Seven billion-dollar bailout defeated

House Narrowly Defeats Bailout Legislation - washingtonpost.com



Is it a surprise, I don't think so. As I explained in one of my posts before I really didn't want to see this pass because it may have been a blank check to bail out the greedy financial institutions and possibly let executives get off Scott free. I'll say it again and again, we need government oversight and we also need government regulation, not deregulation. That's how this whole thing got going in the first place. It is my opinion that deregulation and unmitigated greed by not only executives and high up positions but investors looking to make a quick buck.

If they do put something forward again, I think it has to contain checks and balances similar to our Constitution so that this does not happen again. What was the old saying, "history repeats itself", how true that is.

I certainly hope something can be hammered out otherwise our economy is in(pardon my French) the toilet. Unfortunately now is the time that people are going to start the blame game. First it was Nancy Pelosi and it will be somebody else and another person after that because no one wants to take responsibility. That is the crux of the problem. That's why we are where we are at this point in time. We have to take responsibility for what we do if we do not do that then we're going to have history repeat itself.

Now more than ever, it is very important that those people in the house and congress get together and construct a plan which checks and balances, and not just a blank check, to fix the problem. I don't even want to think of what will happen if they don't. And I'm sure neither do you. So let's not go away with our tails between our legs, but instead let us pick ourselves up by the bootstraps, square our shoulders and march back in and hammer out a deal.

The TV Watch - Beyond Ideology, a Generational Clash - NYTimes.com

I watched the debate last night was red interesting how Mr. McCain kept telling Mr. Obama that he didn't seem to get it, or or I'm afraid Mr. Obama does not understand. It seems like the same old thing when an older person talks to younger person and they assume that the younger person doesn't really understand the situation which couldn't be farther from the truth. You but Mr. McCain doesn't understand is that we need a new blood and new views from whoever is elected as president and I'm sorry to say(pardon my French) he's an older part with old ideas that just don't hack it.

Almost anyone could tell that Mr. Obama also much younger than Mr. McCain is very smart and very knowledgeable about current situations. McCain and I believe will more likely use his own private experience rather than the advice of those around him to deal with government situations and foreign-policy. Mr. Obama on the other hand, not having as much experience will more likely to end to research and get information from people in government positions who are knowledgeable in that situation. I think Mr. Obama has some of the traits of Ronald Reagan who as we all know was a great orator and actor and he also was well aware that he did not have all the knowledge necessary. So he surrounded himself with a much smarter people who could have eyes him on the situation at hand and therefore make an informed decision. I think Mr. Obama, as smart as he is, will do the same. I doubt very much if you go off half cocked. When a situation arises I believe that he will explore all avenues and determine what strategy he will take in that situation.

Even I will admit that I don't know everything and I will be the first to admit it. If I don't know the answer to something I will tell you that I will get back to you and give you a good answer. In the meantime I will research the question or situation as the case may be and eventually come up with a good answer. It's like playing chess, there is the opening game, the middle game and the endgame. When a situation arises like chess we must first decide what our opening move will be. The other opponent then will make his next move. At this point we must analyze all possibilities and the effects any of these possible moves will eventually effect the outcome we desire. Unfortunately Mr. Obama did not come in at the beginning of the game (the Iran Iraq war) but if elected president he is stuck in the middle game where he must analyze every move so that we can move to the endgame(hopefully the end of the war) and we hope of victory. Or should I say at least stability in the Middle East.

As far as the economy is concerned, that in itself is going to be quite a challenge. I think Mr. Obama is well aware of the situation and I am sure he will surround himself with financial experts and strategists who will come up with a viable solution to this current awful situation. We the public and taxpayers do not want to see our money being thrown away or worse squandered and not realize some sort of solution. Right now no one knows how the bailout is going to work because that is up to Congress and the Senate to decide. Hopefully the solution will have enough safeguards in it in order to prevent any further catastrophe. Only time will tell.

Personally I think Obama came out ahead. I hope you feel the same way.

McCain will go to debate - Mike Allen and Daniel W. Reilly - Politico.com

McCain will go to debate - Mike Allen and Daniel W. Reilly - Politico.com

I don't know if you guys can believe what has been said in the news and on TV while I watched the government channel when they were getting up to debate the bailout, several of those who got up concurred and said John McCain should not be in Washington attending the debates. Instead he should go back and prepare for the debate with Mr. Obama. It is obvious that what he is doing is bringing his presidential campaign, which he should not be doing, to the House of Representatives and Congress.

I don't know about you but this sounds to me like he's losing ground and is trying to make up for it by grandstanding. This is neither the time nor the place to do anything like this. Instead I think you and I should watch the debate tonight this Friday night and see who really has their act together. I guess that's all I want to put on his blog right now because it is more important to see what happens tonight. I can assure you I will let you know what I think tomorrow, or sooner as the case may be.

700 billion dollar bail out, nothing but government garbage

Personally I am completely against a government bailout of financial institutions because they should have known better that the mortgages they financed were bad to begin with and they should take responsibility for those bad loans. Instead we have the mentality that says "the devil made me do it"type of mentality where no one wants to take responsibility for what they do. The only thing it does is going to help other financial institutions not the American public. As a landlord for over 30 years experience, I regularly check people's credit reports to make sure that they can pay the rent. Not only that I check them out in the courts to see if they have been evicted recently or how bad they have been otherwise. All of these things I take into account to determine if I will rent to them. First of all they had to meet my minimum financial qualifications and secondly if they were evicted it has to be at least over three years ago. They must also have a fairly clean criminal record concerning drugs or violence etc. If they don't meet these criteria, they don't get the rent from me.

Apparently banks and financial institutions never checked people's financial or credit reports to determine whether they were capable of making mortgage payments on their housing loans. Unscrupulous mortgage brokers were granting loans to anyone who walked into the office regardless of their credit history neither they nor the banks and financial institutions including those institutions that ensure these loans ever did their homework. And now unfortunately we have a plethora of foreclosures.

What I really can't believe is that the government wants to bail out these financial institutions. If these companies made bad loans they must pay for it one way or the other including going into bankruptcy. I don't think the American public should have to pay for this. I don't want my tax dollars bailing out some financial institutions bad decision. I think it's garbage. My suggestion instead is to let these companies go under and instead use the money wisely to help those in need keep their homes. I think those people who are disabled or retired or had excessive medical bills that have caused them to go into debt and not able to pay their mortgage payments and therefore put them into foreclosure should be helped first. Other people should meet certain criteria in order to be helped. In this way we protect ourselves from the scam artists and other unscrupulous people looking for freebies. In closing I do not think this bill should pass as it stands. And I strongly think that the financial institutions who were the cause of this debacle should pay the price, up to and including bankruptcy. Let the chips fall where they may.

YouTube - A Palin McCain Administration?

YouTube - A Palin McCain Administration?: ""
well I guess we know who the boss will be if and when McCain is elected. It looks to me like she wants to take the reins. Sorry to say Mrs. Palin, but that is not what the vice president does. I think someone is going to have to explain to her all about the presidency and how it works. Obviously she seems to me to be clueless. Either that or she thinks the American public is incredibly stupid. Such is life.

Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account hijacked Important Update

Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account hijacked, e-mails posted online Zero Day ZDNet.com

Well it finally happened Sarah Palin's private e-mail got hacked. Apparently she was trying to get around the law having to do with open records by using a private e-mail account to do just that. This morning when I got my e-mail I saw the article on ZDNet and copied webpages for everyone to see. I don't think any official government or otherwise should do such underhanded things such as this. I have posted the pictures for you to see to make your own decision on what you think of Sarah Palin.

The below update is taken from WikiLeaks.

One of the accounts of screenshots shows a short exchange in July between Gov. Palin and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who is running against Democrat Ethan Berkowitz for the state's lone Congressional seat. In her reply, Palin called Anchorage-based conservative radio host Dan Fagan "inconsistent and purposefully misleading" in his comments about Parnell.

Another screenshot displays the text of a message to Palin from Amy McCorkell, who Palin appointed to the Governor's Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in October 2007. According to a press release issued by Palin's office at the time, McCorkell, like Palin, lives in Wasilla, Alaska and is formerly a private legal investigator, an office worker and fitness instructor.

In the message dated Sunday, McCorkell said: "I am reading the paper and have thoughts and prayers going your way......don't let the negative press wear you down! Pray for me as well. I need strength to 1. keep employment, 2. not have to choose. Lately I just pray may God's will be done."

Later this afternoon as I watched CNN they were saying that they will probably start an investigation into the firing of the state trooper and also some of the mails archived that she has been sending via the Yahoo account. I would not be surprised that there are other government officials doing the same type of thing to get around the freedom of information act. It would be very interesting to find out how many others are doing this also.

It's been covered on the news but I don't know how many of them have shown the screenshots of the e-mails? I think the world should know, don't you? Of course when I find out more I will let you know. I have to give credit where credit is due, most of the screenshots were taken from WikiLeak.org.

Women in the White House

Would I like to see a woman in a white house? Of course I would. The only problem I have with Hillary Clinton is that she doesn't know when to hold them and when to fold them. The other thing I don't trust is her husband. Can he or will he be able to stand back and keep his nose out of what happens in the White House? That is the question. That I am sure is the reason why Mr. Obama did not choose Hillary as his running mate.

It's not so much that I don't like Hillary Clinton because she is a extremely smart woman and very good when it comes to politics. It's her husband I don't trust. While with Junior and Senior Bush, Bush Senior kept his nose out of juniors presidency. My worry is that if Hillary was chosen as VP would Bill keep his nose out of their affairs?

As for Sarah Palen, I am not against her as VP. She probably will make a very good running mate with John McCain. I agree she is smart but she doesn't have the experience that her opponent has. This I see as a serious drawback. I really think he needs more time in the political arena and especially when it comes to foreign affairs to gain the necessary experience to be the vice president of the United States. At this point in time should something happen to John McCain her inexperience could prove to be disastrous. That is my only worry.

In a newspaper article a couple days ago the McCain camp was disappointed that Obama had not decided to choose Clinton as his running mate. And as you know of course, I read between the lines, and what I saw was a disappointment in having a good cat fight had Clinton been chosen. Instead Mr. Obama chose Joe Biden for the vice presidential position, someone with many years experience both here and abroad. And I am sorry to say there is no way Sarah Palin can go up against that. Joe Biden can run circles around Sarah Palin. We all know that, and that's a fact.

Would I eventually like to see a woman as president? I think someday that will happen, but not right now. There is one difference I see between Clinton and Palin and that is Palin seems to have a sense of humor, something I didn't see with Mrs. Clinton. Maybe I'm missing something but I think that somebody who wants to run for public office not only needs to have a serious side but also had a good sense of humor. Any good public speaker worth his or her salt will mix in just the right amount of humor to get their point across.

Obama instead of choosing Clinton nas VP he chose Joe Biden. When this happened they (the women voters) became extremely disappointed and when Mr. McCain decided to put in Sarah Palin as his running mate this I see was the perfect opportunity to steal the women's vote. Whether this was a good strategy only time will tell. I think what we need to do now is to put on our thinking caps and carefully analyze the situation rather than letting our emotions get the better of us. Like it or not we have to choose the most qualified candidates.

Don't you think it's about time that Joe Biden got out there and kicked some butt? Come on guy shown what you're made of. Let's run circles around these people. I know you can do it. .

Who are we electing John McCain or his sidekick Sarah Palin?

Howard Kurtz - The ABCs of Sarah Palin - washingtonpost.com

Yes who are we really electing John McCain or his sidekick Sarah Palin? It seems to me that we should be concentrating more on John McCain than Sarah Palin, don't you think? To put more emphasis on someone who has absolutely no experience, other than being the governor of Alaska and a small town at that. She has absolutely no experience in foreign affairs whatsoever. Besides my question to you is what is she going to do once John McCain is elected? From my experience most vice presidents don't do much of anything except go around the country as a cheer leader and nothing more. I don't know about you, but I don't think I want anyone as a vice president with as little experience as this woman has.

The only reason John McCain has decided to have Sarah Palin run for the vice presidency (sidekick) is because of the importance that Mrs. Clinton had on women voters. This is what the McCain campaign is striving for, nothing more than stealing the women's vote and nothing less. Obviously many women were disappointed in Hillary Clinton's loss for the presidential nomination. They were also very disappointed when Hillary was not chosen as VP. So what did John McCain do? Search for the next best thing, a woman who could steal votes from the Obama campaign.

But just who are we electing? John McCain or Sarah Palin? Perhaps they think that the American public is incredibly stupid. I think on the other hand that the American public is far from stupid. I don't think that this strategy of trying to manipulate people is going to work. After all, we went through eight years with the Bush administration and I don't think we want to go another 4 to 8 years with John McCain. Because in my humble opinion I think he is a Bush clone. Oh yeah, he comes across as a nice guy, but is he actually the maverick he claims to be? I don't think so. Obama stresses change. John McCain says I'm going to change things too. But will he really? Or will he succumb to the policies that were and are so popular with the Bush administration?

I think the American people have got to wake up to the reality that we definitely do need change and the sooner the better. Although some would like to see us leave Afghanistan and Iraq and the war behind, that is not possible, not after Bush Junior came in like the cowboy he is with Shock and Awe and completely destabilized Iraq. Now we are stuck trying to fix what we messed up and unfortunately I think it's going to take a long time to get that done. We may be able to pull some troops out, but not all of them. It is a sad fact that we have been trying for years to get Iraq off its behind and start doing something for themselves. The reality is we are working with people with very little education and very little motivation and a whole lot of fear. Neither we nor they can drive down the road without being in mortal fear of getting blown up. Unfortunately it's really hard to get someone out there to fight for themselves when it is so dangerous. The reality is that there is un-exploded ordinance everywhere. Photojournalists have all too graphically shown us the devastation this has done to woman and children who have either lost her legs or limb. So the reality is no matter who gets elected we can't just leave.

Even I wavered back and forth wondering who was the best choice for president. Yes Mr. McCain has his strong points and so does Mr. Obama. Personally I think Mr. McCain made a very bad mistake with Sarah Palin. Picking someone simply to get the women's vote and that is not the way to go. Not only that she is very inexperienced. Obama on the other hand has chosen as his running mate a very experienced person with years of foreign policy experience. I believe Mr. Obama is extremely smart, and I don't think that he would hesitate like past president Ronald Reagan, to ask for the best possible choice or should I say the most experienced people to run his administration. I think Mr. Obama will look for the best and the brightest as his advisers. The question is, can we say the same thing for Mr. McCain? There again do the Republicans need a woman sidekick that history has shown leans toward the religious right? The American people are sick and tired of the rhetoric of the religious right and we don't need any more of that. Or do we want someone like Mr. Obama, regardless of his race, who is most likely to use other people best qualified for the job? That is the choice we have to make.