Monday, October 20, 2008

ketchup

Obama Vs. McCain

Vs.


They look a little different on the outside. If we were to conduct a taste test, undoubtedly we would find that they taste a little different. Mmmmm.... Yeah. Slightly different flavors. Also, we would find that people would likely express a preference - one brand tastes better than the other.

They're both still ketchup.



*This has been a presentation of the American electoral process brought to you by the letter god help us and the number wake the fuck up.

16 Day Contest pt.4: Who Can Be Fuller Of Shit, Obama or McCain?

I thought, what better time than now to run through the top 15 money donors for Obama and McCain (as of June 2008). Looking at these lists now casts a new light on recent events and possibly offers some glimpse of the future.

The dollar amounts listed are the sum of $200+ contributions from employees of these corporations or institutions given either directly or through PACs administered by these entities. Some links are provided for entities the reader may be unfamiliar with.


McCain

Merrill Lynch $226,550
Blank Rome LLP $222,050
Citigroup Inc $206,102
Greenberg Traurig LLP $173,837
AT&T Inc $149,305
Goldman Sachs $128,770
Morgan Stanley $124,951
JPMorgan Chase & Co $123,450
Credit Suisse Group $115,625
Lehman Brothers $98,400
Univision Communications $87,000
Bank of New York Mellon $86,500
Blackstone Group $86,350
IDT Corp $84,850
Wachovia Corp $84,050



Obama

Goldman Sachs $554,481
University of California $371,266
UBS AG $363,257
JPMorgan Chase & Co $353,808
Citigroup Inc $331,946
National Amusements Inc $313,511
Lehman Brothers $312,597
Google Inc $293,974
Harvard University $292,441
Sidley Austin LLP $287,795
Skadden, Arps et al $266,413
Morgan Stanley $253,576
Jones Day $245,875
Time Warner $245,828
Exelon Corp $229,861

16 Day Contest pt.3: Who Can Be Fuller Of Shit, Obama or McCain?

This post is for my bud Shemp Messing. I thought he would especially appreciate this. By now it's common knowledge that Sarah Palin supported the "Bridge to Nowhere" until she realized she could get further politically by opposing it. What fewer people know is that though the bridge project was scrapped, Gov. Palin gladly kept the earmarked money intended for the bridge and spent it on other pork projects instead. But I digress... Though it may be through a consistently repeated false boast, Palin has attempted to cultivate this image of a mavericky reformer who is absolutely totally against federal earmarks. Her track record paints a different picture.
"In 2000, as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin hired a lobbyist for $24,000 a year (later increased to $36,000) to make the federal monies rain on her fair city (pop. 6,700).
The rain came down: $500,000 to purchase a parcel of federal land; $450,000 for rehabilitating an agricultural processing plant; $15 million for a rail project to connect the city with Girdwood, Alaska.
All told, during Palin's last for years in office, Wasilla received $26.9 million in earmarks. That total is roughly the same amount that Boise, Idaho, received during the same period.
Not a bad haul for Palin, considering Wasilla's population is 28 times smaller than Boise's." [In These Times 10.08]