PJB: How Obama Won — and May Win

[indygal]

"The qualifications that I would be looking for, in a candidate, would be:  Experience, both domestically and abroad...Enough youth to be energetic in their leadership but enough age and sophistication to prevent garden variety mistakes...and a proven record of service over a long period of years.  So far, I have not read of anyone who completely meets those criteria."

Wow...I don't think I can name a single presidential candidate in the 30 years I've been voting that has met all these standards. Can you? I'm not sure such a creature exists.

Also, I believe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an inspiration to all people, not just African-Americans. His message transcended race, class and gender. We ALL have a dream, and by standing together we can achieve anything.

[frawin]

IndyGal, I think the best Presidents in my time or that I am more familiar with were Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan and neither met the age criteria. If Harry Truman were alive today he would be a Republican, a Democrat in Harry's day was mainly  Southern Conservatives and Republicans were more Liberal. My how the tables have turned.
Frank

[Wilma]

I am a bit older than you, Frank.  I would add FDR to that list.

[frawin]

I agree Wilma, he certainly was the man of the time by pulling us out of the depression and taking charge during the start of WWII. 

[Catwoman]

"The qualifications that I would be looking for, in a candidate, would be:  Experience, both domestically and abroad...Enough youth to be energetic in their leadership but enough age and sophistication to prevent garden variety mistakes...and a proven record of service over a long period of years.  So far, I have not read of anyone who completely meets those criteria."

Wow...I don't think I can name a single presidential candidate in the 30 years I've been voting that has met all these standards. Can you? I'm not sure such a creature exists.

Also, I believe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an inspiration to all people, not just African-Americans. His message transcended race, class and gender. We ALL have a dream, and by standing together we can achieve anything.

IndyGal, I completely agree with you.  It is only through teamwork that we are going to get anything accomplished in this nation. 

[indygal]

Of course, I wasn't alive during the Great Depression but I've certainly read and heard a lot about it. I would agree with Wilma that FDR was the right man for the job at that time, even though his proposals were not initially very popular. He had a difficult task to accomplish ... but he did it. He put people back to work, improved our country's infrastructure and public buildings, and made it possible for the working class to climb out of a very deep hole. He established programs such as Social Security and Medicaid to provide a safety net for those who otherwise would fall between the cracks. He didn't pull people out by himself; instead, he provided the ladder for them to do it on their own.

I see many similarities between what happened during the 1920s (when banks began to fail), the 1930s (the Great Depression) and the 1940s (economic recovery) and what is happening now. Cliche or not, those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

[frawin]

Indygal, Medicaid was not created until 1965, 20 years after FDR passed away.
Frank

[indygal]

Oops, my mistake! I apologize for not fact-checking before posting.

[sixdogsmom]

My error, sorry.

[sixdogsmom]

Obama calls for oil crackdown
By MIKE ALLEN | 6/22/08 11:47 AM EST Updated: 6/22/08 5:31 PM EST  Text Size:     



The Democrat gets a two-fer: sides with consumers while taking a whack at his opponent's advisers.
Photo: AP



With the cost of gas a top issue in the presidential campaign, Barack Obama on Sunday will announce a plan to crack down on oil speculation by tightening regulations on energy traders.

The announcement is further evidence that an Obama administration would take an activist, populist approach to regulating business.

Obama wants to close a loophole in federal law that exempts some energy traders from regulations that govern other exchange-traded commodities. Democrats call this "the Enron loophole" because it benefited the Houston energy-speculation firm that collapsed in an accounting scandal.

In response, John McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said: "The truth is Barack Obama is following John McCain's lead to close a Wall Street loophole that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. John McCain has supported bipartisan efforts to close this loophole and will work to address abuses in oil speculation.

"Barack Obama has voted the party line for Democrats who claim the loophole is fixed. The fact that Barack Obama is attacking John McCain, despite McCain's leadership on the issue, shows that Barack Obama is driven by the partisan attacks that Americans are tired of."

The Obama campaign accuses Phil Gramm — the former U.S. senator from Texas, who's now a McCain campaign co-chair and economic adviser — of helping insert the exemption. Gramm's wife, Wendy, was a member of the Enron board of directors.

So today's announcement — in an early-afternoon conference call featuring New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine — allows the Obama campaign to both side with consumers and take a whack at McCain's brain trust.

Obama said in a statement: "My plan fully closes the Enron Loophole and restores common-sense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future."

The campaign calls the loophole "one example of the special interest politics that put the interests of Big Oil and speculators ahead of the interests of working people."

Obama said: "For the past years, our energy policy in this country has been simply to let the special interests have their way — opening up loopholes for the oil companies and speculators so that they could reap record profits while the rest of us pay $4 a gallon."

Here are excerpts from the text of the four-part "Obama Plan to Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation," as provided by the campaign:

1) Fully Close the "Enron Loophole": One of the reasons our energy market is particularly vulnerable to excessive speculation is the so-called "Enron Loophole" ... [which means] Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is unable to fully oversee the oil futures market and investigate cases where excessive speculation may be driving up oil prices. This regulatory gap is dangerous because: 1) the absence of government oversight has the potential to facilitate abusive trading or price manipulation. And 2) the failure of a large derivatives dealer could trigger disruptions of supplies and prices in energy markets. As President, Barack Obama will go beyond the changes included in the recently-passed Farm Bill and fully close the Enron loophole by requiring that U.S. energy futures trade on regulated exchanges. He will call for new, disaggregated data on index fund and other passive investments to increase transparency and oversight of the growing number of institutional investors participating in commodities futures markets. And he will support legislation directing the CFTC to investigate whether additional regulation is necessary to eliminate excessive speculation in U.S. commodities markets, including higher margin requirements and position limits for institutional investors.

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2) Ensure That U.S. Energy Futures Cannot be Traded on Unregulated Offshore Exchanges: CFTC oversight of oil market speculation is also limited by rules that allow energy traders to engage in unregulated transactions through foreign subsidiaries of U.S. exchanges. Currently, about 30 percent of U.S. oil futures trades fly below the regulatory radar because they are transacted on a U.S. exchange that works through a subsidiary in London. Similar arrangements are being pursued by U.S. exchanges in partnership with Dubai as well. Barack Obama would limit the price impacts of excessive speculation by preventing traders of U.S. crude oil from routing their transactions through off-shore markets in order to evade speculation limits and also impose reporting requirements.

3) Work with Other Countries to Coordinate Regulation of Oil Futures Markets.

4) Call on the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to Vigorously Investigate Market Manipulation in Oil Futures.

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From Politico.com