Biden Remorse?

After the thunderous entry of Sarah Palin into the Presidential race, Democrats may be feeling a sense of buyers, or at least Biden remorse. Obama's safe pick turned out to be a less than inspiring choice, particularly when compared to McCain's coup.

With one decision the Arizona Senator nearly wiped out Obama's convention bounce and put the wind in his campaign sails allowing him to close on the Democratic frontrunner and surpass him in some polls. Now we're hearing whispers that Obama and the Ds are considering a veep swap.

The rumor - which could be just that - goes that Biden will step down citing health problems. Obama will then choose his vanquished opponent Hillary Clinton to replace the ailing Biden. All of this is timed to happen after the October 2nd debate.

Remember these are just rumors but if true, Biden could become a rabid attack dog during the debate without risking a public backlash. We believe that Democrats have been looking with envy at the McCain pick and would be willing to do just about anything to get Hillary back on their ticket.

Troubling Times

You’ve probably figured out by now that we really have never met a tax cut that we didn’t like. Over taxation doesn’t result in more efficient government with more services – it results in government attempting to do too many things for too many specific groups and generally making a mess of the whole damn thing.

That being said, we happened to catch one of Hillary’s new ads that just scared the bejeezus out of us. In this spot aimed at attacking The One named “O”, Hill proclaims her desire to save us all gas money by giving us all a tax holiday from federal gasoline taxes. So far it sounds pretty good to us even though it is a bit gimmicky and doesn’t solve the problem we have with high gas prices - which is primarily a supply problem.

What is terrifying is that the Hill ad goes on to explain that they’re going to pay for the tax holiday with the eeeeevil windfall profits of oil companies. We’re not in bed with big oil and the only connection we have with any oil company comes when we’re filling the Eyemobile with their product. We’re also not overly enthused about paying four dollars a gallon for gas. However, threatening to steal a business’ profits in order to get elected is morally and ethically reprehensible.

Hillary's not proposing a tax holiday where the government is burdened to help its citizens; it's a scheme where private companies will be shouldering the burden. Our taxes will be replaced by massive taxes on a few companies in one sector of the economy.

Like it or not oil companies are businesses. They remain in business not by giving away their product but by making a profit. Folks, profit is not a bad thing. In fact, without profit there's no product to supply. It's a simple fact that we all have responsibilities, obligations, and dreams that require compensation and that compensation comes from profit. Ask yourself would you work for free?

Ultimately, what schemes like Hill's do is make an already scarce resource even more scarce. People don't work for free and neither do companies. If anyone were to impose this kind of retroactive taxation the companies affected would leave - maybe not today but eventually.

What's most troubling is that this type of political posturing has gone relatively unremarked. At a time when our supply of energy is being taxed by increased global competition we ignore or miss a very real threat to our economy and our freedom that has more dangerous consequences than four dollar a gallon gas.

Booing the Alcalde

As you probably know by now, Albuquerque's Mayor, Martin Chavez has picked his horse in the Democratic primary - Hillary Clinton. It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the Almighty Alcalde chose the former first lady as the Clinton's and His Honor share many of the same qualities. (We'll let you decide whether or not that's a good thing.)

The Albuquerque Journal (and just about every other MSM outlet) reported on Senator Clinton's Saturday rally here in the Duke City (Subscription). They talked about the candidate's "enthusiastic" reception, the 3,000 in attendance, her new stump speech, the comparison to Obama's 8,100 person overflow crowd at the convention, heck they even talked about the music being played before the arrival of the candidate.

What The Journal didn't talk about was Clinton's local backer Martin Chavez and his reception at the event. At these types of things it's customary for the headliner to recognize their high ranking supporters, particularly when that supporter is the mayor of the town where your rally is being held. Our Eyes tell us that while the headliner may have been warmly received, The Almighty Alcalde was treated to a chilly reception that included quite a bit of booing.

If any of you are still wondering why Mayor Marty dropped out of the U.S. Senate race and is now trying to have his term limits overturned, Saturday's rally should provide the answer. Marty is not considered a true Democrat by the party faithful - particularly those of the more left leaning persuasion. Thus, the mayor will find just about any race that includes a primary almost impossible to win.

Since Albuquerque's municipal elections are "non-partisan," he has the ability to pull votes from the Republican Party and run in a crowded field. In that type of environment, name ID becomes more important than policy. In short, it's the only race in the state that Marty has any chance of winning - assuming his popularity among Republicans holds. If our Eye Polls are any indication, Marty is in deep trouble even if he does manage to overturn the city charter's term limits.