Saturday, May 02, 2009
It's Rush Hour in Manhatten Mr. President, Do You Know Where Your Plane is at?
President Bush, God love him, made his share of mistakes but he never buzzed Manhatten. Bush never asked American's suffering through tough economic times to "tighten their belts" while he was serving $100 a pound Japanese beef every Wednesday night and spending $329,000 to take a photo of his airplane. America had to suffer through eight years of liberals acting out their Bush Derangement Syndrome but Bush never sent several hundred New Yorkers running for their lives in the middle of their work day.
TORTURE? REALLY?
Like many national debates fueled by our wonderful media the entire premise is wrong. America always starts with a worthy and perfectly valid idea. Then time and the endless efforts of "progressives" contort that idea to imbecility. Consider the idea that "cruel and unusual" punishment should not be allowed. Sounds great but look how that idea has been manipulated over the years. One method after another of inflicting the death penalty has been eliminated. Newer and more humane methods were invented only to later be deemed cruel and unusual. We are currently at the point where death penalty opponents argue that lethal injection is cruel because we cannot be sure the recipient does not feel some pain or discomfort. They no longer bother to argue the "unusual" part since executions are so rare they feel unusual no longer applies. Also, this obscures the meaning of the phrase. You see, we never meant to outlaw punishment that was cruel, just punishment that was unusually cruel.
Now, thanks to the media and our new President we are calling mildly rough interrogation methods torture. I assure you I have both received and have doled out worst punishment simply by growing up with four siblings. Imagine the horror of being told that a caterpillar would be placed in your cell. The offending bug was never introduced, just threatened. Imagine the impact being lightly smacked on the cheek, or grabbed by your lapels or pressed suddenly up against a wall could have on your self esteem. If you've lead a normal life you shouldn't have to imagine these things you can just remember what it was like when you encountered a school yard bully in elementary school, and that kid actually had a bug in most cases.
Waterboarding is deemed torture by President Obama but splashing water on the face of a terrorists is not my idea of torture. To me torture would have to be something more serious like being forced to decide between burning to death or jumping from an eighty or ninety story window. I would consider if torture if a man bit my lip and held that lip painfully between his teeth while he raped me or if he left me trapped in submerged car to die. There is a limit to the amount of empathy I can offer people who are willing to bomb a pizza parlor filled with women and children, fly a plane full of innocent folks into a building or hack off the head of a young man for his great sin of being born an American and a Jew.
Torture? Really Mr. President.
Now, thanks to the media and our new President we are calling mildly rough interrogation methods torture. I assure you I have both received and have doled out worst punishment simply by growing up with four siblings. Imagine the horror of being told that a caterpillar would be placed in your cell. The offending bug was never introduced, just threatened. Imagine the impact being lightly smacked on the cheek, or grabbed by your lapels or pressed suddenly up against a wall could have on your self esteem. If you've lead a normal life you shouldn't have to imagine these things you can just remember what it was like when you encountered a school yard bully in elementary school, and that kid actually had a bug in most cases.
Waterboarding is deemed torture by President Obama but splashing water on the face of a terrorists is not my idea of torture. To me torture would have to be something more serious like being forced to decide between burning to death or jumping from an eighty or ninety story window. I would consider if torture if a man bit my lip and held that lip painfully between his teeth while he raped me or if he left me trapped in submerged car to die. There is a limit to the amount of empathy I can offer people who are willing to bomb a pizza parlor filled with women and children, fly a plane full of innocent folks into a building or hack off the head of a young man for his great sin of being born an American and a Jew.
Torture? Really Mr. President.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Obama's War of Words
Apparently President Obama thinks he can solve problems simply by changing what we call them. Tired of the "War on Terror"? No problem we'll scrap it for a much lesser conflict, the "overseas contingency". We needn't worry about terrorist attacks. Even if there is one the Obama administration plans to call it a "man caused disaster". Really? If you want to discuss a disaster lets discuss Janet Nipolitano. As a British newspaper recently asked "How did this woman get her job?" Would it be too unkind to say the best thing about her is her haircut?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
GIFT GAFFES
I'm sure many of us expected some "rookie mistakes" from the Obama administration and we haven't been disappointed. I do think we could have expected better from Hillary Clinton. The Obama's have very little experience thinking about others. They talk a good game about helping others but have pretty much looked after their own interests primarily. Mrs Clinton however was the First Lady for eight years and should know a thing or two about appropriate gifts for foreign dignitaries.
When America's best ally, Great Britain sent Prime Minister Brown for a state visit the Obama's lack of experience was blatantly obvious. President Obama chose to unilaterally omit the traditional joint press conference, without advising the British PM. Bit of a nasty surprise that! Unaware of the diss to come the Browns chose their gifts for the Obama family carefully. The Obama girls received outfits from a trendy British children's shop and an assortment of British children's books. A thoughtful and personal gift. The gift to President Obama was a pen case made from wood taken from the sister ship of the MS Resolute. A gift with historical significance. In return the Brown children received gifts that probably came from the White House gift shop and PM Brown received DVD of 50 American movies which unfortunately were in a format that will not work in Great Britain. Not an especially thoughtful gift for a man who is blind in one eye and has probably seen all the classic films anyway.
The Clinton gaffe was even more troubling. In an attempt to stick to their story that America lost international status during the Bush administration the Clinton State Department came up with a cheap little trick which backfired. In a televised meeting with Russian diplomat Mrs. Clinton presented a prop. The so called "reset button" was supposed to demonstrate a "do-over" in the relationship between America and Russia. The idea itself was too cute by half and the execution was flawed. Considering our history with Russia handing them a red button is problematic on it's own. Add to that the fact that button was labeled "Overcharge" instead of "Reset" (shouldn't we have people in the state department who know Russian?) and we have an embarrassing mistake which would have been front page news during the Bush administration.
When America's best ally, Great Britain sent Prime Minister Brown for a state visit the Obama's lack of experience was blatantly obvious. President Obama chose to unilaterally omit the traditional joint press conference, without advising the British PM. Bit of a nasty surprise that! Unaware of the diss to come the Browns chose their gifts for the Obama family carefully. The Obama girls received outfits from a trendy British children's shop and an assortment of British children's books. A thoughtful and personal gift. The gift to President Obama was a pen case made from wood taken from the sister ship of the MS Resolute. A gift with historical significance. In return the Brown children received gifts that probably came from the White House gift shop and PM Brown received DVD of 50 American movies which unfortunately were in a format that will not work in Great Britain. Not an especially thoughtful gift for a man who is blind in one eye and has probably seen all the classic films anyway.
The Clinton gaffe was even more troubling. In an attempt to stick to their story that America lost international status during the Bush administration the Clinton State Department came up with a cheap little trick which backfired. In a televised meeting with Russian diplomat Mrs. Clinton presented a prop. The so called "reset button" was supposed to demonstrate a "do-over" in the relationship between America and Russia. The idea itself was too cute by half and the execution was flawed. Considering our history with Russia handing them a red button is problematic on it's own. Add to that the fact that button was labeled "Overcharge" instead of "Reset" (shouldn't we have people in the state department who know Russian?) and we have an embarrassing mistake which would have been front page news during the Bush administration.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
GOOD INTENTIONS, BAD IDEAS
Ask me how we got into such bad economic condition and I'll tell you. It was the toxic combination of good intentions and bad ideas. The two most devastating hits on our economy in 2008 were the failure of Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac and the high cost of energy. First the banking failure.
In 1993 I worked for a small bank in North Palm Beach. Although the lending guidelines were the same for all borrowers it was bank policy to take a second look at any application from an African-American before issuing a denial. If there was any way the loan could be made, despite the borrower or the property not meeting the required guidelines the loan would be approved. It was explained to me by bank management that since a percentage of the banks depositors were African-American a similar number needed to receive loans by law. The law was the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) passed during the Carter administration then aggressively in forced during the Clinton years. That small bank did not survive the 1990's.
Another feature of the CRA made the bank practice called "red lining" illegal. Bank lending guidelines included not lending in areas or neighborhoods in decline. The unavailability of investment in an undesirable area would hasten the decline and people would move out as property values continued to decline. Eventually the values would be low enough to make it profitable for an investor to buy the area, raze it and build something new and valuable. By outlawing this practice the CRA put dying neighborhoods on life support drawing our their decline and delaying or forever preventing their revitalization.
When I began my career in mortgage lending the maximum loan Fannie Mae would approve was under $100,000. To qualify the borrower's monthly mortgage payment could not exceed 28% of their gross monthly income. The borrowers total monthly indebtedness could not exceed 36% of their gross monthly income. Every loan approved was signed by the underwriter who made the decision and if the loan defaulted the underwriter was sure to hear about it.
By the time the wheels came off the Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac express the maximum loan was over $400,000 and lenders were using "desktop underwriting". This ingenious device was a computer program that made the loan decision for the underwriter. Suddenly it was possible to get an approval on a loan where the total housing expense was 50% or more of the borrowers gross monthly income. If a loan was somehow declined by desktop underwriting the loan broker could tweak it and re-submit as many times as needed to get an approval. Even more detrimental than the higher loan amounts and higher ratios was the absence of any accountability for the loan decision.
If Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac had stuck to "low income housing" perhaps the banks could have survived the required by law bad loan decisions. Unfortunately as property values continued to rise they implemented "Alt-A" mortgage lending funding the Sub Prime mortgage market. The cost of the American Dream home went from $100,000 to $500,000 and in some areas to $1,000,000. Lenders became creative and offered loans that required no income verification, no significant down payment and adjustable interest rates. All to make it easier to buy the ever more expensive homes or to refinance the one you already owned.
Why would Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac want to finance million dollar homes? Perhaps to reap the larger profits generated by the larger loans. Congress had direct oversight of Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac and congressman Barney Frank, the one individual most responsible for the government failure to reign in Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac feels free to blame the banks who lent using Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac guidelines. Franklin Raines, the head of Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac had to resign in 2004 when it was discovered that Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac was under capitalized and that he had "cooked the books" to generate maximum bonus payout to himself and his staff. Raines received over 45 million in compensation during his tenure at Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac. His malfeasance was never punished and he was defended by Democrats who deflected any criticism of Raines by claiming it was "a racist attack". Lucky for Mr Raines he had the "get out of jail free card" of being an African-American.
There are at least a half dozen more government regulations which exacerbated the problem. Those issues are just too intricate and boring for me to address here.
More and more bad loans were made and the "housing bubble" got bigger and bigger every month. Property values skyrocketed and some borrowers refinanced annually reaping and spending their equity over and over again. Average Americans became real estate speculators and bought properties they had no intention of occupying, sometimes flipping a property before it was fully constructed. Any attempt to reign in Mae/Freddy Mac was opposed by Democrats and anyone daring to demand reform was called a racist.
Then there is our problem with energy which can be summed up in two words, Enviro Mentals!The price of oil topped $100 a barrel and $4 a gallon gasoline was more than our economy could bear. Although the United States has vast resources of oil and natural gas most have been put "off limits". Nuclear power plants which have been providing most of the energy needs for France and Canada are also not allowed. Liberals gush on about solar and wind power but will even oppose those methods if it might interfere with their yachting or spoil their view. We are the "Saudi Arabia" of coal but expanding the availability of cheap electricity from coal powered plants is, you guessed it, not allowed. Despite global cooling for the past decade and no convincing argument that the warming from 1978 to 1998 was caused by human activity the "Enviro Mentals" reject every workable method of energy production proposed including "Greenhouse Gas" free nuclear power.
And that is the one-two punch that brought the American economy to it's knees. Not corporate greed, not unbridled capitalism but bad government regulation and bad environmental policy. All with the best intentions of course.
In 1993 I worked for a small bank in North Palm Beach. Although the lending guidelines were the same for all borrowers it was bank policy to take a second look at any application from an African-American before issuing a denial. If there was any way the loan could be made, despite the borrower or the property not meeting the required guidelines the loan would be approved. It was explained to me by bank management that since a percentage of the banks depositors were African-American a similar number needed to receive loans by law. The law was the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) passed during the Carter administration then aggressively in forced during the Clinton years. That small bank did not survive the 1990's.
Another feature of the CRA made the bank practice called "red lining" illegal. Bank lending guidelines included not lending in areas or neighborhoods in decline. The unavailability of investment in an undesirable area would hasten the decline and people would move out as property values continued to decline. Eventually the values would be low enough to make it profitable for an investor to buy the area, raze it and build something new and valuable. By outlawing this practice the CRA put dying neighborhoods on life support drawing our their decline and delaying or forever preventing their revitalization.
When I began my career in mortgage lending the maximum loan Fannie Mae would approve was under $100,000. To qualify the borrower's monthly mortgage payment could not exceed 28% of their gross monthly income. The borrowers total monthly indebtedness could not exceed 36% of their gross monthly income. Every loan approved was signed by the underwriter who made the decision and if the loan defaulted the underwriter was sure to hear about it.
By the time the wheels came off the Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac express the maximum loan was over $400,000 and lenders were using "desktop underwriting". This ingenious device was a computer program that made the loan decision for the underwriter. Suddenly it was possible to get an approval on a loan where the total housing expense was 50% or more of the borrowers gross monthly income. If a loan was somehow declined by desktop underwriting the loan broker could tweak it and re-submit as many times as needed to get an approval. Even more detrimental than the higher loan amounts and higher ratios was the absence of any accountability for the loan decision.
If Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac had stuck to "low income housing" perhaps the banks could have survived the required by law bad loan decisions. Unfortunately as property values continued to rise they implemented "Alt-A" mortgage lending funding the Sub Prime mortgage market. The cost of the American Dream home went from $100,000 to $500,000 and in some areas to $1,000,000. Lenders became creative and offered loans that required no income verification, no significant down payment and adjustable interest rates. All to make it easier to buy the ever more expensive homes or to refinance the one you already owned.
Why would Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac want to finance million dollar homes? Perhaps to reap the larger profits generated by the larger loans. Congress had direct oversight of Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac and congressman Barney Frank, the one individual most responsible for the government failure to reign in Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac feels free to blame the banks who lent using Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac guidelines. Franklin Raines, the head of Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac had to resign in 2004 when it was discovered that Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac was under capitalized and that he had "cooked the books" to generate maximum bonus payout to himself and his staff. Raines received over 45 million in compensation during his tenure at Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac. His malfeasance was never punished and he was defended by Democrats who deflected any criticism of Raines by claiming it was "a racist attack". Lucky for Mr Raines he had the "get out of jail free card" of being an African-American.
There are at least a half dozen more government regulations which exacerbated the problem. Those issues are just too intricate and boring for me to address here.
More and more bad loans were made and the "housing bubble" got bigger and bigger every month. Property values skyrocketed and some borrowers refinanced annually reaping and spending their equity over and over again. Average Americans became real estate speculators and bought properties they had no intention of occupying, sometimes flipping a property before it was fully constructed. Any attempt to reign in Mae/Freddy Mac was opposed by Democrats and anyone daring to demand reform was called a racist.
Then there is our problem with energy which can be summed up in two words, Enviro Mentals!The price of oil topped $100 a barrel and $4 a gallon gasoline was more than our economy could bear. Although the United States has vast resources of oil and natural gas most have been put "off limits". Nuclear power plants which have been providing most of the energy needs for France and Canada are also not allowed. Liberals gush on about solar and wind power but will even oppose those methods if it might interfere with their yachting or spoil their view. We are the "Saudi Arabia" of coal but expanding the availability of cheap electricity from coal powered plants is, you guessed it, not allowed. Despite global cooling for the past decade and no convincing argument that the warming from 1978 to 1998 was caused by human activity the "Enviro Mentals" reject every workable method of energy production proposed including "Greenhouse Gas" free nuclear power.
And that is the one-two punch that brought the American economy to it's knees. Not corporate greed, not unbridled capitalism but bad government regulation and bad environmental policy. All with the best intentions of course.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
500 MILLION Americans?
The botox must be seeping into Nancy Pelosi's brain. Twice recently she announced that every month 500 million Americans were losing their jobs. I guess once you start spending hundreds of billions the difference between a million and a thousand is too small to notice.
Liberals do tend to exagerate don't they. Another good example was Barack Obama himself who during the campaign stated that a Kansas storm had killed 10,000 people. The correct count of souls lost in that storm was 12.
Liberals do tend to exagerate don't they. Another good example was Barack Obama himself who during the campaign stated that a Kansas storm had killed 10,000 people. The correct count of souls lost in that storm was 12.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Obama Focused on the Future, but NOT in a Good Way
I was a bit shocked to hear President Obama make reference to re-election on his third day in office and after a week in office Obama made mention of his "Legacy". That's awfully forward looking considering that his administration hasn't accomplished anything yet.
The new President made many promises to the American people during his campaign and I hope he forgets about most of them. He has already reinstated a policy that uses our tax dollars to abort children in foreign lands. I have my doubts that this is the time to look for more ways to spend money on foreign aid. Perhaps this is a matter of national security and President Obama plans to abort all future terrorists.
Another "top priority" for President Obama was to close Guantanamo Bay. There was a bit of a slip up during the signing of the executive order on Guantanamo not unlike the glitch in the swearing in of President Obama. Apparently Mr. Obama was unaware that, at present, no one knows what will be done with the occupants of said detention facility. After signing the executive order closing Guantanamo within one year he asked if there was a second order standing by to describe how that would be accomplished. President Obama was advised that "we are creating a process". Personally, I would have looked into that "process" before I signed an executive order. It seems wrong to me to promise you will do something in a set period of time when you don't have a clue as to how you will successfully complete the task.
Anyway Mr President, it is just plain tacky for you to be planing your re-election and visualizing your "legacy" before you have even made an effort to do your job.
The new President made many promises to the American people during his campaign and I hope he forgets about most of them. He has already reinstated a policy that uses our tax dollars to abort children in foreign lands. I have my doubts that this is the time to look for more ways to spend money on foreign aid. Perhaps this is a matter of national security and President Obama plans to abort all future terrorists.
Another "top priority" for President Obama was to close Guantanamo Bay. There was a bit of a slip up during the signing of the executive order on Guantanamo not unlike the glitch in the swearing in of President Obama. Apparently Mr. Obama was unaware that, at present, no one knows what will be done with the occupants of said detention facility. After signing the executive order closing Guantanamo within one year he asked if there was a second order standing by to describe how that would be accomplished. President Obama was advised that "we are creating a process". Personally, I would have looked into that "process" before I signed an executive order. It seems wrong to me to promise you will do something in a set period of time when you don't have a clue as to how you will successfully complete the task.
Anyway Mr President, it is just plain tacky for you to be planing your re-election and visualizing your "legacy" before you have even made an effort to do your job.
Obama in Office for One Week, Are We There Yet?
The new President made many promises to the American people during his campaign and I hope he forgets about a lot of them. He has already reinstated a policy that uses our tax dollars to abort children in foreign lands and to close Guantanamo Bay within one year.
There was a bit of a slip up during the signing of the executive order on Guantanamo not unlike the glitch in the Presidents swearing in. Apparently President Obama was unaware that, at present, no one knows what will be done with the occupants of said detention facility. After signing the executive order closing Guantanamo he asked if they had a second order standing by to describe how that would be accomplished. President Obama was told "we are creating a process".
Perhaps the two executive orders are linked and Obama plans to abort all future terrorists.
There was a bit of a slip up during the signing of the executive order on Guantanamo not unlike the glitch in the Presidents swearing in. Apparently President Obama was unaware that, at present, no one knows what will be done with the occupants of said detention facility. After signing the executive order closing Guantanamo he asked if they had a second order standing by to describe how that would be accomplished. President Obama was told "we are creating a process".
Perhaps the two executive orders are linked and Obama plans to abort all future terrorists.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Bush Transition Beats Clinton's
I know it's easy and somewhat desirable to forget all the Clinton crap from eight long years ago but let's recap, shall we? That way we can be thankful that in President Bush we had a decent man who took his office seriously.
With Bush we won't have the last minute plethora of pardons. On his very last day in office Clinton issued 140 pardons. Many of Cinton's pardons were granted against the recommendations of the Department of Justice and forty-seven were granted, quite unusually, without ANY examination or review by that entity. Bill Clinton pardoned his drug dealing brother, cocaine kingpin Carlos Vignali, some Puerto Rican FALN terrorists, Marc Rich, international fugitive who had done business with Iran while they held our people hostage (he was on the FBI's most wanted list), the Hasidic Jews of New Square community who swindled the U.S Government out of $40 million among others. In Clinton's defence he did not pardon himself despite agreeing to a plea deal the day before the inauguration regarding his lying under oath which included his disbarment.
Then we had all the post-pardon revelations. A large number of the newly pardoned had been big contributors to either Hillary Clinton's senatorial campaign, the Clinton Presidential library or both. Both Clinton's had a brother making pardon requests on the part of criminals who were willing to pay Hugh Rodem or Roger Clinton for the favor. We still laugh about Mrs. Clinton's "sad and disappointed" press conference. Oh, and the Hasidic Jewish community voted for Senator Clinton 1,400 to 12, a truly startling result since Hasidic Jews in general favored her opponent Rick Lazio who had never hugged Arafat's wife in public.
The new first family quickly became aware of a large amount of missing furniture. Apparently the Clinton's thought that everything that had been added to the White House during their two terms was up for grabs. The concept of someone making a gift "to the White House" was beyond their comprehension. After all, the historic building itself couldn't provide a future political favor or quid pro quo. Although the Clinton's were shamed into returning some of the furnishings and artworks how much they got away with, we will never know. This behavior is made even more bizarre by the fact that Mrs. Clinton had just received an 8 million dollar advance on her book and had registered for thousands of dollars in gifts that supporters dutifully lined up to provide.
Then there was all the office vandalism. The Bush administration tried to keep it on the down low but many incoming administration members found their offices in terrible condition. Cleverly all the keyboards had the "W's" removed, which by the way requires a replacement of the entire keyboard. Desks were turned over, papers scattered, cartoons tacked to walls and in some cases vile liquids poured on office equipment. The clean-up of this totally unnecessary damage and disrespect for our White House was picked up by the American taxpayer. I would have liked to have seen the perpetrators brought to justice for these misdeeds.
The Clinton's cheesiest inauguration day antic had to be the "post Presidency party" at a hangar at JFK Airport. There were a couple thousand supporters, a marching band and some strange review of troops by the now former President. The cost of this televised event was paid by some unidentified "Friends of Bill". If only this could have been a true "swan song" and the Clinton's gone forever.
With Bush we won't have the last minute plethora of pardons. On his very last day in office Clinton issued 140 pardons. Many of Cinton's pardons were granted against the recommendations of the Department of Justice and forty-seven were granted, quite unusually, without ANY examination or review by that entity. Bill Clinton pardoned his drug dealing brother, cocaine kingpin Carlos Vignali, some Puerto Rican FALN terrorists, Marc Rich, international fugitive who had done business with Iran while they held our people hostage (he was on the FBI's most wanted list), the Hasidic Jews of New Square community who swindled the U.S Government out of $40 million among others. In Clinton's defence he did not pardon himself despite agreeing to a plea deal the day before the inauguration regarding his lying under oath which included his disbarment.
Then we had all the post-pardon revelations. A large number of the newly pardoned had been big contributors to either Hillary Clinton's senatorial campaign, the Clinton Presidential library or both. Both Clinton's had a brother making pardon requests on the part of criminals who were willing to pay Hugh Rodem or Roger Clinton for the favor. We still laugh about Mrs. Clinton's "sad and disappointed" press conference. Oh, and the Hasidic Jewish community voted for Senator Clinton 1,400 to 12, a truly startling result since Hasidic Jews in general favored her opponent Rick Lazio who had never hugged Arafat's wife in public.
The new first family quickly became aware of a large amount of missing furniture. Apparently the Clinton's thought that everything that had been added to the White House during their two terms was up for grabs. The concept of someone making a gift "to the White House" was beyond their comprehension. After all, the historic building itself couldn't provide a future political favor or quid pro quo. Although the Clinton's were shamed into returning some of the furnishings and artworks how much they got away with, we will never know. This behavior is made even more bizarre by the fact that Mrs. Clinton had just received an 8 million dollar advance on her book and had registered for thousands of dollars in gifts that supporters dutifully lined up to provide.
Then there was all the office vandalism. The Bush administration tried to keep it on the down low but many incoming administration members found their offices in terrible condition. Cleverly all the keyboards had the "W's" removed, which by the way requires a replacement of the entire keyboard. Desks were turned over, papers scattered, cartoons tacked to walls and in some cases vile liquids poured on office equipment. The clean-up of this totally unnecessary damage and disrespect for our White House was picked up by the American taxpayer. I would have liked to have seen the perpetrators brought to justice for these misdeeds.
The Clinton's cheesiest inauguration day antic had to be the "post Presidency party" at a hangar at JFK Airport. There were a couple thousand supporters, a marching band and some strange review of troops by the now former President. The cost of this televised event was paid by some unidentified "Friends of Bill". If only this could have been a true "swan song" and the Clinton's gone forever.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Taxation Without Representation
In case you haven't noticed our elected representatives no longer pay any attention to what we, the American People, want. It is time for us, as a group to put our collective feet down.
First, we must demand that English be officially designated as our national language. Our country will never be united if we don't all share a common language.
Secondly, we must close our borders. Without controlled borders we are not a sovereign nation. In this age of terrorism it is suicidal to have anything short of secure borders.
We get the government we deserve so it is our responsibility to let our elected representatives know that if they ignore our wishes we will vote them out.
First, we must demand that English be officially designated as our national language. Our country will never be united if we don't all share a common language.
Secondly, we must close our borders. Without controlled borders we are not a sovereign nation. In this age of terrorism it is suicidal to have anything short of secure borders.
We get the government we deserve so it is our responsibility to let our elected representatives know that if they ignore our wishes we will vote them out.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
SOME THINGS I WON'T BE DOING DURING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
I have very serious doubts about Barack Obama's abilities, experience and agenda . I don't think he has any real love or respect for the United States of America. However, he was elected President and I will not behave like so many folks have over the past eight years of the Bush administrations.
Firstly I will not purchase an inflatable version of President Obama with a long Pinocchio style nose and keep it in my home and think my self so very clever. I didn't have any Clinton items like that despite him being a proven liar who had to surrender his law license for committing perjury. I also have no plans to wallpaper my refrigerator with cartoons that belittle President Obama and leave them there for months.
I've had eight years of seeing some nasty comment about Bush nearly every time I drive anywhere in Palm Beach County (nicknamed pea brain county after the 2000 election). Consequently, I won't buy and display an anti-Obama bumper sticker although I bet there will be some funny ones available. One caveat, if there is a specific issue that I feel I must display comment about I will do so. This would require a serious misstep or some malfeasance by Obama. Also, prior to January 20th I will remove my small, unobtrusive "W the President" sticker just as I removed my McCain stickers the day of the election. If only everyone would do so imagine how tidy the car cabooses of America would be.
I will not compare Obama to Hitler, unless of course he annexes Austria and invades Czechoslovakia, at which point it would be a fair comment to make. I won't criticize every step President Obama makes even when he embraces a policy I was for when Bush was President as Democrats have done. For example when Bush provided the Medicare prescription benefit that had been a Democrat campaign promise for two decades many Democrats were against it just because it was now a Bush policy. Here is South Florida many of those same complaining liberal seniors are making use of that program without ever thinking they should thank Bush for the benefit.
I will criticize actions that I feel are bad for the country, but will do so in a, mostly, respectful manner. I won't say Obama is stupid, he is not, but then neither is Bush. I may comment on his endless hemming and hawing when ever he is speaking without a teleprompter. I may not always be able to refrain from comment on his ears or his overall scrawny physique. I'll try but there will probably be the occasional odd mention of his scary wife.
In short I will not, as the left has done with George W Bush, go berserk, foam at the mouth, or buy into convoluted conspiracy schemes. I won't put opposing President Obama ahead of supporting America's best interests. I won't treat family members who disagree with me in the same hurtful hateful manner they have treated me for the past eight years. In short, I doubt I'll love President Obama but I won't hate him, no mater how much I disagree with him.
Firstly I will not purchase an inflatable version of President Obama with a long Pinocchio style nose and keep it in my home and think my self so very clever. I didn't have any Clinton items like that despite him being a proven liar who had to surrender his law license for committing perjury. I also have no plans to wallpaper my refrigerator with cartoons that belittle President Obama and leave them there for months.
I've had eight years of seeing some nasty comment about Bush nearly every time I drive anywhere in Palm Beach County (nicknamed pea brain county after the 2000 election). Consequently, I won't buy and display an anti-Obama bumper sticker although I bet there will be some funny ones available. One caveat, if there is a specific issue that I feel I must display comment about I will do so. This would require a serious misstep or some malfeasance by Obama. Also, prior to January 20th I will remove my small, unobtrusive "W the President" sticker just as I removed my McCain stickers the day of the election. If only everyone would do so imagine how tidy the car cabooses of America would be.
I will not compare Obama to Hitler, unless of course he annexes Austria and invades Czechoslovakia, at which point it would be a fair comment to make. I won't criticize every step President Obama makes even when he embraces a policy I was for when Bush was President as Democrats have done. For example when Bush provided the Medicare prescription benefit that had been a Democrat campaign promise for two decades many Democrats were against it just because it was now a Bush policy. Here is South Florida many of those same complaining liberal seniors are making use of that program without ever thinking they should thank Bush for the benefit.
I will criticize actions that I feel are bad for the country, but will do so in a, mostly, respectful manner. I won't say Obama is stupid, he is not, but then neither is Bush. I may comment on his endless hemming and hawing when ever he is speaking without a teleprompter. I may not always be able to refrain from comment on his ears or his overall scrawny physique. I'll try but there will probably be the occasional odd mention of his scary wife.
In short I will not, as the left has done with George W Bush, go berserk, foam at the mouth, or buy into convoluted conspiracy schemes. I won't put opposing President Obama ahead of supporting America's best interests. I won't treat family members who disagree with me in the same hurtful hateful manner they have treated me for the past eight years. In short, I doubt I'll love President Obama but I won't hate him, no mater how much I disagree with him.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
THE TRUE STORY OF THE 2000 ELECTION
In 1998 I learned a few things about George W Bush. He had been a successful Governor of Texas and seemed to have plans for America that I could support. As soon as he announced his intention to run for President the attacks started. There was at least six weeks of newspaper stories speculating on whether or not W had ever used cocaine. This seemed excessive to me as there was zero interest in the media about Bill Clinton's cocaine use. Unlike Bush there were five different people who claimed they had seen Clinton use cocaine while he was attorney general of Arkansas. Also, there was a police surveillance tape of Bill Clinton's brother conducting a drug deal and joking about the prodigious amounts of cocaine our President had been known to consume.
Throughout the campaign I felt my candidate was treated unfairly. Although Bush served for a couple of years in the prestigious Texas Air National Guard, long enough to learn to fly jets he was treated like a draft dodger. Again, something that was not considered important when it came to Bill Clinton who was an actual draft dodger. Gore's short stint in Viet Nam as an army "journalist" was treated like superior service to his country.
Bush was called a stupid frat boy while Gore was lauded as a genius and a statesman. All this despite the fact that Bush and Gore graduated from Yale and Harvard, both "C" students. While Bush went on to get an MBA from Harvard Gore never got a post-graduate degree instead he dropped out of law school and later divinity school. Bush had been the chief executive of one of the largest states in our union. Gore had been an ineffective congressman followed by two terms as Vice-President and you know what they say that position is worth.
The Bush bashing went on unabated and just a few days prior to the election Fox News broke a story that Bush had a DUI from twenty years ago. Bush didn't try to deny that this had happened and had always admitted that when he was young and foolish he had behave like a young fool. Also, it was common knowledge that at age 40 George W. Bush had made the decision to quit drinking and by all reports had done just that. Still, this was big news and the media reported all they could about it in the last days of the campaign.
On election day Fox News was the first to erroneously call the state of Florida for Gore. They did so before the polls were closed in the panhandle and all networks followed with the same wrong call for Florida. This allowed the media to create the impression that Gore was winning in a landslide. Folks on their way to the polls in the panhandle heard the news on the radio and went home without voting. People in line to vote heard the news and gave up and went home with out voting.
These incorrect early reports dampened Republican turnout nationwide. It is estimated that the early call in Florida cost Bush 5,000 to 15,000 votes in the panhandle. It is obvious this illusion of a Gore juggernaut cost Bush the popular vote nationwide. The networks had to take the "Gore wins Florida" call back but the damage was already done. Once enough precincts had reported in to make it obvious Bush had won things really started to happen.
I was so relieved, my candidate had managed to win despite the unfair media treatment. Since the final count had Bush winning Florida by less than 1% a machine recount was required but he won that count too. Then Gore and the Democrats launched their attempt to steal the Presidential election. Manual recounts have long been an election stealing tool used by the Democrats when the margin of victory is small. hanks to the voter suppression in the panhandle and some ballot tampering in Palm Beach County the margin was small enough to be overcome if Democrats could control the recount.
I was sick. Every night I would lay in bed thinking "They're going to steal it". Democrats usually demand recount after recount until one results in their win than claim victory and demand all challenges to the results be put aside in the spirit of good sportsmanship. Gambits the Democrats tried included disqualifying as many of the Florida absentee ballots from our service men and women as possible. A memo went our with suggestions for all the possible technicalities that could be used to disenfranchise members of our military. In addition a court case was filed to disqualify all the Republican absentee ballots from one county on a technicalities. If that case has succeeded Gore would have successfully stolen the election.
If the shoe had been on the other foot and Bush was requesting recounts of the three most Republican counties in Florida he would have been crucified in every newscast and news paper in America. Gore was given a complete pass. I can see him now on TV saying "when people vote we should count those votes", right Al how many times should we count them? What a crock!
The Florida Supreme Court got into the act and did everything in their power to help Gore overturn the election results. Everyone focuses on the rulings from the United States Supreme Court which decided 7 to 2 that what the Florida court had done was unconstitutional and then decided 5 to 4 to finally put a stop to this farce of a "recount."
The Democrats spent the next 8 years claiming Bush was "Selected not elected". In the 2004 election they tried again to make the nation believe that Bush was losing big. In Florida AGAIN Democrats flooded certain poll locations when they knew pollsters would be there. Unfortunately for the Democrats the Republicans were ignoring any media reports of early results but John Kerry fell for the ruse. Overconfident that he was on his way to a big win Kerry said that whoever wins they should concede promptly for the good of the country. This made it difficult for Kerry to hold out when it became clear Bush had been re-elected.
The first Bush administration was put at a terrible disadvantage by having their transition time stolen by this bogus recount nonsense. Perhaps if the Bush team could have transitioned in the usual time frame they would have uncovered and prevented the attacks on September 11th, 2001.
Throughout the campaign I felt my candidate was treated unfairly. Although Bush served for a couple of years in the prestigious Texas Air National Guard, long enough to learn to fly jets he was treated like a draft dodger. Again, something that was not considered important when it came to Bill Clinton who was an actual draft dodger. Gore's short stint in Viet Nam as an army "journalist" was treated like superior service to his country.
Bush was called a stupid frat boy while Gore was lauded as a genius and a statesman. All this despite the fact that Bush and Gore graduated from Yale and Harvard, both "C" students. While Bush went on to get an MBA from Harvard Gore never got a post-graduate degree instead he dropped out of law school and later divinity school. Bush had been the chief executive of one of the largest states in our union. Gore had been an ineffective congressman followed by two terms as Vice-President and you know what they say that position is worth.
The Bush bashing went on unabated and just a few days prior to the election Fox News broke a story that Bush had a DUI from twenty years ago. Bush didn't try to deny that this had happened and had always admitted that when he was young and foolish he had behave like a young fool. Also, it was common knowledge that at age 40 George W. Bush had made the decision to quit drinking and by all reports had done just that. Still, this was big news and the media reported all they could about it in the last days of the campaign.
On election day Fox News was the first to erroneously call the state of Florida for Gore. They did so before the polls were closed in the panhandle and all networks followed with the same wrong call for Florida. This allowed the media to create the impression that Gore was winning in a landslide. Folks on their way to the polls in the panhandle heard the news on the radio and went home without voting. People in line to vote heard the news and gave up and went home with out voting.
These incorrect early reports dampened Republican turnout nationwide. It is estimated that the early call in Florida cost Bush 5,000 to 15,000 votes in the panhandle. It is obvious this illusion of a Gore juggernaut cost Bush the popular vote nationwide. The networks had to take the "Gore wins Florida" call back but the damage was already done. Once enough precincts had reported in to make it obvious Bush had won things really started to happen.
I was so relieved, my candidate had managed to win despite the unfair media treatment. Since the final count had Bush winning Florida by less than 1% a machine recount was required but he won that count too. Then Gore and the Democrats launched their attempt to steal the Presidential election. Manual recounts have long been an election stealing tool used by the Democrats when the margin of victory is small. hanks to the voter suppression in the panhandle and some ballot tampering in Palm Beach County the margin was small enough to be overcome if Democrats could control the recount.
I was sick. Every night I would lay in bed thinking "They're going to steal it". Democrats usually demand recount after recount until one results in their win than claim victory and demand all challenges to the results be put aside in the spirit of good sportsmanship. Gambits the Democrats tried included disqualifying as many of the Florida absentee ballots from our service men and women as possible. A memo went our with suggestions for all the possible technicalities that could be used to disenfranchise members of our military. In addition a court case was filed to disqualify all the Republican absentee ballots from one county on a technicalities. If that case has succeeded Gore would have successfully stolen the election.
If the shoe had been on the other foot and Bush was requesting recounts of the three most Republican counties in Florida he would have been crucified in every newscast and news paper in America. Gore was given a complete pass. I can see him now on TV saying "when people vote we should count those votes", right Al how many times should we count them? What a crock!
The Florida Supreme Court got into the act and did everything in their power to help Gore overturn the election results. Everyone focuses on the rulings from the United States Supreme Court which decided 7 to 2 that what the Florida court had done was unconstitutional and then decided 5 to 4 to finally put a stop to this farce of a "recount."
The Democrats spent the next 8 years claiming Bush was "Selected not elected". In the 2004 election they tried again to make the nation believe that Bush was losing big. In Florida AGAIN Democrats flooded certain poll locations when they knew pollsters would be there. Unfortunately for the Democrats the Republicans were ignoring any media reports of early results but John Kerry fell for the ruse. Overconfident that he was on his way to a big win Kerry said that whoever wins they should concede promptly for the good of the country. This made it difficult for Kerry to hold out when it became clear Bush had been re-elected.
The first Bush administration was put at a terrible disadvantage by having their transition time stolen by this bogus recount nonsense. Perhaps if the Bush team could have transitioned in the usual time frame they would have uncovered and prevented the attacks on September 11th, 2001.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
For the First Time in My Adult Life
To re-phrase Michelle Obama for the first time in my adult life I truly fear for my country. We have elected an unqualified unknown individual. No one really knows what Barack Obama will do in office. The only thing he is passionate about is his daily workouts.
Obama ran on promises of "hope" and "change" with very little detail as to what changes would be made and for what exactly we could hope. Obama has been carried on the shoulders of affirmative action his entire life. He has personally accomplished nothing but electoral success.
Obama was the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review but apparently wrote nothing of merit during that time. Perhaps his writings from that time are sequestered like Hillary's thesis (about her mentor Saul Alinsky) which is under lock and key at Wellsley. Obama has published two memoirs but those tomes were probably written by former domestic terrorists Bill Ayres.
Obama's time in the Illinois legislature was unremarkable. He was the only member to stand and oppose a law which would require babies born after botched abortions be provided medical care rather then simply setting them aside and allowing them to die. I was living in Illinois in 2004 and we came quite close to electing some reformers to stop the time honored Chicago policy of "pay to play". Unfortunately Obama put his support behind the status quo and Mayor Daly and Governor Blagojevich were both re-elected. I think Obama promised change in Washington D.C. but in Chicago he supported business as usual.
Obama is extremely sensitive to criticism. Not a good quality in a President when nearly half of the nation is going to disagree with whatever he chooses to do on any issue. Luckily for Obama the media is on his side for the time being at least. Imagine the noise they would have made if President elect George W Bush had spent two weeks in a 30 million dollar property in Hawaii when he should have been preparing for his Presidency. Instead the media is swooning at the sight of our President-elect rising bare chested from the surf like Venus on a clam shell.
Oh well, I am basically an optimist and all his life Obama has done whatever made him look good. As President he will have to make good choices for the country is he wants to "look good".
Obama ran on promises of "hope" and "change" with very little detail as to what changes would be made and for what exactly we could hope. Obama has been carried on the shoulders of affirmative action his entire life. He has personally accomplished nothing but electoral success.
Obama was the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review but apparently wrote nothing of merit during that time. Perhaps his writings from that time are sequestered like Hillary's thesis (about her mentor Saul Alinsky) which is under lock and key at Wellsley. Obama has published two memoirs but those tomes were probably written by former domestic terrorists Bill Ayres.
Obama's time in the Illinois legislature was unremarkable. He was the only member to stand and oppose a law which would require babies born after botched abortions be provided medical care rather then simply setting them aside and allowing them to die. I was living in Illinois in 2004 and we came quite close to electing some reformers to stop the time honored Chicago policy of "pay to play". Unfortunately Obama put his support behind the status quo and Mayor Daly and Governor Blagojevich were both re-elected. I think Obama promised change in Washington D.C. but in Chicago he supported business as usual.
Obama is extremely sensitive to criticism. Not a good quality in a President when nearly half of the nation is going to disagree with whatever he chooses to do on any issue. Luckily for Obama the media is on his side for the time being at least. Imagine the noise they would have made if President elect George W Bush had spent two weeks in a 30 million dollar property in Hawaii when he should have been preparing for his Presidency. Instead the media is swooning at the sight of our President-elect rising bare chested from the surf like Venus on a clam shell.
Oh well, I am basically an optimist and all his life Obama has done whatever made him look good. As President he will have to make good choices for the country is he wants to "look good".
Friday, November 14, 2008
ENOUGH WITH THE BUSH BASHING
When I learned that George W Bush planned to run for President I was pleased. His dad had been an okay President but I thought he could be better. Bush 41 was too much of a gentleman I hoped that Bush 43 would be tougher and more effective. He had been a successful Governor of Texas despite having a Democrat majority in the state legislature when he was elected there. I hoped that this Bush had more of his mom in him than his dad.
As soon as Bush announced his intention to run for President the attacks started. Throughout the campaign I felt my candidate was treated unfairly. Just a few days prior to the election Fox News broke a story that Bush had a DUI from twenty years ago. This and some ballot tampering in Florida kept the election close enough for Gore to mount an attempt to steal it. If Gore could, by hook or crook, reverse the Bush win in Florida he would be declared the winner of the 2000 Presidential election. The media supported Gore in every way they possibly could but through divine providence Bush prevailed and was inaugurated in January 2001.
The election was over but the anti-Bush campaign went on. Bush had naively promised a "new tone" so time and time again he reached out to the democrats. No matter what Bush did he was endlessly and almost universally criticized. National disgrace Ted Kennedy would accept an invitation to the White House to see a movie about the Cuban missile crisis and resume denigrating the President the following Monday morning in the Senate. President Bush would give an over the top complimentary speech while unveiling the Presidential portraits of Bill & Hillary Clinton, but Senator Clinton would never say anything complimentary about President Bush. When the country was attacked everyone came together for about 2 weeks. After that it was Bush Bashing business as usual. Hillary Clinton stood on the floor of the Senate holding the New York Times with a two inch headline screaming WHAT DID BUSH KNOW WHEN!
Throughout all these attacks President Bush never stooped to the level of his detractors. An organization named MoveOn.org ironically created to ask the country to move past the Clinton scandals was instrumental in keeping the "Bush was selected not elected" fallacy alive. George Soros spent 24 million dollars of his own money to help defeat Bush in 2004, but Bush prevailed once again. The term BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) was born. The President was attacked in movies, books (some portraying his assassination) and especially in print.
Bush supporters have suffered terribly. I have been personally slandered in emails from family members. I have been ordered out of my brother's home at night in the snow when I didn't have a car with me. In the past 8 years I have rarely had a moments peace from the relentless Bush Bashing. Anti-Bush comments can come from anywhere. The movie or TV show I am watching, my hairdresser, the radio host, the idiot making my sandwich at subway. I hadn't previously know how liberal sports writers were but I quickly found out. No matter the subject you were reading about there could always be an anti Bush zinger waiting to jump out at you. Once I encountered one in the food section of the Sun Sentinel. Anyone with anything negative to say about our President felt it was their civic duty to spout off at any time. Even shopping for Christmas cards I have to be subjected to cards coupling Bush's face in different expressions next to the faces of chimps.
If you dare to make your support for the President known (tee shirt, bumper sticker whatever) perfect strangers feel it is within their rights to challenge your opinion. They have managed to make it "controversial" for me to dare to support the President of the United States of America in my own country. I have been laughed at, given a thumbs down, confronted and insulted. My own and only sister has in my presence spit the word Republican as tho it were an expletive. My mother sent an email to me and other family members addressing the general infamy of Republicans and when I replied, sent a second email essentially apologizing for my existence. I try not to think about that one.
Enough Bush Bashers, for eight years I have cried, I have screamed I have lain awake with clenched fists. You have your skinny liberal messiah as President elect so get off my President George W Bush. Oh, and by the way between the two of them with worse hair and bigger ears Obama looks more like a chimp than W ever did.
As soon as Bush announced his intention to run for President the attacks started. Throughout the campaign I felt my candidate was treated unfairly. Just a few days prior to the election Fox News broke a story that Bush had a DUI from twenty years ago. This and some ballot tampering in Florida kept the election close enough for Gore to mount an attempt to steal it. If Gore could, by hook or crook, reverse the Bush win in Florida he would be declared the winner of the 2000 Presidential election. The media supported Gore in every way they possibly could but through divine providence Bush prevailed and was inaugurated in January 2001.
The election was over but the anti-Bush campaign went on. Bush had naively promised a "new tone" so time and time again he reached out to the democrats. No matter what Bush did he was endlessly and almost universally criticized. National disgrace Ted Kennedy would accept an invitation to the White House to see a movie about the Cuban missile crisis and resume denigrating the President the following Monday morning in the Senate. President Bush would give an over the top complimentary speech while unveiling the Presidential portraits of Bill & Hillary Clinton, but Senator Clinton would never say anything complimentary about President Bush. When the country was attacked everyone came together for about 2 weeks. After that it was Bush Bashing business as usual. Hillary Clinton stood on the floor of the Senate holding the New York Times with a two inch headline screaming WHAT DID BUSH KNOW WHEN!
Throughout all these attacks President Bush never stooped to the level of his detractors. An organization named MoveOn.org ironically created to ask the country to move past the Clinton scandals was instrumental in keeping the "Bush was selected not elected" fallacy alive. George Soros spent 24 million dollars of his own money to help defeat Bush in 2004, but Bush prevailed once again. The term BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) was born. The President was attacked in movies, books (some portraying his assassination) and especially in print.
Bush supporters have suffered terribly. I have been personally slandered in emails from family members. I have been ordered out of my brother's home at night in the snow when I didn't have a car with me. In the past 8 years I have rarely had a moments peace from the relentless Bush Bashing. Anti-Bush comments can come from anywhere. The movie or TV show I am watching, my hairdresser, the radio host, the idiot making my sandwich at subway. I hadn't previously know how liberal sports writers were but I quickly found out. No matter the subject you were reading about there could always be an anti Bush zinger waiting to jump out at you. Once I encountered one in the food section of the Sun Sentinel. Anyone with anything negative to say about our President felt it was their civic duty to spout off at any time. Even shopping for Christmas cards I have to be subjected to cards coupling Bush's face in different expressions next to the faces of chimps.
If you dare to make your support for the President known (tee shirt, bumper sticker whatever) perfect strangers feel it is within their rights to challenge your opinion. They have managed to make it "controversial" for me to dare to support the President of the United States of America in my own country. I have been laughed at, given a thumbs down, confronted and insulted. My own and only sister has in my presence spit the word Republican as tho it were an expletive. My mother sent an email to me and other family members addressing the general infamy of Republicans and when I replied, sent a second email essentially apologizing for my existence. I try not to think about that one.
Enough Bush Bashers, for eight years I have cried, I have screamed I have lain awake with clenched fists. You have your skinny liberal messiah as President elect so get off my President George W Bush. Oh, and by the way between the two of them with worse hair and bigger ears Obama looks more like a chimp than W ever did.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Obama's First Broken Campaign Promise
It is not unusual for politicians to break their campaign promises but they generally wait until after the election. Barack Obama broke his promise to accept public funding for his Presidential campaign before the election. This promise, made during the primaries was put in writing which should mean it is a promise the candidate intended to keep. Obama's excuse for changing his mind is that the public funding system "is broken". There has been no change to the rules of public funding since Obama's made the promise. I would say that he reneged but that would leave me open to accusations of "racisim".
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Democrats Love Legal Loopholes!
American citizens are allowed to contribute a maximum of $2,300 to a candidate for the Primary and again for the general election. This limits an individuals legal donation to a candidate to $4,600 a law with which I disagree. However, when one candidate is following the law and another is side stepping it something should be done.
The law, stupidly, does not require a candidate to identify a donor who gives less than $200. Consequently, dishonest Obama supporters are flooding the donation web site with multiple small donations given under false names. These contributors could be identified easily by the Obama campaign (the McCain campaign identifies all of it's donors) but to do so would make the fraud obvious. A donor listing himself as "Will Good" made 1,000 donations for a total of $17,375. Even after a number of the donations were returned the amount contributed of $8,950 is well above the legal amount one person may contribute. Since Mr. Will Good listed his employer as "Loving" and his job as "You" it is possible he isn't who he says he is.
Another contributor, Doodad Pro gave $19,500 in 786 separate donations. Remarkably he had the same employer and job as Will Good (Loving & You). In addition to these questionable practices the Obama campaign has been running a "Matching Donation Drive" Here is how that works, If you donate say $100 some rich Obama supporter who has already met or exceeded their donation limit will donate an additional amount in your name. That way they are exceeding the legal amount they may donate but it is no longer illegal since the excessive amount is said to have come from you.
Barry Obama learned well in the Chicago School of dishonest politics. This shocking fund raising situation has been known since late September but it is yet another "story" in which the main stream media has no interest.
The law, stupidly, does not require a candidate to identify a donor who gives less than $200. Consequently, dishonest Obama supporters are flooding the donation web site with multiple small donations given under false names. These contributors could be identified easily by the Obama campaign (the McCain campaign identifies all of it's donors) but to do so would make the fraud obvious. A donor listing himself as "Will Good" made 1,000 donations for a total of $17,375. Even after a number of the donations were returned the amount contributed of $8,950 is well above the legal amount one person may contribute. Since Mr. Will Good listed his employer as "Loving" and his job as "You" it is possible he isn't who he says he is.
Another contributor, Doodad Pro gave $19,500 in 786 separate donations. Remarkably he had the same employer and job as Will Good (Loving & You). In addition to these questionable practices the Obama campaign has been running a "Matching Donation Drive" Here is how that works, If you donate say $100 some rich Obama supporter who has already met or exceeded their donation limit will donate an additional amount in your name. That way they are exceeding the legal amount they may donate but it is no longer illegal since the excessive amount is said to have come from you.
Barry Obama learned well in the Chicago School of dishonest politics. This shocking fund raising situation has been known since late September but it is yet another "story" in which the main stream media has no interest.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Illegal Foreign Donations AGAIN?
How do the Democrat presidential candidates always attract foreign donations and get away with accepting most of them? Bill Clinton sold technology to the Chinese which may well come back to bite us on the butt one day. Why would he do such a thing? To generate illegal foreign contributions, oh and contributions from the corporations who would profit from their new Chinese customers.
Barack Obama has used a legal loophole in the campaign finance rules to accept millions from foreign supporters. Using the Internet foreign citizens can make multiple small donations which are illegal and add up to millions. Since the Internet is an excellent tool for tracking information it is well within the ability for the Obama campaign to identify these donors and refuse the illegal contributions. However, if they did that they wouldn't hove those millions to use out-spending McCain 4 to 1 in the battleground states. The Federal Election Commission has identified 11,500 foreign donors who gave a total of $33.8 million to the Obama campaign.
The Hillary Clinton campaign required out of the country donors to fax their proof of citizenship prior to accepting donations. Did you ever expect to see the day when the Democrat Presidential candidates fund raising policies would be less scrupulous than those of a Clinton campaign? Over 1,400 of the foreign donations were from American service people and diplomats who contributed a little over $200,000. That leaves 33.6 million from unknown and undoubtedly foreign donors. Over 500 listed their "state" as "IR" which probably means Iran. Other contributions came from Iraq, France the middle east, Beijing and Italy. Dividing the number of donors by the dollar amount reflects an average donation of nearly $3,000.
Donations to American political campaigns from foreigners are illegal. The Obama has taken some too little too late steps to discontinue accepting foreign donations but has not addressed the vast sums already received. As John Fund of the Wall Street Journal recently said "Oh, there will be an investigation, after the election and someone will probably have to pay a fine." By then the damage will have been done and America will be the one to pay the price.
Barack Obama has used a legal loophole in the campaign finance rules to accept millions from foreign supporters. Using the Internet foreign citizens can make multiple small donations which are illegal and add up to millions. Since the Internet is an excellent tool for tracking information it is well within the ability for the Obama campaign to identify these donors and refuse the illegal contributions. However, if they did that they wouldn't hove those millions to use out-spending McCain 4 to 1 in the battleground states. The Federal Election Commission has identified 11,500 foreign donors who gave a total of $33.8 million to the Obama campaign.
The Hillary Clinton campaign required out of the country donors to fax their proof of citizenship prior to accepting donations. Did you ever expect to see the day when the Democrat Presidential candidates fund raising policies would be less scrupulous than those of a Clinton campaign? Over 1,400 of the foreign donations were from American service people and diplomats who contributed a little over $200,000. That leaves 33.6 million from unknown and undoubtedly foreign donors. Over 500 listed their "state" as "IR" which probably means Iran. Other contributions came from Iraq, France the middle east, Beijing and Italy. Dividing the number of donors by the dollar amount reflects an average donation of nearly $3,000.
Donations to American political campaigns from foreigners are illegal. The Obama has taken some too little too late steps to discontinue accepting foreign donations but has not addressed the vast sums already received. As John Fund of the Wall Street Journal recently said "Oh, there will be an investigation, after the election and someone will probably have to pay a fine." By then the damage will have been done and America will be the one to pay the price.
Friday, October 03, 2008
From the Tiny A.C.O.R.N. a Mighty Scandal Grows
Yet another Obama connection that is of not interest to the MSM (Main Stream Media) is A.C.O.R.N. This is a group with fingers in many pies and a hand in the taxpayers pocket.
One of the things A.C.O.R.N. does is register new voters, generally Democrat voters. The organization claims to be non-partisan but they do have a PAC (political action committee) which has endorsed Obama. Several A.C.O.R.N. employees have been convicted of voter fraud. In Washington state 1800 voters were registered but only 6 of them were legitimate. In Ohio employees of A.C.O.R.N. admitted to making up names of registrants, using names like Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. Statistically speaking 15 to 30 percent of the voters registered by A.C.O.R.N. are felons, do not reside in the state in which they are being registered or are dead. I suppose a few might have died after being registered by A.C.O.R.N. but that would be a small percentage.
Barack Obama was the attorney for A.C.O.R.N. for several years and involved with one of their groups in Chicago. They're motto was "It's a power thing". As an attorney for A.C.O.R.N. Obama sued banks to force them to make sub-prime loans to low income borrowers. A.C.O.R.N. is one of the organizations pushing the lending policies that resulted in the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
All of Obama's associations are with groups promoting the same old liberal ideas that sound good but eventually blow up in our face. Heaven help us if he becomes President with Democrats still in control of both houses. The troika of Obama, Reid & Pelosi would be disastrous for our country.
One of the things A.C.O.R.N. does is register new voters, generally Democrat voters. The organization claims to be non-partisan but they do have a PAC (political action committee) which has endorsed Obama. Several A.C.O.R.N. employees have been convicted of voter fraud. In Washington state 1800 voters were registered but only 6 of them were legitimate. In Ohio employees of A.C.O.R.N. admitted to making up names of registrants, using names like Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. Statistically speaking 15 to 30 percent of the voters registered by A.C.O.R.N. are felons, do not reside in the state in which they are being registered or are dead. I suppose a few might have died after being registered by A.C.O.R.N. but that would be a small percentage.
Barack Obama was the attorney for A.C.O.R.N. for several years and involved with one of their groups in Chicago. They're motto was "It's a power thing". As an attorney for A.C.O.R.N. Obama sued banks to force them to make sub-prime loans to low income borrowers. A.C.O.R.N. is one of the organizations pushing the lending policies that resulted in the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
All of Obama's associations are with groups promoting the same old liberal ideas that sound good but eventually blow up in our face. Heaven help us if he becomes President with Democrats still in control of both houses. The troika of Obama, Reid & Pelosi would be disastrous for our country.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Charlie Rangel, A Man of Means AND Ways!
Well, our tax laws must be too complex if even the Congressmen who write them can't abide by them. Charlie Rangle, congressman and chair of the powerful Ways & Means committee didn't know he had to claim the rental income he received from his condominium in the islands.
Gee Charlie, most of us know that we have to claim all of our income.
Gee Charlie, most of us know that we have to claim all of our income.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Obama's Early October Suprise
The term "October Surprise" refers to a bogus claim that then Vice President candidate George H W Bush went to Iran to request that they hold our hostages until after the election. There was no evidence that Bush had ever left the country much less visited Iran but Democrats still pushed this conspiracy theory.
We now have evidence that Barack Obama has attempted to undermine our efforts to negotiate a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. We know that Obama met with Iraqi leaders in July. One of the men he met with, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari disclosed some details of that meeting in an interview with Amir Taheri of the New York Post. According to Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July. Zebari said "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington." Obama's advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the "weakened Bush administration," Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate. While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.
At present we are on track to remove all American combat troops by 2011 or 2012. There is no way to responsibly accelerate that date. Delaying an agreement for political reasons like allowing President Obama to claim the credit is toying with our troops and is certainly not putting the country first.
We now have evidence that Barack Obama has attempted to undermine our efforts to negotiate a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. We know that Obama met with Iraqi leaders in July. One of the men he met with, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari disclosed some details of that meeting in an interview with Amir Taheri of the New York Post. According to Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July. Zebari said "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington." Obama's advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the "weakened Bush administration," Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate. While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.
At present we are on track to remove all American combat troops by 2011 or 2012. There is no way to responsibly accelerate that date. Delaying an agreement for political reasons like allowing President Obama to claim the credit is toying with our troops and is certainly not putting the country first.
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