I agree

"Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door."

-Guess Who?

House Vote on market destruction

So, I'm watching CSPAN live as the House has been called to a vote on the titanic deficit bill, to buy out the banks that are failing.

It's close.
177-187 with 19 seconds remaining.

179-191 with 10 seconds.
And with no time remaining, the Nays have it.
There are 47 No Votes, so this might not be over.
Early trends indicate more nays.
192-216, Nays still have it.


HA! 218 against. The doom of our time has yet to be decided.

And there are 47 gutless, spineless weasels out there who waited to see who would win, and then cashed their time in after the time expired.

This is one of those events and house votes that transcends politics, breaks down the barriers of the isles, and shatters the semblance of control the party believe it has.

Yea: Nay:
Dem: 138 95
Rep: 65 133
Total: 203 228

Reason has prevailed as the voice of the people has been heard reverberating through the corridors of DC. It wasn't the parties that stopped this.
It wasn't a coalition of the willing, and it was the incompetent, arrogant, power grubbing driving of a failed President Bush and his socialist advisors that caused this.

No, what stopped this travesty aginst liberty was the voice of the American people, demonstrating once again that the power sits with the voters and their communications with their representatives.

A picture of reality

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/09/28/weekinreview/marsh-1260x1681.jpg

The NY Times has done some solid journalism here.

Final thoughts on McCain and Obama's perferomance:

Debate round 4

This is a well run debate.

Mac on Iran:

If they get nukes, they are an existential threat to Israel, and we will not allow a second holocaust. Diplomatic economic sanctions. That’s what we’ve got now, and it’s working well enough. IEDs in Iraq from Iran, he says the truth. Well said Mac.

Obama on Iran:

Iraq was a counter weight to Iran, but it no longer exists as that.

They have nukes now because of the war on terror. We cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran.

Russia and China will need to be included in economic sanctions, and we need to talk to them diplomatically.

“Let me get this straight, we sit down with Iran, and they say we’re going to destroy Israel, and we say no your not? That’s ridiculous!”

-John McCain

Russia:

Obama on Russia:

Russia’s actions in Georgia were unwarranted. We also need to explain to the Russians that you cannot be a 21^st situation superpower and behave in the manner of a 20^th century dictatorship. The democracies of the region should be allowed into NATO. Russia’s loose nukes need to be contained.

McCain on Russia:

Russia has become a nation fueled by petrodollars, and a KGB orchestrated government by Putin. The Georgia invasion was about oil pipelines, and being able to throttle the flow of energy in the region. Mac has talked to the heads of state, and they’re worried. He also supports the expansion of NATO, and the Russians are in violation of their cease fire. Watch Ukraine and it’s control of the waters of the region.

Debate Round 3

Obama slammed McCain with all barrels blazing, and they were really good questions. Why did McCain support the last 7 W budgets?

BAM! Mac retorts with some fire, and wins that exchange. He’s the maverick here, darnit!

Mac tells it how it is on Iraq, and what was at stake if we lost. Petreus!!

Obama didn’t like the war. But he didn’t vote against it, he was absent. Heh.

His financial arguments are weak… he hasn’t explained why this was money ill spent.

Mac’s rebuttal: The next president will decide how it ends, and we need to win. Obama hasn’t met Petreus, or been to Iraq for 900 days. (OWNED!)

Biden? Biden? Is that the best Obama has as defense for his ineptness and lack of knowledge regarding foreign policy?

Mr. Obama, two words regarding Iraqi liberty: Purple Fingers.

Best quote of the night: “It appears that Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy”. –John McCain

Mac just mopped the floor on that exchange.

Barak: Back to Afganistan!

I would send two or three brigades into Afghanistan. Which is it?

“Every intelligence analyst would agree that al-queda is the biggest threat to the US.”

What a bunch of horse vomit…

Americans have not been made safe. Except that we haven’t been attacked since 9/11 on US soil.

Mac brings in the old school history tactic, and draw an analogy between the 70’s Afghanistan and today’s Taliban.

We need the help of Pakistani tribes. He’s right.

Obama tosses up a weak defense about not wanting to attack Pakistan, and then mocks McCain for his singing.

On Mushareff: “We had a 20^th century mindset, He may be a dictator, but he’s our dictator!”

Debate round 2

What nonsense is this tax rubbish Obama is tossing out? $700,000 tax cut for CEO’s?

Did it again, he tied Mac to Bush.

Hehe, Obama didn’t suspend earmarks till he was running for president. Good jab by Mac. “I didn’t win Miss Congeniality in the United States Senate.”

“That’s the fundamental difference between me and Obama. I want to cut spending”.

Dear Mr. Obama: Who pays corporations? I do, the customer. You raise their taxes, you raise mine.

Mac lays it out: Our business taxes are high. Ireland is low. 35% to 11% corporate tax, the US being the 2^nd highest in the civilized world.

And Mac lays it down, Obama requested $900+ million in earmarks.

Tax cuts! Woot! We need more.

What is rich, Mr. Obama?

So Obama wants to cut the loop holes and effectively raise the taxes on the corporations. This is straight out of Lennin and bourgeois haters.

What’s wrong with open markets for insurance anyways?

Mac lays down his record, Obama doth protest.

Good question, what is going to be whacked from the future budgets to pay for the bailout?

Obama said nothing of any importance.

Mac wants to cut spending

“Obama has the most liberal voting record in the senate. Its hard to reach across the isle from that far over”

Cut Ethanol, junk pentagon spending and use fixed payment contracts,

Obama: Cut 15 billion in health care subsidies to insurance.

Lehr has spend 34 minutes asking the same question, and yet no good answer.

Debate Round 1

Yay! Jim Lehr. I like this guy from past experience, so I hope he does well this time.

Two senators running for president. We’re screwed.

Foreign policy includes economics. Heck yes, we need more free trade.

Woah. First question to Obama, financial crisis. (Barak’s tie is not right…)

Drawing the line between Wall Street and Main Street again, because most Americans don’t own stock or have an IRA. Nope, we don’t do that here.

700 Billion dollars potentially is a lot of money. (REALLY???)

And again, he ties McCain to Bush. This will be a common theme.

Friend of mine: but what is he going to do? exactly why I don't like him.

Mac’s tie is annoying too.

He didn’t answer the question either.

Obama wants more regulation. Yeah, that’s what we need!

Mac will vote for the deficit run up plan. Screw this.

If so many people saw this coming, why didn’t we stop it? Payoffs.

Neither answered the question. FAIL.

Jim’s working them off each other. This is good.

Let me get this straight. If a family is having to borrow more to pay off debt, are they not overspending, and thus not capable of sustaining a house payment?

There ya go Mac. Plug that US blood and guts optimism.

He’s ripping on spending! “We republicans came to government to change it, and government changed us” It is a gateway drug!!

Debate tonight

Politico has a really good 'primer', a side-by-side comparison of what to expect tonight.

Politico

Washington Mutual fails, world moves on

Yahoo News: "Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan, was closed by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp was named receiver. Customers should expect business as usual on Friday, the FDIC said.

The bailout came after the thrift suffered deposit outflows of $16.7 billion since September 15, the OTS said.

"With insufficient liquidity to meet its obligations, WaMu was in an unsafe and unsound condition to transact business," the OTS said."

The real winner here, ironically enough is JPMorgan Chase.

During a previous market collapse, the Panic of 1907, it was JP Morgan who lead a consortium of bankers in halting a titanic slide of the market by re-injecting capital into the market. Rockefeller was also instrumental in keeping the system afloat.

It was after this crisis our current Federal Reserve System was created, to manage the credit market and keep surplus capital in reserve to lubricate the market in times of need.

In years past, we've had times of market turmoil, and it was accepted that losses would be incurred. It was never an assumption that the taxpayers would save a company.
If a problem was coming, or a crisis occurring, it was up to the masters of the universe, the titans of wall street and the man on main street to solve it themselves. This is how capitalism rewards its denizens, with vibrant riches and for those who fail in the market, failure with the hope of future success.

What this administration, and Treasury Secretary Paulson in particular, and much of the democrat congress are trying to pass is nothing but blatant socialism engineered to give to the rich at the expense of the middle class.

Inconceivable how this came to be accepted wisdom, and how far the Bush administration has fallen.

US markets

Reuters: "The Hong Kong newspaper cited unidentified industry sources as saying the instruction from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) applied to interbank lending of all currencies to U.S. banks but not to banks from other countries.

"The decree appears to be Beijing's first attempt to erect defences against the deepening U.S. financial meltdown after the mainland's major lenders reported billions of U.S. dollars in exposure to the credit crisis," the SCMP said."

Thats a pretty shiny indication of how severe this problem is.

But think about this: a forest has to burn every few years to clear out the rot within. Afterwards, it grows back stronger and larger then before.

I believe that the plan put forth by the power grubbing Paulson and the newly socialist W is a cure worst then the disease.
(Paulson, incidentally, is a former employee of Goldman Sachs, a titian of fiance to whom much was just given by the taxpayers at Paulson's direction).

Rewarding the banks that had bad management, and failed miserably will only encourage further activity. So not only will this run the deficit to unparalleled levels, spit upon the constitution, and forever alter the expectations of Americans, it will bring about bigger problems later down the road.

Thats the crucial failure of welfare. It encourages negative behavior, and this is social welfare at its worst, theft of the poor to give to the rich.

High quality government cheese.

The Corruption of Power and the Heineous Failings of an Adminstration

Its taken some time, and a bit of recovery from the economic shock and awe of the past 2 weeks, but I'm reaching the point where the boiling fury within can be coherently and in good temperance placed in written form.

What is occurring is something entirely unprecedented in the shimmering history of the United States. While in the past, the Federal government has bailed out failing enterprises, the scope and magnitude of this taxpayer giveaway is truly historic.

Think to the past, and the Chrysler bailout. $3.2 billion, and it was, and still is, a glaring example of how government interference hurts the market. (What has Detroit done since then?)

But in the face of $854 billion? It's nothing.

So where's my money going?

• $29 billion to bail out Bear Stearns.

• $40 billion in the first mortgage-holder bailout.

• Up to $85 billion to bail out AIG.

• $700 billion general bailout of securities backed by bad debt. (The International Monetary Fund estimates this figure will rise to at least $1 trillion.)

$854 Billion in market subsidies. Unconscionable. Even the grandest of FDR's schemes to federalize the nation did not come to this level.
If it was a president and administration of a Democrat bent, I would still be furious, but hardly surprised. The socialistic tendencies of that party has long been established. But this isn't a Democrat, its a Republican.
And one who claimed to be a free market capitalist.

George W. Bush and this Congress have failed this country miserably.

Capitalism functions because there is incentive in profit, and restraints in loss. Risk is an essential part of the equation. This removes the market punishment for those who took unwise risk, and is only going to lead to more problems and more federalization.
God help us when that arrives.

I don't say this often, but if you haven't called your senator or congressman to let them know you don't approve of this wanton wreaking of our economy and criminal run up of the federal deficit, please do so.

Still alive

Hey ya'll, I'm still alive, but I haven't been blogging recently, as you've noticed.
Thanks for bearing wtih me, I've got a bazillion thoughts bouncing around I have to put together in a coherent fashion to post, but I'm still here.
I'll get back in rhythm soon, but here's a wonderful example of the staggering corruption the United States is now swimming in with these corporate bailouts and federalization of the markets.

Independent: "Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.

The revelation sparked fury among the workers' former colleagues, Lehman's 5,000 staff based in London, who currently have no idea how long they will go on receiving even their basic salaries, let alone any bonus payments. It also prompted a renewed backlash over the compensation culture in global finance, with critics claiming that many bankers receive pay and rewards that bore no relation to the job they had done."

Checking in

So, I've been in Ponchatula Louisana clearing debris. I'm staying with a wonderful older couple who are finding people for me to help, and I'm on my 3rd house today, and I'll be back tommorow.
It's good work, and I'm having a good time. Likely to wind up serving in Baton Rouge by the end of the week however, which will be interesting.

What In the World is Going on Out There? The Feds are taking over Freddie and Fannie?
Have the intellectually vacant power grubbing government officials decided to disregard all lessons of history, economics, and basic common sense?
Sadly, the answer is yes. Bah. It's socialism for the rich, a safety net for those who had all the cards they ever needed in their hands, and foolishly squandered them. Now, they expect the American citizen to pay for their errors? Inconceivable, and ludicrous that a handout to the rich would even be considered. Yet, this is the situation we find ourselves in.
Thank you, Federal Government.

In other news, Brett Favre won with the jets. Well, he should have.
Tom Brady is hurt for the season. Ha ha.

RNC 2008, Absent

I missed Romney, so no comment.
I was happy to see Michael Williams, the Railroad commissioner from Texas on earlier. He's a rising star, and I pointed him to a good dinner when we were in houston.
Huckabee was at his finest.
If last night Fred Thompson reminded me why I loved him, and took the gloves off on Obama, then Rudy came out tonight slinging brass knuckled fisticuffs at Obama. And most connected.

Sarah Palin... lightning in a bottle?
She said all the right things, but to me, was a mix of annoying and brilliance. I'll get over it, the rest of the party loves her.




I am heading to Louisiana to help with Gustov Recovery tomomorow morning, and I know not when I will be back online. The good ol' laptop is coming with me, so if I find a hotspot, I'll get back on.

What the Maverick Hath Wrought

John McCain. The man, and in many ways a Legend of Washington. I've often thought that to be this man's biographer would be a job for the ages, transcribing a story of one of the few Statesmen of the 20th century, a simple senator from an obscure state with a legacy comparable to that of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun.

A man who fought for his country, and was shot down by a comrade. He went back in the air, and was shot down by the enemy, only to be a thorn in the side of the management at the Hanoi Hilton for 5 long years, enduring more in a few months then most will endure in a life time.
A man who came back, and with the same stubborn resolve has applied his beliefs to public service in the United States Senate. Tacking his own course to the chagrin of both parties, a failed presidential candidate, a former media darling, a reformer who has been at times misguided, a defender of the defenseless, and a bulwark in the War on Terror throughout the war.

This is John McCain, this is the last man standing tall in the wake of the Republican Primary.
The Maverick Strikes Back.
In a race where Barak Obama has taken the mantle of renegade from Washington, a changer, a rebel from the beltway from John McCain, the tables have once again turned, and in one swift, masterful stroke by McCain and his campaign.

Sarah Palin has been the hinge on the doors of this change.
The only woman in the race.
The only executive in the race.
The only mother in the race.
The only one from Alaska in the race.
The only one who has charged the base of the right, and sent conservatives across the nation into a mind-blowing fit of excitement for a vice presidential nomination.

In a race where McCain was distrusted by his base because of his maverickism from the party in the past, McCain has won them back by being a maverick. It's brilliant, and the road to victory has never looked brighter for the McCain campaign.

Her speech will be telling tonight, but only moderately so. Unless she tacks strongly to center, the base has decided she is the next presidential nominee in a Post-McCain party.
What a party that might be... the changing of the guard, ushered in by a republican smashing all femist preconceptions, and a small town common sense republican who owns a gun and didn't kill her child, and is a maverick in her own right against the establishment.

USA, Iraqis win in Anabar

International Herald Tribune: "Over the past two years, the number of insurgent attacks against Iraqis and Americans has dropped by more than 90 percent. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has been severely degraded, if not crushed altogether, in large part because many local Sunnis, including former insurgents, have taken up arms against it.

Since February, as the security situation improved, U.S. commanders have cut the number of marines and soldiers operating in the province by 40 percent.

The transfer of authority codified a situation that Iraqi and American officers say has been in effect since April: The Iraqi Army and police operate independently and retain primary responsibility for battling the insurgency and crime in Anbar. The United States, which had long done the bulk of the fighting, has stepped into a backup role, going into the streets only when accompanied by Iraqi forces.
...
"Not in our wildest dreams could we have imagined this," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, who flew in from Baghdad. "Two or three years ago, had we suggested that the Iraqis could take responsibility, we would have been ridiculed, we would have been laughed at. This was the cradle of the Sunni insurgency."
...
What finally broke the stalemate, according to former insurgents and local leaders, was a local revolt against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the radical insurgent group believed to be led primarily by foreigners. As the group began to expand its goals beyond killing Americans to include sectarian assassinations and imposing a fundamentalist Islam, local tribal leaders struck back and reached out for help to U.S. forces. The "Sunni Awakening" was born, and it soon spread across the Sunni areas of Iraq."

I believe the last paragraph is the most telling. It was a foreign led guerrilla war, not a domestic insurgency.
Notice this as well. The vaunted US army has once again left it's battlefield in victory, and we've handed it over to whom it belongs.

In other news, Palin seems like a good VP choice. It's brilliant politically, anyways.