Lie Detector To Be Used in Political Debate

Well, things are a changing! The Associated Press reported that two challengers for an Indiana congressional seat have agreed to strap on a lie detector and have at it during a debate. The article quotes Alan Johnson, dean of Vincennes University’s Jasper Campus as saying:

Our planning committee worked up the format and rules, and we are not inviting negotiations from the candidates.

Could you imagine this becoming standard operating procedure at a debate? This is very exciting. Imagine the size of the audience if we added a small electric shock every time the candidate lies. The advertising revenue for this kind of a televised debate could take a big chunk out of the national debt.

Episode 7: Please Pass the $700 Billion

If only it were just Grey Poupon, but no, the US Government wants to spend $700 billion to prop up the economy. In this episode, you’ll (finally) get a plain English description of the enormously confusing, and enormously important, proposed bailout package. And in their review of the debate they explain why John McCain won’t be invited to play in Barack Obama’s sandbox anymore. We end on our take on the latest adventure in the world of Sarah Palin. The latest episode of Politalk is up! Give it a listen — you won’t be disappointed.

You can get the PoliTalk Podcast from Podcast.com and iTunes.

Last Shot Questions – at the end of every episode, we end with a couple of questions for our listeners to ponder and give us their thoughts. This week:

Jeff asks – “Do you think there is a free market for healthcare?”

Glenn asks – “Do you think we will have any money left over to do anything after this bailout bill?”

Please add your answers and comments on the show below.

If you want to send us a private email, send it to politalk@turnitonprod.com.

John McCain Suspends His Campaign

In another unexpected move, John McCain announced today that he will “suspend” his campaign to “set politics aside” in order to go to Washington DC to get the current bailout legislation passed. He also called on Barack Obama to join with him to postpone the debate currently scheduled for Friday night.

Barack Obama responed later in the the day to promote his basic principles that the bill should include and that he and McCain were suppose to issue a joint announcement around these principles that the two both agree with. However he did not join McCain in suspending his campaign and postponing the debate.

What I would like to know is what exactly does John McCain mean when he is suspending his campaign. Will the campaign office shut down? Will his staff be sent away on vacation? Will they get paid? As Jerry Seindfeld would say, “What’s the deal?” John McCain has a very large paid and volunteer campaign staff. What do they do?

If John McCain wants to be perceived as someone who is “taking charge” in this crisis, why can’t he just go to Washington DC and be a senator. Does he need to postpone a two hour debate?

I am sure devoted party members are going to look at it through their own filter. However, its strikes me as odd that a campaign that has already taken a relatively unknown VP nominee and limited her exposure to the press is now attempting to postpone a debate that is necessary to better understand how each candidate thinks. -Glenn