The Democrats Did It

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After days of moaning and blaming, perhaps a few facts should be inserted into the discussion about the current financial melt-down.

Barack Obama blames John McCain and Republicans for the mess. Why? According to Obama, Conservatives have been advocating de-regulation and free market controls and this de-regulation produced the current fiasco. Sounds great to liberals. Must be true.

However, a tiny bit of knowledge regarding economics and the free market concept are helpful. De-regulation did not cause this problem. New regulations caused it; new regulations from the Democrats.
Rewind to the 1995 Clinton Administration. Bill Clinton believed that everyone has a right to own a home. Everyone should own a house whether they can afford it or not. It was in the Constitution; or at least it should be. Banks were hesitant to follow the President’s lead however. They knew that there were certain geographic and demographic areas that foreclosure was a near certainty.

Mr. Banker, do you think it is too risky to loan money to people with a history of non-payment? Are you worried about default and foreclosure on loans to unstable people with unstable incomes?  Enter Fannie and Freddie. They will cover the risk. When the loans fail (and they did by the thousands), someone else will take the loss. So, give them the loan.

To the average consumer this is great news. To the poorest in our country it is better news. It no longer takes a good work history and 10% cash down to buy a house. You just need a smile and a signature and you can finance 105%, buy the house of your dreams, and make payments when it is convenient. Trillions of federally insured dollars, that never should have been there in the first place, flowed into the credit markets.  Understandably, home builders loved this plan. So did the Finance industry. All markets were booming. Politicians, especially friends of Obama, cashed in on the deals.

But everyone ignored some core principles of the free market. They forgot that risk requires compensation. Financial activities with risk fail, sometimes frequently, and require a high rate of potential return to cover the losses. Bill Clinton and Fannie Mae tried to remove the risk. But they couldn’t. They could only shift it to someone else; Fannie and Freddie. They forgot (if they ever knew) how money is actually made and how goods and services are exchanged.

Which brings us to the big, bad, predatory bankers and their outrageous practice of loaning money to people that could never afford it. This is exactly the change Bill Clinton and the Democrats were pushing. The created and changed laws so that people that could not afford a house could buy a house. Barney Frank is STILL trying to make this happen. The mortgage lenders were fulfilling the wishes of the White House. To vilify them now is to distort history.

This is not how the free-market works. It is not de-regulation it is changing regulations to produce a desired outcome with political pressure. Just the opposite of what McCain has advocated and exactly what Obama has supported. In 2005 when Conservatives tried to deal with the mess before it got out of control, McCain supported action and Obama opposed it.

Politicians are now crying that we must provide a $700 billion dollar bail-out, which is not nearly enough by the way. And who will be paying this enormous tab? You and me. People that have worked hard, paid our bills, scrimped, saved and managed our money wisely are absorbing the risk and paying the bills.

And who created this fiasco?
The Democrats did it.

Obama Flip-Flop

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Give Matt Lauer at ‘Thumbs Up’ on this one. He catches Obama in a clear double-standard and Obama ducks for cover.

Lauer was talking about how Obama hit Sen. McCain for flip-flopping on the AIG bailout — saying he opposed it one day then announce he supported it the next day.

But, as Lauer pointed out, scarcely three minutes after McCain said he opposed the AIG bailout last week, “in an interview with Meredith Vieira, Joe Biden, your running mate was asked the exact same question, ‘should the federal government bailout AIG?’ And he said, ‘No, the federal government should not bailout AIG.'” (As we noted at the time.) “And I think that in that situation,” Obama said, “I think Joe should have waited as well.”

“But it’s the kind of thing that drives people crazy about politics,” Lauer said. “It sounds like you were trying to score some political points against John McCain using his words, when your own running mate had used very similar words.” (emphasis mine)

Thanks to Jake Trapper for finding this at Political Punch.

"Why I (A Black Man) Can't Vote For Obama"

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Huntley Brown – is a fabulous concert pianist, a man of God and is a black man.  Here is his reasoning for not voting for Obama. My brother-in-law asked me to post this and I thought you might like it.

Why I Can’t Vote For Obama

A  few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it’s worth repeating..

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why  I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness.

I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can’t dictate the terms He does because  He is the leader. I can’t vote black because I am black, I have to vote Christian because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second.  Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won’t be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, to name a few, wrong, economic concerns will soon not matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King’s words, “Don’t judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I don’t know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record.

His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007. NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as t he most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason planned parenthood gives him a 100 % rating.
There is a reason the homosexual community supports him.
There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him.
There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court.
There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill.
There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion.
There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.

Lets take a look at the practice he wanted to continue. Read more

Who is Telling the Biggest Lies?

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Ruth Marcus has an excellent article in the Washington Post,  Closing the Whopper Gap.  She compares the lies, exaggerations, and half-truths of McCain compared to Obama.

Guess who is telling the biggest lies? Barack Obama. Read the whole story.

Wisdom and Elitism

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Bill Dyer, guest columnist for Hugh Hewitt, has the kind of acerbic wit and sarcasm that appeals to my baser instincts. I suggest you read his post on ‘Wisdom and Elitism.’

Disclaimer: You may become addicted to this style of political punditry.

The moose-hunting hockey mom versus the community organizer from Harvard Law.

Fannie Mae Five – Five Key Players Who Broke The System

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What do Chris Dodd,  Barney Frank, Jim Johnson, Franklin Raines and Tim Howard have in common (besides being engineers on the Barack Obama Election Express)? I try not to just scrape the content of other sites but Mcauleys World has a great article with info that is essential for everyone to know.

Five Key Players In Washington who had chances to prevent the Financial Crisis but who, by their actions or inactions helped to bring down Wall Street.

Senator Christopher Dodd

Democrat from Connecticut. Dodd has been in the Senate for 28 years. Dodd has served as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Dodd is Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. As Chairman he had responsibility for acting as a “watch-dog” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Dodd has responsibilty for assisting in the selection of the CEO’s who run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Dodd was a leading contender to be Obama’s Vice Presidential selection until his receipt of VIP loans from Countywide Financial were disclosed.

It has been reported that Dodd received $7,000,000 in loans from Countywide. Dodd’s Committee was responsible for overseeing Banks in the United States. Countrywide is one of the leading culprits responsible for the lending policies that brought on this Crisis. Countrywide is under FBI investigation for securities fraud. The Government Watchdog Group, The Center For Responsive Politics, reports that Senator Dodd received more campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other Senator. Read more

SNL Incest Joke is Evil

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NBC and SNL have sunk to an incredible new low in their latest parody poking fun at Sarah Palin. Supposedly, the sketch was intended to poke fun at the New York Times and show how disconnected they are to most Americans. The wheels fell off when the skit suggested that Todd Plain had committed incest.

World Net Daily said that the skit does appear to mock the out of touch left-leaning reporters in New York and their lack of knowledge about Alaska, but conservative viewers didn’t find it funny.

“It is time the Palin family brought out the big guns. They need to sue General Electric, NBC, ‘Saturday Night Live,'” Florida resident Al Barrs told the Web site. “This is clearly criminal and defamation of character of an entire family and state. All the above needs to be taken to their knees big time once and for all.”

I am wondering what the ‘Looney Left’ would be saying about a video on YouTube that suggested an article be done in the Dallas Morning News about the possibility that Joe Biden was sexually involved with his daughter. Would the MSM be offended at that? This type of humor is evil.

NBC has an opinion page so that you can express your view online.

Sacred Monkeys has a good post on this.

More Palin Rumors Debunked

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I am still amazed at double-standards of the MSM. They whine and complain about how unfair McCain is to Obama. “McCain is distorting his record,” they cry.

What about the smear campaign on Sarah Palin? “Well, in the sense that it has not been completely proved to be untrue, we still have to acknowledge the possibility that its truth might be verified since it is impossible to to prove otherwise.”

More myths debunked Palin Rumors for shedding light on this topic

  1. No, Palin didn’t eliminate or “void” the Alaskan WIC program as Newsweek claimed. Warren Throckmorton explored this in detail; the truth is that the WIC funding increased during Palin’s time in office; what was cut was a $15,840 separate line request for office supplies and literature. Based on his work, Newsweek was forced to issue a clarification.
  2. No, Trig isn’t an alien either.
  3. No, Sarah Palin doesn’t think that dinosaurs walked the earth with Adam and Eve 4000 years ago, In fact, this was a purposeful satire that comes from a post actually entitled Fake Governor Palin Quotes. This has, however, kept neither Matt Damon nor Maureen Dowd from propagating them as fact.
  4. No, Palin never said she and Todd would kill as many as 40 caribou at a time. That was from the same damn collection of fake quotes. No does it make any sense: can you imagine field-dressing 40 caribou?
  5. No, she did not cut the Special Olympics funding in a recent budget, except in the Washington sense of “didn’t increase it as much as someone wanted.” Warren Throckmorton shows is was actually a 10 percent increase over the previous year; voxitar in the comments gives a link to the previous year’s budget of $250,000.
    These have gotten sort of silly, though: she has a line-item veto power, and every last one of the cuts she made can be spun, by a political opponent, to say that she is hurting something that sounds good. She cut a new fire station building; she must be against fire departments. She cut an audio system for a grade school; she must be against education.
    But then, if she cut nothing she wouldn’t be a fiscal conservative, would she?
  6. Yes, she did bill the Alaska State Government for per diem on days when she was “home.” This is how it works: she is maintaining two households. The state law defines her official residence in Juneau as “home”, so when she’s up in Wasilla, she’s “traveling”. That’s the way the law is written, and it appears that she has documented and handled her expenses legally and appropriately, even if it seems odd. And yes, her expenses have been anywhere from a third to a fifth of the expenses of the previous Governor. The Washington Post suggests this calls into question her claim to be a fiscal conservative; personally, I think cutting expenses by 70 to 80 percent seems like a pretty good claim to the title.

Michelle thinks Palin needs her own Truth Squad.

McCain Slaps Obama on the Fannie

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Speaking in  Ceder Rapids, John McCain finally said what the MSM should have been saying; Barack Obama and the Democrats are largely to blame for our financial crisis. Obama wants to blame others but the fact is Obama did nothing to head off the coming crisis when he had the chance. McCain said,

Senator Obama talks a tough game on the financial markets but the facts tell a different story. He took more money from Fannie and Freddie than any Senator but the Democratic chairman of the committee that regulates them. He put Fannie Mae’s CEO, who helped create this disaster, in charge of finding his Vice President. Fannie’s former General Counsel is a senior advisor to his campaign. Whose side do you think he is on? When I pushed legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Senator Obama was silent. He didn’t lift a hand to avert this crisis. While the leaders of Fannie and Freddie were lining the pockets of his campaign, they were sowing the seeds of the financial crisis we see today and enriching themselves with millions of dollars in payments. That’s not change, that’s what’s broken in Washington.

Hotline On Call: McCain: Obama Didn’t “Lift A Hand To Avert” Fiscal Crisis.

As usual, Michelle Malkin has something insightful to add.

Speech Palin Would Have Given

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I understand why Hillary did not want to go onstage with Sarah; she did not want to get upstaged by a mere Govenor. But why did the rally organizer’s cancel Palin? This girl is hitting some serious nerves.

The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a “Final Solution” — the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a “stinking corpse” that is “on its way to annihilation.” Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman — not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world.

The Iranian government wants nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is running at least 3,800 centrifuges and that its uranium enrichment capacity is rapidly improving. According to news reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Iranians may have enough nuclear material to produce a bomb within a year.

The world has condemned these activities. The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its illegal nuclear enrichment activities. It has levied three rounds of sanctions. How has Ahmadinejad responded? With the declaration that the “Iranian nation would not retreat one iota” from its nuclear program.

So, what should we do about this growing threat? First, we must succeed in Iraq. If we fail there, it will jeopardize the democracy the Iraqis have worked so hard to build, and empower the extremists in neighboring Iran. Iran has armed and trained terrorists who have killed our soldiers in Iraq, and it is Iran that would benefit from an American defeat in Iraq.

Hugh Hewitt has a look at this – Townhall.com::Blog and The New York Post has published the text of the remarks Palin was to have delivered.