Van Santos

I was in the process of writing a very long, very detailed criticism of President Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.  I’ve given up.

Sure, I went into detail about her views that judging should be based on empathy, not on reason. I had plenty of quotes on how she has stated it impossible for the poor to overcome in the United States, even though that is exactly what she did.  I was going to go into detail on how she believes sex and race play a part in the judicial process, sometimes overshadowing the law.  I was also going to cover how she has a history of having her decision overturned and a lack of case review on her part.  But, as I said, I’ve give up.

Why?

It is a fruitless effort.  

It was clear Mr. Obama wanted specific type of person for the open Supreme Court position.  All of the final choices were women, most with an “activist” agenda.  He wasn’t interested in finding the right person for the job, he was looking for a label. It’s also clear that Republican’s cannot truly oppose her choice as they will be labeled racist.

That wouldn’t be the case – they would be opposing simply because she is not qualified and apparently biased in her role…but that is now how the press would spin it.

Think about this. What happens if you apply for a job that you are not qualified for?  

Most likely, you are not going to get an interview let alone get the job. The second an institution starts picking people because of their age, sex and/or ethnic background creditability is instantly lost. If you are not picking the most qualified person available, why are you picking anyone at all?

This isn’t a political issue – she has had both Democratic and Republican support in her career – this is about doing the right thing.  Based off of everything I’ve read in the last 12 hours, she is not the right choice.  There are a number of highly qualified individuals, both men and women, would should be filling this role. Sonia Sotomayor is not one of those choice.

The question that continues to roll around my head is the one that no one seems to be addressing – where do we go from here?  

Go to the news website of your choice and do a little research.  See if you can find what the next steps are.  Will the bill be rewritten?  When does the house come back? What needs to change in order to pass the House?  If it passes the House how do we know the legislation will pass the Senate?  Where is the President?  Beyond him being “very disappointed” how is he working with the Congress move this forward.

Let’s forget the credit crisis and the impact the lack of liquidity will have for one second – what is killing the Market and economy now is uncertainty.  The longer direction is lacking, the longer the market is in the fog of uncertainty, major volatility can be expected which will only intensify the lack of credit available to the market.

Update

Bloomberg.com has the only “next step” I’ve been able to find.  The Senate will be back in on Thursday an may pass something and then send it back to the House.  

At this point even the politicians have no clue what is coming next and they admit it.

There was some concern that the bill was not going to pass the House today and, sure enough, it did not. The Bush Administration, Secretary Paulson, Chairman Bernanke and senior Democratic leadership all supported the bill but the majority of Republicans did not. As a result, the bill appears to be dead in the water.

The DOW was down roughly 700 points after the bill was defeated but this bill is not about the Stock Market, it’s about the credit markets. This bill was designed, fundamentally, to help open up the credit markets. If one looks as at the current Government Bond rates the 3 month yield is at less than one percent - that is to say there is NO MONEY AVAILABLE.

This crisis is about credit, plain and simple. Without credit business cannot spend and growth will stall - if not decrease. Personal credit will dry up and households will not be able to make large purchases such as cars, washers and home improvements. Students may not be able to get loans for college…. and it can go on and on.

What I am not seeing here is leadership on the Republican House side. Where are the leaders making their case as to why they are not passing the bill and what the course of action is? Where is the Republican House leadership and why can they not deliver the votes they need?

For the very, very first time I am truly worried about the financial situation in the United States.

UPDATE: Voting Record

Care to see the AYES/NOES on the bill, you can check it out here.

UPDATE 2

You have to be kidding me - Republican Leadership is blaming Speaker Pelosi for being bipartisan as to why the bill failed. Supposedly she was too negative.

Yes, she hammered the Bush Administration - and I do not agree with what she had stated - but how petty is that if that is truly the case.

Here is the speech (in RealMedia format)

Here is another version - flash player based

So the general feeling is Republicans did not vote due to the fact that she was hammering the current administration. Again, I don’t agree with what she has stated but this is a time to put politics aside and get the deal done.

UPDATE 3

John McCain is shooting back at Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Both sides, no matter what is said, need to wake up.

UPDATE 4

To play politics for a second - the Democrats have the majority in the House of Representatives and could pass the Bill on their own if they truly wanted to.  If that is the case, how come this failed because of the Republicans?

Just a week ago the Democrats and Republicans alike were under the impression Bacak Obama was going to have a problem with his fundraising efforts (I commented on that here) but the Obama camp released the August fundraising numbers - $66 million.

Now that the conventions are finished and there are 51 days left until the election, let’s see how both camps do raising money.

Very impressive on Obama’s part. As I said before, polls are one thing but money is something you cannot argue.

Let me be very blunt about polling and surveys before I continue on.  Penn and Teller did an outstanding job showing how polling can often be just pure Bullsh*t.  A pollster can structure a question in order to obtain the answer they, or the person who hired them, are looking for.  When a firm such as Zogby or Gallup conducts presidential polling; however, the question usually is usually not leading to a specific answer and unbiased.  That said, let’s look at the current polling information.

USAToday: McCain 50% / Obama 46%
Gallup: McCain 49% / Obama 44%
Zogby: McCain 49.7% / Obama 45.9%
Realclearpolitics Avergage: McCain 48.3% / Obama 45.4%

A number of things are, most likely, reflective in this data.  The Obama DNC bounce has faded back to previous level, the RNC convention gave McCain his post election bounce, and Sarah Palin has taken over the national spotlight.   There are a number undercurrents that could also be included, but that would be pure speculation.

Both campaigns need to face the reality that they are running into the home stretch of the election.  With some 50 odd days left the polls will continue to swing unless one of the campaigns makes a huge error.  If an egregious, publicly embarrassing event is committed by either candidate you can bet the polls will swing away from them and stay away, thus causing them a loss.

Much like the Sarah Palin speech, Republicans need to keep their focus.  Yes, it’s nice to be “up” in the polls but with 57 days left it is meaningless. Do NOT become overconfident.

Other Reactions:

Hot Air - Gallup: McCain 48, Obama 45 — outside the margin of error

Hennessy’s View - McCain Lead Outside Margin of Error

AlphaPatriot - Dems are the New “Status Quo”

Guntotingliberal - John McCain Flip-Flops Again, This Time By Enjoying The Sarah Palin “Barracuda Bump”

internet scofflaw - McCain Leads

Rightvoices.com - MCCAIN TAKES 10-POINT LEAD OVER OBAMA IN LIKELY VOTERS…Good News: There Is A Convention Bounce Gallup Has McCain Up 48% to 45% Over Obama

Blue Crab Boulevard - Tea Leaves and Caution

Scared Monkeys - Panic time for Obama