David Corn

DC,

You are right of course, but we are talking about democratic politicians? UGH!

I bet we hear the standard line "We don't have 60" blah blah blah

I expect them to roll-over.

Thank!

Joe Biden - the gift that keeps on giving !!!

"'No, the federal government should not bailout AIG. And I think that in that situation," Obama said, "I think Joe should have waited as well."

"But it's the kind of thing that drives people crazy about politics," Lauer said. "It sounds like you were trying to score some political points against John McCain using his words, when your own running mate had used very similar words."

Then there's this -

"No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there (China). Make them clean."

"We’re not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama. They do, on paper, support clean coal."

And -

"The Delaware Senator took issue with an attack ad from his own side in an interview with CBS, telling Katie Couric that the Obama hit on McCain’s ignorance of computers and technology was “terrible.”

The ad paints McCain as out of touch — and, subtly, all but calls him ancient — but doesn’t mention that one reason McCain doesn’t use computers much is that his injuries from Vietnam prevent him from doing so.

Asked whether he’s disappointed with the tone of the campaign, including the ad that Couric characterized as “making fun of John mcCain’s inability to use a computer,” Biden said “I thought that was terrible by the way."

If it's judgement Obama is running on, how's his judgement in selection of a VP? PRICELESS.

Yes, Congress should do its job on this topic, and finding out what happened is a fabulous place to start.

P.S. I think the sentence saying "he used a sly legislative maneuver in late 2000 to win approval of a bill that kept swaps from being deregulated" should say "from being regulated."

P.P.S. Pity the poor denmac, who seems to have lost all ability to stick to a topic thread, much less to make a point -- any point -- concerning whatever topic he switches to. What's wrong with picking a VP candidate who has some grasp of the truth? I find that refreshing! Good God, what would we do with a VP who tells the president he disagrees with him on something?!

should say "from being regulated."

Good catch! I missed it. I think you are correct.

I like the pointing fingers idea. Get out the Guillotine!

Oh yea, this is congress, we will have to nclude ablanket amnesty like we did with the telecomms.

The fact is, the "bail out" is to save Bush not Wall Street or banks.

His mismanagement of the economy has created this. It is not an emergency unless our financial leadership[sic] is clueless.

So, now they want a blank check to cover THEIR sorry asses? Since they broke it, they want a new one to break?

This is all quite insane. (and I should know)

This is not a blank check for Paulson, it is a blank check for Bush - Paulson takes his marching orders from Bush.

Since Bush took office the buck stops anywhere but in the oval office.

Time to change that.

Nothing short of financial treason.

Unitarian Patriot,

Save your pity for capt come November!!

Sorry you weren't clever enough to tie the AIG bailout reference in my post with the current topic, I'll try to type more slowly.

Cheers

And to quote my favorite poster on this blog -

"This mortgage mess started in the early '90's when the Clinton administration changed the mortgage lending laws in a way that REQUIRED banks to provide loans to technically unqualified individuals
(Google "The National Homeownership Strategy: Partners in the American Dream") - resulting in bankruptcies once home values dropped."

This is PRECISELY why the Dems will not, as DC suggests, "Point fingers" in this debacle.

You broke it, you bought it!!

The Wall Street Journal touches on the Keating Five scandal and suggests that McCain may have to answer to it after all:

The latest salvo came on Monday when an Obama spokesman, Bill Burton, invoked Charles Keating in hitting back at the McCain campaign for suggesting that Barack Obama had received a pass from the press. Burton said John McCain had been little scrutiny of his association to Keating despite being "centrally involved" in "the last major financial regulatory crisis, resulting in a huge bailout."

Asked by reporters if the Obama campaign planned to make Keating an issue, senior strategist Robert Gibbs was coy: "If we're going to talk about what's fair game in terms of people in a relationship, I don't see how... that wouldn't be important."

http://tinyurl.com/4dsvbz

Europe rejects US-style toxic asset bail-out

http://tinyurl.com/3snnj9

*****

So the American taxpayers will buy stuff no European country will touch?

Since when?

P.P.S. Pity the poor capt, who seems to have lost all ability to stick to a topic thread, much less to make a point -- any point -- concerning whatever topic he switches to.

Whaa..

Hammering Home the Keating Five Message on Fox News

Just for historical reference, here is the CBS News on 3/23/08:

"In his early days as a freshman senator, McCain was known for accepting contributions from Charles Keating Jr., flying to the banker's home in the Bahamas on company planes and taking up Keating's cause with U.S. financial regulators as they investigated him...Keating and his associates raised $1.3 million combined for the campaigns and political causes of all five. McCain's campaigns received $112,000. The investigation ended in early 1991 with a rebuke that McCain 'exercised poor judgment in intervening with the regulators.'"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9tHEUJOyn4

McCain Transition Head Lobbied for Freddie Mac Before Takeover

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The lobbying firm of the man Republicans say John McCain has chosen to begin planning a presidential transition earned more than a quarter of a million dollars this year representing Freddie Mac, one of the companies McCain blames for the nation's financial crisis.

Timmons & Co., whose founder and chairman emeritus is William Timmons Sr., was registered to lobby for Freddie Mac from 2000 through this month, when the federal government took over both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Newly available congressional records show Timmons's firm received $260,000 this year before its lobbying activities were barred under terms of the government rescue of the failed mortgage giant. Timmons, 77, is listed as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac on the company's midyear financial-disclosure form.

http://tinyurl.com/3mcflx

Just for historical reference, here are more pertinent facts -

"After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), and Donald Riegle (D-MI) had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings. Senators John Glenn (D-OH) and John McCain (R-AZ) were CLEARED OF HAVING ACTE IMPROPERLY but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment".

"The Ethics Committee ruled that the involvement of McCain in the scheme was also minimal, and he too was cleared of all charges against him.[27][26] McCain was criticized by the Committee for exercising "poor judgment" when he met with the federal regulators on Keating's behalf.[7] The report also said that McCain's "actions were not improper nor attended with gross negligence and did not reach the level of requiring institutional action against him....Senator McCain has violated no law of the United States or specific Rule of the United States Senate. On his Keating Five experience, McCain has said: "The appearance of it was wrong. It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."

Those pesky FACTS! Pelosi should start ANOTHER set of hearings, just because.

George Bush, proud parent of the mortgage crisis

The traditional media apparently have very short memories. At least, that's the only reason I can think of, short of outright moral corruption, that would explain why George Bush's rhetoric and policy centered on an 'Ownership Society' hasn't received any scrutiny whatsoever.

For example, in his 2004 nomination acceptance speech, Bush said:

Another priority for a new term is to build an ownership society, because ownership brings security and dignity and independence.

Thanks to our policies, home ownership in America is at an all- time high.

Tonight we set a new goal: 7 million more affordable homes in the next 10 years, so more American families will be able to open the door and say, "Welcome to my home."

That wasn't just verbiage, it was policy. Indeed, after the catastrophic job losses of his first term, expanding home ownership was the one bright spot Team Rove could point to in an otherwise dismal picture. Expanding home ownership by any means necessary was Bush administration policy until roughly Spring of 2008.

http://tinyurl.com/3u6mgs

""what would we do with a VP who tells the president he disagrees with him on something?!""

what will we do with a VP who thinks that the earth is 4000 years old and who claims to have seen a dinosaur fossil with a human footprint in it?
or who thinks that the iraq occupation is "god's work" and that god is punishing the israelis for some reason (if only!).
or who was involved with a group that wants to secede from the union.
and wants to teach creationism in public schools.
what will we do with this VP?

"what will we do with this VP?"

Most likely, call her "Madam Vice President-elect" come early November.

Cheers

John McCain: The Fundamental Deregulator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ycPJr7YWmQ

Over the last few days, John McCain has talked a decent game when it comes to enacting new regulations to protect American families from another financial crisis. But as this new video demonstrates, McCain's talk is just hot air -- he's got no record to back it up.

Last March, he famously said that he was "fundamentally a deregulator." In July, he said that his "fundamental difference" with Barack Obama was that Obama favored "more regulation" while he favored less. And earlier this month, McCain's strong support for deregulation was on display in speech after speech at the GOP convention.

Now, John McCain is scrambling to follow Barack Obama's lead as a reform-minded proponent of regulation. But that can't change the fact that when it comes to his record, all the way up until Thursday of last week, John McCain is "The Fundamental Deregulator" -- and YouTube is here to prove it:

(huffpo)

McCain & Regulating Wall Street, MSNBC 9/16/08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX78DQaU0_o

My heart breaks and my tears flow for the denmac, a species not the least bit endangered. In fact, his number is legion. Can't stick to a topic. Can't see the forest for the trees. Can't negotiate the contradiction between preaching responsibility and claiming victim status. (And by the way, the rest of you guys need to get back to the topic, too.) Congress should look into this, point fingers, name names. This is a huge mess, and sorting it out properly really needs to be done. Anything else is sound and fury, signifying nothing -- nothing except that politics as usual won't get it done this time.

Which, by the way, seems to be what Sen. Obama has been saying all along.

P.S. No need to follow the denmac's advice to Google his bit on the National Homeownership Strategy. It's an interesting enough article; it just doesn't say what the denmac says it says. Imagine that! (Note to the denmac: My pity will continue to flow copiously in your direction so long as you try to "argue" with folks who can read and understand what they are reading. Though I admire your initiative, so far you haven't been up to the task.)

Some emergency?

"Fratto insisted that the plan was not slapped together and had been drawn up as a contingency over previous months and weeks by administration officials. He acknowledged lawmakers were getting only days to peruse it, but he said this should be enough. "

http://www.rollcall.com/news/28599-1.html?type=printer_friendly

Unitarian,

Here, I pasted this REAL SLOW -

"President Clinton to the long list of people who deserve a share of the blame for the housing bubble and bust.

A recently re-exposed document shows that his administration went to ridiculous lengths to increase the national homeownership rate.

It promoted paper-thin downpayments and pushed for ways to get lenders to give mortgage loans to first-time buyers with shaky financing and incomes.

It’s clear now that the erosion of lending standards pushed prices up by increasing demand, and later led to waves of defaults by people who never should have bought a home in the first place."

RE: "so long as you try to "argue" with folks who can read and understand what they are reading."

Does this mean you will no longer be posting? Gonna miss ya, dude!

Cheers

CNN poll: GOP takes brunt of blame for economy; Obama gains

Story Highlights

Nearly half of those polled blame Republicans for current financial crisis

Obama leading McCain 51-46 percent, according to CNN poll out Monday

Majority of respondents view Obama as better on economic issues

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/22/cnn.poll/index.html

US ARMY BATTLE PLAN FOR THE 50 STATES

http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd394.htm

Another Biden GEM -

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed," Biden told Couric. "He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'"

As Reason's Jesse Walker footnotes it: "And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, 'Who is that guy? What happened to President Hoover?'"

lololo

BTW - Where's the MSM on THIS gaffe?

For (one hopes) the last time: I agree with Mr. Corn's post, in that Congress should do its best to lay this all out for the American people. If that implicates President Clinton and various Democrats, or the current administration, or Phil Gramm and others, either or both of the presidential candidates, or all of the above, fine. As I said, finding out what happened is a fabulous place to start. Thinking you already know everything that happened is just plain stupid.

Anyone who read my earlier posts as exonerating anyone in this mess obviously has an agenda and a fundamental inability to read and comprehend. (Ahem.)

P.S. And you still don't need to go read the piece the denmac referred to, though it is kind of interesting. The thoughtful professor writing it thought that the basic Clinton era policy to expand home ownership was unwise, and he's probably right. But the denmac's assertion that the policy forced banks to make bad loans is delusional, plain and simple. The denmac also leaves out the reasonable professor's statements that the policy was distorted and mis-applied, such that those in the financial industry carrying it out -- and those in the political sphere not properly regulating them -- converted a probably unwise policy into the current debacle.

P.P.S. Sen. Biden's remarks about bailing out AIG have nothing to do with whether Congress should look into the roots of the current mess. " Pity the poor denmac. Can't follow a thread. Can't make a point. But he can type and cut and paste -- very slowly.

'The World Shouldn't Have to Bear the Burden for America's Lapses'

The US government is buying bad debt for $700 billion. Now Washington is asking other countries to jump in and help, too, but the Germans are bowing out. Believing that the rescue package sends the wrong signal, experts from the country's leading economics think tanks argue it's the right call.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,579880,00.html

McCain Flip-Flops On AIG Bailout: Rejects It Tuesday, Says It's Okay Wednesday

http://tinyurl.com/4pc5pa

The McCain-Palin Project: War With Iran

She and/or McCain will launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran. This much we know. It isn't a matter of if but when. For McCain, it is a matter of fighting wars to win, instead of accepting any limits on American power. For Palin, it is a matter of theological destiny. For Americans, it may be a decision about whether America will start a Third World War or try to prevent it.

http://tinyurl.com/4scyjh

Palin's op-ed/speech on this. It could not be clearer:

"We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator's intentions and to call for action to thwart him. He must be stopped. The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us."

http://www.slate.com/id/2112318/fr/nl/

lololololololo

McCain's Boomerang Problem

The only thing dumber than throwing a stone from your glass abode? Throwing a boomerang.

http://tinyurl.com/3lm6lx

Martin Feldstein a member of the AIG board and an economic advisor for McCain. Which is kind of scary if McCain wins. Look what Feldstein did for AIG.

Feldstein and foreclosure Phil as Treasury Sec.

A winning combo, eh?

Obama: McCain flip-flopped on position he's held for 26 years

[...]

Obama added, "I think what has been clear during this entire past ten days is John McCain has not had clarity and a grasp of the situation."

http://tinyurl.com/4c69es

McCain Aides Earned Nearly $2.4 Million From Foreign Car Manufacturers

[...]

According to the non-partisan Campaign Money Watch, John Green, McCain's congressional liaison, earned $130,000 to lobby on behalf of the Association of International Car Manufacturers in 2007 and 2008. Susan Nelson, the Senator's finance director, made $460,000 lobbying for Toyota from 2005 to 2007. Tom Loeffler, the campaign's former finance chair (and McCain bundler) made $660,000 lobbying for Toyota during that same time period. While Josephine Cooper and David Vennett -- each fundraisers for the campaign -- have both worked as Toyota's in-house lobbyists since 2004.

Meanwhile, Kristen Gullot, who fundraises for McCain and serves on his steering committee of women, made $840,000 lobbying for Toyota from 2005 through 2008. And
Susan Loinari, another member of the steering committee of women for McCain, made $300,000 lobbying for Hyundai in 2001 and 2002.

"When John McCain tells Michigan voters that their jobs aren't coming back, he's apparently speaking with inside information," said David Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch. "He is receiving fundraising help and advice from a half dozen lobbyists who have also made millions working for foreign car manufacturers."

http://tinyurl.com/4gtgau

Ohio senator: Phones 'ringing off the hook' against bailout

A key quote in this morning's Senate hearing about the Paulson bailout is worth repeating. This comes from Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat:

"Like my colleagues, my phones have been ringing off the hook. The sentiment from Ohioans about this proposal is universally negative."

Not "overwhelmingly negative." Not "deeply suspicious." Not "extremely upset." Universally negative.

I'll state the obvious: Members of Congress aren't generally in the habit of passing historic and spectacularly unpopular legislation five weeks before election day. Republicans in Congress hate this bill, and I'm unconvinced the Democrats in Congress will take a bullet, figuratively, for the most unpopular president since the final days of Nixon. (Trivia: Henry Paulson worked in the Nixon administration.)

Watching the Paulson-Bernanke hearing on CNBC, this struck me as news: the suggestion by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that instead of granting one giant bailout, Congress might instead break it into smaller pieces, giving the administration permission to begin buying securities, but with an initial budget of far less than $700 billion. In other words, let the Treasury go out and buy $50 billion or so worth of mortgage securities and see how it works before granting the authority to spend a trillion dollars or so.

http://tinyurl.com/3ful6u

“When it comes to phasing in the bailout, or phasing in a program, I do think that it’s important to recognize that we’ve got a short-term problem of keeping the market functioning…that requires some short-term intervention. How much of the request that Secretary Paulson’s made deals with that short-term problem, or how much is required to deal with that short-term problem, has not been made clear.” – Barack Obama, at a press conference in Florida, adding his voice to those questioning whether an immediate, $700 billion bailout payment is necessary.

Senators from both parties – including New York’s Charles Schumer and Tenessee’s Bob Corker – have suggested paying out a smaller initial sum during the Senate Banking Committee’s hearings today.

http://www.politico.com/gameday/

I wonder if the $700 billion is just enough for the short term?

It certainly won't be enough if it doesn't work.

Hank Paulson has been wrong time and time again or we wouldn't be in this mess. Why does anybody believe he now has the magic bullet?

No way, no how, no bail out.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro

Just how big is the proposed Wall Street bailout? Let's look at how it compares to some other numbers...

-- $700 billion: proposed Wall St. bailout

-- $695.4 billion: GDP of Taiwan. If the bailout were a country it would be the 21st largest GDP, larger than most nations.

-- $653 billion: cost of Iraq war (so far)

-- $515.4 billion: proposed 2009 Pentagon budget

-- $315 billion: McCain's nuclear energy plan

-- $295 billion: amount Pentagon overspent original budgets by.

-- $150 billion: Obama's energy plan

-- $50-$65 billion: Obama's health care plan, per year

-- $59.2 billion: proposed 2009 U.S. education budget

-- $10 billion: McCain health care proposals, per year

-- $38 million: Hank Paulson's post-2004 salary as Chairman, CEO of Goldman Sachs

-- 16.1 million: number of median Ohio household incomes ($43,371 as of 2004) that would add up to the bailout -- or about THREE Ohios.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/

*****

Bush and Paulson have gone insane you know.

Let's play "Wall Street Bail-Out"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27yitK32ds

****

Will they get away with it? This lady seems WAY more normal than most politicians. Talk about a "mom" - this lady rocks!

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself."

-- The 2008 Republican Party Platform, adopted earlier this month

Johnathan Alter on McCain the "deregulator"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTniK95Vfhs

Democrats Re-Establish Double-Digit Lead in Party Affiliation

Gap had closed after the Republican National Convention

PRINCETON, NJ -- Democrats have re-established a double-digit advantage over Republicans in party affiliation, with 49% of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats or leaning to the Democratic Party, and 39% identifying as Republicans or leaning to the Republican Party. This is a shift from immediately after the Republican National Convention, when Democrats enjoyed their smallest advantage of the year, leading only 47% to 42%.

http://tinyurl.com/4fzq82

-- $59.2 billion: proposed 2009 U.S. education budget

-- $515.4 billion: proposed 2009 Pentagon budget

The question remains:

"Is our children learnin?"

lololololo

The Page has some breaking news

Latest LA Times/Bloomberg poll finds 55% of Americans don’t believe the government should be responsible for funding an economic bailout plan.

When asked which candidate could do a better job of handling the financial crisis:

Obama: 48%
McCain: 35%

McCain Holds Key to Administration's Bailout Passage on Capitol Hill

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos reports: If Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain doesn't vote for the Bush administration's $700 billion economic bailout plan, some Republican and Democratic congressional leaders tell ABC News the plan won't pass.

"If McCain doesn't come out for this, it's over," a Top House Republican tells ABC News.

A Democratic leadership source says that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has been told that
Democratic votes will not be there if McCain votes no -- that there is no deal if McCain doesn't go along.

http://tinyurl.com/3ewqq4

No matter which way this bailout turns out, it's going to lead to a taxpayer revolt in April.

Obama's Opening statment Bailout not a Welfare Program for CEO's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sWPYRxb26Q

Press Conference Q&A: Obama Stands Firm on Tax Cuts for Middle Class

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au4ZdKOkhsg

OBAMA'S RESPONSE TO McCAIN

Please find, below, our response to Senator McCain’s first press conference in 40 days held earlier today in Michigan:

"Contrary to the lies told by the McCain campaign, it was John McCain who followed Senator Obama’s lead in laying out principles that call for strict oversight and accountability, protecting taxpayers, and cracking down on CEO pay. We only wish he had adopted those same principles over the last 26 years rather than cheerleading for the deregulation agenda that helped produce today’s crisis and repeatedly opposing limitations on the obscene compensation given to failed CEOs," said Obama-Biden spokesman Hari Sevugan.

House GOP Revolts Against Cheney

House Republicans, upset over the administration's $700 billion financial bailout plan, rose up against Vice President Dick Cheney during a meeting Tuesday. There was a time when Cheney could easily quell a GOP revolt, but that time seems to have passed.

http://tinyurl.com/4243l7

McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac

WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

They said they did not recall Mr. Davis’s doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis & Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis’s close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House.

http://tinyurl.com/4vaenn

******

That'd mean they are caught in another outright lie?

NY Times Exposes McCain Lie: Davis Took $15k LAST MONTH from Freddie Mac (Under FBI Investigation)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXL9Nc-lSvE

New York Times

One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure contradicts a statement Sunday night by Mr. McCain that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

http://tinyurl.com/4hdauv

CNN calls Palin OUT!! Campbell Brown's got 'NADS

Finally, someone in the media tells it like it is: Campbell Brown Calls Palin out.

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

"Tonight I call on the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment," said Brown. "This woman is from Alaska from crying out loud. She is strong. She is tough. She is competent. And you claim she is ready to be one heart beat away form the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff. Allow her to face down those pesky reporters... Let her have a real news conference with real questions. By treating Sarah Palin different from the other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves. Free Sarah Palin. Free her from the chauvinistic chain you are binding her with. Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has just as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do. So let her act like one."

Capt,

If it's one thing you are good at, it's blowing smoke. It's actually rather disheartening to read all your desperate, pathetic attempts to obscure the real truth behind any topic of discussion here. Miles and miles of column space wasted and for what?

I guess all the really erudite posters of several years ago have long since found better things to do than come here.

Of course, I realize that very few who take the time to post here will actually change their minds, myself included, but I really miss the give and take of healthy dialogue.

To tell the truth, The Atheist blog is a lot more lively than this place!

http://my.barackobama.com/ourplan

The failed economic policies and the same corrupt culture that led us into this mess will not help get us out of it. We need to get to work immediately on reforming the broken government -- and the broken politics -- that allowed this crisis to happen in the first place.

And we have to understand that a recovery package is just the beginning. We have a plan that will guarantee our long-term prosperity -- including tax cuts for 95 percent of families, an economic stimulus package that creates millions of new jobs and leads us towards energy independence, and health care that is affordable to every American.

It won't be easy. The kind of change we're looking for never is.

But if we work together and stand by these principles, we can get through this crisis and emerge a stronger nation.

Thank you,

Barack

John McCain: economy is 'still strong'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igAmVs0cvY8

Just one week ago?

Rachel is on it! MUST WATCH TV!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuylCah4sKM

...In a Nutshell...
____________________

Howard A. Rodman

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-a-rodman/keith-richards-cockroache_b_128760.html

In today's New York Times, we see the headline:

Goldman to Raise Capital, With $5 Billion From Buffett

And in the accompanying story written by Ben White, we can read the following:

The billionaire Warren E. Buffett will invest $5 billion in the investment bank Goldman Sachs, as part of the bank's efforts to raise $7.5 billion in fresh capital, a Goldman spokesman, Lucas Van Praag, said Tuesday. In return, Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Mr. Buffett, will receive perpetual preferred shares in Goldman, Mr. Praag said. The preferred stock will pay a 10 percent dividend.

So here's how a real bailout works: Goldman Sachs needs money, Warren Buffet gives them money. In return, Warren Buffet gets stock that pays a ten percent dividend.

Now, for comparison, here's the shell game version. Keep your eye on the pea.

(1) Goldman Sachs gives Hank Paulson seven hundred million dollars (that's seven zero zero comma zero zero zero comma zero zero zero) in salary and bonuses.

(2) Goldman Sachs lends Hank Paulson to the Treasury (now that he can afford to be a public servant).

(3) As the Secretary of the Treasury, Paulson insists that we give Goldman Sachs a lot of money, in exchange for a lot of crap. (If not, we all die.)

(4) Except it's not Hank Paulson's money, it's ours.

(5) If the crap turns out to be crap, we're stuck with it. (And by the way: if it's not crap, why are they so desperate to unload it?)

(6) In four months, Paulson returns to Goldman Sachs.

(7) Paulson receives salary and bonuses from the money we just gave to Paulson to give to Goldman Sachs to give to Paulson.

(8) It's our money. Or was. But we don't get preferred shares. We don't get a ten percent dividend. We don't even get a free copy of The Warren Buffet Way: Second Edition (Paperback). We get crap.

In essence: when Goldman Sachs needs money, and the guy lending the money is rich, they give him something for it. When Goldman Sachs needs money, and the guy lending the money is us, they don't.

Why should they, unless they have to? And the way it stands now, they don't have to.

It's been said that when the dust clears from WWIII, the only things left standing will be Keith Richards, cockroaches, and the investment bank of Goldman Sachs. Having lived long enough to see the Stones, my old New York kitchen, and the events of the past week, I wish I could disagree.

P.S. - Warren Buffet today tells CNBC he wholeheartedly supports the bailout plan. So: our money goes (for free) to prop up a company he just invested $5,000,000,000 in. Why in God's good earth wouldn't he support it?
_________________

Video: Palin Shown Praying With "Witch Hunter"

More information is emerging about the peculiar religious upbringing of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

On Tuesday, progressive writer and documentarian Max Blumenthal reported on visits he had made to Palin's former church, the Wasilla Assembly of God, in late September, and the sermons of the controversial visiting pastor, Thomas Muthee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4HIc-yfgM

John McCain's Keating Five Problem In 97 Seconds (VIDEO)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAzDEbVFcg8

McCrater
For those who have been asking why on earth Barack Obama doesn't have a ten point lead in this race it seems that the wait is finally over.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll of likely voters shows Barack Obama now leading John Mcain 53-42% nationwide.

This is a whopper, perhaps, definitive lead. Frankly, it's no surprise to me as I've been predicting this for weeks.

McCrater
For those who have been asking why on earth Barack Obama doesn't have a ten point lead in this race it seems that the wait is finally over.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll of likely voters shows Barack Obama now leading John Mcain 53-42% nationwide.

This is a whopper, perhaps, definitive lead. Frankly, it's no surprise to me as I've been predicting this for weeks.

McCrater
For those who have been asking why on earth Barack Obama doesn't have a ten point lead in this race it seems that the wait is finally over.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll of likely voters shows Barack Obama now leading John Mcain 53-42% nationwide.

This is a whopper, perhaps, definitive lead. Frankly, it's no surprise to me as I've been predicting this for weeks.

McCrater
For those who have been asking why on earth Barack Obama doesn't have a ten point lead in this race it seems that the wait is finally over.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll of likely voters shows Barack Obama now leading John Mcain 53-42% nationwide.

This is a whopper, perhaps, definitive lead. Frankly, it's no surprise to me as I've been predicting this for weeks.

http://marccooper.com/mccrater/

*****

Might be an outlier number but it is one the trendlines.

Queue - whiny McCain surrogate!

BREAKING: NEW HAMPSHIRE: Obama 51 McCain 45 (Marist 9/17-9/21)

New Hampshire’s likely voters, including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate, and Barack Obama has a 6 percentage point edge over John McCain. Obama leads McCain 51% to 45%. There is a wide partisan divide among New Hampshire’s likely voters. 96% of the state’s likely Democratic voters say they support Obama while 87% of the state’s likely Republican voters say they back McCain. A majority of New Hampshire’s Independent voters -- 54% -- report they are behind Barack Obama.

http://tinyurl.com/3r4kb8

The biggest story of the campaign

Mark this day down. Today – last night, actually – the New York Times and Roll Call reported (it's hard to see who was first) what may be the biggest political story of the campaign. How big? John McCain might have to fire his campaign manager. Big enough?

The story is this. The lobbying firm of Rick Davis, the manager, was being paid $15,000 a month by Freddie Mac until last month. That fact is a direct contradiction of words McCain had spoken Sunday night. At that time, responding to a Times story being prepared for Monday's paper revealing that Davis had been the head of a lobbying consortium led by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae until 2005, McCain said Davis had done no further work for either mortgage giant.

Someone's lying – either Davis to McCain, or McCain to the public. I trust you see the problem here.

http://tinyurl.com/3s8jd2

*****

Maybe keeping Davis on will be better for McCain? It's hard to tell how he can address this to his advantage.

ARE YOU SHITTING ME? (again?) Paulson and Bernanke deserve 20 to life.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/11350

****

Almost funny

Biden Rips McCain On Zapatero Gaffe In Barnburning Speech

Joseph Biden, in a barnburner speech Wednesday morning, attacked John McCain on all aspects of foreign policy -- including the Republican's unwillingness to commit to a meeting with the prime minister of Spain.

"Last week, John McCain said he would not meet with the leader of Spain. Now folks, he would not meet with the leader of a NATO ally. A NATO ally who has Spanish forces in Afghanistan, who has forces fighting side by side with the U.S." said Biden. "Ladies and gentlemen, what kind of judgment is that? What kind of bluster is that? Ladies and gentleman, John McCain's notion about how to deal with our allies as well as adversaries is something I just don't understand. How in God's name will we deal with Russia, without a united NATO. Ladies and gentleman, John McCain has gotten it wrong on so many fundamental issues."

http://tinyurl.com/4mqqbg

*****

One can only hope Biden keeps on giving as VP.

Washington Post:

"The lobbying firm founded and co-owned by Rick Davis, the campaign manager for Sen. John McCain's White House bid, received payments from Freddie Mac in recent months, despite assertions by Davis earlier this week that the firm's work for the mortgage giant had ended three years ago. An industry source told The Washington Post that Davis's firm, Davis Manafort, continued to receive monthly payments in the $15,000 range from Freddie Mac until very recently, confirming an ongoing financial relationship reported last night in several other publications. The source said Davis Manafort was paid for being on retainer to Freddie Mac but did little actual work after early 2007."

(via huffpo)

Newsweek:

"...Davis's lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, based in Washington, D.C., continued to receive $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac until last month--long after the Homeownership Alliance had been terminated. The two sources, who requested anonymity discussing sensitive information, told NEWSWEEK that Davis himself approached Freddie Mac in 2006 and asked for a new consulting arrangement that would allow his firm to continue to be paid. The arrangement was approved by Hollis McLoughlin, Freddie Mac's senior vice president for external relations, because 'he [Davis] was John McCain's campaign manager and it was felt you couldn't say no,' said one of the sources. [McLoughlin did not return phone calls]."

New York Times:

"They said they did not recall Mr. Davis's doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than to speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis's firm, Davis Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of his close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House."

*****

$15,000.00 per month because Davis was in proximity to McCain? How elitist can one get?

Obama-Biden communications director Dan Pfeiffer:

"It is now clear that both John McCain and Rick Davis did not tell the truth about Davis's continuing financial relationship with Freddie Mac, one of the actors at the center of this financial crisis. It's troubling not only that Davis's firm--with which he is still associated and which the McCain campaign paid directly last year--continued to be compensated by Freddie Mac until as recently as last month, but that the firm did little work and apparently was being paid simply to provide access to the McCain campaign.

"The question that now needs to be answered is this: did Freddie Mac or any other special interests buy access to John McCain by compensating top officials, including Rick Davis?"

*****

Buying and selling "access" is so Busheney . . .

Chicago Sun-Times:

"John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis skips lunch with reporters... John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis--under the spotlight because of his work for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--is skipping a Wednesday lunch with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. On Tuesday, word came that McCain political director Mike DuHaime will substitute for Davis because he is 'heading out on the trail' today."

*****

Off to the same undisclosed location as "Foreclosure Phil", Carly "McCain couldn't run a company" Fiorina or just put in the "cone of silence" with Palin?

This is no way to run a campaign. Imagine McCain running the country with the same skill set?

*runs screaming*

Andrea Mitchell Compares McCain Press Treatment To North Korea, Syria

Tonight on the Rachel Maddow Show, NBC's Andrea Mitchell drew a line between the McCain campaign's unprecedented avoidance of the press and the restrictive practices in countries like North Korea and Syria.

Maddow recounted how McCain officials had refused to allow editorial reporters into meetings with Sarah Palin and foreign leaders today, and asked whether press access to such events was standard practice.

"It is standard practice," Mitchell responded. "It's standard for the White House, for the State Department. And often we are in foreign countries where it is not standard practice, like in Pyongyang or in Damascus, and usually the State Department insists upon it and then we are at risk for whatever happens. ... But that's not by by American officials and certainly not by Republican campaign officials running a national election here in the United States."

http://tinyurl.com/4uatt3

*****

John Mc-Kim Jung Il!

Losing Mrs. Greenspan will not bode well for McCain.

From NBC's Mark Murray

The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll will be released at 6:30 pm ET, but here's an early look at one set of numbers:

Forty-nine percent say that Palin is unqualified to be president if the need arises, compared with 40 percent who say she's qualified.

By contrast, 64 percent believe Biden is qualified to be president, versus just 21 percent who disagree.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/24/1439689.aspx

McCain is 72. He's had cancer 4 times.

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

Bush to address "Murkkuns" at 9pm tonight...

Because he's so good at 'splainin' things to us who don't unnerstan' stuff...

They're in a panic, folks. They think we might, finally be on to 'em!

-T

Watch the reaction as the "people" turn on him.

He is not popular and has ZERO credibility.

By this speech - he will cement in peoples minds that this is to bail HIM out. It has been his mismanagement and abject failures as a leader, his selection of cabinet and advisors and the GOP ideology that careated this mess.

Enough is enough.

Just say no~! No bail-out, no McCain, no way no how!

McCain seeks to delay debate
Candidate plans to return to Washington Thursday to deal with credit crisis
______________________

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26872907/

NEW YORK - Republican John McCain says he’s directing his staff to work with Barack Obama’s campaign and the debate commission to delay Friday’s debate because of the economic crisis.

In a statement, McCain says he will stop campaigning after addressing former President Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative session on Thursday and return to Washington to focus on the nation’s financial problems.

The Republican presidential hopeful called Obama before he made the statement and told him he was going to suspend his campaign, according to a McCain senior adviser.

____________________

…how very convienient…

Forshadows of a ” postponed” election?

-T

Are you ready to do this service for your Don?

I want you to use all your powers and all your skills. I don't want his mother to see him this way!

Hollywood Johnny McCain becomes The Biggest Celebrity in the World:

John McCain, whose ads skewer Barack Obama for his "celebrity" status, has his own close ties to show business, the new issue of Us Weekly reports exclusively.

The 72-year-old was recently made TV-ready by makeup artist Tifanie White who's worked on So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.

McCain paid the 2002 beauty-school grad $5,583.43 for her services, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Well, at least he doesn't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you...

Oh, wait.

http://tinyurl.com/4okbpl

McCain talks bailout deal with Romney, CEOs

Renews insistence deal have more transparency, oversight, accountability

NEW YORK - Republican presidential candidate John McCain met Wednesday with a panel of business executives to seek their opinions on the Bush administration's proposed $700 million bailout of U.S. financial markets.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26871010/

*****

Odd, one might be tempted to think Palin doesn't have anything "executive experience wise" to contribute?

She is the most qualified GOP executive on the planet so . . . Why doesn't McCain have HER right there by his side? She should be in the mix - unless she is just a prop, eh?

...$5000 makup job? Well at least it wasn't a $500 haircut!

lololol

-T