Democrats Block Financial Regulation, Media Blames Republicans

Democrats blocked financial reform and receive huge contributions from Wall Street firms and their employees.

And the media blames Republicans for not increasing financial regulation.

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

Go to: Workers at Top Wall Street Firms Give Millions More to Dems
Media echo liberal claim they represent Main Street not Wall Street, but Democratic candidates receive more cash from firms boosted by bailout. [link here]

Still Waiting for Liberals to Leave

Last night at our Gualala Lions Club dinner meeting, a fellow Lion came over to me and smirked, “It looks like your party is going to lose.” I smirked back, “It’s a good thing. Everyone has forgotten what messes Democrats make, so it’ll be good to have a four-year reminder.”

Of course, not for even one moment did I believe that having the Democrats back in power was good for anything in any way. In the immortal words of the dwindling numbers of young Americans, “It sucks!”

However, if another Dark Night of Democrat Rule descends once again upon this proud nation, I will continue to do what I did during previous Dark Nights: love my country, work hard, and try to get sensible government back in office.

I won't act like a Liberal and promise to leave the United States if my party doesn't win [link here].

I can’t blame Democrats for Republican failures. Republicans had Golden Opportunities going back to the Reagan Years to do the “government thing” right, and let them slip right through their fingers. President Reagan showed how direct appeals to the American public could overcome arrogant and ingrained Democrat leadership of Congress. President Clinton then demonstrated how his first two years dedicated to the socialized medicine philosophies of “Hillarycare” could deliver Congress to Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich rallying Americans around the Contract with America.

Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress became what Democrats had been: arrogant and imperious. The American people had elected Republicans to “throw the bums out,” not to be replacement bums. Instead of bringing new ideas, Republicans contented themselves with just tinkering with the old ideas.

When Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, the most important thing to fix was Social Security.

It wasn’t fixed.

Today it’s still the most important government program that needs fixing, but while Democrats run the government, that’s not going to happen.

And as time goes by, it will just get worse.

Maybe in four years we’ll get another chance to do the thing right.

I'll still be here.

What International Crisis? Did You See Sarah Palin's New Dress?

It’s interesting to see what the Main Stream Media finds newsworthy, or in this case, what the San Francisco Chronicle selects [click this link to view the Chronicle article]. Today on the front page it was Sarah Palin’s clothes. It’s not that I mind finding out that she had to upgrade her wardrobe to run for Vice-President. I would think all but the wealthiest, or Willie Brown, would have to do the same.

“Dog bites man?” don’t you think?

I really didn’t expect to find any weighty issues on the Chronicle front page, although I expected more when Joe Biden predicted that Obama would be tested by “an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

“Lawdy, Lawdy, Lawdy, Mrs. Palin, girl you sure look good to me [link to lyrics of Elvis' song],” I said, but then I got serious and added: “This is an astonishing statement from a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who has access to the same intelligence as George Bush.” Actually, I was just repeating the words of Patrick Buchanan, who also wondered why the media was so quick to drop such an intriguing prediction by Joe Biden. [link to Patrick Buchanan article]

Actually, the Chronicle had addressed the issue brought up by Joe Biden by running an Associated Press article Fact Check: New presidents often face crises, By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer, Thursday, October 23, 2008. [AP article link]

The problem with the article was that it didn’t address what Joe Biden said. Joe said Obama would be hit by a generated crisis, and all the examples in the AP article were not examples of generated crises. One was the accidental collision between a Chinese and American fighter planes, another the “Battle for Mogadishu,” then the refusal of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to step down after elections, and finally Marxist rebels stepping up attacks in El Salvador with Soviet, Cuban and Nicaraguan backing.

None of these incidents comes anywhere near being a “generated crisis.”

The AP "Fact Check" was more a Joe Biden defense than an informative article.

So I am really interested in finding out, “What does Joe Biden know that none of us knows, including President Bush and apparently Senator Obama, and when did he know it?”

If Joe knows of something on the way, why won’t he let us all in on his little secret so we can do something about it? And if he doesn’t know anything, then what in Hell is he talking about?

Maybe it’s time for Joe Biden to once again invoke the memory of President Roosevelt going on television to calm American nerves about the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

Joe keeps trying to have a “Dan Quayle” moment, but the media keep protecting him from himself.

Now they’re ignoring real news to let us know everything about Sarah Palin’s new dresses.

Unglued Idiot of the Day Award: Lewis Diuguid and "Socialist is a Code Word for Blacks"

Recently Drudge linked to a short editorial in the Kansas City Star: Shame on McCain and Palin for using an old code word for black, By Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist, submitted October 21, 2008. [click here to go to the article]

For some reason - stupidity, ignorance, bizarre belief system, or something equally odd - Lewis Diuguid (I bet his last name is pronounced "Do good") wrote that when McCain and Palin say Obama is a Socialist, they are really saying that he's Black.

I read his article and added the following comment:

When I was young there was an all-white group we called socialists, and they went even further and called themselves National Socialists. Now there are over a billion Chinese who aren't offended when you call them socialists (or state capitalists), about a quarter of a billion of mostly white folk who were formerly in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and another billion Indians who also are slowly emerging from their long, dark night of socialism. But now we have an idiot, Lewis Diuguid, who gazes at his navel and finds an inane piece of lint to wave as a sign of Republican racism and shame. Mr. Diuguid, anyone who votes for or against someone because of skin color is racist, and by that standard, over 95% of American Blacks are well into that category.

Then I included a link to one of my recent posts about Black racism as evidenced by their almost total support of Obama. [this is the link I included]

Soon my hit counter indicated that I was getting more visitors in an hour than I usually get in a day. Linking to an article that Drudge links to is a good way to increase blog traffic.

This inspired me to add more comments, and with each comment to add a link to another one of my posts. The hits kept pouring in, and I had the satisfaction of knowing that about eight of my most recent posts about Obama and the Democrats being at fault for the financial crisis were getting good readership.

Then I got greedy, and started commenting and including links to older posts where I condemned socialism generally, and socialized medicine in particular. The hits kept coming.

This afternoon, two days after it began, Drudge dropped the link to the article from his featured items, and the hits quickly diminished.

But now that I have the taste for higher readership, I'm watching Drudge much more closely, looking for his next link to an outrageous main stream media article that I can piggy back on.

It's fun to be read.

At Plank's Constant there is agreement that Lewis Diuguid is an idiot, and his post includes a photo of Mr. Diuguid. The calm demeanor reflected in the photo gives no hint to the stupidity Mr. Diuguid exhibits in his writings. Once again the old adage proven, "you can't tell a book by looking at the cover."

Please click on the link above and sneak a peek. You know you want to.

(To go to the posts I linked to in my comments, click on the "Lewis Diuguid" Articles label below)

Jeff Garcia, Steve Young, and Joe Montana

Watching Jeff Garcia quarterback the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a bitter-sweet experience. Garcia is one of the best quarterbacks playing today, and has performed at a high level since Bill Walsh noticed his outstanding playmaking abilities in Canadian football and had the San Francisco 49ers bring him in to replace Steve Young. Even today, at age 38, Garcia makes plays because of his athleticism that other quarterbacks – Tom Brady, Tony Romo, the Mannings, and many others – cannot. Garcia can scramble and ramble with the best, and yet can still pass with pinpoint accuracy.

Just like Joe Montana and Steve Young did before him.

The only problem I have with Jeff Garcia is that he isn’t still playing for the 49ers, and that’s really a problem with the 49ers’ mismanagement. Garcia made the Pro Bowl three of the five years he played for the 49ers, and last year with Tampa Bay. In the previous two seasons he took Philadelphia and Tampa Bay into the playoffs as Wildcards. At Philadelphia he replaced an injured Donovan McNabb, led the Eagles to wins in five of their last six games and an upset of the Giants before losing to the Saints by a field goal in the Division playoffs.

Meanwhile, the hapless 49ers just fired their in-over-his-head coach Mike Nolan. 49ers mismanagement now is a total contrast to the Eddie DeBartolo days of Bill Walsh and George Seifert. The downturn really became apparent when Steve Mariucci was fired after making the playoffs. As 49ers coach, "Mooch" compiled a 60-43 (.583) record, while the 49ers earned playoff berths four times. Mariucci was replaced by Dennis Erickson, and the 49ers began their death spiral. After going 7-9 in 2003, with a good offense led by Garcia and Terrell Owens, but a struggling defense, Garcia was let go and Owens was traded, and in 2004 the 49ers hit rock bottom at 2-14.

I can’t help thinking that if only Jeff Garcia had stayed a 49er, and the 49ers had stuck with Mariucci, all would have been different and much better. As I watched Garcia play the past three seasons, saving the Eagles season in 2006, taking the Buccaneers to the playoffs in 2007, and playing well this season after overcoming an injury, I can’t help thinking that if he had stayed in San Francisco, he would have been well on his way to becoming the third 49er Hall of Fame quarterback in a row.

And the 49ers would still have a place of pride among NFL elite teams.

When McCain Won, Couric Rolled her Eyes

I watched John McCain easily win the debate tonight, and now I’m listening to how the debate is being recast into an Obama win. It’s amazing how much better Obama does, how he becomes more eloquent, more responsive, when the talking heads tell you what you really saw and heard.
Right now Katie Couric sounds like an employee of the Obama campaign. Her comments seem to go only as far as to whether John McCain rolled his eyes a couple of times. However, when she asked an unbiased audience member about the debate and heard that he thought McCain did better, Katie rolled her eyes.

I think the exchange about education was the most significant. The point that we spend more per pupil and achieve less than other nations clearly is a call for reform. I didn’t hear Obama answer the call, particularly when he dismissed school vouchers out of hand, even though so many big-city Black parents are in despair over their lack of school choice.

When Obama said that vouchers in DC didn’t get the job done because there weren’t enough vouchers, and McCain came back something like “so you don’t want any?” I thought he left Obama with big egg on his face. However, Katie Couric and Company studiously avoided noticing.

Then when she asked “Joe the Plumber” what he thought, and he started saying something good about McCain’s health plan, Katie hurriedly cut him off. Joe better figure out something good to say about Obama winning his vote, or he’ll never have Katie bat her eyes at him again.

Obama played down our public education failures very coolly. The Democrat Party, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Teachers’ Union, knows where their support base lies. Teachers have huge political clout through their unions’ political contributions (Republicans need not apply), and also indoctrinate our children in liberal ideology from Head Start through college. It’s a wonder any young people are Republicans.

Had I been McCain’s advisor, he would have done much better. I would have set the stage by describing how Bill Clinton cashed the Peace Dividend after the Soviet Union collapsed and President George H. W. Bush drove Saddam out of Kuwait, and then reaped huge tax revenues from the Dot.Com boom until its bubble popped and we entered the Clinton Recession in late 2000.

I would then have lectured Obama on how President Bush brought us back from Recession until we were struck by 9/11 (planned and organized by Al Qaida during Clinton’s administration), and about how we haven’t been attacked since (although all the “experts” after 9/11 said another attack was inevitable).

Then I would describe how our economy came back and we had a higher rate of GDP growth and far lower unemployment than the developed countries of Europe, and the stock market reached new highs. I would illustrate how President Bush, Senator McCain, and other Republicans tried to increase regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and of how they even described four and five years ago how the economy was in danger of doing exactly what is happening now, and of how Democrats like Barney Frank and the Congressional Black Caucus fought against increased regulation, calling Republicans racist for even proposing it.

And then I would show how all that started to change two years ago when Democrats took control of the House and Senate. The rate of GDP growth slowed, and unemployment started to creep up. At the same time, the “surge” in Iraq was working while Democrats called for immediate withdrawal and, in effect, surrender. To Democrats, good news in Iraq was bad for them, and so was good news about the economy.

When John McCain and 23 other Republican Senators tried again to increase financial regulation in 2006, Democrats once again blocked their efforts while receiving generous contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

If only John McCain could have shown the video clip of Barney Frank and the Congressional Black Caucus repeating over and over how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were just fine, and didn’t need more controls, it would have been all over.

Then as frosting on the cake, McCain could have shown Franklin Delano Raines, former Clinton Budget Director and Fannie Mae CEO, resigning in disgrace in 2004 when he was caught fraudulently cooking Fannie Mae’s books to generate huge bonuses for himself and other high Democrat officers.

John McCain would have wrapped up by saying that the "Democrats set the house on fire, and now they say they're the firemen!"

All this could have been, and should have been, but John McCain never punched through the main stream media filter that protects Democrats from being held accountable for their screw ups.

Now it’s too late, but all of this will come out after Obama is anointed. Then the main stream media, having reached their goal of a Democrat in the White House, will go off in pursuit of their other goal, making money.

We’ll be left asking, as always, “Why didn’t you tell us this stuff sooner?”

Another Democrat Sex Scandal - What did Pelosi Know, and When did she Know It?

Republicans always get the dirty end of the stick. Mark Foley resigned from the House in disgrace for e-mailing while gay. Even though he never got to first base with the former pages, much was made of the fact that one was under 18 when contacted by Foley.

Of course, Senator Larry Craig made endless headlines just by tap-dancing in a bathroom while gay. I wonder what higher level of coverage gay Republicans could get if they actually ever consumated their advances, like Democrats do?

Interestingly, Democrats who made a big issue of these had no problem when the late Massachusetts congressman Gary Studds plied with alcohol and had sexual intercourse with an underage, serving page.

Now the Democrat who won Mark Foley's seat, West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney, has been caught paying money and providing employment to keep a mistress quiet (and getting big bucks from FEMA to please another mistress). Although Nancy Pelosi said she just heard about his affair(s), members of Mahoney's staff said that Senior Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chair of the Democratic Caucus, have been working with Mahoney to keep the matter(s) from hurting his re-election campaign.

For those whose memories are short, and I'm sure all Democrats will fall in this category, I ask you to recall the criticism laid on Dennis Hastert and senior Republicans about the Mark Foley scandal. As you recall, they were accused of doing nothing when told that Foley made inappropriate e-mail and instant messaging contacts with former congressional pages.

What then will be said of Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, and other Democrat leaders who knew of Mahoney's affair(s), and were working with him to keep the matter(s) from hurting his re-election campaign?

Apparently these two affairs are just the tip for "Hornydog" Mahoney, the Democrats' poster boy for family values when he campaigned for and won Mark Foley's vacant seat two year ago.

The odds-on favorite answer is that nothing will be said. It's just Democrats being Democrats.

Barney Frank Accompanied by the Congressional Black Caucus Choir

The late Senator Patrick Moynihan said, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.”

Die-hard socialists have their own facts, shaped by their views, not historical events. In a letter to our local paper, a Liberal credited the CIA for toppling the Guatemalan government with a comic-opera 480-soldier “invasion,” then averred that this ignited a 35-year civil war. Since the civil war began after Castro took power and was Cuban communist inspired, I wondered from whence came this “alternative” history?

A little Googling produced the answer. The Liberal’s version of history was displayed “chapter and verse” on socialist websites, none of which noted the civil war followed Cuban communism, and ended with the Soviet Union collapse.

However, the Liberal is not alone in having a personal version of history. Democrats have their own about causes of the financial crisis, blaming Republicans for financial deregulation. Democrats point way back to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 as the cause of the current crisis, even though it passed the Senate 90-8-1, the House 362-57, and was signed by Bill Clinton. A lot of Democrats voted for it, and it was supported by Bill Clinton.

Democrats continue their meme of blaming Republicans, even though President Bush, John McCain, and 23 other Republican Senators tried to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac several times from 2002 through 2008. [click here for documented proof]

Ignored by Democrats, and the main stream media, are a score of You Tube videos showing Democrat Barney Frank, backed by the Congressional Black Caucus chorus, singing “Fannie and Freddie are Fine,” and chanting that more regulation was a racist Republican attempt to deny poor people affordable housing. [click here to see this video]

They cranked up their song’s volume after Franklin Delano Raines resigned in disgrace for cooking Fannie Mae’s books in 2004 to give huge bonuses to himself and other former Clinton administration officials. Raines signed a consent decree, Fannie Mae insurance paid his fines, and Raines and friends pocketed millions in ill-gotten gains.

Democrat crime always pays, because the main stream media are their accomplices.

Racist Republican Rascals

Republicans are doing it again. Trying to tie Barack Obama to a disgraced black man, Franklin Delano Raines, the former CEO of Fannie Mae who was fined millions, but still got off extremely light. While the Fannie Mae CEO, Raines cooked the books to reap huge bonuses for himself and friends. [click this link for more about Mr. Raines]

Then as his accounting fraud was being investigated, Raines resigned, took his bonuses, and ran. When Raines was sued for the fraud in civil court, he signed a consent agreement that only recouped a tiny fraction of his ill-gotten gain.

Who says crime doesn’t pay?

What is the Obama connection? The Washington Post reported that Obama’s campaign sought Raines’ guidance and advice on “mortgage and housing policy matters.” A Washington Post editorial followed that wrote: "Two members of Mr. Obama's political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae." [click here for more information about the allegations]

The Post did not report, but could have and should have, that the leading recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lobbying contributions are Chris Dodd, Democrat, followed by Barack Obama, Democrat. It is easily understood why Dodd receives Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lobbying largesse; Dodd is Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

But why Obama? He has very little Senate experience, and no significant legislative accomplishments. Why is Obama a pet of the scandal-prone Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cartel?

Which are now wards of the government, thanks to their monumental mismanagement.

Mismanagement aided immeasurably by Democrat politicians like Barney Frank and Charles Schumer, who with the rabid support of the Congressional Black Caucus blocked repeated attempts by Republicans, including President Bush and Senator McCain, to tighten the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Interestingly, the Democrat grounds for blocking tighter regulation were their old, familiar, tired cry that Republicans were trying to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because Republicans, in their racism, didn’t want poor people to get cheap loans.

Now they have turned 180 degrees and trumpet that it was the Republicans that blocked tighter regulation. With all the evidence available of Democrats speaking their own words against tighter regulation, you would think Democrats would be laughing stocks.

If that’s what you think, you don’t understand the ability of the main stream media to spin and hide information, and the inability of the American public to get past their media manipulation.

As I mentioned earlier, “Who says crime doesn’t pay?”

Jimmy Carter is an Idiot, But He is Consistent

With even Bill Clinton giving Democrats credit for the financial crisis, it’s just like our Jimmy to be clueless as to what caused it. Not one word about subprime lending to low-income, high-risk families.

Still proving why he is the worst president of all time, Jimmy Carter.

Democrats Cause Financial Crisis

This Fox News video (click here) clearly shows how Democrats, particularly Mass. Rep. Barney Frank, blocked Republican efforts to increase regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

(Here is Bill Clinton agreeing that Democrats caused the financial crisis) [click here]
(Democrats in their own words covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac scam that caused our Economic Crisis) [click here]
(Fannie Mae CEO calling Obama and the Dems the "Family" and "Conscience" of Fannie Mae - while Obama and other Democrats received the highest contributions and pay from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) [click here]
When you click on the above links, you will also see many other related videos that demonstrate the role that Obama and Democrats played in causing our financial crisis. Happy viewing!

Barney Frank’s comments are particularly egregious, because while he was saying all was well at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, his main squeeze was Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie. His "pillow talk" with Barney was worth millions.

Another interesting Democrat enabler of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is New York Senator Chucky Schumer, who is always first and loudest with Republican denunciations at any hint of a problem or crisis.

It is a tribute to the power of the East Coast liberal elite media – New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN – that Americans think that Republicans repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 to deregulate financial markets. Actually, the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed on November 12, 1999, by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which passed in Congress with a 343-86 vote in the House of Representatives, before being sent to conference committee; the final bipartisan bill then passed easily (Senate: 90-8-1, House: 362-57-15) and was signed by President Bill Clinton (one of its chief supporters).

As a further tribute to the media elite, Republicans are blamed for deregulation of financial markets even though President Bush and Senators McCain, Dole, Sununu, and Heath tried several times – 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2006 – to tighten controls on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Each time the Democrats blocked reform, accusing Republicans of discriminating against low-income families by trying to tighten controls over lending practices.

Very recently Democrats still played the race game, accusing Republicans of racism by linking Obama and other Democrats to Franklin Raines, who is black, the disgraced former CEO of Fannie Mae (and until recently, an Obama adviser). This article, The Fannie Mae Gang, by Paul A. Gigot, Wall Street Journal editorial page editor, was written July 23 – over two months ago – and nails the causes for today’s financial crisis.

It should be required reading for all Americans, because you will never hear about it from the elite main stream media, who think their mission is to carry Obama and Democrats further into political and economic power.

As the article points out, the politicians and agencies that caused the mess will come out of it stronger than ever, taking us a long way towards their ultimate objective, state capitalism.

All it takes is to keep buying your votes with deceit and lies.

McCain’s Healthcare Plan is Clearly Superior

My eldest step-daughter is like her mother and sister: very pretty, and very smart. She is also a healthcare insurance expert, and favors McCain’s healthcare reform proposal over Obama’s, observing that all Obama proposes is putting another layer, the government, between the individual and their insurance provider.

Then at a later date the insurance provider would wither away, leaving you with no choices except to be a part of an expansion of Medicare and Medicaid (which are already bankrupt).

Obama’s plan would also leave the same old tired, wasteful, employer provided health insurance plan in effect which is increasingly inadequate in the modern world of changing jobs and employee mobility.

Although employer provided health plans have been tweaked and modified over the years in an attempt to better meet employee needs, in the final analysis it is like putting lipstick on a pig.

An example from my own experience: I worked for Lockheed in Sunnyvale, California, after I retired from the Air Force from 1984 until their big lay-off in 1994. During the entire ten-year period I worked for Lockheed, I and all my family members (including my late first wife Marilynn, who had breast cancer) had complete healthcare coverage through the Tricare Prime program because of my military service.

When I told Lockheed that I didn’t need their health insurance, and that they should just pay me instead of Kaiser Permanente the $5,000 annual cost of their healthcare plan, Lockheed said they couldn’t. Therefore Lockheed continued to unnecessarily pay for a healthcare plan for me, and my salary was lower because of its cost.

It could have been worse. One retired military veteran working at Lockheed was married to another Lockheed employee, so they both had unnecessary health insurance instead of additional pay. Getting nothing cost them about $10,000 a year!

However, we were the lucky ones when Bill Clinton slashed the military to cash the Peace Dividend caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting big defense contractor lay-offs. For most Americans, when you lose your job (or sometimes just change jobs) you lose your healthcare coverage. Even though Marilynn had breast cancer, and youngest son Jeffrey had asthma, our coverage under Tricare Prime continued.

Others weren’t so lucky, and for those of you who say that their coverage could be continued under COBRA, I suggest you try to survive while paying $1,000 a month for health insurance when you are living on unemployment checks that end after a few months. Which come first? The home mortgage, home insurance, car payment, car insurance, utility bills, food, or health insurance?

Be well.

As an excellent Wall Street Journal article on the candidates’ healthcare proposals concluded:

On choice, portability, quality and especially equity, the McCain health plan is far superior to Mr. Obama's. The Democrat is merely offering Canada on the installment plan.

Suppose They Had a Debate and No One Showed Up?

Actually, they just did.

I was fortunate last night and had to prepare for and attend a Gualala Lions Club Board meeting that started an hour after the debate began. As I collated a handout and wolfed down dinner watching the debate, I felt I was due for some really interesting and exciting exchanges. Tom Brokaw brought up two of my all-time favorite interests, the unfunded Social Security/Medicare entitlements for Baby Boomers totaling over $41 trillion, and the world energy crisis.

I chortled as I thought of how Obama would squirm trying to explain how the Democrats would save Social Security and already bankrupt Medicare/Medicaid by continuing to do nothing and pretending that there is no problem. Obama didn’t disappoint me. He completely ducked the issue. I couldn’t wait to read and hear the next day in the main stream media (MSM) how Obama did what the MSM roundly condemned Sarah Palin for, not answering the question.

A question, by the way, that has far greater significance and long-term impact than the current financial crisis by a multiple of forty or more.

The MSM punted too. Obama would not or could not answer the question of this century, and the MSM applauded his performance.

The next question went to Senator McCain about a solution to the energy crisis. “Nuclear power,” John McCain said in what today sets the standard for a straight-talking, straight-forward answer.

Of course the answer is nuclear power! It is abundant, cost effective, reliable, scalable, proven, clean, can be located where needed, only requires a fraction of one percent of the land or sea area of wind, solar, or biofuels, and is much less damaging to the environment. Naturally the Greenies hate it.

So does Obama, except last night he said nuclear was OK, sort of. When Obama’s answer on supporting nuclear energy is parsed out, à la a Bill Clinton answer, you’ll find his position the same as Joe Biden’s on clean burning coal: he was against it before he was for it, but hasn’t changed his mind.

Blacks are Racists

In a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black (Black Congressmen Declare Racism In Palin’s Rhetoric), Blacks who are voting for a Black because he’s Black at a rate of 95 percent or higher accuse others of racism.

If you vote for or against someone because of their skin color, you’re a racist, aren't you?

Apparently Blacks feel that if you don’t agree with the politics of a Black politician, you’re a racist. Like those who criticize Obama for his long associations with two Leftists who have long been virulent, sometimes violent, enemies of America.

The New York Times recently published a whitewash of Weather Underground bomber William Ayers’ association with Obama, even though The Times omitted and overlooked the substance of their relationship. As The National Review Online notes:

There is nothing "sporadic" about Barack Obama delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of many years to fund Bill Ayers’ radical education projects, not to mention many millions more to benefit Ayers’ radical education allies. We are talking about a substantial and lengthy working relationship here, one that does not depend on the quality of personal friendship or number of hours spent in the same room together (although the article greatly underestimates that as well).

Fully in consonance with the views of Obama’s former pastor the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers’ education theory is that the United States is a fundamentally racist and oppressive nation.

Through it all, Obama acts like a man who sleepwalked through his associations with both Wright and Ayers. Although he proclaims that he was a regular attending Rev. Wright’s church, and declared Reverend Wright his “spiritual mentor or counselor,” Obama apparently zoned out during the many sermons when Reverend Wright repeatedly damned America based on what he described as his reading of the Gospels and the treatment of black Americans, including telling his congregation on the Sunday after Sept. 11, 2001 that the United States had brought on al Qaeda's attacks because of its own terrorism.

Similarly, quoting the National Review article, “Obama was perfectly aware of Ayers’ radical views, since he read and publically endorsed, without qualification, Ayers’ book on juvenile crime. That book is quite radical, expressing doubts about whether we ought to have a prison system at all, comparing America to South Africa’s apartheid system, and contemptuously dismissing the idea of the United States as a kind or just country.”

Either Obama is very thick, or very selective in remembering what he has been doing the past two decades, and who he was doing it with.

Since we all believe he’s smart, obviously he’s a liar.

A worthy Democrat successor to Bill “I never had sex with that woman” Clinton, Hillary “I dodged sniper fire” Clinton, John “I spent Christmas of 1968 in Cambodia” Kerry, Joe “Neal Kinnock plagiarist” Biden, and Al “sea levels will rise 20 feet by 2100” Gore.

Looking Back at Over 21 Air Force Years

Would I do it again?

Looking back now, the only thing I would change is my age. Make me twenty again, with a stripe on my sleeve, my duffle bag on my shoulder, and permanent change of station orders in my hand.

Heaven to me is doing it all over again, going back to the bases, seeing my friends, having the bull sessions, and then seeing all the places I missed the first time around. It was a very rich life, and we will never see the like of it again.

Most of the bases are closed now, the aircraft retired and salvaged, and the people the same. When I went back to Bentwaters in England, my favorite base and assignment, it had been closed several years. I felt an enormous loss and sadness, because a closed base quickly loses its aura of the people once stationed there, and of what they did and how they did it.

That base was once a true city, but now is a ghost town, one whose ghostly inhabitants were dispersed to far off places, taking their memories with them. When I stood there on the lonely base, no one was around to say "remember when?"

Only me.

And then I was gone.

Bill Clinton Accuses Democrats of Blocking Financial Regulation

“I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president, to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." So spoke Bill Clinton about Democrat resistance to effective financial regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even as Democrats and the main stream media continue falsely accusing John McCain and Republicans of causing the problem through deregulation.

Democrat senators Chris Dodd, John Kerry, and Barack Obama were the top three recipients of Fannie/Freddie campaign contributions, and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s benefited Frank’s partner, Herb Moses, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions.

When even Bill Clinton blames Democrats for the problem, why can’t the main stream news media recognize the truth?

Sarah Palin Wins Debate Easily

Sarah Palin clearly won last night. Even the mainstream media (MSM) would have to agree, since they in all fairness will have to apply the same yardstick to Sarah as they did to Obama in the first debate: “The winner is the one who exceeds expectations.”

The MSM set low expectations, and exulted when Obama wasn’t wiped out by McCain. They declared Obama the winner because he didn’t lose as badly as they expected. Using their criteria, Sarah was the winner.

However, I’m not a Democrat, so I don’t give wins to a loser that beats the point spread. Based on what I saw, and what I read today – heavily laden with odd remarks by Democrats, such as her blinking, flirting, smiling, making folksy remarks, looking like a doll, etc. – Governor Palin won on her own merits.

She received support from an unusual source. Hillary Clinton said she was a “composed and effective debater.”

For further proof of her effectiveness, there is the carping about what some Democrats perceived, and what they thought of what they think they saw. For example, Chris Matthews said: "You know what I think of people when they come on 'Hardball' and they look at the camera? I think they're dolts."

That tells me a lot about Matthews, and nothing about Sarah Palin. He makes snap judgments on extraneous criteria instead of listening and attempting to understand what is being said. His mind is on what he is going to say next, regardless of what is being said. No wonder he gets so much wrong. Cris Matthews is a dolt whether or not he is looking at the camera.

What was Chris watching while Joe Biden spent so much time looking at the camera, even while Sarah Palin was speaking?

The facts of this debate are clear and simple. If Joe Biden had stayed away, no one would have noticed. It was the Sarah Palin show all the way. The biggest vice-presidential debate audience ever, and perhaps the biggest debate audience of all time, didn’t tune in to listen to more Joe Biden lies (about his late first wife’s death, his education, about the duties of the Vice-President, Obama meeting with Ahmadinejad, supporting clean coal, impersonating and plagiarizing a Welsh politician, even about going to a local restaurant and Home Deport, and his opinion of John McCain, who only four years ago was Biden’s top choice to be John Kerry’s VP).

Democrats Set House on Fire, Then Run to the Rescue

Alice was chatting with some friends and Sarah Palin and the coming debate was mentioned. One woman remarked about “how dumb Sarah Palin is.” At that point Alice interjected that Joe Biden was really dumb, and for an example told her friends how he had said that as soon as the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt had immediately gone on television to explain the situation to the American public.

None of the women had heard of Biden’s remark, but one of them said: “Well, of course he meant radio.”

Alice replied, “Maybe he did, but Roosevelt wasn’t President then.”

“Well he soon was, so that’s when he told Americans what was happening,” the woman continued.

“No he wasn’t,” Alice corrected her. “He wasn’t President until three years later. Do you know who was President?”

None of the women knew, so Alice answered her own question: “Herbert Hoover.”

Then Alice wondered why none of her friends had heard of Biden’s remark. Alice assumed that it was because the main stream media chose to ignore it to avoid embarrassing a Democrat.

“That’s not it,” said another of her friends, “it isn’t being reported because it’s just not important.”

“Don’t you think it’s at least as important as Dan Quayle misspelling “potato”? asked Alice. “Don’t you remember the big deal that was made of that? People still talk about it.”

“You know, you’re right,” the woman replied.

The purpose of my presenting this exchange is not to once more prove the already proven, that Americans are history illiterates. Test after test, and example after example has provided ample proof of that. My purpose is to illustrate that people are willfully ignorant, that they call something a “fact” only as it is relevant to supporting their viewpoint.

However, as the last fair-minded Democrat, the late Senator Patrick Moynihan, remarked: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but no one is entitled to their own facts.”

Patrick is rolling over in his grave now, as Democrats and the main stream media place the blame for the financial crisis on Republicans for favoring deregulation, when it is obvious that Democrat policies going back to Jimmy Carter caused the collapse.

To get to the core of this issue, answer one simple question: “Why did lenders loan to very bad credit risks, and make them loans which could only survive if the housing market continued to go up, and interest rates continued to stay down?”

These loans were made with no down payment, low introductory interest rates changing to variable, stated income instead of verifiable (including income not declared on tax returns), and even interest-only loans to be restructured in two years.

So again my question, why were these loans made?

The answer is obvious: because of pressure from Democrats to enable low-income families to buy “affordable” housing. Republicans recognized the potential for problems and opposed the lowering of standards, but Democrats got their way.

It started with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 under Jimmy Carter and the Democrats, which was “reformed” in 1993 by Bill Clinton and the Democrats. According to Robert Rubin, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy: "(In) conjunction with (President Clinton’s) Community Development Bank and financial institution legislation, which recently passed the House of Representatives, CRA reform will generate billions of dollars in new lending and extend basic banking services to the inner cities and to distressed rural communities around the country.”

Banks were to be judged by how well their statistics for loans to low-income families matched the rates for higher income earners. In other words, on a percentage basis the rates for loans to high-risk and low-risk borrowers should be the same.

In 2003 the Bush administration recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis over a decade before.

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

Shortly after Frank’s statement, Congress held a hearing on accounting irregularities at Fannie Mae. By the end of 2004, Franklin D. Raines, former head of the White House Office of Management and Budget under President Clinton, and then chief executive of Fannie Mae, was forced out by the board, accused by regulators of overseeing accounting manipulations to bolster his compensation.

Raines settled charges brought by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight by agreeing this spring to pay $2 million and forfeiting $22.7 million in stock and other benefits – all covered by insurance.

Some think that the distorted profitability numbers Raines reported at Fannie Mae contributed to its current slide.

Still Democrats didn’t learn, and in 2005 and 2006, Republicans including John McCain as a co-sponsor, put forth S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, “(a) bill to address the regulation of secondary mortgage market enterprises, and for other purposes.”

Again reform was blocked by Democrats, and three of the top Democrats blocking it – Chris Dodd, John Kerry, and Barack Obama – were the top three recipients of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

When you read the articles warning about the consequences of making loans, it is no mystery why or how the current financial crisis occurred. Democrat handwriting is on the Wall - all over the wreckage of Wall Street, that is.