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Fw: mpre score report is ready

The required minimum score on the MPRE in California is a scaled score of 86.

My scaled score is 114.

 

Also, here is a very promising article on distance learning legal education in California.  This was put on the front page of the California Bar Association Journal and it talks about my school in detail:  http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_cbj.jsp?sCategoryPath=/Home/Attorney%20Resources/California%20Bar%20Journal/December2008&sCatHtmlPath=cbj/2008-12_TH_01_onlineschool.html&sCatHtmlTitle=Top%20Headlines

 

 

Who says you can't get ahead

You don’t need a Black President to prove that American is the land of opportunity.  I don’t claim that racism doesn’t exist, I simply believe that if you work hard and stay out of trouble, people of color can accomplish wonderful things in this country.

 

For example, this week Forbes ranked the top earning celebrity couples. 

 

Top on the list were Jay-Z and Beyonce, followed by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. 

 

I hope once and for all we can put victimization and oppression behind us because there is no excuse for limiting yourself.  Opportunity awaits all that dare try.

 

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/hollywoods-top-earning-couples/15620

 

 

These guys want a bailout...

This is why I oppose any help to the big three US Automakers.

 

Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working -- on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits.

"We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper," he says. "Otherwise, I've just sat."

Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit automakers and Delphi Corp. as part of an extraordinary job security agreement with the United Auto Workers union.

The jobs bank programs were the price the industry paid in the 1980s to win UAW support for controversial efforts to boost productivity through increased automation and more flexible manufacturing.

 

Read the full story here .  You might want to have a bucket close by cause it will make you sick. 

Favorable Outcomes

My State Assembly, Congressional Representative, and Presidential candidates all lost.  Bad day for the Republican party.

 

Here is my positive spin on the results:

 

1.       The United States elected an African American President.  I hope he is the uniter that he promised to be.  For now, I have wiped the slate cleaned and am giving him a fresh chance.   We will see how he governs.

2.       The Senate didn’t get a filibuster proof majority.

3.       California passed a redistricting measure by the narrowest of margins.

4.       Tom McClintock got elected to the US House.  He is a champion of the taxpayer and should be a great conservative voice in Pelosi’s house.

 

Saddest facts:

1.       Al Franken is close to being a Senator.

2.       John  Murtha was not upset.

 

Fairness Doctrine and the 1st Amendment

The first amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees some very important things…

 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

I find it no coincidence that the rights guaranteed by the next amendment are provided immediately thereafter…

 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Regulation of Fannie and Freddy

A good perspective

Mort Kondracke takes a look at whether Barack Obama is “a post partisan unifier or a populist liberal ideologue?”

 

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/president_obama_we_still_dont.html

 

 

Let's hope he's the man we hope he is.

Freedom is Always Worth the Price

Sucks to be a freshman senator

As a freshman senator, you are last on the committee to get your turn to ask questions of witnesses.  In some cases, I think there may be hours between the start of a meeting and when you get your chance.   That could be excruciating for a busy man with a Presidency to ascend to.

 

From that perspective, I can understand why Obama might have come to a few meetings late.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah9W24oMIRc

 

 

 

Words of Wisdom

These words, although often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, were actually penned by a Lincoln supporter a long time ago.   I think they are perfectly apropos this week.

* You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. 
* You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
* You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
* You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
* You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer.
* You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
* You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
* You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
* You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
* You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

these aphorisms are from the pen of Reverend William John Henry Boetcker (1873-1962).  Source Link

 

 

 

 

Untraceable Donations

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/28/AR2008102803413_pf.html

 

 

"extensive back-end review" my ass.

Joe the Plumber's Freedom of Speech

Joe the Plumber asked a Presidential candidate about his economic policies.  This is the most fundamental form of political speech that our democracy is founded on.  He is an average guys asking an honest question, and he got an honest answer.

 

Soon after, he also got his private records illegally accessed by no less than 4 governmental agencies.  

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The use of a state computer system to search for information on Wurzelbacher is the fourth uncovered by The Dispatch.

Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland is satisfied that there are no political overtures to the check on Wurzelbacher, a spokesman said.

"Based on what we know to this point, we don't have any reason to believe the information was improperly accessed or disclosed by a state employee," said Keith Dailey, Strickland's press secretary.

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Joe the plumber is a hero.  Not only did he get Obama to reveal his desire to spread the wealth, his actions also reveal that Obama is no different than any other ruthless, win at all costs, say anything, political hack.  There is no hope of change offered here.  There is only partisan politics.

My Son is So Funny

I need to wear a watch to my bar exam.  Usually I just use my cell phone to tell the time, but that won't fly for the test.  So I dusted off the $10 watch (that I bought when I took my first year law students exam), made sure if fit, and set the time. 

 

My five year old son instantly said "What are you doing with that? You look like a grandpa."

 

Cool Technology

W.

Nikki Finke's analysis on the Oliver Stone Bush film "W.":

 

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There's been tremdous interest by the public in the box office fate of Oliver Stone's W. for its second weekend in release. Well, it ran out of steam. QED International/Lionsgate's Bush biopic sank 58% to No. 8 with $1.5 million Friday from 2,050 dates for what will probably be a $5.2M weekend. The $30M negative cost film should end up with $23M domestic box office gross by the end of its North American run. That means, with a $25M P&A investment and Lionsgate's distribution fees, the film won't recoup.

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I am not a huge fan of Oliver Stone nor George Bush, but I am glad to see this film fall flat.  Bush is villified beyond comprehension.  It's the polar opposite of the way Obama is deified.  Bush is the cause of all problems and Barack is the solution.

 

I don't think so, but I hope Barack Obama can heal the country's divide.  The left will finally have to face reality that Blame Bush should not be the only plank in the party platform.    

Media Bias Coming to the Fore:

It is a theme today.  This election is being influenced by a corrupt print and broadcast media.   Here is a great article by Michael S. Malone about the lack of ethics in modern journalism.  I’ll show my favorite point.    

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But nothing, nothing I’ve seen has matched the media bias on display in the current Presidential campaign. . .

 

No, what I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side - or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for Senators Obama and Biden.  If the current polls are correct, we are about to elect as President of the United States a man who is essentially a cipher, who has left almost no paper trail, seems to have few friends (that at least will talk) and has entire years missing out of his biography.  That isn’t Sen. Obama’s fault:  his job is to put his best face forward.  No, it is the traditional media’s fault, for it alone (unlike the alternative media) has had the resources to cover this story properly, and has systematically refused to do so.

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I also like the ending where Malone explains why the editors might have sold themselves out.

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The editors.  The men and women you don’t see; the people who not only decide what goes in the paper, but what doesn’t; the managers who give the reporters their assignments and lay-out the editorial pages.  They are the real culprits.

            Why?  I think I know, because had my life taken a different path, I could have been one:  Picture yourself in your 50s in a job where you’ve spent 30 years working your way to the top, to the cockpit of power . . . only to discover that you’re presiding over a dying industry.   
 ….

And then the opportunity presents itself:  an attractive young candidate whose politics likely matches yours, but more important, he offers the prospect of a transformed Washington with the power to fix everything that has gone wrong in your career.  With luck, this monolithic, single-party government will crush the alternative media via a revived Fairness Doctrine, re-invigorate unions by getting rid of secret votes, and just maybe, be beholden to people like you in the traditional media for getting it there. 

And besides, you tell yourself, it’s all for the good of the country . . .

---

 

Do you think racism is a major factor?

Here is a nice article that makes the case that Barack Obama’s candidacy has already proven that race is only a marginal factor.

 

Win or lose, Americans have gotten behind this man and he is on the brink of the Presidency.   We should  stop talking about the Bradley effect, White Guilt, and Rednecks, and start talking about the politics of the man.

 

 

 

Good Analogy

Why are GSE’s like Fannie and Freddie allowed to make political contributions?    An article I read made a good analogy:

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Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans.  (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me.  It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)

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I am not saying Obama took more money than McCain.  I am saying neither of them should have gotten a dime.

 

 

They want my retirement money

I used to hope that Social Security would be privatized.  It looks more now like my 401(k) will be socialized.   Read Article Here

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House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks

Powerful House Democrats are eyeing proposals to overhaul the nation’s $3 trillion 401(k) system, including the elimination of most of the $80 billion in annual tax breaks that 401(k) investors receive.

A plan by Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic-policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, contains elements that are being considered. She testified last week before Miller’s Education and Labor Committee on her proposal. 

At that hearing, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, Peter Orszag, testified that some $2 trillion in retirement savings has been lost over the past 15 months.

Under Ghilarducci’s plan, all workers would receive a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the U.S. government but would be required to invest 5 percent of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration. The money in turn would be invested in special government bonds that would pay 3 percent a year, adjusted for inflation.

The current system of providing tax breaks on 401(k) contributions and earnings would be eliminated.

“I want to stop the federal subsidy of 401(k)s,” Ghilarducci said in an interview. “401(k)s can continue to exist, but they won’t have the benefit of the subsidy of the tax break.”

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What makes the Federal Government think they can manage my money properly?  Is it their effective operation of  the current Social Security funds? 

 

 If this goes through, another generation will be dependent on the Government for retirement.  It is just a way of keeping all of us beholden to the big Federal bureaucracy.    

 

 

Then and Now

Letting the Other Guy Run With the Issue

When the credit crisis peaked and John McCain was several points ahead in the National and battleground polls.  Things were looking good.  Then the “economy” was brought front and center with the crash of the markets.  McCain suspended his campaign and went to Washington.  If he had played his cards right, he could have shown true leadership and solidified his chances at becoming president.  Instead, he stumbled, and with the media’s help, Barack Obama was seen as the champion of the economic crisis.  It was a 10 point swing in favor of Obama.  Here is what McCain should have done

 

1)      Expose  the policies and regulations that forced lending to unqualified borroweres.  McCain should have pinned the housing bubble and the credit crisis on the Democrat led Congress, speciifally Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.  The corruption of these two politicians is evident as both are involved in dubious affairs.  The comittees that Dodd and Frank chaired were directly responsible for the problems with the Community Reinvestment Act, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapse, the securitization of unqualified mortgages.  It was lending to unqualified borrowers that created the bubble on main street.  Unfrortunatley, McCain did not take an aggressive stance on this and the American public was convinced that the Democrats were the solution and not the problem.

 

2)      Call for the firing of the Chairman of the SEC.  McCain did this, but he was laughed at.  I read an article today  about just how bad the oversight at the SEC was.  Calling for the firing of Chirs Cox was a true maverick move that would distance himself from the Bush adminstration.  I think it is an honest position that McCain would not tolerate the type of greed and corruption that the current adminstration seems to surround itself with.   “[The report] also gives damaging evidence that the SEC’s hands-off approach helped cause the credit bubble to dangerously inflate.” Time will prove McCain right on his call to fire Cox.  His failure is in not trumpeting his correct assesment that the man that oversaw the markets during this times needs to be gone.

 

3)      Fight any Pork in the Bailout:  By all accounts, McCains presence in Washington allowed the House Republicans a seat at the negotiation table.  Previous to this, the Bush Pelosi adminstration was ready to hand over Secretary Paulson $700B based on a 3 page document.  Unfortuantely, the bargaining was less about principle, and more about bribery.  Eventually both McCain and Obama supported the bailout, and there seemed to be a great deal of pork and unnecessary elements to the package.   

 

4)      Explain to America why the Government Bailout is the right thing to do.  McCain’s coservative constituents believe in free markets and many are wholly replused by the taxpayer bailout and socialization of the financial institutions on Wall Street.  Everyone is angered that taxpayer money is being given to people so they can go to fancy resorts and spas.  If the balout is necessary, a leader should be able to explain why.    

 

5)      Explain to Wall Street that it aint a free ride.  The day a company takes taxpayer dolloars is the day that CEO needs to be scared to death that the government is going to crush him for any wrongdoing, abuse, waste, or fraud.  The fact that fat cats were still business as usual is appalling.  The should be on their hands and knees licking the boots of the American taxpayer, and we should own them, their prospects and the future, until every dime is paid back, with appropriate interest.   

 

 

The housing bubble should be a winning issue for Republicans.   McCain can distance himself from the Bush Wall Street policies.   It is frustrating to see the other party capitalize on something that could benefit you.

Universal Child Health Care Program Halted After 7 Months

The beauty of America is that there are (should be?) 50 independent state laboratories that can try out government programs and policies.  Ideally with that much experimentation  going on we will be able to find innovative solutions to the problems that governments are faced with.  With that said, Hawaii launched a program to give kids taxpayer funded  health care.   After only 7 short months, the program was abandoned.

 

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Gov. Linda Lingle's administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program."

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Gee, do you think?   I guess the choice is clear; either pay for it yourself, or participate in a subsidized program.  When it’s on the table, most people will take what the givernment is giving. 

 

So let this be a lesson to anyone that starts the Federal their State government down a universal healthcare plan.  People will stop being self reliant when the government gives them something to rely on.

 

Full article here:

 

Of course the post script here is that the Dem’s will use this as evidence that there has to be mandatory participation in a government program.  Just like schools, and unlike abortion, they want us to have No choice.  

Finding Racism Where It Doesn't Exist

I don’t always agree with Charles Krauthammer, but I think the  column he wrote today is right on the money.  Read it yourself.

 

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A couple of agitated yahoos in a rally of thousands yell something offensive and incendiary, and John McCain and Sarah Palin are not just guilty by association -- with total strangers, mind you -- but worse: guilty according to The New York Times of "race-baiting and xenophobia."

 

But should you bring up Barack Obama's real associations -- 20 years with Jeremiah Wright, working on two foundations and distributing money with William Ayers, citing the raving Michael Pfleger as one who helps him keep his moral compass (Chicago Sun-Times, April 2004) and the long-standing relationship with the left-wing vote-fraud specialist ACORN -- you have crossed the line into illegitimate guilt by association. Moreover, it is tinged with racism.

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I think a great deal of what Barack Obama is able to get away with comes from his ability to control the media narrative.  The bias in favor of Obama and against McCain and the Republicans is the only reason the Democrats will do well this election.  If people knew both sides of the truth, they would see that both McCain and Obama are good  decent men.  They just each have a different philosophy about how to take America forward. 

 

I will not vote for Obama because I believe in limited government.  I believe Barack Obama believes that the government can and should attempt to solve all problems.

 

 

"Tax Cuts for 95% of Americans" is a lie

The Case Against Barack Obama: Part 1

by  Larry Elder 10/16/2008

 

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama promises to "cut taxes for 95 percent of American workers." That's not possible.

Why? More than 30 percent pay nothing in federal income taxes. Obama comes up with this number by calling tax credits "tax cuts." One can debate whether these things are good or bad, but they are not tax cuts. McCain offers refundable tax credits for health care, as well as other credits, but he doesn't insult the intelligence of the American people by calling them "tax cuts." When Obama's credits go to people who pay no federal income taxes or who pay less than the value of the credit, they are not "tax cuts." They are transfers of money from one pocket to another, or redistributions of wealth, but they are not tax cuts.

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read the rest if you want the details.

 

The bottom line is that Barack Obama wants take money from the productive people in our society and give it to other people.    That my friends is Socialism and I don't like it.

 

Let people keep the fruits of their labor.  If the Government would stop squandering our tax money then our economy will be robust and the middle class will propser.

 

 

Spread The Wealth Around

Redbox Universal Legal Battle

Redbox is not happy with Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s new distribution terms.  Is Universal trying to block the kiosk from renting $1 DVD’s?  Seems like a 45 day lag in the box is a protection for bricks and mortar rental establishments.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/redboxr-files-federal-lawsuit-against/story.aspx?guid=%7BBFDE3FB6-8CBF-4E2F-91FA-9FDFEE5FD331%7D&dist=hppr

 

 

Why do these companies insist on fighting innovative new models? 

 

I love Redbox and I rent many more movies because of it.  I can’t see paying $5 for a five day rental when it is in the box for $.99 per night. 

 

PS.  Does anyone realize that the 5 day rental was an accommodation to avoid late fees for the people that could not get back to the rental store the next day.  I don’t want the stinking movie for 5 days Mr. Blockbuster and Mrs. Hollywood.

 

Gay Marriage in Your Face

As a human being, I am compassionate to the rights of gays.  But as a parent, I really would rather teach my kids that a family should be a husband and a wife.    My vote on the gay marriage initiative has been sealed.  This is not about rights to marry.  This is about making homosexuality an accepted norm and demonizing traditional family values.

 

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/13/first-graders-take-school-field-tripto-teachers-gay-wedding/

 

 

Google Celebrates Columbus Day

Not.

RealClearPolitics - Articles - The Speech John McCain Should Give

RealClearPolitics - Articles - The Speech John McCain Should Give

We have accepted the lie that we can live exactly as we want to live, with no concern for the consequences. We have taken the blessings of liberty and prosperity and turned them into a curse of debt slavery - bondage that will be visited on our children, and our children's children, if we don't change.

Everybody has a theory about how we got into this mess, and it's usually one that absolves them and their party from blame. My friends, I'm here to tell you that this crisis is the Republicans' fault. It's the Democrats' fault. It's the fault of every one of us who believed in the fairy tale of a free lunch.

McCains Diminishing Chances

Current Real Clear Battleground Polls:

 

Ohio  - Obama +5

Colorado - Obama +5

Florida - Obama +3

Pennsylvania - Obama +7.6

Virginia - Obama +2.5

 

There is a clear trend breaking heavy for  Senator Obama.  McCain has lost significant ground and shows no sign of stopping the bleeding. 

 

As a fiscal conservative, I am ready to reject John McCain.  He has not shown me that he is a leader during the economic "crisis."   I beleive it will be impossible to recover from this damage because he is fighting a biased media and an electorate that is not able to see through the lies they are being shown.

 

McCain could have won if he woudl have pinned the blame on Barne Frank and Chris Dodd for the Subprime crisis.  His move to distance himself from Bush by calling for Chris Cox's resignation was good in my eyes, but it got no traction.  McCain has looked like milktoast and frankly yesterday during his senate speech Senator Obama looked like the next President of the United States.   

 

I can only hope that the Congress remains divided and that we don't have three liberal branches of government that usher in the new socialist age of America.

 

Bad day for me

As of today I officially don’t care if McCain wins the election.

The Republican party is in shambles and has forgot the meaning of fiscal conservatism, individual responsibility, and limited Government. How would John McCain presidency differ substantially from a Barack Obama presidency? McCain capitulates on everything in the name of bi-partisanship. He would roll over every time Harry and Nancy demanded it.

What makes you think McCain would do what is necessary to deal with the immigration crisis? Has McCain the “Maverick” shown you that he can deal with the economic situation?

I am sick of Bush. I am sick of McCain. I am sick of the media. The only think I am sad about is the Supreme Court nominees that Obama will get to make. Then again, why should I believe McCain would have picked a justice to my liking?

For the next 4 years at least this country is going to tack hard left. Maybe then the country will wake up and realize that Socialism has been tried and proven to be ineffective.

I need a modern day Mayflower and a new Plymouth rock.

 

If you want to know the truth about the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae problem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6fuFrdCJY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM&NR=1

 

John McCain was ahead of the curve

House ignores Bush, rejects $700B bailout bill - Yahoo! News

House ignores Bush, rejects $700B bailout bill - Yahoo! News:

Democratic and Republican leaders alike pledged to try again, though the "Democrats said GOP lawmakers needed to provide more votes" ...

"No" votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle. More than two-thirds of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats opposed the bill.


Seems like the speaker needs to control her own party before placing blame at the feet of the Republicans.

The Candidate for Change

When Senator Obama talks about change, he is mainly talking about how he changes what he says based the audience and opinion polling.

How did we come to be in this crisis?

make money on the Freddie and Fanny Deal

From the WSJ: 

You can slice the numbers a lot of different ways. My calculations, which assume 50% impairment on subprime loans, suggest it is possible, all in, for this portfolio to generate between $1 trillion and $2.2 trillion -- the greatest trade ever. Every hedge-fund manager will be jealous. Mr. Buffett is buying a small piece of the trade via his Goldman Sachs investment.

Over 10 years this could change the budget scenario in D.C., which can also strengthen the dollar. The next president gets a heck of a windfall. In the spirit of Secretary of State William Seward's purchase of Alaska for $7 million in 1867, this week may be remembered as Paulson's Folly.

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I hope so.  I have been trying to think of the percentage of bad loans in the mix.  If half the people defaulted, thier homes still have some value.  I think the junk is underpriced cmparwed to it's ultimate value. 

Letter to Senators

Senator Boxer,

 

I urge you to protect the taxpayer as you consider the unprecedented Federal bailout requested by Secretary Paulson. 
 
For 8 years I have witnessed first hand the housing bubble grow and now burst in Brentwood.  I witnessed how easy credit encouraged people to live beyond thier means, pushing home prices beyond sustainable levels. 
 
At the same time I witnessed mortgage companies and investment banks benefitting immensely from the practice of making and selling risky loans. 
 
Now I am being asked to pay for this irresponsibility and greed in the name of keeping the economy going. 
 
While I understand that our economy is tied to the financial markets, I am disgusted by the idea of buying the toxic debt from Wall Street.  I am also concerned that "Congresisonal oversight" will be implmented by the very same individuals that allowed this, some may say encouraged this, to happen without raising the alarm.
 
If flowing credit is the problem, then I suggest the Federal government make the loans directly to small businesses and credit worthy individuals wanting to buy a home.  A solution such as this would leave Wall Street holding the bad paper they have been trading in, would give credit to the deserving individuals that can keep our economy moving, and would reinforce the notion that people need to live within thier means and not be greedy. It also might lead to the taxpayers getting a return on the investment.  I liken this to the Cal-Vet program that has been sucessful in CA.
 
It is time for some tough love to be shown to those that wanted too much.  It is not time to show them my tax dollars as a reward.

 

This goes for homeowners in over their head, the Wall Street clowns that were instrumental in putting them there, and the Congress that stood by and said and did nothing to protect the American taxpayer.

 

Thank you for your consideration.
 
-Edward Younger
Brentwoood, CA 94513

 

(will send same to Dianne F)

Letter to My Congressman

Congressman McNerney,

 

I urge you to protect the taxpayer as you consider the unprecedented Federal bailout requested by Secretary Paulson. 

 

For 8 years I have witnessed first hand the housing bubble grow in Brentwood.  I witnessed how easy credit encouraged people to live beyond thier means, pushing home prices beyond sustainable levels. 

 

At the same time I witnessed mortgage companies and investment banks benefitting immensely from the practice of making and selling risky loans. 

 

Now I am being aksed to pay for this irresponsibility and greed in the name of keeping the economy going. 

 

While I understand that our economy is tied to the financial markets, I am disgusted by the idea of buying the toxic debt from Wall street. 

 

if flowing credit is the problem, then I suggest the Federal government make the loans directly to small businesses and credit worthy individuals wanting to buy a home.  A solution such as this would leave Wall Street holding the bad paper they have been trading in, would give credit to the deserving individuals that can keep our economy moving, and woudl reinforce the notion that people need to live within thier means and not be greedy. It also might lead to the taxpayers getting a return on the investment.  I liken this to the Cal-Vet program that has been sucessful in CA.

 

It is time for some tough love to be shown to those that wanted too much.  It is not time to show them my tax dollars as a reward.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

 

-Edward
Brentwoood, CA 94513

My Letter to Harry Reid

Your blantant politics above all concerns is obvious and disgusting.  Although I am not a constituent, I am ashamed of your leadership.

 

Earlier this week: "We need now the Republicans to start producing some votes for us, we need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands," Reid publicly told reporters.

 

Yesterday: It appears to me John McCain is trying to divert attention to his failing campaign," Reid said during a press conference Wednesday.

 

You said it best last week: The U.S. Congress is unlikely to pass new legislation to overhaul financial regulations this year because ``no one knows what to do,'' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today.

 

Your own words reveal your ridiculous lack of leadership and partisanship. 

Ed's Plan

I said this to Michelle Malkin readers:

 

I know there is passion and principle on this site.  I hate the idea of a bailing out the irresponsible with all my heart. 

 

But there is merit to the idea that credit needs to flow for busines to carry on and for the housing market to recover. 

 

If we can avoid a depression we might be best served by some type of government assitance to keep credit flowing.

 

I say we let the investment banks and Wall Street eat the derivate securites they have gobbled up and just have the Feds give loans directly to qualified people to buy homes and start/operate/expand business.  CA has a Vet loan program that hasn't cost us any tax dollars in generations.

 

The root of this is housing boom and bust.  Only when the housing market stablizes will our economy rebound.  Let's let Wall Street sleep in the bed they've made while helping our Main Street.

 

If we want to kill the bill, there has to be an economically sound alterntive.

Familiar Trend

California has several ballot proposals this election relating to Law Enforcement, including Props 6 & 9.  Prop  9 is a victims rights measure that gives victims rights to testify at sentencing and parole hearings, as well as preferred creditor status for restitution.  Prop 6 is a law enforcement measure with funds to help cops target drugs and gangs.  Both seem to be positive on the surface if one wants to support our boys in blue and be tough on crime. 

 

That said, I am still deciding how I will vote , but one thing I notice is that both have some unusual opposition:

 

The officially-filed committee opposing Proposition 6 is known as No on Propositions 6 & 9, Communities for Safe Neighborhoods and Fiscal Responsibility.

Notable members of the opposition coalition include the California Democratic Party, the California Professional Firefighters, the California Labor Federation, the California Teachers Association, California National Organization for Women, .^[21]

Seems like the Firefighters and Teachers unions don't want the cops to get a bigger slice of  the pie.  And the Democrats and Feminazis are right on board.   I've made up my mind how I'll vote now.

 

[SIde note; The name of the opposition committes is getting ridiculous.  "Communites for Safe Neighborhoods" is a group that opposes additioonal funding for street crime enforcment and victim rights?]

 

I pulled this from www.ballotpedia.org  educate yourself so you can do your legislators job effectively. 

Jonah Goldberg :: Townhall.com :: Wall Street Fat Cats Aren't At Fault This Time

Jonah Goldberg :: Townhall.com :: Wall Street Fat Cats Aren't At Fault This Time: "The biggest dose of poison entered the financial bloodstream through Washington. And some people warned us. In 2003, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac revealed they cooked their books to overstate their earnings and that they didn't really know what was going on. The Bush administration pushed for reforms, but those efforts were rebuffed by Congress, with Democrats Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd taking point, because Fannie and Freddie have spent millions in campaign contributions.
In 2005, McCain sponsored legislation to thwart what he later called 'the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole.'
Obama, the Senate's second-greatest recipient of donations from Fannie and Freddie after Dodd, did nothing."

Politics - Dan Walters: Revised state budget is still a sham - sacbee.com

Politics - Dan Walters: Revised state budget is still a sham - sacbee.com

Those are at best, however, marginal improvements in what still remains a stopgap budget filled with accounting gimmicks and questionable "spending cuts" and "revenues" – and still leaves the state's fiscal house in great disorder. It makes little, if any, headway on closing what those in the Capitol call the "structural deficit" – the chronic gap between revenues and spending that was plaguing the state even before its economy went into the tank.

Budget mavens are already talking about at least a $7 billion hole in the 2009-10 budget, even if the economy doesn't worsen, which is entirely possible.

We Californians, and those we elect to state office, still cannot agree on what it is we want from government and how much we're willing to pay for it.
We reject both the heavy new taxes that the Legislature's liberal Democrats espouse and the scorched-earth spending cuts that Republicans advocate in public but are, in reality, unwilling to make.
Truly, the budget dilemma is merely symbolic of our larger civic dysfunction.

Harry Reid Admits it

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asked today what new regulatory actions Congress can take this year, said, bluntly, "No one knows what to do. We are in new territory here. This is a different game. We're not here playing soccer, basketball or football, this is a new game and we're going to have to figure out how to do it..."

 

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/senate-majority.html

 

 

Dead Even

So it looks like Obama has withstood McCain’s surge.  RealClear national average has them back at even now.  I think the economy is large on people minds and McCain is seen as weak.  McCain needs to distance himself from the Bush administration and his Wall Street cronies.  He should talk about the fact the Obama’s big government liberal policies will push the country deeper into debt. 

 

I don’t really think either candidate can solve the economy’s problems.  This is a problem that goes back to Bill Clinton and the entire government is to blame for not stepping in sooner to recognize the emergence of the housing bubble. 

 

The problem for McCain is that he will be more linked to Wall Street and the current administration at a time when people are swooning for the Federal government to come in and solve all their problem. 

 

The problem with Obama’s spending and taxing plans will lead us into a deeper recession.  Rule number one of holes:  Stop digging.

 

 

An Agent of Change?

Here is an article that details Obama's efforts to make change in Illinois politics.  The author seems to think Obama is nothing more than another cog in the Chicago political machine and not a true agent of change. 

 

But betraying your political godfather(s) in Chicago and Illinois is an entirely different matter. Especially if you lose the presidential election and return to being just another senator from Illinois. Cutting his ties with the corrupt Chicago machine is one bridge you will not see Obama burn. Not now, not ever.

Agent of change, my foot.

Education: Bush Bashing, No Child Left Behind, and Obama's Plan

I hear President Bush getting ‘blamed’ for No Child Left Behind frequently.   I say, it wasn’t Bush that made the legislation.

 

The NCLB Act of 2001 was co-Authored by Democratic Rep. George Miller of California and Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and rejected by only 10 Democratic Congressmen  and 2 Democratic Senators.

 

Presented with this fact, the claim will be that Bush failed to fund NCLB.  That itself is a dubious claim. 

 

As the Heritage Foundation points out: “Annual U.S. Department of Education spending on elementary and secondary education has increased from $27.3 billion in 2001 to $38 billion in 2006, up by nearly 40 percent. 

 

The fact is that the educational system in America costs too much and performs too poorly.   We cannot simply throw endless amounts of money at the established entrenched bureaucracy.    We cannot play so loosely with facts.

 

This leads me to Obama’s Education Platform.  Below is my point by point commentary on Obama’s plan.

 

Obama starts off by citing the unfulfilled funding promises of NCLB.  Then he proposes his solution.

 

1)      Comprehensive Zero to Five Plan:  voluntary universal pre-school for kids 0-5.  This is a teachers union move to expand the education system to cover 5 more years of our kids lives.  More teachers, more money, more power. I heard that 1 in 10 at the Democratic convention was a teacher.  I love teachers, but their unions are driving California and the US into the ground.

2)      “Obama will quadruple Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding . . .”  enough said.

3)      Affordable High Quality Child Care:  because educating kids starts with making sure the government babysits  them while Mommy is working.

4)      Fund NCLB:  where is the money going to come from? Answer: Taxpayers.   How will spending be managed to ensure return on investment?  Answer, it won’t.    Note the slam “Teachers should not be forced to  spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests.”  Didn’t Uncle Teddy write the law?  By the way, I sure needed to know how to fill in the bubble on my SAT and college exams.  If teachers are spending too much time on that then maybe they aren’t that good of teacher.

5)      Make Math and Science a National Priority:  Recruiting math and science teachers is a fine objective but how are you going to do it?  Buy them off with taxpayer dollars.  Also, what do you think he really means when he says he will work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.    Does that mean Darwin in kindergarten?  Perhaps the benefits of stem cell research at age 6?  That last line in his platform bothers me even though I support teaching the theory of evolution.

6)      Address the dropout crisis: funding for outreach. “Personal Academic Plans”, parent involvement through government intervention.

7)      Double Funding for afterschool programs. My tax dollars at work.   Probably better to keep the kids involved if you can, but Obama sure has a givernment cure for everything that ails us.

8)      Summer Learning for Disadvantaged:  same as #7.

9)      Support College Outreach Programs:  I like this one.  Hopefully it does not cost too much to teach ‘low income families’ that college is the way to go.  Maybe we could pay 50 Cent or Snoop Dogg  to rap about the virtues of a high quality education.

10)   Support for English Language Learners:  Obama supports transitional bilingual education.  I say the transition is accelerated by English only in the classrooms.  If parents need alternative language support then that is fine with me. 

11)    Recruit Teachers:  Taxpayer funded undergrad and grad school for teachers in exchange for 4 years of service to high-need field or location.  Kind of like the military.  Will the media call these recruits stupid and hopeless?

12)   Prepare Teachers: will require all schools of education to be accredited.  That seems fine. 

13)   Retain Teachers: “incentives for paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.”  Isn’t that what discussions in the teachers lounge are for?   My California kids have half days on Wednesdays already because teachers need some time to do their work without the kids.  Isn’t that what summer is for?

14)   Reward Teachers: “new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay”   More money.  No talk of eliminating non-performing teachers. 

15)   Tax Credit for College:  “Universal and fully refundable tax credit.”   I prefer tax cuts and deductions rather credits.  The fully refundable language of this promise makes me think it will be like the earned income credit and people will be getting money from the government that they never earned.

16)   Simplified Application for Financial Aid:  Great idea to eliminate red tape .  Linking application to IRS forms is a little big brothery but that is what we get in Obama’s Marxist world that he calls being “neighborly.”

 

 

Peter and Paul

“A Government that robs Peter to pay Paul, you can always depend on the support of Paul.”

 

 

George Bernard Shaw, Everybody's Political What's What? (1944) ch. 30

 

Pamela Anderson on Palin: 'I Can't Stand Her'

Pamela Anderson on Palin: 'I Can't Stand Her'

"The former 'Baywatch' babe was asked by an E! reporter if she she'd seen the photo of Palin, a proud hunter, with an animal fur in the background.
'I can't stand her,' Anderson replied after rolling her eyes. 'She can suck it!'"


Thats exaclty what I think of Pam.

Couldn't be any closer in September

The President is elected based on Electoral College vote so national polls don't mean much. With two months to go, it could not be any closer.

McCain has strong positive trend across the board right now.

Let the partisanship go.

No matter who wins the election in November, my president will take office in January. 

 

I hope after this election we can come together as a nation united.  I love this country and whether is it Barack Obama or John McCain as president in 2009, they won’t be able to affect change without the support and participation of the public.

 

We don’t have to hate the other side just because we disagree on politics.    Both candidates love this country , want to make it better, and think that their policies would do just that.

 

I happen to think we are better off with limited government and less entitlements, but that doesn’t mean I have to hate Obama.   

 

Please Support Me

A great man once said

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

 

-Thomas Jefferson

 

Captured by Google Street View

View Larger Map

Garden Progress

Planted a garden on June 1st.
So far we have eaten Zucchini, Basil, lettuce, and tomatoes. Still growing Cantelope, Bell Peppers, Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, beets, pumpkins, and recently planted spinach.

Beijing Olympics: Faking scandal over girl who 'sang' in opening ceremony - Telegraph

Beijing Olympics: Faking scandal over girl who 'sang' in opening ceremony - Telegraph: "Mr Chen's interview gave an extraordinary insight into the control exercised over the ceremony by the Games' political overseers, all to ensure the country was seen at its best.
Officials have already admitted that the pictures of giant firework footprints which marched across Beijing towards the stadium on Friday night were prerecorded, digitally enhanced and inserted into footage beamed across the world.
Mr Chen said the initial hopefuls to sing the anthem had been reduced to ten, and one, a ten-year-old, had originally been chosen for the quality of her voice. But she, too, had fallen by the wayside because she was not 'cute' enough.
'We used her to sing in all the rehearsals,' Mr Chen said. 'But in the end the director thought her image was not the most appropriate, because she was a little too old. Regrettably, we had to let her go.'"

What else was faked?

Robert Downey Jr.'s risky role in "Tropic Thunder" - Yahoo! News

Robert Downey Jr.'s risky role in "Tropic Thunder" - Yahoo! News

"I think it's important that we have to stop allowing ourselves to be perceived as clowns to the rest of the world."

Like Friday

or how about the offerings of Shawan Wayans such as Little Man, Scary Movie.

we could talk about Flavor Flav if you want to talk about clowns.


My point is not that it is right for whites to portray blacks as clowns to the rest of the world. My point is that maybe blacks should worry more about how they characterize themselves if we ever are going to move on.

Who Can You Sue? Click Here - TIME

Who Can You Sue? Click Here - TIME

Olympic Predication

China will top the gold medal standings.  They have made it a national crusade to beat the US.  Maybe they are going to do it legitimately, maybe they will use government sponsored  tactics like old soviet era teams.  If they are doping, I hope they get busted. 

 

Regardless, even if they do beat the United States in medals, keep in mind that China is 4 times the population of the US.  They  have 1 billion more people in the pool of athletes to assemble their team. 

 

Per capita, America will dominate the world.

 

Is it different than advertisements between segments

TV News Shows are now doing product placement. 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/business/media/22adco.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

 

 

Are the issues raised by this any different than the issues raised by commercial advertising in 30 second blocks between news segments?  Isn’t the station beholden to the advertiser in both situations? 

Engineering In Hell

An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, you're an engineer -- you're in the wrong place."

So, the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After awhile, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.

One day, God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, "So, how's it going down there in hell?"

Satan replies, "Hey, things are going great. We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next."

God replies, "What??? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake -- he should never have gotten down there; send him up here."

Satan says, "No way. I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him."

God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue."

Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah, right. And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?"

 

Google Lively Chat

This is a world superpower

Water quality has been a concern for the sailing events, given that many coastal Chinese cities dump untreated sewage into the sea.

 

Full article

Ha -Ha

See-dubya guest blogging at Michelle Malkin:

those of a libertarian bent should listen up: social conservatives might be nosing around in your bedroom and your basement where you’ve got the grow-lights and the Pink Floyd posters, but the totalitarian green left is sticking its nose in every dad-gum room in your house.

I am glad they are in Texas

Can’t wait to see this guy fry.  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,371101,00.html

 

 

 

US Open Video Stream

Do we want government health care?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06052008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/how_liberal_care_would_kill_ted_114032.htm

 

 

I thought the French had the model to prevent underage binge drinking.

I have heard before that the French had less problems associated with alcohol because kids are allowed to drink from a young age and therefore they do not react like Americans who are prohibited from drinking until age 21.  I guess that theory is dead:

---

France mulls happy-hour ban to curb youth drinking
PARIS, May 19 (Reuters) - France is considering a ban on happy hours in bars and on the sale of bottles of vodka and other strong liquor in nightclubs as part of efforts to curb binge drinking among young people, an official said on Monday.

The proposed measures are being discussed with producers and distributors of alcoholic drinks and decisions are expected within weeks, said Etienne Apaire, head of a government body in charge of the fight against addiction to drugs or alcohol.

"What we have seen in recent years is an increase in alcohol consumption among young people, and in particular an increase in the kinds of behaviour that lead to drunkenness,"

---

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7525727

 

 

Nuclear Option

Isn’t it time we began satisfying our energy demand with nuclear energy?  We are burning fossil fuels, much of it imported, when we could safely and cleanly generate electricity with nuclear.

 

Of course we have to deal with the waste issue and we have to develop safe reactors. 

 

Imagine electric cars, fueled by domestically generated zero emission power.  In my opinion, the expanded use of nuclear power needs to be part of our energy future. 

 

We can start on this today.

What is wrong with taking care of the homefront first?

I was talking with a friend today with the perception that America is to solve all the world’s problems.  We send foreign aid all around the world, for all sorts of purposes, in amounts that cannot be compared to any other country in the world, yet it is never enough. 

 

Shortly after this conversation I came across this article on MSNBC.com

 

---

A five-year farm bill in Congress this week does little to address the growing global food crisis. Instead, it diverts money that could be spent feeding poor children abroad to give more subsidies for U.S. farmers now enjoying record high crop prices and incomes.

Food experts, international aid groups and the White House all complain that the $300 billion bill crafted by House and Senate negotiators focuses on the wrong priorities. The bill has widespread bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, but President Bush has promised to veto it.

While the legislation does send some food relief abroad, the amount is less than 1 percent of the bill's total cost. At the same time, the measure maintains subsidies to U.S. farmers at levels that hurt poor countries trying to produce food on their own, critics say.

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said last week the bill is incompatible with the world economy as poor weather, high fuel prices and growing need are contributing to higher food prices and severe hunger in developing nations. Bush contends it's too expensive and too generous to wealthy U.S. farmers.

---

I say cut agree that our silly farm subsidies hurt the international farmer and should be abolished, but the idea that we owe the world the solution to the ‘growing global food crisis’ is ridiculous.  Let’s take care of America’s interests first.  After our problems are solved we can evaluate what we can offer the rest of the world.    

In yesterdays SF Chronicle

Brentwood the poster child for housing bust

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/11/MNGE1095FT.DTL

 

 

I often hear that Bush pulled us out of the Kyoto Agreement

On July 25, 1997, before the Kyoto Protocol was finalized (although it had been fully negotiated, and a penultimate draft was finished), the U.S. Senate unanimously passed by a 95–0 vote the Byrd-Hagel Resolution (S. Res. 98),^[63][64] which stated the sense of the Senate was that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol that did not include binding targets and timetables for developing as well as industrialized nations or "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States". On November 12, 1998, Vice President Al Gore symbolically signed the protocol. Both Gore and Senator Joseph Lieberman indicated that the protocol would not be acted upon in the Senate until there was participation by the developing nations.^[65] The Clinton Administration never submitted the protocol to the Senate for ratification.

Never forget...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cast doubt Wednesday over the U.S. version of the Sept. 11 attacks, calling it a pretext used to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.

Although Iran has condemned the 2001 al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington in the past, this was the third time in a week that Ahmadinejad questioned the death toll, who was behind the attacks and how it happened.

"Four or five years ago, a suspicious event occurred in New York. A building collapsed and they said that 3,000 people had been killed but never published their names," Ahmadinejad told Iranians in the holy city of Qom.

Under this pretext, the U.S. "attacked Afghanistan and Iraq and since then a million people have been killed only in Iraq," Ahmadinejad said in the speech broadcast live on state-run television.

On the last anniversary of the attacks, the names of 2,750 victims killed in New York were read aloud at a memorial ceremony.

In Washington, the State Department rejected the comments out of hand, calling them "another example of misinformed misguided rhetoric" from the Iranian leader.

"I am not sure what one says about a statement like that," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "It leaves one speechless. It is misguided, misinformed rhetoric. I can't tell you whether or not it is something he truly believes or if this is just a warped attempt to try to shape public opinion in Iran or elsewhere."

Last year, Ahmadinejad raised questions over the attacks, saying "what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved" needed to be examined.

Ahmadinejad has said the attacks were a result of "mismanaging and inhumane managing of the world by the U.S." and should not be turned into another Holocaust "used for slaughtering people."

Although Iran has condemned the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the campaigns toppled the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, two regional threats to Iran.

 

Source here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080416/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_sept11