You make the repeal of GSA as a "dark of night" thing-it was widely discussed, had been an item in Congress for 10 years or more and no one was surprised by its repeal.
Here's a quote:
Quote:
"When this potentially historic agreement is finalized," Clinton said in a statement, "it will strengthen the economy and help consumers, communities and businesses across America."
Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers said in an interview, "At the end of the 20th century, we will at last be replacing an archaic set of restrictions with a legislative foundation for a 21st-century financial system." The measure, he added, "would provide significant benefits to the national economy."
Senator Gramm said the measure "is the most important banking legislation in 60 years."
Lawyers agree that repeal has been instrumental in saving some of the largest investment banks, so move on....
Back to the campaign... Is it an accident this financial meltdown occurred 6 weeks before the election? GF
Does seem suspicious.
But as an American voter who do we trust with this information.
We watch CNN and it seems to be all Obama!
Fox news it seems to be all for McCain.
I do respect McCain, but think he is running this POW issue too much, we all know this already.
McCain has the experience, Sarah Palin even with just being the governor of Alaska has more experience than Obama with just his 143 days in office.
Have to vote the deep gut feeling on this one, McCain/Palin.
Anyone seen Al Gores latest statements about the green issue?
What a reject and international idiot!!!!
Quite agree, the bailout must be stopped. BUT, watch the MSM spin this into a new narrative--"Republicans in the Congress stop bailout, endangering the economy". SCARE headlines!! That said, the polls show Americans very divided on the bailout-stopping it could be a winner. But, boy is the media in the tank for BHO, they don't even pretend. i am not worried, if the voters vote in King Hussein, he will punish 'em badly. Retirement? Gone when the market tanks under new taxes. Health Care? Gone, better like government provided care. National Security? Gone, Military must be cut. Iraqis? You're on your own. Always watch out for what you wish for.
Approximately 30% of Americans own their homes free and clear. Many of these people do not want to bail out banks that made absurd idiotic loans while they were being prudent. In addition, many other Americans are making their mortgage payments on a timely manner. Do you think they are going to appreciate dolling out assistance to lenders that gambled their future away?
Whatever the Americans do with this bailout thing, it would be crazy to allow British banks to feed from the same troff. The Americans owe the British banks nothing and should not rescue other economies before there own is in the order of the apple pie.
Prediction - which do you think the press is going to give more time, this, or "troopergate"? ....Yeah, don't hold your breath...
Obama's Garden Grant
The Chicago Sun-Times reports the Illinois attorney general is investigating a $100K government grant tied to Obama:
A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.
The garden was never built. And now state records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood........
The bills were introduced in the Senate by Phil Gramm (R-TX) and in the House of Representatives by James Leach (R-IA) and Thomas Bliley (R-VA). The bills were passed by a 54-44 vote largely along party lines with Republican support in the Senate[1] and by a 343-86 vote in the House of Representatives[2]. Nov 4, 1999: After passing both the Senate and House the bill was moved to a conference committee to work out the differences between the Senate and House versions. Democrats agreed to support the bill only after Republicans agreed to strengthen provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act and address certain privacy concerns.[3]
The final bipartisan bill resolving the differences was passed in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 12, 1999. [4]
The banking industry had been seeking the repeal of Glass-Steagall since at least the 1980s. In 1987 the Congressional Research Service prepared a report which explored the case for preserving Glass-Steagall and the case against preserving the act.[5]
You're trying to sell the political compromise...
("Democrats agreed to support the bill only after Republicans agreed to strengthen provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act...")
....as the cause of our demise when the thrust of the bill...
("The banking industry had been seeking the repeal of Glass-Steagall ---- The bills were introduced in the Senate by Phil Gramm (R-TX) and in the House of Representatives by James Leach (R-IA) and Thomas Bliley (R-VA)")...
"About 30 ministers across the U.S. plan to protest federal tax laws Sunday by endorsing a presidential candidate from their pulpits, in a move orchestrated by a conservative legal-advocacy group."
Does anybody think they won't be endorsing mccain/PALIN ?
""As a pastor, I have the right to speak biblical truth without being punished for it," said the Rev. Jody Hice, pastor of Bethlehem First Baptist Church in Bethlehem, Ga., who says he will tell his congregation he backs Sen. John McCain for president. "The IRS does not have the role of censoring speech from the pulpit.""
In case the non-U.S. readers don't follow it all...it's the same old guys it has always been -- those that provide the foot soldiers and voters for the Republican Party. Just a different front.
"The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is a conservative Christian profit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation."
ADF was launched in 1994 by Bill Bright (founder, Campus Crusade for Christ), Larry Burkett (founder, Crown Financial Ministries), James Dobson (founder, Focus on the Family), D. James Kennedy (founder, Coral Ridge Ministries), Marlin Maddoux (president, International Christian Media), and Donald Wildmon (founder, American Family Association), along with the leadership of over thirty other conservative Christian organizations.[3][4] ADF supports allied attorneys and organizations through strategy, training, funding, and direct litigation through its legal team. "
It's a great thing about Wikipedia. Visit the page, click on the links and you can spend all day reading the escapades of this cast of characters.
"A May 2005 article by Hedges in Harpers described Dobson as "perhaps the most powerful figure in the Dominionist movement" and "a crucial player in getting out the Christian vote for George W. Bush.""
" In his statement, Dobson said: "I cannot, and will not, vote for Senator John McCain, as a matter of conscience," and indicated that he would refrain from voting altogether were McCain to become the Republican candidate, ...."
" After McCain selected a pro-life candidate, Sarah Palin, as his running mate, Dobson said that he is more enthusiastic in his support for the Republican ticket."
"On June 24, 2008, Dobson publicly criticized statements made by U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama in Obama's 2006 "Call to Renewal"[61] address. Dobson stated that Obama was "distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview." "
So much for McCain's stance on "the agents of intolerance".
I suppose the view you take from the leadership summit called by President Bush depends on your political leanings, but I had a sense that a big reason Obama didn't want to return to Washington was that he knew he had no business being in the same room with these people.
After all, his few short years in the senate have mostly been spent away running for president. He never bothered even to convene the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee for European Affairs, which he chairs, and which oversees NATO.
While Pelosi and Reid graciously deferred to him as spokesman for the Democrat position, does anyone really believe he was well informed, or indeed had any background at all regarding the financial crisis under discussion? I suspect he could only regurgitate the talking points handed him by someone else rather than discuss the issues at hand from any basis of experience or knowledge. I'll grant that Sarah Palin likely couldn't either, but she would approach the matter at least from her proven anti-corruption and government transparency ideological underpinnings, and she isn't running for president now anyway.
McCain, for his part, was largely silent, but I at least felt he knew the players, knew the issues, and deferred to those more closely involved in the negotiations while he has been out running for president. I had the sense he did belong in the same room, probably more so even than President Bush. And I think it's to his credit that by calling attention to the severity of this crisis by putting the debate on the back burner, he underscored its importance to the people, though I don't doubt political considerations were the driving factor behind his move.
Reports are that Barney Frank erupted in anger during the proceedings, probably sensing the withering heat of blame is more and more focusing on him. And Reid and Pelosi wisely stayed out of the spotlight in recognition of their own high negatives with the electorate. The prospect of Reid, Pelosi, Obama, and their sidekick, Frank, running this country unopposed, gives, or should give pause to the voters contemplating voting for Obama. I can only shudder, and convert more assets to physical gold should that come about.
Apparently McCain's move has neutralized the negative impact of the financial crisis on his poll numbers. If Americans are fearful, more so as we are start en masse to pay attention to the potential danger to our well-being of this problem, I like to think an old hand becomes more appealing than a smooth talker at the helm.
I'm editing to add this link to a YT vid, obviously pro-McCain, but one which brings up some key points to consider in determining how our financial situation came about. I welcome feedback that contests or refutes with facts, as I'm not certain what happened myself.
If you look at history on this, strengthening the CRA was a large part of the problem. At Frank's prodding, the GSEs pushed a lot of banks to place "affordable" mortgages which the GSEs promptly bought up, as was there charge from Congress. So the Congressional hacks are now trying to CYA by saying it was the repeal bill, when it was really the CRA and its attendant shoveling of money to bad mortgages.
GTF You have had many suggestionspour moi, how doing some primary research rather than Wikipedia. Hell, I can edit it.
OTOH, Krugman's article in today's NYT was good. "Where are the adults?", asking that question with Congressional old bulls, like Dodd and Frank, in the room is a cry in the wilderness. Everyone, including McCain, is playing politics. The country is closely divided on a bailout, everyone is scared about the financial outcome but don't like the bailout idea. Pols, being pols, don't want to commit and then find themselves on the wrong side. McCain is once again inside of BHO's OODA loop, but it may not work for him because no one can decision cycle fast enough with the limited information available.
Last edited by galaxy flyer : 26th September 2008 at 17:57.
GTF You have had many suggestionspour moi, how doing some primary research rather than Wikipedia. Hell, I can edit it.
Yes, you can. So can I. And guess what ? It all works out. It's not the definitive source on anything. Like a good encyclopedia, it is a good source on nearly everything.
I've seen bizarre stuff on Wikipedia. Come back the next day -- and it's all fixed. Like I said, it all works out.
In 2008, Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks Campus Crusade for Christ #26 in private funding in its "Annotated Chronicle of Philanthropy 400," with annual giving of $413 million dollars.
As a 501(c)(3) corporation, Focus on the Family is not permitted to advocate any individual political candidate. However, in its radio broadcast, it often discusses political issues and current events, usually through a Christian conservative point of view. Dobson is among the Christian conservative leaders who have met with and advised President George W. Bush. Focus on the Family's magazine Citizen is exclusively devoted to politics. The FOTF also has an affiliated group, Focus on the Family Action (a.k.a. Focus Action), though the two groups are legally separate. As a 501(c)(4) social welfare group, Focus Action has fewer political lobbying restrictions. FoTF's revenue in 2005 was USD $142M, and that of FoTF Action was $14.7M
And I've seen some bizarre stuff on this thread... like the below circular reasoning.
Quote:
Yes, you can. So can I. And guess what ? It all works out. It's not the definitive source on anything. Like a good encyclopedia, it is a good source on nearly everything.
I've seen bizarre stuff on Wikipedia. Come back the next day -- and it's all fixed. Like I said, it all works out.
Let's look at the logic of this, and never mind that some 10 or more pages ago I told you to get some better sources. Wikipedia is a source with zip editorial oversight and anybody can edit it for pretty nearly any reason they can come up with. Pages get hacked routinely, and far more often than are blatantly obvious. How can you (or anyone) possibly say that the next day that it's "fixed" unless you approach it with a predetermined agenda and it just says what you want it to say? Equating Wikipedia with a primary source is a symptom of an advanced case of armchair expertise. Using Wikipedia to cast an initial screen is fine to get outlines on an issue, but if the user doesn't follow it up with a primary source to verify its veracity, the information isn't worth a thing.
Orac... I couldn't agree with you more. I don't think a bailout plan should be put together in such a short time frame, but the future of many pension plans teters in the balance. Either way, we're vulnerable and the failure of the plan would only leaves us circling closer to the drain.
What was that about "some small town Priest" again ?
Shall I post some of the quotes from Obama's pastors or are you familar enough with them?
I just don't have the time right now to research the budget Jesse Jackson and his coalition has, same for the SCLC which has all but annointed Obama the messiah. Even if both are not dollar for dollar matchs both have large budgets and enjoy sizable national followings.
But they're OK as they support your man, right?
Last edited by West Coast : 26th September 2008 at 22:08.
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