Out of Touch With Your Running Mate, Barack?

Obama once again strayed away from the "audacity of hope" and made another cheap shot against McCain in his video "Still," which makes fun of the fact that McCain joined the Senate like, totally 20 years before Obama did. So uncool. And that he said he doesn't know how to use email or computers very well. 

Ok, fine. I've been trying to get my parents to use Gmail for 2 years. They won't budge from their beloved Microsoft Outlook. And it's not because they're not smart. Kids I babysat for in high school probably have fancier cell phones than I do and know how to program their DVDs and Tivos, and I still don't have the patience to do that. Who cares?

I'm not even gonna get into the fact that McCain can't type because of the injuries he endured at the Hanoi Hilton. But let's look at a few things McCain does know how to do that Obama doesn't:

Fly a plane.

Fire a gun. (Palin can do that too.)

Run a committee dedicated to national commerce, science, and technology.

And McCain did decently when interviewed during the primaries by CNET in their "Technology Voter's Guide" to the election. Check out his responses - he shows a solid understanding of the internet's role in fighting terrorism, takes positions in favor of competition and free trade as they apply to tech, and says he's against internet taxes. And in this Tech Crunch inteview from last year, he sounds pretty confident (there's also a podcast) and cracks some good jokes, too.

How did Obama's running mate fare in this survey? Well, Biden refused to answer it, perhaps because he didn't want to discuss his pro RIAA record, crackdown on copyright law in online music downloading, and skepticism of net neutrality - all positions that don't sit well with the techie-happy Obama. Or perhaps it's because he received a 37.5% score from the CNET folks in the 2006 Voter's Guide.

Looks like Obama should consider his running mate's positions on technology issues, not just whether he can click 'send,' before he throws the first stone.

You Call That a Plan?

So much for being above negative politics. Politico reported that Obama had some harsh words for John McCain at a barbecue in a local park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin yesterday after attending a local church, showing that it's back to politics-as-usual (which I'm not necessarily against, I'm just telling the guy “I told you so”).

To a group of 300 supporters, he said:

"If we can spend $10-12 billion a month in Iraq, we sure as hell can pay $10-12 billion right here in the United States of America to put people back to work."

He also said that he's the candidate for the middle class, "the teachers and nurses and the cops and firefighters." McCain, he said, "doesn't really have an economic plan, and everybody sort of knows it."

Did Obama have a few too many beers at this bbq? It's one thing to disagree with your opponent's plan, but he's starting to sound like the kids who ran against me in student council elections. And maybe he should take a look at McCain's detailed economic policies.

As for Obama's vision, the numbers say far more than any turn of phrase: he's planning on spending $800 billion, and that's going to hurt middle-class citizens the most. Why? Because that money has to come from somewhere, and it will be drained out of an economy that is already far from robust. And when the economy goes south, the jobs of middle-class Americans go with it. Ultimately, the middle class will pay for that extra spending in higher taxes, because Obama just won’t be able to squeeze that much money from “the rich.” Obama’s tax plan would reduce the incentives for the most productive Americans to work; the total combined marginal tax rate on additional labor earnings (or small business income) would rise from 44.6% to 62.8%. Obama’s plan amounts to a cut of one-third in the amount that these people keep from their earnings, after taxes.

So what will the high-earners do? Work less and produce less taxable wealth. Either that, or find ways to shelter their income from taxes. In both cases, the bills for Obama’s return to big government will come due for the same middle-income wage-earners he claims to defend.

Did the crowd in Eau Claire get to hear that?