new Ad from the big three automakers

Fwd: Election night Pictures from around the world

Re: FW: The Election is not lost

I think issues such as abortion and homosexuality should be addressed in local communities and churches and not by passing laws at the federal level that try to restrict things that you can't restrict with laws. I don't think the federal government is helpful at increasing morals. People who want to shape their communities should be more involved with local and state governments, and we can reshape this country one community at a time, passing a law that says gays can't get married, or it is illegal to get an abortion won't stop those behaviors only make them criminal. We don't need a more of these kinds of criminals in jail, our jails are already overcrowded. If we have faith to move mountains then we can make changes without just passing some laws, that's lazy and non-effective. We do need smaller federal government. I don't think the people voting from Obama want a bigger government either... they may get it perhaps... he may be liberal, but I don't believe he is the 'enemy' or a terrorist. John McCain had praise for him at the Alfred E. Smith awards dinner. He is a competitor. It's dangerous to put everything into black and white I think... I think things are complex... A polarized world of everything must be good or evil makes people want to fight half the things they see instead of trying to love all the things they see.... maybe democrats *are* too huggy feel-good for everyone... I like that better than the fear-based tactics of the conservatives... there are real threats out there that need to be taken care of, but getting everybody into a fear-state is as bad in my opinion as getting everybody into a welfare-state! maybe that's the choice we have in 4 days... fear-state or welfare-state ;-)

Socialism and "Dead-Beats"

I think if Obama has any chance to win it's because apparently 50% of the people in the country are skeptical of the kind of capitalism we got going now... Even if Obama wants to just give money to deadbeats that don't work (I think he "revised" his plan to only give the $1000 "wealth redistribution credit" to working folks) I would almost rather he give my money to the deadbeats than any more of my money going to the ultra-rich.... I wonder if in this global economy with the rich in China and Russia for example benefiting from corporate riches over here; if trickle down economics is really working for us. I don't think the rich are really using their wealth to create enough jobs over here. I think the best thing we can do long-term is pour money into early/middle/highschool/college education and get these deadbeats out of the gutter and make America competitive again. We're going to get beat by the developing countries if we rest on our laurels singing patriotic songs about how great we are without making serious adjustments. We don't need to socialize medicine to make it work better, but we might as well give insurance to the deadbeats because they use the ultra-expensive emergency rooms right now anytime they get a scratch, so we all pay for them now anyhow... might as well give them some preventive care and make it cheaper. Nobody (except the deadbeats) wants to just give welfare and handouts to the deadbeats (didn’t Clinton actually do some good here?) but any creative solutions to “bring-up” all of America, to people who are willing to work for it, will benefit all of us! It’s all interconnected, what we have now is not sustainable in my opinion.

Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama for president http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081019/ap_on_el_pr/powell By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer – 19 mins ago Featured Topics: AP – Former Secretary of State Colin Powell leaves federal court in Washington, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008, after … WASHINGTON – Colin Powell, a Republican who was President Bush's first secretary of state, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president Sunday and criticized the tone of Republican John McCain's campaign. Powell said both Obama and Republican John McCain are qualified to be commander in chief. But he said Obama is better suited to handle the nation's economic problems as well as help improve its standing in the world. "It isn't easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that," Powell, interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press," said of his longtime friend, the Arizona senator. "But I firmly believe that at this point in America's history, we need a president that will not just continue, even with a new face and with the changes and with some maverick aspects, who will not just continue basically the policies that we have been following in recent years," Powell said. "I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain." Powell's endorsement has been much anticipated because he is a Republican with impressive foreign policy credentials, a subject on which Obama is weak. At the same time, he is a black man and Obama would be the nation's first black president. Powell said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but said that was not the dominant factor in his decision. If it was, he said, he would have made the endorsement months ago. Powell also expressed disappointment in the negative tone of McCain's campaign, his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and McCain's and Palin's decision to focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama's ties to 1960s-era radical William Ayers. He said McCain's choice of Palin raised questions about judgment. "I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States," Powell said. Powell, as secretary of state, helped make the case before the United Nations for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, launched in March 2003. A retired general, he also was the nation's top military commander, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the first Gulf war under President George H.W. Bush. McCain disagreed with Powell's decision and said he has been endorsed by four other former secretaries of state, all veterans of Republican administrations: Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig. "Well, I've always admired and respected Gen. Powell. We're longtime friends. This doesn't come as a surprise," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday." Asked whether Powell's endorsement would undercut his campaign's assertion that Obama is not ready to lead, McCain said: "Well, again, we have a very, we have a respectful disagreement, and I think the American people will pay close attention to our message for the future and keeping America secure." Powell said he does not plan to campaign for Obama.

Watch John McCain say that Sarah Palin knows more about energy than anyone in American... haahahahh

Watch John McCain say that Sarah Palin knows more about energy than anyone in American... haahahahh

Both McCain and Obama at their best last night at Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner Roast... very funny...

Both McCain and Obama at their best last night at Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner Roast... very funny... McCain roasts Obama http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irXS4Q7mUKQ Obama roasts McCain (part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk5YJkhizRs Obama roasts McCain (part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SkFjTCscM4

Check this out! Palin as President!

http://www.palinaspresident.us/

Presidential Material

Unchecked communism or unchecked capitalism assist greedy corrupt people in hording and gluttony

Unchecked communism or unchecked capitalism assist greedy corrupt people in hording and gluttony. When people are so poor they can't even feed their families, they'll do anything. This is how communism starts in a country because the poor revolt against the ultra-rich because at that point there is nothing else to lose. How do we remove regulations and let free-market work properly without allowing the greedy to take advantage of less fortunate? I don't think that letting industries regulate themselves works, and also saying that the consumer will regulate the companies because consumers wont't buy from companies they don't like doesn't work either. From what I have heard about McCain's health plan and letting insurance companies setup in any state sounds great for the companies and bad for the consumer. Idealistically it sounds great but it actuality I agree that the consumer would get dropped from their employer plan and would have the pre-existing condition crap to worry about when they are out shopping on their own without a group behind them and insurance companies would only do business in the states that had the least regulation.

President Bush said ...plan to partly nationalize nine major banks

President Bush said this morning that the administration's "unprecedented and aggressive" plan to partly nationalize nine major banks was an "essential short-term measure to ensure the viability" of a battered financial system.

With the government poised to invest $250 billion of taxpayers' money into private banks, Bush and top economic policymakers tried to emphasize in morning remarks that the dramatic proposal was not meant to undermine the country's free market principles. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. called parts of the proposal "objectionable. . . . Today's actions are not what we ever wanted to do."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/14/AR2008101400738.html?hpid=topnews

video
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/10/14/VI2008101400717.html

bush and the budget

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-02-04-budget-hill_x.htm




http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb

Increases in the National Debt and Liberal Spending...

Peter

cutting taxes... how long before we have to pay off the "visa" bill ?

cutting taxes (even when running a deficit) of course stimulates the economy like buying stereo equipment stimulates my happiness (even when I have a huge visa bill), but at some point I'm going to have to pay off that visa or else my "house of cards" will come tumbling down... (and nobody will loan me money or it will be at an extreme rate).. I owe money to chase bank like we now owe money to the Chinese... we can keep just printing more greenbacks but that devalues the dollar as we see now... a long-term weak dollar will weaken our military and our security...

while the democratic congress deserves some flak it's the president's administration that puts together the budget and the current neo-conservatives would have you think that we can just continue to run record deficits and continue to cut taxes and continue to borrow money and it won't matter because our GDP is some great that it doesn't matter, but as we now see, it does matter...

iraq... what a brilliant move... if we really had intelligence on weapons of mass destruction we should have gone in with the shock and awe, checked the entire country for WMDs, taken out Saddam and left... what about the vacuum that that we would leave you say? there will be a vacuum there if we leave after 3 months, 3 years, or 30 years... the united states thinks in terms of winning the war in weeks or a several years but the people in this part of the world can sit and wait for decades while we occupy and then resume when we leave... can't force democracy on people... better to set a good example of what democracy and freedom are all about, that is why the torture issues and lack of legal process are so disappointing at gitmo... when you start making exceptions such as; these guys are soooo bad they don't need legal process... that's a slippery slope...

-john

my buddy Jonathan rants about the current situation

In 1996 to 2000 the government taxed fairly high, regulated more, the debt was being paid off, and the economy was steadily increasing. By 2008, the government taxed unfairly low, the debt more than doubled, deregulation occurred, the economy collapsed, and 5 years of growth was lost in a matter of months, US torture policy, deterioration of FEMA, Pentagon control of the CIA, a worldwide blunder on terror, return of the cold war, Russian weapons in Venezuala, North Korean and Iranian nukes, and lying campaign invoking fear and division.

So... The level of tax no matter how unfairly distributed does not correlate necessarily to economic prosperity. Pretty soon, you might be paying NO tax, and it will be the Democrats giving you a Bread Line.

I looked into Ayers and ACORN. There is nothing there! It's an absurd scare tactic whose accusations would certainly involve the Justice Department and hefty jail time if the accusations had merit, whereas Palin was found through a formal process to have actually violated policy.

Ayers... You don't necessarily know peoples' backgrounds when you go to sit on a board of directors, and anybody can contribute to your campaign. If somebody was a convicted felon it does not make you partner to their crime. Those organizations are clean and no work toward terrorism was ever performed or else it'd be a different story. Ayers was not active or recognizable as a terrorist nor engaged in anything of the sort during the time that Obama had contact with him.

ACORN... This is an organization that hired under privileged people to go out and sign up other under privileged people for voter registration. Obama was partner to their cause and there's no findings of wrong doing on Obama's part. However some of the under privileged workers would fill in fake names without going out and doing the real work of signing people up. As a result, they got paid for low effort, then they'd quit and take the easy money. There's no evidence of actual election fraud or else it's be a different story. Obama is not directly related to it or else it's be a different story. It is just a case of shady opportunists bending the truth to their own personal advantage. That's the real crime!

my buddy Kevin suggests some links on "Tax and Spend Liberals -or- Tax, Spend, and Whine Conservatives?"

Try Charles Wheelan's writings...

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/archive/economist/charles-wheelan/1

My favorite of his being (the one that made me start paying attention to his writings - is this one from August, back before the Wallstreet bomb)...

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/economist/98587

* This does not include the potential $3Trillion just spent due to the financial crisis if things go south (thus potential). In other words the FedDeficit (as of this week) has the potential to "exceed" the current "total Fed Income" and that doesn't include projections of reduced Fed-Tax income. So at this point in time the Fed's potential liabilities exceed the entire income of the Fed Government for a year. To say that is a drop in the bucket is hardly something to swallow.

There are no Republican fiscal hawks anymore, that roll is now filled by my new buds - the Blue Dog Democrats. The Republicans are just about running the government like the Pharasee's did, moral issues for everyone but themselves / budgets be damned, we're not in debt. Evil Republicans, and even more evil is the AARP.

 

This one is so-so...

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/economist/108425

2004 ELECTION RESULTS - SHOWING AVERAGE IQ FOR EACH STATE

2004 ELECTION RESULTS - SHOWING AVERAGE IQ FOR EACH STATE

Tax and Spend Liberals -or- Tax, Spend, and Whine Conservatives ?

looking for information on "tax and spend liberals" compared to "tax and spend and whine conservatives"

 

http://www.mypolls.us/republican.national.debt.jpg

 

http://www.eriposte.com/economy/tax/tax_n_spend_truths.htm

 

http://www.eriposte.com/economy/other/demovsrep.htm

 

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/8/14/101123.shtml

 

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/mashek/2008/5/19/republicans-liberal-attacks-on-democrats-losing-their-sting.html

 

Obama health plan outperforms McCain plan in coverage and efficiency

I am a little worried that I'm going to get a check for $2500 from McCain and lose my employer-health-plan insurance and then have to find a policy for individuals that has exclusions on pre-existing conditions and high deductibles...

The Urban Institute/Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center (TPC) (SEE BELOW) finds that both candidate's plans are in the same ball park as far as tax payer cost but the Obama plan insures many more people with less cost per person... don't believe the hype that Obama is for full socialized medicine... not true... go google for more comparisions

Obama health plan outperforms McCain plan in coverage and efficiency
May 23, 2008 | EPI Policy Memorandum #126
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/pm126

How We Became the United States of France

This Time.com article How We Became the United States of France by Bill Saporito makes me want to rant a bit...

It certainly does seem like the ultra-rich in this country are doing pretty well while our country is being bankrupt by corruption... and what's the problem with american auto-makers?, they suck... they're crying NOW that they need government investment to make green cars to compete with the japanese? wow, I'm suprised the american auto-makers didn't see that coming earlier... idiots... mccain supporters are crying that obama is for 'redistribution of wealth'... seems to me like there already has been a huge redistribution of wealth in the last seven years... how many middle-class folks do you know who are doing better? go google about how the number of ultra-rich has gone exponential in last seven years... now we can't all blame it on one administration, these trends have been in motion for longer than seven years... I'm just still trying to figure out how a budget surplus turned into the biggest deficiet ever, and why raising taxes to support a 'just war' is a bad idea (instead of putting it on the credit card)...

my scuba pics are at fatjimmy.com

check out my scuba pics


this is from some trips to Cozumel Mexico, Roatan Honduras, and Bonaire.