You are looking at posts that were written in the month of September in the year 2008.
Posted on September 27th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Politics.
I thought that John McCain edged out Barack Obama in last night’s debate. While Obama seemed to be strong on some of the economic issues and people that have discussed the debate with me found him to be believable, I cannot seem to get an answer as to what he said that impressed. I thought that he baffled with BS when it came to the economy. The honest truth is, as soon as Barack Obama gets into office you can forget about this tax cut that is supposed to be coming to 95% of us. It just isn’t going to happen, not unless Barack Obama intends on doing away with all of the massive entitlements he plans on bestowing to a weary America. Rolling back the Bush tax cuts will only pay for so much. It is high time that people understand that Barack has spent that money twice over, especially given the current financial crisis. What do Democrats do without fail when confronted by economic circumstances such as those we currently face? THEY TAX PEOPLE… THEY TAX EVERYBODY. Case in point Michigan. I am not going to get into the specifics, but do yourself a favor and find out how the Governor there taxed people to make-up for a shortfall, and how that fell flat and the state is still in the red $300 million this year. Barack Obama lied last night, which isn’t to say that McCain didn’t… but then I wasn’t the one saying that Barack seemed believable on the economy.
Meanwhile, McCain didn’t say anything too out of the realm of reality on the economy, and he defended the Republican philosophy of tax cuts to businesses. He was supposed to sound like a total chump on the economy… but he managed to weather that portion of the debate well. Where he shined however, was on foreign policy. I keep hearing people say that Barack held his own. I’m sorry, I thought he got his teeth handed to him. He seemed to lack any credibility on Iran and Iraq, was dessimated on Afghanistan (eventhough ordinary Americans likely have no idea that Obama’s committee never called a meeting with NATO on Afghanistan and why it matters) and could only offer a, “Yeah what he said,” response on Russia. I was quite frankly embarrassed for Obama when it came to the issues of foreign policy. He fell back to the “I’m not going to have tea with Ahmadinejad,” routine… but McCain bristled and kept harping on the point. When Barack fell back to Kissinger, McCain made him pay for it. Between the, “I think John’s right,” from Obama and the, “He doesn’t understand,” retorts from McCain, I thought the actual topic of the debate (foreign policy) went to McCain.
All in all, no knock out punches. We had to go to the scorecard on this one… but McCain still came out on top.
Next up the Veep debate. I think Sarah Palin could end up being smeared all over the stage by the time it’s all said and done. If she’s smart, when Biden comes at her about Russia (and her being able to see it), she ought to respond that his running mate doesn’t seem to have any understanding of the situation having gone into a debate and offering up, “Yeah what he said,” as an answer. Obama seems as ill informed about Russia as the Alaska Governor… and last I checked, I was voting for President, not Vice President.
Let the carnage continue.
Posted on September 24th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, Politics.
Yes Sarah Palin sat in her lakeside lair and nefariously plotted… well… apparently everything she’s ever done. “SCREW THOSE RAPE VICTIMS, MAKE THEM PAY,” she hissed while cleaning a rifle and impaling small woodland creatures beneath her stiletto heels. The fact of the matter is that the police department attempted to recoop costs for the tests from insurance companies and that the depth of the decision and the discussion that can be PROVED is found in how much cash was allotted for tests within the budget. Of course all of the “bloggers” (I think that term is too good for some of the garbage about this I have seen at Huffpost) want to find an evil, transsexual (because she can’t be a REAL woman) Palin snuffing out the rights of women. To this point that has not been achieved, so it’s back to troopergate.
It’s enough already… really. The investigation will go on, and sooner or later, “the truth” will be revealed. Oh, wait… no, the truth will not be revealed… because anything short of, “the woman is a criminal, a practicing witch and a man” will be deemed COVER-UP by some of the lunatics out there. Nevermind that Barack Obama’s patrons are terrorists, crooks and anti-American scumbags. No, that’s fine… BUT PALIN… whoa Palin, she will bring apocalypse. My God, she abused her authority by firing a guy that didn’t take on a drunken and reckless trooper. Yeah, this will play. PLEASE. The only people this plays with are Obamaniacs. Honestly, all Sarah Palin would have to do (and I am sure she will at some point), is discuss this guy’s record (he made it public) and the fact that he has a right to kill (to this very day) in her state. They’ll wonder why she didn’t sack the entire hierarchy of the Alaska State Troopers.
The real abuse of power in this case comes from the union (no I AM NOT ANTI-UNION). I can’t believe they took up for this trooper. Legitimate claims are ignored and fought haphazardly but this guy is defended vigorously. Unreal. Sorry kids, there will be no frog march to the firing squad for the evil genius that is Sarah Palin.
Posted on September 24th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Just Dumb.
NO WAY! This is a sick joke, right?!
I guess this is news to the one moron out there that still believed this cat was straight.
Posted on September 17th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, News, Politics.
This week we watched the wheels come off of the cart where it concerns the financial markets. Believe me folks, this has been a long time coming. Alan Greenspan was a reckless steward of the economy and if you want to point a finger at a single villain in all of this, he is surely your man. We have a ways to go to see ourselves through all of this and I think that it is going to take industry reinvesting in America to bring about change. We need to build the most efficient engines, wind turbines, desalination equipment (water will be the new oil soon), solar cells, the list goes on and on. There is an emerging market where it concerns resources and we need to be at the forefront. Still, the candidates speak of revamping the financial sector while ignoring the fact that we need to first bring money back to this country.
While John McCain is seen as old school and beholden to special interests, Barack Obama maintains that HE and HE ALONE can bring real change to the financial markets. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how. Obama’s approach to campaigning surely hasn’t shown me anything different. He hasn’t changed the game. It’s the same cliched blood sport it’s always been. Where McCain is looked to as business as usual and therefor an ineffective agent for change, Barack Obama casts himself as this rebel rebuking big time corporate contributions or money from lobbyists. Is this true? No, not really. The industry he professes to want to change already owns him and people should realize this from the start. For all of his change rhetoric, his panhandling seems pretty status quo.
GOLDMAN SACHS…..$691,930
CITIGROUP…………….$448,599
JP MORGAN CHASE…$442,919
UBS AG………………….$404,750
LEHMAN BROS……..$370,524
MORGAN STANLEY….$318,070
Additionally, Merrill Lynch, FannieMae and FreddieMac are also big time donors. A former head of FannieMae was on Barack’s Vice Presidential vetting team. Here are the numbers by individual industry:
COMMERCIAL BANKS………………. $2,081,809
HEDGE/PRIVATE EQUITY FUNDS.. $1,979,162
INSURANCE COMPANIES………….. $1,290,434
SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS….$9,873,356
So, there you have it. When Barack Obama is standing on the stump proclaiming that he is going to bring change to our ailing markets, you think about these contributions. You can similarly consider the same about McCain because he is likewise indebted to these outfits. McCain however has no political ambition beyond this election and further is not setting himself out there as some kind of squeaky clean outsider. McCain has to live down the whole Keating/S&L scandal and I think the guy is well aware that it’s a cross to bear. Barack will likely need these folks in his corner for a long, long, time to come. So you tell me, seriously, who is it that has less to lose by taking on an enormous task like this?
Posted on September 17th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, News, Politics.
You knew it had to happen. As soon as Barack Obama started to slip in the polls I thought aloud, “It’ll be blamed on racism.” Now let me say that I have no delusions, I understand completely that some people will vote against Obama because of race. It’s just the way it is, just like I know that some people are voting against McCain because he’s old. I have heard, “He’s a creepy, mean old man,” more than once from friends of mine and even my kids. To this day, I have no idea how the girl is going to cast her first vote for president. She relates to Obama’s youth and there is little that I can do to offset that by way of a reasonable argument. People bring baggage and their own perspectives to the voting booth. What irks me about the sudden “racism” outcry of the media and the Democrats is that it completely ignores the fact that Barack Obama has made SERIOUS miscalculations in the last couple of months.
The biggest error that Obama made was in not selecting Hillary Clinton or another woman, to be his Vice President. You can tell me he did the right thing in selecting an experienced Joe Biden until the cows come home and it won’t matter a lick. Barack Obama has been intimidated by Hillary Clinton since the beginning and he grew to dislike her. He knew in the end that if he selected her as the Veep she would invariably be looked upon as the stronger member of the team. How petty, no? I mean, all I hear from Democrats is how McCain opted for a neophyte Palin in order to secure disgruntled Hillary voters. What’s worse, exploiting that angle or the fact that Obama overlooked the most qualified person for the job because of personality conflicts and a shallow ego? Who is Barack trotting out now though? Old Hill and Bill… even after he and his wife savaged the former President by warping his words and making him seem a RACIST. I think it’s hilarious that the first folks to use race were the Obama’s and now their surrogates in the party and in the media are looking to it as an excuse.
Barack Obama ignored a woman that got 18 million votes in favor of a man that got 9000. John McCain selected a woman that got not one vote, but who has a personality that Americans relate to. I can hear the cries already, “SHE HAS NO EXPERIENCE!” Well, to those partisan critics that launch into such drivvle I offer up the fact that the Democratic Party and their electorate chose INEXPERIENCE over EXPERIENCE during the primary and nobody seemed to care. Hillary Clinton was torn to shreds by the likes of Ed Schultz for not rolling over and dying. It was as if she had not earned the right to fight the good fight to the bitter end, critics be damned. Obama was the most inexperienced candidate that the Democrats offered up and he is their candidate… but woe is John McCain for his selection of Sarah Palin? It makes no sense.
Why even bother with all of this though? Why should I even waste my time trying to point out the most serious blunder of Obama’s candidacy? In the end it won’t matter. It won’t matter that some of us in this country recognize the fact that Obama is inexperienced to a fault. It won’t matter that others recognize that he engaged in a vile campaign against Hillary Clinton. It won’t matter that in not even pretending to consider Hillary as a running mate, he slapped the women of this country across the face. Hell no, it’s just easier to cry, “Racism!” and to bury the truth under the slime of such an assertion.
If Barack Obama loses, it is because of Barack Obama. It’s because of the poor choices he has made, the stupid attacks on middle America that he has engaged in when in more “evolved” company and the arrogance of a run at the highest office in the land after three years in the Senate (two of which he spent CAMPAIGNING for PRESIDENT). Racism exists, racism is real, but in the case of Barack Obama and his implosion, racism is the scapegoat. Jack Cafferty, Governor Sebelius and all of the rest of the folks crying racism can bury their heads in the sand… but the facts are, what they are. Barack Obama screwed up. He pissed off a lot of women and he has only himself to blame.
Posted on September 15th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, News.
The financial markets are in tatters. Will this usher in a modern day depression? Who knows, all I can say is that for all of the talk of an end to the bleeding over the last two years, it hasn’t stopped. What we are seeing is an escalation in the financial downturn as companies burn through what resources they had squirreled away to weather the storm. The big three automakers face similarly dire circumstances as GM basically had the cash to survive a year… that was six months ago… who will be left to extend them credit when they run out of cash?
Why is it that I believe that people on Wall Street and even lowly investors had this coming? Well, it’s simple really. Investors don’t give a hoot about reasoned stewardship. Any of these companies that were engaged in extending risky credit should have known better. You don’t give people loans at 125% of the appraised value of the collateral. it just makes NO SENSE. Then you have other bankers engaged in bundling and trading these things across the board. Madness. Still, what is the CEO to do? When you have companies offering these deals and they’re making money hand over fist and their stocks and dividends are up, your investors are looking for similar performance. Even if a CEO went before the board and the investors and said, “I just don’t think this is a sane business practice,” he/she would have likely been sent packing within a week. People want to chase a quick buck, they want to see that portfolio expand, they want to see dividends being paid.
Now there is no credit to save the likes of a GM. Insurers are slowly being pulled down into the swirling vortex of the credit crisis. The far reaching effects are just now starting to be felt. People are clamoring to find a means to make back the money they GAMBLED and LOST. I’m sure that investors will be hiring attorneys and launching lawsuits to hold anybody but themselves accountable. From top to bottom, this has been about greed. Hopefully, the real change that will come from this mess is that people will choose corporate leadership that isn’t afraid to be responsible. The kind of iconic old school leaders that were not afraid to tell their boards and their shareholders, “NO!” It’s a tough pill to swallow right now… but then I’m sure everything was peachy keen when the checks were rolling in. Hopefully you lot have squirreled some of it away? No? Ah, well then… it seems the corporate mentality that is costing the taxpayer in this country so much was epidemic then, wasn’t it?
Posted on September 11th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: My Life.
Well, another year gone by. I had a great day. The wife made a nice lunch. Then at 5PM we went and watched the boy play some football. With a one touchdown lead the Bulldogs were lined up deep in their own territory (somewhere around the 5 yard line) and facing a 4th down. The coach apparently didn’t trust the kicker to put it deep enough to keep arch rivals County from scoring… so he opted for a run. The quarterback handed off to the boy who ran hard and broke right finding daylight. He gobbled up nearly twenty and got his team the first down they so desperately needed. They were able to move the ball a little more and to run the clock down. It was a 6-0 win, but it WAS A WIN. I’ve taken to calling the boy, “County Killer”.
After the game we headed home for dinner… my fav, tortellini with a nice salad and some pesto and bread… ahhhh heaven. I think they made every variety of the stuff… cheese, sausage, lobster… LOVED IT.
Then we headed out for the girl’s soccer game. She’s a menace on the field… and because she’s the best player on her team she gets double and triple teamed all the time. She had a rough night but she kept her head high and fought hard. It was like she was alone out there, her team was just no match for the team full of allstars that they were facing down. Funny enough the team of allstars wanted the girl on their team but she refused. She didn’t see the point in beating on the league that she is in and not being in competetive games. Their sideline gave it to her a bit, I guess it was payback for her insolence. She handled it well and I for one am proud that she chose not to play with that pack of hooligans. One of the girls screamed the f-bomb when she went down in the goal… real class acts.
After the game it was cake and presents time… probably not a great idea to be eating cake at 11PM. Meh… oh well. It’s my birthday. I got an mp3 player, Battlestar Galactice Season 3 and a collector’s edition of one of the funniest “horror” movies I have ever seen… Bubba Ho-Tep. Ahhhh, yes… a glorious haul.
Anyway, so there you have it… the birthday rundown. So how was your day?
Posted on September 10th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Just Dumb, News, Politics.
Okay Matt… you think it’s scary that Sarah Palin will be Vice President because she was the mayor of a small town and the governor of Alaska for two years. Hmmm…. all of the questions you’re posing about her are the same kinds of questions I have about Barack Obama but I’m sure you would color me a fool for not buying off on this guy. I mean seriously Matt, what the heck do we know about Barack Obama? He was in state government and then in his first term in the Senate he decides… “I’m going to run for President of the United States”. How come I’ve never heard you speak out about that? How come it’s acceptable to have faith that this guy isn’t a neophyte unfit for the office? Is it just because he’s a democrat?
I think a lot of this experience argument is nonsense. Let’s face it, this country was founded by learned men, who were not professional politicians. They did a fine enough job of it. If Sarah Palin is a “bad Disney movie” I have to wonder what kind of stellar commentary Matt would have had to offer up in contradiction of the qualifications of those great men.
It’s nice to see that Hollywood continues to think that its opinion matters. Here’s a question for you Matt… what qualifies your opinion? Why should I think to myself, “Hmmm… Matt’s right”? The best you can do is say, John McCain is old, so let’s face it… he’ll probably die in office. Huh? Look, anybody can drop dead at any moment. Elect Barack Obama… he probably isn’t going to die. That’s a heck of a slogan!
I love the Bourne movies, but let’s face it Matt… you’re just a dopey actor.
Posted on September 9th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, News, Politics.
Yick! You have to practically take a shower after watching an hour of these 24 hour cable news nets. It’s disgusting and senseless banter about one thing… the election. Talking head after talking head comes out and tries to put the hard sell on you where it concerns “their” candidate. It’s like going to a used car lot, night after night. Obama he’s got low miles. McCain he’s old but gets you from point A to point B. Sarah Palin, vavavroom… flashy, new and with a nice set of rims. Joe Biden… uhrmmm… hey, come to think of it… we don’t hear a lot about Joe. Okay… he’s the minivan on the lot.
Seriously, there’s no reporting any more. There’s no news. It’s just show, after show, after show… discussing the election. Rarely do you actually hear what the candidates have to say. No, instead you get a well washed, spun, and neatly folded interpretation of the facts. There’s no need for you to think… we’ll do all of that for you. You just sit there and watch salesman after salesman come forth to negotiate a deal with you for the management. Well, me… I’m going straight to the manager. I am swearing off of the cable news nets for the next 8 weeks. I’ll watch the debates on C-Span and immediately turn off the television when they’re through. I don’t need to be told who won and who lost. I don’t need to be educated as to who had the night’s “zinger”. I’m a fairly competent cat… I think I can manage to determine who it is that spoke more to me and who it was that took the night.
I used to hear people say, “Reality television has run amok.” Ladies and gents, the news is the new reality television… and it’s just as fake and clichéd as anything produced in Hollywood.
Keep your used car salesmen… I’ll walk.
