That is the comparison to the 1976 election between Ford and Carter. The electorate is sour. In 1976 the there were economic issues, principally inflation. In some respect, the electorate had more justification to be sour, coming off the Watergate scandal.

But, interestingly, it wasn't that the Democrats were innocent, since many of the shenanigans that Nixon pulled were done by the Democrats as well. Kennedy taped conversations in the Oval Office. Nor, was Kennedy's election clean; a certain Irish Catholic mayor of Chicago, stole the election for him. Johnson's rise to power never came from his luster of Mr. Clean. In fact, of the entire crowd of Democratic presidential candidates in 1976, Carter was the only plausible candidate that could actually beat Ford. 

In fact, Ford was the really clean candidate. But, he pardoned Nixon. He did the country a favor, in the long run, by ending Watergate. But, in placing the long term good of the country ahead of his personal ambitions, he cost himself the election. The pardon prevented the criminalization of your opponents acts in office. Yes, Nixon violated laws; such as obstruction of justice. But, the prosecution, had it been allow to proceed, would have hijacked by his enemies for the sole purpose of settling scores with old "tricky Dick" over policy. It could very well have set a precedent of show trials for your political rivals, banana republic style. 

So, along came Carter. Like Obama, his true very leftist roots were masked by a compliant MSM as a Southern-conservative-born-again-Democrat.

What we got was a dangerously naive, but arrogant, mean-spirited man that just about drove the country off the cliff. And, with comfortable majorities in both Houses of Congress for 1977 and 1978, we were launched into the era of double digit inflation. Employment that approached double digits as well. This was the era of "bracket creep." Remember? The hollow military. The debacle of Desert One. Carter's "misery" index double under his watch. 

And, we got two things that haunt us to today. First, was the overthrow of the Shah; aided and abetted by the blame-America-first crowd that filled the Carter administration. The second was the Community Reinvestment Act. The former gave us the mad mullahs of Iran who are now on the verge of nuclear weapons and a will to use them against Israel. The latter served, with the corrupt lack of oversight by the Democrats, to give us the financial meltdown that may very well lead us into a severe recession, the first since Carter's administration.

We've come a full revolution and now we have Obama, another arrogant and corrupt politician. A man who's true bona fides are being actively hidden by the MSM. A man who may very well be elected by a financial crisis that had its origins in the Carter era. A man, who when he arrives in the Oval Office, is ready to accept a nuclear Iran as "reparation" for the "evil" of American "imperialism."

And, unlike Nixon, the GOP's troubles stem, not from presidential corruption, but Bush's insistence to stay a course against the existential threat of Islamic imperialism. A staying of that course in the face of adverse opinion polls--aided by just this side of treasonously biased MSM reporting. Knowing that our failure to act now will only result in a bigger and bloodier war to come. A staying of the course based on historical presidents from the 1930's; had Hitler been stopped at any one of multiple times prior to Chamberlain's appeasement in 1938 in Munich WW II could have been prevented.

But, the Obama presidency will only be transitional in nature. FDR only inherited the Great Depression after Hoover failed to come to grips with that depression from 1929 to 1932. Obama will have his name associated with this economic downturn, recession or otherwise, because it will contemporaneous with his occupancy of the Oval Office.

Nor can the loyal foot soldier of the Chicago Democratic political machine can be likened to Truman. Truman was a product of the Pendergast machine from Kansas City, but he never personally partook of machine graft. Compare that to Obama's 1.5 million house, a sweetheart mortgage deal and Michelle's "promotion" and the doubling of her salary at the University of Chicago to $300,000 per year.  And, long before he rose to the presidency, Truman made himself a respected Senator from Kansas, not Pendergast, by such activities as the "Truman Committee." And, it was Truman that made the decision to use the atomic bomb. Obama's no Truman.

So, here we are today. The GOP getting tagged with a war and a financial mess for reasons that are really the GOP's fault. The electoral loss by the GOP by both Houses of Congress were deservedly due to the GOP's straying from their small government roots. The war has been portrayed as another Vietnam "quagmire." The MSM narrative was another America exploiting another "morally superior" non-European, non-Christian culture. Never mind that what we extol as individual liberty, freedom of worship and liberation of women from the status of chattel are completely alien concepts in large swaths of the Muslim world.

Then, we have the financial crisis, all directly related to governmental involvement in the private sector (the Community Redevelopment Act) and then supercharged with the corruption of Fannie and Freddie. The only solace from this crisis is that Obama will have his options and legislative testosterone greatly constrained by the fact that he got his tax hike, all 700 billion, and his buddies at ACORN already spent it.

And, then we have Obama, walking into the presidency by virtue of being the last man standing. Again, like 1976, he's the only Democratic candidate that can realistically win. His competition was Hill, whose political career was only possible by a name acquired in marriage. And, who is as corrupt as her husband. 

Then, we've got Edwards, our ambulance chasing friend from North Carolina. Thanks to the MSM, his love child peccadillo was hidden for something like a year. And, of course there was Senator Dodds from the great state of Countrywide.

Attributed to Mark Twain, profanity provides relief denied even in prayer. But, while in the heat of the moment, ventilating anger feels incredibly good, you generally regret the outburst for having said or done things you wished you hadn't. A lot of people are going to vote for Obama for "change." For the feel good opportunity to "stick it" to Washington and "throw out the bums." But, with Obama in the White House, there's going to be one heck of a hangover on January 21st.

A few snapshots from our birthday roadtrip to wine country (Hunter Valley) and Avalon beach...

Carter's team (the Colts) celebrated their first victory of the season with a 18-6 victory over the Cowboys. Finally!!! He was so excited, he glowed for two days. Carter had a good game offensively and defensively. He played Quarterback for most of the game on offense and cornerback on defense.  His excitement turned into determination at practice on Tuesday and started looking forward to his Wednesday against the Ravens. We were riding the wave of success into that game, but were very apprehensive when they learned that our star player wouldn't be there. The took the field and gave up a quick touchdown on the opening drive of the first quarter. They managed to tighten up and stop the extra point attempt and got the ball on their own five yard line. After two plays only got them ten yards, it was time to pull out the new plays. Seeing that the Ravens were blitzing on every play, our coach called for a pass play (something we haven't been able to perfect all year). Carter took the snap and faked the handoff and threw a perfect strike to his receiver ten yards downfield who then ran it the rest of the way for a touchdown!!! First ever pass completion, and it's a 90 yard touchdown. Unfortunately, it was the only score we got and ended up losing. After the game he was so bummed by the loss, he wouldn't even acknowledge the awesome TD pass. Kimmer and I were making quite big deal out of it, but it wasn't until we had him call his bestest buddy in Michigan to tell him about his touchdown that he felt better! (Thank you Mr. Dan!)

Fast forward to Saturday...

Carter's first game was against the Mean Green team. As you know from a previous blog, we lost that game 44-13. It was a blood bath that saw our defense register just one tackle, but we learned from it and have gotten much better. As if the first game shellacking wasn't enough motivation for Carter, there is...(Paul Harvey pause)... the rest of the story. The Mean Green's star player and Carter are not only on the same class at school, they have become friends and play football together everyday during recess! And, their fathers have the same first name!!  And the boys were born on the same day!!! Needless to say, Carter reeeeaaallllyyyy wanted to beat them.  His wish came true, the Colts redeemed themselves with an 18-0 win. Carter played very well rushing one time for ten yards, one solo tackle (against...guess who?) with several assists. He hasn't quit talking about it.

After the game we got him to pose in his uniform.

Hopefully we can keep it up an make the playoffs.

Have a great...WAIT A MINUTE!!!!

I have had such a great day!!! I need to tell you about what happened at church this morning. This very much falls under the title of "Sweet Victory". Many of you who know me, know that I am a Christian. I am not always the best example, but I do try. The McNulty Family has been going to a church that is very different from any church we have ever attended before. First of all, they have a "come as you are" policy and I must admit that I like going to church in shorts and tennis shoes; but still feel like a little weird doing it. Having our campus pastor show up wearing flip flops raises my eyebrows a little too, but I am getting used to it. This church has four campuses in three different towns and each campus has it's own campus pastor and unless you are in the main campus the message (delivered by the senior pastor) is given to you on a huge screen via satellite (you can also catch the message, live or recorded, on the internet). The praise and worship teams are live bands, and the two I've seen are really good. I don't know exactly how big it is, but I'm pretty sure that membership exceeds 2,000. Like I said before, it is very different from what we are used to. Anyway, we have been attending for a while and really like the praise and worship team and youth program at our campus is excellent. Most importantly, the senior pastor's messages have really touched our hearts, Toby is a very "Down to Earth" person that preaches from the heart in an everyday life manner. Kimmer and I feel that we are being spiritually fed every Sunday, and that hasn't happened in a very long time.

Today was a very special day for our church, we had a "Baptism Bash". I know, I thought the same thing when I first heard the name. But, let me tell you that it was an awesome experience. Over 200 people were baptised at our campus alone! The message was very good and very short (compared to normal standards). The rest of the service consisted of watching people getting baptised. They had music playing and would show baptisms happening at all four campuses. I have to say that watching a female senior citizen beside herself with emotion after her baptism, or a father and son both committing their lives to Christ on the same day and getting baptised simultaneously will bring a grown man to tears. I have heard about these types of movements (happenings, crusades, or whatever you want to call them) but I say this today with my own eyes and it was incredible. Sweet Victory indeed.

Now I'm ready...

Have a great week!!!

(You can check it out yourself at the church's website in the messages section)

Then we were off to Shealyn's classroom for her conference.  We got good reports from her teacher as well.  I had expressed some concern to her teacher earlier in the year just wondering how curriculum may have been different from MI to TX.  She seems to be very on track or just above in all of her subjects.  They have taken some benchmark tests down here to prepare for the TAKS (the standardized 3rd grade test ) and her teacher doesn't seemed to be worried about anything at this point.  She expects improvement from her on the upcoming benchmarks and if doesn't see it then we'll make a plan from there.  Meanwhile, we keep working on math flashcards with her to get her basic math facts in her memory and not on her fingers :o)  She went above and beyond her Accelerated Reader goal that her teacher set for her.  It sounds like she's off to a strong start.

Also, Shealyn got to have a really fun day.  It was only a half day of school and at the end of every marking period the 3rd grade classrooms have a "Mini Mall."  Throughout the marking period they can earn mini mall money (fake money) by their class work, behavior, being helpful, etc. and at the end of the 6 weeks they get to spend it.  But, this mall is created by the kids!  On that last day they get to bring treasures from home (toys, games, books) or were told to be creative and use their imagination with things they could sell.  They determine the price for their treasures and sell them to fellow 3rd graders, but also get to shop for new treasures!  What a fun way to practice their money skills (and I'm sure negotiating skills as well).  Well, Shealyn took in some books she has never read, some pencils and some homemade bracelets.  She conned sold her teacher a pretty red and white beaded bracelet for $50.  Go girl!  And of course she bought all kinds of silly fun treasures herself.  But, I have to say there were some pretty creative ideas out there.  Some of the little girls sold ---GET YOUR NAILS PAINTED FOR $3.00!  How cute is that.  But, I also have to say Shealyn got shafted on that service and didn't even realize it.  She told me today that she didn't have $3.00 so the little girl charged her $5.00!  And I just wanted to share this with you because I thought it was incredibly ingenius.  We were sitting with her teacher at conference and talking about mini mall and how creative the kids were with their ideas; she shared an idea from last year.  She had a little boy in her class last year that was in a wheel chair and at one of the mini malls he sold rides in his wheel chair.  Absolutely LOVE IT!!

Anyway, the first 6 weeks were good and we're so proud of Shealyn and Carter---here's to the next 6!

When we got home it was time to hit the shower and get ready for bed so I went in the bathroom with Carter.  He was not pleased and asked me to leave!  I respected his wishes, but he said they hurt.  As I was walking out I caught him taking a very careful glimpse before taking his underwear off to get in the shower.  As I was tucking him in this was our conversation:

M--- everything all right down there, buddy?

C---MOM!!!!!!

M---I was just wondering

C---(after some hesitation)   My "boys" are smaller!

M--Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine in the morning.  Good Night!

FYI---Everything was fine in the morning.

I nervously blow on my hands to warm them up and look around the room. Everyone else has their hands gently placed a partner sitting in front of them. I rub mine together one last time for good luck.

I can do this. If I want to teach pilates, I'm going to have to touch people.

The girl next to me giggles as her partner launches into what I can only imagine is the Australian version of 'criss cross, apple sauce' on her back. Not fair, they clearly know each other already. Two mats down and I can see someone diving through a sea of black curls to find her partner's back. Why on earth would that woman not wear her hair up? There's just so much of it, an explosion of hair. At least my partner chose an appropriate hairstyle for a fitness instruction course.

Back to the task at hand. I buy myself some more time by grabbing my notebook to jot down whatever the instructor just said. We're only 30 minutes into a 16 hour weekend of class and already I'm considering my chances of getting a refund. Nobody told me I'd have to touch strangers. I haven't even introduced myself; I don't even know her name. I peak in the mirror to see her name tag... and catch her eye. Great, now she thinks I was checking out her...tank top.

I thought I had prepared for everything: I coughed up the cash for "Anatomy for Dummies" along with a few other reference books and spent all day yesterday memorizing muscles, bones, and everything in between (which is more than you'd think). I woke up two hours this morning early to pick out a cute "first day of pilates school" outfit. My gym bag contains both pens and pencils, water, extra notebooks, a travel pack of almonds and my muscle reference flashcards.

I take a deep breath....and take the plunge. I plop my hands down onto her back and immediately regret my impulsiveness. I am supposed to be touching her scapulae, but missed a bit and am down on her rib cage. Don't really want to slide my hands up....but don't want her to think she has an inexperienced instructor touching her back. Taking a quick breath, I shift my position upward in an awkward, jerky motion. I feel a bead of sweat roll down my neck but I'll be damned if I'm going to move again.

And, ah yes, the scapulae do move side to side with your breath. Fascinating. I pat my new best friend on the shoulders, make a quick joke and spin around in my seat. My turn!

Fight Club (1999)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/

Regi: David Fincher

Manus: Jim Uhls og Chuck Palahniuk (bok)

Med: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf og Zach Grenier.

Spilletid: 139 min

David Fincher er nok en av mine yndlingsregissører. Han har i tillegg til Fight Club laget Se7en, Zodiac, The Game, Panic Room og Alien3. Det som kjennetegner han er en veldig klar visuell stil, han er flink å bruke teknologien på nye måter, og han bruker mye low-key lyssetting, ofte sammen med en litt kald blåfarge på bildene. Senere i år kommer han med en ny film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, og den ser jeg veldig fram til.

Fight Club har store stjerner i hovedrollene. Brad Pitt er nok mest kjent (Se7en, Snatch.), men Edward Norton (American History X og den nyeste versjonen av The Incredible Hulk) er ikke akkurat noen lettvekter han heller. I tillegg har de med seg Helena Bonham Carter (Big Fish, Sweeney Todd) og sangeren Meat Loaf.

Hovedpersonen i Fight Club (Norton) forblir navnløs gjennom filmen, og refereres til som fortelleren. Han har det egentlig ganske så kjipt, og sliter med søvnmangel. Han går på mange forskjellige slags støttegrupper, selv om han ikke kvalifiserer til å være der i det hele tatt. Der treffer han Marla Singer (Carter), som også utnytter støttegruppene på samme måte. De blir en slags rivaler. På en flytur treffer fortelleren Tyler Durden (Pitt), som har mange interessante synspunkter på verden. Når så fortelleren finner ut at leiligheten hans bokstavelig talt har sprengt pga en gasslekasje, er Durden personen han ringer for en midlertidig plass å bo. Durden får ham til å innse at det å slåss mot hverandre er en god måte å få ut aggresjon og andre opplåste følelser, og sammen starter de etterhvert Fight Club. Men fortelleren har ingen anelse om hvordan dette skal utvikle seg...

Fight Club er en utrolig kynisk film, og funker dermed absolutt best om du er i det humøret når du skal se den. Men uansett er den fylt av fantastiske replikker, morsomme, gjennomtenkte replikker som får deg til å se ting på nye måter. Så leveres de jo også veldig bra av Brad Pitt. Norton står også for sin del, men hans replikker er de med mer trist utsyn på livet. Tyler Durden har rett og slett sluttet å bry seg om hva som er riktig eller galt, og lever gjennomført etter sin egen moral.

Som tidligere nevnt er det en veldig stilig film visuelt. Umulige kameraføringer og bilder lagt inn i en enkelt frame, sånn at du merker at det er noe der, men ikke helt hva det er. Akkurat det siste er jo noe Tyler Durden liker å gjøre i filmen, der han setter inn en enkelt frame av en pornofilm inn i en tegnefilm på kino. Rett før rulleteksten gjør så Fincher den samme spøken mot oss, med et enkelt bilde av en penis.

Skuespillet er perfekt, i mine øyne, og en av hovedgrunnene til at jeg respekterer Norton og Pitt så mye som skuespillere. De blir gjerne påstått å være typiske Hollywood-stjerner, men disse to er et langt steg over de fleste andre.

I tillegg bør det jo dras fram at også slutten på denne er helt vidunderlig god, med en twist som vil få deg til å fly veggimellom av overraskelse, før de drar in rulleteksten med Where is my mind? av The Pixies. En finfin avslutning på filmen.

Filmen ble nominert til en Oscar, for Beste lydeffektredigering, men vant den ikke. Faktisk gjorde den det ikke særlig godt på kino, spesielt ikke i USA. Men senere har den blitt en kulthit, og har solgt i mengder på dvd. På IMDb har den 8.7/10 med 281 274 stemmer, noe som plasserer den på 23. plass på top 250. Som alltid, se på traileren nedenfor, og se filmen etterpå. Det er en av de smartere filmene du finner, etter min mening.

Har du, trofaste leser som fremdeles henger med, sett Fight Club? I såfall vil jeg gjerne vite hva du syns om den. Legg igjen en kommentar.

Under Clinton's masterful, shameful use of Carter's Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), Clinton quintupled sub-prime loans from $200 billion to over $1 trillion by the end of the 1990s.  Now, $200 billion is important; Over $1 trillion is really important.  Over $1 trillion of toxic paper is Clinton's legacy that our financial markets are choking on. 

Bankers in Germany, Japan and Dubai never guessed that something called "U.S. mortgage obligations" might contain mortgages made without income verification.  Once they found out, they tried to dump those mortgages but they were so intermixed in very, very complex Wall Street creations that it was hard to figure out what any U.S. mortgage-related product was worth.

The result?  A loss of confidence in U.S.

We don't need a windfall $700 billion bailout for those who profited.  Let Wall Street sort out it's own mess of complex products.  We certainly don't need more pork, especially now - it sickens me that Congress added more pork and tax breaks during a national crisis and McCain went along with it.

The way to restore a crisis of confidence is pretty simple.  Take solid lasting steps that demonstrate you're being honest and effective.  In addition, any plan put forward must be in place for 5 years so people and business has confidence the next President will not undo what's done now.  

Here's a plan that will restore confidence in our government and our markets:

1. Dodd, Frank & Paulson Must Resign – These three Democrats have betrayed the public’s trust, with historic results, and need to go now.  Their resignations say loud and clear:  Corruption in Washington caused the problem, not free markets.   
2. 5 year phase-out of gov’t-sponsored sub-prime loans - the “toxic paper” that crippled our credit markets. 
3. Suspend the mark-to-market rule – this will repair distressed bank balance sheets overnight (see below).
4. 5 year suspension of cap gains tax – this will flood US financial markets with new capital and not penalize folks who invest in America when we need it most.
5. Life the Ban on Offshore Drilling - this single act will lower structural costs for families and businesses across the country and around the world and jump-start the economy.   

This is the kind of plan I would have expected John McCain would champion.  It's about accountability, reform, energy independence and prosperity.  If McCain and the President had insisted on this plan, the Democrats would have to a) go along or b) vote against the bill and risk financial catastrophe and the voter's wrath in one month.  Either way, we would have the "Change We Need".

More freedom, not less.

Instead, McCain voted to keep the car speeding down the wrong road rather than make a U-turn that may be difficult but respects the will of the people, respects the science of free market economics and restores confidence in our government to do what's right for voters, not campaign donors. 

McCain went along to get along.  I'm very disappointed.

If McCain can’t take the lead on a solid responsible free-market plan, maybe McCain-Palin will lead U.S. by campaigning, in the few remaining weeks, on a similar plan that will restore confidence in our government and our leaders.

It's been on my mind for some time now.  One of those things buzzing around in my head.

So, along comes an article by Michelle Malkin, where she makes the direct correlation between illegals and the current financial bailout:

The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers. As panicked politicians prepare to fork over $1 trillion in taxpayer funding to rescue the financial industry, they've fingered for blame regulation, deregulation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Community Reinvestment Act, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, both Bushes, greedy banks, greedy borrowers, greedy short-sellers and minority homeownership mau-mauers (can't call 'em greedy, that would be racist).

But there's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks and Bush open-borders policies fueled the mortgage crisis.

It's no coincidence that most of the areas hit hardest by the foreclosure wave - Loudoun County, Va., California's Inland Empire, Stockton and San Joaquin Valley, and Las Vegas and Phoenix, for starters - also happen to be some of the nation's largest illegal alien sanctuaries. Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are subprime (the accursed species of loan to borrowers with the shadiest credit histories). A quarter of all those subprime loans are in default and foreclosure.

Regional reports across the country have decried the subprime meltdown's impact on illegal immigrant "victims." A July report showed that in 7 of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, Hispanics represented at least one-third of the population; in two of those areas - Merced and Salinas-Monterey, Calif. - Hispanics comprised half the population.

The amnesty-promoting National Council of La Razaand its Development Fund received millions in federal funds to "counsel" their constituents on obtaining mortgages with little to no money down; the group almost got a $10-million earmark attached for itself in one of the housing bills passed in the spring.

For the last five years, I have reported on the rapidly expanding illegal alien home loan racket. The top banks clamoring for their handouts as their profits plummet, led by Wachovia and Bank of America, launched aggressive campaigns to woo illegal alien homebuyers. The quasi-governmental Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority jumped in to guarantee home loans to illegal immigrants. The Washington Post noted, almost as an afterthought in a 2005 report: "Hispanics, the nation's fastest-growing major ethnic or racial group, have been courted aggressively by real estate agents, mortgage brokers and programs for first-time buyers that offer help with closing costs. Ads proclaim: "Sin verificacion de ingresos! Sin verificacion de documento!" - which loosely translates as, 'Income tax forms are not required, nor are immigration papers.' "

In addition, fraudsters have engaged in massive house-flipping rings using illegal aliens as straw buyers. Among many examples cited by the FBI: a conspiracy in LasVegas involving a former Nevada First Residential Mortgage Co. branch manager who directed loan officers and processors in origination of 233 fraudulent Federal Housing Authority loans valued at more than $25 million. The defrauders manufactured and submitted false employment and income documentation for borrowers; most were illegal immigrants from Mexico.

To date, the FBI reported, "Fifty-eight loans with a total value of $6.2 million have gone into default, with a loss to the Housing and Urban Development Department of over $1.9 million."

It's the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to lax Bush administration-approved policies allowing illegal aliens to use "matriculaconsular cards" and taxpayer identification numbers to open bank accounts, more forms of mortgage fraud have burgeoned. Moneylenders still have no access to a verification system to check Social Security numbers before approving loans.

In an interview about rampant illegal alien home loan fraud, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Government Accountability Office told me five years ago: "[C]onsidering the size of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston and other large cities throughout the United States known to be inundated with illegal aliens, I don't think the federal government is willing to expose this problem for financial reasons as well as for fear of political repercussions."

The chickens are coming home to roost. And law-abiding, responsible taxpayers are going to pay for it.

Now, critics of Malkin cite the following facts:

Compliance Technologies, a lending-industry consultancy, last month analyzed more than 1.9 million subprime loans originated in 2006, the height of the subprimelending frenzy, and found that roughly 56 percent went to non-Hispanic whites. Affluent borrowers, those with annual income at least 120 percent of their given area’s median income, meanwhile, took out more than 39 percent of the loans.

“I was surprised to see that non-Hispanic whites received more subprime loans than all minority groups combined,” said Maurice Jourdain-Earl, a founder and managing director of Compliance Technologies.

The also generally tend to ignore the following data (from the same article):

Still, African-Americans and Hispanics received subprime loans in a greater proportion than whites. Whites made up 71 percent of the borrower population in 2006 and received 56 percent of the subprime loans originated that year. Blacks, meanwhile, made up 10 percent of the loan pool, yet received 19 percent of the subprime loans. Hispanics constituted 14 percent of the borrower community and received 20 percent of the subprime loans.

But more than two-thirds of those subprime loans — defined as mortgages with annual percentage rates at least three points higher than those given to prime borrowers — were made in predominantly minority neighborhoods. Depending on how well, or poorly, such borrowers handle their subprime mortgages, such neighborhoods could fare much worse than predominantly white areas.

Yep, that's right: Hispanics made up 20% of the subprime borrowers.

The critics of Michelle Malkin also ignore one other convenient fact: not all illegal aliens are Hispanic.  Lots of illegal aliens come from Russia, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Canada, and other "white" countries. 

Now, what's funny is that in their race to condemn anything capitalistic, even left-wing bloggers are tacitly admitting that Michelle Malkin may be on to something here, as evidenced by this recent blog entry from the Huffington Post:

They allowed an $8 trillion housing bubble ($110,000 for every homeowner) to grow unchecked. People like Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and Alan Greenspan repeatedly insisted that there was no housing bubble as house prices got ever further out of line with fundamentals. President Bush regularly boasted about record rates of homeownershipasthe sleazes at outfits like Countrywide, IndyMac, and New Century pushed predatory mortgages on moderate income families, many of whom were black or Hispanic.

"Predatory lending", it's called.  However, as is the case with most liberals, reality is often the inverse of what they believe to the true.  The real predators here may have been the illegal aliens.  Lenders didn't hang out along darkened alleyways, pounced on unsuspecting blacks and Hispanics, and forced them into high-risk loans.  No, they gave them a contract - one that undoubtedly was never taken to a lawyer by the borrower for review - the borrowers signed it, and locked themselves into debt they were unwilling or unable to pay off.

All of this started when, in 1999, lending institutions started offering subprime loans to people who basically couldn't pay the rates.  Ideally, when faced with payments they couldn't make, a lot of these subprime borrowers walked away from their mortgages, and left the lenders holding the bag.  I suspect that there were other, more nefarious schemes to milk money from private institutions. 

Normally, when faced with foreclosure, the lenders could auction off the property to minimize losses or even make a tidy profit.  The problem is, the loans were made in a housing bubble.  The housing bubble deflated, and now the lenders are left trying to sell properties at far less than what they essentially paid for them.

The kicker to this is that the housing bubble was undoubtedly fueled by more and more people having easier access to credit.  And who started this trend?  Well, Bill Clinton was one major contributor (as I've documented in a previous post).  The Democrats in Congress certainly ran interference for lending institutions like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, who were doing something similar.  Consequently, what the Democrats use to demonize Republicans with - deregulation - was advanced by both Bill Clinton in 1999, and was heavily lobbied by Citibank via Robert Rubin.  As a result, places like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loosened lending restrictions.  It also allowed places like Citibank to merge their commercial and investment banking practices, which was forbidden under the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

One should also remember that after his stint with the Clinton Administration as Treasury Secretary, Rubin got a nice, comfy job at Citibank, and lobbied for the repeal of the restrictions of the Glass-Steagall act.  Consequently, it got passed.

But I did a little more research into what Malkin was claiming.  And, to be honest, there's quite a bit of evidence that she may be correct in her assessment.  And that evidence comes from one of the most unlikely sources.

Remember, we're talking subprime mortgages and illegal aliens here; the biggest block of illegals being Hispanics.  Do you remember places like Bank of America providing credit cards to illegals some time back?  Well, that was a federally-backed strategy by a government agency to "Americanize" the finances of Hispanics across the country.  And it was spearheaded by none other than the FDIC.

Yes, the same FDIC that is now working overtime to sell off failing banks to keep the economy from completely falling apart.

It all starts with the FDIC's New Alliance Task Force, which was introduced some time in 2003, as per the agency's press release:

I'm proud of the FDIC's efforts to reach out to people throughout this country who have not used banking services. Our Money Smart financial education curriculum is well-known and gaining in popularity every day. Since we introduced Money Smart in 2001, this user-friendly educational tool has reached more than 300,000 consumers and resulted in the creation of about 40,000 banking relationships. We have established hundreds of partnerships with financial institutions, non-profit organizations, government agencies and others to reach a broad audience and leverage resources. We're proud to have the NBA as our partner.

In September, we unveiled the latest version of Money Smart—a Computer Based Instruction, or CBI, version that enables users to take Money Smart with them in a CD-ROM, or to access it on the FDIC's Web site. With the CBI version, we intend to reach a far wider audience than before. As always, Money Smart can be taught in the classroom—but now people can also use it to learn on their own—at home, at the library, or at the local community center. Even better, the CBI version is available in English and Spanish. Since its introduction, Money Smart CBI has been moving like hotcakes. So far, we have distributed more than 7,200 copies. I hope you will consider making Money Smart CBI available at your institution. It's definitely a winner.

But we're not resting on our laurels. This year, we're considering expanding an initiative called the New Alliance Task Force to welcome more people to the banking mainstream. Under this pilot program, which is located in Chicago, the FDIC, the Mexican Consulate, more than 63 banks, credit unions, community organizations and government agencies have come together to form this New Alliance Task Force. The Task Force is an incubator for innovation and new products. One of its efforts is reaching out to persons who send money in the form of remittances to other countries, especially Mexico and countries in Central and South America. A large number of those remittance senders are unbanked, offering a tremendous business opportunity to attract new customers through efficient remittance services. About 15 of the 34 banks in the Task Force are now offering products with these features. As with any new program, there are areas banks must consider before implementation. With this initiative, we plan to also compile the various combinations of controls banks have initiated to limit the legal, compliance and operational risks associated with offering remittance products.

Bankers who comprise the Task Force also developed a new mortgage product intended for use by potential homeowners who pay taxes using Individual Tax Identification Numbers. The new product enables a bank to consider alternative credit information, such as references from a landlord, a parish priest or a minister; and phone or utility bills. The product also includes incentives or requirements for potential borrowers to participate in homebuyer education programs. The banks participating in this effort are reporting excellent performance, with a zero late payments rate and no defaults.

We've seen positive results from this pilot program. Since its inception in May 2003, the initiative has resulted in 50,000 new bank accounts, or $100 million in deposits, with an average account balance of $2,000. That's an impressive record thus far, and we want to determine if it's feasible to expand this program to other parts of the country.

Another way to broaden access to credit is to ensure that banks are able to offer programs that can make a difference. In August, the FDIC published for comment a proposal to amend the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act. This proposal would not in any way exempt financial institutions from their CRA obligations—all banks, regardless of size, will be thoroughly evaluated. I believe that lending for community development is the right thing to do—from a human perspective and a business perspective. We have extended the comment period for this proposal to October 20 and encourage you to share your thoughts with us.

Our other efforts include helping minority and community development banks. As you know, in September we hosted a Community Development Conference to provide resources, guidance and assistance to more than 50 minority and community development banks, as well as industrial loan companies. I believe our conference was a great success, thanks to people like the NBA representatives and members, who played leadership roles.

The steps I have described represent our latest efforts to open doors for consumers. Their access to credit is critical if we are to enjoy a financial services industry that serves as many people as possible. In today's healthy banking environment, access to credit is seeing some favorable trends. The percentage of households without a bank account decreased from 15 percent in 1989 to nine percent in 2001, according to the Federal Reserve's last Survey of Consumer Finance. Still, nine percent is not a number we should be satisfied with. Obtaining a bank account is just a first step in many people's ability to build assets and achieve wealth. We can do better, and we will.

Well, well well...the Community Reinvestment Act (created during the Carter Administration, and expanded under the Clinton era) raises its ugly head yet again.  Once more, government involvement in the markets starts a new, and dangerous trend: providing loans to people who only need to prove that they paid taxes (thus providing them with a  Individual Tax Identification Numbers, or "ITIN" for short) while living in the US.

Or, as some may put it: "breathing and with a pen (the pen being optional)".

So what's the big deal about this?  It is a way to provide loans to people who have nothing to put up for collateral, have no roots in the US, and who don't even need to be US citizens to get a loan.  In short: illegal aliens.

Of course, the argument is made that these programs are targeted for "new Americans", or newly classified US citizens, but that is bogus.  It takes months-to-years in order to become a US citizen, at which time most of these people work and reside within the confines of the United States.  During that period, they can establish a credit rating, build up some savings, and provide a down payment in the traditional sense.  No, the only target of this new financial "incentive" was the illegal alien crowd.  A group of people that had the "buying power" in the billions of dollars, but could walk-away from the US (and their debts) on a moment's notice.

Anyways, so I did a little looking into the FDIC's aforementioned New Alliance Task Force, and who should I find in there?  AIG and Wachovia, to name just a couple.  Want more damning evidence?  Consider the following FDIC fact sheet, presented in March, 2005 concerning Hispanic / Latino home banking incentives:

Bankers that offer liberalized loan underwriting standards or down payment assistance in tandem with financial literacy programs may have opportunities to tap into a higher percentage of the Hispanic market. As indicated in Table 2, these strategies typically have more risks and higher costs. Some recent literature suggests, however, that beyond the obvious Community Reinvestment Act benefits, there are other offsetting benefits to the higher risks and costs. For example, Order and Zorn analyzed the performance of a large sample of fixed-rate low-income and minority mortgages purchased by Freddie Mac in the 1990s. They found that these types of mortgages are generally prepaid more slowly than other loanswhen rates fall. (Loansthat prepay less rapidly when rates fall are more valuable to the holder of those loans.) The positive effect of the lower rate of prepayment for these types of loanswas found to offset the negative effect caused by the higher default rates for the same types of loans.

A number of large banks and mortgage companies have also concluded that the benefits of closing the information gap outweigh the costs. Merrill Lynch & Company's 350-person Hispanic unit generated $1 billion-worth of new business nationwide in 2003, double its goal. Merrill planned to hire another 100 financial advisers (mostly bilingual) in 2004. Wells Fargo's Los Angeles regional office reported that its efforts to reach out to the Hispanic community have resulted in the opening of 22,000 new accounts per month. One way Wells Fargo reaches out is by holding in-home seminars. A host invites 15 or so friends and family to his or her home, and a Wells Fargo branch employee joins them to talk about topics such as buying a house and establishing good credit. Washington Mutual has a national manager who is in charge of emerging markets and is reaching out to the growing Hispanic market with free business checking and flexible home-loan products. In 2003, Bank of America launched two ads in Spanish about mortgages with less paperwork as part of a campaign to acquire 7,000 new mortgages in its largest Hispanic markets.

In this one document alone, we have the FDIC - another entity set up by the federal government -forwarding the cause of "liberalized loan underwriting" (ala Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), and justifying these types of loans with the notion that they are less apt to fall into default.

Up until now, that is.  Oops.

Want even more damning evidence?  Take a look at the institutions that the FDIC is praising for their participation in these "Hispanic outreach" programs: Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual both of which had to be sold off.  Wachovia is presently on a downward spiral, and I don't need to tell you the fate of AIG.

Those entities in the FDIC program - U.S. Bank / U.S. Bancorp, and Wells Fargo for example - who are NOT having problems avoided the subprimemarket altogether when providing loans to hispanics.  As evidenced by this The Oregonian article:

Chief Executive Richard Davis, a onetime bank teller who rose through the industry's executive ranks, says U.S. Bank's "simple" philosophy of offering straightforward banking services to customers helped it avoid the risky, high-interest subprime markets that got both lenders and borrowers into trouble.

In a telephone interview in advance of Tuesday's meeting, Davis discussed the banking industry crisis and U.S. Bank's roots in Portland. (Comments have been edited for length and clarity.)

U.S. Bank had relatively little exposure to the subprime markets. Was that by chance or design?

It was absolutely by design. The biggest issue a lot of people got in trouble on is that they originated subprime activities, they sold them in secondary markets, the secondary markets dried up, they then had to keep what they originated and it wasn't good.

We have done none of the above. We originate a very small percentage of (subprime) loans. We keep them on our balance sheet.

Furthermore, when Wells Fargo started introducing its mortgage plan to Hispanics, it required more than a ITIN, but also required proof that the people were in the country legally.  The result?

When I was researching this story last summer, I talked with a spokeswoman from Wells Fargo Bank in Red Bank about their program. I don't have her name handy, but she's the "Emerging Markets" officer for this region, and she's very knowledgeable. She told me that Wells Fargo set up their ITIN program in southern California as a pilot program and that they had expected to make hundreds of loans. They made less than 10. The reason is, Wells Fargo insisted that if someone was applying for a loan using an ITIN insteadof a Social Security number, they had to provide some proof that they were in this country legally. She told me that most people who are here illegally will get phony Social Security numbers to pay their taxes rather than use an ITIN. She also said that Wells Fargo was thinking of dropping the program.

I talked to a spokesman at the National Hispanic Mortgage Bankers Association, a group that had an agreement with Deutche Bank to fund these loans. If I remember correctly, the association was going to get its members to make these loans, and then the association was going to sell these loans to Deutche Bank who would securitize them--sell bonds secured by these loans. He was very enthusiastic about the program, but when I asked him to give me the name of a member or two in Central Jersey whom I could interview, he never did. He said he would, but he never did. Maybe they weren't making any loans here anymore by that time.

All I can say is that by the end of August, the mortgage bankers who would talk to me were telling me loud and clear that the money had dried up for these loans and it was no longer a story.

Gee...I wonder why?  Could it be that it was clear to guys like Wells Fargo that something was wrong in pursuing loans for illegal aliens?

Bear Stearns, another financial institution who sold subprime funds from it's EMC Mortgage entity, also appearently got screwed with "predatory lending" practices with Hispanics as well:

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos., the second- biggest U.S. underwriter of bonds backed by mortgages, and its EMC Mortgage unit were accused of predatory loan servicing that particularly harmed Hispanic and black borrowers.

"EMCroutinely and systematically mismanaged Hispanic and African Americans' mortgage loans by charging them unauthorized fees," four minority borrowers said in a complaint filed today in federal court in Connecticut. "Many borrowers were trapped into a downward spiral ending in foreclosure."

It was the default rate (4%+) on these loans that caused two of Bear Stearn's big hedge funds to literally collapse.  Consequently, as you can see, Hispanics were targeted as a market for subprime loans.  Remember, something like 44% of Hispanics adults are illegal aliens.

There's more to the story, however.  Follow Bear Stearns to EMC Mortgage, and you get praises of the alt-A subprime market pre-2006, in articles like this:

SI USTED SABE LEER, LAS POSIBILIDADES FUTURAS DE TENER EXITO EN LOS NEGOCIOS SON MEJORES. Readers unable to understand this opening sentence in Spanish may be at a growing disadvantage, as the fate of many in business today increasingly is linked to what euphemistically is called These are up..."emerging markets." markets made of minority consumers and the burgeoning immigrant population in the United States.

Largely composed of Asians, Hispanics and blacks, the tide of newly arrived immigrants (both legal and otherwise) to the United States is approaching flood stage.

Categorically, Asian-American households are expected to grow 94 percent by the year 2020, while Hispanic- and African-American households also are estimated to rise dramatically by the year 2020-111 percent and 64 percent, respectively.

Smith is quick to point out that despite the apparent leniency of some features of these loan programs, SouthStar's borrowers all have FICO scores in the high 600s, generally regarded as good credit risks by much of the secondary market, which has been powering the surge in such product offerings. Asked about the performance of such loans, Smith says, "[The secondary market] wouldn't be buying them if they weren't performing."

Smith says, "Sophisticated markets are putting more emphasis on score and less on more traditional methods for judging creditworthiness."

It's no coincidence that alt-A's growth at companies such as SouthStar is coming from states such as Florida, Texas and California, as well as cities like Atlanta, which Smith calls "a diverse international market." And, he notes, demand for alt-A loans is being driven by more than just immigrant or minority populations. "It's occurring in almost every major city, and it's not just Hispanic; it's anyone who is first-generation," he says, noting the maturation of earlier immigrant waves.

Smith says the most noticeable missing players are the GSEs, which have been eclipsed by private-sector buyers like Lehman Brothers Bank FSB, Goldman Sachs Mortgage Co., EMC Mortgage Co. and UBS Real Estate Securities Inc. Smith notes that the GSEs could be more effective in buying loan products that assist emerging market-type borrowers. He claims that "the products they offer [to emerging markets] are not effective."

In defense, Fannie Mae's Lundsays, "We're seeing that begin to change. Institutionswill be required to commit to understand the markets they're serving, how to penetrate those markets; I think that's partly why you're seeing the growth of the alternative markets, because they invested in these communities, understood the populations, their needs and how to sell to those communities. I think everyone needs to commit those resources."

I guess we should feel lucky that Fannie Mae fell apart before they too expanded into the realm where they are, "...putting more emphasis on score and less on more traditional methods for judging creditworthiness."

Notable in the quote is the presence of Lehman Brothers - yet another failed financial institution - as a mover and shaker in the ITIN-only subprime loan industry.  Also Goldman Sachs, who has now decided they just want to be a "conventional" bank.  SouthStar Funding also want belly-up in 2007.

Notice also the states mentioned in the aforementioned article: Florida, Texas and California.  According to 2007 data, Florida was ranked #2 in foreclosures, California #4, and Texas #12 (out of all 50 states, and the District of Columbia).  In 2006, these three states had the highest foreclosure totals.

So, given all of the information I've cited here, it seems that Michelle Malkin may be on to something.

So what can we take away from all of this?  Well, let me sum it up for you:

1. The Community Reinvestment Act - created under the Carter Administration and expanded under the Clinton Administration - was the driver for both the public (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and private lending institutions to provide low-cost loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them back.
2. A federal agency, namely the FDIC, spearheaded frivolous lending practices as a social engineering experiment.
3. The "illegal alien" market was targeted as a way to provide "inclusion" for a bunch of people who could skip town in the blink of an eye.
4. After years of being abused by people who are basically criminals anyway, the lending market collapses.
5. Guys like Barney Frank (the guy who couldn't figure out that a prostitution ring was being run out of his home) and Nancy (Stretch) Pelosi blame Republicans for "deregulating" the markets, when it was Democrat-led government-backed interference in the markets that caused the problem in the first place.
6. People get to pile on Michelle Malkin for basically telling the truth.

Now, I'd like to point out here that while it seems that I'm dumping on Hispanics, I'm not.  Hispanics / Latinos happen to be the biggest block of illegal aliens out there.  It isn't the race, but the illegal mentality that's to blame, and the notion that we should somehow overlook their criminal status so we can get at their money.  There were lots of legal citizens taking out these mortgages and walking away as well.  However, they can't go running to another country to escape their debts.  I seriously believe that when the smoke clears on all of this, people will be stunned as to the level of fraud involved with these subprime loans, and how a specific criminal element (Russian mob / Mexican Mafia types) cleaned up between 2003 and now.

But most importantly, here we have a shining example of the results of big-government, liberal social engineering: the near utter collapse of the lending market. 

Capitalism works. 

Socialism doesn't. 

And Malkin was right.

There's nothing like celebrating a birthday by drinking so much good wine that you forget how old you're turning.

Our mini-vacay in wine country had a shaky start. First, we decided to forgo my idea of hitting up one of the award-winning vineyard restaurants for a leisurely lunch in the vines to detour up the coast, checking out the "swell" in Every. Single. Town. Between Sydney and Hunter Valley.  Unfortunately the swell was less swollen than still, the weather turned gray and cloudy, and we took a few wrong turns on the way to "Cessnock: mines, wines, and people!"  By the time we found our hotel, we were exhausted and ready to start the relaxation (from our back-breaking lifestyle of traveling). In Australia, however, "hotel" can be a deceiving word. There used to be a law that an establishment couldn't open a bar without a hotel attached, so there are tons of old school pubs with sketchy hotels above as a result.  This was one such place.  There were shared bathrooms, cobwebs in the cell-sized bedrooms and the crowd in the pub was slightly discerning, so as the sun begun to set, we set out into the sunset in search of a place to stay.

30 minutes, five 'no vacancy' signs and several country roads later, I screamed at austin to brake for the deer up ahead.  And then the deer started hopping....our first wild kangaroo!  We both leapt for the video camera.

Somehow we stumbled upon an adorable bed & breakfast on a vineyard, duck-filled pond included, with an incredible restaurant. We embarked on three delicious courses, some amazing wines and great service.  A downloaded Office on my ipod and a great night's sleep in the country air later, and we were off and running on our wine tour.  We visited five vineyards throughout the day with an Australian couple on their honeymoon and three American girls fresh out of college. The weather was perfect, the vineyards were beautiful, and the wine was perfecto. Just when I was beginning to think the day couldn't get any better, I looked to my right to the 90 lb. girl who had dozed off in her seat and thought how nice it had been to be that age, so young and ready for the future, when she opened her eyes, looked around, and promptly vomited into her own hands.  Two handfuls of regurgitated pasta and a rainbow of wine, all over herself and the van.

It's nice to be 28 and headed for marriage, where there will always be someone by my side legally obligated to hold my hair back should the worst occur, and never judge me. Happy Birthday to me!

Inside Iran's Fury

by Stephen Kinser

No American who was alive and alert in the early 1980s will ever forget the Iran hostage crisis. Militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, captured American diplomats and staff and held 52 of them captive for 444 days. In the United States, the television news program "Nightline" emerged to give nightly updates on the crisis, with anchorman Ted Koppel beginning each report by announcing that it was now "Day 53" or "Day 318" of the crisis. For Americans, still recovering from defeat in Vietnam, the hostage crisis was a searing ordeal. It stunned the nation and undermined Jimmy Carter's presidency. Many Americans see it as the pivotal episode in the history of U.S.-Iranian relations.

Iranians, however, have a very different view.

Bruce Laingen, a career diplomat who was chief of the U.S. embassy staff, was the highest-ranking hostage. One day, after Laingen had spent more than a year as a hostage, one of his captors visited him in his solitary cell. Laingen exploded in rage, shouting at his jailer that this hostage-taking was immoral, illegal and "totally wrong." The jailer waited for him to finish, then replied without sympathy.

"You have nothing to complain about," he told Laingen. "The United States took our whole country hostage in 1953."

Few Americans remembered that Iran had descended into dictatorship after the United States overthrew the most democratic government it had ever known. "Mr. President, do you think it was proper for the United States to restore the shah to the throne in 1953 against the popular will within Iran?" a reporter asked President Carter at a news conference during the hostage crisis. "That's ancient history," Carter replied.

Not for Iranians. "In the popular mind, the hostage crisis was seen as justified by what had happened in 1953," says Vali Nasr, an Iranian-born professor at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts. "People saw it as an act of national assertiveness, of Iran standing up and taking charge of its own destiny. The humiliation of 1953 was exorcised by the taking of American hostages in 1979."

This chasm of perception reflects the enormous gap in the way Americans and Iranians viewed—and continue to view—one another. It will be hard for them to reconcile their differences unless they begin seeing the world through each other's eyes. [full article]

When Congressman Ron Paul brought up 1953 and its consequent repercussions to Bill O'Reilly more than a year ago, Mr. O'Reilly responded, "We don't need the history lesson."

After several interruptions, Paul responded, "You have to understand the history. If you don't understand the history . . ."

In typical O'Reilly style, he interrupted again and said, "But we don't have time to do the history lesson tonight."

I can't help but fear that this is the attitude of too many Americans today. So many don't care to understand the how's and why's of a current situation. They prefer to act on compulsion and emotions rather than intellect, knowledge and of course, understanding.

One candidate seeking the presidency this election, Bob Barr, seems to be the only one with this understanding:

“Talking does not mean sacrificing U.S. interests. Rather, talking is a means to further U.S. interests,” Barr explains. . . .

“Imagine if the U.S. had not had any contact with Moscow during the Cold War,” says Barr. “The opportunity to resolve problems with the Soviet Union, and prevent them from turning into crises, would have been greatly diminished, if not lost entirely. And the likelihood of ultimately negotiating a peaceful end to the Cold War would have been very remote,” Barr explains.

“The most obvious reason to engage Iran is that the other options, especially military action, are so poor,” Barr warns. “Military action would destabilize the entire Persian Gulf and beyond. American troops in Iraq likely would come under intense assault. And America’s reputation throughout the world would suffer.”

“To take such a step without even attempting a diplomatic resolution would be foolhardy in the extreme,” says Barr. “There is no guarantee of success, of course, but in 2003, Iran indicated its willingness to deal. The Bush administration refused to even entertain Tehran’s offer. The situation is even more critical now, five years later. We should wait no longer to engage Tehran.” [full article]

This is the kind of reasoning ability one should expect from a head of state.

This is really not how they typically eat an OREO, but they hammed it up for the camera!

This is how Shealyn eats an OREO!

1st you pull it apart

then you lick the frosting

Then you dunk it in the perfect companion----MILK

NOTE:  having the tongue out helps

Last, you gobble it right down!

Carter's turn

See, 2 halfs

Let me show you my tonsils while I lick the middle

When the frosting is gone---then it's okay to eat the chocolate part

Mmmmm...Finger Lickin' Good

Payton's turn

I need to show you mine, too mommy

Oh wait, someone told me this helps with those dark circles under my eyes :o)

I'm a dunker, too!

Then I take a big bite!

So tell me---how do you eat an OREO?

If you get laid off, how long can you live on your savings?

If your bank declared bankruptcy tomorrow, would your accounts be available for withdrawal immediately?

If your mortgage was due on the 1st, but your mortgage lender declared bankruptcy this week, would you just go ahead and mail the check or should you call someone?

If your daughter said her school sports program was canceled due to lack of funding, or if your son brought home a note that said hot lunches would no longer be provided, please send lunch boxes... would it matter?

If school buses stopped running, would it affect anyone you know?

If mass transit went bankrupt tomorrow, would you be affected?

If your company (like my friend’s) had to end everyone’s insurance coverage because they could no longer stay afloat if they paid it, would it affect your family at all, or anyone’s family you know?

If the gas stations were empty, would you get by?

If your daughters and sons were required to register for the draft and serve tours of duty in the middle east, would that be just fine with you?

If the money in the 700 billion dollar bailout helps those that make over $100,000 to millions a year keep their jobs at that current salary, should there be no repercussions for them? Is it possible they could stay on at a 20% salary reduction to help pay for the bailout, if that offered them the tax break by only taxing the amount they received?

If people who were laid off and took lesser paying jobs were allowed to refinance for longer, at the same interest rate, to reduce their monthly payment, wouldn’t that be better than letting the loan default?

If people who were laid off (from Starbuck’s or Chrysler, for example) were actively looking for work, would it NOT be better to offer a mortgage deferment (like a student loan deferment) as long as they met criteria of actively and aggressively looking for work?

If you know one person who could be affected so badly in the next four years that it could destroy their life, does it make the difference?

Does it matter then? Because, it matters to me.

This is an interesting video that looks at how the housing crisis got started.  This video does not look at why most of our products come from China and why we make phone calls to India when we call for technical support.  For the answer to those, read The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman.  It's written well and easy to understand.  Anyways, back to the video.  Very good.  Takes a look at why there are many foreclosures, who caused it, who helped cause it, and who tried to stop it.

A friend said this video might change a vote.  This is a tight election, and every vote counts.  Pay attention to who you are voting for.  Find out everything about the candidates.  Find what they have voted for in the Senate.  Find what they have voted against.  Find out what those Bills would have done.  Don't listen to commercials.  Don't listen to friends.  Don't listen to biased media.  Listen to the facts.

~Bredelman, OUT