Links to stories we'll be talking about on 104.1 Tucson Tuesday

In the news...

Nevada's U.S. Senator Harry Reid says that oil makes us sick and therefore we should move away from oil as an energy source.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqR0Ui0g3wI
What is amazing about this is that oil and gas have been the fuel to run the greatest economic engine in the history of the world. Does Sen. Reid realize that he doesn't ride on a horse or in a carriage to work at the Capitol? This type of comment, if he truly believes it, makes him ill equipped to be the Senate Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate.

This is the great stuff from CNSnews.com about how Obama talks about being for equal pay for women but pays women less in his office than men.

Obama's for Equal Pay, Yet Pays Female Staffers Less Than MalesBy Fred LucasCNSNews.com Staff WriterJune 30, 2008(CNSNews.com) - While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected president, an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men. That is in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men. Obama spoke in Albuquerque, N.M. last week about his commitment to the issue and his support of a Senate bill to make it easier to sue an employer for pay discrimination. "Mr. McCain is an honorable man, we respect his service. But when you look at our records and our plans on issues that matter to working women, the choice could not be clearer," Obama told the audience in New Mexico, a voter-swing state. "It starts with equal pay. Sixty-two percent of working women in America earn half or more than of their family's income. But women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2008. You'd think that Washington would be united it its determination to fight for equal pay."He continued, saying that he is proud to have supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which would extend the limit on how long an employee can wait before suing an employer for pay discrimination. The legislation was named after Lilly Ledbetter, who was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued for pay discrimination before retiring after 19 years because she had made $6,500 less per year than the lowest paid male supervisor. However, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out her case, saying she waited too long to file a complaint. The court said that under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, an employee must sue within 180 days of a decision regarding pay if alleged discrimination is involved. The bill sought to change the law, but Democrats could not muster the needed 60 votes to override a Republican filibuster.Obama voted for the equal pay litigation bill in April. McCain was campaigning that day and did not vote. But he has expressed opposition to the legislation, fearing it would open the door to too much litigation.On average, women working in Obama's Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator. That's according to data calculated from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which covered the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2007. Of the five people in Obama's Senate office who were paid $100,000 or more on an annual basis, only one -- Obama's administrative manager -- was a woman.The average pay for the 33 men on Obama's staff (who earned more than $23,000, the lowest annual salary paid for non-intern employees) was $59,207. The average pay for the 31 women on Obama's staff who earned more than $23,000 per year was $48,729.91. (The average pay for all 36 male employees on Obama's staff was $55,962; and the average pay for all 31 female employees was $48,729. The report indicated that Obama had only one paid intern during the period, who was a male.)McCain, an Arizona senator, employed a total of 69 people during the reporting period ending in the fall of 2007, but 23 of them were interns. Of his non-intern employees, 30 were women and 16 were men. After excluding interns, the average pay for the 30 women on McCain's staff was $59,104.51. The 16 non-intern males in McCain's office, by comparison, were paid an average of $56,628.83.The Obama campaign did not respond to written questions submitted on the matter Thursday by Cybercast News Service . During his Albuquerque speech, Obama criticized McCain for supporting the Supreme Court ruling on the pay-equity issue. "Sen. McCain thinks the Supreme Court got it right," Obama said. "He opposed the Fair Pay Restoration Act. He suggested that the reason women don't have equal pay isn't discrimination on the job - it's because they need more education and training. That's just totally wrong."Obama continued, "Lilly Ledbetter's problem was not that she was somehow unqualified or unprepared for higher-paying positions. She most certainly was and by all reports was an excellent employee. Her problem was that her employer paid her less than men doing the exact same work."


Canadians prefer Obama for President. Of course, he isn't running in Canada. How will Americans view this type of poll and perhaps Obama's reception in Europe? Personally, I could care less how the Europeans or the Canadians favor as President. Remember, Osama Ben Laden preferred John Kerry to George Bush. Do you think Osama will come out for Obama before the election? Here's a bumper sticker: OSAMA FOR OBAMA!


A new poll suggests Canadians would prefer to vote for Barack Obama rather cast a ballot for their own political leaders, while 45 per cent of Americans envy Canada's health care system.
The bi-national survey, conducted by the Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, showed that here in Canada, Obama was more admired than Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- or any other national leader.
"Some would read (the results) as an indictment of our political leaders," the Strategic Counsel's Peter Donolo told CTV.ca. "Others would say it's an acknowledgement of the phenomenal nature of Obama's appeal. He really is a prototype of his own; he's broken the mold."
Stephane Dion trailed far behind the other leaders, just ahead of Republican presidential nominee John McCain:
Barack Obama: 26 per cent
Stephen Harper: 21 per cent
Hillary Clinton: 16 per cent
Jack Layton: 9 per cent
Gilles Duceppe: 6 per cent
Stephane Dion: 5 per cent
John McCain: 3 per cent
Obama appealed to people across Canada's political spectrum, with 24 per cent of conservative-minded voters choosing him and 28 per cent of liberal thinkers.
"I think there's a sense in Canada that we're in a rut with our political situation, and I think there's a fatigue with the nature of politics in Ottawa as we watch it through question period -- the very cranky, minority-government style politics. There's a little more envy than usual south of the border," said Donolo.
This recent poll by The Strategic Counsel surveyed 1,000 Canadians and 1,000 people in the United States.
When it came to health care, 45 per cent of Americans felt Canada had a superior system, while 42 per cent thought the United States should stick with its own.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of Canadians, 91 per cent, felt that Canada's health care system was better than the United States.
Canada tilts to the left
When Canadian respondents were asked how to define their political views, regardless of how they actually vote, slightly more than half described themselves as liberal:
Very liberal: 12 per cent
Liberal: 39 per cent
Conservative: 38 per cent
Very conservative: 3 per cent
Respondents in the United States were slanted in the other direction, and also had more people who considered themselves on the extreme right of the political spectrum:
Very conservative: 10 per cent
Conservative: 47 per cent
Liberal: 30 per cent
Very liberal: 7 per cent
"In general, I think on a lot of issues the United States are a more polarized society," said Donolo. "When you look at the number of how many hardcore conservatives there are in the U.S., it's a pretty significant number."
Gay marriage
The same poll also suggested Canadians are far more liberal than Americans, with 70 per cent supporting gay marriage.
When it came to gay marriage, 68 per cent of Canadians backed supported it, while 28 per cent were against it. In 2005, when the government was considering whether to repeal the gay marriage bill, 55 per cent were in favour of gay marriage.
"I think this points to the reality being a lot less threatening to people than the concept. As people have gotten used to the issue, there's been less anxiety over it," said Donolo.
Aside from being more politically right-of-centre, Americans also appear to be more religious.
Respondents in the United States went to religious services more frequently than Canadians:
Every week or almost every week: Canada 23 per cent, U.S. 46 per cent
Once a month: Canada 8 per cent, U.S. 11 per cent
A couple of times a year: Canada 27 per cent, U.S. 16 per cent
Never or hardly ever: Canada 42 per cent, U.S. 27 per cent
Technical notes
The poll was conducted between June 12-22 by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail.
The sample size was 1,000 people in each country. A proportionate random national sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.


Former General Wesley Clark took cheap shots at Senator John McCain this past weekend on "Face the Nation." Clark, who was replaced as top man over NATO, ridiculed McCain's past military service stating that no one should vote for McCain because he was a prisioner of war. While McCain should be honored for that service, Clark is correct in pointing out that is not a reason McCain should be President. Clark was not correct and was totally out of line to criticize McCain's service as having never "commanded a person in battle." Especially, since the candidate he suppports has commanded neither nor served in the military. Clark is much like former President Jimmy Carter, he is an irritant that just gets more outrageous so he will be noticed. While Senator McCain's policy positions are fair game, neither Clark nor Obama can
criticize McCain on this issue. Some left wing bloggers are suggesting that a North Vietnamese video with McCain is evidence he doesn't have the character to be President. Of course, any American with common sense would recognize that any video produced by North Vietnam using McCain as a POW was forced literally with a gun to his head. Do liberals really want to debate the 2008 election on the issue of national security and military service? I, for one, am happy to do that and I think John Kerry found out in 2004 that was not a smart strategy. I guess democrats never learn.

We will be discussing these and other issues live Tuesday morning 9;05am-12noon ET on 104.1/Tucson. You can listen live here on my website(www.Dougtalks.c0m)