Freddie Mac And Fannie Mae debacle

Just to set the record straight for all those who think it's the Bush Administration's fault for all the Wall Street mess-

The Clinton Administration founded Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as a partial government assisted financial agency. This agency was designed to make mortgages more readily available to people who would otherwise not be able to get a loan for a home. As you can imagine, top Democrat officials have received huge benefits from working with these mortgage giants. Jim Johnson, Jaime Gorelick (26M), Franklin Raines-Clinton Budget Director (50M) all received enormous sums from these companies, yet we don't hear a peep from the mainstream media about this. Wonder why??

The top senators who received money from Freddie and Fannie are Chris Dodd (167K), John Kerry, and none other than Mr. Barack Hussein Obama (126K). This is after just FOUR years in the senate. Pot calling the kettle black, Mr. Obama? If you haven't noticed, Obama is blaming McCain for being a part of the lobbyists in Washington. In his career, McCain has taken 20K from Fannie and Freddie. I wonder who is in bed with these company's?? Based on the donations, Obama seems to be.

For all you Democrats and/or Liberals

This is a case why I know, for a fact that your policies, ideas, way of thinking in America are wrong for our country.

CHOICE:

• Abortion. Democrats, in large part, are so socially liberal, being pro-life means being treated like a pariah. Take Gov. Casey being dis-invited to the 1992 convention to speak because he was pro-life. Does anyone know that Clinton, Gore, Gephardt, Jesse Jackson, etc. were pro-life before running for president? I'll get some of their quotes soon, they're astounding in their support for the unborn. What gall to all of a sudden think they don't have rights anymore, now that they run for high office.
• School. Democrats think that parents don't or shouldn't have the ability to send their schools to the school of their choice. Obama, like all other Democrats, oppose school vouchers. A recent poll I saw said that 80% of blacks support school vouchers.
• Social Security. Republicans think that its citizens should have the ability to invest some of their OWN SS in higher return places, such as stocks and mutual funds. Democrats (see Al Gore) want to put that money in a "lock box". Therefore not allowing seniors to even try to get a higher return on their investment.

DEFENSE:

• Democrats give the bad guys the benefit of the doubt. To the extent that they believe terrrorists deserve habeas corpus and legal council. Give me a break, should we give them tea and cookies while they are waiting? THEY WANT TO KILL AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!
• FISA, Patriot Act, Gitmo- I'm lumping these all into one for this argument. Even liberals and Democrats agreed with these after 9/11. Reason being? EVERYBODY thought we'd get attacked again and we needed to use every measure possible to keep from allowing this. If you want to, go look at the Democrats who supported these new functions after 9/11. The same jerkoffs who say it is infringing on our civil liberties. SCREW THEM!!!
• FISA- Liberals think the telecommunication company's and the evil Bush are listening to our personal calls. And these people are pathetic enough to think that our government has time to listen to them. They cry their civil liberties are being taken away. Wake up- They are only listening on calls coming in of the country, going out, or calls within that has evidence that the person may be a potential suspect.
• GITMO- These are terrorist suspects being held in our prison in Cuba. It's been documented that many of them that have been released have been seen in the battlefield in Iraq or Afghanistan. Yet Democrats think they deserve every right as an American. They are terrorists, not enemy combatants. Yet on multiple reports, it's been known that they get very decent lifestyles, in which they DO NOT deserve.
• Treating Terrorism like law enforcement - How many times did we hear Clinton in his state of the union speeches address the need to respond to terrorist attacks. Same went for Kerry. You'd need a lot of time devoted to hearing this from Kerry in 04. During the primaries, to impress the liberal die-hards, Obama said countless times how we need to respond in kind to those who attack us and bring them to justice. Difference is- Republicans go after them and want to cut their heads off!
• Iraq- The vast majority of Democrats voting to go in and take out the regime in 2002, saying it had to be done because of fear of the chemical and biological weapons that were unaccounted for. Now they sing a different tune. And least Hillary had the balls (seriously) to not apologize for her vote. She did the right thing with what she knew.
• Surge- Even though Obama says it's been a bigger success than even Bush could have predicted, he still says it was a mistake. Is he an idiot?? Apparently so! All the facts fly in the face of what he says about the surge.
• Still not attacked since 9/11- Do Democrats think this is an accident? Imagine Kerry or Obama in the wake of 9/11. Very scary!
• Obama smarter than Petraeus?- Obama believes we should still leave Iraq, no matter that we are winning. Petraeus, Crocker, Millen, and all other Generals say it would be disaster if we left now. We can leave winning WHEN the Generals on the ground say it's right to do so. Why doesn't Obama get called on this more often? Let me ask again, does Obama think he knows more than the Generals on the ground?

ECONOMY:

• Tax, tax, tax, that's what Democrats believe. Are we done?
• Democrats and liberals truly believe that they can handle your money better than you can. The proof is in the pudding. It's just a matter of fact.
• Democrats believe in- Death tax, Marriage tax, raising capital gains, raising dividends, raising income tax level, raising payroll taxes on businesses, raising oil tax, etc... Whereas Republicans killed the death and marriage tax, lowered Cap gains and dividends in half in some cases, lowered payroll, income, and pushed for lowering oil tax. These are facts.
• Obama's taxes are code for Welfare- Obama says he will lower taxes on 95% of Americans, but that's not really true. Instead, he wants those 40% or so who DON'T pay income tax to just simply get a rebate check. I call it a welfare check.
• Obama will lower taxes for the rest up until 95%, but has promised to raise the capital gains, dividends, bring back the death tax, and raise payroll taxes on businesses. I haven't heard him talk about the marriage penalty. So even though he wants to lower middle class taxes, will this be offset by raising taxes on said above taxes? Do your own math.
• Big Brother- Over-Regulation, wanting the government to be involved in EVERY little nook and cranny of ones life. This is what Democrats have always called for.
• Big Government Programs- With Obama's tax and spending plan, he has I believe 1 trillion in dollars that he has proposed that hasn't been paid for in his plan. Don't quote me on this, as I saw this on the news a few weeks ago... The point is, Democrats try they darndest to find ways to spend our money.
• Pork Projects- Although both party's are guilty of this, of the two candidates, only one tries to bring home the bacon for his state. That's Obama. Of the days he's actually been in Washington over the past 4 years, he's averaged nearly 1 million dollars per day in pork. Talk about wasteful spending. McCain rejects all pork spending.

CULTURE:

• Democrats and liberals have been labeled elitist, snobbish, arrogant for good reason. They look down at the fly over America. In general, they detest: 2nd Amendment rights, Christians or people of faith, pro-life advocates, those against same sex marriage, those for prayer in school, teaching of creationism in school, etc, etc, etc.
• 2nd Amendment- In 2000, Democrats lost because of this issue. Al Gore stumped on gun control and regulation in hotly contested states as Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee (his own state). Many say he lost because of this. Nonetheless, it doesn't mean liberals don't hate people who protect themselves, hunt, or use guns for sport. Obama in his acceptance speech said like-minded people can want the protection of the 2nd amendment, as well as keeping automatic weapons out of the hands of thugs. Obama misses the point entirely. It's the gangs and thugs who get ILLEGAL access to guns. They aren't the law abiding citizens. Obama's incredibly naive if he thinks the ones who get licenses are the ones to worry about.
• Faith- Some Democrats and/or liberals are of faith, but most aren't. The ones who are, Kennedy, Obama, Kerry, etc. speak differently. Notice the difference between how they and Bush speaks about faith. To them, it seems like just another thing. To Bush, it's personal. This is why the large majority of people vote Republican.
• Abortion- See above. To be certain, Democrats and liberals of faith don't want abortion to interfere with law. Such things as life and death. Joe Biden thinks life begins at conception, yet supports abortion???? How does that jive with reality? Do Democrats of faith read Jeremiah 1:5, or Psalm? Apparently not!
• Same sex marriage- Most people in the heartland- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. will start voting more consistently Republican, as long as Democrats and liberals keep pushing the envelope on moral issues as this. Do Democrats of faith not read Sodom and Gomorrah??? Do they not believe in certain aspects of the Bible? Are they like Obama, who believe some passages in the Bible cannot be taken literally anymore? What a COMPLETE JOKE LIBERALS ARE!!!!!!
• Clinging to our guns and Religion- Obama said that's what people do during hard times. He said this at a rally in San Francisco. I really think there is a very deep disconnect between liberals and people of faith. Faith is not something we "cling" to in hard times.
• Prayer in school, Pledge of Allegiance, taking down Crosses, etc.- This is the liberal mantra. They believe there is no place for this in the public square. Even though our country was founded on Christian principles and the majority of Americans believe in Christianity. Groups as the ACLU are a disease to our country. And we know liberals and Democrats support the ACLU in mass numbers. I've yet to meet a conservative who thinks what the ACLU does helps our country in any way.

ENERGY:

• I've covered this on a few blogs in August. Nonetheless, over 70% believe we need more drilling, yet liberal Democrats have spent the past year not allowing a vote in the House or Senate.
• Fact is, Liberals do not want oil drilling. This is because they in bed with environmental causes.
• Liberals and Democrats don't mind higher fuel prices- Obama admitted that he's more concerned about the rapid rise, rather than the actual prices. And when you add emission caps, etc., this only raises prices.

MORE TO COME ON THIS SUBJECT LATER..........

Obama's Foreign Policy

Here's some aspects of the way Freshman Barack Obama sees our Foreign Policy:

• In May 08 said that countries like Iran don’t pose a threat to us because they are ‘tiny’ countries, as opposed to USSR back in the 80's.
• Met with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez to discuss Chávez's support of the Marxist FARC guerrillas in Colombia. The next day, in Miami, he insisted any country supporting the FARC should suffer "regional isolation."
• In a debate last July, Mr. Obama pledged to meet, without precondition, the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Syria and Cuba. He called President Bush's refusal to meet with them "ridiculous" and a "disgrace. He's claimed, in defense of his position, that John F. Kennedy's 1961 summit with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna was a crucial meeting that led to the end of the Cold War. Not quite. Kennedy himself admitted he was unprepared for Khrushchev's bullying. "He beat the hell out of me," Kennedy confided to advisers. The Soviet leader reported to his Politburo that the American president was weak. Two months later, the Berlin Wall was erected and stood for 28 years. Hillary Clinton believes this policy is “incredibly naïve”. Even she gets it.
  
• Wants to meet with any rogue dictator, but hasn’t meet with General David Petraeus or Amb. Ryan Crocker about success in Iraq after the Surge.
• Obama makes blanket statement against having nuclear weapons at our disposal: "I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance" in Afghanistan or Pakistan, Obama said. He then added that he would not use such weapons in situations "involving civilians." Clinton blasted him for this: "Presidents since the Cold War have used nuclear deterrents to keep the peace, and I don't believe any president should make blanket statements with the regard to use or nonuse," Clinton said.

You can't make this stuff up

A few things that were kinda weird today from the campaign trail....

• Democrat Rep. Steven Cohen says, "Jesus, like Barack Obama, was a community organizer. While the person who had Jesus put to death was a Governor." Was he implying this to Governor Sarah Palin? Why else would he have said this?
• Carol Fowler, running the DNC in South Carolina said "Sarah Palin's primary qualifications is that she hasn't had an abortion." Wow, what a load of BS. She is a disgrace for saying this.
• Fowler's husband, Don, said before Hurricane Gustav that it proves that God is on the Democrats side because the hurricane would halt or suspend the Republican convention. I think the Fowler tandem needs to simply go away!
• Obama has now attacked Sarah Palin 5 times in the past 6 days. You would think that he was running against her. Embarrasing.

Dodgers 2009

Here's a look at what I think the Dodgers should do this offseason-

There are several big contracts coming off the books. These are close estimates: Nomar (9M), Kent (9M), Lowe (10M), Penny (8M), Bennett (2M), Loaiza (7M), Furcal (14M), Beimel (1M).

Nomar- Let him go. That's WAY too steep of price. Money better used elsewhere. He's not a starter anyway.
Kent- He'll retire. Even if he wants to still play, Blake DeWitt is ready to take over at 2B, and gets paid the minimum.
Lowe- Good pitcher, but let me walk.
Penny- Let him go.
Bennett- Let him go.
Loaiza- Dead money. He's already gone.
Furcal- Bring him back (more on him below)
Beimel- Re-sign him for one year.

And here's what we do with the 45M we let go (Furcal's $$ above not included in 45M, but will not require 14M to resign him, so the 45M may be as high as 50-52M:

Resign Manny. Do whatever it takes, even 4 years/80M, which might get it done. So that's 20M per season.
Sign CC Sabathia. Again, do whatever it takes. His salary, even around 18M, would just be a replacement of Lowe and Penny. And with Penny going downhill and oft-injured, it's basically a Lowe for CC swap. And word is the Dodgers are his first choice, so it can be done.
Resign Casey Blake at the same 1 year/6M deal he has now to play third.
Resign Furcal for 2 years, heavy incentive laiden. Where he can earn up to 10M if he's healthy. If the gamble doesn't pay off, keep Berroa, or maybe Hu will be ready. In any case, there's nothing close to the potential that Furcal has out on the FA market. It's worth the gamble. If healthy, next to Manny, Furcal's our best offensive player. And our best defensive. To top it off, he WANTS to be resigned by the Dodgers.
Resign Park to one year deal, around 2M.
Add a 5th starter for 2-3M.

So with all of this, our payroll next season will be roughly the same, depending on a few things. Nonetheless, it would be a GREAT sell. We'd definitely be the team to beat, merchandise and attendance would spike with CC and Manny. Plus, after next season, 34M of dead money is freed up (Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt). So if McCourt wants to slash payroll a little, he just has to bite the bullet for one year, then get the refreshing 34M off the books with these bums.

Our lineup would look like this:

Furcal SS
Ethier RF
Manny LF
Loney 1B
Kemp CF
Blake 3B
Martin C
DeWitt 2B

Our rotation would look like this:

Sabathia
Billingsley
Kershaw
Park
Unsigned fifth starter

Pen:

Saito
Broxton
Beimel
Wade
Elbert
etc..

This would win the division, no doubt. The other teams wouldn't be able to match up against us, when you include everyday lineup, rotation, and pen. And all this for the same payroll we have this year.

More on recent polling

Now that we are almost a week out from the conventions, the polls hasn't really started to clear up yet. The reason? Sarah Palin. She has totally flipped this race on its head. A few interesting points now that she is on the ticket:

• Before she was nominated as VP, McCain was drawing an average of 1,000 at rally's. Over the past 5 days, they drew 5,000 once, and as much as 13,000. They say they are averaging about 10,000. That's Obama-Biden territory.
• We tried getting tickets for Saturday's rally in Colorado Springs, but they were sold out. That's the event that had 13,000.
• As long as the media is still perceived by the majority of the public as crude and rude to Palin, it'll drive the GOP numbers further up. Remember when Clinton rallied after the media was taking it to her? Same thing.
• Palin has not only SAVED the Republican base and got them energized for the first time, but she has the appeal to draw independents and conservative Democrats to the GOP.

And a few polls....... (Caution- Although these numbers look promising for the GOP, if Palin's lure starts wearing off, as well as the convention bounce, the numbers will steady a little more for Obama and be neck and neck again).

• Over all polls taken, McCain for the first time has a higher average than Obama. Many say McCain's not leading yet because of the GOP brand, but it's probably a toss-up at this point.
• Among independents, McCain has opened up a 15 point lead according to Gallup 52-37.
• ABC News/Washington Post poll: McCain ahead by two.
• CNN poll: Tie
• CBS News: McCain up two.
• Gallup: McCain up four
• Gallup (Likely Voters): McCain up 10. (possible outlier, this poll has always been high for McCain compared to others).
• Gender Gap: Women- McCain 46. Men- McCain 52. Bad numbers for Obama. Obama needs to win the women vote by 8-10. He currently leads women by 2-4. That won't get it done. Reason being? Men vote GOP in much larger numbers.

Close states

Of course, who really cares about national polls. They give you a picture, but state by state gives us a better picture. Here's what I see from some hot, contested states:

Iowa- Obama will win. I don't have much doubt. This is made up of a very liberal vs. very conservative state. Liberals love Obama, conservatives are luke-warm on McCain. So even though Bush won in 04, I see it flipping back to the Dems. Obama wins

Minnesota- Obama will win. Surprisingly, Bush barely lost in 00 and 04. However, I don't think Obama will lose. It'll be within 3-4 points I think. Obama wins

Ohio- McCain will win. There are too many conservative Democrats (Reagan democrats) that aren't too sure of Obama. Obviously, Obama will be big in the University (Columbus), as well as Cincinnati and especially Cleveland that have big black turnout. However, the rest of the state favors McCain. Should be within 3-4 points for McCain. McCain wins

Pennsylvania- If I had to pick, I'd say Obama, but in a squeaker. Just because his black turnout will be HUGE in Philly and Pittsburgh. However, just as Ohio, many conservative Dems will be scared of Obama and his liberalism. And McCain will dominate in the West and Plains. Obama wins

Michigan- Again, very close. If I had to pick, I'd say McCain will win. Although Obama is ahead in every poll I've seen lately, I just think McCain will sell well in Michigan. Same conservative Democrats will back McCain. Also, Kwame Kilpatrick, the mayor of Detroit, is now in jail for many charges. The reason this means something is because just 16 months ago, Obama supported Kilpatrick, giving him a big hug, saying he's "a great mayor". This will hurt Obama very much in the Detroit suburbs. Plus, the blacks in Detroit will feel betrayed after Obama renounced Kilpatrick today. Finally, the Governor, Granholm, is VERY unpopular in her state. But I'd even be more confident if Romney were the VP, as his Dad was very popular as Michigan's Governor. Right now, I'd say 55-45% chance for McCain. McCain wins (maybe)

Florida- McCain will win. I don't think it'll be close. More like 04 than 00. I'd guess a 4-6 point victory. Lieberman and Giuliani, as well as Charlie Crist will help McCain. And the Cubans in Miami, who already vote Republican in large numbers, are terrified of Obama. Giuliani and Crist will play well to the moderates, Lieberman to the socially liberal Jews, but strong on security. And Palin will rack in the conservatives in Tampa and the Panhandle. If Hillary were the candidate, it would be a 2000 too close to call. McCain wins

New Hampshire- I'd say McCain, but barely. McCain will win big numbers of independents. He's hugely popular there as an independent thinker. Independents in NH are much bigger numbers than anywhere else. This is really the only New England State that even has a chance to be in the GOP column. Lieberman will also be a help there. If this were a different year and the GOP didn't look so unpopular, McCain might win this state going away. As is, very close, but I'd still say McCain. McCain wins

Colorado- Now my home state. Before Palin was announced, I'd say 50-50. Now? McCain, but once again, barely. And I wouldn't be surprised if Obama won. Obama's numbers in Denver and Boulder will be huge. Denver suburbs will be a toss up. McCain will win huge in Colorado Springs. Very close, but McCain for now. McCain wins (maybe)

Virginia- McCain. It'll be close, but Democrats haven't gotten the presidential nod in Virginia since '64. They may choose Democrats lower on the ballot, but I don't think it'll flip. The huge black population will be offset by the huge retired military. McCain by 2 points here. McCain wins

North Carolina- Although Bush blew Kerry out after Dems thought they had a chance in 2004, will it be any different? I think so, but McCain still wins here by 5 points. However, McCain will have to show up here to defend his turf, which won't help. Obama will close in because of the big black turnout and the Raleigh-Durham school turnout. McCain wins

Nevada- McCain by 3-4 points here. The culinary union will be huge for Obama. But McCain is usually up here, according to the polls. Plus, he's in neighboring Arizona, so he's a Westerner. Very close race. McCain wins

Wisconsin- Obama wins here. Amazingly, Bush barely lost in 04. One of the closest 2-3 states last time around. However, just like Iowa, Obama has the tide rolling for him. He has a HUGE university base in Madison, plus pasty white liberals. Fairly close, but Obama gets the nod. Obama wins

New Mexico- I think Obama will barely win this state, just as McCain barely wins Nevada. Just like Nevada, there's more registered Dems than Republicans, but these Dems will stay home. They are more Indian and Mexican Democrats, who rely heavily on the government to help them. Plus, Bill Richardson, its Governor, will help Obama out here. Will be 3-4 point win. Obama wins

Washington and Oregon- Forget about it, Obama will blow McCain away in both of these states.

Entire South McCain will win, despite Obama getting big black turnouts in places like Mississippi and Louisiana.

In summation, this race will again come down to just a few states. As seen above, McCain will have to defend more red states than Obama will. However, Obama will have to take some red states. McCain just simply has to defend.

Like in 04, when it came down to close states as Ohio, New Mexico, and Iowa (Bush wins), and Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Minnesota (Kerry wins), it'll be decided by a select few. I'd guess that the BIGGEST states to watch come November 4th are Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, which were red states; and New Hampshire, Michigan, and Pennyslyvania, which were blue states.

If, for instance, Obama plucks Ohio or Florida, the only way McCain wins is if he can take a electoral rich state as Michigan or Pennsylvania. My guess is if Obama takes either Florida or Ohio, he wins. If he doesn't, but takes Virginia AND Colorado, he wins. On the other hand, if McCain can hold Ohio and Florida, if he takes Michigan or Pennsylvania, he wins no matter how many little states Obama takes.

As a Republican in 2004, I liked the map better for Kerry. However, Bush held everything he was supposed to. So it's literally impossible to know what'll happen in 8 weeks. My guess is McCain will win this election, but barely. However, Obama can still win going away and I wouldn't be surprised.

To be continued.....