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.

---

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.