❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
................................. Big Bad John sung by Jimmy Dean Uploaded by doorsfan72 Okay this song isn't fitting for John McCain, but I thought of it tonight in conjunction with McCain, because of the title...with the operative word - bad.
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................................. See the full-length video at http://KeatingEconomics.com starting at noon Eastern on October 6, 2008. KEATING ECONOMICS: The story of John McCain and the making of a financial crisis.
The current economic crisis demands that we understand John McCain's attitudes about economic oversight and corporate influence in federal regulation. Nothing illustrates the danger of his approach more clearly than his central role in the savings and loan scandal of the late '80s and early '90s.
John McCain was accused of improperly aiding his political patron, Charles Keating, chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. The bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee launched investigations and formally reprimanded Senator McCain for his role in the scandal - the first such Senator to receive a major party nomination for President.
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CNN Talks with John McCain about his Keating Five Scandal
................................. Clip from the new movie called "Third Term" It became available 09/25/08 The new collapse on Wall Street which has featured huge bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG by the USA taxpayers directly relate to the 1980's Savings & Loan banking scandal that John McCain was deeply involved in called The Keating 5.
Honestly, I am disappointed to put it mildly at the "bill" that we have to pay for. And if we thought $700 Billion was the figure, we are wrong. The Senate added $140 Billion pork to it and it totals so far at $840 Billion. And last week, $25 Billion went to Ford, GM and Chrysler - read it here www.usnews.com
I heard today that the $840 Billion bailout will eventually be turning into $2 Trillion.
I called my U.S. RI Representative this morning to share my feelings with the pork and the bailout. But it's a done deal now.
If Osama bin Laden wanted the USA to cause collapse of our own economy with the planes crashing into buildings via the USA reaction - then you could say the surge in Iraq isn't working. You know, do this terrorrist act, knowing the USA would want to flex its power by bulging its military might, go to war, spend so much money that they have to borrow billions of dollars, therefore going into debt. The spending mentality of the USA being known by bin Laden - knew that eventually the US Americans would damage themselves by weakening the economy from within and bin Laden can just watch the economic decay unfold. This point was made by Garry Shandling, October 3 on Real Time with Bill Maher.
The cost of the Iraq war is ever increasing and you can see it on my sidebar.
We need to stop being reactionaries to what happens and start planning ahead. But we instead as a nation have our heads somewhere else besides sitting tall on our shoulders.
I began wanting to be positive in this post. But I have to say I am disappointed in the bill that was rammed through Congress even though I think We The People made it known that we are not happy with this bill. And yes, my candidate decided to vote for the bill. I am still for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, but I am not happy with this idiotic bill.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are not the right candidates for the country.
We are crashing and burning. And Osama bin Laden must be feeling really happy that we are.
And this idea that we have to have Victory in Iraq according to some unknown standard while we are failing within our borders is bordering on insanity.
Okay, now for the positive thoughts.
As I introduced Senator John Kerry at the Newport Obama Office this last March, I stated that John Kerry was a man of integrity. And that he brought us Barack Obama. And for that we are grateful. I still am satisfied with the Democratic Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates that we have running. Goodness knows, that to have to walk into this national state of a mess requires brains, a calm demeanor and someone who is comfortable in his own skin.
When I volunteered in January in New Hampshire for the Obama campaign, my belief was that We The People must get engaged in our country and our government. A candidate cannot deliver what we do not get behind and actively support. This is what I believe Barack Obama also believes. I took this from the top of his website:
We get the government we deserve. We ARE the oversight to our government. And it will not change unless we change and get out of our apathetic attention to what our elected politicians are doing and get involved, engaged. It is time. The revolution needs to be that we get involved.
The Daily Show - Jon Stewart - October 2, 2008 ...........................................................
........................................................... Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - Bailout Bill Passes
8:24
I am not happy with the Senate's Financial bailout/rescue bill. I am voting for OBAMA - BIDEN but that doesn't mean I agree with everything. This bill is not fit for the problem we have been hearing about since Paulson brought us the deal.
WALL ST.'S RESCUE LEGISLATION: MAKERS OF RUM, TOY ARROWS TAG ALONG
Bill larded with 'goodies' for all
PAUL WALDIE
October 3, 2008
The U.S. government's $700-billion (U.S.) rescue plan won't just bail out Wall Street, it's also going to help rum makers, film producers, race car drivers, sheep farmers and children who play bow and arrows - provided their arrows are wooden.
The bailout legislation passed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday night contains dozens of special tax breaks and spending measures, many of which have been pet causes for some politicians for years. They were inserted largely to make the rescue package more palatable to members of the House of Representatives, who voted down an earlier version of the plan on Monday.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed the rescue package last week as an emergency effort to get billions of dollars worth of bad housing-related investments off the books of financial firms. Since then, the plan has swelled from a three-page document to a 451-page piece of legislation loaded with $150-billion worth of extras. They include:
Dropping a 39-cent excise tax on wooden arrows made for children, a cause of politicians in Oregon to help manufacturers in their state;
Extending a cut in the excise tax on rum made in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;
Increasing funding for the Wool Research Trust Fund, which provides grants to wool makers and sheep farmers, and for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund;
Extending tax breaks for film and television productions, mine rescue training, undercover operations, motorsport race tracks, railway maintenance, idling reduction units in trucks, refined coal used by steel producers, small wind power projects, donations of food or books to charities, hurricane relief employees and people affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill;
New rules for mental health benefits and the disclosure of information in terrorist cases.
Adding tax and spending measures to proposed legislation is common practice in the U.S. Congress, but the financial rescue plan was supposed to be an emergency, targeted at just the bailout.
The bill now heads for a vote in the House of Representatives, where some members are proposing to stick on more measures including a $61-billion stimulus package.
The legislation "is no longer an emergency package, it's no longer a bailout package, it's just your typical year-end Christmas tree with goodies for everyone," said Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, which has opposed the bailout bill.
Here is Bernie Sanders Senate Floor Speech on the Bailout: Easy Street -- 10/02/2008
While the middle class has declined under President Bush's reckless economic policies, the people on top have never had it so good. For the first seven years of Bush's tenure, the wealthiest 400 individuals in our country saw a $670 billion increase in their wealth, and at the end of 2007 owned over $1.5 trillion in wealth. We have the most unequal distribution of income and wealth of any major country on earth, with the top 1 percent earning more income than the bottom 50 percent. There has been a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthiest people in this country, when, among others, CEOs of Wall Street firms received unbelievable amounts in bonuses, including $39 billion in bonuses in the year 2007 alone for just the five major investment houses.
"“Maybe I am the only person in America who thinks so, but I have a hard time understanding why we are giving $700 billion to the secretary of the Treasury, who is the former C.E.O. of Goldman Sachs, which, along with other financial institutions, actually got us into this problem,” Sanders said. “Maybe I am the only person in America who thinks that is a little bit weird, but that is what I think.”
“Most of my constituents did not earn a $38 million bonus in 2005 or make over $100 million in total compensation in three years, as did Henry Paulson, the current secretary of the Treasury, and former CEO of Goldman Sachs,” Senator Bernie Sanders said moments before the Senate voted Wednesday for a $700 billion Wall Street bailout.
“Most of my constituents did not make $354 million in total compensation over the past five years as did Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers,” Sanders added. “Most of my constituents did not cash out $60 million in stock after a $29 billion bailout for Bear Stearns after that failing company was bought out by J.P. Morgan Chase. Most of my constituents did not get a $161 million severance package as E. Stanley O'Neill, former CEO Merrill Lynch did.”
Sanders argued that those who caused the problems in our economy should pay for the solution. "If we are going to bail out Wall Street, it should be those people who have caused the problem, those people who have benefited from Bush's tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, those people who have taken advantage of deregulation, those people are the people who should pick up the tab, and not ordinary working people,” the senator had argued.
He offered an amendment that would have taxed the very wealthy to pay for the bailout. It lost on a voice vote.
So Sanders voted against the bailout bill, which nevertheless passed by a lopsided majority in the Senate. The plan reportedly is gaining ground in the House, which could take it up on Friday.
................................................. Sarah Palin has her own rules. If/when she has problems as Vice-President and/or President one day, will she simply ignore the ones she doesn't like? I think this question is ridiculous in a way: Who Won the VP Debate? You can look good on the TV screen and come across as someone who has answered the questions good enough for a beauty contest, but that has no bearing on whether or not you are qualified to be Vice-President. I am hoping there are enough smart voters to see through the charm and vote for the one with real knowledge. The kind that didn't come from cramming. .........................................................
......................................................... Palin: How long have I been at this? Like five weeks? I skipped all but a few minutes of pundits after the VP debate tonight.
Am I the only one who noticed, that Sarah Palin smiled all the way through this debate? This looked more like what a beauty contestant does. She smiled all through talking about war. War and smiling just don't go together.
I am voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. However, the Senate bailout bill is wrong. The extra junk in the bill are as wrong as those who sold mortgages to those who couldn't afford them. We need to do something. But doing something shouldn't be an excuse to do things with rum and arrows.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
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Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
