Morning again, Dems........

Obama: We Are Going to Close Guantanamo

http://www.truthout.org/011209O

I got a kick out of somebody on here yesterday, talking about how much money it would cost to have to try these prisoners. Well, there are only 250 left----and I am willing to bet that a review of where and how they were rounded up for a bounty, would probably cut that number in half.

Dear Fellow Veterans and Military Family Members,

As you may have heard, one of the priorities of General Shinseki, when he takes over as head of the Department of Veterans' Affairs is to re-open enrollment for VA care to those who were classified "Priority 8 Veterans" – veterans who didn't have service connected injuries, or were rated with a zero-percent disability rating, and had an income over a certain level.

As the Military Times put it, "Priority 8 veterans were blocked from enrolling in the VA health care system in 2003 as a budget-cutting move to help ensure funding for veterans with service-connected disabilities."

This was supposed to be a temporary move, but has stayed in place. One positive step happened last year when Congressman Chet Edwards fought for and got $375 million in the budget to expand enrollment for some Priority 8 veterans.

We're fully supportive of the move to reopen VA services to veterans like these, but it will take some education in Congress about how the budget-cutting move affected the veterans community.

If you were classified as Priority 8, and denied VA care because of it (or know someone who was) please let us know. We would like to tell your story to Congress, so they know the negative effect of the policy, when General Shinseki comes to them to request lifting it.

Just send an email to me with your story, at pgranato@votevets.org.

Thanks for all of your help, and Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Peter Granato
Iraq War Veteran
Vice Chairman, VoteVets.org

Paid for by VoteVets.org

We have to keep an eye out on our Democrats. We can not let them give up the rights of women. Democrats in congress recruited 12 anti-choice Democrats in 2008, and our new party chairman is anti-choice. We women need to watch our backs on this issue.

The slippery slope toward gradually giving up women's rights,slowly, bit by bit.

In light of the current crisis in Gaza,and previous postings where I made reference to Edwin Black (American Jewish author) and his book, The Transfer Agreement," here is a link to an article by Mark Weber - a much abbreviated writing - but free for your reading and critique:

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n4p29_Weber.html

This is from the Institute For Historical Review.

This is the history that is missing, that lends us to further insight about the nature of Israeli leadership and the past 60 years, and it's rocky road with its Semitic neighbors (the native Safardic Jews and their blood brothers and sisters all around them).

The European ideology of a state, and the disdain for the native people also transferred down into Palestine, starting in 1933.

In the meantime, let us not allow the right wing religious leadership confuse Judaism with Israel. The latter is behaving like a totally secular entity, that looks like it never red the Torah.

Shalom

""We have to keep an eye out on our Democrats. We can not let them give up the rights of women. Democrats in congress recruited 12 anti-choice Democrats in 2008, and our new party chairman is anti-choice. We women need to watch our backs on this issue.""

Yes, I can recall the lyrics from the old southern song sung by the Lynard Skynard band.

“Do right by your woman and she will do right by you.”

Bush defends presidency in final news conference

WASHINGTON — By turns wistful, aggressive and joking in the final news conference of his presidency, President George W. Bush vigorously defended his record Monday but also offered an extraordinary listing of his mistakes — including his optimistic Iraq speech before a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner in 2003.

After starting what he called "the ultimate exit interview" with a lengthy and personalized thank-you to the reporters in the room who have covered him over the eight years of his presidency, Bush showed anger at times when presented with some of the main criticisms of his time in office.

"I think it's a good, strong record," he said. "You know, presidents can try to avoid hard decisions and therefore avoid controversy. That's just not my nature."

He particularly became indignant when asked about America's bruised image overseas.

"I disagree with this assessment that, you know, that people view America in a dim light," he said. "It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom."

Bush said he realizes that some issues such as the prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have created controversy at home and around the world. But he defended his actions after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, including approving tough interrogation methods for suspected terrorists and information-gathering efforts at home in the name of protecting the country.

...

Bye, bye Chimpy!

Gitmo will be closed amongst other Bush illegalities. Chimpy will be lucky if he doesn't end up in jail.

Bush's Last Press Conference Monday (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/12/bushs-last-press-conferen_n_157042.html

Final look at Chimp face doing a news conference.

Just 8 more days until Chimp boy is gone.

Memo to Obama: Think Bigger

by Robert Kuttner

There are three serious dangers in the debate about the stimulus package. The first is that President Obama will think too small. The second is that he will think too bipartisan. The third is that the public will be swayed by myths, such as the claim that infrastructure spending just takes too long to gear up, or that the deficit is the paramount problem.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/memo-to-obama-think-bigge_b_156990.html

Right on target especially about the Repugnants. I don't expect much cooperation from them. But we will have 59 Senators and don't need much from them.

posting on this web site is like playing cards at the blackjack table and the pit boss has discovered someone intelligent is playing cards. He keeps reshuffling the deck.

Whats wrong he is not buying your formula plattforms

Rj, The Chimp was on the defensive from the minute he walked in this morning!

How's about this one. The Ultra Right's hero is nothing but another Cheat! (and they talk about Franken)

Coulter claimed on voting forms that she lived with parents, despite purchase of $1.49 million condo in New York

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Coulter_suspected_of_new_election_fraud_0112.html

""There are three serious dangers in the debate about the stimulus package. The first is that President Obama will think too small. The second is that he will think too bipartisan. The third is that the public will be swayed by myths, such as the claim that infrastructure spending just takes too long to gear up, or that the deficit is the paramount problem.""

What I want to know is this'

Why doesn't PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) cover the foreclosures. That's why we pay it. To my knowledge no one has spoke about PMI. You can't buy a house without PMI. Thus, there should not be a foreclosure issue because PMI is to protect the lender against this. Any comments on that?

the problem with this blog is, not enough money is designated towards it, compared to the other expenses the DNC has, like the 50 State Strategy, etc. When you weigh out, do you want to open another office in Kansas, or do you want to fancy up the blog, Kansas will win.

MadFloridian,

Trust me, there are those of us who are on Email lists from NOW, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, etc, who will make sure that every step in Women's rights are followed.

Don't anyone fool themselves that Obama and his Cabinet have all the answers to this Quagmire they find themselves in.

It will take a lot of trial and error to get us out of this mess.

There are Repugs just praying and hoping that he makes even a worse mess, so that a nice smart experienced candidate like Sarah Palin can waltz in and fix us, just like she fixed Alaska!!!! :)

Openly gay bishop to deliver prayer for inauguration


http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Openly_gay_bishop_to_deliver_prayer_0112.html

How's about this one. The Ultra Right's hero is nothing but another Cheat! (and they talk about Franken)

Coulter claimed on voting forms that she lived with parents, despite purchase of $1.49 million condo in New York
=================================================
Hi PamB,

I knew Coulter is a right wing nut case but this is interesting that she's a tax fraud as well.

Hey, the right wing nuts better get used to Big Al Franken. He's is the next Senator from Minnesota. He'll be seated soon so we would deprive the right wing nuts of TWO DEMOCRATIC SENATORS from MINNESOTA.

so that a nice smart experienced candidate like Sarah Palin
===============================================
PamB, you mean Moose Brains Palin? That's a laugh. Can she can see Russia from her back yard?

Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), also known as Private mortgage insurance (PMI) in the US, is insurance payable to a lender or trustee for a pool of securities that may be required when taking out a mortgage loan. It is insurance to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property.[1] Typical rates are $55/mo. per $100,000 financed[2], or as high as $1,500/yr. for a typical $200,000 loan[3].
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Mortgage insurance in the US
o 1.1 LMI/PMI tax deduction
* 2 See also
* 3 References

[edit] Mortgage insurance in the US

The annual cost of PMI varies and is expressed in terms of the total loan value in most cases, depending on the loan term, loan type, proportion of the total home value that is financed, the coverage amount, and the frequency of premium payments (monthly, annual, or single). The PMI may be payable up front, or it may be capitalized onto the loan in the case of single premium product. This type of insurance is usually only required if the downpayment is less than 20% of the sales price or appraised value (in other words, if the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is 80% or more). Once the principal is reduced to 80% of value, the PMI is often no longer required. This can occur via the principal being paid down, via home value appreciation, or both. In the case of lender-paid MI, the term of the policy can vary based upon the type of coverage provide (either primary insurance, or some sort of pool insurance policy). Borrowers typically have no knowledge of any lender-paid MI, in fact most "No MI Required" loans actually have lender-paid MI, which is funded through a higher interest rate that the borrower pays.

Sometimes lenders will require that LMI be paid for a fixed period (for example, 2 or 3 years), even if the principal reaches 80% sooner than that. Legally, there is no obligation to allow the cancellation of MI until the loan has amortized to a 78% LTV ratio (based on the original purchase price). The cancellation request must come from the Servicer of the mortgage to the PMI company who issued the insurance. Often the Servicer will require a new appraisal to determine the LTV. The cost of mortgage insurance varies considerably based on several factors which include: loan amount, LTV, occupancy (primary, second home, investment property), documentation provided at loan origination, and most of all, credit score.

If a borrower has less than the 20% downpayment needed to avoid a mortgage insurance requirement, they might be able to make use of a second mortgage (sometimes referred to as a "piggy-back loan") to make up the difference.[4] Two popular versions of this lending technique are the so-called 80/10/10 and 80/15/5 arrangements. Both involve obtaining a primary mortgage for 80% LTV. An 80/10/10 program uses a 10% LTV second mortgage with a 10% downpayment, and an 80/15/5 program uses a 15% LTV second mortgage with a 5% downpayment. Other combinations of second mortgage and downpayment amounts might also be available. One advantage of using these arrangements is that under United States tax law, mortgage interest payments may be deductible on the borrower's income taxes, whereas mortgage insurance premiums were not until 2007. In some situations, the all-in cost of borrowing may be cheaper using a piggy-back than by going with a single loan that includes borrower-paid or lender-paid MI.

[edit] LMI/PMI tax deduction

Mortgage insurance became tax-deductible in 2007 in the USA.[5] For some homeowners, the new law made it cheaper to get mortgage insurance than to get a 'piggyback' loan. The MI tax deductibility provision passed in 2006 provides for an itemized deduction for the cost of private mortgage insurance for homeowners earning up to $109,000 annually.[5]

The original law was extended in 2007 to provide for a three-year deduction, effective for mortgage contracts issued after December 31, 2006 and before January 1, 2010. It does not apply to mortgage insurance contracts that were in existence prior to passage of the legislation.[5]

=================================================

Just look it up in Wikipedia. PMI doesn't take effect until a foreclosure occurs. It's doesn't prevent foreclosures.

Bush Describes Bailout Decisions As 'Difficult' When He Means 'Irresponsible'

Today, George W. Bush gave his last press conference of his Presidential career. Here's the sort of line he's decided to go out on:

You know, one of the very difficult parts of the decision I made on the financial crisis was to use hardworking people's money to help prevent there to be a crisis, and in so doing, some of that money went into Wall Street firms that caused the crisis in the first place. I wasn't kidding when I said Wall Street got drunk and we got the hangover.

Oy. If this wasn't his last week on the job, maybe it'd be important to point out to the man that his "decisions" on the "financial crisis" -- namely, to lend out the monies of taxpayers to prop up the economy -- were NOT DECISIONS THAT "PREVENTED" THE CRISIS. They were the decisions that were left after another set of decisions, made over many years, inevitably led to the crisis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/12/bush-describes-bailout-de_n_157140.html

Dumb Chimp Bush, I think he's hitting the sauce.

Which dog will he get

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090111/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticsobamaanimal_newsmlmmd

I think he is making a mistake on both current choices. He should get a chocolate lab. There very very smart and affictionate animals, and good with kids. He is making a very quick now decision. He should take his time and be patient.

""ust look it up in Wikipedia. PMI doesn't take effect until a foreclosure occurs. It's doesn't prevent foreclosures.""

I didn't say it prevented mortgage foreclosure. I said it protected the lender from loss if a foreclosure happens. Hence, If a home goes into foreclosure the lender is covered from loss. Much like car insurance cover your cost in case your car is in an accident.

Since we were sold that home foreclosure was the cause of the loss of equity in the banking system. Should not the PMI companys have covered the loss of equity to the lenders do to foreclosure?

Obama's daughter is allergic to dog hair, which is why the choice is narrowed down to the 2 that they have. there is a Portegese Water dog across the street from us. Terrific with kids and other pets, a real wimp, and hates water.

smart as a whip.

===============================================
PamB, you mean Moose Brains Palin? That's a laugh. Can she can see Russia from her back yard?

16rjsnj on January 12, 2009 at 01:54 PM

I was was being sarcastic, rj.

I pray that she gets to run in 2012, but not even the Republicans are that stupid.

The Truth about Lincoln!

The average American -- who has not spent much time reading Lincoln's speeches, but has learned about him through the filter of 'Lincoln scholars' -- will be surprised or even shocked by some of his words and actions. He stated over and over again that he was opposed to political or social equality of the races; he was not an abolitionist, but denigrated them, and distanced himself from them; and his primary means of dealing with racial problems was to attempt to colonize all American blacks in Africa, Haiti, Central America -- anywhere but in the United States."

Much like Soviet-era schoolchildren who were indoctrinated to worship Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, a corpus of 16,000 books on Lincoln conditions Americans to believe that the simple country lawyer from Illinois honorably defended his country and freed a race. His ethereal presence at Obama's inaugural ceremonies, and Obama's copious references to him, reinforce this national mythology.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21719.htm

someone was arguing last night, that Israeli leaders have NO choice, but to keep pushing war and occupation on Gaza ! Funny, many Israelis are disgusted with the leadership.......

"Israeli commentators and scholars, self-described "loyal" Zionists who served proudly in the army in wars past, are now publicly describing their country, in the words of Oxford University professor Avi Shlaim, as a "rogue" and gangster" state led by "completely unscrupulous leaders".

Gazans inspect the damage after an air strike hit a mosque [GALLO/GETTY]
Neve Gordon, a politics professor at Ben Gurion University, has declared that Israel's actions in Gaza are like "raising animals for slaughter on a farm" and represent a "bizarre new moral element" in warfare.

"The moral voice of restraint has been left behind ... Everything is permitted" against Palestinians, writes a disgusted Haaretz columnist, Gideon Levy.

Fellow Haaretz columnist and daughter of Holocaust survivors, Amira Haas writes of her late parents disgust at how Israeli leaders justified Israel's wars with a "language laundromat" aimed at redefining reality and Israel's moral compass. "Lucky my parents aren't alive to see this," she exclaimed.

Good afternoon fellow Democrats.

PamB on January 12, 2009 at 02:35 PM

Yes, they are, Pam. They think they have another potential Ronald Reagan in Gov. Palin
(R-AK) sans the Y chromosone.

I pray that she gets to run in 2012, but not even the Republicans are that stupid.
22
PamB on January 12, 2009 at 02:35 PM
=================================================
Pam, don't under-estimate the insanity of the Republican party. They have no idea how to win anymore. Their right wing nut base is pushing them toward extremists like Palin and Huckabee. The question is who will win the battle - the ring wing base or the big money people. My bet is that the big money people will prevail in the end and the right wing nut base will go their own way.

Good afternoon fellow Democrats.
25
BobVADemocratHawk on January 12, 2009 at 02:46 PM
=================================================

Greetings Bob from VA.

Should not the PMI companys have covered the loss of equity to the lenders do to foreclosure?
20
bossman on January 12, 2009 at 02:11 PM
===============================================
As in the bankrupt AIG? Why do you think they went bust?

You are missing the real problem. PMI doesn't cover the mortgage backed securities nor does it cover derivatives (futures) taken out against those securities. It just covers losses of income the lender would have received if not for a foreclosure.

Joe The Reporter, from Israel: "Media shouldn't report war" Hotlist
by brownsox
Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 07:10:03 AM PST

The newest-minted war correspondent of the Western World, former non-plumber Samuel "Joe The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, reports from Israel:

"I'll be honest with you. I don't think journalists should be anywhere allowed war. I mean, you guys report where our troops are at. You report what's happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I-I think it's asinine. You know, I liked back in World War I and World War II when you'd go to the theater and you'd see your troops on, you know, the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for'em. Now everyone's got an opinion and wants to downer--and down soldiers. You know, American soldiers or Israeli soldiers. I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting. You know, war is hell. And if you're gonna sit there and say, 'Well look at this atrocity,' well you don't know the whole story behind it half the time, so I think the media should have no business in it."

I forget what they call what Joey (currently located just outside Gaza) is doing right now, though I must confess it does bear some superficial resemblance to "reporting on war".

===============================================

What a joke! Joe the NOT A PLUMBER turns into Joe the NOT A REPORTER.

Hello bob.

I hope you and RJ are wrong, and that the REAL Conservatives find Palin just as appalling as we do ! I cannot even imagine an America led by someone like her! We think Bush ruined the country-----she would totally destroy it.

Being part jewish myself, I still remember my grandmother saying ,"My God you`re just like our father. Don`t you know violence never solves anything!" This was when I was punching a guys face in that called her a F--king jew. Those words are with me today. It seems to me that the people of Isreal have become what the Nazis were with there behavior? I`m not particularly proud.

BOSSMAN - thanks for bringing up mortgages and foreclosures in the context of Obama's stimulus package.

I would say that the closing costs are the real killer for many who want to refinance.

In addition - I would like to hear more about the possibility of refinancing done through an agency such as FHA - it seems like a sound pragmatic approach to help those in need of keeping homes - to find a range of payment that they can afford - even if it were a temporary arm - with the hope of a recovery our of this economy.

Keep this conversation alive - see if the Obama administration will keep contact with some of the wisdom at the grassroots level.

His requests are frustrating county elections officials, who are being asked to produce thousands of documents.

By PAT DOYLE and MIKE KASZUBA, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: January 12, 2009 - 12:30 PM

In their fight to overturn the U.S. Senate recount, Norm Coleman's legal team has begun pressing some Minnesota counties for documents on hundreds of thousands of ballots that were not previously disputed.

The lawsuit that Coleman filed last week to erase DFLer Al Franken's 225-vote lead cites a few dozen specific ballot errors that he says favored Franken. But Coleman's camp is also now casting a much wider net for other mistakes that could cost Franken votes.

The latest requests, dealing with approved absentee ballots and precinct voter rosters, are frustrating some counties. "You're talking 30,000, 40,000 pages of documents," said Stearns County elections chief Dave Walz, referring to his county alone. Joe Mansky, Ramsey County's election director, said the county has received requests for copies of "over 200,000 pieces of paper" from the campaigns.

Coleman's new strategy comes as some elections officials are expressing skepticism over his campaign's unproven assumptions that some votes were counted twice and that some absentee ballots were wrongly rejected or accepted...

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/37390669.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUJ

Note to the MN Supreme Court; it's time to cite Bush V. Gore and move on to seat Al Franken as the junior Senator from the great state of MN. Norm Coleman was a fluke in 2002 and after six years of carrying the water for George W. Bush, Norm Coleman deserves the same fate as President Bush; retirement.

31
PamB on January 12, 2009 at 03:02 PM
=================================================
There's a battle going on in the GOP between the religious right whack jobs, like Palin and Huckabee, and the business oriented Republicans. It will be interesting to see who wins.

I suspect the business types will win because they have more money. The religious right will do what it should have done in the 80's - start up their own party.

33
Fromm on January 12, 2009 at 03:12 PM
===================================================
The problem certainly does start with job losses, foreclosures and falling house values. PMI though is not the culprit. That's all I am saying.

The mortgage backed securities and their derivatives is what blew this up into a crisis. If housing prices stabilize, that problem will stabilize as well. If jobs come are created, foreclosures will slow down and the problem will stabilize.

Lowering rates / refinancing (through FHA) can also help. Good point on refinancing costs.

The Bush nightmare is over. How well Obama succeeds, or does not succeed, in the coming term, we can rest assured that on a spiritual level, the worst is over for this country, at least for now. Bush and Cheney are finished.

The Bushes are a dynasty, but I am not sure of what kind. History will tell. They are an uncompromising, hard-headed, entitled and arrogant bunch. Let's say good-bye to George W. Let's wish his wife and family well. Let's not wish him any ill. He's gone. But let us have no more Bushes in the White House. Ever.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/the-bush-nightmare-is-ove_b_156950.html

PAMB - Interesting stuff on Lincoln.

Some say that the Emancipation Proclamation had no real impact until after Gettysburg, the summer of 1863, which was accompanied in the West by the Fall of Vicksburg and Union control of the Mississippi River.

The movie "Gettysburg" makes reference to people reading Darwin, and it appears at the time, many read their own racism into evolutionary theory.

There is so much in that history....

rjsnj on January 12, 2009 at 02:55 PM

Hello RJ, good to see you again.

PamB on January 12, 2009 at 03:02 PM

I hope we're wrong as well.

hey RJ, remember how ticked off the Righties were, back in 2000, when we wanted the count to go on, and they went by caravans and pounded on walls, etc to intimidate and make them stop>?

Guess Coleman and the MN Repugs just are hypocrits !! He KNOWS he is not going to win.

Give it up, Sore Loser!

bbl

JSNJ - thoughts on housing values

Is there a creative way to deal with the loss of housing values in this economic bailout?

What it the bailout absorbed lost values, and provided FHA affordable refinancing on at least a temporary arm?

For jobs - green infrastructure. All major cities in this nation had the electric trolley cars - before Standard Oil/Firestone funded Yellow Cab and Grey Hound (through the back doors of politics) to undermine them. Speaking with elderly people who rode them - they loved them - and hated the stinky buses that replaced them!
That was always a sublime scene on Mr. Rogers - and a subtle jab at big oil!

The auto shows had the electric cars. Now - where are they hiding the hybrid hydrogen/electric models??????

Go housing....go green infrastructure....

geee, now wasn't some of the trolls telling us this would not take place for a Long time??

You mean.....gasp.....they don't know what the hell they are talking about????

Obama Closing Guantanamo: Preparing Order In First Week

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/12/obama-guantanamo-preparin_n_157202.html

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was left shame-faced after President George W. Bush ordered her to abstain in a key UN vote on the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday.

"She was left shamed. A resolution that she prepared and arranged, and in the end she did not vote in favour," Olmert said in a speech in the southern town of Ashkelon.

Read the whole story here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/12/olmert-bush-humiliated-ri_n_157201.html

Well, Well, of the 18 Republicans Senators up for election in 2010, Already FOUR of them will not run for re-election !! Something about rats and sinking ships !!

Good afternoon, all!

Well now there are 58 (or soon to be).

Te closed door session ended with the Dems saying "Seat Burris". It should happen this week.

Mythbusting the Obama Recovery Package
Thursday 08 January 2009
»
by: Sara Robinson, The Campaign For America's Future

President-elect Barack Obama announces his choice of Nancy Killefer to be the administration's "chief performance officer." She will be responsible for ensuring fiscal discipline in the face of what could be trillion-dollar deficits. (Photo: Getty Images)
The self-serving myths about President-elect Barack Obama's economic recovery plan are starting to fly so thick and fast that we have been working full-time to keep ahead of them. Here's what you need to know to fire back.

Here it is: our moment of economic truth. We're standing at that historic fork in the road where the nation decides, now and for the foreseeable future, whether it's going to hang on to the catastrophic assumptions of the free-market fundamentalists and rely once more on the nostrums that have so far failed to fix the mess, or take a bold step down a new, more progressive path that will finally re-empower the American people to build an economy that works for us all.

As usual, the conservatives have absolutely no conscience about what they did to create this mess. If they did, they'd all be holed up in their gated communities or on their private islands, embarrassed into silence at best and terrified of peasant uprisings at worst. Instead, they're jetting into D.C. en masse in a last-ditch attempt to head the country off - or at least make sure that any money that does get spent ends up, as it always has, in their pockets.

To that end, the self-serving myths are starting to fly so thick and fast that the staff here at CAF has been working full-time to keep ahead of them. Here's some of what they're flinging in this latest B.S. storm - and what you need to know to fire back.

http://www.truthout.org/011109E

PamB on January 12, 2009 at 04:23 PM

Pam, I would give anything to be rid of the embarrassment of Bob Corker (of Tennessee), Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Richard Shelby. Wouldn't it be great to have a filibuster proof majority!

MaryMac, We WILL have the 60+ next election.

It will be fantastic to finally get something done!

PamB on January 12, 2009 at 04:58 PM
From your lips to God's ears!!!!!

I had lunch with a friend and his Dad today. His Dad is more of a Republican than the entire Bush family (business not religion based) and his language is spicier than McCain's and I got him started on S. Palin. I laughed so hard that I started to cry. He was embarrassed by her and you should have heard the name calling! He went from bee-yotch to sl*t to wh0re. He HATES the Kennedy family - the whole family and I won't even try to express how much he hates the Clintons; however, he was spitting nails when he said that both Hillary and Caroline Kennedy have more class in their little fingers than that (blankety-blank-blank) Palin has in her whole body! He was yelling so loud that the whole restaurant turned around to look. It was priceless!!!

35
rjsnj on January 12, 2009 at 03:18 PM

Let's hope that the religious whack jobs lose.
Business types are at least somewhat pragmatic, even though they can't see pas the ends of their own fat noses.
Israel is the poster child for what happens when the religious whack jobs are allowed to take over a country.

Is it a car? Is it a plane? Actually it’s both. The first flying automobile, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month.

If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater road car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months’ time.

Its manufacturer says it is easy to keep and run since it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit into a garage.

Carl Dietrich, who runs the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: “This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle.”...

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article5489287.ece

Finally, I get my flying car! Well, that is if I can scrape up $200K. Oh well, I wonder how long it will be before I can buy a used one....

NEW OPEN THREAD NOW AVAILABLE