Cats 4 Obama

Sarah Palin Taking McCain down

At Cats4Obama, we were never impressed with Sarah Palin and within a few days we discovered all kinds of reasons to find the prospect of her even being on a major party ticket as crazy as the people who repeat over and over that she is somehow qualified to be VP of the USA.  We couldn't wait to see her sent packing back to Alaska. 

Now that the polls are showing that Sarah Palin is even more of a negative on John McCain's popularity than George Bush, we have reason to hope that Palin will depart after this campaign not to return to the national political scene.  Editor and Publisher wrote today that not just the national polls but also newspaper editorials are evidence of Palin being a major drag on the Republican ticket.

Two new national polls show that voters cite [the Palin] choice as the main reason they have turned from McCain. Indeed, his slippage in the poll began in September after his convention bounce, and before the financial crisis truly hit, as media vetting on Palin began and she ventured out for her first TV interview. But here is another measure: the brutal criticism of that pick in newspaper editorial endorsements of his opponent -- from GOP-leaning papers that endorsed George W. Bush.

Many of them cited his Palin pick as a key reason for switching sides this time around. As the Chicago Tribune, which backed a Democrat for president for the first time in its history, frankly declared,
“McCain failed in his most important executive decision."

If Editor and Publisher's logic is correct, Palin, not the economy, started McCain's current drop in the polls!  How about that - it confirms our first instinct that the selection of Palin sealed an Obama victory.

Now everyone -  get out and vote!

-Starbuck
www.cats4obama.com

 

 

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Obama

The Cats4Obama editorial team met at length to narrow down our long list of great reasons to vote Obama/Biden to the top 10. 

1. Smart and well educated.  We don't think we can take any more years of less than brilliant leadership in the White House.  The President of the United States has to be one of the hardest jobs in the world and we want Obama with his brilliant mind and great education.

2. Great leadership skills.  We've all seen the calm, smart and even tempered way that Barack Obama has handled the current economic situation.  He also has demonstrated leadership and executive acumen beyond other candidates in the effective management of a huge and groundbreakingly well executed campaign organization.

3. Good economic plans.  Obama talks about help for the middle class and not support for corporations who send American jobs overseas or banks who make poor business decisions.  Obama's approach to the economic crisis both before and since the most recent problems has been well received by well respected economists. Warren Buffet supports Obama, 4 Nobel laureates in Economics endorse Obama, three former SEC chairs endorse Obama - two of them Republicans - and former Fed Chair Paul Volcker endorses Obama.

4. Fair tax plans. Obama's plan will be neutral to inequality - today's tax structure increases inequality between rich and poor.  Furthermore, 95% of Americans will pay lower taxes under the Obama plan.  Finally, it is more fiscally responsible than the plan proposed by McCain. Tax Policy Center. Our post on Taxes.

5. Health care system that works. Every year my family's health care costs increase even though they have good health insurance through their employer. It is becoming unreasonably expensive even to have minor health concerns.  We love the plan Obama proposes because it's a great balance between private sector and government.  We can keep our insurance but our costs will go down and others will be able to get the same health insurance the government currently provides to Senators and members of Congress.

6. Best policy on fighting terrorism.  Barack Obama was not in the US Senate when we first went to war in Iraq but he spoke out against the invasion of Iraq even at that time warning that it was a mistake to decrease our focus on the real war on terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Obama's policy proposal for ending the current conflict in Iraq was so good it has been the template for an agreement by Iraq and US leaders. Obama has articulated appropriate strategies for Afghanistan which have been echoed by our leading military commanders in recent weeks.

7. Energy Independence. Obama's plan is not based on unrealistic ideas about oil drilling but combines openness to drilling with a comprehensive plan for becoming completely independent from Middle East and Venezuelan Oil within 10 years.  The Obama/Biden plan make this a reality through specific programs like one to help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.

8. Best on women's health.  Obama has a long record of support for women's health issues. He supports Roe v Wade and keeping the government out of moral and health decisions which women need to be trusted to make responsibly.  Furthermore, he puts emphasis where we think it should be - on creating the economic and social conditions which reduce the rate of abortions - because no one is pro-abortion.

9. True supporter of animals.  Obama and Biden both have solid records in support of animal rights.  The Humane Society Legislative Fund has endorsed Obama/Biden and urges all who care about animals to vote for Obama.

10. Best record on veteran's issues. Obama and Biden both have received high grades from veteran's organizations because they vote to support both active duty and veterans.  Obama and Biden received a "B" from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans and an 80% and 75% respectively from the Disabled American Veterans.  See Blue Star Families for Obama for a lot more good information about why active and retired military and their families are supporting Obama/Biden. Here's the complete McCain record on Veterans issues - if you compare you see why Obama is clearly the best choice on this issue.

- Midnight, Apollo & Starbuck
   www.cats4obama.com

Sarah Palin's UnAmerican Activities

One thing you may know about felines is that we are not capable of hypocrisy. Since that's the case, we don't tolerate it well either.  It turns out, if the Republicans believe in guilt by association, they have a much bigger problem than the Democrats this year.

As the ugliness of this presidential election increases, Sarah Palin started making more and more pointed comments about Barack Obama's connection to William Ayers.  This is a connection that has been well and thoroughly refuted in the past as having no substance.

But what about Palin's actual involvement in an organization which is so unAmerican it wants Alaska to secede from the United States and become its own country?  The Alaska Independence Party (AIP) is Alaska's largest political party after Republican and Democratic parties.  Todd Palin was a registered member of the AIP from 1995 to 2002 at which point he re-registered as an Independent.  In addition to her husband's membership in this group, Sarah Palin has spoken at several of their conventions - even one earlier this year where she told the AIP membership, "Keep up the good work...."

Why is a strong connection to AIP something that actually should matter in this election?  In a Salon.com article this week, author David Talbot, states the Alaska Independence Party founder, the "raging anti-American" Joe Vogler,:

... wasn’t just a blowhard either. He put his secessionist ideas into action, working to build AIP membership to 20,000 — an impressive figure by Alaska standards — and to elect party member Walter Hickel as governor in 1990.

Vogler’s greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States “tyranny” before the entire world and to demand Alaska’s freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

So Sarah Palin and her husband have a strong connection to an organization which was actively working with Iran to forward their secessionist agenda!  In this video, the founder of the AIP speaks about his views on the USA and Sarah Palin addresses the AIP convention.

- Apollo
   www.cats4obama.com

McCain/Palin Debate Moments that Should Scare You

With the election in its final days and political attacks taking center stage, Midnight wants you not to forget two very scary things!  Sarah Palin and John McCain each said one very telling and very ominous thing in their debates.  Take these two at their word and you will be scared, very scared.

Sarah Palin: Dick Cheney is a role model

At the VP debate, Sarah Palin was asked about the role of the Vice President and she said that she agreed with Dick Cheney that "we have a lot of flexibility in there." The NYTimes, in an editorial on October 4th, said that:

It is hard to tell from Ms. Palin’s remarks whether she understands how profoundly Dick Cheney has reshaped the vice presidency — as part of a larger drive to free the executive branch from all checks and balances. Nor did she seem to understand how much damage that has done to American democracy.

Transcripts (courtesy of CNN) show that Palin is in fact talking about the move by Cheney to argue that he was not subject to the laws governing the executive branch because he was not part of the executive branch.  This was a move at least in part to avoid scrutiny of Cheney's possibly illegal activity.  As a country we cannot take another VP as dangerous as Cheney.

IFILL: Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?

PALIN: Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation.

John McCain: We'll buy up mortgages and renegotiate them

This sounds innocuous enough - in fact the current bailout plan calls for something like this.  But McCain insisted in the debate that this was his idea and that it was new.  Why?  What McCain is now proposing is an extremely expensive plan that will give banks full value for failing mortgages and then renegotiate the mortgages to the current market value - which still may not be affordable to the homeowner!  With this plan the banks win, the homeowners might win, but the taxpayers are going to absorb the losses on loans that exceed the value of the homes. Essentially it rewards banks for their poor lending decisions.  Here's a picture that explains why McCain's new plan completely screws over the American taxpayer and gives our money to banks.

Lest you think Cats are the only ones complaining loudly about this horrible proposal, here are a few reactions from liberal and conservative observers:

Paul Krugman says it "manages to take everything that's wrong with the Paulson plan and make it worse." Brad DeLong: "Out of the blue, McCain has just proposed a large, no-strings-attached gift of taxpayer cash to bank executives who failed at their business of risk management, and to bank shareholders who failed at their business of hiring executives. That's simply corrupt."

The National Review says "Here's what's wrong with McCain's new housing proposal: it can't improve on current law without rewarding an unacceptable amount of bad behavior." And finally, the Wall Street Journal notes that it "appears to offer no upside for taxpayers."

- Midnight
   www.cats4obama.com

10 Reasons to Vote against McCain

At Cats 4 Obama, we've put together this list of our top reasons you should NOT vote for McCain/Palin.  Maybe you're already convinced.  Consider sending a link to this page to anyone you know who is leaning McCain or print it out and hand it around!  We have included links so that you can read more and follow our research if you would like.

1. Supports Deregulation - John McCain was a key proponent of the deregulation of Wall Street and Banks which lead to our current economic crisis.  John McCain says now that he's all about regulations but his record shows something entirely different.
2. Influenced by Lobbyists - John McCain's campaign is dominated by lobbyists for a variety of industries. He says that he will put lobbyists out of business but it is unlikely that lobbyists like his campaign manager would really be working night and day to be put out of business.  His history in the Keating 5 shows that he can be extremely influenced by contributors to his campaign.
3. Poor record on Veterans issues - Given his status as a veteran and the way he talks about veterans, you'd think McCain was a great supporter of Vets.  In reality, his record on Veteran's issues is dismal.  He has voted against quite a few significant pieces of legislation including voting against important health care improvements and against the modern GI bill. See Vet Voice for a careful listing of McCain's poor record on Veteran's issues and Veteran Report Card.
4. Wrong about Iraq - John McCain voted for the invasion of Iraq and has stated we should stay in Iraq for how ever many years it takes to achieve an undefinable victory.  McCain likes to talk about the surge because it is the only position he's taken on Iraq that is defensible.  McCain was wrong about weapons of mass destruction, Iraq's connection to terror, the ease of the war, and how we would be greeted.
5. Unethical behavior- John McCain used to be known as an honorable man, a maverick, and a straight talker.  His behavior over the last 2 years has destroyed that reputation.  Now he presides over a campaign that has launched multiple lie filled ad campaigns.  He has lost the support of many who used to admire him and he has been called a liar by mainstream news outlets. See 'How McCain Lost Me' by his former biographer and Time Magazine on his lies.
6. Wants to Overturn Roe v. Wade - John McCain has made it clear that overturning Roe v. Wade is a goal.  He is very likely to have the opportunity to appoint enough new Supreme Court judges to make that happen.
7. Impulsive Decision Making Style - John McCain's behavior and decision making in the last month has raised many questions about his ability to lead our country.  His erratic and seemingly impulsive responses to the current economic crisis gives a picture of an unsteady hand on the tiller.  Many from all parts of the political spectrum have criticized the haste with which he made his VP pick. The fact that Palin is currently under investigation for ethics violations plus she has no national experience leads many to conclude that she was an irresponsible choice.  McCain said in his 2002 autobiography, Worth The Fighting For, "I make them (decisions) as quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can. Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint."   
8. Tax cuts for the Wealthy - John McCain's tax plan has been evaluated by nonpartisan tax experts and that analysis shows quite clearly that McCain's plan, because of the huge tax breaks it gives to the wealthy and corporations, is much more expensive and fiscally irresponsible.  McCain's plan would decrease tax revenue by 4.2 Trillion over 10 years and add 5.1 Trillion to our national debt.  Objective analysis shows Obama's plan to benefit the vast majority of Americans more than McCain's plan.  McCain's tax plan also creates greater inequality between rich and poor.
9. Anti-Animal record - The Humane Society Action Fund endorsed Obama/Biden because they argue that a McCain/Palin administration would be a disaster for animals and wildlife.  McCain votes in favor of animals only 20 to 25% of the time. You can also see our earlier post on animal issues.
10. Lack of intellect- We have seen over the last 8 years the negative consequences of having an incurious and anti-intellectual president.  The US presidency is probably one of the very most difficult jobs on the planet and it requires a great intellect.  John McCain graduated near the bottom of his class, has no graduate education, and has admitted his lack of knowledge on key subjects like the economy.  We need a well educated and intellectually curious president and McCain does not meet that criteria.

These are the cat's top 10 reasons not to vote McCain.  Think we missed an important one?  Want to share your top 10 anti-McCain list?  Post a comment using the link right below this article!

- Midnight, Starbuck & Apollo
  www.cats4obama.com

Midnight goes undercover to report on the Debate and Iraq

Cats and people at our house all gathered around the TV last night to watch the first presidential debate.  The consensus here - and among undecided voters in the polls immediately afterward - Obama won!

We thought he won because he showed his smarts, his calm command of the facts of complicated scenarios, and because just having visited a country does not make you right about what to do in foreign policy.  I've been to the vet more times than I'd like to remember but that doesn't seem to make me an expert on veterinary medicine.

Why did we go to Iraq?

One of Barack's finest moments in the debate was when he listed the things about Iraq which John McCain was wrong about. 

• There were no weapons of mass destruction
• We were not greeted as liberators in Baghdad
• Saddam Hussein was not connected to the terrorists behind 9/11 attacks
• There is not greater stability in the Middle East today

So we went to Iraq for all the wrong reasons.  But what to do now?  More than 4,000 Americans have been killed over there. It is very sad.  McCain made the comment last night that we had to stay longer to somehow achieve some (undefined) victory in Iraq to make those American deaths mean something.  But everyone here had to agree with Barack's response: When an American dies following the orders of our military commanders, that is never in vain and is inherently honorable.  To say otherwise, as McCain does, is to allow us to parse the list of dead soldiers and decide that some died for nothing and others died for a good reason, that some are bad and others good.  What a horrible thing to say to the families of fallen soldiers and to veterans of foreign wars.

Veterans
And speaking of veterans, McCain made an emotional plea at the very end about how he loved veterans and they knew he would care for them.  There was no time left to rebut this comment but its no secret that quite a few veteran's organizations give McCain very poor grades on his support for and caring about Veterans. 

The Disabled American Vets give McCain 20% and Obama 80% based on their voting records.  McCain did not support the GI bill and other legislation supported by veterans.  Despite opposing the war, Obama has always voted for troop financing with one exception where a troop financing bill did not contain language about troop withdrawal.  Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a "D" and Obama a "B" for their voting records.  In addition, VoteVets.org has information, polls and commentary on military community's opposition to the Iraq war that McCain supports. 

The Los Angeles Times took McCain up on a comment earlier this year to look at his record on veteran's affairs.  They wrote: "Here is how he has stood on recent legislation supported by major veterans organizations:

* On Webb's GI Bill, he expressed opposition, and he was AWOL when it was time to vote on May 22.

* Last September, he voted against another Webb bill that would have mandated adequate rest for troops between combat deployments.

* On a badly needed $1.5-billion increase for veterans medical services for fiscal year 2007 -- to be funded through closing corporate tax loopholes -- he voted no. He also voted against establishing a trust fund to bolster under-budgeted veterans hospitals.

* In May 2006, he voted against a $20-billion allotment for expanding swamped veterans medical facilities.

* In April 2006, he was one of 13 Senate Republicans who voted against an amendment to provide $430 million for veterans outpatient care.

* In March 2004, he voted against and helped defeat on a party-line vote a $1.8-billion reserve for veterans medical care, also funded by closing tax loopholes."

Strategy v. Tactics
We cats thought McCain used rude and snide behavior when he probably was trying to be tough but his most outrageous statement was to rail that Obama does not understand the difference between strategy and tactics and then to go on to discuss a TACTIC, the troop surge, and say it was a STRATEGY!  We were so glad to hear Joe Biden later in the evening point that out.  What a blunder!

Obama's Plan for Iraq
Although McCain's best statement of the night was about looking forward, not back, where Iraq is concerned.  He can't get much traction with that statement, though, because Obama has a forward thinking plan which he has been clear about for a long time. Obama’s plan would call for a phased recall of troops, having all of them home by summer 2010. That would mean that the war would have gone on for more that seven long years. Obama's Plan would also call for just a few troops to stay and eliminate the groups of al Qaeda that have spread to Iraq, thanks to our invasion.  You can read the entire plan at www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq.

“Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.

So when I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on day one: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden- as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.”

—Barack Obama, Clinton, Fayetteville, North Carolina, March 19, 2008

Obama's plan adopted?
When Obama went to Iraq earlier this year, he discussed his plan with the Iraqis who endorsed its key ideas.  Since that time, the Bush Administration negotiations with Iraq seemed to this cat to have followed pretty closely to Obama's plan.  Just this week, though, in a television interview Iraq's prime minister said that they had stopped saying that the US withdraw of troops would happen by 2010, as Obama's plan stated, but 2011 instead.  The reason? US domestic politics.  Isn't that a subtle way of saying that Bush and McCain didn't want it to seem like Obama had paved the way for an agreement so they've used semantics to make the plan sound different?  Or are we keeping US troops in Iraq longer than needed to help McCain's bid for the presidency rather than any military reason? 

That stinks worse than my litterbox. 

- Midnight
   www.cats4obama.com

Debates must go on

Why has McCain suddenly abandoned his campaign for president and asked to postpone Friday's debate?  Do you really want a president who can't do more than one thing at a time?  Do you wonder if McCain just assumes you don't know and won't figure out how the Senate really works?  These are the questions we've been pondering today.

Some have wondered if McCain is pulling a stunt because he wants to save his limited campaign money to spend late in October.  Others wonder if he is really worried about his steep drop in polls and he hopes this move will inspire people to think he is a man of action.  A lot of Americans wonder why McCain can't do both things: work with his colleagues to encourage an agreement and take a few hours on Friday night to debate.  Debates aren't really difficult - the questions are ones the candidates are really familiar with already.

A quick look at how the Senate works shows that McCain and Obama's presence in Washington DC is not relevant.  The bill being drafted on the bailout is written and discussed by the Senate Banking Committee and the House equivalent.  Neither McCain nor Obama are on the Banking Committee.  McCain and Obama are not the 'leaders of their parties' in the Senate or Congress as a whole - each party has a leader.  Today Senator Reid is the Senate Majority leader and Senator McConnell is the Minority leader and in the House Rep. Hoyer is the Majority leader and Rep. Boehner is the Minority leader.  These are the leaders who have been elected by their peers to work difficult negotiations and pull the party together.

So if the Senate doesn't work in a way where McCain or Obama's participation will make a difference at this point in time, and the debates aren't that hard so a person capable of being President of the United States can handle that on top of other crucial issues, what is the real reason for Senator McCain's actions?  We may ever know.

David Letterman discussed this issue at some length last night after John McCain canceled his scheduled appearance.  Leaving Letterman in the lurch without a guest at the last minute left a lot of time for Dave to discuss his opinions about the situation.  Letterman opined that if a President or Presidential candidate had to deal with urgent matters they should leave their campaign running but turn over the day to day to their second in command.  We cats thought this was a good point. Given that apparently McCain isn't comfortable with that option it highlights concerns about Sarah Palin's lack of readiness to handle her current position much less the VP Position.

If you cannot see the embedded video, click here to watch it on You Tube.

- Apollo
  www.cats4obama.com

On Economic crisis: McCain fails, Obama leads

I CAN'T LOOK!  TELL ME WHEN ITS OVER
Why is America in the current economic and banking crisis? If you've been reading our blog, you know that we are cats and our mission is to research and inform American voters.   And if you're like us, that means you're cute, know how to find a sunny spot for a nap, and you're not that up on the history of banking in America. As the investigative cat of the group, I went online over the last few days to find out what I could.

HISTORY
What I learned was that several years into the Great Depression, in 1933, a large number of the commerical banks in America collapsed due to bad debt and the larger economic depresssion. During 1933, two laws were passed in the US Congress that are jointly known as the Glass-Steagall Act. These laws separated investment banking from commercial banking which was designed to curb speculation and it created the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) which insures your deposits in the bank. Under these regulations, a bank could not offer investment, commercial banking, and insurance services. The regulations in the Glass-Steagall act were designed to prevent a similar bank failure from happening again.

MCCAIN SUPPORTS REPEAL OF GLASS-STEAGALL
In 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley act repealed parts of the Glass-Steagall Act allowing commercial and investment banks to consolidate. This act loosened the restrictions on banks, brokerage houses, and insurance companies. John McCain was a supporter of this act and he voted for it. Phil Gramm is reported to be one of McCain's top economic advisors today.

Earlier this year McCain wrote about the success of bank deregulation and suggested it should be a model for the deregulation of the health care insurance market.  "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

McCAIN IN CURRENT CRISIS
On 60 Minutes this past Sunday (9/21), McCain said that he did not regret his support of deregulation of Wall Street.  If you don't see the embedded video, watch it on YouTube.

Financial analysist and even conservative reporters are talking now about how McCain's handling of the events of the last week suggest that he is not the leader we need in the current economic situation.  Albert Hunt on Bloomberg.com wrote that McCain stumbled and did not show a steady hand. He argued that the most revealing element was who each candidate turned to for advice on the financial situation - McCain's advisors were, in his estimation, much weaker.  And McCain did not show an ability to converse easily on the economic situation and seemed uncomfortable with it to 'detatched observers.'   

On ABC This Week September 21st, 2008, conservative columnist George Wills said,

"The question is, who in this crisis looked more presidential, calm and un-flustered? It wasn't John McCain who, as usual, substituting vehemence for coherence, said 'let's fire somebody.' And picked one of the most experienced and conservative people in the administration, Chris Cox, and for no apparent reason... It was un-presidential behavior by a presidential candidate."  (go about half way into the clip linked above to see this part of the discussion)

The Washington Post wrote:

"A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.  Now, ...the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end "reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed" on Wall Street. McCain condemned the executives of failing companies for pursuing the very strategies the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act made possible and said that regulatory agencies in Washington were also to blame.  This even though in March McCain told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm always for less regulation."

OBAMA LEADS IN CURRENT CRISIS
The ABC This Week panel went on to praise Senator Obama's calm and measured handling of the week's events and the quality of his advisors.  The Bloomberg.com article also praises the towering financial minds that Obama has been turning to for advice on the economy.  They point out that Obama "has called for the overhaul of the financial-regulatory system and tougher enforcement well before this past week....Detached observers who watched [Obama] last week, especially in a Bloomberg Television interview, were taken by how conversant and confortable he was on the subject..."

The Bloomberg.com article goes on to say, "Tellingly, three former SEC chairmen, a Democrat, Arthur Levitt, and two Republicans, David Ruder and Bill Donaldson, have endorsed Obama. Donaldson, who was tapped by Bush to head the SEC, says Obama called him last year about the financial-regulatory problems. He has never heard from McCain.  "Obama has been talking about the need for better financial regulation well before this crisis hit and has done some real thinking about it,'' says Donaldson, a lifelong Republican. "McCain comes across as someone who suddenly realized changes have to be made.'"

AMERICANS TRUST OBAMA ON ECONOMY
Polls continue to show that most American's trust Obama over McCain to fix our economic problems.  Events of the past week, and the candidates handling of those events, suggest to this cat that most American's are right on about this one!

-Starbuck
   www.cats4obama.com

Obama Talks about Banking Crisis

This week we saw the consequences of deregulation of the finance and banking industry and really bad lending practices by our major banking institutions in bank failures that have been coming for a while.  This post includes Barack Obama's video statement to the American people about the crisis and his published statement.  As he says below, he outlined a plan a while ago that would have prevented the current crisis and he has a plan to help the Americans who are already impacted by the mortgage crisis - not just the big Wall Street firms.  Finally, Obama comes out and says what we cats have been thinking - that the plan the Bush Administration puts together better not reward the bankers who made the irresponsible lending decision that created the failure of their companies.  Instead those CEOs and other managers must be held responsible and they must not get big checks from our taxpayer dollars. 

Watch and read the extended post below to see all of Barack Obama's positions and plans...

- Starbuck, Apollo & Midnight
   www.cats4obama.com

If you cannot see the embedded video below, click here to watch it on YouTube.

Animal lovers: Vote Obama!

We cats are outraged by animal cruelty against our fellow predators or any animals.  We also note with sadness that some people put oil company profits above protecting diversity of life on our planet. We think that all animal lovers, hunters, environmentalists and wildlife activists should be able to agree that the issues discussed in this post are unethical and deeply disturbing.  We hope you will vote with the clear animal advocates in this election, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

ANIMAL RIGHTS VOTING RECORDS
We looked up the animal rights and wildlife voting records of Obama and McCain.  In 2007, Obama voted in support of legislation backed by organizations like the Humane Society of the United States, the American Humane Association, and the Fund for Animals 75% of the time while McCain only voted with those organization's positions 25% of the time.  Senator Biden also voted with animal rights and wildlife organizations 75% of the time.

The kinds of animal rights and wildlife issues dealt with in the US Senate include: protections for animals used in research, cruelty issues like the banning of dogfighting, legislation on pet food safety, farm animal issues like antibiotics overuse, legislation to make statements against whaling and seal hunting in other countries, and wildlife protections such as computer aided remote hunting, trade in primates, and protecting Alaskan wolves from aerial hunting.

Although overall the cats behind this blog believe the issues of this campaign should focus primarily on the positions of the presidential candidates, we've noticed that the selection of a vice presidential running mate says a lot about the values of a presidental candidate as well. 

AERIAL HUNTING OF WOLVES
Maybe you've already heard that as Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin has supported the killing of wolves from airplanes and helicopters.  In addition to supporting this existing practice, in 2007 she introduced a bounty of $150 for the left foreleg of wolves killed through the aerial hunting program, she introduced legislation to make it even easier to use aircraft to hunt wolves and bears, and she approved the use of state funds to promote the practice.

Shooting animals from aircraft is not humane - a hunter cannot kill an animal quickly and humanely under those circumstances and its obviously not fair chase hunting.  As felines, we're hunters by nature and we also know quite few human hunters.  The hunters we know have a strong sense of ethics and sportsmanship.  Key among those ethics are  the "clean kill" - killing with a minimum of suffering - and "fair chase" - the hunter should not have an unfair advantage in stalking his prey.  At the heart of this issue is the question of whether or not you assume that a wolf deserves the same humane death as other game species, or whether as a predator it should be killed by whatever means is most efficient to control its population. We may just be cats from Colorado, but it seems to us that more humane methods of managing Alaska wildlife must be available. 

The Defenders of Wildlife have put together a video on this issue. Please be warned, it is disturbing.  If you don't see the embedded video below, click here to view on YouTube.

POLAR BEARS
Sarah Palin has also been actively working to block the Polar Bear from being listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.  Just this August, Alaska filed a suit against the federal government for listing the polor bear as threatened because that would harm oil development in the state.  Palin wrote a statement to accompany the suit. Since a perponderance of evidence shows that oil and gas development in Alaska will do next to nothing to reduce gas prices or to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, the motivation appears to be entirely to benefit oil companies. You can read more about the Polar Bear's predicament at the National Wildlife Federation website.  As is eloquently expressed in Our Polar Bears, Ourselves, "preserving other species is not an act of charity; it is essential to our own survival."

Michael Markarian who blogs for the Humane Society Legislative Fund has written two informative posts covering the records of the VP candidates in even more detail.  In particular, he discusses Joe Biden's long record in support of animals and Sarah Palin's record of inhumanity toward animals. 

- Midnight, Starbuck, & Apollo
   www.Cats4Obama.com