Wowww! SuicideGirls wants to ...

Wowww! SuicideGirls wants to be my friend on Pownce. I wonder what files, pics and videos they'll share with me! The mind boggles!!

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Orignal From: Wowww! SuicideGirls wants to ...

Obama Solves Economic Crisis by Snapping Fingers!

Did that headline get your attention? Good :)

I just snagged this transcript of Obama's remarks to "a crowd in Green Bay, Wisconsin" today from BreakingToday.com, the site behind http://twitter.com/BreakingNewsOn

These remarks were "described as a 'major policy speech'" according to BreakingToday.com.

As always, my quips are NOT italicized.

The era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has led us to a perilous moment.

DO YA THINK?

They said they wanted to let the market run free but instead they let it run wild, and in doing so, they tramped our core values of fairness, balance, and responsibility to one another.

"tramped"?

So much for Obama being "well spoken" ;)

As a result, we are facing a financial crisis as profound as any we have faced since the Great Depression. As a result, your jobs, your savings, and your economic security are now at risk.

I had savings?

WAIT! I had economic security?? I HAD A JOB???

Holy CRAP! Why didn't anyone tell me??

This week, we must work quickly, in a bipartisan fashion, to resolve this crisis and avert an even broader economic catastrophe.

"Which is why I'm here in Wisconsin campaigning, rather than in Washington helping my colleagues sort this shit out."

And as we do act, Washington must recognize that true economic recovery requires addressing not just the crisis on Wall Street, but the crisis on Main Street that so many of you have been feeling in your own lives long before the news of last week.

Don't forget the actual crisis of unchecked outsourcing and never-ending inflation. Both of those factors just may have had something to do with our current crisis.

We need a plan that helps families stay in their homes, and workers keep their jobs;

"...and totally ignores the people who don't have jobs. Fuck those guys. They need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps!"

a plan that gives hardworking Americans relief instead of using taxpayer dollars to reward CEOs on Wall Street. And we cannot give a blank check to Washington with no oversight and accountability when no oversight and accountability is what got us into this mess in the first place.

That's not what McCain said! :P

But no matter what solution we finally decide on this week, it is absolutely imperative that we get to work immediately on reforming the broken politics and the broken government that allowed this to crisis to happen in the first place.

That's just what McCain wants, too! ^_^

We did not arrive at this moment by some accident of history.

Well, it's an accident if you don't learn from history, sooo...

We are in this mess because of a bankrupt philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to the rest of us.

So, I should put down this bucket I've been holding since the Reagan era?

We're here because for too long, the doors of Washington have been thrown open to an army of lobbyists and special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play – who have shredded consumer protections, fought against common-sense regulations and rules of the road, and distorted our economy so that it works for them instead of you.

You say that like it's a bad thing! After all, "aren't we allowed to make a living?"

;)

We are here because an ethic of irresponsibility has swept through our government, leaving politicians with the belief that they can waste billions and billions of your money on no-bid contracts for friends and contributors, slip pork projects into bills during the dead of night, and spend billions on corporate tax breaks we can't afford and old programs that we don't need.

"Ethic of irresponsibility"? Like that whole thing where Congress voted to give away their power to declare war? (Yes, I know you were against that, but surely there were Dems who could have raised a big stink and tried influencing their pals to vote differently.)

Perhaps you're referring to the fact that Congresspeople of both parties failed to do anything about Bush violating international law or when you guys did nothing when Bush broke federal law and seemed to be generally OK with Bush spying on American citizens.

You mean that ethic of irresponsibility?

And today, even as Congress debates an emergency plan to save our economy from the verge of collapse, there are reports that lobbyists and CEOs are already lining up to figure out what's in it for them; to find out how they can get theirs.

Oh, so now they can't make a living?

;)

Green Bay, enough is enough.

Why are you blaming Green Bay?? What have they ever done to you, Barack?

I began this race for the presidency as the one candidate who hasn't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington.

Cue Republicans cries of "no on the job training for presidents!"

But I've been there long enough to know this – if we want a government that puts the needs of middle-class families before the whims of lobbyists and politicians;

What's with all of this emphasis on the middle class? I thought government was supposed to represent ALL Americans. Besides, the middle class is shrinking by the day. Who the heck do you think you're courting here, Barack? The middle class in 2008 is like five people.

if we want to grow this economy and prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again, then the ways of Washington must change.

DO YA THINK?

Dude, this guy is SHARP!

We must reform our lobbyist-driven politics.

Actually, I'm thinking we just need to enforce bribery laws!

We must reform the waste and abuse in our government. We must reform the rules of the road that let Wall Street run wild and stuck Main Street with the bill. We must change Washington now.

Change Washington AND Wall Street?

Good luck with that!

This has been our message from the day we began this campaign. Our opponent, on the other hand, has spent much of the last nineteen months arguing that what qualifies him to be President are the decades he's spent in Washington.

Actually, I don't think McCain's been doing that. I think he's using his time as a POW as his qualification for being president. He doesn't seem to mention his own past in Washington that much.

COUGHkeatingfiveCOUGH

But with forty-two days left, he's had a sudden change of heart. An election-time conversion. After twenty-six years in Washington – years where he voted for the same trickle-down, on-your-own policies that got us into this mess – he now claims that he's the one who can clean it up.

COUGHkeatingfiveCOUGH

Well let's be clear. When it comes to regulatory reform, Senator McCain has fought time and time again against the common-sense rules of the road that could've prevented this crisis. His economic plan was written by Phil Gramm, the architect in the US Senate of the de-regulatory steps that helped cause this mess.

Yeesh--it's like McCain is a Republican or something!

Even knowing what we know now, Senator McCain said in an interview just last night that de-regulation actually helped grow our economy.

In some ways, I'm sure it has. In other ways... not so much!

Well that might be true for the profits of a few CEOs, but it's certainly not true for America's prosperity.

America's... ? Just who do you think this country is for, Barack?

It's for the corporations to live and do business freely. We "individuals" are just fodder for the machines--sprockets and gears to keep the system functioning.

Didn't you ever see Metropolis? Republicans see this movie and think the bad guys have the right idea.

When it comes to taking on the special interests, my opponent sounds like Fighting Bob Lafollette. But he acts like a guy who's spent three decades of his life in Washington. He's put seven of the biggest corporate lobbyists in charge of his campaign – lobbyists for the insurance industry and the oil industry; for foreign governments and Freddie and Fannie Mac, who paid his campaign manager nearly $2 million to defend them against stricter regulations. I guess they got their money's worth.

Tee-hee... I still think you're forgetting something, Barry:

COUGHkeatingfiveCOUGH

And rest assured, those lobbyists who are working day and night to elect my opponent aren't doing it to put themselves out of business.

Damn straight.

When it comes to reforming government waste and spending, Senator McCain talks a lot about earmarks. And while he deserves credit for not requesting many of those earmarks during his time in Congress, what he never mentions is that he voted for 144 billion dollars worth in just six years; or that he voted for four out of the five Bush budgets that have been filled with special interests giveaways and left us with the largest deficit in history.

And don't forget all the stuff Gibson called Palin on in that ABC interview from a couple weeks back!

The truth is, our earmark system in Washington is fraught with abuse. It badly needs reform – which is why I didn't request a single earmark last year, why I've released all my previous requests for the public to see, and why I've pledged to slash earmarks by more than half when I am President.

Slash and burn earmarkonomics!

But let's not pretend, as John McCain does, that proposing the elimination of 18 billion dollars of earmarks will make up for the more than 300 billion additional dollars he wants to spend on tax breaks for big corporations and multi-millionaires that don't need them and weren't asking for them – more than 300 billion dollars at a time when taxpayers are being asked to help finance two wars and a historic financial bailout.

Um, excuse me, Barack, I believe it's "an historic financial bailout."

That's some pretty creative math, but it doesn't add up to is change. And change in Washington is what we need right now.

REALLY? I hadn't noticed!

It's hard to avoid engaging the sarcasm circuit when he says stuff like that.

This change will not be easy. It will require reforming our politics by taking power away from the lobbyists who kill good ideas and good plans with secret meetings and campaign checks. It will require reforming our government by taking on the spending habits of both parties and going after the tax havens and loopholes that big corporations use to avoid paying their fare share while you pay more. And it will require reforming our out-dated, unfair regulatory system that favors Wall Street over Main Street but has ended up hurting both.

Oh, please, Secret Service detail KEEP THIS MAN ALIVE!!

No sarcasm here--this guy is going to piss people off if he actually gets into office and tries to do this stuff.

But I am ready to reform our politics because I've done it before. I've spent my career taking on lobbyists and their money, and I've won. When I was a state Senator in Illinois, if you wanted a favor, there was actually a law that let you give campaign cash to politicians for their own personal use. In the State House, they called it business-as-usual. I called it legalized bribery, and while it didn't make me the most popular guy in Springfield, I put an end to it. I brought Democrats and Republicans together, and we passed the first ethics reform in twenty-five years.

So, "putting an end to it" means actually striking down the law, right? Because the way you phrase it, I can't really research that law. Your words are a bit too vague.

When I got to Washington, Jack Abramoff and his lobbyist pals had engaged in some of the worst corruption since Watergate. I led the fight for reform in my party, and let me tell you – not everyone in my party was too happy about it. When I proposed forcing lobbyists to disclose who they're raising money from and who in Congress they're funneling it to, I had a few choice words directed my way on the floor of the Senate.

Oooo! Who from?? Dish, Barack, DISH!

But we got it done, and we banned gifts from lobbyists, and discounted rides on their corporate jets. And I'm the only candidate in this race who can say that Washington lobbyists do not fund my campaign, you do – with donations of $100, and $10, and $5.

Really? I think it's the Republicans who have said you do take money from special interests.

Then again, to Republicans, human beings are special interests.

I also joined with one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress to end the abuse that allowed no-bid contracts to waste taxpayer dollars instead of using them to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Katrina. And we worked together to put the federal government's checkbook online – so you can see how and where Washington is spending trillions of dollars of your money.

Heeey! Palin claims to have done the same thing for Alaska and says she will do the same thing for America.

Check out Obama's checkbook for the USG here: USASpending.gov

For years, I have also pushed for reform of the same loose regulations and lax oversight that could've prevented the crisis we're in.

Hindsight is 20/20, pal!! (Even though we all saw this kind of abuse coming.)

It was two years ago that I introduced legislation to stop mortgage transactions that promoted fraud, risk or abuse.

Shouldn't that have been illegal already??

It was one year ago that I called on our Treasury Secretary and our Fed Chairman to bring every stakeholder together and find a solution to the subprime mortgage meltdown before it got worse.

That's OK, our system is thoroughly screwed anyway. If it wasn't the subprime crisis, it would have been something else.

In March, when John McCain was saying "I'm always for less regulation," I called for a new, 21st century regulatory framework to restore accountability, transparency, and trust in our financial markets.

And how'd that work out for you?

These are the types of reform I will pursue beginning on my very first day in office as President of the United States – political reform, government reform, and regulatory reform.

Well, you've been a senator--what have you been doing?

OH YEAH, running for president. :\

First, I'll reform our special interest-driven politics. When I am President, I will start by closing the revolving door in the White House that has allowed people to use their Administration job as a stepping stone to further their lobbying careers.

I think you should replace that revolving door with an ejector seat.

Not sure what that means--I just think anything is cooler with an ejector seat.

I'll make it absolutely clear that working in an Obama Administration is not about serving your former employer, your future employer, or your bank account

Well, what's the point of working in politics then?? SHEESH!

OBAMA THE BUZZ KILLER!

– it's about serving your country.

You mean like when you put your "Country First"?

I think that slogan has been taken.

When you walk into my administration, you will not be able to work on regulations or contracts directly related to your former employer for two years. And when you leave, you will not be able to lobby my Administration – ever.

Not even a little?

I will also institute an absolute gift ban so that no registered lobbyist can curry favor with members of my administration based on how much they can spend on a fancy dinner.

So, no Indian restaurant trips with lobbyists. Got it.

Oh wait--that would be favoring with curry. Sorry.

I'll make our government open and transparent so that anyone can ensure that our business is the people's business. As Justice Louis Brandeis once said, sunlight is the greatest disinfectant. As President, I will make it impossible for Congressmen or lobbyists to slip pork-barrel projects or corporate welfare into laws when no one is looking because when I am president, meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public. No more secrecy.

So, you'll dissolve the NSA and the CIA? Or at least make their budgets public so we can know what the hell they're doing with our tax dollars? :D

Didn't think so. :(

When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as President, you will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it.

Dude, that rocks, actually.

Though if he really wanted to impress, he'd promise us to NEVER USE SIGNING STATEMENTS.

When there are meetings between lobbyists and a government agency, we will put as many as possible online for every American to watch. When there is a tax bill being debated in Congress, you will know the names of the corporations that would benefit and how much money they would get. And we will put every corporate tax break and every pork-barrel project online for every American to see.

Well, "every American" with access to the Internet.

You will know who asked for them and you can cast your vote accordingly.

IMAGINE!!

The second set of reforms I'll make will eliminate the waste, fraud, and abuse in our government.

This ought to be good!

We are facing the largest deficit in history. We are facing the largest government bailout in history. And we are also facing some of the greatest challenges in our history. All of this will cost money – to fix our health care system, and our schools, and build a new energy economy. And the only way we can do all this without leaving our children with an even larger debt is if Washington starts taking responsibility for every dime that it spends.

What about taking responsibility for failed businesses. Shouldn't the USG stop doing that, too?

We can start by ending a war in Iraq that is costing us $10 billion a month when the Iraqi government is sitting on a $79 billion surplus.

But don't you want a slow, gradual pull out, Barack? Isn't it true that, in reality, American troops will NEVER be able to leave Iraq? I mean, what are those permanent bases there for?

We should also stop sending fifteen billion dollars a year in overpayments to insurance companies for Medicare and go after tens of billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid fraud. We need to stop sending three billion a year to banks that provide student loans the government could provide for less, and hundreds of millions a year in subsidies to agribusiness that can survive just fine without your tax dollars and use some of the money to help family farmers who are struggling. I will put an end to this waste when I am President.

There are family farmers left? I thought they'd all been bought out by corporate farmers.

I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program just because it's there. There are some that don't work like we had hoped – like the Bush Administration's billion-dollar-a-year reading program that hasn't improved our children's reading.

It hasn't improved our presidential candidate's grammar skills it would seem. I believe the proper grammar would be "hasn't improved the reading skills of our children."

And there are some that have been duplicated by other programs that we just need to cut back – like waste at the Economic Development Agency and the Export-Import Bank that has become little more than a fund for corporate welfare.

Corporate socialism is OK, Barack, haven't you been paying attention?

I understand there are parts of these programs worth defending and politicians of both parties who will do so. But if we hope to meet the challenges of our time, we must make difficult choices.

KILL YOUR BABIES!

Well, not literally.

As President, I will go through the entire federal budget, page by page, line by line, and I will eliminate the programs that don't work and aren't needed.

"... and I'd also make sure that the government would guarantee FREE CHOCODILES FOR ALL!"

That'd get my vote.

As for the programs we do need, I will make them work better and cost less. I will create a High-Performance Team that evaluates every agency and every office based on how well they're serving the American taxpayer. We will fire government managers who aren't getting results, we will cut funding for programs that are wasting your money, and we will use technology and lessons from the private sector to improve efficiency across every level of government – because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

Sounds like rhetoric!! What are the odds he comes through with this stuff after he's in office? Seems like he thinks no one's paying attention at this point.

I mean, are you even reading my quips??

I will also save billions of dollars by cutting private contractors and improving management of the hundreds of billions of dollars our government spends on private contracts, and I will end the abuse of no-bid contracts for good. One employee of a former Halliburton subsidiary actually admitted that he was ordered to put his company's logo on towels provided to U.S. troops because our government – our tax dollars – would pay for it no matter how much it cost. That is wasteful, that is wrong, and that will end when I am President.

That kind of thing has been going on for decades, though. What makes you think you can make this kind of thing change?

And for all his talk about earmark abuse, what Senator McCain doesn't mention these days is

COUGHkeatingfiveCOUGH

the corporate abuse of our tax system

Oh.

– abuse that has cost far more than earmarks ever have. In 2003, loopholes and tax breaks allowed 28 major corporations to actually have negative tax liabilities. We lose $100 billion every year because corporations get to set up mailboxes offshore so they can avoid paying a dime of taxes in America. Imagine if you got to do that?

That would be COOL!

There is a building right now in the Cayman Islands that is the address for 18,000 corporations. Well that is either the biggest building in the world or the biggest sham in the world, and I think we know which one it is. I will shut down those offshore tax havens and all those corporate loopholes as President, because you shouldn't have to pay higher taxes because some big corporation cut corners to avoid paying theirs. All of us have a responsibility to pay our fair share. That's putting country first.

Yeah, good luck with that, Barack. Seriously. I'll believe that when I see it.

Finally, the third set of reforms I will pursue are the updated, common-sense regulations of the financial market that I've been calling for since March; rules of the road that will make Wall Street fair, open, and honest; that will ensure a crisis like this can never happen again.

Yeah, good luck with this, too, man. A crisis like this will always happen again until the system is changed at its core. Outsourcing must be made ILLEGAL and we need to tie our economy to precious metals so it won't just keep inflating forever.

I've outlined six principles that such reforms should follow.

OH GOODY! I LIKE LISTS!

First, if you're a financial institution that can borrow from the government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision.

Why would anyone borrow money from the government? All the cool, big banks borrow from the Federal Reserve.

Taxpayers who have now been called upon to spend nearly a trillion dollars to save our economy from the excesses of Wall Street have every right to expect that financial institutions are not taking excessive risks.

I'd rather we have every right to assume our tax dollars won't be used to bail out huge corporations just because the government feels like it.

Second, we need to reform requirements on all regulated financial institutions, investigate rating agencies and potential conflicts of interest with the people they are rating, and establish transparency requirements that demand full disclosure by financial institutions to shareholders.

What are "rating agencies"?

Seriously--never heard of them. Are they like "switch grass"?

Third, we need to streamline our overlapping and competing regulatory agencies that cannot oversee the large and complex institutions that dominate the financial landscape.

Has this been a problem? Here I thought government was just in the back pocket of big business.

Fourth, we need to regulate institutions for what they do, not what they are. Over the last few years, commercial banks and thrift institutions were subject to guidelines on subprime mortgages that did not apply to mortgage brokers and companies. This regulatory framework failed to protect homeowners, and made no sense for our financial system.

Dude, our financial system makes no sense.

Fifth, we need to crack down on trading activity that crosses the line to market manipulation. We need regulators that actually enforce the rules instead of overlooking them. The SEC should investigate and punish all market manipulation.

In other words, Obama will make sure the law is enforced.

Our standards are so low right now!!

Sixth, we must establish a process that identifies systemic risks to the financial system like the crisis that has overtaken our economy.

HAHA! Yeah, right.

Here's one: Our economic system is based on us all agreeing that money is worth something.
There's nothing real to back it up but the American people being willing to work jobs.

We need a standing financial market advisory group to meet regularly and provide advice to the President, Congress, and regulators on the state of our financial markets and the risks they face. It's time to anticipate risks before they erupt into a full-blown crisis.

Why not just hire elves to go in and take care of it?

Seriously, these are nice "ideas" but do you have any detailed solutions that can actually show us how you'll return value to the dollar? Or jobs to America?

Sure, you've said you'll give tax incentives to companies that keep jobs here, but will those incentives be more than the money the companies save by hiring cheap labor?

These are the kinds of answers I'm looking for and I think they're the kinds of answers America needs.

These are the principles that should guide the reforms we need to establish a 21st century regulatory system – a system that recognizes our free market economy has only worked because we have guided the market's invisible hand with a higher principle – that America prospers when all Americans can prosper.

The invisible hand is guided by...the hand of a higher principle? Please don't say God.

To restore this prosperity, we must change Washington. We must reform our regulations, our politics, and our government, but we will not be able to make these changes with the same policies, the same lobbyists, or the same Washington culture that allows politicians and special interests to set their own agenda.

Sounds great, but how will this work in a city that has worked precisely this way for centuries?

That's exactly what we will get from John McCain. After twenty-six years of being part of this Washington culture, all that he has changed is his slogan for the fall campaign. And the people in charge of that campaign prove that if we elect John McCain, it's not a team of mavericks we'll be sending to the White House – it's a team of lobbyists

SNAP!

We can't afford four more years of that kind of politics. We need real change.

Dude, just start saying this: "232 YEARS OF WHITE MEN AS PRESIDENT. 'NUF SAID."

It won't be easy. The kind of change we're looking for never is. What we are up against is a very powerful, entrenched status quo in Washington who will say anything and do anything and fight with everything they've got to keep things just the way are.

Please let this guy be as good as his word!!

But I feel good about our chances, because I've got something more powerful than they do: I've got you. In this campaign, you have already shown what history teaches us – that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.

LET'S HOPE SO!!

Change has always come from places like Wisconsin – the state where the progressive movement was born; where laws were passed to regulate the railroads and insurance companies; laws that protected consumers and the safety of factory workers.

Whoa!! Finally tying it back to Green Bay!! Good save, man! (or NOT.)

It was a movement rooted in a principle that was known as the Wisconsin Idea – the idea that government works best in the hands of the people, not the special interests; that your voices should speak louder than the whispers of lobbyists.

Well, you forgot politicians in that equation, man! Government isn't ever in the hands of the people--it's in the hands of the politicians! It's THEIR fault special interests/lobbyists rule!

You forget that YOU and your pals are part of the problem.

That's the Wisconsin idea. That's the America idea. And that's the kind of government we need right now.

SIGH.

Rhetoric rules.

So if you want the next four years in Washington to look just like the last eight, then I am not your candidate. But if you want real change – if you want to shine a bright light into the backrooms of Washington; if you want to replace the special interests with your interests,

Most people when pressed just might wonder what the difference is between their own interests and "the special interests."

if you want a government that costs less and works better for everyday Americans,

Aren't we ALL "everyday Americans"?

Are rich people "weekend Americans" or are poor people "Twice Weekly Americans"?

then I ask you to knock on some doors, and make some calls, and talk to your neighbors, and give me your vote on November 4th. And if you do, I promise you – we will change America together. Thank you.

YOU'RE WELCOME!

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Orignal From: Obama Solves Economic Crisis by Snapping Fingers!

The Great "Evil" (Socialism) Hits Wall Street

It's the end of an era on Wall Street, according to that screencap from CNN.com, it's the end of the era of the Wall Street investment banks. According to the article that the headline links to (here: http://money.cnn.com/…/index.htm ) the government is taking over the last investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. This is a move that: "allows Goldman and Morgan to scoop up retail banks and to streamline their borrowing from the Federal Reserve. The shift also is aimed at removing them as targets of nervous investors and customers, who brought down their former rivals Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch this year."



So, basically, this was done to strengthen these huge banks and to stop them from crumbling under the pressure of the other banks crumbling. If these banks did crumble we'd have a bigger economic meltdown.



At least, that's how I understand it.



HOWEVER, the cry of "socialism!" is a common thing in our country. Obama's been called a socialist, anyone who wants to see free health care for everyone has been called a socialist and now I'm calling the USG socialist since so many seem to think the government doling out money is socialism.



This puts the USG in the same category as the Soviet Union and the Nazis (apparently). They were all considered socialists--and thanks to that, we know that socialism IS EVIL.



OK, the real irony here is that socialism is NOT evil. It's the people who practice it that can either be corrupt or not. When you ignore hundreds of thousands of homeless and jobless people in our cities, that's OK. But when you ignore the plight of our crumbling banking system that's just wrong.



Amtrak? The airlines? Banks? They're all corporations and all have been bailed out by the government--by our tax dollars.



The people who cry out against socialism think it's fine when corporations need help, but not individuals.



When individuals need financial help it's because they didn't work hard enough or they're lazy or druggies or hippies.



When Wall Street needs help, no one really talks about why they need help, they just get that help.



Sure, the news and pundits explain that "these banks are too big, they can't be allowed to fail" but what does that really mean?



It means that the individual is not important. Only the system matters.



That doesn't just sound like socialism, that sounds like <em>communism</em>.



What it all sounds like to me is hypocrisy.

Mobile post sent by thepete using Utterli.  Replies.

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Orignal From: The Great "Evil" (Socialism) Hits Wall Street

@petersantilli In theory, when...

@petersantilli In theory, when anyone threatens to overthrow our government they get investigated by the Secret Service or DHS.

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Orignal From: @petersantilli In theory, when...

ThePete VS. PALIN VS. GIBSON: FIGHT! (Round 7) FINAL!

We now join ABC News' Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin, accompanied by round 7 of my commentary (check out round 1, round 2, round 3, round 4, round 5 and round 6!), already in progress:

Sarah Palin on Economic Policy:

WOW! FINALLY TO THE ECONOMY! WAY TO GO CHARLIE GIBSON!

PUH-LEASE! What journalism school did you go to, Charlie?

Cracker Jack University?

Is your degree very small and does it transfer to your skin when you apply water to the back of it? :P

The economy is only the most important issue we face right now!

GIBSON: Governor, John McCain and you are now talking about the GOP as a party of change. We've got a very sick economy. Tell me the three principal things you would do to change the Bush economic policies.

PALIN: And you're right, our economy is weak right now and we've got to strengthen it, and government can play an appropriate role in helping to strengthen the economy.

Wow, these two are the brightest bulbs on TV!

The economy IS weak right now! And the government CAN play a role in helping to strengthen it! WOW!!

I may vote Palin, after all!

***

PALIN: Our 6.1 percent unemployment rate is unacceptable, also, across our nation.

Can't they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps? I don't get it!

We need to put government back on the side of the people and make sure that it is not government solely looked at for all the solutions, for one.

Where else do solutions come from? Should we expect the Coca-Cola Company to rebuild our homes after a hurricane destroys them?

Or are we supposed to be SO self-reliant that we work extra hours at our jobs to pay for enough insurance to pay for our homes if/when they get destroyed in a natural disaster or fire or something?

Government has got to get out of the way, in some respects, of the private sector, being able to create the jobs that we need, jobs that are going to allow for the families to be able to afford health care, to be able to afford their mortgages, to be able to afford college tuition for their kids.

Yeah, because it's government getting in the way that allowed Enron to fail. And Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Bear Sterns and so on and so on and so on all failed because of...

Come on you idiot! It's a LACK of regulation that allowed banks to make bad loans and companies to make bad choices.

Once again, I think John Edwards was right--there are two Americas. Bizarro America and... and... well, that's the only America I see--where Republicans say less regulation is needed to stop companies from breaking the law and screwing people out of billions.

That's got to be the principal here, reform government, recognize that it's not government to be looked at to solve all the problems.

Again, Bizarro-logic.

Taxes, of course, I think is one of the most important things that government can obviously control and to help with this issue.

Taxes? What do taxes have to do with the fact the dollar is worth crap and that another bank just went belly-up?

GIBSON: What you said to me at the beginning I don't think anybody in the Bush administration would disagree with. What do you change in the Bush economic plans?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that we reform the oversight, also, of the agencies, including the quasi-government agencies, like Freddie and Fannie, those things that have created an atmosphere here in America where people are fearful of losing their homes.

Yeah, it's much better to not let them have homes in the first place.

How about we work out why the dollar is worth a pittance and then fix that problem so we can all afford to buy houses and not even have to take loans out to buy 'em?

People are looking at job loss. People are looking at unaffordable health care for their families. We have got to reform the oversight of these agencies that have such control over Americans' pocketbooks.

Job loss has an agency?

Health care has an agency?

If so, what the hell do these agencies have to do with our pocketbooks?

How does a government agency control whether corporations create jobs or not? How does a government agency determine whether health insurance companies cover certain procedures and medicines or not?

YOU'RE TALKING NONSENSE AGAIN.

GIBSON: So let me summarize the three things that you'd change in the Bush economic plans. One, two, three.

PALIN: Reduce taxes, control spending, reform the oversight and the overseeing agencies and committees to make sure that America's dollars and investments are protected.

Wow, sounds like the number one target for said reforms would be unnecessary military incursions and occupations in and of foreign countries. Hell, we spend more on "defense" than anything else. Curb your spending? Start with the military.

I'm all for defending our borders, but that's not what we're doing in the middle east.

As for the other two, seems like the agencies and committees are only an imagined problem (since there IS no oversight of ANYthing it would seem) and cutting back on defense spending just might invigorate the economy in that we're not borrowing BILLIONS every month anymore to keep the wars going.

GIBSON: So let me break some of those down. You talk about spending. How much smaller would a McCain budget be? Where would you cut?

PALIN: We're going to find efficiencies in every department.

Doesn't she mean "inefficiencies"?

We have got to. There are some things that I think should be off the table. Veterans' programs, off the table.

Yeah, we already spend too little on veterans, we shouldn't cut their funding any more.

You know, we owe it to our veterans and that's the greatest manifestation that we can show in terms of support for our military, those who are in public service fighting for America. ...It's to make sure that our veterans are taken care of and the promises that we've made to them are fulfilled.

So, no cutting VA bennies. How sweet.

GIBSON: So you'd take military off the table, the veterans' benefits. That's 20 percent of the budget. & Do you talk about entitlement reform? Is there money you can save in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?

Wait! Charlie, why did you take "military" off the table?? WTF! Dude, that's what we spend too much on!!

PALIN: I am sure that there are efficiencies that are going to be found in all of these agencies. I'm confident in that.

I don't know what she means--he keeps asking about what to cut and she's talking about "efficiencies". You cut "inefficiencies" not "efficiencies." I thought efficiencies were good.

GIBSON: The agencies are not involved in entitlements. Basically, discretionary spending is 18 percent of the budget.

PALIN: We have certainly seen excess in agencies, though, and in -- when bureaucrats, when bureaucracy just gets kind of comfortable, going with the status-quo and not being challenged to find efficiencies and spend other people's money wisely ... then that's where we get into the situation that we are into today, and that is a tremendous growth of government, a huge debt, trillions of dollars of debt that we're passing on to my kids and your kids and your grandkids ... It's unacceptable.

I'm down with that! The thing is, no politician is willing to say the military is what we overspend the most on.

And I'm definitely thinking I'm missing something on using the word "efficiencies" the way she is. Either that or she's a moron.

Could go either way.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

There you have it! WHEW! It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? Just wait until the debates. Actually, I think I'll quip to them live. This took a long-ass time to finish...

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Orignal From: ThePete VS. PALIN VS. GIBSON: FIGHT! (Round 7) FINAL!

Quipping to TheMcCain Unit's Latest Statement About Obama

So, today McCain said some things that cracked me up. I mean "cracked me up" in the way that it makes me laugh at how completely out of touch with reality McCain really is.

OK, check it out and remember that his comments are in italics:

Thank you, Major General Marty Umbarger, for that kind introduction. Colonel Al Faber, Major General Poythress, Brigadier Generals Arflack, Taylor, and Ross -- I thank you gentlemen as well. And let me add a warm hello to my good friend Major General Stan Spears of South Carolina, and to Brigadier General Steve Koper, and Lieutenant General John Conaway. It's an honor to join with all of you again for this 130th General Conference. And I bring greetings from the Governor of the Great State of Alaska, Sarah Palin.

No blatant lies so far...

Every day in this country and across the world, the men and women of the National Guard are giving brave and faithful service. Everyone who wears the uniform of the United States has accepted the calling of service to a cause greater than self.

"Because country IS greater than self. It's called communism and I think you'll like it!"

This hard calling is what defines the citizen soldiers of the National Guard, and America is in your debt.

"Which we plan to pay off by sending you on more unjustified wars based on lies."

"Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran."

Sorry, that was from a different McCain event. :)

As we meet, Guard members are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, while still others have just returned from a training mission in the nation of Georgia. Other guardsmen are still working to bring order and safety to the victims of Hurricane Ike along the Texas coast, just as they did after Katrina.

It's pretty cool when we don't abuse our men and women in uniform, isn't it?

Our nation faces many challenges. We have all watched the crisis on Wall Street this past week, and I would like to address that for just a moment.

Because it has SO much to do with the National Guard! :P

Last Friday, I proposed a plan for comprehensive reform of the broken institutions that allowed this crisis to become a grave threat to our economy.

Was this the part about even less regulation for banks? I'm pretty sure it was the lack of regulation that got us into this mess.

At the center of the plan is the principle that we must keep people in their homes and safe guard the life savings of all Americans by protecting our financial system and capital markets.

"Life savings"?

Who's got life savings?? How many Americans even have savings accounts?? I don't.

Could this guy be more out of touch?

Remember: Congress Must Demand...

Remember: Congress Must Demand Bush and Cheney Resign: http://is.gd/2Uql for an explanation or go here: http://ping.fm/8hlsy to speak out!

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Orignal From: Remember: Congress Must Demand...

ThePete VS. PALIN VS. GIBSON: FIGHT! (Round 6)

We now join ABC News' Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin, accompanied by round 6 of my commentary (check out round 1, round 2, round 3, round 4 and round 5!), already in progress:

Sarah Palin on Banning Books:

This should be a no-brainer!

GIBSON: There's a lot on the Internet about a conversation you did or did not have with a librarian about banning books. Want to clear up what's on the Internet?

PALIN: I never banned a book, never desired to ban a book. When I became mayor in our town, it was the issue of: what if a parent came into our local public library and asked for a book to be taken off the shelf, wha's the policy? ...It kind of cracked me up seeing the list of books that I supposedly banned&one of them was 'Harry Potter!' It wasn't even written or published then.

So, she doesn't deny considering banning books if a parent asked her to. That's still kind of worrisome seeing as it's a free speech issue.

Sarah Palin on 'Troopergate':

GIBSON: The other issue is Troopergate, which is very much in the news today, the Associated Press is saying how there's going to be 13 subpoenas that come out, one of them to your husband, Todd. First of all, do you welcome the investigation&

PALIN: Absolutely, there's nothing to hide in this. The personnel board is the appropriate agency or overseeing board to inquire as to whether anybody did anything wrong or not, but here's the issue with Troopergate and I'm glad that you're asking.

I think the word is "oversight" not "overseeing." I could be wrong...

The trooper in question here did conduct dangerous and illegal activities and our personal security detail when I was first elected had asked us very appropriately, are there any threats against you and your family.

That's not what the guy you fired said!

And I said, well, you know, ironically, yeah, it's a state trooper who's threatened to kill my dad and bring down me and once I got elected, his threats were he was going to bring down the governor and the governor's family, so it was very appropriate that we brought the concerns to personal security detail -- they asked us to bring it to the commissioner, which I did.

GIBSON: And he was your brother-in-law at one point.

PALIN: Yeah, back in '05 -- yeah.

Here are those short 'n' vague answers again! Care to elaborate and maybe dispel the rumors about you firing someone because they wouldn't fire your ex-BIL?

GIBSON: The -- you mentioned the personnel board, it's a bipartisan legislative group, that's working at it now, which you said was fine, until you got named as the vice presidential nominee, and then you said the personnel board ought to handle it.

PALIN: We've said all along that & the personnel board is the appropriate agency or board to inquire -- our state statute says if there is a question about actions of the governor, lt. governor, or attorney general, you go to the personnel board. So we've said all along that that's appropriate &

GIBSON: Even though they're all appointed by you.

D'OH!

PALIN: No, they're not.

Oh.

In fact, they were all appointed by the prior administration, I had one reappointment on that board, they weren't all appointed by me. But, the issue that people are asking about -- first, they got it wrong when they say did I fire a trooper, because there was an issue back in '05 about him, as he was divorcing my sister. No, nobody fired the trooper, he's still a trooper to this day, he's out there. He had tasered his stepson

TIME OUT!

I had to look this claim up. So, it turns out Wooten did taser his step son, but according to what Wooten told CNN Wooten didn't taser the kid like he was an RNC protester, but in fact just put him through a portion of the training cops go through by shocking his step-son.

HE ADMITS THIS WAS NOT A GOOD THING TO DO AND I AM NOT DEFENDING HIM.

However, Palin saying that Wooten "tasered his own step-son" seems to be intentionally misleading, aka the dictionary's idea of a lie.

he had made those death threats, you know, there were a lot of concerns from not just my family, but from the public about this trooper's activities, and he's apologized for those since, I saw on the air the other day.

Well, so long as you saw it on TV.

But, the issue is the commissioner, who was his boss, was he pressured to fire that trooper, that's the underlying issue here, right, Commissioner Monegan. Commissioner Monegan has said the governor never asked me to fire him, the governor's husband never asked me to fire him, and we never did. I never pressured him to hire or fire anybody.

That's not what Monegan told ABC News. Here's an excerpt from an article at their website:

"I was called to her Anchorage formal Governor's office to talk with Todd Palin about an issue that was a private family matter," recounted Monegan. Todd became "upset," Monegan recalled, when told the allegations had already been investigated and the case would not be re-opened.

"When Sarah later called to tell me the same thing, I thought to myself, 'I may not be long for this job.'" But, Monegan said, he stood by his position. "I held the public trust. As Chief, I was responsible."

Governor Palin initially agreed to "cooperate fully" with the Alaska state legislative investigation but since being chosen as John McCain's running mate both she and her husband have refused to testify voluntarily. Friday the legislature issued a subpoena for Todd Palin.

Monegan said he tried to persuade the first couple to drop the matter. "As a cop for 35 years I'm pretty familiar with issues that come up in divorce cases," and said his argument to both Todd and Sarah was, "if this was so egregious, why didn't you bring it up sooner? Why did you wait until several years later?"

Monegan, who gave sworn testimony behind closed doors for nearly eight hours last week, said he also provided the State's investigator with copies of e-mails he received from the Governor in which she referred in disparaging terms to her former brother-in-law.

"This is not a 'he said she said' situation. Others were contacted by Todd and Sarah as well," according to Monegan, who said he was confident the investigation would find adequate documentation to corroborate his testimony.

So, there you go. Either you believe Monegan or you don't. It sounds like there was pressure put on him. Let's see what else Palin has to say about it:

Why I replaced commissioner Monegan was after two years, of he working in my cabinet, as a political appointment, at will, exempt, recognizing after two years, he wasn't meeting the goals I wanted met in that area of public service, there were a lot of things that we were lacking, and a lot of goals weren't being met&

I wanted to bring somebody in with more vision and more energy to beef up public safety, hire more troopers, we increased the budget, yet still we had dozens and dozens of trooper positions vacant, we weren't reaching the goals on recruitment and retention of troopers, so that was one of the issues. I did recognize though that Commissioner Monegan could provide for the state some good public service in another area, so I did offer him another job, as the person in charge of the alcohol beverage control board, he chose not to transfer into that position, he chose then to leave state service, he didn't want that position, so the two issues have nothing to do with each other, the trooper's still a trooper today, Commissioner Monegan was offered another job, he turned that down, and now we're in the midst of a hiring practice for a new commissioner.

More from that ABC News article quoting Monegan:

"No goals were conveyed to me by the Governor at any time," said Monegan.

"All of the Commissioners who worked for the Governor would say the same. She was preoccupied with her pipeline proposal," Monegan said. "All of us were waiting to hear what goals she would set for our departments."

Monegan said the Governor never sat down to talk with him about public safety priorities. "She met with us perhaps four times," he said, "and half the time the Governor was busy on her Blackberry. In one meeting she took a phone call and left the room, directing us to talk to her aide."

The only goals that were set for his department, said Monegan, "we incorporated through the Department of Public Safety Strategic Plan, which we ran past her, she approved and we posted on our website."

Oops. Sorry, Sarah. Seems other people disagree with you.

It seems you're shaping up to be a first-class typical politician!

GIBSON: You think he should be a trooper? Given what he did?

PALIN: It amazes me still to think we cannot have very, very high standards for our troopers, for anybody in public service,

Be careful what you wish for!

certainly though, those who have a badge and carry a gun. But, I have always put in my commissioners hands their rights, their authority to hire, fire those that they need on their team to provide for better public service, I haven't micromanaged them. So, I didn't tell the guy to hire or fire anybody.

She has "always" done that? For all 2 years she's been a governor? Or for the six years she was mayor of a town so small the entire population could fit inside Invesco Field ten times over? How many commissioners has she had?

GIBSON: Didn't improperly intercede, not worried about the subpoenas, even to Todd.

PALIN: No, because I know that Todd, too, never pressured Commissioner Monegan. He did, very appropriately, though, bring up those concerns about a trooper who was making threats against the first family, and that is appropriate, in fact, you go to the department of law's web site, and it says right there in Q&A form on their Web site, it says, if you have an issue or a concern about an Alaskan state trooper, you bring that concern to the commissioner of the department of public safety. That's what Todd did, he appropriately did.

It's all very appropriate, except when you guys kept bringing it up, apparently.

I mean, come on, are threats from an alcoholic ex-husband really threats? I mean, I suppose, but it seems to me like you did the right thing in calling the police, but then you didn't let it go once the cops said there was nothing more to do. I mean, Monegan says you waited years to pursue this with the police.

But another issue that I think has been lost through mainstream media reporting this, is that the trooper is still a trooper, Commissioner Monegan was replaced because he wasn't reaching the goals that our cabinet members were to reach, find efficiencies, put new vision, new energy into all of our departments. And, it's an issue that should be investigated by the personnel board, and they do -- it's been so politicized at this point, too, I think it's turned into quite the political issue.

Well, you are a politician. Can't be too surprised about that.

Sarah Palin on Economic Policy:

We'll save this for part 7! That'll be posted tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

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Orignal From: ThePete VS. PALIN VS. GIBSON: FIGHT! (Round 6)

Congress Must Demand Bush and Cheney Resign

So, I'm not entirely sure how my personal email address got on the "Democrats.com" email list, but some how it got on it. (My email was on the Republicans email list, too at one point, but I had the good sense to remove it.) Earlier tonight I got an email from them that had an amusing subject--I've made it the title of this post.

My first reaction was: "That's rich! Where were the Democrats five years ago when Bush illegally invaded Iraq?"

I still think it's a valid concern, but I actually read their email and something in it really got me going. Have a look:

Congress Must Demand Bush and Cheney Resign

George Bush wants taxpayers to pay $700 billion to bail out Wall Street for its reckless investments in mortgage-backed securities. That's on top of $800 billion for other recent bailouts, including A.I.G., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Bear Stearns.

The current financial disaster is the direct result of the Bush-Cheney Administration's 8-year policy of deregulation, corruption, and greed.

The Bush-Cheney Administration cannot be trusted to solve the massive problems they created. Before Congress gives the Bush Administration one dime of taxpayer money for financial bailouts, Congress must demand the immediate resignation of George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Henry Paulson and the appointment of Speaker Nancy Pelosi as President until our next President is sworn in on January 20, 2009.

Email your Senators and Representative and spread the word:
http://www.democrats.com/resign

Again, my instinct, initially, was to blow this email off, just like I did Robert Wexler's attempts to impeach Bush while simultaneously asking for campaign donations. However, I'll give you one guess at what it was in this email that made my ears prick up.

No, it wasn't the basic message that Bush and Cheney should be gone from the White House. I've been saying that for years and there are WAY more reasons for them to leave than just Bush and Cheney's move to embrace socialism for corporations. No, what made my right eyebrow rise was that last bit. They want Bush, Cheney and Paulson out and:

...the appointment of Speaker Nancy Pelosi as President until our next President is sworn in on January 20, 2009.

Now, I'm no fan of Pelosi. She lost my faith when she said that impeachment was off of the table a while back. However, getting a Democrat woman into the White House before even the election would be a devastating blow to the McCain campaign. There would be no way in hell he could win after enough of raised our voices to get his man out of the Oval Office.

I get scared looking at the polls and wondering why Obama isn't doing better in them. How can they be polling so close to neck and neck when McCain is campaigning on a platform he ripped off from George Bush?

I don't believe Americans are that stupid. This is why I'm hoping you, my faithful readers will please click on that link above (or this one here: http://www.democrats.com/resign ) and voice your support for a demand of resignations from Bush, Cheney and Paulson.

If enough of us speak up now they won't have a choice but to actually react. We, The People of the United States of America can make our opinion known by telling Congress ourselves that we want this administration GONE from the White House.

Please, please, please, please, do this!

I don't ask for much--I hardly ever ask my readers to sign on any dotted line, but if we can just get together on this one point--that we want the Bush Administration gone IMMEDIATELY--we don't have to worry about McCain winning in November.

Please go here:

http://www.democrats.com/resign

...and fill out the form.

Here are some other places around the 'net you can read about this email:

http://digg.com/political_opinion/Congress_Must_Demand_Bush_and_Cheney_Resign

http://suzieqq.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/congress-must-demand-bush-and-cheney-resign/

http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?threadid=788298

http://mccainsucks.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/congress-must-demand-bush-and-cheney-resign/

http://www.nj.com/forums/politics/index.ssf?artid=1801971

Got a blog? Please blog about this. Got a Twitter account or an account at another micro or miniblogging site (like Jaiku or Tumblr)? Pleeease post about this there.

Feel free to post links to your blog posts in the comments.

By doing this we can avoid giving our flawed election system the chance to screw up another presidential election with a tight race! We need a landslide to have an undeniable winner--unlike in 2004 and in 2000 when Bush won by an iffy hair's width.

By making your voice heard you can beat the electronic systems that are owned by Republicans and don't provide reliable methods for recounts.

I've already filled out that form. I hope you will, too.

Please and thank you! {seesmic_video:{"url_thumbnail":{"value":"http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/J6WP06YwpM_th1.jpg"}"title":{"value":"Congress Must Demand Bush and Cheney Resign "}"videoUri":{"value":"http://www.seesmic.com/video/1A8wekkf25"}}}

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Orignal From: Congress Must Demand Bush and Cheney Resign

Kwippy Thread I Started Ends Up in Presentation!

Hey, this is kind of cool. A few days ago I used Ping.FM to crosspost the following 137 characters: "What do you get when you let outsourcing go unchecked and inflation go on forever? An economy w/no jobs, no products and no buying power."



Using Ping.FM the comment ended up on seven different networks, Facebook, Twitter, Jaiku, MySpace, Pownce, Plurk, Indenti.ca, Rejaw, and Kwippy.



But it was only on Kwippy where anyone responded. Over the following couple days the discussion got going on why and how the US economy is screwed up and we even got to talk about India's economy a bit, too.



Then, Mayank, one of the guys in the conversation who also works for/at Kwippy, used our discussion as an example of how Kwippy is different from Twitter. In the picture above I circled my user icon in blue. :)



My empire grows!!



But seriously, this is the great thing about the Internet these days and the format of microblogging, as well. You can just shoot off some simple little comment and it can spark a whole discussion and introduce you to new people and introduce those new people to new concepts. It's pretty damn cool if you ask me.



Thanks to Mayank for using our discussion! It's always rewarding when things I do on the 'net are used as good examples. :)



Check out that Kwippy discussion here: http://is.gd/2TLK

Mobile post sent by thepete using Utterli.  Replies.

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Orignal From: Kwippy Thread I Started Ends Up in Presentation!