Tuesdays with Paulie 9/26/06

Tammy Comes Out

Finally...Finally...Finally 6th Congressional District Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth showed up to the WBBM radio studios to debate her opponent, Republican State Senator Peter Roskam. The half-hour showdown aired this past Sunday night and to my surprise has received very little media coverage. The debate proved that these two candidates are rarely in the same ball park on issues. To Duckworth's credit she showed she is no dummy, but at the same time exposed her far left views. Roskam views show a man who is a proud conservative who wants to go to Washington to bring back fiscal discipline to the Republican Party.

Duckworth has recently been recently criticized for accepting a campaign donation from Rosie O'Donell who made headlines recently for comparing radical Christianity to radical Islam. Duckworth list of campaign contributions is a who's who of the Hollywood left from Barbara Streisand to Al Franken.

Overall the debate was necessary for Duckworth who has turned down seven previous debates. She claims she will debate Roskam three more times before the November election. We shall see.

Will the Real Bill Clinton Please Stand Up

Nobody knows the real Bill and Hillary more than former Clinton advisor Dick Morris. These days he is viewed as a turncoat by the Democratic first family for his books and political insight into the Clinton Presidency. After Clinton lost his cool with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, claiming he did more than the current administration to "kill" Osama Bin Laden, Morris debunks Clinton's account of how he went after Bin Laden and viewed the terrorist threat.

No President has ever been more concerned about their legacy than Bill Clinton. I believe the man lays awake at night worried that he will go down in history for the Monica Lewinsky scandal and in recent times he can see his incompetence as a military leader catching up to him. Even with his enormous ego I believe he genuinely cares for people and battles his own demons regarding 9/11. His foundation and humanitarian efforts especially with former President George H Bush have done tremendous things world-wide. Unfortunately for Clinton his legacy will be haunted by the one thing he has spent a life-time avoiding...the truth.

Dow Up, Gas Down

This past weekend the family and I drove down to Indianapolis and I was aroused by the low gas prices. When we left Illinois, $2.69 a gallon was average in my neck of the woods. When we crossed the border into the Hoosier state we instantly so a 40 cent decrease and the farther south we drove the better the prices. $2.16, $2.11, $2.05 and yes I saw it a $1.99 per gallon. It is still sad that I am excited about $2 a gallon gasoline, but after paying nearly $3.50 anything near the 2 dollar range is a relief. If ths continues expect a very good holiday shopping season unless the Dems take control of congress and the markets panic.

Speaking of markets, how about that Dow! Closed today at it's secong highest level ever. Unemployment at 4.8% the deficit declining at a faster than expected pace and home prices declining, which may lead to lower interest rates. Obviously home values declining is not good for home owners, but it sure is good for us soon to be buyers. HMMM, but the Democrats and the media wants you to believe the economy is in the toilet. The fact is that tax cuts work and bring in more revenue. When Clinton was President the bottom 50% of wage earners paid about 4.6% income taxes. Under Dubya they pay 3%. Don't tell me only the rich benefit. I don't make 6 figures and I have gone from owning $1400 a year to getting back $2000. That makes a big difference, especially when you have kids.

Paulie