Jack & Jill Politics

As individuals I think by learning something new it expands and improves who and what we are. Everyone should keep learning and never stop.

Hey guys,

I've got a new diary up on Dkos talking about Urban Radio Host, and the AA community.

Once You Go Black...Pollsters Underestimating African American Voter Turnout

lamh: I will go "Field Trippin'"! Thanks. :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

i thought this was interesting...from bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070...

Rikyrah: From my "Field Trip" to mudflats:

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/ted-st...
Ted Stevens Trial Gears Up

Today’s the day. After three unsuccessful attempts to get the case thrown out, jury selection in the Ted Stevens trial will begin today.

SKIP

For all the good Stevens has done, there are many who think his time is over. Ex-Governor Walter Hickel, who appointed Stevens to his senate seat in 1968 has even said it’s timefor the very senior senator to retire. Stevens has deteriorated a lot in the last few years. His frequent stammering is almost incomprehensible. His belligerence is alienating many Alaskans who used to revere him. And sometimes he’s just downright embarrassing… Wearing a tie featuring the Incredible Hulk on the Senate floor, and his reference to the internet as a “series of tubes” has begun to define his national image, more than his actual policies.

SKIP

So for those of you who are suffering from Sarah-fatigue, take heart. Alaska is an endless source of the strange, the sordid, and the knee deep muck of Alaskan politics.

Mudflats is just "on it!" :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

this trial doesn't seem that complicated.

he had income he didn't report.

I hope they nail him.

rikyrah: BUT, it will be interesting IF "The Gov." is among the witnesses! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!>/b

I came across this article while looking for others.....this is over 2 years old but describes Goldman Sachs, when Hank Paulson was at the helm.


$521,000: The average pay of Goldman Sachs employees ­ and that includes secretaries

By Stephen Foley in New York
Sunday, 12 February 2006

They call it Goldmine Sachs. And well they might. Because the Wall Street giant has become the first major investment bank to see its average salary top half a million dollars.


The extraordinary figure is disclosed in the company's latest regulatory filings and comes as a record bonus season draws to a close on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is sure to be used to entice people to join the bank, which expects to boost its number of employees by up to 10 per cent in anticipation of another bumper year for trading and mergers and acquisitions activity.

Last year, Goldman Sachs paid out $11.7bn (£6.7bn) to its 22,425 employees - around 3,000 of whom are in London.

Hank Paulson, the chairman and chief executive, was paid $38m in salary, shares and options - a 21 per cent increase on 2004. An average figure per staff member of $521,000 bursts through a barrier not even breached during the dot-com boom in 1999 and 2000.

This is a 12 per cent increase on the $466,000 average disclosed for 2004. It is twice the level of average pay at rivals Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.

Wall Street banks are paying out a record $21.5bn in bonuses for 2005, according to New York State figures. That dwarfs 2004's $18.6bn and tops the previous record of $19.5bn in 2000. The average bonus in 2005 was $125,500 - some $25,000 more than in 2000

Deutsche Bank last week became the latest to disclose to its staff the bonus cheques they will soon be taking home. Some top executives will receive bonuses 75 per cent higher than last year.

The average bonus is believed to have increased by a double-digit percentage, and the subtle boast is meant to signal Deutsche's return to health after several lacklustre years.

-------

Of course now, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been granted a change in status from investment banks to bank holding companies by the Federal Reserve last night, amidst the "banking crisis."

rikyrah: Look what I found at Daily Kos WOW!! 25,000 - 30,0000 rally for Mr. Obama in Charlotte, NC!!

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/21/162...
Daily Kos: State of the Nation

The pics are AMAZING!! Whooo! Hoo!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

Saw this at HuffPo:

Fury at $2.5bn Bonus for Lehman's New York Staff
Monday, September 22, 2008

Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night

The revelation sparked fury among the workers' former colleagues, Lehman's 5,000 staff based in London, who currently have no idea how long they will go on receiving even their basic salaries, let alone any bonus payments. It also prompted a renewed backlash over the compensation culture in global finance, with critics claiming that many bankers receive pay and rewards that bore no relation to the job they had done.

A spokesman for Barclays said the $2.5bn bonus pool in New York had been set aside before Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States a week ago. Barclays has agreed that the fund should continue to be ring-fenced now it has taken control of Lehman's US business, a deal agreed by American bankruptcy courts over the weekend.

Barclays is paying $1.75bn for the US operation of Lehman and is keen to retain its best staff. It said it had made no promises to individual staff members about how much they will receive but that the bonus fund would be paid out. In addition to the $2.5bn cash pool, Barclays is also in negotiations with about 30 executives it considers to be Lehman's best assets and plans to offer them contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. British employees of Lehman described the bonus payments as a "scandal" as they waited anxiously yesterday to see whether a deal could be struck with buyers circling the bank's European operations.

Many of Lehman's UK staff are particularly angry about the US payouts because it has emerged that in the days running up to the bankruptcy, some $8bn in cash was transferred out of the account of the bank's European business into accounts at the New York head office.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news...

These mofos set aside $2.5 billion BEFORE they declared bankrutcy----while Barclays is paying $1.75 billion to take them over. And on top of that, Barcalys wants to offer 30 executives from Lehman's contracts worth millions of dollars.

Ain't that a bitch-------and the government wants taxpayers to bailout other companies who are very likely doing the same unscrupulous things as Lehmans.

These two articles really get to the heart of this election with acute awareness. I just had to pass it on. What else is there to be said.

Source: New York Times, Opinion, September 22, 2008
Editorial Observer: Barack Obama, John McCain and the Language of Race
By BRENT STAPLES

"The discomfort with certain forms of black assertiveness is too deeply rooted in the national psyche to just disappear."

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/oba...

*Obama and the Palin Effect* - by Deepak Chopra***

antennaness. thx for this. dead on and cleanly worded opinion to be taken, unfortunately, very seriously.

thx hustleandfloe. Its really ironic that Palin represents the the dark side (knight), I guess sadly the joker would be race. She had been brought in as the great white hope to save the day.

I posted this over on the new republic blog in response to a post about polling and voter turnout:

"Check it,

I think you guys are really underestimating the turnout for AA this year. I'm guessing that as in the rest of America, AA are in the minority when it comes to blogging, but I bet not many of the MSM or white people in general listen to Urban radio. People like Tom Joiner, Michael Baisden, Steve Harvey, to name a few, who are nationally syndicated urban radio personalities.
I'm telling you, ya'll should check these shows out one day. All they talk about daily seems to be this election, and Barack Obama. They are on point when it comes to registration, voter suppression, and GOTV.

Not only that, there are AA church groups, fellowships, greek organizations, NAACP who are all doing all that they can to GOTV, and help elect Barack Obama. Trust me when I tell you that this election cycle, you won't have to worry about the turnout of AA voters. It's the voter suppression tactics that will be attempted that will need to be watched out for. And even on that subject, Urban Radio host daily talk to their listeners about voter registration and voter purges.

There are a lot of Urban Radio stations, they may not individually have the numbers that Rush or Hannity have, but as a whole, they reach a lot of young people, AA, other "urban voters".

Don't underestimate AA voters this year, you will be in for a surprise. This won't be another "why didn't AA turnout" type of election. This is our time, this is our moment."

Well said.

McCain says Palin understands our National Security issues because her son has been deployed. Hell, that would probably make some, if not all of us, VP material.

This election season is like a bad soap opera.

thx for this. this whole "I know it because I'm next to it" osmotic method of expertise-havin' is the worst result of our newly palin-driven, Alaska's-next-to-Russia hoodwinkery.

my fam's been deployed a bunch of times in places all over the world. we talk, but I can't extrapolate that into knowledge of national security. Besides, they, just like Palin's son, have a whole lot of stuff that they CANNOT tell me, anyway. Apart from giving some real and necessary empathy to use in policy-making, having family over there ain't near 'bouts enough when it comes to making decisions for a nation. Some folks with kids over there say we shoulda just laid that joint flat on day one. Others say you shouldnt'a sent my kid there in the first place.

Which one should be President? (The second, but not by resume.)

Dang, next they'll say if she eats cous cous she's an expert on the Middle East.

nichwah22: Annnnnd, another thing: If she attends the "Tea Party" with foreign dignitaries/heads of state, will that make her more foreign to us?

Deep apologies to all foreigners!

Obama-Biden '08!

I am actually very interested to see how her pow-wow with these UN leaders goes. At this point, I wouldn't want her to go on vacation to another country, much less represent America.

Will this be the icing on the cake for the MSM if she truly screws this up?

nickwah22:
1. Co-sign! But, I'm believin' that some of "McAncient's" campaign funds will go to anyone who even "thinks about" saying something NEGATIVE about her after this "meeting!?"

2.Also, IMHO, the MSM will not throw "The Gov." under the proverbial bus, unless and until she publicly renounces her citizenship of the US of A. They are this fawning -IMHO!

I'll be waiting for them to use the "icing" so that I can lick the bowl! :>)

O.K. Maybe that's a little over the edge! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

nickwah22: "AS The Stomach Turns!" [Music: dum! dum! dum!] :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

Roland S. Martin Joins The Tom Joyner Morning Show
Today Martin begins his new role as senior news analyst for the TJMS

(Dallas, TX – September 22nd, 2008) – Roland Martin, a popular CNN analyst and TV One Cable Network commentator, has joined the Tom Joyner Morning Show as senior news analyst to the nation’s No. 1 nationally syndicated urban radio show, company officials announced today. Martin’s daily contribution can be heard every morning at 6:20 am CST. He will offer daily insight into major news events and other issues affecting Black America.

"I am excited to join The Tom Joyner Morning Show, which has been at the forefront of community advocacy in urban radio," said Martin. “As senior analyst, my goal is to bring clarity and a sense of purpose to the morning show’s eight million listeners on the issues surrounding the current presidential election, but also provide a common sense perspective on the many other social and cultural issues of the day through interviews with top newsmakers, and occasionally commentary.”

As one of Black America’s most recognized journalist, just this year alone Martin has been named by Ebony Magazine as one of the 150 Most Influential African Americans in the United States and won a NAACP Image Award for Best Interview for "In Conversation: The Sen. Barack Obama Interview." Martin was also named one of the top 50 political pundits by the Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom and was awarded the 2008 President's Award by the National Association of Black Journalists for his work in multiple media platforms.

"This is a time when people need to be challenged where they are on the issues, regardless of ideology, class, race and gender, and I intend to be honest and 'real' in every way possible,” explains Martin.

A seasoned member of the press, Martin is the former executive editor/general manager of the Chicago Defender, the nation's largest Black daily newspaper, as well as the former founding news editor for Savoy Magazine and BlackAmericaWeb.com. He earned a B.S. in journalism from Texas A&M University and recently received a Masters in Christian Communications from Louisiana Baptist University.

Martin’s segments can be heard on a local Tom Joyner Morning Show affiliate or online at BlackAmericaWeb.com (http://www.blackamericaweb.com). Also, reports will be available on demand on the “If You Missed It” page.

Additionally, Martin hosts his own talk show on WVON-AM/1690 in Chicago and is a special correspondent for Essence Magazine, writing a bi-monthly column and a daily blog on Essence.com. His last day at WVON is Oct. 3, and he will simulcast his Joyner segment daily until then.

shameless big up to Roland Martin, if only because he's the exact same brother he's been since the days at Texas A&M - hustling harder than a one-blade ceiling fan at his journalism craft - (even while on line. nah - the old kind, nobody's "online" in '87 cept those few in computer lab) sweatpants, high top sneaks (I think the Olajuwon's - paying H-town respect)...and steno pad glued to hand. we were 1200 black students of total enrollment 43,000 (surprise, the numbers are the same from 1986 today... no surprise) - and he made a real mark, as many of those 1200. good to see him stirring conversation on screen.

hustleandfloe: ". . . . one-blade ceiling fan. . . " ROTHLMHO!!!! :>)

I am tha -rough!!:>) :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

I'm sad about Roland leaving WVON - he was perfect to listen to the mornings as I worked out.

rikyrah: Major props to Mr. Martin!!

Thanks for this information. :>)

Thank Y'ALL for having FEWER daily threads! IMHO, this allows me to READ & RESPOND in more depth! [Maybe I'm a slow reader? :>)]

Again, thanks to you/JJP!

Obama-Biden '08!

Utterly hilarious comment over at Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog:

Referencing McAncient's bitching and whining about the NYTimes



A few thoughts

1. The McCain campaign is flailing around like Sonny Liston in the first fight before Ali/Clay-- the Obama campaign has clearly gotten into their head (which I suggested/predicted in the Uppity Thread). I expect someone (Axelrod? Bruton?) to finally tell the McCain folks to grow a pair.

2. The McCain campaign is flailing around because their campaign has functionally married a stripper in picking Palin (as opposed to dull but economically knowledgable Romney). They had 2 weeks of fun-- but the stripper's baggage is starting to show (no foreign policy curiosity, all kinds of ethical flags, etc.). Palin not having a press conference is like not having your parents meet your wife (it suggests you have something to hide). And folks, things won't get better with Palin on the ticket for McCain. McCain has (by analogy) had two weeks of stripper sex-- now he starts to discover his finances and respect from his friends are (by analogy) going down (e.g. conservative intellectuals like Sully, Frum are calling him out; the press are laughing at his ads). Now her baggage will sink him (sort of like picking up herpes from a stripper).

3. BTW, my apologies to strippers out there. But Romney was the better pick as VP.

Posted by: Lemar Mundane | September 22, 2008 6:55 PM

rikyrah: BWAHAHAHAHAH!! LOL!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

Obama has him on the ropes and is POUNDING him mercilessly. O's ads are sticking him-jab jab cross-and now they are starting to cry. When they were trying to swiftboat O everything was cricket. If they can dish it out, surely they can take it. I hope that O's strong & forceful ads continue until Nov. 5th. Drive it like Tiger Woods! WE GOT THE BIG MO!!

Teacher: O-Man is taking it strong to da hoop!! Boo-yah!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-waldman/wa...

Sarah Palin was sent by God to battle the Anti-Christ Barack Obama.

Riddle me this: if Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ and the radical Christians want the end of the world/rapture to commence ASAP, shouldn't they be voting for Barack Obama?

And if Barack Obama really is the Anti-christ, will losing the presidency REALLY stop his nefarious goals?

Stop it Town! You're confusing them. I sill can't figure out how if Obama is the anti-Christ he couldn't make his student loans disappear...unless the home office of Sallie Mae is really the opening vortex to the gates of hell - which may be possible.

Miranda: Was that Sallie Mae JOHNSON - Mr. & Mrs. Abraham Lincoln Johnson's youngest chil'?? If it was, I saw her last night hanging all over that man and he wa'n't her husband. ANNNd it was right after evening choich!! :>)


Obama-Biden '08!

Before McCain picked Palin, I've been reading far right wingnuts' blogs. A lot of these blogs through around the idea that Obama is the anti-Christ. I knew they could not wrap their minds around the idea that Obama could actually become president. After Palin came into to picture and McCain was leading in the poll I thought that they would have dropped that meme. I guess that not going to happened.

There is some scary ish out there. All the crazies are coming out of the woodwork

Hi All - if you want a laugh - skip over to mudflats. Someone always steals an Obama/Biden sign from this person's yard so they put up a webcam.
You can post comments to the instant messaging service while you watch. It is hilarious.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/obama-sign-cctv-1

This is pure comedy! Thanks Val

I love this. Thanks for the heads up!

this IS hilarious.

mudflats has indeed become a discovered treasure during this political season.

rikyrah: I go "mining for GOLD" daily!! :>)

Thar's GOLD in them thar hills!!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

Val: Thank you sooo much!! I just posted on it. I said that I must now have "foreign policy experience" 'cause I can see Alaska from here!! :>) :>)

Someone responded - What's up from JJP! :>)

This was GREAT!!! :>) Thanks, again!



Obama-Biden '08!

rikyraH;; Overheard this conversation while watching CNN:

Did you see that?

What??

Thaaaaaaat - over there!

Where?

In the middle of the room!!

Ya mean. . . . . .

Yeah. . .

Did I see that -um, humungous, enormous, huge, big -um thing?

Yeah!!

Well, actually, I've been seeing it since DAY 1 of this whole election process!
But, I didn't feel the need ta say anything!!

So do we have ta discuss it now?

Yeah! It's on!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Wolfe Dasher, -um, Dancer, -um Prancer, -uh Blitzen, O.K. Blitzer is 'bout to moderate the discussion on RACE in the race! He just got finished presenting all the known survey statistics! I can't stand him!!

Obama-Biden '08!

From TMP Election Central http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com...

Palin Claims "Obama-Biden Democrats" Are Regularly Attacking Her Family, But...
By Greg Sargent - September 22, 2008, 3:25PM

The McCain camp has just blasted out to its list a fundraising email by Sarah Palin claiming that Obama-Biden Democrats are waging frequent attacks on her family. From the email:

Friends, in the course of a few weeks, the Obama-Biden Democrats have launched attack after attack on me, my family and John McCain. They're desperate to win and they'll no doubt launch these attacks against other reformers on our ticket.

I didn't remember any attacks on Palin's family from Obama, Biden, or their top supporters. So I asked the McCain campaign what this was a reference to.

Here, according to a McCain campaign aide, are the attacks on Palin's family from "Obama-Biden Democrats" that the email refers to:

1) Obama finance committee member Howard Gutman questioning Palin's parenting and her willingness to take on the Veep candidate role when her family is so consuming -- a comment he subsequently apologized for.

2) Andrew Sullivan's demand that the McCain campaign release medical records putting to rest rumors about the birth of Trig Palin.

3) A user diary on DailyKos, which is of course the site of leading Obama supporter Markos Moulitsas, raising questions about that pregnancy.

And that's it.

Meanwhile, just today, on a McCain campaign conference call, McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt laid into the alleged ties between Joe Biden's son and the credit card industry.

This is laugh out loud funny. Get rid of your s@#$. Sec paulson is buying:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93BUIT...

the above is supposed to be a joke. this isn't:The three-page rescue plan sent to Congress Sept. 20 empowers Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to purchase mortgage- related securities from U.S. financial companies. The administration widened the scope of bad loans that may be acquired, potentially including car loans, credit-card debt and other devalued assets held by banks.


Read the rest:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=a7iCv1F0kuvQ&refer=home

An afternooon funny

McCain certainly has a thing for beauty queens.

Brazilian beauty recalls hot Rio affair with young John McCain
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/0...

Not sure if anyone has posted but the MSM has posted a story on Palin and the rape kits in her hometown. See CNN link below:

Story Highlights
While Sarah Palin was mayor, Wasilla charged victims for their rape exams

Interviews, review of records show no evidence Palin knew victims were charged

Former state representative says it seems unlikely Palin was not aware of issue

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/21/palin.ra...

Russian Navy ships heads to Venezuela, a deployment of military power that has been unprecendented since the Cold War.....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/09/22/ru...

I was reading somewhere that Chavez prefers McCain to Obama because he has more control over his people when using the US as a scapegoat for Venezuela's problems.

That may be true....but I found some other infomation about our how deep our trading relationship with Venezuela is .....and Chavez is angry because of an alleged coup attempt on his government in 2002 by the U.S.....

Venezuela was once known solely for its oil deposits and compliant trade relations with the United States; Washington’s interest in the country was largely limited to the narrow, oil-driven economic ties between the two countries. Only when Chávez became the leader of what was beginning to become an important trading partner and threatened to destabilize a status-quo that was not in Venezuela’s favor, did the United States express much concern over the well-being of the latter’s population. The sudden intense concern that then followed seems directly tied to the U.S.’s economic interests, glazed over by a revival of a heavy dose of Cold War-era ideology.

The commercial ties between the U.S. and Venezuela are deep if not broad. Venezuela is one of the largest Latin American investors in the U.S. and one of its top four foreign oil suppliers. In 2007, bilateral trade between the countries totaled U.S. $50 billion, consisting of $10 billion in U.S. exports and $40 billion coming from Venezuela. The U.S is Venezuela’s most important trading partner, representing about 22 per cent of its imports and approximately 60 per cent of Venezuelan exports. Ninety-five per cent of Venezuelan oil is exported to the U.S., establishing it as Venezuela’s principal energy client. Venezuela is the U.S.’s second largest Latin American trading partner, purchasing U.S. machinery, transportation equipment, agricultural commodities, and auto parts. Thus, the rhetorical battles between the two nations carried very little heft due to the importance of the petroleum trade relationship to their mutual economic stability...

Venezuela’s antagonism towards the U.S. has escalated since the April 2002 attempted coup against Chávez, which the U.S. allegedly backed. In January 2006, the Chávez government expelled a militant attaché from the U.S. embassy in Caracas, claiming that he had been spying on the Venezuelan armed forces; Washington was quick to respond that the accusation was concocted. In May 2008, a U.S. fighter plane “inadvertently” violated Venezuelan airspace due to an acknowledged navigation error. Despite U.S. air-traffickers contacting the Venezuelan tower to report the accidental incursion while it was occurring, Venezuelan Defense Minister Gustavo Reyes Rangel characterized the action as “deliberate on the part of the North American Navy…

Further, he has consistently railed against the Bush administration’s strong-armed practices. On a number of occasions, he has accused the U.S. of infiltration, invasion, and assassination plots. Chávez claims that the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are evidence of the “Empire” arrogantly flexing its muscles. For this reason, he insists that any improvement of relations with Washington will have to wait for the next administration.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3721

We need a leader who will diplomatically resolve our relations with Chavez....Too much resentment is building up with Russia and Venezuela....the crisis in Georgia, and our agreement to place anti-missile defense circling Russia could be building up a new Cold War....

A proposal to fix the financial mess from Sen Dodd: http://www.politico.com/static/PPM41_ayo08b28.html

rikyrah: Here's a NOVEL concept: "McAncient" LIES!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/mccain...
McCain Lies: "I've Bought American Literally All My Life"

It seems John McCain's belief in "Country First" only goes so far.

Yesterday, we learned that not only does McCain own thirteen cars, but that the McCain fleet includes imports, a VW from Germany and a Honda from Japan. (His wife drives a Lexus, but that car is owned by her beer distributorship.)

And now it turns out that earlier this month he lied to Michigan voters about his car purchases, telling them "I've bought American literally all my life" during a September 7 interview with Detroit's WXYZ-TV. Earlier in the interview, he had told the interviewer "Cindy and I own an automobile that's American-made" which was about best an extremely misleading statement.

SKIP

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger on Sunday once again accused John McCain of less-than-straight talk on the issue of buying American-made cars, after Newsweek magazine reported that the McCains own at least three foreign-made vehicles. [...]


"'Buy American' can't just be a slogan John McCain rolls out when he's in Michigan," Gettelfinger said Sunday. Americans are free to buy whatever they choose, Gettelfinger said, but he accused McCain of trying to mislead Midwestern voters about what vehicles he owns.

Let's face it -- the man is just a pathological liar.

ENOUGH, said!!

Obama-Biden '08!

a commenter on CNN said that John McCain invented lies, lol

JJai: LOL!! LOL!! Well, at least, it's more true than the "claim" for inventing "Blackberry's"! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

rikyrah: Alaskans take on "The Gov."s" inaccessibility.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/21/alaska...
Alaskans Angry That Palin Is Suddenly Off-Limits

Jerry McCutcheon went to Sarah Palin's office here last week to request information about the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, the scandal that for weeks has threatened to overshadow the governor's role as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate.

SKIP

In stubbornly independent Alaska, the sudden intrusion of a political campaign into so many corners of state government -- not to mention Wasilla, where a dozen or more campaign researchers and lawyers have also begun overseeing the release of any information about Palin's years as mayor -- has touched a raw nerve. McCain staffers have even been assigned to answer calls for Palin's family members, who have been instructed not to talk.

Again, I ask, how is it that the REPUG. Presidential Campaign is now serving as "The Gov." of Alaska?? Have any of the other 49 state governors been offered the same??

Just askin' . . . .

Obama-Biden '08!

McCain Campaign Throws Another Tantrum over NYT article

McGrumpy camp: "...the New York Times once was, it is not today by any standard a journalistic organization," Schmidt said. "It is a pro-Obama organization that every day attacks Senator McCain, attacks Governor Palin, and excuses Senator Obama."


Obama camp response:
Number of probing stories the NY Times has written over the course of the campaign about Barack Obama, his life, his religion, his childhood, his politics, his time in the state senate, his time in the U.S. Senate, his family, his religion, his friends, his fundraising and all other manner of associations: more than 40

Number of stories the NY Times has written over the course of the campaign about the last major financial regulatory crisis, resulting in a huge bailout, and which John McCain was centrally involved in with his political godfather Charles Keating: 0 CLASSSSSSIIIIC!!!!

By attack, they mean question & challenge? Like we should be doing so that our country doesn't further go down the crapper. Jeez.

Great response from Obama.

OMG

HILARIOUS

Rut-Roh!

In my best Dee from "What's Happening" impression...

"Oooooh you're in trouble now, Raj"

No you didn't take it there.....LOLOLOLOL!!!!!

Oh no they didn't!

That was a triple snap, reverse, full 360, head turn, roll eyes, oh no they didn't, you got me bent, screw you, go to hell, try me ONE MO TIME - response.......LOL...the Obama camp WENT THERE! They SOOOOOO went there!!

It's official...the McCain campaign isn't even trying to hide that they're playing all of us for chumps:

McCain Aide: Palin has 'metaphorical' foreign policy experience

Seriously, WTF?

"metaphorical" - just a fancy smancy word for "dont know a damn thang".

METAPHORICAL

uh huh

Wow. Just...wow.

rikyrah: "McAncient" continues in his C-O-N-F-U-S-I-O-N!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/mccain...
McCain Defends Fiorina's Golden Parachute

his weekend, John McCain defended unhelpful surrogate Carly Fiorina's generous severance package from Hewlett Packard:

"I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects," McCain told "The Today Show's" Meredith Vieira when she pressed him on the matter in light of McCain's recent accusations of greed on Wall Street.


"I know that she was a very successful businesswoman. Started out as a part-time secretary and made her way to the top of the corporate ladder as one of the biggest CEOs in the United States of America," McCain said after noting that he was unaware of the specifics of her compensation package.

I don't know?? Errybody else does!! He IS DELUSIONAL!!

Obama-Biden '08!

Fiorina was a horrible CEO, it's well documented. The employees I talked to saw her "golden parachute" as the Board paying her to leave so he didn't run it further into the ground.

I guess his standards for measuring success are really low.

pjamma: . . standards. . . . really low. . .

Got that right!! :>)

Thanks for the other information. :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

Okay. I've just seen the clips of Billy J on the view.

Did he once say Barack is the leader the nation needs right now like he did at the convention?

No.

But the reportage I read of him playing the race card are completely false.

Billy J is a Leo. Anytime he has an opportunity to praise himself (or his wife) he'll take it. John McCain IS his friend. We can't ever expect him to go negative on McCain over anything except his policies. We know the Clintons will do anything to win, so if anyone was expecting him to criticize McCain for playing the same tricks, they're smoking something I want.

I don't like Bill Clinton. Not at all.

But this interview didn't represent a deep betrayal to me.

He didn't cheerlead for Barack, but he didn't diminish him either.

Re: the Veep Debates

The expectations for Palin are already very low. She's been exposed as someone with an extremely limited knowledge and grasp of issues confronting a president or vice president. So, I'm betting that Obama has acquiesced and is content to let the news media do his dirty work for him. Serious voters--and hopefully some serious jounalists--will see Palin for what she is (and more importantly is not) and will make up their minds accordingly.

Think about it: If Obama/Biden already view Palin as an intellectual lightweight, do they really care if she asks for a handicap?

Also:

If the Obama campaign raises a ruckus about the Veep Debates, the MSM will be lazy and write stories about Obama complaining about the format, which will dovetail nicely into any pro-Palin spin they will want to use once the debate is over.

WOW!


"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." Dirty Secret of bailout

I read the bill last night, lets hope Congress doesn't let this crap get passed as is.

"You fucked up; you trusted us."

rikyrah: He/they said WHAT?

http://coloradoindependent.com/8807/evangelical...
Evangelical Leader Smacks McCain For Lack of Principles

Richard Cizik is one of the country’s most powerful and outspoken Christian evangelical leaders. He happens to be a Republican, and he has known the GOP’s presidential nominee for many years. “I thought John McCain was a principled person,” Cizik says. “But John McCain has backed off, not just on climate change but on torture and a sensible tax policy — in other words, he’s not the John McCain of 2000. … He seems to be waffling on issue after issue.

It’s not illogical for someone to conclude that John McCain is going to be more like George Bush than John McCain is going to be like John McCain in 2000.”

Characterizing the GOP’s presidential nominee as an unprincipled waffler is strong stuff from the man who oversees governmental affairs and is the chief lobbyist of the 30-million-member Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Evangelicals. But Cizik — named this year by TIME magazine one of the world’s 100 most influential people — is no stranger to controversies that come from strong convictions.

Finally - the TRUTH!! :>)

It's soo tempting to do more than SNIPETS. :>) But it's cool! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

“But John McCain has backed off, not just on climate change but on torture and a sensible tax policy — in other words, he’s not the John McCain of 2000. … He seems to be waffling on issue after issue."

-Mmmmmm, John McCain waffles.
(John McCain) I can have them with syrup, or, jam, or wait, preserves, but...I really like jam...but syrup is really good...but if I eat 'em plain I won't make the buttons sticky on that thing I invented...the Blackberry.
Oh, hell...why don't I ask Sarah...

Admiral: LOL! X5 :>)

Obama-Biden '08!:/b>

rikyrah: Looking hysterical! Acting hysterical!! Guess the meds, I mean -gloves are off! :>)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/mccain...
McCain Camp Goes To WAR With New York Times

It is a truism of modern campaigns that Republican candidates will take umbrage with perceived liberal media bias. And often, the target of their condemnation is the New York Times, a paper of record but nevertheless the scourge of many a conservative.

John McCain was different. He enjoyed close relations with much of the fourth estate and, it was reported, took particular delight in winning plaudits from editorial boards, including that of the Times.

That McCain is no longer. Today, the Arizona Republican's presidential campaign went to war with the Grey Lady. Asked to respond to an article that brought to light the fact that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis had earned nearly $2 million in lobbying fees from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (based, almost primarily, on his access to McCain) at the same time that he was attacking Barack Obama for his own ties to those very institutions, aides to McCain went off.

SKIP

Usually, going to war with the press produces fantastic results for Republican candidates. It rallies the compassion and support of conservative voters while encouraging more negative coverage on the opposition (driven by an editorial decision by the paper that their reporting must be more "even-handed.") But this campaign has proven a bit different. News outlets have called McCain out for his distortions lies with a general tone of confidence. We shall see how the Times' responds to this latest salvo.

Obama-Biden '08!

Latest SurveyUSA of VIRGINIA

Obama 51
McCain 45

Minorities to blame for disaster:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200809190021

The crooked landlord who's been taking my money--while going into foreclosure--is as white as Sarah Palin.

Fcuk Neil Cavuto and all of his Fox Noose buddies.

I dont think a lot of people understand what "deregulation" did...it wasn't even just the bundling of the loans in a way that was damn near inevitable to collapse..it was all of these lenders and banks and financial companies fighting DISCLOSURE. Everything from the language you can use in contracts and notices to the size of the font was regulated, but a lot of those rules were fought and eliminated. Hell, I work in regulatory compliance and watch us fight so that we can put some darn 4 or 5 point font on a contract where the person will think its a freaking line as opposed to actual words telling you something important that we don't necessarily want you to know about! Certain words and phrases are used to purposely confuse the consumer. It really bothers me, but it shouldnt since I know the deal, when people say 'well the consumer should have known"....look, these companies are PURPOSELY manipulating the contracts and the system and fighting the rules. There were people employed by the states at the various State Banking Depts and Insurance Depts whose job was to review each contract JUST for these types of things...and now a lot of those people are jobless and went to work for the same damn companies trying to bullshyt you, and now they're jobless AGAIN. You don't blame the victim of the freaking carjacking, and people are kidding themselves if you don't think that is exactly what happened in the vast majority of these cases.

If people want to see what deregulation looks like, then read this:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/21/932...

Ok, I feel compelled to ask.....

Is what Cavuto saying-that someone in Congres should have said, "Wait, are the laws we're putting in place to make homes available to everyone financially sound?"-not a valid question?

Everyone's trying to just throw Bush under the bus for the housing/financial crises. But, like Cavuto said, the laws that set this fiasco in motion did come through Congress. Granted, Bush didn't have to sign them, but Congress didn't have to pass them either.

I don't think he's saying it's specifically "the minorities'" fault...I think he's trying to point out that Congress (or more specifically, the dhimmicrats in Congress; it is Fox, after all!!) shoulder a lot of the blame for our economic standing today as well.

I have no problem with anyone saying that the problem stems from making loans available to people who were high risk applicants. I take offense when it is spelled out as minorities and high risk.

I'm a minority, I own a home, I put 20% down and got a 30 year fixed mortgage. So did my brother, sister, cousins, parents aunts and uncles. We all bought what we could afford like you are suppose to.

Banks offered more then I could afford to get me to over extend myself but I know if something is too good to be true it is.

I have many white friends who fell for the no down, adjustable rate mortgages and they are in trouble now. They made a bad decision falling for a good sales job.

I am so sick of problems like these being divided across racial lines. Some people of all races made good decisions, some made bad. "Lending to minorities" is not the problem. Lowering standards for credit and compensating people to sell the loans to high risk targets is.

Most home prices peaked between 2004-2007 while interest rates were at record lows and stayed there because of Greenspan's reluctance to raise them. I don't blame simply Congress for this mess, but we know Democrats have only held a small majority since the 2006 elections and were sworn in January 2007----so this cannot fall solely on Democrats when we had a Republican financial ideology and President and Congress at the helm for the greater part of this housing crisis---which built up over the course of YEARS.

Growing up, I was always told, keep your credit in top- notch order because when it is time to purchase a home, they are going to scrutinize your credit history like it ain't funny------so it amazed me a couple of years ago when people with seemingly average jobs were buying $300-400 thousand dollars homes, at least in South Florida where I have some family---and lo and behold, people were getting NINJA loans ( no income, no job verified loans) or subprime loans/ARM loans. We stayed away from it because 1) the home values were EXTREMELY inflated and 2) I figured this bubble would completely burst. I persoanlly did not feel comfortable with a mortgage payment that could balloon 2-3 years down the road.

Homeowners do bear some responsibility---but these banks were willing to put there business in jeopardy for greed. PERIOD. You can't go to a dealership and buy a Porsche with a minimum wage job because the dealer knows you will not be able to pay it---but mortgage companies simply wanted to lend out as much as they could to sell it off quickly as securities (it was no longer "risky" to their operation) because they knew that everywhere you turned, people were told---Get in now because, Interest rates are at an all-time low---Present homeowners can cash in on the tremendous equity your home has by rising home prices---You can afford that home that is normally out-of-reach by getting an adjustable mortgage for lower payments now, and then refinance later when the ARM resets. It was a dream sold to many homebuyers by mortgage brokers, realtors, the media, etc.

Point blank, banks wanted to make as many loans as they could because they knew they would repackage them as securities and cared little about the risk of the loan. Average Americans who did not understand the bigger picture simply though they were getting a break and finally a chance at home ownership.

Some of these banks and firms have been in over a hundred years---they should have been experts on the financial markets, risks and losses---the average American is not.

And it wasn't all poor people. Bloomberg had an article form Feb. of this year

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109...

of a business owner who hasn't paid onhis foreclosed $1.5 million dollars Boca Raton home since 2002 because his original mortgage company could not provide his mortgage note since his mortgage was packaged off into a securities and so----thus, he questioned, who owns my mortgage? And there are thousands of cases like his. It is not even apparent who owns many of these foreclosed homes---the investment bank or the mortgage company. And that is why the repeal of Glass-Steagall was detrimental--because it has now given rise to this mess we see now.

This has been a Republican talking point for the last week, that giving home loans to minorities and those with bad credit is why we're in the mess we're in today (not speculators, etc).

My question is WHY single out "minorities?" Giving a home loan to ANYONE with risky credit, limited ability to pay it back or collateral is usually not a good idea. So why single out "minorities," as if giving risky loans to white people is swell?

Ummmm...to scare people?
BOO!

The real problem with subprime loans is not the issue of one person with bad credit getting a loan they couldn't handle. The real issue, and what has caused this globabl financial crisis, is that the greedy banks devised a convoluted new commodity consisting of bundles of these subprime loans. The banks knew the subprime customers would never repay, but the banks were able to make money off the debts regardless by selling them off.

I think that even if you just left it at "giving a home loan to ANYONE with risky credit, limited ability to pay it back or collateral ...," you still end up including a majority of minorities in that "anyone." I'm no expert, but I've heard/seen/read that minorities-as a whole-seem to have historically worse credit ratings that whites.

Unfortunate that that's the way it is, but the statement/"talking point" isn't completely inaccurate or without merit.

Referencing your point below, that "Bush and 'em" also includes the 235 dhimmicratic House members and 50.5 (I'll reduce Lieberman to half) dhimmicratic Senate members...the majority in both houses.

D, I agree with you to a point. I think that the blame needs to be spread around. I think many Democrats were pushing home ownership programs/laws without checking to see whether the laws were financially sound. I think that Republicans were pushing for greater deregulation in the financial services industry without checking to see whether the laws were financially sound. I think that people who were obsessed with home ownership, but had bad credit, did not consider the serious implications of owning a home that they couldn't afford. And, I think that banks were more concerned with interest rates, instead of sound business practices--no one put a gun to their head and made them give the no money down loans, no work history check loans, or the other shady deals that they didn't investigate thoroughly.

So yes, Repubs, Democrats, Wall Street financiers, bankers, and even homeowners have their fingerprints all over this mess.

But let us not forget that the Dems did not become the majority until January 07'. This crisis has been on the bubble for a while now (which doesn't vindicate the Dems), and the Repubs have been the majority for the last 12 years.

"D"

Assume that 100 households represent the whole of the US. Of that 12 are African American and 35 are every other minority including Asians that leaves 53. If bad credit is assumed to be 15% of all the majority population that is 7.95 people. AfricanAmericans to hit that number it would be 66.6% or 8 households.
Only 48% of Africanamericans own homes period(heartland Instittute courtesy of google) or 5.76. So if EVERY AfricanAmerican family had bad credit and we stay at the ownership levels we have now there is no way we are a majority of that anyone w/ bad credit.

Okay, as far as we're concerned, fair enough.

But including other majorities-not just African Americans-does that "not being the majority" still hold?

(trying to do the math myself)

The two main "minorities" that the GOP uses to scare white people are blacks ("oooooh they're coming to get ya, they're gonna rape and kill ya and have sex with your daughter and have 10 children and use up all your money on food stamps and welfare benefits")...

and Latinos ("oooh they're running 'cross the border and breeding like roaches, they refuse to learn English and they clog up the system taking jobs away from hard working white Americans...")

A third groups are "Muslims" ("oooh those Muslims are comign to get ya, they're gonna chop off your head and make you pray to Allah 10 times a day, anyone with an Arabic or funny sounding name like Barack Obama must be a Manchurian Muslim coming to infiltrate the White House, they'll have us all eating cous cous and wearing burquas in the streets.")

But the number 1 group the GOP uses to scare people is BLACK people.

This is where it goes to "define" minority. Asian rates in total are about 4% below whites. If you go in there and look at each group it is going to vary.

I don't think so...minorities were not the bulk of the people getting home loans. So to say that "giving loans to minorities is why we're in the financial crisis we're in today" is bullshit. Lenders were handing out money like candy to EVERYONE, that's why we're in the jam we're in today. Bush himself is the one who claimed "under him, minority home ownership grew" so for the Republicans to turn around and say "its' all these minorities getting loans that's causing this meltdown" is fraudulent, especially when it was the Republicans encouraging these loans in the first place.

As much as I hear people say that it was "failed Bush (or Bush-McCain)" policies that caused these problems, I haven't heard anyone say with any specificity that "it's all the minorities' fault" or "it's all the Dems' fault."

I'm seeing three pieces to this puzzle, and tell me where I'm wrong:

1. The individuals-minority or not-who brought into homes knowing damn well they couldn't afford them,
2. The Congress-both sides of the aisle-for passing legislation that forced/suggested/incentivized (depending on viewpoint) banks to do business with a client base that they would not normally touch, and
3. The financial institutions who preyed on that same client base, and just kept passing their risks around.

You had Cavuto, Rep. Bachmann and numerous talking heads claiming that this financial mess is a result of giving loans to minorities.

Blame the individuals, sure. But to single out "minorities" when the bulk of the people getting the loans were white by virtue of most of the people in this country being white is ridiculous.

I have no problem saying "individuals who knew they couldn't afford the home shouldn't have gotten loans." My problem is the talking point that has sprung up in the past couple of weeks that "minorities getting home loans is the cause of this financial meltdown."

I'd also like to add that Bush and 'em proudly beat their chests and said "Under US, minority home ownership has grown." They can't now turn around and claim "Giving them loans to them minorities was a bad idea."

Barack is kicking some serious ass in Green Bay right now.

Some serious ass.

I agree! He was just getting warmed up when Andrea "But I Don't Want The Negro To Win" Mitchell interrupted his speech. >:-(

rikyrah: Look at me {Ms. "Tech-Challenged"} tryin' ta post a video. :>)

Bill Clinton on "The View" 9-22-08

I'm just watchin' this! Comments L8R!


Obama-Biden '08!

OOPS! Trying AGAIN!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODoSotQmkKA
Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIiLJIk32_0
Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U08fA93lpEk
Part 3

Lawd he'p me!

Bill Clinton is still mad.

Sepia: It sure feels like it! :>)

Obama-Biden'08!

I COMPLETELY agree with Andrew Sullivan. Of the many head scratching decisions made by the Obama Campaign, agreeing to the quick Q&A format for the VP debate is at the top. If you've watched her gubernatorial debates, you know she is an expert at bull shitting when the format does not provide for back-and-forth. She'll give a bunch of talking points delivered in a folksy manner, and will be declared the winner for merely surviving. I wish someone could help me understand this decision by the Obama team. You would think he was 20 points ahead in the polls.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily...

From what I understand, I thought that this whould also help Biden. All he has to do is hammer McCain's policy and get palin defending the plan. A good debater like Biden can still hammer the floor with Palin by just using his sheer breath of knowledge. Plus is all Palin is going to be doing is reciting talking points, then I would think that the Obama/Biden team will have ready made rebuttals that can box in Palin so that she either keeps to here talking points, or she has to respond off script

It also cuts out of the whole "Biden beating up a girl" meme that some in the MSM want to put out.

Good point!
----- Original Message -----
From: Disqus<mailto:>
To: dtdeskins@msn.com<mailto:dtdeskins@msn.com>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 2:09 PM
Subject: [jackandjillpolitics] Re: Monday Open Thread

NMP,

the only positive I can see from this is that it takes away ' they picked on her' bullshiit.

like I wrote before, the double standard is so glaring, it's blinding right now.

Someone else made that point, and it's a very good point!
----- Original Message -----
From: Disqus<mailto:>
To: dtdeskins@msn.com<mailto:dtdeskins@msn.com>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 2:07 PM
Subject: [jackandjillpolitics] Re: Monday Open Thread

I said it before and I mean it again:

This will work to Biden's advantage.

I trust your judgement, Craig.
----- Original Message -----
From: Disqus<mailto:>
To: dtdeskins@msn.com<mailto:dtdeskins@msn.com>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 1:54 PM
Subject: [jackandjillpolitics] Re: Monday Open Thread

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/22/124343/...

Bill Clinton sabotages Obama on the View? Is this a new episode?

I don't watch the View. Can anyone verify that this happened?

Unfortunately, it's true. It was very obvious that Bill Clinton is still mad.

Some points that stuck out to me (but I encourage all to watch for themselves):

- Praised McCain moreso than Obama, saying that if it weren't for McCain he wouldn't be able to neutralize Vietnam

- When asked why he thought Obama would win, the three things he mentioned had to do with events surrounding the election (increase in Dem registration, economy, more minorities) and nothing to do with Obama himself.

It was definitely sour grapes going on. I thought maybe, just maybe they would redeem themselves, but it's clear they don't want to help Obama. I'm officially DONE with The Clintons.

Now on to an Obama-Biden '08 VICTORY!

this is the second comment I've read like this on blogs.

rikyrah: I think that I posted "The View" 9-22-08 up thread. :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

I just want the video.

Yep. It's more than clear that Bill Clinton is trying to sabotage Obama. Why is non one calling him on it?!

If this is true, how can anyone scream that they don't see Bill Clinton on the campaign trail? Maybe he needs to smoke a nice cigar and sit down somewhere.

Three Times is Enemy Action
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/21/932...

Terrific summary of how this mess came to be.

Wow, that is an excellent summary

Profile of Valerie Jarrett in the new issue of Vogue.

This is funny.

McCain was for golden parachutes before he was against it. LOL

McCain on Fiorina's golden parachute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDzToc9xbuU&eurl...

Sandra Bernhard has decided that it is absolutely funny to threaten Sarah Palin with rape from her big black brothers because she is a whore and a bitch.

See this is the type of nonsense that I choose to ignore. Clearly no intelligent person will condone this trash.

I refuse to click on the link.

That is a sad state of affairs womanistmusings. Well ignorance comes in all colors.

val: Thanks for the warning! I didn't "click" just from reading your comment!

Obama-Biden '08!

I don't think she's presenting it to condone it. She doesn't seem too happy about what the lady said.

You conveniently ignore what is going on around you and just let this kind of thing fester and grow. When we don't speak out about racism and sexism it says that we approve thus creating is as normal. But yeah your moral high ground is so much better.

I simply believe that certain things don't need attention. We know exactly what's going on. There is no ignorance. It's not about a moral high ground. (Although your criticism of dissent sounds, well, pretty morally-high-grounded.)

Here's the thing: some of us smell the odor and simply refuse to raise the lid off the garbage can to see all the maggots swarming around the rancid trash.

I think this one may have been misunderstood from the git. to read it, it seems that Val agrees with womanist in calling Bernhard ignorant. ...but that may be moot at this point.

I agree that certain things don't need indulgence but do need attention. As in, don't dig in the trash, but DO take it out.

my measure on this one is, "does this person have a voice in the national sphere?" if so, then because of the influence she may have, it may be worth paying attention to as news.

I think this is news and worth a look - not at the tired content, but at who's saying it and what it means.

she is a well-known figure in entertainment who has issued yet another racist rant hiding behind the "it's just a joke" curtain, following Kramer in lockstep while I believe, fooling herself to think she's not the same. In this context, though, she becomes poster child for classic arrogant/intolerant Left, not a help to the party.

arrogance and racism mix yet again like bleach and ammonia as she dares to defend the joke about "my black brothers" without mentioning these black brothers in this weak defense, trying to flip it to some women's rights stuff...

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2008/09/2...

Sandra Bernhard is a has-been.

She's looking for attention.

I'm not giving her any.

Okay Craig - get outta my head. Day-um.

Whoa that is some racist and sexist crap. How tacky. You know there will be some McCain/ Palin supporters who will tie this to Obama/Biden instead of the ignorance of a stupid comic.

I have said there is more than enough blame for this financial mess for both parties. This type of partisan BS is what you really have to watch.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarch...

Interesting that you conveniently neglected to mention that this article was an OPINION PIECE written by an ADVISOR TO MCCAIN'S CAMPAIGN!!

(Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, is a Bloomberg News columnist. He is an adviser to Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona in the 2008 presidential election. The opinions expressed are his own.)

I want to share with you this interview that Bill Moyer had with veteran market watcher Robert Kuttner and former SEC chair William Donaldson, who resigned after 2 years in 2005. This interview took place October 2007. I think it is an overal1 good assessment without the partisan BS. And again this is interview from last October, almost a year ago .....many knew this meltdown was coming.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10122007/tran...

Here's an excerpt

ROBERT KUTTNER: I think there are three big parallels between what happened in the '20s and what has been happening on Wall Street lately. One is insiders with conflicts of interest that are not fully disclosed to the public, generally. Secondly, there's much too much borrowed money. There's much too much leverage in the economy, and particularly in the financially engineered parts of the economy.

BILL MOYERS: Which would be hedge funds?

ROBERT KUTTNER: Which would be hedge funds and derivatives, which are instruments that hedge funds often use. And I think the third is the lack of transparency. The regulators--

BILL MOYERS: What do you mean?

ROBERT KUTTNER: Regulators and the public don't get any kind of disclosure. And hedge funds, because of the loophole in the securities laws, they're not regulated at all. And to the extent that there is a degree of transparency, regulators do get to look at the assets of banks. Sometimes they don't know what they're looking at. Now, you put those three things together, you have a risk of an economy based on asset bubbles where people--

BILL MOYERS: Asset bubbles?

ROBERT KUTTNER: Yeah. It's what happened in the '20s and it's what happened in the '90s. There's a euphoria that sets in. Some of it's engineered euphoria. If you cook your company's books to make it look like your profits are higher than they really are, that's gonna bid up the price of your stock.
And if you're an executive who's compensated on the basis of the price of the stock, that's called a conflict of interest. And that was at the heart of what happened in the '20s and what happened in the '90s. That's why we need the kind of transparency that Mr. Donaldson was promoting when he was head of the SEC.

WILLIAM DONALDSON: Well, I think we've created a number of instruments in this country in particular derivatives and so forth and so on. I think these instruments are not necessarily understood in their entirety.

BILL MOYERS: Let me tell you, I don't understand them.

WILLIAM DONALDSON: Well I'm not sure that many of the people that buy them understand them. I have a feeling that somewhere there's an institution that's just bought a derivative and they don't understand what they bought.

ROBERT KUTTNER: You know, the problem is that in the old days when a bank examiner went to a bank and looked at its portfolio of loans, the examiner could tell which of the loans were performing. Was interest being paid on the loans? Was the principal being paid back? Which ones weren't? And the examiner could direct the bank to reserve assets against the risk of a loan default.

Well, today it's a kind of a regulatory black box. The regulators are relying on the banks' own so-called stress models, which make certain assumptions about human behavior. And we just had a full field test of this in the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. The models didn't work. Behavior wasn't supposed to occur along these lines.

And a lot of this turned out to be junk. And a lot of innocent people got hurt. And the only reason the economy didn't crash was the Fed, which was not inclined to do this before the sub-prime meltdown-- the Fed opened the spigots. And so even though the sub-prime sector is a complete mess, the stock market, as you pointed out in your introduction, hit new highs.

Why? Because the more alarmed the Fed is about the economy, the more the Fed is gonna lower money. And that's good for the stock market.

ROBERT KUTTNER: I mean Alan Greenspan, is one of the revered public figures of our time. I think he made one huge mistake — he did not use a lot of the regulatory power that he had. Every time there was a credit crunch, he would race to the rescue.

BILL MOYERS: By putting in cheap money?

ROBERT KUTTNER: Yeah. So it seems to me, if you're gonna bail out-- problems after the fact, you have an obligation to prevent some of them before they start. And for 13 years, Greenspan's Fed and now Bernanke's Fed has had not just the authority but the mandate from Congress to look at mortgage loan origination standards.

Had they issued regulations under that authority, you never would have had a sub-prime crisis because they would have gone in and noticed that loans were being made that people couldn't possibly pay off. And the only reason they were being made was that somebody at the end of the daisy chain was willing to buy the paper.

WILLIAM DONALDSON: I don't, you know, I don't know about the Federal Reserve system and why they didn't do what they should have done. I do know about the SEC and I do know the efforts that we made to anticipate where things were gonna go wrong. We formed an office of risk control and risk management.

FYI---William Donaldson is a Republican and has endorsed Barack, and was quoted in Bloomberg News as saying that he was talking to Barack about the housing issues as far back as a year ago.

And I hope you also noticed that this article was written by an economic advisor of John McCain who is obviously biased and will place a lot of the blame on the opposing party. True, there is plenty of blame to go around.....I've read that this deregulation has been in the making since the early 80's until present and over the span of many years legislation has been slowly chipping away at the firewalls enacted since the 1930's to prevent the crisis that we are in now.

rikyrah: Went "Field Trippin'" to the Daily Kos and found this.

http://majorityleader.house.gov/links_and_resou...
Office of the House Democratic Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer


FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
House Meets At… 10:30 am: Morning Hour
Last Vote Predicted… 7:00 pm

12:00 p.m.: Legislative Business
Unlimited “One Minutes” Per Side

Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.
Suspensions (31 Bills):

While there is a dire and absolutely pressing need to work on this economic crisis, LOOK what is NOT getting done today.[See article for the list of 31.]

Just another perspective on the devastation caused by Shrub, et al NOT taking care of the economic business of this country!!

Seems, to me, as if he's acted like that LAME DUCK for a longer period of time than I was thinking. [Like maybe his whole second term!]

Obama-Biden '08!

Minor point of contention: the President doesn't control what Congress does as far as their business on the floor goes. That would be controlled by none other that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D), Speaker of the House.

So, in this case, blame her.

D: Thanks for your comment. Let me try this again.

IFFF, the Congress was NOT thrown off their SCHEDULE by having to deal with the present ECONOMIC CRISIS [created under Shrubs WATCH!; 'cause 1 thing is fer sure, the aftermath WILL be blamed on Mr. Obama when he takes office, . . .],

THEN they would be about their 9-22-08 SCHEDULE ta-day!!

Obama-Biden '08!

Thank you. You get so worked up in your commentary. ;)

D: It's called PASSION!! :>) [She said CALMLY!] :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

GreenLadyHere,

This is for you. A pastor that breaks it down to the point you are like...woah. He is speaking about the take away from the RNC and the VP candidate.

Listen to it. You will not be disappointed.

Preach...Brotha....Preach....

Yeah, Jamal Bryant broke it down. He called out McSame OUT for Cindy's $300K outfit, Caribou Barbie's flunking out of several colleges self, and for putting up trailer trash to run against a Harvard-educated Black man.

Texas_Girl: LAWD HAVE MERCY!! LAWD HAVE MERCY!! LAWD HAVE MERCY!!

SPEAK! SPEAK!! SPEAK!!

I was standing the WHOLE TIME!! I promise you!! He didn't take a Deep Breath!! Nor did he waste 1 minute of time!! He SPOKE with EVERY WORD!!

Put errybody "on BLAST" with every ye, thus, beseech, thee, behold, thou, lest, hark, and howbeit!! He stirreth up the VP pot, with his "bipolar" descriptor
of "The Gov." - Hockey mom vs VINDICTIVE sister-in-law!

He spake against selfishness: "I'm going ta do me", saith LIEberman, "McAncient", "The Gov.", all -y'all! :>)

This hath "restoreth my soul" ta-day!! :>) :>)

Now, where's my Choir Robe? "The doors of the church are open" was a response from one commentator! :>)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crvgkmX44tA&feat...
"I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me. . ."

Couldn't find the video that I wanted - but. . . . :>)

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! How kind of you!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

McCain is now straight-up race-baiting in every appearance.

He's basically calling for the KKK to rise up.

It's kind of funny actually.

Craig - McCain with the help of most major media outlets this week to include Huffpo. My expectation is it will get worse but it will have an adverse effect which will HELP Obama. Why? Because God don't like ugly.

I brush that dirt of my shoulders (and other Obama supporters should too), we know what tihs is. You are right, it is funny. However, I choose to stay focused and my eyes are firmly focused on Nov 4..

Like I said last week, the McCain campaign feels like they can do the race baiting because the media is so complicit in this. But I think this will ultimately come back to bite the campaign because the more they feel they can get away with it, the more blatant they're going to be about it until it goes one step too far.

It's gonna happen, mark my words.

I wanna know too.

What did he do this time?

He's in Scranton talking about Italian-, Irish-, and Polish-American immigrants to thunderous applause. Claiming Barack is ruining their chances to become citizens in this great nation of immigrants to thunderous applause. Threw in HIspanic immigrants as an afterthought, to which no one applauded.

It was a Klan rally in a state where confederate flags adorn cars in the T.

threw in Latinos and nobody applauded.
reminds me of the lack of applause for the Latinos they had speak at the GOP convention.

and folks wonder why I had no problem with Obama's Limbaugh/McCain political ad.

Exactly HOW is Obama ruining their chances to become citizens?

There's an undertone of "blame Juan" in there, too. How endearing to Hispanic/Latino people. Lookit Juan and Oscar jumping dat fence and getting all yo' benefits while Sal, Seamus and Mr. Kzysskvski are denied their benefits! Why, if we hadn't loaned money to Mookie and Boomsheeka to buy houses, we wouldn't be in this mess we're in today!

I'd like somone to explain the HOW to me too.
What a sitting US Senator from ANOTHER STATE can do to stop them from becoming citizens.

You think he needs to explain HOW?

All he's got to do is say it.

The media is pimping that Fournier racist poll right about now as well.

It's not going to work, but it sure has become funny watching.

My day canvassing for Obama in rural PA:


This Sunday I spent the day and a 2 ½ drive to rural PA to canvass for the local Obama/ Biden Campaign. After arriving at 10:30 am I was told that my cousin (my road dog) and I would need to wait until at least 11am when the entire state left church, so we grabbed a cup of course and took a brief trip around “town” which was a sad looking place. Clearly economically depressed with run down buildings juxtaposed with the most amazing mountain views of pre foliage season change. Once back at the Wilkes-Barre campaign headquarters we were given some tasks of highlighting required information on voter registration forms. During our “orientation” we practiced the basic script of how to greet and what to say to people have self-dentified as “undecided voters.” Our job was to tell them about the Obama/Biden platform and to “earn their vote.” My cousin is an African American man and am a Latina woman, and we decided to stick together for the day as opposed to splitting up as was recommended. My cousin didn’t like the idea of to seeing other Black people and then he being a random Black person knocking on the door of some random white person. I suspect he also didn’t like the idea of me doing the same. It doubled the amount of ground we had to cover, but we decided safety would come first.

Here’s a breakdown of who we spoke to:

Talked to about 100 people
70% of these undecided already decided they were voting for Obama. Many of them engaged us in conversation about how they hate McCain and the Republicans… citing issues related to the economy as their number reason for not wanting to see the Republicans have another four more years.

20% of these undecided were still undecided when we got to the door. Among these people many of them cited issues with Obama and he being “pro abortion.” I addressed the issue that he is actually personally pro-life but he believes strongly in our nation’s Constitution and the separation between church and state. Also mentioned that his health and education plan call for more education and support for young people. I mentioned that not all parent’s are like the Palin’s… and don’t you know parents who have kicked their kids out for mistakenly getting pregnant? I old them Obama wants to provide the support to young people so they will have the support to make the choice to preserve life. I told them the Republican agenda wants to draw a line, not provide education or take any steps to assist young people when this challenge occurs. Obama wants to at least shift the discussion to what can we do to help people who feel like an abortion is the only choice. Believe it or not, this worked. We walked away from this group knowing that at least of these people we swayed, but many we already leaning Obama. There was one guy who wasn’t sure if his number one issue was the war or the economy. We left him on the fence but hopefully we made the case that McCain didn’t speak to the economic issues that he faced. This guy drove almost 2 hours to work in NJ because there was no work in his area! Also, some women mentioned they really supported Hillary and were disappointed about her not getting the nomination. It was a great time to ask them in what ways they believe Clinton and Palin’s policy were similar. And the follow up question, do you just want Palin because she’s a woman or because you believe she will be able to advocate for our issues like universal healthcare? I told them I’m from NY- and Hillary sent me to talk with you today. She’s supporting Barack Obama… (puke! I can’t stand Hillary! But I will do what I need to do hammer the message!)

10% of these people refused to talk with us- slamming the door in our faces etc. One elderly woman said to me it’s my vote and its my privilege and so I said “Isn’t it great to have that privilege?” And she said, “Yes so I don’t have to tell you!” and then slammed the door shut. No idea where that came from, but the house smelled like moth balls so I was happy to keep it moving.
Along the way we met lots of young people hanging outside with their infants and toddlers, tattoos blazing. Many of them weren’t registered to vote and they didn’t believe that their vote made a difference etc. It was really sad because you could tell it was an issue of self-esteem. We were able to register 10 new voters yesterday.

It was a great day! I have never canvassed for ANY campaign, but yesterday I drove 2 ½ hours (each way) to a rural place to speak with people I thought I would have nothing in common with. At the end of the day I realized that our issues and reasons for supporting Barack Obama were more in sync than not. I had a great time! Had a lot of laughs, heard a lot of stories about their lives and dreams and it was amazing.

I highly recommend this experience to everyone!

Evita, I really enjoyed reading your post. What a wonderful thing you are doing! I'm trying to get up the courage to volunteer myself (I live in South Carolina, so you can imagine what I would be up against....). I really want to do more than just give money and buy t-shirts (smile). Do you mind if I ask - what kind of training are you given to prepare for canvassing? Do you prefer going door to door rather than reaching out by phone?

Thanks again for your great work.

This is terrific, Evita!

Evita,
Thank you.

Obama/Biden '08!

Great stuff and great work! It's so important, and remember that just the face-to-face contact alone -- even if you don't "persuade" them -- is effective. People will remember that you came to their door as a volunteer on behalf of Obama-Biden, and that's got a BIG impact. (Also, feeling listened to is so important for a lot of these folks too)

As for the door-slammers, well, some people really do value their privacy and don't like feeling pressured. Don't take it personally!

wonderful job. face-to-face contact matters.

evita: Standing "O" for all your efforts!! Thanks for sharing!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

When I was making MoveOn phone calls to Jacksonville yesterday I had a similar experience, although over the phone. That is, it was wonderful listening to people's stories, and their heartfelt enthusiasm either for Obama or against McCain. Several people were so glad I'd called to invite them to participate in getting out the vote, so excited about electing Obama, that I could hear the hope and energy travellling over the phone lines. It helped that Obama had had a hugely successful appearance in Jacsonville the day before and people were still energized by it.

My favorite moment was when, after a conversation about how much we both loved Obama, and she said she would love to volunteer, I asked the woman about the gospel song that was on her phone..the music that plays when the call is being routed. She told me the name of the singer and the song - which I'm sorry to say I wrote on the MoveOn paper and forgot to transfer to my notepad - and she started singing it to me, verse and chorus. I sat and listened to her feeling so connected, if only for this brief interlude, with someone who I will never meet and never have the chance to speak to again. I'm still carrying her enthusiasm.

So yeah, I highly recommend this experience to everyone. We need each other.

Liza: Did you have your "Choir Robe"? :>)

Thanks for sharing! Good job!

Obama-Biden '08!

Good job!

Great job, Evita! Kudos!

Thanks for the kudos! I'm fired up and ready to go!

They BOTH leave sum'n 2B desired..

Hillary's not on the ballot.

Sorry.

Now here is something to put all the bullish that has happened this past week into perspective, asolutely terrifying! Please pass this along:

http://www.stomverbaasd.com/stomverbaasd-congre...

T in NC

Perhaps "those in the know" know the ish is about to hit the fan for real, so they're backing Obama, whethr that's because they'd rather see the country fall apart under the black dude so he can take the blame or whether its' because they know McCain and Palin will throw more matches and kerosene on the fire remains to be seen.

Here is another alternative solution to the problem. It addresses the real underlying problem; mortgage values/housing values underlying the bonds are not the same:
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/...

This is a few days old, but still a good sign. The "Conservative " Seattle Times endorses Obama. Here is a brief part of their endorsement.

"An economic Katrina is shattering the confidence of hardworking, middle-class Americans. The war that should never have been in Iraq is dragging on too long. At a time of huge challenge, the candidate with the intelligence, temperament and judgment to lead our nation to a better place is Sen. Barack Obama.

Obama should be the next president of the United States because he is the most qualified change agent. Obama is a little young, but also brilliant. If he sometimes seems brainy and professorial, that's OK. We need the leader of the free world to think things through, carefully. We have seen the sorry results of shooting from the hip.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorial......

This morning I find out that Morgan Stanley have been permission to go to the Fed discount window. They are now being allowed to be banks w/ no discussion. They can now take deposits that are federally insured. This is BEYOND RIDICULOUS.

The bond holders are being given 100% return on interest and principal. The mortgage holders(taxpayers) whose mortgages underlie the plan have to pay 100% even if they go bankrupt. There is no provision to change the bankruptcy law so that mortgages can be worked out. So now not only are you out of your home, you are broke and you are paying twice; once, to repay the bondholders(taxes) and the second time, on your orginal mortgage.

Call Barack Obama now and tell him HELL NO. Tell him his black ass will be back in the senate earning $200,000 a year, that Michelle will be back at work and your million dollar mortgage is still owed if he approves this. Let McCain be lynched in the streets for causing a depression.
TELL HIM
One, this bill cannot pass w/ no recourse to the courts.

Two, without work outs for the underlying mortgage holders through changes in the bankruptcy courts it is a bail out to bondholders on the backs of us.

Three, if capital is going to be given the taxpayers should get what capital gets in the opne market ; a return on capital. This means instead of buying the garbage paper, we should be buying a percentage of the bank just like we did w/ AIG. You get cash we get equity. And no equity purchases of foreign banks and entities.

Four, whomever runs this operation at the top it can not be anyone currently in the government. Paul O'Neill,Paul Volker, Richard Parsons come to mind. (the list of can't go on is beyond the capacity of this blog).

Finally, bitch slap Obama for having this stupid conversation about executive pay. It is a complete distratction and tells me he has no clue about what is going on(listening to Robert Rubin is a waste of time; Rubin is responsible for the end of glass-stegall).No matter how much they receieve(steal) it is nothing compared to what the taxpayers are being burden with for the reasons I gave above. Exec's will still have to run their companies and there isn't going to be any money to give people if we the taxpayers have and equity stake and seats on the boards of governors.

To echo TRW -- His black ass? Using it in a sentence that threatens him that he will not be elected?

People either direct the fury at Senator Obama because they are hurting and need someone to be a focal point regardless of reality -- or they use these situations as an deceptive excuse to publicly state their existing hostility to him under cover of whatever they are claiming to speak about.

Either way it's ugly and doesn't do anything useful except possibly in the first scenario allow the individual or group of individuals to use politics as a mode of therapy -- individual self-expression for psychological purposes. And the usefulness of THAt is severely limited given that many other people exist and this is a serious time and it's not necessarily all about the individual's inner psychological needs.

I couldn't get through this post because of the vitriol. Tell Obama's "black ass"...really? Why take it there.

TRW -- that comment got me too but I let it go.

Equally offensive was..."let McCain be lynched in the street." I tried to reread the post and then saw that. Is this current financial situation a mess? Absolutely. But this type of commentary is totally uncalled for.

why call just Barack? He isn't the be all and end all to everything. Why not hold everyone accountable? Why not bitch slap Bush and his cronies who saw this mess and did not make the right decisions to avoid this problems?

My recommendation would be to pick up the phone and make the round of phone calls to every govt organization, write letters and send and post to the blogs on the larger media outlets and make your voice heard. But I would caution you to remove the expectation that Barack is responsible for this financial crisis and he has to carry the cross on his back alone.

why call just Barack? RIGHT!
What is that about? This vote is in the CONGRESS. Sen Barack is in the SENATE!
We should be contacting our local news and our reps in congress.
Important post though Rob M. Other than the "black ass".

My point is that Obama cannot APPROVE this bill as it is CONSTITUTED for the reasons I cited above He is still a SENATOR and gets a voice. As of now I have seen nothing from him opposing this billexcept executive compensation.

Which is more important talking about EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION or HOW TO SAVE AMERICAN HOMEOWNERS? Executive compensation is a distraction from the issue at hand; saving the financial system. Distraction from the real issues is something we all care about and WHY WE ARE BACKING OBAMA.

Another thing he is a constitutional scholar. He had no impact on the Patriot Bill because he didn't have a voice on the Senate Floor. Now that he is there he is going to approve a bill w/ NO RECOURSE TO THE COURTS? Opposing this aspect of the bill that is a political plus right there and he isn't using it.

As to calling Obama, I have said HELL to the No on this bill from day one. I have told everyone to call their Senators and congressman to vote NO as this bill is currently.

Since I was turned on to this blog I have written about economic and foreign policy issues. I have said as a whole AfricanAmericans are going to up OUR education levels on issues we never ever thought about: anybody remember BALTIC DRY SHIPPING INDEX RATES. I post articles from people in the economic field way above my pay grade. That is why I came down on Barack Obama so hard. He is the leader of the party. Information and positions should be flowing from his office so as to make sure not only Barack Obama but every Senate and Congressional seat Democrats are contesting is won. All I am seeing all day long is comments from Barney Frank, the Clintons, Sen Chuck-where is the microphone- Schumer, et al about this crisis. Obama gets interviewed by John Hargrove CNBC- is good and fair- and he talks about executive pay? WTF!

Taxpayers have figured out that $700,000,000,000 is coming out of their pocket. Obama is coming across weak by not talking directly to them about their concerns which starts with STAYING IN THEIR HOMES. Admiral Komack and I have both pointed out in this thread that the bigots are already out saying the N@##$%^ are responsible. Obama should be ahead of this.

So I say again Obama wake up.

My point is that Obama cannot APPROVE this bill as it is CONSTITUTED for the reasons I cited above He is still a SENATOR and gets a voice. As of now I have seen nothing from him opposing this billexcept executive compensation.

::

Then you aren't looking.

Then educate me please. Otherwise while I am angry w/ Obama you are simply childish.

You're opinon of me is none of my business.

You claimed you have not seen any opposition from Barack other than executive compensation.

That's fine, but you haven't been looking that hard.

I don't have to educate you. You're a smart guy. You just aren't looking in all the right places.

You might start with going to Barack's own campaign website.

Rob M - step back a little.

Why are you angry with Obama? He didn't cause this mess. And if you have a disgreement with him, why go off on him in a way you did not go after the folks who are currently in office? What was up with the threats, as you pointed out, he is but one (1) voice . . . .

Anyway, Blessings to you and yours!

I am angry w/ Obama because in my opinion his response(s) have been to slow to everything and on this issue silence is ignorance.

The American people are being asked to fork over $700,000,000,000 in cash: from the big picture.com
Want to get a sense of exactly how expensive the Paulson Plan is?


1 million seconds is 11 days

1 billion seconds is 32 years

1 trillion seconds is 3 centuries

If we take on as much debt as Paulson wants (well over a trillion dollars) and we pay it back at the rate of a dollar per second, it would take 3 centuries to repay. And that assumes its "only" a trillion dollars . . . it could be much, much more.(his numbers are off it is 32,000 years

The american taxpayer know this money can only come from two places print it or taxes. In both cases it is a huge impact on themselves. If they are going to "SAVE" themselves they at least ought to know what the FINAL REWARD. is. This is where a leader leadsand I do not see leadership here.

As to the folks in office I have repeatedly warned that this situation has more than enough blame for every last American politician. The magnitude of the problem is indicative of how long it has been ignored by everyone. It is time to solve it

In my world a bitch slap is not a threat. The purpose is to refocus the mind that is under stress. If you go to a good dojo after a certain level of work you will go into weapons training. Once there they will use a real knife when you learn how to disarm an attacker using one. They want you to go into disarm mode whether the knife is real or not. Otherwise you will be in a situation where you are trying to decide if it is a real knife.

Obama is under attack by a whole lot more than a knife here. The current financial disaster can bring us to a DEPRESSION. In a depression nothing happens because there is no MONEY to lube the engine of commerce. He needs to be ahead of the plan by working as a Senator because he could inherit the depression. Instead he is in Florida to debate McCain. Giving a speech on the floor of the Senate showing your command of the issues is way better form of leadership.

Plus IMO he argues like it is a debating society. Go to your strength. Put together a speech on the floor showing your command of the issues. Rally the Democrats around you the LEADER.

Any charge of Partisanship to keep the taxpayer from getting raped is not partisanship. It is showing leadership by protecting your people, the citizens of the USA.

Craig
I am not seeing anything Bloomberg, CNBc, CNN, Fox NEWS, this website:http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/, this blog:http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/,. If you are going to put an idea out there don't you think you can do better defendign yur point?

rikyrah: Hope this is not a duplicate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/21/abc-pa...
ABC Panel Tears Into McCain: Not Presidential; Age Should Be An Issue

For John McCain, the panel discussion on This Week with George Stephanopoulos could not have been more brutal.

Minutes after conservative columnist George Will declared that the Senator was decidedly un-presidential is his unexpected call for the firing of SEC Chairman Chris Cox, Sam Donaldson, the long-time ABC hand, said that McCain's erratic message on the economy again raised questions about his age.

This was fairly brutal!! Yaaaaa! :>)

Going to pop some corn! I plan to watch this a couple of times! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!>/b>

Trying to entertain myself for a few hours I tuned into the Emmy's to see Hugh Laurie in a tux, giving a fun interview on the red carpet, a funny repartee handing out an award and perhaps, finally, a win for best Drama actor. No, no, no on all three fronts. He had the flu and he didn't win.

This week has been an all around downer.

Back to the slog.

Lilytiger: I'm handing you some "virtual 'GREEN TEA'"!

Now let's get - you know the drill - FIRED UP! READY TO GO!!

There are times when I like House. Not when he's soo egocentric, though!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

Suggestion: Go to "Alaska" - to Mudflats!! The articles and comments are very supportive!

Gee, thanks, I like green tea. Okay, tomorrow is another day!

And there is always next year for Hugh.

But it's this year for Obama!

Lilytiger: Me 2! Yes it is!! Yes! Yaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Obama-Biden '08!

rikyrah: Unless I missed it, HuffPost had a slide show.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/21/mccain...
McCain Owns 13 Cars; Obama 1 [slide show]

Newsweek has a story up comparing the number of cars owned by the presidential candidates. It's not even close. And certainly, it doesn't provide the type of man-of-the-people image that John McCain's handlers want to present in the current economic crisis.

As the magazine reports: "When you have seven homes, that's a lot of garages to fill. After the fuss over the number of residences owned by the two presidential nominees, NEWSWEEK looked into the candidates' cars. And based on public vehicle-registration records, here's the score. John and Cindy McCain: 13. Barack and Michelle Obama: one."

Some commentators didn't see how this was "relevant" to the "issues."

Guess they forgot those terms previously floated by the Repugs: ELITIST! UPPITY!

Obama-Biden '08!

McCain Freeze Would Chill Science

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/fu...

No Science whatsoever. No evolution. Creationism only.

No enjoyable sex. No premarital sex. Missionary position only...and don't you dare like it!

No contraception. Women must carry every fertilized egg. Rapist's and Pedophile's choice.

I need some sleep.

not worth that much drama... "...the freeze applies to the entire budget, most of which doesn't relate to science."

rikyrah: Alaskans worry about fishing industry --their economic plight!
http://www.adn.com/money/story/532412.html

PRINCE RUPERT, British Columbia -- Alaska residents who attended a conference in Prince Rupert say they're concerned about the future of the fishing industry in their state.

Delegates at the Southeast Alaska Conference heard that this year's harvested salmon stock is likely to be only 137 million fish, down 75 million from last year.

John Sund, spokesman for the OceansAlaska Marine Science Center, said the major problem facing the industry is not a declining population of fish but the decreasing number of fishing people living and working in Alaska.

A combination of increasing energy costs for rural areas, federal litigation inhibiting fishing and decreasing fish stocks is keeping fishermen at home.

SKIP

Dan Robinson, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Labor, told delegates that although their state's oil revenues have grown, oil is not a priority in southeast Alaska and that's affecting the region's economy.

Even though EACH ALASKAN is getting $2000+ this year, they seem to be realizing that they are a part of the economy of the UNITED STATES!!

Obama-Biden '08!

rikyrah: Just gotta post this!! there are some BRAVE people in Alaska!! :>)

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/confes...
Confessions Of A Sign Hacker

I have a confession to make.

I was driving to work on Friday, approaching a familiar overpass on the Seward Highway, when I noticed a hand-painted sign that someone had put up so it would hang over traffic. I’ve seen signs on this overpasses before. Sometimes it’s a birthday greeting, sometimes a welcome home message. I even once saw a “No Blood for Oil” sign before the invasion of Iraq. This one looked like it had been painted on a white sheet. It was mostly red and blue….it….was….an…… Obama sign! I smiled as the car got close enough to read it. “Obama 4 Change” it said. But then as I got closer still, I realized that there was more. It continued, “2 Islamic Law -N- U.S.A.” Obama for change to Islamic Law in U.S.A.?? Argh!

SKIP [Obeying the "SNIPET RULE :>)]

I was outraged, not only at the sheer stupidity and misinformation in the content of the sign, but “-N-”?? There was plenty of space to write “IN”. And isn’t “-N-” supposed to mean ‘and’?

The plan? Not to take the sign down as I first thought, but to quickly and surgically remove the bottom half! Brilliant. Not only would the sign be correct in content, but the -N- and the rest of the nonsense would be relegated to the dust bin.

The procedure took about five minutes, as we discovered there were actually two identical signs, one facing north and one facing south. I present to you, dear Mudflatters, my trophies. No antlers or moose heads from this Alaskan hunt, but something even better.



The signs are down now, but they survived all the way through the morning and evening commute on Friday. I wonder if the original sign hangers got to enjoy the edited version…

You gotta appreciate the B4 and AFTER SIGNS!! BEAUTIFUL HACK JOB!! :>)

The "comments" are pleasingly scathing! :>)

ENJOY & APPRECIATE! Obama-Biden '08!

Does my heart good to see so many people fighting teh stoopid this election season.

MsKitty: ABSOLUTELY!! It takes a village . . . :>)

Obama-Biden '08!

muflats is a gem. a true gem.

rikyrah: A - men!! :>)

Obama-Biden '08!