Yesterday, tomorrow.

Hey! a new thread!

Friend crosses Sen. Stevens in corruption trial By MATT APUZZO and TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writers
13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A longtime friend of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens crossed the powerful lawmaker Tuesday and testified that he gave the Republican senator thousands of dollars in gifts.

The fiercely loyal Stevens gave no indication he even saw Bill Allen enter the courtroom, and the two men barely looked at each other as Allen testified about their 26-year friendship and the expensive gifts he gave along the way.

Stevens, 84, is on trial for failing to disclose about $250,000 in gifts and favors on Senate financial documents.

"That's Ted, right over there," Allen said, pointing across the crowded courtroom to an expressionless Stevens.

At the heart of the case is a massive home renovation project in which Allen helped transform the senator's small A-frame cabin into a two-story home with a garage, sauna, wine cellar and wraparound porches.

There were other favors, too, said Allen, who runs the multibillion-dollar oil pipeline company VECO Corp. In late 1999, Allen said, Stevens feared that the Y2K computer bug would crash the power grid and leave his house in the dark.

"So I went and got a generator and put it in," Allen testified.

"Did he ask you for this?" prosecutor Joseph Bottini asked.

"Yeah, he said he needed a generator," Allen responded, his head lowered, as he told jurors that Stevens never paid for the $5,000-to-$6,000 generator.

At the apex of their careers, the two fishing buddies held nearly unrivaled power. Stevens was a master of the Senate, a beloved figure in Alaska who steered billions of dollars to his home state. Allen was a self-made millionaire who could summon state lawmakers to his hotel room for drinks and tell them how to vote.

The Justice Department corruption investigation targeting Stevens changed all that.

Confronted with overwhelming evidence against him, Allen turned on the senator. The last time the two men spoke, FBI agents were listening in. Since then, Allen has pleaded guilty to bribery and turned against his old friends in hopes of reducing his own prison time.

Prosecutors spent much of Tuesday trying to bolster Allen's credibility by discussing a backbreaking career that took him from picking crops to learning to weld to running VECO Corp.

Over the past few days, VECO employees have testified to working long hours at Stevens' home south of Anchorage, building a balcony and a roof, installing a custom staircase and a generator, upgrading the electrical system and more.

The complicated project involved raising the house on stilts and building a new floor below. Workers testified they were pulled off their regular jobs or received nighttime phone calls to work on Stevens' house.

Allen spent 90 minutes on the stand Tuesday and was expected to spend most of Wednesday discussing the house project.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080930/ap_on_go_co/stevens_trial

up efforts to ruin Obama campaign.

Bill Clinton will hold first rally for Barack Obama

Bill Clinton will tomorrow officially set aside wounded feelings that arose from the Democrats' long and bitter primary contest as he heads out to Florida to hold his first rally for Barack Obama.

It comes more than a month after Clinton's emotional endorsement speech at the Democrats' convention and amid new speculation about whether he really wants Obama to win the White House.

Clinton's potential to inflict damage on Obama's prospects was underlined again today when John McCain released a new television ad using a clip of the former president to attack the Democrats.

Clinton is also expected to campaign in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Ohio to encourage people to take part in early voting. Voters in Ohio today began casting absentee ballots following a court ruling that allows residents to register and vote on the same day for the first six days of early voting.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/30/uselections2008.clinton

The Verdict
What are economists saying about the bailout bill that just went down the tubes? We round up expert opinion in our new Bailout Burnout page.

--Josh Marshall

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/09/bailout_plan_reactions.php

Should Sarah Palin step down?As Americans hear more from Sarah Palin, many observers are calling for her to end her bid as John McCain's vice president. Should she drop out of the campaign?
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday September 30 2008 20:21 BST

Yes
No

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/poll/2008/sep/30/usel...

FDIC Asks Congress to Increase Bank Deposit Insurance
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. wants Congress to increase temporarily the $100,000 ceiling on bank deposits guaranteed by the government.

The move is designed to ease pressure on banks after two of the country's largest institutions were forced from business in the last week as customers started to withdraw money from their accounts.

"Unfortunately, there is an increasing crisis of confidence that is feeding unnecessary fear in the marketplace," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement. "To address this crisis of confidence, I do believe that it would be helpful for the FDIC to have the temporary ability to raise deposit insurance limits."

While the FDIC has not said what the new ceiling should be, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) have both expressed support for a ceiling of $250,000, backing a proposal currently being molded by Congress.

Any increase in the ceiling would require an expansion of the FDIC's insurance fund. The fund is replenished by an assessment on the banking industry, not taxpayers, but higher assessments would limit the amount of money banks have available to make loans.

(The writer of this article found a strange place to end her story. More info is needed here)

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/livecoverage/2008/09/fdic_asks_congress...

Again, you Fail the Test, McWaDo.

Chubby has you cold.

When confronted with a Debate Question, again, you fail to Command It.

Just like John. Just like Sarah.

What about those Record Republican Filibusters over the past two years, eh doggie? You have no Answer?

Remember the Nuclear Option on Judicial Appointments?!

Oh those were The Days weren't they!

LOL!!

No, I am having too many LOLs...expect to piss myself this Thursday laughing.

McCain's pander to Jewish votersIran isn't planning to attack Israel, but that isn't stopping John McCain from tapping into fears of a second Holocaust

I swear that Howard Kohr, the executive director of Aipac, must have been briefing John McCain for the presidential debate against Barack Obama last week. The pro-Israel lobbying group has been shreying for years about the "existential threat" posed to Israel by Iran. And so McCain seemed to be reading from the Aipac script when he warned:

If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it is an existential threat to the state of Israel and to other countries in the region because the other countries in the region will feel [a] compelling requirement to acquire nuclear weapons as well. Now we cannot [allow] a second Holocaust. Let's just make that very clear.

"Existential threat to the state of Israel"? Check. "Second Holocaust"? Double check. He's following those talking points right down the line. Good boy, John....

Has Ahmadinejad ever said Iran would attack Israel? No. Can we say the same about Israel? No.

In fact, the Guardian's Jonathan Steele published an exclusive story last week revealing that Olmert asked George Bush last May, during Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations, for approval to bomb Iran. Bush demurred. But had he not, Israel might already have attacked Iran. So the idea that Iran is a mortal threat to Israel, while the latter is an innocent lamb doesn't stand the test of reasonableness.

Steele's story makes the presidential choice even starker for those Americans who do not wish to see a military attack against Iran by either the US or Israel. It would appear from McCain's rhetoric that he would approve such an attack were he to become president. As if we needed any more reasons to vote the other way.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/sep/30/john.mcca...

GOP goes to court over early voting in Ohio
September 30, 2008 11:41 EDT

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Ohio Republican Party has asked a federal appeals court to stop same-day registering and voting during a week-long period in the state.

The GOP says the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati should either stop same-day voting, or at least require the state's top elections official to separate those ballots so they can be verified.

Republicans say officials can't verify the registration of new voters who cast the absentee ballots between today and Oct. 6th. That might lead to voter fraud.

State and federal courts on Monday upheld same-day registering and voting.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office, which oversees elections, didn't immediately return a phone call.

The GOP for weeks has been accusing Brunner of abusing her position to help her fellow Democrats.

http://www.wtte28.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.oh/2b576f92-www...

Warning: This is from a Fox News channel.

I saw your 9/20 post, Chubbs.

And to think, I was here for your hiatus from slammeritis, your grand return to Bloggerville, your job searches, your school considerations, your Rufus and Rusty meanderings, your, *sniff*, various Sederville rants.

And you forgot who I was?

Bummer.

...

I notice that several large [nationwide] business owners in town are giving to McCain AND Kerry (for his Senate race.)

I wonder why?

Ha ha...I love how you come after the bait, McWaDo! Like a good little Fish.

It appears that I can come in at any time and Command you!

Pavlov would be so proud!

Are you a Fish though, or a Dog?? Or, a Dog Fish!?

One of my favorite beers is Dogfish Head. Maybe I should go get some this afternoon so that we can celebrate these Moments properly.

Of course, knowing soooo much about Social Security, SURELY you know about The Trusts!

I'll give you a hint!

It's all about the "O"!

LOL!

BOTH sides are for sale...

Word.....Sans Kucinich.

Hahahahahahaha.

What a dope. lol

You just sit tight with you SS plan and your fetish.

Ya'll had your chance to save yourselves.

Trust fund!

Hahahahahahahaha.

Time for you to do some reading.

- prefection -

Mitch McConnell Turning Down Debates
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (KY), who has found himself in some uncomfortably close polls against Dem businessman Bruce Lunsford, is refusing to debate. The campaign has rejected an invitation from the League of Women Voters and has not responded to one from Kentucky Educational Television, saying only that they'll hold a debate with the Paducah Sun in late October.

http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2008/09/women-voter-league-u...

With 700 billion going into the market.

And billions going into war.

You think someone has your cash in a Trust Fund?

Hahahahahahahha.

No wonder the Dems trick you so easily!

SS plan... neva paid into it.nothing to gain or loose.....Talk to my mattress bitch.

And Barbara Lee... The REAL only person in govt who opposed the preemptive attack on Iraq from the start...These people in govt keep giving our money to war...that is not anti-war....Anyways...lunch is over...l8r...

xo

via C & L

*note the nutjob nod to Olbermann* LOL! The Republican World is on it's ass!

Dear AlterNet Reader,

I wouldn't normally take up your time this way, but we're in the final days of our fall fundraising campaign. And I'm asking for your help.

AlterNet is working hard to bring you election news that cuts through the lies and disinformation being strewn around -- whether they're about the massive bailout, or from the mouths of Sarah Palin and John McCain. Please click here to support AlterNet's mission to publish the truth.

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Help us continue to bring you the real election coverage you want.

Thanks for everything that you do.
http://www.alternet.org/images/home/splash/splash.php

>>And you forgot who I was?

momentatily forgot...I really am going to have to get a map and push-pins for bloggers.

there are a lot of you guys for a self-centered sort like myself. Did I mention blog mypopia?

sometimes I have a hard time remembering what happened on the last thread...and a lot of times I don't read who wrote what...

I never forgot the only person I ever saw on Fox news who opposed the war...hint, he has a dark complexion.

Poll: GOP Senator From Georgia Barely Ahead Of Dem
A new SurveyUSA poll of Georgia gives Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) a bare 46%-44% lead over Dem challenger Jim Martin, within the ±3.8% margin of error, a sign that that the economy may be giving Dems a real shot at what should be a safe Republican seat. A caveat: The internals of this poll have a rater odd reverse gender gap -- women favor Chambliss, men vote for Martin -- raising some suspicion that the whole poll itself may be off.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=b1b8098c-b5fc-4f44-8be...

>>prefection

the act of establishing a prefecture.

Poll: Freshman Dem Who Barely Won In 2006 Way Ahead This Time
A new University of Connecticut poll gives freshman Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) an overwhelming lead of 50%-23% over GOP opponent Sean Sullivan. Courtney was elected in 2006 by a margin of only 91 votes out of over 240,000 cast, but it doesn't look like he has anything to worry about this year.

http://blogs.courant.com/on_background/2008/09/uconn-poll-courtney-crush...

>>prefection

the realization that everything was perfect before you got there...

"Cynthia McKinney REVEALS THAT 5000 PEOPLE WERE EXECUTED!!!"

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

I don't know if this has more than one permanent home off of YouTube, and also don't know how to do these things, but I thought someone might want to make a copy if they could.

Oh, McWaDo...your ignorance is just, well...an embarrassment....

Well, you see, now I know I have the right Approach to this Dialogue.

Here's your second letter...if you can string a few together..we might just get somewhere today..

Give me an "A"

woot! Love her!

Actually that wasn't the Iraq War vote, Alice.

It was the authorization to use force to attack whomever caused 911.

though she voted against the Iraq War too. :)

MO Senator and White House Played Role in Firing of U.S. Attorney
By Kate Klonick - September 30, 2008, 3:53PM
New details provided by the IG report released yesterday, gives definition to former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves' termination and paints a clear case for a politicized firing orchestrated by the office of Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R).

Graves was the last U.S. attorney to be counted among those fired through the work of Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales and Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office of the United States Attorney. His case differed from the others in many ways -- he was fired in January 2006, almost 11 months earlier than the other removed attorneys, and the circumstances around his dismissal were unclear.

But according to the report, Graves' removal was a result of multiple calls and emails from Bonds' legal counsel Jack Bartling, to members of White House Counsel -- who "kicked over" the complaints to the Justice Department.

Bond's problems with Graves' began in late fall of 2004. Bond's office had been having problems with another Missouri Congressman -- Rep. Sam Graves (R), U.S. Attorney Graves' brother. Between October and December 2004, a staffer from Bond's office reportedly called former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves to ask for his help in convincing his brother to fire his chief of staff. When Graves refused to intervene, the staffer told him "they could no longer protect [his] job," and hung up, according to the report.

Shortly after, in February 2005, Bartling began placing calls to the White House Counsel's office about Graves, pushing for a replacement. By the fall of 2005, the complaints had been passed to the Justice Department. In December, Bartling reached out again to Michael Elston, chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, who had interviewed Bartling when he had been applying for a position in that department.

In a call shortly before Graves' firing, Bartling asked Elston to, "'keep his ear to the
ground' to ensure that the Senator's role in requesting White House action on
Graves was not being disseminated within the Department," and make sure that Bonds name was never linked to Graves' ouster, the report states.

A little over a month later, Battle called Graves on January 24, 2006 to ask Graves for his resignation, acting on instructions from White House Liason Monica Goodling and using a speech similar to the one he would use with the other fired U.S. attorneys less than 11 months later.

While the IG report states that its investigation was significantly hindered by a number of witnesses refusal to cooperate and/or recall events, including that of Sampson, Goodling, members of the White House Counsel staff and Sen. Bond, it clearly states that they found Graves' firing to be directly a result of Bond's requests.

Acting on the report's findings, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed an ethics complaint this afternoon against Bond, stating that Sen. Bond and his staff violated Senate rules prohibiting "improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mo_senator_white_house...

I don't think you mentioned that she is up for reelection.....I think she is pandering for votes.

Happe Talk

=========================

There's your Trust Fund

=========================

The government spends the extra Social Security tax collections just like any other tax revenue

How the Trust Fund Operates.Workers pay their Social Security taxes through their employers. Each employer periodically sends a lump sum payment to the U.S. Treasury that includes all of the income taxes and Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes paid by both the employer and its employees.

The Treasury both receives the payroll taxes (and income taxes that higher-income retirees pay on their Social Security benefits) and pays monthly benefits on behalf of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The money stays in the Treasury's hands until it is either paid out as Social Security benefits or otherwise spent by the government. In fact, no money ever goes into the trust fund. Instead, the trust fund balance is the result of two accounting entries by the Treasury.

First, the Treasury estimates how much of the aggregate tax receipts are Social Security taxes and "credits" the Social Security trust fund with that amount. Then the Treasury "subtracts" the total amount paid in monthly Social Security benefits from the trust fund balance. No money actually changes hands; these are strictly accounting entries.

Any "money" remaining in the trust fund is converted into special-issue Treasury bonds, which are really nothing more than IOUs. In addition, the Treasury pays interest on the trust fund's balance by crediting the trust fund with additional IOUs. These are also strictly accounting entries, and again no money changes hands. After crediting the trust fund with the proper amount in IOUs, the government spends the extra Social Security tax collections just like any other tax revenue--to finance anything from aircraft carriers to education research.

http://www.heritage.org/research/socialsecurity/em940.cfm

Actually I went and checked on that just this morning again, mhap, because I was curious about how Sheehan was actually faring against Pelosi and hadn't followed up on that in a while.

Pelosi is trouncing her...

Is Sheehan still competing for her seat?

Former ambassador to Pakistan responds to McCain: Pakistan was not a ‘failed state’ in 1999.By Amanda Terkel at 5:58 pm Former ambassador to Pakistan responds to McCain: Pakistan was not a ‘failed state’ in 1999.
During Friday’s presidential debate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) claimed:

I don’t think that Senator Obama understands that there was a failed state in Pakistan when Musharraf came to power. Everybody who was around then, and had been there, and knew about it knew that it was a failed state.

Matt Yglesias contacted William Milan, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan at the time of the 1999 coup, who flatly said that McCain was wrong:

There are a number of interesting books, including a forthcoming one by me, that cover the 1999 coup by the Musharraf-led army. You might want to look at those already published by Steve Cohen, Hasan Abbas, Hussain Haqqani (long before he became the present Pakistani Ambassador), and especially Ian Talbot’s updated history of Pakistan.

I think that all of them would agree that, while there were a lot of things wrong in Pakistan during the years leading up to the 1999 military takeover, Pakistan was not a failed state as we normally define such states. I am on record as stating publicly that, having come to Pakistan from Liberia a year before the takeover, I had a pretty good idea of what failed states look like, and it was not one.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/30/former-ambassador-to-pakistan-respon...

Thanks 60...No impeachment,no justice ,no peace.

But that could very well be part of it too.

Wow.

Oh doggie, NO!

LAWL!

You mean to tell me you're relying on data from a Conservative Think Tank rather than the numbers from your Own Government's web site?

For Shame!

What country do you live in, doggie?! Because you must not love America if you can't even rely on your Own Country's Data!

Wait! Are you not wearing your Flag Pin! : )

Give me an "A"!!

(that's your third hint, btw, I'm beginning to think you might actually not know shit about how SS works...LOL!)

White House: It’s not a ‘bailout,’ it’s a ‘rescue.’By Faiz Shakir at 2:50 pm White House: It’s not a ‘bailout,’ it’s a ‘rescue.’
Countdown to Crawford notes that White House spokesman Tony Fratto took issue today with journalists using the term “bailout” to describe the $700 billion package. “It’s really unfortunate shorthand for a very complicated issue,” he said. The White House prefers the word “rescue.” For insight into why the White House is playing semantic word games, consider what Fred Barnes said last week on Fox News:

We would be in a better situation, or at least the Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson would if this were known as a “rescue” rather than a “bailout.” “Bailout” sounds terrible. Who is for a bailout? A lot of people are for a rescue.

UPDATE: This morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) made a similar a comment:

Well I think what happened is we didn’t convince enough Republicans and Democrats…that this was a rescue package and not a bailout.

Watch it: at link

UPDATE II: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) today: “When you call it a bailout, nobody’s in favor of a bailout.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/30/rescue-v-bailout/

It's still a pig with a different color lipstick!

Commencing in 1981, Levin served as advisor to several members of President Ronald Reagan's Cabinet, eventually becoming associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately Chief of Staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese. He has practiced law in the private sector, and is president of the Landmark Legal Foundation in Leesburg, Virginia. His radio career began in 2002 as a Sunday evening host on WABC. Since the fall of 2003, he's been in the weekday 6-8 p.m. (ET) timeslot.[1]

He's a wingnut yapper...

I loved that he took Olbermann's line and called O'Reilly "Ted Baxter".

I love O'Reilly railing against Rush, and FOR Socialism!

Strange Days indeed!

your own government's web site?

=========================

Q. What happens to the taxes that go into the trust funds?

A. Tax income is deposited on a daily basis and is invested in "special-issue" securities. The cash exchanged for the securities goes into the general fund of the Treasury and is indistinguishable from other cash in the general fund.

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/fundFAQ.html#n4

=============================

"indistinguishable from other cash in the general fund"

GOP backs off claim that Pelosi’s ‘partisan’ speech made them vote against the bailout.
Yesterday, after the proposed bipartisan bailout package failed to pass, the House Republican leadership declared in a press conference that a “partisan” speech by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was to blame for GOP opposition to the bill. But after being ridiculed by Democrats, media observers, and even some conservatives, Republicans are now walking back that claim:

– Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN): “We are not babies who suck their thumbs.”

– Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO): “I think you don’t want to give too much blame to that speech.”

– Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ): “It was embarrassing for leadership on both parties to lose the bill, so they went out and made a stupid claim.”

– Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): “That speech was not the reason I voted against the bill.” [MSNBC, 9/30/08]

Watch a compilation:

Peter Wehner, a former adviser to President Bush, wrote at the Corner this morning that the effort to “blame the outcome on the Pelosi speech was an embarrassment.”

Update On Fox Business Live yesterday, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) said that Pelosi's speech "didn’t" have any effect on his vote and that he "didn't" know of any lawmakers who turned against the bill because of the speech.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/30/gop-blame-pelosi/

October 7, 2008: (Tickets) Presidential debate in a town hall format, Belmont University, Nashville, TN - Submit a Question
http://www.youdecide2008.com/2007/06/13/full-2008-debate-schedule-from-d...

(Intrade Market Odds 64.1 35.3)

Did Gingrich Give Marching Orders To House GOP To Vote Against Bailout?
Now that House Republicans are insisting their vote against the bailout yesterday had nothing to do with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s supposedly “partisan” speech, some are wondering what in fact turned at least 10 Republican votes Blunt thought he had against the bill.

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported this morning that conservatives may have been taking their marching orders from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who “was whipping against this up until the last minute” — despite issuing a statement supporting the bill as the vote was taking place:

MITCHELL: I’m told reliably by leading Republicans who are close to him, he was whipping against this up until the last minute when he issued that face-saving statement. Newt Gingrich was telling people in the strongest possible language that this was a terrible deal, not only that it was a terrible deal, that it was a disaster, it was the end of democracy as we know it, it was socialism. And then at the last minute comes out with a statement when the vote is already in place.

Watch it: at link

Reacting to the news, NBC’s Mike Barnicle said he had been told by congressional conservatives that the move was “the opening salvo of Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign four years hence.” Speaking at the National Press Club today, Gingrich denied Mitchell’s claim, saying MSNBC is wrong and probably “wrong deliberately” because its a “stunningly dishonest network.” “I was actually reluctantly trying to help it get through,” he said.

Even throughout yesterday, Gingrich’s position was nearly impossible to pin down. On Glenn Beck’s radio show, he admitted, “I’m not sure if I were in the Congress I could vote against it” while also declaring that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson “should be fired” and that the bailout plan “is still a bad bill.” On Fox News last night, he seemed to praise the House’s rejection of the bill: “The vote today indicated that even when they’d worked for five days to try to improve what was really a pretty terrible original plan that [Paulson] sent up, it still couldn’t get a majority in the House.”

Apparently, Gingrich was against the bailout before he was for it — before he was against it again.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/30/gingrich-against-bailout/

So saith Mark Levin, to Bill O'Reilly.

Oh, that clip is hilarious. :-)

Heh heh....

Bill O'Reilly forgot that they're not supposed to like socialistic or nationalist tendencies.

Wait...you mean, it's, like...."fungible"....LOL!

Money usually is McWaDo! Just like Your Streams of Thought!

Back to the Money, though..."Full Faith and Credit"!

Or, don't you love Your Country!?!

Glad to see that I got you to do a little Homework, though!

Anything to get you to Act Responsibly!

Final Clue: "I"

As in, I, War Dog, have been Pwned!

Conservatives try to dodge responsibility for financial crisis by blaming poor people, minorities.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, conservative commentators have blamed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), low-income people, minorities, and past Democratic administrations for the sub-prime mortgage meltdown:

- Laura Ingraham: “When Bill Clinton decided to tell Robert Rubin to re-write the rules the Community Reinvestment Act and push all of these institutions to lend to minority communities.”

- Neil Cavuto: “I don’t remember a blaring call that said, Frannie and Freddie are a disaster, loaning to minorities and risky folks is a disaster.”

- Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR): “It was their harsh regulation under the Community Reinvestment Act that started this ball rolling down the hill.”

Watch a video compilation: at link

While most economists blame the current crisis on market failure and sparse regulation, conservatives are attempting to elude responsibility by smearing the victims of predatory lending.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/30/conservative-poor-blame/

The Wonk Room has more here.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/09/30/conservatives-cra/

The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law that requires banks and savings and loan associations to offer credit throughout their entire market area.[1] The act prohibits financial institutions from targeting only wealthier neighborhoods with their services, a practice known as "redlining." The purpose of the CRA is to provide credit, including home ownership opportunities, to under-served populations, and commercial loans to small businesses. The Act was passed in 1977 and has been subjected to important regulatory revisions since then.

Congressional Changes of 1989
The Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) was enacted by the 101st Congress and signed into law by President G. H. W. Bush in the wake of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. It increased public oversight of the process of issuing CRA ratings to banks. It required the agencies to issue CRA ratings publicly and written performance evaluations using facts and data to support the agencies' conclusions. It also required a four-tiered CRA examination rating system with performance levels of "Outstanding," "Satisfactory," "Needs to Improve," or "Substantial Noncompliance."[4]

Clinton Administration Changes of 1995
In early 1993 President Bill Clinton ordered new regulations for the CRA which would increase access to mortgage credit for inner city and distressed rural communities.[5] The new rules went into effect on January 31, 1995 and featured: requiring strictly numerical assessments to get a satisfactory CRA rating; using federal home-loan data broken down by neighborhood, income group, and race; encouraging community groups to complain when banks were not loaning enough to specified neighborhood, income group, and race; allowing community groups that marketed loans to targeted groups to collect a fee from the banks.[3][4]

The new rules, during a time when many banks were merging and needed to pass the CRA review process to do so, substantially increased the number and aggregate amount of loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers for home loans, some of which were "risky mortgages."[citation needed] Banks set up CRA departments, a CRA consultant industry was created and new financial-services firms helped banks invest in packaged portfolios of CRA loans to ensure compliance.[citation needed] Established and new community groups began marketing such mortgages. The Senate Banking Committee estimated that as of 2000, as a result of CRA, such groups had received $9.5 billion in services and salaries. As of that time such groups also had received tens of billions of dollars in multi-year commitments from banks, including ACORN Housing $760 million; Boston-based Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America $3 billion; a New Jersey Citizen Action-led coalition $13 billion; the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance $220 million.[3] The number of CRA mortgage loans increased by 39 percent between 1993 and 1998, while other loans increased by only 17 percent.[6][

GW Bush Administration Changes of 2005
In 2002 there was an inter-agency review of the effectiveness of the 1995 regulatory changes to the Community Reinvestment Act and new proposals were considered.[4]

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency put new regulations into effect September of 2005. [8] The regulations were opposed by a contingent of Democrats.[9]

The regulations included less restrictive new definitions of "small" and "intermediate small" banks.[2] "Intermediate small banks" were defined as banks with assets of less than $1 billion, but allows banks to opt for examination as a large bank.[8] Currently banks with assets greater than $1.061 billion have their CRA performance evaluated according to lending, investment and service tests. The agencies use the Consumer Price Index to adjust the asset size thresholds for small and large institutions annually.[4]

Controversies: More here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act

The last MF who mention the word festish wanted ONE OF MY EMPLOYEES to beat the piss out of them...
ps...I am a S/M Master in the DOMINATRIX WORLD...MY BUISNESS IS SUPPORTED BY REPUBLICAN TYPES WHO REQUIRE DISCIPLINE IMPOSED BY A STIFF DILDO IN THE ASS. YEAH I SAID IT.. ...MCCAIN VOTER PLEASE SCHEDULE SESSIONS ON EROS.COM....I'LL BE WAITING TO TAKE YOUR MONEY & EJACULATE INTO A CONDOM TO BE PLACE IN YOUR MOUTH.
YEAH I KNOW Y'ALL DON'T WANNA HEAR THIS SHIT BUT IT IS THE TRUTH.THERE IS NO RECESSION ON REPUBS THAT NEED ABUSE FROM A DOMINATRIX. BUT I'M SURE Y'ALL KNOW THIS ALREADY.

I love that quote!

Not to mention making Tina Fey even more popular!

I love that quote!

via AMERICAblog

Palin truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

Good luck with your Ponzi scheme...

Oh, I mean trust fund.

P.T. Barnum must have been a Democrat.

"There's a sucker born every minute"

New Pentagon Budget 630 B

Cost of Iraq "War"/yr 120 B

Bailout Size Equals 750 B

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/09/24/ap5464786.html
http://theiraqinsider.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-much-does-iraq-war-cost-p...

REPUBLICANS JUST WANNA SUCK...ASK Mark Foley,Ted Haggard,Larry Craig,Bob Allen,Glenn Murphy Jr,wait can someone please close that closet door already.

A Bit Of Truth

CNBC just said what most aren't: the reason why interbank lending rates are so high is because banks don't trust each other. The reason they don't trust each other is they don't know how much and which pieces of big shitpile they own.

-Atrios 17:10

NORAD: Sarah Palin has no role in guarding U.S. airspace despite claims in Katie Couric interview
BY JAMES GORDON MEEK

WASHINGTON - When Russian bombers approach American airspace and U.S. Air Force fighters are scrambled, Sarah Palin's phone doesn't ring.

The Alaska governor has no command authority over the guardians of U.S. airspace despite her recent suggestion otherwise.

"She doesn't have any role in that process," Air Force Maj. Allen Herritage, spokesman for the Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command, told the Daily News.

"The authority to launch and respond to a Russian incursion lies with the Alaska NORAD Region commander" - Air Force Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, he said.

Palin said last week that her foreign policy experience includes facing the Russians.

"It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia, as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America - where do they go? It's Alaska," Palin told CBS' Katie Couric.

"It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation," she said.

Moscow's bombers have skirted Alaskan airspace 20 times, thugh they have not violated it, during Palin's governorship, officials said.

When F-15 and F-22 interceptors scrambled from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage in response, John McCain's running mate was not speed-dialed with the news.

"The commander does not call the governor," Herritage said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/30/2008-09-30_norad_sar...

When you get done looking up the OASI, you can then tell me how Government Bonds work and then tell me how risky they are in terms of being tied to our current credit contraction. The answer might surprise ya!

To wit, and to help you as much as I can...I think we can safely say that the chances of Social Security failing anytime soon are FAR greater than you ever knowing what the fuck you're talking about.

Now back to the original question you clumsily avoided.

What about those Record Republican Filibusters over the past two years, eh doggie?

This nude portrait of Sarah Palin is hangining in the Old Town Ale House in Chicago.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/30/2008-09-30_nude_port...

http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/1284

watching 7PM local tv (wheel of fortune) and RNC just ran an ad that assigns responsibility for the bailout/rescue/clusterfuck to obama.

this is wrong on so many levels. those bastards created the conditions ever since raygun was president and now they are robbing us blind yet they blame it on obama.

this is an outrage.

New York 'Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg plans to announce on Thursday morning that he will seek a third term as mayor, according to three people who have been told of his plans.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/nyregion/01bloomberg.html

This is like feeding a little kid.

How much time do you think it is gong to take to change this broken SS system.

It is the young folks who are going to get screwed.

They need to actually have an account with THIER name on it.

They need time to pay into their own account while using the same time to build a balance.

Guess what.

If we wait until the SS crash is will to late.

I already did this for myself outside the system.

It took 35 years.

When do you think the young worker should start?

By Martin Kady II - DON'T FEAR THE REAPER...

I'm stealing that toniD

The Senate plans to vote on the $700 billion financial rescue bill Wednesday evening -- two days after the House voted it down.

Court denies GOP appeal on Ohio early voting

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal court has ruled against a GOP appeal of a disputed early voting window that allows Ohio voters to register and cast a ballot on the same day.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati denied the Ohio GOP's request that ballots cast during the weeklong period be segregated from other ballots.

The court notes that the lower district court did not rule on the matter, and said the argument involves facts about how election officials handle absentee ballots that must first be presented to a district court.

The appeals court also overturned the district court's decision to issue a temporary restraining order against Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's instructions to poll observers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7841159

But he gave DeFazio and Kaptur some time on his show to tell people their plan instead of the bail out (rescue).

DeFazio said call your Reps and Senators tomorrow and flood the congress phones about their paln.

on KO tonight

Schwarzenegger vetoes voter-information bill
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 09/29/2008 03:27:31 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO—Reliable information may remain hard to come by for decline-to-state voters in California presidential primary elections.
A bill that sought to ease the confusion experienced by poll workers and independent voters during February's presidential primary was vetoed over the weekend by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It would have required poll workers to notify independents in writing of their right to a ballot from any party that allows decline-to-state voters. The Republican Party does not allow independents to vote in presidential primaries, while Democrats do.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen said many decline-to-state voters were mistakenly told they could not vote a Democratic ballot during the Feb. 5 presidential primary.

Schwarzenegger says the voter bill isn't a high priority because he has so many other bills to review after this year's long budget delay.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10592624

Another shoe to drop
Bad credit-card debt could be next shot to economy, researcher says
By Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:42 p.m. EDT Sept. 30, 2008CHICAGO

(MarketWatch) -- Credit-card debt is on the brink of imploding and will be the next storm to hit the fragile finance industry, an investment research firm predicted this week.

According to Innovest StrategicValue Advisors, banks will charge off $18.6 billion in delinquent credit-card accounts in the first quarter of 2009 and $96 billion in all of 2009, more than double the research firm's forecast for all of this year.

Innovest projects that amount would be high enough to damage some of the biggest card issuers.
Credit-card charge-offs are "defying gravity" when compared with the problems in the mortgage market, according to Gregory Larkin, senior banking analyst for Innovest. But that will change as they catch up with mortgage charge-offs, which have spiked eightfold since the third quarter of 2007.
"If history is any indicator, there should be an equivalent surge of credit-card charge-offs very soon," he said, though he concedes that an eightfold increase would be very aggressive.
Comparatively, charge-offs reached $4.2 billion in the first quarter of this year and $3.2 billion in the same period a year before, according to the Federal Reserve, which only reports non-securitized debt. Innovest's projections include all credit-card debt, which the firm believes is double what the Federal Reserve reports. For all of 2007, charge-offs tallied $26.6 billion, according to Innovest's calculations, and the firm estimates they will reach $41.5 billion at the end of this year.
The jump in credit-card charge-offs is linked in part to the credit crisis now in play. As banks have tightened lending standards, they have mostly done away with the once-popular roll-over options -- usually at 0% introductory rates -- that allowed borrowers with delinquent accounts to get new cards elsewhere. Larkin believes all that bad credit is going to surface quickly and could have a similar impact as the mortgage crisis has had on banking.

LINK

in my mind if a politician gives our money to continue to fund a war..that isn't being pro-peace (or anti-war)...I also understand giving equipment to the people already there etc...but again, to me he had to have taken a firm stand..and he hasn't...

-Call me Sci
Submitted by TheScientist on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 6:12pm.-

Sarah Palin...Remember when she said she dressed up as Tina Fey for Halloween? The media took it at face value, but let's face it, it was a bitchy attempt to say, "Tina Fey, you are old."

I've had enough experienced with this `sharp-nosed republican women' to know one of their stock insults. `I dressed up for Halloween as you' is certainly one of them...It says, `you are ugly' or `you are old'.

Her snarky `been hearing Biden's speeches since I was in second grade' comment is another example of the `subtle' middle school mentality.

This tactic no doubt served her well while she was the most popular girl at Wassilla High School...

but it doesn't do so well on the national stage.

Herd mentality rules
in financial crisis

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brain and behavior studies clearly show that when information is scarce and threats seem imminent, people often stop listening to their own logic and look to see what others are doing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080930/lf_nm_life/us_financial_psychology;_...

as a decline to state...

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 6:10pm.
...Did I mention blog mypopia?
------
Has the Rajah converted to some sort of Innernets Catholicism?

Palin is such a catty bitch.

You heard it here first.

(Apologies to cats and bitches everywhere)

How? You've yet to make the case, doggie. As usual, you're all speculation! But, what else is new, right? We can spar like this all day, but the fact is...YOU HAVE NO FACTS on your side

All I get from you are Republican platitudes...ZERO facts

SS insolvency is a speculative endeavor with, at worst, a "possible" crisis scenario within 35 years...you can probably get that at the SSA FAQ site you visited after I sent you running there.

Current Trustee projections state that a "national dialogue" on future solvency should happen within 10 years. This is a far cry from your craven Republican pissing and moaning about there not being a thin dime in the current trust.

"The OASI Trust Fund and the combined OASI and DI Trust Funds are adequately financed over the next 10 years. The DI Trust Fund is expected to remain solvent over the next 10 years"

"Projections", beyond that, are just that, projections.

But then again, we know how much you Republicans LOVE speculating, don't we! A little is fine, and prudent, but you guys love yelling FIRE in crowded theaters.

BTW, from introduction to enactment, FDR implemented Social Security in 14 months.

You see, doggie, things get accomplished pretty quickly when Liberals can make Laws without Republican Obstructionism.

See, I even managed to tie in the issue from which you've been so diligently hiding: the filibuster.

Now, howaboutit? What was that about the last two years of inaction by the Democrats?

Sarah Palin even knew what a political speech was when she was in the 2nd grade.

Just because that was toniD's favorite thing to do at 8 years old, somehow I don't see Palin doing that at all. She was probably out trapping baby wolves.

___
bluerootsradio

>>Has the Rajah converted to some sort of Innernets Catholicism?

another example of how, if given enough myropia, I will hang myself...

or at least help Crank do it.

>>She was probably out trapping baby wolves.

I think Palin was still living with them at that point.

In the name of Torvalds, Netscape and HTML we pray...

</>

___
bluerootsradio

No serious wolf pack would have allowed her to live after the first interview.

Maybe the beavers.

>>Now, howaboutit? What was that about the last two years of inaction by the Democrats?

like a War Dog with a War Bone you keep making this point.

good for you.

I can hear McV plugging his ears, hollering "lalalalala-I can't hear you!"

Memories! LOL!

no cats were harmed in the making of this post

Does new RNC ad undercut McCain message?
By David Edwards A new advertisement released by the Republican National Committee may undercut GOP presidential candidate John McCain’s message.

Politico’s Ben Smith reports: “The Republican National Committee’s new advertisement critical of the the Wall Street ‘bailout’ was produced and sent to television stations in key states before the package failed, officials at two stations said.”

The ad, entitled “Worse” begins, “Meltdown. Wall Street Squanders our money. And Washington is forced to bail them out with — you guessed it — our money. Can it get any worse?”

Smith writes, “The ad taps into deep resentment of the plan, but it comes at a time when the candidate it supports, John McCain, is urging its package, and asking that it not be referred to as a ‘bailout,’ but a ‘rescue.’”

The New Republic’s Christopher Orr observes, “You know things are getting dicey when the RNC goes on the air with an ad attacking the very bailout plan that, 24 hours ago, was the centerpiece of John McCain’s claim of economic leadership.”

Orr says that this shows that the “RNC either isn’t coordinating with the McCain campaign or is doing so very poorly.”

Wonkette also mocks the “SILLY RNC.” Video at link

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=2045

I almost forgot about this story I was laughing my a$$ off about earlier today! (with poll and slideshow)

Is Sarah Palin's Lipliner A Tattoo?

LOL!! Lots to laugh about lately!

If it does, you will see a great video about Sam!

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=377646&altf=Tbn&altl=Tfefs

Glad to see you have come around on SS.

Admitting there is a problem is the first step.

==================

What is your problem with the Filibuster?

Did you ever stop to think that if the American voter wanted more liberal legislation they would have elected more liberals?

>>Liberals can make Laws without Republican Obstructionism

talk about avoiding the issue...

>>Liberals can make Laws without Republican Obstructionism

this guy is either very drunk or simply does not know the definition of `obstruct'...

>>Liberals can make Laws without Republican Obstructionism

if we could hear wardog say this, it would sound like this:

Liberalsh can make Lawsh wifout Republican Obshtructionishm

When Couric asked Palin what Newspapers she has read, or reads...

she said, "all of them."

You act as though the filibuster is not a long standing part of the rules in the Senate.

If you are eager to pass legislation, you should submit bipartisan bill that have the support of the American voter.

Either way you left with the task of following the rules or changing them.

It has always been so.

More Fundie El Oh El...

The McWaDo school of higher learning...

Has some junk in the trunk.
___
bluerootsradio

When Todd Palin gets Sarah home agfter she loses the election, I bet he `pops' her `one'...

I dont know why...but I think he'll smack her. Just a feeling I got by looking at footage of him and her getting off a plane.

>>You act as though the filibuster is not a long standing part of the rules in the Senate.

no, I act like you are a fool who doesn't know what `obstruction' means.

Speaking of filibusters, it wasn't so long ago that republicans were proposing that filibusters be banned.

funny how the same shoe seldomly fits the other foot, eh?

It really is funny. Thought it could lighten it up around here.
My daughter sent it to me and you can email it to another

Link:

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=377646&altf=Tbn&altl=Tfefs

...when out of power they use every trick in the book to stop the other side from accomplishing anything.

Gosh, I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings.

___
bluerootsradio

>>It really is funny. Thought it could lighten it up around here.

MMRules posted one of those a week ago or so. it is funny.

Sure that's fine.

Go ahead and propose.

Or if you can, elect enough Liberals to pass anything you like.

Did you ever notice how may Democrats, particularly in the House, are Conservative?

You want to change the rules.

Have at it.

What's the holdup?

You should email that to Sam!

>>It's proven Republican's can't govern when in power.

It goes to the point: You should not vote for a leader who thinks that government is the problem.

Happe Talk

is on NovaM now ?

i think that pelosi's maneuver, getting the repugs to vote down that bitch of a bill was brilliant - the next iteration might be a little better, and the one after that may be pass-able.

cutting ceo compensation by 50%? kewl beens... that means the next ceo to tank his bank will get only $50 million instead of $100 million...

They need to unwind these bundled tranches, track them them back to the loan originators, and renegotiate them, one by one. fund the 'rescue' from the bottom up - we know what trickles down, and it ain't money.

You know if the Liberal Line was so popular AAR would have been huge by now.

And so many conservative Democrats would not have been elected in 2006.

You like to forget that you are the FAR Left.

And that's a tough sell.

>>Go ahead and propose.

you must be drunk.

how could you miss my point?

Here it is: The very same Republican party that proposed banning filibusters is now filibustering at a record pace.

talk about principles...fucking hypocrites.

More fact wanking from McWaDo...

92 Republican Filibusters (so far) in the 110th

[109th] Senate Republicans' Bid to Destroy the Filibuster Option...

"Ironically, it is the conservatives who seek to obliterate the Senate's two-hundred- year-old tradition of unlimited debate. Indeed, they are avid about it: On April 4, an assembly of conservative organizations held a briefing at the National Press Club -- doubtless meant to keep the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist."

>>You like to forget that you are the FAR Left.

ah, vintage POT97!

Did you read the words in your post.

Proposed.

to offer or suggest (a matter, subject, case, etc.) for consideration, acceptance, or action: to propose a new method.

What you don't say is filibuster was never banned.

The Republicans didn't like it when the Dems used it.

You don't like it when the Republicans use it.

What's the beef?

Next time the Dems are in the minority they will be doing the same thing.

It's in the rules.

He says that like it's a bad thing.

Not very compassionate of that conservative, not very prudent at this juncture either. He needs to go put some food on his family and make the pie higher while coexisting with fish.

Mission Accomplished!

___
bluerootsradio
To the left of Jesus here...

Kucinich on. He agrees with Kaptur and DeFazio.

I purchased my winter supply of liquid propane gas today.

"You're in luck!" the LPG retailer said. "The price right now is as low as it's likely to go!"

I wasn't "in luck." I have been tracking the pre-heating-season prices. After the heating season begins it is a safe bet that the prices will rise with demand even if fossil fuel prices are in a downward trend due to the market crisis and lower demand for gasoline and a rise in the value of the U.S. dollar.

All of this to say that, last year in August, I filled my LPG tank at $1.51 per gallon. Today I paid $2.09 per gallon. Three years ago I paid 52 cents per gallon.

I am probably among the least of the worst hurt by heating energy increases. I would be interested to know if any readers can provide their increased cost of heating oil or natural gas or electricity as a comparison to this heating season and the last?

I am a member of a Rural Electric Coop. The rates (they are complicated to compare because they include a minimum fee and a stair-stepped reduced cost-per-kilowatt-hour as monthly usage crosses each rate stair) as they apply to me increased early this past summer from six cents and a little to nine cents and a lot per kilowatt hour.

So in one year's time, my energy costs for LPG have risen more than thirty percent and my energy costs for electricity have risen more than fifty percent.

Owing ("owing" seems like an appropriate word choice at this point in the diatribe) to my Libra birth date (for you New Age-y's out there) and my propensity for weighing all of the factors before jumping to a War Dog-like conclusion, I can partially attribute my increased cost of electricity to China's demand for coal and my increased cost of LPG to the "Hey, why not?" theory of any fossil fuel cost trailing the cost of other fossil fuels.

But I prefer to attribute the cost increases to statements made by many Europeans: "You elected two oilmen to the highest offices in the United States. What the fuck did you expect?"

...and then there's the stupid wars launched in oil and pipeline countries after 9/11 instead of international police work that could have been launched when the entire globe was sympathetic with the U.S.

International police work is a novel idea, eh? (Okay, it's not novel by a longshot, but it is an idea to which I have subscribed since the afternoon of 9/11 when I muttered to myself, "Cheney and Bush are going to launch a war." I was half right. They launched two.)

And I could include the housing bubble that artificially raised valuations of all securities and was created by the Conservative ideological mantra of deregulation in general and banks in specific.

Can you say Enron? I knew that you could. Now say Bear Stearns.

Yes, indeedy. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the remarkable inflationary pressures brought to bear
on energy costs.

You did a heckuva job, Dubya.
---------
And, as dr would write, here is a lagniappe for War Dog.

Keep claiming that Dubya ain't running in the race for the presidency. Your ignorance amuses me. Dubya is the single most important adversary in the presidential race. The Republican Party is a close second, only one step behind.

You can take that to the bank (which might now be owned by J.P. Morgan).

Check the financial page for a branch near you. And unlike your deposits on this blog, keep them under 100,000.

I'll try to behave tonight.
___
bluerootsradio

This little wanker just has no balls! What a RUBE!

Speaking of Rachel's show...

I really like some of the camera work. Like the set up they are using currently, with a big screen monitor directly across from her. so that a shot from the side gives a view of Rachel `talking to' her guest.

on the down side, they go to this side view POV way too often when there is no guest. I don't like an anchor shot from the side for no apparent reason.

I wasn't eight, I was Ten when I got interested in politics.

Unpopular is not that same thing as bad.

and the start of Eisenhower.

Margaret Truman was on the radio singing alot when I was a kid.

Mamie Eisenhower was the First Lady. We were in a war with Korea and my brother was in the Air Force. You kind of get involved with politics when you have someone in your family in the armed services during a war.

>>It's in the rules.

Yes. that is true.

but, your side wanted to change those rules when it became inconvenient.

while the democrats have not proposed any such change, despite how inconvenient republican filibusters are.

You aren't doing a very good job changing the subject, just how much have you drunk tonight?

BTW: we weren't complaining about filibusters, we were simply pointing out that republican filibusters have torpedoed many of the Democratic party's bills.

That's a funny line.

But you notice I didn't type hahahahahahaha.

After you spot Osama in Afghanistan, what's the next step?

-Hope this works!
Submitted by woodlomond on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 8:45pm.-

I can appreciate any attempt to lighten it up here... :)

"Remember, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another. Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is a supreme creative act."

Sure they wanted to, and they could have if they chose to change the rules of the Senate.

The point is that they did not.

Obstructing unwanted legislation is part of the job.

60 votes still passes anything.

If anyone here has not enjoyed Pandora

I HIGHLY recommend it!

Social Security failing anytime soon
Submitted by McCainVoter on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 7:45pm
-------

Since you don't like socialism old man, you make sure you give up your Social Security check.

60th says it's in my Trust Account.

He says Bush is savin my money for me.

He has it in a jar in his basement.

http://www.departmentofheartlandsecurity.com

McWaDo you are a child...

'obstruct'... ????????????
Submitted by McCainVoter on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 8:57pm.

"Obstructing unwanted legislation is part of the job."
Submitted by McCainVoter on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 9:47pm.

Best answer I've heard this year!

Did you blog on a chalk board back then? ;-)

___
bluerootsradio

international police work
Submitted by McCainVoter on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 9:39pm.
That's a funny line.
---------
It was War Dog bait and you took it hook, line and sinker.

Each time I mentioned it, it incensed War Dog.

...kinda like it did you.

Driving home on some fumes and a prayer
Driving home on some fumes and a prayer
Cuz we ain't got the gas
My god how long can this last?
Driving home on some fumes and a prayer.

___
bluerootsradio
G'nite
G'people
G'bloggin'

the said not to use the swifter liquid cleaner if you have pets or kids. Supposedly it has some of the ingredients of anti-freeze in it and it poisons pets and babies.

I haven't checked Snopes yet.

He wanted to substitute words.

And it works in that sentence.

Do you think they would allow unwanted legislation to pass?

They are not obstructing the Senate.

Bipartisan bill pass most easily.

If you can't get the votes, your toast.

With the help of Conservative Democrats that is.

The Whole

Transhumanists advocate the improvement of human capacities through advanced technology. Not just technology as in gadgets you get from Best Buy, but technology in the grander sense of strategies for eliminating disease, providing cheap but high-quality products to the world’s poorest, improving quality of life and social interconnectedness, and so on.

Technology we don’t notice because it’s blended in with the fabric of the world, but would immediately take note of its absence if it became unavailable. (Ever tried to travel to another country on foot?) Technology needn’t be expensive - indeed, if a technology is truly effective it will pay for itself many times over.

Transhumanists tend to take a longer-than-average view of technological progress, looking not just five or ten years into the future but twenty years, thirty years, and beyond. We realize that the longer you look forward, the more uncertain the predictions get, but one thing is quite certain: if a technology is physically possible and obviously useful, human (or transhuman!) ingenuity will see to it that it gets built eventually. As we gain ever greater control over the atomic structure of matter, our technological goals become increasingly ambitious, and their payoffs more and more generous. Sometimes new technologies even make us happier in a long-lasting way:
...

It's a laughable statement.

Every Conservative would respond the same way.

It's like sayin "All Americans should be given free health care, it's a right!"

It's always gonna get a laugh and reply.

It's generic left wing babble.

Odds on Sarah Palin Withdrawing as Republican Vice Presidential Nominee

http://www.gambling911.com/politics/odds-sarah-palin-withdrawing-republi...

The odds of Sarah Palin withdrawing as the Republican Vice Presidential nominee were especially strong immediately following candidate John McCain picking the Alaska Governor. But following a rousing speech at the Republican convention that witnessed McCain's poll numbers surge in just a matter of days, all betting on this option came to a near halt.

Now the chances of this occurring are back in the spotlight and people are betting on a Palin pull out prior to Election Day. The chances of this happening were back to around 12 percent at online prediction market intrade.com. Compare that with Democratic running mate Joe Biden whose chances of pulling out were set at 5.2 percent. Talk that he might step down in favor of Hillary Clinton has since died down now that Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is firmly back in the lead.

Betting on this event have been fueled by recent interviews of Sarah Palin conducted by Katie Couric of the CBS Evening News.

"In just a month, Sarah Palin has gone from being the darling of the GOP to a major question mark hanging over John McCain's candidacy at a critical moment in the presidential campaign," writes Linda Feldmann of the Christian Science Monitor.

One by one, conservative columnists such as David Frum, David Brooks, and Kathleen Parker have come out against Palin, calling her in effect not ready for prime time. Among voters, polls show that initial enthusiasm for Palin has slipped, though the overall race remains competitive.

Still, the willingness of conservative opinion leaders to state their reservations out loud is striking, and may indicate growing doubts among Republican rank and file. "I think it does reflect thinking that is maybe said quietly," says GOP pollster Whit Ayres, who remains a fan of Palin. But all is not lost, he says. "The proof is in the pudding, and we see the pudding on Thursday night."

Tacitly acknowledging criticism that she's been diminished in part by an overly protective media shield, Sarah Palin will take a more forward-leaning approach and do additional interviews in the weeks ahead, a top aide told Jonathan Martin of Politico.com.

"She's seen the reviews and heard the criticism, but she's a fighter," said this aide. "And now she's in a fighting mood."

Palin will be making the rounds of conservative talk radio.

>>"All Americans should be given free health care"

Civilized nations give their citizens healthcare, why can't we?

another truncated message from the `recent posts' box:

>>"All Americans should be
Chubby Bubba
09/30/2008 - 10:14pm

McCain Denies Blaming Obama And Democrats For Bailout Collapse
By Greg Sargent - September 30, 2008, 6:15PM
Here's a fun postscript to John McCain's appearance yesterday afternoon -- the one where he appeared to blame Obama and the Dems for the bailout implosion and then call for an end to the finger-pointing in the very next sentence.

In a new interview with ABC News' Ron Claiborne, John McCain is now denying that he ever blamed them:

RC: Senator, you said that now is not the time to fix blame, but to fix the problem, but you said almost in the same breath that the democrats, including Senator Obama are responsible for the, the rescue plan falling apart.
JM: No, actually I said yesterday very clearly right before the media [that] it's time not to fix the blame, but to fix the problem. We need to sit down together republican and democrat. We don't have inflame the situation today. History will judge who was to blame, and who wasn't...

When asked whether he blamed Dems and Obama for the bailout collapse yesterday, McCain said "no."

But yesterday McCain said: "Senator Obama and his allies in Congress infused unnecessary partisanship into the process."

As for McCain's claim to ABC today that "history will judge who was to blame," the McCain campaign released an ad today that ... blamed Dems and Obama.

So yesterday McCain blames Obama and Dems while calling for no more fingerpointing. Today he denies having blamed them while releasing an ad blaming them.

The untruths are getting almost too convoluted to track at this point -- it's a bit like being trapped in a falsehood fun-house or something.

Late Update: Here's the video: at link

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_denies_bl...

We do, but someone must pay for it.

Obama wants to sell you insurance.

Take the payment right out of your check every week.

Now ya happy?

When Madmen Reign

By BOB HERBERT
Published: September 29, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/opinion/30herbert.html

(...)The inescapable disconnect between rhetoric and reality is often stark. Senator McCain has been ranting recently about the excessive pay and “bloated golden parachutes” of failed corporate executives. And yet one of his closest advisers on economic matters is Carly Fiorina, who was forced out as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard. Her golden parachute was an estimated $42 million.

>>Now ya happy?

no. because, once again, you have side-stepped the real issue.

I thought we were talking about a system that would insure everyone, not the privileged few who can afford it.

and before you go on one of your ape-shit denial fests, remember, the leading reason for bankruptcy in this country is medical bills...and most of those folks were insured.

It is September eleventh, 2001. The President of the United States instructs his staff to find a Private Eye.

Pressed for time, the President's staff is forced to choose between the guy who uses a telephoto lens to prove adultery in divorce cases, and the guy who sleeps in his car to catch a back injury claimant lifting a Schnauzer in his front yard.

The President's staff (mostly male) goes with the telephoto lens guy because of his technological expertise and his ability to catch trophy wives hiding the salami...and the staff likes his name, which is Patrick Riot.

President: "Here's the deal. I am prepared to pay you three billion dollars per week, not a dime more, to catch Osama bin Laden."

Pat Riot: "What's the catch?"

President: "Osama bin Laden is the catch. And you have to bring him in within seven years and three months. Not a day more."

Pat Riot: "How many weeks is that?"

President: "A bunch. Let's see...52 times seven-and-a-quarter...carry the one... Never mind. It's a bunch."

Pat Riot: "How much is a bunch times three billion?"

President: "Do you want this job or don't you?"

Pat Riot: "Trust me. Not just any gumshoe could pull this off for less than a trillion, but I'm your man."

---Six months later---

Brrringgg. Brrringgg.

Pat Riot: "Hello?"

President: "This is your President. Where are you?"

Pat Riot: "Rio."

President: "Rio? Why aren't you looking for bin Laden?"

Pat Riot: "Laden? He's sitting across the table from me."

President: "My god, man! Bring him in!"

Pat Riot: "Are you crazy? I still have six years and nine months to complete the job."

Unlike: "The central front of the War on Terror is in Iraq."

Cost: "Before the war, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsay estimated the cost at $100 to $200 billion. So the White House got rid of him and "re-estimated" the cost at $50 to $60 billion. It's now over $500 billion.
The neocons, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, etc. were just totally unrealistic. "We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon." – Wolfowitz, March 28, 2003."

Documented civilian deaths from violence: 87,919 – 95,954

U.S. Confirmed Deaths: 4176

The facts on the ground demonstrate generic right wing babble is the much more expensive, foolish, incompetent and dangerous option.

But you know that don't you, McWado?

There aren't enough people in the world to fill the bloodlust of a pussy armchair warrior like yourself. This is all just a game to chickenhawk pansies like you.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/

http://zfacts.com/p/447.html

-

Jimmy Durante: Inka Dinka Doo (1944)

Jimmy Durante: everyone puts in extra notes. Mr. James, I'll give you Fifty Dollars, you show me "bloop bloop" in the music. Show me `bloop bloop".

Mr. James (band leader): (pointing to the sheet music) There's "Bloop-bloop."

Jimmy Durante: Too bad I can't read.

That is just what Obama wants.

He says insurance will be mandatory.

The countries that have "free" health care have a 50% to 70% tax rate.

That is not possible here.

We must give 700B to Wall Street.

You see the problem.

That's not a trumpet...

Jimmy Durante: Tell me Mr. James, now just what did you accomplish?

Cheney: "Sure, we could have devoted one, maybe two billion per week to an international police effort. But who knows if it would have been successful?"

Bait: "Successful in what way?"

Cheney: "Successful in catching bin Laden."

Bait: "But you have spent three billion per week without catching bin Laden!"

Cheney: "That's true, but I get to move these little plastic Humvee's around on my map of Iraq."

Bait: "Good point. That's worth another billion per week right there."

Jimmy Durante: That note was given to me by Bing Crosby, and was he glad to get rid of it!

No attacks on U.S. Soil, Priceless!!!

The best thing about Far Left Wing Babble.

Is that Barack Obama doesn't buy it either.

Better get your Code Pink sweater cleaned.

It's gonna be a long 4 years!

"And so long as they were at war, their power was preserved, but when they had attained empire they fell, for of the arts of peace they knew nothing, and had never engaged in any employment higher than war."
Aristotle, Politics

Chubby: "How many people do you suppose you could bribe with three billion dollars per week?"

Bait: "Depends. Which country?"

Chubby: "Let's say Pakistan, just for the sake of argument."

Bait: "My guess is three hundred million, give or take."

Chubby: "If three hundred million people were bribed to capture you, how long do you think that you could stay on the lam?"

Bait: "Less time than it takes to answer you."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/30/134124/760/627/615669

"According to the Courier-Journal's poll released this weekend, McConnell is holding just a one-point lead against (Democratic candidate Bruce) Lunsford. That poll was conducted from Sept. 22 to Sept. 25, during the week when politicians in Washington were considering their options after extreme economic turbulence.

And finally...Mitch McConnell reads Daily Kos?"

WASHINGTON (RIA Novosti) - A bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives increased the reward for anyone helping to capture the world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden to $50 million, a house spokesman said Thursday.

The bill called "Justice for Osama Bin Laden and Other Leaders of al-Qaeda" reads: "The Secretary shall authorize a reward of $50,000,000 for the capture or death or information leading to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden." Terrorist group al-Qaeda is blamed for the 9/11 attacks in the United States, as well as dozens of terrorist attacks the world over

Offering a reward to anyone in the world who captures Osama sounds suspiciously like an international law-enforcement approach...

Senate to vote on rescue plan with added tax cut

Email this Story

Sep 30, 9:22 PM (ET)

By CHARLES BABINGTON and JIM KUHNHENN

(AP) Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, left, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington,...
Full Image

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a surprise move to resurrect President Bush's $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan, Senate leaders slated a vote on the measure for Wednesday - but added a tax cut plan already rejected by the House. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky unveiled the plan Tuesday.

The Senate plan would also raise federal deposit insurance limits to $250,000 from $100,000, as called for by the two presidential nominees only hours earlier.

The move to add a tax legislation - including a set of popular business tax breaks - risked a backlash from House Democrats insisting they be paid for with tax increases elsewhere.

But by also adding legislation to prevent more than 20 million middle-class taxpayers from feeling the bite of the alternative minimum tax, the step could build momentum for the Wall Street bailout from House Republicans. The presidential candidates Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., intend to fly to Washington for the votes, as does Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, the Democratic vice presidential candidate

BTW, Crank, you are on fire tonight.

well, maybe not on fire (you've set the bar mighty high for yourself) but you are hitting them out of the park tonight.

Damn sure is...

And it didn't work at all!

Funny thing about terrorism...a full military response is the least successful approach.

both monetarily and success-wise.

John McCain is soliciting ideas to fix our economy. Doesn't anyone have any idea what would help?

Maybe if we denied the right to vote for all Republicans and fire all the right wing liars on tv. Hey, That's an idea! They've been using that one for years on brown people to help steal the country. It worked real good. Maybe we should try it so we can restore trust in the rule of law.

Well I guess we are gonna have to just keep on killin terrorist until it works!

How many you guess we have killed so far?

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 11:24pm.
Offering a reward to anyone in the world who captures Osama sounds suspiciously like an international law-enforcement approach...
------
Except that there is no organizational effort behind the reward.

It's like being offered fifty million dollars to prove the existence of the God particle without benefit of the international cooperation to build the CERN collider.

>>Except that there is no organizational effort behind the reward.

Who could we trust?

Europeans? Spaniards? Canadians? Asians?

We can't trust them people! Too much bad blood over the years!

Buckle Up ...
From Politico ...

John McCain's fade in recent polls, combined with a barrage of negative news coverage during the financial crisis, has leading Republican activists around the country worrying about his prospects and urging his campaign to become much more aggressive against Barack Obama in the remaining month before Election Day.
A flurry of new polls shows Barack Obama gaining in several battleground states - most notably Florida, Pennsylvania and swing states throughout the West. Officials worry early voting, which is under way in important states such as Ohio, is likely to favor Obama in this toxic political climate.

Several state GOP chairmen in interviews urged the McCain campaign to be more aggressive in hitting Obama's vulnerabilities, such as his past relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and other problematic associations from Chicago.

John McCain, whatever it takes.

--Josh Marshall

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/14146.html

You have GOT to see this place!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwM6f0liHpo

And, it's only 3 hours from where you live!!

Is that amazing or what?

>>Is that amazing or what?

I think it is amazing.

I want to go to the Kitty Palace!

Kitties kitties kitties! And doggies too!

________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

(No not like that - but you know)
There's a beach in southern Oregon where somebody put up a bunch of cool-looking little cat-sized mansions for the wandering semi-wild cats who hang out around there. Hang out there especially because somebody put up these little shelters and keep the kitchen food-troughs supplied. We stumbled across these four years out ago on a brief junket during a fraternal visit to the west coast. The CD with my photos (yeah I was using a film camera then) is up in Vermont. I keep meaning to bring it down to New York and stick 'em in my computer's memory banks. When I do, I'll put them up here. I think you'll get a kick out of them.

Slipping into unconsciousness. Until the FUCKING alarm clock startles us into another diurnal weird dream.

ZZZ

McCain’s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/opinion/28rich.html

By FRANK RICH
Published: September 27, 2008

(...)In a journalistic coup de grâce worthy of “60 Minutes,” Letterman went on to unmask his no-show guest as a liar. McCain had phoned himself that afternoon to say he was “getting on a plane immediately” to deal with the grave situation in Washington, Letterman told the audience. Then he showed video of McCain being touched up by a makeup artist while awaiting an interview by Couric that same evening at another CBS studio in New York.

It’s not hard to guess why McCain had blown off Letterman for Couric at the last minute. The McCain campaign’s high anxiety about the disastrous Couric-Palin sit-down was skyrocketing as advance excerpts flooded the Internet. By offering his own interview to Couric for the same night, McCain hoped (in vain) to dilute Palin’s primacy on the “CBS Evening News.”

Letterman’s most mordant laughs on Wednesday came when he riffed about McCain’s campaign “suspension”: “Do you suspend your campaign? No, because that makes me think maybe there will be other things down the road, like if he’s in the White House, he might just suspend being president. I mean, we’ve got a guy like that now!”

That’s no joke. Bush has so little credibility he can govern only through surrogates (Paulson is the new Petraeus). When he spoke about the economic crisis in prime time earlier that same night, he registered as no more than an irritating speed bump en route to “David Blaine: Dive of Death.”

It’s that utter power vacuum that gave McCain the opening to pull his potentially catastrophic display of economic “leadership” last week. He may be the first presidential candidate in our history to risk wrecking the country even before being voted into the Oval Office.

http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/index.php

Raffle
The Perfect Place tree stands 4' tall (see picture), has an extra large wobble free base with 3 upper levels and retails for $110. The Amusement Park tree stands 5' tall and also comes with an extra large wobble free base with 4 upper levels and retails for $140. Each tree comes with a large bed on top for napping and a 3/8" sisal covered post for claw sharpening. The colors are a neutral "doe skin" beige that would complement any decor. The raffle will be held at the October 25, 2008 Open House at 2:30 pm here at the shelter.

These beautiful cat trees were donated by Tom & Tina Ellis/Feline Fantasies

Raffle tickets are just $1.00 each! To enter you may purchase tickets online via PayPal (below) or send us a check or money order marked "RAFFLE TICKETS" and your tickets will be mailed back to you within 10 days. You need not be present to win, but we do not deliver or ship! If you are not present for the drawing, you must pick up your prize at The Cat House on the Kings.

http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/news.php

isn't it WAY PAST McVainCooter's bedtime?

speaking of cats...someone said I blogged "meandering" posts about my cats!

I take exception to this!

My cat posts do not meander! Not in the least.

My cat posts are concise and to the point!

Case in point: I shaved my little beard today. Just chopped it right off. then I shaved and assumed it would be the end of the matter.

but no...

Rufus misses it. He used to sit on my chest and kinda paw at it...sort of loosely combing it with his claws.

But not anymore, all he wants to do is poke me in the face with his claws.

Cat posts not so meandering now, huh? ;)

NYTimes letter to the editor:

Charles Ferguson, a filmmaker, presents a rebuttal to claims made by L. Paul Bremer III that top American officials approved the decision to disband the Iraqi army.

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=54a96b0d367da6ce96eb1401f0e127f766...

and then you outsourced your facial hair.

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a82_1222812879

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

... that sniffing glue is bad for the brain cells?

"Show launches Wed, October 1 at 3pm."

The Internet can be accessed from anywhere, so in my humble opinion it would be considerate to add the clarifier of 'Eastern time' to that.

Anyway, in thinking about this bailout plan that just failed something occured to me. It failed because the Republicans got a lot of calls from their voters saying that they opposed that plan. Now if a new plan comes up giving big tax breaks to rich people and I, a Democrat, call my Democratic representative, will he listen to me to the same degree? The answer is no, as he knows I have basically zero recourse if he doesn't vote the way I want him to vote. The Republican voter does have a recourse; he can vote Democratic and he'll get at least a decent guy who won't be working for the destruction of the nation; the Republican representative knows this. The Republican voter can tolerate a Democrat while I can't tolerate a Republican as the Republicans are all evil scum. I am forced to support the Democratic candidate regardless of what legislation passes. It just seems bizarre that being in the right gives me less political power than being in the wrong.

After Bill lavished praise on the Republican candidate during his Global Conference last week, McCain blames the financial crisis on Bill Clinton and the Democrats:

as if. Too funny. Easy debunk too, Congress writes legislation. All the president can do is veto it. It was a Republican Congress. Serves Bill right for making friends with these creepy people.

Local governments cutting back due to credit crisis
Chris in Paris · 10/01/2008 06:24:00 AM ET · Link
Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It! · Stumble It!

It's impossible to think that the fallout from Wall Street's casino culture would not impact everyone from retirees to small business to local cities and beyond. Even over here in Europe, there are still some who continue to suggest that (fill in the country of your choice) will somehow - magically with the wave of a wand or an invisible wall - avoid being hit hard by this. We are all so deeply interconnected and just as it was during previous recessions, the fallout will spread. Whether we like it or not, it is the reality that we're all stuck with for a while. My hope is that we learn a few lessons and start making changes to our regulations and tax code to encourage growth for everyone and not just a few as well as more balance in the way we do business.
Billings, Mont., is struggling to come up with $70 million more for a new emergency room. And Maine has been unable to raise $50 million for highway repairs.

“We really are in terra incognita here,” said Robert O. Lenna, executive director of the Maine Municipal Bond Bank, which helps that state’s towns and school districts raise money. He said he had worked in public finance for 34 years and had never seen credit evaporate so completely.

Maine had already begun some of its road work when the bond markets stopped functioning, so now it is scrambling for bank loans to keep the dump trucks rolling. If money does not start flowing soon, Mr. Lenna said, Maine will have to cancel some of its road and bridge projects.

The only alternative would be what New York City did on Monday: Go into the locked-up markets and whip up demand by offering to pay investors a very high return.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/business/01muni.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

that pretty much sums it up doesn't it. too bad the damage isn't limited to the 59 million idiots that voted for these clowns.

"If I were dictator, which I always aspire to be."

Sound familiar? More of the same? You bet!

Watch him say it here:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=videonet...

John McCain - Economic Bill Failure

More about it here:

John McCain's Angry Interview with the Des Moines Editorial Board

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/30/231224/007/123/616189

I’ve always believed that America’s government was a unique political system — one designed by geniuses so that it could be run by idiots. I was wrong. No system can be smart enough to survive this level of incompetence and recklessness by the people charged to run it. - NYT

Mark to Market.

In essence it is putting a price on something that has no worth yet but will in the future, like a mortgage. The Mark part is the price you assign to this mortgage but usually it is at today's rate. The price is set but that mortgage could go up or down in the future.

It is used for accounting purposes for the banks holding these mortgages.

Maybe Wiki can explain it better:

In accounting, mark to market is the act of assigning a value to a position held in a financial instrument based on the current market price for the instrument or similar instruments. For example, the final value of a futures contract that expires in 9 months will not be known until it expires. If it is marked to market, for accounting purposes it is assigned the value that it would fetch in the open market currently.

The reason this is important is because this MTM is what we will be purchasing the mortgages from the banks that are in the Bail Out (Rescue). We buy them at today's rate and that rate could fall or rise. If the rate falls and we sell at that rate, we lose money. And if they rise in value at the time we sell, we make money. It all depends on the market at the time. If we sit on them until the market is in a good position we may have a loss on the books until they are sold, but may make it up and break even or we may make a profit. If the mortgage defaults, it's an automatic loss.

These instruments that the bank holds are adjusted for the market. That means the Mark (assigned price) could fall as the market falls, so that means it takes away money from the bank and they can lend less because they are holding this mortgage where the price of the home is deflating. So the worth of the house is less than the mortgage taken on it.

Electric 12 (3-0.0.5.7)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

white overtone world-bridger ~ kin 226

EMPOWER in order to EQUALIZE,
COMMANDING OPPORTUNITY
seal the STORE of DEATH
with the OVERTONE tone of RADIANCE.
guided by the power of TIMELESSNESS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
◄ 12.19.15.12.18 ≈ bolon etznab ►

And I can't see this bailout helping Main Street at all. We will be paying for this mess for the rest of this century.

is a bad idea. its basically telling the investors that hold this overleveraged garbage that they can pretend its worth a lot more than it is.

Politicians rail against fair value accounting
By Jennifer Hughes in London and Ben Hall in Paris

Published: September 30 2008 20:41 | Last updated: October 1 2008 12:34

The pressure on regulators and accounting rulemakers to ease fair value accounting standards in an effort to help end the financial crisis has been intensified by politicians.

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, is to urge his European Union counterparts to back changes that would introduce more flexibility in the accounting rules. David Cameron, leader of the UK’s opposition Conservative party, said the rules had made the crisis worse and needed to be addressed. On Wednesday, Charlie McCreevy, the EU’s internal markets commissioner, said the bloc would follow if other parts of the world relaxed fair value accounting standards.

Fair value requires companies to report the bulk of their financial holdings at their current market price. Falling house prices and plunging markets have led banks to write down hundreds of billions in the value of their assets, many of which are linked to mortgage loans. This has weakened their balance sheets, undermining banks’ capital reserves and prompting fears that it risks triggering further downward spirals in prices.

A number of banks have called for a suspension of the rules in favour of being able to use their own internal estimates of the final values of their holdings when the underlying debt matures – a move that would bolster their reported balance sheets.

Mr Sarkozy will call for European leaders to agree a package of fresh financial market regulations, including “giving time to banks to smooth the effects” of the mark-to-market standards, said an official in Paris.

Robert Rubin, former US Treasury secretary and currently a senior adviser to Citigroup, said fair value accounting worsened the financial sector’s problems. He told a Financial Times conference that fair value “is not serving our system well” and urged regulators to change the rules.

But regulators and investor groups have so far supported fair value and the transparency it brings.

Many regulators impose stricter standards when assessing banks’ capital requirements.

Auditors have also defended the accounting. Sam DiPiazza, head of PwC, the accounting firm, said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday: “To suggest you don’t track and report fair values means you end up in a world where management still knows the real prices, as do market counterparties, but not the investors.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b7bc1b2e-8f24-11dd-946c-0000779fd18c.html

Put to music.

The government, with this bailout, is trying to buy these "assets" at 30, 40, 50 cents on the dollar and that's not going to happen because it will tank the banks.

This is a no win situation unless we find another way to do this. If the banks are going to tank anyway, why can't we just let it happen and put that money into regrowing the US and a new financial system. Maybe I am speaking without understanding the whole thing but I think most Americans don't want to bail out the banks and financial systems.

Banking’s crisis of confidence deepens
By Krishna Guha, Harvey Morris and James Politi in Washington and Paul J Davies in London

Published: September 30 2008 20:10 | Last updated: October 1 2008 02:54

Wall Street rebounded on Tuesday in spite of a worsening crisis of confidence in the global banking system, as leaders of the US Congress moved to try to salvage the Bush administration’s $700bn (£385bn) bail-out plan.

A proposal to increase the ceiling for government insurance on bank deposits to $250,000 emerged as the best hope of swaying reluctant Republicans and Democrats who voted against the bill on Monday. The Senate agreed late Tuesday to vote on a revised bail-out measure on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance emphasising the flexibility companies have to depart from mark-to-market accounting in situations when markets are illiquid. The SEC move does not suspend mark-to-market rules, but goes some of the way to address criticism of the accounting regime that critics – including many conservative Republicans – say has fuelled a downward spiral in credit markets.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama issued his strongest call yet for the rescue plan, while Republican John McCain also urged Congress to act. Both advocated increasing the deposit insurance ceiling.

Leaders of both parties in Congress promised legislation this week, and hoped a revised bill could be brought before the Senate as early as Wednesday night.

Hopes for an agreement helped the S&P 500 rise 5.3 per cent, recovering more than half its stunning 8.8 per cent decline suffered after Monday’s vote. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 4.7 per cent after a slide of 7 per cent on Monday.

Yet overnight interbank lending rates reached painfully high levels in the main currencies, with overnight dollar Libor leaping 4.3 percentage points to a seven-year high of 6.88 per cent.

Experts said an increase in the bank deposit insurance ceiling would reduce the risk of a destabilising run on uninsured bank deposits at weak banks.

It would also boost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s ability to broker rescue deals in which an acquiring bank takes on the deposits of a failed bank – ensuring that savers with deposits above $250,000 remain whole.

Separately, it emerged that the FDIC exercised a systemic risk exemption that allowed it to bypass its normal rules for the first time in its history to support the rescue take­over of Wachovia by Citigroup on Monday.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/17ce4468-8f22-11dd-946c-0000779fd18c.html

even that's an inflated price. if you consider the markets to be a price discovery mechanism, it was either bear stearns or lehman or maybe someone else who sold/bought a whole bunch of this toxic debt at something like 8 cents on the dollar about six months ago. that was really when this house of cards starting collapsing.

you might recall paulson/bernake talking last week about fire sell prices and hold to maturity prices, what they wanted to do was pay hold to maturity prices to specifically not crash the banks. this was in essence handing them bags of cash for worthless debt.

another way of viewing getting rid of mark to market is shooting the messenger.

the unspoken part of fdic is that if everything goes to hell it won't matter how much they insure. remember that african nation where a loaf of bread costs a bazillion dollars?

Submitted by MMRules on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 3:11am.
[Political cartoon of Sadaam-like Ronnie statue being pulled down]
----
Thanks. This is one of the best political cartoons that I have seen of late.
----------------------------
Submitted by Smack-dab on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 6:12am.
...It failed because the Republicans got a lot of calls from their voters saying that they opposed that plan...
...if...I, a Democrat, call my Democratic representative, will he listen to me to the same degree? The answer is no, as he knows I have basically zero recourse...
----
You have posited an interesting theory: The Theory Of Political Party Extortion.

Republicans can threaten to vote for a Democrat. If a Democrat threatens to vote for a Republican, his Democratic Representative says, "Yeah, sure. That's a knee-slapper. Tell me another one."

Came crashing down.

The repubs are blaming it on Clinton now. But they don't say that Bush changed the terms, in 2005, of the bill that Clinton signed giving smaller banks more power to loan. That's really when the proverbial shit hit the fan.

The smaller banks were taking chances on loans because of the derivitives market. They could bundle these loans and sell shares to have more money to lend out.

i'm too poor to have this affect me...

It will effect all of us. Lack of credit will make everything more expensive. The poor will suffer the most.

McCain repeating Keating
era mistakes, regulator warns

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As the stock market recovers from its biggest single-day drop since the crash of 1987, a former federal regulator who had a front-row view of John McCain's role in the Savings and Loan scandal says he is repeating some of the same mistakes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/01/mccain-repeating-keating_n_1306...

I have two key problems with my deliberation over the intervention of the government into the market crisis. Because of the two key problems, I don't share your fervent rejection of the (or a) bailout plan.

The first problem: I must trust that I am being told the truth. Most experts, governmental and not governmental, seem to believe that the credit crunch is real and could easily worsen.

However, I was told that there were weapons of mass destruction and hoards of al Qaeda in Iraq, and a bunch of other untrue hooey during the Cheney/Bush administration, so it is easy for me to be as skeptical about what we are being told about the credit crisis as it is for the average Joe.

The second problem: If the credit crisis worsens due to inaction or poor action by the government, it is possible that the markets might cross a tipping point. Once it begins, it is nearly impossible to stop. It will be known as Black [insert day of the week here]. The only way to stop it is to stop it yesterday...in which case the skeptics can continue to say that it never would have happened in the first place.

It is impossible to prove that governmental intervention was successful because it is impossible to prove how the global markets would have progressed if no intervention existed.

So for now, I am buying into the idea that something drastic needs to be done by the government because I fear the possibility of a runaway train...which would hurt the average Joe just as badly (or more so) than the wealthy.

US decline under Bush
is hot topic at UN

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Though President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been visiting the United Nations in recent days--with meetings continuing this week for Rice--for their usual, intensive annual round of diplomacy, the behind-the-scenes buzz at the world body is focused on the relative decline of U.S. power in world affairs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20080930/ts_usnews/usdeclineunderbushisho...

House GOP dazed
after bailout failure

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Facing this barrage from within GOP ranks, senior Republican lawmakers and aides are now backing away from the claim that it was all Pelosi’s fault. “The word came down from on high to drop it, so we’re dropping it,” said one GOP aide whose boss was told to stop attacking Pelosi.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/14156.html

That is EXACTLY what many of these more tenured Democratic politicians think. Especially those who have always relied on old financing to get them into office.

They're probably stupid and egotistical enough to believe that people are going to forget about that after Obama is elected, too and that Progressive writers, blog and news outlets aren't going to begin watching them with renewed interest, while sharpening their knives.

That's my plan, anyway.

US again launches attack inside
Pakistan, at least 6 dead

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A missile strike by a suspected U.S. drone killed at least six people in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, two Pakistani intelligence officials said Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081001/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_missile_atta...

i agree that something needs to be done for exactly the reasons you state. once we get to a critical mass it will go blooey. right now we are doing whats called tickling the tail of the dragon.

i think we need to figure out a way to buy time till we have a democratic president and a democratic congress (if this fails to happen, we're fucked, at which point, nothing really matters). handing bags of cash to wall street gamblers just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. if it will buy us the time we need, i can see a couple of bags but not the whole treasury.

as has been pointed out somewhere, the 700,000,000,000 is only 4% of the gdp. i guess that's supposed to make us feel better. on the other hand it makes you wonder why mcbush is trying to make a capital case out of 20B in earmarks.

i wish it were not so - - this is supposedly the "richest nation on earth.

All this proves is the lie when they say the money is not there. Now - magically appearing....

Health rules issued for
nuke dump in Nevada

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The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada must be designed to ensure against excessive radiation exposure to nearby residents for up to a million years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080930/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/yucca_mountain_rad...

The credit crisis squeezing the life out of local governments, reports the New York Times. Cities and states have found themselves shut out of bond markets for the last 2 weeks, and big projects, from new hospitals to highway repairs, are being shelved or delayed. Analysts believe the days of cheap cash for local governments are over and tough choices lie ahead even when the market picks up again.

"We are really in terra incognita here," one banker who deals in municipal bonds tells the Times. New York City had the market to itself when it issued $300 million in bonds Monday, and had trouble finding takers even at a hefty 5.75% interest. Municipalities will likely be able to keep functioning, but the level of service may drop. "It’s no different from a family budget,” said the chief of a finance firm. “We’re not going to go out to dinner any more. We’re not going to buy a new car. That’s the similarity."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/business/01muni.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slog...

Go read Wonkette.
Cuomo was the Clinton era dolt who's decision's are being questioned by the Republicans. Cuomo is the tard McCrazy tagged for SEC Chair. Keep that in mind if anyone comes up with that crap.

The SEC is relaxing enforcement of a controversial rule in a bid to ease pressure on banks during the financial crisis, the New York Times reports. Current accounting rules require companies to value assets at a fluctuating fair market price. In the current financial chaos, values are rapidly heading south, forcing companies to report huge quarter-to-quarter losses.

The SEC is not changing the rule, but will now begin interpreting the rule loosely enough to give companies some breathing room. “Investors can be well served if they understand that from quarter two to quarter three management has developed a different interpretation of fair value—and they provide a reconciliation of the change," said a securities analyst.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/business/01audit.html?ref=business

I can't see this helping. Especially now that the govt is taking over these toxic assets.

this almost seems laughable. we lack the data to say how materials will behave 10,000 years out let alone a million years. it all an extrapolation, as in make some shit up that sounds good.

Here is another theory I have read from more than one economist that explains (partly) how we got from A to B...not that it matters now, but I would prefer to understand major influences on the economy better than I do.

Imagine that there is a huge amount of cash jumping in-and-out of the market or sitting on the sidelines. There was a huge amount of cash jumping into and out of the market during the Tech Bubble of the Nineties.

When the Tech Bubble burst, the huge amount of cash parked itself on the sidelines because Tech became too risky for investment. The huge amount of investment cash was on the hunt for new areas of investment.

By happenstance, the huge amount of cash coalesced in the Real Estate sector. It wasn't a planned move. Some cash moved in, which inflated Real Estate prices, which attracted more cash, which inflated prices even more.

Before long, all of the former Tech Bubble cash was jumping in-and-out of the Real Estate sector, causing a Housing Bubble.

This theory seems reasonable to me although I don't know if it's accurate. I do know that a shitload of wealth was created during the Tech Bubble and the huge amount of excess (investment) cash went somewhere.

Did the cash become evenly distributed among sectors or did it concentrate in the Real Estate sector? I don't know.

There's an interesting semi-alarmist post over at Huffington about Sara Palin.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/01/why-sarah-palin-is-a-bett_n_130...

It includes the first video I've seen with fairly recent debate performances by her. Here's the Video:

Rachel is going to cover the "lowered bar" theory tonight, so that will be interesting, as well.

Personally, I disagree that the bar has been so lowered for Palin that she can't fail.

On the contrary, I believe she has dumbed politics down so much that the bar is set impossibly high for her to be able to succeed simply because of McSame's age. And, she's been calling attention to his age by proxy via her very recent attacks on Biden.

At this point, after all the inane BS she has put forward in interviews and the crushing blows delivered to her by Tina Fey, Sarah Palin will be expected to succeed on a Presidential level, not just a Vice Presidential one.

No one has ANY qualms that Joe Biden could step in and fill Obama's shoes. All he has to do is be measured and courteous in his responses.

Palin on the other hand has to climb Mount McKinley.

A Palin presidency, after all of this bad press AND eight years of George Bush, is unthinkable...and not just to Liberals.

The public is well aware of this. All it takes is imagining Palin at the helm during this financial catastrophe right now. Do that, and she's already lost. I would imagine people will be doing this tomorrow night.

Nothing she says tomorrow night can change that.

People will walk away saying, she's a nice lady, but no way am I voting her into the Presidency. Especially, those who have serious buyers remorse after voting for Bush.

Boy oh boy, the websites of Senators and Congressmen are not working this morning. Hopefully they're being flooded with people working toward trickle-up (which does not refer to peeing while standing on your head).

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/tpc/ARS_linktous_120_01

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I have to admit that I am worried about the credit market. The money market banks are tightening up again overseas.

If credit dries up overseas, we are in a real pickle.

The leaders here for the United Nations are already singing America's swan song and the Taliban is threatening to crash our economy like they did the Russians. So the week spot is glaring to other nations.

There is alot more involved here then just this bailout!

New Thread

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

The people who knew the brilliant writer best talk about the crippling anxiety and spiraling depression of his torturous final weeks.