Washington does not understand why taxpayers are so angry about the bailout. Some pundits are calling this ignorance, but I think to the extent *anybody* can predict things taxpayers know pretty much what is going on here, and realize there is major hardship ahead whether or not the bailout moves forward as proposed, as a modified bailout, or does not happen at all. Some of this is already reflected in the stagnant broader markets we’ve seen for the past few years, and some reflected today in the Dow’s drop of about 700 at the close. But this is not a meltdown, suggesting to me that the rumors of total market meltdowns have been at least somewhat exaggerated.
Paul Samuelson noted today in an excellent article that we are basically seeing the bankruptcy of modern economics:
Our leaders are making up their responses from day to day because old ideas of how the economy works have failed them. These ideas were not necessarily wrong, but they’re grievously inadequate at the moment
The American experiment was spawned in large part as a revolution against military-inspired spending taxation from Britain. Few today realize that the taxation levels of the 1770’s were so tiny by today’s standards that they would not raise a modern eyebrow, let alone spawn any kind of spending revolution.
Over the past 230 years times have changed and we now expect Government to tax us at what the founders would have seen as enormous and totally unacceptable rates, and spend *even more* than they take in, leading to a deficit so large it is in my view of greater economic concern – far greater – than the current recession (which will be getting a lot worse, bailout or not).
What would restore most taxpayer’s confidence? Massive Government spending *cuts*, not massive Government spending as proposed in the bailout.
For most of the modern era Washington’s response to problems has been massive debt spending, pushing problems forward to future generations who’ll have to pay down our debt. The Bailout was a similar response unless you accept the optimistic notion that all of that 700 billion will come back after the toxic assets were sold off by the Government. Most likely based on my take some but not all will come back.
Joe Duck 
Just listened to Glenn beck. This 700 billion was just an estimated amount and probably could be in the trillions!
Sharon if you want to get even more scared read Ben Stein on the insurance derivatives which can lead to banks having tens of trillions of exposure.
I’ll be in favor of a bailout if we see Wall Street down another 1000 and no signs of market based correction of the problem. But I want a lot of blood in this – we should find a way to tax the fat cats who made fortunes in 2005-2008 while they ignored how their actions would affect the economy.
There is a precedent for a significant segment of the tax dollars coming back – RTC. It worked far better than any thought it would at the outset, though the scope of this malaise is much larger.
Cannot post to “Bailing Out the Bailout” any further, it’s become a bit too partisan for my tastes.
As to damage today, the 8.8% loss in the S&P 500 was the largest loss in 20 years. It’s hard for me to see where that is not meaningful. Another symptom that gives scale: when Worldcom filed in 2002 they has assets of 104 billion; Lehman’s assets when they filed last week were 630 billion!
This malaise is larger than anything in recent memory by a sizable margin.
p.s. – Barron’s had an excellent write-up (written before today’s vote) on how taxpayers could actually end up ahead on the Treasury plan titled “Making A Mint” – well worth a read for a viewpoint that is different from most making their way into the popular press.
Let them fail. Japan bailed out their financial system and they are still paying for it today. All it did was delay the correction.
There are many things wrong and they need to be corrected and even though the market is brutally efficient in doing so and therefore people get hurt – they get hurt for a much shorter period of and the result is a much stronger economy going forward.
It is time for the games to end and get our country back on track economically.
Even Pelosi said today she loves a Free Market and so if that is true – let’s let it rip and this over with sooner rather than later.
http://www.businessweek.com/1998/43/b3601106.htm
Sound familiar, look at the dollar amount in 1998 dollars…yikes.
Reading the rhetoric is sounds like deja-vu. Many experts believe the 1998 Japanese Bank Bail-out just prolonged the problem and caused their banking system to be under-performing for years and some think they still have fully recovered.
Just because you are throwing a lot of money at something doesn’t mean you can fix it.
Some more info on the subject…
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080928/NEWS07/809280368/1007
My gut reaction is to agree with Glenn, let this all rip and have the markets struggle to fix it for awhile. Today I read that global banks are talking about pitching in to a 600 billion package to free up funds.
However Paul has been making several good points, namely that if the bailout is handled as well as RTC this would actually be a revenue positive event for the US Treasury.
If the broader markets fall dramtically again tomorrow it will probably convince me it’s time for the bailout …
Sweden is the model we want to emulate. Much has been written on Japan and the lions share of it emphasizes very significant differences between their system – going into their crisis – and ours. Just one is that Japan never would have allowed a Lehman to fail. We did.
Tax the fat cats
Start by taking a look at the fat cats’–and fatcat banks– reported capital gains from trades in crude oil markets during the Bush Admin and IWE. That might turn into more like a RICO investigation, however.
I should clarify my position. I think the government needs to do something but it has to move far away from a bailout approach.
They can insure the bad paper at a fraction of the cost currently being discussed – so that protects the banks.
They need to fix the mark to market rules so that the insured paper can be discounted away from a price erosion of an institute – as to say take the bad paper out of the equation of valuing the institution.
Increase the fed’s ability to make more money available for credit and provide an aggressive business loan capability that allows small businesses that are otherwise fiscally viable the ability to get loans.
Eliminate capital gains until the market fully recovers – this alone would really incite people to re-invest and the market would rebound well with this type of policy. Let’s face it with the losses from this year alone people are not going to have significant cap gains for years to come anyway.
Lastly serious new oversight on complicated and the “this sounds to good to be true” financial instruments these institutions invent.
Finally they need to announce serious investigations into ALL of these components that have lead to this.
Additionally I think the congress should repudiate Nancy Pelosi today for her outrageous behavior during this process. When you listen to her unnecessary speech today and then see who was allowed to vote Nay on the Democrats side it is a complete disgrace.
A new even bi-partisan committee should be formed to solve this and it should take as long as it take.
An interesting tidbit on MSNBC on how the vote came out – virtually all the NAYs – irrespective of political affiliation – were from candidates who are in / or have been in recently – a tight race. Most of the yes votes came from those whose seats are considered secure or who have never been in a tight race.
No time to research this to see if true, but it certainly sounds plausible. Public outcry was significant and very vocal against the plan.
What is interesting Paul is the nay votes on the democratic side were a lot chair and sub-chair positions that were appointed by Pelosi. She wanted a super majority perception but it could not have gone over well for House Republicans to see the chairs and sub-chairs voting nay.
Add her vitreolic speech immediately before the vote (even Frank looked shocked that she wanted to speak) that was supposed to be a minute and went on for over 5 minutes which was full of partisan rhetoric…I don’t think I would have voted to support her shameful attempt to make political hay for this.
From the beginning Pelosi has been playing partisan politics with this.
First she blocked Republicans from joining the discussion and then claimed they boycotted…
Second she claimed there was a deal when they found out McCain was coming into to town when she knew damn well there was no agreement…
Third she staged a vote to create a perceived super majority to say she did her part and then tried to make political hay.
At a time when this country needs us to come together to solve this in a reasonable and sound manner this is what she tries to pull. Unfortunately if she remains in office in November there will not be change we need if Obama is elected.
Without the ability to increase spending and/or increase taxes (with this economic crisis all the tax revenue from the rich is now going to be a lot lower than Obama was hoping for) his grandiose plans and entitlements cannot happen…
This is a very serious time for our country and we need a strong leader that is going to help bring us together and force both sides of the aisle to work together.
I think the number one issue with voters now will be accountability within our government.
I will be interested to see what the polls finally say who is most responsible for this mess and I think it will come done by a wide margin that Congress is more responsible than anyone else and that is not good news for either party – but it shows the American people are right to be mad about how their elected officials are conducting business on our behalf.
Samuelson made some interesting points. The trickle-down’ers or Lil’ Green Footballs types who think economics equals finance, the stock market, investment, etc. should note Samuelson’s distinction between the “real economy” of production and jobs, and the wonderland of finance. It’s sort of a traditional viewpoint, along the lines of “academic economists really don’t know WTF the problem is with the financial markets.”
Another sort of obvious point Re Big Losses in S n P 500 and Dow: what about bear contrarians, many of whom are deep pocket corps and banks??? Yes Ma N Pa Kettle may have lost a bit on their 401 K (unless they’ve got some spreads or puts in their portfolio), but downtrending markets can be just as profitable as increasing, obviously–often more. That’s one of the perqs at the speculation casino: the savvy gambler ala Rothschilds makes a fortune as the economy collapses, or as critical supplies (like petroleum reserves) dry up.
Pelosi’s speech certainly did no good, and was distasteful at best, but I think it’s overreaching to think the Republicans that turned would do so just because of her grandstanding. You would hope, if they truly thought it was in the countries best interests, they would ignore her and vote their conscience. 5 bank failures today – 4 abroad and 1 here; the largest market drop in 20 years, bigger even than post 9/11; and credit markets remain gridlocked. If Sweden could do it, we can to, but doing nothing will not reassure markets that are fragile and troubled worldwide. Joe cited the cutoff in credit to Sonic burger the other day. Credit crunches tend to hit with a lag and Sonc was just the tip of the iceberg. If this isn’t resolved far more worthy pillars of the economy than Sonic burger will find bankers unwilling or unable to lend, or lending only at rates that are unworkable. Main Street seems unconvinced that bad things can happen, but I am very convinced bad things will happen if the impasse in credit is not resolved. The first important step in that is getting the toxic paper off bank balance sheets and assessing its true value whilst capital ratios are rebuilt so liquidity & lending comes back to normal.
Pelosi calls them unpatriotic, she spews her nonsense right before the most important vote of the century when she needed the Republicans to vote with her.
You would hope if she truly thought it was in the country’s best interest she would keep her partisan mouth shut but she didn’t, this country does not need someone like her.
I think the Democrats and Republicans that voted nay did what the taxpayers of this country wanted – they voted down BAD legislation – oh wow what a concept the people we elected actually listened to us and did what we wanted and not what they wanted to push forward the political agenda.
They will now be forced to create a good plan that is put on the corporation’s back and not the taxpayer’s back.
We will see a much better solution than the fiasco that Bush, Paulson, Pelosi and Barney “The Corrupt” Frank tried to force at gunpoint on the American taxpayer.
And the foreign markets didn’t meltdown either last night…all this BS hype to scare people in the biggest ripoff of the century!
See yer thought for the day in the link embedded in my nick 🙂
A more serious link, to what I found to be a thoughtful commentary by Rep. Jim Marshall: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/marshall.economy/index.html
I like his thinking about credit; the credit markets are definitely way out of hand, and have been so for a long time. How to fix it — I have no idea, but we need to start.
Our over burdensome tax policies have forced our country into this massive need for credit – it has been pitched by our greedy politicians that you need to use credit to get ahead. It is just a set up.
What we need is investment and savings and we need policies that promote those two principles. I was taught you save your money and invest wisely and you live within your means. Your savings are there for a rainy day and your investment is there to get ahead and for retirement.
Until we change our thinking on credit we will keep repeating this disaster.
There is no reason one penny of this plan needs to come from taxpayers. It should be 100% on the backs of the corporations who contributed to this.
Make no mistake there were two major failure of our congress to act to avoid this.
1) Multiple occasions the obvious problems with Freddie and Fannie were raised and congress opted to ignore or deliberately cover up their misdealings
2) The overbearing legislation passed that actually forced these fiscally sound bodies to make bad loan decisions – seriously that is pure insanity
I think this week we will see a strong turn on who America thinks is to blame and I would predict a majority of America and the world will view congress as the primary culprit here.
As I read and research more of the vote yesterday…it was surprising to see more than half of the Democrats on Barney Frank’s committee voted against this bill.
If the Democrats really wanted this to pass we wouldn’t see this happening. Either Frank and Pelosi have failed miserably as leaders on the most important issue of the last century or this was just a political ploy to try to take the Whitehouse.
It is time we voted people in that will truly represent what Americans want.
Rep. Marshall’s article highlights some of the problems associated with the credit and money market business. Then David Ricardo and Karlo Marx hisself had highlighted similar problems (as did Keynes).
Marshall at least realizes that credit panderers do not produce real goods. Indeed, it’s debatable whether lenders should even profit (at least to the extent they do) by extending credit–controlling interest rates one solution. That sort of discussion sounds a bit too leftist for most in consumerland, however (though credit unions are hardly as culpable as the mega-banks and lending institutions)
Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron understands how this happened and fully understands how we need to fix it.
Excellent article in Newsweek on Credit Default Swaps, their origins and how they have contributed to the current crisis at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/161199
As I read it last night, I couldn’t help but think of all the bright young minds that brought us “portfolio insurance” in the mid-80s, a significant contributor to the crash of ’87.
Wall Street has a long history of dreaming up esoteric but powerful tools that skirt regulations and enrich their creators and work wonderfully – until they stop working. This is a prime example. Their avarice knows no bounds and prudence and common sense are left by the wayside in pursuit of ever greater profits.
(25) I read Miron’s editorial, he makes some very good points. I do question this one assertion however:
“The costs of the bailout, moreover, are almost certainly being understated. The administration’s claim is that many mortgage assets are merely illiquid, not truly worthless, implying taxpayers will recoup much of their $700 billion.
If these assets are worth something, however, private parties should want to buy them, and they would do so if the owners would accept fair market value. Far more likely is that current owners have brushed under the rug how little their assets are worth.”
The underlying premise is that Wall Street is always efficient and that prices always reflect true value. We know from history this is not true, especially in a severe panic such as we have now. While there is surely some “brushing under the rug” going on, the real estate that backs these assets does have value, and likely more value than the market is currently pricing in.
We saw this with the S&L crisis. S&L assets turned out to be worth more than the market was pricing them at the height of the panic and the Feds were ultimately able to get decent prices for a significant percentage of those toxic assets, limiting taxpayer losses.
There is a downside to his proposal to just letting the market sort it out. The WSJ had an excellent and quite lengthy write-up yesterday on how there were numerous unexpected – and quite negative – repercussions from letting Lehman Brothers fail. While I think it was important to let Lehman fail so we don’t plant the seeds for yet another bubble in the future, there is a tipping point where the costs to society can be prohibitive in terms of lost jobs and a deep recession that touches industries far removed from Wall Street. The Lehman article shows just how intertwined the global markets are and how the failure of one part of the system can have unexpected & serious consequences globally. (Lehman’s Demise Triggered Cash Crunch Around the Globe:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122266132599384845.html
There is merit to the argument that the cost of letting the market sort this all out may be higher than society is willing to tolerate.
Paul, my biggest concern and agrees with Miron that nothing that is being proposed fixes the problems that put us here.
Why pour billions of dollars into a system and to the people that put us here in the first place?
Let’s have a comprehensive solution that includes the fix.
We can ease the credit crunch issue through a variety of means and it doesn’t necessarily need to be 100% on the taxpayers back. We are smarter than this.
If these assets are worth something, however, private parties should want to buy them, and they would do so if the owners would accept fair market value. Far more likely is that current owners have brushed under the rug how little their assets are worth.”
The underlying premise is that Wall Street is always efficient and that prices always reflect true value. We know from history this is not true, especially in a severe panic such as we have now.
Paul I think this is the key unknown in the equation: the value of the toxic paper in a working market. My gut tells me that both sides are overstating their case here – ie it’s not worth 100% of what the Gov will pay (and we WILL be buying these bad loans – that is now very clear), but it’s worth more than nothing.
Glenn – you are keeping the joint busy with links – good work but I need to catch up before I comment….
I do think you are focusing too much on the DemoHacks. Although they bear a lot of responsibility (esp. Barnie Frank) for preventing tighter rules on Fannie and Freddie years ago, the stage for all this was largely set during a period when Republicans controlled most of the game.
I’d say our politics-not-reason system has failed us (again), allowing clever fat cats to manipulate risk in unhealthy ways while the pols failed to pay enough attention and listened to lobbyists more than constituents. This combined with the related factor of a bursting house bubble which effectively drained away much of the wealth credit markets needed to keep on trucking effectively.
Joe – the big issue…if you went and bought a car from a guy and that car was a piece of crap and you needed to get another car – would you buy another car from that same guy?
Of course not.
I think America is stating enough is enough to the corruption and the games on Wall Street and in Congress. Until we have accountability in place how can anyone think it is reasonable or responsible for Americans to support this.
They have been playing the fear game for two weeks and yet the markets haven’t completely collapsed. Not saying what is happening is good…but we need to take our time and fix this correctly.
Paulson started this ball rolling with a plan that basically said give me $700 billion and let me spend it how I want to. Well we have been doing that…Fannie, AIG, etc and Paulson dumping money isn’t working.
There are other villains here, ones not discussed much, generic, non-political villains: 1. losing sight of risk and what it means and, of course, 2. greed. Wall Street lost sight of risk, regulators lost sight of risk, and home buyers everywhere bought into a myth that real estate values could outstrip incomes and grow to the sky. Contractors, builders and developers jumped in and overbuilt with disastrous consequences.
Despite the hard lessons learned in the tech bubble millions of Americans went out and repeated the very same mistakes all over again.
When everyone and his brother assures you that you “can’t lose in real estate” it is always prudent to consider an alternative reality. Almost nobody did.
Glenn I agree that the politics has failed here but as Paul notes there are several other culprits in the mess. I think I’d agree with you that if we could do a “clean sweep” and bring in an entire new slate of folks dedicated to early founding principles it would be a good idea, but that can’t happen until we have a very powerful independent movement that could field a national slate of candidates. Currently if a district or state votes out their Senator or Congress person they lose seniority advantages. To me the seniority system is a major problem because it defies “one man one vote”, but congress is allowed to make it’s own rules and it makes them to advantage those currently in power.
They are now very likely to pass a modified bailout bill, so it’s hard to tease out how much of today’s market rebound is from that and how much is from people assuming things are not as bad as the Congress and the President are suggesting.
AS the writers of the linked Newsweek article suggest, the politicians are merely batting clean-up for the likes of JP Morgan, AIG, Lehman, G-sachs. The villains are not really Barney Mac, or Marquessa Pelosi, Paulsen, or even GOP good ol boys (tho someone like Gramm sort of got the ball rolling, as did Clinton): it’s JP Morgan, AIG, G-sachs (who Paulsen works for–).
Financial giants like JP Morgan were, mostly because of de-reg, given all sorts of new schemes to cash in on mortgage securities; the credit default swaps the latest (really an insurance scam along with the usual corporate loan sharking).
When the housing bubble bursts, and and/or foreclosures mount because of risky loans, the lenders go to their insurance boys, who don’t have nearly enough shekels to cover the losses–then someone calls in the Feds for corporate welfare. Without new/updated regs attached to the bailout, in effect the Govt will hand out additional gambling stipends.
Accountability
The rescue bill needs accountability.
Accountability at the Wall-Street level
Accountability at the Main-Street level
Accountability at the Penn Ave level
Accountability at the East Capital Street level
Accountability goes both ways. For those Americans who pay their mortgages on time they deserve a tax credit out of this.
Accountability. You mean like, the initial Fannie Mae/New Deal regs, the Glass Steagall, FDIC, etc. perhaps?? The GOP worked for years to overturn those (starting at least with Nixon, who signed into effect FHLMC). With Demopublican Bill Clinton at the helm, the Gramm/Gingrich led GOP finally managed to end those regs, and allow the JP Morgans and AIGs and G-sachs to bring out the mortgage stack out on the financier’s poker table. 😉
Horatiox you just won’t stop your leftist/marxist dribble…LOL.
If they follow the money trail you will see the left is far more responsible for this mess than anyone else.
If you or I did what people like Dodd did with Country-wide, etc we would be in jail.
If the American people actually believed a serious of what went wrong here and were going to fix it instead of business as usual this bill would have flown through regardless of what it is.
The strong American response to this is as much a vote of no-confidence in our government than anything else.
When the dust settles here in the next 10 days or so the nightmare scenario for Obama is going to happen.
Just like Obama tries to link McCain to Bush…
Obama will definitely be linked to Freddie and Fannie and all the wrangling about de-reg is going to become secondary.
And McCain would be smart to publicly state regardless of party affiliation he will get to the bottom it.
Supporting the principles of New Deal legislation does not a marxist make (legislation/regs written SPECIFICALLY to prevent banks from cashing in on individual retirement/saving accounts, mortgages, etc.). Opposing the likes of Gramm and Clinton does not make one marxist (and I told you I’m not voting for BO–or Phil Gramm’s pal McCaint).
I approach these sorts of issues from a historical perspective–not frat boy economics (as did even say Galbraith). A Samuelson’s not doing rocket science, but something like propaganda for Wall Street and corporate America, mainly.
Anyway Marx was not the only one with a labor theory of value: Adam Smith himself held to one, as did most classical economists. For that matter, what’s the Catholic church–not to say Screepture–say about usury, outrageous interest rates, etc?? No bueno.
Almost up 500 points with the markets knowing a deal is not going to get passed.
The only way this will get passed now is if they eliminate capital gains. If they eliminate capital gains our market will rally stronger than ever.
(37) Five weeks from today the country will decide and according to every poll I can lay my hands on McSame has some serious challenges to overcome. Kathleen Parker at the always conservative National Review has called for Palin to resign for the good of the country. McCain stopped his campaign to “address the crisis”, then had the bailout package go up in flames when his party bolted due to the popular uproar against it. In the one debate thus far, the one he was widely expected to win as it was about International affairs, most pundits called it a draw at best while polling indicates most Americans thought Obama had the edge overall.
4176 of our sons and daughters have lost their lives over a war that had absolutely no justification. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There were no ties between Hussein and Al Qaeda. Bin Laden still runs free in the mountains of Afghanistan, largely because we took our eye of the ball and chased after the wrong villain resulting in horrific human and financial costs. The respect that this country once had on the global stage has been seriously damaged, largely because of this and other related mistakes like Abu Ghraib.
We’ve had eight long years to see how the other team does. We have 5 weeks to wait to see what most Americans think. My guess is they are not going to vote for 4 more years of the same madness.
I think most of America is middle right and I think the polls reflect the amount of anger within this country.
Given the current state of the economy, the war, etc it should be impossible for a sitting party to retain the Whitehouse however this election is still too close and that is a good measure of how weak Obama really is as a national candidate.
If Hillary were running for President this race would have already been over.
I think the Democratic party has gone too far left to carry this election. When it is time to pull the level people paralyze on this issue and will go to their comfort zone.
Of course I could be totally wrong but this race has been fascinating.
I tend to be fiscally conservative (shocker) but I am rapid about corrupt politicians and I don’t care what party they are in.
I also like middle of the road decisions which both parties would work together and deliver a consensus vote.
I also think McCain has the track record of reaching across the aisle and bucking the trend to eliminate government waste on the other hand Obama will not reach across the aisle (he never has) and watching Pelosi this week really demonstrates to me that they will not be helpful for this country.
Polosi did not give impress me in the least with her divisive & partisan speech, nor do I lack reservations about Obama being too far left, but Palin being a heartbeat away from the Whitehouse – with a 72 year old President – terrifies me. Any equivocation I had about Obama was vaporized when McCain picked Palin. I know many Republican’s who are deeply troubled by her, though they will vote the ticket anyway.
We’ll know soon enough, though I think I may have to go hide in a cave somewhere. The rhetoric – from both sides – is beyond tiresome at this stage
Shifting gears, this article in today’s WSJ shows some of the larger failings of the bill that failed, specfically:
“The size of equity stakes for the Treasury…was left unspecified”….”Limits on executive pay were applied sparingly.”….”Procedures for selling assets bought by the government were left up to Treasury, which was left to choose its own advisers on the sales-likely from the industry itself.”
The full text can be found at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122273248271788271.html
Meaningful equity stakes are imperative to protecting taxpayers from getting fleeced.
I just found out there were two really big problems with the first Pelosi led response back to Bush and Paulson on the bail-out last week.
1) They wanted ACORN to receive money from this bail-out process
2) They wanted to force the Wall-Street firms that were being bailed out to put union leaders on the Board of Directors of the bank.
Sorry but this has to be stupidest thing I have ever heard. WTH is wrong with our elected officials that can actually believe either of these would help this situation.
(42) Paul there is a pretty big misconception about McCain’s health – in fact it is reported his health is stellar. Actually Joe Biden has some very serious health issues so try this one on for size…
If Biden were President and he got sick…Nancy Pelosi would step in to run the country – think about that one for a nanosecond…
I think we need to see what Palin does on Thursday…at a minimum we should give her credit for getting so many people in this years election regardless of party that is a good thing.
The Obama nightmare scenario has begun. This ad is going to have serious impact in this race:
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/30/mccain-uses-bill-clinton-in-new-ad/
Alex Cockburn of Counterpunch (guar-an-teeed to irritate the F. out of the usual Demopublican) has penned some thoughts on the crisis:
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn09202008.html
“””The system is in dire crisis, nowhere more balefully manifest that in present and scheduled Pentagon spending, barely mentioned in these days of crisis. Stick it to the imprudent home buyers, not to the arms manufacturers and their gigantic pigsty, seeping its sewage across the planet.
But then, as the cranky German in the British Museum liked to point out, the capitalist system is always in crisis. Crisis is integral to the system. In too many ways, over the past twenty years, brooding on its own crises, the left has forgotten that and in the low contour of radical ideas and of radical political organization in this electoral cycle we are suffering the consequences.””””
Reachin’ for that Babushka hat…….
We all should be very concerned about ACORN. This poses an unprecedented threat to our democracy. They are connected to this bail-out in a second. Please read on.
There are investigations in at least 12 states right now about ACORN fraudulent voter registration activities.
Over the last 10 years they have been indicted and convicted of rampant voter fraud many time.
Detroit just reported that ACORN has submitted over 100,000 fraudulent voter registrations.
ACORN is supposed to be non-partisan and receives Government money – our tax dollars but they only register Democrats.
The original version of the bail-out included millions potentially going to ACORN and boy does that sound strange until I heard about what ACORN used to do.
When a bank wasn’t giving enough bad loans to unqualified mortgage seekers based on Freddie and Fannie/CRA BS, ACORN would demonstrate in front of the bank and harass the bank president until the bank caved in and met the Democratic imposed quotas.
Obama was one of ACORNS attorneys for 3 years.
Obama was one of ACORNS trainers – he taught ACORN staff how to demonstrate in front of the banks.
Obama campaign has paid ACORN $800k this year.
Think about all of that – this is not spin these are facts. This is the kind of stuff we are facing in this election. Does any of this make sense to you?
Prediction: When McCain gets elected – Hillary will have a cabinet post.
Glenn I thought the ACORN thing was out of the bill. Certainly agree it’s nonsense to include funding the very type of group that has probably contributed to the crisis by encouraging and legally trying to force irresponsible lending.
What bothers me is why no one is asking why Obama has spent $800k this year with ACORN?
They are a corrupt organization that violates our voting laws and deliberately tries to undermine the very core of why democracy works. If that isn’t an assault on all Americans I don’t know what is?
The excuse you will hear is – well the volunteers are the ones convicted and go to jail and we do so many other good things…ROFL – 10 years of convictions in dozens and dozens of states – it is systemic and goes to the very top of the organization.
Why would you put so much money into an organization that does not believe in democracy – it believe in an agenda that tries to undermine our economy and our votes?
I couldn’t believe what they have done in Detroit…they are handling the same day register and vote in Ohio and that state could come down to 100k votes or less about 4-5 votes per precinct. This is scary!!!
BTW: Frank and Dodd insisted originally that it be in the bail-out.
You are correct it is out but we have to go back and look at the mentality of the people involved. They had no interest in fixing the problem or accepting responsibility it was business as usual for these purloiners!
More information about ACORN. I find it amazing to find out that Dodd and Frank ear-marked $750,000,000 (yep that’s right 3/4’s of a billion) to be given to ACORN. Obama is tightly connected to ACORN – he even has spent $800k this on ACORN – seriously what is going on here.
Obama claims he is guilty by association – how many bad associations do you have to have before you begin to wonder how guilty someone is?
I must be really out of touch because I don’t personally know too many people that seem to hate America as much as the associations of Obama. Not only are organizations like ACORN criminal they are Un-American.
The far left of the party has hijacked America and is trying to destroy this great country. Isn’t this Freddie and Fannie, ACORN, etc enough? Don’t we have a right to say to these people – STOP, America doesn’t want this kind of stuff in our country? We want our economy to be based on sound principles, we want our elections to be fair…
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3120376&referralPlaylistId=c985e69916535a2170b2b18ab0ab7eb60401f9bb
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3120753&referralPlaylistId=playlist
(42) Hey Paul looks like our debate process in this country has now been compromised as well.
oh – oh !!
by Greta Van Susteren
I confirmed for us here on GretaWire: the McCain campaign did NOT know about Gwen Ifill’s book (I think I told them when I made my efforts – emails about midnight – to find out!) I am stunned….the campaign (actually both) should have been told before the campaign agreed to have her moderate. It simply is not fair – in law, this would create a mistrial.
PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who is moderating Thursday’s VP debate, is releasing a new book on Barack Obama, raising some questions about her objectivity.
Does this bother anyone else out there?
You know you just can’t make this stuff up…LOL.
I feel “The News Hour” with Jim Lehrer is one of the better sources for objective and insightful reporting, certainly much more objective than Fox News. It’s a tempest in a teapot, she’ll do just fine and – with the added pressure of the book topic out there – will go overboard to be non-partial.
The moderator just asks the questions, it is what the candidates say that makes the debate.
Tim Russert would be the best choice of course, but sadly we’ve lost him.
Paul any reasonable person that had a financial gain in this would have recused themselves.
1) She didn’t disclose it, why because if she did she would have been out of contention.
It is amazing to me that know one wants to assert accountability and put a stop to this recurring theme of greed.
It is like…doesn’t matter if we bend the rules, break the law or even engage in fiscally irresponsible behavior its ok because we have to get Obamesaiah elected.
The point here is disclosure, doing what is right and not trying to manipulate an election.
They talk about controlling the “message” which I understand from PR 101 but this election cycle seems like it is more like controlling the “message” so people don’t get it right.
The lawsuits filed after this election are going to be ridiculous and it will be amazing if we even know who got elected by the day they are supposed to be sworn in.
I can imagine what people would be saying if the moderator was a person releasing a favorable book about McCain, etc…
And now the pork in the new bill to bail-out Wall-Street is beyond insanity…are you reading what is ending up in the bill. They now have mental health in there, stuff about kid’s toys, etc…
Even better I can imagine the outrage if a white female debate moderator wrote a book about America’s great woman and wrote glowingly about Sarah Palin’s accomplishments as a woman in politics…
Such hypocrisy on the left and the media…
Glenn it sounds kind of fishy, but if the book is a simple biography I’m not sure it means she won’t be objective with Biden and Palin. If the book is a glowing piece promoting Obama without examining his flaws then I totally agree she acted very questionably.
Note that Bob Woodward has written two Bush books but he’d hardly be their choice for a moderator. Let’s see what questions she asks – I think they will be fair and reasonable.
Wait until you hear about earmarks…in this bill.
Race tracks
America Somoa
Mine Rescue teams
Rum from Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Wool research
Wooden arrows for children
Mental health
the list is staggering…450 pages in this bill now.
Congress is now down to 10% approval…how low does it go before we revolt?
They just don’t get it.
Glenn after hearing that her book comes on on Inauguration Day I agree that Gwen Ifill should offer to resign her moderator position. McCain would refuse that because he knows she’ll be objective, but she now has a conflict of interest with her book that is too glaring to overlook:
http://blog.presidentpicker.com/2008/10/gwen-ifills-debate-dilemma.html
Reasons there are to be somewhat concerned about ACORN. At the same time, the GOP’s not completely innocent in regards to vote-tampering accusations: think Gore and Florida 2000—at the very least, existing law prevented additional recounts, so tampering was a possibility.
Not the case in Ohio 2004: in fact the DNC and leading Dems, including Kerry, decided not to press the case. The Diebold e-voting machines are fairly easy to crack for an admin. (tho’ hardly a GOP monopoly on election/booth workers).
ACORN’s probably not so much vote tampering ala Florida but ballot stuffing in old Tammany Hall Demo/unionist tradition. The ACORN posse registers a bunch of people at the last minute– felons, street people, who knows–or even invents names (as has been alleged), and hire anyone to fill out bogus reg. forms: “yo, Tyrone, make up some names for peoples, dawg.” It goes down in the LA ‘hoods all the time; the recent LA mayoral victory for Comrade Villaigarosa over James Hahn, a good mensch, most likely involved some vote tampering/fraud–as did Feinstein’s victories back in the day. Bipartisan dystopia.
Horatiox – ACORN is supposed to be bi-partisan and they receive millions in taxpayers dollars.
They are not bi-partisan and they have over 10 years of voter fraud convictions and over a dozen investigations in process for this election.
Don’t even begin to compare this to anything else.
ALL of America should stand up to this type of abuse and restore the integrity back into our political process.
Of course Obama had the power and opportunity to do that but what did he do…lawyer ed for them, trained them and just put $800k into their coffers to make sure they do everything they can to mess up the election process in the key swing states.
Are you sufficiently acquainted with the facts of Gore/FL2000 to claim it wasn’t fraud? The WSJ, hardly a wild-eyed leftist rag, concluded that the evidence did suggest tampering/fraud. Given GOP controlled judiciary, Jeb Bush as Gov. etc., FL redneck precincts, I suspect it was rigged. But I grant the left does it as well, and ACORN may be a sort of backlash (though GOP does bogus registrations ala ACORN as well).
ACORN has been indicted and been convicted of voter fraud over and over again throughout many states for over 10 years now.
This is not any backlash…maybe Florida was the backlash to all the damage ACORN did leading up to that election.
For anyone to compare the two just doesn’t get it.
We cannot allow any voter fraud PERIOD. There is no one out there willing to defend ACORN – everyone agrees it is a massive debacle…yet…
Dodd and Frank wanted to reward them for their illegal actives with 750,000,000 in pork money from this bail-out and Obama has $800k this year on them.
Any company or person in this country that ever even tried to get away with a fraction of this would be in jail for a long time yet the Democratic party continues to fund a known entity which violates the law and continues to protect it…doesn’t that sound like another recent debacle: Freddie and Fannie…SHOCKER.
Keep in mind the level of fraud that is happening in this election – Detroit (city alone) estimates that over 200,000 registrations are fraudulent – that should turn everyone’s stomach.
If the Republicans or anyone else was doing this I would say the exact same thing.
It should bother people that ACORN tries to discount the importance of your vote – probably the single most important thing you can do in this country and have the right to do.
Be prepared when you read the following link you might want to have a bucket next to your desk.
Internal Democracy Alliance Memo outline their approach to “Educate the Idiots” and target minorities. This is one of the most disgusting things I have ever even seen.
http://facethestate.com/articles/democracy-alliance-memo-details-dem-plan-educate-idiots-and-target-minorities
Joe you might want to start a thread on voter-fraud, etc…this topic is about to get really really hot. Explosive report coming shortly that links another Democratic group giving our crack cocaine for votes in Alabama…wow…is this America?
“Explosive report coming shortly that links another Democratic group giving our crack cocaine for votes in Alabama”
That is soo wrong, Glennster. That’s the Peoples’ Crack! We paid for it.
The amount of hyperbole, exaggeration, half-truths, stretched truths and outright lies that get flung BOTH ways in the weeks preceding a presidential election never fails to amaze me. The majority of the time when I find some truly objective voice, both sides blather gets riddled with more holes than Swiss cheese. This is why I so embrace my stance that if BOTH parties find something wanting in a piece of legislation, it is probably good for the country. If the Dems embrace it too fervently, or the Reps embrace it too fervently, I usually detect the rank smell and influence of lobbyists and very generous campaign contributions.
I love how people like Professor Sherrilyn Ifill the cousin of the moderator tonight writes:
The Community Times, a suburban Maryland newspaper, found Professor Ifill was ardently opposed to the Alaska governor when they did an e-mail interview:
“From the first day, Palin presented herself as shooting a bear in the morning, field dressing it, cooking up the breakfast, diapering the babies, passing legislation in the afternoon, cleaning the house, satisfying her husband, etc., etc., etc. And it’s just not true,” she wrote in an e-mail interview. “It’s hard to be an average working mom, really hard. And when women who are privileged present as though they have it all together, it’s offensive to black women.”
This is just insane. How could anyone find it offensive because she busts her ass to get where she is in her life? Let’s stop lowering the bar and playing victim because something is hard. Even John F. Kennedy would roll in his grave with comments like this.
McMaverick’s choice of Palin for VP may have been imprudent, even from a conservative tactical standpoint. She might appeal to westerners: east coast beltway types obviously don’t care for her (tho’ the media and Satire, Inc. ala SNL should never be mistaken for objective journalism).
She’s impressive in ways (has a certain libertarian aspect), has some spine and at least not an insider, but was usual flying-by-the seat-of-the- pants style politics ala McCain/GOP.The choice of Palin may have alienated some independent/swing voters as well, who were hoping for a moderate VP (even Lieberdem).
A real issue however which the hyper-emotional Demopublicans have overlooked concerns Obama’s own political credentials. His college transcripts were sealed, as were his graduate test scores (like an LSAT). Columbia has prevented journalists from examining his undergraduate record/GPAs, etc. That might not seem so important, but all the recent candidates had their lousy grades exposed, and so forth. Obama appears more like an statist-leftist insider which each day.
Another interesting factoid came out a few months ago, which ObamaCo has denied: did St. Barack, like, engage in some same-sex swinging? Say it ain’t so:
http://larrysinclairbarackobama.com/
This is in the courts, and while maybe the work of some underhanded conservatives, at least worth a perusal.
Horatiox…wow…lol…I thought crack for votes was explosive…did you hear the latest that ACORN is picking up homeless in IL and driving to OH to vote?
Big problem in Alabama…absentee ballots are on the honor system…ROFL…unbelievable.
The reluctance of ObamaCo to cough up Barry Obama’s undergraduate records/standardized test scores has been noted by quite a few:
http://www.reason.com/blog/show/128633.html#comments
Vegas libertarians might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but at least Root has some awareness of Due Process (and verification relates to Due Process).
There’s even some debate over whether BO’s an American citizen. (google Phillip Berg, a fairly high-powered attorney who’s filed in Fed courts to block Obama’s nomination/candidacy on grounds that he’s not an American citizen, and thus prevented from running for Prez).
When he says Pakistan and Taliban…it makes me wonder what country he is from? 😛
PBS’s Gwen Ifill: No
Moderate Moderator
■ Don’t Bash Coke Dealers. “Why are people particularly outraged when people with last names like Cabrera, and people from India and Korea, and Indonesia and China, all of a sudden get, there just seems to be a lot of foreigner bashing as a subtext in some of the criticism.” — Then-NBC reporter Ifill on PBS’s Washington Week in Review, October 25, 1996, dismissing the Clinton campaign-money scandal, including DNC donor and cocaine smuggler Jorge Cabrera, arrested in a bust netting nearly three tons of cocaine. He had photos taken with Hillary and Al Gore.
■ Clinton’s Not Liberal Enough. “Is this welfare bill your great vulnerability on this subject? Your supporters, your critics, they all say that, perhaps, you are abandoning minorities and the poor.” — Ifill interviewing President Clinton on race relations, June 16, 1997 Today.
Gwen’s Partisan Take on Team Bush ■ Campaign “Reform” Opponents Like Terrorists. “It was a bill that was doomed to die. The last time you heard people so eager to claim responsiblity for something like this, they were terrorists.” — Ifill on opponents of a campaign “reform” bill, Washington Week, Feb. 27, 1998.
■ Republican Assassins. “In the end it was a procedural assassination. Republicans drove up the cost of the bill by attaching unrelated amendments, then said it was too expensive.” — Ifill on Today, June 18, 1998.
■ Ken Starr’s “Truck Bomb.” “There’s very little they can do about this, when someone drives, as one House Judiciary Committee member put this some weeks ago, a truck bomb up to the steps of the Capitol and just dumps it on them….it is in some ways, politically, a very violent action for Ken Starr to leave this on them weeks before an election when they’re trying to decide how to deal with it.” — Ifill during live MSNBC coverage of the Starr Report arriving on Capitol Hill, September 9, 1998.
■ Red-Baiting Century. “After World War II, then we went through decades of Red-hunting, Red-baiting, fear of communists, and then all of a sudden the Berlin Wall, that symbol of everything that happened, fell.” — PBS host Ifill reviewing the century on Washington Week, December 31, 1999.
■ “Record High” Misery? “The unemployment rate is at record highs, and somehow he [Bush] says this is Congress’s fault.” — PBS host Ifill somehow forgetting the Great Depression in describing 6.1 percent unemployment, Washington Week, May 2, 2003.
Face it, the Republicans will be crying “foul” until they get Sean Hannity or Bill “Fair & Balanced” O’Reilly to moderate. I can make Dick Cheney and GWB look like utter fools taking quotes out of context, but who has the time? Ifill will probably do just fine and they’ll still call foul.
I suppose Couric “ambushed” Palin with all those unfair and hopelessly biased questions about issues she should know something about (but clearly does not) ??? Palin will be so well coached tonight she’ll do fine too, but the cat’s out of the bag – anybody who has spent any time reviewing & listening to the interviews she has given over the last 2 weeks should be terrified with the prospect of her being a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Quayle looked like a rocket scientist by comparison.
Paul no one is looking at Palin’s accomplishments and for good reason. Her executive experience is far greater than both Obama and Biden combined.
If the media actually looked at her accomplishments there would not be any of the discussion.
Anyone that can honestly say that the mainstream is not supporting Obama over McCain is a deaf and blind.
My point on Gwen is two fold:
1) She did not disclose her upcoming book to the debate organization – she admits this
2) She stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions – she will make $3-$4 a copy on book sales. She has a vested and financial interest in Obama winning.
She wants to be viewed as a person of authority because of this moderation and wants to promote her book.
Personally I think this is a major win for Palin because anything out of bounds will be called on.
My outrage is that a person who supposed to be a ethical journalist would allow their judgement to lapse for financial benefit – that speaks volumes about her character.
How much do you want to bet that the camera angles on her show her wheel chair predominately during any gotcha moments?
Then add her loony Professor cousin stating Palin is offensive to black women…come on…
How come Obamamites always play the race card and they are the ones that act like racists?
I can imagine what would be happening if a white woman wrote a book about Great White American Women and spoke fondly of Palin and was moderating this debate…ROFL.
I think Palin should show up with her new baby in a front sling tonight for the debate…lol…that would cause a stir!
The media context perhaps as interesting as the actual debate: which is to say, many out in Consumerland probably find Ms CBS aka Katie Korkit and her investigative reporter schtick far more nauseating than Ms. Palin herself. 😉
College town snobs might not approve of Ms Palin, but that’s not all of America, thankfully. Better straight-shooting conservative-libertarians than weaselly conservative-Democrats (that said, some of us won’t be voting for either).
While Palin may be a bit underprepared and not exactly WF Buckley, she seems fairly honest and forthright: more than one might say about an insider like Biden, or his mysterious boss, BO.
Glenn C’mon dude… 1996 Ifill quotes?
I’m amazed that’s all there wasy…for me none of those examples show big problems even as written, which takes them out of the broad context. Did whoever found these look for Ifill commenting on conservatives favorably or criticizing liberals? I’m almost certain they did not, which is a requirement, not an option, if you want to determine bias.
Although I agree Ifill should have disclosed book details more fully, I see no reason to think she’ll be biased in the questions or moderation.
Palin’s poor showing the last several weeks scares more than just me, plenty of conservatives have become alarmed. Kathleen Parker and the National Review are not what one would call bastions of liberal ideology, nonetheless:
“Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.
No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.
Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.”
When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”
If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.”
-Kathleen Parker, National Review, September 26th
Joe,
There are actually lots of quotes…however for someone to say she is completely unbiased to be a moderator is a stretch especially since she has a book that basically endorses Obama and is coming out on inauguration day. I mean this is pretty brazen to try to pull something like this.
I think all these left wing attempts to compromise elements of the election in the end only help McCain/Palin.
Like I said this is something Gwen should have recused herself from if she truly was honest and wanted to give a true unbiased view to this debate.
Paul do you actually think someone could have taken on a corrupt politician and take down the big oil companies is she were total BS.
Sarah Palin represents the greatest threat to the far left since Ronald Reagan. You can say what you want but she has set records for attendance to her rallies with McCain…before she arrived only the Obamasiah was capable of such a feat.
I mean how could a white woman who has a family, dedicated husband, with lots of kids including a special needs child and by the be pregnant while doing all of this rise from a town council member to mayor to governor and really make things happen…from the far left this is something impossible.
I think the country will be in a big surprise tonight…but I bet any gaff Biden commits he will get a pass.
Do folks out in Bend really care about Kathleen Parker’s views, or even Katie Korkit? I don’t think so. Ms Palin’s not some Ivy League socialite (nor was say Reagan): that’s probably one reason McCain selected her.
Americans should be concerned about the media double-standard (and manipulation). The blogocrats can’t stand an O’Reilly, Hannity or FOx, but are ok with CBS, MS-NBC, ABC, CNN etc. Why is that? O’Reilly’s a bit cocky, but hardly marching with the fundamentalists or rightists.
It’s akin to a “herd mind”: big name leftists diss Fox and O-Reilly for months (as the Kos lemmings have) and voila, he’s wearing a Hitler moustache. O’Reilly says he’s a moderate anyway, and thankfully not a protestant biblethumper (–as is, say Barack Obama, at least ostensibly).
CBS has far more power than a Fox. Couric’s probably making triple what the Foxnews rogues are; what’s more CBS is NOT even liberal. CBS and the other networks have tended to back Bush and IWE, probably as much as Fox has. CBS–that’s Viacom Inc, and dare we say old zionist capital at work.
BTW Paul…there is only one reason to hide things and that is because they are filled with BS – take Obama’s college records. He didn’t even pass the muster to be admitted to Harvard Law – someone had to get him in. You want to talk about BS – what exactly has Obama done?
If he has his way he will be responsible for a full civil war in Pakistan…heck he might even cause one here…lol.
No one can say that Palin has not done a tremendous job with her life. You don’t become Governor with just dumb luck.
Remember Bill Clinton was the Governor of a very small state and certainly did not have the strategic important of Alaska. But he did insure all the highways bridges for fire and theft – oh yeah…his brother-in-law was the insurance agent for hat.
BTW I like President Clinton and in fact since he has left office I think he continually gets more impressive I just can’t stand when people want to apply a different standard today than they did in 1990 because of party affiliation.
I think the two party system needs to be abolished.
I think Palin should show up with her new baby in a front sling tonight for the debate
Laughed out loud at that one….
Picturing the next Saturday night live skit where Palin passes a full-diapered baby off to Biden to hold for a minute while she puts on her lipstick.
We’re having a JoeBidaSaPalin Pizza Party tonight to watch.
I predict this will be the most watched event of the entire two year election.
Glenn I don’t understand your defense of Palin. It seems to me you could make a case she’s right for the country because she is not a party insider, is not worldly or intellectual about things, etc, etc. But it is a very weak case to say she’s highly experienced, worldly, and as well-informed as the other guys. She’s a bright, competent, friendly person – but I think that pretty much sums it up and for many that is simply not enough.
Hey, why don’t the tech posts get hundreds of comments? I’m writing in the wrong blogOsphere…
LOL…wrong blogOsphere…
My point on Palin is no one is looking at the obvious. How did she get to be Governor?
Everyone is polarized that she doesn’t personally believe in abortion even though her record clearly shows she has never forced her personal beliefs on anyone.
Roe-v-Wade…she would like to see that over-turned for one reason…because the states should decide that issue. She isn’t out to ban abortions…she just doesn’t think it rises to the level of a federal law – since we are a Republic – I completely agree. In fact I think more should be pushed down to the state level.
I don’t know if Palin is good for the Republic party although I think she is great because she has gotten so many more people involved in this years election and she is the type of person you could see living next to you and you could have a beer with Todd and talk about real stuff as compared to an elitest like Obama and/or Biden.
What is really great about Palin is the fact that she got involved because she finally got pissed off at all the BS in Alaska politics? No one questioned Obama metoric rise but someone Palin has to be full of BS and and idiot to be here.
Palin didn’t take any short-cuts either…everything she has achieved she earned with sweat. I don’t think anyone can say that about Obama.
The media wants to scare everyone with McCain’s health – his health is amazing and look at what he has endured the man is a superhero.
Biden has very serious health issues, he has had two aneurysms and the next one is almost certain to be fatal – so either way Pelosi steps into either the VP or Presidents job – if that isn’t scary for everyone on this planet I do not know what is?
I also think the VP really doesn’t do that much however I do think she will be able to help McCain really change things and in the right way…not through expanded government with entitlements we cannot afford but with throwing out the corrupt politicians regardless of party and I think McCain represents a new way – a way that paves the future without the two party system.
(85) – I’ve largely stayed away from Blogs-ville since the Kim tragedy and rarely post anywhere but here, now all this politics and, even more fascinating, Steve Fossett, have me sucked back in. I think I need get back to refraining for a while.
But I digress…controversy and the unknown make for active blogging. Q. What common thread runs through the 1. election 2. Steve Fossett’s disappearance and 3. the missing Kim’s ?
A. – we did not (Kim,Fossett) / (election) do not – know the outcome. I think questions without answers are more compelling and interesting to consider.
(85) – but I’m empathetic your tech posts don’t garner more traffic 🙂
Maybe if they were more controversial…Apple versus PC, Microsoft vs Unix – then you’d get the firebrands heated up more.
The funny thing Paul…if everyone from Joe Duck actually sat in a room together I am confident we would all be friends and find we have a lot more in common than not even Charlie Wilson…lol.
The internet is a funny thing but when reasonable people get together reasonable things happen.
(88)…Joe maybe you need to link the oppression of technology to ACORN or something…that would get things going.
Paul – very interesting idea about the appeal of the unknown.
Glenn – I think it would be fun to all get together. How about *tonight* at my house? We’ll put Palin Biden on the big screen, but I think I’m going to require you are strapped in with a secure…. seatbelt 😮
ROFL…Actually I am not one of rabid fan types…
I would crack wise as much on each…
I am intense with my work but pretty laid back with everything else. One thing missing from the Internet is our chuckles, etc while we type on here.
I think the more discussion the better.
I have to admit Horatiox gets the award for shocking the hell out of me…I had no idea about that Larry Sinclair angle going on…not that I put a lot of credence on it but I find it interesting that I haven’t run across it.
(89)(91) – Would be fun to gather for a Rogue float some summer, dine with Rogue River Rat at Galice Resort, do the Hells Gate section.
Joe – Talent is just too far…I drive that far, I’d probably want to go float the Rogue. Besides, I’d miss the special on Oregon Field Guide at 8 while driving back. Will need some OFG to decompress after the debate.
Paul just so you know I have done Class 6 rapids with just a pair of swimmies so if you plan to throw me over just understand what is in store! 😛
OMG they showed Palin getting off the plane carrying her baby…
I can see it now…the media…there is now way she can carry her baby and walk at the same time and how did she have so many kids and her arse isn’t huge?
LOL…what a year!
(94) I make it a policy to never let politics or religion intrude/taint the serene beauty of a river float. I’m a non-affiliated agnostic on the Rogue, unless I see someone littering or being careless with fire.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3129030&referralPlaylistId=playlist
Classic Bill O’Reilly – reminds me of the old days when he would attack people…LOL.
With all the drama aside something key comes out of this…
Barney Frank mis-represents the truth. That clip clearly shows that Barney Frank in July that Freddie and Fannie was going to be ok moving forward – what a joke! If a bank president said this…he would be investigated by the FBI.
Frank said he started in Jan 2007 as the starting point he could influence Freddie and Fanny and in less than two years Freddie and Fannie lost over 90% in value – he would be fired PERIOD.
Debate tonight.
Palin did what she had to do. I think she did very well and it will hopefully put to bed the issues with her and the press.
I also hope people take the time to really review her record in Alaska…I think you will also be quite surprised.
Now some specific thoughts.
One major contrast. Biden and Obama are both Attorneys, Palin and McCain are not. I think Washington has too many attorneys as it is and I don’t think attorneys belong in an executive position. You will find in most successful corporations that the top executives are not attorneys but they have good attorneys advising them.
Additionally Biden had to continually defend what he has done and said previously. This was evident on a wide range of issues, he also had the job of defending Obama on issues that he clearly in the past has disagreed with. I think when the pundits (if honest) do the analysis they will see a large number of inaccuracies presented by Biden.
On the other hand I don’t Palin was off track on anything. Remember you need to go back to the beginning of the primaries with Obama and Biden when they were competing and look at everything – it is startling how many times Obama and as of tonight Biden has changed on important issues.
Also given the current economic situation NONE of Obama’s spending plans or tax increases can occur – he has a serious problem in this regard making good on his campaign promises. On the other hand I don’t see a lot of changes to the things McCain has said he is going to do.
After the performances this past two weeks of Pelosi and her do-nothing congress I think it is clear America is fed up the politics and I think America for the first time tonight could actually believe in McCain/Palin to change the current status quo.
From a polling perspective I think you will see a major shift in independents to McCain/Palin and I also think MSM lost BIG time tonight – their credibility has to be approaching zero.
I give both credit tonight for being very gracious with each other and I was particularly touched when Biden talked about his family and the loss of his wife and two kids.
One last point…the most important thing said that will ultimately be analyzed as the KEY sound byte in this entire election.
Joe Biden said he would share the role of governance with Obama which he clearly stated that Obama would involve Biden in the Presidential decisions. THIS WAS A HUGE FOO PAH and will come back to haunt them. NO REAL PRESIDENT would ever publicly admit this and it just proves one of two things:
a) Obama doesn’t think he is ready to be President
or
b) Biden just confirmed his primary comment that Obama is not ready to be Commander in Chief – either way this is not good for their ticket.
Prediction on house vote:
Given the performance of Palin tonight they Democrats will vote down the bill tomorrow and try to blame McCain.
One additional note…at the end I thought Palin should have brought up a copy of Gwen’s book to her and asked her to sign it…
😛
Initial review of my Tivo and the debate…
I have 10 solid things that Joe Biden was WRONG on.
I have 5 items that we could debate if we was WRONG on.
One major contrast. Biden and Obama are both Attorneys, Palin and McCain are not. I think Washington has too many attorneys as it is and I don’t think attorneys belong in an executive position.
Yass. She held up pretty well, tho’ the blogocrats probably didn’t care for it. Palin and McCain might be a bit rustic for the college-town snobs; Biden, on the other hand, plays the part of the Great Liberal Communicator. Glib, smooth, well-oiled, BidenSpeak outdoes even Billy Clinton’s preacher-who-you-can-trust schtick. Actually, I respected him a bit until he signed on with the BO-train.
10 Major Errors in Biden’s Comments
1) Biden said McCain voted with Obama on raising taxes in the budget resolution.
FALSE – 3/14 and 6/4 votes on the budget resolutions which increased taxes on families making $42k a year – McCain Voted NO, Obama Voted YES Go check the record.
Since Obama has been in office he has had 94 opportunities to vote against tax increases. In all 94 opportunities Obama has voted to increase taxes on American families.
2) Biden said they would not increase the tax rate higher than what existed with Ronald Reagan. During the GREAT Reagan years the max tax rate was 28%, Obama has said they would raise the tax rate to 39.5% the same as during Clinton. – Go check the facts.
3) Biden said it would take 10 years to results from oil drilling here. WRONG – some of the drilling could produce results within 1 year.
Additionally the old estimates of oil deposits in Gulf we are about 6 billion barrels well our updated technology we have found that there are approximately 50 billions of oil available in the Gulf.
Similar levels of oil are available in the Pacific, etc. The fact is we have enough oil that we can tap into to 100% eliminate our need on foreign oil.
DRILL BABY DRILL
4) Biden stated we didn’t have a war resolution to go into Iraq – FALSE – it was most certainly a war resolution.
5) Biden stated McCain voted against funding our troops – INSANE – check the final vote – McCain absolutely funded our troops at every opportunity. Obama voted NO in the final vote and Biden scolded Obama publicly for it and stated it his vote of no would end up costing troops their lives. The fact that someone thinks it is wise to set a timetable on when you will finish a war by looking a calendar is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard.
What happens if you are losing at the end of the timetable? Do you come home defeated? This country cannot afford a leader that would accept defeat. Even Joe Biden knows that.
6) 3 weeks in Iraq cost wise = total we have spent in Afghanistan – absolutely incorrect.
7) Biden stated article 1 of the constitution referred to the Executive branch…WRONG…it refers to the Legislative branch.
8) Biden stated there is a windfall profits tax in Alaska…NOT TRUE. There is NO windfall profits tax in Alaska.
9) Biden stated Obama passed a nuclear weapons bill…ah hello…show me please…I can’t find it?
10) Biden stated McCain opposed President Clinton in regard to Bosnia – absolutely NOT TRUE.
One note…the left will say we are not down to pre-surge levels in Iraq as Palin stated – FACT we are within 3000 troops of pre-surge levels…I say close enough.
I think Obama should debate Biden or we should all go back and watch the debates during the primary.
Nice how Gwen Ifill told Biden how great a job he did – TWICE.
Opps…she must not have realized the mics were still on.
FBI raids Obama friend’s home…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/03/fbi-raids-obama-friends-home/print/
ROFL…
How many of Obama’s friends, etc have to go down or be discredited before we wake up?
Gwen Ifill I think missed several opportunities to force both candidates to answer the questions.
It is unfortunate that she let her personal financial gain overshadow what should have been a much stronger moderator performance.
The Berg/Obama case has heated up a bit:
http://www.obamacrimes.com/
Barry Obama was probably NOT born on US soil (not even Hawaii, as he claimed), but Kenya–he father was a Kenyan. He may be a brilliant orator and even qualified for the position, but the Constitution requires President to be a US citizen, born on US soil (not naturalized–same thing kept Ahhhnuld out of Prez race).
The Media has kept this out of news of course (just like they have kept BO’s mystery transcripts/college records out of the news). That said, the DNC wields so much power they will like, in old school-Kennedy fashion, probably just pull some strings and Berg’s case (if not Berg himself) will disappear.
Tyler Perry big Obama supporter accused of Union Busting – major embarrassment for Obama campaign.
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/tyler-perrys-accused-role-as-union-buster-becomes-big-obama-embarrassment/
Gee let’s put this under the following:
These liberal policies are great for everyone else but don’t let me be forced to abide by them.
The growing left hypocrisy
The Porkage has passed the house.
so now we go and borrow the money from the asian market to fund the biggest boondongle in the history of our country…
aye yi yi…
If this doesn’t prove we need term limits…i have no idea what could…
America has been fleeced…
I find it interesting how everyone said the first debate was more or less a tie but a tie goes to Obama.
Then they said the Palin debate would be a train wreck, etc and it wasn’t but they want to spin the Biden kicked her butt.
Biden made so many factual errors its scary and think about how he pointed his finger at America and said we would NOT see ONE DROP of oil from our drilling for 10 years – NOT ONE DROP.
That is a complete lie and he knows it – this just proves that Obama and Biden are not serious about solving our dependence on foreign oil. We can see results from the new drilling starting in 1 year and at most 3 years.
This one is funny…
In the middle it shows more of the clip about his clean coal statement…he actually yells at the young woman, screams clean coal will destroy her lungs and then wags his finger at her and say NO CLEAN COAL IN AMERICA.
Yet another fine example they are not ready to make the tough decisions to move rapidly to eliminate our need on foreign oil. – Our biggest national security threat.
This is from SwiftKids for Truth…
http://www.236.com/video/2008/swiftkids_for_truth_maverick_1_9295.php
At least this one is funny and not creepy like the Obama kids singing one…
Now this is creepy…
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/10/02/obama-youth-junior-fraternity-regiment
Don’t videos like this scare the heck out of you. This looks some communist propaganda video…OMG…
WOW…this is an interesting watch…
Part 1
Part 2
Interesting videos of Hillary…
The blogocrats have consistently overlooked ObamaCo’s coal connection: probably some union connection there as well (and he’s connected to the automotive industry, big time).
That said, Biden was not completely mistaken in jacking the GOP/McCain on their lack of energy plans and poor environmental record (or the hawkishness–tho’ he voted for the IWE, and set the hypocrisy-meter off with his few anti-war rants).
Maybe, like BO will be removed somehow–green carded–and Prez Biden takes command–tho’ has a few issues, he’s a well-spoken irish moderate.
The Associated Press reported today that Sarah and Todd Palin have released their 2006 and 2007 tax returns. The release concluded:
The McCain-Palin campaign had said the tax returns would be released Monday, but it suddenly put them out Friday afternoon — a time long used by government to reveal embarrassing news because few people watch TV or read newspapers Friday evening and Saturday.
Interestingly, Joe and Jill Biden also released tax returns on a Friday. In their case it was September 12. The AP began its report:
Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife on Friday released a decade of their personal financial records, showing a veteran U.S. senator who earned less than many of his congressional colleagues.
Oddly, no mention was made that Friday is “a time long used by government to reveal embarrassing news.”
FROM newsbusters.org
http://www.newsbusters.org/
Horatiox and Glenn the claim that Obama is not a citizen appears *totally* bogus. Are you seriously saying you think this is even remotely likely?
It’s one of those cases where they ask for Birth Certificate, he refuses, they say “see, you are not a citizen! He provides it, they say “hey, it looks funny”, etc, etc.
Here’s an image of the certificate from an Obama website:
http://fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate
I assumed he was a citizen…i wouldn’t think they would allow non-citizen to run…or Arnold I’ll be back would be running for President.
Obama himself admits to having dual citizenship (Kenya, US) as a kid. I didn’t say he’s not an American, and the Hawaii cert. looks ok (though it’s not the official “vault” copy). Regardless, Berg’s supposedly some high-powered attorney, and it’s unlikely he would have filed if it was completely bogus.
I’m not down with Rush-style smear-campaigns either–tho’ the leftists are smearing Ms Palin 24/7, aren’t they. At the same time, quite a few blogs (not all rightist) have posted info. on the difficulties of fact-checking various aspects of BO’s background (including his college records).
Obama and the Democrats spell out our future:
Surrender – Socialism – Sub-Prime
Things sure do look rosy don’t they!
Sunday night on Fox News at 9pm eastern on Hannity’s America, Sean Hannity will spend 1 hours looking into Obama’s relationships and his ties to organizations like ACORN.
I know a lot of you think Fox News is the Republican channel however this information is absolutely critical and we all must push for the truth and get answers to these very serious questions about Obama’s past.
If ANY other channel besides Fox covers it, I will pay attention, but like GWB they have lost all credibility with me. Their slanted coverage is SO overtly slanted (they were such huge proponents of the war), I just don’t pay attention to them anymore.
Jim Lehrer picks it up, I’m all ears.
Remember on Nov 3rd the day before election most of us will receive our 401k statements. Any losses we are all going to incur on our 401k’s are a direct result of the corruption within Fannie and Freddie.
Follow the money trail with Fannie and Freddie, look who is in power to legislate them and what they have done, look who is in power over at Fannie and Freddie and who they are connected to. Look at who has made millions and millions of dollars through corruption at Fannie and Freddie and look who they are connected to now and their past.
The answer is clear as day who is primarily responsible for largest economic meltdown in the history of the world.
(124) I will post later my rebuttal to this. I still maintain there is ample bi-partisan blame and that some factors – such as Greenspan keeping rates at 1% for too long, and American’s general willingness to buy into the myth that real estate valuations can outstrip incomes with no negative fall-out down the road, that have no political slant either way.
Like most financial crises this country has experienced, the sources of this one are multiple, not single. Both parties want a smoking gun – singular – and there simply isn’t one, I count no less than 6 or 8.
Paul the vast majority of experts in this country clearly lay the primary blame on Freddie and Fannie.
You have to look at the cause and effect here. There is one statement that is irrefutable:
If Freddie and Fannie did not create the housing bubble this economic crisis would have never happened. The scale of this debacle is biblical in scale.
You can blame a million other factors but none of those factors if they did not happen would not have stopped the corrupt practices of Freddie and Fannie which were fully endorsed and supported by people like Barney Frank.
It amazes me that people want to give the liberal left a pass – it wouldn’t matter to me…corruption has only two colors involved – green and red – green for what is lining these scumbags pockets and red for what is happening to the honest people in this country.
Pretty much everyone agrees that if Freddie and Fannie didn’t do what they did…this meltdown would not have occurred. I don’t even blame CRA as much as I do the practices within Freddie and Fannie.
There were both democrats and republicans that called for more oversight and review of Freddie and Fannie and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd led the charge to stomp any of that out – ironic how they didn’t want oversight there but now they want oversight everywhere else!!!
Paul – you will find I will not play any party line here. I will not give Democrats nor Republicans a pass when they do this kind of damage.
I rip into Bush just as much.
And I never buy the argument…well there is plenty of blame to go around so lets all just sweep it under the rug.
I say expose all of it…Freddie and Fannie is low hanging fruit and quite frankly if you follow the money trail throughout Freddie and Fannie I think you will expose a lot of people in both parties and on Wall-Street that played in the game.
Let’s make all these people famous both in Congress and on Wall-Street that took advantage and unfairly put our economy in the tank.
This could lead to war on a global scale – we cannot let any of these people get away with it.
ROFL…Biden
Joe Biden said this: “All you have to do is to go down Union Street with me in Wilmington and go to Katie’s restaurant…”
Well the restaurant was two blocks away from Union Street and was closed almost 20 years ago…
http://www.delawareonline.com/blogs/2008/10/ill-meet-you-anytime-you-want-in-our.html
We must be reading different sources (“vast majority of experts”), and I never said sweep it under the rug. I think close scrutiny of the causes is important & critical to insuring we don’t have repeat down the road.
I just take exception to the attempts, by both parties, to blame it solely on the other party and to single out a single “smoking gun”. It’s just partisan blame-mongering, it’s not reality.
Paul I think there are a lot of smoking guns. But you have to admit Freddie and Fannie plays a huge role in this situation and what Freddie and Fannie rises to the level of corruption, greed and irresponsibility that dwarfs anything else that our great country has ever seen.
Let’s start there and follow through on all of it.
Horatiox – I have been doing some research about Obama’s citizenship and Berg and his lawsuit. I think this stuff is pretty wild. I haven’t read worldnetdaily before Berg makes some interesting points.
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=76933
Does anyone know how they validate or certify a birth certificate anyway?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/do_facts_matter.html
More on Fannie and Freddie.
Glenn! Are you looking at any nonpartisan sources for your information about these claims? Sean Hannity is completely outside the pale in my view – he’s not doing much journalism these days. I’ll defend a handful of the FOX folks as nonpartisan, but Hannity stuff is strategic attack dog yellow journalism, full of delibarate smear tactics.
Hannity sees his job as getting McCain elected and acts accordingly. Sure, some of what he says/uncovers/etc is true, but a balanced view requires you look for truth, not dirt. Hannity is simply painting Obama as something Hannity *knows* Obama is not. It’s a lot like Olberman or Rachel Maddow on MSNBC who also “report” only the “news” that supports their highly partisan views. Most of the Hannity stuff is not even news – it’s just junk opinion.
It is reasonable to challenge people on how they might govern, but the character assassination stuff just diminishes everybody in the equation and leads folks to the conclusion that “their guy” is virtuous and “the other guy” is corrupt when most of the problems are with the system and how it forces unwise spending and voting patterns. This is why the candidates themselves geneally have a lot of respect for each other. These guys are respectable individuals in a our challenged two-party political system that needs a third party founded on early principles of entrepreneurial spirit, freedom, democracy, small govt, low spending.
leftists are smearing Ms Palin 24/7, aren’t they
Yes they are, and much is as shameful or worse than the smears against Obama.
Horatiox I think Berg’s anti-Obama stuff is Republican strategic more than it is sincere, though I’d guess he’s convinced himself he’s on to something real.
Glenn I do agree that Dems appear to have somewhat more responsibility for the mortgage crisis than the Republicans because they were the biggest advocates for high risk loans and did most of the defending of Fannie and Freddie when we should have been cracking down on what we now know were bad lending policies and some illegal reporting. Barnie Frank should resign – he failed miserably to identify the looming crisis and has too cozy a history defending factors that brought us here.
But you are very conveniently overlooking that Republicans have controlled congress and White House while the crisis was building and miserably failed to warn us *enough*. We can quibble over how loudly McCain was talking when he “warned” of a mortgage crisis (try to find the records – they are pretty lightweight).
Verdict – the political spending system is severely broken. 43 Trillion in unfunded US liabilities for our kids to pay. We need a new and powerful independent party based on small Govt and clever thinking.
(134) Joe you and I fully agree with your verdict. My problem with Obama is he will take us far far away from small government.
If the media did a reasonable job reporting on all the things Obama and the DNC are hiding about Obama we could get a fair shake on all of this. They are controlling the message to not make sure everyone gets it right…they are controlling the message so NO one gets it right.
I believe these past and ongoing relationships with Obama pose some very serious questions. You look at the NYT’s piece on Ayers today…and it is like: are you kidding me?
I ask America a simple question:
1) Do you know any known terrorists?
2) Would you have anything to do with them?
Immediately after 9/11 Ayers said he didn’t think his terrorist organizations did enough to disrupt this country.
I see the recurring theme with the far left and Obama…doesn’t matter who we connect with, who helps us, how we do it even when it breaks the law…we just need to do everything to get elected.
Obama will not release his college records
Obama will not release his campaign finance records
Obama spent $800k with ACORN this year so far – can anybody explain how it is possible for a politician in this day and age of news can get away with this?
ACORN is a disgrace to everything America stands for. But again let’s overlook their track record and heinous activities as long as it gets us elected…
If the MSM would give every candidate a fair shake we wouldn’t need to be having these debates.
Anyway the more I learn and see a recurring pattern around Obama that does even come close to anything that resembles what I have seen and grown fond of in America.
Biden and the Clintons have to be losing sleep every single wondering how in the world did we end up here?
Meanwhile Congress completely looks the other way with Barney Frank and his life partner who is a key executive within Freddie and Fannie which are certainly at core of the greatest fleecing of the American taxpayer and home buyer. Yet we must have silent outrage because he is the far left and just happens to be gay. Guess that is what you need today you need these enablers so you can get away with anything you want.
Keep in mind Joe that people that witness a crime and do not report it or intervene rarely get arrested and convicted yet the people perping the crime should get arrested and convicted.
McCain – A witness who tried to do something about it.
Frank,Dodd,Waters, etc – Did everything they could to create this, conspired to derail any attempt to uncover or stop it, and they all personally profited from it.
McCain and Bush certainly didn’t make anything of Freddie and Fannie – but if they did…then go after them too.
Horatiox I just read the NYT piece. I was already very familiar with Sean Hannity’s very misleading, overblown take on their relationship. Here’s my take on that:
Guilt by association is often an effective tactic but it’s not a legitimate reason to be concerned, and it appears that’s all there is to this story.
Relevant questions and answers:
Did Obama support Ayers’ activities?
No, Obama was 8 years old.
Does he support Ayers’ past activities now?
No, nothing in Obama’s record or statements or activites suggests he does, and he has stated he does not.
Has Ayers had anything that could be a significant influence on Obama’s thinking? Clearly not in terms of Ayers past activities. Probably somewhat influential in terms of Ayers educational reform activities, which appear to be of a strictly non-violent nature.
The idea that a virtuous person must immediately disassociate himself from any objectionable people and ignore everything they do or say is preposterous. On the contrary, virtue and wisdom *require* these types of interactions.
Obama’s very liberal voting record is legitimate territory for intelligent debate. Obama’s minor association with Ayers….is not.
Joe I would agree with you in some circumstances however this guy created a terrorist organization with a goal to take down our government – and they bombed the Pentagon, Police stations and innocent people died.
From my narrow view of a terrorist I would say he is no better the Osama Bin Laden. They both shared a goal of taking down our government and were willing to kill innocent people in their quest.
Sorry I can’t give a pass to someone like that. I am still in complete shock that they allow Ayers to teach!
If you look at Ayers and other things that Obama says and has done.
Why would someone want to be President of this country who?:
Who knowingly associates with a terrorist – who by the way said immediately after 9/11 that they didn’t bomb enough.
Who says he will make sure our troops have funding then votes against it?
Who will say to people that our troops are bombing villages and killing civilians?
Sorry these things definitely don’t sound like a person who I want to have their fingers near the button.
Joe is this far enough left for you? 🙂
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/obama-camp-debunks-voter_n_131686.html
I think everyone can agree that ACORN is disgraceful at best.
Why would the Obama campaign spend over $800k this year with ACORN?
Why would Dodd and Frank originally earmark $700,000,000 for ACORN in the bailout bill?
You would think they would be jumping up and down with outrage given the history of convictions and illegal activities with ACORN.
ACORN looks like it is part of the organized crime unit that the far left has created to do everything it can to get Obama elected.
How about this far left?
Even Alec Baldwin gets it…lol
Glenn – as Joe points out in 134, who has been in charge for the last 8 years? Who controlled both houses of Congress for 6 of the last 8 years? And they aren’t tainted ?!?…in any way ??? Freddie and Fannie has plenty of Republican defenders too. Come on, wake up and smell the coffee. The Republicans get an assist in this mess on several counts:
1. They have long been strong advocates of deregulation of the financial services industry. They have traditionally wanted less oversight, not more. Though Clinton signed the bill that removed the last segments of Glass-Steagal, it was Republican legislation. They put a wall between investment bankers and banking after the Great Depression for good reason.
2. There are two major contributors to this crisis you keep overlooking or fail to mention: leverage and derivatives. Deregulation has contributed greatly to the huge growth in the various derivatives that have greatly amplified the damage from mortgage-backed securities going South, deregulation that Republicans have long been strong proponents of.
Abuse of leverage, in my mind, has more to do with Wall Street compensation than anything else. Wall Street has long operated with a compensation system that disproportionately rewards extreme risk taking. CEOs, traders, upper-level executives at investment banking firms make enormous salaries, then are promised bonuses many times those salaries if they hit the ball out of the park investing or trading for the firm. If they strike out, they still get their huge salaries. Little wonder, then, that they routinely take outsize risks that – with alarming regularity – blow up on them. It’s no surprise that most of these executives have strong ties to Republicans and Republican causes (witness Paulson, Thain, et al), but that is beside the point. It is the compensation system, not the politics, that has contributed to the problem. Lehman was rumored to hold MBS with 30:1 leverage; Merrill Lynch 20:1 – those firms would still be operating independent entities if their greed had not gotten in the way of prudence.
It’s all about the money and there are plenty of culprits in each party who looked the other way because of lobbyists and generous campaign contributions. You keep trying to pin it on the Democrats and that’s just such a narrow & biased interpretation of the facts. It’s the whole system that’s broken, not one party or the other. Big business has far too much influence in D.C., and it’s not just the Democrats they have in their pocket.
Paul before you were blaming the Republicans for Glass-Steagal but using your logic than Bill Clinton was responsible for it.
The facts are what they are and Fannie and Freddie deserve the majority of blame and Barney Frank and his partner Moses probably deserve to be in jail. Saying that must make me a homophobe…
Deregulation allowed bad people to do some bad things – you can’t blame deregulation for what people ultimately decided to do.
On the other hand Frank, Dodd deliberately bolstered Freddie and Fannie to be the most irresponsible financial organization to ever exist – suppose you want to blame deregulation for corruption within the Democratic party.
And I have said many times that many people are to be blamed and it doesn’t mater to me whose party they are part of. We can start with Freddie and Fannie – follow the money trail and investigate every single person who profited from Freddie and Fannie and those that should be prosecuted they should do it – no exceptions. That would show our government is serious about accountability and that is what will help restore our great country and be the first step in fixing the broken system.
Nobody wants to touch this hot potato because this will absolutely bring down a lot of very powerful people in Congress.
Believe me Paul I have seen what Wall-Street does to companies. I have built public companies and watched how the fat cats made a ton of money on the way up and when we didn’t hit 500% real growth in the year they shorted us down to nothing and made 10X as much. I have no love lost if they go down burning.
Paul do you think Barney Frank and Chris Dodd should be investigated over Freddie and Fannie?
Do you think they did anything wrong?
Do you think they deserve to head up the committees that oversea the very industry that they corrupted for personal benefit?
We’ll see some kind of investigation or fact finding effort down the road, and I think they’ll find blame in lots of places and with people in both parties.
You just want to go after Democrats. It’s as inane as the “impeach Bush rhetoric” , which is about as productive and constructive. Much as I think he’s done plenty wrong, with all the challenges facing the country, I don’t think it’s a productive use of time or money. We’ve got our work cut out for us just turning this situation around.
Wall Street, for once, did a pretty thorough job of burning down their own house, which I take much satisfaction from. The 5 largest investment brokerage firms are history – either out of business, acquired by banks, or converted to more highly regulated bank entities to save their skins. For once, their avarice came home to roost….but they’ll rise from the dead, they always do, but they’ll be a lot more eyes watching a lot more closely this time.
It’s all fine and good to go after this individual or that individual, but until you go after the system that causes them to behave the way they behave, i.e the ability of lobbyists and industries to buy votes via contributions to candidates who vote the way they want them to – it’s just a waste of time. It will happen again and again and again.
you decide…
Paul you will find it of interest that Chris Dodd himself says the root cause of this is bad mortgages.
It will be interesting to see what percentage of the bad paper comes from what types of loans. Early signs reported by Cavuto suggest that a lot was from speculators rather than low income households. This is important because it helps assign blame. Democrats were generally trying to protect loans to the poor, and many are suggesting this was the key meltdown condition. I’m not convinced this is the case. The key condition was the rapid *decline* in values.
I agree that speculators probably made up the most loans and they deserve what they get.
What is most disturbing about this entire process is the fact that our government somehow thought it was a good idea to force banks into making risky loans and when people time and time again tried to get some oversight and avoid this debacle there were the same people over and over again blocking any attempt to stave off this train wreck.
It’s disgusting!
Pretty soon a lot of the states that have the most foreclosed homes in them will start asking for loans as well.
This is the beginning of a very big pit.
How many of you understand what is happening in Ohio?
The Democratic Secretary in the state issued a directive that allowed a 6 day window for this past week which allowed people to come in and register to vote, pick up an absentee ballot and vote the same day.
Here is the kicker: You don’t even need an ID to register and you don’t even need an ID to vote.
Obama and ACORN are busing in people from neighboring states, including homeless people to vote.
Doesn’t this bother anyone?
Doesn’t this just seem a little to sketchy?
Doesn’t this seem to be completely Un-American?
SNL parody of VP debate. Now this is funny.
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/vp-debate-open-palin-biden/727421/
NY Times Article in 1999 about Subprime.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
You go back and read this stuff and it is even clear to the far left press like NY Times that this move with Freddie and Fannie was a disaster waiting to happen.
But since it is a feel good liberal policy let’s through caution to the wind because hey if it fails the Government will pick up the tab.
Interesting read on potential voter fraud.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10052008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/voter_fraud_expected_to_be_rampant_132170.htm
They make a good point about requiring a photo id to vote. You need one to get on an airplane, rent a video or cash a check but you don’t need one to vote???
82% of America believes it should be required. 70% of Obama supporters think it should be required.
I actually didn’t realize that you didn’t need a photo id to vote in most states.
But you will probably need a photo id to get health care from the Government…just crazy.
Now this is great…on CNN…yeah they are not unbiased.
She says by show of hands that Biden overwhelmingly won the debate. So I stopped the video and counted.
For Biden 10-11 people voted
For Palin 11 people voted
How mathematics standard is CNN using here?
Either Biden lost by 1 vote by show of hands or they tied but the CNN host clearly say the Biden won overwhelmingly.
This is as funny at SNL’s skit.
Glenn for the record I’d guess that CNN’s top reporters lean to Obama. This is in large part because of shared sensibilites and it is a form of bias, but I do not see this injected into the reporting at anything like the levels I see at FOX, where is a *very* different situation that makes much of the coverage advocacy and not journalism. Talking points and bias are baked right in to the coverage, as they are doing now with the Ayers guilt by association story and the Ohio voter fraud story. Both are legitimate, but small, items in a pantheon of world events, but both are favorable to McCain. Are they talking any dirt about McCain? He’s got *plenty*, but it’s off their map.
Joe do you remember Pelosi’s speech when the Democrats took control a couple of years ago.
She stated America overwhelmingly voted for change and she pledged that the Democrats where ready to lead and that they were going to lead the most honest and trustworthy Congress.
Does anybody think there was a shred of truth in that?
There has been no decent legislation from the Democrats and if you look at the facts that I have researched about Freddie an Fannie it looks like they were anything but honest and trustworthy.
If anyone actually thinks Obama is going to help this country from where we stand today they are just not facing the facts.
Obama’s campaigned on raising taxes and increased spending – and he has Biden trying to convince Americans it is patriotic to pay more in taxes!
Both of the major elements of his plan would most certainly plunge our country into the deepest depression we have ever even seen – history shows this is what happens…all we have to do is look at the past to see how we tend to keep repeating it.
Move the wheel forward 30 years…if there was a Presidential candidate that had an association with Bin Laden let’s say 15 years from now and Bin Laden help a political fund raiser to help me with my career and we worked on some questionable charity boards together-would you be concerned?
Bill Ayers is no different than Bin Laden. There is no way in this great country of ours that Bill Ayers should be in a teaching position that is subsidized by taxpayer dollars.
I can’t even imagine what type of neighborhood the Ayers and Obama live in but it is not like any neighborhood that I have ever lived in and I have lived in over 10 states during my life.
How many of these sketchy associations does Obama have to have before we say…hmmm maybe there is something more here?
And I love the guilt by association – Obama’s campaign started this by associating guilt to Bush with McCain and anyone that knows McCain knows that they are more adversaries then they are friends. McCain is the only Republican that had the guts to stand up to both parties.
Obama opened up this door and he shouldn’t expect it to go away.
If the media would report the truth on both tax plans and health plans America would see that McCain is right on those too.
Obama’s position keeps shifting and people want to say he is being thoughtful, shifting his views as he learns more – yeah as he learns more ways to control the message to get more votes. Can you imagine a Pelosi led Congress with Obama in the Whitehouse?
That actually maybe nirvana for some but it paints a very expensive future for America.
When you look at the media:
ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX – the only one that at least tries to show the most is Fox, CNN 50% of the time tries to be fair. ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC are all in the tank for Obama.
Ironically the media outlets that are most for Obama are almost bankrupt meanwhile FOX keeps setting new records.
Anyone who thinks the media is fair at all has their head in the sand. If Obama had been properly vetted by MSM then he wouldn’t even be in this race.
In 30 days we are going to find out.
Biggest issue about Bill Ayers outside the fact that he bombed buildings in the US and killed innocent people is the fact that on the day after the WTC he was asked in an interview and his response was:
He was sorry that his terrorist organization didn’t do more bombings than they did.
Bill Ayers was literally rooting for Bin Laden and probably still does today.
1960’s Bill Ayers bombs our Pentagon and kills innocent people.
2000’s Bin Laden bombs our Pentagon and kills innocent people.
Fast forward 30 years and we have a Presidential candidate who 15 years earlier had met Bin Laden. Bin Laden held a fund raiser to help this candidate in the beginning of their career. Bin Laden then served on a charity board with the candidate for a few years.
Would you be concerned about that association?
Holes in the Times Article…
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3134362&referralPlaylistId=playlist
Good information from Stanley Kurtz who actually went through the records in Chicago. Of course he had to challenge through FOI and after a 30 day delay while CAC scubbed the material clean he still found a lot of evidence that Obama was more than just a mere associate to Bill Ayers. In fact Obama funneled more than $100,000,000 to Bill Ayer’s projects. No wonder Bill held a fund raiser for him.
http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubid.3549/pub_detail.asp
More from Kurtz…
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTgwZTVmN2QyNzk2MmUxMzA5OTg0ODZlM2Y2OGI0NDM=
I was mistaken about Bill Ayers…he is still a terrorist today. Unbelievable!
Glenn I’ve looked at the connections between Obama and Ayers. They are small and only related to Ayers educational work which is not controversial.
Obama, McCain, Palin, Biden should be judged on what they have done and probably will do. By this standard McCain has the most personal skeletons in his closet but I think you’d agree his past reckless behavior and associations are not all that relevant anymore. The funny thing about Obama is that he *does not have* much reckless behavior in his adult past (some in his youth). Thus, the political line is to work the guilt by association angles. Rev. Wright concerns is a lot more legit than Ayers, which is, literally, a big red herring.
I see a lot of reasons to object to Obama (and McCain’s) spending policies which will *certainly* fail to address the unfunded liabilities and unbalanced budget. I see pretty much zero reason to worry about Obama’s past.
(162) Joe I used to dismiss the Ayers connection as well until I read about all the manipulation and denial of access to information which by any means doesn’t need to be hidden.
Obama is stonewalling access to the truth and this raises more issues than not. What is it that he wants to hide to badly?
Ayers is a terrorist and his radical work on the education side will not ever make up for the crimes he committed against innocent people in this country.
Ayers had rights he could have exercised to have himself heard but what path did he choose…death and destruction and he hates America so why doesn’t he just move to a country that he likes?
OK Glenn I feel like I have to answer … Yes, I’d be very concerned if Obama had ties to Bin Laden.
He doesn’t!
HW Bush actually does have a large number of ties to the Bin Laden family and there are literally thousands of connections between terrorists and our own Government in many places, but most of this is overblown. e.g. the CIA in Afghanistan and Saddam Rumsfeld meetings, etc.
(164) And I called Bush out on that as well! The day I heard about that is the day I stopped trusting him.
Bin Laden is no different than Ayers except Bin Laden has a lot more money – I wonder what Ayers would have done if had the bank roll Bin Laden has…
BTW Joe…the fact that US Rep William Jefferson can survive a primary and actually be in the running for re-election spells out in volumes how apathetic the American people are.
He has had the seat for 9 terms and has to be one of the top 25 most corrupt politicians this country has ever seen and yet he could get re-elected…
I used to dismiss the Ayers connection as well until I read about all the manipulation and denial of access to information
Kurtz claims sure seem overblown to me – he’s mostly just wildly speculating on stuff.
To me the problem with folks like Kurtz is that he’s looking for dirt on Obama, not truth or clarity. He hates what Obama publicly stands for but knows that the only way to bring Obama down now is to go big and negative. This is politics, not journalism.
I’d guess this is not so much “covering up” something as “hindering access” because they know Kurtz is looking to hurt Obama through the Ayers connection. Should a library hinder access for political reasons? I don’t think so but on balance that abuse is worth less in the campaign than the way Kurtz, Berg, others are simply working the negative stuff to see what might stick to Obama.
Joe you and I will have to disagree on this one. I think the Ayers connection is deeper than Obama is admitting.
He funneled $100,000,000 to Ayers and Ayers is probably the one that got Obama on the board at CAC.
You don’t launch your political career in the living room of some minor acquaintance.
I don’t give Ayers a break for what he did. If not for a technicality Ayers would have gotten life in prison with no chance for parole at a minimum. He represents that absolute worst of America and is no different than Bin Laden.
The fact that Obama connected with Ayers and was involved for several years with Ayers and in the beginning of his political career Ayers is mentioned in articles, etc in regard to Obama and then in two memoirs Obama never discusses Ayers and/CAC – arguably Obama’s most executive experiene he has – none of it adds up.
I could never support anyone that ever had any connection to a terrorist especially when that person knew he was a terrorist. Even during 9/11 Ayers was a disgrace and still harbors his anti-American sentiment and beliefs.
Sorry the Ayers connection is important to me because my family through the generations had paid quite a bit while serving in our armed forces protecting our rights in this country.
NEVER FORGET, NEVER SURRENDER.
http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/971106/justice.shtml
As you peel back more and more and learn about Ayers it gets more disgusting. After 9/11 he said he didn’t regret the bombings and that he wished he bombed more and then asked if he would do it again – he COULDN’T rule out the possibility!
What you should do is look closely at Columbia University and a professor there – Rashid Khalidi who Obama admits he knows and the money trail is starting to show that Rashid was in the middle of the money provided to Obama could go to Harvard and another radical Saudi provided the juice to open up Harvard’s doors for him.
Of course all of Obama’s activities at Columbia and Harvard have been blocked for anyone to see.
Remember Rashid is the one who has called for the death of Israel, was a member of the PLO (when they were a terrorist organization) and also called for the death of white people in America.
Rashid once called Israel – “the sore”, interestingly enough a month later Obama in a speech referred to “the sore” as a major problem in US Middle East policies.
It is obvious that Obama is more than just a passing friend to these anti-American radical terrorists – they have played a significant role in his rise to power.
(156) In regard to CNN – the network as a whole is in the tank for Obama.
If during the highest ratings event you have – the VP debate and you put someone in place like they did to create the view that Biden overwhelmingly won the debate while you know you will have the most viewers watching proves they are seriously biased.
No one is talking about how Palin is breaking ALL ratings records and getting more and more people involved in this election – the reason – Palin is awakening more of the “wrong” type of voter. The people watching Palin are not the felons, drug addicts, homeless, etc…
Now the Fed is going to let private enterprises borrow directly from the Fed that aren’t even banks.
I suspect the total bill for the bail-out will be in the ballpark of several trillion dollars.
We will see some insane moves this week as they try to make guesses about a market that ultimately will decide.
Capitalism/Free Markets on the way up….Socialism/Communism on the way down…
Just leave it alone.
Foreign investors are pulling their money out of our markets now…the DOW is going to plunge at an alarming rate this week.
Meanwhile we continue to create a super unfriendly tax environment where $15 trillion US dollars are kept in tax-havens in offshore accounts.
Time to rethink our tax policies to get that money back in our country ASAP.
The FairTax is easiest plan to implement which would have a dramatic positive impact. Of course the liberals hate it – not because it won’t work but because it would be the greatest shift of power from our government back to the people.
Do yourself a favor and read up about the FairTax and imagine what unbounded economic growth and the return of $15 trillion US taxpayer dollars would mean back into our banking system and economy right now.
Glenn for the record I do not see how Barney Frank can politically survive this, and based on what I’ve seen he should be voted out. I’m not clear on Dodd yet, and I don’t accept that they are corrupt – just doing the same old business as usual in a system that does not reward quality thinking.
FOX is really harping on the political angles because they are trying to disable Obama’s likely win. Economic forces are more significant in all this than political forces.
Glenn I watched the Sean Hannity hit piece on Obama and it was chock full of very misleading stuff – they spent most of the time trying to establish Ayers and Rashid and ACORN as “radical bad players” and then note that Obama crossed paths with them. You’d need a lot more information to assume there’s even smoke here, let alone fire.
Obama’s been supportive of Israel and even based on Hannity’s report his association with Rhashid was to get a *different and broader* perspective on Middle East conflict. As with Ayers, Obama’s only guilty of minor associations with people he disagrees with who have questionable connections.
It’s very hard to find any key players in the Middle East who have no connections to either Palestinian or Israeli illegal violent terror activities. Certainly GW Bush and company have (correctly) been talking to both sides, McCain will do this and and Obama will too. That’s a necessary condition of politics in the sad, violent legacy of the Middle East.
The McCain attacks are about to backfire pretty severely because even though I don’t think any of the four candidates have skeletons we should worry about but McCain and Palin have more that will be of concern to average Americans. Even though McCain was largely absolved of any illegality in the S&L scandal I sure wouldn’t want to have to explain to people how I was vacationing with Keating while he was cheating and swindling the American people.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/open-letter-to-senator-obama/
Interesting letter to Obama.
The problem with Keating isn’t illegality, it’s his judgement. The S&L crisis was a direct failure of deregulation tactics. I was there. It was a major financial catastrophe. Since that crisis McCain has continued to champion deregulation of all sorts. He had no clue then, and I do not think he has a clue now. He trumpets deregulation at every opportunity as some sort of magic fix it. he seems to think it’s like that late-night epoxy they sell on TV.
And without some sort of ethical or criminal charge, Frank survives this with relative ease. I don’t see one. It is not illegal to have an opinion that ends up wrong.
I’m also an investor, and, to be honest, any fool who buys or sells based upon what a politician says in a press conference has failed to do due diligence, and it’s natural selection form then on.
At least with Keating we had hearings, investigations, etc etc etc…
And we found out just how corrupt 4 Democrats were.
With Frank, Obama we haven’t had that chance.
Obama will not share information about Ayers, Columbia, Harvard – how he paid for Harvard?
It goes on and on…
How can any of you be comfortable with this?
Now Obama is calling for more Government spending…lol
Roosevelt II
The New New Deal
Newsflash – DOW reaches 10,000 in 2035
We love to repeat history in our country.
BTW…does it bother anyone that this years Presidential election will have cost about $1.7 billion dollars between the candidates.
If you include all the races it quickly approaches $4 billion.
In 2004 the Presidential candidates spent $400 million…
The entire process and system is just completely out of control now.
(178) THAT is one thing we can agree on & it goes to the heart of the influence peddling, vote buying, lobbying & lobbyists that have completely upended the democracy envisioned by the founding fathers.
More Ayers dirt…
Let me give you a quote from Ayers in 1970:
“Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents that’s where it’s really at…”
Additionally on multiple occasions and in print Ayers was proud to say that he was a communist in the US living underground.
So let’s establish something here. He is no different than Bin Laden – total scum.
After 9/11 Bill Ayers stated he didn’t regret the bombings, that he didn’t bomb enough and he wouldn’t rule out doing it again.
He got off on a technicality of a wire-tap screw up from the FBI – basically the wire-tap information was thrown out.
Lanny Davis said Bill Ayers was despicable and during the Vietnam protest era which Davis was an active participant he viewed Ayers as a person which was disgusting and causing most of the violence in the USA. When asked if Davis would sit on a board with Ayers, would go to Ayers house or basically do anything with Ayers he said absolutely not and he couldn’t understand why anyone would.
David Axlerod stated that Obama and Ayers were just acquaintances and now today that everything is coming out about Ayers Axlerod changed his tune and said will Obama had no idea of who Bill Ayers was…BS!
Here is what we now know about Ayers and Obama.
Ayers was given a grant of 10 of millions of dollars to provide teaching to students through CAC. Ayers selected Obama to distribute 10’s of millions of dollars each year for 5 years to radical groups (NOT SCHOOLS) to teach children how to become radicalized and uprise.
There is also a long litany of other meetings that Ayers and Obama worked together on coming out of the recently released documents from the Woods foundation – so there is a lot more to this story as well.
Some points to consider:
1) You don’t select someone to handle 10’s of millions of dollars for you that is just a mere acquaintance.
2) You don’t work with someone for 5 years who distributes 10’s of millions of dollars for you each year that is just a mere acquaintance.
3) You don’t launch your political career in the living room of just a mere acquaintance.
There is no way Barack Obama didn’t know who William Ayers was and is. Ayers is no different than Bin Laden and anyone who would vote for a President of this country that has relationships with known terrorists really needs to think about it.
This relationship with Ayers is significant and we are being deliberately misled by Obama about it.
Add Wright, Flager, Farrakan, Khalidi and you start to get a really bad picture of what America could become and there are two things that all of these people have in common:
1) They hate rich people and want to kill them.
2) They are socialists and communists.
You don’t spend 20 years in a church with someone as outrageous as Wright and not hear radical speeches by Wright – that is even weaker than Bill Clinton’s I tried it once but didn’t inhale.
You also don’t proclaim:
1) I could not disown Rev Wright any more than I can disown black people
2) I could throw away Rev Wright any more than I could throw away my brother
Then throw the guy under the bus.
The Ayers/Obama connection, while perhaps relevant, seems a bit of a desperation move on part of GOPers. Legal boys would call it circumstantial. Add it to the BO-mystery file (along with the unreleased college records, possible birth cert., other oddities), but in itself that BO worked with Ayers on committees not sufficient to really prove anything. Yet both sides play the guilt by association, so part of the campaign-defamation technique. What’s more, many voters, at least urban DNCocrats, probably don’t care in the least: “Ah what’s that dawg? Homie Obama kicked it wit’ some irish reds? Who da F. cares.”
Obama appears to have had radical connections back in the day–he admits to respecting one Frank Davis, a CP-USA chieftain (and BO’s mama was a red, from way back). Ayers/Weathermen, however, was before his time. How the Weathermen like Ayers, and that Bernadine broad (and others) avoided serious charges remains a bit mysterious: the weather underground killed quite a few.
Michael Jackson should move his Neverland ranch to Obama’s neighborhood IT IS A PERFECT FIT.
This is funny.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10062008/news/nationalnews/obama__i_didnt_know_of_ayers_terrorist_p_132394.htm
LOL…does this surprise anyone?
11 theaters under investigation for ticket fraud for incorrect totals for tickets sold for American Carol
http://americancarol.com/fraud/
Are liberals this threatened?
Don’t forget Tony Resko…another great individual Obama is closely tied to who also happens to own in Obama’s neighborhood.
Meet William Ayers – Obama’s friend.
Interesting read and disturbing video.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/10/07/weather-underground-documentary-counters-msm-claim-ayers-merely-benign
Doesn’t anyone find it odd that Obama was the CEO of the project that Ayers helped fund, yet he never talks about it.
Obama held this position for years and his responsibility involved millions of dollars, yet he never talks about it.
It’s not even in his memoirs…sounds like those books have been a little cooked.
You would think a person running for the highest executive position in this country would be talking about his executive experience especially since this is the only executive experience he has. I find that rather odd.
Obama must be hiding something here.
Sounds like Obama first supported Ayers before he decided to vote against Ayers…
Didn’t he do that with Rev Wright as well?
Unbelievable…
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/478016/-/tkxv0p/-/
No wonder Barack Obama is friends with Bill Ayers.
Listen to Obama in his own words:
“That’s just how white folks will do you. It wasn’t merely the cruelty involved; I was learning that black people could be mean and then some.It was a particular brand of arrogance, an obtuseness in otherwise sane people that brought forth our bitter laughter. It was as if whites didn’t know that they were being cruel in the first place. Or at least thought you deserving of their scorn.” pg 80
“So I read the book to help me understand what makes white people so afraid. Their demons. The way ideas get twisted around. It helps me understand how people learn to hate.” (emphasis added). Pg 103
more Obama:
“Black Nationalism- “a steady attack on the white race”-is justified if it can deliver results.”
Obama isn’t a radical?
This is who we want to bring our nation together…
Sounds more like a scene from Pink Floyd – The Wall!
Gee shocker…ACORN offices raided by Nevada election officials suspecting voter fraud.
I wonder how many people have really read Obama’s books the more I dig the more it is clear this guy is a radical and is most definitely anti-Israel and quite frankly probably only aligned with about 2% of the American people.
It is a shame that we live in such a great country and people don’t want to push for the truth and learn.
Obama could clear all this up if he just provided people access to where the answers lie.
Glenn what are some pieces of information that in your view would suggest Obama is pretty much who he says he is, a liberal Democrat who does not approve of, but has abided, a small number of far left radicals in his rise to political power? That’s the story and – almost incredibly to me – all the evidence supports that. I keep expecting to see something at least a little incriminating because never in the history of politics have more people been looking harder for something to bring down a candidate.
When I follow up on Ayers or Berg or all this other stuff it leads to partisan garbage, not relevant information. Ayers is the strongest piece of garbage so it’s the talking point getting hammered now, but there’s no reason to think there is anything there to suggest Obama supports terror or has any respect whatsoever for that point of view.
Some people think abortion is murder, and in fact it used to be legally considered murder. So you are saying if you are strongly pro-life you must completely disassociate yourself with any pro-choice people, even when you are working on project *totally unrelated* to abortion? Obama’s relationship to Ayers is analagous, and therefore of no consequence with respect to his Presidential qualifications. Of course he’s downplaying that relationship because it was obvious it would be used against him. You can’t reasonably have this both ways. Either he fully discloses information and attackers promise to accept it at face value or expect some roadblocks to prevent misrepresentation.
You’d think there’d be at least a few Obama quotes where he lost control and called out somebody, used the N word, etc etc. Instead, all we find are a few old associations with a few nasty people out of the tens of thousands you must encounter in big money politics.
(191) Joe, I think the operative and crucial phrase in all of what you wrote above is: “never in the history of politics have more people been looking harder for something to bring down a candidate.” For that reason, I just don’t buy that there is some great untold/hidden secret out there will blow-up either candidate. The scrutiny you allude to has to be one of the most arduous vetting processes in the free world.
I don’t think that applies solely to Obama, clearly operatives in both parties are hard at work on the records and histories of their opponents.
That this is all happening is somewhat sad. We have substantive issues and challenges to discuss, topics that are far more critical to our nation than the slanted character bombs being lobbed by both sides.
Having said that, they speculated this would happen on “Meet The Press” this past weekend during their pundits roundtable. Said Peggy Noonan, author and former speechwriter for Reagan:
“The left—there’s a huge middle in America, but there’s a left. They think they’re going to win, and they’re getting meaner than ever. The right fears they’re going to lose, they’re getting meaner than ever. I would hate to see this descend into this, this—“I’ll kill—I’ll tear your throat out” kind of stuff. I think that would be harmful. I think we are at a unique and dangerous moment in history, and it’s the last thing we need….”
They later went on to say that McCain bringing up “character” could easily backfire on him due to his well-documented relationship with Charles Keating, a relationship I am sure he would rather the American electorate not dwell on.
I bet Keating comes up in the debate tonight.
Joe as always your posts are both thoughtful and thought provoking.
I didn’t see the pro-life angle until you mentioned it. I would hope that isn’t the case here.
The radicalization elements within Obama’s life have a recurring theme – Kill the rich and become communist – now I know this is an over simplification and at least I didn’t say kill whitey! Can you imagine the uproar…lol?
Seriously these associations are much deeper than we are being told. Obama was essentially hired by Ayers to a CEO level position responsible for 10’s of millions of dollars over many years. Joe I have been building very large corporations for a long time now and I can assure you whenever I am tapped to be a CEO or I am tapping someone to be a CEO to handle millions of dollars without a doubt we know literally everything about each other.
So based on my executive experience the spin coming out of Axlerod and Obama is total BS.
The issue here in my mind is why is Obama trying to cover ALL of this up. This isn’t a slip of the mind this actually should be a major part of his story – what Obama did with Ayers, CAC and ACORN is REALLY big and it is unfortunate that Obama choose the wrong people to be associated with.
So where does this leave us? We cannot get a clear definition of who Obama is. He felt so strong to SPIN his story he wrote two memoirs – two memoirs and he is a freshman senator…hello McFly doesn’t that in itself raise a red flag? He is completely trying to control the message and not trying to control it so you get it right – he is controlling it so you don’t get it right.
Why won’t he show his college records? Yet another void…another important part of his life that would further shape his beliefs and would allow all of us to see how much of a scholar he truly is. The left and MSM want us to believe he is some type of intellect and sure went to a couple of good schools but we can’t even find out how he get in there in the first place…don’t we have a right to know that or is this topic radioactive because he is liberal and how are anyone ask something like that?
There is building evidence that Obama got into Harvard Law with the help of some Muslin radicals…if that were true do you think it would affect the election? – of course it would. All we know is he went to Harvard Law and when he left Harvard he had $40k in debt. You go to Harvard Law school and you don’t graduate with just $40k of debt…
I have no problem with someone being liberal in this country but I have a problem with someone adjusting just how liberal they are and misleading people.
This country is great because we have open debates on tough subjects and as a result we all end up better informed and able to make better decisions.
How come Obama is trying so hard to stop the open debate?
He only wants to debate his carefully scripted tele-prompt provided talking points.
I really just want to understand him and who he really is because when you start doing the math most of this not adding up.
The other shame with this election is that it is mainly a referendum on Bush which I fully get and understand. I think Bush will go down as one of the if not the single worst President this country has ever had but I do think he will ultimately be judged fairly on the wars we are involved in and it will be very different than it is today.
So because of the sad state of the Whitehouse and their miserable performance we are seeing a large anger vote and I feel many people will vote for Obama not for what Obama is or wants to do but just to vote against Bush.
Nov 4th will come and go and we all wake up with a hangover from this outrageous campaign year and wonder if we just made a big mistake the night before.
(193) Well, if whatever is decided on November 4th is a big mistake, in November of 2010 the pendulum will swing yet again – or won’t – with 36 Governors and 34 Senatorial seats up for grabs, as well as the House….checks and balances are a good thing.
(194) Paul you bring up an interesting point about 2010. I think with the approval rating that congress currently has I think we should adopt a no-confidence clause that forces ALL of them to be up re-election during the current election.
“Black Nationalism- “a steady attack on the white race”-is justified if it can deliver results.”
Glenn this appears to be words juxtaposed from Obama’s book where he was talking about why Black Nationalism appealed to some.
Sure, Obama’s downplaying some of his past – that’s what you have to do in our soundbyte system, but after reading a lot o the hit pieces I don’t see any reason to think he’s anything other than what he appears to be to most – a thoughtful and sharp liberal Democrat.
Personally I’d very much prefer a fiesty independent in the mold of the founders, but we’ve got at least another election cycle before that is even a remote possibility.
These are all moot points anyway – I predict tonight’s debate will have low to no affect on polls, and Obama will soon have a near-lock on the election with a huge electoral advantage and 50%+ of the national vote. Unless he throws Ayers a birthday party, kisses him on the lips and runs off to get married in California I think we better get used to calling him … Mr. President.
(196) You should disclose that you have a vested interest if Obama wins to be fair.
😉
CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin presented many of the missing details about the relationship between Barack Obama and left-wing terrorist William Ayers that two earlier “Truth Squad” reports on the network on Sunday and Monday omitted.
Griffin stated that despite the spin of the Obama campaign and their mainstream media supporters, “…the relationship between Obama and Ayers went much deeper, ran much longer, and was much more political than Obama said.”
via Newsbuster.org
Glenn – Ha, you are right!
Official Disclosure:
I have a dinner bet with Glenn that Obama will win
(199) LOL – it actually made me laugh out loud.
I think we are at a unique and dangerous moment in history, and it’s the last thing we need….”
I worry about this too and Glenn I’d be interested in your take on the risks of violence from people misinterpreting criticism of Obama’s character as a call to violence.
The nature of the attacks against Obama is suggesting he’s a threat to Democracy, and extremists may interpret this as a call to violence. I realize that is only a tiny fraction of people, but to my way of thinking the far left talk seems kooky while the far right talk seems potentially threatening because it’s trying to paint Obama as a radical extremist who wants to destroy the country.
201. Beyond that, I’ve worried all along that another James Earl Ray would reappear and try to kill him simply because of the color of his skin. Sadly, as numerous anonymous polls have shown, bigotry is still alive and well in the U.S. of A.
(201) Interesting point. I think we at risk for some major problems in our country and part of me believes that some of the people in the far left (Rev Wright, Farrakhan, Flager, Khiladi, and even Ayers) get some justification if Obama wins.
Whether or not the feeling is justified, people who want disruption will leverage both ways – regardless of their affiliation.
It is really a shame that Obama even had these connections – I don’t get people that want to aspire to lead our country would ever have anything to do with people that represent 1-3% of our population. It is decisive and could fracture the country and what is really scary if you think about it that is exactly what someone like William Ayers wants to see happen – he freely holds the same line as he did 40 years ago – ironically Ayers wife is even worse than him.
Some will join “the left” or “the right” because of party allegiance which personally I think is silly but that has more to do with what I like to call the “sheeple” effect they have to belong to something.
Think about how awesome this would be if Obama didn’t have these associations and some of his extreme positions it would be a no-brainer.
I think America is screaming for middle and blending not fringe and separation. I don’t see anything middle with Obama, I see more with McCain. Frankly I would like more choices but it is what it is and I would rather move to the middle but I don’t think we can lose with being fiscally conservative.
I hope we don’t spiral into domestic violence that would just be awful and I also don’t think there is any room for racism in this world. My biggest problem with the left is they always love to play the race card and I think it hurts the cause more than it helps – however we must consider the use of the race card may be the universal signal for the pac’s etc to start their attacks.
As it may be obvious I am very fiscally conservative it has always worked but I am very middle socially and I think we need to do more to help people but we shouldn’t engage in welfare and class warfare – both are big mistakes and we have over 100 years of watching it failing.
(203) additionally I think Obama falls short on his tax plans and economics because it looks like it is driven with static analysis…we do far too much of that when we try to evaluate or model problems that seem beyond our grasp.
It is also a result of the dumb-down method of getting everybody on the same page.
We suffer greatly because of the ridiculous complexity of our tax code.
People are so very afraid of the idea but literally scraping our existing tax code and implementing only true consumption taxes would be a game changer right now. Our economy would grow at an astronomical rate and our stock markets would be much stronger.
Take all the accountants and IRS employees and put them on a 5 year project to review every single law on the books and hold referendum’s on the controversial ones and scrape the stupid laws and then let the states decide what laws they have. In my heart I believe we are a republic and we should act like one.
Here is the newsbuster story link about the CNN report.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-balan/2008/10/07/cnn-s-drew-griffin-does-real-fact-check-obama-ayers-connection
It has the transcript. Interesting how their own investigative reporter easily found more information about Obama’s relationship with Ayers and it certainly doesn’t jive with the MSM’s spin of the relationship.
See Joe when you read this and see the real truth – you are talking about a minimum 10 year working relationship dealing with over 50 million dollars you would think someone would talk about this.
Interesting videos…
http://www.hcsfjm.com/index.html
Raila Odinga is a cousin of Obama, Obama went to Kenya and helped campaigned for Odinga…
I cannot believe no one is touching this one.
Seriously Joe – the connection is clear here…I am shocked.
Look at Khalid if you want to see where the violence is going to come from. – this gets more crazy every second…
Watch these videos…this is what we are facing in this years election – but these associations don’t matter…aye yi yi
Barack Obama & Raila Odinga
Barack Obama & Khalid Al-Mansour
Joe watch those two until completion and tell me this doesn’t raise questions about Obama with you?
Lovely on Ayers…he is working with Chavez…no wonder Obama thinks he can sit down with these scumbags around the world he already has an invitation.
With Obama/Ayers, we have ample documentation their association was not just casual, but in fact meaningful.
“If you’re in public life, you ought to say, ‘I don’t want to be associated with this guy,’ ” observes columnist Steve Chapman. “If John McCain had a long association with a guy who’d bombed abortion clinics, I don’t think people would say, ‘That’s ancient history.’ ”
That Ayers’ totalitarian revolutionary agenda isn’t history is shown by Ayers today sitting on the directorate of the Miranda International Center, a think tank funded by the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, unofficially a state sponsor of terror that just last weekend was found to be hosting terror training camps with Cuban and FARC operatives to attack its neighbors. Ayers is both a hero and adviser to Hugo Chavez and a colleague of Obama’s.
A brief resume of Ayers on the Venezuelan government site describes him as “the leader of the revolutionary and anti-imperialist group The Weather Underground which initiated struggle against the government of the USA,” which it calls “the empire.”
Ayers is also described as having “developed courses around the urban reform (and) problems of capitalist education.” That refers to Ayers’ joint involvement with Obama in the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school “reform” project Ayers used to insert a radical socialist curriculum into the Windy City’s public schools.
found at this link:
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=308185788382240
you would think someone would talk about this
Glenn *everybody* in the media is talking about this. NYT, Fox totally obsessively, CNN….everybody.
But the old strategy does not appear to be working of focusing on a bad guy connection and then pretending the candidate supports the bad guy. We’ve had 2 years to get to know Obama and he’s clearly who he claims to be.
Joe when you read the piece on Ayers in the NYT they completely downplay what Ayers even was and is.
Same thing with CNN. The investigative report they ran in the middle of the day with the market tanking at 19 minutes after the hour – that is usually when you talk about the old lady whose dog ran away.
That is the point about this. If ALL of the media was honest about the depth of who these radical people are if would be a different story.
(211) No, it’s not that, it’s just that the American people look at all the information and collectively give a big shrug and a yawn. It’s neither persuasive nor compelling, hence the predictable reaction.
(213) Paul its interesting to hear Obama that he wants to go into African countries and use US military to help stop bloodshed but he goes to Kenya on taxpayer dollars and stumps for his cousin who thwarted the election process through violence and death and then as the militant leaders creates a pact with muslim extremists…but these relationships don’t matter.
Next people will say he isn’t close to his family members or didn’t know what they were doing.
He has no problem going to Kenya to help a brutal dictator murdering cousin while his blood brother lives in a box.
This crap is just wrong.
http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/black-congressmen-declare-racism-palin-s-rhetoric?page=0%2C0
Meeks is truly an idiot – he was an idiot when he was testifying on Freddie and Fannie and he is a complete idiot for saying this stuff.
It is a disgrace.
Glenn ! Where do you get this stuff like the Kenya cousin crazyness? It’s just a kooky fake rumor. They are not related and Obama never promoted the guy.
(216) Joe how do you know it isn’t true? That’s the problem here we are all blocked from getting to the bottom of any of this.
What would happen if you did find out it is true?
Don’t you find it interesting that the author of a negative book about Obama was basically thrown out of Kenya on the eve of him releasing his book?
And now we learn that Obama is still a smoker, who still smokes anymore? Everyone knows smoking is a death sentence. Bottom line: smart people don’t smoke.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77291
We don’t even know what is happening in Kenya…it is being controlled like everything else.
We are witnessing Atlas Shrug in 3D reality now…
McCaskill’s edge
I mentioned a few days ago that Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill’s mild affect masks a bit of a killer, and that she’s perhaps the Obama campaign’s deftest surrogate on the attack.
But I was still kind of amused by her brief interaction with Mitt Romney in the press file just now.
McCaskill was stepping out of her chair at the end of an MSNBC interview, and Romney was up next. She and a staffer unplugged her various wires, and she handed Romney the earpiece the guests use to hear the host.
“I spit on this before I put it in,” she said to Romney, with a sweet smile.
UPDATE: Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom emails: “You should have seen what she did to the chair.”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/McCaskills_edge.html
A party of such nice people.
We’ve had 2 years to get to know Obama and he’s clearly who he claims to be.
I’m not completely convinced of that, Mr. Duck. ObamaCo has done some covering-up, not only in regards to the Ayers’ connection, but the birth cert. issue (it may be valid, but not “vaulted” cert.), other radical leftist connections (like CP-USA, which BO admits to in his bio), his fundamentalist and muslim pals (like Keith Ellison, who took his oath of office on the Koran). Consider also the bizarre Sinclair fiasco, and BO’s hidden undergraduate record/grades (why can’t journalists access that, as they did Bush, Kerry, McCain, etc??).
The DNC have groomed St. Barack for years (as did the Clintons, I suspect). On the other hand, Pops McCain’s own record does not impress overly much either. Best to stick with DFV (Don’t F-ing Vote)
(219) If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about the outcome.
ACORN needs to be shut down. This is absurd and absolute assault on our democracy. Regardless of which candidate benefits from this illegal activity.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/30613864.html
Obama should step up and publicly rebuke ACORN and stop funding their activities.
Sure you can, since you didn’t approve of either candidate (or if one voted for 3rd party candidate). Besides, the “lesser of two evils is still evil.” And I suggest Americans are presented with a choice between two evils, figuratively speaking (or in secular terms, corrupt, deceiving, incompetent, “insiders”). Sort of like classic western show-down: McCain gang, with Calamity Sarah, vs. some pinkerton Fed daffodillies from yankeeland. Sounds trite, but close to that.
(223) I am starting to better understand your position on this. After seeing how McCain has supported $700 billion in the bail-out and now wants to spend another $300 billion on buying bad paper.
He is spending as much as Obama…geesh.
McCain has definitely blown every opportunity to take the lead in this election and he squanders it.
I don’t know what you thought about the townhall meeting last night but it didn’t look like any townhall meeting that I have been to. It was more what I would envision of a townhall meeting in a communist country.
What a shame that the last two debates were such a waste! It has just been talking points and nothing interesting.
I think Rick Wagner nailed it this year – even if you didn’t like some of the questions the format was much better and we have missed an opportunity to really ask the candidates touch questions and watch how they answer.
Another story on ACORN.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_pro_barack_vote_fraud_drive_132618.htm?page=0
Horatiox, Glenn: I agree may be some modest level of diversion and maybe covering up going on, I just don’t think it’s very alarming – more along the lines of protecting against the sound byte stupidity that passes as TV journalism. Both McCain and Obama have information that can easily be misrepresented or exaggerated in importance. If McCain campaign keeps up the character attacks we’ll be seeing much of his (mostly irrelevant) checkered past coming up.
When you examine power players as carefully as we do you are going to find a lot of quotes and associations. When these are put in proper context they generally are not alarming. When taken out of context it’s easy to spin this stuff very negatively. Spin isn’t truth, it’s …. politics as usual and needs to be discounted if you want to make a good judgement about a person.
Glenn the Las Vegas ACORN stuff is very alarming but it appears ACORN was helping with the LV investigation for some time so I’m wondering if politics has played a role in the timing of the raid in that office. ACORN is huge and you are sure to find lots of irregularities. I don’t think Obama’s modest associations with them is all that alarming, though I certainly wish Obama was less sympathetic to the far left than he appears to have been in the past.
It’s not reasonable to “assume the worst”, rather to assume that if you flesh in details about the “hit job” stories they will not paint a far different picture than is painted by the wealth of detailed information we already have.
(226) I don’t think ACORN might have the impact some might be fearing for the overall election – except they could impact the electoral.
The problem is this…ACORN has been doing this for a decade and getting away with it.
ACORN is a corrupt organization that is clearly partisan yet gets 40% of its funding from the taxpayer and it has amounted to hundreds of millions of tax money.
The fact that ACORN is in the middle of the housing scandal and was instrumental in forcing Thrifts to give bad loans and was to receive a total of over $700 million from the bail-out I think this is a very significant issue.
Add to that not surprisingly Obama has spent $800k with them this is all connected through a money trail.
Then look at Fannie and Freddie campaign contributions and a picture starts to form.
Keep in mind that Obama is #2 in the donation list from Freddie and Fannie and he has only had 3 years to reach #2 compared to 30 years with others.
One major issue with Obama getting elected and Pelosi in power the entire Fannie and Freddie scandal not only gets swept under the rug but the corruption will spread and we will have even bigger problems around this.
Word on the street has it that Obama was on the phone Monday with a group of advisors and he asked them all the submit the biggest spending ideas they could come up with. Obama is looking at a victory in this election and the support of the bail-out as the signal that America wants a strong socialistic approach for the future.
BTW Joe as you know…if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and sounds like a duck…its a freakin duck!
Birds of a feather flock together…
Glenn a lot of your money numbers seem way off from what I’m reading on this stuff – how confident are you these are correct?
Funneling 100,000,000 to Ayers?
Obama paid 800,000 to Acorn?
Acorn mostly funded by taxpayers?
I’m still not convinced ACORN has much if any impact on much of anything. I can’t find where anything but their loan programs would get tax money and I have not heard of scandals with that money. I found the registration numbers from 2003/2004 and they were small. Putting football star names on the forms is not exactly suggesting the level of sophistication you’d expect if this was a conspiracy to shift the vote in swing states.
(229)
Part of his campaign records shows $800k to ACORN so far, I don’t know the date of the reporting.
40% of ACORN’s funding comes from taxpayer monies estimated to be over $700 million since ACORN started.
Key facts about ACORN:
They have several convictions of actual voter fraud.
One key case in WA state they submitted 1800 absentee ballots and only 6 were valid. They were convicted on that one.
The NV raid was sparked from very bad voter registrations and ballots where in one case it was the same name on ten forms but with ten different addresses but had the exact same signature on every form.
The point is most states don’t have the checks and balances in place to validate this stuff.
To date in 21 states their registrations exceed 1.2 million but I don’t have any way to confirm that.
Additionally in close states a couple hundred thousand votes could affect the electoral balance.
I think once the smoke clears Joe ACORN will be exposed as another corrupt vehicle like Freddie and Fannie that the liberals use as a way to fund money to different places.
I hear of a major report coming this month that exposes some startling things about the money trail within ACORN.
Glenn did you realize how much of the Hannity hit piece claims against Obama were coming from a single, unreliable source? This is the classic case of trying to throw so much garbage at Obama that some of it is bound to stick:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/07/america/fox.php
if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and sounds like a duck…its a freakin duck>
Agreed! I won’t argue with that good old duck logic..
The NV raid on ACORN was part of a sting operation.
BTW I saw a video of an interview with an ACORN “volunteer” who was asked about what she does, etc…and she said right to the interviewer that she helped people to fill out the paperwork and convinced them to vote for Obama…
LOL
They get tax dollars because they are supposed to be non-partisan.
(231) LOL…seriously IHT the smear arm of the New York Times.
I have no idea about who fed Sean but I do know that Hillary was the first one to raise these issues during the primary.
Joe check out this interview on the NV raid.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3143234&referralPlaylistId=playlist
Listen to what Ross Miller says about ACORN he is Secretary of State for NV they uncovered a deal ACORN has to use inmates to work on the paperwork…lol…
Joe now it looks like the FBI is going after ACORN in a major way. They have found suspicious and fraudulent registrations in at least 11 states. The FBI is confiscating all the ACORN paperwork in multiple places.
They discovered massive fraud in MO today.
From what I have heard there is a big story here in regard to the money trail and you won’t guess who it leads back to.
This is going to be an October surprise.
Joe have you seen the background around the Socialist party “New Party” that Obama was a candidate for:
From the October 1996 Update of the DSA ‘New Party’:
“New Party members are busy knocking on doors, hammering down lawn signs, and phoning voters to support NP candidates this fall. Here are some of our key races…
Illinois: Three NP-members won Democratic primaries last Spring and face off against Republican opponents on election day: Danny Davis (U.S. House), Barack Obama (State Senate) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary).”
In 1999 the supreme court rule the organizations platform as unconstitutional.
There are just too many dots that connect Obama up to a serious socialist agenda is even farther left than the left…lol
Interesting read about the behind the scenes on the campaign trail from CBS.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/07/politics/fromtheroad/entry4507703.shtml
Sounds like McCain is mature, organized and thoughtful and Obama is immature, unorganized and rude to the reporters and more like a college student.
Probably the most striking comment is that Obama’s airplane smells bad all the time.
Must be from all the BS he spews while stumping…
Looks like IHT was trying to get out one last dying shot at the right…lol
The Times told staff in an internal e-mail Tuesday that the paper’s flagship Web site will soon become host to news from sister paper the International Herald Tribune and that the Tribune’s site will be shuttered. The move will require “hard decisions about jobs at the IHT,” and the company is now looking to “reassign or relocate people,” according to the memo.
Glenn, is your guy losing? You seem desperate.
ACORN saga deepens…
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/08/state-authorities-continue-scrutinie-acorn-records/
(239) JCH you think I have a guy and those other guys are my guys…lol.
I just think Obama is a anti-American, blame America first, anti-capitalist, socialist and has a messiah complex and don’t think we need that leading our country.
We need a crusader not a politician now. We need somebody to commit to cleaning up the mess in our Government and on Wall-Street and quite frankly neither of them have the guts to do it.
Definitely not desperate JCH – just very passionate about our country and our rights. I don’t like to see people throw away our ability to vote in a democracy. ACORN is a scourge and we need to get very serious about their activities – put a stop to it and prosecute the people in charge.
You can’t count either candidate out at this point. This is far from over and even though Obama is in the lead he knows McCain usually has strong comebacks by the time it comes to pull the lever. Al Gore had similar leads at this time to and he lost.
I think Obama is a product of a very far left view of the world and he is a pawn of the power brokers that decided to bring him into power.
If elected Obama will turn America into a socialist country especially with the support of Pelosi, etc.
(239) There are just under four weeks left until election day. You should keep in mind that just three weeks ago our economic position was worlds away from where it is today.
In this day and age massive change can occur and we still have 3-4 major events to happen before election assuming our trend continues of 1 major event over the last three weeks.
(242) His moniker McSame is well earned. The vast majority of the time he voted with his party and voted with his president. You want 4 more years of the same wretchedly depressing experience we’ve had for the last 8??? Vote continuity – vote McSame!
Paul are you better off today than you were two years ago?
Pelosi promised massive change and what did we get the highest level of corruption ever seen in our government that lead to the largest financial collapse in our history and you can point right to Dodd and Frank and their buddies at Fannie and Freddie.
I certainly don’t want 4 more years of that.
Anyone that compares McCain to Bush and thinks for one second they are the same is greatly mistaken. Take a close look at Bush because I don’t know the exact date but at some point he stopped being Republican and became a Democratic President.
It that what is has come for you and JCH – just down to talking points now?
(243) Paul I can play the lines too…
Did you see Obama last night talk about drilling for oil, clean coal and nuclear power? Obama and Biden’s record is CLEAR they are against all three. Biden even refer to drilling as raping the outerbanks…Biden pointed at a solar supporter in the rope line and said we will NEVER have clean coal in America – its ok for China but not here.
Looks like Obama was drilling for votes and not being serious about solving a very serious national security issue.
Obama is not ready to lead…in fact he is dangerous.
I will place a wager if Obama is elected Ayers sets up a meeting with Chavez and Ayers will be present.
(244)-The operative question is not how do I feel versus 2 years ago, it’s how do I feel versus 8 years ago. 4000+ dead, 30,000+ wounded – in a war with no justification? Firing attorney generals because they won’t play politics? Denying global warming? Absolute failure with Katrina? Our respect in the world community at an all time low? Tax cuts that have made that have disproportionately benefited the rich?
That team has been on the field for 8 years, and McCain has been there with his support the whole way. Throw the bums out. Alfred E. Neuman could do a better job!
Alfred E. Neuman could do a better job!
Paul you are dating yourself with Mad Magazine.
He did give good economic advice though:
What, Me Worry?
Glenn although I think the ACORN concerns are more legitimate than Ayers or the Berg crazy B.S. stuff, it’s interesting to me that as Ayers has clearly failed to interest voters FOX is moving to ACORN to see if that will gain traction. The only problem – Obama is NOT ACORN! Sure he paid a related group to register people for him – that’s part of the game here. The abuses by ACORN cannot reasonably be attributed to Obama. In fact think about it – would he risk *everything* to scam votes? No way – does not pass the sniff test.
I knew this would happen. Rev Wright doesn’t work to smear Obama so they move to Ayers. Ayers doesn’t work so they move to ACORN. NONE of those associations are particularly relevant anyway.
Glenn above you say it’s not fair for Paul to suggest McCain and Bush share a lot of policy views, so they should not be connected. Are you saying Ayers and Obama have more views in common than Bush and McCain?
Joe without a doubt Obama and Ayers have more in common. That is why it is a problem.
Obama has a lot to do with ACORN. The part you don’t seem to get is out integrated ACORN is with the Dem machine and Freddie and Fannie and Dodd and Frank and Obama, etc.
ACORN is a hopelessly corrupt organization just like Freddie and Fannie and both organizations thought they could break the law, commit fraud, cook their books, etc all because the end justified their means.
That is the excuse…we are helping poor people, we are helping the blacks, etc…etc…
Give me a break just because you have an agenda to help a particular group of people doesn’t give you a license to trample our rights or break the law. There is no “get out of jail free” card in our country unless of course you pay lots of money to Dodd, Obama, Frank, etc.
Follow the money trail.
And this is the change that Obama promises. Go back and look carefully at Obama’s record – ALL of his votes and do the math. Go back and look at his campaign promises – he doesn’t keep them.
If you want to vote for Obama because you don’t like Bush that is certainly your right and I applaud you for getting to the polls and pulling the lever.
Myself I vote for a person that I believe will do what they say no say what they need to steal my vote.
If you are dead serious about the issues then you should look at the 20+ years of voting record of McCain – I think you will be surprised. If McCain says he is going to clean up Washington and put in real reform, cut spending and eliminate waste – I believe him – he will.
From my perspective we need someone to sweep the garbage to the curb before we can do anything useful in our country anymore. The politicians have truly screwed a lot of things up and many of the career politicians in both parties need to go they are corrupt and they are spending our hard earned money like it is endless and without prudent fiscal judgement.
McCain represents that first wave of change. I also think McCain is right about foreign policy and Obama is certainly way out his depth there.
Just look at the record.
More ACORN news…How ACORN got me into vote scam?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10092008/news/politics/nuts__132771.htm
You guys are spinning already…ACORN has nothing to do with Obama or the Democrats…ROFL.
You better hope Obama gets elected because me thinks a lot of people are going to go to jail.
Indiana: More registered to vote than eligible…no one talks about it.
William Ayers (neighbor and anti-american terrorist who helped launch his career, leader of a group which bombed the pentagon)
Bernardine Dohrn (neighbor and anti-american terrorist who helped launch his career, leader of a group which bombed the pentagon)
Larry Walsh (neighbor and criminal under investigation by the FBI)
Louis Farrakhan (neighbor and race baiting leader of the nation of Islam)
Reverend Wright (race baiting spiritual mentor who espouses black liberation theology and was his paster for 20 years, baptizing his children and conducting is marraige ceremony)
Tony Rezko (neighbor and Criminal under investigation)
The Rathke brothers, founders of ACORN (Anti-American group which funded his community organizing)
Franklin Raines (Exec of FM, economic advisor)
Jim Johnson (Exec of FM, economic advisor)
Saul Alinsky (mentor, author of Rules for Radicals, an anti-american instruction book in which he dedicated to satan)
Khalid Al-Mansour (Radical who advocated the murder of white people repeatedly, helped Obama gain admission into Harvard)
Raila Odinga (Cousin and leader in Kenya conducting genocide of opposition)
Percy Sutton (Malcolm X’s lawyer)
MoveOn.org (Anti-American/Socialist website)
Code Pink
Penny Pritzker(Pro-Iranian Supporter)
Susan L. Rosenberg (WeatherUnderground Terrorist)
Mike Klonsky (WeatherUnderground Terrorist)
Father Flagler (Radical racist advocating black liberation theology)
American Action Network (AAAN) (an Anti-Israel Group)
Rashid Khalidi (Founder of AAAN and Radical Racist Muslim).
19 personal associations with radicals.
6 associations with radical, anti-american groups.
So far these groups and personal associations:
1. Got him into Harvard.
2. Got him a job.
3. Got him a home.
4. Got him into politics.
5. Baptized his Children.
6. Conducted his marraige ceremony.
Wow what a great list of people to call your friends and neighbors. Are you guys serious?
What type of person sits in a anti-American, hate church for 20 years and then has his children baptized there?
Dare I say it?
How many of these poor choices of judgement do you need to have before you realize?
Create me a list for John McCain the only the Dems can bring up is Keating. The investigator of the Keating scandal cleared McCain in the Senate hearings and stated he didn’t deserve any rebuke however the Democratic controlled Congress rebuked him because they didn’t want to be seen as yet ANOTHER corrupt Democratic action. Even though the esteemed American hero John Glenn (D) as included in the rebuke as well but so were 3 other corrupt Democratic politicians.
Would any of you be friends with anyone on Obama’s wonderful association list? I would hope not, I can tell you in every state and neighborhood that I have lived in here in the great USA these people would be run out of town for their hatred and anti-American attitudes.
The Democrats want to call all of this a smear campaign – hey nobody forced Obama to make these choices – this list represents what is the worst of America – hatred and racism and he choose them.
And if you just want to dismiss this list fine…then think about one thing:
Obama picked Raines and Johnson as economic and housing advisors to his campaign!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Two people that are central to the largest economic meltdown in the history of our country – Obama, what a genius!
George Bush is responsible for the biggest economic meltdown in our nations history.
You have an amazingly difficult time in figuring out who is responsible.
He had the authority – he’s the President. He had the means – our tax money plus all the shareholder money his CEO buddies (remember Kenny Boy) controlled. He had the motive – creating his Ownership Society so as to shatter the Democrat stranglehold on black and Latino voting blocks.
You act like Fannie and Freddie were the only mortgage companies pumping subprime at rates far far in excess and with looser criteria than required by law, Why were those CEOs being so reckless? The Ownership Society. Fannie and Freddie were two sources for mortgages, At the height of the lending frenzy, there were 5300 buddy CEOs of W. How many are bankrupt now?
Your list is pathetic.
(254) JCH good answer…
Freddie and Fannie were quasi-private companies protected by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank when they both knew they were in deep trouble. What part of that don’t you get?
It was the legislation of the Clinton administration that forced Freddie and Fannie to dilute sound loan ratios to include 50% bad loans. It was pure insanity. Freddie and Fannie held over $4 trillion in paper – what other mortgage company in America held 50% bad paper?
It was Obama working with ACORN on a landmark ruling in IL that forced banks to make these bad loans – EVEN THOUGH THE BANKS SAID THIS WAS SUICIDE FOR US.
What part of this equation do you have a hard time understanding?
It was a Democratic policy, Democratic Senators that created this entire fiasco.
I also blame Bush for his entire Presidency – I have never defended him – yet YOU continue to defend Dodd and Frank – JCH it just isn’t going to work – you can’t get away from the truth. Accept it – Dodd and Frank are corrupt politicians they DIRECTLY played a major role in this collapse.
The list is the list. Obama doesn’t deny it – their history of their actions is well documented and NOT disputed – get over it. Obama is the last person in this country that should get elected as President – there are many more Democrats that are better qualified to be running than Obama. It’s a shame that people like yourself and others just want to ignore his record and somehow think he is going to act differently than his entire life history.
Even Bill O’Lielly is disavowing most of that nonsense.
(254) LOL…JCH amazing I can’t believe you want to blame the behavior of Frank and Dodd on Bush…aye yi yi.
Just so you remember I was and am completely against the bail-out it was a stupid plan to begin with and will not work. I blame Bush for that.
Don’t forget that Dodd and Frank’s great contribution to the original bail-out was over $700,000,000 to go to ACORN.
Don’t forget that last September Barack Obama said sub-prime is a really good idea.
Don’t forget McCain has raised the flag about how bad sub-prime is many times.
Don’t forget in 30 years from now when a Presidential candidate is up for election and it is revealed that he had an “association” with Bin Laden and served on some boards with Bin Laden – MAKE SURE YOU VOTE FOR THAT CANDIDATE!
(256) Your defense on the list is Bill O’Reilly…are you serious? Is that all you have?
Obama has not denied any of these associations.
Birds of a feather flock together…
Try something out for me. Go through the list and think about your friends – do any of them look, sound or feel like any of them in the list? Probably not, and then think about your friends and do you think they have any friends that resemble those on the list?
After you have gone through that exhaustive list you can decide what kind of person we are dealing with here.
You know the more I think about it. I bet there are a lot of people that are voting for Obama would vote for someone in 30 years that had an association with Bin Laden – that is the problem with the left-loon brained sheeple in this country. Their memories aren’t so good.
I am pretty sure that no American that is voting for McCain would vote for anyone connected to a terrorist like Ayers or Bin Laden – I would rather be in that group of Americans – I have a lot more in common with them.
Glenn, how many additional low-income and minority homeowners did George Bush announce he wanted to put into homes during his administration?
I’ll help you.
5,500,000. That’s 5 million 5 hundred thousand.
What is the median age of the foreclosures in question – date of mortgage origination to the date of filing? Around 24 months. How many would there be without intervention?
Probably 5,500,000.
Why was Bush upset with Fannie and Freddie? They were lagging way behind his CEO buddies in issuing loans to create his ownership society. They were way short on recklessness. Their plan: they wanted to force Fannie and Freddie to sell off trillions of dollars worth of MBS so they would have loads of cash so HUD could order them to spend it on reckless mortgages.
Who was going to buy all those MBS from Fannie and Freddie. Answer: the investment banks. How? They had these huge capital reserves. They had the CEO buddies like Hank Paulson, remember Kenny Boy, lobby the Christopher Cox and the SEC to radically alter their capital requirements. They went from one dollar of equity per twelve dollars of debt to 33 dollars of debt per dollar of equity. They suddenly had trillions of dollars to buy MBS from Freddie and Fannie.
That was what the 2005 Fannie and Freddie reform was actually all about. They were trying to force Fannie and Freddie to sell their portfolio. It was the only point of disagreement. Had the majority compromised on it, that bill would have gone to the Senate floor and it would have passed. It was scuttled by the White House, which wanted that Investment Bank cash inside Fannie and Freddie.
They figured out another way to force Fannie and Freddie to get just as crazy and stupid as Countrywide, and the reached their goal of 5.5 million new low-income homeowners.
Like the idiots Neocon CEOs are, the investment banks went ahead and invested their safety reserve anyway . The Iraqis were going to welcome them by putting flowers into their rifle barrels and the money was never going to be a problem because Allayn GreenRandSpam was the can’t miss, maestro of the economy.
Soft landing?
(260) JCH so you think Frank and Dodd did nothing wrong?
Just to make the record clear on how you stand.
Now let’s talk about how Michelle Obama was an Attorney in the same law firm with Bernardine Dohrn (Ayers wife and member of the Weather Underground) yet neither Barack or Michelle knew Ayers/Dohrn were terrorists?
After Ayers said it on 9/11 – Barack continued to work with Ayers directly for another year.
And they are neighbors…GIVE ME A BREAK – Does Obama think the American people are that stupid?
Joe BTW I was wrong about how much money ACORN was slated to receive from the first bail-out.
It was billions of dollars…OMG
(260) JCH one thing you are forgetting…
Any time a fiscally responsible bank/thrift stood up to CRA and said NO we are not going to get into this practice of risky loans – ACORN and the Democrats attacked and forced them and a liberal judge forced these fiscally sound institutions to throw caution to the wind!
This is a Democratic fiasco of biblical proportions. Do you think after the landmark case in IL any organization would try to stand up to this cabal.
Wake up to reality…you must be part of the convict the gun crowd not the shooter. The shooter well he was abused and if he didn’t have access to a gun he wouldn’t have killed anyone…LOL.
The era of rationalization through irrationality
Aaron Tippin says it all…
This is a much better video…for Aaron’s song…sorry for the duplicate post.
Character matters folks – if we had people in our Government that had character we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.
George Washington wanted this country to be run by people that wanted to work for the Government and not for themselves. George Washington wanted people of character involved in governing.
Maybe we should go back and respect George Washington’s wishes and vote in charater.
It’s Country First – not Obama First
Joe the ACORN scandal is massive.
They are purging millions of illegal registrations.
In NV – 740,000 registrations submitted- 715,000 were invalid.
The names didn’t match the SSN’s and other validation requirements.
Of course you will see the left try to spin this…lol
ALL of America should be outraged to the level of fraud that ACORN is perpetuating into this election process.
What type of politician would want to fund to the tune of billions of dollars a knowingly corrupt organization like ACORN?
What type of politician would hire ACORN?
At some point your judgement for making these decisions needs to be questioned.
It was George Bush’s goal. He stated it openly and often.
His 5.5 million new low-income homeowners was an aggressive and reckless escalation the consistent and successful CRA approach.
The CRA was administered from 1977 to 2001 without causing an economic meltdown. Fannie and Freddie did mortgage lending form their creation during the Great Depression until 2001 with causing an economic meltdown.
Dodd and Schumer opposed forcing Fannie and Freddie to sell off a major portion of their 1.4 trillion-dollar loan portfolio, and capping its size into the future, which would have eventually crippled their ability to issue loans to middle-class Americans.
The Republicans in the house, and around 90 house Democrats passed a bill that did not force the portfolio to be sold off recklessly.
The White House and the Republicans in the Senate wanted no part of that bill, and when Johnny “come lately” McCain signed onto the Senate bill after 16 months of dust collecting, he was announcing he was agreeing with the looming catastrophe.
Try to ask yourself a decent question. If McCain sincerely wanted F&F reform, why didn’t he push hard for the house version, which was already passed by Republican-led house by a wide margin?
If the Republicans had simply wanted more prudent regulation of Fannie and Freddie, it was laying right there on the table with broad support from house and senate Democrats. All they had to do is compromise, which is what the Senate is all about unless one party has 60 Senators. When a majority refuses to compromise, it means they didn’t want it in the first place.
101 ways to make it look like you are for what you are against. They did not want prudent lending; they wanted reckless lending.
More ACORN opinion over at IBD:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=308358130652174
Why Ayers relationship is something Obama wants to avoid.
Ayers recently met with Chavez…
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=308271974461547
Ayers still hates America and he believes Obama is the man that can legitimize Ayers hate.
Great info here:
http://greatdebate2008.blogspot.com/2008/10/mccains-new-ad-barack-obama-bill-ayers.html
Look at the photo of Barack Obama who refuses to put his hand on his heart when our national anthem is performed – Can you imagine a President who feels this way? Look how bizarre it looks in the photo – that could be our next President.
Listen to Michelle Obama yesterday:
“I don’t know anyone in Chicago who is heavily in education policy who doesn’t know Bill Ayers,” she said. “But again I go back to the point that, you know, the American people aren’t asking these questions.” –Michelle Obama, 10/8/2008
Nobody gives a darn about Ayers.
Give a fool enough rope, he’ll hang himself; give a campus radical a few years and he grows up.
Unless he’s a Neocon. That diseased radicalism apparently last until alzheimers.
(272) JCH you don’t care about Ayers but millions and millions of Americans do.
BO’s association with ACORN may be more damaging. The response to the ACORN/vote fraud reveals much of the left’s hypocrisy, really (and I’m not supportive of biblethumping GOP, McCaint, or neo-cons). The DNCOcrats have whined for years about voting practices and so forth, and now the tables turn with the ACORN bidness.
The leftist machiavelli-meme goes something like this: “always be truthful, law-abiding and honest in regards to politics, except in cases where you can get away with massive fraud, defamation, and/or misrepresentation, or other crimes which will advance your cause.” See this site for examples of DNCocrat hypocrisy in action.
Now we learn that during Obama’s Columbia days while he attended and lived in NYC at the time a splinter group of the Weather Underground killed two police officers during a failed bank robbery. The connection to Weather Underground and William Ayers was big news and it was definitely a topic at Columbia.
So Obama would have to be the dumbest guy to ever graduate from Columbia and not know about this incident. This is in the early 80’s…
Now zoom ahead a couple of years to the Law Firm in Chicago that Michelle worked at with Bernardine Dohrn who could not be admitted to the bar but Ayers family got her the job at the law firm and Berndardine and Michelle were friends – this happens to be the same law firm that Obama met Michelle at during the 80’s. I am sure Obama didn’t meet any of her other friends at the law firm…LOL
So now we know Michelle and Barack knew Berndardine and William Ayers all the way back to the 80’s.
Unbelievable…
With 3+ weeks to go, the mudslinging is in full swing. Ayers, Acorn, none of it really seems to be sticking very much despite Fox’s blaring bullhorn – perhaps Obama picked up Reagan’s teflon suit at a yardsale….perhaps – after all that has happened over the last 8 years – the conservative right has ZERO credibility left with the American public (see 246 above).
Regardless, I’m going to do my best to tune it out and wait and see what the electorate thinks is important on November 4th. When we descend to finding pictures of Obama – caught for a moment not holding his hand over his heart during the pledge – and read all kinds of unpatriotic motivations into it, we’ve descended to the level of the laughable.
Here is a link that is an interview from this AM that is very interesting. It is on Fox so it must be fake and the guy on the video probably really didn’t survive an Ayers bombing attempt…pleeeeeaaaazzzzeeeee….
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3144986&referralPlaylistId=playlist
(276) Paul…lol…I could be bringing up all kinds of stuff like this…
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77407
But I choose not to. 🙂
The Republicans run the ACORN scam every election. It all adds up to stunning immateriality every single time.
Nobody has said that Ayers did not do what he did. He admits its.
Your confusion is just amazing. Obama had zero to do with it. You are trying to smear him with it. That makes you look deplorable. Don’t believe me, check the polls.
All over America you are destroying the chances for Republicans to hold their house and senate seats, so…keep posting.
Now we learn the Woods foundation where Ayers and Obama (the founding chairman) funded ACORN, they actually funded the Wright Church, they funded Khalidi’s Arab American Action Network.
Their educational programs designed by Ayers (think about that – someone who wanted kids to kill their parents designing education programs) fought any student or teaching testing, wanted to force students to have to work in community organizations like ACORN and to teach students to be activists (hmmm…I wonder what Ayers defines as an activist).
What kind of logic is it that says…take a terrorist and have him work on education reform? Sounds like Hamas.
So these associations that lasted for many years and involved millions and millions of dollars and who he decided to fund pretty much says it all.
These relationships are much deeper and are part of his beliefs and agenda.
You don’t fund a radical church, sit in the church for over 20 years and listen to radical hate speech for 20 years and either don’t support it or have it influence you.
No, it’s a Demo scam, all the way. I’ve seen it go down in LA, especially around poor neighborhoods right before election time. Bogus ACORN registration (done at last moment) was a factor in the victory of that Dem senator-gal in Washington St, and vote tampering accusations (even brought up by the fiendish GOPers, probably some even…….catholics) were proven to be valid, tho’ the WA DOJ didn’t move on it (one interesting part of Gonzales-gate–the WA DOJ, a Clintonite would not move on the vote-fraud, and so Gonzales gave him axe. So who was telling the truth? Hard to tell, but I suspect even AG Gonzales was on to the ACORN BS and vote-stuffing of Clintoncrats).
In fact, ACORN BS one reason I ripped up my DNOcrat registration and went to Independent some time after 9-11 (tho’ still voted Kerry, reluctantly). They are a power in SoCal. It’s real, believe me, and even some d-crats have objected. They register some people legitimately, and then, uh, make sh*t up.
(279) JCH this is getting traction and it is scaring the hell out of you. We are looking at a Carter/Reagan election here.
Obama has peaked…polls are closing back to a dead heat.
McCain will win this election.
(281) What gets me Horatiox is I don’t understand why ALL Americans aren’t furious about ANY voter fraud. This shouldn’t matter who you back or what party you relate to.
It goes to the core of why our country works. If we allow this it invalidates valid votes and now our elections are rigged.
ACORN is a bad organization and should be prosecuted with extreme prejudice. It is an assault on our democracy.
(283) I should clarify…I mean ALL the news networks.
Americans as they learn about this are going to be pretty ticked off.
No, it’s a Republican scam. Just before the elction they flood the news with accusations of registration fraud – making it sound like it rampant.
“White people, protect your women from the black hordes!”
Then they have investigations and they find a tiny handful of violations nationwide.
I gave you an example from South Dakota. The Republican Attorney General, as rabid a conservative as walks the face of the earth, investigated all of the multitude of accusations and found them all to be “flat false.”
(282) – That must be some good kool-aid your drinking Glenn, where can I get some? McCain will win? Only if there is some new consolation prize for 2nd place
I normally visit a polling site with Democratic leanings, but there is a VERY Republican one:
http://www.electionprojection.com/index.shtml
Even he concedes, in his post today, that McCain looks to be in very serious trouble:
“Overcoming the current circumstances of a slowing economy, an unpopular war and an even more unpopular president would be a difficult challenge even a Republican nominee with well-honed political skills and Obama-esque articulation. For John McCain, who falls well short on both accounts, this is a near insurmountable task. Something may yet happen to propel him to victory, but it is hard for me to envision it. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, hey, I call it like I see it.”
(285) JCH it is millions and millions of votes.
Now the NYT tries to spin it stating the purging of these fraudulent registrations is hurting Obama…LOL
In NV…740,000 ACORN registrations – 715,000 BAD REGISTRATIONS.
How is this a handful? – you must have very big hands…well actually you have to have huge hands considering the height you must be to still be able to see over the huge pile of BS your shoveling here…
90% of Blacks are voting for Obama because he is Black – that is called Racial Pride.
This country is fortunate that 90% of Whites don’t vote that way because it they did it would be called Racism.
Until we silence radicals like Ayers, Wright, Farakhan and their vitriolic hate speech we will never be able to rise above racism. It is shame that Obama could not have put the country first and tried to stomp out racism in this country.
There is no room for racism in this country.
They catch a high number of bad registrations before the elections.
In the investigations are done on the actual votes cast, and only a tiny handful ever make it through.
Contractors are hired to register voters. Both parties do it. An unscrupulous contractor, who gets paid by the card, can obviously make a lot of money making fake cards.
ACORN flags those cards when they find them. They often, depending on the state, are not allowed to throw them away. Once created, they have to turn them in.
And dearie, Republicans have also been convicted of voter registration fraud.
ACORN claims that these voter fraud cases are isolated events caused by volunteers…lol
Up until a short while ago ACORN used incarcerated prisoners to fill out these forms. The inmates were told to take a nam and fill out multiple forms with the same name but different addresses – what is interesting is these forms need to be signed – so how could the inmates sign these forms?
This is a level of fraud that is unprecedented. But you know what they say if you are going to break the law find a criminal to do it for you.
Seriously what kind of logic it is that says…let’s use inmates to fill out these voter forms…
So the reports in the news today regarding the phony ACORN reg. right now are all part of some vast right-wing conspiracy too JCH? No. ACORN”s a Dem. hustle, urban dems especially—not so much Podunkville ND or NV, but like Pacoima and Oakland, South central LA.
I will agree the GOP use ACORN fear as part of their paranoia tactics, but that fear’s not without some basis in reality. Lockstep liberals should alarm us as much as the lockstep conservatives. For that matter, the idea that any American has a right to vote as long as he’s over 18 is, frankly, BS. In California half the people voting are hs dropouts, and can’t read English or solve a pie graph. There’s something pretty f-ed up about candidate X winning an election because a few million wetbacks chose X as Commandante (‘scuzi the realism).
(290) Horatiox I think your posts are classic…lol
Just like it would be a mistake to have a far right candidate like Buchanan in the Whitehouse it is a just as much of a mistake to have a far left candidate like Obama.
South Dakota – 1,000s of news articles about alleged voter fraud on indian reservations. Lurid stories. Massive election fraud.
Investigation. Poof. Nothing.
Sometimes, a couple of workers get prosecuted.
In terms of election fraud, it is always a great big nothing.
Say you fill out cards with the names of the Dallas Cowboys. Somebody pays you for registering 53 voters. To get to election fraud, 53 voters with names like Tony Romo have to vote.
That is the part that hardly ever happens – according to dozens and dozens of investigations and research done by various commissions and college professors.
By the way, one of the scientific investigation was done by the Bush administration. They found no evidence of a material problem in votes cast – something that was even close to changing the outcomes of election.
The system for catching this is sound.
In typical Neocon fashion, political operatives inside the White House changed the wording of the report and released the alteration to the press.
It would be lovely to have a more accurate system for voter registration, but one side of the aisle doesn’t want that.
5 million illegals have illegal mortgages in USA.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/10/09/calling-old-media-five-million-illegals-have-illegal-mortgages-u
Nice Democratic legislation…
Frank, Dodd…aye yi yi.
Re: 293
Tell that to the hysterical liberals still whining about FL 2000 and Ohio 2004–that said, FL 2000 may have tampered with: some say to St. Gore’s benefit. Who knows. Villaigorosa’s mayoral victory in LA–more significant than many in heartland realize–was probably rigged too. Skullduggery’s bipartisan.
Catching the bogus reg. a priori as it were does not negate the charges: ACORN’s a Dem racket. And since Dems often control the booths and election process (certainly in urban areas like El Lay) they are in a position to pull some strings and keep the Feds (or whoever) from investigating.
Don’t forget the New Party. The third party that’s platform was deemed unconstitutional involving radical election scam to have a candidate be on more than one ballot line. What a brilliant idea.
Dem: Obama
Rep: McCain
Green: Nader
Lib: Barr
New: Obama
Yeah that sounds like a great idea. Geesh…they even wanted to further radicalize labor unions and community organizations.
You can’t believe who was involved with them and also endorsed in his Senate bid in IL.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Party_(USA)
The only alternative energy Obama is interested in is electoral fusion and the ability to marginalize our right to vote.
I can see the next election now…Obama/Chavez ’12
I have.
From Nevada, a reasonable voice:
“Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax, who has been speaking out about the fraudulent submissions and passing them along to the secretary of state’s office for months, said under those circumstances, there was an obvious temptation for workers to duck into an air-conditioned library, for example, and start copying out of the phone book or off a sports roster.
“Anybody who decides they’re going to pay people to go out and register voters is basically opening themselves up to that,” he said. Lomax said he did not think there was a systematic attempt to submit phony forms.
Once turned in, the voter registration forms are subject to a verification process by Lomax’s office.
People whose forms listed phony or business addresses would have been sent a letter advising them they would be voided if they didn’t respond within 15 days. People who didn’t list a driver’s license or Social Security number that matched their name and address would be flagged on the voter rolls and required to bring photo identification to the polls to be allowed to vote.
Because of the safeguards, Lomax said he was confident no one will vote who shouldn’t be allowed. “People don’t need to fear for the integrity of this election,” he said. …”
1000s and 1000s of news stories and blog comments will all boil down to this sentence by Mr. Lomax, who just one of highly dedicated public servants toiling away in courthouses around America:
“Because of the safeguards, Lomax said he was confident no one will vote who shouldn’t be allowed. “People don’t need to fear for the integrity of this election,”
He’s say nobody; I say a tiny handful nationwide.
If somebody registers as Johnny Wad, then some little old lady is going to demand he pull his pants down should he actually show up to vote.
And by the way, ACORN, and other organizations like it, have successfully registered 100s of thousands of perfectly legitimate voters.
A you against that?
Tempest, meet teapot.
The suburban DNCocrats–the Michael Moore groupies and Al Gore fans–don’t generally understand what they are signing on to, do they Mr. Glenn. Most of think–naively–that a Dem votes supports some cute, green progressive future with that nice Barack at the helm (forgetting that BO has for years associated with people that a JFK or Truman would have had arrested).
In reality, the narcisso-crat’s vote supports massive unions (like those in CA, led by Jefe Art Torres), the overglutted CA bureaucracy, and mega-political machines led by pro-immigration Fabian Nunez and El Lay Mayor Villagarosa (ex-maoist, if that can be believed).
The narcisso-crats are, via a vote, blessing the mexican left and illegal immigration, at least in California and the southwest (CA’s got the most votes at stake as well).
(300) Amen to that. JFK is rolling in his grave today. I can’t even imagine what HST would think. He would to change one of his famous quotes…
If it is to RIGHT in the kitchen – Get out!
LOL
He, Obama, associates with my father. My father fought in the Solomons with JFK. My father met JFK – even took a couple of rides on the PT boats.
You don’t know what the F you’re talking about.
(300) Unions are the #1 reason our automotive industry is exactly where it is.
You can’t compete with a giant like Toyota who for every car has a $200 pension overhead when compared to GM where they have a $2700 pension overhead. Right there Toyota has at least a $2500 advantage just on costs.
We can thank that debacle to the 70’s labor stiff-arming.
You know what else is amazing is why anyone would support legislation that forces unions to have exposed elections. Insane to think that they labor bosses have a right to see which you are voting. What is wrong with these people?
JFK hated reds. Obama hangs with reds (or did in the past, and now lies about it). Maybe you can do the inference; given Demo handicap, maybe not.
Forget BO: a Dem votes for more illegal immigration, and for the Fabianocracy, and the unions, the bureaucracy (including the massive public employee sectors), and for more taxes, even on middle class (as BO has voted). Most Dems are too deluded, or maybe stoned, to realize that.
(302) JCH my family has had members in the military all the way back to the Revolutionary War. NONE of my family was ever drafted – they ALL signed up voluntarily because we know what it means to sacrifice and why we protect our freedoms and rights.
I congratulate your father on his service, my father and his brothers were in the Pacific theater as well. My uncle was a highly decorated pilot there. I miss him dearly and I spent many many hours listening to his stories of the big one.
That is amazing your dad knew JFK – remarkable. I think JFK was great American and a great leader.
He also worked in Truman’s senatorial campaigns as a volunteer – before the war, and, as a decorated war hero, met President Truman at an event in KC after the war.
what HST would think
Ah the old Ad Gonzonius meme. That works like on DailyKOS
–spew enough romantic, sportswriter-y BS, put Dick Cheney in a dress, indicate that you’re down wit’ da cause— and many DNCocrats will mistake you for an intellectual.
Dr. Gonzo, at least before he put a bullet in his head (HST was a good shot at least), had hustled for years, and raked in enough cash to escape to Aspen-town (and rumors there are HST’s hustles weren’t always too PC). Others of us are not as fortunate, and have to deal with illegals, not to say crips robbing an elderly neighbor lady at gunpoint (changes your political perspective, to some degree)
A significant percentage of the Marines who fought in the Pacific were drafted. There was nothing wrong with being drafted.
My father enlisted in the US Navy on the morning after Pearl Harbor. He has 7 battle stars, which is more than a lot of WW2 warships.
I don’t think JFK would think much of the way you think.
(308) I never said anything was wrong with the draft – my point was only that we have always volunteered.
My nephew went immediately into the service that Friday after 9/11. He had graduated and was offered officer school and he refused and wanted to go through the ranks like everyone else.
He rose quickly within military intelligence and survived two deployments in theater.
Since you never knew JFK or even spoke to him I am not sure how you can make a statement like that. But I do have a very impressive list of significant people that I have talked to and share a similar doctrine.
Strong government as our fore fathers imagined, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. I am 100% against welfare but support 100% of any workfare effort.
Nothing should be given for free – it just never works. The bible had it right thousands of years ago – Give a man a fish and he eats for day, teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime. That is such a simple phrase but it is 100% true. The far left has been hijacked with liberals that think fish grow on trees and we have enough trees to just hand out fish all day long.
You should also be able to keep what you earn – the government does not have the right to take my hard earned money off of my sweat and turn around it give it to someone who doesn’t give a damn and cannot get off their arse.
JCH have you served your community, local government, national government or military?
Have you ever been an active member of a charity organization?
Glenn the 700k problem registration number makes no sense and is not even remotely credible because that is very close to the *total* registered voters in Nevada.
Voter fraud is a legitimate concern and ACORN is the kind of organization I do not support, but as usual the ties to Obama are….largely irrelevant .
His campaign does not appear to have any responsibilty for the fraudulent registrations which appear to be small in number anyway. I’m not clear how the money flowed to the ACORN associated groups registering voters but you can hardly expect the Obama campaign to not conduct voter registration programs using the largest group in the country doing that.
I think thanks to Obama’s large lead, McCain’s has been given a media pass. Only MSNBC – which clearly has taken the FOX approach of fighting advocacy rather than journalism – is reporting much of the negative stuff from McCain’s past which appears to be far more checkered in terms of character than Obama’s past.
Immigration – there is no excuse for illegal immigration – that is a bunch of horse hockey.
They can apply and go through the process like everyone else and become a citizen – why is that such a bad thing?
Why is English such a bad requirement? If any of us moved to another country we would have to learn their language? Most of the international communication is in English – so how could learning English hurt them?
If they can’t pass the test or don’t want to apply – they should be deported. PERIOD.
It is insane for the taxpayers to bear the burden of this irresponsible position of letting illegals in on their terms.
(310) Joe MSNBC doesn’t even pull a 1 share. Salon and Moveon are more relevant than MSNBC. NYT and MSNBC are not long for this planet.
You may hate Fox but at least they are tackling the stuff no one else will touch and they certainly have the highest rating in cable.
ACORN will come to light and the full story will be told. The 700k number is valid – however I don’t know if that pertains to just NV or not. The raid in NV was at the ACORN HQ. The money trail is in the process of being exposed. It definitely does not good for the democrats there are a lot of dirty hands.
What poll are you using Joe? The spread is around 5 and tightening across the board. CNN has it at 8 but has a 3.5 margin of error and was a very small sample size and who they called is not quite clear.
Rasmussen has it at 5., Reuters/CSpan at 4., CBS is 3 .Overall average of all the polls is 5.6
So there is no wide margin and a bigger lead for Obama right now only benefits McCain.
3 weeks to go and 3 weeks ago McCain was in the lead.
This race is far from over. McCain is not getting any breaks. It is widely accepted at this point that MSM has given Obama a break even during the primaries. MSM even admits it.
(310) Joe if the voter fraud were not a massive issue at this point the FBI would not have raided the ACORN HQ’s. That usually isn’t a good thing.
There are more than a dozen active investigations in states. In Indiana, ACORN registered so many fraudulent registrations that the voter registration is higher than the population that can vote…lol
This isn’t just a handful here and there. This is a systematic approach to cover the 6% race factor and ACORN is justifying it in their minds that this makes this a fair race. Nice…throw democracy out the window. In fact I am sure Dodd, Frank and Pelosi would agree with this nonsense…because IT JUST ISN’T FAIR.
JCH you want to keep ripping Bush but he still has double the approval rating of Pelosi’s congress…lol.
Vote them ALL out!
Gee, do you think the Neocons who have wormed their way into the FBI are above using that proud agency to pull a purely political stunt just before an election?
I have clearly laid out how registration work is done, why the bad cards have to be turned in (many states), and why almost no bad cards result in illegal votes.
What ACORN does is legal. They have registered 100s of thousands of perfectly legitimate voters. They have signs up in their offices that warn workers they will turn them in if they catch them making false registrations.
You have claimed 700,000 bad cards in NV. I produced a quote by a Nevada county official who clearly explains why he thinks none of the bad cards will ever result in a single cast vote.
He said ACORN quality control caught some bad cards, but not all of them.
This a great site. Can you imagine a black man as upset as millions of other Americans?
http://nationalconversation.typepad.com/the_national_conversation/
Horatiox you are going to be laughing when you read this blog.
This is a fascinating analysis of all of Obama’s speeches and references to his life.
http://www.slate.com/id/2196908/
Reid implies linking Obama to Fannie is racist…
http://www.breitbart.tv/html/192383.html
Really interesting take on whether Ayers could have been put in as Secretary of Education under Obama.
What is frightening is how Brokaw described Ayers? No wonder it didn’t come up in the debate.
“School reformer” is how Brokaw identified the co-founder of the Weather Underground, the radical organization that, among other activities, bombed government buildings, banks, police departments and military bases in the early 1970s.
Yeah, right: Ayers is a school reformer in the same sense, as City Journal’s Sol Stern put it, as Joe Stalin was an agricultural reformer.
http://mattjohnston.blogspot.com/2008/10/bill-ayers-next-secretary-of-education.html
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.
If the Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in IRAQ .
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
More on Obama’s associations.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3145727&referralPlaylistId=c985e69916535a2170b2b18ab0ab7eb60401f9bb
More and more information on ACORN.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3145712&referralPlaylistId=c985e69916535a2170b2b18ab0ab7eb60401f9bb
Kurtz has got it right.
Now this guy isn’t me but it could be!
This is nice…listen to people who have been stalked and harassed by ACORN.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3145562&referralPlaylistId=c985e69916535a2170b2b18ab0ab7eb60401f9bb
Now we learn Obama tried to persuade Iraqi officials from agreeing to any troop reductions with the Bush Administration until after the election.
This is a clear violation of the Logan Act. Can you imagine a Presidential candidate that would want to keep our soldiers in harm way any longer than they need to be for their own benefit?
Obama FIRST Country LAST
The Federal Election Commission report show Obama paid ACORN $832,598. There is your proof Joe.
Obama is as corrupt as Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. They are conspiring to thwart our election process in this country.
When we have allegations of such large levels of voter fraud and a key state like Ohio – the Democratic Secretary not only created the biggest fraud opportunity in the history of our elections by allowing people to register and vote in one without a photo id – she tried to block having the votes validated – WTF??? Seriously does anyone think this woman is being honest? It took a judge to force her to validate the votes. But this isn’t a wide spread attempt by the left loons in the Democratic party to subvert our election process.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/09/judge-orders-ohio-elections-chief-verify-voters/
Now we find out that over 4000 dead people have been registered to vote in Harris County in Houston – this is an old school Chicago politics trick – get the dead to vote.
Unbelievable if Obama is elected and there is widespread voter fraud tied to the Democrats there will be a civil war in this country. Get ready for your extreme left wing messiah to put this country directly into a war on our own soil. I believe this is exactly what an Ayers, Farakhan, Khalid want – but these startling associations and relationship Obama has with all of them really doesn’t matter. His connections to ACORN, the housing meltdown and the Democratic party have nothing to do with all of this.
Red dawn approaching
More information about Obama and his ties to the thug Odinga (Obama’s cousin) in Kenya.
The violence created by Odinga after he lost his election and then basically took the country by force resulted in destroying or damaging 800 Christian churches.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77508
Meanwhile in other news you have Farrakhan calling Obama the messiah – seriously…another person I know who has a messiah complex is Charles Manson.
Joe btw…ACORN still is receiving millions and millions of dollars from the bail-out bill. If that isn’t proof enough of the depth of corruption in our government by Dodd and Frank.
Pelosi and crew must think the American taxpayer is just that stupid. Unbelievable.
Not only do we have Obama directly supporting voter fraud in this country to the tune of $832,000 he also has massive problems with his donor records.
Basically every single point of a campaign where a candidate can commit fraud – Obama has taken it to a whole new level.
They can’t even account for how much foreign donations are part of his campaign – that should scare the hell out of every American citizen.
From the New York Times
Now the spin about Ayers from the Obama campaign is that he assumed Ayers had been rehabilitated.
If you go back in history you will see when Ayers got off on a technicality he said publicly:
Guilty as hell but free as a bird – only in America could this happen.
Then on 9/11 – he restated he didn’t do enough bombings and he wouldn’t rule out bombing again in his future.
This must be the new far left loon definition of rehabilitation.
Nobody cares about the Ayers issue, nor should they.
JCH another one of your buddies…Chris Dodd…put him on the witness stand!!! He’s a liar too…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122360116724221681.html
The Democrats must be so proud of their elite politicians…
Chris Dodd has probably never missed a mortgage payment. He’s a good mortgage risk.
The CEO of Countrywide is a Neocon. He is on tape saying he did not have to stretch the rules much to originate a loan to a low-income buyer.
He was stretching those rules at the behest of the architect of the Ownership Society – George Bush. That is why COuntrywide raced far ahead of CRA and F&F subprime lending.
You would make a horrible detective. The WSJ is the great Neocon enabler.
There is still hope…
This guy is classic and you have to love the Richard Pryor shirt – CLASSIC…
(333) JCH Dodd was “stretching” those rules because he is corrupt and incompetent.
Dodd did not stretch any rules.
Bush has his boys stretch the rules. Dodd doesn’t have an Kenny Boy buddies. Most CEOs in the banking and mortgage industry hate Democrats. They aren’t going to stretch rules for a Democrat.
But for Bush they did.
(336) JCH…you are a dreamer and a revisionist.
Rationalization through irrationality…
Look at the people in office who received money from this organizations.
Follow the money trail. They bought access it is clear and simple.
Access to what? Dodd did not vote the way they wanted him to vote. The MBs wanted F&F raided – because the President wanted them raided.
And you have made no attempt to follow the money. You’re off running around a tree in which there is no raccoon.
Bush wanted 5.5 million homes sold to low-income buyers. Dodd wanted sensible CRA lending – the kind that had been done since 1977 without causing a singe negative thing to the overall economy.
LOL…unbelievable…
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3146431&referralPlaylistId=playlist
JCH sure it isn’t a democratic scam, just like ACORN, Freddie, Fannie…
End result: Liberals destroy the US economy and markets…
Impressive…train wreck….
More information on the outrageous Democrat voter scam under way in Ohio…finally the courts weigh in. Actually issue a restraining order against the corrupt Democratic Secretary of State in Ohio.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3146427&referralPlaylistId=df5603c3d11ca9a023b0070cfc5f297e279fd3a7
Um, boys, I’d say “don’t feed the trolls,” or maybe “get a room,” but y’all seem to have the room to yourselves. Just wandered in to see what all the message traffic was about…
JCH – Here is a link for you to refresh your memory on the de-regulation votes, Fannie Mae, etc…
JCH – Don’t forget to watch Fox News at 5pm Eastern today as Gingrich is going to walk through the entire fiasco for all of us.
More for JCH…great video on the whole housing fiasco…as Dodd says is the ROOT CAUSE of this meltdown.
On Monday….[Obama] spent $3.3 million in a single day of TV advertising. At that rate he will spend more than $90 million on ads through Election Day — more than all the money Republican rival John McCain has to spend on his entire fall campaign.
McCain’s ad spending Monday totaled about $900,000 and the Republican National Committee weighed in with about $700,000 worth.
Who’s the corporate candidate? ObamaCo: dat’s who.
345 comments?! 😯
(346) 346… scratch that, 347. Heisencomments…
This finally sets the record straight for ACORN. They file anti-discrimination for voting rights suit today.
The United States government is involved in “a widespread, systematic effort to disenfranchise Imaginary-Americans and deprive them of access to polls.”
Another classic from IowaHawk – let me say this man is very funny. His series back in the Clinton/Lewinsky days were absolute classics. Enjoy the humor in these days of doldrums.
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/10/acorn-files-vot.html
1 Voter, 72 Registrations – ACORN paid me in cash & cigs…
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10102008/news/politics/1_voter__72_registrations_132965.htm
But hey according to the Ohio Democratic Secretary of State there is no fraud going on…
CLASSIC.
Tommo … 350… it’s an infinite feedback loop! I’m worried I’m going to break all the interwebs with this post!
ACORN & the Money Tree…more hypocrisy exposed…
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/clyne200410311142.asp
Found an interesting site that has a lot of good information, charts, tables on all the polling data.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
The ever evolving stories from Obama…
Ayers:
1) He was just some guy in my neighborhood
2) Then they were friends but not close
3) Then they worked together but it wasn’t a lot
4) Then it was Obama didn’t know at the time that Ayers was a terrorist
5) Now it has come to…well I just assumed he was rehabilitated.
Now there is proof that during the 80’s and 90’s there is proof that Ayers was still holding his radical terrorist views – so let’s see what Obama says now.
Then we move on to ACORN and the ever changing “fight the smears” section of Obama’s site. It seems the details about the ACORN connections are ever-evolving as well.
http://greatdebate2008.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-are-you-hiding-mr-obama.html
So what is it Senator Obama? Why are we playing this game of depends on what your definition of “is” is?
LOL – Maxine Waters caught lying last night about Fannie Mae. Amazing when we need to solve the problems of this country and extreme left loons like Waters tries this stuff.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/10/11/maxine-waters-caught-lying-about-fannie-mae-ties-real-time
When are we going to stand up and demand accountability from these people that misuse our tax dollars?
Now it is finally revealed that factcheck.org is owned by the Annebergs – yep that’s right – the same people that funded Ayers for his radical educational program where Obama spent millions including funding ACORN.
Shocker…lol
Can’t we get an honest answer from anywhere?
“Finally revealed” ?!? – oh please Glenn, you’re implying they make it some big secret, like they are trying to keep people from finding out. Fact is it is clearly and readily disclosed on their website under “About Us”….along with the following:
“The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.”
Factcheck goes after as many cases of Obama playing fast and loose with the truth as they do McCain, if anyone is in doubt of that they should visit the sight and see for themselves. I don’t detect any bias there at all.
Did you go the Karl Rove school of investigative journalism per chance?
(356) Paul it is just all too convenient that the message minders all circle back to the Chicago political machine.
You say Palin scares the hell out of you – but on what basis…yet having a candidate with a working relationship with a known terrorist who said they might do it again doesn’t bother you?
That a person sat in a church for 20 years to hear vitriolic hate speech on a regular basis that doesn’t bother you.
That he has several years of dealings with Tony Resko, yet that doesn’t bother you.
That his website continues to change on a regular basis adjusting his story on allegations against him but that doesn’t bother you.
That he was instrumental in ACORN getting its early funding and support, that he continues to this day to spend a lot of money with ACORN while ACORN tries to diminish hard working taxpayers of their right to have their vote count – but that doesn’t bother you.
That he supported legislation that would allow doctors to ignore providing treatment to a living and breathing baby that survived a botched abortion – but that doesn’t bother you.
That he was the #2 recipient of funds from Fannie Mae the key to causing America to collapse financially – but that doesn’t bother you.
That he has significant problems with his campaign donations and more and more it looks like it is illegal foreign money coming into his campaign but that doesn’t bother you.
That he was going to take public money and then decided not to – gee maybe it was because he would have swear that he is a natural born citizen, show proof and sign legal documents attesting that his is legally qualified – can all of these things just be coincidence?
I could go on for days…
There is literally nothing in Palin’s past or her performance that should scare anyone. She has the highest approval rating as Governor in this country.
Let’s all get real here with the real things to be concerned about instead of this I have to support my liberal ideology regardless of who is caring the banner.
Before this election McCain was viewed by all the Democrats as the only Republican they could vote for. Bill Clinton has even stated McCain would be a better Commander in Chief, Joe Biden even said he would run with McCain.
McCain is not some far right winger – he is middle of the road and would do quite a bit to bring this country together – it is Obama who is going to fracture this country with his far left perspective and his unwillingness to work across the aisle.
History shows our country typically is at its best when we have one party in the Executive Branch and a different party in the Legislative Branch.
This election is about real change and reform and our country right now needs desperate reform on all levels – you just not going to get that from Obama and Pelosi.
We’ll know soon enough. I, for one, can’t wait for it to be over.
Palin scares the hell out of me because of her complete and utter lack of knowledge about – well – just about everything. If you can watch the Couric and other interviews where she comes across like a talking Tina doll and it doesn’t scare the living daylights out of you it speaks loudly to your partisanship.
I’m not the only person saying these things about Palin, there are plenty of conservatives who have voiced similar concerns.
Here is a video where Obama is meeting with ACORN, etc and states…
That ACORN and all community organizers will be meeting with him during the transition months after the election to shape his administration.
YIKES…I don’t think we want ACORN having anything to do with the agenda of our country.
(358) Seriously Couric – whose ratings are lower even when interviewing Palin then her ratings were a year ago. I suggest you take some time and watch all the Palin interviews and speeches. She is a very smart and articulate person – true she is new to the beltway but given the crap in our government right now we need it. Where is Ross Perot when you need him?
But if that is your criteria I suggest you watch some speeches when the teleprompter has failed – you won’t believe how much of a buffoon he looks like. People say he is nothing without a teleprompter because it is true. Even during the debates they are careful to keep him on his rehearsed lines – NOT ONCE has a moderator challenged him.
And then take a look at the 100’s of times Biden has screwed up in interviews and has said some of the dumbest things on record.
I think it would be best if we all just said – hey some days are good and some days are not so good when it comes to speaking and interviews.
I think the Democratic Party really blew a chance this year to have a solid candidate. Given the situation in the economy, etc Obama should be 30 points or higher ahead right now and it should be a complete sweep of the country – the fact that he isn’t speaks volumes about his candidacy. If Hillary were running it would have been a runaway train.
I don’t believe Obama and I think he represents what less than 10% of the people in this country really want.
I do agree with you – I will be glad when it is all over.
I’m with Paul on concerns about Palin, especially after the “abuse of power” report makes it clear she has a lot of trouble separating official business from her personal agenda (which was a very legitimate beef with a very bad ex brother-in-law. Yet it should have been handled very differently and shows very questionable leadership skills).
Glenn I’m really curious how do you think Obama should have handled his association with Bill Ayers. There were many conservatives on that board and I think they had a similar minor working relationship with Ayers – are you holding Obama to the same or a different standard from those folks?
(361) Joe – pretty much anyone connected with the Chicago political machine is going to have problems with me. It is the most corrupt example of politics we have in this great Republic. It has been that way for decades.
Here will be the real litmus test when Rezko spills the beans – you watch…every other politician will be tarnished by Rezko and every single one of them will have long-term connections with Obama both politically and financially yet Obama will look like he is the only one that doesn’t have his hands dirty.
Come on – is anyone really going to believe that?
Look at the earmark for the $3million dollar project for the planetarium that Obama went for – gee what a coincidence the chairman of the planetarium pledged to raise $200k for his campaign.
When it comes to insider deals, government waste, risky relationships Obama seems to set new records.
Quite frankly Joe anyone that would have anything to do with a terrorist at any point in their life and knew they were a terrorist would not want to come near anyone that I know. 9/11 hit hard and I know people that died that day and I used to work in the North tower up until a year prior.
The fact that University of Chicago has employed him as a professor and he has tenure is unbelievable.
The fact his wife got a job in a law firm, the same law firm that Michelle and Barack both worked at and Michelle was friends with her is just unbelievable.
If you saw Bin Laden walking through your neighborhood – what would you do?
To me there is absolutely no difference between Ayers and Bin Laden. We have a country where you are allowed to protest and have your voice heard – there is no reason or room for that type of action – it is just plain unacceptable.
I can’t believe there is anyone here that has read about Ayers would actually think there is anything redeeming about him. This isn’t being thoughtful or intellectual – he is deeply aligned with Chavez and other insaniacs that threaten our very existence and lifestyle. He wants the US to collapse and become a socialist country. For Ayers this is much of an issue of him fighting his families capitalist heritage then anything else – he has to be mentally ill and quite frankly if his family didn’t have the fortune that they had he would spent the rest of his life in jail – where he belongs – not teaching and poisoning people’s minds.
I’m a fan of much of what Ross Perot used to talk about. In fact if we had paid attention to his concerns over a decade ago I think we’d be far better off today.
But sorry Glenn…. Palin … is no Perot.
I’m still studying this but it appears to me ACORN is guilty of the opposite types of abuses we are seeing from some GOP cronies who keep working to suppress the vote by challenging registrations, challenging folks at polls, and discouraging rules that make voting easier. My view is that in general these anti-democratic tactics tend to balance out over parties and time though I have not done much research to support that. Given that Bush won very narrowly in past two elections I think it’s hard to make the case that the Democrats are any good at stealing any recent elections.
(361) Joe in regard to his relationships…
In regard to Ayers – he knew exactly who Ayers was from day one and Obama is probably sympathetic to him. That alone should give anyone pause.
Look at Rezko, Wright, Farrakhan, Khalid,etc…etc…etc
He shouldn’t have had relationships with any of them.
His financial adviser – Rezko
His spiritual adviser – Wright
One of his first employers – Ayers
Farrakhan thinks he is the messiah – doesn’t that bother you?
It goes on for decades of the sketchy people he has been working with, etc and he won’t tell the truth about any of them and keeps changing his story and then eventually when his stories don’t work he just throws the person under the bus – that isn’t the sign of a quality person who has good judgment and loyalty.
(363) Joe you are just using the Dem talking points about suppressing the vote,etc.
ACORN has a long illustrious career of violating the voter fraud laws and getting convicted. And they have done some terrible things in regard to harassing businesses, etc. Not to mention their lobbying played a major role ultimately in our meltdown yet the Democrats still give hundreds of millions of dollar to ACORN.
And yet you forget to mention the concerted efforts by Democratic Secretary of States this year that are blocking overseas ballots from being counted – including Ohio – why because those would be our soldiers voting and they are not going to vote for Obama. So think about that – the one person that should be allowed to vote are the troops…but oh no not in the Democratic world…we will focus on dead people, felons and the homeless and we will vote not to have funds for our troops and we will surrender and bring them home as defeated…
Of course ACORN could then organize the groups of people to spit on our troops when they get home because they were air raiding villages and killing civilians.
If none of the other stuff works for you in regard to Obama what about the report he tried to convince the Iraqis to hold off on any agreement to bring down the troop count until after the election – I believe that story to be true – the evidence is pretty clear – two people in the meeting confirm that is what was said. Unbelievable.
(363) Joe it is sounding that the FBI has some very solid evidence against ACORN now. We are supposed to hear more by Wed – we will see.
14 states are now investigating and at least 4 offices including ACORN’s HQ have been raided.
Glenn it seems to me that Ayers isn’t the point in all this – few here or even in Chicago support his ideology. Obama does not support him or his ideas any more than hundreds of other folks who have intersected with Ayers over the years.
(367) I don’t think Obama is telling the complete truth about Ayers and quite frankly you DO NOT launch your political career in the living room of a terrorist’s home.
Doesn’t it bother you that Obama was #2 on the all time donation list from Fannie in just three years and he beat out politicians receiving money from them for decades?
Doesn’t it bother you his early and critical involvement with ACORN and now his shifting story and as of today they are now admitting he did do some training there – gee the wonder of the wayback machine to go find the case studies that used to be on the ACORN website?
Then you look at the housing fiasco – why is it he keeps getting connected to these bad things?
Don’t you want all the bums in congress investigated so we can get to the bottom of this? Special Prosecutor please – even Ben Stein blames Dodd, Frank and Fannie, ACORN for this stuff and has called for a Special Prosecutor. If Obama is elected do you think they will be investigated?
Glenn where is info about Ohio refusing to count soldier votes – I could not find anything about that online…are you sure that’s a real thing?
Are you saying there are zero attempts by Republicans to influence voting behavior or saying that’s fair game because it’s not the fraud we are seeing by ACORN employees? Whenever you have hundreds of millions of voters you’ll have some fraud. The key question is how much fraud and does it balance out and does it have an influence on outcomes. I don’t think you can make a case that Dems will benefit from ACORN – in fact the scandal will cost more votes than any fraud might have brought in.
(369) The scandal should cost them votes and so should Fannie.
People need to wake up to the facts and get serious about this election. We have never been at a more critical juncture – just look at our country buying stock in our banks and even that the IMF now warns the markets are still going to continue to tank.
All because of the housing fiasco.
And then the spin about De-reg, no one talks about the fact that John McCain did NOT vote for de-reg and yet he wanted regulation on Fannie Mae, yet the democrats blocked it.
Follow the money trail and it is sorry to where Obama is in all of this – he is just another bought and paid for candidate that is not going to move our country forward.
If you actually spent some serious time and look at the accolades that McCain has gotten from the Democrats and how many times he has pushed back to his own party you would be surprised. His record on the issues and against corruption is the strongest of anyone serving.
We need to come together as a country and perform some serious surgery on our dying patient – Lady Liberty!
Joe the Ohio situation is very serious. The directives put in place by Brunner are very disturbing including a measure to stop the absentee ballots to be excluded from standard verification. This is nuts.
http://volokh.com/posts/1221409022.shtml
Joe I think the voter fraud thing is massive this year. Look at the report out of PA.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=14034
Glenn I researched the Fannie Freddie contributions. I agree those are a stain on the records of all who got them which is pretty much all senators and hundred of congressdudes.
McCain included but Obama has a bigger stain. The annual contributions were small enough – under 5k on average even at the top – I don’t think they are a sign of any corruption and it’s important to note Republicans got more than Democrats.
I totally agree that the congress and the Senate failed us as they so often do. Also that Obama is “more” guilty than McCain of failing to support reforms that might have reduced the Fannie meltdown. I don’t agree with you that Dems are solely to blame. I also think Fannie and Freddie failures are best seen as only a part of the big problem – derivatives and swaps are important and people’s foolish house buying behavior is – in many ways – at the heart of all of this.
But overall it’s clearly a bipartisan incompetent financial fiasco in terms of how the Government should have reacted.
(373) I am all for them investigating everyone on the money list.
The reason I am particularly peeved at the Democrats is that Nancy Pelosi made a pledge in Jan 2007 and said this was a call for a new standard in DC, etc…ALL BS.
Dodd and Frank should go down regardless because it was in their “domain” to care of this stuff and they failed in a big way.
As far as I am concerned investigate Bush to. Regardless of party the ones who broke the rules, laws, etc need to be held accountable.
It is time for this to stop and it is time for pork to end – I am not even concerned as much about the total amount of pork it is just how the votes are bought and paid for – that is just wrong.
Joe take a few minutes and google the following people:
Frank Davis Marshall
Saul Alinsky
Bill Ayers
Berardine Dohrn
Louis Farrakhan
Khalid Abdullah Tariq al Mansour
ACORN/Project Vote/Mid West Academy
Raila Odinga
Carl Davidson
Wade Rathke
Danny K. Davis
Marilyn Katz
Jeremiah Wright
Father Michael Pfleger
Michael Klansky
Edward Said
Tony Rezko
Alexi Giannoulias
The last guy on the list…wait until you read about him and Obama’s connections to him.
Remember Obama is a first term Senator and even with his IL time as Senator really hasn’t been in politics that long to have amassed such a list of bad characters. Just brings back memories of Traficant…lol.
How many bad people have you known in your entire life?
Paul this is a link to some funny satire about the teleprompter but there is actual video of Obama tripping the lines when the prompter breaks…
Tell me that doesn’t scare you.
(361) If you get a hold of the report and read it, let me know. You will be surprised of the actual finding.
She didn’t actually do anything wrong specifically they are citing an ethics violation because she didn’t do a better job of reining in those under her that caused grief over this.
Her firing was perfectly legit.
As far as her low life trooper brother-in-law well who knows but he doesn’t sound like the kind of person you want hiding behind a badge and a gun and she should have done more to get him off the streets.
I think it is important to remember that she has pissed off a lot of people in Alaska when she fought the corruption and quite frankly it is amazing that there isn’t a ton of stuff being dug up in Alaska.
When you compare “dirt” there is no comparison between Palin and any of the other candidates.
You know we should have a rule about being President.
1) you need to have served in our military in some capacity at some point in your life
2) you can’t be an attorney
It makes absolutely no sense to have an attorney as President (CEO of the country).
Attorney’s always make the absolute worst CEO’s.
Lawyers can stay in the judicial or legislative branches. The executive branch should have qualified people that are going to be in control of the most powerful military in the world.
Joe how do you feel about this stuff?
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/10/09/nyt-blogger-discovers-another-lifelong-republican
The NYT’s so out of touch with reality. How is it that someone can so easily violate any form of ethical journalism.
Before you say its just a blog…it’s Tim Egan’s blog and has been a writer for NYT for 18 years.
Glenn the Palin report is here: http://download2.legis.state.ak.us/DOWNLOAD.pdf
The findings are about page 8 and basically say she abused power but did not act illegally. This is no watergate, but it is very questionable activity by a potential prez. I think her failure to reign in Todd Palin’s abuses of his high level access is probably the worst part. I also think the fact that this horrible guy made it into the family in the first place is alarming. Call me unfair, but I think marrying somebody is an endorsement of the person. Obama’s brother in law coaches basketball here in Oregon. Palin’s…. drives drunk and tasers his own kid?
Is this alone enough to suggest Palin is not qualified? No, but combined with the rest of her history it suggests to me that she is a very risky and unknown quantity.
Glenn I *want* my president to be exposed to a lot of people and ideas, even radical or reactionary ones so he can help fix the problems we face from those dysfunctional ideologies. You really need to read some of Obama’s speeches and quotes – this is a guy who has put a lot of thought into why radical thinking is *wrong*. This is why the hit pieces you are referencing always quote Ayers and others – Obama does not share their views at all and he’s made that very clear in his books, talks, etc. He’s a liberal Democrat. Not my favorite ideology but it’ll be decades before we see the “founders” sensibilities in a major candidate (small govt, small military, innovation, entrepreneurial capitalism, very low taxes, very high personal accountability).
In fact Obama clearly does not share the views of *any* of the people you listed above, so associating with them is not of great concern to me though I’d prefer he starts looking a lot closer at the more conservative views, especially in economics, that I hold dear. I’m optimistic Warren Buffet’s good advice will help in that respect – he’s a big Obama supporter and I’m hoping will be a key counselor to him.
Hi Glenn
Maybe I’m missing what you are seeig but the Egan piece didn’t say it was some sort of research project – rather it’s one of those rambling little pieces where he made some personal observations. I’m not sure I’m getting what upsets you about that. Is it that the person he mentions very briefly appears to be an atypical lifelong Republican and he should have called her unusual/atypical/left wing Republican?
I suppose if I was writing that I would not have singled her out as somebody who is “switching” votes since she’s so unusual, but we’d need to know more to suggest Egan is acting deceptively. He opened the piece saying it was not an objective review of voting patterns – just a walk down the street kind of thing. If you want a contrived, carefully staged pretense of objectivity just turn to the FOX News Channel. They’ve actually been running call-in or text-in polls and then reporting on them as if they have relevance, when all they tell you is that FOX viewers opinions are not at all representative of the normal US population.
(380) I get it Joe…you want to compare Palin’s brother-in-law to everything Obama is connected to including his cousin Odinga and say Obama is qualified but Palin isn’t.
Your hatred toward George Bush has truly clouded your judgment.
Unbelievable…I thought you were someone very different indeed.
(380) Joe using your logic we should have thrown Bill Clinton out of office because of his brother…lol.
I suggest you freshen up on history. What Obama is pitching isn’t anything new…we have seen it before.
Glenn!
The Palin Troopergate stuff should be viewed very separately from questions about Obama. Separate issues in my view. Palin stuff is a lot more relevant about how she’ll govern, which is not at all clear, especially in light of all the info in that report. The Palins seemed to be running Alaska’s business in too much of a personal way and that is not a good idea at the US national level.
Obama will govern as a moderate to liberal. McCain as a moderate to conservative. Many of the people on that list have *almost nothing* to do with Obama – basically everybody controversial that he’s met with have been placed on hit lists.
I don’t hate Bush. On the contrary I’ve always tried to make it clear that I don’t think individuals are usually to blame in our huge, complex system. I do not like the way Bush has spent recklessly and failed to be a good communicator, but that’s far from hatred.
Glenn – I just reviewed that YouTube – are you kidding me?
Wallace became a kook, obsessed with a Russian mystic – the clip is just a rambling garden path conspiracy theory.
It includes absurdly exaggerated or fabricated ties to the Khalid al Mansour guy. I followed up on that and the whole story is based on a few comments by Percy Sutton – a huge Obama supporter, and al Mansour who refused to say anything. This is like *every single Obama criticism without exception* there is almost no substance here, just hugely inflated guilt by association.
McCain, very much to his credit, has started to talk about Obama as an honorable and “safe” guy. McCain has the best access to Obama’s backstory of almost anybody in the entire world.
How can you possibly think McCain would be misleading us about Obama’s past if there were all these dangerous players and sinister plans? Obama’s past is what it appears to be – honorable.
Joe,
There are over 35,000 lobbyists that are working in Washington. Our tax code has over 66,000 pages in it. We have the 2nd highest corporate tax rate in the world.
We have over $12 trillion of taxpayer money hidden in offshore tax havens.
Our problems in our country are not universal health care or community activism.
We need to stave off the greed and corruption that starts in our government, is enabled on Wall-Street and ultimately flows into Main Street.
We need a massive amount of reform and we need to truly fix our system from a system that creates untouchable “everything guaranteed” politicians to a system where good, honest intelligent people go to serve for the good of their country.
So before we can do things like universal health care, all these great green initiatives we need to fix our broken government.
We need to rip out our grossly unfair tax system and replace it with consumption taxes – not add another 10,000 pages to our existing broken code. Maybe if we had a consumption tax based system then Rangel would even be in trouble right now.
We need to break the lobbyist system, people say well it gets stuff done, well it gets a lot more bad stuff done than the stuff we need to get done.
Congress is going to fight this because this will be the single biggest transfer of power back to the people in the history of this country. Our elected officials at all levels have proven time and time again that they cannot do the proper job – even in times of trouble they make sure they get their vacations in, their pensions are guaranteed, etc…it goes on and on it is more like a British royalty class versus the common folk now.
Once we remove the vehicles the encourage corruption and remove the ability for them to carve special groups in the tax code things will get back on track.
With consumption based taxes think about it, everything the Government would do is to incite people to make purchases, everyone gets taxed fairly including the illegal money.
The Government can spend what it wants as long as the economy is good – that is the key. No more need for stupid programs that are protected because they support a special interest group…here is the pot of money this is what you get to spend. You want more then do things the grow the economy.
All the jobs would remain here, foreign businesses would invest a lot here and we could really begin to afford some of these big ideas.
(385) The Wallace video was half-jokingly – here is the point – Obama does nothing to clear the questions up. He hides everything – it is just like being in litigation – you have to keep peeling back the onion and find new ways to ask questions to try to assemble answers.
Why doesn’t he provide his school history?
Why can’t we see what classes he took?
What professors he had?
What friends he had?
How is it that he never wrote in school but now has two books written? Who were his ghost writers?
Why didn’t he condemn Ayers?
Why won’t he explain his relationship to Khalidi? Did he create a way for Obama to get into Harvard – let’s see his LSAT and his grades. Did a Saudi pay for his Harvard education?
Why isn’t he clear on his relationship with ACORN?
Why is he spending over $830k with ACORN this year?
The list goes on and on.
What questions about John McCain can you NOT get an answer to?
We can’t even get Barack to show a vault copy of his birth certificate. We know he went to school in Indonesia and was registered that as a citizen of Indonesia and as a muslim – why is that so bad that he can’t admit or talk about it? We have all seen the actual school registration cards for him.
I don’t think you spend 20+ years around radicals and mongers of hate speech and not be influenced by them.
He helped spend 10’s of millions of dollars on a program to teach children to become political activists and radicals. How is that in any way helpful to our country?
How is it helpful to our country to have an organization like ACORN that goes out and terrorizes bank presidents because they won’t participate in bad lending?
Now we know just how stupid the NINJA loans were…some of us new the whole sub-prime thing was a disaster from day one – yet Obama in Sep 07 said sub-prime loans are a good thing.
His judgment seems so bad so many times.
The Obama campaign is acting strategically – if they release all those records there are probably at least a handful of things that can be used against him in carefully contrived swiftboat attacks at the last minute. This is why McCain, for example, only let the press see his medical records for a short time (not sure on details, but I don’t think that indicates McCain’s health is other than he has said it is).
Part of the problem is that people are not trying to find truth here – they are looking for dirt. The “Vault Copy” sounds like nonsense to me. I’d guess it is lost but revealing that will just stir a bogus pot of BS.
The ACORN fraud and Obama associations are a legitimate avenue of inquiry – ACORN’s clearly doing fraudulent things. I’d say the likelihood that the Obama campaign had knowledge of the fraud is very small partly since the effect of the fraud – as we have seen – is more likely to hurt than help. Why would they have condoned fraud? ACORN folks got paid for those registrations – this is very likely small time fraud, not some big national conspiracy.
Glenn you are dodging the key question about the “witness” that *proves* beyond any reasonable doubt that Obama is not a sinister figure: John McCain.
(388) Joe the main problem with Obama is that he is running his campaign like an attorney would run a litigation trial. There is no desire to seek the truth only to create enough perception so that when the jury decides on election day he can win the trial.
There are just way too many connections to Obama and to the bad things that have hurt this country. He can’t be cleared of all of them.
His hands are deep in ACORN and have been for over a decade and his hands are deep in Fannie Mae. Those facts cannot be ignored and there is definitely some funny business going on there and since they were key factors in the melt-down of our economy they should be fully vetted by the MSM but for some strange reason they are not touching it.
More ACORN nonsense…they register a 7 year old to vote…
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10122008/news/politics/7_yr__old_gets_an_acorn_vote_133207.htm
Joe what about Jodie Evans and her deep ties to Obama and his campaign. She has donated over $40k to his campaign and victory fund.
Do we want this kind of person influencing a presidential candidate?
http://neverfindout.org/
Interesting ad videos here…
Even more stuff about ACORN now the brother of ACORN founder stole $1 million from he group and Wade Rathke decided to keep him employed…
Obama was hired in 1992 to run a voter registration effort, later became a trainer and then represented ACORN as an attorney.
Once again it seems Obama is short on answers and on the fact.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/fund071408.php3
In case some of you want to doubt whether Obama has worked closely with ACORN.
“I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work.” — Barack Obama, Speech to ACORN, November 2007
One of the major culprits in this crisis that neither candidate wants to talk about was raised this morning on “Meet The Press” by Ted Koppel – us, the American public.
Consumer installment debt levels have been rising at a breakneck pace for the last 6 years, and were well above historical norms even BEFORE that acceleration began. They stand now, as a percentage of GDP, at levels suggesting a long, protracted period of sub-par growth is ahead of us. We are leveraged up to our eyebrows in a period where the value of the one last piece of collateral that most have, our homes, are plummeting. One in six homeowners are underwater – i.e. they owe more than their home is worth.
We have been living beyond our means for a very long time – and that has to stop, but that is a message NO politician wants to put out there. Government deficits are bad in the long run, consumer deficits are no better and arguably worse. The savings rate went negative last year, another symptom of insatiable consumers who have completely lost sight of fiscal prudence.
Some of these people who are losing their homes have only themselves to blame. I readily concede there are lots of culprits in this mess and the consumer isn’t the only one, but the sad fact is you can’t have a bubble unless lots of people opt to play – and we’ve all been far to willing to leverage up for far too long. We’ve been playing Russian roulette with our personal finances and we just hit the chamber with a bullet in it, the result – predictably – is messy.
(395) Paul I think the overwhelming theme should be:
Accountability on Wall-Street
Accountability on Penn Ave
Accountability on E. Capital Street
Accountability on Main Street
Accountability goes both ways. Those that clearly took advantage well they should take their lumps and those that did the right thing shouldn’t have to take on the burden of bailing out all the rest.
If there is one lesson we can all learn from this. We are seeing our government at “it’s finest” and they can’t deliver. How come no one is talking about how long it has taken Paulson to do anything? Didn’t he have a plan originally when he submitted his 3 page proposal? We are almost a month into this and all level of the government have failed the American Taxpayer.
We need to look at the auto loan industry and credit card industries as well.
You hear a lot about predatory lenders and they should be investigated and prosecuted but people that took those mortgages should have known that it wasn’t right. Where is that sense of right and wrong?
It is very frustrating for the many millions of Americans that have made good choices in their lives to have a huge tax burden in the future to bail-out the people that made horrible decisions and then to add insult to injury lets tank the retirement funds of everyone.
Paul I totally agree. We are very much a major factor, yet politics prevents this from becoming an issue. You can’t win elections telling people how greedy or stupid or foolish they have been. This inclines the Government to keep pushing the debt and debt problems forward with reckless spending and more massive borrowing.
Recognizing that pain is coming in all scenarios I want to see more proposals that bring more accountability to the borrowers. I’m not sure what form is best for that.
It seems the real October surprise is coming.
It looks like a RICO suit is in the works against ACORN and Obama’s campaign and you won’t believe the Clintons are party to the suit against Obama.
The RICO action involves ACORN and the “Goodwill donations” Obama has received. Over $228 million in them. They involve more than two people and happened across state lines – that qualifies it to be designated a corrupt organization which means it qualifies for RICO. What is most interesting about the ACORN investigations it seems it has been going on for years – federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald started with the investigations and he continues with it today. He currently heads n FBI team working in 10 states. The word on the street is that the Obama campaign is much more tightly connected to ACORN than previously staed.
The two factors causing this to unravel are the ACORN investigations – which is now bi-partisan with several Democratic Secretary of States and Democratic appointed Attorney Generals are now alleging a significant amount of fraud put forward by ACORN.
The second factor is Resko, he is telling the Feds all about Broadway Bank and that isn’t good for anyone in Chicago politics.
If this stuff is true is going to link directly to Axelrod, Dean, Barzile and Obama. There seems to be some secondary connections to Pelosi and Reid.
I guess we will all find out more in the next two weeks…can this election get anymore complicated?
Hey Joe we don’t need to wait for the doomsday scenario from the HRC…Christopher Buckley is voting for Obama – that has got to be proof enough it is all over.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-10/the-conservative-case-for-obama/
LOL…you have to love this stuff.
As Jim Morrison once said “I am going to get my kicks before the whole chithouse goes up in flames!”
William Buckley must be rolling over so fast in the grave he is bound to start a black hole…lol
Over 30,000 felons registered to vote in Florida and have been allowed to vote previously.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbfelons1012sboct12,0,3762352.story
Luckily about 5,600 of them won’t be able to vote on the 4th because they are still in prison.
We need to fix our election system – you would think after all the controversy we have had during the last two elections someone would actually try to fix this problem.
Once again the Odinga (Obama’s cousin) story is making the rounds. I really don’t know what to make of this story – if it is true it surely doesn’t look too good.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kerry-picket/2008/10/12/when-will-msm-report-obamas-support-kenyan-tyrant-raila-odinga
Another interesting point from FTN this a.m. – whoever wins in November faces great peril and great opportunity. If they can’t turn this around, they go down in history as the goat. If they reverse things, they’re the hero that rode into town and cleaned everything up and saved the day.
(396) RE: Paulson – if he had been more on top of things and doing his job, we should never have gotten to this stage in the first place. Having said that, to be fair to him – and to all who are trying to turn things around – the velocity this unraveling has displayed has been unique. Like portfolio insurance in ’87, they did not anticipate that derivatives and leverage could have such devastating consequences so quickly. They had a firm grasp on the upside, but too little awareness of the down.
I find no small amount of irony in the fact that the creators of these instruments have insured their own demise with them, yet am furious we as taxpayers and investors pay most, if not all, of the price.
(402) You know Paul you raise a really good point about Paulson…exactly how did they let this happen?
Then as Forest Gump once said stupid is as stupid does…
What do we all do? We hand over $700 billion to the same exact people that couldn’t or wouldn’t stop this and we expect them to all of a sudden get smart and now how to fix it.
<– banging head against wall…
Horatiox this Obama born in Kenya stuff gets crazier every day.
Now his paternal grandmother states she was at his birth in Kenya. Will we ever get the truth?
http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=3324
This article today in The Seattle Times really spells out a major problem. We still have $3.6B in defense earmarks getting through the system. What is startling is the amount of campaign contributions given to our lawmakers from the employees and PAC’s of the companies.
I think we should block all lobbying activity and disallow anyone that is in a company that receives government contracts the ability to contribute to a campaign. We need to get a handle on this quid-pro-quo crap in our government.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008257178_favorfactory12.html
Remember in any business that this stuff happens would be against the law…so what is good for us should be good for the lawmakers.
the velocity this unraveling has displayed has been unique
Paul everybody keeps saying that but I’m increasingly skeptical. I cannot believe that the FDIC ran no computer simulations that suggested a equity drop would reverberate catastrophically through the financial system. I’m guessing that it’s so complex the models showing problems were tweaked to show “all is swell”. I’m not saying they “knew” what would happen but I’m guessing they knew big shit was coming and failed to warn us properly. Republicans for obvious reasons since they were most directly in charge of tweaking things, Dems because they bear the most responsibility for failing to reign in Fannie and Freddie abuses.
Glenn let’s BLOCK THOSE DAMN LOBBYISTS. I agree but you won’t like my first choice of somebody who should be investigated for fraud immediately:
Rick Davis, CEO of McCain08. I learned yesterday he was the kingpin of the Fannie and Freddie lobby – his firm got millions from them, presumably to deceive congress on behalf of Fannie. How do you reconcile that with the idea this is all the Dems fault?
(407) Joe I have no problem with investigating Davis. He should be along with the rest of them. I sent a very detailed email to McCain requesting that he drop all lobbyists from his campaign – of course it will be blocked by the lobbyist who will read it…lol.
Hey where’s the outrage when McCain supporters marched through the upper west side and the liberals were flipping them off, screaming at them, etc…gotta love the MSM bias.
Now Iran refuses to meet with US without preconditions.
See this is how a really stupid statement backfires for the President – now it looks like Iran is holding the cards – just really stupid.
Vice President for Media Affairs Mehdi Kalhor said on Saturday that Iran has set two preconditions for holding talks with the United States of America.
On Saturday, Kalhor said Tehran would accept ‘repentance’ on behalf of the US government toward the Iranian people.
“Negotiations would be rational if the US moves out of the Middle East and the US government gives up its widespread support for the Zionist regime,” he said.
Anyone reading this stuff that thinks Iran would ever work honestly with us to a solution is drinking some bad kool-aid.
More left loon despicable stuff ignored by MSM. I can imagine what MSNBC would say if someone wore a shirt on the caliber stating something about Obama.
http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/obama-supporters-wearing-sarah-palin-is-a-c-tee-shirts/
Wearing a shirt saying Sarah Palin is a c#*$&!!!!!!
Just freaking unbelievable.
I would love to run into some of these people some day…it wouldn’t be good…in fact it wouldn’t be good if they wore a shirt that stated something like that about any candidate – me thinks I would tear them a new one.
Joe this is exactly why I am concerned about Obama and his far left positions and he is clearly sympathetic to socialist tenets.
Here is the lead editorial today for The Toledo Blade pushing more FDR socialist legislation. What is shocking is that many economists now agree that FDR’s policies delayed our recovery by decades and this writer wants even more socialism…literally sounds like communism to me. This would clearly be the wrong direction for the country.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Avis=TO&Dato=20081012&Kategori=NEWS09&Lopenr=809290251&Ref=AR
Can you imagine that government having to guarantee that you would always have a job?
Judicial Watch Uncovers Documents Detailing Suspicious Illinois State Senate Earmarks by Barack Obama
These earmarks, especially the one related to his wife’s cousin, Rabbi Funnye, raise serious ethical questions. From documents obtained from only one state agency, we were able to figure out that Obama was responsible for over $3 million in earmarks from 1999-2002. Not exactly pocket change, especially when this taxpayer money is used to take care of your family and campaign contributors.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/weeklyupdate/2008/41-obama-earmarks-family-donors
More about the McCain/Palin mob and the convicted sex offender behind the viral videos that started it all.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/k-daniel-glover/2008/10/13/man-behind-mccain-palin-mob
Joe,
I did some research today on Rick Davis and from what I can tell according to the New York Times he didn’t do much substantive work for his lobbying company. The last time he did anything was in Oct 2006 and he spoke to a PAC.
Additionally he didn’t do anything wrong, break any law, etc.
As you know I am fully against lobbyists I believe it only serves to bring the worst out of our government specifically with bottom-line performance.
But when you compare the relationships Obama has with Reins and Johnson, not to mention is contributions from Fannie it drives a much more disturbing picture and MSM is not touching this with a 10 foot pole. Even after the problems with Reins and Johnson – Obama continued to have a relationship with them and they both advised the Obama campaign including Johnson heading the committee to pick his VP running mate.
If any two executives that deserve to be the top of the Wall-Street greed hit list Reins and Johnson certainly have earned their spot in the top t with Reins easily taking the #1 spot.
People should take a very serious look at all the earmarks, pork and votes Obama has made. Then look at who benefited from the earmarks that subsequently donated to his campaigns (all the way back to IL) and then see who Obama endorses, etc. It is repeated dozens and dozens of times where he has gotten an earmark or voted on issue that directly resulted in the beneficiaries donating to his campaign or receiving an endorsement from Obama.
Obama represents the same old politician that panders and promises the world but primarily acts where he receives some form of direct financial benefit. Add the Chicago political corruption ingredient to the mix and we have a recipe that produces day old bread and not the real reform and change we so desperately need.
Take the time to read his record, earmarks, campaign contributions, endorsements, you will be shocked. You will also be shocked at how many people he has financial dealings with are in legal trouble of one form or another.
Watch Resko something very ominous is brewing there but we may not see it before election day.
Another example of rhetoric versus record.
Obama claims he supports equal pay for woman and men.
However when you look at his own office staff the truth is somewhat different:
For every man on his staff that gets $1 the woman get paid 78 cents per dollar.
Now compare to McCain…
He pays women $1.04 to every $1 paid to a male staffer.
Don’t listen to the rhetoric…look at the facts.
Listen to the this conversation with Corsi and the deep connections between Obama and Odinga – a radical islam extremist. Yet another radical that Obama connects with and helps with his campaign and he is FAMILY.
More information released about Obama’s influence on ACORN and ACORN’s influence on our banking system and congress.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3150576&referralPlaylistId=playlist
According to the Democratic Secretary of State in Ohio there was evidence of voter fraud in Ohio.
Now according to the AP today…
Election officials in swing state Ohio’s most populous county have asked the prosecutor to investigate alleged voter registration fraud by an advocacy group under fire in other states.
The bipartisan Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in Cleveland voted unanimously Monday to ask Prosecutor Bill Mason to investigate multiple registrations by four people. They signed forms at the behest of a community organizing group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform, known as ACORN.
One of the new voters, 19-year-old Freddie Johnson of Cleveland, says he signed 73 voter registration forms over a five-month period. Johnson says he was trying to help paid ACORN solicitors collect signed registrations.
ACORN’s state director, Katy Gall, says ACORN is cooperating with the investigation and would fire anyone soliciting duplicate registrations.
Finally someone does an honest view regarding Ayers and Obama.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24485226-7583,00.html
A really good read from someone following the money trail of Fannie and Freddie. It is amazing how intertwined all of this stuff is…
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=AACB1F16-301A-4C13-93C8-32FA87CAB52A
Glenn you are keeping me too busy – gotta work on some other stuff for awhile but I will follow up. I do agree that everybody associated with Fannie and Freddie should be subject to very intense scrutiny, esp. those in charge.
(421) Wait until you see the timeline of Obama’s relationships that I have found – amazing stuff. I am cross checking the items to see if there is anything glaringly wrong. One of the biggest revelations is that Ayers was at Columbia in NYC the same time as Obama…coincident, Obama moves to Chicago, coincident…
Though Clinton signed the bill that removed the last segments of Glass-Steagal, it was Republican legislation. They put a wall between investment bankers and banking after the Great Depression for good reason.
Yes, but. Billy Bob Clinton had the final word, did he not: and quite a few economists, even sober, academic types, have argued that the overturning of the Glass-Steagall act resulted in the lending/mortgage crisis, or at least was a “significant causal factor” (or whatever EconoSpeak they prefer). So, as usual, thank demopublicans (at the same time, individual banks are to be held responsible, are they not? blame banks, and the banks’ Underwriters as much as politicians…) . And it might be recalled that Demopublican Obama had no problem working with Heinrich Paulson, Pelosi, Frank, etc. to get the updated
Bush bailout passed.
More insight on how things are run (or run over) in Chicago politics…and shockingly another revelation yet another “association” to the radical Marilyn Katz, Obama fundraiser and strategist.
Doesn’t Chicago sound like a great place to raise a family?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-mk-bd-12-oct12,0,5393672.column
PS – Joe did you see Perot’s Reform Party has endorsed McCain unanimously.
An interesting take on Obama’s tax plans…pretty scary when get down to the details – gives a whole new meaning to the phrase the devil is in the details.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122385651698727257.html
The conservatives are grasping at straws at this stage, mostly. There may be a few legitimate reasons to oppose Obama–like for his conservative aspects, evidenced in his support of the Paulson bailout, and his association with fundamentalists, both xtian and muslim–yet the conservatives have resorted to their patented Rush Limbaugh slash attacks, which probably will backfire, at least among moderates or independents.
McMaverick’s choice of Palin was a risky move (if not wrong move), and will not likely pan out, except among Palin-like libertarian GOPers out in the sticks (I respect Palin’s energy and independence, slightly, but her sort of grassroots politics are not likely to appeal to urban peoples, anywhere). McMaverick steadily destroyed his moderate credentials over the last year– so F. him.
That said, I won’t be voting for BO/Biden (or McCain’t/Palin), but the endless Rush L. BS and choice of Palin didn’t help McC’s candidacy at all. As the soldier shouted to willard in Apocalypse Now, “yr in the a**hole of the world, Capn.”
Two of Odinga’s biggest contributors…
Odinga’s MOU – signed agreement with extreme muslim terrorists to institute shaira law if he could get the muslim vote behind him.
This is who Obama directly campaigned for and help.
“Friends of Obama” fund raising organization ($1 million) and Gaddafi.
Odinga lost the election and claimed voter fraud and called for violence. A couple of thousand people killed and over 800 churches burned to the ground.
Well Obama finally admitted it on the campaign trail today.
He told a plumber in PA that we had to spread the wealth around.
Classic income redistribution and even more classic socialism…
His economic plans today are a joke and pundits on both sides are concerned and CEO magazine gave Obama a D- for his economic plans…
Sheeple of America wake up…
A homeless person can’t give you a job.
Listen to this radio interview of Harlem voters. They mapped McCain’s position on Obama’s name and the voters still selected Obama…these questions are hilarious. Great voters for Obama they really are in tune with the facts.
Bogus ballots discovered in Ohio – SHOCKER – you will never guess what group is behind it – ACORN.
According the the Democratic Senator of State there is no indication of voter fraud – WRONG.
Unbelievable story.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10142008/news/politics/bogus_voter_booted_amid_probe_of_acorn_133540.htm
More and more info about Obama connected with ACORN and the ever-changing stories between Obama and his associates.
Does anyone seriously believe Obama has no idea all of this stuff is going on? Now it looks like he will have to throw ACORN under the bus as well.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122394051071230749.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
You have to love the hypocrisy of the left. To listen to the left and MSM media today talking about the crowds at the McCain/Palin rallies you would think liberal never say anything bad. We have seen the disgusting shirts worn by Obama supports, saw the peaceful McCain group walking through the upper west side being accosted by the left loon goon squad.
But it goes even deeper…zoom back to 1995 when Newt Gingrich was scheduled to address a meeting of country commissioners at the Washington Hilton and ACORN decided to show up. 500 protesters stormed the Hilton and caused the speech to be canceled – of course the MSM never reported back then that they protesters where calling for Newt’s head and wanted to nuke him. That is all reasonable because Newt doesn’t look, feel or smell left.
Anyway read this article about the ACORN disease and its Democratic allies helped build the mortgage disaster.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10132008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/spreading_the_virus_133375.htm
This summary is from the Kurtz Post article referenced above.
HOW does Barack Obama fit into all of this? Obama has been a key ally of Chicago ACORN going back to his days as a community organizer.
Later, as a young lawyer, he offered leadership training to the activists who were forcing Chicago banks into high-risk subprime loans. And when he made it on to the boards of Chicago’s Woods Fund and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, he channeled money ACORN’s way.
Obama was perfectly aware of ACORN’s intimidation tactics – indeed, he oversaw a Woods Fund report that boasted of managing to fund the radical group despite its shocking behavior.
And as a lawmaker, in Illinois and in Washington, he has continued to back ACORN’s leglislative agenda.
ACORN’s high-pressure tactics live on. And congressional Democrats are still covering for ACORN, funneling it money and doing its legislative bidding. ACORN also continues its shady ways, using a vast network of technically separate but in fact quite interconnected organizations to evade federal laws on the politicized use of government money.
Perhaps most disturbing of all, the Obama campaign appears to have little more regard for freedom of speech than Reps. Kennedy or Waters did when they backed up ACORN’s thugs in 1995. The campaign actually practices ACORN-style tactics, sending out “action wires” that call on supporters to block Obama critics from radio appearances (a tactic once applied to me) and demanding legal actions against unfriendly political advertisers.
As a presidential candidate, Obama promises a massive national-service program closely allied with the nonprofit sector. He wants to remove “barriers for smaller nonprofits to participate in government programs.”
In other words, he plans a massive effort to funnel America’s youth into volunteer work alongside the likes of ACORN. So Obama’s favorite community organizers may soon be training your child.
ACORN’s alliance with the Democratic Party is at the root of the current financial meltdown. And Barack Obama has stayed true to ACORN’s ways.
Pretty soon, the folks who poured into the Washington Hilton to shut down Speaker Gingrich in 1995 may no longer need to take over the microphone. They’ll be in charge of it.
This is the most disturbing and frightening thing I have heard yet. Jesse Jackson talking about the future of America with Obama as President.
His position on Israel is just completely out of touch, Jesse says we must heal the wounds in the world that America has caused…another apologist who wants to blame America first.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10142008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_o_jesse_knows_133450.htm
More and more truth emerging about Obama, his actual relationship with ACORN and his radical beliefs on transforming America into a socialist country.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=308790381199062
Phresh wingnuttery for you, Herr Glennster:
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/obama_sex_perv_scandal/celebrity/65575
“””The National Enquirer now suggests Barack Obama had an underage, gay affair with a pedophile. Yup. That Frank Marshall Davis guy Barry says was his good friend? Turns out he was a perv of the first order and liked young boys.
Yowza. Barry, hon, take it for the Peoples! Probably standard issue rightist BS, but BO does admit to respecting Comrade Davis (old CP-USA hack, like BO’s mama)
(436) lol…amazing Horatiox…
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/10/obamas_no_preconditions_pledge.html
This is a little more scary than Obama’s personal preferences…
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/10/samantha_power_uncut.html
This is our future foreign policy view…I am impressed.
(436) But you know Horatiox none of these despicable people in Obama’s life had any influence on who he is or what he believes…unbelievable…
Think about this…
Hillary Clinton on the supreme court…
(436) Horatiox looks like your going to get your answers tomorrow. The courts denied Obama’s motion to squash the discovery items. Obama has until tomorrow to produce a vault copy of his birth certificate.
He also has to answer all of Berg’s inquiries.
Here is the lastest motion ruling…
Click to access 0.pdf
LOL…Warner Bros delays release of movie showing McCain in a positive manner until after the election – SHOCKER…
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6056814.html
I hope conservatives start to boycott Hollywood and MSM…it has come to the level of absurdity and hypocrisy that could only be topped by a Hollywood movie!
Good news in Ohio tonight. The full 6th Court of Appeals has upheld the earlier ruling that Brunner (D) has to use other standard government records to validate the registrations of new voters in Ohio – including all of those in the same day register and vote group.
They have two days to get it all down now. Next week they start opening the ballots and counting the votes – it is important to get them validated now because once the ballot is outside the envelope there is no way to determine person/address etc of the ballot.
Hopefully they will keep count of the fraudulent votes so we can all know what went on here.
BREAKING NEWS…
Joe Duck actually hits the campaign news!!! Watch Joe get credit for this election cycle. Way to go Joe!
http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=370617&altf=Kpf1&altl=Evdl
Now the Mahoney scandal…where is the MSM outrage?
Hush money, sex, with an employee and possible law breaking plus you have HDC Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D) who knew about it over a year ago and tried to cover it up to “protect his career”. Ironically some of the same people who tried to help Mahoney bury this thing are the same people that went after Foley along with the help of the MSM – they couldn’t stop talking about.
Mahoney ran against Foley on a platform of family values to beat Foley during the scandal.
Now Foley needed to go he was a scumbag but so is Mahoney and Emanuel should be tossed as well.
Of course JCH will chime in and say Bush paid Mahoney to have sex with his staffer and de-regulation was the cause for Emanuel trying to cover this up.
Can there be another more fine example of the skew MSM provides on what is really happening in our country?
Don’t you feel ripped off that you are not allowed to see the issues objectively so you can make up your own mind?
Or do you need the government and left wing MSM make it up for you?
Hey, thx for the video excitement Glenn!
I *promise* to lower your taxes.
Frontline has an excellent review of the rise of McCain and Obama onto the national scene.
Schumer aye yi yi…he is such a brilliant man…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121607771017452513.html
Even CNN is forced now to discuss the Obama ACORN relationship and confirms Obama was a trainer for ACORN, etc…
Even though Wolf does his best to try to come to the aid of Obama by inserting “was it a third party that contracted with ACORN” but Drew sets him straight.
Drew also stated at an ACORN event at least half the ACORN staff had ACORN for Obama shirts on and he summarized that any notion that ACORN is non-partisan is simply not true.
They get their tax money because they are supposed to be non-partisan and they have received many millions of taxpayer dollars over the year.
The facts also show that the ACORN subsidiary has the same address as ACORN and it has been proven that the subsidiary uses the same personnel as ACORN.
Lastly the statement that Obama just used ACORN in the primary is a false statement – another way of Obama adjusting his relationship statement to buy time. Other news networks are showing that Obama just recently paid ACORN significant money.
The ever evolving story about Obama. Who is Barack Obama?
Once again Nancy Pelosi connected to FARC terrorists and Hugo Chavez. A Columbian associate of Nancy Pelosi has been linked through emails to FARC and Chavez.
But hey just because the USA considers FARC to be a terrorist state far be it for us in the taxpayer class to be worried that the speaker of the house could be helping them.
Next we will learn Pelosi has been working with Ayers on meetings with Chavez without pre-conditions. Considering the hidden agenda of the far left in this country is totally makes sense that Obama would meet with Chavez without pre-conditions.
It was just in July that Pelosi tried to affect her own foreign policy by trying to arrange for swaps of captured terrorists for hostages held by FARC – Jim McGovern (D) worked with her on that – oh yeah didn’t McGovern run on pretty much the same premise as Obama is today.
In fact if you go back and look at Obama’s ideas they bear a strikingly resemblance to those same bad ideas of almost 40 years ago put forth by McGovern.
The more I research the “lost causes” campaign of McGovern the more I see the blueprint behind Obama.
Why can’t the far left come up with anything new and exciting?
First they tank our economy (probably on purpose) and try to ride in a wave of government control to save the day.
The ultimate wag the dog!
I wonder how different Pelosi’s speech will be in Jan 2009 than it was in 2007…maybe this time she will tell the truth…we will be most spendthrift congress in the history of our country, we will be most tax levying congress in the history of the world…we will change Mount Rushmore and put Barack up there – of course Ayers will blow up the George Washington first to make room.
ACORN runs the public school system in Illinois. 64 schools, supported by the Obama foundation, school doctrine by Bill Ayers.
Urban school teacher turnover is a problem and the national average is 15.7%, Obama’s ACORN Radical School of teaching has 25% turnover rate.
How many people knew ACORN had that much influence over 64 public schools?
But Obama has nothing to do with ACORN and Obama doesn’t support Ayer’s view except for the radicalization doctrine put forth by Ayers and taught in ACORN schools.
But of course only an Obama influenced systemization of schools would rationalize their turn-over and I quote:
“teacher turnover is healthy, as it signifies that ineffective teachers are leaving and schools are not stagnating”
Actually it problems means that the teachers realized they were no longer teaching in America and left to go teach in an American school.
Now we here Mahoney had another affair but of course the MSM isn’t reporting it.
CBS News is the only site with a reference and of course they coach the headline as: Fla. Congressman Reportedly Had 2 Affairs.
But of course there is no bias.
Those that support the liberal you must feel good how we continue to lower the bar…
1) Now we accept terrorist because they are liberal
2) Now we accept Congressman who run on a family values campaign and wins and then has 2 affairs but it is ok because he is liberal
3) Now we accept voter fraud because it is better than voter suppression and oh yeah it is because is helps the liberals
4) Now we accept radical teaching of children in our public schools because it is liberal
You can’t make this stuff up…
ACORN works with some “schools” in LA ‘hoods. Teachers who work in those area–like watts, compton, torrance, eastside, etc.—earn about double what they do in suburban areas.
Admittedly, conditions in the schools in the ‘hood have improved a bit, since metal detectors are installed on each doorway; some teachers work behind plexiglas, and an LAPD goon usually posts up, like near the hoops. With some kevlar, and a good helmet, and a 9mm in your coat, you’re good to go for about $200 a day, at ACORN-Tech. Forget the liberal yoplait suckers in the bay or westside ‘burbs: the sc ‘hoods be BO’s peoples.
(451) Horatiox…what does that tell you about urban schools and Ayers radical teachings? It doesn’t surprise me when you want students to opposes authority and become bombers (ah er, I mean political activists).
But of course the left will blame something else. This problem all started with the left housing projects…disaster to begin with and it has miserably failed. All they have done is continue to hurt the people they were supposed to help.
Pretty soon they will have to start handing out guns to students for their own protection but take all the guns from middle and upper class…so they redistribute the wealth themselves.
We have amazing problems in this country and Obama wants to continue trying ideas and programs that failed over 40 years ago but he wants to bring them back in vogue…this time we know what to do…we can do it water boy!…yeah that’s the ticket.
They should take a close look at poor immigrants that flock to the country with nothing and see what they do…they expect nothing from the government, work their butts off and work together and achieve phenomenal success…it’s the American dream.
The plumber in Ohio said it best…Barack Obama’s plan isn’t the American Dream….
BO-ocracy looks a lot like welfare-state liberalism, ala Billy Bob Clinton; Escalades for the Peoples! Put some of these bay-area liberal Al Gore groupies (lile Al, most of ’em made it because of a rich daddy) in a ‘hood near Section 8 crackhouses, or in an eastside barrio for a few months and they’d rip up their DNC reg., start reading Mein Kampf, and ink swastikas on themselves and their children.
That said, I’m not supporting either Obama or McCaint. Neither is Dr. Ron Paul–maybe a quack but not completely wrong.
(453) Here is a story about Bill Ayers and her relationship with Ayers in the 1960’s. He had a dramatic impact on her life. Caution: There is some graphic language in the article.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.aspx?GUID=9E8CD8A7-E90B-4311-8AA9-AEFD014A14B2
Bill Ayers what a nice guy.
WOW read this article from Glenn Beck.
Did you hear about the mortgage bill that was signed over the summer that actually gives ACORN 4% of the mortgage…WTH!!!!
Dodd and Frank wanted to give at least 20% of the additional funds to ACORN from the original bail-out…lol.
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/16766/
No wonder our country is sinking fast…
Justifiable homicides at highest in more than a decade. What is interesting is the graph data and the trend between justified shootings of police and citizens (self-defense) is almost identical.
Of course Barack and Pelosi will want to pry our guns from our cold dead fingers and redefine justifiable homicide as that when a liberal shoots you, takes your money and redistributes it.
LOL…
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-14-justifiable_N.htm
It is obvious that more than ever we need more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens. Remember criminals don’t register firearms.
Interview with ACORN trainer who implicates the leadership within ACORN is directing their volunteers to do exactly what they are doing – voter fraud.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3152572&referralPlaylistId=playlist
Horatiox…you may have really stumbled onto something with this birth certificate business. Obama didn’t produce the necessary documents and now 9 other attorney’s have file motions for Judge Surrick to review.
He will have to respond to them before the election.
Also it is coming to light that Obama will not produce a certified birth certificate, nor will he produce his passport.
Plus all his college records have been seals for some bizarre reason – Joe you have to admit something doesn’t feel right about the secrecy of these documents that he should have no problem producing.
BTW…I have seen an actual Hawaii birth certificate from the time period when he was born and it looks nothing like the one Obama has put on his website…strange indeed.
Horatiox did you see this analysis of his birth certificate?
These guys are crazy…
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/atlas-exclusive.html
So Joe if we find out that he was actually born in Kenya and not in Honolulu should he be allowed to run for President?
Keep in mind if he was born and Kenya and proves somehow that he still is a natural citizen but this certificate is a forgery…should we let him run for President?
Horatiox do you have any information regarding the countries Obama visited in 1981? Supposedly there is at least one he visited that wouldn’t allow Americans with US passport in.
This is actually interesting hopefully it isn’t true – this would be horrible for our election process.
Also it is coming to light that Obama will not produce a certified birth certificate, nor will he produce his passport.
Plus all his college records have been seals for some bizarre reason – Joe you have to admit something doesn’t feel right about the secrecy of these documents that he should have no problem producing.
Yes, that’s all a bit strange–even slightly Orwellian. The DNC wields a great deal of power, of course, and they can in DNCocrat tradition, make some sh*t up. The transcript situation was what initially bothered me (some reporters back east, even big-name liberal sorts, could not access BO’s college records, as they had done with Bush, Kerry, McCain, etc.).
McCain was not bad, really. Tough, no frills, sort of Eisenhower-y. Not pretty, but he’s not trying to take my money, either. Boy Obama, on the other hand, sounds (and looks) about like he just got in from a swinging Boston soiree with the Kennedys or Kissinger or something. A consumate bureaucrat.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
(462) This issue hasn’t been resolved yet. There are a lot of unanswered questions and still no “vault” copy of his birth certificate.
Who is Barack Obama really?
Today you can see the clear liberal bias within the media. Unbelievable people like Diane Sawyer trying to convince people that Joe the Plumber is some type of fraud.
This guy is America and he is currently the biggest threat to Obama’s victory. Contrary to what Biden says…Most Americans don’t think higher taxes equates to higher Patriotism.
Proof McCain will win…LOL…I love these secondary events that fall in line with the election results…
Cindy’s cookie recipe beat Michelle’s recipe and the last four Presidential elections were in line with the election results.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/10/thats_the_way_t.html
The routine references to polls (“Obama has commanding lead among grocery store clerks in Peoria” etc.) seems rather manipulative. Note that the big name sites–MSN, Yahoo, google, etc.— feature a lot of pro-Obama, and anti-McCain blurbs.
Obama’s on the A-list, regardless if his pro-union, corporate socialist policies will most likely damage the private sector economy (at least middle class sorts). He’s raised taxes consistently as IL senator, and not just on the very wealthy, but on middle income and small business (including some “profit taxes” that will put many out of work, if implemented nationally).
The cool corporate people don’t care about that, however: BO’s cute and cuddly, and attends par-tays with the likes of the Kennedys, Soros, Buffett or the Grateful Dead, Inc. BO speaks well, and has actor-celebrity type vibe. McCain, not cute or cuddly, stands for something the contemporary consumer doesn’t really care for–the Eisenhower sort of patriotism that college people are taught to dislike as soon as they hit their first sociology class. Regardless, he’s not trying to take my money.
Biden doesn’t know how to count…
He is such a dweeb. But he did manage to spell out JOBS
JoeObamaBS
He got that right…
Biden should get his own bloopers show.
For the record I do think it’s odd that the Obama campaign is resisting some of the info requests,, though I think it’s for the reasons I said before – birth Certificant has probably been long lost and Passport and other records will show the Pakistan visit and Obama’s extensive overseas history which will be used against him in ads and by the many right wing “hit piece” bloggers who have no interest in the truth of the matter – rather in “getting” Obama.
If bloggers were acting more responsibly and reporting thing more objectively I’d hold the campaigns to a different standard, but because every piece of Obama info is sliced and diced to support the idea he’s a non-resident / terrorist / etc it’s no wonder they are not all that forthcoming.
(468) Joe like the DailyKOS…calling Joe the dumbass Plumber…lol
(468) Hypothetical…
What if we found out that Obama, Ayers and Khalidi all meet at Columbia in NYC?
What if we found out that Al-Mansour helped Obama get into Harvard Law and subsequently helped pay for his tuition?
Lastly what if we found out his grades were not that good or his LSAT would not have qualified him for Harvard Law?
Would any of those or all of them change your view on Obama?
I think those are the issues here and I think they are highly relevant considering this “evidence” that suggests this even if a young Obama was cynical.
(470) Yeah, right, and the Apollo moon missions were faked, that was really the desert in Arizona; LBJ fired the shots from the grassy knoll; the Holocaust never happened and Bigfoot really exists !!!
Desperate people try desperate things, but this is getting beyond ridiculous. You’ve been watching Fox news too much.
(471) I didn’t get any of that from FOX News. FOX News at least to my knowledge hasn’t reported on any of this.
I got it by following the trail from Horatiox and I think Obama is definitely hiding something significant from that part of his life and I quite frankly don’t understand why.
Joe…it isn’t Pakistan that is the question on travel, it is Iran, etc things he mentioned in his book.
(471) Why didn’t Obama take the high road last night and repudiate Lewis’s comments? He could have but he didn’t…Obama never does.
McCain continually takes a stand for what is right and speaks his mind.
If there are racial problems in this election it won’t be because of McCain it will be because of the race card playing liberals. I find it personally disgusting and way way out of bounds.
The entire Senate should rebuke Lewis and Murtha for starters and Obama should publicly rebuke the Scranton Times-Tribune and the writer should be fired.
But they won’t because the Democratic party is a bunch of hypocrites when it comes to racism. Senator Byrd is a perfect example.
(471) The most disgusting part of the liberal left is their hypocritical view of Americans…
The slash job the Obama campaign and MSM media is doing to Joe Wurzelbacher is unbelievable.
All this guy did was ask Obama a real and reasonable questions and the liberals are pissed that Obama just happened to mess up and tell the truth about his plan – we need to spread the wealth around. Where is the outrage?
If he were black he would be called Uncle Tom…it really is outrageous and to see Couric and Sawyers try to “gotcha” him was over the top.
The best part of this – this is going to backfire on Obama in a huge way. People are seeing why through the MSM liberal BS and just watch the polls…the most accurate polls are showing a 3 point or less race now.
I can imagine what people would be saying if a homeless, drug addict felon came up and asked a question…
There has to be a pill that can help him. No?
(470) Obama graduated Harvard Law magna cum laude – you really think he faked his Lsats and achieved that ?!?
McCain, meanwhile, was near the bottom of his graduating class at the Naval Academy.
How DID the Naval Academy find guys who could finish lower?
CNN shows there class…guess the Palin t-shirts have more meaning in the liberal left than previously thought.
(476) We don’t know Paul – that’s the point. He is least experienced person to ever run for President and he is literally the only candidate running for President that we know nothing about his college days, grades, his thesis, etc…
It is now known that Ayers, Khalidi and Obama were all at Columbia in NYC at the same time…what are the odds they are there at the same time and then all in Chicago.
I think Obama’s thesis would be quite damning but we will never know…
Absurd to think you would vote for someone without knowing everything you should possibly know. This is the most important vote anyone can ever make.
If he had nothing to hide…then why hide it.
The patterns with Obama are very disturbing..
Signs an agreement (contract) with McCain about public funds – then breaks the agreement…
Says he will debate John McCain anywhere, anytime, anyplace and then doesn’t do it…
Has all kinds of relationships with people who would never survive even one day outside of Farrakhan village…
They can’t produce a vault copy of his birth certificate – that makes no sense – Hawaii has them…the originals are all kept.
And for some strange reason because it is Obama you will give him a pass…if McCain was doing these same exact things you would have a completely different story.
For me…regardless of candidate/party it would be the same.
(476) And Paul if you look at the amazing history and record of putting our country first over decades it goes to show that your actual grades may not play that big of a role.
I can imagine if McCain had a friend who was feature on the cover of a publication standing on top of the American flag…geesh…
If you guys hate your country and its symbols so much move to another country.
At 6pm EST…why don’t you tune in and become enlightened…
http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=4628010
Glenn that’s Jerome Corsi who simply writes to discredit Democrats. First Kerry, now Obama. His “research” is very suspect to me and his titles are *extremely* misleading as you can see at WorldNetDaily.
(481) Joe he is a constitutionalists…he has ripped McCain for years. He hates everyone…lol.
But what he does say about Odinga and Kenya is fascinating.
There are some pretty serious things that need to be answered.
(481) Joe I think it is pretty serious the connection that is emerging between Odinga and Obama. Now all the records of Obama are sealed in Kenya.
http://smithfiles.com/2008/08/14/breaking-photo-documents-barry-soetoro-obama-indonesian-citizen-muslim-religion/
These documents which were published by AP show clearly that Obama was an Indonesian citizen at one point and was also a practicing Muslim.
Why hide this stuff?
The fact that Obama states he wasn’t Muslim is a lie. He was, he may not be now but quite frankly I would rather him be a moderate muslim than a member of Rev Wright’s hate church.
Now we see what the MSM is doing to Joe the Plumber…anyone who questions Barack better watch out your life and career could be destroyed.
No, stupid ignorant foolishness does not need to be answered.
(481) The situation with ACORN is really disturbing as well.
Obama is clearly lying about the extent of interaction he has had with ACORN. Like you can’t see the picture of Fannie Mae, ACORN, etc all tied up together including the audacity of Dodd, Frank giving 10’s of millions or dollar or more to ACORN in the bail-out bill.
Does Obama really think Americans are that stupid?
(484) JCH there are TV news coverage of Obama speaking to all the supporters of Odinga at multiple locations in Kenya during their campaign.
Obama’s speeches to the crowds matched the talking points of the Odinga campaign.
Corsi and others are not making this up…it is a matter of fact.
Do you think it is proper for a US Senator speaking out in support of foreign leader like that? Ever hear of the Logan Act?
Odinga caused 2,000 people to be slaughtered when he lost the election and called for violence.
Shouldn’t Obama be held accountable for his bad judgment in this situation?
Or let me guess…since he is a liberal we should give him a pass just like he has given a pass to a scumbag like Ayers?
Did you ever read Hillary’s thesis inspired by Saul Alinsky?
That didn’t hurt her. What could Obama’s thesis be about that is damning? Why does he have to hide it?
Aren’t you one bit curious as to what he wrote?
Now Obama says the American taxpayer doesn’t need ACORN either…lol another one under the bus!
How many “under the bus” do you need before you say…”Wait a minute why are all these things connected to this person getting run over by a bus?” You better think about it before Obama throws our economy “under the bus”.
Glenn it gets tiring to track down all the stories because *almost every single one of them* seeks to misrepresent the facts to suggest huge problems with (check one, or many!)
[] Citizenship
[] Loyalty
[] Patriotism
[] Terrorism
What is interesting is that the stories do not seek an objective truth, rather they are trying to support the right wing negative talking points about Obama. Truth is important. People like Corsi make a living doing shoddy research in an attempt to manipulate opinion. Review his personal history if you want a good example of a shady character.
OF COURSE the situation with ACORN is serious. The registration fraud also has little to nothing to do with Obama. Obama’s campaign has a history of good and clean registrations which is not in dispute.
OF COURSE Obama should be held accountable for his past, though if you strip away the exaggerations about his relationships you find an honest, hard working, smart guy.
John McCain would agree with this.
The reason Obama’s winning is that people are far more interested in how he’s going to govern than in the smear campaigns. Good for them.
RE: “Under the bus”
So, by this logic:
1) Supporting something is evidence of a big Obama problem.
2) Staying quiet about something is evidence of a big Obama problem.
3) Criticizing something is evidence of a big Obama problem.
Hmmmm – that looks to me like a poll Obama can’t possibly win.
Seek the objective truth and you’ll find a flawed but sincere fellow. I have read for hours and see no reason to think otherwise.
The Odinga stuff appears to be Corsi’s trumped up critical view of what may actually become an asset in Obama – his global vision. Odinga was the more democratic of the two in that race and although he may have a lot of problems it was probably along the lines of our “support” for Musharraf and other such leaders. I think you are pinning violence on Odinga that was the result of vote fraud?
(488) Why doesn’t he instruct Hawaii to release a copy of the vault birth certificate not the registration of birth that he was given in 2007?
Why doesn’t he provide his thesis for us all to read? They all do – it is important to get an insight to what has shaped the person.
How can a person sit in a radical church with Rev Wright for 20 years, get married by him, have his kids baptized by him and then expect people not to question that?
What is most scary about Barack Obama is he will say absolutely anything he has to – to get elected – its like a page right out Alinsky’s writings.
The only reason he is in the lead is the level of anger against George Bush it really has little to do with what Obama wiil do in office. Have you seen the on-spot interviews with the “young” supporters of Obama?
When asked “what question would you ask Senator Obama?”, most of the responses are like: “I want to know what Senator Obama is going to do to keep hope and change alive”…let’s all jump on unicorns and ride over rainbows.
Given what Bush has done over the last 8 years any Democratic candidate should be 20 points or more ahead at this point. This shouldn’t even be a contest for the Democrats. Whenever everyone starts to focus on Obama and take another look the polls narrow and now it is a statistically dead heat. This election is far from over and McCain is still very much in this race.
During the next two weeks I suspect we are going to see more and more revelations about Obama that he is going to have to fight to contain.
Obama is the least electable candidate the Democrats have and McCain is literally the only Republican that could possibly win this year.
Doesn’t it bother you at all that Obama has to on a daily basis adjust his stories? He knows ACORN is radioactive and there is a new clear connection with the voter project in Chicago that ACORN was clearly involved in and it shows Obama worked with them as well…and that happened in 1992, 3 years earlier than Obama claimed.
I think the polls are changing because people are realizing they really don’t know who Obama is.
Unfortunately race is probably going to have some affect on this race as well and many are suggesting he needs at least a 6 point lead on election day to overcome it.
Additionally the student vote just isn’t going to happen…they have never followed through and granted more will show up this year but not as much as Obama needs.
Another factor is people will question whether Obama will really cut taxes and when they get to the lever and think about Obama/Pelosi it will affect their ultimate choice.
I know with Palin and the MSM bias it has energized the Republican base far more than I have ever seen.
I am not exaggerating down here in Florida in most places it is 20:1 McCain signs to Obama signs. Florida will end up going for McCain.
And now look at Ohio – dead tie and over 200,000 registrations look to have problems and are possibly invalid. That is out of 600,000 registrations – this ACORN issue is on massive scale across the entire country and now the FBI is all over it. This is going to cause damage to Obama and the Democratic party – they were fools to pay off ACORN in the bail-out and when that finally gets the air play people are going to pay attention.
(490) Joe Odinga called for violence in the streets because he alleged voter fraud. Odinga stopped the violence when the winning party gave him a spot in the government but not until 2000 people were killed.
Odinga signed a MOU with Islam extremists and pledged to institute Sharia law if elected as long as he got the Muslim vote.
This isn’t disputed…it is all over the news in Kenya with the newscasts and documents to prove i.
Odinga isn’t the good guy here and he claims to be Obama’s cousin. Why hasn’t Obama answered that? He could just say Odinga isn’t my cousin…he could have rebuked Odinga’s call for violence…but he didn’t.
I don’t think violence is the answer and if that is what Obama’s world vision is…sounds like Ayers is playing a major role in that vision (j/k).
(490) BTW…I should have said that Obama did try to calm the violence after it occurred which is good. The most disturbing part of Odinga is his direct financial ties to terrorists. I just don’t get that…hasn’t the world learned that any deal with a terrorist even if it benefits you today will certainly come back to bit you in the arse some day down the road.
Bin Laden is the perfect example of that.
Glenn there appears to me to be a fairlyt minor connection between Obama and Odinga. Obama already has said they are not cousins – that was a claim by Odinga, not Obama. Corsi, because he is a very dishonest writer, keeps talking about the cousin connection.
FYI there are usually good objective analyses of all these issues at Wikipedia and unbiased websites. However you’ll only find bad stuff at WorldNetDaily, Corsi, and other sites dedicated to the proposition of printing all the bad news they can possibly track down about Obama and then inventing stuff when they can’t make a good case you will wind up believing he’s a bad guy.
(494) I know Odinga made that claim but I can’t find where Obama said it isn’t so.
We have a couple weeks left and I think the final game plan for McCain is pretty well defined. If I could be so bold as to presume what they are thinking but this is my best guess…
1) Look at what the Democrats and Obama have brought to the American people, Fannie Mae and ACORN. This is their way of Government helping out the American People, corruption and fraud and the collapse of our economy.
2) Obama can’t possibly spend the kind of money that he wants to with his programs, he won’t agree with my spending freeze and now everyone one in American has lost trillions of their investments and savings – where is Obama going to get the money?
He says he will raise capital gains – there will be no capital gains taxes for at least 2-3 years because of the stock market losses.
He wants to raise the corporate income tax and force health care insurance on employers, we are already the 2nd highest corporate taxer in the world.
These plans are going to cost jobs and/or raise the prices of good and services and the consumer is going to get stuck with it anyway.
He wants to tax the big oil companies more – well they will just raise prices and we get stuck with it again.
Either way you look at it 100% of Americans are going to have their taxes increased or prices inflated to cover the other taxes.
Obama will be Herbert Hoover all over again.
An Obama Presidency with Pelosi in Congress you will have essentially given them a blank check from your checkbook.
3) When you add up all the questions you have about Obama and you can’t seem to get the whole story you have to ask yourself are you really comfortable voting for someone that you really don’t know all that much about?
Our country is in major crisis and I know how to deal with crisis – I have had to deal with them including life and death crisis’s my entire life.
If we elect Obama it would be like calling up a rookie to pinch hit for a long-time slugger during the last inning of the 7th game of the World Series.
America cannot afford to mishandle the solution to this crisis and we certainly cannot trust it to someone who has never really handled crisis before.
4) If McCain pledges to investigate and prosecute Wall-Street and Congressional members that broke the law or America’s trust he will pick up at least 3 points in the polls.
On another topic…have you noticed in the seat polls those that supported the bail-out have had their races narrow to almost even…amazing but understandable just how mad people are about this fiasco.
Joe did you see them at the Smith dinner tonight – they bought were quite amazing in their speeches and their enthusiasm for each other.
Whoever doesn’t get elected could host their own late show…lol
I just saw a little clip from the dinner. It’s odd to see them so cordial and joking but I think it reflects how you can be friends and still have very strong disagreements.
Joe this is a perfect example of the things that pop up. Now it looks like Project Vote is actually part of ACORN.
ACORN does this kind of stuff…uses several corporate names but overlaps addresses, staff, etc.
So even though Barack Obama says he worked for Project Vote in 1992 he “wasn’t” working for ACORN until 1995. This is problem I see with attorney’s running for office – you have to parse every single word and then figure out what they are not telling you.
Look at one of the major donors for ACORN – Robinhood…what a great name – take from the rich and give to the poor. This is one of Soro’s gigs…but look at the Board of Directors – no wonder MSM isn’t touching this.
They all have their hands in this gig with the liberal left – this is absolutely turning out to be the biggest fraud and theft in American history.
http://www.robinhood.org/leaders-and-staff/board.aspx
Joe did you see Murtha canceled his debate tonight? Nobody in the MSM even mentioned it.
These networks are becoming no better than the hard wired channels in North Korea.
This is our future…nice…
Joe, ACORN is the key to this entire fiasco. Now that we know Project VOTE is connected to ACORN more tightly then they admit but people are uncovering.
They are claiming they convinced Brunner in Ohio to issue the directive. Given Ohio has a Democratic Governor you can see how this looks.
This is beginning to look like a concerted effort on the Democratic party to subvert the election this year. If this hypothesis gets any legs then it won’t be a big stretch to start connecting the dots and tie the financial crisis as part of the plan – the timing was just too convenient and the players are all too tightly connected.
Either way this will make a great movie!
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=10447
Geesh…Joe…do you know the founder of ACORN – Wade Rathke? Do you know what group he was part of: SDS.
Now we know SDS and The Weatherman were close and connected…gee what a shocker!
When you start to connect all the dots it paints a very bad picture.
Gee I wonder if Rathke and Ayers are friends?
Joe SEUI filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court asking they rule with Brunner.
Guess who started SEUI? : Rathke.
What a bunch of thugs!
“If this hypothesis gets any legs then it won’t be a big stretch to start connecting the dots and tie the financial crisis as part of the plan – the timing was just too convenient and the players are all too tightly connected.” – now this is beyond a reach, this is just plain bizarre!! This is as silly, and ludicrous, and crackpot as liberals who think the neocons conspired to have planes flown into the twin towers to provide a motive for invading Iraq….and it is just about as believable.
You’ve gone round the bend with this one…
So now we see Obama went to ACORN and asked them to provide an economic expert.
But he only used them for location and lighting…oh yeah that is what they first reported…then they refiled with FEC and said it was for get out the vote…
http://www.chieforganizer.org/index.php?id=57&no_cache=1&tx_eeblog%5BcategoryId%5D=17&tx_eeblog%5Bpointer%5D=9&tx_eeblog%5BshowUid%5D=18837
(504) What is absurd is how connected ACORN is to these major crisis’s we are experiencing today.
ACORN was at the heart of the bad choices supporting CRA.
ACORN is at the heart of this massive voter fraud.
Then you connect up the entire cast of characters and it implicates the entire liberal Democratic group in the USA.
ACORN is going to cause major major problems for Democrats now.
And ALL of this connects back to radicals…just plain strange.
And for the “conspiracy theory” it was written to show how easy it would be for extremists to jump on it. I don’t think that is the case of what happened. If it ever got anywhere near that we would have a massive civil war in this country over it.
(504) Paul the massive hypocrisy of the left and how they have vilified Joe the Plumber…it is just disgraceful. His situation is probably more common than not with so many people hurting in this country right now.
And he is being destroyed by Obama, Biden and the left wing MSM for what reason? Because he disagreed with Obama.
It’s a disgrace to every taxpayer in America. I couldn’t believe Obama’s and Biden’s comments today.
BTW…Did you see how many plumbers have come forward today to say their business did generate more than 250k in revenue per year?
People want to rip into McCain negative ads even though there is definitely some truth in them but no one wants to speak about how they destroying a hard working Joe who deserves a hell of lot better than that. This is a prime example of exactly how Obama/Biden feel about the middle class – they are beneath them and part of the non-elite. But this isn’t class-warfare oh not at all.
The problem for Joe…he isn’t an illegal alien working here – if that were the case Obama, Frank and Dodd would give him a house and complete immunity from any wrong doing.
The liberal left is the one going round the bend on this one.
(504) Get ready Paul the blank check congress is about to start.
Now House Democrats want to abolish 401(k) tax breaks…
http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081012/REG/310139971
Gee let’s stick our boot in the eye of the American taxpayer while they are reeling on the ground from massive evaporation of their 401(k)’s.
Sure plumbing businesses might top 250k in taxable income but no plumber would make that much. 2000 hours x 100/hr = 200k would be close to the very high upper limit with only a few exceptions. Very few plumbers work 2000 hours or charge 100 per hour. Average is probably about 65k?
So the funny thing about the Joe the plumber incident is that he is pretty representative right now as a regular guy, and would get more tax relief under Obama, but he seems to think that if he buys his biz he’d do better under McCain’s plan. I’m guessing he’s simply not understanding that the 250k is taxable income. That’s very good for a mom and pop plumbing company.
I read that the actual owner of the plumbing company where Joe works is on some business data list. He grosses $510,000, and makes 175,000. He’ll make a little less this year because he’s gonna have to buy himself a plumbing license.
Using Glenn’s wild-butted rumor approach, there is a rumor that Joe has been suspended for insubordination and drunkenness. And, he told his X in divorce court that he’s only making $40,0000, but he apparently has saved enough money to buy a very expensive plumbing company. Her lawyer may have some questions for Joe.
Joe would not be better off under McCain’s plan as 95 out of 100 of his potential customers would have more money in their pockets for plumbing work, and the other 5 would still be exceptionally well off and be able to buy whatever plumbing services their little hearts desire.
That should be, under Obama’s plan 95 out of 100…
(509) Even T. Boone Pickens thinks raising any taxes at all is complete suicide for our economy.
So no matter how you want to slice and try to protect Obama’s plans he is going to take us into a deep depression and the job loss in this country is going to be staggering.
He raises taxes on 5% of taxpayers, and lowers taxes on 95% of taxpayers.
And T-bone is called T-bone for a reason.
(513) JCH at least 45% of those 95% don’t pay taxes today. So he will be sending them a government check. It is the largest welfare program in the history of this country.
Its ironic in an age when everything is supposed to be more open people like Obama want to hide as much as they can so they can get away with their agendas.
ALL the experts out there say the 95% number is way off and if you think with the blank check congress that taxes are not going to go up on most if not all Americans your smoking something.
Any increase in corporate tax is passed along to the consumer – so no matter how you want to spin it 100% of Americans will be paying higher prices. It will have nothing to do with supply and demand.
I know for a fact that many companies have already issued hiring freezes and if Obama is elected then they are planning significant layoff of US workers just to stay ahead of the curve.
According to Gallup only 13% of America supports income redistribution which is exactly what Obama is planning. 84% are staunchly against it. Isn’t it ironic that even less people than that approve of Pelosi and the blank check congress?
Do you seriously believe that a radical and socialist tenet like income redistribution is going to be accepted by Americans? This is going to create a level of strife and violence in this country that we have never seen before and it is going to make us much weaker overall on the international front.
I don’t think the American people are that stupid, they will get the message and they will vote down socialism.
Americans will read and understand the truth of what is being pitched on their doorstep. Most Americans will not buy into the unicorns and rainbow approach to life.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122420205889842989.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
It’s 95% of tax-return filers. People who fill it out and send in a 1040.
Any business that is planning layoffs based upon the election of Obama needs to go out of business because the decisionators are total idiotic moron dumb-butted retards.
(516) JCH then you need to send your message to the VC guys all over the country. The message is loud and clear and companies have already started laying off.
Now you are playing games…
Barack Obama says 95% of Americans are going to get a tax cut.
Of course you are completely ignoring that he will repeal the Bush tax cuts and those businesses today that you say are not making 250k a year will all of sudden be making 250k a year.
This idea of Obamaconimics is loony.
PS – This FBI agent has it right about Bill Ayers.
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3154201&referralPlaylistId=playlist
Now look at MSNBC completely falsifying and burying the truth about ACORN.
MSNBC says ACORN fake registrations do not account to voter fraud. Unless someone tries to vote on that false registration.
THAT IS COMPLETELY UNTRUE. It is illegal to submit a false voter registration and to knowingly do it is fraud and conspiracy.
What is wrong with the moral compasses of the liberal left?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27228549/
WOW now look at Martin Nesbitt’s tax liens. You would think the TREASURER of his campaign would do a little bit better job with his taxes and managing finance…but hey with all those illegal donations and other questionable financial activity how can you blame Nesbitt?
MSM and liberal left are hypocrites…they go after Joe the Plumber but once again give a pass to a key member of Obama’s campaign.
http://webofdeception.com/obama.html#nesbitt
Glenn, I’ll try to help you out. The WSJ opinion page is total crap. They lie. They distort. They cheat. They’re excrement sausages parading around the earth as human beings.
(520) Good answer that was very effective. Thanks I will just watch MSNBC and read the NYT (at least while they are still in business) so that I have the complete truth about all this stuff…lol
i do not watch TV news, and I do not read the NYT. They employ David Brooks.
What percentage of working families – that means they have at least one job and earn income – makes less than $10,000 per year?
What percentage is between 10,000 and 30,000? $30,000 and $60,000?
You can look this stuff up.
Just about every policemen, school teacher, college professor, and firemen in America will get a tax cut under Obama. You want to screw them by perpetuating welfare to the rich because you are jealous that a working family making 10,000 or less per year is going to get a 500 bucks.
Pathetic.
As for welfare to the rich, the theory was they were going to grow their businesses and create more jobs and create a great economy. What happened?
Looks to me like they spent all their welfare benefits on derivatives and swaps.
(522) Actually JCH you are dead wrong about what I think.
If you do some research on the fairtax which I fully support then you would see people living at or below the poverty line would get a check every week from the Government.
It would be way more than what Obama is promising.
The major difference with me and you…
I believe that our government continually has shown it is incompetent and corrupt with ALL financial matters. I do not believe the potential massive growth of Government is going to benefit Americans.
You on the other hand think the Government can solve all these problems. Look at Hawaii, CA, MA and how their “massive” feel good socialist ideas are bankrupting those states or failing to deliver on the promise.
I want the power returned to the people and I want the corrupt out of our way.
You want to reward the corrupt and empower them to do more ill toward the hardworking American.
I want the Government to stand next to me, protect me militarily, provide excellent infrastructure.
You want the Government to do everything for you. You want to evade responsibility, accountability, etc ALL the things the liberal left support.
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to understand what percentage of America is represented by Obama/Pelosi/Dodd/Frank/Reid/Murtha/Franken
Even within the Democratic party they represent less than 1/3 of their entire party. On a national level they represent maybe 10-13%. It is pure insanity to hand over power to a group that represents less than 20% of the population. Go do some research on history and you will see what happens when this type of power change occurs.
(522) JCH so you can read some facts about the middle class. With the expiration of the Bush tax cuts literally 100% of taxpayers will have their taxes increase.
WITH THE EXPIRATION OF THE BUSH TAX CUTS:
Single tax payers in three typical low to middle income categories have the taxes increased 12% on average
Single Taxpayer making $30K – Pays 15% more in taxes when Bush tax cuts expire
Single Taxpayer making $50K – Pays 10% more in taxes when Bush tax cuts expire
Single Taxpayer making $75K – Pays 11% more in taxes when Bush tax cuts expire
But married taxpayers in typical low to middle income really get the shaft! Their taxes are increased 20.5% on average
Married Taxpayer making $60K – Pays 19.5% more in taxes when Bush tax cuts expire
Married Taxpayer making $75K – Pays 21.5% more in taxes when Bush tax cuts expire
Married Taxpayer making $125K – Pays 20.5% more in taxes when Bush tax cuts expire
Great article today over at Forbes about Milton Friedman.
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/10/16/milton-friedman-meltdown-oped-cx_pr_1017robinson.html
(522) JCH so more info on Obama’s tax increases on 100% of taxpayers.
When Obama and the Democrats allow the 2003 tax cuts to expire the following will happen:
1) The federal income tax rates go back up to the higher rates of the year 2000. Low income, middle income, high income will all pay higher taxes.
2) The Earned income tax credit (EITC) will be reduced. This affects the low income.
3) The child credit will be reduced from from $1000/child to $500/child. This affects all income levels.
4) The marriage penalty will be back. This affects all income levels.
(522) JCH I found a school that would do really well at…just kidding…this press release is hysterical.
MEDIA ALERT: Prophet Yahweh Predicts Spaceships Will Appear Oct. 31st in Support of Senator Obama
Prophet Yahweh, Seer of Yahweh, Master UFO Caller says that on October 31, 2008, superhuman black men, from other planets, will appear in their spaceships and hover over his UFO Summoning School for three days as a sign that all Americans should vote for Obama as President.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/10/prweb1395924.htm
Now I know I must change my views…I am sure the NYT’s and Olberman will interview this guy…
God help us!
If I’m an employer and I know that you will work for net dollars, why would I pay you gross dollars?
Of course there isn’t any media bias going on here…lol
“No presidential candidate should get to the point that he has locked up his party’s nomination without public vetting of his health.”
–New York Times, on John McCain, May 4 2008 “Missing Records”
Many were the words written about John McCain and his medical records. That he delayed in releasing them, that his health records were crucial to the public’s right to know.
After McCain released nearly 1200 pages of medical records–the Arizona Senator not only had war-related injuries, but also bouts with skin cancer–the Mainstream Media complained that reporters were not given enough time to go through McCain’s records: they were given three hours to look through them.
Three hours is far less time than it would take those same reporters to go through Barack Obama’s medical records that have been released.
Because there are none.
The Obama campaign has stated that no medical records will be released. Instead, a one-page undated letter from a doctor will have to satisfy reporters on that issue.
The New York Times on Barack Obama in May:
The six-paragraph, one-page statement summarized the senator’s health for the last 21 years and was signed by Dr. David L. Scheiner, who said he has been Mr. Obama’s primary care physician since March 23, 1987.
A spokesman for Mr. Obama said his campaign would not make Dr. Scheiner available for a telephone interview.” –New York Times, May 8 2008.
But he isn’t hiding anything…no medical records, no college records, no college thesis, etc…
(528) That makes no sense whatsoever unless you are in the fishing industry.
All this rhetoric matters not a bit because:
-Sarah Palin is going back to Alaska, where she most decidedly belongs….as far away from the lower 48 as we can get her.
-John McCain is going back to Senate where he can work hard at being part of the checks and balances that are so important to our system of government.
-Barack Obama and Joe Biden are going to win this election with a solid, though not overwhelming, margin on Nov 4th.
You can argue & vainly try to vilify all you want, but that reality is barreling towards us with greater strength and momentum every day.
There is a silver lining, of sorts, in all of this – the fair and balanced (ha!) talking heads on Fox will have plenty of fodder for their venomous & acerbic commentators to whine about for the next 4 years – thus providing John Stewart & Steve Colbert with more priceless material for us all to enjoy.
It can’t happen soon enough for me.
Simplified examples:
Your salary is 100,000. I deduct 20,000 for taxes. One day I get a letter that says there are no more taxes.
Guess what, I know you will work for 80,000.
I’m selling loaves of bread for $5.00. I know there is $1.00 of hidden tax in a loaf. I get a letter saying the hidden taxes went poof.
I already know you will pay $5.00.
Just about every policemen, school teacher, college professor, and firemen in America will get a tax cut under Obama…
Yes, the public employees like cops, fire-boys, schoolmarmies, the massive maintenance-worker unions (the El Lay janitor union probably carries more weight than teachers or nursies) stand to benefit. Those not in a public employee racket stand to lose.
Corp. execs have probably figured out ways to avoid the impact of Obamanomics, via tax shelters, various foreign investments, etc. It’s the middle/upper middle class class working in private sector that will be f-ed.
The great Obamanation…
This is our future…less rights, less freedoms unless of course you go far left.
Mentally challenged man says his vote wasn’t right. Volunteer took him to vote and force him to vote for Obama.
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?s=9177991
The Democratic party – party of Terrorists, Drug Addicts, Homeless, Felons, and abusers of mentally handicapped people.
Now wonder they hate Palin – she actually dared to bring a downs syndrome baby into this world.
We only want slaves that can serve the elite we can’t have people born that can’t do our bidding.
As Obama said himself…if my daughter makes a mistake I don’t want her punished with having a child…interesting how some people think a child is punishment.
Joe have you noticed the samples used in all the current polls have a significantly higher percentage of Democrats than Republicans and Independents are almost not even counted anymore. They use the voter registration by party to determine these ratios of Dems/Reps/Ind…but of course about 1/3 of the Democratic voter registrations are suspect for fraud yet they don’t make that adjustment in their samples ratios.
Polling is being manipulated deliberately by organizations like ACORN to create a perception but even with all that monkey business the polls are now narrowed to a dead heat.
I think we will all be surprised when election day comes and these polls were shown to be off by a statistically significant margin.
(535) But not by enough to change the inevitable outcome. Have fun moose hunting Sarah. Tina Fey is going to miss you.
Glenn re: polling. Come ON GLENN!
Obviously MSM polling is NOT manipulated – look at the study details. Of course the sample has more Democrats in the sample because there are *more Democrats in the population*. The poll is trying to predict the outcome so the sample needs to accurately reflect the voting population. Haven’t you done this kind of research before?
The methodologies in the mainstream polls are about as tight as it gets, which is why the poll numbers usually match outcomes very closely.
There are some partisan polls but CNN and even FOX have good poll methods for the big election polls. The “call in” polls are garbage of course – they just measure the network’s audience rather than the population.
What numbers are you looking at Glenn? The (mainstream) polling is hard to manipulate externally though I think you mean internally? Why in the world would they do that anyway – credibility is how the polling guys make money, not outcomes! Dead heat?
Give me some specific numbers. http://RealClearPolitics.com has links to many of the poll details.
Y
Oh wait there is more light on the Rezko/Obama property deal…but move along folks there is nothing to see here.
Just more coincidence and guilty by association and just forget that Rezko is Syrian – it has nothing to do with any of this.
The issue has become a sore spot for Obama, some political analysts say, because he has raised public expectations by cultivating a reputation as an unusually clean politician.
“He’s brought this on himself by the nature of his campaign,” said Donald Kettl, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. “The very fact that the question gets raised, ‘Did Obama benefit from this personal relationship?’ that’s a problem for him, that’s a kind of Achilles heel for anybody trying to make a campaign on the basis of integrity and leadership.”
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/16/obama_haunted_by_friends_help_securing_dream_house/?page=1
(537) Joe but they don’t take into account the real trend of who actually has voted over the last few elections – when they do that the polls shift quite a bit, typically by several points.
Gallup is a perfect example they realized the issue and have started showing polling data of people that are most likely to vote.
You can hear the messages coming out of the Obama campaign – they know whats up. They expected to have a solid double digit lead today.
You don’t think Charles Gibson is MSM???
“Two weeks, five days to go, home stretch. Barack Obama and John McCain began today laying out their closing strategies. And while Obama continues to hold a double-digit lead in most national polls, it is the results in individual states that are all important.”
He is also a hypocrite…two years ago he couldn’t report enough on Foley…but now with Mahoney – NOTHING even though the FBI is now investigating him.
It is simply absurd.
Remember Joe there is no spoon.
Ayers may have co-written Obama’s Dreams.
Look at the evidence you can decide for yourself.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/evidence_mounts_ayers_cowrote.html
Here come another of those “Guilt by Associations” that Senator Barack Obama will try to weasel himself out of.
As you may know, Philip Berg is suing Senator Obama in Civil Court. Berg wants Obama to Produce his real birth certificate to prove that he meets the citizenship requirements to be President.
Rather than just produce the birth certificate (is he trying to hide something?) Obama’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss. One of the Lawyers filing the motion was Joe Sandler (sandler@sandlerreiff.com) of the Washington law firm Sandler, Reiff, and Young…
Who is Joe Sandler you ask?
He is a CAIR lawyer (Council on American-Islamic Relations)
Gee I wonder who he supports?
Sandler has a strong track record of stomping on people’s freedom of speech when it goes against his clients wishes.
CAIR has ties with Hamas and other terrorist type organization.
But hey Obama isn’t radical, etc…
Just another association there is no pattern here just another random coincidence.
Every single American who has taxable income below $250,00 will get a tax cut.
That includes almost all of the people who work at shopping centers or Wal Marts or Targets or lawyer’s offices or doctor’s offices or hospitals or retail strips or factories or airports or whatever.
The tax code does not give a flip whether you work for a government entity or a private employer.
Very few people who work for Chevron make more $250,000. A whole bunch of them earn between 66,000 and 250,000. They will get a tax cut under Obama. 95% of working families will get a tax cut.
It is much harder for rich people to evade taxes on earnings than you are making it sound. That is why the upper 1% of all taxpayers pays such a large percentage of income taxes collected. They cannot escape it, and 3% is not going to motivate them to start doing that.
How do I know?
Because we already did it.
What is most scary about Barack Obama is he will say absolutely anything he has to – to get elected – its like a page right out Alinsky’s writings..
Yes. And just as scary may be that Al-Gore worshipping zombiecrats buy the Obama rap, and think Obama’s sort of some PC green progressive, when’s BO’s a pro-union, big govt., anti-business bureaucrat-leftist: he’s sort of LBJ, but worse. Escalades for the peoples! The usual sentimental Democrat has no clue what they are supporting (and most have not even bothered to check his IL voting record–voted the most “liberal” in the nation by a few groups).
Any tax cuts to middle class (at least those not working for the State) will most likely be nullified when they have to file for bankruptcy. Of course, Obama’s media spin, with the auto workers and teamsters, etc. in peoria feature middle-class white people “workers”: that does not represent BO’s constituents. Vote for BO, and you vote for Art Torres, LA Jefe Villaigarosa, if not Hugo Chavez.
Lol. Lunacy.
Liberal! Liberal! Liberal!
(543) Horatiox here is a list of things requested by reporters, watchdog groups, etc… from the Obama campaign and they refuse to provide.
I don’t know exactly why some of these are relevant but I am a little surprised that more isn’t spoken about this.
1. Certified Copy of Original Birth Certificate (no alternatives accepted)
2. Columbia College records
3. Columbia Thesis paper
4. Certification of Life Birth showing where he was born (no alternatives accepted)
5. Harvard College records
6. Illinois State Senate records
7. Illinois State Senate schedule
8. Law practice client list and billing records/summary
9. Locations and names of all half-siblings and step-mothers
10. Medical records (one page summary unacceptable)
11. Parents’ Marriage Certificate
12. Parents’ Divorce Certificate
13. Mother’s Marriage Certificate to Lolo Soetoro
14. Adoption Papers from Indonesia
15. Record of Baptism as Christian
16. Trip schedules and Passport for trips outside the United States before 2007
17. Scholarly articles
18. Campaign donor analysis requested by 7 major watchdog groups
“lol” Deeep.
You’ll see lunacy when BO, his muslim cronies, and the mega-unions–if not crips– start to flex their muscles. Most zombiecrats simply don’t know what the principles of America consist of (or did). Rest assured Thomas Jefferson hisself would not support some glib yankee bureaucrat such as B.O.
Let’s make a bet on that nonsense.
Reporters have been prevented from accessing BO’s college records, or the vaulted COLB, other info? That’s the facts. Now, whether you care to know the truth or not: that’s another issue. Since you apparently don’t, that seems to put you in the nonsense camp.
Most zombiecrats, having decided on Their Supreme Leader, don’t really care to know the details. He’s The One, man. Chairman Barry. Barry O used to par-tay with the communist party (ie Frank Davis, Ayers, etc) along with his red mama? Who the F. cares.
Because all of that stuff is stupid. It’s always been stupid.
I bet you none of your silly predictions come true.
Ah verification is stupid? I think not. Even some lib-rawl sites specialize in fact-checking, sort of verification-lite: when the verification moves from fact-checking one comment of BO or McCain to say verifying Obama’s voting record as a whole, or trying to access college records, birth certs., his association with radical religious groups, passport info. etc. then it’s not so hip or cool down at the Cafe DNCocrat.
The smart voter wants all the facts, and resists the Obama craze (or McCain craze). The liberals made a big deal of the transcripts of Bush, Kerry, McCain, so why not of Chairman BO? Because they’re usually inconsistent, hypocritical and weak.
It is entirely possible that the Bush/Greenspan screw up is so big that loads of private sector and public sector jobs will be lost.
But it would be just like the delusional twins to try and attach that to Obama.
(549) The point is…MSM will want you to believe that Obama is the most vetted candidate in history – IT IS A LIE. Even Hillary complained about this.
The irony is you can go find most these items about Hillary and McCain right on the web freely available for your perusal.
Even Hillary’s thesis is controversial and based on Saul Alinsky’s works…but you can read it.
What could Obama want to hide in his thesis?
a) A topic that would sink his Whitehouse bid if it got out
b) That his writing style is no where near his writing in his two memoirs which means who are his ghostwriters?
The issue that remains that he is hiding A LOT. Bill Clinton didn’t even try to hide this much about his past.
You will see as time progresses that the Ayers/Obama is far deeper than anyone is letting on. There is also connections showing up that Obama met Vera Baker through Rick Ayers – Bill’s brother. Add to that Michelle worked in the same law firm with Dohrn – they were friends and that is the same firm that Obama got his first job in Chicago…it is all way too convenient.
Look at the timeline of Ayer’s writing and releasing books…there are two blocks of time he had available where all of a sudden he wasn’t writing books anymore…but alas Obama’s books emerged.
And now it is becoming clear that Ayers is connected directly to ACORN as well.
Just so you can see how deep and far ACORN extends here is a list of ACORN & Its Subsidiaries and deeply connected partnerships from 2006.
ACORN
385 Palmetto Street Housing Fund Corporation
4415 San Jacinto Street Corporation
ACORN
Acorn 2004 Housing Development
Fund Corporation
Acorn 2005 Housing Development
FUND CORPORATION
ACORN Associates
ACORN Beneficial Association
ACORN BeverlyY LLC
ACORN Campaign Services
ACORN Campaign To Raise The Minimum Wage
ACORN Center for Housing, Inc
ACORN Children’s Beneficial Association
ACORN Community Land Association
ACORN Community Land Association of IL.
ACORN Community Land Association of LA
ACORN Community Land Association of PA
ACORN Community Labor Organizing Center
ACORN Cultural Trust
ACORN Dumont-Snediker Housing
Development Fund Corporation
ACORN Fair Housing
ACORN Fund
ACORN Housing Corporation
ACORN Housing Corporation of IL
ACORN Housing Corporation of MO
ACORN Housing Corporation of PA
ACORN Institute
ACORN Law For Education, Representation, And Training
ACORN Management Corporation
ACORN National Broadcasting Network
ACORN Services
ACORN Television In Action For Communities
ACORN Tenant Union Training And Organizing Project
ACORN Tenants Union
Affiliated Media Foundation Movement
Agape Broadcasting Foundation Inc
American Environmental Justice Project Inc
American Home Childcare Providers Association
American Institute for Social Justice
Arizona ACORN Housing Corporation
Arkansas Broadcasting Foundation
Association for the Rights of Citizens Inc
Associated Regional Maintenance Systems
Austin Organizing and Support Center
Baltimore Organizing and Support Center
Boston Organizing and Support Center
Broad Street Corporation
California Community Network
Chicago Organizing and Support Center Chief Organizer Fund
Child Care Providers for Action Franklin
Citizens Action Research Project
Citizens Campaign for Work, Living Wage & Labor Peace
Citizens Consulting, Inc
Citizens Campaign for Finance Reform
Citizens for Future Progress
Colorado ACORN Housing Corporation
Crescent City Broadcasting Corporation
Desert Rose Homes LLC
Dumont Avenue Housing Development Fund
Elysian Fields Corporation, Inc
Elysian Fields Partnership
Fifteenth Street Corporation
Floridians For All PAC
Franklin ACORN Housing
Greenville Community Charter School Inc
Greenwell Springs Corporation
Hospitality Hotel and Restaurant Organizing Council (HOTROC)
Houston Organizing And Support Center
KABF Radio
KNON Radio
Labor Neighbor Research and Training Center Inc
Living Wage Resource Center
Louisiana ACORN Fair Housing
Massachusetts ACORN Housing Corporation
Metro Technical Institute
Missouri Tax Justice Research Project
Montana Radio Network
Mott Haven ACORN Housing
Development Fund Corporation
Mutual Housing Association of New York Inc
National Center for Jobs & Justice
New Mexico Organizing and Support Center
New Orleans Community Housing Organization
New York ACORN Housing Company Inc
New York Agency for Community Affairs Inc
New York Organizing and Support Center Organizers Forum
Pennsylvania Institute for Community Affairs
People’s Equipment Resource Corporation
Phoenix Organizing And Support Center
Project Vote
SEIU Local 100
SEIU Local 880
Service Workers Action Team
Shreveport Community Television Site Fighters
Sixth Avenue Corporation Social Policy
Southern Training Center
St. Louis Organizing And Support Center
St. Louis Tax Reform Group
Student Minimum Wage Action Campaign
Texas ACORN Housing Corporation Inc
Wal-Mart Workers Association
Wal-Mart Association for Reform Now
Working Families Association
A smart voter does not give a flip about his private Harvard records. Reporters are free to interview anybody who knew Obama at Harvard, or who taught him.
It’s like Kerry’s service records. Kerry did not want to release them. people insisted that meant for certain he was hiding something. That’s crap. After the election he released his entire Navy file and there is nothing there.
Sometimes there is stuff in there that a person might not really want the whole world to see. My father was fighting in the Solomons – Guadalcanal, etc. It was hot. It was the jungle. Out of the blue, he had to be circumcised. The surgeon was Harvard medical. He wrote an absolutely eloquent description of my father’s infected penis, and a blow-by-blow account of cutting off the foreskin.
Now, if my father tried to keep that private, the delusional-twins crowd would be screaming “Liberal! Commie lover! Coward! Whatever!
You guys have clinical paranoia. You need help.
(551) JCH I definitely think Bush, et al totally screwed up here. But unlike you I won’t defend someone just because I want their policies to be implemented.
Obama has his hands all over ACORN and Fannie Mae. He has definitely been involved with many questionable things including the purchase of his own home!
Funny you can find volumes of questionable and suspect things about Obama yet when they go after McCain they come up with Keating…lol…and he was cleared by the investigator of doing anything wrong.
Yet we are not allowed to question Obama, not allowed to get to the bottom of it all…doesn’t it bother you that he can’t produce a valid birth certificate? All he had to do was produce that and answer 10 questions and it would have been all over…why wouldn’t someone do that?
ONE REASON: They are hiding something.
Ah back to Econ.: some of us wanted to know if BO was even an American citizen. Donde esta la Carta Verde, Senor Obama?
Obama backed the Paulson/Bushco bailout, along with Pelosi. ‘Nuff said. It’s as Mr. Glenn said: he plays it rightist one day–quoting Reagan, or the Good Book–and leftist the next (his record def. looks leftist). Jus’ another yankee bureaucrat.
AS I said, his admin. and policies might result in some good for some, like public employees and union members (those are the real Dems–the yoplait suckers in the ‘burbs aren’t). I strongly doubt that BOocracy will be good for all, even the middle class.
(553) JCH…ah er…the blow by blow verbiage in that context was just way TMI…lol
Great story though…lol
You know maybe the answer to this entire situation could be as simple as the following:
Click to access Obama%27s_Use_of_Hidden_Hypnosis_techniques_in_His_Speeches.pdf
LOL
I’m certainly glad folks are confining the political debate to key issues like Governance, economy, foreign policy. NOT! 😯
Glenn of course Obama (and McCain) have information they want to keep away from critical eyes. That is probably not because it’s deeply disturbing, rather it good campaign strategy. Sure, I’d like to see it all but I don’t expect either McCain or Obama to spend any time with critics who want to bring them down. You don’t win elections catering to your critics. It’s also important to note that we (the electorate) are a pretty superficial bunch.
Is it *possible* that Obama is a manchurian candidate non-citizen? Yes, but it appears very, very unlikely. With each revelation of the nonsense in the book by Corsi, he and others move on to the next BS topic. I’ve wasted a LOT of time tracking down the bogus leads offered by right wing bloggers as “evidence”.
Research is an area where I have a lot of background and I have seen *nothing* to suggest people like Corsi have an interest in a balanced view – rather he’s focusing only on the handful of associations that, if taken out of context, make Obama look bad. That is NOT research, it’s along the lines of this totally true story:
FACT: The victim approached Joe and touched his arm.
FACT: Joe visciously attacked the victim and beat him severely. The victim died.
[the rest of the story – the victim was a mosquito)
Taken out of context facts can be presented in misleading ways and all the Obama stuff I have seen so far falls into that category.
(558) Joe…speaking of Joe…
Iowahawk actually writes a serious piece and he is spot-on with this one. Hopefully we can all agree on how unfairly this guy has been treated. If Obama got the sound bite he wanted they would have not done anything to him.
The treatment of Joe the Plumber is a new low in American politics.
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/10/i-am-joe.html
(558) My concern about the valid birth certificate is that it goes to the very core of our constitution. If he can’t prove he is a natural born citizen of the USA then he doesn’t respect our constitution.
Which quite frankly I think is a valid opinion of the far left – they only respect the constitution when it is convenient for their causes.
RE: Polling methods. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, the big challenges to good results relate to polling people who only have a cellular phone (which I think they’ve largely solved), and weighting for the newer and younger voters who appear to be Obama supporters. I have not seen anything to suggest there is a systematic bias or bad methodology going on.
Glenn do you have any numbers from any polls – I don’t understand why you think there is some kind of conspiratorial polling bias in all these independent polling groups. Also note that if pollsters wanted to help Obama win they’d make the race effectively even, encouraging higher voter turnout which favors Democrats.
I’d suggest we have the opposite problem from what you are suggesting. While most of the reporting is pretty good, we’ve got MSNBC basically advocating regularly for Obama and FOX advocating for McCain. Fox has a *much* larger audience. Moreover, talk radio is very Republican-centric and thus McCain advocacy (and anti-Obama rhetoric) is much stronger there as well.
I’m actually not sure about the total blog audience – the big blogs like KOS and Huffpost seem liberal (often going CooCoo for CoCoPuffs), but there seem balanced by New Republic, Drudge and many smaller blogs. There seem to be a lot more “hit blogs” against Obama. One even fooled me – it was called “African News”, pretended to be unbiased, but was simply set up to bash Obama, esp. his minor connections to Odinga.
Glenn what is the status of the Berg lawsuit where Obama was ordered to provide a certificate? I can’t find the updated info online. FYI Notice that FOX News isn’t working that angle because….it’s almost certainly bogus.
Plumbing: Don’t worry, I’m sure my fellow Joe can take any silly bashing he’s getting from Daily KOS kooks – in fact he said he was enjoying all the attention.
I don’t agree with you that his details are irrelevant though – he’s become a little piece of the McCain campaign platform. An odd piece because I don’t think the details pencil out well for McCain unless he’s buying one heck of an amazing Plumbing business. Has anybody actually looked at the biz in question to see about taxes?
Glenn this is Obama’s *birth announcement* from the Honolulu paper, found by an anti-Obama researcher and linked at their blog:
There are many, many reasons they might not want to show the vault copy. It may contain errors, or it may conflict with other records which, like all this stuff, will be mischaracterized as some sort of sinister conspiracy.
The funny thing is that there is a TON of stuff Obama should be taken to task about. I don’t share his views on many aspects of economics, Government spending, racial stuff, and more.
But the fact he’s got an extremely diverse and complex background is something I … like about him! We need a smart leader who can run the big show. I don’t think McCain would do as good a job as Obama, though I’m hoping that in 2012 or 2016 we’ll have a clear-thinking-lean government-lean-military-cut-entitlements-balance-the-budget independent to vote for. That person *already has* my vote.
Wow, Powell to (probably) endorse Obama this weekend. This would be a very big deal since Powell’s credibility is very high, and this will effectively demolish the arguments that Obama isn’t a safe choice for America.
(563) Cool thanks I know a lot of people looking for that I will point it out. It is too bad Obama just couldn’t address this head on.
Now he is a claiming a GOP plot around ACORN…don’t you find it interesting that ACORN and the Obama campaign always release the exact same statement…a couple of days ago Obama through them under the bus and now he is conspiring directly with them again to try to deflect and protect them. ACORN is a key element to blow all of this wide open.
Watch the wild spin from ACORN now…
(564) The speculation on Powell has been said for the last week or so however Powell is very anti-Bush as you know.
I think the real shame Joe with this entire election is why didn’t the Democratic party just put up a moderate to left candidate?
If they did this country would have come together and big things could have happened…but what did they do – they picked the person who was least likely to get elected because of his very far left perspective and with the last 8 years to run against this should have been a slam-dunk.
Pelosi of course has not helped Obama’s chances either – really a shame when we have fringe players on both teams that try to drag the majority of the country kicking and screaming about an agenda that just won’t fly.
Chris Mathews…he seriously is a putz. I have no idea when he tanked so bad! Years ago he was pretty good.
I think he said “I wished we had done more.” He never said “bomb more.” I think you have to be careful there. In terms of anti-war activism . . . Let’s get the facts straight . . . He didn’t say he wished he had bombed more. — Chris Matthews to Pat Buchanan, Hardball, October 17, 2008
“I don’t regret setting bombs,” Bill Ayers said. “I feel we didn’t do enough.” — from No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives, New York Times, September 11, 2001
Obama and Michelle ought to be a little more humble right now people are noticing what they are doing…
Lobster and Iranian caviar – of course eaten without pre-conditions.
Obama says today he is going to change the world…
They are planning their victory party…
Selecting curtains…lol
Colin Powell–another Bush mistake, and rumored anti-semite and opposed to israel, like many BO supporters (some on right are anti-israeli, of course, like Pat Buchanan. He’s slightly more honest about his concerns of israeli aggression).
A few british writers have made mention of Obama’s connection to anti-semites:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/2293196/pinch-yourself.thtml
“””You have to pinch yourself – a Marxist radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshipped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marxists, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming President of the United States. And apparently it’s considered impolite to say so.”””
Ra-ther.
NYT in full sleaze mode…unbelievable…
September 29 at 7:21pm
Report Message
I saw on facebook that you went to Xavier, and if you don’t mind, I’d love to ask you some advice about a story. I’m a reporter at the New York Times, writing a profile of Cindy McCain, and we are trying to get a sense of what she is like as a mother. So I’m reaching out to fellow parents at her kids’ schools. My understanding is that some of her older kids went to Brophy/Xavier, but I’m trying to figure out what school her 16 year old daughter Bridget attends– and a few people said it was PCDS. Do you know if that’s right? Again, we’re not really reporting on the kids, just seeking some fellow parents who can talk about what Mrs. McCain is like.
Also, if you know anyone else who I should talk to– basically anyone who has encountered Mrs. McCain and might be able to share impressions– that would be great.
Thanks so much for any help you can give me.
Jodi Kantor
Political correspondent
New York Times
Obama’s campaign cancels National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance. Gee shocker. The thought that you would cancel these important symbols of our nation to allow “another speaker” at his rally. Like they can’t take 10 minutes to honor our country.
Of course the Obama campaign is still giving the Bill Ayers treatment to our American flag – it is a disgrace that with all the money and people he has on his campaign he can’t even treat our national symbols properly.
Obama FIRST, Country LAST.
A newspaper endorsement for McCain that says it straight.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/17/uncertain-times-require-mccains-tested-vigilance/
Barack Obama, William Ayers & ACORN.
From Wikipedia on Ayers. This appears to me to be a good summary of the situation:
CNN’s review of project records found nothing to suggest anything inappropriate in the non-profit projects in which the two men were involved.[44]
Internal reviews by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The New Republic “have said that their reporting does not support the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship”.
William C. Ibershof, the lead federal prosecutor of the Weather Underground case noted, “I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities ….
(574) Every single source you mentioned that says nothing is there…is in the tank for Obama.
There is so much more information coming out now. There are clear connections back to SDS, Weatherman with the key members of both those organizations deeply involved in the creation of ACORN.
Joe there is so much more coming out on this now and the FBI is looking at all of it.
ACORN is the new incarnation of SDS adopting the tenets of the New Socialists in Chicago. SDS and Weatherman were communists and ACORN is a socialist organization. To top it off the brother of the founder embezzled over $1 million dollars from ACORN and they didn’t report it as required by law.
There ties, connections and associations are not just a matter of coincidence this is heating up in a big way.
It’s cooing off in a big way; It’s cooling off almost as fast as Sarah Palin.
Glenn I don’t think you are reading objective stuff. The stuff by Corsi, Berg, Hannity, and the many other attack people is just garbage – they are simply smearing as political strategy.
There is no reason to think that the federal prosecutor for Acorn is “In the tank for Obama”. Neither are the major media outlets but it’s hard to convince people of that because many define unbiased coverage as “matches my view” rather than “uses good methods & sound reasoning”.
How can you possibly fit a Colin Powell endorsement into all the conspiracy nonsense? Powell’s got a long and proud record of service to the country. He also has access to extensive background information on whoever he wants. If there was *anything* to the Obama conspiracy theories he would not be on board.
I guess what confuses me the most is that you keep citing attack videos and such as if they are “evidence” when they are just propaganda, usually just descriptions of bad things with flimsy connections. It’s like telling people to watch Michael Moore shows to get a sense of 9/11 or health care.
For the record I’m certain there are many things in his past that would make parts of Obama’s life look bad to an objective observer. That is true for most people. McCain was known in younger days for drinking and womanizing. If there were videos he’d likely be in trouble for that. But if you put these things in a broad context rather than looking for only the worst, what emerges (in both cases) are quality guys who have the countries best interests at heart – though differ in how to bring it all together.
I certainly don’t have much respect for ACORN which appears to have been compromised in many ways for some time, but as with Ayers and such the Obama connection is very weak. In fact I don’t think anybody has even found anything to suggest that the Obama campaign was trying to get ACORN to help them out in any but totally apppropriate ways such as registering voters. You can’t blame Obama when third pary employees break the rules.
There’s no reason to believe Obama would have anything to do with voter fraud – that would be a way to kill a successful campaign. They registered huge numbers of people with no indications of problems with those.
What is really frustrating me is that there are very legitimate issues on the other side of this coin. Blackwell ‘s Ohio activities were *dispicable* in 2004 and he was a highly placed Republican campaign player. He sought to manipulate the election by abusing rules. It’s very well documented. I’m not clear if the current Ohio Secty of State is acting with that level of partisanship for the Democrats though it seems like she’s not being objective either. But neither side can claim high ground with respect to working for unbiased, broad participation in the process.
(577-578) Who said the opposition cares about the facts? Remember “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” – what a laughable name, and what abhorrent tactics. This is no different; they will say whatever they think works, regardless of how detached from reality is it.
(577) Joe he isn’t the federal prosecutor for ACORN. He was the federal prosecutor for the Weather Underground and he is in the tank for Obama.
Colin Powell made his endorsement primarily because of race. He foreshadowed this in September while speaking at George Washington University. If someone said the same comments he made about a white candidate they would have been called a racist. If he endorsed McCain then he would have been called Uncle Tom. Powell wants to continue to be invited to the cocktail parties in Washington…lol.
The fact of the matter is anyone that is supporting Obama is willing to give a pass to many of the corrupt politicians in Washington. He will not pursue any of the people tightly connected to Fannie Mae – how could he – he would be near the top of the list? If we don’t get things fixed in DC do you think we will ever get out of this rut of a deficit?
Obama promised a windfall tax on the oil companies and that would provide money for his spending – well guess what now that oil is tanking there goes his windfall tax idea.
On the issues he is changing his positions and he doesn’t keep his promises. He plays the Saul Alinsky card…say whatever you absolutely have to, to get elected, the means justifies the end. Doesn’t that at all bother you? Or you think that is just smart politics and the intelligence of the American people don’t matter?
I would like for once an honest candidate that stood up and stated what they really meant without wondering what the definition of “is” is. Our political election cycle has gotten to a level of absurdity that has more in common with a Monty Python skit then it does with the truth or anything based on reality. The spin rooms after the debates are a perfect example. A candidate could literally rob another candidate at gunpoint and the spin rooms would just spew their talking points.
Americans deserve better, we deserve to know the real truth about our candidates, what their real plans and who specifically helped them get into power.
That isn’t happening with Obama. He needs to explain his shady relationships with so many low lifes and stop letting is media pundits like the NYT doing it for him.
Now his connection with Sunrise and Broadway bank – what a horrible debacle that is? Have you heard about it yet? It happened in August.
Do your hear anyone in the MSM media saying anything? Even Joe Biden is deep in the sunrise scam the muslim executives of sunrise have absconded with up to $80 million dollars and they have close ties to radical muslims around the world. Obama was an investor with them, attended events and spoke on behalf of them and received donations from them as well as Joe Biden.
Joe go read the analysis done on the MSM during Bill Clinton’s years in office as compared to George Bush. Specifically look at 1996 and 2004 and see how biased and negative the media was toward to George Bush as compared to Bill Clinton when in fact the economic numbers were slightly better for George Bush than Bill Clinton.
Check out Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin’s comments today
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Mark Halperin, we learned this morning that Barack Obama in the month of September raised $150 million. The earlier estimates had been about a hundred. They always kind of leak a lower figure so they can exceed it. If a Republican had not taken public financing, and had raised all that money, and the Democrat was struggling financially, wouldn’t we see a lot of stories about one candidate essentially trying to buy the election?
MARK HALPERIN, TIME MAGAZINE: We would. We would also see a lot of stories about his going back on his word saying that he would accept the public money and would reach out to Sen. McCain to try to work out a deal. So, I think this is, this is a case of a clear, unambiguous double standard, and any reporter who doesn’t ask themselves, “Why is that? Why would it be different if it were a Republican?” I think is doing themselves and our profession and our democracy a disservice.
Look at what happened to Joe Plumber…Obama went into his neighborhood and went looking for the “Joe the Plumbers” and he was asked a reasonable question and Obama screwed up and admitted he is going to spread the wealth around – and what happens, the media turns Joe the Plumber into the worst person on the planet and park outside his house and torture just an American Joe.
Meanwhile the unrepentant terrorist gets called a 60’s radical and that Obama was only 8 years old. What happened to the trucks outside Bill Ayers house? They never did it.
Do you know that know through letterheads, office leasing records and address filings that Obama and Ayers shared the same office for over 3 years after Obama knew he was a terrorist?
We are definitely not being told anywhere near the truth about Obama, ACORN, Ayers and the other cast of characters.
There is one recurring theme among all the associations that we are supposed to ignore and that is they ALL want America and specifically capitalism to fail. So if you are a far left liberal or a socialist you can’t be questioned or somehow questioning a socialist tenet now amounts to racism.
I suggest you really take some time and read the FBI files on SDS and Weather Underground and see their plans for America. They wanted to create enough of an uprising to force the United States to fail and they expected North Vietnam, Russia, China and Cuba to split up the country. Their long term plans included re-education centers starting in the southwest and those that wouldn’t abandon their capitalist ways for communism were to be eliminated – they had expected to have to murder 25,000,000,000 Americans to get this done.
Now go look at where those scumbag radicals all went. Into education and ACORN. This is a systematic attempt to move America off capitalism and into socialism with some guise of Free Markets and they are feeding radical garbage into students heads.
This country is going to erupt into civil war over this crap. Only 13% of country supports such a radical agenda and if you want to believe that the combination of Obama, Pelosi, Dodd, Frank, Reid and others is going to help this country then you should look carefully of Pelosi’s track record over the last two years and revisit her opening address speech when she became speaker. Name one thing she promised that she delivered on?
If you want to pass off the 100+ coincidences connecting Obama to radicals and countries that harbor terrorists and would like to see capitalism destroyed in the USA…then I would suggest your desire for a far left liberal to be in office is clouding your otherwise good judgment.
Doesn’t it bother you that with all the money and the ad spots, the economy, George Bush, etc that Obama doesn’t have a 30 point lead at this point? That should be a red flag.
How many points ahead would Hillary be right now?
The reason the polls are so close is that people don’t trust Obama and not because of his skin color but because of who he does business with.
(579) I thought the swiftboat stuff was deplorable any attack on someone who served this country is just unbelievable. I didn’t vote for Bush.
Look at the swiftboat the DNC and liberal media just did to Joe the Plumber.
Obama in the IL senate voted to raise taxes over 300 times.
He voted at least 45 times in US senate to raise taxes and the number depending on how you look at the votes could be as high as 96 times.
He voted on at least two budget resolutions that raised taxes on people making $42k a year and those resolutions will happen once the Bush tax cuts expire.
Obama will push this country into a deep depression and then try to leverage a euro-socialist agenda to save the country – why…because he wants to be an historic figure.
He has a serious messiah complex and therefore is a very dangerous person.
You guys want to talk about how great things are in France, Sweden, etc…you really should do the numbers on the GDP, etc and see where it comes out. I know because I did all the analysis on it and if we move toward a model in France you can wipe 16% of our GDP right off the table.
An Obama/Pelosi blank check government is going to bury us for decades.
Joe do you seriously believe that Obama/Pelosi will actually cut spending and institute the reforms we need at this point?
Keep your eyes on North Korea…going to be a rough week with them. Look like a military coup has taken over the country.
In response to Colin Powell’s endorsement where in the MSM have you heard about the endorsement of McCain by four former secretaries of state, Secretaries (Henry) Kissinger, (James) Baker, (Larry) Eagleburger and (Alexander) Haig. What about the endorsement of well over 200 retired Army generals and admirals.
Harvard Lawyers are now backing McCain.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/a_harvard_trial_lawyer_for_mcc.html
So what exactly has Senator Obama done in his life or work experience that makes you believe that he is qualified to be the leader of the most important country in the world?
What has he done?
(585) He hasn’t voted with Bush 90%+ of the time. His V.P. is not the scariest thing to come along since Freddie Krueger.
(586) Just like Obama you don’t answer the question. Because you can’t. You just hate George Bush so much that you will let the country go into a depression just to get back at George Bush.
Why is Palin scary? Because she is a white, pro-life mother, wife who has had a great career and got into politics for all the right reasons.
Paul you can’t answer the Sarah Palin question because anything you say about her “lack” of experience exposes your blind acceptance of Obama. He is without a doubt the least qualified person to ever run for office of President in the history of this country.
Joe just watch this video in Obama’s own words:
Now that you know what you know about ACORN doesn’t this bother you?
How is this not being objective?
How is this not being objective?
Listen to the insanity of the liberal democrats.
Cuomo states that it is pervasive situation in which institutions are not approving mortgages because of the applicants have a bad credit history. He claims it is because of race because African Americans are being denied 2:1. No where did the bank say they were discriminating because of color.
He even goes on to say they expect a significant foreclosure rate on these loans…
ALL of these people involved should be thrown out of our government – this is the biggest fraud that has ever been put over the American taxpayer and we are all paying for it.
For THIS reason alone it makes no sense to vote in a candidate that was part of this and will not do anything about it.
Watch the video – how is the information not being shown in these videos objective?
Can you imagine if McCain had the exposure with Fannie Mae and ACORN what the MSM media would be saying?
How do you think NYT’s etc would be reporting this?
All of this should bother you ALL in a big way.
Thx for correction – it was federal prosecutor for Weathermen case that argues Ayers should not be connected to Obama. This is a significant point.
Although I don’t think networks outside of FOX and MSNBC are “in the tank” for candidates, I certainly agree that where almost all the talk radio and FOX folks favor McCain most of the CNN, CBS NBC, ABC folks are likely to support Obama. But I don’t think this has colored the coverage in a problematic way. I do think *all* coverage is superficial, ignores issues in favor of horserace and entertainment and conflict, etc, etc.
Powell’s Obama endorsement today, along with that of Zacharia, were very thoughtful. They both give Obama the credit he deserves for being a sharp thinker with a global perspective. IMHO we need that more than any other attribute right now.
Glenn to answer about whether Obama and a Democratic congress will act fiscally responsibly we both know the answer is NO, though I don’t think they’ll match the reckless, hypocritical nightmare spending we’ve seen over the past 8 years. THE DEFICIT has almost DOUBLED! Some right this off as “we are fighting a war” but that’s crap – we are dooming ourselves with deficit spending and GW has been leading the charge. It is unconscionable. McCain to his credit opposed it, but his spending plans don’t have enough cuts to make me even remotely think he’s got a better plan than Obama. FYI you *must* make huge military cuts to balance our budget. You either are going to deficit spend or cut military massively. There’s no mathematical alternative because the military spend is staggering – a huge percentage of total Gov. spend.
I might even have voted differently if McCain had actually proposed a reasoned approach – massive cuts in military and entitlement waste – to balancing the budget and had not chosen somebody so totally unprepared to lead this country as VP. Also like Powell and Buckley I believe that Obama’s intellect and leadership abilities are exceptional. He’s got a long history of managing elites and regular folks, reducing tensions and bringing people together.
Obama’s intellect and leadership abilities are exceptional. He’s got a long history of managing elites and regular folks, reducing tensions and bringing people together.
Ha Glenn – when read that back I had a strong hunch you won’t be agreeing with me …. 😯
*INCOMING!*
Glenn, if the sheer volume of your posts could change my mind I’d be voting for McSame, but alas ’tis not the case. I think Powell’s endorsement speaks volumes about the concerns many have about the numerous ways in which McCain comes up short. I got my ballot yesterday and it is going in the mail tomorrow. Palin, simply put, is utterly unqualified for the position she has been put in. I can’t put it any more simply than that, and I am far from the only person who feels that way – your opinion to the contrary notwithstanding.
(590,591) Joe…lol
Well one thing is for sure…McCain/Pelosi are definitely going to spend less than Obama/Pelosi.
Keep in mind Joe that we had a vote or change in 2006 and we put the Democrats in. In the last two years the deficit has increased at a much higher rate than the previous 6 years and that doesn’t even include the bail-out.
As I have said I did not vote for Bush in 2006, I agreed with the change but the change was about the Iraq war not the economy.
When Pelosi stepped in she promised a new level of ethics, etc…arguably the last two years has shown a clear disconnect from what Pelosi promised and what her Congress delivered. From my perspective a vote for Obama would in fact be more of the same and if you trend out the last two years of spending (even remove the war funding) and you will not like it. 4 more years of Pelosi spending supercharged with the most liberal president this country has ever seen – the trend shows Obama/Pelosi could have 8 trillion more to the deficit we already have.
A spending freeze is required and any program that is wasteful needs to be eliminated. Pork has to go to restore the honor and integrity with our congresses votes – today they are all bought and paid for. Lobbyists need to go.
These are things within reach of a John McCain, they would never come in to play with Obama.
He will raise taxes to the highest levels we have ever seen and we will be in a depression for probably a decade.
Before we can fix anything else we need to reform our system that has allowed all this monkey business to go on and can you imagine how much will be happening with Obama/Pelosi?
(591) Joe thanks for putting something forth that is reasonable. I think Obama is smart and just a wee-bit too slippery for me. He doesn’t manage regular folk, he is arrogant and looks down upon them as a lesser class and I just can’t accept that. I also think he has done more to fracture this country than any other candidate ever has. History will prove me right because we are going to have a civil rights type of unrest in this country now for years to come.
Do you really think tensions are at ease now? The Obama backlash if he gets elected will be quite significant. The amount of jobs cut in US companies will be staggering and almost immediate.
It is shameful that the liberal left (including Obama) is playing the race card so hard this year in a way to induce white guilt – it’s just wrong and I just don’t understand it.
Obama is the type of politician that will sacrifice his principles and will waver in his decisions to remain popular or get elected and those type of leaders squander big opportunities for our country and for us.
When you review all his campaigns in IL and through the primary Obama was always way ahead in the polls but when the decisions were made the results were a lot different than predicted. Obama needs a solid 6 point lead come election day just to break even with the vote. McCain is still very much in this race and has a strong chance of winning.
Isn’t it a shame we can produce a candidate that could carry more than 50% of vote? That would be nice.
(592) Paul I would never try to change your vote. You should absolutely vote your conscience and what you want.
I just try to understand why people are going down the path they are.
Your response to vote is not really about McCain. I think you are voting for Obama for two reasons:
1) You hate Bush
2) You don’t understand Palin
Both are perfectly legitimate reasons. My only remaining question is then why vote for Obama? You have not presented anything concrete on why he DESERVES your important vote?
For me I can’t reconcile all the connections Obama has, I cannot reconcile the fact that he won’t release basic things about his life. I look at Obama’s credentials and I know for a fact he would never pass the muster to be hired as an executive in any of my companies or for that matter any company that I have ever worked with. His only executive experience was a complete failure and he happened to do that with a terrorist.
The Ayers connection is a big problem for me. He is no different than a Bin Laden. I could never support anyone in any shape or manner that continues a relationship with someone when they know they were a terrorist and still harbor the exact same radical feelings. Why hasn’t Obama come out and slammed Ayers to the boards? He said what he did was awful but Barack and Michelle still heap praise on him – that is just too far off the reservation for me.
What would you do if you were sitting in a room and you found out you were with a terrorist and then you saw his interview on 9/11 making the statements he did? I know what I would do…
The capper is the fact that I don’t want to see spending go on like it is and Obama’s plans are the biggest increases in spending this country has ever seen and its just not going to work.
And remember ACORNS don’t fall far from their trees.
The Tax debate aka “Joe the Plumber” could not get much dumber, but I’m totally confused by people who seem to think Joe’s taxes would go up under Obama and that a lot of Plumbers make 250k per year. They don’t and it’s *beyond stupid* to think they do – it requires a complete lack of understanding of American middle class income levels.
Glenn do you have any idea what that’s about? Joe’s *current* situation seems much like the majority of middle class Americans which means his taxes would be cut more by Obama.
Of course you can make a case that it’s better for cconomy to cut taxes as McCain wants to do, and to keep capital gains taxes lower, but McCain’s plan does not appear to help Joe…unless he buys that business and – incredibly – it makes him more than 250k per year.
Few small businesses make that much, so why are people thinking Joe the Plumber will go from his current pay which is probably about 50k annually), to 250k simply because he buys a business that almost certainly does NOT make that much now!
Glenn I think Colin Powell’s endorsement today was a very articulate statement of why one should both trust Obama and be skeptical of Palin’s abilities:
Nbc.com is best link for video but here’s a summary:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/presidentbush/2008/10/colin-powell-a.html
(595) For a company to make $250k a year or more is not a bit stretch. You are talking about a professional service company with 3-5 technicians depending on SIC.
And the issue comes down to how the plan shakes out.
Most small 3-5 person companies cannot afford to offer healthcare to the employees and Obama is going to force them to.
I think the issues with “taxes” is how your business impacted by his policies. I.e. you can get a tax credit if you hire someone – now we all know that is just a bunch of horse hockey. The costs of employing a person always outweigh by a mile the benefit of a token tax credit.
The impact of capital gains increase…remember when you sell your business it is taxed as capital gains in most cases not just income. So now at the end of the day for businesses that actually generate between 300k-500k a year in a lot of cases the owners will net $30-$50k under Obama. What will happen is most people will say why bother?, why have all the liability, insurance, etc it just isn’t worth it.
I can get work for someone else, have health benefits given to me, not have any liability and I will just continue to collect a pay check and on the weekends I will just watch sports, etc…
CEO’s overwhelmingly do not support his tax policy on businesses. You have to look at the entire picture and it just doesn’t confine itself to the tax rate.
Additionally raising the corporate income tax is suicide or the USA. I know for a fact that some large companies will cut up to 1/3 of their workforce within the next 6 month if Obama gets elected – it is viewed at a pre-preemptive move and many will replace headcount overseas. The underlying reason is companies do not believe the economy can handle the increase in product/service pricing that will be required.
I don’t think a lot of people realize that the prices we pay are dramatically impacted by corporate taxes. The two smartest things we could would be to eliminate corporate tax 100% and eliminate capital gains.
They are two of the worst taxes we have that directly impact our economy and job growth.
I feel bad for small businesses now. I know how hard it was for me for so many years and the Reagan tax cuts and changes really opened up the small business market and one key thing about recovery with job layoffs, etc is the fact that experienced people that lose their jobs frequently start their own business – that will not happen this time.
Every recovery we have had since the 80’s has been on the backs of small business.
If Obama gets elected I am sure we will have a lot to discuss about this and we will know soon enough.
The VC’s are already dramatically pulling back this is even worse than it was in 2003 after the dot.com bust.
Joe have you read about the FairTax? I think you would find it fascinating – the direct impact on GDP would be staggering and no one in America would be below the poverty line – those that are at or under the poverty line would get check every week. There is more than enough money in our economy to support a consumption tax with the proper “regressive-proof” policies to keep it fair. My back of the napkin estimates place the fairtax in provide a $9 trillion windfall to the government based on our current GDP. With the FairTax we would see our GDP around $23 trillion instead of $13.8 trillion as it is today. That gap alone would pretty much provide the ability for us to destroy our outrageous debt.
I hope we see a day where we actually get a simplified and very easy tax system. I think our current system forces otherwise good people to do bad things – look at Rangel, etc
(596) Joe, if Obama were a white guy with his voting record there is no way Colin Powell would have ever endorsed him. Just look at Powell’s track record. This was politically motivated and race based. Clear as day.
The fact he did it on NBC was the final proof…he wasn’t even asked any reasonable questions…
Like…what about Obama not supporting the surge, his response to Georgia, etc?
Those questions should have been asked.
I respect Powell but this was just a political move. The endorsements Obama has on the military side of things does not even come close to comparing the endorsements McCain has. Don’t bother trying to show the wiki pages…Obama has staff that just keep updating that, McCain does not. McCain has well over 200 Generals and Admirals that are endorsing him. There is no comparison.
The fact Obama was wrong about the surge, wrong about Afghanistan, wrong about Georgia and wrong about Pakistan is staggering. His incompetence on military strategy and international position is mind blowing.
Let me give you a perfect example:
You never say you are going to attack a sovereign nation like he did in regard to Pakistan. We have permission to hit inside of Pakistan but it can’t be public and we have to let the leaders in the country demonstrate outrage about it to keep a civil war from erupting in their country. Pakistan has over 200 million people and the Taliban is not just on the border with Afghanistan they are throughout the entire country and heavily supported in the south.
If Obama were president and made those statement publicly like he has done these past two years there would be a civil war in Pakistan and that doesn’t help anyone.
Obama is scary on this front and his words are dangerous. Just like when Murtha claimed those soldiers were murdering civilians in cold blood and he was absolutely sure of it, those soldiers were completely cleared and yet he has never apologized – no Democrat has put it on the floor that he needs to do that.
I think an Obama, Reid, Murtha mouthpiece in regard to our military is very scary.
Remember even Biden stated publicly that Obama was wrong on these things and wasn’t ready to lead.
You know what I can’t figure out Joe is how Obama can say stuff like this:
“Socialism!” he said incredulously to a crowd of more than 10,000. “It’s kind of hard to figure how Warren Buffet endorsed me.
Warren Buffet and George Soros both are huge supporters of socialistic welfare-states.
I don’t understand why socialism is a dirty word to Obama. Anybody that knows about Buffet and Soros know they are hugely supportive of socialism and welfare.
This is what bothers me about Obama. He has to say things that are just un-true and he basically tricks people.
For some reason just because Buffet is great with investing doesn’t mean he is against welfare. In fact the policies he has supported have greatly benefited him but have hurt this country and economy.
Buffet is buddies with Soros, Corzine and Rubin – they are all far left liberals with a socialist agenda.
The core problem is many of the people voting for Obama don’t realize what the real agenda is here.
Joe do you realize that the new tax rates for sole proprietors and partners will go to 50.3% Pelosi and others want to increase the planned 40% ceiling by Obama to over 50% for s-corps.
Keep in mind this will hit all the LLC’s that operating as an s-corp.
This type of tax increase is insanity. Can you imagine having to pay over 50% of your income?
Legal tax avoidance but tax crimes, tax shelters, etc would go through the roof.
So take Mr. Shop Owner that is a sole prop or partnership with his wife. Day 1. No more credit cards, ok tax man figure out how much money I make.
People will not open businesses. There is a taxing law that applies here: Taxing something more and getting less of it.
These tax increases are just plain madness.
Joe did you see the DCI scandal emerging. Freddie Mac spent $2 million on lobbyists to thwart the regulation billed sponsored by Hagel and McCain.
These nine caved in to DCI lobbying and did NOT sign the letter:
Nine of the 17 targeted Republican senators did not sign Hagel’s letter: Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Christopher “Kit” Bond and Jim Talent of Missouri, Conrad Burns of Montana, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and George Allen of Virginia.
Interest how Chafee is an Obama supporter – he know if McCain wins he is toast. All of these bums should be thrown out of office.
These other targeted Republicans DID sign the letter and ignored the DCI attempts to thwart the process:
Sens. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Jim Bunning of Kentucky, Larry Craig of Idaho, John Ensign of Nevada, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, George Voinovich of Ohio and David Vitter of Louisiana. Santorum, Crapo and Bunning were on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and had voted in favor of sending the bill to the full Senate.
100% of the lobbying activity needs to be outlawed.
Of course you literally have every single Democrat who would not sign on to the legislation. We have such a horrible system.
No wonder we are always getting hosed!
Warren Buffett is a Republican. None of what you have written about him bears any resemblance to reality. He and Soros have rarely crossed paths, and their investment styles could not be more different.
Bush’s tax cuts were plain madness. What exactly did they do that has prevented the economic catastrophe?
Under Clinton tons of new businesses open their doors and flourished.
When my father filed his first tax return as a professional, the top rate was above 80%. The economy was booming. You simply are way way off.
(602) Yes let’s go back to how great it was under Carter.
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6031270
Even Donaldson knows what is going on…lol
JCH I beg to differ on literally all of your discussion points – I have built many companies and have two that have exceeded 1 billion in value, created thousands of jobs and I started my businesses with my own efforts my capital and my ideas. I know how hard it is going to be be under Obama’s plans.
It isn’t going to work. You know at one point Russia thought communism was a great thing.
Take China for example their GDP by citizen is under $2500 while the USA is over $45,000.
Socialism and Communism is not about helping out people in need is about expanding power of the government for control and power for the elite that are elected. It is disgusting in our supposedly intelligent country that people wouldn’t want more control and freedom over their own lives.
(602) Just to make it clear, I grew up in middle class family and never had a lot of extra stuff. I used to get used toys and hand me downs all the time.
You know we didn’t care, we were happy and we appreciated what we had and took care of it.
All of that has been lost now.
When I was 14 I had paper routes that were so large when I turned them over when I was 16 they split them into 4 routes. I did the morning and evening paper, got up and had the papers on the doorsteps by 6:30am every day and then by 5pm. They split them into 4 routes because that was too much to expect of someone.
I slaved in kitchens all through college to pay my own way.
I busted my butt all the way through to get success because that is exactly what it takes not getting handouts from the government.
More on the Fannie/Freddie Lobby – very disturbing and I’d like to see many heads roll in this. Lobbyists should be held accountable if they mislead congress, and the penalty should be … very severe 😯 😯 😯
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081019/the_influence_game_housing.html
Glenn an excellent point about capital gains on sale of business – that needs to be factored into the equation because you are certainly right that many folks build their biz, sell, and then use that for retirement. That number will often be well above 250k
So the calculation gets very complicated for Joe the Plumber since he’s likely to pay *less* under Obama initially, then more if he sells the joint.
(602) JCH in the NYT’s article yesterday about Obama’s economic plan.
“If you talk to Warren [Buffet], he’ll tell you his preference is not to meddle in the economy at all — let the market work, however way it’s going to work, and then just tax the heck out of people at the end and just redistribute it,” Obama said. “That way you’re not impeding efficiency, and you’re achieving equity on the back end.” He continued by saying that he thought there was some merit in Buffett’s argument.
So that doesn’t like a Republican to me.
But once again we have Obama publicly stating he sees merit in taxing the heck out of people and redistributing it.
This is a Socialist tenet
ACORN + CRA forcing banks to give out mortgages to anyone.
Gauranteed housing: another Socialist tenet
Should I keep going?
(605) More to the issue Joe…if you know you are going to have additional overhead imposed on your business like under Obama’s plan, healthcare, increased taxes, plus if you are not in an environmentally friendly business you will have even higher penalties and fees (i.e. lawn care, pest control).
You will do less for your business, ie. buy more equipment, trucks, and hiring. The net result will be a snowball slowdown in the most important segment of the economy that we will need to lean on to help with the recovery.
(605) Joe btw…the only reason to start a business is to eventually sell it for a multiple 🙂
Whoa – Glenn the Haditha soldiers were not cleared by any means – that is a lie O’Reilly has been propagating until nobody bothers to look up the details.
Some had charges dropped to testify about all the false statements and coverup that was going on after the killings. Conflicting reports and time made prosecution difficult.
I’m not ready to condemn the whole episode because war is complicated and I want to believe they were returning fire, but at the very least some really bad stuff went down and many soldiers lied about what happened. The full story is not yet clear and may never be.
(609) The way Murtha spoke of it..it was the same as the baby killing lines used during Vietnam. Until you have directly experienced combat people have no idea what goes down.
It happens all the time that civs get tagged but it rarely happens as a deliberate plan or revenge. Detroit and Chicago have higher murder rates than we do within our military.
I am not suggesting anyone get away with anything but for Murtha to do what he did was just wrong. Those soliders were responding to orders.
The charges were dropped but their private lives were ruined because of Murtha’s comments. Too bad Murtha doesn’t have that kind of rage for a person like Bill Ayers.
There is one Staff Sargent that still needs his trial. But all other defendant’s had their cases dropped.
Joe here is proof of Obama is lying about his relationship with Ayers.
Watch it and decide.
This is ultimately what is troubling about the Ayers connection, none of this adds up.
If you use the very broad definitions of socialism folks are bandying about lately *everybody* in the USA is either voting for socialists or a socialist! It’s true but meaningless. Bush, McCain, Reagan, Thomas Jefferson are all socialists by the “redistribution” and “share the wealth” arguments!
Redistribution of income? Almost everybody believes there should be some forms of Government help to some people and to do even a penny of help by Govt you need redistribution. It’s a matter of degree.
We have a lot of redistribution now – I’d argue the USA is clearly a socialist country right now, mostly because we use progressive taxation which really hammers wealthy folks.
McCain wants to keep our American socialism redistributions about the same, Obama wants more aggressive measures to tax higher incomes and spend on social programs but I think is more likely that McCain to see the error of his ways as our economy recedes with the rash of spending we are heading for.
Unless you oppose completely the military, public roads, and *every single one* of the thousands of tax funded projects that help us collectively OR individually, you favor socialism by the ridiculous definitions I’m hearing from the FOX folks.
If Obama is a socialist, then so is *everybody*!
I do agree Murtha should not have prejudged them and you are right charges were mostly dropped. However several of the drops were for immunity from prosecution and if you read the many accounts of the incident they are *extremely* disturbing to somebody who thinks that soldiers in almost all instances behave professionally and with honor and dignity.
I have a lot of faith in the honor of military guys in general, but when I read about the isolated incidents like Haditha I have to admit it really shakes me up. I think they are very uncommon, but I get angry when they are held up as examples of “legitimate use of force”. It is very hard to make that case in this case.
Glenn I didn’t see anything in the YouTube I didn’t already know. Why isn’t there footage of them together? Because they had a very minor connection. I’ve been on boards with people before for over a year, including retreats and such, and I know you have too, and sometimes you don’t even know the basics about the other folks. I think Obama knew something about Ayers, but I don’t see any reason to think Obama shares Ayers whacky views about anarchism and such.
I don’t listen to Ayers to understand Obama, I listen to Obama to understand Obama and he’s a very sharp and thoughtful guy. As Colin Powell noted today – he’ll do a good job.
JCH you want to talk about how great everything was under Clinton, etc…
1996: GDP growth 4%, Unemployment 5.5%, Inflation 3%
2004: GDP growth 3.2%, Unemployment 5.6%, Inflastion 2.5%
And then in
2006: Gasoline $2.30 a gallon,
GDP growth: 3.1%, Unemployment 4.4%, Inflation 3.24%
2008: Gasoline $3.00+ hit highs of $5.00
GDP growth: 1.2% , Unemployment 6.4% , Inflation 4.6%
Yeah Pelosi has done wonders since taking over the checkbook in Washington!
(614) The point was Obama stated that he though Ayers was rehabilitated that was after he said he was a friend but they weren’t close and that was after they said he served on a board together and that was after he said he was just some guy in the neighborhood.
Seriously do you buy any of that?
It is the point of disclosure. Obama is so arrogant that he doesn’t believe he owes the American people the truth – that is a very dangerous trait to have in your leader – as we have recently seen and has created to much derision in this country.
Obama will decide what he wants to tell you, he will also decide of how much of a lie he should use so he tries to remain popular.
I don’t see him being as thoughtful as much as I see him being manipulative – the Saul Alinsky way.
(612) I am totally against 100% of the welfare programs we have ever had, do have or are planning to have.
To not call what Obama is planning to do not “socialism” is just a way to divert once again his real intentions. I am going to take from you and give it to someone else.
Nobody wants to see people suffer but we all need personal accountability and a means to make things happen but cutting someone a check every month to keep them locked in a section of town that is filled with people who are preying on each other just isn’t the answer.
Teaching students to be radicals isn’t the answer…lol that is just plain stupid.
Obama should tell the American people exactly what he is planning to do and not colorfully cloak what his plans are. A lot of people don’t understand what is going to happen here with these tax increases and they are holding onto this unicorn and rainbow fantasy that just isn’t based in reality.
Gee Joe…they went after Palin for violating her ethics standards but what will they say about Obama:
In Obama’s tax returns from 2000,2002 he reports he has received monies for speaking engagements. Unfortunately for Obama that is in direct violation of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act.
2000: On his 2000 Schedule C-EZ, Barack reported that he received $16,500 as a “Foundation director/Educational speaker.”
2001: On his 2001 Schedule C-EZ, Barack reported $98,158 from a Chicago law firm, Miner, Barnhill, for “Legal services/attorney” (and nothing for speaking)
2002: On his 2002 Schedule C, Barack reported $34,491 for “LEGAL SERVCES / SPEAKING FEES.”
These “speaking fees” are in addition to the amounts that Barack was paid as an employee, a lecturer at the University of Chicago, reported on the first page of his 1040s.
So let’s see if the MSM media reports on how Obama broke the Illinois Ethics law?
But hey they put Joe the Plumber through the ringer but don’t touch the ONE.
Glenn the speaking fees does look like it may be something that should be investigated. Like Palin’s violations of the Alaska ethics act this was probably not something he or she had carefully reviewed.
However it may simply be the difference between normal speaking fees and fees for workshops and such, which would not fall under that act. As we did with Palin you need to wait for the information to be examined by independent parties.
Without knowing the precise situations and sources of these “SPEAKING FEES” in 2002 and payments as an “Educational speaker” in 2000, it is impossible to be certain whether any of this compensation meets the statutory definition of “a payment of money to a member of the General Assembly for an appearance or speech.”
“Sen. Obama also recognizes that small businesses are the engine of job growth in the economy. That is why he is proposing additional tax cuts, including a tax credit for small businesses that provide health care, and the elimination of capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups. The vast majority of small businesses would face lower taxes under the Obama plan than under the McCain plan. …”
Under the Obama plan Joe the Plumber would not pay a capital gains tax should he sell his theoretical plumbing business at a gain.
(620) JCH no one can figure out how his tax cuts work? No one can figure out who the 95% are…
And you are wrong about the capital gains…he would be taxed. You are also not talking about the increase of medicare, etc…
JCH thx for that clarification. All I could find was something suggesting an increase from 15 to 20 percent capital gains tax on those making more than 250k.
Glenn even that’s a modest increase and suggests Joe the Plumber is far better off under Obama’s plan even if he builds the biz into a million dollar value where he’d only be paying an extra 50k or so in taxes while saving a lot in the earlier years.
Glenn use some some ballpark numbers so I can understand what the heck folks are talking about with Joe the Plumber. You can make a case that taxing the rich hurts the economy but that is NOT the discussion here – the question is simply will Joe and similar folks who are considering a small biz be better off with McCain or Obama. Based on what I’ve read the answer appears to be … Obama’s plan assuming he’ll be making a normal small biz income and selling for about 5x EBITA to retire.
It’s easy to figure out the 95%.
95% of the Americans who file a 1040/other federal income tax reurn will get a tax cut under the Obama plan.
(623) JCH at least 45% of those people already don’t pay any taxes so how do they get a tax cut?
Why are you still playing the talking points game when we are trying to get specific?
(622) Joe he originally planned putting cap gains at 28% and then backed down from pressure…however his original plan was 28% and he will probably bring it back there.
Did you see Biden’s comments yesterday?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/biden-to-suppor.html
This guy is a complete idiot and you guys are worried about Palin.
What is wrong with this voter registration companies?
They should close them all down and come up with a solution that works. This is total BS.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/20/republican-voter-registration-chief-arrested-fraud-california/
That is not true.
First, they all pay payroll taxes. People who are at the very low end of the wage scale, if they qualify, can get some of their payroll taxes back. That is a tax cut.
People are conflating people who do not file federal tax return with people who do file a federal tax return. Half of the 95% make roughly $66,000 or less, but to suggest 45% of the 95% do not pay taxes at all is a lie.
The multiple personalities of the Daily Kos…lol
April 2004 about Colin Powell…
Uncle Tom Powell Stumps for Massah Bush
Yes suh! Yes suh! Right away suh!
Mr. Powell sir, you are a liar and an apologist for a crooked regime known as the George W. Bush administration.
And now…
Powell didn’t just decimate the McCain campaign rationale, however. Powell also offered up an endorsement of Barack Obama in the strongest possible terms, saying that Obama would be an “exceptional president” and that he had the capacity to be “transformational.”
But thankfully we have Joe Biden to remind us just how unready Obama is to lead…lol
(626) JCH once again you are incorrect.
About 45% of the people who currently pay payroll taxes today get a refund already for their taxes.
We are ONLY talking about the people that file.
You are the one misleading people about this tax issue.
For those people that don’t pay taxes when they file…is Obama going to send them a check?
What about the impact of the earned income tax? about 20% already get big fat checks that are filing?
JCH I have no problem taxing people who make a lot of money and in fact I don’t think wealthy people have a problem even paying a little more than their fair share. The problem that the job creators, business people, wealthy in this country have is that you don’t hand out checks to people just because they have decided for whatever reason to not step it up and do something about their own situation.
Obama’s tax plan is the biggest welfare program ever instituted in this country and it is income redistribution.
He will tax something more and end up with less and that is how get back on the path to 80% rates which is insanity. He is going to increase the death tax is by definition is double taxation which we are supposed to be protected from in this country. In some states with the Federal death tax the rate is 90%.
Of course Obama being endorsed by the New Party and Obama welcoming that endorsement doesn’t lead to any further investigation that maybe he really is a socialist.
Under Obama’s plan they will get around $500 more. It is coming from their income, not somebody else’s.
And they spend it and it stimulates the economy. That allows the job creators to create more jobs.
You said 45% do not pay taxes, and that is a lie. They all pay payroll taxes. Not all the 95% pays income taxes.
90% of what, Glenn? Medicaid spend down requires most to spend down to $2000. That one will get most Americans. It’s highly unlikely that your estate will ever pay a penny in “death” taxes. Lol.
(630) Depends on what state you live in. States like Florida has homestead provisions which protect your estate so once again you not quite telling the whole story.
Where is Paul Harvey when you need him?
(629) JCH once again you are spinning things…payroll taxes…what exactly do you think payroll taxes are? LOL.
Payroll taxes is the income tax!
(630) JCH I found an explanation that should put it in perspective for you.
Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
Read the entire post from David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.Professor of Economics University of Georgia
http://experimentumcrucis.blogspot.com/2008/10/friday-office-e-mail.html
I’ve argued all along there is plenty of blame to go around – and there are some messy links to McCain, though Democrats hardly get a free ride on this.
From AP report today:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse.
In the cross hairs of the campaign carried out by DCI of Washington were Republican senators and a regulatory overhaul bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. DCI’s chief executive is Doug Goodyear, whom John McCain’s campaign later hired to manage the GOP convention in September.
Freddie Mac’s payments to DCI began shortly after the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee sent Hagel’s bill to the then GOP-run Senate on July 28, 2005. All GOP members of the committee supported it; all Democrats opposed it.
In the midst of DCI’s yearlong effort, Hagel and 25 other Republican senators pleaded unsuccessfully with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to allow a vote.
“If effective regulatory reform legislation … is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole,” the senators wrote in a letter that proved prescient.
Unknown to the senators, DCI was undermining support for the bill in a campaign targeting 17 Republican senators in 13 states, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The states and the senators targeted changed over time, but always stayed on the Republican side.
In the end, there was not enough Republican support for Hagel’s bill to warrant bringing it up for a vote because Democrats also opposed it and the votes of some would be needed for passage. The measure died at the end of the 109th Congress.
McCain, R-Ariz., was not a target of the DCI campaign. He signed Hagel’s letter and three weeks later signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill.
By the time McCain did so, however, DCI’s effort had gone on for nine months and was on its way toward killing the bill.
In recent days, McCain has said Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were “one of the real catalysts, really the match that lit this fire” of the global credit crisis. McCain has accused Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama of taking advice from former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and failing to see that the companies were heading for a meltdown.
McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, or his lobbying firm has taken more than $2 million from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dating to 2000. In December, Freddie Mac contributed $250,000 to last month’s GOP convention.
Obama has received $120,349 in political donations from employees of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; McCain $21,550.
The Republican senators targeted by DCI began hearing from prominent constituents and financial contributors, all urging the defeat of Hagel’s bill because it might harm the housing boom. The effort generated newspaper articles and radio and TV appearances by participants who spoke out against the measure.
Inside Freddie Mac headquarters in 2005, the few dozen people who knew what DCI was doing referred to the initiative as “the stealth lobbying campaign,” according to three people familiar with the drive.
They spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying they fear retaliation if their names were disclosed.
Freddie Mac executive Hollis McLoughlin oversaw DCI’s drive, according to the three people.
“Hollis’s goal was not to have any Freddie Mac fingerprints on this project and DCI became the hidden hand behind the effort,” one of the three people told the AP.
Before 2004, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were Democratic strongholds. After 2004, Republicans ran their political operations. McLoughlin, who joined Freddie Mac in 2004 as chief of staff, has given $32,250 to Republican candidates over the years, including $2,800 to McCain, and has given none to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics.
On Friday night, Hagel’s chief of staff, Mike Buttry, said Hagel’s legislation “was the last best chance to bring greater oversight and tighter regulation to Freddie and Fannie, and they used every means they could to defeat Sen. Hagel’s legislation every step of the way.”
“It is outrageous that a congressionally chartered government-sponsored enterprise would lobby against a member of Congress’s bill that would strengthen the regulation and oversight of that institution,” Buttry said in a statement. “America has paid an extremely high price for the reckless, and possibly criminal, actions of the leadership at Freddie and Fannie.”
Nine of the 17 targeted Republican senators did not sign Hagel’s letter: Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Christopher “Kit” Bond and Jim Talent of Missouri, Conrad Burns of Montana, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and George Allen of Virginia. Aside from the nine, 20 other Republican senators did not sign Hagel’s letter.
McConnell’s office said members of leadership do not sign letters to the leader. McConnell was majority whip at the time.
On Thursday, Freddie Mac acknowledged that the company “did retain DCI to provide public affairs support at the state and local level.” On Friday, DCI issued a four-sentence statement saying it complied with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations in representing Freddie Mac. Neither Freddie Mac nor DCI would say how much Goodyear’s consulting firm was paid.
Freddie Mac paid DCI $10,000 a month for each of the targeted states, so the more states, the more money for DCI, according to the three people familiar with the program. In addition, Freddie Mac paid DCI a group retainer of $40,000 a month plus $20,000 a month for each regional manager handling the project, the three people said.
© 2008 The Associated Press.
Nice rationalization. You are finally getting around to figuring out how a majority can do whatever it wants.
There is not plenty of blame to pass around. The Republicans were the primary architects of the credit crisis, and almost all of the blame goes to them.
The homestead protection does not even begin to jive with your hysteria about “death” taxes. The estate of Bill Gates will pay an inheritance tax. I think his house probably has a little more than a measly 500,000 in equity.
(634) JCH even Bill Clinton and Alex Baldwin understand where the majority of the blame goes…you are still in some far left liberal cone of silence and have installed some new far left hearing babelfish translator in your ears!
And your wrong once again about the homestead act. You are referencing the wrong provision.
Paul and JCH…how do you feel about Obama’s Global Poverty Tax?
How are we possibly going to be able to support that?
LOL…Obama needs to attend taxaholics anonymous!
Hey JCH here is a proper analysis on Obama’s tax cuts and the bottom line.
An excerpt from the blog entry.
How on earth does someone come to the conclusion that work is fairly rewarded by taxing those who have more money and redistributing those taxes to those who have less?
On top of that, to try and cleverly shift the focus of these so-called “tax cuts” from federal income tax to the “other” federal taxes workers pay in an attempt to justify calling these government payouts “tax cuts” is remarkably disingenuous on two levels.
First, go back to the John Smith example alluded to earlier. The amount of money he and his wife get for free from Obama’s “Making Work Pay Tax Credit” is based on the federal income tax he owes – not Social Security tax, Medicare or anything else. If John (who is married) owes $400 in federal income tax, he and his wife get back $600. If he owes $510, they get $490. If he owes nothing, he gets it all. That fact alone makes the entire issue legitimately a federal income tax issue, as conservatives accurately point out.
Second, many Americans who pay these “other” non-income taxes already get much of that money back through a well-known “refundable tax credit” currently in existence called the earned-income tax credit.
Facts are nasty little buggers, aren’t they?
http://romanaround.blogtownhall.com/2008/10/20/its_an_untruth,_mr_obama_you_know_it,_and_100,000_people_bought_it.thtml
(634)(635) – This just cracks me up…Glenn STILL says, despite the AP story, it is all the Dems fault; JCH still says all the Repubs. fault; neither of you are willing to concede any ground to the other despite the facts that run totally counter to that and the additional issue that some of the causes don’t have political roots (i.e. consumers get some of the blame for being stupid enough to think housing prices could only go up and up and up and up and for over-leveraging themselves so horribly). You both still insist on a one or two smoking guns for a crisis that has a multitude of causes and you want it to be the other parties fault…would that it were that simple and that clean but it just isn’t.
(638) Paul I never said it wasn’t the Republicans fault. There are plenty to blame. However a good portion if not the majority of the blames falls squarely at the feet of the people supporting Freddie and Fannie (specifically), CRA and ACORN.
Anyone who has supported any of these should be tossed. It was a bad idea when they started it, Obama still thought it was a good idea a year ago – obviously incompetent.
You must have missed my earlier post over the weekend where I called for those same Republicans you listed in your post to be tossed.
Anyone that knows what we know and can’t stand up and say Dodd, Frank, Schumer, Waters, etc you guys were dead wrong and your mostly to blame for the failure at Fannie is just not being honest.
Anyone saying that the Fannie collapse was not at the heart of the housing bubble burst just isn’t being honest.
Anyone involved with these scandals should be tossed – America deserves better than what we are getting.
In 2006 I called for the dirt bags to be tossed in the Republican party – I even voted across the board Democrat to help make it happen because of principle. Jan 2007 Pelosi promised major changes and the highest ethical, most honest and open Congress in history. She failed to deliver as well.
Alec Baldwin simply is not qualified to know what he is talking about. He fell for the “Barney Frank/Schumer/Dodd did it” ruse, which puts him and you at about the same level.
Bill Clinton fails to understand that the proposed F&F reform would have done nothing to eliminate the risk that has caused the credit crisis. Perhaps his proposals would have, but I doubt it.
Now Pelosi did it. Shock of shocks. George Bush did it. Okay. face it. Your boy screwed the world.
(629) “Anyone saying that the Fannie collapse was not at the heart of the housing bubble burst just isn’t being honest.”
I don’t deny Fannie and Freddie and the Dems support of both played a role, but you are leaving far too many components off the table.
I will cite but one with deep and pervasive Republican ties:
Derivatives and leverage have played a huge role in amplifying the destruction of this crisis. Credit Default Swaps made it possible to get AAA ratings on mortgage backed securities containing subprime and other vulnerable debt that Wall Street was able to sell globally, thus spreading the meltdown to banks abroad. Deregulation of the financial services industry is largely – though not exclusively – a Republican cause. Most of the leadership of the 5 major investment banks that failed, as well as the firms themselves, are closely linked to Republican lobbyists and have donated generously for decades to Republican candidates and causes. The huge growth in derivatives and in over-leveraged hedge funds is a direct outgrowth of deregulation begun by Reagan and advanced by his party ever since.
I have seen it cited numerous places that if not for the leverage, subprime would never have melted down the credit markets the way it has. Wall Street greed, and the high-powered tools they engineered, played a huge role in this crisis, not just Fannie and Freddie.
Correction: 5 did not fail; 2 failed (Bear Stearns & Lehman); 1 was bought out by B. of A. to prevent it from failing (Merrill); and 2 converted themselves to bank holding companies in order to survive (Goldman & J.P. Morgan). It is more accurate to say the 5 don’t exist anymore in their previoius form.
Paul how do you feel about your vote you mailed in today?
You have just voted for a guaranteed international crisis that will test the United States before June 2009?
It will either come from the Middle East or Russia and there are at least 5 scenarios that could occur.
You will also be scratching head by next summer wondering why Obama is making the decisions that he is making…
You will also have to believe in his choices because a popular decision is NOT sound.
So how on earth can anyone reconcile the fact that voting for Barack Obama is in fact a vote to guaranty of an international crisis that will test the United States within 8 months of today?
That vote is just plain dangerous. If Obama gets elected and if Biden’s predictions are correct you can count on me reminding you of it.
Paul, I don’t have to concede any ground because not a single accusation passes the smell test.
The F&F reform was not about regulating subprime. It was about mitigating the risk Volcker-style interest rates would pose to the F&F portfolio, which would have triggered a multi-tens of billion-dollar bailout. We haven’t had Volcker-style interest rates.
Opposing those regulations did nothing to trigger this crisis.
I don’t know why people feel compelled to “share” the blame. When somebody holds up a liquor store, I don’t feel too blameworthy.
F&F, because of the perceived government guarantee, can borrow money from investors looking for safety at very low interest rates. they took that money and purchased outside MBS, or securitized and retained their own MBS, and held that as an asset.
It had grown to a net of 1.5 trillion dollars. On the interest-rate spread, they were making around 25 billion a year in income.
Greenspan had rates at 1%. They were worried that inflation might overheat, which would force Greenspan to go on a Volcker-style inflation fight. That would have reversed the F&F spread and sent the 25 billion in income into tens of billions in loses.
That is what the how fight over S-190 was about. It had nothing to do with subprime and the housing bubble.
Whoever says that exotic/predatory subprime would not have melted down is nuts.
When Bernanke’s Fed completed its research, he found loans were defaulting on their first payment. I don;t know if they meant the payment at origination bounced, or it the following month’s payment bounced.
The median age of a subprime default is 24 months. A significant majority are less than 3 years old, and almost all of them are less than 5 years.
Exotic/predatory subprime foreclosure detonated this. Almost every single one of them originated with the Bush administration.
In 2006, before Frank and Pelosi took control, Bernanke issued guidelines that all but ended exotic/predatory subprime to unqualified borrowers. He used the regulatory authority over mortgage lending that had been given to the Fed by Clinton in 1994. That authority had been available to Greenspan in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, etc. He simply refused all requests, many made by Frank himself, to impose his authority on Ayn Rand’s sainted free market.
(646) NINJA – No Income, No Job, No Assets – NO PROBLEM.
The brilliance of the Democratic Party…
A Democrat who understands the problem in plain detail.
http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081017light.html
Excerpts:
An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:
I remember reading All the President’s Men and thinking: That’s journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.
This housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.
It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.
What is a risky loan? It’s a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.
The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can’t repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can’t make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.
They end up worse off than before.
These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was … the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was … the Republican Party.
It’s simply not true. The Democrats gave the Fed the authority to kill exotic/predatory subrpime at any time. Bernanke did kill it in 2006. No act of congress was required to allow him to act. The President had no say in it. Bernanke had the ability, just as Greenspan did, since 1994.
The proposed F&F regulation had nothing to do with reducing subprime lending. The president wanted more subprime. The Republicans in the Senate wanted more subprime. During the 2000s, they got their way.
Buffett, in a fantastic interview on Charlie Rose, suggested that the Fannie and Freddie downfall was like the detonator in the nuclear bomb of derivatives, which is where the massive liabilities lie.
Glenn I don’t follow your focus on the ACORN and CRA stuff which was a contributing factor but now appears to be a fairly minor one. Have you seen any data comparing defaults for loans to poor people vs defaults for rich people?
My wild guess is that any higher default rate will be erased by the higher loan values and there won’t be a correlation between income and total value of defaulted equity. A friend of mine has been doing residential RE investing in urban areas and has been surprised how many “middle class” homes are up for grabs due to foreclosures.
Glenn I don’t understand the zero tax option you seem to be advocating. Even the founders wanted a small percent federal tax, (though Franklin did note that at rates approaching 10% it might be time for another revolution ! 😯 ! )
How would you pay for collective stuff like military, roads, health care for neglected children, etc.?
Bernanke had the ability, just as Greenspan did, since 1994.
The proposed F&F regulation had nothing to do with reducing subprime lending. The president wanted more subprime. The Republicans in the Senate wanted more subprime. During the 2000s, they got their way.
JCH do you think Bernanke just didn’t know when to pull the trigger, hoping perhaps for values to stabilize and never collapse? For me the most frustrating thing is that *most of us have known for some time* that subprime was something of a ticking time bomb. However the *insiders* like GW, Bernanke, Paulson and some in Congress and Senate should have known about the potential for catastrophic failure of the system. That’s hard for outsiders to gauge because we were not looking at the FDIC data and such that must have been showing how over leveraged banks and investment houses had become.
Is GW expecting me to believe he could not have called his dad or any of hundreds of his close peeps or his dad’s peeps for a report on the status of all that big money leveraging? I think he probably didn’t because of the narrow focus on other crises and his assumption that the markets would work this out.
(651) Zero tax option? What is that? I am advocating a consumption based tax system. Everything gets taxed including the illegal money.
People that are at or below the poverty line receive money back to offset their tax impact and to lessen the regressive nature of consumption based taxes.
The biggest reason to support it is to remove the power the government currently has to play games and have their votes paid for by tax credits, increases in taxes, etc…
It is a completely fair system and the huge pockets of government waste disappear literally over night. Still the handling of the consumption based tax revenue needs to be proper and the amount of money from the consumption taxes would exceed $3 trillion dollars. Our current tax system brings in about $2.5 trillion plus you need to deduct all the cost of administering and collecting those taxes.
The consumption tax is a no brainer. Removes the most stressful period in a person life – April, eliminates the majority of tax fraud.
It is in a small incremental burden on current businesses because they need to collect it…but in most cases they are already collecting sales tax.
With the elimination of the corporate tax and capital gains America would become the #1 place to do business and #1 place to invest.
Our GDP would grow at a phenomenal rate and so would the tax receipts.
Don’t worry the rich will ultimately get taxed the most in this scenario as well.
Joe – Bernanke became the Fed chairman in 2006 and issued guidelines in 2006.
Surprised there are no comments regarding Biden’s speech yesterday. Biden has become the orator of truth.
LOL…
The last time we had a president that needed to be tested we came the closest to nuclear war. This time around I don’t think we will have to wait until next October to find out though. We also ended up with the Berlin wall.
Star-Kist Tuna’s headquarters are in San Francisco, Pelosi’s home district.
Star-Kist is owned by Del Monte Foods and is a major contributor to Pelosi.
Star-Kist is the major employer in American Samoa employing 75% of the Samoan workforce.
Paul Pelosi, Nancy’s husband, owns $17 million dollars of Star-Kist stock.
In January, 2007 when the minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to $7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase so Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage. This would make Del Monte products less expensive than their competition’s.
The Democratic bail out was passed, Pelosi added an earmark to the final bill adding $33 million dollars for an “economic development credit in American Samoa”.
Pelosi has called the Bush Administration “corrupt”. She should know.
Flashback to 2007
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jan/12/20070112-120720-2734r/
JCH here is a link that can help you better understand the differences between McCain’s plans and Obama’s.
GDP/OUTPUT This is by far the biggest difference in their plans and from my perspective the most important part of the equation. If China begins to kick in their GDP would bury us within 5 years. After 10 years Obama’s plan sees an increase in GDP of less than $200 billion a year and McCain’s plan is over $500 billion growth a year in GDP. Both numbers are adjusted for inflation.
MCCAIN PLAN: GDP will be, on average, $283.7 billion higher over the 2009 to 2018 horizon. Real (inflation-adjusted) GDP growth is between 0.2 and 0.5 percent higher than the baseline. The expansion in the U.S. economy is largely due to the incentives to save and invest in productive capital and technology through reductions in capital gains and dividend taxes, and accelerated expensing of depreciation for capital purchases. These incentives are enhanced by a substantial reduction in the tax rate on corporate income, which lowers consumer costs and allows corporations to expand their investments.
OBAMA PLAN: GDP grows due to increased consumption. The level of output in the economy as measured by the GDP jumps by an average of $101.7 billion (after inflation) in Obama’s plan. By 2018, the difference between baseline and the forecast is $187.2 billion in additional output, or about a 1.2 percent increase in the level of GDP. Nearly all of this increase stems from personal consumption expenditures. The consumption of households grows by an average of $146.9 billion, and government consumption expands by $6.6 billion. Indeed, household consumption outlays jump by $235.2 billion above baseline in 2018, and over the entire 10-year period average $146.9 billion above what they would have been without Senator Obama’s plan. Net exports, however, fall by an average of $59 billion, indicating that imports (which subtract from GDP) grow more rapidly than exports did in his plan. Gross private domestic investment increases by an average of $4.2 billion.
JOBS/UNEMPLOYMENT
MCCAIN PLAN: Total employment increases an average of 2.13 million jobs over the next 10 years. Peak job increases over the baseline are 3.4 million additional jobs in 2018. The difference between the number of jobs Under the McCain plan and the baseline increases each year. The corporate income tax reductions and the incentives for saving and investment allow business owners to expand their operations and increase their investment in new equipment. Investment leads to expanded output that, in turn, increases personal incomes and employment.
OBAMA PLAN: Employment grows modestly. The Obama plan encourages job growth principally through boosting consumption. Average job increases equal 915,800 over the 10-year period. Private-sector employment averages 814,700 additional jobs. The difference between the two results equals public-sector employment growth above the baseline, or an average of 101,100 new government jobs per year. These numbers would have been bigger had the Senator not raised tax rates on upper-income taxpayers.
DISPOSABLE INCOME
MCCAIN PLAN: The McCain tax plan is projected to increase a person’s disposable income as much as $2,438 above the baseline. A family of four is projected to have $9,750 more disposable income than the current baseline and an average of $5,138 more after-tax income than the baseline over the next 10 years.
OBAMA PLAN: Senator Obama’s plan extends the Bush tax reductions for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes below $250,000 a year, and this “hold harmless” provision in his plan causes higher after-tax incomes. For a family of four, disposable income (after inflation) rises by an average of $3,631 over the forecast horizon. By 2018, after-tax income has increased by $5,620.
PERSONAL SAVINGS
MCCAIN PLAN: McCain’s tax plan provides support for greater levels of personal savings, a particularly important development given the tsunami of entitlement spending expected over the next five decades. The personal savings rate is 2.5 times higher than the baseline. In 2018, for instance, the baseline requires a personal savings rate of 2 percent of income. The McCain plan raises the rate to 4.9 percent of personal income. That increase in the rate translates to substantial increases in total savings. The baseline forecast requires an annual average level of personal savings of $3.1 billion (after inflation). The McCain plan raises that annual average to $212 billion, or a 68-fold increase over baseline levels.
OBAMA PLAN: The modest boosts to income stemming from the extension of the Bush tax reductions in Obama’s plan lead to increased savings. Personal savings increase by an average $135 billion (after inflation) between 2009 and 2018.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/rich-noyes/2008/10/20/liberal-media-s-tax-bias-all-about-spreading-wealth-not-expanding-pie
Newsbusters – Lol. Oh gawd. What isn’t fiction is science fiction.
(658)…it is a blogger over there all he did was summarize the results from other reports.
The facts always seem to bounce off your far left leaning cone of silence…
Funny how Michael Powell the chairman of the FCC and son of Colin Powell has endorsed McCain but no one in the MSM is discussing that…lol
The rabid hypocrisy of the left…just remember as long as you keep drinking their kool-aid you will never be right.
There are zero facts there, Glenn. Zippo.
And without his dad’s name, Michael Powell would not be the chairman of anything. Sort of like GWB.
From Dr. Merrill Matthews, resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation
There are at least three necessary ingredients for jump starting a faltering economy. John McCain embraces all three; Barack Obama shuns them. It’s just that simple.
Free Trade — Economist Milton Friedman once said that of all the pro-growth policies a government should adopt, free trade is the most important. Former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan has said that taxing trade between countries makes no more economic sense than taxing trade between states.
McCain aggressively pushes free trade agreements. Obama, especially since pandering to the union vote in the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries, talks like a protectionist and even opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
Low, simplified taxes — McCain maintains the current tax rates on income, capital gains and dividends and cuts the corporate tax rate. Obama proposes numerous “tax cuts,” many of which are nothing more than income transfers to people who don’t pay taxes. He would complicate the tax code and, because he’s targeting the cuts, he gets to pick the economic winners and losers.
Reduced government spending and regulations — According to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, during the first session of the 110th Congress:
* McCain sponsored or cosponsored 22 bills, which would have increased federal spending by $8 billion annually.
* Obama sponsored or cosponsored 114 bills, increasing federal spending $75 billion annually.
That’s a little more than $9 of government spending for Obama for every $1 for McCain.
Their track record says it all…
McCain = Recovery + Freedom
Obama = Depression + Socialism
C’mon Glenn –
Michael Powell? Colin Powell is a towering figure in global relations. His son is … not. You should listen to Powell’s interview – it is a very articulate statement of the perils of the approach the McCain campaign is taking with all the red baiting and character assassination stuff rather than a clear discussion of issues.
(663) Joe you should listen to Biden’s speech yesterday…that pretty much sums it up…lol
The Michael Powell post was in jest…lol
I think a lot of the tax issues boil down, simply, to the question of how much economies are inhibited by higher taxes on the folks who are generally a society’s most productive members (aka the rich).
Folks like Buffett and Gates believe that the benefits of a healthier infrastructure outweigh the inhibitions on building a business. Milton Friedman would disagree, suggesting that Govt spending is a poor and ineffective way to get anything done.
Who is Biden? 😆
It is really interesting to me how Obama and Palin have become the “lightning rods” in the campaign. One of our great challenges in democracy is getting away from the “charisma” factor and into the issues.
Palin’s SNL appearance was well done – she managed to be “hip” but stay dignified even as they poked fun at her though you could tell a lot of punches were pulled. I bet there were more negotiations for that appearance than for any other show in SNL history.
(665) Well government spending has pretty much proven that out.
Remember in 2006 the country voted for change.
About two years ago this is where we were:
Gas was about $2.19
Unemployment 4.5%
Dow Jones 14000
Large consumer items were selling briskly
So now…
Consumer confidence low
Gas over $3
Unemployment racing toward 7.5%
Home equity dropped by $12 trillion
$2.5 trillion evaporated from investment portfolios
1% of the homes in foreclosure
And the President doesn’t spend a time…Congress does!
So since Nancy Pelosi took over the checkbook look at what as happened. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that in 2006 we voted change…and we sure got it.
Now to think we will vote in a Democrat in the Whitehouse with a Pelosi led Congress…you can’t be serious.
None of that adds up to anything good for America.
Remember all the tax hits Obama promised to fund his lavish and grandiose giveaways…well ALL of that potential money and wealth is gone. That’s all there is, there isn’t anymore and now that it is all gone where in the world is he going to get the money to pay for 20% of what he has promised.
Joe you said you think Obama unites people, hit voting record speaks otherwise, 97% of the time he voted with Pelosi that isn’t a track record of unification and bi-partisanship.
Look at the spending bills between Obama and McCain…
It will be the biggest spending splurge in the history of this country coupled with tax hikes that will completely tank our country for years to come.
If you listen to Biden – he says he is 100% sure that American will be tested in an international crisis and that we have to stick together because it won’t be apparent that Obama will know what he is doing with his response.
Sorry Joe…that was no gaff…that was one of the scariest speeches I have ever heard.
So if you vote for Obama you are voting for some significant international challenge to the United States at a time when our economy is going to have us at our weakest and for some reason people just gloss over the fact that we have a freshman senator who is the least experienced candidate ever to run for president sitting in the Whitehouse.
You can’t be serious.
That last time this happened we almost had a nuclear war and we got the Berlin Wall. Even Biden connected these dots.
From where I sit a vote for Obama is reckless, dangerous and quite frankly irresponsible. My concerns were only confirmed with Biden’s speech yesterday.
If Obama gets elected and we see a major international crisis we will all be sitting here wondering what the heck we did to our country.
As Biden would say…Mark my words!
I could only imagine what you guys would say if Palin had given that speech.
Joe I thought the SNL appearance was good. Nice to see SNL and Letterman got huge ratings out of it…
Maybe NBC ought to become a little more balanced with what they do and they might not be so worried about their future.
You know Obama picked Biden to quell the fears about foreign policy with Biden’s extensive experience. So I guess we really need to listen to Biden now when he tells us we could be under attack, or have to let one of our allies get invaded, etc within 6 months of taking office.
Unbelievable…
The Biden statement was interesting. Don’t you think it’s fair to say bad guys are more likely to “test” Obama?
But that’s the beginning of the conversation, not the end. I have a lot more confidence in Obama’s ability to bring together our allies in much more powerful and effective ways. This was one of GW’s big failings – he did not inspire international confidence which is a key component of global stability.
If we’ve learned anything from Iraq it’s that complex negotiations are critical to success – it’s a cornerstone of Petraeus excellent surge leadership.
(670) But clearly McCain is no Bush and McCain has an outstanding track record of working with people on both sides of the fence.
He also did a great job reconciling with past enemies.
I think it is very concerning about Biden’s comments – they offer a glimpse of what the campaign is expecting and we can fault Bush all we want but we have been safe in this country since 9/11 and if we have another attack on our soil if Obama is president I don’t think the country will rally as much as before.
Additionally I have been thinking a lot about Powell’s nod for Obama. Some things strike me.
He spent more time talking about how he was unhappy with the Republican party (which is a feeling a lot of us have) than he did talking about Obama qualifications.
He didn’t say anything specific he kind of played the whole big picture change theme. So I don’t see anything in his endorsement that would bolster any stronger feeling about Obama’s ability with our military and foreign policy.
I think Powell’s endorsement was as much a slap in a face to Bush and Republicans as it was for Obama.
Additionally he doesn’t want to campaign for Obama so that means he doesn’t want to deal with the details of his endorsement – that is very weak.
Look at the CEO of Google who is endorsing Obama and going to campaign for him. Definitely makes sense since Google wants to capture everything about you and that certainly will come in handy with the government later.
People are just mesmerized with Obama and I don’t think the majority of people that are voting for him really understand what it is exactly they are going to get. That is a concern because when the chit really hits the fan and his hand is exposed clear as day people are going to be pretty upset.
(670) Joe I also look to John Bolton’s opinion. He really understands at a great depth what we are really facing and how foreign leaders perceive us. I don’t know why Democrats are so against this man and I think they blew by not sending him to the United Nations.
I think the United Nations is a joke and probably the most corrupt and quite frankly “evil” organization on the planet. If the United Nations were the organization it is supposed to be then Rwanda and Dar fur wouldn’t have happened. It is unfortunate that the United Nations hasn’t been properly run for decades.
Bolton is a reformer as well and he definitely would have pressed for serious change up there.
I think Bolton’s assessment would be that the world would view Obama as weak and naive.
Joe how do you think Kennedy was a president after the October missile crisis?
Where is the outrage with Murtha?
So today he says Western PA is full of rednecks!
How many idiots does it take to appear in the Democratic party before they clean house?
Well considering they have kept Byrd all these years pretty much says it all.
Then we have Mahoney…he ran on a campaign as the Democrat with family values. Guess we know understand the Democratic definition of family values. I wonder if any of is affairs ended up in an unwanted pregnancy?
Democratic party is filled with racists and hypocrites by the looks of this…lol
You throw away your fools and hypocrites, I’ll throw away mine. I still win.
You know you have to wonder about Obama and going to Hawaii. I feel his grandmother is ill and it is nice that he is going to visit and wish her well.
Just a little odd though today Andy Martin announced from Hawaii a writ request he put into the Supreme Court in Hawaii and should have his answer and access to the Obama sealed birth records on Thursday. Martin will be back on Friday to discuss the first part of his findings on his extensive research on Obama.
Andy Martin lives in Chicago.
Going to be an interesting last two weeks…just really strange the timing of these events.
(674) JCH but that is exactly the point – you won’t really do that.
I will and do.
And it isn’t about you or me winning it is about how America will be come Jan.
bologna.
This Andy Martin?
Yeah, you willed and do’ed him alright.
Joe I wonder if ACORN played a real in Hillary losing the nomination.
(677) Seriously JCH…the NYT…of course they are going to strike out at anyone.
Look how late they were with the Wright story, Ayers?…look how they spun the ACORN story. Literally ALL of the softball BS the NYT’s has put out about these stories has been shown to be full of holes. The NYT’s is a perfect example of what used to be a good publication that has become horribly corrupt from the left.
Horatiox…Obama lost his lawsuit against Berg…lol
McCain has an outstanding track record of working with people on both sides of the fence.
He also did a great job reconciling with past enemies
Both good points Glenn – in fact I think if Obama wins he should very seriously consider McCain for Secretary of Defense or NS Advisor – I think he’d be a good one who would combine a sense of fiscal responsibility with a leaner strategy than GW has deployed. It would also send a signal to adversaries that here in the USA we are in this together.
ACORN and Hillary: That’s possible and a lot more likely than ACORN fraud changing the upcoming election, which it will not do. It might also explain Bill Clinton’s anger at Obama for the unfair suggestions about racism – Clintons may have known about some of the ACORN stuff but chosen to keep quiet to avoid a backlash. We’ll probably know about that in a few years.
Currently I’m more concerned that ACORN’s dispicable fraud and oversights will lead to uncounted votes than fraudulent ones. Republicans routinely work (very successfully) to suppress and challenge votes and this plays right into that scenario nicely because ACORN has raised questions about *all* their registrants, the overwhelming majority of which are legitimate.
Glenn I’d be interested in your characterization of Andy Martin, who would best be considered somebody with very low credibility based on his history of lawsuits and false statements:
The Bar rejected Martin citing a psychiatric report concluding:
moderately severe character defect manifested by well-documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.
Sure, maybe he’s not a kook but … he probably is.
The facts don’t bear that out, Joe. This ACORN thing is a rerun. All research and investigation into election fraud have found the registration system makes it exceedingly difficult for Mickey Mouse to show up and actually vote.
If 20 million people claim to be Mickey Mouse and fill out cards, 20 million of them will not successfully vote.
In the above case, ACORN was defrauded by its own employees 20 million times.
In all but three states, ACORN has to turn in every single registration card they are issued. It doesn’t matter how ridiculous the info on the card appears to be. If they threw away a card, the Republican party would instantly charge they were throwing away Republican registrations.
They why they demand all the cards back.
JCH I didn’t realize they *had* to return them, so the issue is the extent to which they pointed out the problems to the elections officials.
I’m still convinced ACORN has to shoulder a lot of blame here for problems but I agree this will have no effect on election and also that the talking point suggesting “Obama Will Steal Election” is bogus BS nonsense.
test
(683) The investigation into ACORN will shed some light here. It is clear that ACORN is a horribly corrupt organization with a systemic core set of problems. It is a real cheap shot to blame the people they hire.
ACORN has a responsibility to hire qualified people and create a payment system that bears quality work as much as quantity.
ACORN has a record number of known felons they have hired and if you can believe this some have served time for identity theft – now if that isn’t incompetent.
These ACORN workers are bribing really poor people with cigs and cash to register multiple times – it is a disgrace.
This is a problem that has been going on for 10 years and ACORN management has no desire to fix it.
They are supposedly a bi-partisan organization that receives millions and millions of taxpayer dollars yet they only support one party – that is clearly against the law. If you don’t believe me go and look at the ACORN rallies for their workers and see who the speakers are and what they say.
The investigation has already uncovered with the work of election officials in multiple states duplicate and fraudulent absentee ballots.
The current estimate is 30%+ voter registration fraud…that is outrageous.
And to top it off…the brother of the founder of ACORN embezzeled over $1 million dollars (taxpayer dollars btw) and ACORN did not report it – that is against the law as well.
But what can you expect when the founder of ACORN is a former SDS leader and got some its initial funding from Ayers and Obama.
And everyone in Congress knew this crap has been happening for over 10 years and yet Dodd thought it was a good idea to carve out millions for ACORN in the bail-out.
Move along people nothing to see here…
(681) I don’t know a lot about Martin. We will have to see what he has and if it is noteworthy.
I know at one point people used to say Geraldo Rivera was nuts too…
There seems to be consistent theme of attack and smear on anyone that mentions anything that could conceived as challenging anything Obama has said whether it be Martin, Corsi, Berg or even Joe the Plumber.
I think all people should be heard.
Joe,
Watch this video…
It is unbelievable that this stuff goes on. Obama has run his entire campaign like a gang of thugs – guess that is Chicago style politics.
Really sad that our election process has so been stained.
Seems his lead is widening by a considerable margin, and Palin is part of McCain’s undoing:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122462257051655701.html
People don’t like it when neophytes make noise about messing with the Constitution, it shows a lack of respect for that fine document.
Now Brunner is claiming the Ohio SOS website was hacked and the voter database is missing…
Unbelievable…
Where does she say the voter database is missing?
(690) Right here in the AP story.
A wealth of election-related information is stored on the Web site. Missing from it Monday night were detailed records of campaign finance information, results from previous elections and a database of Ohio voters.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=b77548cd-9a5e-49cb-ac16-34e5d2e380bb
Paul did you see the total of the derivatives bubble…LOL
This is beyond insanity:
According to various distinguished sources including the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland — the central bankers’ bank — the amount of outstanding derivatives worldwide as of December 2007 crossed USD 1.144 Quadrillion, ie, USD 1,144 Trillion.
The population of the whole planet is about 6 billion people. So the derivatives market alone represents about USD 190,000 per person on the planet.
The value of the derivatives market is 22 times the GDP of the entire world.
This financial crisis is not about sub-prime mortgages or credit swaps. The geniuses of Wall Street have managed to create a bubble that is way beyond any real values.
Consider this:
The real estate of the entire world is valued at about USD 75 trillion.
The world stock and bond markets are valued at about USD 100 trillion.
When this pops…what happens?
When it pops you’ll find out what it actually means. I suspect it’s a whole bunch less than 1.444 Quadrillion.
(692) – Buffett did not call them “financial weapons of mass destruction” without good cause.
To answer your question – there are so many varieties of derivatives tied to so many different securities that all of them popping at once is highly unlikely…but it is such an unregulated market and the transparency and reporting is so lax that I don’t think there is a person alive on the planet who really knows for sure. That is part and parcel of why the fear and uncertainty in the credit markets has been so pronounced….every time they think they have a handle on it, or they think they’ve uncovered most of it – Kablooie – another institution announces more surprises in the proverbial closet….more massive write-downs and losses…it’s been one surprise after another.
Boy isn’t this interesting even Hillary and her attorney accused Obama’s campaign of voting fraud during the primary.
Click to access nv.state.letter.1.23.08.pdf
Here is the letter…
Nothing to see here…move along…
How come you guys aren’t talking about Biden’s comments on Sunday?
Albright confirmed them.
The bottom line is that Biden, Democrats want Americans to believe that Obama will be ready for the international crisis that he caused…
LOL…Doesn’t this concern you?
That your vote will guaranty an international crisis that will significantly test the United States?
If all the crap of this election do you think America will rally behind Obama when it goes down especially if Biden is accurate in saying it won’t be apparent that Obama knows what he is doing in his response!
outstanding derivatives worldwide as of December 2007 crossed USD 1.144 Quadrillion
Who’d have thought just a few decades ago that you could use the number “quadrillion dollars” and have it really mean something?
I still have trouble grasping the derivatives and how those values put more money at risk than … exists on earth.
Glenn Biden is a chatty guy…reminds me of some of the friedly folks at this BLOG! 😆
His comments did not suggest he thinks Obama is unprepared, rather that both using common sense and as an insider Biden knows how many huge threats come in every day and prospective terror and international problems are looming.
I do agree that Obama is more likely to bring on some “testing” but like Colin Powell I predict Obama will handle it well. It’s always good to have a lot of tools in the shed and it seems clear to me that where McCain would focus too much on military options Obama will approach international tension from three angles: Military – we have the big stick and can completely obliterate any other nation(s) if we choose to do that; Diplomatic – Bush’s big failing; and personal – Obama’s personal history and worldview give him a kind of credibility the USA has never enjoyed. I see this as a very powerful tool in the fight against terror because we must engage moderates in a new and unique way – a way I do not think McCain is capable of doing.
It is funny – you see Obama as “weak on terror” where I’d argue he’ll be a very strong leader and will diffuse a lot of the tension that prevents moderates in other countries from supporting us.
It’s the notional amount. It has a meaning, but it’s not what you think. If there is a total financial meltdown, your cat cannot push the wrong button on your computer and have you owing the world 1.444 quadrillion dollars.
(698) Biden even said our military was not that powerful in those same statements.
Obama will NOT accomplish anything diplomatically Joe – if anything our enemies will use the diplomatic ruse to be the smokescreen for them to continue their agendas and programs.
Obama’s worldview has been created by a group of extreme radicals with direct connections to communism. Starting at a very young age and he has continued to nurture those and grow those beliefs.
You do not understand the 100 year war if you think we can negotiate with extreme Islamic elements. They have one goal – the fall of the West and it didn’t start in 2001.
Obama will probably embrace them like he has embraced the likes of Ayers, Wright, ACORN (founded by SDS leaders).
As Biden would say: Mark my words we will rue the day he cuts deals with these guys – it will all backfire.
But go ahead and believe in the Rodney King view of the world and we will be able to talk about as things unfold and we see a very weakened America emerging in 2009.
Just like a few weeks ago we didn’t think things could tank this bad it won’t take that long for us to be dealing with an occupying force on our shores.
your cat cannot push the wrong button on your computer and have you owing the world 1.444 quadrillion dollars
JCH … OMG! Are you saying I should not have paid the guy who called and needed me to help with the financial crisis? I told him to charge half of the 1.44 quadrillion to my card and I’d send a check for the rest of it next week. At least you have saved me .72 Quadrillion.
$1,444,000,000,000,000.00
Unless an election gets in the way, this post will have a quadrillion comments soon.
Glenn this is simply unbelievable. Palin was charging for her kid’s travel expenses for what look like partly pleasure trips that were then redefined as “business”. $707 per night hotel? $21,000 for plane tickets?
This is the kind of stuff she says is such a big problem in Washington. I guess it is “do as I say, not as I do” ?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/21/palin.travel.ap/index.html
(703) Joe this was vetted originally over 6 weeks ago…lol. I have no idea why CNN/AP would be bringing this story back. It was reported way back in the beginning of September – remember the entire private jet story – this was tied to that and was cleared.
I would rather see the Obama’s fly their children with them instead of eating Iranian caviar – can you believe anyone would consume a luxury product from Iran? At the same time Iran is considering a pre-emptive strike on Israel because they believe Obama will not do anything about it!
Joe have you seen this?
Obama’s statement there is a complete lie – that never happened.
That is outrageous!
Do you guys support the Obama’s Global Poverty Act?
That will pretty much wipe out any tax cut he has promised for the middle class.
Just add another $845 billion to the tab…
$75,000 at the Wasilla Neiman Marcus, and $50,000 at the Wasilla Saks!
Small towns ain’t what they used to be.
Global Poverty Act – it’s asking for a redirection of existing spending, not an additional amount of spending.
So it doesn’t add a dime.
I would be against it if it does not redirect a huge amount of money to depopulation.
(707) and if they didn’t do that the MSM would be ripping into how she dressed…lol.
Besides she is donating the clothes to charity after the election.
Too bad the Obama’s don’t donate their Iranian caviar to the poor…
(708) JCH where do you see redirection? From what I can tell it is $845b in new spending.
Can you point me to where I can get the correct info?
Glenn – Obama’s uncle helped to liberate the concentration camp at Buchenwald rather than Auschwitz as he said in that clip. In my book that’s pretty far from a “complete lie”!
I actually would not be that hard on Palin for her spending excesses if it was not a cornerstone of her campaign. It seems she’s talking about cutting excesses more as a campaign tactic than a way of life. The private plane was sold *at a loss* and I don’t think on EBAY. Has anybody studied the savings/expense if she’d kept that plane to fly her family around vs the large commercial air expenses?
It really seems odd to me that the criticisms of Obama are generally based on associations with people who have objectionable views, very old events (e.g. his birth), and other name calling stuff rather than actual issues or actual character flaws. Researching all the criticism stuff from Corsi, Martin, Berg, anti-Obama blogs, has made me even more confident that Obama is a hard working, honest and smart guy. In fact I don’t think you can come to an alternative conclusion unless you let other factors cloud the review of his record and statements.
Generally I like Global Poverty initiatives though I have not reviewed this one enough to know. I’m concerned about money going through UN because I think they have become so politicized and bloated as a bureaucracy I’d probably prefer money flows through DMOs or US Govt agencies.
I do think we have a large moral obligation to help others – especially children – regardless of where they are.
JCH you need to be strategic when thinking about population and aid because it is now very clear that one of the best ways to reduce population is to increase standards of living and per capita incomes. This is a very consistent statistic. It may be putting the cart before the horse to ask for low birth rates *before* you build health and infrastructure. Contrary to what many think “more feeding” generally does not lead to “more breeding” in most human populations.
(711) Joe the commie red army of russia liberated Auschwitz. Auschwitz is in Poland. Buchenwald is in Germany.
YET OBAMA IS READY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS…lol
Anyway the post was kind of jest in response to the post about the travel expenses.
The costs for a private jet are pretty steep. She dumped the private jet and on top of that she spent a couple hundred thousand less on travel than her predecessor.
Joe the net result of dumping the private jet was hundreds of thousands of dollars less in expense.
My only judgment of Obama stems from his campaign rhetoric all the way back in Illinois and what he actually delivers – the two are not even close – he may be hardworking but he is much more manipulative and dishonest in what he sells to the public. If you take a serious look at his campaign promises and what he has delivered you can’t come to a conclusion that this guy is genuine he truly represents what is the worst aspect of politics – continued pandering with no accountability.
I believe he agrees with Saul Alinsky – SAY WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO TO GET ELECTED – the end results justifies the means.
If you go back and listen to Obama’s own words on multiple occasions he says he is not ready for office. A professor in Ohio has come forward with a startling claim that Obama did not write his memoir Dreams of my Father and there is more evidence that it looks like Ayers actually wrote a significant part of the book. That’s damn scary IMO.
When you hear Biden’s comments on Sunday and Albright’s on Monday yet you see little of this reported in the MSM and then look at the most accurate poll (IBD) is basically puts the race at a dead heat as of today you can’t help but wonder why the networks continued to be so biased. Their viewership ratings are tanking and then add the allegations from the Clinton campaign about the delegate rigging by Obama’s team during the primaries…there are just too many things that don’t add up to a positive answer here.
Obama won’t even do anything about his $200 million in donations that are suspect – doesn’t that bother you that foreign money is most likely flowing in to influence this election especially after Obama signed an agreement with McCain to take public financing. Of course the MSM doesn’t touch that.
When you review Chicago politics and look at the people associated with Obama the probability that Obama is an honest politician quickly approaches epsilon when you realize the speed of his ascension and lack of experience you can only conclude one result.
(711) In regard to Global Poverty Act – none of the support helps America. We have way too much poverty in this country and we need to be more pro-active in fixing our problems.
Joe I agree with you about the UN…they are useless, need to be scraped and a new organization needs to be created for this.
As much as I dislike George W…it is a shame that he isn’t given the credit for all he has done for Africa, even Obama wont’ recognize it. W has done more for Africa than Obama has done for his own family – and on the last point what you do for your own family is a sure sign of your character.
Obama FIRST
… Based on information from the State Department, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2433 would cost less than $1 million per year, assuming the availability of appropriated funds. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or receipts. …
The bill has no funding provisions.
Since 1965 we have been fighting poverty in this country. The US government has shared tens of trillions of dollars in wealth to fight the poverty rate.
Since 2005 we have transferred over a trillion dollars a year in social welfare spending.
Poverty rate in 1965: 14%
Poverty rate in 2008: 14%
Gee I wonder why anyone would be skeptical as to the effectiveness of our government to be a good and proper steward of our hard earned monies.
Tens of trillions spent over 44 years and no improvement. You have to wonder what they are thinking!
Obama’s tax plan helps the working poor.
In 1965 poverty is not the same thing as 2005 poverty.
I was thinking yesterday what the impact would be if we used Obama’s tax plan and implemented it as the rules for trick or treating.
So basically here is how it would go:
About 40% have to trick or treat within 100 feet of their homes. Some just stay home and do nothing.
About 40% have to trick or treat up to 500 feet of their home.
5% have to trick and treat in a 10 mile radius of their homes. After they finish the laborious task they must surrender the majority of their candy to a government candygate organization.
The remaining 95% get the candy from the hardworking 5%.
Gee I wonder why people don’t buy these liberal tax and spend ideas…lol
(717) Seriously JCH…that makes no sense.
14% poverty is 14% poverty…unless of course I missed definition of the word “is”
The definition of poverty has changed. It’s like diabetes. Every other person you meet today is borderline. Why? They changed the criteria.
The hardworking 5%?
What an riot. So plumbers who make $40,000 a year are not hardworking, and cops who make $55,000 a year are not hardworking? Hotel maids are not hardworking? The workers at your local McDonalds are not hardworking? The teachers at your local private grade school are not hardworking? The girls who poll dance where you eat lunch are not hardworking?
You are astoundingly clueless.
(721) You actually believe that someone who works at McDonalds even as a manager of a store works as hard as an exec in the top 5%.
That is where you are clueless – there is no comparison.
And I never said that maids, etc are not hard workers – those are your words and your spin to make a case.
But to imply that both execs in the top 5% and workers at a local McDonald’s exert the same amount of effort only proves you have no idea what it means to really work hard.
Most people have no clue what it is like to REALLY work hard.
(721) You know that is one of the big problems that America doesn’t seem to understand. The top earners in this country create the jobs. They risk everything they have to make it happen and they work tirelessly 24/7/365 to keep their businesses rolling.
Until you have had to figure out a way to find another $2 million dollars in 48 hours to make payroll you don’t know what stress is?
An average work day for the top in this country is around 18 hours. Most of the top earners have worked the equivalent of 3-5 careers in their life time (hours wise) as compared to other workers.
Politicians think it is ok to take more of their money – you know why: How many politicians have ever had a real job? How many of built a business? How many have to worry about payroll? How many have to worry about their pensions? They don’t even have to worry about the laws they pass in regard to their own staffers. If they want a raise they just vote for it.
If you polled the top 5% and asked them how many support having more of their money taken and spread around I suspect it would be a very small number.
Even the entire country – only 13% think wealth redistribution is a good idea.
Your side is goin’ down, and boy howdy do you deserve it.
(724) My side??? My side is 84% of America.
Your part of the 13%…
JCH do you believe that people that are getting government assistance will keep their income at a level that doesn’t jeopardize their assistance?
So Obama is going to lose 84% to 13%?
And I’m clueless? Timothy Leary lived in less fog than you do.
Your question is narcissistic nonsense.
(727) You won’t answer it because it exposes the fraud behind a very progressive tax structure. Just as it inhibits and keeps people down in a system the same effect happens as the top.
At the bottom people are afraid to earn more because they lose their entitlement and the fact that they are given a “free” check there is no sense of earning and they are further demoralized.
Just like most left insano programs like this it ultimately hurts the people it was intended to help – go ask all those people that got mortgages they couldn’t afford.
At the top if I know my percentage goes up at the next level I cam going to do everything possible to make sure I don’t hit that. Another clue for you the guys at the top have the means and resources to make sure they don’t get taxed.
You have to ask Karl Rove about those mortgages.
There will be plenty of jail cells for the guys at the top who make certain they do not get taxed.
(729) JCH management of your taxes is perfectly legal. You are forgetting one major point.
Literally all the politicians do the exact same thing.
If Obama gets elected we can see the dip in overall tax receipts and negative growth of our GDP…it will be a beautiful thing.
Joe have you been tracking the developments in the Berg lawsuit. I find the following disturbing that is in Obama’s response before he lost.
Barack Obama claims “particularly serious embarrassment will result from turning over the requested documentation” in the Berg case and has filed a request for dismissal and a protective order. Berg’s filing asks for copies of his birth certificate, citizenship records, passport and travel records, and other documentation proving citizenship in the U.S. as well as other countries.
Their reasoning for requesting a protective order is that revealing the information (birth certificate, passports, citizenship in other countries) would “cause a defined and serious injury” to Obama and/or the DNC. They say revealing these documents raises a “legitimate privacy concern” and the above mentioned risk that “particularly serious embarrassment will result from turning over the requested documentation.” (emphasis added) Then they claim Berg has no standing to ask for it.
Doesn’t this sound very strange to you? Don’t we as the American public have a right to know what he is hiding? We are about to vote for the most powerful position in the world.
Management of taxes for the top 1% of income earners in the United States does not include not getting taxed.
The negative GDP growth will be squarely blamed on the idiot moron financial dunces that you supported.
JCH…here is your future!
(723) Granted titans of industry work exceedingly hard, but they are compensated exceeding – wait, strike that – grossly excessively well. You want to know why the middle class are upset about executive compensation in this country? – consider the following:
In 2007, the CEO of a Standard & Poor’s 500 company received, on average, $14.2 million in total compensation, according to preliminary numbers from The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm. The median compensation package received was $8.8 million.
The chief executive officers of large U.S. companies averaged $10.8 million in total compensation in 2006, more than 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, according to the latest survey by the United for a Fair Economy.
According to a recent study by ERI Economic Research Institute and The Wall Street Journal, executive compensation grew substantially faster than corporate earnings in the past year. The study of 45 randomly selected public companies found that executive compensation increased 20.5 percent from a year ago, while revenues grew just 2.8 percent.
Yeah, they work hard, I will grant you that, but 364 times as hard ?!?!? – that defies credibility.
Glenn I admit that seems kind of odd but I think the explanation of all the Berg stuff is that the docs would show some sort of visits that, taken out of context as they would be, will diminish Obama’s chances of winning. Also possible they just don’t want to fuel the fire here as Berg is clearly very hostile to a balanced or truthful view of things. Sure I’m curious but given the climate of hostility and fact distortion by Berg, FOX, and Corsi I hardly expect compliance from a campaign – their job is to win, not help those who despise Obama nab another headline.
Berg’s headline reads “Obama Admits He’s Born in Kenya”. He’s not a guy who has any interest in conveying the truth.
Obama should agree to release all that *after the election*, and I’m guessing he will. It’s too late in the process to expect him to release anything that might be used to make him look bad by presenting it out of context. Corsi and his gang make a living out of doing that, and I have very little sympathy for that approach.
If Obama ran down a terrorist, tackled the guy, and brought him to police the NewsBuster and FOX headlines would read:
Obama Hugs Terrorist and offers him a drink.
OMG – Michelle Obama’s caviar & lobster!? What the !? They had CHAMPAGNE with that!?
Better change to the austerity ticket where Palin’s campaign spent 150k on a wardrobe and she got the $700 NYC rooms on taxpayer’s dime, and spent 21k in flights for children. She’s just like Joe the Plumber – he does that all the time.
There’s a kind of exploitation aspect to the McCain campaign that bugs me. Joe the Plumber is the best example. Whatever your take on the relative merits of the tax plan, the Joe the Plumber talking points are fairly substantial lies. One is that plumbers really do make enough for the Obama tax plan to nail them (they don’t) and the second lie is that Joe himself is probably better off under McCain’s plan (he is probably not even if his business does fine). Now, you can make a case that McCain’s overall economic benefits will wash out the immediate tax disadvantage, but you can’t make the case McCain is making in speeches right now (“I’m helping Joe the Plumber keep his money” that’s just a bunch of bull and McCain knows it.
The maverick has left the building.
Today on CNBC: defaults on CA low income loans where SSN and other things were missing appear to be *lower* than those on standard ones, suggesting that what appear to be the “high risk” loans may not be at all.
(736) Joe regardless it doesn’t change the fact that is was an insanely stupid idea to put forth on the American people and it was even worse to try to cover it up and protect the folly.
(735) Joe I noticed you left Iranian off the caviar…lol. That is whole point of that. I wonder if letting the receipt get out was the signal that Obama needed to send to Iran to give them the green light to strike Israel…
Sad that we have a candidate who does not tell the truth, hides so much and has so many radical friends and associates that we actually have to consider something like that…aye yi yi.
Joe the reason Obama has to go to Hawaii tomorrow is not for his grandmother. The court is going to hand down its ruling tomorrow or Friday on the matter – he wants to be at ground zero so he can file whatever he needs to – to delay it.
Secret Service is with his grandmother and it is a bunch of BS that his sister called on Sunday to get him to come to Hawaii.
(734) Paul think about running a company with a 1000 employees then take that to 10,000 then to 100,000.
It is a phenomenal task and inside good companies the CEO’s pay is directly tied to their performance. The CEO gets paid well when it works out for everyone including the employees and shareholders. That is how it should work.
The CEO’s that get these ridiculous parachutes, etc…they should be thrown in jail. That is absurd.
With your “logic” about 364 times the pay…look at the founders of Google – should they be worth as much as they are?
Of course they should, they created something and they deserve those rewards. Same with a CEO…if the compensation package is properly structured with performance, bottom line results, shareholder and community goodwill involved the sky should be the limit – who cares how much they make if they do their part?
Otherwise we risk creating a ceiling on wealth creation and that would be an absolute disaster.
We always try to employ the 4-way test from Rotary International when we design our packages.
(735) Joe this is Berg’s headline:
Obama & DNC admit all allegations in Berg v. Obama
Legally they did. There is no misstatement in that headline.
-=-=-
Joe the people on MSNBC, CNN, etc state that Mr. Ayers was a 60’s radical…lol…please the liberal media is more than fair to Obama and crew.
Look at the view today…Joy Behar calls Rush a terrorist and then when talking to Bill O’Reilly she says we need to stop the name calling…LOL
Rachel Maddow claimed today that McCain said “he didn’t have the guts” to bring up Ayers in the second debate – that is a flat out lie.
Chicago Sun-Times said today that Biden meant ANY candidate would be tested and Obama backed that interpretation. Funny if you listen to Joe Biden he didn’t say that at all. Even funnier when Obama’s team is in front of the public they say one thing but when they think they have a private audience a completely different story comes out.
Where are the MSM about Mahoney? – NOTHING
Why isn’t the MSM press talking about the decriminalization of prostitution in San Fran? I lived in San Fran when they had the bright idea to make it a resolution that any homeless person in San Fran would be given access to quarters and food. Within 6 months literally all over San Fran you would be walking and literally stepping over homeless people on the sidewalks. I would walk down the street in the financial district and literally dodge dozens and dozens of homeless people.
I wonder what will happen with this new proposition…
There is NO comparison to how many liberal news organizations are skewing everything in Obama’s favor. Just because FOX has become so successful everyone wants to attack them – there is a reason they are so successful that is what people want.
Obama is going to lose this election – get used to the idea you have less than two weeks to prepare. 🙂
This site pretty much sums it all up. Take a moment and read the timeline of Obama’s life. Then remove Obama from the picture and ask yourself: Would you vote for the person in this story for President of the USA?
http://colony14.net/id41.html
There are plenty of reference links for all the facts, etc…
(740) – “if the compensation package is properly structured with performance, bottom line results, shareholder and community goodwill involved the sky should be the limit – who cares how much they make if they do their part?
Otherwise we risk creating a ceiling on wealth creation and that would be an absolute disaster.”
I totally agree with that statement – the problem with corporate America right now is there are far, far too many companies where none of what you outline above applies. Shareholder interests are dead last, community goodwill is lipservice at best, and nowhere is this more prevalent than on Wall Street.
(743) People should stop buying stock in those companies.
It is incredibly important for companies to do the right thing and take the right path.
I think when you look at successful companies that grew out of small business I think you will find a very high percentage of those owners are very responsible and sensible in how they conduct business.
From my perspective lawyers have caused most of the damage in corporations today with all the legal wrangling and requirements within contracts.
Sarbanes is another major contributor of the excess – unfortunately that is very bad legislation and increases the legal costs quite a bit within a company. If you are a company planning to go public today – Sarbanes is going to increase your going out costs by more than a million.
There are several things that need to change to get this back on track. Most good businessman welcome accountability and do not sweep things under a rug however they are very tolerant of mistakes. A good CEO understands that you learn very little from success your lessons most often come from your failures.
(735) Joe what about Drew Griffin on CNN in his interview with Palin?
He completely distorted the truth and lied to millions of people in a direct attempt to smear Palin.
Up to this point I thought CNN was pretty fair but this is just so far off the reservation I still cannot believe what I saw.
Joe now we know more of the truth about why Obama is racing to Hawaii. It certainly isn’t about his trips to countries.
It is all about the truth regarding his birth and the animosity that exists between Barack and his grandmother (she still calls him Barry and rejects the whole Barack transformation). Obama wants to stop the media to have access to her because she will reveal the truth.
It is unfortunate that the birth certificate on the web is almost certainly a forgery. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t born in Hawaii it may have more to do with his parents.
As I said I think Obama is a fraud and I think this will bear that out. It is a real shame that he just didn’t set the record straight in the beginning because I don’t think this would have been that bad in the long haul of the campaign.
Translation – the birth certificate is authentic, time running out on smear campaign.
Now people are just saying the heck with the socialist angle…he is a communist…Joe you will enjoy this one.
http://greatdebate2008.blogspot.com/
Obama is going to lose this election
Glenn! Look at the polls maan, look at the polls! I’m already picking out my dinner, but I promise not to order any caviar.
Why do you think his Grandmother isn’t sick and the story isn’t legit? I’ve heard the opposite about her – she’s very supportive and a major reason he’s got a very intelligent and balanced view.
Glenn – Obama’s Grandma rocks – here is a profile. You should give him a break and let him see her, probably for the last time:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_el_pr/obama_grandmother
Here’s a nice bit on Grandma. This may be the last time he sees her:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_el_pr/obama_grandmother
(748) Joe…look at the most accurate polls…not the oversampled Dem polls. It is a dead heat and a dead heat means victory for McCain unless of course Obama can do what he did in the primaries and fraudulently steal the election.
Barack and his grandmother are just not that close.
(748)Joe no comments on CNN’s complete lie and distortion in the Palin interview?
I just don’t think Obama is who he claims to be. He didn’t write his books, he has a much deeper connection to communist principles than he is really let be known public. That is the shame of this election – he can’t run on what he truly believes because no one would buy it. That is why he keeps adjusting literally everything he has to what people want to hear.
I think Obama is trying to cover so much up about his past.
http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=304729375940845
As you read these articles you can only wonder why he hasn’t been forthright with the kind of money he has he surely could counter a swiftboat attack. I think there is more to the story and I think his relationship with Ayers is far deeper than he is admitting to.
A woman in a hot air balloon realizes she is lost. She lowers her altitude and spots a man fishing from a boat below.??
She shouts to him, ‘Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.’
The man consults his portable GPS and replies, ‘You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolls her eyes and says, ‘You must be a Republican!’
‘I am,’ replies the man. ‘How did you know?’
‘Well,’ answers the balloonist, ‘everything you tell me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’re not much help to me.’
The man smiles and responds, ‘You must be a Democrat.’
‘I am,’ replies the balloonist. ‘How did you know?’
‘Well,’ says the man, ‘You don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You’ve risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and now you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it’s my fault.’
I used to manage a factory that built hot-air balloons.
As usual, you have no idea of what you are talking about. We built a balloon for Playboy. They sent a bunny down for a photo shoot. The balloon landed in a field full of briars and weeds. She was wearing her bunny suit with the cotton ball on the butt. To keep her from snagging her hosiery, I picked her up and carried her to the road. She was very appreciative.
(753) LOL
Glenn I haven’t seen the Palin CNN interview yet. I’ve been watching CNBC a lot more than usual and wondering why Alan Greenspan and Woody Allen look related. It’s kind of scaring me.
JCH if that’s a true damsel in distress story it’s the best one I’ve heard in years.
(755) Joe I wish you hadn’t say that about Greenspan…lol I can’t watch it anymore!
Here is the Palin interview clip…
Joe don’t you see the hyprocrisy with the extreme left with the decriminalization of prostitution…hey wait isn’t that deregulation?
Oh wait as long as you walk and talk and act like them deregulation is a good thing!
Sunny Hostin on CNN even said prop K will help the economy of San Fran…lol
San Francisco the vision of what this country will become.
I still have the magazine she autographed for me. My wife insists on saving the pictures. The balloon also touched down near a house that was occupied by an old man and his bachelor son. True hillbillies. They took a bunch of photographs of her and those two guys – dressed in overalls with long-john shirts.
How many times have a I written AlAyn GreenRandSpam? That idiot moron stood by, having the full and complete regulatory authority to stop exotic/predatory subprime, and did nothing. He refused to do anything.
Barney Frank asked him directly, more than once, to intervene. He refused.
Now, he’s shocked Ayn Rand was wrong. What an idiot.
Ha – Playboy bunnies and decriminalized prostitution? Pretty soon I should expect a lot more traffic at this blog. Hmmm – time for the Viagra ads? Where is Bob Dole when I need him?
CNN’s running an interesting deal profiling their top 10 “Wanted” for creating the financial crisis. Greenspan was on the list. I’m waiting to see Barney Frank come up as he should also. As info comes in I think we’ll see their was close to a bipartisan “coverup” of information that would have led to earlier market corrections which probably would not have been as severe.
Gee what a shocker in Ohio near Cinn…over 40% of the absentee ballots reviewed so far are fraudulent.
No wonder Brunner wants to bury the validation process.
Can you imagine over 40% of the absentee ballots are fraudulent?
What exactly does the Obama campaign think is going to happen when people realize the REAL VOTER FRAUD by groups like ACORN and supported and funded directly by Obama and Democrats?
Joe how do you explain Obama’s participation in the New Party in Chicago as recently as 1996. According to actual newsletters sent out in 1996 from the New Party that Barack Obama was their candidate meanwhile people like Willie Delgado was only New Party Endorsed.
Just the fact that he was part of the New Party clearly defines him as a marxist/socialist.
The shocking truth behind the New Socials they were created by DSA (Democratic Socialist of America) and ACORN. Even the CoC a communist group was involved.
Obama went to Chicago to seek out people like Ayers, Wright to further his radical agenda for the takeover of America and the ultimate destruction of capitalism.
There are just way too many easily connected dots here that prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Obama is really a marxist/socialist/communist. Take your pick…
Barney Frank’s name does not belong on such a list.
Here is an interesting take on Obama’s volunteers…lol
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/secret_of_obama_tax_planned_re.html
Yeah Obama has done such a great job for the Chicago area…now the post office won’t even deliver to parts of Harvey.
Well gee what did you think would happen if you took an anti-American terrorist doctrine from Bill Ayers and fed it to kids…did you actually think they would grow up to be law abiding citizens?
Gee JCH the blogger Jay McKinnon admitted that the Hawaii birth certificate is indeed a forgery.
SHOCK: MCCAIN CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER ATTACKED AND MUTILATED IN PITTSBURGH
‘B’ CARVED INTO 20-YEAR OLD WOMAN’S FACE…
Yes this is the kind of change we want and need and it is amazing unifying force that is sweeping our nations.
Glenn RE: Berg and Corsi. Those clowns deserve ZERO credibility. Here is the latest headline, and I’m not joking here:
PART THREE: BARACK OBAMA IS NOT BARACK OBAMA
“OBAMA’S FATHER WAS FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS. OBAMA IS REALLY FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS, JR.,” SAYS ANDY MARTIN
So, this *new* Martin and Corsi and Berg theater of the absurd now suggests… and I’m not making this up … wait for it…
Barack Obama was switched at birth!
The funny part is that if this nonsensical garbage allegation is true he’s clearly an American citizen, so reading between the lines I assume it has become crystal clear to Corsi and Martin that Obama was in fact born in Hawaii. Rather than look foolish for pushing the absurd Kenya allegation, they are cooking up a story that will probably be impossible to disprove.
Glenn there is no credible evidence that the certificate is forged unless I missed something. There’s a totally partisan blog with a post by a totally partisan guy who claims to be a document expert (but has NOT seen the document in question!) who goes on to make a ridiculous case for forgery. It’s junk – how can you let yourself believe this? Have you seen Corsi’s background? These guys are making a *mint* off of all these crap allegations.
(767) Joe how can you NOT take these issues and assertions into consideration?
It isn’t the fault of the American people, etc that we don’t know diddly about Obama. This was his choice and the more you peel back the layers you see very very deep connections to radicalism and socialism.
I am 100% convinced he is a socialist at best and that he campaigns with the Saul Alinsky playbook – it couldn’t be more obvious.
If you take the time and go back through his IL campaigns you will clearly see – he says what he has to, to get elected and he NEVER delivers on anything he promises on the campaign trail.
So why would I believe anything he says now? Any reasonable person would look at the gaps in life history and wonder what is going on here?
We know more about Sarah Palin (and that isn’t even being told) than we do about Obama.
The analysis of the media coverage is startling, etc and the lack of reporting on key issues regarding Obama is amazing.
I can’t wait to hear Olberman, Mathews, Couric, etc say Ashley Todd in Pitt carved the B on her face by herself.
Watch they will say it.
I guess we all understand what Obama meant when he told his supporters to get into the face of McCain supporters.
Obama is not unifying he is fracturing this country along with the Democratic party and entire thing is going to backfire.
McCain wins in 11 days.
(767) I just read your part about Martin. I have no idea what the truth is…however…if Frank Davis is his father (a pornographer and self-admitted pedophile) it means that Barack is not an African American and therefore a fraud.
Glenn Obama has a fairly extensive record, most of which is public. There’s no smoking guns anymore than there are forged birth certificates. There is a sort of “weak” record of legislation that was partly a strategic effort to make sure adveraries would have hard time attacking. That was questionable legislatively but very smart strategically. Note that almost all the Obama criticsm is name calling and guilt by association – almost no issue-driven criticism because that’s not attackable and does not rile people up.
The Ashley Todd incident is horrible and shocking. It also has *nothing* to do with the Obama campaign! That is a scurrilous and totally out of line thing to suggest. The McCain campaign has *strategically* used an enormous level of smear tactics, Obama’s far less. The level of hysteria in the campaign has come from the right far, far more than the left. How can you possible suggest otherwise Glenn? Look at the blog postings on this page – look at campaign statements, look at TV. The McCain campaign tactic is to smear Obama on a personal level where the Obama tactic is to try to connect Bush and McCain policies. Thankfully the smear campaign has failed, and I’m hoping in the future we can discuss issues reasonably as McCain and Obama did during the last debate.
Here is the latest spin coming from the Democratic spin machine in regard to Ashley Todd:
dont let them get traction on this by accepting their premise. this young republican got scratched with a B, was near an atm and only got robbed of 60 bucks (thats a bit low for someone who would stick around to make political statements)
(770) Joe do you believe Obama is trying to do wealth distribution in this country?
(770) Joe do you believe there is actual voter fraud happening in Ohio and that Brunner is doing everything possible to stop the process of actually validating absentee ballots?
(770) Do you believe that Barack Obama was a New Party candidate in the 90’s?
(770) Do you believe that Obama’s relationship with Ayers is exactly as Obama portrays it?
Joe I am off to see game #2, I will check back…GO RAYS!!!
Glenn only if you *define* wealth distribution because in normal usage the answer is yes and also yes for even the most conservative folks. McCain, Obama, Barr, and about 99.9 percent of all Americans are for wealth distribution in the country via various forms of fees, taxation, and charity giving. You have to be for *zero* taxation of any kind to be against wealth distribution. Ironically I’m for a LOT less total taxation than anybody I’ve read or heard about so I’m WAY less for wealth distribution than most in the debate. How would you pay for Govt stuff like military and roads and charity?
There is a good debate over what you might call “excessive” wealth redistribution but I don’t hear anybody talking about that. It’s NOT implied by McCain and the gang who keep trying to suggest (absurdly) that Joe the Plumber’s biz will pay less taxes under their plan. In fact Obama is proposing to eliminate capital gains on some small biz at sale – this probably means a HUGE tax break for Joe the Plumber under Obama!
Yes, some voter fraud. I’m concerned that some Dems are irrationally responding to the Blackwell manipulations of 1984 by trying their own stuff. I see Brunner as far more honest and non-manipulative than Blackwell though. Her concern is about the voter intimidation from Republican activists but in some of this case I agree with Republicans that you should be able to challenge a voter’s legitimacy at the polls as long as the challenge is resolved in fair ways. Some Republicans, for example, are diabolically suggesting that small database errors can be used to disqualify voters. That’s the kind of totally unconscionable, illegal, immoral, outrageous crap we saw from Blackwell in 2004. Voter suppression is absolutely dispicable – almost as bad as outright voter fraud which, by the way, is very, very rare.
RE: Ayers. I think Obama’s connection to Ayers is minor but somewhat greater than he’s indicated. I’d guess that they have had a few extended conversations about education reform and grant issues and have chatted casually many times. If you think talking to bad characters about the weather makes you a terrorist….I don’t know what to say.
I think Obama’s campaign “downplaying” even this minor association is completely understandable under the circumstances. I have seen very few (except, quite ironically, John McCain himself) who is looking at Obama objectively and with an eye to reality – the criticisms are through a very narrow lens that is completely distorting the career and personal history of a good man.
One of the challenges of free speech and the new citizen media is that in politics it’s abused to smear people. There is some of that going on on the left but most is to smear GW and Cheney and not McCain. On the right it’s begun to border on hysterical crazy nonsense like the “Obama is not Obama” birth insanity and the idea he’s a socialist Manchurian candidate.
Glenn you must have worked with *thousands* of people in business and Government – probaby more than I have. Obama is easy to profile as a hard working, honest, good father, loves America, left wing Democrat who rose very fast in the hotbed of Chicago street-fight politics. It’s a very easy call because all the evidence supports that view of him.
@Glenn: The voter fraud issue is ridiculous, because a) ACORN themselves willingly turned it in per the rules – which caught the problem before it did any actual damage (that’s why the system is in place – and it works), b) it is voter _Registration_ that was caught by the organization, not actual voter fraud (in every state in this country first-time voters are required to prove identity at the polls, which reduces actual voter fraud to nearly nil – literally (not to mention the threat of significant punitive penalties for actual voter fraud). Look up how many convictions of actual voter fraud there are.), and c) even if, hypothetically, the relative handful of invalid voter registrations that were identified in accordance with the law (as opposed to discoveries of Agents Scully and Mulder) were to somehow miraculously result in actual votes, that small number would not even make the tiniest of dents in the result. We’re talking .01 percent of the whole voter base, or less, again despite the “destroying the fabric of America” incredible fear-mongering rhetoric.
And even in that worst-case scenario, as Democrats and Republicans alike are well aware, it is not the public vote that elects Presidents. It is the electoral votes that ultimately matter most. So really – can’t we just use our brains for two seconds, do some third-grade math on the potential here, and just give the ACORN conspiracy theory crap a rest? Aren’t we smarter than this?
On “Socialism”, there is a big difference between social justice/social democracy and the traditional fearful thoughts surrounding “Socialism” that Sarah Palin is loudly suggesting for the sole purpose of scaring us. The use of the word “Socialism” has become one of the best scare tactics I think I have ever seen in an election, because it registers knee-jerk terror in the hearts of older generations who saw what traditional “Socialism” can result in – a “Socialism” that concentrates every decision of life into absolute government control – and terror in the hearts of young people because most young folks today really don’t know what it means (but they are certainly fearful). Unfortunately, with an ounce of faith in the Constitution, that is not the brand of Socialism that is possible here in our Democratic nation – It’s kind of why we have entire branches of government that are in place to prevent it. If you look up the modern definitions of social democracy, the first tenet is Freedom, and the second is generally working to end social injustice for the benefit of all. It is not Marxism – which is what most people incorrectly associate with the word “Socialism”. The modern concepts of social democracy involve using the free market to help those who need help most, while keeping that market free to support individual prosperity, all by the direction of the people (rather than a dictator state). It involves returning power to each of us to make our own decisions and vote in fair ways, rather than being dominated by the priorities of today’s new and overly powerful “Corporate Citizen” – giant corporations that get bailouts and multi-billion dollar government deals from White House friends, for example – at the expense of the rest of us.
In my lifetime I have never seen such a blatant and obvious use of blind fear to scare voters – rather than reasoning and intelligence. McCain’s best bet at this point is to inspire terror in the hearts of Americans – in other words, you better elect me or else bad, bad things will come your way…(?) Why not just talk about how we can make things better, instead of spending millions of dollars on trying to scare people with sound bites and deliberate misapplication of semantics? Why not talk about ways to improve the situation, rather than suing every early voter polling place and drumming up bogus charges to distract from the issues at hand?
Don’t you find this low estimation of American intelligence insulting? I know I do. It’s embarrassing that we would be swayed by such ridiculousness. We look like a bunch of fools for even considering such nonsense, and being afraid of every shadow that is cast.
Ashley Todd attack story may be a hoax. Malkin thinks so and twitter feeds don’t match the story.
Desperation or what?
Michael Savage picked up the birth certificate story. That means there is probably no story with less legitimacy on the face of the earth.
Meanwhile, a Republican congressional candidate is being investigated for voting three times in one election – a potential felony. No, he is not claiming ACORN gave him free cigarettes.
Position: Barack is a socialist and is against capitalism
Reasoning:
He was a member of the New Party
His father was a Communist
The people he has the most in common pretty much hate America. (Ayers, Wright, Khadlidi, Khalid)
He probably received foreign aid while going to college
He supports far more progressive tax policy and income redistribution
He supports further nationalization of industry within our country
He believes a mortgage is a right in this country not something you have to work hard to earn
He believes in an United Nations solution even within the borders of the United States
He blames the ills of African Americans in this country squarely on capitalism
The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened.
– Norman Thomas, six-time Socialist Party presidential candidate and one of the founders of the ACLU.
Position: The Media is in the tank for Barack Obama
Reasoning:
The media portrays negative reporting on McCain at least 2:1 to Obama
The media ignores serious issues about Obama that Americans want to know about
Organizations like the New York Times and MSNBC have abandoned their principles and have ultimately become corrupt just to manipulate the truth to directly aid in getting Obama elected – What country are we in anyway? Is this America or Poland?
The double standard and sexism displayed toward Palin is downright disturbing
If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed;
If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.
-Mark Twain
Position: Obama is going to raise taxes on 100% of Americans
Reasoning:
The expiration of the Bush tax cuts raise taxes on 100%
Income Under Bush Under Obama Obama Increase
$14,000.00 $0.00 $1,200.00 $1,200.00
$50,000.00 $5,000.00 $11,460.00 $6,460.00
$100,000.00 $18,620.00 $22,395.00 $3,775.00
$250,000.00 $63,945.00 $72,434.70 $8,489.70
$1,000,000.00 $325,206.50 $428,825.00 $103,618.50
An increase in the corporate tax is directly passed onto consumers
In comparison to McCain’s plan our GDP will grow at about half the rate as it will under McCain’s plan and therefore is an additional tax on ALL Americans to the tune of over $200 billion a year.
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill
Position: ACORN is a corrupt and illegal organization
Reasoning:
They receive millions of taxpayer dollars because of their non-partisan status, they are clearly partisan and therefore breaking the law
They have a 10 year track record of voter fraud convictions in multiple states
Investigations are currently underway in over 15 states where voter fraud registration has been found in staggering amounts. On average over 33% of all ACORN registrations have been found to be fraudulent
Ohio is reporting over 40% voter fraud with absentee ballots submitted and guess by who?
The founder of ACORN was one of the founders of SDS
ACORN was started to further the concept of creating re-education centers in this country to indoctrinate our nation’s youth to radicalism and anti-capitalism. Gee isn’t this what the brown shirts were all about?
Obama with Ayers helped ACORN and provided funding with clear knowledge of the ACORN agenda
The brother of the founder of ACORN embezzled over 1 million dollars (including taxpayer monies) and ACORN neglected to report the crime
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
– George Bernard Shaw
Position: Obama belief of a bigger tax code and government is the answer is a fallacy
Reasoning:
Existing compliance and enforcement of our progressive income tax system hurts our economy
Over 3 million man hours a year is wasted on tax compliance, that is basically the entire life of over 9,000 people a year
Our GDP is reduced over $200 billion a year just in compliance issues
The cost of compliance is passed along to all consumers in the form of raised prices
Does anyone want to try to calculate the cost of lost opportunity each year with over 3 million man hours wasted?
The IRS is used as a political weapon and American citizens become targets of our government
The US government has shown time and time again it is the biggest waster of tax dollars
The crony system of quid pro quote and paybacks is corrupting our existence at the core
Does anyone want to calculate the cost of doing business inside our government because of the crony approach to buying votes and support?
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody
endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
-Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
The impact of an Obama/Pelosi tag team on our country will be a huge increase in spending and taxation and quite frankly our economy cannot handle it. It will wreak a level of economic loss we haven’t seen in 100 years and will take decades to recover. It just isn’t a formula that is going to work at this time.
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
-Voltaire (1764)
As far as voter fraud in any flavor we need to stomp it out and NOT allow any of it. I think our voter registration system is very important and our country needs to get serious about a uniform voting registration system for national voting.
It is pure insanity to me that someone can vote in the majority of states within this country without having to prove who they are! Voting is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege and freedom.
I constantly hear about it is too difficult for some to get an ID in this country – seriously those same people would have no problem getting an ID to buy liquor or get into club…Why do we continually have to keep lowering the bar in this country.
What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
-Edward Langley, Artist (1928 – 1995)
Why aren’t Americans demanding more from their politicians in the area of accountability.
Joe you even said Barack’s strategy of “not” voting, etc was a brilliant political strategy – just so the American voter cannot figure out the truth about Obama. Do you feel the same way about the manipulation put forward by someone pulling a long con?
Why is it we leave in an age where Americans are not voting on what people actually stand for? Everything is parsed and manipulated to cater to emotional hot buttons within voters – for one goal – win the election.
Americans deserve better than that. Americans deserve to be heard and they deserve the opportunity to vote for candidate that actually agree and support their views not some manipulated perception because the candidate feels the end justifies the means.
Obama claims he will unify and bring together America. He has never worked across the aisle on anything substantial to demonstrate that he is even capable of that. The only unification he brings to the table is one of wild spending and taxation and the further bloating of a horribly inefficient and wasteful government.
McCain is the only candidate within our existing government that can claim he works to bring people together. He is as much of a Democrat as he is a Republican. America needs to openness and passion for a stronger America right now not a candidate that is looking to further punish America because he has an agenda of solving the ills of America through legislation. You can’t help a person until they are ready to help themselves.
Unfortunately the Democratic party continually ignores and hides its over 100 year track record of segregation and manipulation of Blacks in America. It is nonsense to me that a party like that can stand up and say they are for something when their entire existence has been based on something else. The fact that Byrd is still in the party is the biggest slap in the face of such causes in America.
A government big enough to give you everything you want,
is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson
It is time for a strong independent party that stands for a more efficient government and requires accountability and doesn’t redefine important terms like fairness and patriotism.
Joe when you read and review the Prairie Fire and Saul Alinsky’s works you clearly see the Obama campaign in so many different ways.
I think having these opinions is fine that is what America is all about. But we should be voting on the real agenda’s here not the perceived manipulation to dishonestly win an election.
http://www.tysknews.com/Articles/dnc_corruption.htm
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904228,00.html?promoid=googlep
http://www.zombietime.com/prairie_fire/
It is interesting to see the phrases and terminology Ayers used with his extreme positions and now you hear the same phrasing used by Obama.
This is far more than just electing a far left liberal into the Whitehouse this is about the idea of transforming America into a European country and this dog just isn’t going to hunt here.
There is too much in the last comment for me to address before work this AM, but there are a couple of things that stand out:
A) Obama has continually said that he will _renew_ Bush tax cuts for families who make less than $250,000 per year in _taxable_ income. I am satisfied with that, particularly because it eliminates the tax loopholes for the wealthy thanks to Bush. So you might want to revise your tax figures.
B) On Socialism, again, blind fear tactics with little basis in fact. I love the use of the phrase “income redistribution” to strike fear in our hearts – because we already have income redistribution, and many of us already benefit from it. Social Security, for one. Medicare/Medicaid, for two. Any social program that helps those who need it is a form of income redistribution. Does that makes us “Socialists” who “Hate America”?
C) My favorite: “His father was a Communist.” This comment is truly laughable – now the word “Communist” is being tied to Obama? I suppose we should all be very, very afraid that the man does not have the ability to make his own political choices. This one is simply embarrassing.
D) “The people he has most in common with pretty much hate America”: Even more laughable. The people he has most in common with? Think about what you just said. He has most in common with Senators of this country – apparently all America-Haters too. I want a President who is open to hearing all arguments for the benefit of humanity, but then makes educated decisions based on human values; not someone who lives in abject fear of those arguments, shuts out alternative thought, and bombs the hell out of anyone that he doesn’t agree with (or who has something he wants).
E) I love the fact that when in doubt, the blame is always shifted to the “Liberal Media”. Funny – that wasn’t really the charge levied by the RNC when we as a nation wasted tens of millions of dollars on investigating Clinton’s lascivious act in the White House (a REAL threat to America, right?). The Liberal Media didn’t report on that, right? But now, when the media reports anything that does not line up with the Fear platform, suddenly the reporting is severely biased and is not to be trusted. What’s more, maybe if the McCain ticket would stop focusing on skewing words and misstating Obama’s position, maybe there wouldn’t be fodder? Just a thought. What’s next? Shall we start calling those liberal media types Communists and holding hearings? C’mon.
I do however agree with you on the Palin/sexism charge. I think it is ridiculous that her wardrobe is even discussed, and that too is an embarrassment to the intelligence of Americans. On the other hand, when she spends so much of her time misstating facts, misquoting the opposition, or skewing the spirit of words for the sake of inspiring terror in the hearts of Americans, I have little compassion for her. Joe Biden says that the next President will face significant tests during the first 6 months, and Palin skews that to mean Biden doesn’t believe in his running mate. Use common sense Sarah; do you really think he was trying to inspire a lack of confidence in his running mate? The guy who he is trying to get elected? Or do you suppose that was Joe’s secret code way of writing a note saying, “Help me! I’ve been kidnapped!” on the window of the car? C’mon. Rather, the spirit was clear – no matter who the President is, he will face significant challenges. He just happens to believe that will be (and should be) Obama – and clearly we will need to unite as a country to defeat it.
OK. I must go to work – I’m late!
(785) You don’t fund a church and sit in the pews for 20 years hearing hate speech about American and either not support it or believe it.
Obama has even said in interviews that white people don’t want to pay taxes because the taxes would go to the poor in inner cities – SERIOUSLY THIS IS INSANE!!!
I am fully against our progressive system, it is too inefficient and corrupt. We need to fix this system and put in a fair system that allows Government to cash in on our success as a nation and stop the political games that is currently enables:
Perfect example is Pelosi’s deal to exclude American Somoa from taxes because it would cause one of her constituent companies to raise their prices in line with their competitors – but hey corporations really don’t pass along the tax cost to consumers do they?
Our money system is infested with fraud and crony pay off subsidizes.
It is funny how you can sit there and make a statement about whether the NYT or MSNBC is not in the tank?
I don’t believe in McCarthyism it is a black spot on American history however Obama’s entire life is surrounded by people that represent only a small fraction of what America wants.
I just wish Obama would be honest about it. So America can go to the polls and cast a vote based on the candidate that will support their values and not some ambiguous concept of unicorns and rainbows…
(785) You state “I suppose we should all be very, very afraid that the man does not have the ability to make his own political choices. This one is simply embarrassing.”
He did make his own choice. He was part of the New Party in Chicago – a socialist party. That is a fact so how is is you can parse one point and try to redirect the discussion but you don’t reconcile that he was part of the New Party.
Advanced copy of part #1 or a multi-part expose on ACORN.
Interesting read for sure:
Click to access lw1108.pdf
(787), just quickly, as I only have a second: On this we are at an impass: right-wing conservatives discount anything from Annenberg, and the other side significantly discounts anything from Capital Research Center, who is clearly in the pocket of big business (Big Tobacco being the most notorious). Any report that claims to be reasonably unbiased does not refer to it’s subject as a “many-headed hydra” in the second paragraph. But I say an impass, because I do not honestly know enough about Annenberg to defend it either (to me, the seeming counter opinion to CRC).
Will address the others as I have time…sorry – work calls –
Glenn you are still talking a lot about things that have little to do with Obama as if those reflect his views.
A father Obama hardly knew is as irrelevant to the discussion as Schwarzennegger’s father, but are you confusing his real father with the *absurd* claim by Corsi/Martin and the Obama lying hit team? Marshall was a Hawaii communist but does not appear to have any relevant relation to Obama other than a another irrelevant data point in the smear campaign. Will these lies about Obama ever end?
There is somebody who has *written and spoken extensively* about Obama’s views over more than *two decades*. That guy’s name is Barack Obama. He was born in the USA. He believes in America. He’s not a socialist.
There are some legitimate reasons to vote for McCain over Obama, but voting *against* Obama on the basis of the increasingly dispicable smear campaign would be a tragic thing for our American Democracy.
(790) Joe Obama was part of the New Party in Chicago how is that irrelevant. I presented several points about his socialistic viewpoint.
The fact that he was part of the New Party in Chicago proves without a doubt he is a socialist.
How do you reconcile his affiliation with the New Party?
And why do you guys keep ignoring it?
The ACORN connections are very real as well and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to connect the dots – the picture that emerges from the connections is very disturbing both for Obama and the Democratic party.
Do you really believe Obama/Pelosi/Reid are going to be beneficial for this country?
Even Hillary’s Campaign For President attorney filed another claim against Obama’s campaign for voter intimidation from the primaries…yet known of these things seem to phase you.
The overwhelming proof that ACORN is involved in massive voter registration and now voter fraud…isn’t a concern?
These are the tragic things going on with our Democracy. The fact that Obama keeps hiding everything to so people have to guess is his own doing and quite frankly if this were McCain, Palin or even Hillary the media would be ALL over this stuff. If he wants the smears to stop he can tell the American people the truth about their questions. Why is he above questions from the populous?
UPDATE: Apparently that liberal media outlet, the Associated Press, and the Liberal police are reporting that the attack on a McCain volunteer (the infamous “B” attack) was completely fabricated. She confessed Friday to making up a story that a large black man attacked her and carved a b on her cheek.
But, we all know that it’s just a cover up – clearly someone has been bought off, the tapes altered, and presumably the subject tortured. I had no idea that the Police were in on the conspiracy too.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iidrMKZwVNDDlEtkssY6t1xxhg9QD94121280
Sorry – couldn’t resist.
(792)…lol…actually she must be pretty emotionally twisted to do that or this was some lame way to hide the fact that her boyfriend beat her up or something.
I hope the police push the charges to the fullest extent of the law.
This kind of crap is completely irresponsible during an election.
Ashley Todd attack a *total* hoax, designed to fuel the lie campaign against Obama:
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/24/mccain-campaign-volunteer-admits-alleged-attack-hoax/
Drudge and FOX deserve a bit of credit for putting the “hoax” coverage on home pages though I’ll bet dollars to donuts it’ll be gone within hours, the damage largely done.
This was initially reported by Fox news in a totally questionable fashion that simply accepted Todd’s dramatic story that was designed to play on many of the irrational fears and stereotypes that have been used to smear Obama supporters. Drudge and FOX were (outrageously) running the lies last night even as it became crystal clear she was lying about all or some of this. That abuse of the news cycle is simply unconscionable.
Also outrageous is that Todd was an official McCain *campaign worker*. Given the smears against Obama based on people and groups who have little or no connection to his campaign I think it’s clear we have a disturbing double standard.
(794) Joe FOX reported there were questions about the case that a lot didn’t add up…right from the begining.
Drudge ran it first after a local story appeared on a local station.
(794) Joe the double standard is with NYT’s and MSNBC and elements of CBS, etc. They deliberately distort the truth and run dishonest stories on purpose.
Drudge and then FOX ran a story that reported by a local news agency and how can you hold Drudge and FOX responsible for someone that has lied.
But the difference here will be Drudge and FOX will rip her to shreds now unlike MSNBC or NYT’s. If it were the other way around those organizations would have hired her and put her on staff.
Double standard you say…
http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_7484&pageNum=2
When I’m trying to decide on bias I try to take all views out of the equation and then look only at what is reported. Todd was reported very sensationally as a sign that an Obama supporter had carved a “B” in a McCain supporter. More importantly a story that “hot” should not be reported when so many questioned remained about the woman’s motives. Lastly, and a huge nail in the coffin of objectivity, was that the story was not pulled last night after it was clear she was lying. They were maximizing traction and should have changed the story. This is why responsible outlets (CNN) waited while the anti-Obama outlets pushed it so hard. There appears to have been encouragement from the McCain campaign to push the story. It is well known that FOX works indirectly and probably very directly with the McCain campaign to promote their talking points.
There are always personal views involved in reporting, but a good reporter distances themself from that and sticks to the facts. CNN does a much better job with that than FOX.
The guy you are talking about was not a normal campaign reporter for Newsweek but I’ll read the whole piece – looks very interesting…
I was on a somewhat unusual assignment, a long-term, supersecret project for Newsweek magazine. The agreement Newsweek had made with each of the campaigns was that in addition to the reporters covering them day to day, there would be another bunch whose material would be kept confidential and published in a special issue of the magazine, as well as in a book, that would come out after the election.
The New Party….silence…you can hear a pin drop…
Joe what about the media silence about Mahoney?
More double standard…
http://blog.thehill.com/2008/10/24/speaker-pelosi-failed-to-protect-our-overseas-militarys-right-to-vote-rep-trent-franks/
This is the most upsetting thing yet. Can you imagine suppressing the vote of our military?
According to the Election Assistance Commission, only 5.5% of eligible overseas and absentee voters in uniform actually had their votes counted in the 2006 mid-term election.
Unbelievable…
I’ve already addressed the chosen ignorance of mixing the principles of Social Democracy with Marxism, but here’s a quote from a decidedly right-wing commenter on an extreme right site who explained it very well, and without fear being the motive (thus why his argument is worthy of consideration – right-wing screamers and tin-foil theorists take a lesson):
“First of all, the word “socialist” is getting bandied about so much these days that it’s losing its original meaning. I’ve heard conservative bloggers call Obama or even Barney Frank a “socialist.”
This Wikipedia entry describes the New Party as “social democratic.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Party_(USA)
As such, that would make it comparable to mainstream parties in Europe like the Irish Labour Party. Not Marxist or advocating the total government control of production and/or distribution, which seems to be the subtext that some folks are suggesting. Heck, prior to Margaret Thatcher, the British Labour Party could have been described as “social democratic.” That term doesn’t carry any stigma in Europe like it seems to here. In fact, the U.S. is one of the very few Western countries that does not have a mainstream social democratic party.
Also, it’s not even clear if the New Party ever got to be a real political party like the Green Party. The courts ruled against fusion tickets being a constitutional right, which tended to relegate the New Party to just the left-wing ideological fringe of the Democratic Party. If it’s the latter, then there’s probably nothing in the New Party’s philosophy that John Conyers or Jesse Jackson Jr. would object to. And yet these men are in Congress, voting on economics and national security issues all the time, right?
I think the bottom line is this:
Today, Obama is a doctrinaire liberal who hates Reaganomics. We got that. And in his younger days, he may even have strayed further left than that. If having someone as POTUS who is definitely left of center and who wants to dismantle Reaganomics is unacceptable to you, then say so! Explain to the American voters why doctrinaire liberalism cannot be trusted to lead the nation.
If you can’t, then you don’t deserve to win the election anyway.
And don’t obfuscate the issue with talk about Obama’s “judgment” or “character” about Ayers or the New Party. Clearly, it’s Obama’s LEFTIST PHILOSOPHY that is concerning you. Try articulating your reasoning on that to the voters–they might listen.
I know I can explain what’s wrong with leftism. (I survived four years of Jimmy Carter.)
Can you? ”
—
While I of course am not nearly as opposed to Left-leaning ideas (there is much talk on that site about the danger of having an “anti-White” Black man in the White House, for example), I think this is one of the few reasonable voices from the far right that I’ve heard.
I would engage in that conversation. But the conspiracy theory madhatter “I discovered the big cover-up!” writers will really never be paid any attention – because they choose to leave all sense of context and reason aside, and decry anyone who does not part and parcel buy into the fear campaign as simply part of the Liberal Media or the “sheep”.
Does Obama really want to be Karl Marx? And is that even possible in a nation of armed to the teeth Americans just waiting to shoot one another? You know the answer to both questions if you’re honest with yourself, but that’s the problem. It’s easier to blindly shout “be afraid! be afraid!” than to prove the existence of something…that isn’t there…Kind of like blowing up Iraq under the guise of WMD’s…Seems like we may have heard this fearmongering once or twice before, before we were several trillion dollars in debt thanks to the solid leadership of the RNC.
In my view all vote suppression is an outrage, dispicable, and unamerican. I believe that it should be a felony to actively discourage a voter and a RICO violation to use a voter suppression strategy in any campaign.
The Fairfax military ballot situation is outrageous. I think it’s from a foolish law rather than a suppression effort but not clear on that. Even though there are not many ballots involved, this is a great example of where you need a process to allow votes that violate “technicalities”. This is a similar thing to the problems Blackwell exploited in Ohio to partisan advantage.
But Glenn if you are concerned about disenfranchisement you are looking in the wrong place – most of that happens from questionable and strategic purge tactics by secretaries of state. Again, these favor Republican candidates overwhelmingly – that is not rationally disputable. Florida 2000 was definitely shifted by the purge and Katherine Harris motivations were certainly political, though I’m not clear if she *technically* broke laws. She certainly violated any reasonable interpretation of ethical behavior as did Blackwell. The idea is to count legitimate votes.
(802) I think we need a national standard for voting nationally and it should require an ID. State elections can do what they want.
There is way too much crap that has gone on and yet they still do nothing about it…which says more about the parties involved than the people.
It is really disturbing. I think both parties need to be taken down and a new honest party needs to emerge.
“According to the Election Assistance Commission, only 5.5% of eligible overseas and absentee voters in uniform actually had their votes counted in the 2006 mid-term election.
Unbelievable…”
It’s odd right off that bat. First, in the two years before the 2006 election, Speaker Pelosi was not the speaker.
Read this and look for information that confirms the statistic:
http://www.eac.gov/News/press/docs/eac-releases-2006-military-and-overseas-citizens-voting-report/?searchterm=military%20absentee
(804) Good find, but am I the ONLY one who noticed that UOCAVA and ACORN have 3 letters in common….? [adjusting my foil hat – hang on].
It’s plain as day – that Barack and his cronies are everywhere!
🙂
The New Party
Glenn the “evidence” that Obama was a member of the “New Party” is very similar to the “evidence” that Palin was a member of the Separatist party. A few flyers and newspaper articles. Both are attempts to make unfair characterizations of where Obama (or Palin) stood then or now. Would you rather have a separatist in the big house?
I think you are holding too strongly to the idea that you disqualify somebody for past associations even if it’s clear they don’t hold the views now and probably never did.
As you’ll see during his (likely) Presidency, Obama’s going to get huge amounts of criticism from socialists who will complain a lot more loudly than they are now that Obama is not one of them. They’ll complain because Obama is … not a socialist and probably never has been.
(807) Joe he was their candidate. Palin had nothing ever to with the Separatist party…lol.
Obama was part of The New Party and by definition that makes him a socialist.
Funny how you guys want to ignore all the connections back and forth with people having only one goal the ultimate destruction of capitalism.
You will see…
Glenn I’ve seen Mahoney reports on all the networks, but Foley happened during a slow news time. Mahoney scandal would be everywhere in a slow news cycle but with the global economy crumbling around us, the Presidency getting decided after only-god-knows how many months and tens of millions in campaign fees I think poor Mahoney just got booted in favor of all the world-shaking events.
Also unless I’m mistaken Foley was breaking laws as well as ethics standards in his sexual escapades with male congressional pages. Mahoney appears to have confined himself to the lesser status of lousy cheating SOB.
Better flirting with the New Party than the Old Party 😆 😯
!!! INCOMING !!!
Glenn the socialists and somewhat socialist supportive folks like Michael Moore aren’t out to destroy US style capitalism which we both know is already pretty socialistic thanks to overtaxation, progressive taxation, and massive Government.
IMHO socialists have quirky and often kooky visions of how we should do business, overtax everybody, etc, but it’s not fair to paint them as some sort of subversive force out to destroy America. They are not that. I’m increasingly worried about people responding to that idea with violence – does that possibility concern you?
Hey Joe – I posted a response to the New Party – but I think it may have gone into your spam box (oh boy did I just open myself up there) 🙂
Metro just approved it so it should appear shortly – in time sequence…
Metro I think it went to moderation due to 2 or more links..
So much for the Liberal Media suppressing non-stories:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/joe-the-plumb-1.html
Hmm…doesn’t appear to be showing up. I’ll repost, without the link:
I’ve already addressed the chosen ignorance of mixing the principles of Social Democracy with Marxism, but here’s a quote from a decidedly right-wing commenter on an extreme right site who explained it very well, and without fear being the motive (thus why his argument is worthy of consideration – right-wing screamers and tin-foil theorists take a lesson):
“First of all, the word “socialist” is getting bandied about so much these days that it’s losing its original meaning. I’ve heard conservative bloggers call Obama or even Barney Frank a “socialist.”
This Wikipedia entry describes the New Party as “social democratic.”
[deleted link to article]
As such, that would make it comparable to mainstream parties in Europe like the Irish Labour Party. Not Marxist or advocating the total government control of production and/or distribution, which seems to be the subtext that some folks are suggesting. Heck, prior to Margaret Thatcher, the British Labour Party could have been described as “social democratic.” That term doesn’t carry any stigma in Europe like it seems to here. In fact, the U.S. is one of the very few Western countries that does not have a mainstream social democratic party.
Also, it’s not even clear if the New Party ever got to be a real political party like the Green Party. The courts ruled against fusion tickets being a constitutional right, which tended to relegate the New Party to just the left-wing ideological fringe of the Democratic Party. If it’s the latter, then there’s probably nothing in the New Party’s philosophy that John Conyers or Jesse Jackson Jr. would object to. And yet these men are in Congress, voting on economics and national security issues all the time, right?
I think the bottom line is this:
Today, Obama is a doctrinaire liberal who hates Reaganomics. We got that. And in his younger days, he may even have strayed further left than that. If having someone as POTUS who is definitely left of center and who wants to dismantle Reaganomics is unacceptable to you, then say so! Explain to the American voters why doctrinaire liberalism cannot be trusted to lead the nation.
If you can’t, then you don’t deserve to win the election anyway.
And don’t obfuscate the issue with talk about Obama’s “judgment” or “character” about Ayers or the New Party. Clearly, it’s Obama’s LEFTIST PHILOSOPHY that is concerning you. Try articulating your reasoning on that to the voters–they might listen.
I know I can explain what’s wrong with leftism. (I survived four years of Jimmy Carter.)
Can you? ”
—
While I of course am not nearly as opposed to Left-leaning ideas (there is much talk on that site about the danger of having an “anti-White” Black man in the White House, for example), I think this is one of the few reasonable voices from the far right that I’ve heard.
I would engage in that conversation. But the conspiracy theory madhatter “I discovered the big cover-up!” writers will really never be paid any attention – because they choose to leave all sense of context and reason aside, and decry anyone who does not part and parcel buy into the fear campaign as simply part of the Liberal Media or the “sheep”.
Does Obama really want to be Karl Marx? And is that even possible in a nation of armed to the teeth Americans just waiting to shoot one another? You know the answer to both questions if you’re honest with yourself, but that’s the problem. It’s easier to blindly shout “be afraid! be afraid!” than to prove the existence of something…that isn’t there…Kind of like blowing up Iraq under the guise of WMD’s…Seems like we may have heard this fearmongering once or twice before, before we were several trillion dollars in debt thanks to the solid leadership of the RNC.
(816) I don’t think it is a big conspiracy theory. I think this entire escapade with Obama has been well planned out and executed.
If he wins the election we will soon see the truth. They are reviewing his massive spending plans right now. Non-partisan groups are estimating an additional $8 trillion in new spending over the next 8 years.
At that point our interest payment alone on the national debt will be close to $1 trillion a year.
And JCH – BTW…Global Poverty Tax is an additional $845 billion of new spending on top of what is already allocated.
Just remember what Pelosi, Dodd, Frank, Reid, etc will all want in support of Obama. You can add a couple more trillion to the tab.
The last time the Democratic party balanced the budget and created a surplus was primarily due to major cut in the capital gains tax. There is no talk of that this time.
ALL of Obama’s ideas are very similar to the Carter approach to our economy and international policy. I suggest you go back and look at what Reagan had to turn around. You might not like Reagonomics but he did what had to be done to solve the problem and it led to the greatest economic boom in the history of this country.
Just as in 20 years from now I could never respect anyone that had any direct association with Bin Laden the same holds true for Bill Ayers – that point alone disqualifies from my perspective Obama from the table. There are plenty of other Democrats I would have supported in his place.
We will have no check and balance in place if Obama wins. It will guarantee financial ruin in this country for many years to come – everyone one in business is expecting it and already have begun a major contraction in their plans and budgets – this is going to have a dramatic ripple effect. Q4 is going to be a disaster.
And Joe to your point about socialism, new party ideology driving violence in this country. You can count on it. Let me explain, the American people will feel duped. They will fill mislead by MSM and they will feel mislead by Obama. The reason will be because of the parsing of the words – America doesn’t go for that – never has and hopefully never will. If they vote in the Fairness Doctrine the internet will run wild with speculation and only further splinter our country.
I think it is a shame because Obama is literally the last candidate that should be electable in this country. We need a candidate that is middle of the road for too long we have been hijacked from the extremes of both parties.
The real unfortunate part of the Obama story is exactly his 20+ year connections to disgusting people like Ayers and Wright. It will not take long to incite people to a position of violence just by exposing them to the truth behind Ayer’s and Wright’s agendas. Obama really messed up here – he should have thrown them both solidly under the bus and committed to the American people that neither would ever have anything to do with his presidency. I think the real backlash here will be against the very people that Obama so desperately wants to help.
No matter how you want to slice both Ayer’s and Wright hate America. Just read Ayer’s books and listen to Wright speak.
There is no way anyone here that is discussing this would even give the time of day to either one of these miscreants.
MK I am not a big conspiracy nut but I have to admit and I will speak for Joe on this…I think we both find stuff like this fascinating. Obama has created the fervor just as much as anyone else. In the very beginning he should have set the record straight got it out of the way and if people really believed in him it wouldn’t have mattered.
Additionally just as Bill Clinton promised a middle class tax and Obama promised a middle class tax cut when he first ran for office in IL and then for Congress…none of them ever delivered it. The middle class this time is really counting on a real tax cut and not some spend money over here where I want you to and I will give you a tax credit.
If Obama reneges on his campaign promises and we all know he is going to have deep six most of what he wants to do people are not going to be too easy on him and forgiving especially as our economy continues to tank.
I just don’t think this is the right time for such massive tax and spend hikes. Right now 1% of the tax base picks up at least 40% of the total bill today and based on some estimates it could be as high as 60%. The people with the money have the power and they have the power to take their business elsewhere. Overall tax revenue is going to drop sharply and then what will we do?
There is no market system of any type that can handle that type of burden having 1% of the generators pick up that much of the pie. Think about how dangerous that situation is. It doesn’t take much for the 1% to find a better place to do business. They have what every other country wants and in fact the only place on earth that they can do worse is in Japan. You don’t think other countries will want their business.
How big a dip is it to our tax revenue is if 25% of the 1% decide to go elsewhere? Think about it – how do we make that up? This is exactly why you can’t have the majority of your tax revenue come in from 1%. The same is true when you run a business – if the majority of your business comes from 1% of your customers – you don’t have a viable business – eventually it will fail.
Glenn – hats off to you – although we fundamentally disagree, one thing is clear: You want what is best for the nation, and I truly respect that. You have also clearly thought a lot about the subject, and I do appreciate your candor, your concern, and your willingness to both exercise the rights of speech we have, and to support the ability to dissent.
Just wanted to get that out of the way before I unleash the hounds of he–just kidding. 🙂
Honestly, I just wanted to say thanks for the thoughtful debate, and offer due respect.
Metroknow
Thirteen Obama workers yanked their registrations and ballots in Ohio after prosecutors warned temporary residents can’t vote in the battleground state. Ohio spokeswoman Olivia Alair and James Cadogan, who recently joined Team Obama – signed a form letter asking the Franklin County elections board to pull their names….. a copy of the letter was obtained by palestra.net, a Fox News affiliate….prosecutor Ron O’Brien publicly urged out-of-state campaign workers to “examine your conscience” before absentee ballots were opened…. On Thursday, 13 out-of-staters tossed out their already-cast ballots and admitted they didn’t meet residency requirements.
These are some of the same shenanigans that went on with the delegates during the primary.
Bottom line: The Chicago Political Machine is incapable of producing an honest candidate.
MK – Appreciate your comments, I don’t believe all the crap about Obama but I think it is essential to discuss. I contend if Obama were open (like pretty much all the other candidates) it would have done a lot to bring the country together. I think a lot of people think he is trying to pull a fast one through blind ambition.
I am a job creator and have created many thousands of jobs in my career and I know three things going on right now:
1) Companies are not hiring
2) If Obama is elected significant layoffs are planned
3) Capital for next round companies is no longer available
Prediction: If Obama loses you will see Rev Wright call for violence in this country.
Horatiox in regard to Obama’s COB. I found this interesting in an article.
Ironically, Obama mentions his birth certificate in passing on Page 26 of his 1995 memoir, “Dreams of My Father.” “I discovered this article, folded away among my birth certificate and old vaccination forms, when I was in high school,” he wrote.
As much as I am a skeptic as to all of this business–I’ve said time and time again that I simply feel as though we are constitutionally obligated to ensure that our leaders are properly vetted–this, to me, presents a question as to why it was necessary for Obama to provide an obviously laser-printed, recent copy of his birth records in the first place. If he had his original, tucked in among articles and old vaccination forms, why not just provide that one?
This is from a law student blog. Link excluded due to moderation 🙂 or Joe’s feeble attempt to block our freedome of speech – just kidding – Joe is a very gracious host.
Anyway this is the type of stuff that continue to fuel wild speculation about Obama. What could possibly be so bad about his COB?
Joe here is an interesting Op-Ed piece about Troopergate.
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/10/25/opinion/columnists/doc49014ba09bfbe185314041.txt
How dare the press ask a relevant and tough question of the Obama campaign…this is the result:
Channel 9 is in Orlando Florida.
WFTV-Channel 9’s Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it’s some of the best entertainment he’s seen recently. What do you think?
West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama’s comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn’t being a Marxist with the “spreading the wealth” comment.
“Are you joking?” said Biden, who is Obama’s running mate. “No,” West said.
West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America’s days as the world’s leading power were over.
“I don’t know who’s writing your questions,” Biden shot back.
Biden so disliked West’s line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate’s wife.
“This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election,” wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.
McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was “a result of her husband’s experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West.”
Idiotic. The reporter is moron.
The point of trickle-down economics was to “spread the wealth” to the people on the bottom. Does that mean Ronald Reagan was a Marxist?
In American parlance, “spreading the wealth” is a common expression. Kids beg their parents to spread the wealth. If you win the lottery, your relatives will ask you to spread the wealth. It gets used all the time.
There is a reason, Glenn, why these moronic approaches to gaining votes for McCain have not worked. It’s because they are moronic.
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