DEXTER FILKINS, NYTIMES' IRAQ WAR REPORTER (2004- 2006): "IRAQ IS IN SUCH GOOD SHAPE, I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE IT!"

NYTIMES IRAQ CORRESPONDENT - DEXTER FILKINS: IRAQ IS IN SUCH GOOD SHAPE, I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE IT:

Back in Iraq, Jarred by the Calm

On Karada Mariam, a street that runs over the Tigris River toward the Green Zone, the Serwan and the Zamboor, two kebab places blown up by suicide bombers in 2006, were crammed with customers. Farther up the street was Pizza Napoli, the Italian place shut down in 2006; it, too, was open for business.

And I’d forgotten altogether about Abu Nashwan’s Wine Shop, boarded up when the black-suited militiamen of the Mahdi Army had threatened to kill its owners. There it was, flung open to the world.

Two years ago, when I last stayed in Baghdad, Karada Mariam was like the whole of the city: shuttered, shattered, broken and dead.

Abu Nawas Park — I didn’t recognize that, either. By the time I had left the country in August 2006, the two-mile stretch of riverside park was a grim, spooky, deserted place, a symbol for the dying city that Baghdad had become.

These days, the same park is filled with people: families with children, women in jeans, women walking alone.

Even the nighttime, when Iraqis used to cower inside their homes, no longer scares them. I can hear their laughter wafting from the park.

At sundown the other day, I had to weave my way through perhaps 2,000 people.

It was an astonishing, beautiful scene — impossible, incomprehensible, only months ago.

When I left Baghdad two years ago, the nation’s social fabric seemed too shredded to ever come together again. The very worst had lost its power to shock.

To return now is to be jarred in the oddest way possible: by the normal, by the pleasant, even by hope.

The questions are jarring, too. Is it really different now? Is this something like peace or victory? And, if so, for whom: the Americans or the Iraqis?

There are plenty of reasons why this peace may only amount to a cease-fire, fragile and reversible. The “surge” of American troops is over. The Iraqis are moving to take their country back, yet they wonder what might happen when the Americans’ restraining presence is gone.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS:

• THE NYTIMES IS ADMITTING - ONCE AGAIN - THAT THE SURGE WORKED - AND THAT THE IRAQIS KNOW IT, AND THEY THANK US.

• ER UM... NO THANKS TO THE DEMOCRATS!

VOTE ACCORDINGLY!

LARGE HADRON COLLIDER ALREADY BROKEN

BWHAHAHAHAHA: New Particle Collider to Be Shut Down for Repairs

The giant Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most expensive scientific experiment, will be shut down for at least two months, scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Geneva said Saturday.

The shutdown casts into doubt the hopes of CERN physicists to achieve high-energy collisions of protons in the machine before the end of the year.

“It’s too early to say whether we’ll still be having collisions this year,” said James Gillies, chief of communications for CERN, in an e-mail message.

... Several mishaps, including the failure of a 30-ton electrical transformer, have slowed progress since then. In the worst case, on Friday, one of the giant superconducting magnets that guide the protons failed during a test. A large amount of helium, which is used to cool the magnets to within 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit of absolute zero, leaked into the collider tunnel.

In a terse statement, the laboratory said that an electrical connection between the magnets had melted because of the high current. To fix it, engineers will have to warm that section of the tunnel, and then cool it all the way down again.

... The laboratory shuts down to save money on electricity during the winter. A gala inauguration party scheduled for Oct. 21 will still take place, Dr. Gillies said.

• I LOVE THE FACT THAT THEY'RE STILL GONNA HAVE THE GALA!
• THIS THING HAS ALREADY COST ABOUT $7 BILLION - SO FAR.... SO WHAT A FEW MORE MILLION FOR A PAHTEEE!
  
• I'D RATHER THEY SPENT THE MONEY FIGGERING OUT HOW THE DEMOCRATS NOMINATED A MAN TOTALLY UNPREPARED AND UNFIT FOR THE OFFICE!

NEW CHIEF OF BRIT MI6 IS AN ANTI-TERROR EXPERT

TOL:

A MANDARIN at the Home Office who made his name fighting terrorism is being lined up as the next head of MI6, the secret intelligence service, senior Whitehall officials have disclosed.

Charles Farr, a 49-year-old spymaster who has overhauled the Home Office’s handling of the war on terror, is widely tipped to become “C” - the chief of MI6 - next July, succeeding Sir John Scarlett.

Farr, described as a smooth government operator, would be the first head of MI6 to have established his credentials in the post-9/11 security world rather than the cold war.

Scarlett, 60, former head of the service’s Moscow station, made his name as an expert in Soviet intelligence.

THIS MOVE PROVES THAT THE GWOT IS JOB ONE , AND PUTIN JOB TWO; (THOUGH I SUSPECT THEY ARE DEEPLY CONNECTED - AND BY MORE THAN RUSSIAN AID TO IRAN AND SYRIA...)

[ASIDE: REMEMBER: IN GREAT BRITAIN (AND MOST OF EUROPE) THERE'S NO BILL OF RIGHTS AND AS A RESULT THE GOV'T/MI6 CAN EAVESDROP ON SUBJECTS MUCH MORE EASILY THAN WE CAN HERE. THIS IS SOMETHING OUR ANTI-AMERICAN LEFT IGNORES; THEY TEND TO PAINT BUSH'S USA AS HITLERVILLE AND EUROPE AS UTOPIANA.]

AFTER MARRIOTT BOMBING, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT "MR. 10%" ZARDARI MAKES PHONY PLEDGE TO FIGHT TERROR

NEWS HERE.

• HOW DO WE KNOW IT'S PHONY?
• SIMPLE: IF THEY WONT LET US MAKE INCURSIONS TO KILL THE JIHADISTS, THEN THEY ARE NOT SERIOUS ABOUT DEFEATING THEM.
• PERIOD.

PAKISTAN REAPS THE FRUITS OF APPEASEMENT: THE MARRIOTT BOMBING

HERE'S A SLIDE SHOW OF THE AFTERMATH.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TERRORISTS ARE CODDLED, AS SHARIF AND ZARDARI HAVE CODDLED THEM.

LET ALL WHO ADVOCATE TALKING WITH THE LIKES OF THE TALIBAN AND IRAN TAKE NOTE.

SUB-PRIME SLIME: OBAMA AND PRITZKER

A CENTRAL FIGURE IN OUR CURRENT FINANCIAL FIASCO IS OBAMA'S FINANCE CHAIRPERSON - AND THE LEFT-WING KNOWS THIS:

FROM LEFT-LEANING CONSORTIUM NEWS - VIA THE LEFT-WING HUFFINGTON POST - 2/28/08:

Barack Obama has slammed the banking industry for its predatory use of sub-prime mortgages, which are pushing millions of American homeowners toward foreclosure.

But his campaign's Finance Chair, Penny Pritzker, owned a failed Chicago thrift that helped pioneer sub-prime financial instruments and faced accusations of abuse.

Superior Bank of Chicago went belly up in 2001 with over $1 billion in insured and uninsured deposits. This collapse came amid harsh criticism of how Superior's owners promoted sub-prime home mortgages. As part of a settlement, the owners paid $100 million and agreed to pay another $335 million over 15 years at no interest...

But this seven-year-old bank failure has relevance in another way today, since the chair of Superior’s board for five years was Penny Pritzker, a member of one of America’s richest families and the current Finance Chair for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, the same candidate who has lashed out against predatory lending.

Though Superior Bank collapsed years before the current sub-prime turmoil that is rocking the world’s financial markets – and pushing those millions of homeowners toward foreclosure – some banking experts say the Pritzkers and Superior hold a special place in the history of the sub-prime fiasco.

“The [sub-prime] financial engineering that created the Wall Street meltdown was developed by the Pritzkers and Ernst and Young, working with Merrill Lynch to sell bonds securitized by sub-prime mortgages,” Timothy J. Anderson, a whistleblower on financial and bank fraud, told me in an interview.

“The sub-prime mortgages,” Anderson said, “were provided to Merrill Lynch, by a nation-wide Pritzker origination system, using Superior as the cash cow, with many millions in FDIC insured deposits. Superior’s owners were to sub-prime lending, what Michael Milken was to junk bonds.”

In other words, if you traced today’s sub-prime crisis back to its origins, you would come upon the role of the Pritzkers and Superior Bank of Chicago.

HOW WE GOT HERE: OBAMA AND THE SLEAZY CHICAGO CROOKS HAVE LONG BEEN IN BED WITH THE CLINTON SLIME RUNNING FANNIE MAE AND THE DEMOCRATS THEY OWN IN CONGRESS.

AND THAT'S WHO GOT US HERE. THEY MADE THIS MESS.

• Repeat: "Superior’s owners were to sub-prime lending, what Michael Milken was to junk bonds.” In other words, if you traced today’s sub-prime crisis back to its origins, you would come upon the role of the Pritzkers and Superior Bank of Chicago."

• Repeat: "Superior’s owners were to sub-prime lending, what Michael Milken was to junk bonds.”In other words, if you traced today’s sub-prime crisis back to its origins, you would come upon the role of the Pritzkers and Superior Bank of Chicago."

• Repeat: "Superior’s owners were to sub-prime lending, what Michael Milken was to junk bonds.”In other words, if you traced today’s sub-prime crisis back to its origins, you would come upon the role of the Pritzkers and Superior Bank of Chicago."

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

REMINDER: THE DJIA IS ONLY DOWN 51.77 POINTS IN THE LAST 30 DAYS...

... and the five year chart (below) is still quite good:

DON'T PANIC!

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: WALL STREET GREED DID NOT CAUSE OUR FINANCIAL FIASCO, K-STREET CORRUPTION DID

K STREET AND THE DEMOCRATS ARE TO BLAME:

The entire "first cause" of our current financial fiasco is Fannie Mae and political - not Wall Street greed.

It was caused by K Street and Fannie Mae, not Wall Street and investors.

The problem is that the derivatives created by Fannie Mae (which mixed prime with sub-prime mortgages) have no transparency and are now therefore seen as worthless by the marketplace.

That many large firms on Wall Street and central banks around the world bought these is NOT symptomatic of greed - quite the opposite; they bought these Fannie Mae derivatives because of the inherent backing they got from the US Government, which made them a relatively conservative investment - you see, Fannie Mae has, for all intents and purposes, got a guarantee from the USG because it's a special GSE, and because its so large the markets knew the USG could not let it fail.

That's precisely why Bush - in 2003 - and McCain - in 2005 - proposed that Fannie Mae get much more oversight than Congress was giving it. Bush McCain and th4e GOP was very worried about the "shoddy" bookkeeping at Fannie Mae and the potentially enormous USG liability because Fannie Mae is GSE.

Here's proof of the shoddy bookkeeping at Fannie Mae - from their own website:

Cautionary Note Regarding Certain Previously Reported Financial Results - Investors and others should not rely on annual or quarterly financial information published prior to December 2004. For financial information for 2002, 2003 and 2004, investors and others should instead review and rely on Fannie Mae's 2004 Form 10-K as filed with the SEC on December 6, 2006.

2004 is when a Fannie Mae WHISTLEBLOWER -- (a story which The Astute Bloggers posted on at the time! A time when we were VIRTUALLY ALONE!) - let the public know that Fannie Mae was cooking the books so that its executives - ALL LEADING DEMOCRATS (Raines, Gorelick, Johnson) AND ALL DEMOCRAT APPOINTEES - could make MILLIONS!

HERE'S WHERE K STREET COMES IN:

Congress was not giving Fannie Mae the oversight it needed because Fannie Mae was PAYING OFF the Democrats who ran the oversight committees: Dodd, Obama, Kerry, Clinton, Barney Frank et al. ALSO: Leading Democrats like PELOSI AND KERRY had HUGE PERSONAL INVESTMENTS in Fannie Mae, a simple conflict of interest which should have never EVER been allowed to stand.

Merrill and Lehman's acted in good faith when they BOUGHT these derivatives; they were not overcome with "greed"; when AIG insured them they also acted in good faith: all believed that the derivatives were sound.

The corruption lies in WASHINGTON DC not Wall Street.

Fannie Mae and the Democrats in Congress started this whole AVOIDABLE mess.

When Fannie Mae bundled sub-prime mortgages with prime mortgages and the Democrats said "That's okay; don't worry; we'll look the other way". And when it came to making sure Fannie Mae was properly run and not over-extending our commitments THE DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS DID JUST THAT: they looked the other way and prevented Bush and McCain from reining in Fannie Mae.

Had the Congress been wither GOP or honest, then this crisis would have never happened.

Had the Congress been wither GOP or honest, then this crisis would have never happened.

Had the Congress been wither GOP or honest, then this crisis would have never happened.

Pelosi, Rangel, Frank, Dodd, Kerry and Obama should not only be censured for their roles and their conflicts of interest - they should be charged with corruption and bribery.

The ultimate justice, though, would be for the American electorate to wake up and see the Democrats for what they are and vote them the hell out of Washington!

*******UPDATE: MUST READ: DOUG SPELLS IT ALL OUT AS ONLY DOUG CAN!

BOTTOM-LINE: MY FELLOW DEMOCRATS: WAKE UP!

"WHISTLEBLOWER PALIN" IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR THE CURRENT FINANCIAL FIASCO

Palin rose to fame in Alaska because she blew the whistle of corruption between the energy industry and the state politicians.

She had been appointed to the state's energy commission probably because the governor felt she was just another "{cute" lil' town mayor who could be pushed around.

But when she got there and saw the corruption she didn't hesitate to do what was right for the people of Alaska
- she blew the whistle and got the corrupt politicians canned... YES: THEY WERE REPUBLICANS JUST LIKE HER.

This proves she has the morals and the courage to do what needs to be done in Washington - and we desperately need someone like this RIGHT NOW!

" President McCain" could appoint her to head a commission to examine all the "good ol' boy" networks which exist in DC between those who REGULATE industry and the industry.

The Congress hasn't properly exercised their oversight responsibilities and neither have the various agencies.

This is why we need regulatory REFORM -- (the kind proposed by Bush in 2003, and clocked by the Democrats - and proposed by McCain in 2005, and blocked by the Democrats!) -- and why we also need VICE PRESIDENT PALIN.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

Ugly old Leftist baggage slimes Sarah Palin

You can see a recent image of her here. If you read anything that tears some woman to shreds, you can almost always be sure that it is the work of another woman. And an ugly old woman with nothing left but her tongue will often loathe a younger attractive woman. What the old baggage below says is nothing but abuse and unsubstantiated assertions so I think it is reasonable not to discuss her hate-filled rant but rather to point to the motives behind it and give a bit of contempt back.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is reviewing complaints from both Americans and Canadians about a Web site columnist who recently described Sarah Palin's supporters as "white trash," compared the vice presidential candidate to a "porn actress" and called her daughter's boyfriend a "redneck" and "ratboy."

In the CBC story, Mallick wrote that John McCain's running mate "added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn't already have sewn up, the white trash vote." She proceeded to write that the Alaska governor "has a toned-down version of the porn actress look favored by this decade's woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression."

She also questioned why the Palins were allowing Levi Johnston - 17-year-old Bristol Palin's boyfriend and father of her unborn baby - into the family. "What normal father would want Levi `I'm a f--n' redneck' Johnson prodding his daughter?" Mallick asked. "I know that I have an attachment to children that verges on the irrational, but why don't the Palins? I'm not the one preaching homespun values but I'd destroy that ratboy before I'd let him get within scenting range of my daughter again, and so would you. . Turn your guns on Levi, ma'am."....

Mallick also wrote on the CBC Web site that Republican men, whom she called "sexual inadequates," must think that women would vote for Palin just because she's a woman.

More here. (Amusing that they use a very old picture of the baggage there)

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here

The Rest of the Meltdown Story

By Neal Boortz

What in the world is going on here? You've seen the headlines, and you heard of the failures and buyouts. Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, AIG; all big names and all in big trouble. Then those mysterious quasi-government agencies with names like Freddie and Fannie become wards of the state and you learn that you and your fellow taxpayers are potentially on the hook for tens of billions of dollars. At the end of the week Washington Mutual is looking for a buyer, and you start to wonder about the security of your own bank and your own savings account. Let's change that ad copy to WaMu -- boo hoo.

Somewhere in the back of your mind you understand that this is all tied somehow to bad mortgages. If you start reading a bit further to enhance your understanding you run into terms like Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) and credit-default swaps, whatever in the world those are. Read further and you find out that a combination of falling home prices and mortgage defaults have put many investment banks and other financial institutions in deep puddin'. All this reading, all this watching the talking heads on TV, and you still don't really know what in the world is going on here.

Fear not. I'm here to help. I know . I'm just another talk show host; but the fact is that when the stage was being set for the problems we're seeing today I was making most of my money as a real estate lawyer .. closing loans for some of the very institutions that are the tank today. This rather unique combination - closing lawyer and radio talk show host - gave me a front row seat to the politicization of mortgage loans that led us to today's headlines.

OK .. so we all know that a lot of really bad real estate loans were made. The political class would sure love for us to believe that the blame here rests squarely on "greedy" (try to define that word) mortgage brokers and lenders. The truth is that most of the blame rests on political meddling in the credit decisions of these mortgage lenders.

Twenty years ago the buzz-word in the media was "redlining." Newspapers across the country were filled with hard-hitting investigative reports about evil and racist mortgage lenders refusing to make real estate loans to various minorities and to applicants who lived in lower-income neighborhoods. There I was closing these loans in the afternoons, and in the mornings offering a counter-argument on the radio to these absurd "redlining" claims. Frankly, the claims that evil mortgage lenders were systematically denying loans to blacks and other minorities were a lot sexier on the radio than my claims that when credit histories, job stability, loan-to-value ratios and income levels were considered there was no evident racial discrimination.

Political correctness won the day. Washington made it clear to banks and other lending institutions that if they did not do something .. and fast .. to bring more minorities and low-income Americans into the world of home ownership there would be a heavy price to pay. Congress set up processes (Research the Community Redevelopment Act) whereby community activist groups and organizers could effectively stop a bank's efforts to grow if that bank didn't make loans to unqualified borrowers. Enter, stage left, the "subprime" mortgage. These lenders knew that a very high percentage of these loans would turn to garbage - but it was a price that had to be paid if the bank was to expand and grow. We should note that among the community groups browbeating banks into making these bad loans was an outfit called ACORN. There is one certain presidential candidate that did a lot of community organizing for ACORN. I won't mention his name so as to avoid politicizing this column.

These garbage loans to unqualified borrowers were then bundled up and sold. The expectation was that the loans would be eventually paid off when rising home values led some borrowers to access their equity through re-financing and others to sell and move on up the ladder. Oops.

Right now this crisis is being sold to the American public by the left as evidence the failure of the free market and capitalism. Not so. What we're seeing is the inevitable result of political interference in free market economics. Acme bank didn't want to loan money to Joe Homebuyer because Joe had a spotty job history, owed too much money on his credit cards, and wasn't all that good at making payments on time. The politicians told Acme Bank to figure out a way to make that loan, because, after all, Joe is a bona-fide minority-American, or forget about opening that new branch office on the Southside. The loan was made under politicial pressure; the loan, with millions like it, failed - and now we are left to enjoy today's headlines.

So . why aren't you reading the whole story in the mainstream media? Come on, are you kidding me? Do you really expect the media to blame this mess on deadbeat borrowers and political interference in the free market when it is so easy to put the blame on greedy lenders and evil capitalists? Remember . there's an election going on. One candidate is decidedly anti-capitalist. Do the math.

Source. An article at IBD makes similar points to the above

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here

The Peculiar Case of the AP's Missing Paragraphs

When an article by Beth Fouhy of the AP actually made it to the funny papers, it was curiously missing several paragraphs critical of Barack (name redacted) Obama. Compare and contrast the original with the version that hit the streets.

Key: I've colored the paragraphs that went missing in purple for the slower-witted liberals progressives out there. And I've bolded Fouhy's advertorializing for the Obama camp.

McCain says Fed should stop government bailouts By BETH FOUHY

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Republican John McCain said Friday the Federal Reserve needs to stop bailing out failed financial institutions. The Republican presidential hopeful said the Fed should get back to "its core business of responsibly managing our money supply and inflation" and he laid out several recommendations for stabilizing markets in the financial crisis that has rocked Wall Street and commanded the dialogue in the presidential campaign.

McCain made little mention of the massive proposal being crafted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that could amount to a $1 trillion taxpayer bailout of the mortgage industry. McCain said simply that leaders should put aside partisan differences and "any action should be designed to keep people in their homes and safeguard the life savings of all Americans."

The Fed engineered an $85 billion takeover of insurance giant AIG this week after seizing control of housing giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. McCain said that to help return the U.S. to fiscal solvency, the powerful central bank should instead focus on shoring up the dollar and keeping inflation low.

"A strong dollar will reduce energy and food prices," McCain said to applause from the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce. "It will stimulate sustainable economic growth and get this economy moving again."

In the speech and later at a boisterous rally in Minnesota, McCain sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for ties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and for advocating tax increases McCain said would "turn a recession into a depression."

Obama has said he would raise taxes on people making over $250,000 a year and would cut taxes on the middle class. McCain restated his claim that Obama had voted to raise taxes on people who make just $42,000 a year — a claim that has been widely debunked by nonpartisan fact check organizations.

McCain noted the Illinois senator had taken large campaign contributions from both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that the one-time head of Obama's vice presidential search team, Jim Johnson, had received a $21 million severance deal after stepping down as Fannie Mae CEO. McCain's campaign released a new television ad Friday hitting Obama for his connection to Johnson.

The Arizona senator neglected to say that some of his closest advisers had ties to or lobbied for the home loan giants.

McCain is correct when he says Obama is the No. 2 recipient of campaign money from employees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Obama has collected $126,349 from those sources, according to a compilation by the Center for Responsive Politics, second only to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who has received $165,400. The ranking covers the period since 1989.

In Minnesota, the mention of Johnson's severance deal brought loud chants from thousands of McCain supporters who filled an airport hangar. "Give it back! Give it back!" they shouted.

Gee, I wonder why they cut out the stuff in purple?

As for the important ties between the Obama camp and the Fannie Mae debacle that threatens to melt our financial system down? How about the two disgraced Fannie Mae CEOs and Obama advisers (who, between 'em, ripped off taxpayers for around $111 million in compensation in six years) Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson?

• The Washington Post, 7/16/08: “In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae’s chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case’s D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.”
• The Washington Post, 8/28/08: “In the current crisis, their biggest backers have been Democrats such as Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (Mass.). Two members of Mr. Obama’s political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae.“

Hat tips: Hot Air's Ed Morrissey, Fausta and Larwyn.

DID INFAMOUS SHORT-SELLER AND BOUNTIFUL OBAMA SUPPORTER GEORGE SOROS PROFITEER OFF OF THE LATEST FIANINCIAL MELTDOWN?

Maybe he even lit the fuse - in order to hasten the "Obama revolution"...

JUST ASKING...

LOOK OUT, FANS OF CHRISTIAN MUSIC!

The left is looking for ways to appeal to you and get you to vote for the Democratic Party:

Fans of Christian music, listeners to Christian radio, watchers of Christian TV -- you're very attractive, did you know that?

After years of living in a quiet, monogamous relationship with the Republican Party, you are being courted by the Democrats. These leftie operatives say it's not enough to be the de facto political party of Hollywood, with its nudity and violence. Now Barack Obama's supporters have a new frontier in their sights: Nashville, ...the literal and metaphoric capital of the gospel and contemporary Christian music industries, as well as a hot spot for Christian radio and TV. This, industry folks say, is a land populated by GOP-voting listeners.

[...]

We're talking rallies against global warming and capital punishment, at Christian music concerts. Obama ads on Christian radio. Consumers of gospel music getting bombarded with campaign literature from Democratic candidates.

That means the good people of Ohio will be peacefully listening to a radio preaching out of the Book of Revelation when suddenly -- " Jesus said, inasmuch as you did unto the least of these, you have done it to me" . . . calming instrumental music in the background . . . "As a Christian," says pro-life Democrat and former Ohio congressman Tony Hall, "Barack believes God calls us to care for those in need . . . "

That's a new radio ad scheduled to air on Christian radio in Ohio next week.

"We have people calling every Christian radio station; we want to know about their newsroom, what news services they use, how can we communicate with them...," drawls Burns Strider, a Mississippi native who led faith outreach for Hillary Clinton....

Much more here.

The Democratic Party scorned the Christian right for decades. But the Democratic Party isn't above pandering for the Christian-right vote: "Be a good Christian. Vote for Barack." Disgusting.

And I've noticed that this tactic is making headway. Specifically, I know several evangelical Christians, and they are arguing in favor of voting for Barack Obama and sporting Obama bumper stickers on their vehicles. One of these evangelical Christians even said, "I can't vote for McCain because his wife is Budweiser Beer." So, she'd rather vote for Barack HUSSEIN Obama even though she says that she believes he is a Moslem at heart. And, of course, she hasn't even bothered to research his stand on the issues which are important for this election and this time in America's history.

I realize that how citizens base their votes on is a topic of some contention and always has been. For me, that basis has been somewhat of a mystery. A responsible citizen should base his or her vote on the candidates' stand on the issues, not on some trivial sound bite. We'll find out in November if American voters are up to the task of being an educated citizenry.

RUPERT MURDOCK PINS OBAMA: "OBAMA IS AN OLD-FASHIONED 1960'S SOCIALIST"

*******UPDATE: We scooped the incredibly great blog GATEWAY by a day on this. Regular readers know this happens all the time. Spread the word; blogroll us!

FINANCIAL FIASCO CAUSED BY POLITICAL MALFEASANCE: MORE WRITING ON THE WALL WHICH WAS IGNORED BY THE DEMOCRATS OF CONGRESS: NYT 2002

NYT - IN 2002 - SIX YEARS AGO:

For all the potential risks lurking on their balance sheets, the government-sponsored enterprises argue that the government gets a lot of bang for its theoretical buck. So long as the government never has to mount a rescue, they have a point.

But the bigger they get, the greater the public's exposure.

Certainly, Fannie and Freddie are already so large that some argue the government could no more let them fail than Chrysler, which got federal help in 1980. ''The issue is what would the government do here, and I'd argue there is an implicit guarantee with Citigroup, J. P. Morgan Chase, General Electric'' as well, Mr. Miller said. ''The government cannot allow any of these big institutions to fail.''

Contagion would be one problem.

Two-fifths of all United States financial institutions hold one to five times as much debt from these agencies as they do capital. The system encourages banks to treat the agencies' paper as a near substitute for Treasuries, so that concentration limits do not apply. Central banks are also big holders.

.... As Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, has warned, a lack of due diligence is inevitable in a world where market participants assume the government will make things right.

George J. Benston, a finance professor at Emory University who served on Farmer Mac's board in its early days, said the failure of a smaller enterprise would actually give the government ''a wonderful chance to teach the market a lesson at a bargain price.''

''Legally, the government is not obligated,'' he said. ''But Congress tends to bail these people out.''

There are rumblings that even Congress is having second thoughts. Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, and Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to comply with the same disclosure rules as other public companies.

And Paul A. Volcker, the former Fed chairman, has stated publicly that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have become larger than Congress intended.

Bigger than ORIGINALLY intended, but not bigger than the current leadership wanted. YET THEY STILL HAD PLENTY OF WARNINGS: FROM the NYTIMES in 2002, and from BUSH IN 2003.

• BUT THE DEMOCRATS OF CONGRESS DID NOTHING ABOUT IT.
• BUSH WANTED IT, BUT THE DEMOCRATS WHO RUN CONGRESS BLOCKED IT.
• NOW WE HAVE THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL FIASCO OF ALL TIME TO CONTEND WITH.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

FANNIE MAE HAS LONG BEEN CORRUPT: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS SWEETNESS AND LIGHT BY FOUR YEARS

• TODAY - SEPTEMBER 19, 2008 - SWEETNESS AND LIGHT DOES A RECAP OF THE FANNIE MAE SCANDAL IN 2004.

• WE POSTED ON IT AN ITS POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS AT THE TIME - IN 2004, AND FOLLOWED UP ON IT IN 2005 AND 2006.

AND WE CONNECTED IT TO OUR CURRENT FINANCIAL FIASCO WEEKS AGO.

REGULAR READERS KNOW WE SCOOP THE BIGGIES ALL THE TIME. SPREAD THE WORD. BLOGROLL US.

THE FANNIE MAE FIASCO: WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE KNEW AND WHEN THEY KNEW IT: HERE ARE THE FACTS...

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE:

For many years the President and his Administration have not only warned of the systemic consequences of financial turmoil at a housing government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) but also put forward thoughtful plans to reduce the risk that either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac would encounter such difficulties.

President Bush publicly called for GSE reform 17 times in 2008 alone before Congress acted. Unfortunately, these warnings went unheeded, as the President's repeated attempts to reform the supervision of these entities were thwarted by the legislative maneuvering of those who emphatically denied there were problems.

2001

April: The Administration's FY02 budget declares that the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is "a potential problem," because "financial trouble of a large GSE could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting Federally insured entities and economic activity."

2002

May: The President calls for the disclosure and corporate governance principles contained in his 10-point plan for corporate responsibility to apply to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (OMB Prompt Letter to OFHEO, 5/29/02)

2003

January: Freddie Mac announces it has to restate financial results for the previous three years.

February: The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) releases a report explaining that "although investors perceive an implicit Federal guarantee of [GSE] obligations," "the government has provided no explicit legal backing for them." As a consequence, unexpected problems at a GSE could immediately spread into financial sectors beyond the housing market. ("Systemic Risk: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Role of OFHEO," OFHEO Report, 2/4/03)

September: Fannie Mae discloses SEC investigation and acknowledges OFHEO's review found earnings manipulations.

September: Treasury Secretary John Snow testifies before the House Financial Services Committee to recommend that Congress enact "legislation to create a new Federal agency to regulate and supervise the financial activities of our housing-related government sponsored enterprises" and set prudent and appropriate minimum capital adequacy requirements.

October: Fannie Mae discloses $1.2 billion accounting error.

November: Council of the Economic Advisers (CEA) Chairman Greg Mankiw explains that any "legislation to reform GSE regulation should empower the new regulator with sufficient strength and credibility to reduce systemic risk." To reduce the potential for systemic instability, the regulator would have "broad authority to set both risk-based and minimum capital standards" and "receivership powers necessary to wind down the affairs of a troubled GSE." (N. Gregory Mankiw, Remarks At The Conference Of State Bank Supervisors State Banking Summit And Leadership, 11/6/03)

2004

February: The President's FY05 Budget again highlights the risk posed by the explosive growth of the GSEs and their low levels of required capital, and called for creation of a new, world-class regulator: "The Administration has determined that the safety and soundness regulators of the housing GSEs lack sufficient power and stature to meet their responsibilities, and therefore…should be replaced with a new strengthened regulator." (2005 Budget Analytic Perspectives, pg. 83)

February: CEA Chairman Mankiw cautions Congress to "not take [the financial market's] strength for granted." Again, the call from the Administration was to reduce this risk by "ensuring that the housing GSEs are overseen by an effective regulator." (N. Gregory Mankiw, Op-Ed, "Keeping Fannie And Freddie's House In Order," Financial Times, 2/24/04)

June: Deputy Secretary of Treasury Samuel Bodman spotlights the risk posed by the GSEs and called for reform, saying "We do not have a world-class system of supervision of the housing government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), even though the importance of the housing financial system that the GSEs serve demands the best in supervision to ensure the long-term vitality of that system. Therefore, the Administration has called for a new, first class, regulatory supervisor for the three housing GSEs: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banking System." (Samuel Bodman, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Testimony, 6/16/04)

2005

April: Treasury Secretary John Snow repeats his call for GSE reform, saying "Events that have transpired since I testified before this Committee in 2003 reinforce concerns over the systemic risks posed by the GSEs and further highlight the need for real GSE reform to ensure that our housing finance system remains a strong and vibrant source of funding for expanding homeownership opportunities in America… Half-measures will only exacerbate the risks to our financial system." (Secretary John W. Snow, "Testimony Before The U.S. House Financial Services Committee," 4/13/05)

2007

July: Two Bear Stearns hedge funds invested in mortgage securities collapse.

August: President Bush emphatically calls on Congress to pass a reform package for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying "first things first when it comes to those two institutions. Congress needs to get them reformed, get them streamlined, get them focused, and then I will consider other options." (President George W. Bush, Press Conference, The White House, 8/9/07)

September: RealtyTrac announces foreclosure filings up 243,000 in August – up 115 percent from the year before.

September: Single-family existing home sales decreases 7.5 percent from the previous month – the lowest level in nine years. Median sale price of existing homes fell six percent from the year before.

December: President Bush again warns Congress of the need to pass legislation reforming GSEs, saying "These institutions provide liquidity in the mortgage market that benefits millions of homeowners, and it is vital they operate safely and operate soundly. So I've called on Congress to pass legislation that strengthens independent regulation of the GSEs – and ensures they focus on their important housing mission. The GSE reform bill passed by the House earlier this year is a good start. But the Senate has not acted. And the United States Senate needs to pass this legislation soon." (President George W. Bush, Discusses Housing, The White House, 12/6/07)

2008

January: Bank of America announces it will buy Countrywide.

January: Citigroup announces mortgage portfolio lost $18.1 billion in value.

February: Assistant Secretary David Nason reiterates the urgency of reforms, says "A new regulatory structure for the housing GSEs is essential if these entities are to continue to perform their public mission successfully." (David Nason, Testimony On Reforming GSE Regulation, Senate Committee On Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs, 2/7/08)

"President Bush publicly called for GSE reform 17 times in 2008 alone before Congress acted."
REPEAT:
"President Bush publicly called for GSE reform 17 times in 2008 alone before Congress acted."
REPEAT:
"President Bush publicly called for GSE reform 17 times in 2008 alone before Congress acted."

• THE REFORM EFFORTS OF THE WHITE HOUSE WERE CONTINUALLY BLOCKED BY THE DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS.

• THE DEMOCRATS OF CONGRESS WERE MORE INTERESTED IN KEEPING THEIR BUDDIES IN FANNIE MAE HAPPY, THAN IN SERVING THE PEOPLE OF THE USA.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

NYT: BUSH WANTED TO REIN IN FANNIE MAE IN 2003: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS GLENN AGAIN - BY THREE DAYS!

• WHAT GLENN POSTED TODAY.
• THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS POSTED ON WEDNESDAY.
• AND - AT THE TIME - WE GOT A LINK FROM ACE AND OTHERS...

REGULAR READERS KNOW WE DO THIS ALL THE TIME. SPREAD THE WORD. BLOGROLL US!

LAWYERS VERSUS NON-LAWYERS: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS INSTAPUNDIT AND VOLOKH BY 3 WEEKS!

GLENN TODAY.




US 3 WEEKS AGO - WITH JPEGS!

REGULAR READERS KNOW THAT THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.

SPREAD THE WORD.



BLOGROLL US.

Obama and Dems Abysmal Record on Economics: Is McCain finally Noticing??

Glenn Reynolds has a round-up of the McCain ads that are going straight for Obama's weak spots on the Economy. Good to see; but McCain needs to cut the crap with attacking Christopher Cox, who does not run these companies, does not sit in on their board meetings, and is not responsible for Fannie and Freddie and Countrywide doling out tens of millions to Democrat candidates and the special interest groups that support them. First to the Instapundit and these three great vids:

THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES A NEW AD ON THE FINANCIAL CRISIS:

Meanwhile, Time attacks McCain's Fannie Mae ad as racist -- because it doesn't go far enough:

This is hardly subtle: Sinister images of two black men, followed by one of a vulnerable-looking elderly white woman.

Let me stipulate: Obama's Fannie Mae connections are completely fair game. But this ad doesn't even mention a far more significant tie--that of Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae chairman who had to resign as head of Obama's vice presidential search team after it was revealed he got a sweetheart deal on a mortgage from Countrywide Financial. Instead, it relies on a fleeting and tenuous reference in a Washington Post Style section story to suggest that Obama's principal economic adviser is former Fannie Mae Chairman Frank Raines. Why? One reason might be that Johnson is white; Raines is black.

Or maybe there are just too many dubious Obama associations to fit into a single commercial? Anyway, here's the ad -- make up your own mind. And maybe the McCain people can oblige the folks at Time by rolling out a Jim Johnson ad next? It's a target-rich environment . . . .

Meanwhile, if Obama is President, will Time regard every criticism of his administration as racist?

UPDATE: Bob Krumm emails: "How do you know that the Obama-Raines ad hits its target? Because Time magazine has declared that it is racist."

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ask and ye shall receive! Here's the Jim Johnson ad:

So does that undercut the racism charges? Will Time apologize? Are these rhetorical questions?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Two, two, two papers in one!

At least his ADS seem to get it. So why can't he tell the truth on the stump as well?? Earth to John McCain: it is the Democrats (including Obama!) who are largely responsible for the fix we are in:

1. They almost lost us the War (and still would if they could)...
2. They killed TWO Bush and McCain supported bills that would have stopped the pandering by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: this allowed the lobbying, payouts, and pandering to continue, which resulted in LESS oversight--and as a result of not doing what they were supposed to do (protect the taxpayers, not the special interests filling the Democrat Congress' campaign coffers...) the taxpayers being socked with the bill for their corruption.
   
3. Cox did his job well and admirably. To use him as a token fall-guy to support McCain's aura of "bipartisanship" is stupid.
   

JOHN: GET IT THROUGH YOUR MAVERICK HEAD: The DEMOCRATS are the enemy. DEFEAT THEM. And STOP THROWING YOUR OWN GOOD PEOPLE UNDER THE BUS.

Good grief...

Obama ad and Reuters on immigration

I have reproduced a Reuters article below as written. Reuters are the people who think that terrorists are just misunderstood patriots. It's not a bad article as far as it goes. Good for Reuters anyway. But note their quite false assertion that Republicans killed the amnesty bill. Since Republicans don't have a majority in either house, how could they? Both Republicans AND Democrats voted against the bill. And a Republican President supported it! And Limbaugh is apparently a suspect character for "cigar chomping"! No doubt Democrat cigar-smokers are OK, however. Or is this just bigotry against cigar-smokers?



Immigration has been absent from the presidential campaign for months, but it came to the front again this week in a controversial television spot for Barack Obama. The Democratic presidential candidate sought to cast Republican rival John McCain as an anti-Hispanic hard-liner and link him to talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.

The Spanish language TV ad - dubbed "Dos Caras," or "Two Faces" - aired on Wednesday. It courted Hispanic voters who make up 9 percent of the electorate and who could help swing the outcome in battleground states in the U.S. southwest as well as in Florida on Nov. 4.

The 30-second spot begins with a voice-over attacking the Republicans: "They want us to forget the insults we've put up with, the intolerance . they made us feel marginalized in the country that we love so much." The screen then shows two quotes from widely syndicated radio host Limbaugh, one reads "stupid and unskilled Mexicans," the other, "You shut your mouth or you get out!"

The paid spot then says: "John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote . and another, even worse, that continues the policies of George Bush, which puts special interests ahead of working families." It closes with the line "more of the same Republican lies."

The advertisement is a stretch. McCain was the co-author of a bi-partisan bill that sought a path to citizenship for millions of mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants living in the United States. It was backed by President George W. Bush, but was ultimately killed by Senate Republicans last year.

His support for the measure brought McCain the ire of many immigration hard-liners in his own party, and met with scorn from cigar-chomping Limbaugh, who was outspoken in his opposition to the veteran Arizona senator during the primary election process.The McCain campaign shot back on Thursday with a rebuttal of the television spot. Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, calling the immigration ad "offensive and dishonest." "Instead of making false ads with baseless attacks, Barack Obama should be apologizing to the Latino community," he said.

Source



Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here

Political attitudes are predicted by physiological traits

Study finds that conservatives react more strongly to apparent danger. Conservatives are more cautious! Nice to see it demonstrated physiologically but not a big surprise

Is America's red-blue divide based on voters' physiology? A new paper in the journal Science, titled "Political Attitudes Are Predicted by Physiological Traits," explores the link. Rice University's John Alford, associate professor of political science, co-authored the paper in the Sept. 19 issue of Science.

Alford and his colleagues studied a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs. Those individuals with "measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism and gun control, whereas individuals displaying measurably higher physiological reactions to those same stimuli were more likely to favor defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism and the Iraq War," the authors wrote.

Participants were chosen randomly over the phone in Lincoln, Neb. Those expressing strong political views -- regardless of their content -- were asked to fill out a questionnaire on their political beliefs, personality traits and demographic characteristics.

In a later session, they were attached to physiological measuring equipment and shown three threatening images (a very large spider on the face of a frightened person, a dazed individual with a bloody face and an open wound with maggots in it) interspersed among a sequence of 33 images. Similarly, participants also viewed three nonthreatening images (a bunny, a bowl of fruit and a happy child) placed within a series of other images. A second test used auditory stimuli to measure involuntary responses to a startling noise.

The researchers noted a correlation between those who reacted strongly to the stimuli and those who expressed support for "socially protective policies," which tend to be held by people "particularly concerned with protecting the interests of the participants' group, defined as the United States in mid-2007, from threats." These positions include support for military spending, warrantless searches, the death penalty, the Patriot Act, obedience, patriotism, the Iraq War, school prayer and Biblical truth, and opposition to pacifism, immigration, gun control, foreign aid, compromise, premarital sex, gay marriage, abortion rights and pornography.

The paper concluded, "Political attitudes vary with physiological traits linked to divergent manners of experiencing and processing environmental threats." This may help to explain "both the lack of malleability in the beliefs of individuals with strong political convictions and the associated ubiquity of political conflict," the authors said.

Source. More details here. Original journal abstract follows:

Political Attitudes Vary with Physiological Traits

By Douglas R. Oxley et al.

Although political views have been thought to arise largely from individuals' experiences, recent research suggests that they may have a biological basis. We present evidence that variations in political attitudes correlate with physiological traits. In a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs, individuals with measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism, and gun control, whereas individuals displaying measurably higher physiological reactions to those same stimuli were more likely to favor defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism, and the Iraq War. Thus, the degree to which individuals are physiologically responsive to threat appears to indicate the degree to which they advocate policies that protect the existing social structure from both external (outgroup) and internal (norm-violator) threats.

Science 2008: Vol. 321. no. 5896, pp. 1667 - 1670

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here

OBAMA NEVER DELIVERED

Obama was a very connected community organizer in Chicago - one with access to millions of grant dollars and connected law firms.

DID HE DELIVER ANY LASTING IMPROVEMENT IN ANY AREA - HOUSING, SCHOOLING OR ANYTHING?

No.

Obama was a part-time state Senator in the Illinois Senate.

DID HE DELIVER ANY LASTING IMPROVEMENT IN ANY AREA - HOUSING, SCHOOLING OR ANYTHING?

Er, um... no.

Obama was a US Senator for a year before he announced, and a total of three.

DID HE DELIVER ANY LASTING IMPROVEMENT IN ANY AREA - HOUSING, SCHOOLING OR ANYTHING?

No, not a thing.

IN ANY JOB EVER HAD DID OBAMA EVER DELIVER ANY LASTING IMPROVEMENT IN ANY AREA - HOUSING, SCHOOLING OR ANYTHING?

No.

Not a damn thing.

He's all talk.

He knows it - that's why his campaign theme was always JUDGMENT TO LEAD.

Because - withiout a single solitsary ACCOMPLISHMENT to speak of - the only thing which set him apart from the others seeking the Democrat nomination was the fact that among the leading contenders, he was the only one who was opposed the the Iraq War from the start.

A war which now seems won because of the Surge Obama opposed and said would make things worse. A war the Iraqis sees as liberating and which may soon drastically improve the prospects for democracy in the entire middle east.

ALL THIS MAKES OBAMA IS UNIQUELY UNQUALIFIED FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY.

But perhaps uniquely qualified to be the Democrat standard bearer.

Because the Democrat Party is all wrong on the issues and has never delivered anything good.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

VIDEO: LUTZ VERSUS COLBERT ON THE NEW CHEVY VOLT

I THINK LUTZ WINS.



THE VOLT SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD BE A CHEAP AND PRACTICAL CAR TO USE.

AND GREAT OF YOU ALSO WANT A CRUNCHIER GIRLFRIEND...

HERE'S WHY VOTING THE GOP PARTY-LINE IS ESSENTIAL

The reason Countrywide and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Lehman ended up in a ditch is because the Democrats in Congress got their way and blocked a Bush Regulation Plan in 2001 and a McCain Plan in 2005. They claim they did it to protect minorities, but they really did it to protect their friends who ran these three companies: you can check the campaign donations; they went overwhelmingly to the Democrats who protected them - Dodd, Clinton and Obama.

The reason we are in an energy crunch now - and sending so many petrodollars overseas to regimes that don't like us - is because the Democrats in Congress got their way and blocked the Bush-Cheney Energy Plan; in fact, the Democrats in Congress spent more time and money and - dare I say it - ENERGY trying to find out who Cheney talked to than in actually debating legislation which would have made us more energy independent.

If the Democrats had gotten their way vis a vis The Surge, then Iraq would have completely descended into civil war, sectarian strife and been taken over by AL QAEDA and IRAN, BUT BUSH WON THIS ONE - AND AS A RESULT WE SAVED IRAQ.

The ONLY reason Bush won on The Surge was because he had the authority to ORDER IT as Commander in Chief, and then - after ordering it - he challenged Congress to cut funding -- their only way to stop it. The Democrats in Congress tried, but they failed.

The Democrats have been 100% WRONG on the three biggest issues of our day (financial oversight, energy and The Surge) - and because their policies succeeded in the financial arena and the energy arena, we are all suffering.

I hope this illustrates how much is at stake this November, and why it is PARAMOUNT to elect as many Republicans as possible.

I say that as a registered Democrat. Since 1974.

But I must admit that I will probably be voting a straight GOP line this fall - and for the foreseeable future - that is until the Democrat Party is no longer dominated by the left and is once again dominated by sensible centrists whom I can trust on ALL matters of national security: the GWOT; energy; taxes & the economy; and immigration.

If you don't want any more fiascoes, then I suggest you VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

HOW HISTORY WILL LOOK BACK AT THE LAST 16 YEARS: WORDS OF WISDOM ABOUT MEDIA BIAS

Things are never as bad as the MSM says they are - when the GOP has the White House, and never as good as they say they are when a Democrat is in the White House.

PALIN DISINVITED FROM ANTI-AHMADINEJAD RALLY

So, I turn on my computer tonight after work and learn about this at Politico.com:

The organizers of an anti-Iran rally Monday rescinded their invitation to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after Democrats protested that her presence would turn the event into a political rally, McCain campaign and Jewish community sources said.

The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations created a political tempest by inviting Palin to speak without clearing her invitation with another speaker, Senator Hillary Clinton. Clinton promptly dropped out of the event, saying it would be seen as unduly political....

Apparently, now all "political figures" have been disinvited. But that disinvitation appears to have sprung from the motivation of shutting out Sarah Palin.

Ahmadinejad has clearly stated his desire to annihilate Israel. Yet the administrators of the rally against his regime are worried about some kind of political correctness. Unbelievable!

Here is the contact information for some of the event's sponsors (found at Yid With Lid):

Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

633 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-318-6111
Fax: 212-644-4135 Email: info@conferenceofpresidents.org

The Israel Project
Washington DC Office Phone: 202-857-6644
Fax: 202-857-6674
Email: info@theisraelproject.org

United Jewish Communities info@ujc.org
Telephone: 212.284.6500

UJA of NY Events
Mindy Rubin
1.212.836.1829
email = rubinm@ujafedny.org

BREAKING: WE'VE HIT BOTTOM IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND IT'S COMING BACK - ALBEIT AS A BUYER'S MARKET

AP/NYTIMES: California home sales surge as prices plummet

Home sales in California surged 13.6 percent in August as a flood of foreclosures drove down prices.

The figures released Thursday by MDA DataQuick showed 37,988 new and preowned homes were sold statewide last month, up 13.6 percent from August 2007 but down 3.8 percent from July.

The firm said 46.9 percent of all homes sold last month were foreclosed properties.

That helped send the statewide median home price plunging 35.3 percent to $301,000 during the year ended in August.

Most of the foreclosed homes were located in inland regions that have taken the worst hits during the housing crisis.

''It's the counties that have these large pockets of distressed properties where prices have plummeted,'' MDA DataQuick spokesman Andrew LePage said.

''If it weren't for the big price drops in the inland markets, we wouldn't see a year-over-year gain'' in sales, he said.

LET'S HOPE THAT PRICES GO UP FORM HERE - IN AN ORDERLY AND SUSTAINABLE FASHION. BUT... YA NEVA KNOW...

• THIS IS HOW MARKETS FUNCTION - AND WHY THEY'RE ALWAYS MORE EFFICIENT AT PRICING THAN GOVERNMENTS.

• EARLY LAST YEAR WAS A GREAT TIME TO SELL A HOME, AND NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY A HOME! IT'S A BUYER'S MARKET, NOW!
  

• I THINK IT'S FITTING THAT TODAY'S 400 POINT BOUNCE COMES ON THE SAME DAY AS THIS NEWS.

• IF OIL CONTINUES ITS TREND OF LATE (THE LAST FOUR MONTHS), AND COMES DOWN TO $65-75/BARREL BY HALLOWEEN, THEN NEXT YEAR WILL BE A BOOM YEAR.

SO... DON'T WORRY. BE HAPPY.

REMEMBER: THINGS ARE NEVER AS BAD AS THE MSM MAKES THEM SEEM WHEN A REPUBLICAN IS IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

MARKET UP BY 400 TODAY: the fools are the folks who sold in a panic...

The market went up today. 400 points. The NYSE DJI is now over 11,000.

And a lot of SMART people were buying. LLOYDS gobbled up HBOS in the UK, and WACHOVIA will probably gobble up MORGAN as BOA gobbled up MERRILL.

And Warren Buffett is on a buying binge too.

WHY NOT, THE PRICES ARE CHEAP! About 50 cents on the dollar.

Morgan for instance had a good quarterly report - just before crashing 50%!

Fools buy into a market which is high and sell out of one crashing.

Ya gotta do it the other way to make money!

REMEMBER: In the movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, when there as a run on the banks -and Jimmy Stewart/George Bailey had to cancel his honeymoon with Donna Reed/Mary Bailey, he implored the depositors in THE BAILY BROS BUILDING AND LOAN not to withdraw their money by telling them this: "Don't you see, Potter is BUYING; he isn't selling!"

HERE - WATCH IT:



THINGS ARE NIT AS BAD AS THEY SEEM. SIT TIGHT. INVEST FOR THE LONG HAUL. KEEP THE FAITH.

AMERICA'S GROWING NOT SHRINKING! WE'RE THE FUTURE, NOT THE PAST!

Or - as McCain says:

I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me!
Fight for what’s right for our country!
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people!
Fight for our children’s future!
Fight for justice and opportunity for all!
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies!
Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America!
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight! Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

PUTIN BEHAVING BADLY AGAIN: SELLING MORE MISSILES TO IRAN

LONDON TIMES: Russia ratchets up US tensions with arms sales to Iran and Venezuela

Russia snubbed its nose at the United States today by announcing plans to sell military equipment to both Iran and Venezuela.

The head of the state arms exporter said that Russia was negotiating to sell new anti-aircraft systems to Iran despite American objections.

"Contacts between our countries are continuing and we do not see any reason to suspend them," Anatoly Isaikin, general director of Rosoboronexport, told Ria-Novosti at an arms fair in South Africa.

Reports have circulated for some time that Russia is preparing to sell its S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Iran, offering greater protection against a possible US or Israeli attack on the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities. The missiles have a range of more than 150 kilometres and can intercept jets approaching at low altitude.

PUTIN IS AN ARCH FOE, AIDING ALL OF OUR ENEMIES; THEREFORE,WE SHOULD GET TOUGH WITH PUTIN - ALL OVER THE GLOBE ALL AT ONCE - AND WHERE IT HURTS THE MO$T:

• ASIA: JAPAN SHOULD SEIZE THE JAPANESE ISLANDS RUSSIA CLAIMS.

• EUROPE: NATO SHOULD MOVE QUICKLY TO GIVE UKRAINE AND GEORGIA MEMBERSHIP.

• ARCTIC: AND A UNION OF THE USA CANADA AND` DENMARK SHOULD LAY A CLAIM TO THE 80% OF THE ARCTIC.

• ENERGY POLITICS: WE SHOULD ANNOUNCE WE'RE GOING TO BUILD A TRANS-ARCTIC PIPE-LINE TO SELL ALASKAN GAS TO NORTHERN EUROPE AND CUT RUSSIA OUT OF THE LOOP, COSTING THEM THEIR BIGGEST CUSTOMERS.

FOR STARTERS...

THAT WOULD SEND THE RIGHT MESSAGE.

MCCAIN IS CORRECT: ZAPATERO IS NO FRIEND OF THE USA

The left has their panties in a knot over a comment McCain made about Spain.

ROUND UP HERE.

McCain is right: Zapatero is no friend of the USA.

He is an appeasing dhimmi and he is arming Chavez.

We've posted on him here at TAB many times.

America needs a president who - like McCain - won't suck up to adversaries even when they pose as allies.

McCain had Putin figgered out in 2000, and he's right about Zapatero.

Obama and Zapatero are BIRDS OF F FEATHER.

Both appeasing socialists.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

More at Hot Air.

IN A SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT...SHAUL MOFAZ RESIGNS

Following his loss to Tzipi Livni, no matter how narrow it turned out to be, Shaul Mofaz has decided to step down from political life:

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, who lost the Kadima primary election to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni by a small margin on Wednesday night, announced Thursday evening that he was leaving the government and the Knesset.

Mofaz would remain a member of Kadima, he said.

The dramatic development meant that the former IDF chief of staff, who on Wendesday was a breath away from the party leadership, would be a normal citizen with no political power.

"I want to continue contributing to society but after 42 years of giving to the country I need a time-out," Mofaz said.

This, as some TV analysts I've watched discussing the development have said, is a blow to Livni.

Benjamin Netanyahu has said that it's time for new general elections:

"After congratulating Tzipi Livni, I called on her to coordinate a date for general elections as soon as possible," opposition leader and Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu told reporters at a press conference on Thursday evening.

He added that he intended to approach Labor chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Shas Chairman and Labor, Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai, and other faction leaders on the subject.

Netanyahu said that "the only way to stop the deteriorating situation is to enable the people of Israel to elect a new government."

The opposition chairman stated that "anyone who fears the people's decision is not worthy of leading."

"In recent months public norms have been widely discussed. The most decent and democratic step is to hold general elections. We need to let the people of Israel determine who will be Israel's prime minister, not Kadima party members," he said.

"In the last two and a half years the Kadima government has failed in security, economy and education," Netanyahu said. "The only way to stop the deteriorating situation is to enable the people to elect a new government."

The opposition chairman claimed his party could "restore security, boost the education system and stabilize our economy."

Netanyahu said he was confident Israel could be put on the track to success.

He's right. The time has come for new elections.

SO BY HOW MUCH DID TZIPI LIVNI WIN IN THE END, REALLY?

By just barely 1 percent, and 431 votes:

Livni clinched Wednesday night's Kadima primary by a mere 431 votes, winning 43.1 percent (16,936 votes) while Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz won 42% (16,535 votes). Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit won 6.5% and 8.5% respectively.

Clearly, they don't have that much support, any of them. And we can only wonder, by the time the ballot counting is over, if it's not done yet, will Mofaz surpass her margin?

There is no Democrat majority

Much has been made this year about how the fundamentals favor the Democrats. An unpopular Republican president, a war that has dragged on beyond the limits of public tolerance, a declining number of people identifying as Republicans and a worrisome economy all set the stage for the Democrats to reclaim the White House.

While citing these factors, Rasmussen Reports and many others have not often pointed out another fundamental-the difficulty Democrats have in attracting a majority of the popular vote.

Since 1860, the year that Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican president, only three Democrats have won the White House with a majority of the popular vote. Each of the three-Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Jimmy Carter-were aided by extraordinary circumstances.

Roosevelt was elected during the depths of the Great Depression. Johnson was elected less than a year after he assumed the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Carter was elected in the immediate aftermath of Watergate, a time that makes even the current challenges faced by the Republican Party seem tame by comparison.

For a while, it appeared to many that Barack Obama might be able to expand the traditional limits of Democratic appeal and break through the 50% ceiling. But despite all the polling done by Rasmussen Reports and others this season, he has not yet broken through that barrier....

Democrats are in trouble. The national security issue is one on which they are rightly not trusted and it comes to the fore in Presidential elections. The results of the Johnson and Carter administration as well as the Clinton administration give added reasons not to trust the Democrats on this issue.

Source

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here

Jews deserting Obama

The Siena poll, one of the two key polls of New York state voters, has come out with its monthly snapshot of the presidential race in the Empire State. And it's stunning. It is remarkable, though not eye-opening, that John McCain is now only 5 points behind Barack Obama, 46-41 - not shocking because polls have narrowed to similar margins in New Jersey. (It should be noted, however, that according to a Rasmussen poll released yesterday, Obama is leading in New York by 55-42.)

No, the shocking detail has to do with a wild, 35-point swing toward McCain among Jewish voters. Obama led among them by a margin of 50-37 in August. This month, McCain is actually leading Obama by a margin of 54 percent to 32 percent.

Siena polled 626 likely voters this month. Of those, according to Steve Greenberg, the spokesman for the Siena poll, 77 were Jews, or 12 percent of the sample. That is Siena's best guess of the size of the Jewish vote in New York state in November. With a sample size that small, the margin of error for the Jewish voter sample is plus-or-minus 11 points.

That means the poll could be off by as many as 11 points in either direction - i.e., McCain could be leading by as little as 11 points or by as many as 33.

The only difference between the September poll and the August poll as a matter of methodology is that in September, Siena polled likely voters, whereas in August it only polled registered voters.

The poll could, of course, be an outlier. But if it even begins to approximate the truth, it is huge news. No Republican has scored more than 39 percent of the Jewish vote in modern times, and that was Ronald Reagan in 1980, following a series of missteps by the Carter administration. These sorts of numbers for McCain have implications in two other states particularly - Florida and Pennsylvania.

In Florida, the implications are obvious. Obama's own Jewish organizers in Florida are telling the campaign they are finding profound resistance to him, particularly in South Florida. The polling overall there seems to be moving inexorably in McCain's direction, which is necessary for him; it is nearly impossible to see how he can win the election if he loses Florida.

But what about Pennsylvania? That is a state it appears Obama must win. There are, it is estimated, more than 200,000 Jewish voters in Pennsylvania, a state John Kerry won by 140,000 votes. If we assume Pennsylvania's 200,000 voting Jews voted in the same way as Jews nationwide in 2004 and went 76-24 for Kerry, we can attribute 150,000 Jewish votes to Kerry, his entire margin of victory plus seven percent. Now imagine if that number had been closer to 50-50. Kerry would have received 100,000 Jewish votes rather than 150,000. Bush would have received 100,000 Jewish votes rather than 50,000. Kerry's margin of victory would then have shrunk to 40,000 votes.

It appears Obama may have a tougher time in Pennsylvania than Kerry did because of his difficulty attracting the ethnic white vote in the western part of the state. If there is a Jewish swing away from him as well, he really could lose there. And if he loses there and loses Ohio, he is sunk. Ohio has approximately 80,000 Jewish voters, so a swing away from Obama to a 50-50 race would cost him 25,000 votes Kerry presumably received in 2004 - and in a state that Bush won by 121,000 votes.

We'll need more data from two other states with a significant Jewish population to allow for a measurable sample size in a poll - Florida and California - and a polling firm willing to break out the Jewish vote as Siena has, to see whether this is just statistical smoke or whether Obama has a brushfire he needs to put out somehow before it consumes him.

Source


Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here