yep
fine -go after them then.
Completely incorrect. perspective

correct

Great....

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...raining-racism

This is going to hurt....

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...ck-at-obama-ad

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...-obama-bundler

Isn't breitbart dead?

Bbretbart will never die.... :) eva.

like elvis.. y'know how he released "a little less conversation" years after he died? Others are pulling the strings on his dead body to make money.

Except Elvis has *talent*, *intelligence*, and *something positive* to contribute. Other than that, it's just the same.

So, when are we going after Borat? And why will our politicians not even discuss it?

Breitbart will haunt Liberal Causes for years to come. Esp as people like me give them the money to do it. ;)

Classic, nice catch...

Doesn't matter.

The truth always matters.

to some people.

to some people.

...

generally speaking, these are different groups of people.

Bwahahaha! That was EXCELLENT, V.

Grunwald is an obvious Obama supporter but his arguments at least make logical sense. Long but interesting read.


Think Again: Obama's New Deal
The president's Republican critics are dead wrong. The stimulus worked.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article..._deal?page=0,0


Edit: Well apparently he is writing a book on the topic...
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Deal-M...5200283&sr=1-1

Gruwald says the stimulus saved us from a second great depression.
If that's true, then it was a bad thing. It appears that's what it will take to get people to wake the fuck up to what's been going on for the last 30 years. Apparently there are still too many people doing too well, to create enough interest in straightening congress out.:mad:

There's enough people doing really, really, really well who want to preserve the status quo and retain their immunity from the laws the rest of us are expected to follow. Wealthy tea party members establish PAC's to get their right wing wacko candidates elected. Upper echelon members of the government routinely smooth the way for lucrative contracts for large companies whose CEO's have deep pockets - deep pockets to keep the money flowing to the correct party and candidates. Naturally, these CEO's can do whatever they feel like and no one raises so much as an eyebrow.

Convert to the Church of the Latter Day Saints now and avoid the rush.

Not only the "people doing really, really, really well", there are a shitload of people not doing as well as they were, but still employed, hanging on, and getting by. They're scared because the know if they lose their job they're well and truly fucked, so they don't want to rock the boat. They'll likely plug their ears, say nanananana, and vote for the party they always voted for.

It will take a real depression to piss these people off enough to clean house. The Teaparty played to the disgruntled mood of the country with congress, but see who it attracted. People that were comparatively well off, and not pissed off enough to really think about who they were voting for. How else would you explain Christine O'Donnell in Delaware.

Lacking cable or even a TV, I had to look up O'Donnell on the net. I like this quote of hers in 2007 on the O'Reilly Factor. O'Donnell said, "American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains. So they’re already into this experiment.”

Where's Mickey when we need him?

The fact that people actually vote for her shows just how ignorant and intolerant American voters have become. The far right is engaging in what amounts to the politics of hatred. I think that as much as anything influences Joe Six Pack when he enters the polling booth. I don't know if a deepening economic crisis would influence old Joe much. If he lost his job, he'd probably blame the flag burners in Congress who oppose giving big corporations even more tax breaks than they already get, pander to "welfare queens," and won't give the little guy a break by cutting taxes on the wealthy. Surely all those rich people who suddenly have extra money would use it to buy fancy items at the hardware store Joe was laid off from.

What Joe refuses to understand is that big corporations use their tax breaks to give zillion dollar raises to their CEO's - not create new jobs; that welfare queens actually constitute only about 20% of those who receive assistance from social programs - 80% of the beneficiaries of these programs are the elderly and the disabled; and the rich bitch from the snappy gated community was already buying her gold faucets from some chic overseas outfit and would never be caught dead in Joe's hardware shop.

Americans today are ignorant and mean and they scare me.

I don't disagree with you but I don't know if people will just "wake up" if the situation gets bad enough. It would be the hopeful possibility but xenophobia et al. is the other option, which would just make a horrible situation worse. Many genocides (Rwanda and Nazi's for example) are the result of populations getting pushed to the edge and taking it out on people who had no control over the situation in the first place.

I don't know if people will just wake up if the situation gets worse either. But I've already seen they won't if it doesn't. I was being optimistic, but you could very well be right. If you are, that would solve the unemployment problem. Lots of jobs opening up suddenly and undertakers hiring.

Excellent point. I would also like to point out that American culture and society has undergone a major sea change since the depression era in the 30's. At the time of the great depression a much higher percentage of Americans lived in rural areas. The small family farm where the plowing was done with a mule could still to be found all over the country. If you live in a rural area you have fewer neighbors and you come to know the ones you do have well. They may have shared the boundary of your back 40 for generations. People helped one another out as a matter of course. You might help Joe out with the haying, but he could just as well be over at your place someday, helping to rebuild your barn that was lost in a fire. It was far easier for the Americans of that era to understand the importance of helping their fellow countrymen in a time of dire need.

Today's America is a highly urbanized place. Everybody tends to reside in the big city where you can live next door to someone for years and never even know their name. If you happen to have a flat tire on a busy city street, people are more likely to honk their horns in irritation than they are to stop and help you change your tire. Everyone is anonymous. The sense of community and shared hardship does not exist. If someone loses their job or their home they probably deserved it because (pick one) they were the wrong color or spoke with the wrong accent or they lacked the good old American work ethic or they were faking the condition that rendered them disabled. Etc. ect., ect.

Today's America values wealth and priviledge above all else. "He who dies with the most toys wins." Taxation is considered a form of slavery by the tea party because they'd prefer to spend that money on a new Mercedes rather than contribute to the shared fund which maintains our highways and the rest of our national infrastructure.

Today's America always seems to be involved in some undeclared war in some country that most Americans know little about and absolutely nothing about what is really going on. The all volunteer military allows Americans to shrug their shoulders with the comment that those who serve in our armed forces signed on for it. This national state of denial is abetted by the rule that no pictures be taken of the caskets of the dead that are returned daily to our shores. These men and women gave their lives for a country that wants to pretend they never existed. How ironic is that?

Government spending on ever newer and ever better weapons of death is a sacred cow that no one will touch. Just as no one will touch our veterans either. The VA continues to be the target of budget slashers. Our veterans have served their purpose and those who have deep wounds of the body or spirit are useless. We relegate them to city parks and over crowded homeless shelters, and should we pass one on the street, we refuse to meet his eyes.

Today's America is looking into the abyss and the abyss is looking back.

From my post here last March

Today, the first preliminary report was made public...

NY Times
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: August 29, 2012

Homeowners See Benefits in Bank Plan

So this "relief" consists of losing your house and walking away with nothing, but at least they don't keep chasing you for more? Thanks, banks.

Ummm... I don't think I would describe it that way.

The article also talks about some of the foreclosures being settled
by "home equity loans", while others were "short sales".

I think this would mean that for those owners who had significant equity
(e.g., more than 20% of loan-to-value), they could end up staying in their homes,
and paying a reduced monthly payment (but probably at a higher interest rate).

The short sales were likely the people who became "owners" with very little down payment.
For them, they had little/no equity in the property, and so lived in the house
while making mortgage payments that were essentially all interest.
(aka "rent")
For these people, I would say they essentially had nothing to walk away from,
but they preserved their credit ratings, and maybe some dignity.

The people who were really screwed by all this were those whose foreclosures
had already been completed, and they had been forced off of their property.
They lost their home, their credit rating, and many other valuables.
And the maximum they received from this "settlement" was $2,000. :eyebrow:

And the beat goes on...


NY Journal
9/28/12

Bank of America to Pay $2.43 Billion to Settle Suit Over Merrill Deal
And this too...

NY Times
STEVEN M. DAVIDOFF
9/27/12
A $50 Billion Claim of Havoc Looms for Bank of America
<snip>
This episode also spawned a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission
that Bank of America, Mr. Lewis and Joseph Price, the former chief financial officer,
settled for $150 million.

Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan approved the deal
but complained that it didn’t sufficiently penalize the individuals involved.
The amount was paid by Bank of America with no liability for Mr. Lewis or Mr. Price.
Judge Rakoff called the settlement “half-baked justice at best.”
Judge Rakoff may see his wish for greater penalties granted.
The New York attorney general’s office has a lawsuit on the matter.<snip>

Yes, the beat goes on...


Wall Street Journal
JEAN EAGLESHAM And DAN FITZPATRICK
10/01/12

J.P. Morgan Sued on Mortgage Bonds

From here

I agree with this guy. Frankly, I'm embarrassed by the rudeness of the opposition in this country.

Still many who feel that way regardless of what this crappy POS site says.
Here's the link http://theobamadiary.com/tag/hes/

And there are PLENTY of pics of Bush and virtually every president since the 50's with some sort of Hitler reference. Bush did get a movie made about him being assassinated too. To say that this crap started with Obama is Bullshit.

I live in a city that is very well off... good schools, expensive houses, etc.

When the housing crisis began there was little effect here for quite a while.
But eventually, it did hit, and home sales slumped and then prices fell.
Construction of new homes slowed and building permits dropped.

I've heard that places that were slowest to be hit by the crisis would be the first to show the recovery.
And last week as I was driving around town, I noticed several new construction sites.

Today, I came across this article.
Maybe, just maybe, the worst is over.


Bloomberg
10/17/12

Housing Starts in U.S. Surged in September to Four-Year High

Attachment 41237

I'm completely frightened.

Unless I get a job offer, I ain't gettin' into Canada.

Can't even get into Canada. :headshake

Maybe I'll move to Mexico instead. :biggrinba

Mexico doesn't let immigrants in, I don't think. I don't think you can emigrate there. You have to kind of sneak in and lay low. And speak Spanish.

it would be easier to sneak into canada. we'd blend.

Well Jebus Crepes...where CAN I move to?

Anyone?

let's try islands...they seem really lax on security and shit like that. The Seychelles? They can't even extradite us from there! Or the canaries...NOT Hispaniola though. NO WAY.

eta: it can't be Oz coz they let NO ONE in; but I dunno about the Kiwi's and how they do it. we could do some research...

Also a report on the news yesterday that defaults on loans, credit cards, and mortgages is steadily dropping a significant amount.

I know people who weren't hit nearly as bad by this recession as many were. They were working, paying their bills, with no wolves at the door. Sure their house was worth less, but they weren't planning on selling or borrowing against it anyway, so it only made a difference on paper, not lifestyle. Their stocks dropped in value, but most have come back.
But in the constant barrage of 24 hour news, virtually every news story included the tag line, "in this economy". Plus the political campaign is telling us doom & gloom is the order of the day. So even these people that skated fairly well through it all, talk constantly how bad things are.
The recession will be over when the public perceives it to be over, regardless of the unemployment rate.

I don't know if I could get into the Canary Islands, not being a canary. How about the Virgin Islands?

How about Bali? I just want to walk around singing Bali Hai all day. I bet they never heard that one before. ;)

we could go to Key West, P-town Mass., or anywhere in Vermont b/c those places all flaunt the US gov't no matter who gets elected.


eta: um....I don't think they'd let either of us in the Virgin Islands...how about Iceland!!!!!!!!! We could be White Walkers!

I want to live somewhere where everyone rides mopeds around.

Key West is good, but I don't trust repubs in office if we get a hurricane or something.

Ooooh, Switzerland! It's all like, neutral and stuff. And I have people there! Allons-y!

Key West tried to secede once and they named themselves the Conch Republic.

Switzerland...isn't that full of ex-nazi's guarding their art and gold?

We be going to the Frenchy part.

Another well spoken post. The recession *is* over, our economy has stopped receding some time ago. We're in a depression, a depressed economy now, but no one wants to call it that either.

Actually, xoB, you understate your point which is self-evident. It's so true that it defies refutation. You sound like you're channeling FDR:







among others ;)

There's a new dog on the block... with BIG teeth

NY Times
BEN PROTESS and MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED
11/2/12

FERC Takes Aim at Wall Street

Not to worry, Romney will send the FERC the way of Big Bird.

We don't need no regulation
We don't need no bank control
No meddling with capitalism
FERC, leave them banks alone
Hey FERC, leave them banks alone
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

hmmm...

Actually, there were twelve terrorist attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities abroad during George W. Bush’s tenure — the most of any president in history — and eight of those occurred while Donald Rumsfeld was in office.

There is nothing more suspicious than a perfect alibi. :eyebrow:

Remember just a few weeks ago when Obama was being criticized for the high price of gasoline.
Where are those screeching critics now ?

Western Oregon had prices of $4.49 / gal for regular back then.
Today, on the price has dropped to $3.51.
Should Obama be praised for this ?

Obviously not... just as the earlier charges were outside of his control.

Here comes Norquist, out of the woodwork again...

CGS This Morning
(CBS News) with on-line video
11/12/12

Grover Norquist: Obama's goal is to raise energy taxes on middle class
The 5-minute video in the link above of his sophisticated interview is worth watching.

I didn't know very much about our friend, Grover Norquist until now. He first came to my notice when I saw him on an interview with CNN. The interviewer was implying that any Republican who broke faith with Norquist's mandatory "no new taxes" pledge was dead meat as far as the Party was concerned. Norquist did a nice snake imitation, his eyes slithering here, slithering there - neither confirming nor denying anything.

I checked Norquist out on Wiki and discovered that he is the behind the scenes puppetmaster who pulls the strings on almost every Republican politician and is one of the Tea Party's biggest fans. He's helped shape Republican policies at least since the Reagan years and helped engineer W.'s election along with W.'s tax cuts for the wealthy.

Norquist's day job is to head Americans for Tax Reform, a non profit which is not required to disclose the identity of its contributors. However, according to CBS News, a significant portion of ATF's funding appears to come from wealthy individuals, foundations and corporate interests.

One of the few Republicans who has stood up to Norquist is former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Simpson describes Norquist's position as "no taxes, under any situation, even if your country goes to hell."

I would say that Simpson appears to be correct.

Here's some news the Republicans did not want to hear...

CBS News/ November 14, 2012, 9:30 AM
Brian Montopoli, Jill Jackson

Pelosi to stay on as Minority Leader
Maybe this will bring Merc back to The Cellar.
He was very fond of posting his thoughts about Pelosi.

*buckles up*

Not a joke.

My understanding and experience with the Dephi Method is almost the opposite of that description.

I believe that instead of mind-control, this method of decision-making
removes the influence of the more authoritative or well-known leaders,
and eliminates any "appeal to authority" by the reputation of individuals in the group,
It allows equal weight to the idea or proposal of each individual respondent in the group.

Here is a description from Wikipedia:

But then, re-defining words to mean just their opposite is a traditional tool of right wing extremists.

Today, a story is emerging that the "shortage" of gasoline back then was phony.
The story is that the price hike was artificially caused by an announcement
that two refineries were "off line", and it was just a matter of "supply and demand".

The same source that helped bring down Enron is saying that "pollution" records
show that these refineries continued running and producing gasoline.

The Dept of Justice is being asked to investigate...

P.S. Today, the lowest prices for regular gas in PDX are at $3.41 / gal

it's about $3.25 / gal out here

I did a bit of Googling, and found that this questioning of the refineries did come up last July.
I'm sort of surprised the media did not make more of it, but instead fed the attack-Obama frenzy.

Even the isolated coastal towns in Oregon have gas prices in the low, low $3.4X's now.