In addition to putting John McCain off his game, the burgeoning financial crisis kept President Bush away from Republican fundraisers for the past couple of weeks. Although Bush's approval rate has dropped to a record low 22 percent, he can still generate money from his die-hard supporters.

Freed from the need to stay in Washington and lobby for bailout votes, Bush can now hit the fundraisers. And so he will, no matter how ironic they might be.

About 20 minutes after signing the bill, he was on his way to a fundraising swing that will take him to Missouri and Texas. His first stop: a St. Louis fundraiser for Rep. Kenny Hulshof, who is running for governor -- and voted against the legislation. Twice.

This afternoon's news dump includes the 2006 and 2007 tax returns of Sarah and Todd Palin, summarized on the McCain campaign website with links to copies of the returns.

For 2006, the Palins paid $11,944 (LINE 63) in total taxes on gross income of $127,869 (LINE 37), which is a 9.3% tax rate. For 2007, the Palins paid $24,738 (LINE 63) in total taxes on gross income of $166,080 (LINE 37), which is a 14.9% tax rate. ...

In 2007, Sarah and Todd Palin donated $2,500 to charity in cash/check donations and $825 in non-cash/check donations, for a total of $3,325. This is 1.5% of their adjusted gross income.

On July 25, the question was:

If this is McCain's notion of a respectful campaign, what will we see if he decides to get nasty?

Now we have the answer.

The McCain campaign has now shifted virtually 100 percent of his national ad spending into negative ads attacking Obama, a detailed breakdown of his ad buys reveals. By contrast, the Obama campaign is devoting less than half of his spending on ads attacking McCain. More than half of its spending is going to a spot that doesn't once mention his foe.

John McCain has consistently breached his promise to run a respectful campaign. Now the promise has been abandoned. Going negative is all he has left.

Did you know this?

The bailout bill also gives the Internal Revenue Service new authority to conduct undercover operations. It would immunize the IRS from a passel of federal laws, including permitting IRS agents to run businesses for an extended sting operation, to open their own personal bank accounts with U.S. tax dollars, and so on. (Think IRS agents posing as accountants or tax preparers and saying, "I'm not sure if that deduction is entirely legal, but it'll save you $1,000. Want to take it?") That section had expired as of January 1, 2008, and would now be renewed.

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Today's Presidential Polls:

Whether it succeeds or fails, elected officials and business leaders alike said it stands to fundamentally alter the relationship between government and the private markets perhaps in ways that are not immediately clear.

Passage was hardly a victory for the Bush Administration: [More....]

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Comedian Sarah Silverman has a new video, The Great Schlep, urging young Jewish voters to go to Florida and convince their grandparents to vote for Sen. Barack Obama. (Viewer discretion advised for profanity.)

The Great Schlep's website has these talking points contrasting Obama and Biden with McCain and Palin. Topics oovered: [More...]

A judge in Alaska yesterday denied a request by Republican lawmakers to dismiss the Alaska legislature's TrooperGate probe and find the legislature's investigation on grounds it is too partisan to proceed.

"It is legitimately within the scope of the legislature's investigatory power to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the termination [of] a public officer the legislature had previously confirmed," the judge wrote.

The report may be out October 10. The investigation is being conducted by an independent investigator.

As for Todd Palin and the other employees' subpoenas:

Michalski also threw out a lawsuit filed by Palin aides seeking to dismiss subpoenas compelling their testimony in the investigation. The aides had argued that the subpoenas should not have to be honored because they should not have been issued.

More....

Post-debate poll of uncommitted voters by CBS:

Forty-six percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed say Democrat Joe Biden won the debate, compared to 21 percent for Republican Sarah Palin. Thirty-three percent said it was a tie.

Eighteen percent of previously uncommitted percent say they are now committed to the Obama-Biden ticket. Ten percent say they are now committed to McCain-Palin. Seventy-one percent are still uncommitted.

As to whether Palin is qualified to take over as President if need be:

44 percent say the Alaska governor could be an effective president. Ninety-one percent said Biden could be effective as president, up from 66 percent before the debate.

In a CNN post-debate poll, 53% of those polled say while Gov. Sarah Palin exceeded their expecations in the debate tonight, they still believe Gov. Sarah Palin is unqualified to take over as President. Numbers below:

Biden pointing out that McCain's health care plan would tax our health care benefits and be a boon to the insurance companies:

[D]o you know how John McCain pays for his $5,000 tax credit you're going to get, a family will get?

He taxes as income every one of you out there, every one of you listening who has a health care plan through your employer. That's how he raises $3.6 trillion, on your -- taxing your health care benefit to give you a $5,000 plan, which his Web site points out will go straight to the insurance company.

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Jeanne Woodford, the former director of the California Department of Corrections, is also the former warden of San Quentin State Prison, where she presided over four executions. She isn't soft on crime. Yet Woodford no longer believes that executions are necessary to society's safety. Her argument is pragmatic: life imprisonment is "cheaper -- much, much cheaper than execution." Yet she also confronts the ethical question:

To say that I have regrets about my involvement in the death penalty is to let myself off the hook too easily. To take a life in order to prove how much we value another life does not strengthen our society. It is a public policy that devalues our very being and detracts crucial resources from programs that could truly make our communities safe.

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