Donspoliticalblog's Blog

Why is it when I question the past of Senator Obama in regards to his associations I get only answers from his backers denouncing McCain? All I and many others want to know is who this man really is. I would never believe the words of a politician, I want to see deeds.

What did he write in his College Thesis? Why is that relevant, it’s relevant because it shows his true feelings at that time. Why has he not come clean on his role in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiasco, he was a big backer of the minority housing program that eventually busted them. Why doesn’t he give his background with ACORN and explain his ties to Tony Ressco and Wm Ayers? We know it’s more than a hello on the street that brings them together. How could he sit in a racist church for 20 years and not understand it was racist?

Why can’t we get answers for these questions? This is an inexperienced man who wants to be our president, mine as well as yours. Don’t I have the right to hear my questions answered in a dignified and truthful way? I hear nothing but promises from him, promises that I have heard many times in many elections in my years. Many of these promises would break our country further.

I have never seen an election with such biased reporting and diehard followers. When I heard the Senator speak at the Democratic convention for John Kerry I was impressed, in fact I told my wife this guy is going places. Why then is it so hard to get anything but lip service from him or his followers?

If Obama wants my vote or any other thinking Americans vote he had better sit down and forget the rhetoric and openly address these issues. If he doesn’t he will never have the backing that a president of this country needs from its people. So far he has only attracted those who want what he is selling and that is socialism in the first degree.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

What did we learn in the debate last night? For one thing we learned that John McCain is not an orator and Obama is. We learned that substance is not what we say but what we do. The American people have been fooled before by smooth orators many times; Jim Jones, Jim Baker, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite and so many more. We are accustomed to hearing about these things and they seem to roll off peoples back. Some are so ready for change that they care less about a candidates background. I’m sure the people who followed any of these so called leaders felt the same way. Senator Obama may be just the ticket for our society but I’m not about to take his word for it, I want to see facts about his background before he becomes my president. I would like to see his thesis from collage to see what his thoughts were back then, I would like to get a real understanding of his relationship with the domestic terrorist Ayres, I think we need to know his real feeling toward Reverend Wright and what his relationship with ACORN has been. There have been so many radical people in his background that have not been yet revealed by the major media sources and I feel we should get to the bottom of his relationships before jumping in on his bandwagon.

Who is John McCain? He’ a terrible Orator we know that but what are his true values? He is a war hero, has been a Senator for many years. Is known as a maverick in his party and has jumped party lines many times in the past to get his agenda through. He has built inter party relationships with several democratic senators and has joint authored many bills that have crossed party lines. He has been vetted by every media representative in the country and some overseas.

I know I will get a lot of flak for comparing Obama to the above characters but we don’t know anything about him. He was a neighborhood organizer for the Daley machine in Chicago and that could be a problem for him. He has associated himself with people like Tony Rezzco who is now in prison. His longtime friendship with William Ayres. These thing have a enough poison in them that they require real answers. I only ask the diehard followers to examine the facts as they are presented. You are not just messing with your country it’s mine too and I really don’t look forward to a socialistic America and that is how I feel we are headed.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

With the world around us going crazy how should we respond? We could be panic stricken and sell off our future or work out the problems and survive this financial crisis.

How did all this happen?
Fannie Mae was created in 1938 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. The collapse of the national housing market in the wake of the Great Depression discouraged private lenders from investing in home loans. Fannie Mae was established in order to provide local banks with federal money to finance home mortgages in an attempt to raise levels of home ownership and the availability of affordable housing.

Initially, Fannie Mae operated like a national savings and loan, allowing local banks to charge low interest rates on mortgages for the benefit of the home buyer. This lead to the development of what is now known as the secondary mortgage market. Within the secondary mortgage market, companies such as Fannie Mae are able to borrow money from foreign investors at low interest rates because of the financial support that they receive from the U.S. Government. It is this ability to borrow at low rates that allows Fannie Mae to provide fixed interest rate mortgages with low down payments to home buyers. Fannie Mae makes a profit from the difference between the interest rates homeowners pay and foreign lenders charge.

For the first thirty years following its inception, Fannie Mae held a veritable monopoly over the secondary mortgage market. In 1968, due to fiscal pressures created by the Vietnam War, Lyndon B. Johnson privatized Fannie Mae in order to remove it from the national budget. He also put in place at that time additional programs as part of his Great Society Program.

New York Times - Clinton Adminstration Pressured Fannie Mae
September 30, 1999

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring. Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

The company was under additional pressure to go deeper into unqualified home loans during the 90’s by the politicians who wanted more minority lending. When the Bush administration asked for an investigation in 2003 to these practices they were blocked by Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd who claimed all was well in these companies and that an investigation would just hurt minority loan possibilities. Many of these politicians were getting financial aid from Fannie and Freddie including Obama and McCain. Obama receiving more than 120K and McCain over 20k. This is not a just a republican fiasco as we have been told, there is plenty to go around in both parties. It started when Johnson privatized these companies to fool the public as to his budget deficits and was magnified during the Clinton years by the push for minority housing and the elimination of mortgage redlining. This was all brought to a head when Speaker Pelosi used the opportunity of the congressional vote to place radical partisan politics into the congressional record blaming the Bush administration policies for all things negative. The Bush administration and Senator McCain had actually called for oversight in 2003 and were rejected by the Democratic House.

We will have plenty of time to place blame for this mess but first we have to get through it intact. Our goal should be to redevelop a financial basis in which to judge our future achievements. All previous goals and targets have been obliterated and should be discarded.

Just like this bailout, we are being railroaded into believing that Obama is the answer for change by the liberal press. We really need to spend some time studying his personal history and properly vetting his candidacy before rushing headlong into more problems. Our goal should be to place our trust in the person with the very best chance of making America stronger and safer both physically and monetarily. I would suggest everyone watch the David Asner program regarding the whole story behind the Freddie and Fannie collapse. Hopefully Fox will re air it soon.

To those who are for Obama, I am not asking you to change your vote, I am asking you to open your minds to the fact that he could possibly be a totally different person than you believe him to be. It doesn’t hurt to be sure does it? Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry, this is the only country we have.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

When all is said and done we will have chosen a new President who will be expected to guide us through the next four years. This person has to be very careful as we are in such a vulnerable stage in our country. We have a financial crisis on one hand and an on going war against terrorism on the other. We have just had our House vote a 700 Billion dollar bailout supposedly for the banking industry to keep this crisis from effecting us poor folk on Main street. From what I can tell there seems to be some added pork to this program. We cannot gut the military to survive this economic slow down. That would put us at risk every day for a terrorist attack. So where is it going to come from? The easiest way I know is to build the economy and get industry rolling again. Here are a couple of ways to do just that.

The thing no one is really focused on in this blame game called campaigning is real heath care solutions. Obama seems like he wants to promise everything to everybody and we all know that socializing medicine is not going to work, McCain hasn't focused on the problem yet so what needs to be done? As a business man employing over 20 people I can tell you the cost for medical coverage is totally out of hand. The way it works now is that 2 or 3 people have medical conditions that drive up the cost for all employees. Should I lay off those with conditions? I think not, these people have been with us through thick and thin and they would be unable to obtain insurance on their own. I believe that if the government is going to subsidize health care one way it could be done is through employer medical plans. I have had to change our policies as a company to avoid layoffs. Once upon a time we were able to pay 100% of the employees health care policy and 60% of the family. We are now only able to afford 70% of the employee and 40% of the family. This has created hardships for several of our people as well as the company this year because costs have skyrocketed. We have had a few drop from the program and I am sure are going without. If you want the government to create a medical assistance program do it by offering a special subsidized package through Medi-care for those hard to insure employees. This will allow much lower rates for the rest of the crew. It would also be a huge benefit if we could put a cap on medical damage awards that drive up Doctors malpractice insurance. Fat chance for that with the world being run by lawyers but worth a try.

Economic help for existing small business; Instead of putting all the 700 billion into the hands of wall street and a few pork driven projects maybe we could save a few small business’ by loosening up the SBA and funding a program for quick financing up to $500,000 for small business. I have heard just this last week of many companies who have survived for years closing their doors for lack of financing. Downturns like this one really have a terrible affect on small companies. Business drops off and the overhead goes on. Usually they try to hang onto their employees too long and pay the consequences. These would be good risk loans compared to some that the government is planning to bail out. This would also create a surge in business by maintaining employment strength in an area. Car Dealers all over the country are failing because of this lack of consumer credit availability. You may think it doesn’t matter if a car dealer fails but what about the hundreds of families that it affects and the related business' that suffer? What happens when you go to buy your next vehicle and there is no competition for the surviving dealer, whoops there goes the price.

I wish we could get this election over with and start our recovery. The problem is the election won’t stop partisan politics it never has and nothing good will come without both sides working together. Term limits is sounding better and better.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

Whoa, hold on there partners, you’re in such a rush that you just may have made a huge mistake. Under estimating the anger of Americans is not that wise. Ask Hirohito. Our goal here in this country has always been to work hard and develop wealth by saving and investing in our future. You may have just given away our future to a bunch of crooks on Wall Street and panderers on the hill. We out west don’t really cotton to this so called bailout of the rich and arrogant. I see nothing that will free up main street in all this, no easing of car loans or any other consumer advantages. Assuming that by re liquefying the rich guys and in turn the shallow politicians who have helped rape these financial institutions all will be well is like the terrorists blowing up the World Trade Center and assuming we won’t retaliate. This little fiasco better work and work great or you can kiss your cushy jobs goodbye. For the Democrats to try to blame this all on deregulation is about as sane as Clinton saying he didn’t have sex with that woman. McCain called for an investigation 2 years ago and Barney Frank and Senator Dodd blocked it saying that it was well and under their control. When the administration attempted to warn of the volatility of Fannie and Freddie they blocked that also.

The Republicans are not totally clean in this as well. They have had their collective hands in this cookie jar too. Not as deeply as Senator Dodd, Obama and Congressman Frank but in there just the same. I wondered what it would take to get some type of non partisan activity on the hill and now I know, just cut off their money source.

For Barak Obama to say his hands are clean is just as ridiculous. He hired the two main perpetrators of the demise of Fannie and Freddie to be his financial advisors, that is until they got too hot to deal with then just like he did with Reverend Wright he divested himself from them. Obama is the number two recipient of these monies from Fannie and Freddie. I guess some of you just believe that he didn’t have sex with that woman therefore you can assume Obama didn’t have his hand in the jar either.

This is going to be a rocky road for the next few months as we the people you borrowed from (using your language not mine) wait to see the results of your action. If all of a sudden as I anticipate it will, the market keeps dropping and the dollar shows a continued weakness and you are forced to come back for more, I can tell you all heii will break loose. In all honesty, I sincerely hope you are right and all gets back to normal as I only want what’s best for this great country.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

Where did our financial woes begin?
Clearly understand where the problem originated and who they work for now.

Interesting info . . . Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae Executives who have played big on Wall Street.

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie. Mr. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregulaties in Fannie Mae's accounting activities. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted, "Raines, who long defended the company's accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn't proper, issued a statement late Tuesday conceding that "mistakes were made" and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company's books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years." Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.

Raines left with a "golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear. http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ The Government noted, "The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulator and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner." These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.

Tim Howard - Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard "was strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a "stable pattern of earnings" at Fannie. In everyday English - he was cooking the books. The Government Investigation determined that, "Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,"

On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipula te 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004.

Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!

Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million." Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae.

Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

TIM HOWARD? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

JIM JOHNSON? Johnson hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee

It seems when push comes to shove it’s the people that get shoved. Although we had little to do with the problems of the financial world it looks as if we are the ones who will pay in the long run. I have tried to justify this bailout in my mind and it just doesn’t add up. I thank both the 228 democrats and the republicans who have held out for a better deal, without their support we would be owing 700 Billion by now. The problem is we need to get the problem solved and solved sooner than later. IF Nancy Pelosi would get her head out of her derriere long enough to work with all parties instead of trying to lay a blame blanket on the republicans it might just come together. Everyone knows the seriousness of the situation and should be willing to work these details out in a package that we can at least swallow without choking.

This package should include the recovery of much of the monies paid out to the candidates as well as the former managers of Fannie and Freddie. Senator Dodd and Frank should be among those returning this money to the funds. I will be damned if the public should be responsible for their windfalls.

This package should not make anyone rich nor should it exclude the attempt to renegotiate any home loans that may be salvageable. Keeping families in their homes and out of foreclosure should be a major part of this scheme. A salary cap should be placed on any project that benefits from this program including the automakers windfall package. A complete history of this whole negotiation including names and statements of each participating politician should be made public immediately. We the people want to know who and why they voted as they did. No more backdoor meetings and secret agreements between politicians.

Banks should be placed on notice that it is imperative that they move quickly to re-establish a flow of money into the economy in the form of consumer loans. Auto loans and consumer product loans will help rebuild our sagging economy faster than any government programs. To be sure the money should not be placed in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury for disbursement as he see’s fit. The bulk of the money should be put into a trust and trustee’s should be appointed from each party to decide the disbursement of funds. It’s time for the politicians in Washington to wash their hands and come clean. Do the job that we sent them there to do.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

Are we ready for a turn to the left? When the designers of our democracy sat down in Philadelphia in the 1770’s what was their goal for this new world? Did they anticipate a country where the government was so large that it took a man over half of his year just to pay his taxes? Did they anticipate a government so large that it took on the responsibility of free medical and free education? I believe the founders of this great country were men of extraordinary wisdom. They were all self made men who stood out from all the rest with their bravery and ability to survive with little more than a belief in freedom and the fortitude to risk it all for that goal. Does that sound like a bunch of socialists who expect the world to take care of them?

The United States is at a crossroads in its history. We have been slowly turning towards the left since the 68 elections and riots in Chicago. I guess you can say the students who followed Eugene McCarthy have grown up and taken charge. We have a slight problem though, they have taken charge of our schools and our media and some have made it into government but they have no possible idea how to remain free from either foreign governments or even our own. It’s one thing to be idealistic but in the end it seems we usually have to stand and be willing to sacrifice in order to stay free and idealistic. Their disdain for the military and most things of moral value leave us naked and unprotected in this violent world. When we are all finished with this election and the voting is in we may just find ourselves with a far left congress a far left senate and a president who will rubber stamp what ever they put in front of him. I fear for that day as it will be a sea change of historical proportions. I fear for our vulnerability from a society of political correctness and our freedom to own and possess firearms. No matter what is said in this election by either candidate the real fear is in the total control by one group over us all.

If you look close you can see this change creeping in the door in the form of NAFTA, (The North American Free Trade Association.) The 700 billion dollar bailout that will leave a monumental debt for our children and our grandchildren to pay and the government in charge of private enterprise. You can see it in our lack of attention to our open borders. We will see it in the amnesty of millions of illegals here in this country. No indeed, I wouldn’t call this an everyday election, the very thought of out of control inflation, skyrocketing medical costs due to the influx of illegals in our system leaves me a little frightened.

We need checks and balances to make America free and keep our sovereignty intact . Just like we need two legs to make a pair of trousers and two arms to make a sweater complete, we need the strength of both liberals and conservatives empowered to make this country strong enough to survive.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

To all of you wonderful people who took the time to email and call your representatives regarding this BS bailout I salute you. This was just a small victory for the common man but it felt great. It’s far from over and I suspect Pelosi and Reid are planning a Thursday surprise for us all. The Dems can do this all by themselves if they can swing a few votes in their own party to their side. They will dress this up to look different but don’t you believe it, Pelosi has had her ego stuffed and won’t sit still for it again.

What can we do? Just keep the pressure up at full throttle for the next few days. The more calls the better and don’t forget emails. These guys live by the polls and when they see a threat of angry voters they panic. Lets make the vote even higher against this Diva with an attitude on Thursday. This bailout is a bad idea for America and is being shoved down our throats by those who would like to see more government controls of our lives. The world won’t come to an end when this plan fails but it will struggle for decades if it succeeds. You don’t have to stop with one call, call all the representatives and make your voice heard. This is the only power we have and we need to use it or lose it.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

My Dear Nancy,

Had you refrained from partisanship for just once you could have had your bill and ate it too. Like the Antoinette of the French Revolution you chose the “let them eat cake” speech just before the vote. Your mean and partisan demeanor has handed this unsuspected gift to the American people. You see dear Nancy; most of us feel this is a move towards more government control of our lives. Socialism is not the American way in spite of how you may hide it, it is still socialism. You and your chosen few have shown us that you have little or no regard for our feelings or our sentiments. Always blaming others is a trait that shows in so many of our politician’s inability to accept responsibility for anything. It carries over to many of our youth of today; you can see it in their lack of respect for anything with traditional values.

You shout change on every corner and yet you fail to understand that the change most people want is not more government but more responsibility from government. A government that listens to its people and then acts accordingly. A government that holds itself responsible for caring out the will of the people. No one that I know was born believing it was the governments job to feed and clothe them or that it is the governments job to educate and provide free medical. You see most of the people I know work hard for their money and have made these arrangements for themselves. Their idea of a great medical program would be to make it more affordable to employers so more of their employees could be covered. A federal insurance program rather than a federal handout.

Most of the people I know believe in a welfare program that allows people a chance to recover not one that builds dependency on the government. Your friends keep giving us one that takes control of peoples lives. You and your friends tell us that we can’t drill for oil because of the environment. My friends think you should consider our environment it seems to be bordered in all directions with $4 per gallon gas. You blame the administration and all the republicans for all the wrongs in the world yet most of them came about since you took control of the House. We’re not stupid Nancy we know that both sides have a lot to explain and we will show our displeasure as terms end and elections come forth. Stop the partisanship now before it’s too late for America, my grandkids deserve to know and love this country as I have. Don’t spoil what so many have sacrificed to build just to satisfy your personal ego.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

As I write this letter I am enjoying the fact that our Congress has mustered up enough cahonies to pass, on the 700 Billion dollar bailout. Had Bush, Cox, Pelosi, Franks and Reid had their way our free enterprise system that has sustained us for 200 plus years would have been destroyed. America is not a socialist state, we have thrived for all these years through free enterprise and hard work. Ever so slowly we have been grinding our system to a halt through Federally mandated giveaways. It’s time for all hard working Americans to stand up and be heard. Enough of the bailouts, enough of the far left socialism that has crept into our house and senate. It’s time to wash our hands with the entire bunch. Term limits and a strict law against Pork Belly politics is needed. Fannie Mae and “Freddie Mac should be placed in receivership and liquidated where needed and reduced in scope to fit the times. No more high dollar golden parachutes for inept managers. Recovery should be made from the monies paid out to various politicians and former directors. Running a business into the ground is not a cause to reward management.

How do we fix this problem? Not being an economist I can only offer commonsense solutions that will reduce our exposure. I would suggest that we insure these mortgages through our existing FHA program there-by covering these mortgage losses only when they occur and not assuming that every one of them will fail. Only a percentage of each of these loans should be covered by this insurance the remainder at the risk of the mortgage holders. The individual companies that hold these mortgages should do their utmost to work with the property owners to avoid default. They could do this by renegotiating interest rates and offering extended terms. A special tax compensation could be offered those that actually do so.

I would like to see a program of oversight that has some teeth to it. The officer in charge of oversight should be somewhat responsible for its failure. The growth and expense of Fannie Mae should have signaled some type of alarms in the house and senate. Instead the politicians stood in line to get their share of the free money. Anytime you have a government program that gets large enough to give money away in such large amounts you must know you have a bad situation about to happen.

This whole thing reminds me of the congressional retirement program. Work for 4 or 6years and be able to retire in the lifestyle of a millionaire is just as ridiculous. This should be looked into by outside the government controllers who represent the people of the United States not by any self interest organization. How can we the people who hired them be forced to scrimp and save for retirement and those who supposedly work for us be allowed to form such outlandish elitist program for themselves?

The time is now, the time is right to demand an end to this illegal squandering of our assets. We need people who intend to work in our behalf not against us.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

When a person writes a blog and tries to offer commonsense ideas, they do so in the hope that someone is willing to listen and hopefully understand what they are saying. I surely don’t expect everyone to agree with what I have to say and that’s the point of writing a blog. Preaching to the Choir is self satisfying but does little in the way of communicating ideas and solutions. If everyone thought the same way there would be little in this world besides boredom.

I have tried to stay as open minded as possible and that is hard for and old conservative. The fact that I wish to share what I have learned over the years through the experience of being a national sales manager and having owned several business’ over the years, now semi retired in Northern Nevada. I say Semi with a smile as I spend every day at the office and according to my wife that doesn’t qualify as semi. I can remember back as a young man starting out in Seattle, Washington I was befriended by an older gentlemen who owned a very successful business in town. He taught me so much in a few short years and I never even realized I was learning. I thought he was a nice old guy and I politely listened to what he had to say but it never occurred to me that I was really absorbing his wisdom. Now as I use so much of what he said in my day to day business dealings I feel so guilty that I never really appreciated what a great friend he was.

I try everyday to pass along some of the things that took me years to learn in the hope that others will have a shortcut to the same end. Whether you are in business, politics, community service or just a active member in your community always try to treat others with the same consideration you expect. I find myself getting very motivated at times even angry and I have to stop and remember those words. In case you didn’t recognize them they a part of what is known as the Golden Rules. In fact Plato stated something similar; Plato: "May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me." (Greece; 4th century.) So you can see it’s been around for quite a while and has been very successfully used in democracies throughout the years. I know the progressive movement really doesn’t understand or appreciate these wisdom’s but the progressives won’t have the ability to last for centuries anyway. You have to have some type of faith to glue a lasting society together, words don’t do it it’s a feeling of shared understanding and it starts when a child learns the Golden Rules of life.

When it comes to what has shaped my political beliefs I can only say that I started out as a Democrat in the days when Democrats were the party of the people. Roosevelt, Truman and John F Kennedy were the very last of a proud breed of Dems. The party has shifted so far to the left even JFK would be shocked. There have been Presidents who inspire with their leadership and lead with example, there are also Presidents who have left us with nothing. The Presidents that I considered leaders in my lifetime are; Roosevelt, Eisenhower, JFK, and Reagan. The others simply filled in until someone better came along. I feel the Republicans have moved too far to the right and the Democrats too far to the left so I became an Independent. I do not want a Socialist Society taking over America but that seems to be what is happening. I think we desperately are in need of someone who can go across party lines to accomplish what is needed for our country and I am there-by choosing McCain for my presidential choice. The fact that he has chosen someone who is more like a Reagan in her beliefs has inspired me even more. I know that most everyone has their minds made up when it comes to who should be president but hopefully each of us will vote for the people that most represent our own beliefs and be willing to live with the choice of the American people.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

After much thought and personal deliberation I have what I feel is the solution to the financial crisis. If you could squeeze all the gray matter from the Senate and House into one big brain, add the Executive branch and a touch of Justice shaken not stirred you might just get a great martini. If you want to accomplish anything at all get a group of real business owners who put their fortune on the line every day just to stay solvent in a back room at the White house and in less than a day you will get a plan of action. It is not the fault of the American people that these companies and financial institutions were badly managed and not properly controlled by the various oversight committees who were charged with their care. The American system of government was never intended to be in the business of using taxpayer monies to assist troubled business’. We have in this country bankruptcy laws which have been designed to see business’ through difficult and tumultuous periods. I would dare say these are the very times they were thinking of when they wrote these laws.

We hear the President say that if we don’t bail out the banking and financial industry everything will come to an end as we know it. I agree whole-heartedly with that statement but I really disagree that it would be bad for the country. Sure a few of us will pay the price with our 401k’s and stock portfolio for a short period and it may become harder to obtain loans but I feel in the long run confidence will return and the market will re-establish itself stronger than ever. The very idea that we should saddle our future generations with this obscene debt Is astounding to me. Lets face it, Fannie mae and Freddie Mac were nothing but money machines for a chosen few politicians and elitists. The greed that has permeated through-out Washington and in the financial districts of the world at our expense is dangling dangerously over the precipice of the mountain. We can swiftly cut the rope and kill it once and for all or pull it back and feed it at our expense the rest of our lives. By printing money we really don’t have to feed this giant debt we will create a nightmare scenario of inflation and insecurity.

These organizations have some assets, they should be liquidated where necessary and the revenue used to downsize their debt structure to a manageable level to survive or be terminated mercifully. The so called big winners who ran these institutions into the ground and moved on to new and exciting positions with millions in their pockets should be held accountable and ordered to repay much of their ill gotten gains back. I know that we are being told that we can’t survive this crash, I disagree, I don’t think we can survive this so called cure.

If the President and Congress really want to put this country on the right track they need to spend this cozy time trying to solve the energy crisis and return us to a self sufficient non global economy. We need jobs for middle Americans not just for the fast talking financial wizards who created this mess.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

This has been quite a week with the crashing of the financial institutions that we have come to depend on. We actually have just witnessed the beginning of a new and exciting era in banking. For years now our economy has been run on what I would call cash flow principles not on value. Our banks have made ridiculous loans on insufficient values to poor credit risks with little or no ability to pay them back. To make things worse we have had little or no effort from our oversight committees in government to regulate these loans. In fact just the opposite has happened, we have had organizations like Fannie Mae guaranty these loans making millions for the people who ran them all the while knowing that when the economy took a down turn there would be hell to pay.

Now comes the good part, we the taxpayer will once again be called upon to bail these institutions out. To the tune of over $700,000,000,000.00, that’s seven hundred billion dollars. It is incomprehensible to me that we should be forced to bail out a company or companies who were left to fend for themselves with poor managers due to political appointments and bad decisions. Who is going to bail out my company when economic forces beyond my control cause it to collapse. This is especially caustic to me when I learn that the former head of Fannie Mae took away over $90,000,000.00 in just 6 years of work. THAT’S NINETY MILLION DOLLARS FOLKS. The head of Freddie Mac was also the recipient of millions during his tenure. Man, am I in the wrong business.

Enough blame and believe me there is plenty to go around in both political party’s. Now it’s time to stop the partisan politics, roll up our sleeves and find a cure for what ails us. We can go after these sleaze balls later and bring them to justice for their incompetence. I don’t really see a way around this so called bailout at this juncture, I believe though that we should demand as taxpayers a fair share of future revenues derived from these institutions. In other words we should earn hefty dividends that would be applied to our taxes for as long as these companies exist. A salary cap should be put on any government funded institution so that these type of financial rapists never get control of our money again.

The bailout alone will not be enough to bring us the robust economy required to pull us out of a potential recession. We must take some very strong moves at the highest level to bring about growth. We need to divorce ourselves with the global economy by dropping all efforts toward N.A.F.T.A.. We need to stop all sales of our natural gas and oil outside our borders. We need to stop importing foreign oil immediately supplementing this loss in the beginning with the release of half of our strategic oil reserves and immediately diverting all of our domestic production for our own use. This will stop at once the wealth transfer of Trillions of dollars to overseas markets. This is only step one in our recovery process. Step two is to bring jobs back to the U.S.A. by offering tax incentives to manufacturing business’s that are willing to locate in hard hit areas of the country. Step three is getting large U.S. corporations to retool with American made machinery by giving them tax incentives to do so. Step four is for us. By offering the American Taxpayer the opportunity to make a major purchase over the next 12 months of up to $50,000 with the ability to write it off against our taxes over a two or three year period will jump start this economic recovery at once.

We need to work towards the development of any and all alternative fuels and do so without destroying the stability of our food supply as we have with the production of corn based fuels. Recycled vegetable oils, wind, solar, nuclear and of course natural gas are just a few we can tap. That’s my ideas what are yours? This country needs input from all sources if we are to survive.

And that’s my opinion,
Don

Is it just me or has the world gone mad? Being a child of the 40’s and 50’s it is very hard for me to understand what has happened to our morals and our expectations. We have open sex on TV and the magazines at the checkout counter for all to see are full of lies and innuendo. Much of our populace stands in line for free handouts, many even when they are healthy and fit for work. We feel we have the right to free education and medicine. Many openly detest the military that protects them and keeps them free. We have athletes who are paid millions of dollars who have come through our education system and can’t even speak correct English or spell the simplest of words. We have people who have run our nations financial institutions into the ground leaving them broke and in need of bailout who are still paid in the millions. We have politicians who no longer represent the people who have sent them to congress, who would stand in the way of countries progress rather than help the opposition political party succeed for the good of the country. We have political commercials on both sides that outright lie about their opponents record. I can go on and on but it is too disgusting to think about.

What should we do about this situation? Should we just elect the lessor of two evils and go on with life or should we finally come to the realization that our entire system is broken and needs to be repaired. I have heard many my age mumble under their breath that they wish we could throw the entire Congress, Executive branch and Supreme Court out into the street and start over. What we have here is a failure to communicate. What I mean by that is that the so called leaders of this country have been so corrupted by power that they no longer feel the need to listen to the public who put them in office. How do we get back the control of our country and put into the hands it belongs to, "We The People?"

What would it take to get their attention and make them refocus their efforts to the good of the United States of America? What would a general strike do where many who were able, took a day off calling for real change and openly challenged our elected officials to explain their accomplishments on our behalf.

What if we called on all the newspapers across the land to publish truthfully the record of each representative and the amount of pork they were responsible for of our hard earned tax money being spent foolishly. What if we openly demanded term limits of no more than two terms and called for the resignation of any third term Congressman or Senator. We don’t need professional politicians in this country, we need every day citizens who know how hard it is to survive raising a family and paying for the day to day expenses of life. We need to strike out the ridiculous retirement program congress has dictated for themselves and put them into the Social Security program like the rest of us. We need our representatives to reflect our values not those of the elite. I am not advocating a revolution like that of 1776 but simply a revolution of wills. Our will as a people against all that has become corrupt and self-serving.

And that’s my opinion,

Don