Gas Profits, Obama Gains, McCain's Healthcare Plan and Colbert

Where Gas Money Goes - A nice little diagram that breaks down where all that oil profit and money goes. The picture to the left is tiny and hard to read so instead click here to view the full size one.

Obama Gains in Bush States - In a sign of just how bad things are, even traditionally Republican states are turning on McCain. North Carolina went from easy win to dead heat, he trails in Ohio, New Hampshire and Wisconsin are now Obama leaning and Florida is now a toss up. Overall, current polling puts McCain at a 1:9 shot in winning the election.

McCain's Healthcare Plan Costs - On paper McCain's plan is pretty straight forward. He bribes the average America with $2500 credit (that does straight to your insurance company). In reality it’s more complicated. First off, do your really think if you spend less then five thousand you will get that back? Of course not. Second, he intends to tax the insurance your company currently pays for. So go ahead and add about $10,000 to your adjusted income to get an idea of what kind of increase that will bring come April. Now, pray to your HR reps that they just don't use this as an excuse to cut your insurance entirely. Because if they do (as predicted about 50% of companies will), then suddenly the problem isn't paying taxes on $10,000 or so, its paying for the monthly insurance fees that will double or triple (assuming you don't have a pre-existing condition, otherwise no insurance for you). As the article above reports, there is now a new wrinkle. It turns out to pay for his bribe; McCain is going to cut Medicare and Medicaid by $1.3 trillion. That generally means increasing the age people get into the program (ouch about to retire? Might want to wait), cutting what is covered (ooh heart condition, no go for that surgery), and probably increasing the rules of eligibility (just how handicapped are you really?). While both candidates’ plans need a lot of work, it’s pretty clear that McCain's is a disaster waiting to happen.

Stephen Colbert Talks Colbert and Politics - An interesting summary of one meeting between Stephen Colbert and Ariel Levy where he discusses his show, his character and politics in general. A very good read.