You think O is a good guy? He profited from Fannie
Posted By: and Freddie bigtime! -another crooked politician.n on 2008-10-28
In Reply to: Lemonade out of - lemmings....sm
nm
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More on Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac...
Freddie found itself in Justice Department crosshairs in 2003, after it finally admitted to years of accounting schemes to underreport its earnings...to the tune of $5 billion. Freddie paid a $125 million fine to federal regulators, more than $400 million in shareholder lawsuit settlements, and $3.8 million in civil fines to settle Federal Election Commission charges of improper political fundraising.
Freddie's creative accounting was nothing compared to Fannie's. As determined by two separate federal reports in 2004 and 2006, Fannie Mae out-and-out cooked the books so the bigwigs at the top could rake in millions in windfall profits. The Washington Post reports that Fannie misstated its earnings by about $10.6 billion from 1998 through 2004. all so fraudulent multimillion dollar bonuses could kick in for Fannhie's bigwigs.
Those Fannie Mae bigwigs who cashed in on the cooked books? Chairman Franklin Raines, Bill Clinton's OMB director...A whopping $52 million. Vice Chair Jamie Gorelick (remember her from the 9-11 Commission hearings), Clinton's deputy ATTORNEY GENERAL, $15 million. Chairman and Chief Executive James A. Johnson, liberal lobbyist (the one who was kicked off Obama's VP vetting committee...looks like they should have vetted their committee) due to his role in the Countrywide financial scandal...$1.9 million. Raines and the CFO of Fannie Mae were ousted.
Dems, loathe to clean up Fannie and Freddie houses even though Greenspan said preventitive action needed to be taken "sooner than later," came up with a "reform bill" in early 2005. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandated that Fannie and Freddie had to start handing out mortgages to "minority and moderate income buyers." Whether these new customers were creditworthywas of little concern; Congress had race and bean-counting to achieve. And now they basically owned half of the US housing market.
And now the American taxpayer is bailing out BOTH of these companies.
Is Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac the Democrat's Enron? Sure looks like it to me.
And incidentally, Franklin Raines has been advising the Obama campaign on the mortgage and housing issues....ahem.
Fannie Mae's CEO & Obama
Fannie Mae's CEO (Daniel Mudd) calls Obama and the Democrats the "Family" and "Conscience" of Fannie Mae.
The recent bank failures were caused by the Housing Crisis, which was caused by Mortgage Lenders handing out BILLIONS of Dollars in bad loans and the biggest offenders: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The "Family" and "Conscience" of Fannie Mae and Congress, THE DEMOCRATS, failed miserably and now WE the Tax Payers are stuck paying for their screw-ups.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvG-s_Ssb0
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are semi-private lending institutions crated by the Clinton administration and the Congressional Democrats, designed to make mortgages available and more affordable to more people and to act as moderators for the mortgage industry. They DO NOT follow the same STRICT government regulations that other lenders must follow. They have huge MULTI-MILLION dollars budgets to lobby congress and to pay large political contributions to keep regulators off their backs.
The TOP THREE U.S. Senators getting BIG political contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are DEMOCRATS and the #2 recipient was none other than BARACK OBAMA.
1. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT).. $165,400 (Chairman of Senate Banking Committee)
2. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)....... $126,349 (Only 4 yrs in the Senate)
3. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).......... $111,000 What is it about Barack Obama that makes him the #2 recipient of pay-offs even ahead of John Kerry and others, even though he is only a Freshman in the Senate?
Many Washington Democrats have gone to work at Fannie and Freddie after leaving Washington and have mad MILLIONS of Dollars in the process.
As early as 2005 the Congressional Black Caucus and Barack Obama KNEW that Fannie Mae was failing but "THE FAMILY" Democrats and OBAMA took payoffs to do NOTHING about it.
Obama was in the room during this speech. He heard about the problems that faced Fannie Mae and yet he did NOTHING about it.
During the THREE years following the day when he heard this speech about Fannie Mae's problems, Obama received $126,349 in payoffs from Fannie Mae to keep quiet and DO NOTHING about their disastrous lending practices. Now Obama blames John McCain for the Housing Crisis and the bank failu res and says that HE can fix it.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got a Federal bailout when it became obvious that they were bankrupt. Yet the Federal Government allowed Lehman Brothers to collapse pushing our economy over the edge.
Obama has been attacking McCain and Republican policies for the current financial turmoil. However, "...Senator Obama was at the head of the line when the piggies lined up at the Fannie and Freddie trough for campaign bucks."
__________________
We own AIG, Fannie and Freddie
Maybe the international community wants their money back now. Maybe that is why credit markets are frozen. Since AIG and Fannie and Freddie are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the world is lining up for their securitized mortgages to be repaid.
Maybe this bailout is not to buy up bad debt, but to pay off bad debt the government has already bought, insured, and now needs to ask us money for to pay. WE ARE BEING LIED TO AGAIN!
freddie and fannie
SHOT IN THE FANNIE MAE
The History of a Financial Disaster
1997
Fannie Mae is a GSE (Govt. Sponsored Entity) regulated by Congress.
Fannie Mae buys mortgages from other companies.
It is backed by the taxpayers for all losses, but keeps all profits.
President Clinton loosens Home Loan Requirements.
1998
Banks begin making thousands of bad loans,0 down, no documentation, for 120%! (1998 – 2008).
Executives at Fannie receive huge bonuses if loan targets are met.
Franklin Raines and Jamie Garelick from the Clinton Administration are appointed to run Fannie Mae.
2003
President Bush proposes a new oversight committee to clean up Fannie Mae, but Democrats derail the effort.
Rep. Melvyn Watt, (D-NC) Committee on Financial Institutions & Consumer Credit. stated, "I don’t see much other than weakening the bargaining power poorer families to get affordable housing."
1999 - 2004
Raines earns $100 million in bonuses.
Garelick earns $75 million in bonuses.
In 2004, Enron collapses, congress investigates, Executives Skilling & Lay go to jail, for fraudulent bookkeeping.
Congress responds with the Sorbanes-Oxley Act, more heavy regulation of corporations.
2004
An OMB investigation finds massive fraudulent bookkeeping at Fannie Mae.
False numbers triggered executive bonuses every year.
Congress holds no hearings, no one goes to jail, or is punished.
WHY NOT?
1999 -2005
Fannie Mae gives millions to Democratic causes, examples: Jesse Jackson & ACORN.
Fannie Mae pays millions to 354 congressmen and senators, from both parties.
Who got the most money?
Top 4 Recipients
Top 4 Recipients
2005
Franklin Raines & top execs are forced to resign from Fannie Mae.
They do not go to jail.
There is no media "perp. walk."
They keeps all of their bonuses
They finally pay $31.4 million in civil fines.
2005
The Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act is sponsored by:
2005
None of the top 4 recipients support the legislation.
The reform act is blocked by Democrats, never even making it out of committee.
None of the politicians return any of the money, tainted by fraud.
2008
Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac go bankrupt and the govt. takes them over completely.
Lehman Brothers, goes bankrupt from investing in bad mortgages.
AIG get $85 million in loan guarantees, after insuring bad loans & projects.
Taxpayers will ultimately pay BILLIONS.
2008
Franklin Raines is now an advisor to the Obama Campaign which wants the govt. to take over more of the economy.
Did government involvement in the mortgage market work out?
How will even MORE government involvement make it better? Do you want to be Sweden?
McCain favors revising regulations & loan standards, selling off Fannie & Freddie.
SOURCES
Congressional Record, 5/25/06
"Hannity & Colmes," Fox News, 9/16-9/17/08
Herald Tribune, 4/18/08
New York Times, 9/13/03
www. govtrack.com, 9/17/08
Fannie Mae/NY Times
Check out the date on this. Of course, this came as no surprise to me. It's surprising to ever find an objective article from the NY Times, but sometimes they surprise us.
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Published: September 30, 1999
In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.
''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''
Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.
In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.
''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''
Under Fannie Mae's pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 -- a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.
Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990's. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent.
Obama on Freddie and Fannie
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gG5WlF
Fannie CEO is Daniel Mudd
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gPfdSGL82ufTASVrfgCbKslcCYPgD92M2NI03
Bush orchestrated Fannie Mae F-up
The former chief executive officer of Fannie Mae says the Bush administration helped orchestrate an accounting scandal that cost him his job and that he wants to use White House documents to defend himself in a shareholder lawsuit.
Franklin Raines, who served as President Clinton's budget director, argues in court documents that the Bush administration felt the government-chartered agency wielded too much power in the mortgage industry. His attorneys say the White House pushed regulators to weaken Fannie Mae and triggered a $6 billion accounting scandal.
Raines subpoenaed the White House for documents in July. Justice Department lawyers will go before a federal judge Thursday to fight it.
Relying primarily on articles by financial journalists and the testimony of industry analysts, Raines describes in court documents an unofficial task force dubbed "Noriega" that was formed to weaken Fannie Mae and drive down its stock price.
Fannie Mae is the largest U.S. buyer and backer of home loans. It was created by Congress but is publicly traded. Raines says the Bush administration wanted to undermine confidence in the agency so it could push for tighter government controls.
McCain and Fannie and Freddie
Contributions from Fannie and Freddie's boards of directors and lobbyists, who are technically not employees. That analysis found Fannie and Freddie-related contributors gave $169,000 to John McCain and his related committees, compared with $16,000 to Obama and his related committees.
The other money Obama received was from employees and their families, not the corporation.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/727/
Dems and the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac fiasco...
Collapse or the Democrat Swindle of the U.S. Taxpayer
In 2006 an election year, the Democrats were still trying to lay the Enron scandal on Bush and the Republicans. With the help of the press a cover up of a larger financial scandal was taking place. A scandal that we are paying for today. In 2006 a 3 year investigation into fraud at Fannie Mae was concluded. It revealed a level of financial misconduct by Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, and others that grossly overstated earnings by 10.6 Billion dollars. To gain bonuses.
For those who don't know both Raines and Gorelick were high ranking officials in the Clinton Administration.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/07/top-senate-recipients-of-fanni.html
http://eddriscoll.com/archives/013595.php
Hillary supporter's take on fannie/freddie....
I hope you haven’t just eaten, because what you are about to read will disturb you–and well it should. It’s proof that John McCain foresaw the Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae disaster in 2006– and tried against all Obama-Like minds to ward it off.
Below are John McCain’s remarks urging the passage of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, which he co-sponsored and which was rendered “Dead” in Congress.
Guess who prevailed and didn’t take heed? Or more appropriately, guess who deliberately “looked the other way”?
This is all we need to know to understand exactly WHICH candidate in this election is willing to break some eggs when it comes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–two organizations that, with the help of certain Democrats, deliberately redistributed wealth the easy way. Now we are all paying for it, as intended all along. Just as John McCain warned below.
As we view the carnage, this is all we need to know to understand exactly WHICH candidate foresaw this carnage we are witnessing, and which candidate worked to convince the other candidate to help avoid it. It is all we need to know to recognize exactly WHICH candidate had the right judgment and was looking out for the rest of us.
Joe Biden? It’s time for US to be Patriotic? No. It’s time for YOU to be patriotic. In fact, it’s too late. As for you saying, “It’s time to be part of the deal”. We want no part of this “deal”. And what a “deal” it was!
May 26, 2006
Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.
The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.
For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.
Quick Info
S-90 Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005
Last Action: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Status: Dead
I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190,to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.
Update: Well looky here. Here’s a glowing Wall Street piece on Obama, written in June 2008. You would think Mr. “Regulator” Obama really is Jesus looking out for us! But…..here’s the paragraph that hooked me–the paragraph that haunts today:
He characterized the senator as a quick study on financial services, citing his early support of efforts by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank to empower the Federal Housing Administration to help struggling homeowners.
Oh they “empowered” all right. The Democrats killed this bill while Dodd, Frank and Obama fiddled and helped Fannie and Freddie cook their books, continue to tank, all the while keeping the regulators out of their way. These are the guys who killed the bill that McCain fought for. The bill that would have avoided the financial disaster we witnessed during the past two weeks. In the meantime, take a look at which senators were feeding at the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac trough. My party is not what it used to be. My party has not only let me down, but it has also screwed me and my country in the process.
Note: All of these facts can be independently confirmed if you are interested in the truth of this matter.
More on Barney Frank and fannie/freddie...
http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080924145932.aspx
you tube video on freddy and fannie
Fannie/Freddie going to cost 7 billion...
if we are lucky.
Thank the dems for defending Freddie, Fannie,etc.
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Freddie and Fannie were questioned years ago for
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Dems are the real cause of Fannie and Freddie
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That's because Fannie and Freddie are in his back pocket
He received a lot of money from both places. Would you go against them if you get large election donations and low housing costs with cheap mortages? I don't think so. That's why he has to go. He is just as corrupt as the others.
McCain saw Fannie/Freddie coming in 2005...
and sponsored legislation which the Democrats blocked.
John McCain did anticpate the problems with GSEs and see them as a systemic financial problem. He even sponsored legislation to deal with it, and this is what he said:
"I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole."
McCain deserves credit for being on the right side of this. Meanwhile, Obama in just four years in the Senate raked more contributions from Fannie and Freddie than any other Senator in the last 19 years — save Chris Dodd, who's pretty demonstrably in the pocket of Big Mortgage.
Fannie and Freddie....Barney Frank, Chris Dodd...
you left them off your list. The two MAJOR players. Who got the most donations from fannie/freddie? Barack Obama and Chris Dodd. Obama got more from them in his 3 years than other senators did in 20. You do the math and follow the money.
Foreign investors. China and Russia insisted on Fannie Mac bail out.
dd
Good post....truth doesn't always sound good
@
Good for you! Most people would not recognize good...sm
character if it hit them over the head, just sheep who follow along without thinking for themselves, believing the political pundit spitting out garbage.
Good post - good research (sm)
History does repeat itself at times. I had forgotten about the 50s and Russia.
Very scary times we live in and so many new enemies. This is definitely not a scare tactic but a very clear warning. You can't ignore facts, they are there.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
rasberries
Good point, good post. Thanks.
Good One!!!
 especially since I have four cats and no dogs....I did have a pit bull once, but he was the sweetest thing and rather lick you to death than bite!!!
Good
Great, we have something in common. *BIG HUG*. Bye, Brunson.
Well, good, cuz I am not following you at all. SM
An analogy was made and you are making it sound like a Bible verse? Please. Give it up.
LOL! That's a good one.
Contact the administrator so that you can give her more than just your ISP to use against you. Why not give her your email, so she can report back to your employer with your name, too?
Thanks, good to see
a fair sampling of papers. There are so few independent papers anymore; and they all put out the same spin due to being owned by the The Powers That Be, it is good to hear people speaking out again but my God, what it took to have that happen.
LOL! Good one!
I can't stop laughing at the row v wade line!
As far as everything else you said, I couldn't agree more. Thank you for posting your honest feelings. It helps a lot to know that all those who are born again aren't of the radical mindset that is usually shown on these boards. 
good vs bad
That is the trouble with radical right wingers..they think the world is evil or good..black or white..you are either with us or not..axis of evil..LOL..simple thinking for complicated times, if you ask me..
Good ones...sm
Especially staying the course, 911 and ownership society.
These are good :) nm
Good ones..nm
This is another good one.
This is about the power of dissent and the duty of the TRUE PATRIOT to exercise it.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0704-21.htm
Good for him...sm
(off topic: A 17-year old deputy. That's kinda young for the job I would think.)
Booze does amplify the personality. You do and say things that you would not have if you weren't 'under the influence.' I can't overlook the fact that Mel's father says the the Holocaust did not happen, and is fiction. The same father who moved his family to Australia so that his older brothers would not have to go to Vietnam mind you. What's that saying about apples?
I've learned to separated the man from the movies. Passion of the Christ, I loved.
Pol Pot...not a good example. sm
Pol Pot would have never been allowed his free reign had we stayed the course in Vietnam. The left got their wish. We withdrawn. Millions died. But the left never talks about that.
As far as *we* killing blacks and American Indians. I never killed anyone. Africans were caught and sold by their own people to the slave traders. We can sit and assign guilt until now to kingdom come. To read posts like this further illustrates the people in this country who think of the U.S. as the great Satan.
This is very good to know.
This seems to diametrically oppose what Marylandgal is saying, too.
Good for you and good for him!
I think he is going to go a long way and I think he would make a very deliberate and thoughtful president that could just lead us out of this quagmire the country is currently in, and I think he has the better national healthcare proposition on the table. I hope he maximizes on his momentum. New Hampshire may not be so quick to endorse though.
Well seeing as none are very good...
I think that because none of them are the perfect choice, I want a good speaker to represent us. I'm not in love with Obama, some of what he does is a little unnerving. What Hillary is about just downright scares the you know what out of me (as does McCain - that relic should be in some sanitarium somewhere) - how he made it I don't know because I believe there were a lot of other more qualified candidates on the repubs side. Anyway...seeing as none of them is the "ideal" candidate I at least want someone in who is a good speaker and who can represent our country in a dignified and intelligent manner. Hillary does not. I've listened to her speeches with an open mind hoping (I mean really really hoping) that I would feel differently about her because there was a possibility she could be chosen. But every time she speaks it just brings my hopes down. Her thoughts are not together. She cannot read without constantly looking at her notes, and most of what I hear is "women, women, women. We've been done wrong to and now its payback time. We're going to make them pay for what they did to us, etc, etc (of course not in those exact words - but that is the implication of her speeches). I've not once heard her give a speech of hope and promise. What she does say is more of the same retoric. More of "I'm going to give you this or that - which is what they promised when Bill was campaigning years ago, but never filled their promises back then. That is why I do not believe any of what she says. False hopes.
So yes....candidates are not all that great, but I want a great speaker to talk to other countries and not make us look like fools which is what George Bush & Bill Clinton did when they were in. I also want our leader to talk to our allies AND enemies. Everyone needs to live together in peace and if there is a slight chance that Obama can do it I'm for it. This whole idea that Clinton and McCain will "threaten" other countries with "obliteration". Well how would they feel if our enemies said do what we want or we're going to "obliterate" you. So yes, I'm for someone who is a good speaker and good negotiator.
That is all well and good, but....
I still don't agree. I hear "most Muslims don't agree with," but you never hear the Muslims themselves saying so. Why don't they? Why don't they write articles, get published, come out publically against extremism? Now I know that there are Muslims who are not prone to violence and yes, they abhor it...but a personal feeling means nothing if those who feel that way don't unite and make themselves known. Of course Muslim countries denounced the attack...what would YOU do if you thought you might come into the crosshairs of the US military? Who knows what they were saying to their own people. I seem to remember footage of your regular Muslim folks dancing in the streets over there and saying we got what we deserved. They were not members of AL Qaeda, just everyday Muslim citizens. So...sorry....I don't think this gentleman gets it and I don't think Obama gets it either.
There will always be fundamentalists, and I believe more Muslims than not are fundamentalists; just will not say so, and just a few of them can do great damage and frankly, I want a President in the White House that I think those people will have a grudging respect for; I want them to think he/she will train down misery on them if they attack us again. Because, frankly, that is all they understand, and for all Bush's failures (and he has many in my books, including spending like there was no tomorrow), I believe that is one thing he HAS done and the way he reacted to 9-11 is exactly what has kept them from attacking us like that again. They don't want American boots on the ground in anymore Muslim countries. Because Bush gets it. He knows who and what he is fighting.
Just as an aside....what makes you think Obama is in favor of free trade? His votes in Congress and many of his statements are in direct contradiction to that...? I have read up on it, and while he has made statements that he is "for" free trade, all his actions speak otherwise.
Bottom line...I don't trust him, I don't think he understands Muslim extremism, and I know he is way further to the left and has rampant socialist tendencies that I don't agree with...and if he is elected, look for taxes to go up no matter what he says, because to do everything he wants to do is going to cost a lot of money. And when he starts with the taxing the "rich" and people start to jump on that bandwagon...they need to look at the income thresholds for those "rich" and realize that it will hurt the small businesses who employ a great many people in this country. If he does that, look for more jobs and companies to go offshore. A major contributor to offshoring is companies trying to get out from under the huge tax burden Democratic congresses have put on them.
As a side note...violence associated with the Muslim religion is not new...their rampage across Europe killing Christians on the way to trying to take over Jerusalem...that was many hundreds of years ago, leading to the crusades. Muslim extremists (although they were all pretty extreme in those days) were about world domination then and they are about it now...they are just more clever in how they seek to bring it about.
And look at Sharia law...how much more violent can you get? Stonings, cutting off limbs, honor killings...sorry...I don't think they get it at all...just my opinion. If you put in Sharia law in this country we would have a gazillion stonings a day and a good portion of the populace would be limbless...if even alive. And there are American citizens (though Muslim) who have participated in and fully condoned honor killings...sooo I don't think it is wise to assume that free markets and capitalism will change minds and hearts. Nice thought...just not a realistic one, in my view. While there ARE those Muslims who are not extreme in how they interpret the Koran...I do not think they are in the majority. Nothing about the world today makes me come anywhere close to believing that.
Both of those men are good men....
I was impressed with Duncan Hunter during the primaries. I really have no idea where McCain is going to go. Another real interesting aspect of this race. I have to say Obama surprised me choosing Biden. Especially when they have Biden saying on tape he would be proud to run with McCain. Now he is going to have to turn around and attack McCain. Slight loss of credibility there. Oh well. Friendships often get thrown under the political bus...on both sides.
good one!
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Good. nm
nm
Good one!
.
That was a good one!
Bullseye.
and we could all use a good
laugh -- breaks the tension of the past couple months.
That's a good one!
That Sarah Silverman is ignorant!
Good one... :) (NM)
xx
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