One thing I forgot when I was on my “educate everyone” rant is that wouldn’t giving EVERYONE $4k for college simple drive the price of college up $4k? :shrug:
You know that was debunked right?
Got a link? And not one from obama.com.
PS…fixed the link in my earlier post.
However, a source close to the Canadian prime minister’s office tells ABC News that the original communication was between Austan Goolsbee, Obama’s senior economic adviser and an economics professor at the University of Chicago, and Georges Rioux, Canada’s consul general in Chicago, about Obama’s rhetoric against NAFTA.
According to the source, Wilson exaggerated the communication between the Obama campaign and the Canadian official during discussions this week with Ian Brodie, the prime minister’s chief of staff, who leaked the story to CTV.
:shrug: Sounds a whole lot more like CYA than debunking.
Surprised no one’s covered the McCain public campaign finance potential scandal here…
Why bother :shrug:
Considering he broke the laws he wrote, as the article says its pretty ironic.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/29/to_some_mccains_financial_tangle_ironic/
Last year, when his campaign was floundering and nearly broke, McCain applied for public financing. Candidates who opt into the system get portions of their privately raised donations matched with taxpayer dollars, but agree to abide by an overall campaign spending limit. This year, the cap for the presidential primaries is about $54 million.
But earlier this month, after he became the GOP front-runner and donations began pouring into his campaign, McCain decided to withdraw from the public financing system, even though he had not yet received any public money and his campaign has already spent nearly $50 million. Staying in the system would be crippling. His campaign would not be able to pay for ads, mailings, polls, or travel until September, when the primary campaign officially ends with the party convention.
Critics pounced on the announcement, saying it was too late for McCain to back out. And David Mason, the Republican chairman of the FEC, told the candidate that only the commission can decide whether McCain can be released from the federal funding system. But the commission is unable to vote because an impasse in Congress has left it with too few members for a quorum.
As a result, McCain is in a bind. His campaign says that he has a right to declare himself out of the system without an FEC ruling and that he will feel free to spend more than the cap allows in coming months. But the dispute has cast a cloud over the self-styled election-finance reformer.
Federal law makes it a felony punishable by a $25,000 fine and up to five years in prison if a candidate who opts into taking part in public financing spends more than the accompanying cap.
He’s pretty much operating like he got the OK, without actually getting it.
^ The best part about it was Howard Dean was the biggest critic, yet Dean had done the exact same thing when he ran for the nomination.
But earlier this month, after he became the GOP front-runner and donations began pouring into his campaign, McCain decided to withdraw from the public financing system, even though he had not yet received any public money and his campaign has already spent nearly $50 million.
but isn’t the cap 54mil?
I don’t see a problem with that, especially since he’s trying to opt out of it (unless I’m missing something)
The McCain campaign has incorrectly stated that McCain is doing what Dean did when he withdrew from public financing in his presidential bid, but they have the facts wrong. Dean did not use the promise of matching funds as collateral for a loan. Dean withdrew before the FEC determined eligibility for funds, unlike McCain.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/article/dnc-file-complaint-mccain-campaign-ignoring-fec-law_491713_1.html
No. Dean applied for, and received the waiver. McCain just operated like he had it.
Fail.
The Cap is 54 mil. His funds were all matched with federal dollars, under the agreement that he wouldn’t spend over 54 total in return. He cant spend 53,999,999 then just assume he’s not bound by that restriction any more, WITHOUT actually getting released from it.
Ive read up on it, and from waht ive gathered he applied to it when his campaign was in danger of running dry.
After it got a helluva kickstart and he had enough money he asked to withdraw from it, and now there is deliberations onto whether he can or cannot, and how much he can or cant spend.
I think he will be able ot bail out and spend as much as he wants.
He never formally asked. That’s where the problem is. His campaign just started acting like they were out.
Joe, by your own admission McCain only can’t withdraw formally because of some clusterfuck in Congress. So what exactly is he supposed to do other than operate as if he has formally withdrawn?
It’s like me saying you’re illegally driving around with an uninspected vehicle because NYS ran out of inspection stickers. No one is going to give a fuck.
No, its not like that. There’s no guarantee that they would rule in his favor. No one has ever used federal funds to the extent he has, and then tried to return them. Dean is the only precedent, and he never actually used the funds to borrow against.
With all the bureaucracy, there are waiting periods in government all the time. You follow the law until you get the OK not to. You can’t take it upon yourself to just randomly break them, and assume that they’re gonna rule in your favor. I can’t just start carrying a pistol while my permit is pending and assume i’m going to get approved, even though it takes forever and a day.
What would you suggest he do Joe, give up on the election because the commission is unable to rule? You posted it yourself:
But the commission is unable to vote because an impasse in Congress has left it with too few members for a quorum.
So he should just quit I guess? I understand why you’d like that since it’s pretty much the only way either of the candidates you’re down to would get the white house.
Yeah, Obama has no chance against McCain. The only way he’ll ever win is to call him out on breaking campaign finance laws, despite the fact that he’s beating him in every poll right now.
Why should he get special treatment? If your average Joe with no passport gets offered a great job but he has to travel overseas by november, and the committee that issues passports is on break, tough shit for him. If the death row inmate is scheduled to be executed, and the supreme court isnt hearing any cases when his appeal comes up, he goes 
. He can get the lobbyists he’s so tight with to pressure his buddies in congress to fill the committee, or he can follow the law and cut down on his spending until they do. Assuming the ruling will go in your favor and taking things into your own hands isn’t the type of ethical example you should be setting. If he was too shortsighted to realize this potential info and take care of it before spending ridiculously, its his own damn fault. 
Try shorting the IRS $600 on your tax return in anticipation of the rebate coming up. Let me know how that works out for you.
So much for it being debunked. AP managed to dig up a copy of the memo.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jk_8ogOpRbgI9C8FD3XOJGUhQF1A
The Canadien Press? Isn’t that like 1 step above Wiki?
In reality, all she needs is the allure of this scandal to scare teh fence sitters away from the terrorista… but I don’t think its a worth while play on her part.
$5 says he takes it.
Obama himself:
"As I said just understand the context. Nobody reached out to the Canadians to try to reassure them. They reached out, unbeknownst to the rest of us, they reached out to Mr. Goolsbee who provided them with a tangible conversation and repeated what we’ve said on the campaign trail, which is that we belive in trade with Canada. We believe in trade with Mexico; we think the terms of NAFTA have to be altered, so that the labor standards and the environmental standards are enforceable. But there’s nothing more there. I have said repeatedly that I believe that NAFTA should be rengotiated. This is not a new posititon; it dates back many years. During my U.S. Senate campaign, I was criticized for taking this position. It’s been well reported; it hasn’t altered, which stands in contrast to Sen. Clinton’s position, which has altered substantially. "
The Candian Embassy came out and said Obama never implied it was “only talk”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/03/726012.aspx
My prediction, Clinton takes both Ohio and Texas tomorrow.