by Lance Thompson

In the Tuesday night debate, John McCain needed a decisive win. But to do that, he needed a decisive platform. As a moderate Republican, he hasn't one.

McCain landed one solid punch on the financial crisis when he placed the blame for the mortgage meltdown squarely on the Democrats who coerced banks to lend money to those who couldnt pay it back. Such provisions were passed under Democrat presidents Carter and Clinton. In the same answer, McCain mentioned that Obama had received the second highest amount of contributions from Fannie Mae executives in history. This was the fight conservatives had been waiting for.

But Obama ducked most of the hits and moved on. McCain, having tossed a bone to the conservatives, never returned to the hard-hitting tactic, and repeated his populist rhetoric about greedy Wall Streeters. McCain had taken the gloves off, and he quickly slipped them back on.

Obama presented McCain with a tremendous opportunity while discussing Iraq. Obama said that Iraq was a misjudgment, a mistake, a case of taking our eye off the ball. Then, Obama answered a question on military intervention by saying that we all would have liked to have intervened to prevent the holocaust, and we should all support intervention in cases of genocide.

McCain could have said that genocide was exactly what was happening in Iraq prior to our liberation of that country. Iraqis lived in terror under a pitiless dictator who used poison gas on his own people, and was systematically killing, starving or driving out the Iraqi Kurds. That is the definition of genocide. How could Iraq be a mistake if it met the conditions of Obamas policy for military intervention? McCain let this one slide.

Later, an audience member asked if health coverage should be treated as a commodity. Both Obama and McCain took this opportunity to present their health care plans, but neither answered the question. McCain, who went second on this one, should have said, "Yes, health care should be treated as a commodity, because commodities respond to the laws of supply and demand. Only the free market can contain the costs of medial care. Health insurance insulates the consumer of health care from the provider, and costs, consequently, have risen steadily. As long as there is an intervening authority, whether private health insurer or government provider, health costs will continue to rise." McCain brushed up against this principle in his $5000 health insurance tax credit, but it was far from a direct hit.

The problem is, McCain is close to Obama on several issues. They both overstate the impact of global warming. They both still blame Wall Street for the financial crisis. They both voted for the astronomically expensive bailout. They both are soft on illegal immigration. McCain is a moderate; Obama, though he poses as a moderate, is a true liberal. In this case, it gives Obama an advantage. His political base knows he is one of them, and supports him absolutely. The conservative base knows McCain is not one of them, and their support is halfhearted.

McCain is capable of a bare-knuckle campaign, as he demonstrated in his primary battle against Mitt Romney. But when it comes to the main event, he is tentative and cautious. With less than a month to go and in view of discouraging poll numbers, now is the time to release the warrior within if John McCain still thinks America is worth fighting for.

By Rose Pedenko and Tanya Simon

Hey, all you cats & kittens out there in funny money land, the clock is tick, tick, ticking. It’s almost time we hit the mattresses and harvest that stashed cash we’ve been storing for a rainy day, ‘cause our savings and 401(k)s’ might be Blowin’ in the Wind, and then it’s going to be See You Later, Alligator from our Pension Funds.

The Dow Jones had its 19^th Nervous Breakdown when the The 3‑Gs (Good Guys & Gals in Government), better known as Strangers in the Night, did a Shake, Rattle & Roll and voted “no $$$$-ING way” to bail out the credit market a/k/a the Space Oddity– that was famous for its jingles We Can Work it Out and My World is Empty Without IOUs, Babe.

Treasury Secretary Henry It’s Now or Never Paulson went from Mellow Yellow to a Whiter Shade of Pale when the American people rang up their reps and sang our anthem, I Fought the Law and rejected his $700 billion Eight Miles High bailout compromise. Then Representative Mike Pence of Indiana cut through the Purple Haze and announced: “The American people rejected this bailout, and now Congress did likewise.”

Would the underlying message to Congress be: You Can’t Always Get What You Want?

Just when we thought the Smoke on the Water was clearing in the violin section of the Democrat party, Dazed and Confused Barney Frank must have had a Psychotic Reaction when he issued the statement: “The Republicans killed this.”

Back in 2004, during A Day in the Life of the illegal bookkeeping hearings, Barney Frank said “you seem to be saying well there are areas which could raise safety and soundness problems. I don’t see anything in this report that raises safety and soundness problems.” And just like that Frank figured: There Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.

And who can ever forget Maxine California Dreamin’ Waters at those very same hearings declaring: “Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and in particular at Fannie Mae under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines.”

Is it Just My Imagination or was Maxine telling Raines Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough?

If that weren’t enough, and With the Tears of a Clown, Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry Bernanke, warned of “grave threats” to the global financial system if Congress rejected the plan. Apparently, his Paint It Black warning was met with the Sounds of Silence by the Comfortably Numb (up for reelection) Congress who were unwilling to hop on the Last Train to Clarksville and vote the wrong way just before the General Election -- wishing we all could, once again, be The Way We Were.

The If I Had a Hammer (and Sickle) Democrats and God Only Knows Republicans hammered out a compromise measure entitled “The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 with a Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On from both sides of the aisle. They’d still be shakin’, but they took a couple of days off before Takin’ Care of Business.

Certainly, Representative Jeb Hensarling (R) of Texas thought The Times They Are A’Changin’ when he declared the bailout might put the nation on the “slippery slope to socialism.” In practically the same breath, please Say It Ain’t So, Rep. James Langevin, Democrat from Rhode Island, said “we must ensure hardworking people will have access to financing for mortgages, as well as auto, student and small business loans.”

The American people believe little in Sympathy For The Devil that is Wall Street and are Crazy for another Congressional Hard Day’s Night of negotiating.

It was widely reported that President George W. Bush was disappointed with defeat of the bailout bill. He was Wishin’ and Hopin otherwise and last overheard saying I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction).

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack With No Particular Place To Go Obama, made a token phone call to the real working senators saying Please Please Me .

Gaffe-prone Senator Joe Biden asked his running mate Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?

On Needles and Pins and with rolled up sleeves, Senator John I Feel Fine McCain insists A Change Is Gonna Come.

By Lance Thompson

Recently I overheard a neighbor proudly showing his new truck to the guy next door. In response to appropriate appreciation, the new truck owner made this statement: I refuse to participate in the recession.

Slowly, the wisdom of this profound statement sank in. A recession, like any other manifestation of mass hysteria, requires participation to continue. People must have faith in a recession, must contribute to it, must convert others to believe in it. Otherwise, the recession would collapse for lack of support.

How do we know there is a recession in the first place? The media, bearer of all dire tidings, tell us so. It is clear to most Americans, based on a recent poll that rates the media among the least trustworthy of institutions, that those who bring us the news have an agenda. Part of that agenda is to elect Barack Obama. To achieve that end, the media must convince Americans that the economy is in a nosedive, so that we will seek relief from the junior varsity Senator from Illinois.

The media keep the news about rising gas prices, falling home prices, massive layoffs and the weakening dollar in the headlines and on the tops of the newscasts. There is no pessimistic economic indicator that doesn’t rate its own computer graphic, economic victim interview, and concerned look from the news reader.

Falling home prices certainly affect all homeowners. Journalists and commentators point to the phenomenon as proof of a worsening economy. However, when home values were rising just a few years ago, the exact opposite situation, the media were characterizing that as bad news as well. Even though rising home values added billions to the net worth of American homeowners, the media concentrated instead on the diminishing percentage of Americans who could afford the average home–the negative side of rising home values. Likewise, as home values fall, you will not hear reports in the media about the increasing affordability of homes. As prices come down, a larger percentage of the population can afford to buy homes, but this aspect is ignored by recession cheerleaders.

Economists gain access to the media and notoriety by volunteering their views on the coming recession. If you’re an economist with a doom and gloom forecast, you can be booked on a network show faster than an Olympic gold medalist. But The Wall Street Journal recently featured a story about foreign investors from Abu Dhubai buying the Chrysler building. This is a structure whose value is inextricably tied to the value of American commercial real estate. It is not an asset that can be purchased and shipped to the Middle East like some other token of wealth. Buying the Chrysler building is an $800 million bet on the future health of the United States economy. The views of economists are interesting, but none of them are playing with their own money.

High fuel prices impact everyone, but there are benefits to four dollar gas as well. Chrysler is spending almost $2 billion to retool a Detroit plant to build fuel-efficient, car-based SUV’s. It is a major investment in Michigan, which has been losing manufacturing jobs to other states for a generation. Boeing’s fuel-efficient 787 is the best-selling new airliner in history, with airlines around the world clamoring for the gas-sipping jet. High fuel costs have made Americans trade in gas guzzlers for fuel-efficient hybrids, and made American corporations increase their energy efficiency. Those habits will continue.

It’s not all good news, of course. Some people are doing well and some are having a tough time, which is pretty much the way things have always been. Most people’s relationship to the economy is intimate rather than general. The recession is a generalization, and certainly a subjective assessment. Not everybody is out of work, not every home is in foreclosure, not every business is going under–although that’s the way it looks on the news.

From personal observation, I see signs of a very healthy economy. My mother’s real estate office in Sacramento, a city with one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, has seen business increase dramatically in the last two months. We have friends in Colorado who have added a premium zip-line attraction to their resort, and their business has doubled since last year. My wife, who recruits animators and visual effects artists for movies, has never been busier helping studios hire talented individuals.

There’s no such thing as a recession that affects everyone equally. There are challenges and opportunities in every economic situation. No matter what the media are talking about, people everywhere are starting or running businesses, looking for employment or employees, making investments in their homes, families or businesses. The principles that govern these activities don’t change just because the media says the economic sky is falling.

So I will gladly join my neighbor and refuse to participate in what the media wants us to believe is a recession. I’ll continue to do my job, pay the mortgage, buy groceries and gas, and put something away for a rainy day, as most people do most of the time. And I look forward to the day when the purveyors of gloomy economic forecasts will learn firsthand about economic reality by looking for work themselves.