New Take On Clinging To Guns

Not long ago (though it seems like eons in this never ending nightmare called the elections) Barack Obama said (about people who are frustrated over economic conditions):

“And it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

This caused a firestorm because people realized that Obama, the elitist, had insulted the millions of people who are either religious or own guns, or both. He told his elite friends that people “cling” to religion and guns out of frustration. It never occurred to Obama that people own guns for a number of reasons and frustration has nothing to do with it. Unlike Obama who attended church to participate in radical racism and for political gain, most people have religious beliefs, not because they are frustrated, but because they believe in a being higher than themselves and they have faith.

Now we have a new attack on people who use their guns to hunt and this is all because of Sarah Palin. Congressman Alcee Hastings, the former federal judge who was impeached for criminal activity, was participating in a panel discussion sponsored by the National Jewish Democratic Council. Hastings was trying to drum up Jewish support for Obama and he stated this:

“If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” said Hastings. “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through.” ABC

Since Hastings said I should think it through, let me do just that. This is nothing more than the Ebonics version [one would think he would have better grammar] of what Obama said. Hastings told Jews that because Palin hunts game and cuts up what she kills, she does not care what she will do to Jews and Blacks. Does Hastings think that Palin will shoot Jews and Blacks and then field dress them? How about the millions of other hunters in this country? Because they hunt, do they not care much for Jews and Blacks? How does this apply if the hunters happen to be Jewish or black? Did anyone else pick up the racist comment embedded in this statement? He did not say “don’t” care much what they do to others, he said blacks and Jews. The unstated message is, this white woman kills animals so she don’t care what she does to Jews and blacks. Race baiting at its finest.

There are many Jewish butchers who prepare meats a certain way to ensure it is Kosher. They slaughter animals and drain the blood out of them and then butcher them up. Does the Hastings logic apply to the Jewish butchers? Do they not care much what they do to blacks and other Jews?

This was a ridiculous statement and shows what an absolute moron Hastings is. This is fear mongering, the very thing that Democrats say Republicans engage in.

Barack Obama is in favor of allowing children who are born alive after an unsuccessful abortion to be left to die. Is it safe to say that any person who will let newborn children be left to die “don’t” care to much what he will do to anyone regardless of color or religion?

I will say this though. Black on black crime, especially in major cities, is a huge problem. All the cities run by Democrats and with large black populations have high numbers of blacks who are murdered by other blacks. These criminals gun each other down and often kill innocent bystanders. Seems to me that this should be a major concern for the black “leadership” in America. You see, by failing to address the issue they demonstrate that it is they who care little about blacks.

When was the last time you heard about a hunter going around a city shooting people?

Hastings should stick to something he knows about like committing graft and corruption.

Big Dog

Who Is Responsible For This Financial Mess?

Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats have been putting the blame for the current financial crisis on the back of the president and the Republican Party who Democrats claim failed to address the issue. The Democrat’s parrots in the media have been shouting to anyone who will listen trying to make the accusations stick. This is a coordinated attack to take the focus off all the Democrats who have been bought and paid for by the greedy people on Wall Street. Fox News had a story and this should provide documented proof, with audio and video, as to whom the blame lies. In reality, this news story shows the efforts of the Bush Administration in trying to reign in the mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The complete history goes back decades and involves Democratic plans that allowed people to buy things they had no hope of ever affording.

I doubt this will do any good because too many people have overdosed on the moonbat Kool Aid, but it clearly shows that there were a number of people, including President Bush, on multiple occasions who tried to reign in Fannie and Freddie. Pay attention to Barney Frank and see how his assessment squares with the reality we’re facing. Listen to the people who said that we were heading for trouble and see how Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer had a hand in preventing any regulation.

Then take heart in the knowledge that Nancy Pelosi assigned Barney Frank the job of fixing the problem.

How can one fix something if one does not recognize the problem?

You should also keep in mind that these are the people who want to lead you. While John McCain headed back to DC, Barack Obama prepared for a debate and fund raising (he was left with little option than to return after a call from the President).

Who puts the country first?

Riehl World View says that Palin should debate Obama while McCain is TCB in DC. Not a bad idea. Could be risky but she is not a member of Congress so she does not have to be there and Obama has no intention of staying in DC.

Big Dog

Stop The Bail Out Now

I have written that I understand the reason for the bailout but that I am not happy with it. The government should not be in the business of giving taxpayer money to businesses that are failing because they were mismanaged. It makes no difference if the market turned, it was greed, or they did not know what they were doing. The fact is, taxpayers do not share the wealth when these companies make money and we should not pay for the problems when they don’t.

The government is moving toward socialism where it will own, subsidize or underwrite everything. This is not the America I grew up in and it is not the America I want to leave to my grandchildren.

The reality is that the federal government is unable to do things effectively and they are irresponsible with our money. That’s right our money. In addition to the fiasco and huge expense that Treasury Secretary Paulson is working on to bailout his buddies in the financial world, the government is adding many items to the bailout showing once again that they cannot wait to spend our money. The Washington Times reports:

In the dark of night over the weekend when most people were snoozing, the Treasury dramatically expanded its bailout plan to include buying student loans, car loans, credit card debt and any other “troubled” assets held by banks.

The changes, which were included in draft language that also opened the bailout program to foreign banks with extensive loan operations in the United States, potentially added tens of billions of dollars to the cost of the program.

Although it was a major addition to what was already the nation’s largest-ever bailout, it did not become part of the debate between Democrats and the Treasury over details of the program. A Monday counterproposal by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd included such consumer loans as well as mortgages, just as the Treasury’s draft did Saturday night.

When exactly are people going to be held accountable for their own risks in life? The financial geniuses who make millions of dollars in salaries are still rich while the country pays for their sins. Now, the government is adding people who made bad decisions with their credit and students who finance their schooling to the program.

Let me be clear; IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAXPAYER TO PAY FOR ANY OF THIS.

People who are in credit card debt or have car loans that they cannot afford have no one to blame but themselves. Students who take out loans for an education are making an investment in their future. I wonder how these students would act if their future earnings were given to taxpayers. It is, after all, only fair. If we pay for your car, house or credit cards then we deserve to have the things you bought. This idea that the world will end if people or businesses fail is ridiculous.

We need to end this whole bailout now. ALL OF IT. If AIG and other companies, including foreign banks, are going to fail than let them fail. This is a buyer’s opportunity to pick up cheap investments. Lehman Brothers is being purchased, Constellation Energy is being purchased (by a Warren Buffet company) and there are many (like Buffet) looking for bargains. If a company fails there are people who will buy them on the cheap and have a go at making them successful. If no one buys them then they can go out of business.

It is a shame that people lose their jobs as a result of mismanagement and the ineptitude of the corrupt government but that is not the fault of the taxpayer.

John McCain needs to oppose this bailout. He needs to provide real leadership and show that he truly is against government waste because surely, this bailout is just that. The money is designed to let Paulson help his buddies and it is designed to allow politicians claim they were there to help during a time of crisis. This is particularly important to them because it is an election year and they are the ones who helped cause it.

Look at the items added. Christopher Dodd added consumer loans. He is the criminal most responsible. He has his Countrywide VIP loan that saved him $75,000 and he failed, to act early on when President Bush, on 17 occasions, warned of trouble and tried to get something done. The last things we need are the people who caused this mess to be the ones overseeing its cleanup. Yes, greed on Wall Street is partly responsible but to be fair, many mortgage companies were following the inane law that allows people with no hope of affording a house to buy one. Did they [financial companies] abuse the process? You bet and they should be held accountable.

Everyone involved should be held accountable. We can do this by:

  • Getting rid of the CEOs and ensuring they do not receive a severance.
  • Take back some of the untold millions these people made through greed and shady practices
  • Stop the bailout and let unsound companies fail (or be bought up)
  • Vote for the non incumbent challenger in all 435 House seats (thereby replacing the entire House)
  • Vote for the non incumbent challenger in all contested Senate seats (thereby replacing 1/3 of the Senate)
  • Hold people accountable for their own loans. If they fail they will learn a valuable lesson. If we bail them out, they will not

It is time for a shake up in DC. We need to replace all of these criminals so that they are held accountable for their misdeeds.

It is also time we held our fellow citizens accountable for their actions. Ron Paul has an excellent piece on this. He states exactly what I believe:

Additionally, the government’s actions encourage moral hazard of the worst sort. Now that the precedent has been set, the likelihood of financial institutions to engage in riskier investment schemes is increased, because they now know that an investment position so overextended as to threaten the stability of the financial system will result in a government bailout and purchase of worthless, illiquid assets.

I would add that this extends to any individual who takes risky decisions and is bailed out by the government.

Big Dog Salute to Raven who, as usual, is on top of things.
Others:
Texas Pundit

Big Dog

Why Politicians Jump To Help Investment Companies

I don’t like the idea of taxpayer money going to bail out companies that made bad decisions any more than I like the idea of bailing out people who bought homes they could not afford. If you take bad decisions then you should have to live with the consequences. I understand why they have to bail out companies but I don’t like it. I can only hope that the companies are forced to pay the money back.

Why are politicians so gung ho to bail out the companies? They are guilty of causing the problem, (both parties share in the guilt) and now they are running to show they are on top of things when they should have been on top in 2003 when George Bush wanted to have tighter control or in 2005 when John McCain warned about increased taxpayer risk.

The major reason they are trying to get things on track is that it affects their pocketbooks. I don’t mean the donations that they were getting from the companies, which might or might not stop; I am talking about the stock they own in the failing companies.

The market storm that brought down Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., American International Group Inc. and other pillars of U.S. finance may have also blown holes in the portfolios of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator John Kerry and more than 50 other members of Congress.

Pelosi, in her most recent financial disclosure form, reported that her husband owned between $250,000 and $500,000 of stock in AIG, which ceded majority control to the U.S. government this week in exchange for $85 billion of loans.

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, disclosed that his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had more than $2 million of AIG stock at the end of 2007, when shares were worth $58.30. AIG has fallen 85 percent this week to close yesterday at $2.69. The lawmakers’ aides didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.

Altogether, 56 senators and representatives had stakes in AIG, Lehman, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns Cos. or IndyMac Bancorp Inc. — some of the biggest casualties of the market bloodbath — according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The most recent annual disclosure filings list investments as of Dec. 31, 2007, and reveal the size of holdings only within a range of values. Lawmakers may have sold shares since then. Bloomberg

When it affects their wallets they are pretty eager to react. The fact they have these holdings might be the reason they waited so long (and why Democrats opposed tighter control). When they were raking in the money they were not interested. Now that their stocks are dropping faster than Bill Clinton’s pants, they want to act.

Vote them all out. They are pointing fingers at each other but they are all guilty. Let’s show them that we are not holding one person or group responsible, we are holding them all responsible. Vote them out. These politicians are talking about bad CEOs and how they should be fired or lose their salaries for their mismanagement. I agree and to take it one step further, let’s hold Congress responsible for its mismanagement and get rid of them. They demonstrated that they don’t get it until it affects them so let’s make sure it affects them by removing them from office.

Big Dog

Democrat’s Failed Financial Policies Led To Meltdown

Barack Obama has been on the campaign trail telling everyone that the failed policies of George Bush and his the Republicans are the reason for the economic problems and the financial meltdown of major investment companies. Nancy Pelosi is calling for an investigation into the crisis and she wants administration officials questioned to see why this happened and see if new regulation is needed. Pelosi is trying to make political hay with this but it will be a welcomed investigation because the Democrats are responsible for this. When she digs into which members of Congress are in the hip pockets of these companies she will see some familiar names at the top of the lists; names like Barack Obama, Christopher Dodd, and Hillary Clinton.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered a broad, swift investigation of Wall Street and will demand testimony from Bush administration officials and captains of finance, congressional officials said.

House Democrats plan an aggressive look at the administration’s role in this weekend’s meltdown, and explore further regulation and government structures that would be taken up under the new president. Politico

Let’s be clear here. Nancy Pelosi wants Henry Waxman and Barney Frank to investigate this matter. She is trying to pin these problems on the Bush administration but the truth is the Democrats have caused this problem. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were run by Clinton cronies who received millions of dollars from the organizations. Democrats were in bed with these companies and refused to listen to George Bush when, in 2003, he “recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.” [New York Times]

The same Times article states:

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

”There is a general recognition that the supervisory system for housing-related government-sponsored enterprises neither has the tools, nor the stature, to deal effectively with the current size, complexity and importance of these enterprises,” Treasury Secretary John W. Snow told the House Financial Services Committee in an appearance with Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, who also backed the plan.

The administration recognized the problems in this industry and tried to take action to keep problems from arising. This story is from 11 September 2003 which indicates that the President was on top of this more than five years ago. Instead of working with President Bush to make this happen and provide better oversight, the issue was OPPOSED by Congressional Democrats.

Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

‘These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

”I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said. [emphasis mine]

Let us take a look at this. Congressional Democrats opposed the plan and they were worried that it would reduce the commitment to low income, affordable housing. The problem is, this morphed into no income you can have a house anyway. The Democrats came up with plans that allowed people to buy houses they could not afford and this is why there are so many foreclosures. Add the greed of companies who wanted to make a buck (and were afraid of penalties if they denied loans) and you have a recipe for disaster.

Look at who said that the companies were not facing any kind of financial crisis. Barney Frank, the same guy Pelosi wants to look into this mess (I guess it would be wrong to say Frank will get to the bottom of it). This guy could not find his ass if his hands were in his back pockets and she wants him to investigate. I guess we know how that financial crisis issue turned out.

The last part discusses the whole poor family/affordable housing issue. I have no issue with people buying a house. I think that is a great thing to do but people should never buy more than they can afford. Democrats were so worried about helping out poor people that they failed to enact regulation (that Pelosi now calls for) that would have helped keep this meltdown from happening.

Nancy Pelosi was asked today if Democrats have any responsibility in this mess and she quickly answered “NO.” The mantra of the left is “don’t blame us for this.” Well the fact of the matter is, it is all their faults. They have been using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as ATM machines for their friends for a long time and they have been reaping the benefits of large cash donations from those very friends who controlled the companies. The Democrats opposed tighter control because they wanted to allow anyone, credit worthy or not, to buy a house and they wanted the money to flow to them and their friends.

Keep this in mind when Barack Obama (the second biggest recipient of Lehman Brothers and Fannie/Freddie money1) tells you that it is failed Republican policies that led to this. It was the Democrats who caused this problem because they refused to work with President Bush to get it solved. The President saw it and tried to put a plan in place and the Democrats decided that they would rather keep their friends and themselves rolling in dough rather than address the problem.

Now, they want you to put them in charge of everything.

Nancy Pelosi is a liar. She and her Democrats bear most of the responsibility for this. They are all squawking now and they are saying the same things over and over. They are all blaming this on the Republicans because if they say it often enough, people will believe it. They are trying to cover their tracks because they are neck deep in this mess. This could, and should, cost them the election.

Here is an idea. Instead of wasting time and money investigating this why doesn’t the Speaker launch a full scale investigation into the tax evasion of Charlie Rangel. There is some real corruption to handle. I already solved the who caused the financial problem mystery (and saved the taxpayer millions of dollars) so let’s get busy and investigate Rangel. Anyone want to bet that this jackass criminal gets reelected?

1 The figures are from 1989. John McCain has received $117,500 ($13,055/year) from Lehman Brothers since then. Barack Obama has been in the Senate for just under four years and he has received $395,600 ($98,900/year).

Big Dog