The Fallout from the Bailout

The Center for Responsive Politics gives up the skinny on AIG contributions. Covering all the bases it would seem although they must be sensing a change in the wind, given their current attention to the Dems. Both Presidential contenders received money.

Over at The Hill, we learn what the budget writers really think.

Back to the Future and we are in the days of the Chrysler bailout. More deja vu. I started my IRS career as a Revenue Officer in 1979. I remember making calls on small businessmen and women who were reeling from the recession, and their fury (directed wrongly at the IRS) with Chrysler. "Why are you coming after me and not them?" they all wanted to know. That was a question for their Congressman, not me. Nearly 30 years past and we continue to protect corporations that prove arrogant and unwilling to seriously manage their business practices, aided and abetted by a compliant legislature and White House.

Which leads me to that spectacularly unqualified Republican VP nominee, Sarah Palin. In this article we learn that Alaska's governor apparently eschews real political work. She connects directly to the voters. Well that worked for a while for Dubya, and look where it got us, and him. I am not making this up folks.

According to lawmakers, senior gubernatorial aides and others who have watched her closely, the woman chosen by Republican Sen. John McCain as his vice presidential running mate has little interest in political give-and-take, or in sustained working relationships with legislators or other important figures around the state. Nor has she proven particularly attentive to the details of public policy. "She's not known for burning the midnight oil on in-depth policy issues," said Larry Persily, a former journalist who was associate director of the governor's Washington office until the spring.

But those who know her say Palin, 44, is uncommonly deft at something else: sensing the mood of her constituents, shaping her public messages and harnessing a remarkable personal popularity to accomplish what she wants. "She has an incredible pulse on the public will," said Bruce Botelho, a Democrat who is mayor of Juneau, the state capital.

I am sure she'll craft an appropriate response to the current financial mess that will probably have little to do with economic realities, but will be a vote-magnet. Biden better be ready at the debate. She'll probably try to outsmile and outwink him to victory. Unless of course she has a stack of 3x5 cards with pre-printed responses to the questions.