The TARP program which was designed to prevent the collapse of the U.S. financial sector has created new and far more serious problems, according to the special inspector general of TARP.
I hope they didn’t just delay the inevitable.
Treasury needs to get its head out of its arse and put safeguards in place that will address the myriad of problems that still need to be taken care of.
These banking bigwigs need to understand that TARP was NOT universally supported, in Congress or by the public. I preferred to let the system crash so that a rebuild could have been done, and a stronger economy would have emerged. We would probably have 20% unemployment right now, but it would have been a temporary situation that would have improved over time.
Instead, the government and the banks reset the clock. That’s a decision that may come around and bite us even more than it already has.
TARP was for nothing if this attitude continues to prevail on Wall Street and at Treasury. Some people warned that this was going to happen, and THEY WERE RIGHT. Again. And now we’re facing the real possibility of the banks doing the same thing again and counting on Uncle Sam to bail them out a second time.
The cost of a catastrophic meltdown will be much worse than if TARP hadn’t happened. We MUST escape this vicious cycle, before it’s too late.
I’m no PETA puffer, but I am of the opinion that the ridiculous Groundhog Day celebrations ought to involve leaving the groundhogs alone.
If they don’t, I hope they all reach out and bite someone.
I refer to Staten Island Chuck, who bit New York Mayor Bloomberg at last year’s Groundhog Day. The woodchuck objected to being taken out of his warm wooden house that the zoo had built for him, and having his food taken away from him. DUH!
I hope he strikes again. And the same for Punxsutawney Phil. I hope they drop him after he bites someone, and he runs amok and starts biting the idiots who are standing in close proximity. That would be poetic justice. I would post the video here and sing his praises.
President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address last night, and while it was a fine speech in how he performed it, the ideas contained within the speech were another matter entirely. He tried to please everyone and the strategy didn’t work.
Instead, it was crafted to give a little bit of something to everyone. Ending “don’t ask, don’t tell” for the liberals; cutting taxes and supporting offshore drilling for the Republicans; appeasing the environmental bloc with global warming hubris; and talking to everyone else about the economy.
This feels like the campaign all over again. Say something to this group. Say the opposite to that group. Deny it. Blame someone else. The mantra of the last couple of elections won by the Democrats. And that house of cards has begun to collapse.
He CAN’T please everyone. His State of the Union suffered greatly from this strategy, and it was memorable only for the constant flip-flops and his telling us what we already knew.
I don’t think he changed any minds or did anything to open up a dialogue with his opponents. I think all he’s done is polarize his own party and energized the conservatives.
President Obama made the news for proposing a spending freeze for a few years. It’s expected to save $15 billion next year, then more the following years. I saw a number of about $157 billion in the press release.
Big fat hairy deal.
Today’s debt is over $12 trillion. And the Obama Administration is projected to add another $9 trillion to our debt by the end of the decade.
Here’s a thought: We can make due with a $2.5 trillion budget instead of a $3.5 trillion. Take the savings and pay down the debt.
NASA may have to take a hit; so should military projects that are billions over budget, and months behind schedule.
But under no circumstances should they weaken our Homeland Security defenses, nor cut the budgets for Iraq or Afghanistan until the troops are out of there. The last thing we need is for the troops to be trapped there, with ammunition and fuel running out or their paychecks cut or stopped.
I’m not too happy about the recent Supreme Court decision which allows for unlimited corporate spending on political campaigns.
There should be limits on corporate donations, to prevent a conflict of interest as a potential political candidate may be called upon to cast a vote on an issue that directly impacts a corporation that has made a huge donation. The corporation may be able to exercise undue influence on said candidate by threatening not to make a huge donation to the candidate’s next campaign.
But more importantly, the rights of the individual are sacrosanct. Under no circumstances should the free speech and voting rights of the individual be lessened by the increased donation power of the corporations. Money has a way of influencing votes of our representatives in both houses of Congress. Corporations can now influence our Congressional leaders MUCH more than the individual.
The GOP took the open Massachusetts Senate seat in one of the most dramatic turn of events in recent election memory.
Independents turned out to support Scott Brown. Democratic arrogance managed to turn a “cakewalk” to the Senate into a mandate on President Obama and his health care disaster.
People are angry about the health care bill, and unless Congress puts a stop to trying to criminalize pro-life people who oppose part of their premiums going to pay for abortion services, or people who are too poor to afford the premiums, or don’t want to kill the national budget, or want to have their own insurance, there will be similar results in other states across the country.
The Democratic plan has been exposed: pass the bill, then try to sweep it under the carpet. It won’t work. Lawsuits are being prepared across the country to stop the unconstitutional health care bill. I hope it’s tied up until late October.
If this thing does pass and somehow survives with abortion funding intact, I won’t spend a PENNY on supporting someone else’s murder of an unborn child. I may end up going to jail for not buying their insurance, but I’d rather be a prisoner of conscience than go to hell for paying into a system that murders the unborn.
I hope that choice doesn’t become a necessity. I’d rather throw some Democrats out of office and bury this plan and then wait for someone to come up with a much better alternative.
Looking forward to seeing what happens in November.
Pat Robertson started another controversy, this time with his interpretation of the Haitian rebellion against French colonial rule in the early 1800s, and the subsequent natural and man-made disasters to hit the country since its inception.
First, a little history. It started with France fighting a war against Spain, England and the Holy Roman Empire from 1688-1697 (The Nine Years War) when peace finally broke out. The island of Hispaniola was divided between France and Spain in 1697, and the French territory became a slave colony.
Wealthy Frenchmen imported slaves to work the fields, which yielded a tremendous profit for the French. As time went on, and Haiti (it was called Saint Dominigue in those days) became the richest French colony in the region, the slaves yearned for their freedom against their masters. Predictably, the French said ‘no’, and created racist “Black Codes” which kept the slaves of the colony in servitude and in the sugar, coffee and indigo fields. The Black Codes were brutal in their treatment of African slaves.
A rebellion began, and eventually slavery was banned in the colony and the restrictions against the slaves were loosened. Then the French government underwent several changes and the ban on slavery in the colonies was reversed. In 1803, Napoleon of France sent a force of 20,000 soldiers to Haiti to restore slavery and the Black Codes. The invasion failed as the French troops got sick or were defeated by the Haitians under the command of Toussaint l'Ouverture. (The French got beat by EVERYBODY)
In 1804, Haiti declared its independence.
In the time since, various emperors, warlords, Prime Ministers and Presidents have ruled over Haiti, and the country has remained in poverty ever since.
It also sits on a major fault line, which has produced major earthquakes from time to time. This same fault line extends further east and runs under Jamaica, and was responsible for the destruction and sinking of Port Royale, then the major British colony in the Caribbean, in 1620.
Fast forward to 2010: a 7.0 earthquake on the fault line devastated Haiti, destroying the capital and killing at least 20,000 people. Pat Robertson made the following observation:
A few points: the Haitians were fighting for their freedom, both from slavery and from French rule. Slavery is evil, and the French of the period were seeking to restore it. How can Pat Robertson say that the Haitians were evil for resisting evil? Is this his interpretation of historic events?
Would he be saying the same thing if he was a preacher in Haiti, where his own church had just been destroyed, and many of his followers were dead or missing? Or would he be providing aid and comfort to the survivors of his flock, as a religious leader?
Or is he going negative on Catholics again, as many Haitians (80% or more) belong to that church?
I will pray for the salvation of the Haitian people, but not because they've been lost to the devil as Robertson says; I will pray for them because they need God's saving grace (especially now), the same as all of us do.
I am not in agreement with Robertson's assessment, but I'm not surprised by them either.
It sounds to me like the Pope needs to fire some of his advisers when it comes to nature and develop a more coherent stand of where nature stands in regards to religion. Because two conflicting stands have emerged from Vatican City in the last week.
In my opinion, man-made global warming hubris has become part of the “religion” of worshipping nature. So I am a little concerned that the Vatican has bought into the hubris, and isn’t doing more to cast the global warming discussion into its proper place.
If Pope Benedict XVI wants to make the Vatican more energy efficient and make the environment cleaner, and encourage the faithful to do the same to be better stewards in preserving God’s magnificent works, then so be it. I like that idea.
But man-made global warming is a political creation, and a deeply flawed one at that too. The Vatican shouldn’t be taking a side on this politics-based “science” that is as full of hot air as Al Gore is. I would encourage the Vatican to clarify its position and to help correct the flaws in understanding what global warming truly is, and what it isn’t.
One other thing: the kind of thinking that put forth the idea of man-made global warming came from liberals who reject the teachings of the Church, and religion in general. Why, then, is the Church buying into this global warming hubris put forth by THOSE people??! Global warming hubris is a FALSE religion. And bad politics. And REALLY bad science.
More Democratic hypocrisy is on display in Washington over the racial double standard between themselves and the GOP.
Harry Reid is in hot water over his racist comments about President Obama during the 2008 elections. He was quick to rush out an apology, and the President, the Democratic Party and the Congressional Black Caucus just as quickly accepted it.
We all know what would happen if a Republican made the same remarks. There would be howls for him to resign coming in from the Democratic Party, the Congressional Black Caucus and in the media. And they wouldn’t let the story die either, until the Republican resigned.
Where is that same righteous firestorm that consumed Trent Lott when he praised Strom Thurmand at his 100th birthday party in 2002?
Where is that same righteous firestorm that has attempted to consume Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, and other conservative personalities over their remarks that got a lot of bad press?
Where is that same righteous firestorm that held Conrad Burns, Tram Hudson, and George Allen to account for their comments during the 2006 midterms?
Answer:It’s nowhere in sight. It only applies to Republicans!
Here is a partial list of Democrats who made racist comments (from the Wall Street Journal) and the result:
"I am a former Kleagle [recruiter] of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County. . . . The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia. It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state in the union." Senator Robert Byrd (former KKK recruiter, famous for white n-word interview): Forgiven
"The Confederate Memorial has had a special place in my life for many years. . . . There were many, many times that I found myself drawn to this deeply inspiring memorial, to contemplate the sacrifices of others, several of whom were my ancestors, whose enormous suffering and collective gallantry are to this day still misunderstood by most Americans." Senator Joe Webb : Forgiven
"Everybody likes to go to Geneva. I used to do it for the Law of the Sea conferences and you'd find these potentates from down in Africa, you know, rather than eating each other, they'd just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva."—Senator Hollings, 1993: Forgiven
"I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia [Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan recruiter] that he would have been a great senator at any moment. . . . He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this nation."—Senator Dodd: Forgiven
"You cannot go into a Dunkin' Donuts or a 7-Eleven unless you have a slight Indian accent."
"My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth largest black population in the country. My state is anything [but] a Northeastern liberal state."
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African American [Barack Obama] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy."
"There's less than 1% of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4% or 5% that is, are minorities. What is it in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you're dealing with." Vice President Joe Biden: Forgiven
The double standard has never been more clear and more undeniable. Senator Reid SHOULD be shown the door by his own party and the SAME standards should be applied to both parties. If the Democrats are as committed to cultural understanding as they proclaim, they’ll get off their duffs and DO IT!
I’d also like to say that the Congressional Black Caucus has done more damage to their own cause than any other special interest group in Washington DC. Their quick acceptance of Reid’s apology while refusing to hold the Democrats to account for ANY racial statements that they make while holding the Republicans to strict standards on ALL racial statements coming from their party isn’t helping the perception that’s evident. The CBC’s goal of cultural harmony will never happen if they keep this up.
Congress has taken it upon itself to start shredding the Constitution that they took an oath to protect, in the name of their health care reform bill. Other things are just plain wrong.
The list as I see it:
Making the bill irreversible. They can’t do that; the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and trumps all bills. And I don’t see Congress trying to pass a Constitutional Amendment to make this happen. This is grounds for a constitutional challenge all by itself. Nothing is irreversible, by Constitutional standards.
Mandating that people who don’t buy insurance go to jail. This is not the federal government’s call, as insurance is under the direct control of the states. This federal power grab is illegal; insurance is a reserved power for the states to regulate. Refer to Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
Forcing people to pay for abortion services is morally objectionable. I have no intention of paying for someone to get an abortion. For those who say senators are imposing their religious views on everyone, that’s only half the story. Those who support abortion rights are also trying to impose their views on everyone by forcing everyone to pay part of a premium to abortion services. Intolerable! They’re going to violate the rights of pro-life people to support their own.
Congress is also preparing to exceed it’s taxation authority by imposing tax penalties on those who are not in compliance with their health care bill. The federal income tax should be dealing exclusively with taxing income. And they’re going to punish those who can least afford it too.
The negotiations that have taken place thus far, including the Nebraska payoff, amounts to bribery for votes. The last time I checked, that’s a criminal offense. See references to “Bribery of Public Officials” for clarification.
The numbers aren’t adding up. The Dems are double-counting savings throughout the bill, but with the type of numbers they’re trying to shovel under the carpet, it’ll add to the debt faster than it will pay it off. Add the sweetheart deals to Democratic senators that they’ve bought off (some $159 billion from the bribery), and you have a budget-wrecking proposal.
Why are they targeting the system that pays for medical procedures, instead of limiting the amount that can be charged for medical procedures? I think they’re going about this business backwards.
The economy is still a train wreck. We shouldn’t be going for expensive new federal programs until the economy is cleaned up and is on the move again. The current Administration needs to clean up it’s own act and quit blaming Bush. This health care bill is Obama’s baby, not Bush’s. And using Bush’s excesses is not a valid excuse for the Obama Administration to continue the trend. What Obama should have done was cut the federal budget as soon as he took office, to pay down Bush’s debt. Once that was dealt with, THEN he should have started making noise about health care reform.
More to follow. I think all the deals should be immediately rescinded to start with. And the numbers redone. And all the constitutionally objectionable stuff removed. And abortion services either banned, or made as an option that pro-life people can opt out of.
Then we’ll see how much support this health care bill actually has.
We’re seeing the broken promises of the Democrats and President Obama on full display in the health care debate. Secret meetings, with no CSPAN cameras to get them on record.
The Democrats are terrified to have this promise fulfilled, as they may go from losing a lot of seats in November to losing a lot more. By all means, throw the light of day onto these secret negotiations that are reminiscent of a Soviet Politburo.
And the Attorneys General should file their lawsuit immediately to stop the unconstitutional measures found in this 2,000 page piece of crap.
People need to use common sense when utilizing technology that gives them directions across the country. I would not go into a desert simply because my GPS unit told me to do so. I also wouldn’t jump off a bridge either, if it told me to do so. They couldn’t tell that they were on an unmaintained road? With over a foot of snow sitting on the road? And no sign of civilization or people in at least twenty miles? And all to save two minutes to get home? They should have turned around and gone back on their original course.
At this stage, I would rate GPS accuracy at around 85-90% in metro areas, and 50-60% in rural areas. It’s continually improving, but GPS units should have a label on the box that says “use with caution.” And people should READ the warnings, too.
I’m glad that the couple in question got out safely, but they’re probably not going to be the last ones either, especially when sunspot activity resumes and electromagnetic interference in the atmosphere throws the GPS system off here and there. Use with caution.
I was on a mission this year, to catch my neighbor on video firing his shotgun into the air to ring in the New Year, but it didn’t happen as they moved out of the neighborhood. I was just as happy to not get involved, but I was going to put a stop to that.
But a kid got hit by a bullet in Georgia at a midnight service and died not long after. He was four years old.
The bullet came through the roof as the midnight hour hit on January 1st, and some damn fool took his firearm outside and fired. And the person firing probably forgot that that bullet had to come down somewhere.
This practice is illegal across the country, but people do it anyways. If they find this person who's responsible for the killing of a four year old in a church, they should throw the book at/and make an example out of the person responsible, whether they were intoxicated or not.
Firing a bullet up in the air and not caring where it comes down…sheer insanity.
