Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
- Thread starter GasBandit
- Start date
There's "conspiring" and then there's "conspiracy." One is just a few people working toward a goal, and fits the dictionary. But that's not what you were inferring. You were inferring "Conspiracy Theory," IE, trying to conjure up the image of tinfoil hats, digging through garbage, masonic rituals, fiendish fluoridators and otherwise dismiss an otherwise valid question as being based on paranoid insanity.[/QUOTE]
I didn't infer anything. You inferred. I simply told you what definition I was going by. No matter how often you try to say "That is what you mean", it doesn't change what I meant or said.
Your assumptions (and numbers) are a bit off, GB. Link goes to an article by one of the perpetrators of the Crazy Eddie scam, which he discloses, but his analysis of the suit includes actual text from the suit, with links provided, plus the GS press release.
First and foremost, GS isn't being charged because they made money. They're being charged because they failed to disclose key information about the risk in the product and the behavior of the product owner. The SEC believes that GS had that info in the first place because the product owner created the product with GS' help in the first place, along with whatever other evidence they think they have. Whether they made money off the transaction is somewhat irrelevant, because that's not what they've been charged with.
Second, GS own reported loss in this is in the realm $75 million, not billion. They lost $90 million themselves, and collected a $15 million fee from the product owner. The 3rd-party investors lost $1bn. GS claims that they fully carried out their due-diligence and that investors were aware of everything that GS was.
Now, who's telling the truth about the disclosure matter, and who is or isn't responsible, will be determined in court, naturally.
First and foremost, GS isn't being charged because they made money. They're being charged because they failed to disclose key information about the risk in the product and the behavior of the product owner. The SEC believes that GS had that info in the first place because the product owner created the product with GS' help in the first place, along with whatever other evidence they think they have. Whether they made money off the transaction is somewhat irrelevant, because that's not what they've been charged with.
Second, GS own reported loss in this is in the realm $75 million, not billion. They lost $90 million themselves, and collected a $15 million fee from the product owner. The 3rd-party investors lost $1bn. GS claims that they fully carried out their due-diligence and that investors were aware of everything that GS was.
Now, who's telling the truth about the disclosure matter, and who is or isn't responsible, will be determined in court, naturally.
There's "conspiring" and then there's "conspiracy." One is just a few people working toward a goal, and fits the dictionary. But that's not what you were inferring. You were inferring "Conspiracy Theory," IE, trying to conjure up the image of tinfoil hats, digging through garbage, masonic rituals, fiendish fluoridators and otherwise dismiss an otherwise valid question as being based on paranoid insanity.[/QUOTE]
I didn't infer anything. You inferred. I simply told you what definition I was going by. No matter how often you try to say "That is what you mean", it doesn't change what I meant or said.[/QUOTE]
I agree. Correct term is that you implied. Of course according to Dictionary.com you could also have inferred, as common usage has pretty much made them synonyms.
GasBandit
Staff member
The part where it got interesting to me was when the SEC stopped returning GS's calls until the lawsuit was filed. And from what I hear, some people are saying the SEC's case vis a vis disclosure is rather shaky and is likely to be handled outside of court... so it started to sound to me like they didn't care if they actually pushed the lawsuit through to completion so much as they cared about giving Obama a headline to use as a talking point for pushing "wall street reform."
The part where it got interesting to me was when the SEC stopped returning GS's calls until the lawsuit was filed. [/quote]
I think it's fairly clear. They put GS off-balance on the weekend, reduces the possibility of anyone at GS doing a runner before the official charge, and they get PR to help shore up their image. The last one is obvious political pandering, but it doesn't invalidate the first two. Hat Trick with a bit of smudge on it.
I'm sure some people are. Again, that's for the court to decide. The entire case is about disclosure. There's no vis-a-vis here, unless the Justice Department chooses to get involved.
Not withstanding that, thus far, they've filed suit and put one of their supposed "top" investigators on it, you mean.
Quite possibly, but has nothing to do with the case itself. Not to mention, it's not like there wasn't anything to talk about re: wall street reform before the suit.
GasBandit
Staff member
It's not like there wasn't anything to talk about re: health care cost reform either, but what needed talking about is not what got addressed by "Health care reform." That Chris "Countrywide" Dodd is leading the charge here is indicative of just how far through the looking glass we are.
GasBandit
Staff member
Sorry, what I was trying to say was, the timing was more than coincidental than the manifestation of the case itself. Felt orchestrated.
Sorry, what I was trying to say was, the timing was more than coincidental than the manifestation of the case itself. Felt orchestrated.[/QUOTE]
Of course it's orchestrated. Why do you think they served it on a Friday? Again, "good news for Obama" may have, in fact, been one of the motivators on the timing, but it still has nothing to do with the validity of the case.
This could very well be a political hatchet job. I mentioned as much before that I think it's more for the SEC's benefit as a credible enforcer than anyone else, but so what? If the SEC investigators believe that they have evidence they're willing to go to court with, that's kind of what they're supposed to do.
GasBandit
Staff member
Here's a decent bullet-point breakdown of Dodd's financial reform bill.
Did you know that back in December, John McCain proposed reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act? Obviously no action on that .. because it wasn't on the Democrat time-table.
Speaking of the Glass-Steagall Act ... some (like this article from Cato) are proposing a breakup of the banks (similar to Glass-Steagall).
These two articles from Heritage do a great job of explaining things: Obama Now Pushing Sneaky Wall Street Bailout and The "Comprehensive" Problem with Derivatives Regulation.
This is from the White House: Wall Street's Talking Points, Now Available in Memo Form
Just one question ... where is Freddie and Fannie in any of this talk on financial reform? Answer: it isn't.
People are losing faith in government. Golly, ya think? I would hope so.
Is Goldman Obama's Enron? No, it's worse.
To VAT or not to VAT .. that is the question that the White House economic advisor fails to answer six different times in one TV appearance.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has pulled a bill that was supposed to come to the House floor this week to give DC a voting member in the House of Representatives.
You'll enjoy this op-ed in the Washington Post: The Tea Party: Populism of the privileged.
Senate Democrats have been unable to find a GOP co-sponsor of highly anticipated campaign finance reform legislation.
Hispanics are pushing hard for immigration reform. Won't happen in an election year.
An employee in the UK got $150,000 from a discrimination case. The discrimination? His views on the environment and his belief in global warming, which he claimed were on par with religious beliefs.
This is why you shouldn't send money to UN-run relief efforts and charities. Like Unicef, too.
Did you know that back in December, John McCain proposed reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act? Obviously no action on that .. because it wasn't on the Democrat time-table.
Speaking of the Glass-Steagall Act ... some (like this article from Cato) are proposing a breakup of the banks (similar to Glass-Steagall).
These two articles from Heritage do a great job of explaining things: Obama Now Pushing Sneaky Wall Street Bailout and The "Comprehensive" Problem with Derivatives Regulation.
This is from the White House: Wall Street's Talking Points, Now Available in Memo Form
Just one question ... where is Freddie and Fannie in any of this talk on financial reform? Answer: it isn't.
People are losing faith in government. Golly, ya think? I would hope so.
Is Goldman Obama's Enron? No, it's worse.
To VAT or not to VAT .. that is the question that the White House economic advisor fails to answer six different times in one TV appearance.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has pulled a bill that was supposed to come to the House floor this week to give DC a voting member in the House of Representatives.
You'll enjoy this op-ed in the Washington Post: The Tea Party: Populism of the privileged.
Senate Democrats have been unable to find a GOP co-sponsor of highly anticipated campaign finance reform legislation.
Hispanics are pushing hard for immigration reform. Won't happen in an election year.
An employee in the UK got $150,000 from a discrimination case. The discrimination? His views on the environment and his belief in global warming, which he claimed were on par with religious beliefs.
This is why you shouldn't send money to UN-run relief efforts and charities. Like Unicef, too.
GasBandit
Staff member
Happy earth day, everybody! Let's have some quotes from Earth Day, 1970:
"We have about five more years at the outside to do something." - Kenneth Watt, ecologist
"Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind." - George Wald, Harvard Biologist
"We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation." - Barry Commoner, Washington University biologist
"Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction." - New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day
"Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years." - Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
"By...[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s." - Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
"It is already too late to avoid mass starvation." - Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day
"Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions....By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine." - Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University
"Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support...the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution...by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half...." - Life Magazine, January 1970
"At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it's only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable." - Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
"Air pollution...is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone." - Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
"We are prospecting for the very last of our resources and using up the nonrenewable things many times faster than we are finding new ones." - Martin Litton, Sierra Club director
"By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate...that there won't be any more crude oil. You'll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill 'er up, buddy,' and he'll say, `I am very sorry, there isn't any.'" - Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
"Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct." - Sen. Gaylord Nelson
"The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age." - Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
Now for your regularly scheduled links.
A bill that will supposedly be introduced next week in the form of two separate amendments is The Safe Banking Act of 2010. This is essentially the "too big to fail" bill. It would mandate caps on leverage and size of financial institutions, forcing the breakup of mega-banks. The caps would limit the total assets of any financial institution to 3% of GDP and 2% of GDP for banks. To give you an idea of how drastic a cut we are talking, the six largest banks in the US currently have holding that equal 63% of GDP. I find this a very interesting idea, actually. I've long stated that it's my opinion that the only true and proper role of government is to ensure competition, and breaking the big banks into scores of little banks would be a big step toward that. I just wonder if 2% is too drastic a cut.. maybe start with 5%? But even moreso, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts..." there's not a single piece of major legislation that the democrats have put forward since obama took office that hasn't been crammed full of secret "gotchas" or so-called "unintended" consequences... and with the speed they're trying to ram all these "wall street reform" bills through, I really have to wonder what they're trying to hide in there that they don't want us to see until after it is passed.
Barack Obama is speaking in New York City today about Wall Street reform. Some New Yorkers aren't too happy about this. New York City Mayor Bloomberg says "The bashing of Wall Street is something that should worry everybody."
The testimony of a former Paulson & Co official could undercut the SEC's fraud case against Goldman Sachs. Could Goldman Sachs end up coming out ahead after all this?
It's hard to argue that our looming budget problems derive from 'too little taxes' when by any historical standard taxes will rise to record levels even before the fiscal gap is addressed.
There is no such thing as liberty, if we apply Bill Clinton's latest logic on the potential violence of the tea parties.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is giving the teachers unions hell right now. If you are going to send death threats, at least bother to spell things correctly. Especially if you are a government school teacher.
A House candidate in Massachusetts declared The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate to be a giant waste of taxpayer money.
An eminent domain battle is brewing in Auburn, New York. We haven't been doing too well on that front lately.
The number of sex change operations carried out on the taxpayer dime by the NHS has almost tripled in the last eight years since sex changes became a "right" in the UK.
Should the Oregon middle school teacher who created the "Crash the Tea Party" website be fired? Tea Partiers say no.
Uh oh, looks like a scandal brewing in Florida politics.
"We have about five more years at the outside to do something." - Kenneth Watt, ecologist
"Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind." - George Wald, Harvard Biologist
"We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation." - Barry Commoner, Washington University biologist
"Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction." - New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day
"Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years." - Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
"By...[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s." - Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
"It is already too late to avoid mass starvation." - Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day
"Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions....By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine." - Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University
"Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support...the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution...by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half...." - Life Magazine, January 1970
"At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it's only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable." - Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
"Air pollution...is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone." - Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
"We are prospecting for the very last of our resources and using up the nonrenewable things many times faster than we are finding new ones." - Martin Litton, Sierra Club director
"By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate...that there won't be any more crude oil. You'll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill 'er up, buddy,' and he'll say, `I am very sorry, there isn't any.'" - Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
"Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct." - Sen. Gaylord Nelson
"The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age." - Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
Now for your regularly scheduled links.
A bill that will supposedly be introduced next week in the form of two separate amendments is The Safe Banking Act of 2010. This is essentially the "too big to fail" bill. It would mandate caps on leverage and size of financial institutions, forcing the breakup of mega-banks. The caps would limit the total assets of any financial institution to 3% of GDP and 2% of GDP for banks. To give you an idea of how drastic a cut we are talking, the six largest banks in the US currently have holding that equal 63% of GDP. I find this a very interesting idea, actually. I've long stated that it's my opinion that the only true and proper role of government is to ensure competition, and breaking the big banks into scores of little banks would be a big step toward that. I just wonder if 2% is too drastic a cut.. maybe start with 5%? But even moreso, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts..." there's not a single piece of major legislation that the democrats have put forward since obama took office that hasn't been crammed full of secret "gotchas" or so-called "unintended" consequences... and with the speed they're trying to ram all these "wall street reform" bills through, I really have to wonder what they're trying to hide in there that they don't want us to see until after it is passed.
Barack Obama is speaking in New York City today about Wall Street reform. Some New Yorkers aren't too happy about this. New York City Mayor Bloomberg says "The bashing of Wall Street is something that should worry everybody."
The testimony of a former Paulson & Co official could undercut the SEC's fraud case against Goldman Sachs. Could Goldman Sachs end up coming out ahead after all this?
It's hard to argue that our looming budget problems derive from 'too little taxes' when by any historical standard taxes will rise to record levels even before the fiscal gap is addressed.
There is no such thing as liberty, if we apply Bill Clinton's latest logic on the potential violence of the tea parties.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is giving the teachers unions hell right now. If you are going to send death threats, at least bother to spell things correctly. Especially if you are a government school teacher.
A House candidate in Massachusetts declared The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate to be a giant waste of taxpayer money.
An eminent domain battle is brewing in Auburn, New York. We haven't been doing too well on that front lately.
The number of sex change operations carried out on the taxpayer dime by the NHS has almost tripled in the last eight years since sex changes became a "right" in the UK.
Should the Oregon middle school teacher who created the "Crash the Tea Party" website be fired? Tea Partiers say no.
Uh oh, looks like a scandal brewing in Florida politics.
K
Kitty Sinatra
Lets go back to using CFC in everything.
GasBandit
Staff member
Chlorofluorocarbons are one of the most mistreated substances of the last 30 years. Scientists can't even agree how the ozone layer replenishes itself (they used to say solar winds rebuilt it, then later they changed to say solar winds damaged it), and the hole in the ozone layer over antarctica has been opening and closing itself of its own volition for as long as we've been able to measure it.
Meanwhile, we all have to run our air conditioners twice as hard because you can't get real freon any more (the kind with CFCs), making them much less efficient, causing a much bigger drain on our energy and spurring ever more consumption of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, putting REAL pollution into the atmosphere. There's that law of unintended consequences again.
GasBandit
Staff member
Rahm, I guess you're going to claim that was your chair squeaking?
It's not just Arizona any more - Georgia's getting into the act.
There are a growing number of companies in this country that exist solely to help homeowners walk away from their mortgages.
The actor who does did the voice for the GEICO commercials was sacked this week for leaving a message on a Tea Party organization voicemail, referring to Tea Party members as "mentally retarded killers."
Mexico may end up benefiting big time from our healthcare system in the US. While conditions may not be up to US standards, Americans can seek treatment in Mexico for a fraction of the cost .. and that will only continue to rise thanks to ObamaCare. As baby boomers retire and more doctors are needed but in short supply (again, thanks to ObamaCare) many may turn to Mexico. So what's the logical next step? Medicare reimbursement in Mexico. No this is not a joke, this is a serious consideration that Mexican President Felipe Calderon is expected to bring up to Barack Obama when the two meet next month.
Before you go any further, stop to watch this quick video of a teacher's union protest in Illinois. These teachers are protesting to increase taxes. Note the teacher in the video, "Where's the money? Hand over the cash!" Unbelievable. You wanna be outraged? Read about how impossible it is to fire bad teachers who are protected by teachers unions.
ObamaCare is already facing an expenditure shortfall. Take a listen to this testimony from our own Health and Human Services Secretary who can't even tell us how much these "high risk pools" are going to cost.
Tim Geithner says that Obama does not support the value-added tax.
The AP reports that millions of Americans will face a tax increase under ObamaCare. Where was the reporting before the bill was passed?
The latest on the Golman Sachs debacle .. the CEO has visited the Obama White House at least four times.
How do you determine what is "too big to fail"? Turns out it is easier said than done.
The latest column from George Will about New Jersey's new governor.
Greece's debt may be even worse than originally thought.
A new report shows that Tea Party rallies are more peaceful that anti-war protests.
MSNBC had a series they were running called "America the Angry." Looks like it was cut short because the anchor had the gonads to call out Keith Olbermann.
It's not just Arizona any more - Georgia's getting into the act.
There are a growing number of companies in this country that exist solely to help homeowners walk away from their mortgages.
The actor who does did the voice for the GEICO commercials was sacked this week for leaving a message on a Tea Party organization voicemail, referring to Tea Party members as "mentally retarded killers."
Mexico may end up benefiting big time from our healthcare system in the US. While conditions may not be up to US standards, Americans can seek treatment in Mexico for a fraction of the cost .. and that will only continue to rise thanks to ObamaCare. As baby boomers retire and more doctors are needed but in short supply (again, thanks to ObamaCare) many may turn to Mexico. So what's the logical next step? Medicare reimbursement in Mexico. No this is not a joke, this is a serious consideration that Mexican President Felipe Calderon is expected to bring up to Barack Obama when the two meet next month.
Before you go any further, stop to watch this quick video of a teacher's union protest in Illinois. These teachers are protesting to increase taxes. Note the teacher in the video, "Where's the money? Hand over the cash!" Unbelievable. You wanna be outraged? Read about how impossible it is to fire bad teachers who are protected by teachers unions.
ObamaCare is already facing an expenditure shortfall. Take a listen to this testimony from our own Health and Human Services Secretary who can't even tell us how much these "high risk pools" are going to cost.
Tim Geithner says that Obama does not support the value-added tax.
The AP reports that millions of Americans will face a tax increase under ObamaCare. Where was the reporting before the bill was passed?
The latest on the Golman Sachs debacle .. the CEO has visited the Obama White House at least four times.
How do you determine what is "too big to fail"? Turns out it is easier said than done.
The latest column from George Will about New Jersey's new governor.
Greece's debt may be even worse than originally thought.
A new report shows that Tea Party rallies are more peaceful that anti-war protests.
MSNBC had a series they were running called "America the Angry." Looks like it was cut short because the anchor had the gonads to call out Keith Olbermann.
And thus the horrors of unchecked Capitalism are revealed: If there is a market niche not being filled (in this case, people wanting to escape the bad investments brought on them by unethical banks and traders), companies will form to fill it, no matter what effects this has on other markets. What these people are doing is completely legal and hardly unethical, and they are doing it to people who should have known better than to trade with them. Chalk it up to experience with the realities of a free market system and move on.
GasBandit
Staff member
John McCain said that if Obama doesn't like Arizona's new immigration law, Obama should dispatch National Guards to the patrol the border.
Take a look at the protests that took place over the weekend. Protestors became violent, throwing water bottles at police. One student leaders justifies the action saying, "this is youth and they are really upset."
Every once in a while you just stumble onto an incredible column. This is one.
Obama's debt panel is meeting this week and tax increases (probably the VAT) is on the table.
The government is essentially using a Ponzi scheme to prop up its unsustainable level of debt and spending. Eventually that must come to an end, and it may not be pretty.
The connection between Rod Blagojavich and Barack Obama continues to unfold.
Established Democrats are facing something unusual this election season: real competition.
Only hours after the Florida House and Senate voted to"opt out" of the new federal health law, federal health officials said that will not be permitted.
ObamaCare has big surprises for the uninsured, according to the Heritage Foundation.
Here are three different approaches to the 'too big to fail' problem.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R) has thrown in the towel on bipartisan climate change reform after Democrats decided to make immigration reform a priority.
Newsweek says this issue with Goldman Sachs seems to be guided by emotion more than fact.
A Seattle cartoonist has launched "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" in response to Comedy Central's recent censuring of a South Park episode.
Government education at work ...
Take a look at the protests that took place over the weekend. Protestors became violent, throwing water bottles at police. One student leaders justifies the action saying, "this is youth and they are really upset."
Every once in a while you just stumble onto an incredible column. This is one.
Obama's debt panel is meeting this week and tax increases (probably the VAT) is on the table.
The government is essentially using a Ponzi scheme to prop up its unsustainable level of debt and spending. Eventually that must come to an end, and it may not be pretty.
The connection between Rod Blagojavich and Barack Obama continues to unfold.
Established Democrats are facing something unusual this election season: real competition.
Only hours after the Florida House and Senate voted to"opt out" of the new federal health law, federal health officials said that will not be permitted.
ObamaCare has big surprises for the uninsured, according to the Heritage Foundation.
Here are three different approaches to the 'too big to fail' problem.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R) has thrown in the towel on bipartisan climate change reform after Democrats decided to make immigration reform a priority.
Newsweek says this issue with Goldman Sachs seems to be guided by emotion more than fact.
A Seattle cartoonist has launched "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" in response to Comedy Central's recent censuring of a South Park episode.
Government education at work ...
I like that one. Many won't, but I certainly do. Aligns very close to my own beliefs.
K
Kitty Sinatra
I don't. It was the Ayn Rand quotes.
I don't. It was the Ayn Rand quotes.[/QUOTE]
Well I gotta be honest here man, until they replaced those "E.T." quotes with the current ones the article just didn't make sense.
GasBandit
Staff member
A great column (aren't they all?) from Thomas Sowell. "Misusing History."
The Cato Institute highlights a costly IRS mandate that was slipped into ObamaCare.
Weren't we promised that reform of Fannie and Freddie would be included in financial reform? Seems the Democrats must have skipped that part. Or maybe they are just waiting to pass the bill before we find out what's in it. Not sure. If we want to avert another crisis like this one ... we need to reform the Fed, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.
Looks like Obama's Assistant Secretary of Energy is going to profit big time from any cap-and-trade legislation.
Frustrated with taxation, more Americans are giving up their citizenship and moving overseas.
The value-added tax is up for consideration by Obama's debt commission.
A Colorado Democrat says Arizona is on its way to becoming a "police state" and its new immigration law is "reminiscent" of Nazi Germany.
Leading up to the elections in November, can Democrats win by losing on climate AND immigration?
Economists believe that the economic stimulus plan didn't help our economy recover.
Incumbents are struggling to keep their jobs. I love it.
Why is Justice Department refusing to allow its career attorneys to testify before civil rights commission?
Andrew Breitbart is still waiting for someone to claim his $100,000 if someone can produce a video or audio of protesters hurling racial slurs at members of congress.
The Cato Institute highlights a costly IRS mandate that was slipped into ObamaCare.
Weren't we promised that reform of Fannie and Freddie would be included in financial reform? Seems the Democrats must have skipped that part. Or maybe they are just waiting to pass the bill before we find out what's in it. Not sure. If we want to avert another crisis like this one ... we need to reform the Fed, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.
Looks like Obama's Assistant Secretary of Energy is going to profit big time from any cap-and-trade legislation.
Frustrated with taxation, more Americans are giving up their citizenship and moving overseas.
The value-added tax is up for consideration by Obama's debt commission.
A Colorado Democrat says Arizona is on its way to becoming a "police state" and its new immigration law is "reminiscent" of Nazi Germany.
Leading up to the elections in November, can Democrats win by losing on climate AND immigration?
Economists believe that the economic stimulus plan didn't help our economy recover.
Incumbents are struggling to keep their jobs. I love it.
Why is Justice Department refusing to allow its career attorneys to testify before civil rights commission?
Andrew Breitbart is still waiting for someone to claim his $100,000 if someone can produce a video or audio of protesters hurling racial slurs at members of congress.
Well damn. All I have heard about the Tea Party folks from people here and in the news is how vile and racist they were. I assumed they had something concrete to back that up.
J
JONJONAUG
How's this then?
Almost three fourths of Tea Party supporters agree with the statement "if blacks would just work harder they would be just as well off as whites". Only about a third agree with "gays and lesbians should be allowed to adopt". Over half have the "immigrants take jobs from real Americans" mentality.
K
Kitty Sinatra
I don't. It was the Ayn Rand quotes.[/QUOTE]
Well I gotta be honest here man, until they replaced those "E.T." quotes with the current ones the article just didn't make sense.[/QUOTE]
. . . it still doesn't make sense.
The dude goes off on some weird fantasy about doctors being forced to be doctors if healthcare is a right. Instead of quoting dreck, he should've been thinking about the real world. After all, we already have the right to the services of another professional, yet no one is forced to be a lawyer.
How's this then?
Almost three fourths of Tea Party supporters agree with the statement "if blacks would just work harder they would be just as well off as whites". Only about a third agree with "gays and lesbians should be allowed to adopt". Over half have the "immigrants take jobs from real Americans" mentality.[/QUOTE]
He's being super specific. It has to be video of racial slurs said directly at congressmen by tea party protesters. Because there is video evidence of homophobic slurs against Barney Frank, that is not included.
GasBandit
Staff member
I don't. It was the Ayn Rand quotes.[/QUOTE]
Well I gotta be honest here man, until they replaced those "E.T." quotes with the current ones the article just didn't make sense.[/QUOTE]
. . . it still doesn't make sense.
The dude goes off on some weird fantasy about doctors being forced to be doctors if healthcare is a right. Instead of quoting dreck, he should've been thinking about the real world. After all, we already have the right to the services of another professional, yet no one is forced to be a lawyer.[/QUOTE]
Well, I guess it's all cool then, so long as you're comfortable with health care quality on par with the quality of service you get from an overworked, stressed, disinterested public defender.
GasBandit
Staff member
Uh, yeah.
Check out this Barney Frank speech
that he gave on the House floor in 2005. Concern about a housing industry bubble? Nah, let's continue to expand home ownership!
One of the GOP's gubernatorial candidates was apparently, when he was a teacher, "in a relationship" with one of his 16 year old students... and is really creepy.
Some Democrats want the Obama administration to "reconsider" its plan to drill offshore in the Atlantic.
Victor Davis Hanson deconstructs the outrage over the Arizona immigration law.
Take a look at the reaction from Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) when asked about his commitment to sealing the borders.
Here's a concept: Illegal immigrants say they are planning to leave Arizona over this new illegal immigration law.
A column in the Washington Examiner: Rule of law is not for sale in America.
The Obama administration wants exemptions from Iran sanctions for companies based in "cooperating countries," inevitably exempting Chinese and Russian companies from penalties meant to discourage investment in Iran.
Voters don't want the VAT, but the politicians they voted for surely want it!
Maybe some of these union goons marching on Wall Street should take a look at the hypocrisy of their pension plan set-up.
You have a better chance of getting rich if you a) start your own business, b) play the lottery, or c) work for the federal government? If you guessed c - work for the federal government, then you would be correct!
The teachers unions in Buffalo, New York are mounting an attack against charter schools, claiming that they (the charter schools) fail to raise the quality of government education.
Do you have the right to privacy when you sign your name on a petition?
Here we go again. "If you vote for my opponent, he is going to take away your social security!" Every. Single. Election. In future elections, this will also get added in with "my opponent wants to take away your health care!" now.
I guess Arizona has suffered enough outrage that they've decided to set aside the bill that would require presidential candidates to show their birth certificates to get on the state's ballot.
The newest member state to be elected to the UN Commission on Women's Right? Iran!
ahahahahahahahaha
ahahahahahahahaha[/QUOTE]
Stay classy UN![/QUOTE]
They have the right to remain silent. Unless ordered to speak.
---------- Post added at 09:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------
and he did not spend a minute in jail. When will these Baptists, School Boards, Teacher Licensing Agencies, and the Republican Party learn that it is not OK for a Preacher/Teacher to sleep with underaged students/congregants.
They're probably just worried about losing the rubber rooms.
FYI, I think you slightly misread the article. It's not just the Buffalo chapter, it's the entire group saying it (their HQ is in Albany, for obvious reasons). "Montauk to Buffalo" is just supposed to mean "the entire state".
They're not wrong that the charter school system needs some reform, but it's sort of like Detroit complaining about Boston's violent crime rate. And using it as an excuse to get more federal money diverted to them.
In my opinion no. In fact if the signatures on a petition are not made public then the petition is meaningless. Also if you feel so strongly about a subject to sign a petition you should stand by your conviction and deal with what comes.
In my opinion no. In fact if the signatures on a petition are not made public then the petition is meaningless. Also if you feel so strongly about a subject to sign a petition you should stand by your conviction and deal with what comes.[/QUOTE]
I agree. If the signatures aren't verifiable in even a cursory, common-sense fashion, there's simply no reason for that petition to be considered legitimate. The whole point of public petitions as measures for getting referendums on the ballot is that the signatures be verifiable as individuals who could vote on the measure.
Otherwise you might as well make ballot decisions by counting the number of honks you get in support when holding a sign by the highway.
In my opinion no. In fact if the signatures on a petition are not made public then the petition is meaningless. Also if you feel so strongly about a subject to sign a petition you should stand by your conviction and deal with what comes.[/QUOTE]
I agree. If the signatures aren't verifiable in even a cursory, common-sense fashion, there's simply no reason for that petition to be considered legitimate. The whole point of public petitions as measures for getting referendums on the ballot is that the signatures be verifiable as individuals who could vote on the measure.
Otherwise you might as well make ballot decisions by counting the number of honks you get in support when holding a sign by the highway.[/QUOTE]
This one isn't so cut-n-dry to me. Think of it from another issue 40 years ago: what could have happened to supporters to repeal racism laws in the KKK-dominated areas? They have themselves a list of people to put a hit out on. Or whatever other issue you want, if it has strong feelings attached to it, there's usually people willing to do really stupid things, and at the least TRY to intimidate people.
I honestly don't know where I fall on this. I understand the need for government openness, but I also understand people not wanting to expose themselves to idiots either.