a couple factcheck tidbits from the debate

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_debate_no_2.html

* McCain misstated Obama’s health care plan, claiming it would levy fines on “small businesses” that fail to provide health insurance. Actually, Obama’s plan exempts “small businesses.”

* McCain lamented that the U.S. was forced to “withdraw in humiliation” from Somalia in 1994, but he failed to note that he once proposed to cut off funding for troops to force a faster withdrawal.

a couple more factcheck tidbits from the debate

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2...bate_no_2.html

"McCain repeated an error he made in the last debate when he said, "In Lebanon, I stood up to President Reagan, my hero, and said, if we send Marines in there, how can we possibly beneficially affect this situation? In fact, as we noted previously, McCain wasn't elected until three months after the Marines had been deployed.
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McCain said it again: "We've got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't want us very – like us very much". He's talking about what we spend importing oil. At current oil prices, the correct figure is about $493 billion. About a third of that goes to Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which were still on the friendly side of the ledger last time we looked.
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McCain recycled a misleading claim from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign, charging Obama with voting to give “billions” to oil companies:

McCain is referring to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which Obama did in fact vote for.

In fact, according to a Congressional Research Service report, more tax breaks were taken away from oil companies than were given. Overall, the act resulted in a small net tax increase on the oil industry:

Congressional Research Service: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT05, P.L. 109-58) included several oil and gas tax incentives, providing about $2.6 billion of tax cuts for the oil and gas industry.

As we said last year, the bill did contain $14.3 billion in tax breaks, but most of those went to electric utilities, and nuclear, and also to alternative fuels research and subsidies for energy-efficient cars, homes and buildings – not to the oil industry."

Be fair gumbo, you should post some of Obamas misleading statements, its probably not as many, but you should post them.

Quite right. Until Congress is forced to operate under fear(of being voted out), their hypocrisy will continue. The electorate is more infatuated with "dancing with the stars", than they are with knowing what congress is doing. It has gotten out of hand but the everyday voter is the only one who can change it. You want change? Vote out your entrenched encumbants in congress.

On the original subject: I fell asleep in the middle of last night's debate. Either it was that boring or I am still in vacation mode, or both. It would be nice to hear something viable come out of these debates but that may be a bit much to expect after all.

Welcome to an opinion of one. Goodness you spin more than a whirling dervish. What a surprise.

i posted the link. i picked the misstatements from last night that i deemed important.

healthcare is a wash and complicated.

the griping about how many times senators voted for or against ______ is meaningless because you have to know the specifics of the bill and the context.

iraq spent $21 billion in august so they have $59 bil and not $79 bil like obama said. BFD.

ok, the oil companies are "using" the 68 mil acres.

taxpayer $$$ paid for the first "electronic" computer, but the chinese invented the abicuss

the us debt was 5.74 tril $$$, not about 5 tril like obama said

brokaw's name is thomas not "tom":grin:

You should be able to recognize an insult Red. You dole out plenty of them. As to your opinion on our "win" in Somalia, well, I will just let that stand on it's own....merit.

And if you are bored, don't respond. FSA is still free, right?

details out on "McCain's" mortgage bailout plan

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2008/db2008108_106465.htm

"Under his plan, the government would buy the mortgages from banks and investors at the original value of the loan, no matter how overinflated that now appears to be. "We're [proposing] buying back the original mortgage at the original value and then giving [the homeowner] the new mortgages" at current values and more affordable interest rates, Holtz-Eakin told BusinessWeek. "Obviously the taxpayer is on the hook for the difference."

The statement on the McCain Web site fills in some other details: It says the plan would buy mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers and replace them with "manageable, fixed-rate mortgages." That help would be available to mortgage holders who live in the home as a primary residence, who can prove they didn't fake their qualifications for the loan, and who provided a down payment."

my two points about it--

1. since it will only be used for subprime mortgages where buyers have to live in the house (no investment homes--big chunk of bad mortgages), gave correct info AND made a down payment, it will have little effect. im skeptical they can even find $300 bil of these mortgages.

2. homeowners keep all profit. i really dont get this one. a perfectly reasonable and conservative plan was to renegotiate a deal at a lower principal value and better interest rate but give some % of any profit on later sale to the govt/lender.