Powell Endorses Obama

Many people were shocked to find out that Colin Powell has now endorsed Senator Barack Obama. According to multiple sources including The Wall Street Journal article "Powell Endorses Obama, Reflecting Fractures in GOP", this shows that there is a "fracture" in the GOP. Colin Powell being a secretary of state under president Bush, stated his criticism of Palin stating that he does not believe she is ready to be president. This being said is probably one of many reason why he is now endorsing Obama.

Powell's endorsement of Obama was said by McCain not to surprising. Although Obama has now received Powell's endorsement along with many others, McCain made sure to mention that he has many other endorsements from "four former secretaries of state, well over 200 retired generals and admirals." However, McCain still does admire and respect Powell even after the endorsement of Obama.

Over the past week many conservatives have begun to endorse Obama. Some of these include Michael Smerconish (radio talk-show host), Christopher Buckley (conservative columnist), and William F. Buckley (son of the National Review founder). Also for the first time ever, the Chicago Tribune has now endorsed Democrat Senator Obama, the first democrat to be endorsed in 161 year history of the Chicago Tribune.These many endorsements just come to show that many important people, including Republicans are now supporting Obama and his campaign.

This is an extremely important election that is getting not only the elderly and middle aged peoples attention but also the attention of young adults who, as we have seen in the past have not been very active in presidential elections or getting out there to vote. The many endorsements and the articles that have been all over the different news papers, Internet, and TV have now gotten peoples attention.

I have already made up my mind as to who I would be voting for and after watching the debates and hearing the endorsements, I am very proud to say that I am supporting Barack Obama! I was also very happy to read that Obama has declared that if he is elected to office that Powell will be offered to be one his advisers as stated in the article "Obama: Powell Will have role in administration" (MyFox Washington DC). This is not only a great idea but will be very helpful to Obama in office since Powell has such a long and large amount of experience.

Video: Powell Explains Obama Endorsement

Questions:

Does having a specific person such as Colin Powell endorse a campaign, does that then change your opinion of the other person running?

Do you think that Powell endorsing Obama has in fact created a "fracture" in the GOP?

Do the people who endorse the candidates make or break who you would vote for?

What is your opinion of Palin's readiness to becoming president?

What is your opinion of the President having bi-partisan advisers?

Bailout Blunder: Congress Not Listening to Constituents

Why is the U.S. Congress deciding to shove a bill down our throats that no one wants? As everyone knows, Congress is trying to pass a $700 billion plan to bail out Wall Street. Though the politicians say it’s about Main Street, the voters aren’t buying it. A recent poll from Gallup said that only 22% of America believes that we should pass a plan similar to Henry Paulson’s plan. Stephen Power and Gary Fields of the Wall Street Journal explain why in “How Voter Fury Stopped Bailout.”



In the article, Power and Fields introduce the idea of most of the nation being infuriated over this bill. Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House during the Clinton years, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a liberal leaning independent from Vermont, and Rep. Darrell Issa, (R) CA, all voiced strong displeasure over the bill that failed this past Monday. They are not alone. Whether it is radio talk shows or internet blogs, people have been told to call up their representatives and senators and tell them to vote against this bill. Opposition to the package is so great that it may cost some of the supporters in Congress their jobs this election. An obvious example of this is taken from another article in the Wall Street Journal, that shows how the most vulnerable House members voted.



This article explains how voters don’t want the bill to pass at all. In the article, a contributor to blackamericaweb.com stated that "This is the biggest robbery of the US in the history of the nation" while Newt Gingrich feels that Paulson should resign from his position. Congress is about to pass the bailout package in the next few days.

Something I have quickly understood is that conservatives don’t want to pass this bill because they think it is one more step towards socialism. Liberals don’t want to pass the bill because they believe they are getting a raw deal and don’t want to bail out the rich folk. I find it ironic now that the media and Democrat controlled Congress have railed against the rich, but now seem to be all for this bailout. They are stunned that only a quarter of their own constituents support it, but still they are bent on passing it anyway for our own good.

In my opinion, this bill is not a good bill at all. It does not include reform and gives the Secretary of the Treasury more power. Like Gingrich said in the article, a former Goldman Sachs chairman is now trying to get money to bail out his buddies on Wall Street. That man is Henry Paulson. Conflict of interest? I think so. But, Congress will pass this legislation and they should pass something. But, not this. Not a blank check.

What do you think? Should this bailout be passed and why? If not, what should be changed?

Opening picture taken from StopTheHousingBailout.com