Politivity

Obama said that he’s not willing to delay this Friday’s debate to work on a bailout bill because he feels it’s important to communicate to America about the economy.

The problem with that is the future of the economy will be greatly affected by whether or not the bailout bill can be constructed and then passed.

Free market advocates say that the bailout would socialize housing and the mortgage industry.

Supporters of the bill say another Great Depression could occur without a bailout bill.

Either way, a $700 billion bailout is a big deal. And it does affect Obama’s tax plan. He cannot in good faith continue on about cutting taxes to the middle class - or raising taxes on those earning $250,000 or more with the economic conditions the way they are.

Obama has the opportunity to be involved in a bill (or killing a bill) that will have major repercussions for his Presidency. But he says no.

Perhaps he wants plausible deniability later (which, of course, won’t fly with the public when he plays that card).

Or perhaps he just doesn’t know how to conduct bipartisan legislative matters. He’s one of the worst when it comes to doing bipartisan politics, voting 97% of the time with the Democrat leadership.

Obama can pick whatever reason he likes for choosing politicking over leadership, but saying he wants to communicate about the economy is just flat out disingenuous.

John McCain was concerned about the fate of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae back in 2006. He introduced a bill into the Senate, the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005. He made these comments on the Senate floor on May 25, 2006:

Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.

Most people who think Bush is stupid have never really examined the issues. Those who have, are just plain stupid and are projecting onto Bush.

Perhaps you’ve seen this email going around. If not, take a look. Here’s some facts about how “stupid” Bush is and how “brilliant” the Democrats are? Obama is a false Messiah.
Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following:
A little over one year ago:

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:

1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember it’s Congress that makes law not the President. He has to work with what’s handed to him.

Quote of the Day……..’My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world.  I hope you’ll join with me as we try to change it.’
– Barack Obama

Taxes…Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

Taxes under Clinton 1999                   Taxes under Bush 2008
Single making 30K - tax $8,400           Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $14,000         Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $23,250         Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K - tax $16,800       Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $21,000       Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $38,750     Married making 125K - tax $31,250>

Both democratic candidates will return to the higher tax rates
It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever.

If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can’t wait for it to happen. This is like the movie The Sting with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of some money and they don’t even know what happened.
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much?   Read this:
Boy, am I confused.  I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS.

I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them.  I have included the URL’s for verification of all the following facts.

1.  $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens
each year by state governments.Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2.  $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3.  $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal
aliens.Verify at:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4.  $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!  Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5.  $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the
American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6.  $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7.  30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8.  $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9.  $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10.  The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that’s two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens.  In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US
Verify at:http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11.  During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries.  Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin, and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.
Verify at: Homeland Security Report:>http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12.  The National Policy Institute, ‘estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of  between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.  Verify at:>http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13.  In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.Verify at:http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14.  ‘The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States.’  Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml>

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

The Writer’s Guild of America has been on strike for about two months now. Could they be to blame for the country’s economic woes?

• Most of the major network shows have shut down production or are about to.
• Many of the writers probably couldn’t afford to strike, and therefore can’t stimulate the economy when they’re not being paid. Some of them could possibly be foreclosing on homes.
• Writers may be going after different types of writing gigs (copywriting, ghostwriting, etc), creating increased competition for existing writers in those fields.
• Many behinds the scenes workers are hit hard, including carpenters, grips, gaffers, production managers and the like - again possible foreclosing on homes and not having dollars to spend (aka not contributing to the economy)
• Without new episodes of favorite TV shows, fewer Americans are watching TV - including commercials which might result in  sales.
• With lower viewer numbers, the networks can’t bring in as much advertising dollars.
• Production companies and studios can only work with existing scripts, which means they cannot generate as much investment money
• According to FilmLA, the strike costs the LA economy $21 million a day.

It’s no secret that the Democrats think you can negotiate with dictators and terrorists.

But did you know that John Edwards said you can’t negotiate with Insurance Companies? That’s what he said to an ABC reporter. It was aired on Nightline just a few hours ago. He also added in corporations in general.

So, let me get this straight…

We can negotiate with terrorists whose sole goal is to destroy Western Countries.

But we can’t negotiate with American companies that provide millions of jobs and a wealth of services and products to the American people. Not to mention help fund 401ks and pay taxes to the government.

Edwards is not the guy for our Presidency!

Yesterday, in the Iowa Debates, John Edwards claimed that the middle class is struggling and that the cause of the struggle is corporate greed.

But do his claims hold any weight?

The basic meaning behind the phrase middle class is that you’re not poor and you’re not rich.  So why is the middle class struggling so much if it’s not poor?

The answer is that some people in the middle class suffer and some don’t. When you break it down, those who manage their money don’t suffer and those who mismanage their money do.

We don’t need cable.

We don’t need expensive cell phone plans.

We don’t need to own homes we can’t afford.

We don’t need to own cars outside our budget.

And yet, many of push the limits of our income. But millions wouldn’t have an income without corporations, who provide jobs. Corporations not only provide jobs but also offer benefits such as health care and investment options.

We are tempted to think of corporate greed because of a few bad apples like Enron. And yes, they were horrible situations. But that doesn’t mean we need to take out the wrongdoings of the few out on the majority of companies that are decent.

Most corporations are built on the dreams of an individual. Those dreams are to start their own business, create a good product, fill an unfulfilled need in the marketplace, and to develop a better life for their family. When those individuals are successful, it benefits not only themselves, and not only consumers, but also the many other individuals who get jobs and therefore are able to make a better life for their families.

We need leaders who can recognize corporate greed when they truly see it and not generalize the mistakes of a few to stereotype the majority of companies that are decent, good corporations.

Yes, some subprimes are defaulting, but most mortgages are being paid. Don’t worry about a crisis - it’s mostly media hype.

Yesterday, Craig Mazin (who I normally agree with) wrote that writers who cross the strike line are assholes.

I disagree.

The striking writers took their jobs knowing full well that they wouldn’t receive residuals for their work. Now, they’ve walked off the job in protests of salaries they previously agreed to.

In most companies in America, if an employee just stopped showing up to a job, they would be fired and a vacancy would become available. If the job was one that was highly competitive - many people would apply to the job.

Unions and strikes are designed to bully people who take advantage of the competitive nature of a free economy.

The writers of these TV shows have put many people in a tough place. Sure, studio heads and big time actors won’t truly suffer. But what about Production Assistants, Cinematographers, Editors, etc.? What about actors who play supporting roles?

And how long will it take for writers to recover the money they’ve lost? Let’s say a deal is struck for residuals. The deal will be so small - it will be pennies. It will take quite a while to make up for the real wages not being earned right now.

The WGA would like you to feel sorry for the writers because they can go so long without employment. Good writers don’t go without employment. They may not always get to work in their “dream job” on a TV show - but writing for movies and TV has many transferable skills - to advertising, copywriting, editing, etc. Any good writer never goes long without a job.

I would love for this strike to make the WGA fall apart. Good writers know how to make a living, to negotiate for what they want without unions and strikes. They don’t accept bad offers. They don’t work for free. They know what they’re getting into. And they certainly don’t throw strike-size temper tantrums and make the lives of hundreds (thousands?) of families.