Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

Two in a row?
Day's half over....

Why do we expect that something must be negative? Is this a head fake from the Dems?

Who is the master Campaigner? Is it Bill Clinton and maybe just maybe this is the best reverse psychology? Why is it human nature to want to see the negative attack? That Bill taking a soft approach will help move the undecided. Lets face it he would only push further the true McCain supporters. The target is not those that have made a choice.

Or is it that Bill really does think that Sarah is HOT!!! And or is wondering how the MSM helped steal this from his loving wife Hillary…

Ok...
So he should be negative on McCain?
What is the thing BO does not want in his campaign? NEGATIVITY ( has he said over and over again).
If BC goes on the attack and the republicans nail him, saying that as a former president he should be ashamed yetta yetta yetta....the BO campaign will hammer him also and the media will ask if he cannot shut up for a second.
Whatever BC will do or (not do) for this eclection cycle will be food for people criticizing. That is why I asked months ago for the release of both. Let them just disappear for months and come back on election day...

Hilary lost, but she is his wife.... I would talk about my wife all the time also. So Chris, even though you still r my favourite comedian, shut the hell up. People like you continue to rift open wounds.

Thnx for brnging the item up Craig...

Jason,
Good points - As BO is the most negative in the ads in Florida it is ironic that BC is taking a soft road. BO may have said no negativity in his ads but those are more of the JUST WORDS from BO.

BO should not bring that up how pure and not negative that he is anymore as it only makes him look silly

"Hope BO had a plan B... I do think so however. And stop focussing on the Hillary women. Even Hillary has moved on......"
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/the-electoral-tie-scenarios.html#comment-149215

Jason, They don't realize we have ALL moved on. Plan B is long overdue,

AS POTUS, BHO vows deep sending cut. HURRAY!!!! But didn't say where. Oooooooooooo. Could it be the military he has in mind? Liberals, as we know, and and military agendas do not mix well.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080922/D93BUL0O0.html

"The target is not those that have made a choice."
Posted by: Ping Pong | September 23, 2008 6:12 AM

Ping Pong, I think another quote from Jason comments (from the same post I linked above) ties into your post as well: "The time for party unity is over...,,Those days are gone. Please wake up you guys. It is not coming back. even if HRC or Bill comes, it will not happen...."

And I think you are right about Bill not being happy about how the MSM helped the DNC steal Hillary's chances. How can he feel otherwise. The whole primary was a scam. They just underestimated peoples ability to see it.

A repost from yesterday:
What Really is Wisdom?
"Not necessarily degrees, glibness, poise, or factual recall, but the ability to understand human nature. And that requires two simple things: an inductive method of reasoning to look at the world empirically, and a body of knowledge and experience to draw on for guidance."
"
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/palin_and_obamawhat_really_is.html

"Is it me, or did he not want to say the words Barack Obama?" Craig Crawford

I can understand that.
It pains me to say it too.
Go Bill!

The scary part to me for the Dems.. Think about it- what great leadership from Nancy,Harry and Howard - picked BHO well in advance, is this group really the best to offer -- NOT. They are doing their best to stay out of the way, as for sure the Dem Congress is a disgrace.

Dems need to clean their house as was what happened to the Reps in 2006

Michael Dukakis just can't let it go. You lost there bubba, because you allowed a convicted murder out on a unsupervised 48 hour furlough, so he could continue his criminal ways and beat a young couple and rape the young girl. The fact that Willie Horton is Black had nothing to do with it, it was a stupid idiotic policy. Been driving any tanks lately?

http://www.politickerma.com/jeremyjacobs/1251/dukakis-mccain-using-same-race-tactics-willie-horton-ad

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149237

chloe, that was Chris Rock's quote, not mine

Sorry Craig.

I didn't mean to make it look like yours, just was quoting from your blog. I should have been more clear.

Thanks for pointing that out.

In the "Why would this be" column.

http://wcbstv.com/campaign08/united.nations.general.2.823131.html

Maybe because BHO believes he can talk Iran out of fulfilling their daily made promise to eliminate Israel.

Well, if Mr Clinton is obligated to support Mr Obama, I would have him say something like, "Ah believe Barack will do an adequate job."

Bill gets the Sarah Palin appeal.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008195867_apbillclintonpalin.html

Does Hillary join the McCain Cabinet? Bill says Yes?

Put Hillary in charge of National Health?
Put Romney over Economic affairs?
Bring back Powell.........

NYT favors BHO. As if we didn't know this already, but is always nice to see it clearly laid out..

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13733.html

"Liberals, as we know, and and military agendas do not mix well."
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149235

Fry,
I absolutely know this is none of my business, but I've always felt I could speak freely to you. When you group all 'liberals' in one clump, and demean them, you demean a lot of people here. When you're more specific about which liberals you're talking about, like in that post last night, then it's a lot easier to follow you.

Now in the above remark, I think you're talking about Obama and his buddies, but you generalize again, as in 'all liberals', which can mean a lot of things. There's left, center and right liberals. Plus lot of other variations. A blanket insult doesn't mean much.

Why would Biden say this and not clarify the true meaning. His helicopter was forced down while in Afghanistan. One may think Joe's helicoper came under fire by the Taliban, or AQ, but Joe everyone knows it was because of a snow storm. Am I seeing a link here between Joe's embellishing this story and his plagiarizing that caused him to drop out of the 1998 presidential election. Joe just try to tell a story the way it happened. BTW Joe, 1/3 of Pakistan most people would consider it hell.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/the-story-behin.html

Substance, not sound bites, needed in race

"The U.S. is in its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. So far, the federal government's response to the debacle that's shaken Wall Street to the core has put taxpayers on the hook for a staggering $816 billion – and nobody believes we've hit bottom yet.

The crisis is so deep, broad and complex that there will be no quick fixes, certainly none that don't bring significant pain from Wall Street to Main Street. It's not enough for the candidates to keep speaking in generalities"

"This is no ordinary time. Politics as usual is a luxury America can no longer afford."
ttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-prez_21edi.ART.State.Edition1.26f571f.html

wapo's rucker wrote bill will "...hold campaign events in Florida, Nevada and Ohio, as well as host fundraisers in New York, California and Ohio.
Clinton said today that he will campaign for Obama beginning next week, once his annual philanthropy conference concludes.
He said he will join his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the vice-presidential candidate, Sen. Joseph Biden, at a campaign event in northeastern Pennsylvania.
"It's a big October," Clinton told a small group of philanthropy reporters in New York. "I'm going to be out there a lot for him."

rucker also quoted bc as saying re palin "He [mccain] made a good choice for himself, but we don't think it's a good choice for America."

in all fairness, folks, bc is carrying his end of the load better and heavier for bo than are most of bo's so-called supporters.

Chole,

Liberals was capitalized here as it was the first word of the sentence. Maybe I should have said; Military agendas, and liberal agendas do not mix well.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-prez_21edi.ART.State.Edition1.26f571f.html

Chloe@7:03

I agree with you.

Problem is, both on the left and the right, candidates obligate themselves to extreme positions. Examples, on the extreme left, if we unilaterally disarm, others will surely follow. And on the right, screw the treaties, we're going to put nukes in outer space.

Candidates must have the courage to lead us in sensible directions.

Bill, not sure BHO shares those views, but Biden does.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13756.html

An AQ October Surprise would benefit which candidate?

http://www.nysun.com/foreign/spies-warn-that-al-qaeda-aims-for-october-surprise/86326/

Flatus, I 100% agree with you.

"Take the bus and leave the driving to us."
Maybe you should rethink that trip if that bus ride is in Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/09/21/greyhound-stabbing.html?ref=rss

Experts...
What was the relationship of McCain with Clinton during BC term as President?
Good, Bad, anything of note?

Where was McCain when BC was in the Fry Pan?

and on the bho campaign trail, music

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/sep/23/barack.obama.campaign.soundtrack

People Liberals don't get.

Paul Teutul of OCC. Love the show.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/politics/

Tony Powell: How many $300,000 homes would $700 Billion buy?

Where have we heard this before?

"Obama Camp Seeks To Lower Expectations For First Debate..."

What no teleprompter?

On the stump: Obama preps for Friday clash
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/sep/22/on-the-stump/

Sarah Palin to meet with 7 world leaders at UN
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93BUITG0&show_article=1

The UN is just not sure. WOW, now there is a revelation if I ever heard of one. The UN just isn't sure, but maybe, possibly, but we don't know.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080922/ap_on_re_mi_ea/eu_nuclear_iran

Be sure to tune in to The Daily Show tonight to hear Bill Clinton not mention Barak Obama, again.

BO wasn't very gracious to Hil'ry during the campaign, and, he almost forgot to mention her at an event to reduce her campaign debt.

Couple that with the fact that Bill (and 18 million others) think Hil'ry was better suited for the job & it's no mystery as to why he's not putting his full support behind the guy. He's saving it for Hil'ry in 2012.

Anybody watch the Palin over-view on MSNBC? The voice-over stressing that "eight months" after Scary & Iron Dog got hitched by the JP, their first son was born.
With the time they spent outlining their romance and marriage, they could've brought up an actual issue...but they would rather point out that she had a shotgun weddin'. Bill's "hot" comment is sure to get her more misplaced press this week.

Scary + 7 world leaders = the next GOP campaign ad showing that she's ready to lead because she has met with world leaders.

Bill's activity - SLICK WILLY AT WORK...
Watch out - who knows what he will do -
Follow the MONEY - The Two Step help pay Bill's Bills is at work.....

I have been a life long democrat and I have been so disappointed in my party. There seems to be a lot of Ann Coulters in our party. The mean ulgy things that have been said about Hillary, Palin and McCain. Criticize their weaknesses not the person.

I am still sitting on the fence but the Democratic party is really helping to push me off in the opposite direction.

Even though I don't agree with some of her ideas,Palin represent s just a regular mom, not a rocket scientist. Her family a regular family. It could be nice to have a woman's touch in the White House. Someone who is not extremely rich or famous. Someone like the rest of us. She has been ambitious and lucky. That never hurts. Her lack of experience might be a nice change. Look what all the experts in Washington and Wall Street have done to us. Don't most of the rest of you think you could have done a better job.

I worry that this big bail out coming is being done just to protect the rich politicians and wall Street brokers. It scares me to death. This mess didn't happen overnight. Why didn't anyone warn us about it ? Where was the media? Just like the run up to the Iraq war they fear monger but never warned us before what could happen.

I would be more comfortable with Obama's lack of experience if he weren't backed by all the big power people who helped get us to where we are today. They wanted him because, unlike Hillary, they think they can control him.

I have been watching the Fox News channel because actually they have been more fair and balanced than the rest of the media. I have not heard the mean and ugly things that I have heard on the other networks. Obama didn't need all that advertising money the MSM has done it for him for free.

Carol, just a regular working girl

Blue - Looks like the Republicans are coping the Dems on the leadershp thing.
Hey lets go take the rock show to Europe and this also equals ready to lead --- NOT

Maybe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offer to debate both McCain and Obama is what BHO should do,,, After all BHO has said in the past.

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=064ab2d8-9cfc-4ab5-bf60-c4d7b4ee6905

Kerry joked, “We were going to send Biden out to fight the Taliban with snowballs...”

http://lonestartimes.com/2008/09/23/snow-flake-down/

Just stick to the issues, Joe, just stick to the issues.
Hey, at least it was his own anecdote, even if it was enhanced.

Opps Barack will sit and have decaf tea with Ahmadinejad.

What timing......

My 6:36 post
" AS POTUS, BHO vows deep sending cut."

LOL and he want to give to the UN $50 billion every year.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/19/obama-laments-debt-but-promises-billions-for-anti-poverty-program/

ping - I agree. Hil'ry is the one who is ready to lead, but BO is the one we're stuck with now & a better choice than McShame who is showing his true colors. He has no center & can't be trusted with our money or our national security. Just looked at who he picked to back him up & listen to his war-mongering rhetoric.

Obama! Obama! Obama! (since it can't be Hil'ry this time.)

The "old boys" network is at it again. McCain just can't help himself.

"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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080923/pl_bloomberg/aqioor9klone

[repost]

People say Obama needs to hit McCain harder, or pay more respect the Clinton years, or spend more time here, or do this or do that.

You know what Democrats - all he needs is to get the 90% support of his party that McCain enjoys and Obama will win this thing in a landslide.

The Republicans consistently win Presidential elections because they are (1) more loyal and (2) better organized.

Obama has organizational skills unmatched by any Democratic candidate we have seen. So the rest is on you - Democrats.

[Remember what it felt like in 2000 and 2004. If you did not vote Democratic then - and you had it to do all over again - what would you do...]

Warren,
As part of the lobby effort - who in Congress was the biggest recipients and protector of Freddie and Fannie?

ummmm Oh both Dems and one of the top is Oh My Barack "I will take the money and back out of my promise" Obama - after all they are JUST WORDS

And McCain statements of action earlier this week - None of substance from BHO - are now being echoed

Good morning everyone -- Bill Clinton was brilliant on Letterman last night. Chris Rock was an ass -- but I guess that's why he gets paid. Clinton even mentioned that he and Hillary were going to campaign with Biden in Scranton, PA.
Love me my Bill Clinton.

Gotta go -- lots of meetings today. Have a great day everyone!

In BHO's parade of laundry list things he wants to do, one is give every college student $4,000 every year while they are in school in exchange for community service work. Forget for a moment who would keep track off all these college students and exactly what they are really doing, and the cost involved. But did you know there are 7,500,000 full time college student here in the US. If every college student jumped onboard this program that would come out to $30 billion, but lets be realistic and say only half applied, that would be $15 billion. That and the UN program are just 2 new programs that would total $65 billion, and that is just for starters. National health plan what do you think that will cost? 46,000,000 X unk$ Where do you think these deep spending cuts will come from???

Morn'n BNYC...
How you doing?

By the way regardless of the winner - I pledge to continue to work to contribute in support of the solid and sound Fundamentals of our US Economy and to support the Values of this Great Country

Blue,

"since it can't be Hil'ry this time."

Let me finish that for you. This time or anytime thanks to Team BHO.

"I have been watching the Fox News channel because actually they have been more fair and balanced than the rest of the media."
--ct

I agree. Until a couple months ago, I never watched Fox(especially Bill O'Reilly). I was a big fan Keith Olbermann...I believed all he said about Bill O'Reilly.

Now, I watch Fox all the time(especially Bill O'Reilly)...they seem to praise/slam the candidates equally...HAHA!!

"Bill-O" is my new 8-9:00pm bf...ohhhyeahhh!! I may even go to his book signing this weekend!!

Oh look!!...Bill's on TV now...woohoo!!

"I have been watching the Fox News channel because actually they have been more fair and balanced than the rest of the media. I have not heard the mean and ugly things that I have heard on the other networks."
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149268

You and a lot of other people Carol. Have you seen their ratings. I very much enjoyed read your thoughtful post.

What are we seeing today?

From CNN’s politicalticker blog:

“She and John McCain are very close,” Clinton said. “They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history, and they’re afraid they’d put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other.”

Also

Bill Clinton: McCain 'A Great Man'; Praises Wife's, Not Obama's Economic Plan

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/bill-clinton-pr.html

Below are a list of articles of how our financial crisis came to be.

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=36048

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13920

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_hassett&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/09/20/ibd-carter-more-blame-financial-crisis-bush-or-mccain

http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/541234%3C/p%3E

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=306632135350949

booohooo During the primary, the obots said Clinton wasn't being presidential enough and was too partisan.

Plus encouraging people to make fun of his wife and call him a racist.

But would a Pres. Obama support me and my community? What will he support and how would he make it happn?
The circle continues....

Words Just Words

Bottom Line.

The Clintons do see John McCain as a good candidate and leader.
They know he is not George Bush.
Question - Do they think McCain is better for America then Obama? Plus add the rude behavior driven by self centric Obama to the Clintons,,, What do you get?

As Bill knows so well you sleep in the bed you made

mornin' all.

Ping, Sarah's not bad, but she's not HOT. Bill may have a different opinion - after all, she is a woman - but c'mon.

And just for you and Fry, here's one of your guys dissing your guy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

God, the republican can't ge the support of George Will? That says more than anything Obama or his campaign or supporters can say about McSame.

Fry, in your 8:15 post complaining about money being promised that can't be covered by spending cuts, you somehow forgot to mention the $700B your economist in chief just demanded that Congress pass without so much as debate.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149235

Fry, you're killin' me this morning. Look what the conservatives have done to the military. We would have a hard time resisting an invasion by Grenada after 8 years of Dumya.

btw, how'd you get so many links in your 8:15 post?

That's my Big Dawg! He just gets better all the time.

Washington Post, Staff Writer David Cho, has written an article on Thursday, August 21, 2008; Page A01, titled... A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading

Shouldn't Hank be doing something about that.

Study links oil prices to investor speculation

By H. JOSEF HEBERT – Sep 10, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speculation by large investors — and not supply and demand for oil — were a primary reason for the surge in oil prices during the first half of the year and the more recent price declines, an independent study concluded Wednesday.

The report by Masters Capital Management said investors poured $60 billion into oil futures markets during the first five months of the year as oil prices soared from $95 a barrel in January to $145 a barrel by July.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gcChYUijMECuNHQJXdgHm5jW5HfAD933VTA00

Hey warren -

It's Democrats saying that stuff. Maybe all he needs to do to get the 90% support of his party that McCain enjoys win this thing in a landslide is hit McCain harder, or pay more respect the Clinton years, or spend more time here (say, PA, OH), or do this or do that. If he wants that 90% support, he needs to listen to what Dems are saying - they're telling him what he need sto do to win that support.

btw, nice to see you back, I used to rather enjoy our little backs and forths. You gonna be around regularly, or just hopping in?

btw, how'd you get so many links in your 8:15 post?"

I was wondering the same thing.
Sometimes I can't even get the limit of three to post.

Pardon, me, Fry, I meant how'd you get so many links in your 8:27 post?

pogo,

My Google expertise ;-)

I shouldn't have laughed so hard at the first paragraph of this article, but I couldn't help it. Speaking of irony (and I've grown so tired of hearing what racists we all are).

Liberals' Warnings About Obama Loss May Prove Self-Fulfilling
If Barack Obama loses the 2008 election, liberal hell will break loose.

Seven weeks before the 2008 presidential election, liberals are warning America that if Barack Obama loses, it is because Americans are racist. Of course, that this means that Democrats (and independents) are racist, since Republicans will vote Republican regardless of the race of the Democrat, is an irony apparently lost on the Democrats making these charges.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/liberals_warnings_about_obama.html

N\Fry, no, really. I wasn't poking at you - I wanted to know.

Here are a couple of terms that are being tossed around, and my understanding of them:

--Securitized assets. Bundles of 'something' that are parceled together to make them easy to sell or trade. The 'something' could be mortgages, contracts for future delivery of lumber, or anything that's amenable to bundling. In the best of all possible worlds, a bundle of securitized assets would be less risky than the individual assets. That takes us to our next important term:

-Leveraged assets. When I used to trade stocks and options, I was heavily leveraged. For a small amount of money, I would purchase an option to buy a securitized asset at a specific price. I would usually make these purchases on margin, meaning I borrowed the money from the brokerage using my portfolio as security. If things went my way, I would make a whole bunch of money. If they went the wrong way, I would lose my entire investment. In neither case, would I ever see what I was purchasing or selling. Two people assumed the risk in these transactions--me and the person on the opposite end of the position. In any case, by using my good name and the assets in my portfolio as collateral, I was able to borrow money from my brokerage thereby leveraging my position when I made my purchases.

The whole system was based on having an accurate picture of the cash value of all my assets at any particular time.

Now, if I understand correctly, what 'investment' bankers have done is take small bundles of securitized assets and rebundle them into much larger packages. Each time they did this, they accepted someone else's characterization of the quality of the bundles that were being created and transacted.

In many cases the characterizations wildly overstated the value of the bundles contents. Let's say they were mortgages. Where the bundler might say the assets were $100-million of performing mortgages due to expire in ten years, the bundle might actually contain a mix of performing and non-performing mortgages with an actual value, if unbundled, of $50-million.

Here's where the great-big problem is. The 'investment' banks purchasing the supposed $100-million bundles would only have to put-up maybe $3-million in cash. The other $97-million would be on credit using the value of their entire portfolio as collateral. But if their entire portfolio of mortgages is worth half of what it's supposed to be, then they better have the cash to make up the difference--which in the case of our $100-million bundle, would be $47-million bucks.

The 'investment' banks quite simply don't have the cash to make up the shortage. So, they must liquidate all their other assets in order to create cash. And, the liquidation will be done at fire sale prices.

Doesn't take long for the liquidator to become bankrupt.

So what's the government to do?

"Bill won't do for Obama Bush's appalling handing of the economy will! "

Boy Howdy -truer words were never spoken. Obot can't win on his own. If it weren't for the economic crisis, President McCain would be a sure thing.

There's a picture, Obama hoping the economy gets worse. Is Rev Wright working overtime?

pogo,

And maybe a few paid subscription to various new sources.

Sorry, but I need to post the last paragraph of that article too.

"I pray he is wrong on the first point. But it does seem that liberals are continuing to do whatever they can to increase anger at America, or at least at "white America." For 40 years, liberals have described the most open and tolerant society on earth as racist and xenophobic. If Barack Obama loses, the results of this liberal depiction of America may become frighteningly apparent."

Answer to Tony Powell's Question: $700 billion would buy 2,333,333 $300,000 homes.

Paulson, Cox...etc should lose their jobs. They are responsible for the mess and should not have let it get to the crisis point.

Let's ask Paul ONeill and John Snow what they think.

Threadloose

Today's screed on blistersyeahbutchannel

Straw arguments for hey rides!

Fry, I know how to find them and link them - I just wondered how you got past the 3 link rule - or has that rule gone by the wayside?

boy Trail Mix is right wingnut central this am After 8 years of Bushes destroying the military and the constitution and you people want 4 more. Incredible!!!

C-SPAN has a video of T. Boone Pickens at the Press Club. Well worth watching if you are interested in energy production.

"the constitution"

Worried about the constitution? What Democrat is going to fix that. Not anyone running for the top office. He already threw the constitution under the bus.

"I just wondered how you got past the 3 link rule"

The only difference I can see pogo is that he didn't write any heading on the links. I know that I can't go past two links sometimes without it getting kicked back. It's weird that it took it that time.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149308

That's a lot of habitat for humanity.

Are they telling us they have more than two million bad loans out there or are they hiding something more than bad mortgages?

I've run up against the same thing, chloe, which is why I asked. Maybe I'll try something and see if it works.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/economy/24fannie.html?hp

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/24txtpaulson.html

http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20080923a1.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/us/politics/23obama.html?hp

Well, I'll be...

by Patrick Ruffini | September 21, 2008 at 9:25 PM
in

* bailout
* financial crisis
* GOP
* House Republicans

Republican incumbents in close races have the easiest vote of their lives coming up this week: No on the Bush-Pelosi Wall Street bailout.

God Himself couldn't have given rank-and-file Republicans a better opportunity to create political space between themselves and the Administration. That's why I want to see 40 Republican No votes in the Senate, and 150+ in the House. If a bailout is to pass, let it be with Democratic votes. Let this be the political establishment (Bush Republicans in the White House + Democrats in Congress) saddling the taxpayers with hundreds of billions in debt (more than the Iraq War, conjured up in a single weekend, and enabled by Pelosi, btw), while principled Republicans say "No" and go to the country with a stinging indictment of the majority in Congress.
http://www.thenextright.com/patrick-ruffini/republicans-should-vote-against-the-bailout

Bill was wearing his Hillary 2012 t-shirt under his clothes.

He may also be pandering to that particular group of dems that will vote democratic, but not for Obama. They are voting party, not person. Perhaps that is "why" he doesn't mention the name. These will be the same group of people who will call him president instead of Barack Obama. The name still sounds "foreign" to them, but they are voting democratic.

Craig, thanks for the state poll tracker.

festina lente.

Chloe, I am glad you are posting and I am glad you survived the storm. I met a man and his daughter yesterday who called themselves 'refugees from Houston.' They were staying with relatives in Las Cruces.

Hearing moved to C-SPAN3

Bush yammering at the UN - unwatchable as ever. Thank God for the last time. Now he can go hide in shame until Jan 20 and then slink out into well deserved oblivion.

What is the freakin´ problem if he mentions or not mentions the name?

Should people FAKE their beliefs, just for parties sake? or should people be honest to themselves?
I would prefer the latter. Someone who fakes will fake also when he is telling me that he will work for me...

Ease up peeps. This is branding out to be something big, which it isn´t. In a few days , all people will ever talk about is how BC diod not mention BO´s name... For crying out loud, or we spoiled brats or adults?

Taking about moving on...Djeeezzzzzz

If BO somehow loses this election....I will feel sad for Bill and Hillary.

DNC is not Democartyoc National Congress or whatever, but Damn NO Clinton´s.....This is really getting iiritating now.... They will never do good and be blames for everything that goes wrong with that stupid party.

when me old pop was a teenaged welder he said his boss would often stop where he was working and say, " Dont get in a rush, but every now and then when you think about it.........hurry."

Sorry for the typing errors.... I had to air out a bit....
Headline news here in Amsterdam... "he did not mention the name". And now all those so called journalists are coming out with why he didn´t....

Lord have mercy.... He is preparing for Hillary in 2012.

This is really sick.... really really sickening.

and one more point about Bill Clinton, once again have a comedian commenting on politics. The blur between talking heads and comedians continues...

Bloomberg had the hearings...just switched to UNBUSH speech.

This is how a war goes swimmingly? Baghdad neihborhoods are more peaceful because we pay Iraqis to patrol and have checkpoints in them? Wonderful way to ensure we'll have to stay there. What a FUBAR.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/world/middleeast/23awake.html?hp

Yeah, jamie, those beady close-set eyes and that blubbering nonsense will rivet a crowd every time.

jason, do you drink? if not, you should consider taking it up. Sounds like you're gonna need it. :-)

I'm not a huge Bob Herbert fan, although from time to time he seems to have good insight into the issue du jour. This seems to be one of those times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/opinion/23herbert.html?hp

In short - why should we think that Paulson has a magic bullet for the economy that will collapse without precipitous action on his proposal when just months ago he was telling us how good the economy was - we just weren't able to see it? (Editorial liberties taken and acknowledged).

thank you, Pogo....

: )

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149345

Brain, Unfortunately many Evangelicals look at their "what would Jesus do?" bracelets and immediately do the opposite for the sake of power and greed while smiling a holier than thou sickenly sweet smile. Talk about giving a whole religion a bad name.

Great question: Why was there no warning of this impending crisis before it got to this point? Deer in headlights moment for Bernacke.

Isn't someone on here always mentioning Chris Rock? Who is that ? Fry? lol funny!

Hmm...the fed is sure describing this a big and scary, but still no other description to quantify what it is we are buying?

Craig's comments about Bill and Hillary only make me reminisce as to how we got to this point in time. Last weekend I decided to avoid all things political, {though I kept abreast of the financial news} I quietly settled in over the weekend and watched the movie "The Phantom Of The Opera," and loved it, surprised how improved it was over the play. Still seeking refuge from the political realm, I reread a favorite by the Bard, "Much Ado About Nothing." At its core it is about foul play, deception, and above all else treachery, that witches brew led me irresistably to a smiling Donna Brazile.

I thought of how Donna Brazile led her fellow thespians, skillfully and with cunning killed the DLC. The crowd cheered, making merry at others expense, yet some took no part in the gaiety, killjoys all. Yes, indeed "the world may be a stage," but it is not the moderates who occupy it, sadly dismissed to the balcony recesses while Bill Clinton is held in check in the lobby. I am not a dem put it doesn't necessarily follow that I don't care.

Harking back to the 2000 election, seems almost antediluvian now, when Brazile sent off a dutiful Al Gore on a fools errant, in which Gore meticulously avoided talking about Bill Clinton's achievements, those very productive years that Gore himself helped shape and define. Gore and Brazile cleverly kept Bill an arms length away, delegating him to obscurity in that election. I mention this because this is the race that ushered in the rise of Brazile's infamous DNC at the expense of Clinton's centrist DLC, and this decision is now bearing its bitter fruit.

In "Much Ado" I recall the moment when the priest devised a plan to save Hero from banishment or worse.. similar to the fate befalling the DLC. "I will deny Obama my vote in the hope that the moderates will once again occupy center stage. Yet my greatest hope is that the Marquee will read simply, "Welcome Home Bill."

The cynic may read into this mere sentimentalism but that doesn't diminish the truth of it.

PUMA/Clintons4McCain "Obama, a weak man for tough times."

toast

One of My alltime heroes is Bob Marley.
This master of music has made undoubtedly the best music ever...
One of these songs has popped into my head very often this election cycle.

Here are the lyrics to: Who the cap fit......

Who The Cap Fit
Man to man is so unjust, children
You don't know who to trust
Your worst enemy could be your best friend
And your best friend your worst enemy

Some will eat and drink with you
Then behind them su-su 'pon you
Only your friend know your secrets
So only he could reveal it
And who the cap fit, let them wear it [repeat]
Said I throw me corn, me no call no fowl
I saying, "Cok-cok-cok, cluck-cluck-cluck"

Some will hate you, pretend they love you now
Then behind they try to eliminate you
But who JAH bless, no one curse
Thank God we're past the worse

Hypocrites and parasites
Will come up and take a bite
And if your night should turn to day
A lot of people would run away
And who the cap fit let them wear it [repeat]

And then a gonna throw me corn
And then a gonna call no fowl
And then a gonna "Cok-cok-cok, cluck-cluck-cluck"

Some will eat and drink with you
And then behind them su-su 'pon you
And if your night should turn to day
A lot of people will run away
Who the cap fit, let them wear it [repeat]
Throw me corn, me no call no fowl
I saying "Cok-cok-cok, cluck-cluck-cluck"

Hope you can figure out what is layered in these lyrics.....

toast...much agreement here about Donna Brazille and her failure in running the Gore campaign. I work with a young man in his early twenties who want to be a senator. He is hispanic. His feeling is the college vote for Obama is not strong enough to contribute very much to the dem count in the GE. He wants HRC in 2012. Interesting point of view and he will not actively blog as he does not want to have anything to haunt him as he progresses in his bid for senator.

Thinking about Naomi Klein's analysis of "disaster capitalism," one takeaway is that we should similarly use these moments of crisis to "our" advantage. I was saying yesterday, that that's what happened to kickoff the French Revolution.

Let's use the broken financial system to bring in an entire different order of things.

To the barricades!

KGC...I'm there. I believe Klein mentioned on Bill Mahrer as long as we are going to buy a company or two, it should be an oil company instead of a losing enterprise.

Toast, you do wax poetic. Lemme see if I can recall how well avoiding mention of Bill's economic achievements worked for Al. Oh, yes, I remember. He became a professor - was it at Middle Tennesee State U, won an Academy Award and the Nobel Peace Prize and became a leading force in the global climate change field. But I don't recall him being addressed as Mr. President. Maybe I missed somthing? Donna has a short memory.

Lunch

Chris Rock???...... you mean the Chris Rock that crams the word "fuck" as many times as he can into his HBO specials because he thinks it makes him cool...... anyone who would listen to him for political advice is a few cards short of a full deck..... IMO....

Chloe..... glad to see you posting..... was thinking of you.....

KGC.... the French Revolution..... barricades..... ooooh la la.... saw the play Les Miserables while on vacation last week.....

hey..... we have plenty of cash..... here's hoping the rest of you do too......

Blonde Wino

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/21/74813/5532/600/602491

We are all Les Miserables

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q24j4FqQsYY

toast...much agreement here about Donna Brazille and her failure in running the Gore campaign. I work with a young man in his early twenties who want to be a senator. He is hispanic. His feeling is the college vote for Obama is not strong enough to contribute very much to the dem count in the GE. He wants HRC in 2012. Interesting point of view and he will not actively blog as he does not want to have anything to haunt him as he progresses in his bid for senator.

Posted by: Blonde wino | September 23, 2008 11:51 AM

Interesting BW

Hey RR

I'm buying old vine zin futures :))))))

KGC

This is much worse that even I thought it was. There is a lot of blue sky paper (mortgage backed securities) out there that these companies have picked up as investments. The underlying house of cards is tumbling and the only way to prevent the crash is for the taxpayer to pick up all that worthless paper. The Feds wouldn't own the mortgages and they wouldn't own the mortgaged property/

Paulson keeps referring to them as "assets" except there aren't any "assets" other than the phony paper being sold in order to inject money back into the market.

Buying up this garbage bails out the big guys, but at the local level, people are still out of their houses and the community banks are left holding severely devalued property. What actions will support them?

but at the local level, people are still out of their houses and the community banks are left holding severely devalued property. What actions will support them?

Let them eat yellow cake :)

Hello:

Just got back after repairing a few foundation leaks in Chicago and Sub;s and after catching up on all the posts of the past few days--found the discussion about the bail out very interesting, and informative -nice work everyone---you had a great unified threads. Sept. 21st 22nd(95%)

Rita could not agree more with you, and the way you present your views-I'm with tony on this. I love the way you condense you thoughts and reply accordingly.

I also see that your all back to the Clintons should help more----I don;t get it. exactly how is never said.Isn't BO a big boy now.At times when a worker tell me that he needs help with something, I ask him what he needs help with, after deciding it's a one man job,in order to get my point across not to expect help with any one man job, I tell him sure, if it's ok,, to help him on his honeymoon-----they get the point,does the work assigned,and I get a better worker.

If I don;t see BO on a daily basis, and in the debates lift his own weight,but relies on Axelrod and others spinners, how can I or anyone defend him and do his work for him.

The people that I worked for, are all paying attention, they don't like the way the Dems, are talking abut Palin, they like the way she comes across---simple talking,hard working, love her family,and yes, ambitious,lies, like all politicians. Anything that is said about her, you could say the same about BO, just some comments from average people.

KGC..thanks for the link...and I wanted to thank Champ for yesterday's link to Ft. Knox...no audit on the gold supply since 1950? Where the financial system computer back-up? Lets just correct the bottom line on the computers and reboot.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149366

Pay cash for the ground under them. I hear it's going cheap.

Photo op only -- no questions allowed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_el_pr/palin_leaders

"NEW YORK - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has not held a press conference in nearly four weeks of campaigning, on Tuesday banned reporters from her first meetings with world leaders, allowing access only to photographers and a television crew."

Is Caribou dragging First Dude Ken in her wake or is he baby sitting?

the way bill and hillary were treated by DNC, there
lucky he's not out there campaining for mccain.
how many times has obama acknowledged the
clinton presidency. heard him talk about reagan'
bush' kennedy' but omitted 8 years of history

mqw...I also think Obama should have publically denounced those who call Bill Clinton a racist (including Michele : ))). Jessie Jackson was nastier than Bill about Obama.

Posted by: Blonde wino Author Profile Page | September 23, 2008 12:22 PM

I thought it was just a lame attempt to be bi lingual

Jill is there to help get Joe's foot out of his mouth. Love the guy, but he is one of those brilliant men who have some sort of short circuit between his brain and his mouth.

Henry "Rummy" Paulson's first job was as an assistant to Richard Nixon.

Lessons learned --"I have a plan"

If Libby Dole injects any more collagen, her face will explode.

I think Liddy Dole's head is going to explode on election day.

Where is Bob Dole anyway?

Jamie

Too funny...you and my brother must be watching the same thing

"Is Elizabeth Dole on steriods?"

Steve Pearlstein of WaPo was really good just now explaining why 700 billion could be either too little or too much. Here is his Sunday column that clarifies a lot of the problem facing the Fed:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091803726.html

Everyone remember to watch Chris Rock's special this weekend. HBO just got a lot of free publicity.
http://www.entertonement.com/clips/28808/Chris-Rock/David-Letterman/Chris-Rock-on-David-Letterman/Chris-Rock-on-David-Letterman

For the Paulson bailout to be helpful to the banks, it must buy their securities at much higher prices than the private market is willing to pay. Otherwise it makes no sense at all, for the banks could sell at any moment to the hedge funds. But that is a subsidy to private banks, administered at the whim of the Treasury Secretary, without oversight and without the possibility of legal recourse.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JI23Dj06.html

Different thought

About today's thread, They all want to be entertainers don't they. I used to enjoy the occasional politician on the Letterman, Leno, shows, but now they are on all the time, along with the want to bee's entertainers The News reporters. They don't want to report the news,they want to entertain. After Chris M. is just one example of how this went to his head, the past two years he ran the skits snl had of him. I believe this dilutes the news for me, I don't watch Leno at all, even in the off political seasons, he is very critical of Pres Clinton (Monica Lewinski--I doubt that I haven't heard all the jokes by now) During the elections, I want to see the two presidential candidates in a serious manner, the country is in a very serious way

solar...comedians commenting on politics...since the first court jester to today, comics and politics, strange marriage. Al Franken is the child of this marriage,

Jamie

Are you watching the hearing? Was that Sherrod Brown who asked if Wall Street owes the American public an apology?

You keep hearing that this is the worst financial crisis SINCE the great depression. It is actually worse than the conditions that existed at the time of the crash for a variety of reasons.

In 1929, the US was not a major world power. We were wealthy in terms of land and manufacturing with a relatively small population in relation to the amount of land. The crash horribly injured people, but they were able to move to better areas and jobs and through very hard work able to survive.

If we had another crash now, how would people survive? Could you keep a roof over your head and feed yourself without a guaranteed income in a country that makes very little and is no longer able to feed itself without importing food?

KGC

I'm watching but missed that because I was emptying the washer and dryer .... life goes on even when I'm having fun. :-)

Jamie...just think how hard it will be when you will be doing your laundry in the river...

The pussy peeps we elected will scold the evil money handlers and eventually give them the money without any oversight. Free market? Indentured citizens? Slavery is back.

I need one of the real estate people to explain something to me. With a mortgage backed security, if I understand it, the investor is paying a price above the actual amount of the mortgage in order to profit from the interest. i.e. a 20 year mortgage of 250,000 would have an additional 250,000 in interest.

I know that there is a rule of 78s that if someone wants to pay off that $250,000 mortgage early, the lender would still receive some compensation on the interest in exchange for carrying the loan for whatever part of the 20 years before it was paid off.

Is this why the fed couldn't go in and actually pay off the mortgages rather than the investment paper? This would help the citizen who may be defaulting on the mortgage, but the fed would own the property that might be resold at a later date, but the buyers of the paper wouldn't receive an amount greater than their initial investment so the loan market would still crash?

I think I'm understanding this and it is making my head hurt.

While you head is hurting, Jamie, the fed has slipped into your pocketbook.

This freaking administration...the fear brigrade...if the boogey man of terrorism won't get you, the evil looking feds are coming for all of your money. Be afraid, be very afraid. Scariest administration in my lifetime!

Jamie, it's a little bit complicated if a person doesn't have reasonably good math skills. We're talking about this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_present_value

Thanks for the link Flatus. It's been a long time since I looked at cost accounting formulas for construction (about 30 years), but I understand what they are saying.

BW :

Very true, I like Al Franken, and look forward to him speaking to the issues, comedians commenting on politics are great, but I don't want to make my political decisions based on a joke. What I'm really against is the News commentator's directing us to get the news from snl, Letterman, Leno. The Bill M. show on friday nights are worth watching because he dedicates his time to inform us through guests that are serious about what is going on, My new rule is not to vote according to what the comics say,I wouldn't mind if Bo said something serious in a fun way. Hey he could invite someone that lost his house to live in his new, Rezko home, lot of room hus.

Lobbyists seek change to language
By Jim Snyder
Posted: 09/22/08 08:03 PM [ET]

Lobbying on the rescue plan for Wall Street intensified Monday as the package moved to Congress, giving advocates another avenue to alter the language in ways favorable to their clients.

Up to now, the actions to stem the financial calamity on Wall Street have been carried out by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, with little involvement from Capitol Hill.

But the $700 billion plan to purchase bad debt from financial institutions and unclog credit markets requires Congress to act. The Bush administration urged lawmakers to pass a clean bill, but now there are more viewpoints that have to be considered.
http://www.thehill.com/business--lobby/lobbyists-seek-change-to-language-2008-09-22.html

solar...perhaps we should just call them all circus performers...GWB did a great pantomime in looking for weapons of mass destruction at a lecturn. It is all so serious, we have to laugh, or something like that. My lament...what is so funny about politics anyway?

Off to class for me...an education day for a change.

KGC

Looks like the banking lobbey is worried about the sweetheart deal the talked the fed and treasury dept. in to is coming unraveled.

If we are to take over any companies loan portfolio then we should get the whole portfolio. Bundle up the good ones and sell them. This dumping just the bad debt on the government is pure BS. If they are insolvent then treat them so, if they are not insolvent then let them work it out. Set up a mechanism to do so but this bailout is not well thought out.

It is time for a little tough love for wallstreet.

NO, you may not have the keys to my car after you got drunk and wrecked yours.

Jack

BTW,

Weren't these the same folks that supported the tough deadbeat provisions in the bankrupcy bill. Let them live with the same rules.

Jack

Blonde wino,

"For the Paulson bailout to be helpful to the banks, it must buy their securities at much higher prices than the private market is willing to pay."

Private market. That would be someone like a few of my friend who buy and trade second and third mortgages. But where this takes a turn in the road when my friends buy 2nds and 3rds debt, someone is living in these homes. What you have here are empty homes that no one is living in. Sure the banks can sell at these properties at 10 to 30 cents on a $$$, to the private investors then they the investors still have the same problem as the banks. You still need qualified buyers. Makes little sense to buy something and then try to sell it to someone who still can't afford it, or not have someone already lined up to buy it. There is a glut of empty properties that are going to remain empty for sometime to come, and most people buying homes first need to sell their home or risk carrying 2 mortgages.

One thing about private investors, as opposed to what we have now, they will make sure all the "i's" dotted and "t's" crossed before they put their name on the dotted line. Now the problem with this approach, selling to investors, is it will drop the value of your home, and that may drop the value of your home below what you owe on your mortgage. This basically will erased all the equity build-up, and any home improvements or refinance can not be done if the new valuation is below the mortgage. it is the old, Catch-22.

The CEO of Pulte Homes said on Mad Money there is enough new unsold inventory out there to last 12 to 18 months. That also means no new home building is required, which translate into, no residential construction jobs.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149426

If you get a chance on PBS to see reruns of "Yes Minister", you will see what is so funny about politics.

Write them a letter

Dear ___________,

It has become obvious in the last few days that this whole bail-out proposal is a last-ditch setup by the Bush administration. They are trying to engineer a situation where they can pose once again as small-government fiscal conservatives while denouncing Congressional Democrats and Senator Obama and typical freespending liberals.

The confirmation by Bush officials that this bail-out proposal was actually written months ago, along with the interesting timing of the crisis -- it's okay for Lehman and Merrill to go under, but when Mr. Paulson's old firm is in trouble, suddenly it's time to act -- makes this whole thing stink to high heaven.

I have revised my earlier position: we need to stand firm. No bailout for Wall Street. No free money for the people who created this mess. We can't let them rush us into stupid and counterproductive actions like they did with the AUMF and the Iraqi War.

Please stand firm against the bailout and the Bush Administration!

Thank you,

For any who still care about the $700B expansion of the Bush Administration's powers, here's the blog from the hearings.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/following-the-bailout-hearing/index.html?hp

KGC

After I posted those three angry messages in a row, that is exactly what I did to all three of my congress critters

Jack

Obama is being very impressive in his news conference. When you compare that to McCain's rather vague answers and Caribou Barbie's photo op, the decision about how to cast your vote becomes much simpler.

Jack

Good for you. I hope the Democrats and the Republicans who have gotten their heads out of their butts decide --they won't be fooled again.

So Fry, if you are correct that this is about buying up the mortgages on homes that have already been abandoned by the would-be owners and either foreclosed upon or in the process of foreclosure, then the government just becomes an existing home broker, acting as an agent for itself? Do I understand this correctly? That actually at least makes sense to me, whereas the injection of capital into the system to stimulate loan activity (considering the low interest rates out there already) doesn't. I have to admit I don't really know what this package is intended to do.

$700 Billion buy out

BHO for
Joe aganist
Bush for
JM aganist

My concern about Senator Obama is he will follow in the footsteps of President Clinton and balance the budget on the back of the DoD. As we all saw, the Clinton administration reduced our national defense capability by approximately 1/3, equivalent to the same force as the 6th largest military in the world. If you reduce any organization, public or private, by 1/3 of its capability, then gaps occur that can't be filled. The final outcome was such a reduction in capability that our enemies were able to find the holes and exploit them. When you look at defense and intelligence spending when compared to GDP, the percentage is at historic lows. To be perfectly candid, I'm not sure what Senator McCain will do if he gets into a real crunch. He too, if elected President, might be tempted to start cutting into defense beyond the safety level. Last, we need better oversight of how the defense budget is executed. Both candidates have a long way to go to prove they will "provide for the common defense."

He wants HRC in 2012. Interesting point of view and he will not actively blog as he does not want to have anything to haunt him as he progresses in his bid for senator.

Posted by: Blonde wino Author Profile Page | September 23, 2008 11:51 AM
BW

I wish nothing more than to have Hillary run in 2012.

regards, toast

pogo,

Tallow or bees wax?

regards, toast

Where is Bear today, he could clear up some questions on this mortgage business, frankly i find it damn confusing!

Dragon,

If Bush, Cheney, and Rummy hadn't decided to Shock and Awe a totally unnecessary military action that has completely exhausted our military forces, the draw down by Clinton as recommended by the DoD itself as well as the Base Closure commission in light of the "peace dividend" wouldn't have caused any problems. Nothing about the drawdown and closures in any way impacted our national security.

That Bush chose to completely ruin our Armed forces isn't Clinton's fault.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149450

Expenditures in "Defense" spending can certainly be reduced. However, expenditures to support veterans when they have left the military can certainly be increased.

Dragon13, just what are you blaming on the Clintons? The fact that Osama Bin Laden organized an international terrorist organization and made plans for terrorism in the United States? I don't recall cuts in the "Intelligence" communities. Bushtard ignored a warning he got on 6 August 2001 saying an attack from al qaeda was imminent...

I am for a strong DEFENSE as long as it is just that. Aggressive military actions that serve our lust for oil and world domination does nothing to make us secure, financially or morally. "Peace Through Strength" doesn't seem to be working these days. If we continue the direction we are going, the USA will soon be bankrupt and beyond any hope of recovery.

Good Afternoon,

I haven't been posting much, but I'm still around. Just am busy working on my
book. I like to respond when it's something about Bill and Hill, though.

HI chloe,
Thanks for your words today. I, as usual, agree totally with your comments-- and I really liked what you said about the Clintons. Also, thanks for the links.

Alicia,
I also agree with your comments about Bill. He was brilliant on Letterman and
on all his appearances yesterday. Watching him shine made me start missing him and Hillary all over again.

ct and Lushislinda,
I'm with you on watching Fox. It still surprises me that I click to the Fox channel
now instead of CNN and MSNBC. I never thought I'd come to believe that
Fox is the more fair and balanced channel, but I do, now.

One more thing about Prez Clinton, on The View when he was asked if
Hillary really had wanted to be VP, he said no, she had not really wanted it.
That is very telling to me. Don't you think it was an interesting that Hillary
had not wanted to be Obama's VP? I wonder if it was because she didn't
truly believe Obama wanted her on his team.

mortgage business, frankly i find it damn confusing!

Don't borrow what you can't afford. Don't lend to those who can't qualify. Those simple rules should keep 99.9% of us out of trouble.

BTW,

Weren't these the same folks that supported the tough deadbeat provisions in the bankrupcy bill. Let them live with the same rules.

Jack

Posted by: whskyjack | September 23, 2008 2:11 PM

Right on brother, right on!

I'm with you on watching Fox. It still surprises me that I click to the Fox channel
now instead of CNN and MSNBC. I never thought I'd come to believe that
Fox is the more fair and balanced channel, but I do, now.

Posted by: prof marcia | September 23, 2008 3:40 PM

Well I thought Fry was a "fair and balanced" repug until the primaries were done with and, as predicted to me, he would revert into a walking "talking points" head for typical Repug ideologies. What makes you think that FOX`s approach is nothing more than trying to bury Obama's Presidential aspirations and once that is done, the Clintons can go back to playing target pariahs for their "fair" news again?

Sir Winston Churchill:

The problems of victory are more agreeable than the problems of defeat, but they are no less difficult.

toast - ear.

Finnish college gunman kills 10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7630969.stm

Interesting to me is the fact that most Western European countries do not have exaggerated gun ownership as in the USA and in Finland!

"In the wake of that attack, [November 2007] Finland's government pledged to raise the minimum age for buying guns.
But the country has a long tradition of hunting and weapons-bearing, with about 1.6 million firearms in private hands."

Hmmm 1.6 million firearms in private hands... coincidence?

BTW,

Weren't these the same folks that supported the tough deadbeat provisions in the bankrupcy bill. Let them live with the same rules.

Jack

This is great...I hope you included it in your letters.

On Dona Brazile:

I agree with other posters earlier comments made about her.

I just wanted to chime in with my two cents about Dona Brazile. She's a
disingenuous, uninteresting woman with little talent and even less charisma. After her performance on CNN during the primary and her two-faced attacks on Hillary and Bill Clinton, I cannot stomach watching her. She has zero credibility.

Gragon, I have two words for you. Iraq. What, that's on ly one word? Sorry. Iraq Iraq.

Fry, we both have a similar understanding of the mortgage business. Unfortunately, I don't think the $700B is meant to keep us in our houses. Fortunately, at least for now, I don't need it.

Hey ET

How is the gov't meltdown in Belgium going?

Perdon - that would be Dragon. (Sorry) damn tuypos.

ct and Lushislinda,
I'm with you on watching Fox. It still surprises me that I click to the Fox channel
now instead of CNN and MSNBC. I never thought I'd come to believe that
Fox is the more fair and balanced channel, but I do, now.

Posted by: prof marcia

prof marcia

I always seek out your fair, deliberate posts which convey a reasonableness that is often lacking here. You are always a pleasure to read.

Incredibly, I now ONLY watch Fox.

regards,
toast

OK, ET, you've stumped me. What's the coincidence?

A little bit of "good" news from Belgium:

Man jailed for Belgian MP3 death

An MP3 player that was used in evidence in the Brussels court
A Polish man has been sentenced to 20 years in jail over the death of a Belgian teenager whose stabbing in 2006 sparked protests by tens of thousands.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7632386.stm

The kid who did this was SCUM. We have followed the heartbreak of Joe Van Holsbeeck's family over his vicious murder in the Bruxelles train station. The parents have demanded that the Belgian justice system do something they rarely do, and that is actually hold someone accountable for their crimes! Seriously Belgium is a Six Flags for criminals.

The gypsy Polish guy who committed the murder has been given 20 years in prison. But of course, the Justitie system in Belgium allows that any criminal can be freed from prison after serving just 1/3 of their sentence if they chill a bit and don't make any problems. That would mean the guy will serve a little less than 7 years. Of course their will be prison vacations offered at some point...hell the Justice Department even took him to a football game somewhat after the event. Disgusting!

On crime and punishment, I am very much for the punishment fitting the crime. He took the young man's life and he should, at very least, spend the rest of his life behind bars. Law and order can only be maintained if people are held accountable, in a meaningful way, for their crimes.

"To save the sheep who might have been wiped out in a general financial panic, we may have to save the pigs. "

Pat Buchanan

Hi EuroTom,

I agree that Fox isn't completely "fair and balanced." What I wrote was that they Fox seemed more fair and balanced than MSNBC and CNN which isn't saying much because MSN is so far out of balance.

All news is bias these days. The partisans are happy but those of us who would truly like objective reporting are out of luck.

An Amnesty for Stupidity, by Pat Buchanan.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28670

Jeez

I go off to wash dishes and come back to hear the Republicans had a really nasty meeting with Cheney! What happened?

I see Wall Street disliked today's stupidity something around half as much as it disliked stuff yesterday - down 162 at close. I guess the traders don't like the idea that Congress may require oversight if it throws $700B of our money into their (well, mortgage bankers') playpen.

Hey ET

How is the gov't meltdown in Belgium going?

Posted by: Katherine Graham Cracker | September 23, 2008 4:01 PM

It's getting worse! The Flemish Nationalist Party has left the coalition which means the Prime Minister no longer holds a majority in Parliament. This whole debacle is over language rights in the Flemish cities of Halle, Vilvoorde and Brussel. The language fights have gone on ever since Belgium's founding and neither the Flemish North nor the French South like each other. Oh yeah, each of us in Flanders personally have to pay around €1000 a year to bail out the Wallonian South. There is still a very good chance Belgium will split. If it does, the Flemish north will actually have the highest standard of living in Western Europe, or so I have read. Today I just lost €2700 paid at once for social costs and I don't feel that I am in a high standard of living currently :-)

jamie, apparently even the republicans aren't buying his line of sh*t any longer. I hope at least one of them said "Fine, you go back to my district and tell the voters how it isn't your adminsitration's fault - and remember, we're in the same party."

To honor Hillary, and to the dismay of many, I include Palin in my tribute.

From the Bard's "Much Ado"

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.

PUMA/Clintons4McCain - "Obama, a weak man for tough times."

toast

Hi Milquetoast,

Thank you for your kind comments. I always read your posts with interest. So, I'm glad you read mine and like what I have to add.

It's funny that even though I've been a liberal Dem all my life and in the past
I avoided watching Bill O'Reilly on Fox, I watch him now and find I agree with him more than I disagree.

ET
Thanks. We should have all learned to speak esperanto.

Fry, here's an explanation of sorts of the Congressional version of the bill - an early draft no doubt - that helps explain what the bill would attempt to accomplish.

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/a-bailout-bill-takes-shape/

I'm still going to look for "The Bailout for Dummies" when I'm at the mall tomorrow.

Pogo

I think the Republicans are playing politics and forcing the Dems to take all the responsibility for the bailout.. That puts all the power in the hands of the Demcrats and they should ask for the moon imo. Don't be responsible be just as pig headed as the Reps. That would make the business class more than a little unhappy with their Rep friends. If they are the ones seen as scuttling the deal.

Jack

Pogo

Looking for Bailouts for Dummies?

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8451

pogo,

"I don't think the $700B is meant to keep us in our houses. Fortunately, at least for now, I don't need it."

Exactly, it isn't for us, or people like us who are responsible on both sides of the ledger. But we are going to have to pay for their mistakes, and I'm getting a bit tired of paying for the reckless mistakes of others.

I dunno, Jack - the wrangling is a little beyond my grasp considering how little time I've been able to spend looking at it and thinking about it. From what I can see, I think that if the Dems take the bait and pass any legislation without significant strings attached requiring a lot more transparency than Paulson is asking for, they have taken the bait, given away the store (insert your own idiom here). On the other hand, if they require such oversight and transparency, if it doesn't work, they can't wash their own hands of thefilth from the fallout. My inclination would be to do the responsible thing and have an oversight body comprised of Admin, Congressional and private sector reps to review the purchases. But then again, what do I know?

", and I'm getting a bit tired of paying for the reckless mistakes of others. "

Me too. Especially the reckless actions of the Shrub administration. The Shrubs and their enablers REPUBLICANS have completely ruined the US economy and a number of other institutions including the military.

So pay up Fry this is your fault. Take some responsibility for the actions of your party.

Thanks, KC - have to run, but I'll check it out later. Got a meeting to go to that is likely to actualy provide some entertainment as 2 factions try to outmaneuver each other.

McCain was blinking like mad ... very high stress indicator. All his responses were very general, no real hints of demands that he considered firm to make the bailout happen.

Oh yeah Jamie, since you're here; Uncertainty isn't caused by fear. It's the other way around.

picture is worth a 1000 words
or 700 billions dollars NOT
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Vo6z5fxMMqs/SNlYJz73_gI/AAAAAAAAAXY/X0qYReAuVi8/s1600-h/fail.jpg

Ron Paul understands the economy.

If anyone is interested I just heard on Fox that Paul O'Neill will be commenting on the bailout. They said it would be in an hour and that was about 6 minutes ago. They indicated he felt it was a bad idea. When he talks I listen. He was one of the few people who I respect from the Bush Admin.

Carol

Also thank you guys who commented on my post from early this morning. Sometimes I feel like I am posting to a ghost blog. I do realize that nothing I say is profound just my simple opinion.

Carol.

Posted by: ct | September 23, 2008 5:08 PM

McCain should have formed a kitchen cabinet of all the people fired by Shrub.

The "bail-out" is a huge scam and Bernanke is fear-mongering. Fire him, END THE FED.

A discussion about the economy with Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post & Alan Blinder of Princeton University.

Good discussion, imo, on the fin. crisis;

save it when you have the time.

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/09/22/1/a-discussion-about-the-economy-with-steven-pearlstein-alan-blinder

Kathrine Graham Cracker said way earlier about taking to the barricades. See the fiery discussion going on over at Huff Post with guest blogger Larisa Alexandrovna's, "Welcome to the Final Stages of the Coup." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/welcome-to-the-final-stag_b_127990.html.

KCG,

O'Neill wouldn't do it again. He said he only agreed to the Secretary job then because of loyalty to his party and he paid a price...The Price of Loyalty.

Carol

Alexandrovna says it better than I could, eprof.

While everyone bickers over which puppet is should be President, our country is being stolen right under our feet. Divide and conquer.

Hi ct, carol,

"sometimes I feel like I'm posting on a ghost blog. . ."
Nicely put!

I know I feel that way sometimes on here, but I think that often
people just don't have time to respond to everyone they would like.

I know I should respond more to people I enjoy reading, just to acknowledge
their insightful comments.

I think a lot of what you say is profound, by the way.

Who will have the courage to vote no on the bailout? Maybe Dennis? I am starting to miss him and his UFOs.

Carol

Ct

Sherrod Brown said he isn't voting yes..yet.

This is an excellent overview of factors leading up to the
big mess.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/23/he-built-a-crooked-house-to-make-a-crooked-deal/

Too Big to Fail.

'Too Big to Fail' will be the new order of the day. And guess who gets left holding the bag when they're too big to fail? One of these monsters goes down, and it will cost as much as the whole S&L debacle.

Molly Ivins October 26, 1999

I still like Bill Clinton, but he's getting on my last nerve.

Does Henry Paulson have a speech problem? He was stuttering and stammering through the whole Senate committee meeting today.

Henry just doesn't want the big bucks doled out a billion at a time. Makes one wonder WHY? Even though I heard his stuttering answer.

What's the hurry, Paulson?

In general I'm disgusted with the WHOLE lot at that hearing today. There certainly is more than enough blame for this severe, economic crises to go around several times. And these guys, + Liz Dole, are passing the buck-blame so fast they're spinning like tops.

Paulson said he was "SHOCKED" at the lack of oversight. Yeah, right.

WHERE were these guys, + Liz, for the past, oh 6 YEARS?

Damn

tt

Ct - I always enjoy your posts and agree with them, but I do not agree that you say nothing profound. As for feeling as if you're posting on a ghost blog, I feel like that, too, at times - heck, when someone starts listing all the regulars, my name is never mentioned. I just feel it's because I don't get involved in the really meatier issues, like the bailout and the oil drilling. It's ok because the others drive this vehicle and I'm lucky to have the opportunity to say what I want without having to fight - I get to ignore people who don't like what I say.

Ct, Prof Marcia and all the other Fox news watchers - me too. They do seem to have moved more to the right again, but they do have some interesting panel discussions and have heard them often give credit to the left. They don't whine and roll over to get their bellies scratched like msnbc re Obama. I also watch cnn a bit but prefer fox. I'm still not into Billo, but he's not anywhere near as crazy as The Unstable One.
msnbc - I muted tweety this am and listened toCramer and Perlstein(sp?), and finally gave tweety a shot - boy, he's not bright. Other than that, no msnbc for me for months.

Cramer warned months ago re all this - remember him screaming, really screaming, 'they don't know what they're doing!' ? Cramer is very worried and said they have to act within 5 to 10 days; they're taking too much time. I don't know the answer to the problem but I have to say I'm not interested in having another Great Depression - the country is very vulnerable now. It's anybody's guess what might happen.

Thom Hartman has been on a "Too Big To Fail is Too Big To Exist" mantra. Break up the giants. If one of these entities going down means they take the economy with them then make the price of the bail out a division into parts.

Hi bethyboo,

I always enjoy reading your comments. Sorry I never acknowledged you.
Sometime, we on TrailMix should have a day when we take sometime to say nice things to each other--the posters and try to make comments to some of
the folks who don't often get noticed.

"regarding Bill, I've never seen anyone work so hard to make them self so irrelevant"

http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=2356&srcid=-2

Exactly what is the hurry? You mean if we wait a week or a month or even two months a bailout, if it's shown we need on, won't work? I say get it right the first time!

Hey Betty, thanks for your support. I don't understand all this finance stuff either. I have a condition called moneyophobia. I worked for years, as a nurse educator, making a tiny salary until after 23 years I decided I would retire and go for the bigger bucks my students who graduated were getting. While teaching I had to moonlight just to get by.

I now work as a NP. I make good money but can't shake the fear of poverty I had developed over all those years. I don't even open my bank statements. It is a serious condition.

I thought Paul O'Neill was going to be on Fox. Maybe I just thought I heard that.

Carol

Prof M - I agree with you and enjoy your posts too. My problem is that I read something and want to react to it, and then forget it when I get to the bottom cuz I read so many others along the way.

I tell myself that it's probably a good thing - it could become a bit much. I try to write down when I have a really strong urge to answer. Most of the things people argue about here I'm not sure of what I think. I can handle just about anybody's point of view. The one thing I absolutely won't compromise on, and which guides all my votes, is the mixture of religion and churches in government. It's not good for the people, thje government, or the churches.

Separation of church and state - far apart from each other.

FBI investigating Lehman, AIG and others? FOX just said AP announcement. No details.

I have no respect for the Shrub government and someone like Paulson who is an architect of the factors causing the problem
is incredible. Paulson has been secy of treasury for two years
wtf has he been doing?

I wouldn't let him mow my lawn (if I had one) let alone manage the solution to this problem.

I appreciate the efforts of the Democrats to offer mitigating legislation but I think they should just say no.

eprof2, measure twice cut ONCE.

tt

Amen, tiptoe!

http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/news/14487/

" Perhaps the succinct comment came from Alex, a local attorney, concerned with the philosophical premise the bailout itself: “Capitalism without failure,” he writes “is like religion without hell.”

UB

My brother went to the Biden HOF event. He said a lot of people had come for the congressional race --I'm hoping to see the end of over 50 years of Republican domination.

He also said there had been a lot of independent expenditure committee advertising --(Republicans) running ads quoting the things Obama said about Clinton during the primary. Are you getting those ads in the Cleveland markets?

Cillizza ranks Ohio's 16Th Congressional District as the most likely seat to change. The Democratic nominee in that race is John Boccieri, who is currently an Ohio State Senator.

This ranking is good news for John's candidacy because it is the kind of thing that is read by Washington insiders. Such insiders can help John raise money and raising money makes the job of winning the November election a lot easier. Republicans will fight like hell to hold this seat, so if you can sign up to help John or contribute to his campaign, it would certainly be appreciated. Here is his website: http://www.johnforcongress.com/

Here's a scenario I heard today. My car sales person, bought a home 2 years ago...no money down.....she wanted to know why she shouldn't just walk away, if the value drops below her purchase price. She didn't understand what her risks would be?

I had no idea how to answer her.

I had no idea how to answer her.

For one thing if she has other assets, the bank could go after them to make up a short sale or a complete default.

She should not walk away without talking to someone (not the lender) who can look at her whole picture and give her advice.
Each situation is different.

It was truly amazing to me that she was even talking like that.

UB

Depends on her assets. You can't just walk away from debt. Unless you go through bankrupcy. If she just walked away from the house she would owe the difference of what the bank sold it for and what she owed. If she has savings or anyother assets 401k ect. they could be taken to pay what she owed.
In addition she would still have to pay rent. There are some places she could not rent because her bad credit would exclude her. Also her insurance of all kinds would go up because of a bad credit score.

It would have to be a very large drop in price before it makes sense and rent would have to be very reasonable.

Jack

if i were mccain i would send that chris rock segment to anyone i could identify as a hillary supporter. you can bet the republicans are focus grouping chris rock segment after clinton. how do you expect clinton to jump on the bandwagon after an attack by an obama supporter. i smell axlerod

UB - did that silly woman try to come up with any options? Sounds to me as if KGC came up with the only possible answer. Was this woman concerned at all or was she just lightly throwing it out there?

"When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have somebody that's strong and wrong than somebody who's weak and right." Bill after the dems mid-term loss in 2002.

I have kept that on my fridge ever since - it's kinda yellow but still correct and worrying. Obama's campaign is making him look vindictive but not strong.

what if she cashed (liquidated) out of the 401 then took off ?

if the assets are gone, what happens

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled that the government should buy devalued assets at above-market values to make its proposed $700 billion rescue package most effective in combating the financial crisis."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqCh43qzoq5M&refer=home

Can I get in on this deal? I've got some stuff I want to sell.
Unfucking believable

Oh my! Are we ever screwed.

Jack

UB

Jail time most likely. They got the little guy coming and going.

Jack

KGC

Pt.1.

Since your only work these days is gathering apples, I though I provide you with some reading material for you to browse by the glow of your coal oil lamp. You know KGC, you better hope the economy doesn't go belly up, not that this catastrophic event will have any affect on you since nothing from nothing = nothing, however there are people in your area such as that little boutique beer brewery down on the Russian river, who may like to stay open so they can continue selling their product to people who can afford it. If not you can kiss it bye-bye.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/09/20/ibd-carter-more-blame-financial-crisis-bush-or-mccain

http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/541234%3C/p%3E

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=306632135350949

KGC,

Pt. 2

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=306978378974502

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122212948811465427.html

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=36048

KGC,

Pt. 3.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13920

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_hassett&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

Buck-up there little anti-capitalist.

KGC,

You better order some more coal oil as it is getting dark earlier these days. lol

Hey Fry
I am a great capitalist. Part of capitalism is the risk.
No guts. No glory.
You are the socialist.

http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/news/14487/

" Perhaps the succinct comment came from Alex, a local attorney, concerned with the philosophical premise the bailout itself: “Capitalism without failure,” he writes “is like religion without hell.”
courtesy of UB

Can you see the over crowed jails suddenly filled with basically law abiding people......who had not idea how to handle the melt down....

looking like a peculiar future

The woman thinking of walking away would be silly to do so. Over the long haul, property eventually goes up in value. Now if it is a matter of financial ability to pay, she might be able to renegotiate to better mortgage terms. In this market, the last thing any bank wants is to repossess.

If she has an ARM, she will want a fixed simply because interest rates are going to climb for awhile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vancouver_Panorama.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vancouver_Panorama.jpg

She is a very young grand-morther (under 50) newly married. Both work. Lives really simple, and does care if she lives in an apartment.

I think her "goal " is to retire and just live.

does not care

oh well it was interesting, I can see that what ever the package is that comes up, there will be those looking at it as an escape route.

even if they weren't at direct risk

LOL

Ya gotta love these people.
J. Christopher Flowers, founder of private-equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co., bought a little bank in northern Missouri. This will let him buy up failing banks and at the same time avoid fed regulations for a bank holding company

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aALYF8DZTrK4&refer=home

Jack

time to grow you own food, recycle , reuse, use less, and never give another dime to this assholes in this country that run the banks.

Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says today's leaders should take a lesson from the history books and follow fellow Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt's response to a financial crisis.
More News

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened,'" Barack Obama's running mate recently told the "CBS Evening News."

Except, Republican Herbert Hoover was in office when the stock market crashed in October 1929. There also was no television at the time; TV wasn't introduced to the public until a decade later, at the 1939 World's Fair.

FDR was elected three years later when voters denied Hoover a second term. The Democratic challenger appealed to the "forgotten man" by promising a "new deal" to solve the Depression era.

In gaffe, Biden says FDR led when market crashed

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 AP
(09-23) 16:57 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP)

On the front page of the rest of America's newspapers

Kind of a Big Deal
"Judging by the Obama campaign's response to Joe Biden's comments on coal, it's clear they think this is kind of a big deal ......"

"I think the Obama campaign runs the risk of a backlash by trying to portray McCain as a despicable, dirty, dishonorable guy at every possible opportunity, because that is simply not the way most people around the country view him. It's the opposite, in fact.

And when you create such conflicts in the minds of voters, they will invariably step back at some point and evaluate those conflicting images on the merits....."
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/09/kind_of_a_big_deal.html

"If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me. ... Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are," he said to the National Guard Association. (According to ABC News, Biden's helicopter was forced down by a snowstorm).

Right now, the first quote is the lead story on Drudge and is getting much cable news time, and the second quote, again as Mike said, could teeter into Hillary-in-Bosnia territory. We’ll have to see…

Today’s Biden Gaffe-O-Meter Rating: 7.5.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/23/biden-gaffe-o-meter.aspx

Renee, Glad to see you back! How was the beach. Did you avoid politics while you were gone?

Blonde, Thanks for the kind words today. Do you live in New Mexico, or am I misplacing Las Cruces.

Good to see you here today Marcia. I've been wondering why you haven't been around. Your posts are all so positive and reinforcing. I didn't know you were writing a book. Is it non-fiction? Good luck!

McCain lobbyist-transition team story 400 hits on Lexis-Nexis

Biden's gaffe 2000 hits on Lexis-Nexis

Pure fun: A free cookie and a game

http://www.kashi.com/stealacookie

Letterman, Craig? Letterman?! C'mon, dude...there's dirty work afoot.

Poor Joe. I adore him, but he simply should not say anything extemporaneously. It always gets him in trouble.

Jamie, did you notice the time frame to received your kashi cookie.....was is about 6 weeks?

UB

They are running a nationwide commercial right now. Probably volume of cookies. I'll let you know when I get mine.

Zogby Electoral Map

http://www.zogby.com/50state/

Too bad no one cares about McCain's alleged lie

Lots of people care about Biden sticking his feet in his mouth.
Saying about FDR talking to the nation on tv at the start of the depression is delusional.

Jamie,
just asked because my Hubby signed up for one also. He thought six weeks was a long time.....you know for a planned promotion.

I'll dream it, a double dare you to dream it

Craig,

Playing Twister in Tube Sox in Tampa?

Tighter than tube sox??? Love that!

Poll: Obama's support from former Clinton supporters stuck at June levels
Barack Obama's support from backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton is stuck smack where it was in June, a poll showed Tuesday, a stunning lack of progress that is weakening him with fellow Democrats in the close presidential race.

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/sns-ap-ap-yahoo-poll-hillarys-voters,0,3756814.story

Zippy,

Favorability among that group is up 9%. It will translate to votes before November, particularly in the current economic climate. There may be some hard core PUMA's, but the majority of Hillary's voters aren't going to vote against their own economic interests and family welfare with salaries, insurance and education.

Via Krugman...got to find humor even on the worst days.
quote from Alan Blinder
Paulson plan still doesn’t have a name, but that some are calling it Bailie Mae, he proposed Hanky Panky instead.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

Craig, excellent green shirt.

tt

so who's ahead? I ate sawdust all day and missed most of it........

anybody get a leg up? ha ha ha ha ha ha

Hey - 56th anniversary of 'Checkers!" How do I know that??

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/request-for-urg.html

If your looking for a little humor about the bail out. Yeah, I know it is damn little but we gets them where we can find them.
I also understand they will call the new agency created to handle this mess
Securitized Hybrid Investment Trust
I believe everyone is very bullish

Jack

I've also heard this may be the name.

Securitized Hybrid Investment Trust Plan Independent Liquidity Entity.

A name that long will of course go by its an acronym

Jack

I think we should throw out the current plans being proposed and go with the Warren Buffet plan. He just loaned Goldman Sax 5 billion dollars at 10% interest plus a pile of stock options that make it closer to 14%.

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/i-got-75b-but-i.html

Now that is a market based plan I could live with.

Jack

Ivy,

"Checkers" speech? The game is much older.

Checkers Speech 1952

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

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/09/bill-clinton-gets-rocked-on-le.html#comment-149600

That was before my time, only you old folks remember that stuff

Jack

Jamie,

I was probably taking my first nap that night...I'll have to ask my mother...she's still kickin' too!

FBI investigation of companies in bail out

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20080923/Financial.Meltdown.Investigation/

A little more than a year ago, a given-up-for-dead cutting from the 1828 Andrew Jackson Magnolia - oldest tree on the White House grounds - was transplanted to a spot beside the graves of President and Mrs. Nixon. To the astonishment of grounds-keepers at the Nixon Library in Loma Linda, CA, it began sprouting new growth and now thrives.

Correction - Yorba Linda, CA

Good night all. Premier of NCIS

Ha! Good one! And he sowed the seeds for the Michael Phelps Olympics too, let's not forget.

Evening all.

Hey Zippy, ever see any R Crumb comics?

Craig,

Great showing on RM. Louis, I think that looks like a potential good gig for you.

Tighter than tube socks. :) Is that a nod to D Rather? Being from OK sorry, I prefer his tighter than a tick.

Tired of fighting, aren't you ?

To show our solidarity as Americans, let's all get together
and show each other our support for the candidate of our choice. It's time that we all came together, Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you support the policies and character of Obama, please drive with your headlights on during the day. If you support McCain, please drive with your headlights off at night. Thank you. LMAO

George Will nailed it:

"Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.

...

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

Hello again, chloe,

I always look for you when I sign on here. Glad you're still thriving.
My book is nonfiction--about the education system in California
especially high school and State colleges. It's rather polemic and
controversial.

Cheers!

If you're a rethug, when G Wills turns on you. Not real good.

Giving it up tonite. hasta manana

BTW, Isn't McCain keeping Palin under wraps being rather sexist? Oh , but who cares!

Sorry I forgot, John McCain always uses women to get what he wants. That's the worst kind of sexist.

Mayor Daley goes off on crazy McCain...

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2008/09/mayor-daley-def.html

Carol; 7:52 am ........... "Ann Coulters in our party", right on and I know others have seen it as well. I am just a regular working girl also.(well, maybe not girl)..............

Chloe; 8:57 am ............................." If Obama loses, it's because Americans are racists", Perhaps we could find a poll on how many AA's are voting McCain. I wonder if that makes them racists too.....................

Jason; 10:23 am ....................... "If BO loses I feel sad for Hillary and Bill", I've felt that since the primary too, and it really bothers me, especially with all the extortionist talk of - elect Obama or else.......................

Toast; 11:42 am ................"Much Ado", you could be right, since the all fuss seems to be about NOTHING. Maybe the Merchant of Venice would fit as well, at least as far as the Clinton's are concerned. What's happening is very sad isn't it...................................

Solar; 12:14 pm ......................... Thanks, but I'm at a loss, I've never seen such disrespect for an ex-president and a successful one at that(maybe Carter). I don't know if there's any way to repair the hurt..........

Blondie; 12:33 pm ..........................."Obama should have publically denounced", I agree, but that's the culture, so we're told, they can call each other the N word, but we can't because we don't understand the connotation of the word....................................................

Well Girls; Chloe, Carol, Blondie, Prof Marcia, Bethy;
I guess CHANGE works. If I understand correctly we've all switched from msnbc to Fox, to find fair and balanced - now that's what I call CHANGE...................

Rita

PP - I agree with yoour statement that there's probably no way to repair the rift, but I wouldn't call it 'hurt.' Feelings may be hurt because of the lack of respect for our beliefs, but the real words to describe the situation are, in my view, we once were blind but now we see - or maybe just plain disgust with the reality - or just loss of respect for things and people we once admired.

I've been an independent for years but never saw the dnc as an enemy, but I do now. It's every bit as low as the repubs.

And you're also right about the change in tv choices.

Every time I hear this nonsense about the evil machinations of Bill it makes me want to scream. What is wrong with Democrats? It is one thing for Republicans to say such things but so-called democrats?! If the Obama Party could manage to summon 1/10th of the hatred they have for Bill and Hillary (two of the last democrats who aren't afraid to call themselves democrats and push democratic policies instead of capitulating to the GOP) against the actual REPUBLICAN candidate for President (ya know Old Man McCain?), Obama wouldn't be in a close race. Then again since Obama is supported by so many Clinton-hating "ex-Republicans" like Huffington and Kos, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Let sleeping dogs lie, if you want Obama to win. Constantly hearing so-called liberals and democrats condemn Bill and Hillary for what only exists in the paranoid's imagination makes many of us wonder if the democratic party exists anymore. You want Obama to win? Act like democrats and start treating your fellow democrats with RESPECT.

Let sleeping dogs lie, if you want Obama to win. Constantly hearing so-called liberals and democrats condemn Bill and Hillary for what only exists in the paranoid's imagination makes many of us wonder if the democratic party exists anymore. You want Obama to win? Act like democrats and start treating your fellow democrats with RESPECT.

Posted by: fratricide | September 24, 2008 4:19 AM

Well said! My point exactly.