There’s speculation that John McCain may announce his vice presidential pick by the end of this week. The buzz is that it will be either former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (in photo), who is scheduled to meet with McCain Wednesday.
Meanwhile, McCain is trying to weather Barack Obama’s trip overseas and the news coverage of cheering U.S. soldiers and Iraqi support for Obama’s withdrawal timetable.
Thank goodness that war criminal Radovan Karadzic has been captured in Serbia and should soon be on his way to the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands. Karadzic, who was the wartime leader of Bosnian Serbs, is accused of masterminding the siege of Sarajevo and the execution of up to 8,000 Muslims in 1995. Karadzic was able to dramatically change his appearance and, remarkably, had been living and working near Belgrade. His fellow war criminal Gen. Ratko Mladic has not been found. Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was put on trial in 2002 but died before a verdict was reached.
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John McCain’s latest ad, airing in 11 battleground states and nationally on cable, casts doubt on Barack Obama’s foreign policy credentials and ends with the line “McCain, country first.” (Is the implication that Obama puts terrorists, party, race or himself first?) It also seems a bit strange to turn out an ad including the line that Obama “hasn’t been to Iraq in years” just as Obama is going to Iraq.
Politicians pander to various voting groups. But what if they pandered to economists? What is it that economists would want to hear? N. Gregory Mankiw, a Harvard University professor of economics who has advised President Bush and Mitt Romney, came up an eight-point platform based on his discussions with colleagues and polls of his profession. The eight policies: Support free trade, oppose farm subsidies, leave oil companies and speculators alone, tax the use of energy, raise the retirement age, invite more skilled immigrants, liberalize drug policy, raise funds for economic research.
Consumers are mostly to blame for their debt problems. But the big increase in debt in recent years also reflects a shift in the way lenders do business, the New York Times reported. Because many major lenders sell their loans to investors, they are not as concerned about the ability of borrowers to repay the loans. Their focus is on the origination fees and charges on the loans. As a result, “junk fees” on mortgage loans have risen 50 percent in recent years, said Michael Kratzer, president of FeeDisclosure.com.
“Fine by me. Sounds like a good idea.” — Former Vice President Al Gore, when asked by Tom Brokaw on “Meet the Press” whether there should be a surcharge on jet fuel for private aviation, which Brokaw said “leaves a very large carbon footprint”
