The Obama infomercial

[Chilly]

The general consensus, in poll after poll, is that about 1-10 still think Obama is a Muslim. It's more in some polls, and a lot more in some states, like Texas (there was another recent one in Texas that had the number at 20%). Now, even if those are way off, and it's only 9-10, in an election where the outcome is usually determined by 1-5%, that's a lot of fukking people.

 

Do you really think all those people are swing voters in this election?

[Kelly the Dog]

...without any way of paying for them.

There are a lot of ways of paying for them. He has given several different examples. The taxes from the top 2-5%. The lessening of funds for Iraq (after awhile). The slicing of elements of the budgets of endless over-bloated, out-dated government programs. The savings from new legislation that can cut costs on certain elements.

 

Whether or not he can do it is altogether a different story.

 

He surely can't pay for them right away and he never said he will. It's probably going to be quite difficult to pay for them in the short term. Our hope is that we will be able to pay for them after a few years when some of this stuff kicks in and the economy starts to get better. We have no idea.

 

People just assume that he can't wait to spend, spend, spend, and is rubbing his greedy little hands because he thinks the best way to solve everything is to expand the government. No democrat actually thinks that way and especially him. And he's extremely cautious.

 

Personally, I have no idea if he is going to be able to pay for it. I wouldn't bet on it. Perhaps in eight years it will be a lot better than it is now, like what has happened in most Democratic administrations over the last 100 years. But I do believe he's going to try. He's just going to need a lot of luck.

 

Luckily for us, so far, he's been a very lucky guy.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Obama had 30 minutes to disprove the known fact that he's either going to raise everyone's taxes, balloon the national debt or go back on his campaign promises...swing and a miss! What a waste of money. He would have been better off giving those hard luck people the cash.

 

You're aware that nothing in the future could ever be a "known fact" right?

[stuckincincy]

Do you really think all those people are swing voters in this election?

 

One would think that by this time, any eligible voter who is still on the fence might be better off seeking psychological counseling to help them with their inability to come to a decision, instead of going to the polling houses.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

One would think that by this time, any eligible voter who is still on the fence might be better off seeking psychological counseling to help them with their inability to come to a decision, instead of going to the polling houses.

 

So this election has to be black and white, just like every issue huh? Being undecided means that you're thinking things over, and that's nothing to be ashamed about.

[Joe Miner]

Do you really think all those people are swing voters in this election?

 

Don't worry, it's a strawman that Kelly can keep fighting against instead of actually defending the real issues people have with Obama.

 

He's upset and worried by all the misinformation that's out there, that he hasn't bothered to realize that there is very little real information out there by either candidate. He's just deluded enough to think that only about 10% of the population has been misinformed about the candidates and their plans.

[Kelly the Dog]

Do you really think all those people are swing voters in this election?

No.

 

But perhaps a significant number of the people that are scared of him, and already decided to vote for McCain because of that, might not have already been counted on as McCain voters in those polls if they knew he was a Christian and not a terrorist and not a communist terrorist sympathizer.

[In-A-Gadda-Levitre]

Speaking of raising taxes. I'll ask again. Is The Big O saying he's only raising taxes on people making $250k does he say taxes or income taxes?

exact quote from his tax plan:

 

* Repealing a portion of the Bush tax cuts for families over $250,000 while continuing to leave their tax rates at or below where they were in the 1990s:

 

o Ordinary Income: The top two income tax brackets would return to their 1990’s levels of 36% and

39.6%. All other tax brackets would remain as they are today. Obama would also restore the 1990’s

levels for the personal exemption and itemized deduction phaseouts (known as PEP and Pease).

Obama would work with the Treasury Department to adjust the thresholds of these rates slightly to

ensure that no married couple making less than $250,000 (or single making less than $200,000) was

affected by these changes.

 

o Capital Gains: Families with incomes below $250,000 will continue to pay the capital gains rates

that they pay today. For those in the top two income tax brackets – likewise adjusted to affect only

families over $250,000 – Obama will create a new top capital gains rate of 20 percent. Obama’s 20%

rate is equal is the lowest rate that existed in the 1990s and the rate that President Bush proposed in

2001. It is almost a third lower than the rate that President Reagan signed into law in 1986.vii

 

o Dividends: The top dividends rate for people making over $250,000 would be set at 20 percent.

Dividends will not return to being taxed at ordinary income tax rates. Obama’s 20 percent rate on

dividends will be 39 percent lower than the rate President Bush proposed in 2001, and would be

lower than all but 5 of the last 92 years we have been taxing dividends.viii

 

o Estate Tax: The estate tax would be effectively repealed for 99.7 percent of estates. For the

remaining 0.3% of estates over $7 million per couple, Obama will retain a rate of 45%. This policy

would cut the number of estates covered by the tax by 84 percent relative to 2000.ix

 

o Average Tax Rates Below the 1990s: Overall, the top 1 percent of households – people with an

average income of $1.6 million per year – would see their average federal income and payroll tax

rate increase from 21 percent today to 24 percent, less than the 25 percent these households would

have paid under the tax laws of the late 1990s.x

 

I didn't include the citations and footnotes, open the PDF if you want that.

 

Also, the Tax Policy Center analyzed the plan in detail, have at it...

[Kelly the Dog]

Don't worry, it's a strawman that Kelly can keep fighting against instead of actually defending the real issues people have with Obama.

 

He's upset and worried by all the misinformation that's out there, that he hasn't bothered to realize that there is very little real information out there by either candidate. He's just deluded enough to think that only about 10% of the population has been misinformed about the candidates and their plans.

No, moron. I think that less than 1% of the actual vote has anything to do with any of that. All i was talking about, for the third time, is that millions of voters, ones that have made up their minds (the vast majority) and ones that haven't, have little information to go on. 30 million people watched that infomercial. A lot of them havent had time to keep up with this stuff. Those are the people he was trying to speak to.

 

That's it. I don't think the Muslim thing has any effect on the eventual outcome whatsoever. It's going to be a landslide. I have been saying the same thing since before the Democratic primary was over.

 

I know it's sucks to have been so consistently wrong across the board on a daily basis for eight straight years, and you're on track to be consistently wrong on a daily basis for the next eight. So I have some sympathy for you. Little, but it's there.

[stuckincincy]

So this election has to be black and white, just like every issue huh? Being undecided means that you're thinking things over, and that's nothing to be ashamed about.

 

I'd be pretty ashamed of myself if I was unable to form a definitive opinion about two Presidential candidates 5 days before I went to vote...

[Cornerville]

An ad catered to blind sheep. THAT is what wins elections.

[Chef Jim]

exact quote from his tax plan:

 

 

 

I didn't include the citations and footnotes, open the PDF if you want that.

 

Also, the Tax Policy Center analyzed the plan in detail, have at it...

 

No, I don't want it from his tax plan that you looked up online. I want to know what he's been saying on the campaign trail.

[DC Tom]

I'd be pretty ashamed of myself if I was unable to form a definitive opinion about two Presidential candidates 5 days before I went to vote...

 

Of course, let's not forget this is coming from someone who's opinions are SO one-sided that your definitive opinions about these two candidates were formed before they were even born.

[In-A-Gadda-Levitre]

No, I don't want it from his tax plan that you looked up online. I want to know what he's been saying on the campaign trail.

anytime I have heard him, which is a lot, he said "taxes", and he has specifically talked about income taxes and capital gains.

 

Something that his campaign messes up is switching between $250K and $200K, which confuses just about everyone, including the media. Those that pay attention, and/or understand his platform, realize those figures represent married couples and singles, respectively.

[Joe Miner]

No, moron. I think that less than 1% of the actual vote has anything to do with any of that. All i was talking about, for the third time, is that millions of voters, ones that have made up their minds (the vast majority) and ones that haven't, have little information to go on. 30 million people watched that infomercial. A lot of them havent had time to keep up with this stuff. Those are the people he was trying to speak to.

 

That's it. I don't think the Muslim thing has any effect on the eventual outcome whatsoever. It's going to be a landslide. I have been saying the same thing since before the Democratic primary was over.

 

My point, which you obviously missed in your rushed attempt to defend your precious candidate, was that there isn't much real concrete information out there about either candidate. Whether it's the Muslim issue, the tax issue, the terrorist issue, or any other issue. All elections are big smoke and mirrors productions. Keep telling people what they want to hear, but don't actually tell them anything of substance.

 

Obama held an infomercial to correct misinformation about him and some of his ideas. From everything I've read and seen about it, he didn't end up giving out that much more real information on much of anything. This infomercial didn't answer any relevant questions about him or his ideas. It didn't give me any real information to help decide that my life would be better if he were president. It was just the same campaign promises and ideas that have been out there since this whole thing started.

 

For simpler clarification, campaign promises and plans don't actual equal real information. Campaign promises are about as much misinformation as an internet email on Obama's Muslim and terrorist ties.

 

The people that are misinformed aren't just those that think Obama is a Muslim or a terrorist or a socialist, or whatever. The people that are misinformed are the ones that think either of these guys puts America's interests over their own. The people that are misinformed are those that think they know how any of the policy ideas these candidates preach will affect them. The people that are misinformed are those that think their candidate will get elected and get the same propaganda that they are preaching now passed.

 

As I said, we're all misinformed people if we think we know or even have a good idea as to what will happen to this country if either candidate is elected.

 

I know it's sucks to have been so consistently wrong across the board on a daily basis for eight straight years, and you're on track to be consistently wrong on a daily basis for the next eight. So I have some sympathy for you. Little, but it's there.

 

Do you think that you know me? Have you read my posts for the last 8 years? I doubt it. Do you have any idea what my political opinions and ideas are? Do you know what my views on anything are, and how I came about forming them?

 

Or are you just mad because I'm telling you that your crusade to educate all of us on Obama is pointless, and verging on pathetic?

[Chef Jim]

anytime I have heard him, which is a lot, he said "taxes", and he has specifically talked about income taxes and capital gains.

 

Something that his campaign messes up is switching between $250K and $200K, which confuses just about everyone, including the media. Those that pay attention, and/or understand his platform, realize those figures represent married couples and singles, respectively.

 

Ok, enough of my being lazy

 

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

 

That is a flat out lie. Why is no one calling out on that?

[Ramius]

Of course, let's not forget this is coming from someone who's opinions are SO one-sided that your definitive opinions about these two candidates were formed before they were even born.

 

The real question is who did stuck hate and blame everything on before the democratic party was even invented?

[PastaJoe]

Wasn't there a time, not so long ago, when the Dems and their media lapdogs were bewailing how unfair it was that the GOP had such big campaign coffers?

 

No?

 

You mean the same media lapdogs that McCain called his closest supporters before the election? After it was determined to be unconstitutional to restrict public donations, which was the preferred choice by Dems to limit campaign costs, the Dems decided to beat the Repubs at their own game. And now McCain is crying about the Dems not playing fair. Maybe if he had a better plan for America he'd get more financial support. But that would have cost him the nomination.

[PastaJoe]

According to preliminary ratings numbers from the networks, more than 26 million people watched the program on CBS, NBC or Fox. That's 3 million more than usually watch those networks at that hour, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Averaging in the cable networks that also carried the event, about 30 million people in all saw the long-form campaign ad.

 

The ad was most watched on NBC, where nearly 10 million viewers tuned in. More than 8.5 million watched on CBS while just under 8 million viewed the program on Fox. On average, about 7 million people usually tune into each network at that hour.

 

Overall, according to Nielsen, for the six networks that aired the infomercial simultaneously, it scored a household rating of nearly 22 percent — meaning 22 percent of all households watching television at that hour tuned into the spot. That compares to the 38.3 household rating the last presidential debate scored.

 

Obama's combined audience beat the highest rated television show last week: CBS' CSI drew about 20 million viewers. It also drew more than double the viewers the average World Series game this year did.

 

But even if viewers didn't catch the spot when it first aired, clips of the program have repeatedly been broadcast across the cable news chanels Thursday, maximizing the Illinois senator's exposure in the crucial remaining days before Election Day.

 

"The strategic brilliance of this for Obama is that he is going to consume about 24 hours of the news cycle," Evan Tracey of Campaign Media Analysis Group said. "It boxes [John] McCain in, takes the oxygen out of the room."

 

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

[erynthered]

Infomericals You Can Believe In

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