Obama Blamed for Sanford Affair

     Leaders of the Republican party today blamed President Obama for SC Governor Sanford’s affair with an woman from Argentina. Rush Limbaugh led the blame game with his astute analysis of how frustration with Obama’s policies is leading right minded Americans to just “give up”.
     There was a time when the cornerstone of the Republican philosophy was personal  responsibility. People are responsible for their own actions. They preached that every person has free choice and what they do with their lives shows what kind of person they really are. Good people, good families, people with strong values, these people were good Republicans. They made good choices and worked hard for a good life. They didn’t need government bailouts or social relief programs, they didn’t need Head Start or Affirmative Action or welfare. They stood on their own.
      But more recently, as moral scandals have rocked the party, Republicans have abandoned personal responsiblity. Now they blame other people for their problems.  Of course, they most like to blame Democrats for their problems. The party of personal responsibility has become the party of finger pointing. They are no longer responsible for what they do. 
      President Obama takes his own wife on a “date night” and talks about the importance of fathers taking care of their children on “Fathers Day” while Governor Sanford, father of four, skips town on “Fathers Day” and flies to Argentina on State money to be with his other women.  Rush thinks that’s Obama’s fault. I think Rush is hitting the pills again.

But Will He Include the Public Option

 


Obama not closing door on possible health care tax









President Barack Obama meets with governors in the Roosevelt Room of the White AP – President Barack Obama meets with governors in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, …


Campaign Against Rival Could Haunt FedEx

The word bailout has gone from descriptive to derogatory.

The FedEx-sponsored Web site BrownBailout.com (brown is both U.P.S.’s color and nickname) says that U.P.S. is “quietly seeking a Congressional bailout designed to limit competition for overnight deliveries.” Along with a “bailout-o-meter” showing U.P.S.’s revenue, and a spoof of a U.P.S. commercial, the site includes statements like, “This is a bailout, plain and simple, and the American people won’t stand for it.”

FedEx’s casting of a labor-law dispute as a bailout has raised ire at U.P.S. and at the Teamsters union, which said on Tuesday that it planned to respond with its own public relations campaign.

Some advertising experts said FedEx was putting its own brand at risk by so aggressively attacking a competitor and accusing U.P.S. of taking a federal bailout.

“Hinging so much of this — even the site itself and the URL name — to a bailout brings some pretty significant risks,” said Scott Elser, a partner in LaunchPad Advertising, which is not working with either company. “It’s arguably one of the most controversial terms that you can define in politics today. They draw you there based on that, and you don’t have to surf very long to realize that this is clearly not a bailout as most consumers and business people would define it, which is writing a check to a troubled business.”


“It’s a little bit of a bait and switch,” Mr. Elser said, which “has the ability to potentially harm their brand.”

“FedEx is appearing to spend millions of dollars to try to convince Congress that a FedEx driver delivering a package is different from a U.P.S. driver delivering a package,” said Malcolm Berkley, a U.P.S. spokesman.


FedEx’s labeling of the legislation as a bailout was wrong, he said.


“There’s clearly no way we’re seeking a bailout. In fact, what we’re doing is working to eliminate an earmark that has been given to FedEx for some years,” he said.


“I give them credit for inventiveness,” said Steve Centrillo, a principal at A-Team Advisors, a consultant to advertising agencies that is based in New York.


Pinning the problems on U.P.S. rather than on unionization helped FedEx avoid sticky labor relations questions, he said.


But, Mr. Centrillo said, the use of bailout was “the most questionably ethical thing on the site.


“It’s taking a word that is extremely loaded right now, and implying that somehow, the government is writing a check to U.P.S., which is clearly not the case.”
Inside NYTimes.com