The McCain campaign is running a new ad in Ohio about health care. At the very beginning of the ad, as John McCain intones “I’m John McCain and I approved this message,” this is what you see… I guess they couldn’t wait until November. Or perhaps they just decided they’d give the old man a glimpse of what it would look like. Whatever… just a bit premature (and extremely optimistic). (You may click on the image to view the ad.) Can you not imagine the screams of indignation coming from the right had Barack Obama dared to pull such a stunt? ...

Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow discuss John McCain’s comments from a recent townhall meeting. John McCain was talking about his new energy plan and he said, “That will then prevent us from having ever to send our men and women in conflict again in the Middle East.” Wow! Where’s Reverend Jeremiah Wright to cover this up? ...

John McCain-backing pastor John Hagee may have “retracted” his “gays caused Katrina” comments, but he’s got a whole slew of other offensibles. Here are two of our favorites from a totally frightful top ten: “The military will have difficultly recruiting healthy and strong heterosexuals for combat purposes. Why? Fighting in combat with a man in your fox hole that has AIDS or is HIV positive is double jeopardy.” … “It is impossible to call yourself a Christian and defend homosexuality. There is no justification or acceptance of homosexuality…. Homosexuality means the death of society because homosexuals can recruit, but they ...

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To review: The problem with the way the Internal Revenue Code treats employer-provided health care benefits to employees is not that employers can deduct such benefits (most notably insurance premiums), thereby providing them tax-free (or at least tax-advantaged) to employees. The problem is that only employers can deduct the cost of such benefits (i.e., if the employer were to substitute more wage for less benefit, then the employee would be worse off net of taxes). The problem is not one of magnitude, but one of neutrality. An expense -- such as health insurance premiums -- either should or should not ...

My father was fond of asking me if everyone was jumping off a bridge would I jump. The right answer was always no. John McCain, in a very weak economic speech, offered voters a gas tax holiday. In my opinion, this was a terrible idea. First, of all, the IRS turning on then turning off a tax would be difficult to enforce. Secondly, it isn’t like gas prices would drop immediately. Instead, the public would expect that gas prices would be dropping any day. Many Americans would start driving more which would increase demand and therefore, ...

TPM shows us that John McCain has changed his Iraq policy over the years. Now, he wants us to stay in Iraq for “some time.” I’m not sure what that means but Senator McCain was quick to point out to those of us who question his judgment that we are just too ignorant to understand. ...

While the Democratic presidential candidates remain otherwise engaged until mid June, the Democratic National Committee launches an aggressive multimillion dollar advertising campaign that targets the Bush Administration, Republican Party and heir apparent Sen. John McCain. The "McSame" brand is introduced... ...

Is the Associated Press in bed with John McCain! Some ultra-suspicious people say “yes.” Take this AP lede: “The Republican National Committee demanded Monday that television networks stop running a television ad by the Democratic Party that falsely suggests John McCain wants a 100-year war in Iraq.” Notice anything wrong with it? How about the little fact that they incorporated McCain’s spin into the factual portion of that statement? CONTINUED » ...

Early last week, Pastor John Hagee told right wing radio show host Dennis Prager that he still believed that Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans because gays were planning to hold a sinful gathering there. The reiteration inspired a flurry of renewed protest, forcing John McCain, who has "gladly" accepted Hagee's endorsement, to respond. By the end of the week, a short-tempered McCain was snapping at reporters that the whole controversy was "nonsense." At about the same time, apparently, Hagee's office was issuing this statement: "As a believing Christian, I see the hand of God in everything that ...

Has the Democratic National Committee gone too far? Republicans say yes. The party organ (ha!) launched its ad wars last week with an ad featuring John McCain erroneously describing our nation as “better off” under the Bush administration. A new ad, which debuted yesterday, revolves around McCain’s infamous “100 years” remark, as in the United States could be in Iraq for another century. The Republican National Committee, however, described the commercial as misleading and “maliciously false”, have asked networks not to run the advert and are now threatening to sue the DNC: Sean Cairncross, the RNC’s legal counsel, told reporters ...

John McCain-supporting pastor John Hagee last week “retracted” his oft-repeated assertion: gays caused Katrina. Writes Hagee: “…Ultimately neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise.” That’s not so much a retraction as a “I’m backing off for my candidate’s sake.” Weak. [LA Times via Towleroad] ...

I have dreamed of having enough money so that I can fly my own plane. John Travolta has that kind of money. He has a couple of planes if I’m not mistaken. Not bad for a sweathog. Well, it seems that John McCain’s campaign has its own plane also. It isn’t unusual for a campaign to lease a plane but this plane is actually John McCain’s wife’s plane. Cindy’s plane. The campaign has been flying around at a discount it seems. There is a law which John McCain has backed which states that the campaign must ...