Ma Ying-jeou: Yes, we're buying votes

OK, that was a misleading headline, because Ma wasn't talking about the KMT at this time.

Thankfully, Tim Maddog pointed out this video from last night's Talking Show which explains why the Blue Hawks and busing plan is vote buying. And the topper is a true blue UDN article quote from 1994 of then-Minister of Justice Ma Ying-jeou saying that if money is involved, (such as when busing these people in), it's vote buying. Check around the 3:37 mark or so.

I still can't tell if the plan is going to go through or is canceled yet. It doesn't matter though; the question is, will this get any airtime in these last minutes before the vote? I think if it does, it could have its impact. I dare not bet. I don't' want to jinx it.

While the DPP is slamming the KMT for this vote buying situation, the KMT is trying to accuse the DPP of using "political policy" to buy votes -- that is, implementing policies that people like and that the KMT itself has advocated. The KMT's obvious hypocrisy aside, can anyone buy the moral equivalency argument here? Using your party's own money to give people a free ride in your KMT van with a KMT driver who's surely excited about the KMT ... but promises not to do anything inappropriate like give out cash ... this won't in any way qualify as vote buying ... and if it does, so does offering good policy? Come on!

Also, the DPP accused the KMT of a very innovative vote buying strategy in two Kaohsiung districts: the KMT offers apparent green supporters one or two thousand Taiwan dollars to hand over their ID card for the weekend. This prevents them from being able to vote.

The KMT shoots back that they've heard tons of rumors of 1k-2k DPP funded bribes in more blue areas of Kaohsiung as well, and accuse the DPP of "being a thief who calls out that he's caught a thief."

On an unrelated note, on what real basis can Vincent Siew insist that a "common market" between China and Taiwan -- negotiated on a One China principal -- cannot be rightly termed a "One China market?" Well, the only possibility is that it's not a common market either.