One of this nice things about becoming a bank holding company, at least in this current environment, is that you can loot the taxpayer:

American Express (AXP) might have been feeling left out of the government’s $700 billion financial bailout package. But now, as the company’s consumer credit quality deteriorates faster than rivals while the economy falls into recession, it can get help from Uncle Sam.

On Nov. 10, the Federal Reserve approved American Express’ application to become a bank holding company. Until now, AmEx couldn’t use the same tools as its rival credit-card companies to raise cash. Under the government’s bailout plan, banks regulated by the Federal Reserve could rely on cheap funding from the Fed and from other efforts by the government to prop up the banking system. Also, these banks can compete for deposits from bank customers, another relatively cheap form of funding.

Mitchell Langbert wants a boycott. I suspect that he’s not alone:

I take it personally that my taxes are being raised to subsidize bozos at badly managed firms. I think that all Americans should just say no to any firm that receives a subsidy. The American car companies have been indifferent to the plight of their employees for decades. Now, they claim public subsidies. Investment bankers have been overpaid for decades. Now, they want average earners to subsidize their inept practices.

Boycott American Express. Boycott General Motors. Boycott the lot of them.

What about you?

The latest report out of the Union Leader seems to indicate a Republican victory - in the lawsuit anyway:

The state Republican Party, alleging that its observers have been denied “reasonable access” to same-day registration tables statewide, today filed suit against the state.

(GOP attorney James Merrill just told UnionLeader.com that a judge “has ruled in our favor.”)

“The problem is that our observers in the polling places have been denied reasonable access to the same-day registration tables,” said GOP attorney James Merrill.

“Manchester has been a problem, and it’s been statewide, and we’re trying to work through the confusion as to what’s permissible,” Merrill said. “We’re asking the court to grant us reasonable access to observe the process.”

I’ll be speeding West across Texas. I’m going to climb a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, so I may not know the results for few days. The rest of you can deal with the fallout for a week. I can’t say I’m expecting good news when I return but I’m not into making predictions.

However, some are finding borderline far-fetched scenarios in which McCain could win:

The latest FOX News/Rasmussen Reports battleground poll presents a plausible scenario for a narrow John McCain victory. While most pundits have written McCain’s political obituary, he is extremely competitive in Florida (McCain leads 50 percent to 49 percent), North Carolina (McCain leads 50 percent to 49 percent), Missouri (tied at 49 percent) and Ohio (tied at 49 percent). Factor in Monday’s Mason-Dixon Virginia numbers (Obama leads 47 percent to 44 percent) and this election is far from over.

The other wild card is the upset brewing in Pennsylvania. The McCain campaign actually thinks it will win that state, giving them a lifesaving electoral firewall.

I’ve always though McCain had a slim chance - one that polls wouldn’t catch and would materialize only on this day. Still, I think Rob Long said it best:

To be succinct, I would say this about the election: Build an ark.

A new video has been released which shows the initial encounter:

NewsBusters has audio of a caller asking CNN why this story is not being covered:

A man called in to CNN’s Helpline on Tuesday wondering why the network hasn’t reported the Black Panthers who were seen standing in front of a Philadelphia polling station this morning, one of them carrying a billy club.

According to the caller (audio available here), he was going to vote for Obama until a friend told him about this incident. The caller said, “Now Fox has broadcast this, and I want to know why CNN has not broadcast this yet.”

I wonder…

Updates:

Police arrive on the scene:

It’s a weak argument but with enough democrats in power that won’t matter:

Asked if he is a supporter of telling radio stations what content they should have, Schumer used the fair and balanced line, claiming that critics of the Fairness Doctrine are being inconsistent.

“The very same people who don’t want the Fairness Doctrine want the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] to limit pornography on the air. I am for that… But you can’t say government hands off in one area to a commercial enterprise but you are allowed to intervene in another. That’s not consistent.”

In 2007, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a close ally of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told The Hill, “It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine. I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they’re in a better position to make a decision.”

Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last year said, “I believe very strongly that the airwaves are public and people use these airwaves for profit. But there is a responsibility to see that both sides and not just one side of the big public questions of debate of the day are aired and are aired with some modicum of fairness.”

Well, at least they released their findings before the election - sorta:

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been cleared by a new report of abuse of power in firing Alaska’s top law enforcement official.

An independent investigator appointed by the Alaska Personnel Board said she had violated no ethics law.

Will CNN and MSNBC talk about it this evening?

William Kristol is worried:

I’m worried about my compatriots on the left. Michael Powell reports in Saturday’s New York Times that even the possibility of an Obama defeat has driven many liberals into in a state of high anxiety. And then there’s a young woman from Denver who “told her boyfriend that their love life was on hold while she sweated out Mr. Obama’s performance in Colorado.” Well, what if Obama loses Colorado? Or the presidency? As a compassionate conservative, I’m concerned about the well-being of that boyfriend — and of others who might be similarly situated. I feel an obligation to help.

So let me tell liberals why they should be cheerful if McCain happens to win.

Click through and watch Kristol turn liberal spin on its head.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard sets up the next few years:

Whatever the exact result of the US elections tomorrow, we must assume that the whole governing machinery of Washington and the state capitols will soon be hostile to laissez-faire thinking.

It is not just that the Democrats will win a crushing victory in both houses of Congress, perhaps reaching the 60-seat Senate threshold that lets them steam-roll legislation. It is also that the incoming class of 2008 is of a new creed. Many no longer believe – or actively reject – the free trade and free market catechisms.

As commentator Markos Moulitsas put it in Newsweek: “The big question is, will Democrats nationwide simply ‘win’ the night–or will they deliver an electoral drubbing so thorough that it signals the utter rejection of conservative ideology and kills the notion that America is a ‘center-right’ country?” he said.

I’m not quite so pessimistic. Conservatives may be sent back to the drawing board but frankly that has been overdue for quite some time. Opportunities are present in both victory and defeat.

Sure you might lose your job, or some pay, in the process but who cares? Those won’t be needed under an Obama administration anyway.