News-Record.com

1. Medicare is rife with fraud.

So send the bastards to jail .. actually just make them pay back x 2.

2. Medicare and Social Security are becoming financially untenable.

The admin' fees on Social Security are about 1/2%. Contrast that with the admin' fees on your 401K.

3. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are corrupt and bankrupt.

So send the bastards to jail .. actually just make them pay back x 2.

4. Recently, the founder of Canada’s national health care system, Claude Castonguay, said the system is in “crisis.”

Sort of .. "Chairman Claude Castonguay said health care is growing 5.8 per cent a year as a share of the provincial budget, while total government spending increases 3.9 per cent annually."

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=f48829c8-0ede-464a-a46b-bb9b8680f45d&k=89574

.. so there is simply a disconnect. Anyone want to hazard the annual growth per cent of America's Health Care?

Liberals have rewrote the preamble to read: "To provide the general welfare", Paul.

Revisionist history at it's best...Thanks FDR. (honorable mention to LBJ, of course)

... and after today's vote, you can add to your list, "Thanks B41"

P.S.: Good thing he was the Lesser of Two Evils!

"How can people want even more of this?"

Class envy seems to be the predominant driver with liberals who clamor for government intervention into private enterprises, Paul. They abhor anyone who has earned more that they... thus they elect politicians who promise to 'even things up' and punish those who have 'lucked out in life's lottery.

They parrot the politicians who mewl about how much cheaper government run services will be. And it will be for those who pay no taxes. This is the pitfall of 'representation without taxation'...another byproduct of liberalism.

Easier to pull the right lever for some folk than take the risk of investing in yourself.

Amazing how some can continue to hold their head in the sand. Neo, you get kudos for just sticking around spouting your tired, but amusing drivel. Most of the right wingers have disappeared, realizing they have supported a total failure in Bush and in McBush. Those two are joined at the hip and even Lizzie Dole told Bush to stay out of N.C.
If I were a betting person, I would wager this letter came from a person with little education and little knowledge of complex subjects. It is such a "simple" premise, but one that is proffered by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. 'Nuff said.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?

They were private enterprises, not Federal agencies.

You promise that is 'nuff said, Libcon? Thank you.

"How can people want even more of this?"
"Money for nothing" has become America's new
favorite song.

oxymoron, as usual, you claim the letter writer who doesn't agree with you must be ignorant.

I too hope you meant it when you ended with "nuff said".

congrats libs!!! welcome to the U.S.S.A.

“Class envy seems to be the predominant driver with liberals who clamor for government intervention into private enterprises … “

I really don’t think that’s it, Neo .. at least not universally.

While I’m far more a Progressive Blue-Dog Conservative (*1) than a liberal, the issue iss not “taking the risk of investing in yourself”. The issue is that most who “have earned more” didn’t get it by working harder. As an example, consider the current rage from the CON-movement over compensation received by Raines. All we hear about is how this and other Clinton Cohorts RAPE and Plundered .. but those Proud American called “Producers” [are by definition not aligned with Demo-Rats, and] “pay 80% of the nation’s taxes”.

We hear consistently the CRA (a Jimmy Carter debacle OF COURSE) is the primary cause of the financial meltdown. Instead, the single biggest culprit I have found is HUD.

Who does the Secretary of HUD report to … hmmm ..

The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 created the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight which mandates HUD to set goals for lower income and underserved housing – in other words, establish the amount of sub-prime loans to be made in a given year. I’m far from a DC insider but it seems that as the crisis developed, all HUD would have had to do would be simply re-set lower the annually “affordable housing goal” closer 0%. Had that been done, there definitely would have been a lot less toxicity in the market.

Less toxicity in the market would also mean fewer home sales and a slower economy. My guess is SOMEONE took a gamble that if it all came crashing down, it would not be until next year, under a new administration. Call that paranoia, or derangement syndrome, but often I see that mentality in the business world.

Director, Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). … for the purpose of ensuring that the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) are adequately capitalized and operating in a safe and sound manner. Under the HCD Act of 1992, the Office is headed by a Director appointed by the President to a 5-year term.

http://www.hud.gov/about/secretary/powersec.cfm
http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf12/misc/martinezbio.cfm Jan. 24, 2001 - Dec. 12, 2003 “Under the leadership of Secretary Martinez, HUD is expanding homeownership opportunities to more Americans, particularly minority and low-income families, through innovative budget initiatives and partnerships with community-based housing providers … Secretary Martinez has brought a new commitment within HUD to those who have no home to call their own. Martinez is ensuring that the resources of the federal government work efficiently together to provide better services to the homeless, and ultimately, end chronic homelessness.”

http://www.hud.gov/about/secretary/jacksonbio.cfm Mar. 31, 2004 - April 18, 2008 “instilled a new commitment to ethics and accountability within HUD's programs and among its workforce and grant partners”

http://www.hud.gov/about/secretary/prestonbio.cfm Jun. 5, 2008 – “Secretary Preston has an extensive financial and capital markets background .. a passionate reformer who will act aggressively to help struggling Americans keep their homes, obtain affordable mortgages, as well as help ensure that all Americans have access to safe, decent, affordable housing.

We’re in Good Hands.

(*1) http://moderaterepublican.net/id1.html

1) 'The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act'

2)The 'CRA'.

3) 'Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight'

4) 'The Federal National Mortgage Association'

4) 'The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation'

5) 'the HCD Act of 1992'

6) 'HUD'

Thanks for making my point.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"congrats libs!!! welcome to the U.S.S.A."

It's taken nearly 70 years, but it looks as if Marxism has finally prevailed. Sam Webb must be toasting Bush, Peloski, and Reid as we speak.

The saddest part?

"People of color" (Martinez's "minority") represent a loss between $164-$213 billion due to the foreclosure debacle.
http://www.faireconomy.org/files/StateOfDream_01_16_08_Web.pdf

Out of total foreclosure loss estimates of $350-$420 billion.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/36/27/40451721.pdf

Less than ~20% of the total population faces 1/2 the total value lost. Probably less than half of the 20% if you consider not all "people of color" jumped in the boat, so let's say 10% of the total population is looking at half the loss. And 90% of us feel it in a non-related way.

No problem, Neo .. glad to help.

The funny thing is I don't really disagree .. the difference is you just like to smirk on everything.

Neo:

There was a discussion on PBS tonight .. your favorite channel I'll sure .. I thought you'd enjoy part of it:

JEFFREY BROWN: You know, the most extraordinary thing, I guess, as I was watching the bailout packages that went through the last couple of weeks, and we saw it again just now in Kwame's piece, the people who back it, I mean, the supporters, they don't like it. They don't like any part of it. They're bad-mouthing it as they go to vote for it.

PAUL SOLMAN: Well, yes, I mean, you saw Nadler even saying this is a bad package, but it's the best we got.

Look, you're nationalizing banks. You're nationalizing insurance companies. You're bailing out lenders instead of borrowers. You're going down a socialist path. I mean, what is socialism, if it isn't more government involvement in the economy? What's to like, from the point of view of somebody who believes in markets?

And so, of course, everybody sort of backs off. And constituents are angry. And so they don't want to, you know, go in whole hog.

But as member after member said, what else do you do at this point? Paul Krugman, the liberal columnist in the Times today, said it's a stinker, he said, characterizing this bailout, but we'd better do it.

JEFFREY BROWN: So in terms of what comes next, I guess maybe the question is, what questions are still out there? As we look forward, what do we watch for next?

PAUL SOLMAN: Well, how much do we become a socialized economy? I mean, say, the United States is maybe 30 percent of our economy is government, more or less, then markets, 60 percent.

Are we Scandinavianizing the American economy? And to what extent and how fast? And, of course, the scarier question yet, which is, will it work?

I mean, can you -- can you do that in an economy like this? Can you do that in a world economy?

In 1990, Sweden nationalized its banks, not for a very long time, re-privatized them, made money on the deal. But here we're talking about insurance companies, hedge funds, everybody...

JEFFREY BROWN: Now they have to go in and figure out and look at all those bad loans and see what they're really worth.

PAUL SOLMAN: Well, it's the bad loans, but it's also -- suppose people are holding the bad loans, but they're bankrupt, or they're going to be bankrupt, Ford, General Motors. I mean, I don't mean to scare people. I have no idea what's going to happen. Unfortunately, nobody else does, either.

But it's the government -- the government is known as the lender of last resort, or the Fed is, last resort. I mean, and that's what we're doing.

Now, government can do that. Government has the infinite ability to do that, and our government is doing it, and it's a very good thing that our government can mobilize and do it, as opposed to be paralyzed like Japan was, say, in the '90s.

But it's a huge, huge change. And you can understand why it would be controversial.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Paul Solman, thanks again.

"the difference is you just like to smirk on everything"

Then:

"your favorite channel I'll sure"

Not that it'll make any difference now, but it's worth noting that Dole (up for re-election) voted 'Nay' on the Karl Marx resurrection act of 2008, while Burr (not up for re-election) voted for the Karl Marx resurrection act of 2008.

I've also read that the initial republican house opposition was based on e-mails and phone calls from their constituents who were 20-1 against the Karl Marx resurrection act of 2008, but in the waning hours the e-mails and phone calls reflected a different climate... only 4-1 against the Karl Marx resurrection act of 2008, so many of them climbed aboard the Busk/Peloski/Reid express and abandoned the founders' principals. This was a done deal from the get-go.

Methinks it's about time for some Glasnost/Perestroika...USA style. Ron Paul, where are you?

Since we're sharing e-mails, this one cuts through the chafe:

THE REVOLUTION DRAWS NEARER

This letter was sent to the Wall Street Journal on August 8, 2008 by Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. Of Beverly Hills , CA .
On July 31, 2008 the Wall Street Journal had an article titled "Where's The Outrage?"

Really. I can tell you where the outrage is. The outrage is here, in this middle-aged, well-educated, upper-middle class woman. The outrage is here, but I have no representation, no voice. The outrage is here, but no one is listening for who am I?

I am not a billionaire like George Soros that can fund an entire political movement.

I am not a celebrity like Barbra Streisand that can garner the attention of the press to promote political candidates.

I am not a film maker like Michael Moore or Al Gore that can deliver misleading movies to the public.

The outrage is here, but unlike those with money or power, I don't know how to reach those who feel similarly in order to effect change.

Why am I outraged? I am outraged that my country, the United States of America , is in a state of moral and ethical decline. There is no right or wrong anymore, just what's fair.

Is it fair that millions of Americans who overreached and borrowed more than they could afford are now being bailed out by the government and lending institutions to stave off foreclosure? Why shouldn't these people be made to pay the consequences for their poor judgment?

When my husband and I purchased our home, we were careful to purchase only what we could afford. Believe me, there are much larger, much nicer homes that I would have loved to have purchased. But, taking responsibility for my behavior and my life, I went with the house that we could afford, not the house that we could not afford. The notion of personal responsibility has all but died in our country.

I am outraged, that the country that welcomed my mother as an immigrant from Hitler's Nazi Germany and required that she and her family learn English now allows itself to be overrun with illegal immigrants and worse, caters to those illegal immigrants.

I am outraged that my hard-earned taxes help support those here illegally. That the Los Angeles Public School District is in such disarray that I felt itincumbent to send my child to private school, that every time I go to the ATM, I see "do you want to continue in English or Spanish?", that every time I call the bank, the phone company , or similar business, I hear "press 1 for English or press 2 for Spanish". WHY? This is America , our common language is English and attempts to promote a bi- or multi-lingual society are sure to fail and to marginalize those who cannot communicate in English.

I am outraged at our country's weakness in the face of new threats on American traditions from Muslims. Just this week, Tyson's Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day. What am I missing? Yes, there is a large Somali Muslim population working at the Tyson's plant in Tennessee . Tennessee , last I checked, is still part of the United States . If Muslims want to live and work here they should be required to live and work by our American Laws and not impose their will on our long history.

In the same week, Random House announced that they had indefinitely delayed the publication of The Jewel of Medina, by Sherry Jones, a book about the life of Mohammed's wife, Aisha due to fear of retribution and violence by Muslims. When did we become a nation ruled by fear of what other immigrant groups want? It makes me so sad to see large corporations cave rather than stand proudly on the principles that built this country.

I am outraged because appeasement has never worked as a political policy, yet appeasing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is exactly what we are trying to do. An excellent article, also published recently in the Wall Street Journal, went through over 20 years of history and why talking with Iran has been and wi ll continue to be ineffective. Yet talk, with a madman no less, we continue to do. Have we so lost our moral compass and its ability to detect evil that we will not go in and destroy Iran 's nuclear program? Would we rather wait for another Holocaust for the Jews - one which they would be unlikely to survive? When does it end?

As if the battle for good and evil isn't enough, now come the Environmentalists who are so afraid of global warming that they want to put a Bag tax on grocery bags in California; to eliminate Mylar balloons; to establish something as insidious as the recycle police in San Francisco. I do my share for the environment: I recycle, I use water wisely, I installed an energy efficient air conditioning unit.
But when and where does the lunacy stop?Ahmadinejad wants to wipe Israel off the map, the California economy is being overrun by illegal immigrants, and the United States of America no longer knows right from wrong, good from evil. So what does California do? Tax grocery bags.

So, America , although I can tell you where the outrage is, this one middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class woman is powerless to do anything about it. I don't even feel like my vote counts because I am so outnumbered by those who disagree with me.

Alisa Wilson, Ph.D.
Beverly Hills , California

I love / hate it when the Stock Market Analysis comes on to say .. The Market Rose / Fell today because of _____ .

Hell they don't know - most of the time no one knows.

I say all that as a preamble to your post from Dr. Wilson

==

"I have no representation, no voice"

Most of us feel that way.

She diss' Soros / Streisand Moore / Al Gore for misleading the public. Who is on the "other side"? Karl Rove / Swift Boat Vet's .. more subtle - but there with money and power.

It's a fair statement to say we are ALL outraged. Millions of Americans are not guilty of having "overreached and borrowed more than they could afford" .. and those that did are CERTAINLY NOT "being bailed out by the government and lending institutions to stave off foreclosure"

The Dr. needs to be a little more Doctorial. This is a Top Down bail-out - not Bottom Up. Am I wrong? Show Us.

Most Americans are asking the same as the good Dr. "Why shouldn't these people be made to pay the consequences for their poor judgment"? .. but the "these people" most Americans are talking about are the few who "lead" the finance sector .. these are "the few" who are in fact being bailed out ..

"The notion of personal responsibility has all but died in our country".

Did you read my quote about the irony in Jimmy Carter so-called Malaise Speech? The good Dr just proved the point 100% .. and there are few 100%'s anymore.

" ... the country ... caters to those illegal immigrants". Maybe so. Not my fault - really.

"Tyson's Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day"

What is she missing? Nothing. What's wrong with Flex time? Do you have it where you work?

"When did we become a nation ruled by fear of what other immigrant groups want"?

Hopefully never. If they riot, shoot the bastards .. but a little temperance is a good thing.

"Why talking with Iran has been and will continue to be ineffective".

I don't know that and neither do you .. but we both know that lack of communication is the #1 cause of problems from the beer hall to the kitchen table through the assembly line and on up to nuclear confrontation.

Environmentalists? A lot are wackie .. but they usually have a point.

"I don't even feel like my vote counts because I am so outnumbered by those who disagree with me".

No, we do not disagree, Dr. Wilson .. but you might want to re-read the paragraph about communication with those that "disagree"

Winston-Salem North Carolina

Neocon,
Those who preach only to the choir effect no change in anyone.

So this "letter" written to the Wall Street Journal, an ultra-conservative newspaper that endorses only Republicans, writes in to complain about not having a voice (besides Fox News, all of Murdoch's newspapers, the WSJ, talk radio,etc etc etc.

Then she complains about being outnumbered. Welcome to Democracy. You only hate it when you lose.

Better to get out and do something than stay home and whine. Independents now make up nearly as much of the populace as Republicans or Democrats. If someone from either side wants to make a difference, just convince a few independents of the validity of your views.

Whining and moaning makes no difference because only the choir listens.