the end of the ???

My oh my what a crisis. Or is it? My diagnosis:




One columnist penned this mess correctly...a charge into chaos.
Who to blame? Bush, Frank, Pelosi? My pick of the day...



Let me be "Frank." This zealot refuses to admit to his own blame to the meltdown of the Fannie and Freddie show. I quote “in 2003, nobody that I knew of foresaw the crisis of subprime lending” please...........
The b.s. of lenders being "subprime" back in the early 90's was there...and there sure were predatory in many vulnerable communities.

Both parties have their "spin.." Conservatives don't seem to give a hoot about the man on "Main Street" (like that catch all phrase of late)...and how the market doesn't seem to want to police itself...Liberals just can't face the rhetoric b.s about covering up their own greed, ignorance of basic economics (Thomas Sewell where are you?) and the drive for power.

Then we top off the event with Madam Pelosi's partisan b.s. rant denying what is looking her in the face (but with her liberal San Fran blinders), she can't see.

Now we have a two day break for the Jewish Holiday and then back to the b.s.

Oh..and then the debate between Sarah and Joey....(or did we forget about them?)

liberal actor passes away

Yes, Paul Newman was a major liberal activist and contributor. He died on Friday at the age of 83. Mr. Newman was known for many things, his philanthropy and his politics. He turned into this "mega-liberal" back in the Vietnam era days.
His support for wanna be winning candidates such as McCarthy and McGovern was legendary. He was a major player in trying to get Ned Lamont to defeat Joe Lieberman. His final political act was to give the maximum contribution to the Hussein-Obama campaign. He was for gay rights, civil rights, women's rights and committed to ending the nuclear arms race. Yes, he saw the world through rose colored glasses. Perhaps now that he with his "Creator" he can look down on the world and see in horror where some of his beliefs would of taken this World.

a great rendition and must listen

http://patriotfiles.org/Pledge.htm

here is a different post...

Introducing the National Black Republican Association.....
their website: http://www.nbra.info./

Unhappy Americans

This is a little time consuming but well worth the read!!!!...

Just some mind searching thoughts!!!

The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?’

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?''

A.. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

B.. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C.. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

D.. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E.. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

F.. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G.. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

I.. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

J... You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

K.. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss .

L.. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

M... How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, and “other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner?

The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O. J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.'

With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, we have survived and the least among us lives better than the best in many countries. This didn't happen by accident.

I recall a story Ronald Reagan used to tell to capture the essence of being an American. He said there was a Cuban fellow who described what happened to his family after Fidel Castro took over Cuba, how his fasmily lost their business, fortune and home. He spoke of how they sailed from Cuba to Florida on a raft. One of the Americans listening to the Cuban fellow turned to another American and commented we don't know how lucky we are as Americans. The Cuban fellow interrupted and said he and his family were the lucky ones, they had some place to go.

In that line, Reagan said, the Cuban fellow captured the importance of our role in the world. We have been for more than two hundred years the last best hope for freedom for people the world over. Other nations needed walls and fences to keep people in while we need them to keep people out.

first thoughts on Debate 1

That's right John. You're right John. McCain should of turned and said "young man please go back to your seat..."
McCain wins this one.
Obama has one admirable quality...the infamous Ted Kennedy stumble lines. Oh my no teleprompter and look what happens.

the collapse

The blog is back after a short late Summer, early Fall Cape Cod get-away. We play tourists and visit many wonderful towns...Hyannis, Falmouth, Dennis, Chatham and Provincetown. Always a great time. And now to the blog desk.......



Many articles have been written about our current economic mess. Let's go back to November 12, 1999 when President Bill Clinton repealed the Glass-Steagll act of 1933.
The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and included banking reforms, some of which were designed to control speculation.(Recall the recent term "speculators?" Some provisions such as Regulation Q that allowed the Federal Reserve to regulate interest rates in savings accounts were repealed by the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. Provisions that prohibit a bank holding company from owning other financial companies were repealed on November 12, 1999 by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act signed by President Bill Clinton. the Glass-Steagall Act, opening up competition among banks, securities companies and insurance companies. The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) allowed commercial and investment banks to consolidate. An example of this was when Citibank merged with the Travelers Group and in 1998 formed the conglomerate Citigroup, a corporation combining banking and insurance underwriting services. Other major mergers in the financial sector had already taken place such as the Smith-Barney, Shearson, Primerica and Travelers Insurance Corporation combination in the mid-1990s. This combination, announced in 1993 and finalized in 1994, would have violated the Glass-Steagall Act and the Bank Holding Acts by combining insurance and securities companies, if not for a temporary waiver process. The law was passed to legalize these mergers on a permanent basis. Historically, the combined industry has been known as the financial services industry.

Many of the largest banks, brokerages, and insurance companies lusted after this Act at the time. Their reasoning was that most folks usually put more money into investments when the economy is doing well, but they put most of their money into savings accounts when the economy turns bad. With the new Act, they would be able to do both 'savings' and 'investment' at the same financial institution, which would be able to do well in both good and bad economic times.

Prior to the Act, most financial services companies were already offering both saving and investment opportunities to their customers. On the retail/consumer side, a bank called Norwest led the charge in offering all types of financial services products in 1986. American Express attempted to own almost every field of financial business. Things culminated in 1998 when Travelers, a financial services company with everything but a retail/commercial bank, bought out Citibank, creating the largest and the most profitable company in the world. The move was technically illegal and provided impetus for the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Also prior to the passage of the Act, there were many relaxations to the Glass-Steagall Act. For example, a few years earlier, commercial Banks were allowed to get into investment banking, and before that banks were also allowed to get into stock and insurance brokerage. Insurance underwriting was the only main operation they weren't allowed to do, something rarely done by banks even after the passage of the Act.

Much consolidation occurred in the financial services industry since, but not at the scale some had expected. Retail banks, for example, do not tend to buy insurance underwriters, as they seek to engage in a more profitable business of insurance brokerage by selling products of other insurance companies. Other retail banks were slow to market investments and insurance products and package those products in a convincing way. Brokerage companies had a hard time getting into banking, because they do not have a large branch and backshop footprint. Banks have recently tended to buy other banks, such as the recent Bank of America and Fleet Boston merger, yet they have had less success integrating with investment and insurance companies. Many banks have expanded into investment banking, but have found it hard to package it with their banking services, without resorting to questionable tie-ins which caused scandals at Smith Barney.

Senator Phil Gramm led the Senate Banking Committee which sponsored the Act; he later joined UBS Warburg, at the time the investment banking arm of the largest Swiss bank.

We have never in memory had a situation where at any one time we have a combination of bad challenges, bad politicians and bad policies.

This past Summer the government tried to straighten out our energy mess, get federal spending under control and try to manage our nation's health system.

The feuding, fighting and posturing remain as I file this report on an early Friday morning. It is hoped that by Noon today, there would of been some mutually acceptable agreement. And.....most important, provide restrictions on what can and cannot be done with guidelines. I applaud the Republican's who are cautious.
I would also hope that any changes made in this problem can me amended and changed while in process. I would love to now see a steel cage match between Neil Cavuto and John Bradshaw Layfiend of the WWE. A stockbroker match.
So what if a friend I know lost $459,000 last week. No biggie at all. Nah............
HumanEvents.com have some wonderful articles posted about this. Please take a look.

a pic tells the tale...

from a Denver Post blog.....

Republican Recycling
by David Harsanyi on September 6, 2008


This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Before McCain speaks today, veterans will haul these garbage bags filled with flags out onto the stage — with dramatic effect, no doubt — and tell the story.

“What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags,” a Republican official emailed. “We estimate the total number to be around 12,000 small flags and one full size 3×5 flag.”

I’m not sure what the DNC was supposed to do with unused hand-flags, frankly. But the Republicans are obviously questioning someone’s patriotism here.

debates

Here is the schedule for the debates.

September 26, 2008: Presidential debate with domestic policy focus, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS

October 2, 2008: Vice Presidential debate, Washington University, St. Louis, MO

October 7, 2008: Presidential debate in a town hall format, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

October 15, 2008:Presidential debate with foreign policy focus, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Bristol and Labor (Day)

So we get news that daughter Bristol is pregnant...Is this the bump McCain wanted from the convention?

Happy Labor Day. Otherwise known as Union Extortion Day...