Wow. This must be really bad news for Democrats and the economic doom sayers across the country.

Bloomberg is reporting that GDP was quite a bit higher than what people thought. Instead of the meager 1.9 percent growth reportered earlier, the number was revised upward to a solid 3.3 percent.

The upward revision is based in large part due to the strength of exports. In fact, without the growth in exports the economy’s growth would be only at .01 percent.

Analyst believe we will be experiencing a weak labor and housing markets for the moment.

Still, with a exports doing well and the smallest trade deficit in years I would argue things could kick in once the dollar returns to king and commodity prices drop.

I firmly agree with Jim Geraghty that Republicans must hammer Senator Barack Obama’s voting record while in Congress and note that he is anything but a uniter.

In fact, according to the Washington Post vote database, Senator Obama voted with his party 96% of the time he was present. Compare that to John McCain’s record of voting with his party 88% of the time.

The fact is, John McCain crossed the isle to work with “the other side” more than three times what the junior senator from Illinois did.

John McCain’s “independence” and willingness to work with Democrats on so many subjects is precisely why a number of people within the Republican party loathed his candidacy in the first place. It is also why the media loved McCain during the Bush Presidency. They knew that he did not toe the party line - for what ever reason - and labeled him a “maveric.”

Interestingly enough Senator Obama never really worked with Republicans either in Illinois or during his short tenure in the United States Senate and never recieved any such acolades. Instead he simply began spinning a narrative which caught fire due to the American public’s frustration with the political environment which he helped foster.

The plain truth is if Americans are looking for someone who is willing to work with “the other side” then Senator McCain should be their candidate, not Barack Obama.

Ah yes, freedom of the press. Grand isnt it? Unless you happen to be a reporter taking pictures of “big” Democrat donors and senators meeting at a hotel in Denver during their convention.

ABC News producer Asa Eslocker was arrested today outside the Brown Palace Hotel while doing investigative reporting on corperate lobbyist and political conventions.

Earlier in the day Eslocker was told by law enforcement that the sidewalk from which he was taking pictures was owned by the hotel and was forced across the street into oncoming traffic. Two hours later Denver police arrived and placed Eslocker under arrest based on a complaint from within the hotel.

At the time of arrest ABC laywers were refused an explanation for the arrest. It was later disclosed that Eslocker is charged with trespassing, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order.

Whether the charges stick or not is irrelevant. What we should note is the extreme prejudice Democrats are taking to protect the money trail or dissent which might reshape their carefully planned narrative of the convention.

I pray Republicans are not as stupid next week.

For those who have not seen this video posted by the Barack Obama campaign before the Iowa caucuses last year, you might not in the near future.

Worldnetdaily is reporting that the DNC may very well be pressuring YouTube to remove the video clip, which Barack Obama denotes his desire to cut various defense systems and unilaterally disarm the country.

While there is no outside way of confirming WND’s story, it does feather with past efforts by the Obama campaign to scrub various content from his website and silience critics through threatened lawsuits and prosecution.

In any event, we will find out shortly if the movie in its various forms on youtube begin to disappear.

Perhaps the most discouraging wave this year is the death of policy analysis.

Yes, I know, it is a historic year where the narrative is wrapped around the first african american to recieve a major party nomination.

That still does not excuse the media and public at large from looking at what each candidate is proposing and the role of government they see in our lives.

No truer sentiment exsists than the whole medicare/healthcare issue which is being semidebated here in Missouri.

I say semidebated because there doesnt seem to be a whole lot written on the matter other than a smattering of prosocialist healthcare stories here and there from most of the major media outlets.

But I digress.

Kenney Hulshof unveiled his healthcare reform package yesterday which centered around using health savings accounts in cooperation with spreading the risk over a wider range of people.

Many details were not given at the press conference given by Hulshof, but video of him answering questions can be found at the Columbia Tribune website.

This is where I would like for someone to do an across the board analysis which would give voters a clear choice.

Do they want socialized medicine with burdensome tax increases and a return to our state being broke and Jay Nixon is proposing? Or is there another alternative?

I dont think we will see an intellectually honest debate surrounding the issue because of the media bias in the state, but I am hopeful people will at least examine the different proposals in an effort to make an informed decision.

For those who are admitted policy wonks and like to dig into what the candidates are actually planning on doing, the Wall Street Journal and Larry Kudlow posted two great pieces today on Senator Barack Obama.

Both detail Obama’s challenge in relying upon government to grow the economy. The current model benig used by the Obama campaign increases government spending by three hundred billion dollars while raising taxes significantly on sectors of our economy which are vital to our nations success.

Of course, that is the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

The national Democrat platform represents border line if not out right socialism and wealth redistribution while the Republican platform tries to encourage private enterprise and growth based upon small business.

Remember back in 2006 when Democrats promised bipartisanship and a “return” to an ethical Congress. You know, the same promise in which she promised dissent and openness in Washington. Exactly. Didnt happen did it?

In fact under Pelosi’s watch Republicans are extremely limited in what they can do, or even say. One need to only look as far as a recent revolt in the House in which Nancy Pelosi ordered the lights, audio and cameras shut down in an effort to silence dissent.

Not to be outdone, the Speaker of the House elected to continue that same sense of bipartisanship by insulting protesters demanding to open domestic drilling. Her comment as reported in the Politico was to ask “Can we drill your brains?”

I would like to ask everyone a quick question which is highly relevent this week in light of this attitude toward those who do not agree with the Speaker’s assesment of domestic drilling. Whom else is repeating a mantra of “bipartisanship” with a record in Congress of the exact opposite.

If you guessed Barack Obama, you are correct.

Voters should be aware to avoid the narrative being spun by the media at large and look at what is being done in Congress and by whom. If they do, they will find a slightly different story which doesnt match their “American Prayer.”

Its a daily tracking poll, so take it (the poll) with a grain of salt - but could still be good news for John McCain.

The Gallup daily tracking poll has McCain up by two after the selection of Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential choice.

It should be noted that daily tracking polls can be wild and I would refer to the over all trend and other polls as indicators of the race.

Still, it cant hurt McCain as there was no bounce for Obama.

It should be noted that there is a week filled with propaganda coming from the DNC and next week’s show with John McCain and the RNC before we can get a decent picture of where people are.

Then, of course, we have the debates - which are in formats which Obama favors and can do well in.

So its really still too hard to honestly tell what exactly is going on.

What is important is to watch 1) the trend 2) where are likely voters (not registered or generic adults).

A story which looks to not be on few people’s political radar screen is a controversy involving the latest round of nominees which Matt Blunt will make a selection for the Missouri Supreme Court. What is at issue? Two of the three nominees lean pretty far to the left and the third is someone Matt Blunt rejected before.

We all know the rhetoric being generated by both those who say the system is fine as is and allows our court system to be free from influence. The Wall Street Journal makes a compelling case that in fact, lawyers probably do have too much power in how our system works - and this round of nominees is Exhibit A.

The article is a must read and details how special interest control the “merit based” process through by welding too much power in the commission and rigging nominations which reflect those interests. At that point the Governor is given a choice of selecting the lesser of evils or allowing the commission to finish the job and make the selection its self.

In either case it is not the voter or the public at large who is best served, but those who are in control of the various agencies who make up and control the commission.

While I, my self, do not necessarily agree with a system which would entail a duplication of the federal style of judicial selections one thing is clear - reform and accountability to the Missouri citizen is needed.

hat tip - The source

If anyone remembers a post I made over a year ago which got Farked - it listed our national political leaders as World of Warcraft classes.

I promised I would do the candidates for the President of the United States, and I intend to keep that promise. Be looking for my post on this matter late next week after John McCain accepts his nomination.

So will I drop any hints? Maybe.

Lets just say that the classes I selected match the political personalities to the letter and leave it at that.