The Economic Crisis: How Did We Arrive at this Point?

The number one topic highlighted in the media lately has been the economic crisis. Last night, a good friend e-mailed me this video which provides the background on how the recent economic crisis took shape and the power players behind the crisis.




and

Not Feder...but, many other Dems are ditching dirty money

Quirky Judy Feder likes to talk about her great ethics. But, why is she taking money from ethically challenged Harlem Congressman Charlie Rangel.

Rangel, who chairs the powerful tax writing House Ways and Means Committee, is under a cloud for not reporting or under reporting $75,000 in rental income on his taxes and for a no-interest sweetheart deal for a Caribbean getaway.

Let's see........Rangel is supposedly in charge of the nation's tax laws, but, he can't keep his own taxes and finances in order....

Democrats are unloading the dirty money from Chairman Charlie Rangel. But, not quirky Judy Feder who is keeping the $9,000 she collected from the tax raising...but, not tax paying Democratic Congressman Charlie Rangel.

See the clip below from Sunday's Washington Post........or check out the whole story online:

Washington Post (9/28/08).... "Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) recently redirected a $5,000 donation from Rangel to local nonprofits. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D), who is trying to unseat indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), donated a $10,000 contribution from Rangel to the YMCA in light of the ethics concerns."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/27/AR2008092702162.html

Come on Quirky Judy....Give up the dirty Rangel money!!!

Obama/Biden Ticket: No Coal For America

    According to the Politico , Joe Biden made a comment to an anti-pollution supporter at a rally in Ohio saying that he does not support coal energy for the United States.  

""No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there. Make them clean."

"We're not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama. They do, on paper, support clean coal.

    Doesn't Biden realize that coal production for energy would bring jobs to Southwest Virginia?  Coal is a renewable resource that could provide an alternative to heating fuel in the winter.  With the rising prices of fuel, coal is another available, lower cost option for many families.  

    The most surprising part is that there are radio commercials by an energy advocacy group stating that Barack Obama supports coal energy, yet he has not denounced his running mate's comments.  Also, Tim Kaine, who is Obama's biggest cheerleader has not denounced the comments either, even when he knows that coal production is one of the major employers of those in Southwest Virginia.

Sarah Palin Honored to Meet Family with Down's Syndrome

With all of the negative press coverage surrounding the Republicans, there is a softer side with John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as Vice President. Palin brings a devotion to service and a strong maverick reputation to join the ticket. But, this isn't the only thing that Palin brings to the ticket. Palin brings sensitivity to the ticket.

At a recent campaign rally in Pennsylvania, both McCain and Palin reached out to a family with a child, who has Down's Syndrome. The child's father called into the Rush Limbaugh Show on Monday to share his experience with the world. Here is the transcript:

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh, hello, sir. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense? CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh? RUSH: How about that? CALLER: Hey, listen, Rush, longtime listener, first-time caller, one of those Bible, family, gun clingers from western Pennsylvania. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: "We Love Kids with Down Syndrome." So when they pulled in in their bus the sign did catch their, McCain and Palin and the rest of their family, it caught their eye, we could tell, they gave us a thumbs-up from the bus, so we were all excited just by that --

RUSH: Wait, wait, wait. Who gave you the thumbs up, McCain and Palin? CALLER: McCain, Palin, Cindy McCain, we could see them from the bus. We were in a position where we had eye contact with them -- RUSH: Oh, cool! CALLER: My wife was holding our daughter. RUSH: Very, very, very cool. CALLER: It was really cool, Rush. I was like, "Wow, that's awesome," because I love Governor Palin and so I thought that's really neat. So then we moved around as the bus was getting ready to pull out, we kind of positioned ourselves so we could just wave them on and a Secret Service agent came up to us and said, "Hey, can you come with us?" I was like, "Do we have a choice?" RUSH: (laughing) You shouldn't have worried. It's not the Clinton administration.

CALLER: Right. So we accompanied them up the hill, we went right to the bus, where it was, and Governor Palin, Senator McCain, Cindy, Todd Palin, they're all standing there. We're in this inner circle with just us and them, and the Secret Service agent, and they came right up to us and thanked us for coming out, said they loved our sign, and Governor Palin immediately said, "May I hold your daughter?" and our daughter Chloe, who's five, went right to her, and I have some pictures I'd love to send you maybe when I'm done here, but Governor Palin was hugging Chloe, and then her little daughter brought their baby Trig who has Down syndrome from the bus, he was napping, and Chloe went right over and kissed him on the cheek, and my son Nolan who's nine, he thanked her. RUSH: This is amazing. CALLER: I will send you all the stuff, Senator McCain was talking to my son, and we thanked him for his service, and he asked my son if he wanted to see the bus, and we were hanging out and it was very surreal. I felt like we could have had a pizza and a beer with them, they were so warm. RUSH: You know what? I want to put you on hold. I want Snerdley to give you our super-secret, known-only-to-three-people here, e-mail address. CALLER: I will send you everything, Rush. RUSH: And then could you send us these pictures? Would you mind if we put them on the website? CALLER: I would be honored, and my main thing is they are warm, kind, genuine people, and they represent the best of this country. RUSH: That's right. And when you send these pictures, make sure you identify them. I mean, we'll know Palin and McCain, of course. Identify yourselves. CALLER: I will, I will identify everybody in the picture, Rush, and God bless you for being a beacon of hope and truth in this country. RUSH: Oh, no, no. It's nothing, it's nothing. You're doing the Lord's work. CALLER: Well, we're very blessed and I want people to know what a blessing it is to have a child with Down syndrome. These kids, they're angels. RUSH: That's the thing. There's always good to be found in everything that happens. It may be a while before it reveals itself. CALLER: Absolutely. RUSH: Right, and when she hugged my daughter I said, here's the difference, this candidate embraces life and all its limitless possibilities. RUSH: All right. CALLER: That's what she is. RUSH: Terrific, okay, I gotta run here, but I'm going to put you on hold. CALLER: Thank you, Rush. RUSH: Thank you, Kurt. I really appreciate it.

END TRANSCRIPT

Democrats = Financial Crisis

    With all of the economic problems facing Wall Street, one may wonder which political party has the best solution for getting America's economy back on track again.   One thing is for certain, the Democrats do not have a clue on how to solve our economic woes.  In fact, they want to continue to spend more to bailout Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  It is no surprise since many Democratic members of Congress receive contributions or special arrangements from these two entities.

    Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are the cause of the current economic crisis.  According to a Bloomberg commentary by Michael Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute, Freddie and Fannie was the "key enabler of the mortgage crisis.  They fueled Wall Street's efforts to securitize subprime loans by becoming the primary customer of all AAA-rated subprime-mortgage pools. In addition, they held an enormous portfolio of mortgages themselves."  

    Congress was even warned by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that if Fannie and Freddie were to continue to grow and receive lower capital, then there would certainly be potential risk to the economy in the future.

   However, the Democrats in Congress did not listen and kept on protecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from further regulations.  In addition, they also protected the corrupt behavior of the CEOs of both of these financial companies, and why, you ask.   Three Democrats:  Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd are all beneficiaries of campaign donations from Fannie and Freddie.  "Throughout his political career, Obama has gotten more than $125,000 in campaign contributions from employees and political action committees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, second only to Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, who received more than $165,000."   

    The Democratic Congress keeps on sticking to the same old talking points of change, yet they are the roadblocks to the appropriate change from corruption that America has been seeking.  Their economic plans will only protect their corrupt friends and not change the culture in Washington.

Should Former Felons Be Allowed to Vote? According to Obama, Yes!

Barack Obama wants to register felons to vote.  Now, why does this not surprise me?  After all, these felons would give their votes to Obama.  Lately, Obama has been receiving briefings from the ACLU and The Sentencing Project about restoring voting rights to felons. 

 

No doubt, these briefings had an impact on Obama’s campaign.  At an Obama office in Pennsylvania, the campaign staff had prominently displayed a sign that said, “Felons Can Vote.”  (Source:  The New York Times)  

 

Of course, it gets better.  ACORN, the organization where Obama received his “Community Organizer” credentials is registering these former felons.  Along with the voter registrations, ACORN is most likely handing out Obama literature to the newly registered felon voters.  

 

So, I guess the question remains:  Since when did we decide to reward those who commit felonies with the right to vote?  The right to vote should be granted to those who are law abiding citizens.

Tim Kaine Sets Virginia’s Brutal Murderers Free

From the moment Tim Kaine set foot on the campaign trail back in 2005, he has been vehemently against the death penalty.  As Governor, he has not backed down from this campaign promise, unlike his other proposals which have fallen to the wayside.  Kaine has only punished one criminal by allowing a lethal injection to take place, and that was in the case of Kevin Greene. 

 

However, he allows the most brutal murderers to walk free.  In the cases of Percy Walton (who brutally murdered three people) and Edward Bell (who murdered a police officer in Winchester in 1999), he issued stays of execution on both criminals.  (Source:  Richmond Times Dispatch)   

 

Bell’s execution was issued a stay, because Kaine was waiting for a decision from The Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the lethal injection.

 

The reasoning behind Walton’s stay was that “he lacked mental competence,” and Kaine does not believe in executing the mentally ill, even though Walton was deemed by the Court able to stand trial without any evidence of Walton’s mental illness. (Source:  Richmond Times-Dispatch)

 

Is this the type of behavior we expect from our Governor?  If someone goes out and kills someone, shouldn’t they be held accountable for their crimes through the actions of a jury?  I guess in Tim Kaine’s Virginia, the answer would be no.

Is Ward Armstrong in Bed with the AFL-CIO?

According to his actions in the General Assembly last session, one might easily draw this conclusion, especially after refusing to cast a single yea or nay vote for a bill (H.B. 852, patroned by Del. Adam Ebbin) that would have granted state and local government employees to bargain with a union.  This would effectively have obliterated Virginia’s status as a Right to Work state.

The Democrats won’t vote yea or nay, even when they received 100% support from the Virginia AFL-CIO (Source:  VPAP).   In fact, I bet the AFL-CIO was real glad to see the Democrats not taking a concrete stand for the bill.  So, I wonder if the AFL-CIO will continue contributing to Ward and the Democrats…crickets are chirping.

In case you are wondering, Ward Armstrong received $1,000 from the Virginia AFL-CIO coffers (Source:  VPAP).   What do they think of Ward now?  I bet they are like jilted lovers.

Union Activist compares Obama to Jesus...Palin to Pontius Pilate

Karen Duncan, Virginia Blogger and unyielding union activist compares Governor Sarah Palin to Pontius Pilate and Senator Obama to Jesus.

(Top-right is a picture of Karen Duncan, with here husband Dan (President of the Northern Virginia Central Labor Council), and former missionary and Governor....Tim Kaine.) Picture is taken from Karen's blog http://anonymousisawoman.blogspot.com/ and is used according Fair Use laws: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

Karen Duncan and her husband Dan (who is president of the Northern Virginia Central Labor Council) are two of the nicest, avowedly liberal, and most left wing activists in Northern Virginia. Thus, we are somewhat surprised that she chose to sink to this level......

Check out her comments -- unedited -- below or follow the link to her left wing blog:

http://anonymousisawoman.blogspot.com/2008/09/jesus-was-community-organizer-pontius.html
**********************************************************************************

Anonymous Is A Woman: Politics and Religion and Culture
Proudly Liberal since 2005
Sunday, September 07, 2008

Jesus Was a Community Organizer. Pontius Pilate Was a Governor
This will be uncharacteristically brief because I'm running out the door to volunteer at the Fairfax Obama headquarters where I work every Sunday between 3 and 6 pm as a greeter. I also enter data for them, so the stuff the canvassers bring back, I, and lots of other volunteers, put in the database to be used later on for the GOTV effort. One more pitch, if you haven't done so yet, please volunteer.

Meanwhile, I want to direct your attention to a great discussion on RK about the real importance of community organizers. Since speaker after speaker at the Republican Convention, following Sarah Palin's lead, mocked community service and poor people, it might be useful to read about the value that community organizers bring to underserved communities.

Best quote in the diary was something said on the Diane Rehm show on September 5.
"As a committed Christian I was deeply offended by Sarah Palin and the Republican delegates mocking and belittling community organizers the other night. Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a Governor." - Diane Rehm Show, 9/5/08
Posted by AnonymousIsAWoman at 2:05 PM

Next time you see Karen and Dan Duncan's best friend and former missionary, Governor Tim Kaine, please ask him if he agrees that all governors are just like Pontius Pilate?

Post Convention: McCain up 10 points in USA Today poll

Poll: Convention lifts McCain over Obama
By Susan Page, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Republican National Convention has given John McCain and his party a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an "enthusiasm gap" that has dogged the GOP all year.
McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republican's biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.
CONVENTION: GOP rejuvenated

The convention bounce has helped not only McCain but also attitudes toward Republican congressional candidates and the GOP in general.

"The Republicans had a very successful convention and, at least initially, the selection of Sarah Palin has made a big difference," says political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. "He's in a far better position than his people imagined he would be in at this point."
However, in an analysis of the impact of political conventions since 1960, Sabato concluded that post-convention polls signal the election's outcome only about half the time. "You could flip a coin and be about as predictive," he says. "It is really surprising how quickly convention memories fade."

McCain has narrowed Obama's wide advantage on handling the economy, by far the electorate's top issue. Before the GOP convention, Obama was favored by 19 points; now he's favored by 3.
The Republican's ties to President Bush remains a vulnerability. In the poll, 63% say they are concerned he would pursue policies too similar to those of the current president. Bush's approval rating is 33%.

In the new poll, taken Friday through Sunday, McCain leads Obama by 54%-44% among those seen as most likely to vote. The survey of 1,022 adults, including 959 registered voters, has a margin of error of +/— 3 points for both samples.

Among the findings:
• Before the convention, Republicans by 47%-39% were less enthusiastic than usual about voting. Now, they are more enthusiastic by 60%-24%, a sweeping change that narrows a key Democratic advantage. Democrats report being more enthusiastic by 67%-19%.

• Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a national unknown before McCain chose her for the ticket 10 days ago, draws a strong reaction from voters on both sides. Now, 29% say she makes them more likely to vote for McCain, 21% less likely.

Obama's choice of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as running mate made 14% more likely to vote for the Democrat, 7% less likely.

• McCain's acceptance speech Thursday received lower ratings than the
one Obama gave a week earlier: 15% called McCain's speech "excellent" compared with 35% for Obama.



Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-07-poll_N.htm


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Speaker Howell Keeps House Spending Low!!!

Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Correspondent of the Day" on Editorial Page
Letters To The Editor
Thursday, Sep 04, 2008 - 12:09 AM

House of Delegates Has Held Spending Down

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The recent editorial, "Lead by Example," notes that then-Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine returned $16,000 in state funds to help fill a 2002 budget gap. Readers also deserve to know that the General Assembly has long been leading by example -- minimizing costs and returning tax dollars to the general fund.

In 2007, the House clerk's office, which I oversee, returned $2 million to the general fund, roughly 10 percent of its appropriated budget. This was on top of the $4.7 million that other legislative agencies put toward balancing the state budget.

In 2008, the legislative branch already has returned another $4.7 million by reducing discretionary spending. That figure represents 13 percent of the total legislative branch budget -- a significant amount considering Gov. Kaine last year reduced executive branch costs by about 5 percent.

While the other legislative body this year raised its session per diem payments, the House of Delegates kept ours 20 percent lower than the IRS-authorized amount. And it was the House that voted 17 years ago to reduce its salary to $17,640, an amount unchanged ever since.

Virginia ranks 43rd in per capita spending on its legislature, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. For the current fiscal year, the General Assembly's budget is less than one-half of 1 percent of the total general fund budget. That's a lean amount to provide the necessary checks and balances on a vast executive bureaucracy.

Virginia has a low-cost legislature by any standard. Still, the House will continue to do our part to put our state back on solid financial ground.

William J. Howell, Speaker,

Virginia House of Delegates. Fredericksburg.

You Can't Say He Didn't Warn Us!

Below is a letter I received today from Delegate Tim Hugo who represents Virginia's 40th District.

Delegate Hugo is in Minnesota this week at the Republican National Convention and should be sending updates and videos to be posted on the blog throughout the coming days.

For now ... heed the warning below.......

A Perfect Storm Brewing?

.

As many watch Barack Obama and the Democrats talk about a “Change Agenda”, let everyone think about the “perfect storm” that is brewing in Denver. A perfect storm of new taxes, new spending, and liberal ideology threatens to sweep across our country.

.

On spending: Beyond the “change” platitudes, if you take the time to listen to any Obama speech, you will hear him propose a litany of new spending initiatives (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obamaplans8-2008jul08,0,5470706). The Los Angeles Times adds up at least another $130 billion in spending in an Obama Administration. And, that is just the Obama proposals. Wait until a Democratic Congress gets to pass new spending not opposed by a President of the opposite political party.

.

On taxes: Unlike in past decades when the Democratic leadership was conservative to moderate, the new Democrats in charge are liberals. San Francisco’s Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and her Senate counterpart is the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Equals in temperament and liberal ideology, Pelosi and Reid are in charge, and so are their committee Chairman.

.

In last week’s Washington Post, the Charlie Rangel chairman of the House of Representatives tax panel stated ‘ "This is my last chance," Rangel, 78, said of his opportunity to make a lasting legislative imprint. "This is the big one." ‘ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082703399.html) In the past, Chairman Rangel has referred to the coming legislative battle as the “mother of all tax bills” Consider the “Change Agenda” being promised and think about the current liberal leaders in Congress. The potential damage from the excesses of this perfect storm is a staggering list of new taxes and new spending.

.

What is the final, and possibly most necessary, ingredient of this “perfect storm?” The last ingredient is that the tax cuts from the past decade begin to expire in 2010….personal tax rates, capital gains, marriage penalty, death tax, dividends, child tax credits and more. Depending on your estimate, almost $800 billion in tax cuts will begin to expire. The expiration of these taxes provides an influx of taxpayer dollars to a government hungry for new spending and it gives the Congressional tax writing committees an excuse to again tinker with the tax code and our wallets.

.

A new Democratic President, his new spending and tax plans, new liberal leadership in Congress, and evaporating tax cuts……Obama’s winds of change will batter the economy and your family.

.

My friends, board up your houses, and hide your wallets. A “perfect storm” might be just over the horizon.

.

Tim Hugo

Delegate

Virginia's 40th District