgrove

Tom Tancredo told a crowd that it is “time the taxpayer gravy train left the New Orleans station,” saying the aid for the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina should end. “The amount of money that has been wasted on these so-called ‘recovery’ efforts has been mind-boggling,” Tancredo said. “Enough is enough.” So far the administration has spent about $114 billion on the recovery. “At some point, state and local officials and individuals have got to step up to the plate and take some initiative,” said Tancredo. “The mentality that people can wait around indefinitely for the federal taxpayer to solve all their worldly problems has got to come to an end.” Tancredo was particularly critical of the $1 billion that has been wasted in fraud and abuse. “This whole fiasco has been a perfect storm of corruption and incompetence at all levels,” he said. He is complaining about less than 1% of the total spent, and ignoring the real crime against the American taxpayers. The real abuse has come from this administration with it’s no bid contracts to all their cronies associated with Haliburton. This group has yet to do a job right, but they still get all the sweet billion dollar contracts without any competition. Iraq, Walter Reed, and Hurricane Katrina all have one thing in common. In the name of homeland security FEMA has been gobbled up in bureaucracy, and can get nothing done. Tancredo is placing to much of the blame on the victims instead of the real culprits. If he really wants to address some corruption maybe he should look towards Iraq where whole pallets full of $100 dollar bills just disappear.
Alan Cosgrove

On Friday the four states allowed to hold early Presidential contests, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, asked the Democratic presidential candidates to sign a pledge to not participate or campaign in Florida’s political process. The pledge stands as long as Florida keeps it’s early primary. Immediately on Friday Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, and Joe Biden signed the pledge. Now the three Democratic front runners have also decided to sign the pledge. “As I have campaigned across America over the last six months, it’s become clear that Governor Dean and the Democratic National Committee have put together a presidential nomination process that’s in the best interests of our party and our nation,” Obama said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing the dialogue with voters and building the kind of grassroots movement in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina and the rest of the country that will send a clear signal to Washington that the American people are ready for change.” The Clinton camp released a statement saying, “We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process, and we believe the DNC’s rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role. Thus, we will be signing the pledge to adhere to the DNC approved nominating calendar.” The Edwards campaign also released a statement saying, “Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina need to be first because in these states ideas count, not just money. These are places where voters get to look the candidate in the eye and measure their policies, ideas, and integrity. That’s why I am signing this pledge. This tried-and-true nominating system is the only way for voters to judge the field based on the quality of the candidate, not the depth of their war chest.” Howard Dean is trying to get the candidates to support his idea of stripping Florida of any say in the nominating process, not even inviting them to the convention. Florida Democrats only have thirty days to change their primary date back to at least February 15th. It was all about wanting to be first when we already had a system that has worked fine for years. The Florida Democrats have shot themselves straight in the foot on this one. Some are saying it was a gamble they took knowing that Florida will be lost to the Republicans this election anyway. Popular Republican Governor Charlie Crist is on a couple of short list for V.P., and if he is picked the Democrats won’t have a chance in 08 with Florida.
Alan Cosgrove

Delegate heavy Florida which was just punished by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) this past Saturday now is getting punished by some of the candidates. The four states that the DNC allows to have early political contests have sent out a letter urging candidates to not participate in any state that moves it primary up before February 5th. Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden all quickly signed the pledge. This means they will not campaign in Florida, and maybe not Michigan which is considering moving it’s primary up to January 15th. This is a good deal for them since they are cash strapped and campaigning in states like Florida and Michigan is expensive. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both have agreed to look closely at the pledge, but Clinton had earlier promised to campaign anywhere there is a primary. According to Richardson the, “process is completely out of control and only an agreement by the candidates can restore sanity.” “Each candidate for president should do whatever possible to preserve the established rules,” Richardson said. “Anarchy in the nominating process does nothing to further the cause of changing America.” Dodd said the four traditional early states, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina all, “offer a cross section of America and allow for voters to probe the experience and vision of candidates in a meaningful way.” Biden’s campaign said, “it is time to end all the maneuvering around the dates of the early primaries and caucuses. The public despises this kind of maneuvering for political advantage.” Florida Democrats tried to skip in line, and now they are paying for it. They enacted a bill that they knew was in violation of both party rules, and now Michigan is setting the same thing in motion. The DNC felt they had to stop it at some point or we would be starting the nominating process right after Thanksgiving. Iowa and New Hampshire have been first for decades. Florida tried to cut in line, and the DNC just put them at the back of the line. The Florida Democrats thought they could get away with this and lost. They are now trying to blame the Republican controlled Legislature for the vote, but the voting record shows that the measure passed 118-0 Meaning everyone of the Democrats voted for the date change. They brought it on themselves, and now it is their problem to fix it or be disenfranchised. Other states should pay attention, and not jump in line.
Alan Cosgrove

In a recent interview in Time Magazine Elizabeth Edwards said that Hillary Clinton is so divisive that she will energize the Republican vote. According to Elizabeth Edwards, “I want to be perfectly clear: I do not think the hatred against Hillary Clinton is justified. I don’t know where it comes from. I don’t begin to understand it. But you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist, and it will energize the Republican base. Their nominee won’t energize them, Bush won’t, but Hillary as the nominee will. It’s hard for John to talk about, but it’s the reality.” This sounds just like what Karl Rove was spouting on the Sunday talk shows about a week ago. Mrs. Edwards has been vocal lately, I would assume saying things that John can’t say. For instance she said that John Edwards would do more for women than Clinton would. At the time it even sounded like she said John was more of a woman than Hillary. She has also accused Barack Obama of being “holier than thou.” She addresses these and other comments in the Time interview by saying, “The media goes to this very engaging story about a legitimate woman candidate and a legitimate candidate with an African-American heritage, and that drives up their fund-raising numbers. Then the media folks say, ‘See, that proves we were right to focus on these two candidates.'” Then Mrs. Edwards follows up with, “It’s enough to make you tear your hair out.” Mrs. Edwards, some of your comments make Democrats want to tear their hair out.
Alan Cosgrove

The labor day weekend is coming up, and that is the traditional start of the political season in the past. Many thought Fred Thompson would choose this weekend as the time to finally announce he is running for the President. CNN has been told to expect Thompson to announce it on the web next week, but not before Wednesday. The reason Wednesday is so important is because that is the date of the next Republican debate, in New Hampshire sponsored by Fox News. Thompson has been recently attacked because it is unlikely he will attend the debate. In an editorial in the Union Leader Thompson is told he has, “flirted from afar with Republican voters for long enough. It’s time for him to accept a date. And there is no better first date than the New Hampshire Republican Party’s presidential debate on Sept. 5.” The Union Leader says if Thompson announces before the debate and doesn’t show up then, “A no-show will be counted here as a snub.” If Thompson waits until after the debate, which seems likely right now, “then it will appear to some as if he timed the announcement just to avoid the New Hampshire debate. That would give his foes the chance to say he is either not serious about running for the nomination or is too unprepared to be considered a credible candidate.” He is already being chastised by other candidates for not being serious. In a recent interview with CBN’s David Brody, Mike Huckabee had this to say about Fred Thompson, “I frankly don’t get it. I mean I’m not being unkind I just don’t understand it because there’s not a substantial record in the Senate in him having authored the landmark signature bill that changed America. There’s not been in essence the kind of thing that says boy I remember when he did and then you fill in the blank. I think a lot of it is that people aren’t sure whether they’re electing a former senator or Arthur Branch. Anytime a person is on television a lot and a celebrity there’s a sense in which people are given a unique pedestal on which to stand and it’s the celebrity more than it is anything, the attention that comes from that and the sort of gee whiz factor and I’ve seen him on TV.” Brody asked Huckabee if he thought Thompson’s view on a federal ban on same sex marriage would hurt him. Huckabee said, “For many conservatives, this is a very critical issue…a constitutional amendment to clearly define marriage, as we did in my state when I was Governor, is something that many of us believe ought to happen at the federal level so that we put this to rest and we don’t keep fighting it state by state by state or we have some federal court say that whatever federal recognition of one state has to then apply to the other states. So it is a very important issue for many conservatives. I think if a person doesn’t take a strong stand or acts as if it’s not important it’s going to be signal. It’s not that it’s just the issue but the fact that it’s going to send a signal to conservatives that a person may not really be fully tuned in to the importance of maintaining the integrity and structure of marriage as we know it.”
Thompson may have waited to long to really jump into this race. He started strong when he made his little video attacking Michael Moore, but it has been a downhill struggle since then. He has had numerous staff changes, and has teased Republicans with different dates for his official entrance into the race. Some say his wife has been instrumental in all these changes, but all this uncertainty and laziness may not get it this time. Right now his chances depend on the lackluster bunch of candidates that have so far announced. So his only strength is their weaknesses. He is sometimes compared to Ronald Reagan, but in reality the only real similarity is that both were actors. So far all Thompson has added to the mix is a bunch of conservative clichés interspersed with drawn out pauses.
UPDATE: Sources working on the Thompson campaign have disclosed that Thompson will announce his intentions with a video on his website, www.I’mWithFred.com on September 6 at 12:01 a.m. They also said that he will immediately start campaigning and visiting key states, which I would assume means he is getting in. What else is he going to campaign for? The same sources say Thompson will not make it to the debate on Wednesday.
Alan Cosgrove