63 Comments

1. Joe Agnes Sorrell:

Sir,

Thank you very much for sharing your wise and prescient thoughts herein. Your blog works as a valuable tool in understanding what the devil is really happeining in the economy and politics.

It is sad that I find myself agreeing that Mr. McCain has consistently proven to be an utter failure in so many respects.

Please consider one other thought. Mr. McCain cannot “seal the deal” with the electorate because he takes the wrong position on so many issues that those positions cannot legitimately be used to draw stark differences with Mr. Obama. I submit for you campaign finance reform/free speech, global warming, immigration, ANWR, drilling in general until recently, originally on the wrong side of Mr. Bush’s tax cuts, etc. etc.

Once again, thank you for this wealth of information.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:30 am 2. David Thomson:

“so what was bad for country was good for them.”

There is a serious problem with this thesis: the Republicans are unfairly getting the blame for the Democratic Party’s economic mistakes! The last time I checked Barney Frank was not a member of the GOP. At the most, Republicans were sometimes guilty of not wanting to blow the whistle on the Democrats due to the justified fear of being called racists. Our current economic avalanche mostly began because the Clinton administration forced lending institutions to provide mortgages to minorities possessing poor credit histories.

Oct 11, 2008 - 5:32 am 3. Pajamas Media » Fear and Loathing on the GOP Campaign Trail:

[...] Read the entire story here… [...]

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:13 am 4. BackwardsBoy:

The parties responsible for this current situation need to be named, early and often, by the McCain camp. Hammer home the fact that this debacle is the direct consequence of Congressional Democrats’ policies that fly in the face of established capitalistic tenets.
Someone has to stand up for the truth, Senator McCain, why not you?

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:22 am 5. McSame:

“Today, with America prevailing in the War on Terror and a surprisingly strong economy despite the stock-market plunges”

Good luck getting that kind of garbage printed or posted any where other than a joke of a site like pj media!

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:27 am 6. jane:

Care to share exactly what services people will want cut if “counties and cities roll back their property-tax assessments to reflect current market values?”

Unfortunately people think their taxes are too high but seldom think that the services they receive are too much.

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:28 am 7. Bonnie_:

My dear Richard, we are angry and afraid because of voter fraud and the mainstream media’s corruption. We’re not afraid to battle hard, but we cannot win an election when voter fraud is rampant and obvious corruption by media figures goes unpunished.

A Pennsylvania supreme court justice just held a press conference and said that voter fraud is so bad that there was little hope of a free and fair election. Anyone report that? No. Anyone doing anything? No.

If President Bush had his attorney general suspend all early and absentee voting and require ID at the polls, if he signed an executive order, he might save our Republic. Otherwise, I fear we are lost. Lost as a Republic, lost as a country of laws, lost as an economic engine. We are lost.

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:29 am 8. TeamPlayer:

Bonnie, voter fraud…like flyers with incorrect polling locations or flyers indicating that the cops will monitor polling locations for any citizens with outstanding tickets in Democratic districts? It’s happening on both sides.

Also, this MSM bias is hilarious. You do realize that the left was bleating about the MSM being complicit with the Bush administration warhawking, right? The truth is less about bias and more about (a) incompetence and (b) a desire for profit above intellectual integrity. I’m not saying you’re not seeing some Obama bias, what I’m saying is that it’s more a factor of stupidity / profiteering than some ideological vendetta against the right.

As an example, on Fox News Steve Doocy gave the VP debate to Sarah Palin based on the size of her label brooch. I’m not kidding. He’s emblematic of the MSM.

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:48 am 9. Chip:

“It is time to hope that the election is not lost and to trust in the ordinary voter, who, if given reasonable and understandable information, will not vote for Obama.”

It will all come down to how the women of this country vote.

The men, I feel, have not fallen en masse for the Obama shuffle. The media has protected Obama from his true record at eery turn and played his sound bites over and over and over.

An Obama presidency will amount to the biggest con job in the history of
modern civilization.

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:50 am 10. Gerald McInvale:

While I agree with a good deal of the article, I believe there is an additional factor that is very important. We live in a media age, and unfortunately communication skills can be as important as content. Republican leaders following Reagan have been terrible in their ability to articulate ideas even when they had them. The Political Left has gained control of Universities as well as the overwhelming majority of the Media. For the most part, the only articulate persons that the average voter sees and hears are on the liberal side of the issues. Their message is that “we will rob Peter to pay Paul”, and sure enough – Paul doesn’t protest. The first President Bush was reasonably likable, but inarticulate and patrician. The current President Bush is not likable and is even more inarticulate. Senator McCain is not exactly a great communicator either, even when his ideas make some sense. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it really doesn’t matter if you have good ideas if you can’t explain them in terms the voting public can understand. There is no reason to expect fairness or objectivity from the Media or other Left Wing organizations, so we had best begin to find candidates who understand that and can succeed in spite of that unfair environment.

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:06 am 11. Sandra M:

Shame on you Mr. Miniter.
To quote Teddy Roosevelt:

The Man In The Arena

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose frace is marred by the dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with these cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”

Critics do nothing. The non-political American public has just started paying attention to this election. Tired of being a do-nothing critic I started a blog, clicking in my name will direct you to my site with

Posts on
Obama and the $387 million for the education of poor kids he and Bill Ayers squandered as chairman of the board of the Annenberg Challenge on “radicalizing” instead of educating them. Teaching kids to read would have empowered them, radicalizing them empowers the ACORN mob. This needs a Youtube video.

Obama’s public housing projects with Tony Rezko are now boarded-up, but Obama got a $14 million dollar house with Rezko’s help. Also, needs a Youtube video.

We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to de-elect Barney Frank who is in a heavily gerrymandered district, but now famed as responsible for our financial woes. Donate to Earl Sholley, his Republican opponent.

Bankrupt? Paying credit card interest rates a Mafia loan shark would love? Blame Joe Biden who is responsible for those laws and a Global Poverty Act that would take billions from us and turn over to the UN to spend. The good news is he’s up re-election. Donate to his Republican opponent, Christine O’Donnell.

There are 24 days till the election — several lifetimes in politics. See a 527 whose ads you like? Donate to them.

All the Obama scandals have not yet bubbled to the top. There’s more to come. This is not a time to give up.

I believe the gods are on our side. The New York County ballot has as Democrat candidate: Barack Osama.

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:23 am 12. Sandra M:

Bonnie_ said:

“A Pennsylvania supreme court justice just held a press conference and said that voter fraud is so bad that there was little hope of a free and fair election. Anyone report that? No. Anyone doing anything? No.”

Someone IS covering the voter fraud story. Eric Shawn of Fox News Channel. I will email this to him.

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:27 am 13. Sandra M:

I don’t think it’s been made clear to people enthusiastically planning to vote for Obama multiple times that this is a felony and may cost up to $5,000. You don’t have it? The government will wait till you do.

If caught doing this — and ballots will be scrutinized — your parents may end up paying for your felony and your college career permanently derailed.

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:38 am 14. cfbleachers:

Richard, I think you are great. I appreciate your efforts on numerous fronts and your willingness to look outside the box at how to reach a rational resolution to some confounding problems.

But, if I may…we seem to be missing the point and it is confounds the resolutions if we continue to do so.

I now am marking the days when freedom died.

When Nancy Pelosi threatened the “fairness doctrine” against the likes of Rush Limbaugh, only to leave the venomous Keith Olbermann alone…is a day when freedom died.

When Green Helmet Guy staged photographs with a complicit wire service media and sent out staged and false reports as “news” upon which we were to come to conclusions about key issues, is a day when freedom died.

When Mark Steyn was brought before a tribunal on phony, trumped up charges…more about silencing his dissent than about the enforcement of any honorable “laws”, is a day when freedom died.

When Dan Rather and Mary Mapes foisted forged documents on the public about an issue so trivial and insignificant…and the same network refuses to inspect the real documents relating to Tony Rezco or the New Party or Rashid Khalidi or William Ayers, those mark the days when freedom died.

When the BBC acts as an arm of anti-Semitic bile and reports on Israel as a propaganda tool repeatedly, without conscience, those are days when freedom died.

When the AP makes up a “police officer” in Iraq who simultaneously reports on events in a geographic area impossible to canvass and in a manner inconsistent with the truth, is a day when freedom died.

When John McCain is intentionally photoshopped to make him appear poorly on a national magazine, with the intent to harm him by a political operative, is a day when freedom died.

When Sarah Palin’s privacy is invaded by a family member of a Democratic politician, is a day when freedom died.

When it takes Little Green Footballs to uncover photoshopped, forged, fake and phony documents…all with the same direction, because our information stream is being gang raped and we struggle to save it… from a leftist cornucopia of lies, a festival of half-truths and an orgy of misrepresentations, are days when freedom died.

We are left to fight bit by bit, crumb by crumb…to garner honest facts upon which to self-govern this land of ours. And we are losing.

I am marking the days when freedom died. I could not be sadder for my country. Because on the day that liberals were consumed by leftists, is the day freedom died.

Because when it became more chic to slander my country than to fight for it, freedom died.

When it became more important to push a “message” containing lies than to promote the truth by way of facts, freedom died. We are not in a crisis of economy, we are in a crisis of integrity. Freedom is dying and we aren’t fighting to save it.

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:01 am 15. Move:

Good!

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:16 am 16. 51eo:

Good!
http://www.51eo.com/

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:20 am 17. DavidN:

Obama’s already campaigning against McCain for trying to cut taxes for the rich and corporate America. Never mind that these things might benefit others also: the average lower-income American has no idea that’s the case, and is generally suspicious of anyone who makes a lot of money. Even better, the tax-the-rich slogan is one of the most brilliant in the history of the nation. The reason for this is quite simple: no one thinks of *themselves* as rich. My joke rejoinder to this is that Warren Buffett thinks that he’s not rich; that’s the guy down the street who has more money. Class envy is a wonderful thing for the Democrats: it isn’t practical to run the country this way, or devise tax policy with it in mind, but running an election with this as a centerpiece is pretty much bulletproof. This means that if your portfolio is down this year, you’re supposed to grin and bear it, because you were getting rich on the backs of the poor, and deserved to lose your shirt.

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:38 am 18. Trudy:

As a Canadian, I was attracted when Governor Palin was selected as Republican Vice-Presidential candidate. I soon discovered that the normal news channels were competing with left leaning blogs to throw mud on an admirable woman, so I have tried as much as possible to go to first sources to learn what is happening in your election.

I have watched as much of the direct coverage of John McCain’s campaign as I can, and I wonder if we are watching the same candidate. I see a very good man, humble, controlled, with a charming sense of humour.

He has the national and international experience to be an effective leader. He is hard to discourage, loves his country, and has been raised in a tradition of service.

He has a clear agenda to eliminate the peculiar system of ‘pork’ that has crept into your system, and is dedicated to fighting corruption. To aid him in doing this he selected one of your most promising Governors, who has a record of executive achievement that is truly impressive.

I can not understand why Republicans can not support a platform that consists of getting the government on the side of the people by getting its spending under control, and making it more transparent.

Watching the ‘bailout’ bill go through your legislative system was a real eye opener. Your legislative system is very complicated, with an accumulation of work-arounds to constitutional provisions. Your legislative process is, IMHO amendable to political manipulation.

John McCain may well be correct in his assessment of what your country most needs.

Can you clear away the smokescreen that Obama and his ‘bots’ are blowing, and help get your candidates own words out to the undecided public, or will you let a biased, failing media control the election?

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:38 am 19. Daedalus:

Yes, our country has problems, BIG PROBLEMS. There is a media that is so in the tank for “Dear Leader” that they are an extension of his campaign staff.

You have many people who do not see Bill Ayers as a problem, after all it was over 40 years ago that he was setting bombs. What they do not realize is that he has not changed his radial thoughts, only the method of achieving his wanted results, this time through manipulation of teachers and gullible students.

You have ACORN which it turns out is a much greater threat to democracy than Bush/ Cheney could ever hope to be. The problem, voter fraud, or how to take away our most precious of rights, the right of voting, and what has the media said about it…..”Nothing to see here, move along.”

You have the mortgage problem. In actuality it was Barney Frank and his ilk that pushed homeownership to a “right” and what did we get, sub-prime mortgages packaged for consumption with Freddie & Fannie. The real problem is who rated these investment packages, and what was their payoff for doing it. Why haven’t they been “perp walked” out of their dens if inequity?

You have two candidates running for the Presidency of the United States, of which most people would comment, “Is this the best a country of 300 million can choose…….a Socialist/Marxist, or a geriatric who is noted more for bashing his own party and then crawling in bed with the other party. Would the country be better off with a President and veto proof congress, or do we need to retain some differencees?

Finally, one of the most important problems facing our country is an uninformed electorate. They are fed their daily pabulum from the big three television networks, and their cousins, the newspapers. Unfortunately the media, both video and print, are so far in the tank for one candidate, we must ask, can the other candidate even compete competently in this atmosphere?

This election is the most important election this country has faced in over half a century. Do we embark down the road of socialism, or do we try to rain in this headlong rush of the lemmings, with a much less than perfect team that has multiple problems of their own, but would more than likely preserve the Republic as we know it?

Who will I vote for? If given a choice, it would be NONE OF THE ABOVE, they are both incompetents of varying degrees. However, for the preservation of our Republic, I ask myself who will do less harm in the coming years, and the choice is simple. I do not believe that our Republic would survive in its present form after 4 years of an Obama Presidency.

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:41 am 20. Sandra M:

“I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
— Edward Everett Hale

I remembered only part of this quote so I used the Teddy Roosevelt quote instead, but this is the one that goes through my mind and got me to start a blog. Click on my name and it will take you to my blog which is heavily skewed towards political action and will be till after the election after which it will be devoted to self-education for intelligent adults.

Oct 11, 2008 - 12:12 pm 21. John:

Taxes: If there is a tax, it should be either a flat tax, or a consumption tax. Either one would be fair for all income levels.

I oppose both candidates who believe the taxpayer needs to support the US auto industry. They’ve spent the last 30 years watching foreign auto industries manufacture cars that are more efficient, are of better quality, and retain a higher resale value. Why does anyone believe in rewarding 30 years of poor decision making by highly paid executives? Canada just approved the sale of an all electric, plug-in your house car. Developed and produced by entrepreneurs without taxpayer money.

I oppose McCain’s plan to provide our oil companies (the most profitable companies we have) taxpayer money of any kind. He should be doing exactly what Palin did in Alaska. She raised the royalties and was able to eliminate the income tax. The idea of our paying private companies to use our public land for private profit is as stupid as it is deceptive. The pump price may fall, when oil does flow, but how much is it costing you to buy a lower price? Why should the taxpayer support a company whose profits are privately distributed. For those who don’t like socialism; this is socialism of the worst kind.

I oppose both candidates support of the bail-out bill. McCain is aggravating this by proposing to purchase thousands of mortgages. What’s wrong with this?
We now own 108% of a company, AIG, which has a huge amount of paper with a face value higher than it’s real value: the mortgage backed securities. So we already own these.

The whole MBS business was created because lenders could sell the mortgages to speculators like AIG who facilitated this pyramid scheme.

So a couple on the news last night:
A few years ago bought a house for $500,000.
The mortgage is $360,000 and the payments will increase $600/month very soon: they can’t afford it.
The house has a value, now, of $180,000.

If we now buy this mortgage, from the lender (who may have sold the loan and therefore has no liabilitiy) the lender will get $360,000 windfall; he shouldn’t.

The mortgage will then be restructured to reflect it’s $180,000 value. Who, now, will hold the mortgage? The federal government?
Will it be sold to the original lender for face value? (and will he just later bundle it up and sell it again).

This sucks, because that particular mortgage may actually be one we already own at AIG. Who actually wins in this scenario?
The lender for sure if he doesn’t hold the original mortgage?
The borrower will definitely win and that bothers me the least.
The taxpayer will definitely lose. If we already own this mortgage, we’re now going to buy it again? Even at the reduced price it sucks.

I’ll say it again: the mess we are in was facilitated by politicians of BOTH colors. Time to forget the color and get with the issues. None of us should care what party can extract from this intertwined disaster, it’s the disaster that’s important.

Good and bad ideas can only be attributed to the individual who developed, promoted and sold it. Ideas, good and bad, come from the mind not either pary.

Oct 11, 2008 - 1:15 pm 22. Pat:

Lowering taxes as Mr. Miniter proposes will certainly be bullish for our markets – 300 years of history shows that government intervention in the economy is the cause of the business cycle, and that the more government interferes (e.g. the latest $700B TARP), the more the markets tank – until, as in the USSR, there are no markets – semi-free or otherwise.

The root problem, however, is not politics; it’s ethics. As long as our so-called government leaders blame producers, and as long as the producers accept the unearned guilt for wanting to create profits for themselves, the US will continue to tank. It is the individual’s absolute right to earn, keep and dispose of his wealth which must be defended. Until then, as for the past 50 years, the Republicans merely continue to concede the Democrats’ fundamental premise: you are your brother’s keeper, komrade – so pipe down and do your duty – sacrifice more to the collective!

Oct 11, 2008 - 1:21 pm 23. Marc Boyd:

Baraq Hussein Obama is hiding a lot of his past, including his citizenship and eligibility to be POTUS. There is a lawsuit in process to force him to provide written legal proof.

Watch this:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/this_could_be_the_game_changer.html

Serious doubts.

Oct 11, 2008 - 1:32 pm 24. Jeff:

Besides suspending or eliminating the capital gains tax, another idea would be to increase the capital loss limit from $3,000. Maybe up to 10k.

Oct 11, 2008 - 1:50 pm 25. Eric:

As a Conservative what I am is tired. Tired of always having to mount the barricades to fight back against the forces of socialism who are relentless in their pursuit of their Utopian paradise where Big Government ensures equality of condition regardless of cost. This is where Conservatives and Liberals differ. Liberals LOVE government and are always protesting, agitating, demanding, pushing, pleading, for more and more from government via our wallets. Conservatives just want to be left alone to take care of ourselves and our families and others via private giving and we want to keep what we earn.
We aren’t as organized as Liberals because we largely are playing a defensive game to their offensive one.
The only way we can ultimately defeat Liberalism/socialism is to reduce the size and scope of the Federal government. We need to follow Oklahoma’s lead and demand that our states reassert their Constitutional role. Walter Williams has a great article here: http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/07/16/oklahoma_rebellion

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:42 pm 26. Marc Malone:

John – Dear John… (couldn’t resist, sorry) well-written response. I’m still not convinced about flat-taxes and consumption taxes. Something about them rings false to my ears, but I’ve never tried to really focus on that issue. Anyway, you made really good points.

Oct 11, 2008 - 3:18 pm 27. Marc Malone:

I wish both camps would shut up on the plans for fixing our economy. They’re not POTUS, yet. It’s not their problem. Any ideas they have will surely be outmoded and rethought by the time one of them is actually in office. Or to put it via an analogy: What stocks will you be buying in Feb ‘09. Any clue whatsoever? Yeah, I thought not.

Oct 11, 2008 - 3:22 pm 28. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Richard Miniter, et al.
RE: Locally and At My State’s Level….

….we’re just freak’n disorganized. And, based on the experience of watching, first hand how the local and state machinery ’supports’ candidates, I’m surprised we get ANYONE elected.

It’s time we shucked the ‘old guard’, especially those who can’t seem to think beyond the use of manual typerwriters, let alone only as far ahead as next week. And that includes younger folk who can’t think any better either.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other. The one that's out always looks the best. -- Will Rogers]

Oct 11, 2008 - 3:47 pm 29. Outsideobservor:

Canadian? I suspect anyone who brings up “Fifty-four-forty or fight” as an example! Teddy Roosevelt is hardly a prime peace maker!

Oct 11, 2008 - 5:21 pm 30. PoliSciTeacher:

I have been telling those close to me in recent days what I have come to realize: like Bonnie, my anger, frustration and worry center on the legitimacy and functioning of the MSM and our voting system. The bias of the MSM is far beyond anything I could have imagined, even given BDS over the past eight years.

I have no doubt that if the MSM had been dumpster diving and conducting true investigative reporting on Barack Obama for 18 months with the same determination that they have on Sarah Palin for the past six weeeks–like the work he actually did in Chicago, his work with ACORN, all of his political and professional associations and financial dealings in Chicago and around the world–Hillary Clinton would be the Dems’ presidential nominee. I am not sure that would have been better for John McCain, but at least we would have candidates that had been thoroughly investigated and reported. If the MSM had even become honest and investigated and reported on Obama in the last three months, we’d be looking at a very different race now. But they didn’t. They have lost all objectivity. They have no shame.

Putting aside all the policy issues that frighten me about an Obama presidency (control of both political branches of government, foreign policy/military matters, Supreme Court nominees, expansion of government, Fairness Doctrine, and on and on, lack of belief in American exceptionalism) what’s even more discouraging is what we all know will happen if Obama wins: the MSM will protect, cover for, make excuses for, and attack as racist anyone who dares to criticize him. And his staunchest supporters–African-Americans–will love him and forgive him his shortcomings and any failures to deliver all the promised goodies, just as they continued to adore Bill Clinton despite how little he actually “did” for them. It won’t matter. They will be happy and vindicated just because he won. And those who criticize will be called racists.

Oct 11, 2008 - 5:52 pm 31. sniper:

We’ve lost our ideals AND our hope? When did this happen? I just stepped out for some groceries.

Oct 11, 2008 - 5:54 pm 32. skink:

you can tell that the battle is lost when the right starts turning on itself and fighting its own.

it is a sure sign that they are bereft of ideas when they have to debate what it is that they stand for after nomination but before the election.

what was the convention for?

Oct 11, 2008 - 6:32 pm 33. Bogdan of Australia:

I can only wonder; shouldn’t you Yanks be asking yourself the simple question: Why the, so called, “finacial crisis” had exploded with such an intensity exactly before the election and just after McCain/Palin team began trashing Democrats in the pools? Im my view only someone politically blind would regard it as a pure coincidence. It was the last year that I read an article (I don’t remember details though) that after Bush’s win in 2004, the group of immensely powerful financial figures (uder the leadership of Dem’s “evil spirit – George Soros, of course) started working on a strategy of damaging the Bush’s presidency and regaining power for the Dems. Those figures have certainly more influence on America’s finace than Bush himself. Soros, an individual with the dark past (he collaborated with the Nazis in his native Hungary during the WWII, and his left-leaning associates are, for sure, immoral enough to risk even a damage to the US’ economy to achieve their aims. They have a good manual to follow as it has repeatedly been used as a strategic tool in former communist block to subdue its population and rebuild communists’ shattered authority. The latest example is the the neo-Soviet Russia, where Putin used the Russian’s economic troubles (created by the Soviet “nomenclatura” itself) to regain power for himself and his KGB mates.
What about the other elements of Dem’s strategy: the Global Warming scam, their refusal to work on America’s energy independence, their hostile attitude to the nuclear energy and development of the local energy resources, the silent aquiesence to the flood caused by millions of illegal immigrants… The list could go on and on…

Oct 11, 2008 - 7:06 pm 34. thegr8_1:

Richard:

Great article and I will note to listen to you with Michael Reagan. I liked him for VP or Mitt Romney because of the economy, but Palin fits the bill and is more experienced than Obama. I am concerned that the banking system and credit markets are being nationalized. Next comes oil companies and health care. I was against the bailout let the free markets determine who survives. My name reflects who I respect most on talk radio he gets it. Based on the number of fradulent voter registrations it does feel like we have 57 states. Hopefully 50 states is enough for Mccain .If 60% of the people want a new Congress we have to get them all out to do so. If we lose we have not done our job good enough.

Oct 11, 2008 - 7:20 pm 35. thegr8_1:

Bogdan Great post I was typing up my post before seeing yours. This goes back to Carter in 1977 and Clinton wanting everybody to own a home most of whom have no business doing so. There is a maze that connects Soros, Ayers, ACORN, Rezcko, Obama, Frank, Dodd etc that would take hours to explain. I live in Obama’s home state I wished people in the states understood this as well as you but our media except for talk radio will not permit it to be broadcast. Also the issue of Dr Jerome Corsi and his adventure in Kenya go to homelandsecurityus.com to read about it.

Oct 11, 2008 - 7:31 pm 36. cincinnati kid:

about this: “Most Americans believe that GOP runs Congress”

could anybody here provide a URL to document this?

it’s a GREAT talking point, but I won’t use it if i can’t prove it!

Oct 11, 2008 - 8:02 pm 37. Freedom is just another word...:

Rolling back the property taxes is not the answer. Cities need to spend for police, schools, and there is not alot of “pork” in most muni govts.

I think county courts should be given extra money to hire more judges to foreclose on non-owner occupied (investor) properties that are in the mortgage hotspots.

I still like McCain’s idea of forgiving part of the mortgage mess at the individual level. It ensures free markets, as people will be able to once again move to find work and it will stablize those homeowners who can still pay. You just don’t want to keep paying on a $500,000 mortgage when your house is worth $200,000; especially when you realize it was Washington DC’s fault to push the risky loans on banks.

Most of all, McCain needs some easy to understand graphs made up so he can point to what he is talking about. This is complex stuff, and non-financial people’s eyes “roll over” when the word “tax” or “financial” starts. I think some charts would help him.

Oct 11, 2008 - 8:04 pm 38. Sandra M:

Bogdan asked:
I can only wonder; shouldn’t you Yanks be asking yourself the simple question: Why the, so called, “finacial crisis” had exploded with such an intensity exactly before the election and just after McCain/Palin team began trashing Democrats in the pools?

Excellent question, Bogdan.

Today, in 3 separate programs, his own show, Cavuto and on Geraldo, Mike Huckabee mentioned that for the past 12 days in the stock market, an hour before closing, there has been a flood of computerized trading guaranteed to cause panic. Is Soros and his cabal behind this? The Chinese? The Iranians? who?

thegr8_1 also had a great post worth rereading.

Tonight, Fox News did a superb documentary called SAVING OUR ECONOMY which be repeated on FNC and on Fox Business Channel. It names names with video showing Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Obama and ACORN, all of the usual suspects.

Tony Rezko is singing about corruption in Illinois. Obama has to be praying that no more scandals pop up before November 4, but there are just too many to suppress.

Oct 11, 2008 - 8:08 pm 39. fred:

In my state (New Hampshire) the cities and towns would never roll back the valuations of properties. Even if they did do that, they would just increase the rate of taxation on the downwardly revised figures. They get their money one way or the other. The NEA has got this state by the short hairs and family jewels. Almost every Democrat politician in this state is owned lock, stock and barrel, by the NEA. You cannot even conduct reviews of how the school systems spend their money, as the law prevents the taxpayers from seeing exactly how the educational establishment uses the funds. It’s just horrible.

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:42 pm 40. fred:

To add to my above post. The school budgets here are almost never cut, but when money is to be saved they lay off police and fire department personnel. The NEA is maybe the most powerful organization in this country.

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:44 pm 41. Marc Malone:

fred – Here’s how to fix the mortgage crisis. The prices need a floor. No problem. Go back to 2006. That’s when the rise in home prices really started to exceed the inflation rate. Take the assessed values of homes in 2005, then adjust them upwards to reflect the inflation rate since. That gives you the new assessed value. Add the usual 20% difference between assessed and actual market value, if applicable in your area. There’s your floor.

Once done, you know whether a mortgage is upside-down. Then you can start figuring the values of the mortgage securities. It could all be done in less than a week. Then companies can tell if they’re in trouble or not. Then they can release capital or borrow. That unfreezes the credit markets. This could be over in a week.

Of course, I’m not trained in economics. Apparently, however, the economists have no answers, and I do. And my answer is basically free. But, what do I know? I’m just a guy with a really high IQ whose skill is thinking outside the box.

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:13 pm 42. Scott Ainslie:

I am always perplexed to see a roll back in the capital gains taxes being floated as a solution when it is obvious to almost all of us who are losing our retirement and college funds that there are and will be no capital gains for us.

This appears to be another bit of disaster capitalism which takes advantage of any catastrophe to advance an ideological agenda with no regard for the facts. We need fact based policies, not ideologically based policies. Otherwise, as with Iraq, Katrina, the economy, we amplify rather than solve bad situations. I find it the most cynical use of suffering I have ever witnessed and it seems to just go on and on and on and on.

Oct 12, 2008 - 6:15 am 43. SGT Ted:

Actually, home prices peaked in 2006. The floor is still falling far past what they were valued even in 2000. Example: Homes that sold for 310k in 2004 are now down to 140-160k, which in some cases, are lower than what they cost when they were built in the 1990s.

Trying to artificially support the market with a phoney “floor” that ignores the actual market worth will just delay the end of the crash.

Oct 12, 2008 - 6:27 am 44. Rick554:

The author seems a tad presumptious to me,although he may be one of the DC elites that we “clingers” here in Ohio may be unaware of. MAV may be behind in your polls, Dick, but the real poll comes in November and if the Obama doesnt steal the vote in Ohio, you Sir, may be surprised. Republicans havent conceaded the election yet and I hope you and your buds are surprised what happens in Congress (8% approval) come November 4th.

Oct 12, 2008 - 6:58 am 45. Sioux Lady:

Skink – Better the right fights this out before the election than do as the left does – fight it out after losing two elections. Al Who? John Who?

Oct 12, 2008 - 7:13 am 46. Rick:

TeamPlayer 10/11/08 9:48AM

If you do not realize the MSM leans Left on its coverage you are truly in denial.

Oct 12, 2008 - 7:58 am 47. Rick:

TO: Jane 10/11/08 9:28am

The hiring of government employees is always in growth mode. For a start how about all Federal, State and local Municipalities freeze hiring! How about only increasing their pay and benefits with the cost of living. How about not adding new programs and keep spending the same as last year. This is not unreasonable, however it will never happen as labor unions control the Democrat Party.

Oct 12, 2008 - 8:08 am 48. dad:

This is incredible, we have everyday Americans that need to wakeup and smell the Obama koolaid. The Presidency deserves a pro American not some socialist, apologetic rookie who is endorsed by Islamic-Neanderthals and liberals. We have the choice here and now to put our foot down on the prevailing progressive wind that is propelling us upon the rocks. Obama talks a wonderful game but he hasn’t a substance to back up his sails. Empty smoke and mirrors. He and his crew have created this Fannie Mae mess, to the point were he himself pocketed piles of cash. Now we get stuck paying for democratic shenanigans.

Do not loose heart America, we can and will stand tall on election day and say enough is enough to liberalism, socialism and terrorism.

Oct 12, 2008 - 8:18 am 49. Janet:

Barack Obama’s Involvement with ACORN Unearthed, Missing
Cleveland Leader ^ | October 9, 2008 – 9:08pm.

While Barack Obama’s connection with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has not gone entirely unreported, it has not been fully explained. Most media background pieces simply note Obama’s involvement in a 1995 lawsuit on behalf of ACORN. Obama’s own website, as well as most major media, fail to reveal the full depth and extent of his relationship with the organization.

Attempts to hide evidence of Obama’s involvement with ACORN have included wiping the web clean of potentially damaging articles that had appeared, and were previously publicly accessible. Unfortunately, those behind the attempted cover-up failed to realize that in today’s day and age, nothing disappears forever. There also exists another layer of the web, the hidden web, which is full of information included in proprietary scholarly databases where these very same “missing” articles can be easily uncovered.

Obama’s campaign website states:

Fact: Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity.

Is that really a FACT, or just another lie? Let’s take a look at a quote from a 2004 article – Case Study: Chicago- The Barack Obama Campaign – written by Toni Foulkes, a Chicago ACORN Leader, which was published in the journal Social Policy. Did we mention that Social Policy recently pulled this particular article from their website, while leaving links to all other articles up?

“Obama took the case, known as ACORN vs. Edgar (the name of the Republican governor at the time) and we won. Obama then went on to run a voter registration project with Project VOTE in 1992 that made it possible for Carol Moseley Braun to win the Senate that year. Project VOTE delivered 50,000 newly registered voters in that campaign (ACORN delivered about 5,000 of them).

Since then, we have invited Obama to our leadership training sessions to run the session on power every year, and, as a result, many of our newly developing leaders got to know him before he ever ran for office. Thus it was natural for many of us to be active volunteers in his first campaign for STate Senate and then his failed bid for U.S. Congress in 1996. By the time he ran for U.S. Senate, we were old friends.”

Not only does Foulkes boast of Obama’s ACORN leadership training, but also makes it clear that Obama’s post-law school organizing of “Project VOTE” in 1992 was undertaken in direct partnership with ACORN. The tie between Project VOTE and ACORN is also something that Obama and others have attempted to disprove in recent weeks as ACORN has come under fire for allegations of voter registration fraud.

As recently as March 2008, the Los Angeles Times also made reference to Barack Obama’s involvement with ACORN:

“At the time, Talbot worked at the social action group ACORN and initially considered Obama a competitor. But she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff.” (LA Times, March 2, 2008)

All this information was easily pulled up with minimal time investment. It took less than thirty minutes to find, despite attempts by some to bury the truth. If I could find this with little effort, imagine what could be dug up with a serious, in-depth investigation. Scary, isn’t it?

Nevertheless, Barack Obama’s campaign website continues to lie and deny the truth about his involvement and association with ACORN. No matter how many times you say it, it does not make it true. The facts do not lie, Senator Obama. It’s time to come clean and tell the truth, and it’s time for the American people to demand it.

Oct 12, 2008 - 8:29 am 50. Otis:

Do You want a recist criminal who paid $850,000 to Accorn to drum up phony voters accross the country. a man that lives in a world of terrorists and racists criminals. Now Farrakhan calls him the messiah. He trains up his disciples to attack and accuse thoese who question his motives. You are called a racist and biggot if you dont agree with your messiah Hassan Obama cousin to Odinga the Muslim genocidal killer of christians.

Oct 12, 2008 - 8:30 am 51. fred:

All excellent points put up there, Bogdan of Australia. The recent discovery of the hacking of the World Bank’s computer system and database make me wonder about the timing of all of this too. I was thinking some of the same thoughts awhile ago too. The TIMING of all this is just too uncanny.

I do suspect Soros, Iran, and Putin/Chavez(Mambo Chimp).

THE big prize that Russia, Iran, and Venezuela want: an Obama presidency that eliminates the ballistic missile defense program.

Oct 12, 2008 - 8:35 am 52. thegr8_1:

I will tell you about Chicago’s taxes where Obama lives. The highest sales tax in the nation at 11%. A head tax paid by companies located in Chicago per employee per month. State income tax 3%. Property taxes sky high. Etc. On today’s Tribune Richard Daley who makes his fathrr look conservative is firing 1000 average city workers while he hires 50 “spokesman” at a cost of 4.7 million dollars. Important read Freddoso or Corsi’ book. The way Todd Stroger runs Cook County is the way Obama runs America best case.

Oct 12, 2008 - 10:22 am 53. Marc Malone:

SGT Ted – The prices are way below what they were because of market panic. House prices have always risen to match inflation. Through 2005, that was still true. Only in 2006, did the prices start to get out of hand.

Now, I could be misremembering the stats. Regardless, the point is valid. Go to whatever point gives you a baseline. Extrapolate from there.

You have to restore the confidence. Things of value only have value if we think they have value. If the confidence is lost in a bank, then there’s a run on the bank, and it closes. Right now there is a run on houses, so to speak.

To whomever it was who criticized lowering Capital gains, nothing wrong with that. Not all investments have lost all their value. If you’ve held something for a long time, you may still be able to salvage something by selling it. It would suck to get hit with Capital Gains atop your loss.

And Capital Gains applies to houses as well. If you have to sell, and can’t afford to buy something else, you can’t roll over the Gain. Bad enough to lose your home, but to pay a tax while doing so really blows.

Oct 12, 2008 - 11:51 am 54. Rubicon:

Bogdan of Australia… boy did you hit the nail on the head!!! The fact is, Soros has been on network TV shows lately pushing the idea that Republican deregulation is responsible for this financial mess. Yet we all know, as do liberals, that Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, & other Democrats, caused this debacle. The MSM is not reporting on the numerous efforts on the part of Republicans to regulate Fannie & Freddie, since at least 2003. Bush himself warned Congress multiple times this year alone. Bush is not the conservative “I” would have elected, but just as once Clinton was elected, he become our President, so I backed him. His failures probably outweigh his successes. Yet he should be credited with the effort to warn this crisis was coming & none in Congress listened. Democrats in control just ignored his warnings.
Frank said Republicans wanted to cause problems for Fannie & Freddie to deny poor people & people of color homes. What bunk! Republicans love it when business does well so why would they block a good thing? The answer is obvious to any who look realistically at this crisis. Republicans have been blamed for a Democrat screw-up. The media helped accomplish this & hopefully one day ALL of the truth will expose this, just as the media & liberals exposed the lack of WMD as though it alone was the reason we went into Iraq!
Soros was convicted of crimes in Europe that had to do with almost demolishing the economy of Great Britain & perhaps France. Based on his spending of now hundreds of millions of dollars to affect the American political scene, it is obvious he has a lot to do with the economic failures we now face.
I plan to keep asking for investigations into “how this crisis developed over the past ten to twenty years.” They took their time, just as jihadists do, but I suspect the crisis was manufactured & was brought to a head just before the elections after McCain started to gain in the polls, just as
Bogdan of Australia suggests!
It appears this election is a conglomeration of gotcha events that were orchestrated by extreme liberal leftists. And I suspect many of their actions are as illegal as the day is long!!!!
GREAT observation Bogdan of Australia.

Oct 12, 2008 - 12:03 pm 55. davod:

Sadly, it has come to this. Conservatives cannot rely upon “My Friend” McCain to fight the battle.

What is needed is a conservative multi-millonaire who will spend millions on a multi-pronged advertising campaign to highlight:

Democrats have been in control of the Congress for the last two years.

Democrats were at the hub of the sub-prime mess.

No energy security with Obama and a Democrat Congress. They will not drill for oil and gas or mine for coal.

Oct 12, 2008 - 12:48 pm 56. davod:

PS:

Another set of advertisements highlighting:

Senator Schumer (D) singlehandedly caused a run on a California bank by leaking a letter from one of his committees, and, Senator Reid just caused consternation in the Insurance industry by saying another company mey be ready to fold.

Do you really want to trust Obama and these people with your money.

Oct 12, 2008 - 12:57 pm 57. fred:

“davod” the secularist Jew tries to pull excrement out of his anal orifice and tell us that Georgy Soros is a conservative multi-millionaire. He is in fact a Far Left multi-billionaire who has publicly stated that his goal is radically transform the United States of America. He is an enemy of the Constitution and of the United States.

And he is an American citizen who has parked all his wealth in the money-laundering banks of Curacao. He pays no income taxes to his country, yet he believes he is tasked with the job of changing the country without being exposed as the puppet master for the Left.

Oct 12, 2008 - 2:01 pm 58. davod:

“davod” the secularist Jew tries to pull excrement out of his anal orifice and tell us that Georgy Soros is a conservative multi-millionaire”

I did not refer to Soros.

Oct 12, 2008 - 2:19 pm 59. E:

In Africa, we have a saying that if a person is caught at his mother’s cooking pot stealing redhanded, he cannot claim collaborators of hours earliers. That is Mc Cain’s problem. George Bush has so destroyed anyone with ‘R’clost to their name’s credibility, Mc Cain unfortunately appears to be part of the “stealing”. Mc Cain will defintely be best for countries like mine (Nigeria) trying to find world prominence. But objectively speaking, Democrats might be America’s best bet.

One misconception to be corrected,
Sir,
Foreigners will never again buy American when this crisis is over. Do not be deceived!!!

Oct 12, 2008 - 7:07 pm 60. Yaakov Watkins:

I have been a Republican because I’m a conservative. I’m not a conservative because I’m a Republican.

I have voted Republican because Republicans have been more closely representative of my views. Bush is a social conservative but not a fiscal conservative. McCain isn’t a conservative. The McCain Feingold Act is certainly not the product of a traditional conservative. It was a clumsy attempt to censor political debate. For a Goldwater conservative, it was appalling. McCains suggestion that the Fed guarantee all mortgage loans was a typical big government idea. Bush and McCain’s failure on immigration was disgusting.

Why should I vote republican?

This isn’t a baseball game. I’m not rooting for the Republicans or Democrats. I don’t have team spirit.

Those who want politics to be like the World Series don’t get it. If the Republicans don’t stand for something, they will go the way of the Whigs.

Oct 12, 2008 - 9:04 pm 61. HastingsPete:

Democrat troll here, checking in. First, kudos on the level of discourse. Much higher than many of your compatriot sites, including the posting of perfectly sensible and ideologically coherent ideas. These are good things. The silly stuff about ACORN, jeez, you guys need to find another cause. I ran a smallish voter registration effort (not through ACORN) in NY and we signed up 1200 voters – some didn’t complete their forms correctly or didn’t sign or left it half-done. We submitted it all – not because we’re trying to get them registered but because its not our call as to what should or should not be registered. ACORN did the same but on a much larger scale, and they had paid workers collecting registrations, sometimes on a per-piece basis. Voila, incentive for fraud. So what? A few percentage points of registrations are garbage, most are flagged that way, and they don’t make it into the system. Nobody is expecting Donald Duck to vote, and the mythical person who registered 72 times, well, they’re not going to be showing up with 72 IDs and voting 72 times. That stuff just doesn’t happen, try as you might to prove it. Its a silly issue.

Look, Obama’s going to be president. He’s going to win in a landslide. You lost the young generation to the Democrats: and they’ll be ours for life. You may lose the Senate to a 40-seat minority. And you may lose another 30 seats in the House. In short, you’re in for a historic thrashing and it won’t have anything to do with ACORN and everything to do with eight years of accumulated hurt. Don’t pretend otherwise. Or do so, at your own peril.

The ideas on this board – that’s where you start rebuilding yourselves. There are smart people here. Take over your party: get rid of your know-nothing wing (really, dinosaurs and people co-existing), get rid of the anti-non-white contingent (this country’s not going to be white sooner than you think), get rid of the neo-con element, and head back to Goldwater.

Or, better yet for me, say I’m full of crap, and keep on doing what they’re doing nationally. It’s working for me.

Oct 14, 2008 - 8:58 pm 62. Finrod:

John McCain needs to counter-attack on the ‘tax the rich’ issue. Maybe something like this:

“My opponent claims that he only wants to raise taxes on ‘the rich’. My friends, this has been tried before, many times, and it failed every time. ‘The rich’ can afford tax attorneys to find loopholes to pay less taxes. ‘The rich’ can take their money out of American businesses and move it overseas to other countries that don’t tax investment. And when those tax hikes on ‘the rich’ don’t bring in the money projected, like it never does? He’ll raise taxes on the middle class, because they can’t afford tax attorneys or taking their money overseas. Sixteen years ago, Bill Clinton campaigned that he was only going to raise taxes on those that made over $200 thousand a year. What did he do after being elected? He raised everyone’s taxes, and that’s what Barack Obama will do as well.”

Oct 14, 2008 - 10:17 pm 63. davod:

Finrod:

Your statement is ideal for a 30 second radio and TV spot.

Oct 15, 2008 - 3:25 pm

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