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Obama: A good democrat who knows how to exploit race, ethnicity, gender and class to create hyphenated-Americans

Misleading campaign commercials ...

Obama has just fielded a false and misleading sanctioned campaign commercial that attempts to link John McCain and President Bush with an anti-immigrant stance. The commercials air in Spanish targeted at people who may not access mainstream media, let along talk radio, to judge for themselves the falsity of the ad.

Obama’s people took two statements by conservative icon Rush Limbaugh out of context – from two separate parodies – and juxtaposed them in a serious commercial.

Race baiting ...

This is race baiting at its very worst – and only goes to prove that Obama is not, nor has ever been, a post-partisan politician who brings a message of hope and change to the American public. Instead, he is revealed as a rather vapid, old-style pol from the backrooms of Chicago’s corrupt political machine. A traditional democrat who exploits race, ethnicity, gender, and class for his own political purposes.

Unfortunately in this instance, Obama appears to be playing the race/ethnicity card to attract illegal alien non-voters and those who support citizenship for illegal aliens to his campaign. No wonder the democrats fought so hard for motor-voter rules which allows people to apply for a license and voter registration at the same time – and then went on to fight for the issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. To the democrats, this sounds like a plan to curry favor with future voters in a steadily increasing demographic.

Of course, we can can view for ourselves what havoc has been visited on our healthcare, educational, law enforcement, retirement, social and cultural infrastructure. And now they want the American public to overlook the unintended consequences of increasing political power which allows them to simply vote us out of our own communities. And the far-left liberal democrats are not alone as they backed by the traditionally leftist trade unions who see an increasing membership bring them even more money and power to pursue their agenda to make labor an equal partner with those who have risked everything to develop their own small businesses. Their blind ambition for political power has made them overlook the obvious fact that the welfare of their present membership is being severely degraded by the illegals who work for less and who are still welcomed into the union roles.  Perhaps to organize for the unions after they become a significant portion of the workforce at any company.

A demonstration of falsity …

From an editorial from Rush Limbaugh which appeared in the Wall Street Journal …

“Here's the relevant part of the Spanish-language television commercial Mr. Obama is running in Hispanic communities:

‘They want us to forget the insults we've put up with . . . the intolerance . . . they made us feel marginalized in this country we love so much.’

“Then the commercial flashes two quotes from me: ‘. . . stupid and unskilled Mexicans’ and ‘You shut your mouth or you get out!’"

“And then a voice says, ‘John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote . . . and another, even worse, that continues the policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families. John McCain . . . more of the same old Republican tricks.’"

Obama knows that this is a false and misleading campaign commercial …

“And more to the point, these sound bites are a deception, and Mr. Obama knows it. The first sound bite was extracted from a 1993 humorous monologue poking fun at the arguments against the North American Free Trade Agreement. Here's the context:

‘If you are unskilled and uneducated, your job is going south. Skilled workers, educated people are going to do fine 'cause those are the kinds of jobs Nafta is going to create. If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people, I'm serious, let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do -- let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work.’"

“My point, which is obvious, was that the people who were criticizing Nafta were demeaning workers, particularly low-skilled workers. I was criticizing the mind-set of the protectionists who opposed the treaty. There was no racial connotation to it and no one thought there was at the time. I was demeaning the arguments of the opponents.”

“As for the second sound bite, I was mocking the Mexican government's double standard -- i.e., urging open borders in this country while imposing draconian immigration requirements within its own borders. Thus, I took the restrictions Mexico imposes on immigrants and appropriated them as my own suggestions for a new immigration law.”

“Here's the context for that sound bite: ‘And another thing: You don't have the right to protest. You're allowed no demonstrations, no foreign flag waving, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our president or his policies. You're a foreigner: shut your mouth or get out! And if you come here illegally, you're going to jail.’"

“At the time, I made abundantly clear that this was a parody on the Mexican government's hypocrisy and nobody took it otherwise.”

Obama is responsible for this commercial as he had to personally approve it before it aired …

“The malignant aspect of this is that Mr. Obama and his advisers know exactly what they are doing. They had to listen to both monologues or read the transcripts. They then had to pick the particular excerpts they used in order to create a commercial of distortions. Their hoped-for result is to inflame racial tensions. In doing this, Mr. Obama and his advisers have demonstrated a pernicious contempt for American society.”

Why Obama does not deserve to be the President of the United States …

“We've made much racial progress in this country. Any candidate who employs the tactics of the old segregationists is unworthy of the presidency.”

What part of United in the United States does Obama and his far-left democrat supporters not understand? Is the public so blind, deaf and apathetic to miss the fact that while Obama claims he is a united, him and his party are doing everything in their power to produce hyphenated-Americans which can be molded into an election-winning coalition?

Limbaugh fought McCain tooth and nail over immigration …

And what makes it doubly ludicrous is that Rush Limbaugh railed each day against John McCain over his support of the McCain-Kennedy Immigration reform bill which would have conferred amnesty on people who demonstrated their lack of respect for American law – and who literally demonstrated in the streets of Los Angeles and elsewhere demanding to be recognized as legal citizens. Believing that they somehow deserved citizenship because parts of California once belonged to Mexico. Notice they also ignore the pre-existing claims of Native Americans.

In my opinion, this is like a thief breaking into your house and then petitions the courts to insure that your bed needs to be softer to meet the needs of his sore back.

Rewarding smoke and mirrors …

Barack Obama doesn’t exist. He is a creation of his handler’s Hollywood-style smoke and mirrors. He is like any good actor: telegenic and able to sincerely mouth the words written by others. And like most performers, he needs a TelePrompTer to keep him sounding like a real candidate. Deprived of this artificial memory aid, he stammers and stutters as he tries to use his vocal prowess to spout the far-left’s ugly party line. He is a creature of coincidence: being at the right place at the right time when Hillary imploded with high negatives and John Edwards split the vote to make a clear victory almost impossible.

What can YOU do?

Vote your own interests. Ignore both political parties as they view citizens as being necessary to electing them to power so they can pursue their own power, prestige and profits. 

Notice the rise in third-party polls and media statements which claim that Americans are racially biased and those who claim that if we don't vote for Obama we will be displaying our prejudice. Nothing could be further from the truth. Obama is a deeply-flawed candidate who has little or no experience and a host of negatives which make him unsuitable as the President of the United States. It's not racist to want to protect your country and eliminate much of the special interest corruption that drives Congress.

Watch Obama carefully and you will see the chinks in his armor. He is beginning to implode and nothing can stop the process except your vote. Proof: imagine standing at the center of the stage – with the whole world watching – and instead of putting forth his plan to rescue America’s damaged economy, he waffles and claims he will release his plan at some unspecified time in the future.

Do not vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security, sovereignty and economic strength of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for their personal philosophy, power, prestige or profits.

-- steve

Quote of the day: “I didn't really say everything I said.”   - - Yogi Berra

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

Obama Is Stoking Racial Antagonism

I understand the rough and tumble of politics. But Barack Obama -- the supposedly postpartisan, postracial candidate of hope and change -- has gone where few modern candidates have gone before.

Mr. Obama's campaign is now trafficking in prejudice of its own making. And in doing so, it is playing with political dynamite. What kind of potential president would let his campaign knowingly extract two incomplete, out-of-context lines from two radio parodies and build a framework of hate around them in order to exploit racial tensions? The segregationists of the 1950s and 1960s were famous for such vile fear-mongering.

Much of the media that is uninterested in Mr. Obama's connections to unrepentant 1970s Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright have so far gone along with the attempt to tie me to Mr. McCain. But Mr. McCain and I have not agreed on how to address illegal immigration. While I am heartened by his willingness to start by securing the borders, it is no secret that we have fundamental differences on illegal immigration.

Mr. Limbaugh is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host

Obama Is Stoking Racial Antagonism - WSJ.com

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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The Bailout: watching what Congress does up close and personal ... (Updated)

UPDATE: 09-22-08 MAKING A "SOW'S EAR INTO A SILK PURSE ..."

Continuing with the pig-related sayings, we found that the powers that be were working hard Sunday night to streamline the conversion of two major investment brokerage firms into bank holding companies to afford them greater access to capital and other perks and priviledges to which they would not normally be entitled.

From the Washington Post ...

"The Federal Reserve approved the conversion last night of the two remaining investment titans on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, into bank holding companies, offering them broader government protection in exchange for tighter regulation and constraints on their once fabulously profitable business."

"With the federal government continuing its rapid and radical reshaping of the U.S. financial system, the two investment banks agreed to transform themselves in an effort to escape the financial turmoil that last week put their existence in jeopardy."

"The move, approved by the Fed with unusual haste, gives Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley greater latitude to borrow from the Fed and access to stable sources of funding -- namely, deposits from ordinary people and businesses. But the firms are also accepting regulation by the Fed that will make it far more expensive for them to borrow huge sums of money -- long an essential ingredient in their investment strategy -- and restrict what sorts of business activities they can engage in."

The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 which promulgated banking reforms and attempted to curb rampant speculation is now formally dead; having been killed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and Sunday's Federal Reserve actions. The only remaining unregulated financial activity remains that of the hedge funds and legislators are reluctant to interfere with powerful Wall Street Wizards, their law firms, lobbyists, accounts and friends who act as political king-makers and dispensers of campaign cash. One area of danger is that investment firms which were precluded by Glass-Steagall from taking deposits, now may have access to cheap depository funds. I am not sure if what has happened is good for the average American citizen, but I am damn sure it is great for those who wanted to retain their wealth and privilege after screwing the American financial sector into the ground.

Original blog entry ...

The Sunday news shows were populated by prognosticating politicians full of themselves and eager to present their talking points. Some were enlightening. Some didn’t have a clue. And some were annoying, if for no other reason that they were still speaking without knowing enough about the current financial situation to intelligently comment.

While earlier this week, Harry Reid and his cohorts threw up their hands and claimed that they didn’t know how to solve the current crisis in America’s capital markets, the democrat-led Congress appears to be willing to act on any legislative solution that is proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson and others. Or is that more, you should pardon the expression, lip service by those who obsessed over the concept of putting lipstick on a pig?’

The broad outline of a plan …

Basically, the government will expand the national debt to allow for the purchase of toxic securities from banks, brokerages and other financial firms doing business in the United States (even though they may be foreign-owned). The government will then somehow resolve the matter by allowing enough time to pass in order to determine the real value of the purchased paper. And perhaps to re-constitute and re-sell this paper to willing buyers for a profit. Meanwhile, banks and other financial institutions do not need to immediately write-off the bad paper and thus move closer to the brink of insolvency.

This is in addition to further regulating the affairs of the Government Sponsored Enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

What will Congressional democrats do?

However, as we have seen numerous times, the devil is in the details and we must wait and see exactly what the democrats plan to do to the final bill.

It is anticipated that they will attempt to enforce their own legislative agenda by:

  • limiting the compensation of CEOs and managers involved with the bailout effort;
  • imposing some form of mortgage relief for consumers within the bill’s provisions;
  • arrange for additional congressional or third-party oversight of the operation; and
  • possibly seek some form of quid-pro-quo from those who are proposing this particular legislation, and
  • attempt to force the issuance of a second stimulus package which can be used to demonstrate democrat good will toward the people.

What will be interesting to see is:

  • will Congressional members attempt to regulate the allocation or flow of purchase funds to their campaign contributors or those special interests which lobbied members of congress;
  • when they limit CEO and managerial compensation, will they also prohibit lobbying members of Congress either directly or indirectly;
  • will they attempt to force political appointees to head the new agencies;
  • will any members of congress lobby for positions for their close family members or relatives or attempt to dictate which vendors are used to supply goods and services to the regulated entitites;
  • will the democrat party of lawyers take any action to limit court challenges or other legal maneuvers that would judicially alter the legislative outcome of the offered bill or otherwise forestall its implementation;
  • will they be so bold as to demand that the public receive a premium for their financial support should the operation succeed and the institution become profitable; and
  • will they attempt to exert continuing oversight and influence once the effort succeeds?

And while they are in a bi-partisan cooperative mood …

Hopefully, this opportunity to provide a bi-partisan solution to this crisis will not impede Congress from fixing some of their previous screw-ups:

  • repeal some of the more onerous provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley legislation;
  • promote a comprehensive predatory lending law which restricts state- and federally-chartered financial institutions from venue shopping by using federal preemption laws for nationally chartered banks;
  • tell the SEC to restore the uptick rule and enforce the prohibition on naked short selling, collusive rumors to move markets and to set rational margin requirements to somewhat curtail a free ride for  speculators who use borrowed funds to hedge their activities;
  • pass legislation regulating the hedge funds as financial entities and combining the Securities and Exchange Commission with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with comprehensive oversight capabilities; and
  • most of all, develop criteria for the creation and marketing of derivatives – including the modification of ridiculous mark-to-market provisions regarding long-term financial instruments which may have little or no value during their initial years.

I would settle for these regulatory reforms in a heartbeat, bankers and special interests be damned.

Hyper-partisan wrangling …

This is a democrat-led Congress which has only displayed hyper-partisan wrangling and has shown no propensity to act on behalf of the American people. A Congress beholden to special interests and pursuing a self-interest agenda.

Watch the nay-sayers and doubters closely …

Considering their actions to do everything in their power to bring down the current Administration, almost to the point of wanting America to lose in Iraq, it seems that some members of Congress bear close scrutiny.

Special attention should be paid to the actions of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Murtha, Barney Frank and Chuck Schumer.

Forget the candidate, this is about doing something for the people …

One should also disregard the rhetoric and action coming from the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates as they do not, combined, exert the power to influence the joint Congressional decision.

According to Politico.com:  Candidates likely to skip bailout vote

Due to the rigors of campaigning in the remaining time left before the election, it is likely that the candidates Obama, McCain and Biden will skip any vote related to the bailout of the financial system. Possibly to avoid having to defend compromise actions that will be taken between Congressional Republicans, democrats, Treasury Department, SEC and the Federal Reserve.

Hold them accountable for their actions …

Lest we forget, Congressional delegates should be forced to stand on their own; not beholden to their party, special interests, campaign contributors – and to a person, they should be held responsible for the actions.

The public is providing a TRILLION dollar blank check …

Contrary to their own Congressional opinions, this is OUR money, not theirs. They are acting in our name and with the fiduciary responsibility of insuring the best outcome for the American people.

We need also to watch a lame duck  Administration …

Likewise, can we trust members of the lame duck Administration, some of which are apparently impotent or incompetent, to place the people above politics. We do not need to rely on people like Alberto Gonzales (DOJ) or Alphonso Jackson (HUD) to disburse the funds. We need honest and ethical people who are now above playing party politics. In spite of his background, Secretary Paulson seems to be a trustworthy individual who can be relied on to do his best in this difficult situation.

Bottom line: pray!

Considering the Wall Street Wizards involved, let us pray that both Congress and the Administration fulfill their responsibilities to the people who elected them: the citizens of the United States.

-- steve

Quote of the Day: “There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.: -- George Santayana

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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Obama: are the big supporters dwindling or are they just hedging their bets?

CEOs of large private and public companies have been known to hedge their political bets when it comes to extremely close races. And even in races which are not close, it is not unusual to find these very same executives simply splitting their campaign contributions 60/40, slanted toward the apparent winner. Both sides of the aisle appreciate the facts of life and welcome any and all contributions.

Therefore, we are just asking…

Do some surprising statements made by major players such as News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch signal some sort of trend away from Obama or merely represent a “hedging of the political bets.?

From The Live Feed, James Hibberd's daily blog covering the television industry, comes this surprising interview between FoxNews’ Neil Cavuto and his boss, Rupert Murdoch who owns News Corp. 

Obama’s economic policies are naive …

“Murdoch: Obama's economic policies are 'naive'”

“News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said he doesn't regret the New York Post endorsing John McCain, even as some say the Republican ticket is the weaker choice for voters concerned about the economy.”

Both politicians do not have a strong background in business, economic affairs and would, of necessity, be forced to rely heavily on trusted advisors. Considering that President Bush received a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard, not being classically trained is not necessarily a bad thing.

We should demand that both presidental candidates name their cabinet members prior to the election because so much is riding on their ability to pick competent people for these critical positions as well selecting qualified people to head up governmental agencies. Here, I am afraid, the coalition cobbled together by Barack Obama is going to seek perks, privileges and positions in return for their support. A very dangerous thing which could lead to the same type of cronyism and incompetence found in the current Bush Administration.

Inflation, ruin relationships with the rest of the world …

" ‘I am very worried,’ Murdoch said during an interview Friday with Fox Business Network. ‘I like Sen. Obama very much. I have met him. He is a very intelligent man. But his policy of anti-globalization, protectionism, is going to be -- and card checks -- are going to do two or three things.  It's going to give us a lot of inflation.  They're going to ruin our relationships with the rest of the world. And they are going to slow down the rest of the world, too. And they're going to make people frightened to add to employment. You are going to find companies leaving this country if it's -- if you put a protectionist wall around it.  You're going to get -- his policy is really very, very naive, old-fashioned, 1960s.’ "

Perhaps Murdoch means the world business community as most of the world's political leaders, especially those who embrace far left politics are said to welcome an Obama presidency over a McCain presidency. Perhaps because they view him as being more malleable and having something to prove. As for the President, any president, being able to influence monetary policy, the chance that Obama could directly affect inflation is not likely as the Federal Reserve does not take orders from either Congress or the President. However, should Obama raise taxes and reduce our economic growth rate -- the system will be unable to re-absorb the billions of dollars we have pumped into the economy; which definitely would stoke the fires of inflation.

Barney Frank and the liberal democrats …

“Also, Murdoch on the credit crisis: ‘One has got to go back on this and say, look, this started 15 years ago, with Barney Frank and people pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make a lot of bad loans, until they finally had $11 billion -- or nearly $11 billion out there. I don't say all bad, but it became a racket.’”

There is no denying that Fannie Mae, created by the democrats during the New Deal, has always been used as a vehicle for vote-getting housing in those districts with politically powerful representatives. Many now realize that the code words “affordable housing” and “community housing initiatives” were simply synonyms for “subprime mortgages.”  Not that Fannie or Freddie originated such mortgages, but they were forced to purchase them for securitization knowing that they were made to less than stellar creditworthy borrowers. In this respect, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Representative Barney Frank, U.S. Senate Banking Chairman Senator Christopher Dodd and other liberal democrats are complicit in the sinking of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- or Foney and Fraudy as they are now nicknamed in the industry.

Bailouts …

“On whether government bailouts send to wrong message to the financial community: ‘I don't think so. I think the people who have done it will have lost a lot of money and their jobs.  You know, some of them may even lose their freedom, from what I hear.’"

While it would be nice to see those who criminally profited at the expense of others or cooked the books, the liklihood of a Franklin Raines, the well-connected democrat who allegedly cooked the books at Fannie Mae, going to jail is minimal. All of his settlements with Fannie Mae's regulator are said to have been made without admiting or denying guilt and that the fine and givebacks were said to be punishment enough. One would think that he is a pariah -- but he has apparently moved on to bigger ventures with men like Steve Case, co-founder and former CEO of America Online (AOL), who do not seem to mind his taint of scandal.

"Case founded Revolution Health Group just over a year ago, in partnership with Colin Powell, Jim Barksdale, Carly Fiorina, Frank Raines, Miles Gilburne, Steve Wiggins and other co-investors."

Sara Palin and more regulation …

On Sarah Palin's call for regulation: “I think they have been sending out different signals, but I think what she says is right. Clearly, there has to be some more regulation, but we have to be careful what that is.  It could make things a lot worse.  The more you get the politicians in that don't know the first thing about banking, even less than me, and God knows what might come out of it.”

Among the House and Senate, banking expertise is at a minimum and that most of the conclusions drawn by Congress are sketched out by industry lobbyists seeking to minimize regulations, improve protections against competitors or to confer some special benefit or tax relief on their own group. The public seems to be yet an afterthought.

Paulson and the upcoming congressional approvals …

On Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson’s handling of the credit crisis: “I think Secretary Paulson has done a fantastically good job.  Now we have got to get it through the Congress, and that is going to be the nightmare.”

What else could he possibly say in the face of evidence that the economic sector is cratering and that it is possible for the spillover to affect the general economy. Something which has not yet happened.

See for yourself …

Bottom line …

Determine for yourself whether or not people are starting to realize that Obama is an empty suit with no practical life experience and no clue about how to handle a crisis. It remains to be seen if the ordinary people will continue to support him now that his policies are getting greater scrutiny. The key is how he performs at the presidential debates, one of which is said to be setup like a town forum. Rumor has it that David Geffen and the Hollywood liberal and gay crowd is ready to rachet up support come October and November.

What can YOU do?

Be careful when following party politics … both parties are essentially corrupt and self-serving. It’s the candidate the matters.

Discuss these matters with your family, friends and those in the community. You have one chance in 2008 to get it right and will be stuck for the next four years with that choice.

-- steve

Quote of the Day: “It’s tough enough to learn right from wrong – but then you learn wrong from Wright, you are in deep trouble.”  – steve

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

Murdoch: Obama's economic policies are 'naive' --The Live Feed

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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U.S. Government confirms crime and stupidity pay if you have political connections

Dumb and Dumber, also known as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has made it semi-official: the government may supply up to $1 TRILLION dollars to assist financial institutions in removing toxic paper from their books – apparently WITHOUT sanctioning any Wall Street Wizards for creating, marketing and trading derivatives with dubious values. Or sanctioning lending institutions which knowingly relaxed their lending standards to promote toxic paper to their clients.

Thus, the Wall Street Wizards and others, most who gave generous political contributions to both parties, who walked away with multi-million dollar bonuses – including loan managers who were flogging loans boiler room style and banking $100,000 or more a month – will be able to sleep peacefully knowing that Uncle Sam and the American taxpayer are picking up the tab.

The poor schmuck who saved diligently for a rainy day now knows that his money was borrowed to leverage the toxic loan purchases of the financial wizards – and that in order to insure that the financial institutions make enough money to survive, they will be receiving the lowest possible yield on their cash deposits while inflation erodes this meager savings into a negative “purchasing power” yield. For those whose retirement funds and lifetime investments have been impacted, cheer up – Wall Street has proved once again that big money can do what they please and the public be damned.

Laziness, incompetence, corruption …

For those who want to place part of the blame on the the laissez faire “hands off” policies of the Bush Administration -- with a special portion singled out for Bush’s appointees who were lazy, stupid, incompetent or corrupt – I have no counter argument. Even the Administration’s preoccupation with the “war on terror” has been severely bungled with contractors reaping the benefit of multi-million no-bid contracts, no accountability for billions of actual dollars lost somewhere overseas and in spite of the best computational technology available – not one major accounting system (possibly by design) is completely auditable. 

Had much of this money been placed into service repairing and replacing our crumbling infrastructure or into reducing the costs of healthcare – we do not need to return to the moon or use NASA resources to promote carbon cap and ENRON-style emissions trading schemes which rewards gross polluters at the public’s expense – my anger would be somewhat muted. But when I see Russians snapping up 40-million dollar apartments in New York or the wholesale sale of American industry sold off piece-by-piece, my anger only grows. At the politicians who have allowed America to be raped. Those who have allowed the civil service-style control over government employees to be replaced by rapacious left-wing, corrupt unions was to cede a major portion of the day-to-day governmental operations to hostile forces.

Every man for himself …

Now that the government is spewing happy words and telling us that there is light at the end of the tunnel makes me wonder if they are telling the public the truth while they finish selling off America’s assets or if that light is a freight train coming from the opposite direction.

It is now time for the public to react. How anyone could ratify this massive incompetence, corruption and criminality by electing an old-style Chicago machine politician like Barack Obama is beyond me. To be sure, John McCain makes me wonder if he really is maverick enough to clean up the cesspool that is Washington today; to curtail the toxic influence of lawyers in today’s government where everything is an adversarial proceeding and hyper-technical and incomprehensible gibberish is used to hide the real truth from the American public.

The democrats, the party of lawyers, makes me sick. Their response to Sarah Palin is to send a group of lawyers to investigate her background in Alaska. Perhaps they sent lawyers because that’s all they had available. But it annoys me no end that both parties are blindly-driven to grab power and then to exclude everyone else from being able to make a decision.

On the state level, I am equally annoyed with junior politicians who are every bit as stupid, corrupt and rapacious as those on the federal level. Not that I am saying kind words about local politicians as they argue over garbage contracts and control over public transit. All areas where millions of dollars of the public’s money have disappeared into the pockets of politicians via the special interests they support.

It is now time for every American to decide for themselves whether or not the chaos and corruption will continue in Washington, your state capitols or in your own counties and cities.

Merely electing high-minded, well-spoken candidates is not enough. They must be effective advocates for the public.

One of my greatest personal disappointments is the realization that the person that I thought was the smartest, most ethical and moral politician in California State government was simply a professional politician whose pronouncements, while accurate and enlightening, were almost never acted upon and that he was widely regarded as a naysayer. The straw that broke the camel’s back were the realization that he did not live in my district (it was his mom’s house), that he lived in Sacramento and charged the state a travel per diem for commuting 14 miles to work, that when he was termed out, he simply went shopping for a new residence to qualify him in a new political venue and that he was soliciting Indian gaming money to drive his political career. Which goes to explain why he did voted for a measure which would allow Indian gaming casinos to self-audit themselves. I was thoroughly disillusioned at this point and decided that he wasn’t worthy of my further attention. He has now been relegated to the ranks of beady-eyed. venal politicians pursuing their self-interests. Of course, what really angered me was that this was a man said to be one of the most conservative politicians in the state. I guess there is an upside: at least he wasn’t embroiled in a sex scandal.

What does $1 TRILLION dollars buy …

As far as I can tell, it buys political peace and quietfor a period of time sufficient enough to allow the selection of a different group of politicians to gain access to the levers of power – so they too can get their piece of the American public’s money. It buys a relative degree of immunity from prosecution for those who were complicit in arranging some of the biggest frauds on this planet. And it provides additional cover for those who buy politicians on both sides to win legislative gains -- which allows for the further looting of my pocket.

Truth-be-told, in spite of their shrill cries that they lack the money to do the things required by the public for the welfare of all, the government is awash is cash. They can’t account for it, much of it may be tucked in special purpose funds, a preponderance of it is spent on things that don’t work and are wildly expensive due to the special interests who siphon-off money to re-design hammers and toilet seats. Why a 5-cent pencil costs $22.o0 is beyond me … but I do understand someone needs to write and approve the pencil’s specifications, set up a massive bureaucracy led by a political appointee to insure that we purchase the pencils at the lowest possible cost with maximum efficiency … ad nauseam.  I drive myself to work each day in my own car. Why do we need to provide vehicles for public officials. Why not just reimburse them at the IRS official rate for their travel like every other citizen? Why do we need security details approaching Secret Service-level protection to protect politicians that are doing their job … could it be because they know that their actions go directly against the public’s wishes and welfare and cannot be explained to a reasonable person in plain English and still make sense?

Time to change the Administration …

For better or worse, I am casting my lot in with John McCain and Sarah Palin. While they are still politicians who are subject to the massive forces of the special interests, I am convinced that McCain will make a good interim president while we decide on new leadership for 2012. I believe that he is old enough to want to leave a legacy of doing the right thing and believe that he may not seek a second term. In my mind, this is infinitely better than providing an amateur politician with little or no experience a chance to further muck-up government operations while his old, corrupt advisors seek to purge their enemies from positions of influence or, in the case of political rewards to far-left coalition members, learn how to do their newly-won jobs. Remember the inexperienced bumbling of the Carter and Clinton Administrations. One gave us Islamo-fascism and the other almost destroyed our government with their hyper-politicalization of governmental agencies. Did I mention they were both democrat Administrations?

What can YOU do?

Protect yourself. Reduce your run-rate and make prudent purchases and investments. Save your money – don’t contribute to politicians which are not working directly for you.

Demand your elected officials and union leaders be criminally and civilly punished for wrongdoing.

Demand that elected officials take action which benefits the public or be thrown out of office. Perhaps it is time to set up a fast-track procedure for removing a politician from office based on provable malfeasance or incompetence which doesn’t rise to the level of criminal behavior?

Demand that politicians, their appointees and public employees receive a fifteen year jail sentence for using any protected government records for political or commercial purposes.

Protect the Internet at all costs. The media is in the bag for the far-left politicians and will curry political favor for corporate advantage. Talk radio and the Internet are the only venues where politics on both sides may be openly discussed (argued?) and receive a fair hearing. The politicians are doing everything in their power to further control the Internet – aided and abetted by their Hollywood cronies who claim that rampant piracy of protected content must be brought under control by requiring every device to have some “big-brother” accountability and trackabilty features and that they should be allowed to charge more for policing the Internet.

Vote for a candidate who represents change, has the background and experience to implement change and who does not simply talk about change.

In case you are wondering, my vote is going to John McCain rather than supporting an empty suit from a corrupt party whose Congressional efforts, while they have controlled Congress over the last two years, resulted in nothing more than intensified partisan bickering.

Do not vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security, sovereignty and economic strength of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for their personal philosophy, power, prestige or profits.

-- steve

Quote of the Day: “Honk off, bozo.” --Eno, The Duplex

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

From Politico.com …

Paulson plan could cost $1 trillion

“Congressional leaders said after meeting Thursday evening with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that as much as $1 trillion could be needed to avoid an imminent meltdown of the U.S. financial system.”

In government, everything is an emergency and requires immediate action. Whereas the truth is: time is required and the free market system tends to work these things out without government intervention. And as history has demonstrated, government management of a financial crisis only prolongs the time and depth of the crisis.

“Paulson announced plans Friday morning for a ‘bold approach’ that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. At a news conference at Treasury headquarters, he called for a ‘temporary asset relief program’ to take bad mortgages off the books of the nation's financial institutions. Congressional leaders had left Washington on Friday, but Paulson planned to confer with them over the weekend.”

Bold meaning expensive and temporary meaning at least five years.

"We're talking hundreds of billions," Paulson told reporters. ‘This needs to be big enough to make a real difference and get to the heart of the problem.’"

Big enough translates into “so much money” that nobody will notice if a large portion is misspent, misused or simply goes missing.

“Stock markets soared around the world in anticipation of the rescue, with British and Chinese indexes recording their biggest gains ever.”

Proving once again that the markets are shell games driven by investor and broker perceptions rather than true values. And who gives a damn about the other indexes … much of it is based on America’s economy and money coming from the American taxpayer.

Pronouncements from the corrupt, complicit and terminally stupid… 

“Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ said lawmakers were told last night ‘that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications, here at home and globally.’”
‘What you heard last evening is one of those rare moments — certainly rare in my experience here — was that Democrats and Republicans decided we needed to work together, quickly,’ Dodd said.

I wasn’t aware that Good Morning America was a hard news show or a venue where thoughtful Americans gathered to receive enlightenment from their government officials.

“The solution being proposed by the Bush administration is the most expensive bailout in the nation’s history, sharply curtailing the ability of the next president to push for tax cuts or new spending.”

Both parties agreeing the public needs to pay more into government coffers to support the lifestyles to which they have become accustomed. Did anybody mention a cut in the level of Congressional spending on things that are of little benefit to the American public like foreign aid to hostile countries, funding obsolete weapons systems before they are built and a host of other fraudulent or wasteful spending. I have an idea – how about recapturing the billions of dollars involving Medicare fraud? Or the return of ill-gotten bonuses? Or reimbursement for the electronic fence that didn’t work?

More Administration power – led by political appointees?

“Congressional leaders tell Politico that to expedite the rescue, Treasury plans to seek additional authority rather than creating a new entity. The plan involves buying up hundreds of billions of dollars in bad mortgages to take them off the books of financial institutions that otherwise might fail.”

Paulson plan could cost $1 trillion - Politico.com

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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The idiots at the SEC just may have spread the financial contagion to the rest of the economy ... (Updated)

UDATE: 09-22-08  NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE ADDS TO LIST ...

According to the New York Stock Exchange ...

"Please be advised that, effective immediately, the SEC has revised its temporary emergency action with respect to the Order prohibiting short selling in financial firms.  As there are material differences in the application of the prohibition, you should read the new SEC order, which can be found at: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-218.htm. 

"The SEC has informed us that all companies that were covered by Friday’s order will also be covered by the newly revised short sale prohibition.  The SEC has delegated to each national securities exchange the authority to identify additional listed companies that qualify for inclusion in the list of companies covered by the revised prohibition.  The additional companies must be in one of the following categories: Banks, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(6), Savings associations, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(46),Registered brokers or dealers, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(48), Insurance companies, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 80a-2(a)(17), Banks, savings associations, brokers, dealers and insurance companies that are similar to those covered by the foregoing statutory definitions but which are regulated by a foreign (rather than U.S.) regulatory authority, US and foreign investment advisors, both registered and unregistered, Companies that control or have majority ownership of companies that meet one of the above criteria."

Again, the government is trying to protect some companies which leaves the remaining companies susceptible to manipulation to short-selling hedge funds, mutual funds and others who sense a weakness in the public's perceived valuation of the company and have the capital to exploit a short selling opportunity. Therefore, unexciting companies with sound balance sheets may be placed at undue risk by the actions of the government.

Original blog entry ...

Lest anyone forget, it was the Federal Reserve who reacted to the dot com bubble burst by keeping the Federal Funds target interest rate artificially low – which then forced the global pool of money to abandon treasury securities yielding a meager one-percent in favor of higher yielding mortgage-backed securities which they thought were rated as being “investment grade.” Wall Street Wizards, GREED and a lack of regulatory oversight did the rest.

Now, to combat the global capital pool (in the form of hedge funds) from massively shorting financial stocks to drive their prices down and earn a significant rate of return on their manipulation of the market … the SEC has banned the short selling of 799 financial stocks.

Thus prompting the global pool of capital to abandon their short selling of financial stocks and to turn to other sectors of the market which have not been afforded such protection.

Thus a company with solid financial's and modest growth can be shorted into almost oblivion while there is no reasonable explanation or reason for a drastic decline in their stock valuation other than someone wanted to make money by massively shorting the stock.

James Cramer, the hyper-kinetic stock-picker once explained that if he wanted to cover his losses in his hedge fund, all he had to do is massively sell-short to drive the prices down and the rest of the market would jump on the bandwagon to insure his profit when he covered his short sale at the lower prices. He did not seem proud of the practice, but did explain that it was a common practice among firms with massive amounts of capital (tens or hundreds of millions of dollars) and an absolute need to prove to their investors that they could make returns which exceeded the standard stock indexes.

From the Securities and Exchange Commission …

“The Commission is aware of the continued potential of sudden and excessive fluctuations of securities prices and disruption in the functioning of the securities markets that could threaten fair and orderly markets.”

“Recent market conditions have made us concerned that short selling in the securities of a wider range of financial institutions may be causing sudden and excessive fluctuations of the prices of such securities in such a manner so as to threaten fair and orderly markets.”

“Given the importance of confidence in our financial markets as a whole, we have become concerned about recent sudden declines in the prices of a wide range of securities. Such price declines can give rise to questions about the underlying financial condition of an issuer, which in turn can create a crisis of confidence, without a fundamental underlying basis.”

“This crisis of confidence can impair the liquidity and ultimate viability of an issuer, with potentially broad market consequences.”

“As a result of these recent developments, the Commission has concluded that there continues to exist the potential of sudden and excessive fluctuations of securities prices generally and disruption in the functioning of the securities markets that could threaten fair and orderly markets.”

“In these unusual and extraordinary circumstances, we have concluded that, to prevent substantial disruption in the securities markets, temporarily prohibiting any person from effecting a short sale in the publicly traded securities of certain financial firms, which entities are identified in Appendix A (“Included Financial Firms”), is in the public interest and for the protection of investors to maintain or restore fair and orderly securities markets.”

<Source – Including the list of Protected Financial Institutions>

Crisis in confidence in the leadership of the SEC …

Perhaps reflecting the laissez faire polices of the Bush Administration which resulted in a relaxation of government oversight and regulatory activities or perhaps due to laziness, incompetence or the political need to develop a consensus, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christopher Cox has come under fire by John McCain and others who believe that he has breached his fiduciary duty to the American public.

Portfolio.com which has broken stories about Countrywide’s Friends of Angelo who received special loan arrangements, comments on the perceived failure of the SEC in a recent article.

“For months, Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been under fire for a belated response to market upheavals stemming from the subprime fiasco and for being soft on big corporations. He’s eager to dispel his critics. In his 10th-floor office, with a postcard view of the Capitol, Cox appears fit and buoyant despite a recent bout with a rare cancer of the thymus gland. He denies any suggestion that he has oriented the S.E.C. away from tough enforcement and investor protection. ‘I spend more time on enforcement than on any aspect of my job,’ he says.”

“But a look at his record since he became chairman in 2005 suggests that, behind the scenes, Cox has engineered a series of procedural and tactical changes, effectively reducing the S.E.C. enforcement division’s power. The division, one of four in the S.E.C., investigates and litigates violations of securities laws. Under the new rules, enforcement staffers no longer have the freedom to negotiate fines against public companies in a select group of cases. Instead, the commissioners—three Republicans and two Democrats—dictate the maximum penalty the enforcement division can seek.”

I strongly suggest that you read the Portfolio.com piece as it only goes to illustrate what happens when non-professional leadership assumes command of a government watchdog agency that has become hyper-politicized and operates more on political dictates than the established rules and regulations.

S.E.C. No Evil by Scot Paltrow  Portfolio Magazine, October 2008 Issue “Under chairman Christopher Cox, the commission has undermined and demoralized its enforcement staff. For the next administration, restoring the agency's role as market watchdog won't be easy.”

Bottom line …

The highly-paid investment advisers at firms around the world now need to either create new high-yield financial instruments or suck trading profits out of existing equities. Which is not easy in a bear market when sellers outnumber the buyers – hence short selling is the easiest way to increase yields and earn your outrageous bonus.

Watch out world – the bottom feeders are attacking!

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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Obama: No balls, no ideas and no change!

In a stunning admission from a candidate who professes he is all about change and hope, the fact that he claims he has a plan but is withholding it … marks him as someone who is not ready for the Presidency of the United States.

If he has a plan to save the American people from all of the current suffering, he needs to put his plan into the public arena for discussion. Just saying I have a better plan and I am willing to share it with you if you elect me is disingenuous and dangerous for the American people.

According to Reuters …

“Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said on Friday he supported efforts by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to shore up confidence in the financial markets and said he would hold off from presenting his own economic recovery plan.”

Let others do the heavy lifting and then waltz-in to take credit?

"The events of the last few days have made it clear that we must take further bold and decisive action to shore up confidence in our financial markets and avoid a deepening economic crisis that could jeopardize the life savings and well-being of millions of Americans," Obama said in a statement.

“Obama said he supported efforts by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to work with the Congressional leadership to find a solution to the deepening crisis.”

I guess the plan is not ready …

“The Illinois senator said he would be discussing the Fed-Treasury proposal with his top economic advisers on Friday morning. Among those who have been advising Obama on his response to the financial crisis are former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and former U.S. Treasury secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin.”

While his advisers credentials are suitably impressive, does anybody else see that these are the “good ‘ole boys” of the financial community and hardly the bearers of change.

He has no comprehension of the situation or ideas of his own … campaign driven by advisers and hangers-on?

"Given the gravity of this situation, and based on conversations I have had with both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, I have asked my economic team to refrain from presenting a more detailed blue-print of how an immediate plan might be structured until the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have had an opportunity to present their proposal."

It is far easier to remain outside of the loop and criticize the works of others than present your proposal and argue why it appears to be the correct solution.

More political rhetoric …

“Obama said it was critical that the markets and public have confidence in the Fed and Treasury's efforts and that their work be ‘unimpeded by partisan wrangling.’"

The democrats have done little or nothing in their last two years of power except engage in bitter hyper-partisan wrangling. Barack Obama included. Any observer of the political scene knows that the democrats will do or say anything to sabotage the Administration’s efforts: be it in Iraq or on the domestic economic front – all to regain power.

Obama: playing it safe rather than making bold moves …

“On Thursday Obama urged the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to take emergency steps to keep credit flowing to the troubled housing market, saying it would help stem the crisis sweeping financial markets.”

A safe choice to curry favor with those large campaign donors who want the American public to foot the bill for their foolishness and imprudence.

Can’t go wrong stating the obvious …

“In his statement on Friday, Obama said the government needed to also take action to create jobs and help support distressed homeowners and communities.”

“He also said any taxpayer-funded support plan by the U.S. government needed to have a long-term goal of creating a stable financial market and a growing economy.”

" ‘This plan must be temporary and coupled with tough new oversight and regulations of our financial institutions,’ he said. ‘There must be a clear process to wind down this plan and restore private sector assets into private sector hands after restoring stability to the system.’”

“Obama also urged that the plan be part of a globally coordinated effort.”

Empty words from an empty-suit simply stating the obvious when the whole world’s eyes are upon him: an unparalleled opportunity to prove he has a bold plan for reforming America’s damaged and hurting economy.

What can YOU do?

You have presented yourself as a bold, innovative leader who is going to bring change and restore hope to the American people – and you are now standing on the world’s stage, with all eyes upon you – and all you can mouth is obvious platitudes and say that you will wait to deliver your plan.

No balls, no ideas and certainly no change!

-- steve

Quote of the day: “Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” - Abraham Lincoln

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

Obama supports U.S. economic recovery efforts - Yahoo! News

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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Congressional cowards abandon American public -- is this a bad thing or a good omen?

The democrats once again have proposed their solution to the financial crisis: just elect us, we will enlarge government, raise taxes, tighten regulations and help you manage your personal freedom.

Which once again proves that the democrats are bereft of moral conviction, ability to deal with reality and have absolutely no clue about dealing with extreme crisis situations.

According to Bloomberg News …

“Democratic Congress May Adjourn, Leave Crisis to Fed, Treasury”

Don’t know what to do …

“The Democratic-controlled Congress, acknowledging that it isn't equipped to lead the way to a solution for the financial crisis and can't agree on a path to follow, is likely to just get out of the way. “

Unlikely to take action …

“Lawmakers say they are unlikely to take action before, or to delay, their planned adjournments -- Sept. 26 for the House of Representatives, a week later for the Senate. While they haven't ruled out returning after the Nov. 4 elections, they would rather wait until next year unless Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who are leading efforts to contain the crisis, call for help.”

Harry Reid, the leader who does not deserve the title or the job …

“One reason, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday, is that ‘no one knows what to do’ at the moment.”

And perhaps that is the best course of action by a hyper-partisan congress which remains deeply divided and incapable of working together to solve problems …

“ ‘When you rush to judgment, you usually make mistakes,’' said Sherwood Boehlert, a former Republican congressman from New York. ‘This is something you can't go on forever without addressing, but Congress in a short span of time is best served by going home.’''

Legislators always believe that more legislation is always the answer, rather than letting free markets solve their own problems…

“In 2002, after accounting scandals forced Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. into bankruptcy, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley law, setting new corporate-governance rules. While the measure passed unanimously in the Senate and overwhelmingly in the House, it has since become a target of criticism from some Republicans, including presidential candidate John McCain, and from many in the business and financial worlds.”

“There's a huge danger that needs to be guarded against -- that we'll have a tremendous overreaction in regulations,'' former Treasury Secretary John Snow said in an interview.”

“Reid's ‘Despair'”

Still, the Democrats opened themselves up for attack with Reid's comments. The Republican National Committee pounced on the Nevada lawmaker for his  ‘despair,’' and Senator Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, said his remarks are  ‘not a way to inspire confidence or begin to turn the tide.’''

Truth be told, Martinez was part of the mortgage problem …

Lest we all forget, Bush crony Mel Martinez served as the Secretary of HUD and tried to secretly craft regulatory legislation that would provide President Bush with a legacy in the area of housing. Martinez, with the trademark secrecy of the Bush Administration, did not consult industry leaders of members of Congress when he attempted to craft a RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) reform final rule. The result: 40,000 + comment letters and an unwillingness of Congress to even consider his proposal. Obviously so preoccupied that he did not see the disaster unfolding around him. Martinez then was kicked upstairs and given White House Assistance in becoming the Senator from Florida.

Bush fails again …

Martinez was replaced by another Bush crony, Alphonso Jackson who tried to resurrect the same type of reform. The result was an unworkable mess which was touted to be streamlined and efficient. Far from the truth. However, circumstances intervened and Jackson abruptly resigned when faced with four federal investigations which alleged cronyism, interference with HUD contracts and business practices based on the vendor’s p0litical support for the Administration. Now comes Bush appointee Steve Preston as the clean-up man. And he vows to ram the project through to give his buddy some claim to regulatory reform in the housing market.

Leadership in going nowhere …

“And there were some calls for at least a bipartisan show of leadership during the crisis, which has resulted in the collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investment banks Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos., and insurer American International Group Inc., among other companies.”

“Unless party leaders on both sides of the aisle join with President George W. Bush to endorse a solution, there's little Congress and the president can do in the near term to restore market confidence, said Chuck Gabriel, managing director of Capital Alpha Partners LLC, which advises investors on politics and Washington.”

Dishonest broker?

Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will hold two days of hearings on Oct. 6 and 7 ‘to examine what went wrong and who should be held to account’' at AIG and Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15.”

“Waxman's committee summoned Lehman Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, AIG CEO Robert Willumstad and former AIG chiefs Maurice ‘Hank’' Greenberg and Martin Sullivan to speak.”

This is a show trial. AIG and Lehman Brothers were small potatoes next to the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which, overnight, doubled our National Debt if there debt obligations are placed on the country’s books.

Deathly afraid …

The democrats in Congress are deathly afraid than a real examination of the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will yield smoking guns pointing directly at people like Barack Obama who were the recipient of large campaign donations … as well as Obama having disgraced and crooked former-Fannie Mae and HUD people as his housing advisors. One need only consider the his Vice Presidential selection committee was headed by a former Fannie Mae CEO who received preferential treatment from Countrywide Funding. Or that Obama supporter Henry Cisneros former HUD Secretary appointed by Bill Clinton was not only a convicted crook (later pardoned by Clinton) but was an outrageously paid Countrywide board member who (unbelievably) sat on the audit and ethics committee.  Or that Obama advisor, Franklin Raines owes his escape from being jailed to his democrat friends – as he cooked Fannie Mae’s books to insure his executive bonus when the GSE was inappropriately booking billions of dollars of non-existent gains.

`Work Will Continue'

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the decision of Congress to adjourn. Lawmakers can always be recalled to Washington ‘if there is a need to do so,'’ she told reporters yesterday. In the meantime, House and Senate committees will hold hearings and the financial crisis will be studied by Congress, she said. ‘Our work will continue even if we are not still on the floor,’' she said.”

She must be talking about more fundraising and campaigning for Obama and the rest of the democrats.

Plundering the treasury…

“House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Congress could give the Federal Reserve authority to pay interest on bank reserves sooner than originally scheduled.”

“ ‘They already have the authority; it's just a question of moving it up a couple of years,’' Frank, of Massachusetts, told reporters yesterday. ‘We're trying to work that out.''

Let’s review: the banks are borrowing prodigious amounts of money at artificially low rates from the Treasury and the Federal Reserve and have put up their toxic paper as collateral. Now our government wants to backdoor a government grant to these same financial institutions by paying them interest (out of the public’s pocket) on the money they are holding for the government? On money they are legally obligated to keep as core capital reserves to protect their depositors? Something stinks here!

The government is about to play broker?

“Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said the Fed also has the power to buy and dispose of bad debt stemming from the subprime-mortgage crisis.”

‘The Fed has the authority to move in this area,’ Dodd told reporters in Washington.”

While technically, the Federal Reserve is owned and operated by their member banks, the thought that the Federal Reserve will pay additional commissions to those who created and traded these toxic derivatives, is an abomination. Why aren’t these private organizations unwinding their own deals with the counterparties that they normally do business with. After all, that’s the way capitalism and the free markets are supposed to act.

The ultimate Congressional goal?

“No ‘Quick Fixes'”

“Creating a separate agency to take on bad debt, akin to the Resolution Trust Corp. set up in 1989 to absorb losses from savings-and-loan associations, would take about a year, he said. Instead, the Fed should use its own authority to act.”

Wonderful, another government bureaucracy to arrange for the sale of good assets at fire-sale prices to their cronies.

Perhaps the best advice is to do nothing …

“Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican active on housing issues, scoffed at suggestions that lawmakers postpone adjournment to rewrite laws governing the financial markets.”

“ 'The last thing you need,' he said, 'are 535 people, not many of whom are that well-versed in financial markets, trying to do quick fixes to a market correction that's one of the more significant that we've ever seen.'''

What he failed to add is: 535 people with self-interest hidden agendas that are beholden to special interests and large campaign contributors who will want to divide up the largess among their own individual groups -- rather than protect the American public from corrupt financiers and politicians as well as their legion of lawyers and lobbyists.

McCain gets it … 

In spite of Barack Obama’s crude attempt to claim that John McCain knows nothing about economics or the economy, the following excepts prove otherwise … thus demonstrating, once again, that Obama is all talk and no walk.

On May 25, 2006, John McCain attempted to reform the system at the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Bear in mind as you read this that the the person responsible for the fraudulent manipulation of the billion dollar accounting scandal is none other than Barack Obama's housing advisor Franklin Raines who was given a political pass and a slap on the wrist by regulators who let him keep most of his ill-gotten gains. This is a democrat scandal through-and-through.

"Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae's regulator reported that the company's quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were 'illusions deliberately and systematically created" by the company's senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.'"

"The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's former chief executive officer, OFHEO's report shows that over half of Mr. Raines' compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac."

"The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform."

"For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay."

"I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole."

"I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation"  <Source>

McCain's urge for action was overlooked by Congressional democrats and others. So to claim that McCain did nothing about the impending financial crisis is disingenuous at best.

About the current speculative frenzy which allow large pools of capital to manipulate markets and the SEC’s inability to halt rampant abuse of the system.

From Politico.com …

“McCain talks even tougher on financial crisis, says he would have sacked Bush's SEC chief”

“John McCain ratcheted up his increasingly populist language today, using a campaign event in Iowa to say he would fire Christopher Cox, the former Republican congressman and Bush-appointed head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

“McCain, grasping for the right tone to express outrage at the week's financial meltdown, used his harshest rhetoric yet in an effort to distance himself from the unpopular Republican administration that has presided over the crisis.”

"The Chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the President and has betrayed the public's trust," McCain said, reading deliberately from set remarks at a rally in Cedar Rapids.  "If I were President today, I would fire him."
McCain didn't mention Cox, a former member of Congress from California, by name, but laid the blame squarely at his agency's feet.

"The primary regulator of Wall Street, the Securities and Exchange Commission kept in place trading rules that let speculators and hedge funds turn our markets into a casino," McCain is to say. "They allowed naked short selling -- which simply means that you can sell stock without ever owning it. They eliminated last year the uptick rule that has protected investors for 70 years. Speculators pounded the shares of even good companies into the ground."
”The regulators, McCain said, ‘were asleep at the switch.’

Obama: no guts, no experience ...

Show me, even once, where Barack Obama demonstrated the courage to stand up to his own party and effect change. He is a party man -- and worst of all, part of the corrupt Chicago political machine which made him into the charismatic empty vessel he has become. Where he is afraid to take action lest he anger voters, donors or the special interests behind his campaign.

Today, Michael J. Wissot, an adjunct professor of communications at Pepperdine University and someone who has worked for McCain put forth a particularly apt analogy.

"Obama is like the fan that dresses up like a ball player and steals onto the field. He struts, spits and acts like he knows what he is doing. He takes a few swings with the practice bat. But when it is time to step up to the plate and face major league pitching, all of the fans will instantly know he is a poseur."

Side note: On my way to get a haircut, I passed Pepperdine University and saw almost three thousand flags on Pepperdine's ocean-facing lawn: one for each victim of 9/11. Check out the end of this blog entry to see this massive display of patriotic pride.

What can YOU do?

Remember the democrats talk change and bi-partisanship but have little or no record of even attempting to avert this current financial catastrophe. No alarms, no warning, no efforts to reach out to the President. Nothing except endless wrangling about who might be to blame and what they might do when they assume, heaven forbid, power. Democrats talk the talk --- but never once walked the walk.

Every time the democrats spout off with glee about the situation in Iraq or troubles with our economy, ask them why they are so happy to see the American people suffer -- and are they willing to preside over America's decline only to return to power?

And in the final analysis, if we are in as bad a crisis as portrayed by the democrats, this is time for a trusted politician with experience, not someone who has never shown any form of leadership and certainly never faced a real crisis in his life.

-- steve

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

Bloomberg.com: News

Wissot: Suggested Article - Change 2.0 Suggests Anxiety in Obama Camp|NewsMax

Pepperdine Pictures ...

Sorry about the quality, they were taken with my little pocket camera from a moving car...

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These simple pictures can not even begin to do justice to the grandeur of the flag scene which wraps around the western portion of the Pepperdine Campus from Malibu Canyon Road to Pacific Coast Highway.

When seeing this, you wonder why anyone in Congress or any candidate for office would hesitate for a moment to put their personal ambition, party agenda and lust for power before the welfare of America and her citizens.

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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Circle Jerk: Government bails out insurer who insured toxic securities based on reserves which may have contained toxic securities?

Ostensibly to avert a world-wide financial crisis, the Federal Reserve gave loaned $85 BILLION dollars to insurer AIG to be collateralized with an 80% share of the business.

However, it is uncertain what the real deal may be as no one has reviewed the documents setting forth the terms and conditions along with the warranties and representations of AIG. And considering that much of AIG may be actuarially sound -- being regulated by state insurance commissioners, it is unknown how much of AIG can be salvages and spun off to other insurers and/or investors such as Warren Buffett.

According to the International Herald Tribune …

“Fed loans AIG $85 billion and take 80% stake in rescue”

“Acting to avert a possible financial crisis worldwide, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board reversed course Tuesday and agreed to an $85 billion bailout that would give the U.S. government an ownership stake in the troubled insurance giant American International Group.”

“With time running out after AIG failed to get a bank loan to avoid bankruptcy, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. and the Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke convened a meeting with House and Senate leaders on Capitol Hill at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to explain the rescue plan.”

Question: How soon will it be until AIG mobilizes a lobbying force to deal with Congress and members of Congress start seeking campaign funds and jobs for relatives from AIG? Cynical? You bet! We can already see the democrats lining up to line their pockets from the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How many communities in which political districts will now receive affordable housing grants? And lest we forget, what is the status of the non-profit foundations attached to both institutions. Remember the ones operated by Board Members and Executives who appeared to be double dipping as they worked on both sides of the divide on the same day?

Controversial?

“They emerged just after 7:30 p.m. with Paulson and Bernanke looking grim but top lawmakers generally expressing support for the plan. But the bailout is likely to prove controversial, because it effectively puts taxpayer money at risk while protecting bad investments made by AIG and other institutions AIG does business with.”

Why would the Federal Reserve take such action?

The why is simple: the Fed needed to insure the insurer so that insurance issued to private parties will be maintained if the insured goes broke. Or as I said: a circle jerk.

“What frightened Fed and Treasury officials was not simply the prospect of another giant corporate bankruptcy, but AIG's role as an enormous provider of financial insurance, which effectively requires it cover losses suffered by other institutions in the instance of defaults of securities that they have purchased. That means AIG is potentially on the hook for securities that were once considered safe.”

Stop gap measure designed to buy time …

Like the Federal Reserve’s liquidity injections into the banks and brokerages collateralized by their toxic paper, the Fed needed to also insure that the collapse of the toxic paper system would be somewhat orderly; with the losses spread out over enough time as to avoid precipitating a catastrophic downward spiral. 

“If AIG had collapsed and have been unable to pay all of its insurance claims, institutional investors around the world would have been instantly forced to reappraise the value of billions of dollars in debt securities, which in turn would have reduced their own capital and the value of their own debt.”

" ‘It would have been a chain reaction,’ said Uwe Reinhardt, a professor of economics at Princeton University. ‘The spillover effects could have been incredible.’"

The blame game …

Still, the move will likely start an intense political debate during the presidential election campaign over who is to blame for the financial crisis that prompted the rescue.

“Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Paulson and Bernanke had not requested any new legislative authority for the bailout at the meeting Tuesday.”

Perhaps Barney Frank, as smart as he is, has absent-mindedly forgotten the fact that Congress does not control the Federal Reserve as it is not a government agency and does not need Congressional  approval for its actions. While it is owned by its member banks, it holds a Congressional Charter to serve as the United States’ Central Banker.

"The secretary and the chairman of the Fed, two Bush appointees, came down here and said, 'We're from the government, we're here to help them,' " Frank said. "I mean this is one more affirmation that the lack of regulation has caused serious problems. That the private market screwed itself up and they need the government to come help them unscrew it."

Selective Bailouts?

“The decision was a remarkable turnabout by the Bush administration and Paulson, who had flatly refused over the weekend to risk taxpayer money to prevent the collapse of Lehman Brothers or the distressed sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America.”

“Earlier this year, the government bailed out another investment bank, Bear Stearns, by engineering a sale to JPMorgan Chase that left taxpayers on the hook for up to $29 billion of bad investments by Bear Stearns.”

“The government hoped at the time that this unusual step would both calm markets and lead to a recovery by the financial system. But critics warned at the time that it would only encourage others to seek bailouts, and the eventual costs to the government would be staggering.”

The government did nothing to regulate the creation and sale of derivatives although they had bankrupted California’s Orange County years before.

“ … AIG's downfall involved a new kind of insurance its financial products unit offered investors in complex debt securities. Its stock tumbled faster this year as first the debt securities lost value, and then the derivatives-based insurance contracts came under a cloud.”

“The Fed's extraordinary rescue of AIG underscores how much fear remains about the destructive potential of the complex financial instruments, like credit default swaps, that brought AIG to its knees. The market for such instruments has exploded in recent years, but it is almost entirely unregulated. When AIG began to teeter in the last few days, it became clear that if it defaulted on its commitments under the swaps, it could set off a devastating chain reaction through the financial system.”

“The swaps are not securities and are not regulated by the SEC And while they perform the same function as an insurance policy they are not insurance in the conventional sense, so insurance regulators do not monitor them either.”

Liquidity problems …

“AIG's complex debt securities had already lost billions of dollars in value in the months before the crisis began, because their value depends on home values. But in the last two days, the swaps AIG's financial products unit had sold began eating up billions of dollars of AIG's cash and liquid assets. That ultimately paralyzed AIG because it could not find a way to keep up with the fast-growing need to provide cash under the terms of its swap contracts.”

There is a solution …

The key to solving this financial crisis involves time, a willingness to let financial institutions and other entities  fail, and a willingness to unwind complex financial instruments in a way that may not be beneficial to the owners of the toxic paper.

In addition, home prices must be stabilized by not artificially propping up buyers who cannot afford their homes. These homes need to be re-priced in the marketplace so buyers with good credit and who can afford these homes take them off the market.

Those institutions which engaged in offering HELOCs (Home Equity Lines of Credit) as well as other junior lien paper must write their value down to zero and book the loss. If this unnecessarily results in an unsound financial institution, its assets should be transferred to a going concern. Management should be prosecuted for malfeasance. Employees would be transferred to the going concern as needed.

Those derivatives backed by toxic paper need to be re-pooled by a master servicer who will seek control over the underlying property and receive either the normal mortgage payments or the proceeds of any foreclosures.

Those derivatives which yield little or no value should be re-booked as losses and removed from the books.

Those mortgages that continue to yield value should be re-valued and re-pooled and sold to other investors as covered bonds.

Insurance covering defaults should be tapped to the maximum amount allowable. Any company that could not meet its capital requirements should be ruled to be insolvent and paying policies transferred to other firms along with the remaining capital assets. Insurance coverages  would be reassessed and insured entities would be forced to add insurance to cover any uncovered risk.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in assets should be recovered from those who were complicit in fraudulently manipulating the system. This includes executive pay and bonuses based on artificial evaluations. Someone needs to go to jail. Regulatory agencies which failed to protect the public when existing laws were not followed should be reconstituted and employees fired or reassigned.

And these are just a few of the steps that need to be taken along the path to restoring the public’s faith and confidence in the financial sector.

Yet all this will not happen as long as the financial industry is able to lobby Congress and obtain continuing money from various official and semi-official sources to artificially inflate their books and disguise the true state of their affairs.

Whatever the answer, the process will take time to allow the free market forces provide a resolution to this most distressing matter. That is, unless the politicians step in and artificially muck up the system once again with their patchwork quilt of regulatory agencies, rules and regulations.

What can YOU do?

Be prepared to take a haircut on your savings, retirement and investments. With a portion returning to the government as a reward for not doing their job.

Do not re-elect any politician whose policies are not completely transparent and who seems to favor the lobbyists and special interests over the voting public.

-- steve

Quote of the day: “I have long been of the opinion that if work were such a splendid thing the rich would have kept more of it for themselves.” -- Bruce Grocott

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

Fed loans AIG $85 billion and take 80% stake in rescue - Print Version - International Herald Tribune

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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Obama: Real change?

Jack Cafferty of CNN claims that ...

"Race is arguably the biggest issue in this election, and it's one that nobody's talking about."

Definitely not true. Although Barack Obama has brought up the subject of race on numerous occasions.

"The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn't be more well-defined."

This is a true statement. One is an empty-suit and the other a distinguished man of accomplishment.

"Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is a part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy."

This is nothing but a far-left liberal talking point that is not true. Obama speaks of change and presents no history of change, no plan for change and certainly appears to be a member in good standing of the corrupt Chicago political machine. McCain has a history of historic change on campaign financing, immigration, global warming, bi-partisan legislation and a host of other legislation.

"Yet the polls remain close. Doesn't make sense…unless it's race."

Cafferty is either stupid, blind or both. It does make sense. And I will cite the exact issues that make me believe that Barack Obama is unfit to be the President of the United States.

Why I am ...

avoiding a political DOPE …

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and saying NOPE!

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Sorry Barry, I’m not buying it!

  • No experience, executive or otherwise?

  • Dubious and dangerous friendships: Farrakahn, Phleger, Wright, Ayers, Dorn, Rezko?

  • Far-left socialistic policies including inculcation in Black Liberation Theology which demonizes whites and is based on a cult of victimhood?

  • Manufactured image -- needs pre-written speeches delivered with a TelePrompTer to sound intelligent about serious matters?

  • No apparent “core” beliefs. Signs on to legislation proposed by others -- almost always along party lines -- no change here. Votes "Present" instead of Yay or Nay like a real legislator?

  • Higher taxes?

  • Bigger government?

  • No foreign policy except talking to our enemies without pre-conditions?

  • Welcomes illegal aliens while seeing our healthcare, educational, judicial, social and cultural infrastructure crumble?

  • Wants to make America into Europe?

  • Same old "democrat" machine politics that divide Americans into hyphenated-Americans based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference and class.

  • Claims to be a community organizer working on affordable housing issues but takes money from organizations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Trains others in disruptive tactics. Employs campaign advisors who have either taken special mortgage deals or have looted money from Fannie Mae.

  • Wife appears angry, disconnected and wears the pants in the family. Her influence might be greater than Hillary Clinton's on Bill Clinton when he was the President. I do not want another co-presidency or an unelected unofficial vice president.

  • Proves he cannot grasp change by selecting political party hack for his vice president who says inappropriate and outrageous things over a more qualified woman candidate which would have demonstrated his committment to changing the status quo.

  • Appears to slavishly follow the democrat advice for winning elections and decrys slurs, lies and innuendo -- even though his surrogates use them daily.

  • But most of all -- he is a bald-faced liar: telling the Canadians that he was not telling the truth about NAFTA and speaking only to the American voting public while he was talking to workers in middle America. Denied it all until memos surfaced detailing his campanign people meeting the Canadians.

  • Elitist politics: telling the brie and wine crowd in a San Francisco drawing room about the middle Americans who are disaffected and cling to their religion and guns. Openly courted Barbra Streisand and the Hollywood crowd for record donations.

  • And above all, is welcomed with open arms by those who would do America the most harm. Simply put, why elect our enemy's choice of candidate?

So Jack, pick another reason for not voting for Obama.

My voting preference is …

flag

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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Pelosi is lying again ...

Capture9-16-2008-4.42.51 PM

Let the investigation, I mean show, begin …

The democrats, desperate to reverse the Sarah Palin effect are desperate to continue to paint the Bush Administration as the corrupt, uncaring and chaotic reason for the current financial melt-down. And what better way than a media event, presided over my the self-righteous ferret-like Henry Waxman who just happens to be my Representative.

According to Politico.com …

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered a broad, swift investigation of Wall Street and will demand testimony from Bush administration officials and captains of finance, congressional officials said.”

“House Democrats plan an aggressive look at the administration’s role in this weekend’s meltdown, and explore further regulation and government structures that would be taken up under the new president.”

“Republican aides accused Democrats of trying to shift blame with a series of ‘show trials,’ but acknowledged that key officials will wind up cooperating.”

The way it should be done …

Instead of Henry Waxman hosting a free-for-all Bush-bashing media event where the Representatives present their opinions as fact and hog the camera, there is another way.

“Separately, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, plans a forward-looking hearing with economists on Wednesday to ‘begin a conversation about where we go with the capital markets,’ a House aide said.”

Truth be told …

All-in-all, the current situation is far beyond the ability of Congress and the Administration to resolve. It will take time and the action of the free markets to sort out the mess and restore stability that part of the economy in difficulty. Unfortunately, politicians always believe that the solution to a problem lies in more legislation – a hoary canard which is often provably wrong.

The only result that can be garnered from this session of Congress is to set the stage for the incoming Administration and a new session of Congress – possibly with many new faces and ideas about how to effect some semblance of a solution.

Meanwhile, Pelosi twists, turns, spins and lies …

BIG LIE #1:   An ethical congress …

"The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington D.C.," she said. "And the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history." – Nancy Pelosi

And by Clintonian standards anything short of outright corruption and chaos can be regarded as being honest, open and ethical. For those that do not remember (or wish to forget) “as a candidate in 1992, Bill Clinton blasted Bush administration standards of behavior and pledged to conduct ‘the most ethical administration in the history of the Republic.’"

BIG LIE #2:   Stability and Bipartisanship …

" ‘Tonight is a great victory for the American people,’ Pelosi said in a late-night speech in Washington. ‘Today the American people voted for change, and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction.’ She described the vote as a mandate ‘to restore stability and bipartisanship’ in Washington and for ‘a new direction’ in the war in Iraq.

And we have all witnessed the gridlock displayed in Pelosi’s House of Representatives with the democrats and Republicans barely speaking to each other.

According to USA Today…

“With Dems in control: Gridlock or change?”

“Democrats' stunning electoral gains will broaden the economic agenda beyond President Bush's focus on tax cuts to more populist debates over income inequality, globalization, budget deficits and health care coverage, among other issues.”

“But the big question is whether Democratic control of the House — and possibly the Senate — will result in substantive change or merely political stalemate and posturing for the next presidential election.”

" ‘The theme for the next two years is showcase '08,’ says Dan Mica, a former Democratic congressman who heads the Credit Union National Association. ‘America thinks the elections were over yesterday, but we just had a ... break from commercials.’"

BOHICA:  Bend Over Here It Comes Again …

As reported in the Hill.com …

“Pelosi: Dems bear no responsibility for economic crisis”

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when asked Tuesday whether Democrats bear some of the responsibility regarding the current crisis on Wall Street, had a one-word answer: ‘No.’”

BIG LIE #3:   That the democrats do not bear some responsibility for the current crisis on Wall Street…

“Pelosi (D-Calif.) ripped President Bush’s ‘mismanagement’ of the economy and a lack of regulation that led to the current situation.
'I think the American people have had it with this situation where the middle-income people in our country are not protected from the ramifications of the risk-taking and the greed of these financial institutions,’ Pelosi told MSNBC.”

“When asked whether the Democrats ‘deserve some responsibility” regarding the economic crisis, Pelosi responded: ‘No.’”

Let’s review …

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were creations of the democrats who imposed their social engineering goals upon the agencies in the form of “affordable housing” quotas. For those who do not understand Washingtonian, that means a relaxation of underwriting standards for those who are less able to afford housing using traditional lending means. It also is a classic definition of  “subprime” lending. One might ask, where were the congressional oversight committees that are fond of holding dog-and-pony show investigations that highlight the committee members over those called to testify?

Wasn’t it the democrats and their far-left liberal organizations who went after banks to make reduced requirement loans under the penalty of sanctions. The very same people who used HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) to accuse financial institutions of “redlining” when they did not seem to make enough loans in impoverished areas.

And come to think of it, didn’t Barack Obama work for far-left liberal ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) which grew out of the old National Welfare Rights Organization. An organization which fought to lower lending standards and to keep people in homes that they could not afford in the first place. An organization that defines the far-left liberal democrat party. An organization pursuing their far-left political agenda by capitalizing on the pain and suffering of others. 

Does Pelosi realize that lobbyists are not particularly partisan as they provide campaign contributions to both sides in order to promote their special interests. Is there any record of campaign contributions or support being refused by the democrats when lobbied prodigiously by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Wizards or the mortgage industry. I think not.

Wasn’t it Congress who relaxed the core capital requirements of Fannie and Freddie while extending their purchase authority beyond any prudent limits?

Wasn’t it loud-mouth Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who single-handedly destroyed IndyMac bank as they were preparing to sell themselves to another financial entity? Simply by releasing a letter to IndyMac’s regulators questioning the soundness of the bank. Which, as we all know, started a fatal bank run on its deposits resulting in a Conservatorship by FDIC.

In fact, the only democrat who tried to bring a prudent approach to lending was Representative Barney Frank, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and ostensibly the smartest (and funniest) man serving today.  He is not only fair-minded and pragmatic, but seems to be a decent sort even in a Ted Kennedy party. He knows you don’t kill the golden goose simply to win an election.

In my book, the democrats are as complicit as the entire Congress and the Bush Administration for the current mess. And for Nancy Pelosi to claim otherwise is a disingenuous lie.

Why the democrats do not deserve power …

What angers me more than anything is that the democrats will do or say anything to get elected or remain in power. And after witnessing the past few years, I am convinced that they wanted the United States to lose in Iraq and elsewhere; if for no other reason than to highlight the failures of the Bush Administration. And now that the “surge” is apparently working and the Iraq situation is starting to resolve itself, the democrats are now using the economy as the driving force of their new campaign for power. Aided and abetted by a complicit media which sounds a greatly amplified negative drumbeat each and every time something happens in our economy. Driving a self-fulfilling prophesy that is creating a toxic downward negative spiral.

If the democrats haven’t noticed: the Bush Administration is over …

Instead of explaining what their version of change will mean to Americans, the democrats insist in bashing the Bush Administration. An administration which was rife with incompetent cronies and laissez faire governmental policies. Deregulation to the point of chaos, confusion and quasi-legal financial transactions.

We need to thank President Bush for his efforts in keeping us safe from terrorist attack, complain about his failures, miscues and slipshod policies if we must – and then move on to the future. Something the democrats are unable or unwilling to do. They need a bogeyman as much as government always needs an enemy to muster public support for unpopular policies and to provide a diversion while the politicians continue to pick the public’s pockets.

What does Pelosi or the democrats offer us for the future?

Nothing but words. “Hope and Change,” backed up by nothing more substantial than their word (worthless as all political promises) that somehow things will be different. What I want to know is HOW? What I want to know is can we trust YOU?

In both cases, based on their past actions, the answer is: we can’t trust you because you are not representative of change. You are still machine politicians pandering to the unions and special interests such as the illegal alien lobby. Your candidates are as corrupt and chaotic, if not more so than the Republicans, and operate from a position of self-interest. Would I want to continue with an Administration which featured a more powerful Chuck Schumer or Maxine Waters? I think not.

What can YOU do?

Forget the party, vote for those who exhibit backbone and principles. Someone with a chance to demonstrate the leadership it will take to hold our enemies at bay and resolve our own internal financial crisis.

New regulations are not what is needed, enforcement of the old ones would have prevented this entire mess from ever happening. Had the bank regulators done their job instead of continually preempting state laws and had the audit staff been more competent, the underwriting policies of lenders would have never succumbed to political whim or the needs of the Wall Street Wizards to create more nothing out of already thin air. 

Do not re-elect politicians like Clinton, Schumer, Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Waters and other far-left liberals who think that they have a solution if only we grow government bigger, pay more taxes and cede more of our personal freedoms to their cause. A socialistic cause which respects the “collective” over individual rights.

Do not vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security, sovereignty and economic strength of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for their personal philosophy, power, prestige or profits.

-- steve

Quote of the Day: “The person who is not hungry says that the coconut has a hard shell.” --African Tribal Saying

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

TheHill.com

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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