THE REPUBLICANS AND GUSTAV

A lot of conferences with the Boortz team yesterday ... and we're delaying our departure to St. Paul and the Republican National Convention by at least one day.  We can do a lot better job of covering the hurricane from home base than we can from some temporary setup in St. Paul. 

My feeling is that the Republicans should either postpone their convention ... by at least a week or two ... or cut the whole thing down to just a few hours.  The delegates are in St. Paul, so meet, nominate, vote, speechify and get out of town.  There is no way the Republicans can (or should) engage in a four-day party while people are suffering and perhaps dying at the hands of Gustav. 

Leave the tackiness to the Democrats.  We've already had that footstool Michael Moore say that the timing of this hurricane is proof that there is a God in Heaven.  Redstate.com is also reporting that a former high muckety-muck of the Democrat Party has said that the hurricane is a sign from God that he holds Republicans in disfavor.  Democrats can make these vile statements while people are suffering .. while the Republicans look for a way to relieve the suffering and 86 the partying.

Also ... please note that McCain's appointment of Sarah Palin and the subsequent worries over the hurricane have completely stripped The Lion King of ownership of the news cycle after his speech and ascension on Thursday night.  The Republicans should take advantage of this ... not blow the opportunity on a big party. 

THE CHOSEN ONE SPEAKS

I'll admit to putting the television on mute when Al Gore came on. This man has been so full of complete horse squeeze for so long that I just didn't want to listen to any of it last night. I took that time to unpack.

Let's give credit, though. The Chosen One flat filled that stadium, didn't he? Never underestimate the dumb masses.

Now ... some speech specifics. You hear me constantly complaining about government education in this country. Obama's speech only reinforces my position. There are so many things that Obama said last night that would have been laughed out of the stadium if only the crowd knew how absurd they were. Those people weren't there, though, because they were educated policy wonks. They were there to engage in celebrity worship. Last night was a not-so-adult version of the final episode of American Idol.

The Obama campaign is dedicated to the idea of chaining John McCain to George Bush. Once again last night we heard that bit about McCain voting with Bush 90% of the time. That line works because the dumb masses don't know any better. Has it occurred to you that George Bush doesn't have a vote in the Senate? So just how do you measure the percentage of times that McCain is voting "with" the president? Well, perhaps you could measure the number of times that a Senator votes with the Republican members. Ahhh ... but remember, as our Washington correspondent Jamie Dupree has told us many times, most Senate votes are unanimous. This would mean that the only way not to "vote with the president" would be not to vote at all. As Dick Morris wrote: "The fact that McCain backs commending a basketball team on its victory doesn't mean that he is in lockstep ideologically with the president."

Morris also points out a series of important issues on which Bush and McCain did not agree:

• McCain fought for campaign finance reform - McCain-Feingold - that Bush resisted and ultimately signed because he had no choice.
• McCain led the battle to restrict interrogation techniques of terror suspects and to ban torture.
• McCain went with Joe Lieberman on a tough measure to curb climate change, something Bush denies is going on.
• McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts when they passed.
• McCain urged the Iraq surge, a posture Bush rejected for years before conceding its wisdom.
• McCain favors FDA regulation of tobacco and sponsored legislation to that effect, a position all but a handful of Republican senators oppose.
• McCain's energy bill, also with Lieberman, is a virtual blueprint for energy independence and development of alternate sources.
• After the Enron scandal, McCain introduced sweeping reforms in corporate governance and legislation to guarantee pensions and prohibit golden parachutes for executives. Bush opposed McCain's changes and the watered-down Sarbanes-Oxley bill eventuated.
• McCain has been harshly critical of congressional overspending, particularly of budgetary earmarks, a position Bush only lately adopted (after the Democrats took over Congress).

Using the same methodology you would probably find that most Democrat senators also voted with Bush 90% of the time.

Now here's one part of the Obama speech that was particularly clever. As you know, we've been talking about Obama's plan to raise taxes on the very people, small businessmen and women, who are providing about 80% of the new jobs our economy is producing. Obama's response last night was to say that "I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow."

Here, again, is where the ignorance of the American voter comes into play. I can just hear some of my listeners now: "That Neal Boortz said that Obama was going to raise taxes these small businessmen. Obama said he is going to eliminate him. There! I knew it! Boortz is a liar!"

Pay attention now. Obama said he was going to eliminate capital gains taxes. These small businessmen generally don't pay capital gains taxes. They pay income taxes. Obama's plan is to raise the income taxes on these entrepreneurs. Telling the American people that he will cut their capital gains taxes is simply a charade; a charade the uneducated will buy.

Did you hear Obama last night say that McCain describes middle class as someone making less than $5 million dollars a year? Now you may laugh at that idea and think it absurd. Trust me ... there are hundreds of thousands of Obama voters out there who will take that seriously; who will think that McCain thinks that someone making $4,500,000 a year is middle class. Tell me, is that playing on the stupidity of the American people?

Then there's Obama's line about the Republicans and McCain not proposing one penny of tax relief for over 100 million Americans. Sounds good. But if you're educated; if you know the statistics; if you pay attention you will know that the bottom 50% of income earners in this country pay only about 3% of all individual income taxes collected by the federal government. When you get to the bottom 40% that percentage figures drops to zero. Now just what is our current population figure? Around 300 million or so? That would bean that about 120 million Americans have no federal income tax liability at all. Yet there's Obama saying that McCain is offering no tax relief to these people. Relief from what?

There was another line in Obama's speech that is very typical of far-left politicians. Obama seems to feel those with higher incomes in this country have not earned their way. Whatever the wealthy have was given to them, not earned. So Obama tells the adoring crowd that Republicans want to "Give more and more to those with the most, and hope that prosperity will trickle down to the rest." As I said, this is a standard Democrat theme. Wealthy people didn't earn what they have, it was given to them. And since it was given to them, there's nothing really all that wrong with taking more and more of it away from them ... just to even things out a bit. Remember, please, that Obama flat-out said that he wants to raise taxes on the rich not to bring in increased government revenues, but to make things more "fair."

This idea that whatever wealthy or successful people have was given to them is reflected in the idea that people should "give back." Charity isn't recognized for what it is; one individual giving some of what they have earned to another in need. No .. it's just someone giving back some of the stuff that was given to them. Accomplishment and the concept of earning seems to have no place in Democrat rhetoric.

As I was trying to wrap up these notes this morning a Wal-Mart ad came on television. It seems that you can go to some Wal-Marts and get a prescription for one of 300 medications filled for just four dollars. That's for a 30-day supply. If you want a 90-day supply it will cost you ten bucks. There can't be one of you out there who could possibly think that the government could provide these drugs to you for the same price. Yet Obama told us last night that the private sector simply cannot handle our health care needs.

One clear realization after last night. After watching the show in Denver ... and watching the scene at Times Square in New York City last night ... there is a clear sense of mass hysteria over Barack Obama. What fun it would be to walk up to one of those cheering people and engage them in a discussion on the differences between a capital gains tax and an income tax. Wouldn't you just love to watch their expressions as you detail the way that government has intentionally restricted free market involvement in the delivery of health care? What do you think their answer would be if you were to ask them just how you give income tax breaks to 100 million Americans who don't pay income taxes? The blank expressions of the faces of these screaming masses would be priceless.

John McCain truly has a tough - almost impossible - act to follow.

WHAT AN EMBARRASSMENT

While this story takes place here in the metro Atlanta area, it is making headlines around the country .... and that's not a good thing. I've mentioned the brouhaha we've had here in Atlanta with our Clayton County school system. The bottom is line that the people running the show in Clayton County aren't qualified to sharpen a crayon, much less be in charge of the education of over 50,000 students.

So now the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has revoked their accreditation. This is the first school system in the country to lose its accreditation in over 40 years. Yet come this Monday morning thousands of Clayton County parents will wake up, eat breakfast, dress their children, and send them off to the Clayton County schools without a second thought For these students in Clayton County, many of them will have trouble getting into college or receiving scholarships.

Amazingly, the big question that has been on so many minds as this accreditation mess was going on was .... What is going to happen with Clayton County athletes?

Clayton County now has until September 2009 to show that they have met all the mandates in order to regain accreditation. If they can't meet these mandates - and it is government, so the chances of that happening are zilch - they have to start the entire accreditation process from the beginning, which will take upwards of three years.

By the way ... today the Governor of Georgia removed four people from the Clayton County School Board. These four, and one that has already resigned, caused much of the problems. They were all black. Before the day is out Governor Sonny Perdue will be called a racist many times over.

Boortz, Hannity Uncensored A FEW TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE: Neal Boortz and Sean Hannity will be together, on-stage and uncensored in Atlanta on September 5th, the day following the Republican National Convention! Make plans to attend and buy tickets! Get the details!

CARTER SLAMS MCCAIN

Jimmy Carter - who has sadly become a true jerk - is now accusing John McCain of "milking every possible drop of advantage" from his POW time in Vietnam.

McCain is milking his Vietnam experience? My God! Did Carter ever listen to John Kerry during the last presidential campaign? Kerry couldn't talk ten minutes without referring to his daring bravery under fire (yeah, right) in Vietnam. And then there was that "reporting for duty" nonsense at his acceptance speech. Did Carter have anything to say about Kerry?

Every time this man opens his mouth he embarrasses himself. Time to zip it up and go home.

MCCAIN AD CONGRATULATES THE MESSIAH

The McCain campaign did its best to try and kill some of the Messiah's buzz last night by airing an "unprecedented" ad. Speaking directly to the camera, John McCain said that it is a "good day for America" and went on to say that "too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed ... So I wanted to stop and say, congratulations." He also noted that Obama's acceptance happened on the anniversary of MLK's "I had a dream" speech saying, "How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day ... Tomorrow, we'll be back at it ... But tonight Senator, job well done."

OBAMA AND BLACK VOTERS

Here are some interesting facts that are emerging out of this election. About two-thirds of blacks in America believe that their child could be president, compared to 46% of whites. Also, 60% of blacks say that Obama's nomination has made them more proud to be an American. While 32% of whites say Obama's nomination makes them proud to be an American.

I look on those statistics as a good thing. Now we have black parents thinking about their children being president rather than being an NBA superstar. How good is that? And we all benefit when people who were once marginalized now feel proud to be Americans.

See? The news from Denver is not all bad.

PUTIN BLAMES AMERICA

The conflict between Georgia and Russia has been pushed aside since the commencement of the Democrat National Convention. But just to give you an idea of where things have gone ... yesterday Vladimir Putin said that it was the United States that provoked the conflict in Georgia in order to influence the presidential election.

Putin says, "... The suspicion arises that someone in the United States especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of U.S. president."

POOR P DIDDY

I know that many of you are sympathizing with Diddy right now, who is upset about high gas prices for his private jet. The wealth envy types just ought to love this.

Diddy explains that he has been flying back and forth to LA to pursue his acting career and this costs him $200,000-$250,000 a month in gas. He says, "I'm back on American Airlines right now. OK? Your boy Diddy right now is on American Airlines." He then goes on to beg his "Saudi Arabian brothers and sisters" to send him some oil for his jet.

And then, in a flash of brilliance, Diddy says, "We need to do something about, so tell whoever the next president is that we need to bring gas back down."

Obama ... you heard the man.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Perhaps the worst news to come out of the DNC ... Denver strip clubs didn't get the business they were hoping for during the convention.

The Columbia Journalism Review has figured out what the 15,000 journalists were really doing at the DNC.

Here's an article about how Barack Obama cannot win the presidency by solely appealing to "poor" voters.

Union workers at Los Angeles International Airport started walking off the job yesterday because airlines "have refused to provide the quality jobs with access to affordable health care."

China and Iraq have signed a $3 billion deal for China's largest oil company to help develop an oil field.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed a bill that gives Canadian company authority to build and operate a multibillion-dollar pipeline to ship natural gas from the North Slope.

In case you missed it yesterday on the show, here's the latest on the Obama/Ayers situation.

A lot of high profile campaign donors who once supported Hillary are now supporting John McCain.

An unofficial health care policy advisor to the McCain campaign says that "nobody in the United States is technically uninsured, because everyone has access to hospital emergency rooms."

You want to know the political environment that spawned Barack Obama? This is the latest of what is going on in Mark Daley's Chicago.

According to a Christian research group, "a casual attitude toward global warming ought to be viewed as a sin."

Perhaps the most disgusting story this week has been that of toddler Caylee Anthony. The bounty hunter who arranged for her mother's release says he plans to revoke her bond and send her back to jail where she will rot until given the death penalty. Hopefully.

After a black man had an incident with Harvard campus police, a committee is now going to review Harvard's "diversity training."

Okay, so I cannot verify this ... but a blog in Louisiana says that the most popular item selling thus far in preparation for Gustav is ...guns.

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