A taste of what your man Obama would okay:

http://www.operationrescue.org/?p=977

I am not hearing IRaq on everyones lips right now as for reasons of sicontent. I hear a lot of general unease about gas prices and the state of the economy. THis is all natural.

PLus Iraq is not exactly played out and it is especially not played out as many predicted just a year ago. Looking at Iraq through a purely American political lens for a second it will be interesting to see what happens when American “Tune in” in the last months of the elections as to that issue. IF progress continues there and especially with the current operation that the IRaqi forces are conducting the change could be ceome overwhelming evident

Here’s the polling data for 8 years; form 90% right after 9-11 to 28% now. Also, he is now 40% lower in popularity right after the invasion. He staked his entire Presidency with Rove’s support, on Iraq and failed. Victims will include the unborn as Obama takes his turn atop the greasy pole. Which is what makes Rove’s appearance before the NRTL bizzare.
http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm

“While Samoa is certainly nowhere near as corrupt as the Marianas Islands, they’re not exactly clean. The Post report adds that a Korean sweatshop owner’s conviction for holding 17 garment workers in involuntary servitude was recently upheld in US District Court. And the other thing is that American Samoa is actually a comparatively expensive place to live. It’s hard to find exact cost of living statistics for the territory, but this report (PDF) claims it’s gone up by about 3.8% annually since 1982.

Coupled with low-income levels is the ever-increasing cost of living. .Since 1982, the current index registered at 153.8 index points as of the fourth quarter of 1996. This means that the cost of living has increased by close to 54 percent, or an annual average of about 3.8 percent. A single household in American Samoa spent an average of about $18,318 in 1988 compared to $12,235 in 1982. More than 50 percent of average spending went to food and housing. Special expenditures such as church donations, customary gifts, and fa’alavelave (family affairs, such as funerals, weddings and title investitures) remained a significant portion of Samoan household spending.

A significant source of spending associated with fa’alavelave is the necessity for uniforms. Uniforms are needed for many occasions, ranging from church functions to civic organizations, as well as primary and secondary school uniforms. The uniforms cost from $10.00 to $30.00 at local sewing shops, not including the fabric and notions. For low-income families, these costs can be difficult to manage. The ability to sew can save the average family hundreds of dollars in sewing costs per year.

Unemployment in American Samoa is estimated at about 5.2%. There are few economic opportunities outside of the local government and the tuna canneries. Emigration to the mainland in search of jobs is common; for those left behind, there is a great need to offer ways to supplement family income.”

How do you know a conservative is lying? He’s talking. Seriously, if you can say that conservatives have provided any evidence for the crap they’ve been flinging for the last twenty years, you don’t understand what “evidence” means.

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), dogged by Republican charges of a double standard, said yesterday that American Samoa may join the Northern Mariana Islands as U.S. territories that would have to comply with a higher federal minimum wage.

Under the minimum-wage increase approved by the House this week, employers on the Northern Marianas would for the first time have to pay their workers the minimum wage, which would rise from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. For years, Republicans — with the help of convicted lobbyist Jack A. Abramoff — have fended off efforts to bring the islands under federal labor laws.

The bill would leave American Samoa as the only territory not covered by the $7.25 rate, and because Samoa is represented by a Democrat, Del. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Republicans cried foul.

Faleomavaega’s campaign coffers have been well stocked by the tuna industry that dominates his island economy, but Republicans picked up on another issue: StarKist owns one of the largest canneries on the island, and Del Monte Foods, StarKist’s parent company, is based in San Francisco, which Pelosi represents.”