Illinois Governor Under Arrest

Well, here’s a surprise. We have yet another corrupt politician exposed (like a cockroach when you turn on the light). Not to sound cynical but, is there any other kind? It makes one wonder…

The governor of President Elect Obama’s home state of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich (D) and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today on federal corruption charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, solicitation of bribes and basically trying to sell the senate seat vacated by Obama to the highest bidder. He was trying to get cash, campaign contributions, a cabinet position for himself or at least an ambassadorship, a figurehead job where he could be paid a bloated salary for basically doing nothing and a similar cushy, high paying job for his wife that would pay her at least $150,000 annually, plus anything and everything else he could weasel out of anybody I’m sure.

It’s not just this recent activity that has him in hot water though. He was being investigated for his role in trying to assert influence to get members of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board fired. It is also reported he schemed with others, including none other than Tony Rezko to obtain financial benefits for himself, his campaign committee, his family and others.

If that name sounds familiar, Tony Rezko is the shady “real estate developer” that was convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and corrupt solicitation back in 2006. Mr. Rezko and Mr. Blagojevich have a lot in common it seems. Birds of a feather… By the way, Tony Rezko is also the guy who had dealings with another Illinois politician, when he made a sweet deal to one Barack Obama when he sold him his house. Just a point of interest…

It turns out Gov. Blagojevich has been under investigation for some time now with his office bugged and his phones tapped. He knew he was under investigation, yet he arrogantly and blatantly carried out his quest for money and favors in exchange for Obama’s vacated seat, stating that it is a very valuable thing and he’s not going to give it away for free.

He further demonstrated his utter arrogance when during a press conference, he mocked those investigating him, saying they “sneakily” listened in on his phone conversations, insinuating that they somehow violated his privacy. Right… every politician should be free to carry out their corrupt and illegal activities without those pesky old cops catching them.

He thought as governor, he wielded enough power to be untouchable. He considered himself to be above the law. Who would dare touch him? Well, as it turns out, the FBI would and did. He took the ride in handcuffs this very morning.

This guy is the epitome of a corrupt politician. He is the very definition of the term. I can’t begin to explain the level of disgust I feel at having this kind of despicable cull in our government.

The crying shame is, there are a whole lot more…

Can you imagine what they would uncover if they tapped the phones and bugged the offices of the members of congress?

U.S. Tax System Explained

I got this the other day in an email and thought it was such an eloquent explanation of how Mr. Obama's tax philosophy works, I thought I would post it here.

U.S. Tax system explained in terms of beer - to make it more manageable (stick with this and it will make sense):

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.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. 'Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

More on the Auto Companies

The controversy goes on…

I heard a radio host this morning talking about the auto company execs going to Washington looking for money and the fact that they flew there on their corporate jets. He was on the “Big Three bashing” kick like most everyone it seems, blaming the overpaid company big shots for the problems of the world.

He referred to them going to Washington to “beg” for help as if they were showing up panhandling or looking for handouts. In fact, they are simply asking for LOANS. He also played over and over again Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, asking the CEOs to “raise their hand if they flew here commercial” and then “let the record show, no hands went up.”

The real idiocy came later though when he said, “Second, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up." Right… Only someone as self important and pompous as a politician could ask an idiotic question like that. Did he really think someone would say, “Ok, we’ll just abandon the aircraft at the airport and hang a For Sale sign on it. We don't have to ask the board of directors or anything..."

Guess what friends and neighbors. CEOs of ALL large corporations fly on corporate jets. That’s the way it is like it or not. Why aren’t they upset over the very same thing at the companies that they are already giving money to? Did they try to humiliate the CEOs from AIG and ask them about their company jets that they still operate? Did they call them in and look down their noses at them after they spent a pile of money on lavish parties and corporate retreats for their execs? No.

This is how these politicians work though. Have you ever noticed how they question anybody there? It’s a little like an inquisition. They all sit up above everyone else so they can look down on whoever is before their eminences. It’s a power position and they all play the part of God sitting in judgment of those called before them. It seems like they try to be as sarcastic and condescending as they can while they grill the person. That way, they can inflate their feeling of self worth and feel they are better than everyone else. They disgust me more than the fat cat CEOs.

What really gets me is that a politician is that condescending to a CEO and all the while he would and does take advantage of any and all perks he can get. The same guy asking them about flying on the corporate jet is the guy who flies anywhere he wants at taxpayer’s expense, right? You’re a great one to talk Mr. Congressman…

Believe me; I’m not sticking up for corporate excess. It disgusts me. I just think they are being extremely hypocritical to single out the auto execs for ALL corporate excess. If they want to try and address that issue then do it some other time. Right now, deal with the problem at hand instead of blowing hot air to get your name in the news.

It seems like the sentiment now is that everyone wants to punish the corporate execs but they also want to punish the unions that are responsible for getting the high pay for the auto workers. In fact, the union officials ARE just as bad as the corporate execs and the power mad politicians. They are all of the same ilk.

Everyone wants to punish the guys in charge but you know who will suffer in all this? The workers. The guy on the line trying to make a living. No matter who they intend to punish, the ones that will feel the pain are the little guys. The big shot execs will bail with their golden parachutes. The union officials will find other groups to bring into their fold so they can keep on collecting union dues. The politicians will go on being pompous blowhards, collecting their fat paychecks and perks and millions of workers will lose their jobs and the economy will tank even further which means all the rest of us working stiffs will suffer too.

So why is it that the government jumped to help companies like AIG and the banks but are balking at helping the auto companies? Could it be because AIG and the bankers and all the companies they are handing money to unconditionally are white collar companies? Are they looking out for their own? I mean what happens if the car companies go under? They’re just a bunch of blue collar workers right? Who cares what happens to them?

Don’t get the idea that I’m totally on the side of the auto worker here either. I think they are overpaid compared to other factory jobs and that fact contributes to the Big Three not being as competitive as they could be.

The fact is, I’m arguing on the side of what I think is right for the country and our economy right now.

If it was any other time other than this economic recession, do you think the auto companies would be asking for help? Would they need to? If they were in their present predicament simply for the fact that they were mismanaged and uncompetitive and they were failing in a normal economy, I would be the first screaming to let them stew in their own juice, but the FACT is, it’s simply not the case. Even with their excesses and bloated corporate salaries and bonuses, their companies were doing fine before the economy went south.

So now that the industry is asking for a loan from the government to help them through the bad economy, that the very same government is largely responsible for I might add, the sentiment seems to be that they need to be sent packing.

I don’t agree. No matter what they do or don’t do to address “corporate excess”, they need to find a way to do it without costing jobs. Make no mistake about it; the only thing that is going to bring this economy back is to keep people working. Period. End of story.
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Should We Bail Out GM?

There is a lot of controversy going on now about government help for the auto companies, General Motors specifically, but I don’t really see why it should be such a big deal. For me, it’s cut and dried. The government needs to help the auto companies, period. There shouldn’t be any question about it.

Here’s my reasoning. They have already made the decision to get the government involved with bailing out corporations in trouble. The first bailout package committed 700 billion of our tax dollars to this end with another bailout package in the making. The idea of bailing out these companies is so their failure won’t have a disastrous effect on our economy. This is logical thinking at least and whether it’s the right thing to do is moot at this point because it’s already being done.

I can’t really see an argument NOT to help GM. Experts say that if GM fails, Ford and Chrysler will follow, so it’s not just GM we’re talking about, it’s the entire U.S. auto industry. Think about that and let it sink in; the total elimination of automobile manufacturing in this country. No more American cars. The industry that has been the backbone of our nation during its growth and prosperity; dead... Do we want to let that happen?

There’s also our independence as a nation to consider. Do we want to lose such a huge portion of our manufacturing capability in this country? We’ve made ourselves dependent on others for oil; do we want to make ourselves dependent on others for our cars as well? We’re trying to be independent for energy production; we shouldn’t be so quick to want to lose ground in another important industry.

Some will argue that they won’t completely go out of business if they are allowed to go into bankruptcy but even if they are able to reorganize, they won’t survive in their present form and it will have a monumental effect on our economy. This is THE most important reason for helping GM, as Joe Biden himself so dubiously put it with his “3 letter word”, JOBS. The auto industry employs hundreds of thousands of people who would join the ranks of the unemployed if they fail. But it’s not only the employees of the Big Three; there are thousands of businesses that are suppliers to the auto industry that would be down the drain as well. 3 million jobs is the estimate. How do you think that would impact our economy?

I’ve heard some of the other lame arguments why GM should be left to fail, like they have been mismanaged. Well, if that was a determining factor, why are we helping Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG which have all been grossly mismanaged and still are, but funds are flowing to them.

If GM is somewhat mismanaged, at least they haven’t run the company into the ground to the extent of management at Fannie and Freddie and have not shown the blatant irresponsibility of the morons at the helm of AIG who promptly took their execs on not one, but two lavish junkets after receiving their bailout money. That’s mismanagement to say the least, if not downright despicable, so to help AIG and not GM would just be backward thinking. It wouldn’t make any sense at all.

These companies don’t even produce anything either, they only deal in money. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG; none of them produce anything tangible. Absolutely nothing at all. The auto makers produce a tangible product that the American public uses every day. For those of you who mistakenly think they don’t make a product people want to buy, GM outsells all other manufacturers including Honda and Toyota so don’t think their products aren’t in demand. I would rather see my tax dollars helping a company that actually makes something of quality instead of just the “money changers.”

Don’t think we are just giving them money either. We are just talking about loans here. In normal times, GM would borrow money from commercial sources but the banks aren’t loaning money, even though a big part of the bailout package was intended to loosen up the lending market, the banks seem to be holding onto it for themselves. GM needs loans to get them through the market downturn and it’ll be repaid when things pick back up again. It worked for Chrysler a few years back so there’s no reason to think it won’t work for GM.

To put it simply, helping the auto industry now will help our country in the long run and I for one want them to be a part of America’s future. I proudly buy and drive American and I want to keep doing so.

What Lies Ahead?

Well, it happened. Not really any big surprise though, with the way things were going. While there are a few races still undecided, the voters seem to have done exactly what most analysts and pollsters predicted. I have to admit, even with all my misgivings about the man, his background and his questionable associations; the fact that he was elected, disagreeable as it may be, is understandable.

The Obama machine really did its job. They ran an excellent campaign to make the most advantage of his outstanding public speaking ability. The mainstream media did their part by glossing over his past, his inexperience and his lack of true qualifications to sell him to the American public, which is exactly what they did. Indeed, together they elevated him to an almost “rock star” like popularity.

It was easy for them when you think about it. There was never any question that he would have the black vote. It was obvious from the beginning that 99% of blacks would vote for him no matter what he said or did so he didn’t have to expend any resources to get those votes. All he really had to do was court the independents and capitalize on the anti-Bush sentiment that grew to its peak after the economy went south. That played right into their hands and for most of the latter stages of the campaign, that was their main message; ‘everything bad was Bush’s fault and McCain was just more Bush’, and it worked like a charm. Next January, he’ll be the man in charge.

The question now is, how will he face the problems ahead for this country and how will he govern? Will he do what he has been saying and govern more from the center as a moderate Democrat or will he try to take the country hard left more like his short voting record in the Senate would suggest? This alone will determine if we make a slow recovery and rebuild our nation and our economy or we plunge further into the downward spiral.

So far, even though there has been a clamoring for action from the radical left wing and a few blowhards in congress spouting off, there isn’t any real showing of what the president elect really intends. We’ll just have to wait and see.

I tend to think that he isn’t going to do anything radical at first. He is going to start out with a more moderate tendency because to do anything else would be 180 out with what he has been promising. His true far left policies won’t show themselves until later in his presidency, but I do think it will happen. It’s simply a matter of time.

The best thing he could do now though, to help the economy, is postpone any plans for any tax increases. If he publicly announced that he is backing off of any tax increases, especially the capital gains tax, for at least the next year or so, you would see the economy start to come back. Wall Street would settle down, the wild swings would level out and the slow climb would begin. It will take time to bring things back. The government will have to do everything it can to help business and minimize large corporation failure that would have a huge impact on the economy and buy time for the recovery to progress, but it will happen if our government takes the right approach.

There is a lot of speculation at this point but one thing is for sure, there are huge expectations of what the Obama presidency is going to do. All eyes will be upon him.

I wonder if he feels the pressure yet.

The Real Obama?

Why does the American voting public seem not to be concerned? I don’t understand it, I really don’t.

When I was growing up, my parents told me many times that I would be judged by the company I keep. They told me that if I hung out with the “bad kids” I would be judged a bad kid too. They explained that it’s not just “guilt by association” but people realize that if I know I am associating with people of questionable character and I continue to associate with them, I am in fact validating and endorsing their behavior and beliefs and demonstrating I am of a like mind. I’ve remembered that lesson my entire life.

So why is it that we seem on the verge of electing a person to the highest office in our great country that has the worst associations of anyone ever to run for office? Why is the Democratic Party ignoring it and trying to sweep it under the rug? Why is the Liberal media not reporting it? Why is it that the voting public doesn’t seem to care?

Let’s take a look at who he is and who his friends are and who is behind him and endorsing him for president.

First of all, he scoffs at anyone that describes him as a socialist but by his own actions and words, if he is not a socialist, he is a socialist sympathizer. In his own book he stated that when he was in college he chose his friends carefully, choosing “The more politically active black students, the foreign students. the chicanos, the Marxist professors and structural feminists." http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/28/obama-affinity-marxists-dates-college-days/

The most well know Marxists he associated with are the America hating, terrorist criminals Bill Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn. These people carried out bombings against the Pentagon, the Capitol building and the New York City police department and are self described Marxists, Communists and friends of Obama. He’s been to his house. They hosted a party for him there as he was running for office for the first time. They helped him launch his political career. Obama wrote a recommendation for Ayers’ book. He worked with him. They are friends and not just casual acquaintances as he now would have you believe. When recently asked if he was sorry for what he did, Ayers said he was not sorry at all. He wished he had bombed more. Here’s a picture of him showing his opinion of America:

Here’s a little tidbit about Ayers that should make any moderate democrat cringe. Bill Ayers wrote in one of his books praise for and dedicated the book to people he considers “political prisoners” and in the list of people he admired and sympathized with, one Sirhan Sirhan, the person who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy. http://www.zombietime.com/prairie_fire/ Would you be a friend to this man?

Next we have Jeremiah Wright, his pastor, mentor and friend for over 20 years. This man is a radical leftist, racist preacher who preaches hatred against whites in his church. Yes, this is the man who during his sermon, in his church made the statement “God Damn America” and says it’s in the Bible. He refers to our country as the “U. S. of KKK A.”



He preaches Black Liberation Theology which is based in Marxism. He is friends with Luis Farrakhan who is well known for his racist anti-white and anti-Semitic views. These two men traveled together to the Middle East to meet with Muammar el-Qaddafi. Both men are against Israel and side with the PLO. Obama referred to him as one of his closest friends and mentors for over 20 years. He went to his church and listened to him preach hatred for over 20 years and only denounced him when it became public when he was running for president.

And when Rev. Wright isn’t around, father Michael Pfleger fills in. I won’t bother telling you about him. The only description that comes to mind when I see him is “raving lunatic”. You can judge for yourself:



Both Obama and Bill Ayers are friends with a guy name Rashid Khalidi who, although he denies being an “official” spokesman for the PLO, repeatedly endorses and defends them any time he speaks. Obama attended a dinner, along with Bill Ayers, given for Khalidi. He even spoke at this gathering. The LA Times has a video of the event and it’s reported that there were many anti-Jewish statements made by Khalidi and others in attendance. They are refusing to release the video. The Times insists that Obama made no derogatory statements himself on the video. I would wonder why they are refusing to release it then. There must be something on it that would put him in a bad light. Perhaps his reaction to the statements? We don’t know.

I heard the other day that according to polls, 75% of the Jews in Florida are backing Obama. Are they not paying attention?

Well, there’s more. Obama, although he didn’t go himself, sent his recently appointed “Muslim Outreach” director (the former director resigned over links to a radical cleric. (hmmm… what a coincidence…) to a meeting attended by several Muslim extremists, one of whom has close ties to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Another has publicly announced his support for the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Yet another extremist attendee to this meeting has stated that "You will see Islam move from being the second largest religion in America -- to being the first religion in America." http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/10/obamas-muslim-outreach-coordinator/

Now, I am asking the question, does Obama sympathize with the views of these extremists or is he just buddying up to them to court the Muslim vote? He IS definitely trying to get the Muslim vote. That part is not in question as he has stated he wants the Muslim vote but is he just trying to use them to get elected or is he making deals behind the scenes and making promises to get the Muslim vote? I have to say, either way, it stinks and I don’t like it.

And we may as well include Tony Rezko in this notorious group. The full extent of any impropriety involving Rezko and Obama is unclear but a few facts are undisputed. I’ll state them here and let you draw your own conclusions.

Rezko was involved in the land deal that got Obama his 1.65 million dollar house at a $300,000 discount. At the same time Obama bought the house, Rezko’s wife purchased the vacant lot next door. Obama had mentioned his interest in that lot to Rezko. Shortly after Rezko came under federal investigation for influence peddling, Obama purchased a portion of that lot from Rezko’s wife.

There is also some question as to any connection to one Nadhami Auchi who is an Iraqi billionaire and former bagman for Saddam Hussein and obviously anti-Israel. He was also accused of laundering money for Hussein and Khadafi.

It is rumored that Rezko contacted Obama for help in getting Auchi a visa to enter the U.S. in 2005. Obama denies helping Auchi but he did attend a party Rezko threw for Auchi in 2004 but denies meeting him.

Auchi transferred 3.5 million dollars to Rezko for investment in real estate in Chicago’s south loop. This was shortly before the Obama house deal. There is speculation that the money from Auchi may have been to help Obama in the deal or it may have been that Rezko was trying to shield assets as he had several pending lawsuits at the time. Exactly what money came from where and went to who isn’t exactly clear but then again, we have a money launderer working with a slum lord shady real estate investor and Barack Obama.

Tony Rezko was indicted in 2006 as the result of a federal investigation known as “Operation Board Games”. He went to trial and this year was found guilty on 16 charges including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and corrupt solicitation. I’m not exactly clear on the details but the 3.5 million dollar money transfer from Auchi may have played a part in Rezko’s conviction.

Have you noticed that all these friends of Obama are now in hiding? Why is that? Ayers won’t speak to any reporters and ducks the cameras. Khalidi refuses to speak and runs from the cameras and tries to hide his face. Rev. Wright has disappeared from public view as has Pfleiger. Tony Rezko isn’t talking. Oh yeah, he’s in jail…

The fact is that this guy has a lot of very shady characters in his past and present circle of friends. http://www.barackobamaassociates.info/ and http://www.barackbook.com/Friends.htm

Now let’s delve into Obama’s involvement with ACORN. For those of you that don’t know, ACORN (Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now) is a radical leftist group with a history of strong arm tactics and intimidation to get what they want. ACORN was the group that was instrumental in pressuring banks into making the bad loans that directly lead to the recent mortgage banking meltdown involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They claim to be involved in “get out the vote” movements but in fact they have a history of promoting voter fraud. They have been found guilty of voter fraud in the past and are presently under federal investigation again for voter fraud in this election.

Obama denied any direct connection with the group but later changed his story. As a lawyer, he represented them in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois. He taught classes for future leaders of ACORN. When Obama served as the head of the Woods Fund with Bill Ayers, he funneled grant money to ACORN. The Obama campaign also paid over $800,000 to CSI, a “subsidiary” of ACORN and then attempted to hide it by filing finance reports to the Federal Election Commission claiming the money was for “polling, advance work and staging major events”. When it was discovered, they said it was a mistake and amended the report to say the money was actually for “get out the vote” activities.

Just as a point of interest, creating a dummy company under another name is a common money laundering technique. That company can then receive cash and on paper it doesn’t appear to be going to the company that actually ends up with it. For example, ACORN could create a company called CSI that could then receive cash payments. The organization paying could say they paid CSI money for services rendered such as “lighting and staging” when in fact CSI does nothing other than receive the money and pass it along to ACORN for their activities. All hypothetical of course…

Sen. Obama has said that, "I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues that you care about my entire career." He also says he wants to have organizations like this come to the White House to help shape his agenda.

Have you noticed the number of people here surrounding Barack Obama that are on the wrong side of the law?

Now, I’ll just mention some of his more sordid supporters. I know that he can’t help who endorses him. He has no control over that but it still makes me a little uneasy when I see who is backing him for president. It makes me wonder why they are backing him. Here are a few I would wonder about:

Iran
Hamas
Luis Farrakhan
Rev. Jeremiah Wright
Father Pfleiger
ACORN (now under investigation for voter fraud)
France's socialist party head Francois Hollande
Communist Party USA
Hugo Chavez
Fidel Castro
Paul Reyes (Columbia’s terrorist FARC chieftain) says he doesn’t “endorse” Obama but would like to see him in the White House (figure that one out…)

I guess everyone will have to decide for themselves about this man. I don’t know about you but I just have too many unanswered questions, too many unknowns and what I do know, I don’t like...

"A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth."
-- Charles Darwin

Is this what we have in store for us?

I don’t get it. I thought the democrats and liberals were supposed to espouse tolerance and understanding, equality for the common man, etc., etc. I guess that is only if you are a fellow democrat and don’t have any other view but theirs, huh? So it seems.

Is what we have been seeing from them a preview of what an Obama administration is going to be like? Is it what his side wants to turn America into? I’ll tell you what I mean. Let’s examine their behavior.

The first thing that gave me pause was when John McCain announced Gov. Palin as his running mate. The democrats, the Obama camp and the liberal media went into a feeding frenzy going after this woman. I’m not even talking about the issues either. They were vicious in their attacks and it was on a personal level. They found one person in Alaska with an ax to grind and printed all her negative comments without even checking them out such as the “book banning” story that was patently untrue. They made accusations that her baby was really her daughter’s baby. Nothing seemed to be off limits. Nothing was too low. It certainly wasn’t what one would consider fair and responsible reporting either, but then again we don’t have that from most media outlets in this country.

I think what really told the story on what the Obama crowd really thinks of Gov. Palin was when she was interviewed by Charlie Gibson. If you look at his body language and the look on his face, he had a very arrogant posture and was looking down his nose at her when he was asking his questions. You could almost see him thinking, “Who are you, little lady, to dare to think that you deserve to be running for vice president? You’re just a mere commoner.”

I really think that is why they hate her so much. She is not one of the political elite. She is just a common everyday person. She doesn’t have the pedigree that they believe you must have to be part of the “ruling class” such as the democrats consider themselves to be. They will take and have been taking ANY opportunity to insult, denigrate, degrade or discredit her. Nothing is off limits for them.

The next thing that absolutely amazed me was the whole flap over Joe the plumber. Here’s another common everyday person who happened to find Obama campaigning in his neighborhood so he went outside and asked him a question. Well, it wasn’t a question that the Obama camp wanted asked or wanted to answer but it happened to be on camera so they had to try and discredit the question. The way they did this was to go after the poor guy that asked the question. They went after him like he was a candidate running against them. They took apart his life. They looked into his plumbing license and when they found out he didn’t have one, they called him a liar and said he wasn’t really a plumber. They looked into his tax returns. They looked at his tax returns. The guy merely ASKED A QUESTION and here’s the “party of tolerance” trying to shred the guy. Here again also is the wonderful media that’s in the tank with Obama reporting it all without bothering with things like FACTS. The FACT is, he works for someone else so he doesn’t need a license, he works under the owner’s license. Most of us common folks know that, I guess the “elite” don’t.

The latest thing that’s happened that has the Obamaniacs showing their true colors is the reporter asking Joe Biden whether of not his running mate’s policy of wanting to “spread the wealth around”, or take money from one group and give it to another, isn’t a Marxist tenet. His response was to pompously ask the reporter if it was a joke or was it a real question. When she said it’s a question, he scoffed and said that’s not what he wants to do. I guess he hasn’t been listening, because that’s EXACTLY what Sen. Obama has said he wants to do and he used those exact words.

After the interview was over, they retaliated against the station by canceling an interview with Biden’s wife that was scheduled for immediately after his interview. They also said they were denying that station any further access to their campaign. They were shutting them out.

Now that’s pretty scary when you think about it. For all their indignation about being compared to socialists, that is a patently socialist move. If you don’t like what the media outlet is asking or talking about, just shut them down. That’s how Castro controls the press in Cuba. It’s how Chavez controls the press in Venezuela and it sounds a lot like communist Russia, don’t you think?

For all their posturing, they sure don’t seem to really be on the side of the common man. It seems to this common man that they are extremely elitist and consider themselves to be far above most people in this country. They feel that they are the ruling class and they need to be in power to take care of the poor, stupid masses like all of us “Joe the plumber” types. You know the type, the ones that cling to their Bibles and guns when things get tough. They feel we should only be clinging to THEM when things get tough. They feel we need to be taken care of, like a small child or the family dog.

They certainly don’t have any tolerance for anyone that doesn’t agree with them and if you disagree and happen to tell them or heaven forbid, ask the wrong question, look out. I guess Joe is lucky he only got his personal life picked apart and not hauled off to a concentration camp. Then again, Obama and the rest of the radical left aren’t quite in power yet.

Colin Powell Now a Democrat?

I have to say that I was disappointed but not very surprised when Colin Powell endorsed Obama the other day. Not only has he turned against his political party, he has basically turned his back on what he has stood for through his entire career.

He stated his reasons, citing Obama’s “ability to inspire” and his being a “transformational figure”. I don’t know what he means by transformational figure but endorsing him because he’s a good speaker is pretty shallow. Just because someone is good at making speeches doesn’t show they are going to be a good leader or good for our country. Adolf Hitler had the “ability to inspire” too we all know the folly of following him.

Most everything that Mr. Powell stated about why he is flipping his allegiance simply parroted the other democrats.

He stated that he is concerned about what he perceives as a negative turn of the McCain campaign’s “attempts” to tie Obama to the radical terrorist Bill Ayers. Well, there isn’t any “attempt” needed. It is an undisputed fact that Obama and Bill Ayers were friends. They have known each other for years. He’s been to his house. They served on a board together. Obama wrote an endorsement for Ayers’ book. The democrats and now Mr. Powell simply “attempt” to sweep it under the rug. They “attempt” to minimize it as much as they can, just as they attempt to minimize his friendships with the racist preaching Jeremiah Wright and his ties to Luis Farrakhan.

He also stated that he was impressed by Obama’s dealing with the financial crisis. Right… I’d like to know what Obama did to impress him. As far as I could tell, he did nothing but continue his campaigning while John McCain suspended his campaign and returned to Washington to work on the problem. Now all the democrats say that Obama handled the problem and McCain did nothing. Now that’s some of the best spin I’ve ever heard and Mr. Powell stated it verbatim from the democrat playbook.

He also stated that he didn’t like the choice of Gov. Palin as John McCain’s running mate stating that he didn’t think she’s ready to be president. That might be a valid argument if she was running for president but she’s not, John McCain is. How good of a president does he think Joe Biden would be? I don’t know about you but that guy flat out scares me. I’ll take Sarah Palin over Joe Biden ANY DAY, but here again; this statement is right out of the democrat script.

With this kind of rhetoric, I can’t help but think that race is a prominent factor here. I think he wanted to get on the bandwagon and he was just looking for a good opportunity to do it. It just goes to show you how strong a motivation race can be. Enough to turn his back on his party and the long term relationships he has built in past administrations.

But, I’ll bet that Mr. Powell will be rewarded for this act with a prominent position in the Obama administration once he is in office, at the very least a cabinet position.

Well, I know it makes no difference, but I had a lot of respect for Colin Powell and said many times I would vote for him for President if he ever ran.

I’m sorry to say he’s gone down some in my estimation.

Despicable Politicians

Aren’t they all? I’ve often thought that the measure of a good politician is how good a liar they are. Here’s some more proof of that theory.

Speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi is now under investigation regarding payments made from her PAC (political action committee) to her husband’s real estate and investment firm.

It just so happens that she voted to ban this very practice last year and her party condemned it as a part of the “culture of corruption” when republicans did it. The bill didn’t pass so I guess since she is getting in on the take now, it’s OK.

The payments from her PAC to her husband’s business have totaled near $100,000 over the last decade or so but what is really interesting is that her husband took over as treasurer of her committee last year and since then; the payments have QUADRUPLED and are slated to total near $48,000 this year alone. Gee, what a coincidence that is, huh? What a scam! As treasurer of the PAC, he makes the payments to himself!

PAC money is supposed to be used for campaign expenses and such and does not belong to the politician for their personal use, but here’s a way to funnel the cash right into their pockets. Just set up a company owned by a spouse and then pay that company for whatever and on the books it’s listed as “business expenses” and now its family income. It’s magic. It’s called money laundering when the mob does it but I guess when a politician does it, it’s just called a business expense.

These people are unbelievable…

Here are a few more details on the economy and who did what when:

Barack Obama and the democrats spew lies about the Bush administration being responsible for our economic troubles and they want to blame John McCain by association simply because he is a republican.

FACT: Senator John McCain co-sponsored a bill, the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, that would have provided regulation and reform of the GSE’s, primarily Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that were leading our economy into trouble.

Here is an excerpt from the summary of the bill:

1/26/2005--Introduced.
Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 to establish: (1) in lieu of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an independent Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Agency which shall have authority over the Federal Home Loan Bank Finance Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Banks, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac); and (2) the Federal Housing Enterprise Board.

Sets forth operating, administrative, and regulatory provisions of the Agency, including provisions respecting: (1) assessment authority; (2) authority to limit non mission-related assets; (3) minimum and critical capital levels; (4) risk-based capital test; (5) capital classifications and undercapitalized enterprises; (6) enforcement actions and penalties; (7) golden parachutes; and (8) reporting.

It was not passed because the democrats, lead by one Barney Frank, insisted that there was nothing wrong in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Yes, the very same Barney Frank that is blaming the republicans for the bailout bill not passing in the house. The same guy that blames the republicans for our present economy.

I’m sure Mr. Frank wants this bill badly since he is a big recipient of campaign contributions from those very two institutions. His fellow windbag, Nancy Pelosi is also high on the list of recipients. Hillary Clinton is number 12 on the list. John Kerry number 3. Christopher Dodd tops the list and guess who is number 2. Yes, it seems it is one Barack Obama. The guy that rails against John McCain having ties to the oil industry in his ads is the guy with ties to the two institutions that are largely the cause of the mortgage woes and the economy crash. He doesn’t tell you THAT in his ads.

It’s no wonder that congress has an approval rating of only about 7%. They continually show the American public that they are nothing but a bunch of crooks, liars and hypocrites.

I have never before taken this close a look at the actual inner workings of our government and I sure don’t like what I see. As a matter of fact, it turns my stomach.

Democrat Nut Jobs At It Again

If you haven’t heard, the 700 billion dollar bailout package failed to pass congress today. In response, the stock market fell over 700 points, the largest one day drop in history.

You want to know why it failed to pass? The answer is partisan politics, pure and simple. The so called “bi-partisan” effort that was supposed to be happening didn’t. I’m beginning to think that the whole notion of bi-partisanship is a myth. If the democrats and republicans can’t set politics aside and pull together in a crisis this serious, they NEVER will.

The bill may have had a chance to pass but then Nancy Pelosi, the head democratic nut job got up and made a caustic speech demonizing the Bush administration, blaming them for the whole situation, insulted and denigrating all republicans and then expected them to join her in the vote? If that’s her idea of bi-partisanship, of reaching across the isle, of being a leader and bringing people together, well quite frankly, she a nut job. It was absolutely the most outrageous behavior I have ever seen.

She didn’t even wait until after the vote to spew her liberal democratic rhetoric. All she wanted to do was what democrats always do, point fingers and blame others when they are the ones actually at fault. As I stated in my previous post, all the housing market and bad mortgage problems were started by the democrats forcing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to deal in the bad paper and even after repeated warnings by the Bush administration they did nothing to fix it. Democrats, as recently as a few months ago insisting there was nothing wrong with those two institutions. All the warnings went unheeded by congress.

They also immediately blamed the republicans for the bill not passing today. Well, guess what! 95 democrats voted against the bill. It failed by 12 votes so why didn’t these 95 democrats vote for it and pass it? They have a majority. There is no excuse for them not to pass it! If Ms. Pelosi was any kind of leader at all, she should have been able to get 12 more votes out of 95 in her own party.

I’ll tell you, I’m not too happy with ANY of these politicians at the moment, but these democrats are absolutely disgusting. If the test of a politician is how good a LIAR you are, they take the prize.

Who Really Caused the Current Economic Calamity

Well, even though John McCain said he wanted to put off the debate until the bailout legislation was passed, he showed up and they had the debate as scheduled. Both performed relatively well and neither made any major gaffes. After the debate, all the Obama supporters claimed he won while all the McCain supporters claimed their candidate won. Very predictable.

What happened after the debate? John McCain went back to Washington to continue working on the problem facing the country. Barack Obama went right back to campaigning, again putting himself first and country second. His primary message today is railing about how President Bush and John McCain are entirely to blame for our economic situation. He’s busy talking while McCain is taking action.

His actions and the rhetoric he is spewing today are not just irresponsible but downright despicable. Not only is he ignoring his responsibility as a United States Senator, the job he is getting paid for by the way, but he is spending his time pointing fingers and laying blame while not lifting a finger to help the situation. The worst part is, he is pointing at the wrong people and the wrong party.

Let’s take a look at some facts. Everybody wants to blame Wallstreet right now and while part of the blame might lie there, it isn’t the root cause. The real cause of the current problems originates in the housing market and irresponsible lending, primarily by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The subprime lending, the so called “bad paper” that all the greedy bad guys were dealing in, that’s the cause, right? Well, what caused that?

Let’s start at the beginning in the Clinton administration. The wonderful liberal democrats thought it was unfair that a larger percentage of minorities were being denied home loans. They decided to do something about it so they ventured into the area of social engineering to mandate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lower the standards and make more loans available to minorities. Yes friends and neighbors, it was the democrats that forced the “bad paper” to be written in the first place.

While the spirit of this was admirable and was applauded at the time because it increased home ownership of “those less fortunate” it wasn’t a sound fiscal policy. Strictly from a business standpoint, it was unsound to grant more loans to people with questionable ability to repay. The government was interfering in the free market. The free market looks at ability to repay, credit rating, job status, and other factors ignoring race, creed or color. The federal government (remember – Clinton administration, democrats, early 1990’s) mandated that minority loans must be increased. This government meddling is the root cause of the problem. This was the initial rolling of the little snowball down the hill. The subprime lending increased, more and more companies (like Bear Stearns and Lehman) got involved in dealing in bad paper. The little snowball picked up more snow and grew into the avalanche we have today.

So why didn’t anybody notice this avalanche coming before it hit the ski lodge? Well, actually someone did. It seems that the George Bush administration started warning of problems with Fannie and Freddie specifically and urging congress to take action starting back in 2001. The Administration's FY02 budget declares that the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is "a potential problem," because "financial trouble of a large GSE could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting Federally insured entities and economic activity." Then another unheeded warning in 2002. In 2003, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight warned that problems “could immediately spread into financial sectors beyond the housing market” Warnings continued from the President and his administration urging congress to take action and they all went unheeded. Congress did NOTHING.

So you tell me. Who’s to blame for this mess? Who rolled the snowball? Who repeatedly warned of problems and called for action? And who did nothing?

Barack Obama and his liberal democrat cronies have the gall to say it’s Bush’s fault? It’s John McCain’s fault?

Give me a break…

John McCain Puts Country First Again

Today Senator McCain announced he would suspend his Presidential campaign and asked that Friday’s debate be postponed because he is going to Washington to work on the grave problem facing the country, our failing economy.

The bail out legislation put forth by President Bush has little chance of passing in its present form and congress needs to come together in a by-partisan effort to expedite the changes needed and get it passed.

This is something that needs urgent attention and action and John McCain is putting the welfare of our country first. He is going back to the senate to DO HIS JOB as a Senator and actually do something about this problem.

He communicated his intentions to Senator Obama and asked him to join him in this effort. Senator Obama’s opinion was that congress could handle the problem without him and that the candidates should continue their campaigns and do the debate as scheduled. Barack Obama put himself first and country second.

Now, I ask you, which response to a serious threat to the welfare of this country is the appropriate one?

Which person would you rather have as President of the United States, a man that takes charge and confronts problems without hesitation or someone that would rather let others handle it?

If this situation is a test of these two men, only one passed.

More On Gas Prices

Well, if you have read any of my previous posts about the state of our economy and the price of gas, here’s another tidbit of information that will get your blood pressure up.

I’ve maintained for quite some time that the oil companies are manipulating the price of crude and the price of gas at the pump and here is more evidence.

Let’s take a look at the barrel price of crude vs. the price of gas at the pump 1 year ago and compare it to the respective prices today.

1 year ago, the price of a barrel of oil was about $82 and we were paying about $2.75 for a gallon of gas at the pump.

When they decided to start hiking up the price, it rose to a record high of about $147 a barrel and the price at the pump peaked out around $4.11 a gallon.

That’s about an 80% increase for the barrel price and a 50% increase at the pump.

Just before the recent artificial hike that they blamed on hurricane Ike, (the hurricane didn’t cause any actual damage to supply or production mind you, so the recent price hike was artificial yet again.) the price of crude had dropped back to about $92 a barrel and the price of a gallon of gas at the pump had only dropped back to about $3.85.

That’s a 37% drop for crude but only a 6 or 7% drop at the pump.

If you want to look at it another way, the net increase over the year for the price of crude is only about 12 – 13% while the price at the pump has gone up 40%.

NOW tell me they’re not ripping us off.

Ever heard of Dick Fuld?

Ok, it’s starting to get a little ridiculous now. What the heck is going on with the economy? It’s bad enough that we have skyrocketing gas prices driving inflation, now we have businesses failing left and right, the latest being Lehman Brothers, a company that’s been around for over 150 years.

What does it take to run a business into the ground that’s been around since 1850 and survived the stock market crash and the great depression?

Well, it seems all it took was the reckless leadership of one Richard Severin Fuld, Jr. who ran the company for the last 14 years. Gee, there’s something that won’t look to good on his resume, huh? He took a 158 year old company and left it in ruins after a mere 14 years. What an accomplishment.

His efforts didn’t go unrewarded though. He drew a pay package of around $466 MILLION from 1993 – 2007. He also stands to draw around $60 million from the company now for his “retirement”. I understand he has been selling off his company stock over the course of 2008 all the while encouraging his employees to invest heavily. Can you say “insider trading”?

Anybody see a pattern here? The CEO and upper management bail out with their golden parachutes and they leave the stockholders and employees whistling in the wind.

Capitalism at it’s worst. Companies that are being run by people who have no regard for anybody or anything that gets in the way of profit. That means sound business theory goes right out the window and the company gets run by the “shooting craps in Vegas” theory.

Nice job DICK.

Hey, I wonder if I could get a job like that. I bet I could do just as good a job running a venerable company into the ground in a handful of years. Anybody want to pay me $466 million?

 

Conspiracy Theory

I’ve never been one prone to conspiracy theories but sometimes I just start to wonder. I can’t help but wonder if we are all being manipulated at times. Certain events seem to lead me in that direction.

For instance, I noticed that whenever we have a major increase in the price of gas, they jack the price up and up by a large margin all at once until people start to scream. Then it levels out for a bit and then they drop it back some.

This has the psychological effect of making you think that you are getting a little relief when in fact the price is still much higher than it was to begin with. Think about it. We feel the pain in the pocket when we have to keep shelling out more and more for a fill-up and then we are a little relieved when the price stops going up. Then after the price drops back 20 or 30 cents a gallon, you think you are getting a deal.

Isn’t that what you are feeling now? Your frustration level was very high when the price hit above $4 a gallon but now that it’s dropped back, you’re feeling a little better.

In fact we are all paying about a dollar more per gallon than we were just a year or so ago.

Interesting psychological effect isn’t it? Jump the price way up until people’s budgets are about to bust and the economy is ready to crash and let people feel the pain of the high cost for a bit, then drop it back just enough to bring the economy back from the brink and placate the masses by letting them have a few cents a gallon back in their wallets.

How relieved we feel now to be paying only $1 more per gallon…

Ever feel like you’re being played?

SURPRISE!

If you would have asked me last week who John McCain was going to pick as his running mate, I would have said Mitt Romney without hesitation. As a matter of fact I thought it was a done deal way back when he pulled out of the primary race so abruptly.

Little did I know… I was totally blindsided by his pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as I think a large majority of people were, especially Republicans and right wing conservatives.

Now the burning question is, did this help or hurt the McCain campaign? I think it may have set the hard core conservatives back on their heels a little (or maybe a LOT) and it will take them a while to recover. Not to sound sexist but the old conservative guard may have a hard time getting behind the idea of a woman being a step away from the Presidency.

It was also apparent that it surprised the opposition as well. The Democrats didn’t really know how to react or what to say at first and they are now scrambling to figure out how it’s going to affect McCain’s chances. They are also frantically trying to figure out how they are going to attack this new development in the presidential race.

You can bet the pollsters are going to be very busy for the next few days and weeks desperately trying to figure out how the numbers play out. Everybody wants to find out which way the Hillary supporters are going to go, especially the women. Are they going to leave the Democratic ticket to try and put a woman in the White House?

Nobody really knows yet how this is going to play out but it may well make or break McCain’s campaign. Personally, I think it was a stroke of genius. I think it WILL grab a large portion of women voters who supported Hillary, especially the ones that supported her simply because of her gender.

His conservative base won’t be a problem as they may be speechless at the moment but they will come around. They won’t jump ship because the alternative is unthinkable. They would never go over to the other side.

When it comes to the uncommitted moderates and independents, I think it just levels the playing field. They now have the choice of voting for the first black or the first woman for President of the United States. Either way, it’s a first and either choice could appeal to the “middle of the roaders”.

To say this presidential race is noteworthy would be a monumental understatement. It is nothing less than history in the making. The campaigning is going to be interesting to say the least and there will be record turnouts at the polls.

Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen. We’re in for a hell of a ride.

I was right

Well, no real surprise but just as I predicted, Congress did nothing about opening up drilling for new oil here in our own country before they went on break.

The head far left fanatic, Nancy Pelosi made sure she blocked any attempt to even discuss or have a vote on the issue at all. I must say, it's exactly what I expected from the Democrats... Nothing.

It's what the Democrats do. It's what they specialize in. They point fingers and yammer about how the Republicans are at fault for everything bad that happens but they have no real answers on how to fix things. They SAY they do, but in fact they haven't got a clue. They always say they'll fix it and they have the answers, but they never say exactly how and they won't tell you the details. They never show you the fine print.

Mr. Obama does the very same thing. He says things like he's going to "fast-track" alternative fuels to solve the energy problem. Well, what does that mean? What EXACTLY is he going to do to "fast-track" anything? Just how do you do that anyway? What EXACTLY is it? He won't tell you because it's just a load of bullshit. All he is doing is blowing smoke. He's spewing whatever he thinks people want to hear to get elected.

There's no telling what we're going to hear as the posturing and pandering continues toward the election. I don't think I will believe a whole lot of it though. If the promises sound too good, you can bet they will never be honored.

I'll make one prediction here and now. If Obama wins the election, he will never implement the tax plan he has shown us. He will use it to get elected and then change it after he's in office.

Just watch.

Way to go Texas!

They are leading the nation into renewable energy with their wind power expansion plans for the next few years. Several Texas power companies are investing in transmission lines to bring electricity from wind farms in the western part of the state to urban areas. It's expected that they will bring enough clean energy to power about 4 million homes.

The forward thinking T. Boone Pickens is planning a 2700 turbine wind farm that will power 1.3 million homes. Here’s a Texas oil man moving the country in the direction of renewable energy.

This is what we should have been doing for the last 10 or 15 years but at least we have a few people committed to United States energy independence now. FINALLY, we’re headed down the right road.

Show the rest of the country how it’s done Texas!

Profiteers at work

I read an article today that said oil prices have dropped more than $14 a barrel this week. It's the third straight day that the barrel price has dropped. The article went into some analysis about why, including the fact that natural gas prices dropped because of unexpected increase in supply and a number of other reasons.

The statement at the end of the article was what I thought was most significant though. It said that regular unleaded gas held it's record high of $4.114 per gallon for the second day while diesel hit a new high of $4.845.

Isn't it interesting how speculation or a news story can cause prices at the pump to jump up 5 or 10 cents a gallon in a single day but when the actual price of a barrel of oil drops, it takes days or weeks for the price at the pump to fall?

Why is that?

OK Democrats, let's see what you do.

Everybody is blaming the Bush administration and the Republican Party for our present economic woes in this country and the high prices at the pump, but the president today lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling and urged Congress to act to lift their legislation blocking this much needed oil exploration.

The ball is clearly in their court. Let’s see what they do. If it’s typically what the Democrats do, they will drag their feet and do nothing before the recess next month and the situation will get worse due to their inaction. Then they will point fingers and continue to blame the Republicans for everything.

If nothing is done about it, the situation is going to get worse with the speculators going nuts and driving up the price. However, if the areas presently banned were opened up to drilling, we would have access to enough oil to replace most, if not all, of the oil we presently import from the Middle East.

Drilling in ANWR and other places offshore is not the long term answer though. We need alternative energy sources for the long term, but it IS the answer in the near term. The Dems will say, “Oh, it won’t do any good. It will take years to get the oil to market so it won’t affect the price.” Watch what happens though. Just the act of congress lifting the ban and opening up access to this wealth of oil would have an immediate effect on all the speculation about oil supplies. The market would stabilize and the price will come down.

My bet is, the Democrats controlling congress will do nothing and we’ll continue our downward spiral.

What a Coincidence

My last blog post was about what the war in Iraq is costing us and that sooner or later we will need to get out of there and let them take charge of their own country.

Today I read an article in the news about how the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says his government wants a short time frame for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The current mandate governing the operation of our forces in Iraq expires at the end of the year so negotiations are under way to reach an agreement as to the role of U.S. troops and the date of their withdrawal.

So the Iraqis favor a short time frame for troop withdrawal and taking charge of their own country. Now we’ll have to see how our government responds to this. Are they going to agree that the Iraqis should take responsibility for themselves and get us out of there, or are they going to try and drag it out and maintain our presence and influence in their affairs?

The reaction of our government and what each of the presidential candidates has to say about it will be really interesting to see. It will also speak volumes as to what each candidate will do in the future concerning foreign affairs especially in the Middle East.

Watch this one closely folks and it may tell you who will be the next president.

What It Costs

With the candidates set for their respective runs for President of the United States, we are going to see some of the issues pushed front and center for each candidate to declare his position on and try and convince a majority of the voters that his is the correct and most beneficial one.

One of those issues that is perhaps the most important to the American public is the economy. There’s also the price of gas and the war in Iraq. There are many more issues for the candidates to differ on of course, but these are probably the most important for most people.

What a lot of people don’t think about is that these issues are all tied together. The price of gas, even though it is artificially inflated at the moment, in large part is governed by what happens in the Middle East. What we do over there has a direct impact on the price and availability of oil and consequently gas at the pump.

There are differing views on whether we should have gone into Iraq in the first place, whether we should still be there now and whether we should get out. I can see the arguments for staying the course but I don’t know if they are valid. I understand that we should at least facilitate a stable transition to self government there and not desert the people that have worked with us as was done after Desert Storm. We can’t just pull out if it puts people’s lives in danger by us doing so. We owe them that.

The fact is that sooner or later we do need to get out of there. They need to step up and take control of their own destiny and we need to get out. And I mean not just out of Iraq but out of the region altogether. It’s not our responsibility and if you want to know the truth, we just can’t afford it. Our economy is tanking and the money it’s costing us to maintain our military presence over there isn’t helping.

That’s another thing the average American doesn’t have a clue about, because they never really think about it.

If I threw out a figure of $40 billion, that would be a staggering amount of money to the average, hard working, tax paying American, right? I mean, most of us would be happy to hit the lottery for a couple million. We’d be set for life. Millions are big amounts of money, but Billions? Wow… I couldn’t imagine having that kind of money.

So if I said the war is costing over $40 BILLION, it wouldn’t be hard to believe, right? Right… The problem is, it’s costing us that EVERY MONTH. Yes, friends and loyal readers, that is what it is costing us every single month. The cost of the war in the Middle East has risen to over $500 billion per year. The projected total cost of the war is something around $1.7 and $2.7 TRILLION with some estimates saying it could reach as high as $5 TRILLION.

Now, if you have a little trouble comprehending the scope of these numbers, I’ll try and put it into perspective for you. Most people are familiar with a million. That’s the number you get to after all those hundreds of thousands, in other words, the number right after nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety nine.

A Billion is a thousand million. So if you know what it would be like to win that million in the lottery, imagine having a thousand of them.

A Trillion is a thousand billion. Let’s see… If you were to spend $1 every second, that’s $3600 ever hour, it would take you over 31,000 years to spend a trillion dollars…

How long do you think it will take before we go broke?

I bet you're thinkin' now, huh?

Seers, Mediums and Psychics at work

I've been following the news everyday about the gas prices ( I know... who hasn't, right? ) and it never ceases to amaze me how you can find contradicting stories on the same website on the very same day.

Today I read a story on CNN.com about how some group of pinheads called the "International Energy Agency" said that oil speculation in the market is NOT influencing the price of oil. Now, by CNN's own definition in the story, this group is "an influential oil-policy group". INFLUENTIAL OIL-POLICY GROUP... It makes we wonder just how influential they are and who are they influencing about "oil-policy". I can't believe anyone with more than a couple operating brain cells could say that speculation in the oil market isn't having any effect on the price. Of course the story didn't say whether this group lives on planet Earth, so maybe they have an excuse for not knowing what is happening on our world.

Everywhere you look, you see and read about people in this country doing things to save gas. I've noticed a lot of people driving slower on the highway, heck I'm doing it myself. I'm also consciously making an effort to drive less and if I have to drive, I consolidate trips into one, etc. People are buying fuel efficient cars in droves. They can't make Prius's fast enough to keep up with demand. I've read in the news where our consumption of gas in this country is down and continues to fall do to people's conservation efforts. Supplies are up yet the price just keeps climbing.

Anyway, another story on the same website states, "Crude prices rose more than $2 a barrel Tuesday after an energy advisory group reduced its estimate on the amount of oil that will reach the market in the coming years." So this story is telling us that the mere mention of supply maybe not being as much as they originally SPECULATED on, is having an immediate effect on prices. These guys are PROGNOSTICATING on what supplies MAY do over the next SEVERAL YEARS and the price immediately jumps $2 a barrel.

Guess which agency it was that issued this report. You guessed it, the very same agency that said speculation doesn't effect the price... HELLOOOOOO!!!

Who the hell are these guys anyway? What do they use, a crystal ball? Tarot cards? Ouija board? If you ask me, I would say they just shot themselves and any chance at credibility right in the head. They just proved they don't have a clue and anything they say should be taken with a grain of salt. Nobody should be paying any attention whatsoever to this group of "oil psychics", yet the people who trade the market lapped up everything they said like a hungry puppies and what's the result? We take it in the backside again. It's absolutely ridiculous.

I think we should all go on strike. We, the work force, should just stop working and stay home for a week or two. Just shut the economy down for a bit until these guys that are playing us settle down and quit manipulating the system. We'll save a couple hundred bucks in gas anyway. For some people making minimum wage, it would probably look pretty good. Why work when you have to spend 1/3 or 1/2 of your take home pay just to get back and forth to the job? Might as well stay home and go on welfare, you'll probably come out ahead.

Let all the rich oil barons pay all the taxes and pick up the tab for the country for a while.

Sound like a plan?

Even More Proof

I saw in the news today that Americans drove 1.4 BILLION fewer miles in the month of April this year than they did in April 2007 as reported by the Department of Transportation. It's the sixth consecutive month that total miles driven has dropped from last year.

Overall, Americans have driven 20 billion fewer miles so far this year and about 30 billion fewer miles since November.

Even though we are cutting way back on how much we use, the price continues to rise. Supplies are increasing, yet the price continues to rise.

I've heard the figures flying around the net saying that it only costs the Saudis a few dollars in actual production costs to produce a barrel of oil that they are now selling for over $130. I don't really know if the profit margin is that disgusting or not. I know they have more money than they know what to do with, so they buy things like diamond encrusted, sterling silver cars to drive around in. They live in palaces that puts the term "mansion" to shame. They built their own islands in the shape of palm trees and indoor ski resorts in the desert.

They're lining their pockets as are the speculators on the commodities markets and laughing all the way to the bank. It's basically legalized theft and they're getting away with it. For now...

I can't help but think that it will all come crashing down at some point. Artificial market inflations tend to correct themselves eventually. Just look at the housing market. When property values went skyrocketing too fast the market dumped and will stay slow until actual value catches up to the artificially high prices. Sooner or later, this will happen in the oil market.

I think that this drastic price rise will ultimately help to destroy the oil market in the coming years. They've pushed it past the tipping point where people are so fed up with it that they are making the commitment to end the dependence on oil as our main energy source. People want alternative, renewable energy and the push to replace oil has begun. You'll see ethanol production drastically increase as well as more use of solar and wind, even in small applications. People are starting to do whatever they can to beat them at their own game.

I'm lovin' it.

This is getting disgusting...

Want more proof that we are being ripped off and the price of gas is being artificially manipulated?

Reported the other day on CNN.com, the U.S. government "reported" that crude supplies shrank more than expected last week. That and the weakening dollar caused the barrel price of oil to go up yet again.

However, in the very same article they said that the supply of distillates (which are used to make heating oil and diesel fuel) INCREASED by 2.3 million barrels and gasoline supplies are up 1 million barrels. Demand for gasoline fell 1.3% from the same period last year.

So even though we are clearly cutting our use of gasoline, demand is down, supply is up, the opposite of what is SUPPOSED to happen is happening. The price at the pump continues to rise.

See for yourself: http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/11/markets/oil/index.htm

I don't know any other way to say it, WE ARE BEING SCREWED.

Thank you Bill O’Reilly.

He came out in a strong way for energy independence on his show June 9, 2008 and I was so glad to see it. I’m glad someone in the mainstream media is speaking out about something that I have been saying for a long time now.

He said we need to end our dependence on oil as our main source of energy, we need more flex-fuel vehicles and that congress needs to do something about the situation NOW. Well actually, congress IS doing something. They are screwing us over every day.

We need to move from using gasoline to using more ethanol and methanol and even though we have ramped up domestic production, we could be importing a lot more. Brazil is leading the world in ethanol production and use and would like to export their excess to us but congress is blocking the import of fuel from them to PROTECT THE OIL COMPANIES. YES, THE VERY COMPANIES THAT ARE GOUGING US AT THE PUMP. Our politicians are in bed with big oil.

He also called OPEC a bunch of gangsters that are trying to hold us hostage to their oil and destroy the U.S. economy.

Glad to see SOMEONE has a firm grasp on the situation and I’m glad he has the guts to say it out loud. I just wish more people were listening, especially in Washington. Those boys up on Capital Hill actually think we have “friends” in the Middle East. Make no mistake about it friends, WE HAVE NO FRIENDS THERE.

President Bush found that out recently when he asked them to help stabilize the price of oil and they told him to take a hike.

The only reason they tolerate us at all is that we keep sucking up their oil and when we quit doing that, you just watch and see how fast they turn on us.

We need to do everything we can to end the stranglehold they have on us and our economy.

Listen to Bill.

Supply and Demand or Manipulation?

I always thought that what regulated prices for the most part was supply and demand. If the demand for oil goes down, then the supply goes up and the price goes down, right? Well that's the way it works for most things. Seems not with oil prices though.

Since the price has been steadily increasing, with no increase in demand I might add, people have started to decrease their usage. Every pole I see says people are changing their driving habits. More and more people are getting rid of their gas guzzlers and the sales of hybrids and economy cars are increasing at record rates. The sales of scooters have increased about 25% this year. People are carpooling, riding bikes, and using public transportation more than ever before. There are businesses that are going to 4 day workweeks to cut down on commuting.

Our demand HAS to be dropping. People are using less gas. So why is the price still going up? It's very simple. We are being ripped off by OPEC, big oil companies and Wall Street. I don't see how they could be any more blatant about it.

It may just end up coming back to bite them though. By pushing the price so high so fast, it pushed people over the edge. They started a trend and now people are actively looking for ways to save gas. I think that people are going to get used to using less and even consider it a challenge and they're going to meet that challenge. The resentment and anger over this price gouging is growing fast and it's going to be the motivation to make people fight back.

That's exactly what we need to do too. Get angry and motivated to do something about it. Fight back.

I love it.

Thanks for nothin’ Saudi Arabia

I want to know something. What does the United States do when there are people in need anywhere in the world? I mean, when there is a natural disaster, an earthquake, cyclone, famine causing drought, etc, etc…

What does America do? We offer aid of course. We offer to help and provide money, medical supplies, food or whatever is needed to lend a hand to those who are in dire need. Even when we can’t really afford it, like now when our economy is in the tank, we offer to do what we can.

So I’m curious, did any other government or people anywhere offer to help us when the devastating hurricane Katrina hit a couple of years back? I don’t really remember if the rest of the world offered to give us any help. Not that we asked or anything.

But now, today, our President asked for a little help from Saudi Arabia. He asked that they increase oil production temporarily to help ease the cost of gas in our country to help our economy a bit. It sounded like a reasonable request to me. Not too much to ask from the people that are getting filthy rich from the sale of oil to the rest of the world, right?

You know what they said? They said no. They said they’re not going to do that. Not we’ll look at it or we’ll consider it, just no. They pretty much told our President and our country to take a hike.

Now this is a country that is supposed to be friendly to the United States. Some friends… I guess we know how much we can count on them when we need them. I guess we know what we get if we ask for help. Gee thanks Saudi Arabia. I wish we had more friends like you.

One day soon, we are going to come up with an alternate energy source that is going to make that oil you ration out so carefully to keep the price high, totally worthless.

I can’t wait for that day.

Unbelievable...

I saw in the news today that the U.N. is blaming the United States for a downturn in the WORLD economy. As a matter of fact, they said the U.S. will "continue to be a major drag for the world economy extending into 2009."

For crying out loud, is there anything else that rest of the world can blame us for???

I've about had it with being held responsible for everything that's wrong in the world. I swear, no matter what the U.S. does in any situation, we get flack.

If there's injustice and tyranny in some third world country and we ignore it we're cold and heartless and don't have any compassion. If we get involved with our military we're accused of being "war mongers" or trying to "impose" democracy on them. If there's a natural disaster somewhere and we send aid, we're accused of trying to exert our "influence" and establish a "presence" in their country.

Well, enough is enough. I think we need to start a movement in this country to insist our government remove our military presence and our "influence" from every other country on the globe.

We can start by withdrawing our influence in Myanmar. Everything that is getting sent in there is being stolen by their military government anyway so it's a waste of our tax dollars. Let our detractors lend a hand.

We should have never offered help to China either. They're not a poor country; they don't want or need our help. Why should we bother? Let the rest of world help them out.

I think we should withdraw from the Middle East totally. Bring our troops home. Let the religious fanatics have their way and butcher each other. We'll just leave the whole situation for the U.N. to handle. They'll be able to take care of it.

We can use the military to strengthen our own borders and stop the illegal immigrants from invading OUR country.

We can use all the money we're spending trying to keep the world’s dictators, tyrants and terrorists in check to pay down our debt and get our economy back on track.

We'll stop spending our hard earned dollars importing lead laced crap from China and overpriced, poorly made clothing from third world sweat shops just because some Hollywood type slaps their name on it to make it this week's "in" thing. Next month it will be a shop rag in a garage somewhere.

Start wising up America. Let's keep our dollars at home. Let the rest of the world buy this garbage. We don't need it.

Does this sound like a rant? Do I sound like I'm pissed off? Well, that's because I am and I think it's time the rest of the country got pissed off as well.

Let's make some noise.

Let's do something about it.

Let's start that movement.

What’s with Hollywood?

I just read a story about the weekend opening of the new George Clooney movie, “Leatherheads”. They’re calling it a flop because it only took in $13.5 million on the first weekend. ONLY… The story said how disappointed they were for Mr. Clooney because the movie is such a failure and were wondering “what went wrong”…

Are you kidding me??? $13.5 MILLION is a failure? What standard of measure does Hollywood use anyway? I don’t know about you, but $13.5 million seems like a pretty good haul for one weekend to me.

The really stupid part about the story though is that they also talked about the movie with Jodie Foster in it, “Nims Island”, and how they are pleased with the results of that release. Here’s the stupid part: it only took in a fraction more than Leatherheads. In fact, the article said the takes for both movies are so close, the final tally isn’t in as to which one took in the most.

The article also said that the movie “21” was a monumental success saying it “kept up it’s winning streak” and “stayed on top of the box office” by taking in $15.1 million.

Seems like a fairly narrow criteria there, don’t you think? $13.5 million is a failure and a flop but $15.1 million is a huge success. The whole spectrum between total failure and top of the heap is a mere $1.6 million. OK… now I got it…

I guess I’ll feel sorry for George Clooney. He just didn’t make the cut. Too bad his movie couldn’t eek out that extra pocket change to make it to success…

I’ll also feel sorry for the studios and the Hollywood set in general because their business is slow. They're complaining that revenues are down. They only took in $80.9 million for the top 12 movies released this year. Such a shame… Their total revenues for the year are a mere $2.24 Billion. How depressing… ONLY $2.24 BILLION for the whole first quarter of the year… I don’t know how they will make it. Maybe they should all file for welfare and apply for food stamps to get by…

I guess they can’t understand why people that are spending more of their income on frivolous stuff like food and gasoline and are maybe even facing foreclosure don’t want to run out on the weekend to buy $10 movie tickets. Yeah, let’s spend $60 to take the family to the movies, we’ll worry about groceries later…

You think that maybe the rich Hollywood set are as out of touch with reality as our politicians are?

Give us a break...

Enough already. I don't know about you but I'm sick of hearing all the whining about the Michigan and Florida delegates and whether they will be seated at the convention. Both states are in a mess of their own making. They broke the rules and now they want to be forgiven and have their votes count.

The whiners say that it's not fair that the people won't have their votes count for anything. Well boo hoo. You shouldn't have broken the rules!

If you want to talk about what's fair, let’s take a look at the situation. The candidates weren't allowed to campaign in either state and Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan. So who in their right mind would consider the elections valid at all?

Neither state can say that the votes cast under those conditions would be a fair accounting of the "will of the people" at that time.

Neither state is willing to pay for a re-vote to have a fair election now.

The DNC is not willing to pay for re-votes in either state nor should they even consider it. They didn't screw up - Michigan and Florida did.

So what's the answer?

There's a very simple solution to this problem. One that will be very easy to accomplish. One that will not cost the taxpayers one penny. One that will let the delegates be seated at the convention and placate the whiners.

Split the delegates 50-50.

Do it and shut up... Please...

Big problems for Obama...

I saw in the news that some people are claiming that the press is guilty of “character assassination” in their coverage of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s words from the pulpit in the church that Barack Obama attends. I’ve heard some say that he was taken out of context. I’ve also heard arguments to the effect that he should be cut some slack because he is speaking to the “angry blacks” in America and that people just don’t understand “black preaching”.

I’m sorry but none of these are valid arguments. As a matter of fact, there is no valid excuse for anything he said. He was speaking as a radical black, white hating, racist pure and simple and he was preaching this to his congregation – leading his church to think like him. That’s what preaching is, is it not? You speak to your congregation to persuade them to the ideas that you want them to believe in. In most churches, it has something to do with what is in the bible. That’s clearly not the case here though.

This man stood at the pulpit and called on God to damn America. He said that rich white people run the country and intentionally released the HIV Virus into society to kill blacks. This is what he preaches. These statements weren’t taken out of context. It wasn’t a slip of the tongue. It was part of a sermon that was very much a racist rant against whites and America in general.

I think this is a major problem for Obama. His speech today helped but didn’t answer the question about his 20 year association with this type of man as his close spiritual advisor and someone he says is like family to him. I just can’t understand why someone would remain close to a man that harbors these kinds of racist, hateful views.

Why would a man continue to go to a church where the pastor is spewing this kind of hate and racism? A pastor preaches sermons to lead his congregation. How can a man participate in a church where the pastor is leading his congregation down this path if he doesn’t agree at least to some degree?

Would you sit there week in and week out listening to man you don’t agree with? Wouldn’t you change churches if you heard your pastor shouting “God damn America” and preaching hate against people of a different color from the pulpit? Would you take your children to hear a man preach this kind of hate?

I’ve heard people say that it shouldn’t matter, it’s only his pastor and he doesn’t agree with what he says but I was always taught that a person is judged by the friends that they keep. People tend to become friends with people that they have a lot in common with and have similar views with.

Barack Obama claims to want to bring America together and that he is the candidate that transcends race but one of his closest friends and someone he supposedly looks up to and respects is the exact polar opposite of his views, a racist that uses his position as a so called religious leader to spread the gospel of hate.

I hate to say it but I think a lot of voters are going to wonder that after 20 years of a close personal relationship, there isn’t just a little Rev. Wright lurking inside Mr. Obama.

This may very well be the beginning of the end for his run at the White House. He’s already dropping in the polls.

At least he’ll still have his spiritual advisor to console him…