The falling prices of gas is a welcome relief, but it’s starting to feed an almost compulsive need to fill up my tank whenever I see cheaper gas prices. Today I stopped for $2.28 gas, actually $2.48 for premium which I use. Ended up getting 5.161 gallons for $12.85. I know that I don’t save that much money with the $.05-$.10 fluctuations, but I feel a sort of satisfaction knowing that I bought cheap gas. It’s the thrill of a bargain. Unless of course, the gas is cheaper tomorrow.
More Obama Pumpkin photos from YesWeCarve.com
Carve your own “Hope” pumpkin! I might try this myself, with my trusty Dremel tool. I wonder how many pumpkins I’ll have to sacrifice to get one that looks this good!
From Yahoo News: Palin tells kids the vice president ‘runs’ Senate
The subject of the vice president’s duties came up as Palin sat for an interview with KUSA-TV in Denver, which has a feature called “Question from the Third Grade.” The interviewer asked, “Brandon Garcia wants to know, ‘What does the vice president do?'”
“That’s a great question, Brandon, and a vice president has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the president’s agenda, they’re like the team member, the team mate to that president,” Palin said.
“But also, they’re in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it’s a great job and I look forward to having that job,” she said.
The Vice President only votes in the senate in case of a tie vote, but is not involved in making policy in the legislature.
From Wikipedia.com:
The Vice President of the United States[1] is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation, or removal of the president, should he or she accept the position. Every presidential term ends on January 20 of the year immediately after a presidential election. As designated by the Constitution of the United States, the vice president also serves as the President of the Senate, and may break tie votes in that chamber.[2] He or she may be assigned additional duties by the president but, as the Constitution assigns no executive powers to the vice president, in performing such duties he or she acts only as an agent of the president.
Thanks to Janice for sending me the link.
UPDATE: Why is this important?
Since Palin doesn’t take questions from the media, it’s hard to ascertain what she does and does not know. Even something as simple as this. This is her fourth time that she has mentioned the job of the VP and she has never answered it correctly. It’s just another example of her stunning lack of knowlege and how she tries to BS her way through answers.
An amazing video. Some of the shots look surprisingly real.
Thanks to Karin for sending it to me.
From AP.com: AP INVESTIGATION: Alaska funded Palin kids’ travel
Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.
And from a previous post from today…
From Politico.com: RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion
The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.
Palin says that it’s all part of her unannounced women’s economic stimulus plan that she’s testing. If it works for her, she’s going to recommend that all women support the economy by buying $150,000 of clothing, shoes, and hair products.
From SFGate.com: RNC Drops $150,000 for Palin Family Makeover
We understand that the veep needs to look presentable, if not professional, on the campaign trail. But at what point does a down-home, moose-huntin’ gal begin to appear out of touch with Americans? The $150,000 is as much as American households spend on apparel and services in 80 years.
Our final questions: New York? Minnesota? St. Louis? And those are right-leaning polls. Why doesn’t Palin shop in what she herself referred to as, “real America”?
Seriously, how is Palin a reformer when she manages to milk the system for all its worth?
Thanks to Doug for sending me the Alaska travel story.
From Politico.com: RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion
The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.
According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.
The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.
She really is a dress-up Barbie! I guess the moose-skin clothing that she owned prior to being selected VP wasn’t quite appropriate for the lower 48. I don’t know how the middle class thinks that she’s one of them when she’s spending three times their annual salary on clothing!
This is too funny. I love the reaction of the crowd.
This video of McCain/Palin supporters is frightening. It’s from a Palin rally in Johnstown, PA. It literally sends chills down my spine seeing people behaving like this. You half expect if someone tosses a piece of meat, or a Muslim, there would be a feeding frenzy right there.
I was at the Obama rally here in Cincinnati, and it was nothing like this. With 15,000 people it was one of the friendliest gatherings that I’ve ever been at.
Has HP resorted to naming their products by reading license plates from their parking lot? What printer do you own? The M2727nf MFP. That just rolls off the tongue.
I found Colin Powell’s endorsement in the video above to be very powerful, thoughtful, and inspirational.
Powell’s statement goes beyond just a simple endorsement, but a call for America to be an America for all people. His story of Kareem R. Khan, an American born Muslim who fought and died for the United States in Iraq is a story that I’ve never heard, but one that needs to be shared. America should be a country where a 7 year old Muslim can dream to one day become President, that prejudice against ones religion should not exist.
Contrary to what Sarah Palin says, it’s not just small towns with all white populations that are “Pro-America”. America became the success it has through the immigrants that have been welcomed to its shores, by those who only wish to live the “American Dream”. This is the country I want to live in. We’re all pro-America.
From ArlingtonCemetary.net: Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, Specialist, United States Army
From NYTimes.com: More on the Soldier Kareem R. Khan
Mr. Powell mentioned Mr. Khan’s death to underscore why he was deeply troubled by Republican personal attacks on Mr. Obama, especially false intimations that he was Muslim.
Mr. Obama is a lifelong Christian, not a Muslim, he said. But, he added, “The really right answer is, what if he is?”
“Is there something wrong with being Muslim in America? No, that’s not America,” he said.
From NYTimes.com: Powell Endorses Obama
Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president on Sunday morning as a candidate who was reaching out in a “more diverse and inclusive way across our society” and offering a “calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach” to the nation’s problems.
From Time.com: Halperin: How the Powell Endorsement Boosts Obama
In one of the most important symbolic moments of the general election, former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced today that he is endorsing Barack Obama for president. Making his decision public on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” the long-time fixture in Republican administrations effectively reinforced the sense of momentum Obama has been building, declaring the Senator from Illinois as a “transformational figure.” “I think that Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, a fresh set of ideas to the table,” said Powell. “I think we need a generational change, and I think Senator Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America, and is reaching out in a more diverse, inclusive way across our society.”