Keating Economics Video

The Obama campaign has implemented a new web site (http://www.keatingeconomics.com/) dedicated to providing detailed information and facts related to John McCain’s involvement with the Keating 5 savings and loan scandal. This is not new information, and at the time that it was taking place, it was very public information. But it is very relevant information to the current presidential race because the S&L scandal was almost identical to the current sub-prime mortgage scandal except that it was smaller in scale and impact. It couldn’t be more clear that the economic philosophy that allowed both of these scandals to take place is the same philosophy that John McCain has supported, and still supports. It also couldn’t be more clear where this philosophy leads - global financial system collapse.

Obama DC Press Conference on Bailout Negotiations - Video

The more I hear about Obama’s plan for shoring up our economy, the better I like it. As he mentions in the press conference, there are no good options here, but we can still use this crisis as an opportunity to fix the root causes of the problems that precipitated the crisis; lack of proper oversight of banking and financial institutions, predatory lending practices, and artificial inflation of real estate prices that drove people into accepting these predatory loan terms in the first place.

This press conference gives a clear picture of Obama’s vision and focus for the economy, both short term and long term. The manner in which Obama has managed this crisis illustrates his powerful leadership style. He understands that there is a delicate balance between exercising leadership and wielding political power, and he is very skillful at leading in such a way that those around him are empowered to drive his vision forward without his physical presence being required. This is true leadership. Leadership that doesn’t seek the spotlight, but rather seeks solutions and right action.

Yes we can!

Obama Blueprint for Change: Economy Video

This is a short video that succinctly covers the main points of Barack Obama’s economic plan. The full Blueprint for Change can be downloaded from this link.

(more…)

Final Day of the DNC at Mile High Stadium

Photo courtesy of The Burnt Orange Report

I have really been enjoying the DNC proceedings this year. The DNC has a web site where they are live streaming the whole event in high definition. It is almost like being there, and you don’t have to listen to TV pundits add their two cents worth, or worse yet, talk over the convention speakers. They have a fairly complete and correct schedule for each day posted on the site as well.

Today’s events look fantastic. The venue is moving to Invesco Field for the final day, and the tickets were ’sold out’ in less than 24 hours. The schedule lists Jennifer Hudson, will.i.am, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow and Michael McDonald as the musical performers for the evening, and one of the bloggers at TPM also mentioned that Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen will perform also.

The featured speakers for tonight are Gov Bill Richardson, VP Al Gore, and Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama. It will be a night worth remembering I am sure.

New Tennis Slam Tournament Widget for US Open

IBM has created a new widget for the US Open tennis grand slam event. It is very nice - full featured, and easy to use.

KOS Unviels New Race Tracking Widget

Markos Moulitsas, Kos, has released his beta version of the 2008 race tracking widget. It looks very impressive, featuring real-time stats, powerful search features, a user-friendly, intuitive interface, and a clean, but information packed design. Read more about it here.

I cannot get the widget to embed in my blog at the moment - it just shows up as a gray box - but you can run the full screen version by clicking here.

Update: It is working now. The view below is a calculator for the presidential race. You can successively click on a state and assign it to different statuses depending on the latest polls.