The winning ticket would have been Romney-McCain. McCain wouldn't put Romney on the ticket but is there any doubt Romney would not have chosen McCain? Romney on top of the ticket…….better debater, more knowledgeable on the economy, better looking, taller, more presidential, true person outside Washington. Romney would not have had to suspend his campaign to go to Washington because he was not part of Washington! Dick now admits this move hurt McCain. Romney could have presented his own financial bailout and then criticized both Congress and Obama for their proposals. Obama could not tie him to Bush because Romney did not spend his life in Washington. Again, the Republican Party has failed us and nominated the wrong person. I hope Dick Morris and the radical evangelicals are happy!
Dick Morris' electoral map with poll results as of Sept 30th. Even Arizona, McCain's home state is in play now.
http://w3.newsmax.com/a/morrismap/?promo_code=2A89-1
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Re: Romney-McCain
New York Post: BARACK'S 'ORGANIZER' BUDS PUSHED FOR BAD MORTGAGES
O'S DANGEROUS PALS
BARACK'S 'ORGANIZER' BUDS PUSHED FOR BAD MORTGAGES
Comments: 70
By STANLEY KURTZ
Chutzpah: ACORN's drive to lower mortgage standards paved the way for the meltdown - yet last week, it was holding protests like this one in Florida, trying to get a cut of the financial-market-rescue bill.
Posted: 3:53 am
September 29, 2008
WHAT exactly does a "community organizer" do? Barack Obama's rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question. Here's a big part of the answer: Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit.
In the name of fairness to minorities, community organizers occupy private offices, chant inside bank lobbies, and confront executives at their homes - and thereby force financial institutions to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages to low-credit customers.
In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans. And Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it.
THE seeds of today's financial meltdown lie in the Commu nity Reinvestment Act - a law passed in 1977 and made riskier by unwise amendments and regulatory rulings in later decades.
CRA was meant to encourage banks to make loans to high-risk borrowers, often minorities living in unstable neighborhoods. That has provided an opening to radical groups like ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) to abuse the law by forcing banks to make hundreds of millions of dollars in "subprime" loans to often uncreditworthy poor and minority customers.
Any bank that wants to expand or merge with another has to show it has complied with CRA - and approval can be held up by complaints filed by groups like ACORN.
In fact, intimidation tactics, public charges of racism and threats to use CRA to block business expansion have enabled ACORN to extract hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and contributions from America's financial institutions.
Banks already overexposed by these shaky loans were pushed still further in the wrong direction when government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began buying up their bad loans and offering them for sale on world markets.
Fannie and Freddie acted in response to Clinton administration pressure to boost homeownership rates among minorities and the poor. However compassionate the motive, the result of this systematic disregard for normal credit standards has been financial disaster.
ONE key pioneer of ACORN's subprime-loan shakedown racket was Madeline Talbott - an activist with extensive ties to Barack Obama. She was also in on the ground floor of the disastrous turn in Fannie Mae's mortgage policies.
Long the director of Chicago ACORN, Talbott is a specialist in "direct action" - organizers' term for their militant tactics of intimidation and disruption. Perhaps her most famous stunt was leading a group of ACORN protesters breaking into a meeting of the Chicago City Council to push for a "living wage" law, shouting in defiance as she was arrested for mob action and disorderly conduct. But her real legacy may be her drive to push banks into making risky mortgage loans.
In February 1990, Illinois regulators held what was believed to be the first-ever state hearing to consider blocking a thrift merger for lack of compliance with CRA. The challenge was filed by ACORN, led by Talbott. Officials of Bell Federal Savings and Loan Association, her target, complained that ACORN pressure was undermining its ability to meet strict financial requirements it was obligated to uphold and protested being boxed into an "affirmative-action lending policy." The following years saw Talbott featured in dozens of news stories about pressuring banks into higher-risk minority loans.
IN April 1992, Talbott filed an other precedent-setting com plaint using the "community support requirements" of the 1989 savings-and-loan bailout, this time against Avondale Federal Bank for Savings. Within a month, Chicago ACORN had organized its first "bank fair" at Malcolm X College and found 16 Chicago-area financial institutions willing to participate.
Two months later, aided by ACORN organizer Sandra Maxwell, Talbott announced plans to conduct demonstrations in the lobbies of area banks that refused to attend an ACORN-sponsored national bank "summit" in New York. She insisted that banks show a commitment to minority lending by lowering their standards on downpayments and underwriting - for example, by overlooking bad credit histories.
By September 1992, The Chicago Tribune was describing Talbott's program as "affirma- tive-action lending" and ACORN was issuing fact sheets bragging about relaxations of credit standards that it had won on behalf of minorities.
And Talbott continued her effort to, as she put it, drag banks "kicking and screaming" into high-risk loans. A September 1993 story in The Chicago Sun-Times presents her as the leader of an initiative in which five area financial institutions (including two of her former targets, now plainly cowed - Bell Federal Savings and Avondale Federal Savings) were "participating in a $55 million national pilot program with affordable-housing group ACORN to make mortgages for low- and moderate-income people with troubled credit histories."
What made this program different from others, the paper added, was the participation of Fannie Mae - which had agreed to buy up the loans. "If this pilot program works," crowed Talbott, "it will send a message to the lending community that it's OK to make these kind of loans."
Well, the pilot program "worked," and Fannie Mae's message that risky loans to minorities were "OK" was sent. The rest is financial-meltdown history.
IT would be tough to find an "on the ground" community organizer more closely tied to the subprime-mortgage fiasco than Madeline Talbott. And no one has been more supportive of Madeline Talbott than Barack Obama.
When Obama was just a budding community organizer in Chicago, Talbott was so impressed that she asked him to train her personal staff.
He returned to Chicago in the early '90s, just as Talbott was starting her pressure campaign on local banks. Chicago ACORN sought out Obama's legal services for a "motor voter" case and partnered with him on his 1992 "Project VOTE" registration drive.
In those years, he also conducted leadership-training seminars for ACORN's up-and-coming organizers. That is, Obama was training the army of ACORN organizers who participated in Madeline Talbott's drive against Chicago's banks.
More than that, Obama was funding them. As he rose to a leadership role at Chicago's Woods Fund, he became the most powerful voice on the foundation's board for supporting ACORN and other community organizers. In 1995, the Woods Fund substantially expanded its funding of community organizers - and Obama chaired the committee that urged and managed the shift.
That committee's report on strategies for funding groups like ACORN features all the key names in Obama's organizer network. The report quotes Talbott more than any other figure; Sandra Maxwell, Talbott's ACORN ally in the bank battle, was also among the organizers consulted.
MORE, the Obama-supervised Woods Fund report ac knowledges the problem of getting donors and foundations to contribute to radical groups like ACORN - whose confrontational tactics often scare off even liberal donors and foundations.
Indeed, the report brags about pulling the wool over the public's eye. The Woods Fund's claim to be "nonideological," it says, has "enabled the Trustees to make grants to organizations that use confrontational tactics against the business and government 'establishments' without undue risk of being criticized for partisanship."
Hmm. Radicalism disguised by a claim to be postideological. Sound familiar?
The Woods Fund report makes it clear Obama was fully aware of the intimidation tactics used by ACORN's Madeline Talbott in her pioneering efforts to force banks to suspend their usual credit standards. Yet he supported Talbott in every conceivable way. He trained her personal staff and other aspiring ACORN leaders, he consulted with her extensively, and he arranged a major boost in foundation funding for her efforts.
And, as the leader of another charity, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Obama channeled more funding Talbott's way - ostensibly for education projects but surely supportive of ACORN's overall efforts.
In return, Talbott proudly announced her support of Obama's first campaign for state Senate, saying, "We accept and respect him as a kindred spirit, a fellow organizer."
IN short, to understand the roots of the subprime-mort gage crisis, look to ACORN's Madeline Talbott. And to see how Talbott was able to work her mischief, look to Barack Obama.
Then you'll truly know what community organizers do.
Stanley Kurtz is a senior fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC.
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Obama Change Song
-Tijs
MORRIS : MCCAIN NEEDS TO GET HIS CAMPAIGN BACK ON TRACK
Another blurb from Dick Morris, the same guy who dished Romney and
helped torpedo his campaign. Again, like 1976 (Ford instead of Reagan)
the Republicans have nominated the wrong candidate. Does anyone
question how Romney would have handled the debate last Friday and won
decisively? He would have hammered Obama on the economy and stood
strong on national defense. Romney, like Obama, is tall and handsome
and looks very presidential so charisma and good looks would not be a
factor as it is now with McCain and Obama. Romney won most of the
primary debates by being very aggressive. Focus groups made up of
independents said after Friday's debate that McCain was not passionate
enough, his voice is too soft, etc. etc. Contrast that with what they
would be saying about Romney. With the campaign now until November all
about the economy, which I predicted it would be back in January, the
republicans have lost their voice in this campaign and probably the
election. I lay the blame for this on the radical closed minded
evangelicals who starting in Iowa rejected Romney because he is Mormon.
They made the bed now they can sleep in it and reap the consequences!
What say you Dick? Do you ever admit that you made a mistake?
-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Morris Reports [mailto:subscribers@dickmorris.com]
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 4:24 PM
To: Limburg, Garth
Subject: MCCAIN NEEDS TO GET HIS CAMPAIGN BACK ON TRACK
MCCAIN NEEDS TO GET HIS CAMPAIGN BACK ON TRACK
By DICK MORRIS
Published on DickMorris.com
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/113915/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=03dde41d> on September 29, 2008
Printer-Friendly Version
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/113915/7907599/2393/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy52b
3RlLmNvbS9tbXBfcHJpbnRlcmZyaWVuZGx5LnBocD9pZD0xMTIw&x=48fcb998>
John McCain isn't dead in the water. But he sure is dying. He lost the
debate and the polls are dismal. Gallup has him down 50-42. Rasmussen
has Obama ahead 50-44. And both polls are only partially after the
debate. Obama won the debate. When the polls come in fully after the
debate, the picture won't get any prettier for those of us who favor
McCain.
The REAL "skeletons" in Obama's closet!
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/113915/7907599/1958/0/?u=aHR0cHM6Ly9tZW1iZ
XJzLmh1bWFuZXZlbnRzb25saW5lLmNvbS9vcmRlci5waHA%2fb2ZmZXI9MTMwNA%3d%3d&x=
58d93ac1> His gambit of suspending his campaign and going to
Washington has failed because he did not think it through adequately or
correlate it with what was happening in Congress. The Republicans teed
up a perfect shot for him. He took the bat but went back to the dugout
without even swinging. McCain should have gone into the debate
challenging Obama on his $700 billion taxpayer bailout of financial
institutions. He should have pushed the Republican alternative. He
could have said, plain and simple, that Obama wants to make Americans
pay for $700 billion in bad mortgages and McCain wants to make
businesses pay for their own bailout through loans and insurance
premiums. It would have been a straight shot. But McCain copped out
and mumbled something about the deal being the "end of the beginning"
and said he hoped to vote for the bailout. It was a failure that may
have cost him his best shot at the presidency.
But not his only shot. McCain can still win.
He needs to deploy the tax issue. His campaign has to stop the
scattershot web ads and focus instead on a sustained attack on Obama's
plans for tax increases. Stop the pinpricks and go for the jugular. It
is only through the tax issue that McCain can win this campaign.
Voters understand that our economy is vulnerable and teetering on the
brink of a black hole. McCain needs to capitalize on this new sense of
vulnerability and hammer away at the Obama tax proposals. He needs to
say that our system is starving for capital. Raising capital gains
taxes, much less doubling it as Obama proposed during the primaries (but
now is trying to backtrack), is like taxing water in the desert. McCain
has to talk about Obama's spending proposals and mock the idea that he
can spend a trillion and still give "95% of Americans" a tax increase.
McCain should take a page out of the playbook of the endgame of the Bush
1992 campaign. With Bill Clinton holding a solid lead, Bush was
reluctant to attack him for his record of tax increases, especially
given his violation of his 1988 "read my lips" pledge not to raise
taxes. So the campaign sent Vice President Dan Quayle out to attack
Clinton, day after day, for raising taxes. And the results were clear
in the polls. Bush gained each day and, four days before Election Day,
Bush took a lead over Clinton in the tracking polls. Clinton was saved
by the announcement by Iran Contra Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh
that he was planning to indict Cap Weinberger, Bush's Defense Secretary.
Clinton surged ahead and won the election. But the tax issue had
almost reversed his lead in the polls.
If McCain pounds away at taxes, taxes, taxes he can still win this
election. By tying the Obama tax plans to the possibility of massive
depression, he can pull this out.
Remember: Whenever we raised taxes amidst a downturn, we triggered a
massive falloff. It was the tax increases of the early 30s that
worsened the Great Depression and it was Bush's 1990 tax increase that
created the 1991 recession that cost him his job. America understands
that we can't raise taxes now. American grasps that Obama will not just
raise taxes on a handful of rich people but will raise them on
everybody. And we understand that Obama has no real answer to this
charge. McCain just needs to begin to make this central attack his
campaign theme from now on.
The REAL "skeletons" in Obama's closet!
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/113915/7907599/1958/0/?u=aHR0cHM6Ly9tZW1iZ
XJzLmh1bWFuZXZlbnRzb25saW5lLmNvbS9vcmRlci5waHA%2fb2ZmZXI9MTMwNA%3d%3d&x=
58d93ac1>
Go to DickMorris.com
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/113915/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=03dde41d> to read all of Dick's columns!
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND TELL THEM THEY CAN
GET THESE COLUMNS E-MAILED TO THEM FOR FREE BY SUBSCRIBING AT
WWW.DICKMORRIS.COM
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/113915/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=03dde41d> !
THANK YOU!
***COPYRIGHT EILEEN MCGANN AND DICK MORRIS 2008. REPRINTS WITH
PERMISSION ONLY***
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/db/113915/7907599/1.gif>
You are currently subscribed to dick_morris_reports as:
garth.limburg@slcgov.com
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
leave-113915-7907599.6b6688a91d85c06dc905240157ce1b11@rs1.netatlantic.co
m
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Dick Morris: THE BRILLIANCE OF MCCAIN'S MOVE
From: Dick Morris Reports [mailto:subscribers@dickmorris.com]
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 9:13 AM
To: Limburg, Garth
Subject: THE BRILLIANCE OF MCCAIN'S MOVE
THE BRILLIANCE OF MCCAIN'S MOVE
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published on DickMorris.com
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/109834/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=696be770> on September 26, 2008
Printer-Friendly Version
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/109834/7907599/2355/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy52b
3RlLmNvbS9tbXBfcHJpbnRlcmZyaWVuZGx5LnBocD9pZD0xMTA4&x=d9af02d1>
McCain has transformed a minority in both houses of Congress and a
losing position in the polls into the key role in the bailout package,
the main man around whom the final package will take shape. He arrived
in Washington to find the Democrats working with the Bush Administration
to pass an unpopular $700 billion bailout. The Democrats had already
cut their deal with Bush. The Dems agreed to the price tag while Bush
agreed to special aid to families facing foreclosure, equity for the
taxpayers, and limits on executive compensation. But no sooner had
McCain arrived than he derailed the deal.
Citizens United Productions Presents HYPE: The Obama Effect!
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/109834/7907599/1956/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS9ibG9nL2h5cGUtdGhlLW9iYW1hLWVmZmVjdC8%3d&x=f3690637>
Knowing how unpopular the bailout is with the American people, the
Democrats are not about to pass anything without broad Republican
support even though their majorities permit them to act alone. Instead
of signing on with the Democratic/Bush package, the House Republicans
are insisting on replacing the purchase of corporate debt with loans to
companies and insurance paid for by the companies, not by the taxpayers.
That, of course, is a popular position. McCain would be comfortable to
debate this issue division all day. And, if the Dems don't cave into
the Republican position, that's probably exactly what he'll do on Friday
night's scheduled debate in Mississippi.
But the Democrats are not about to be stubborn. They know their package
is a lemon and need the political cover of Republican support. So the
Republicans can write their own ticket...and they will. John McCain
will be at the center of the emerging compromise while Obama is out on
the campaign trail kissing babies. If the deal is cut before Friday's
debate, my bet is that McCain shows up in triumph. If it isn't, he
shows up anyway and flagellates Obama over the differences between the
Democratic package and McCain's.
By Monday, at the latest, the Democrats have to cave in and pass the
Republican version. They don't dare pass their own without GOP support,
so they will have to cave in to the Republican version.
Then McCain comes out of the process as the hero who made it happen when
the president couldn't and Obama wouldn't. He becomes the bailout
expert.
And, of course, the bailout will work. With the feds standing behind
the bad debt, whether by purchase or loans and insurance, Wall Street
will breathe a sigh of relief. Bears won't dare bet against the economy
with the entire weight of the federal government on the other side.
They may be bears but they are not rabid.
Finally, McCain, as the reigning expert on bailouts, then can take the
tax issue to Obama, saying that a tax increase, such as the Democrat is
pushing, would destroy the bailout, ruin the economy, and trigger a
collapse.
This bold move by McCain is about to work. Big time.
Go to DickMorris.com
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/109834/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=696be770> to read all of Dick's columns!
Citizens United Productions Presents HYPE: The Obama Effect!
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/109834/7907599/1956/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS9ibG9nL2h5cGUtdGhlLW9iYW1hLWVmZmVjdC8%3d&x=f3690637>
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND TELL THEM THEY CAN
GET THESE COLUMNS E-MAILED TO THEM FOR FREE BY SUBSCRIBING AT
WWW.DICKMORRIS.COM
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/109834/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=696be770> !
THANK YOU!
***COPYRIGHT EILEEN MCGANN AND DICK MORRIS 2008. REPRINTS WITH
PERMISSION ONLY** <http://rs1.netatlantic.com/db/109834/7907599/1.gif>
You are currently subscribed to dick_morris_reports as:
garth.limburg@slcgov.com
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
leave-109834-7907599.6b6688a91d85c06dc905240157ce1b11@rs1.netatlantic.co
m
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Dense Politicians
Your question was: Were elected officials as dense 40 years ago and earlier as they are now?
Answer: The only thing I did politically 40 years ago was write a song about Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ as the media called him).
I'm LBJ from the USA.
I'm the President of the government.
We shot down John on a Dallas Street
And killed Jack Ruby which was quiet a treat
Now I control the Presidency.
Oh, happy 'ol LBJ, yeh, yeh, yeh
Happy 'ol LBJ
When I went upon the hill
They would always pass my bill.
I like medi-care cause it helped save my hair.
Throughout the country the democrats knew
Oh, republican down with you.
When you go to vote we'll get a hold of you.
Oh, happy 'ol LBJ, yeh, yeh, yeh
Happy 'ol LBJ
We dropped our bombs on Vietnam.
(I don't remember the rest of it but you get the jist)
There is a tune to this but I would have to sing it for you.
-Garth Limburg
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Q&A: Warren Buffet
hey what does warren buffet have against private equity funds?
--
b
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Fwd: O STUMPS AS JOHN TRUMPS
Brother Garth, if there is one game this fall where we should be talking a lot of politics to absorb some time it would be this 'bye week' game Saturday. I will cheer to honor Mac, and then I hope our 2nd and 3rd stringers stomp on them 60-3. Actually, Mac has a pretty good team this year, so let's say 49-15, with our starters resting at least 1/2 of the game.
Nev
P.S. I am not anti-WSU. Just too-Pro U of U. Go Utes!
Garth:
behind us.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nevin Limburg
I'm with you, Steve. See you Saturday for some fun while all around us
goes to you know where.
Nevin
>>> "Dupaix Steven"
I listened to this unfold yesterday while busting my butt to do my part
to save the economy by - guess what - working!! It's obvious what the
lazy-butt, self-serving, hand-out grabbing, everybody else is to blame,
save the whales but kill the corporations, morons at the Tribune - and
virtually every other media source - think employment is for; sitting
around doing whatever you want while everything goes to hell around you.
Senators are elected to represent their constituents and take an oath to
"well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office". It's about
time that McCain got back to work and Obama should be censured or
expelled for his lack of attendance. What kind of president will he be
if he has spent the majority of his "employment" working another job.
Man, I'm pissed at self-serving elitism!
Thanks,
Steve Dupaix
801 977 1616 (office)
801 755 9584 (cell)
-----Original Message-----
From: Limburg, Garth
Here is Dick Morris' take on McCain going to Washington to fix the
economy. Contrast his opinion with that of the SL Tribune (attached) on
today's editorial page.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Morris Reports [mailto:subscribers@dickmorris.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:18 AM
To: Limburg, Garth
Subject: O STUMPS AS JOHN TRUMPS
O STUMPS AS JOHN TRUMPS
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published in the The New York Post on September 25, 2008
Printer-Friendly Version
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/2325/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy52b
3RlLmNvbS9tbXBfcHJpbnRlcmZyaWVuZGx5LnBocD9pZD0xMTA1IA%3d%3d&x=5a5cd42f>
Facing a postconvention fall in the polls, John McCain once again
reshaped the dimensions of the race by suspending his campaign and
calling for postponement of tomorrow's debate.
This bold move could have an impact on the race akin to McCain's choice
of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Defensively, McCain had to act to
stop the fall in his poll numbers.
Offensively, he has placed himself at the epicenter of the only issue on
the national agenda - proactive action to stop a total international
financial collapse.
Obama's response to McCain's initiative is lame. As with his initial
reaction to Sarah Palin, Obama has miscalculated. While he tries to spin
McCain's move as a mere response to his initiative, it was the
Republican who first issued the call for a suspension of the campaigns.
Order a personally signed, first edition copy of FLEECED from
Barnes&Noble.com. Click here now!
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/2119/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS9ibG9nL2dldC1mbGVlY2VkLw%3d%3d&x=d38ce9fe> Both
McCain and Obama will now go to Washington. McCain on his own
initiative. Obama as a result of the president's call for an economic
summit.
But it is McCain who will play the proactive role. Obama will come to
Washington, but will keep one foot outside the Beltway.
Even though the president has called both candidates to Washington to
save the country, Obama continues to campaign. Politics as usual.
He doesn't want to cancel the debate. He would debate while the markets
burn.
McCain is going to work while Obama is phoning it in.
Oddly, McCain and Obama agree on the bailout package. But it is only
McCain who can pass the bill. Only McCain can deliver the administration
and the Republicans.
McCain will be at the center of the process, managing it through to
success while Obama lingers on the outskirts, irrelevant and uninvolved.
McCain will pass Barack Obama's bill (which parallels his own
proposals), and will get the credit for it.
There are compelling reasons why McCain may be saving his campaign by
this bold move.
McCain's entry into the legislative foray personalizes the economy
issue.
As long as McCain stayed away from Washington, it was the Democrats
against the Republicans. Polls give the Democrats the edge. But voters
trust McCain personally more than they trust Obama to manage his way out
of a crisis.
By showing up in Washington, McCain makes the issue personal, not
partisan.
And the rescue legislation will pass. Washington has no alternative but
to act. And it probably will work. The markets will calm down. The
bailout legislation will have done it.
Including the Democratic amendments, it will become a fairly popular
piece of legislation and it will have been McCain's bill. Obama can
claim authorship, but it will have been McCain who will have brought the
Administration into line.
Once the bill is passed, McCain will have the credentials to go on the
offensive and warn of the impact of Obama's tax increases on the
recovery.
Had McCain not acted, Republican opposition to big government might have
doomed the economy and destroyed Republican hopes.
By going to Washington, McCain makes it imperative that the Republicans
pass the legislation. His presence makes it an issue of party survival
in a way that lame duck Bush could never do.
As Woody Allen said "half of life is just showing up."
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/2120/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3BvbGxzL
m5ld3NtYXguY29tL2hpbGxhcnkvP1BST01PX0NPREU9NjNCRi0x&x=7cc23cbc> Order a
copy of Fleeced from either Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com - Click here
now!
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/2119/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS9ibG9nL2dldC1mbGVlY2VkLw%3d%3d&x=d38ce9fe>
Go to DickMorris.com
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=e3871534> to read all of Dick's columns!
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/2122/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tY
XJrc2tvdXNlbi5jb20vdmlzaXRvci5waHA%2fb2ZmZXI9MTA2Njc%3d&x=f1a57715>
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/2123/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3BvbGxzL
m5ld3NtYXguY29tL2dvcDIwMDgvP1BST01PX0NPREU9NDMwNC0x&x=88558a5f>
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND TELL THEM THEY CAN
GET THESE COLUMNS E-MAILED TO THEM FOR FREE BY SUBSCRIBING AT
www.DICKMORRIS.COM
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/t/108527/7907599/1957/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ka
WNrbW9ycmlzLmNvbS8%3d&x=e3871534> !
THANK YOU!
***COPYRIGHT EILEEN MCGANN AND DICK MORRIS 2008. REPRINTS WITH
PERMISSION ONLY***
<http://rs1.netatlantic.com/db/108527/7907599/1.gif>
You are currently subscribed to dick_morris_reports as:
garth.limburg@slcgov.com
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
leave-108527-7907599.6b6688a91d85c06dc905240157ce1b11@rs1.netatlantic.co
m
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Re: How A Clinton-Era Rule Rewrite Made Subprime Crisis Inevitable
I am also glad to hear Bernanke and Paulson talking about regulation that would help keep companies from ever becoming or having the stigma of "too big to fail", like Fannie and Freddie had. No capitalist system should allow for one or two institutions to become so large that their failure would doom the economy. Capitalism is all about repeated failures, aquisitions, liquidations, growth, etc., of businesses, and not on monopolies and trusts.
Question for the older generation: Were elected officials as dense 40 years ago and earlier as they are now?
How A Clinton-Era Rule Rewrite Made Subprime Crisis Inevitable
By TERRY JONES
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 4:30 PM PTOne of the most frequently asked questions about the subprime market meltdown and housing crisis is: How did the government get so deeply involved in the housing market?
IBD Exclusive Series: What Caused The Loan Crisis?
The answer is: President Clinton wanted it that way.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even into the early 1990s, weren't the juggernauts they'd later be.
While President Carter in 1977 signed the Community Reinvestment Act, which pushed Fannie and Freddie to aggressively lend to minority communities, it was Clinton who supercharged the process. After entering office in 1993, he extensively rewrote Fannie's and Freddie's rules.
In so doing, he turned the two quasi-private, mortgage-funding firms into a semi-nationalized monopoly that dispensed cash to markets, made loans to large Democratic voting blocs and handed favors, jobs and money to political allies. This potent mix led inevitably to corruption and the Fannie-Freddie collapse.
Despite warnings of trouble at Fannie and Freddie, in 1994 Clinton unveiled his National Homeownership Strategy, which broadened the CRA in ways Congress never intended.
Addressing the National Association of Realtors that year, Clinton bluntly told the group that "more Americans should own their own homes." He meant it.
Clinton saw homeownership as a way to open the door for blacks and other minorities to enter the middle class.
Though well-intended, the problem was that Congress was about to change hands, from the Democrats to the Republicans. Rather than submit legislation that the GOP-led Congress was almost sure to reject, Clinton ordered Robert Rubin's Treasury Department to rewrite the rules in 1995.
The rewrite, as City Journal noted back in 2000, "made getting a satisfactory CRA rating harder." Banks were given strict new numerical quotas and measures for the level of "diversity" in their loan portfolios. Getting a good CRA rating was key for a bank that wanted to expand or merge with another.
Loans started being made on the basis of race, and often little else.
"Bank examiners would use federal home-loan data, broken down by neighborhood, income group and race, to rate banks on performance," wrote Howard Husock, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute.
But those rules weren't enough.
Clinton got the Department of Housing and Urban Development to double-team the issue. That would later prove disastrous.
Clinton's HUD secretary, Andrew Cuomo, "made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country's current crisis," the liberal Village Voice noted. Among those decisions were changes that let Fannie and Freddie get into subprime loan markets in a big way.
Other rule changes gave Fannie and Freddie extraordinary leverage, allowing them to hold just 2.5% of capital to back their investments, vs. 10% for banks.
Since they could borrow at lower rates than banks due to implicit government guarantees for their debt, the government-sponsored enterprises boomed.
With incentives in place, banks poured billions of dollars of loans into poor communities, often "no doc" and "no income" loans that required no money down and no verification of income.
By 2007, Fannie and Freddie owned or guaranteed nearly half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market — a staggering exposure.
Worse still was the cronyism.
Fannie and Freddie became home to out-of-work politicians, mostly Clinton Democrats. An informal survey of their top officials shows a roughly 2-to-1 dominance of Democrats over Republicans.
Then there were the campaign donations. From 1989 to 2008, some 384 politicians got their tip jars filled by Fannie and Freddie.
Over that time, the two GSEs spent $200 million on lobbying and political activities. Their charitable foundations dropped millions more on think tanks and radical community groups.
Did it work? Well, if measured by the goal of putting more poor people into homes, the answer would have to be yes.
From 1995 to 2005, a Harvard study shows, minorities made up 49% of the 12.5 million new homeowners.
The problem is that many of those loans have now gone bad, and minority homeownership rates are shrinking fast.
Fannie and Freddie, with their massive loan portfolios stuffed with securitized mortgage-backed paper created from subprime loans, are a failed legacy of the Clinton era.
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Select Mitt Romney as Head of New Treasury Debt Trust Company
We missed the opportunity to have him as our President, lets give him a chance to be fundamental in turning our financial crisis around.
See the article regarding the Treasury/Congressional Plan:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26780312/
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Bailouts - History Lesson
I'll try to explain it as best that I can and from what I have learned in my business studies.
The Federal Reserve is chartered by congress to under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. That act was supported by a key Senator, then the Republican Senate leader, Nelson Aldrich. He was first opposed to a Central bank (Alexander Hamilton was the first to propose a Central Bank over a hundred years before), but as he studied the central banks in Europe, he was convinced that this would be the answer to most of the problems the US currency system had faced previously; albeit on one condition. That the bank be private, with the only government representation being on the Board of Governors, as the Board of Governors is appointed by the US President. However, the President cannot fire a boardmember (only the board can do that with a vote), and the boardmembers are not beholden to anyone in the government, because they serve longer terms than those who appoint them. They can act for themselves, just as a charter gives a corporate board of directors the ability to conduct business as the board sees fit. Both charters are fundamentally similar.
Even the stocks of the Federal Reserve are owned by the banks operating within a region of the system, and not the government. (There are 12 regions within the Fed system) Each Federal Reserve Bank is independently incorporated and has a 9-member board of directors, 6 of which are nominated by the member banks and 3 which are nominated by the Board of Governors.
The purpose of the Fed is to provide adequate currency, prevent bank runs, to monitor banks, and to manage "paper" (bonds, loans, mortgages, etc.). Its powers have expanded since being formed to balance interests of private banks and the government (which it can do because it is not 'government'), to provide financial services to deposit banks and the government, and to maintain and strengthen the US economy and financial system, among others.
The Fed also is the only organization, as chartered by congress, that can order Reserve Notes to be printed from the Treasury. In that regard as well, the US currency is not subject only to the government, but the people's control. The Federal Reserve Note, issued by Federal Reserve Banks replaced the once used United States Notes which were issued by the US Treasury. The government has to do much of it's financial transactions through the Fed's banking window. Because of this, the value of the currency is based only on the credit of the government, and the combined assets of the US economy.
Coins, on the other hand, are direct issue from the government, because they are directly obliged to the US Treasury.
To answer your question "If all the "government" (President and Congress) can do is advise and request things of the Federal Reserve but their decisions are their own, what stops the Fed from running things as they see fit?", the short answer is that the Fed does in fact run things as they see fit, and many times have gone in the face of both the government and wall street. In most cases, history has shown that the Fed's decision in those cases was probably one of the best ways to go about the problem.
However, recently it seems that some of the Fed Governors have neglected their duties. Here is a quote from their US Code on the Fed's responsibility in preventing asset bubbles (like the ones we have seen recently):
"Each Federal reserve bank shall keep itself informed of the general character and amount of the loans and investments of its member banks with a view to ascertaining whether undue use is being made of bank credit for the speculative carrying of or trading in securities, real estate, or commodities, or for any other purpose inconsistent with the maintenance of sound credit conditions; and, in determining whether to grant or refuse advances, rediscounts, or other credit accommodations, the Federal reserve bank shall give consideration to such information. The chairman of the Federal reserve bank shall report to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System any such undue use of bank credit by any member bank, together with his recommendation. Whenever, in the judgment of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, any member bank is making such undue use of bank credit, the Board may, in its discretion, after reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing, suspend such bank from the use of the credit facilities of the Federal Reserve System"
Twice in the last 15 years, and under two Chairmen and two US Presidents we have seen bubbles in assets like the ones described in the US code. Yet, it seems that the Fed has been reluctant to step in and make adjustments in the last decade. I'm not sure what has happened since the enormous, and somewhat secret, failure of Long Term Capital Management in 1998, but it seems that the Fed has been very hesitant to stem in and take control - beyond adjusting interest rates. Had the Fed not acted in bailing out LTC in 1998, a suprize economic collapse would have occurred, because of the unexpected breakdown in their trading algorithm would have caused worldwide losses at least in the hundreds of billions of dollars. (As a side note, the study which led to the algorithm they used had won the Nobel Prize in economics a year earlier). However, my opinion is that the Fed is now reluctant to step in because the LTC fiasco has made larger firms believe that a Fed bailout is inevitable if they fail, so they can now take on more risks, and the Fed doesn't want to appear like they are catering to that idea.
To be clear, taxpayers don't foot any of the Fed's bills such as bailouts until the full aftermath of the firm being bailed out has been accounted for. Most of the time, those huge bailout numbers are not as large when they hit the Fed's balance sheet because the companies are broken apart while under Fed protection and either sold, such as the case with Bear Stearns being sold to JPMorganChase in a weekend by the Fed's backing. Only when the losses of the company are so large that the liquidation or sale of company businesses and assets doesn't match up does the Fed debit money form it's tax-backed accounts.
That being said, I will answer the second part of your question. Jim Cramer is a great example of how to get the Fed's, especially the Chairman's, attention that their policies are not in line with the market pressures. Complain. He complained to media, threw a fit (which is now infamous) on live TV, and taught people how to "trade against the Fed", so to speak. Because the Fed is run by Capitalists, and not institutionalists and beaureaucrats, they monitor and take heed to market pressures. If you don't like the Fed policy, bet against them. Stockpile money, cause a credit crunch, stop consuming, stop trading or short sell stocks, bonds or mortgages which will drive down the prices (while potentially making you money in a bear market), decrease the value of the currency or start buying other currencies or commodities like gold, move your money from stocks to bonds, or across the seas to other markets, stop hireing at your business, etc. All of these things will cause the Fed to rethink their tactics. And as always, complain.
To sum up the idea that the Central banks around the world listen to the mass of complaints, the Central Bank in Europe told the press yesterday that they had heard too much complaining. They told the papers and the media that all of the complaints were based on fears that the media was purpetrating and creating, and asked that the media stop with the doomsday reports because people were getting overly scared about issues and speculations they shouldn't be so concerned about and that were not substantiated or true.
Hope that answers the question to some degree.
Tijs
Question:
You said,
If the Fed (or Federal Reserve/Central Bank) is a private, third party, institution not controlled by Congress or the President, how do We the People fix what they are doing? If all the "government" (President and Congress) can do is advise and request things of the Federal Reserve but their decisions are their own, what stops the Fed from running things as they see fit. I probably need an economics lesson, but it sure seems strange that our fiscal system is run by a third party, non-elected, committee. Who's responsible for all this madness. Everyone is blaming the government, but the ones making the decisions are independent of the government. But then we as tax payers are the one with the bill? Sounds like an insurance claim nightmare. Help me out here those of economic minds...
"We also need to remember that the Fed is not technically an arm of the government. They are a private institution that is not controlled by Congress or the President, but We the People. If we have an issue with the way things are being run at the Fed, then we as a people need to step in and fix it."
From: Tijs Limburg <tijis311@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:04 PM
To: Limburg, Garth <Garth.Limburg@slcgov.com>; Eric Limburg <dmx311@gmail.com>; Nevin Limburg <Nevin.Limburg@wvc-ut.gov>; Brendon Charles <bcharles22@gmail.com>; Dupaix Steven <steve.dupaix@thomson.net>; Lizzie Dupaix <dyzylyzy@gmail.com>; Ronald Hess <rjoehess@gmail.com>
Subject: Bailouts - History Lesson
I agree with most of this article. However, there is a slight flaw in Andrew's logic which I have pointed out to him. The article would lead you to believe that Fed bailouts are something new. In fact they are not. Bailouts from the "Central Bank" could be argued to be the underlying premise of the Fed in the first place.Before the Fed was formed, the closest thing the US had to a central bank was J.P. Morgan bank. Mr. Morgan used his extensive financial arm and prowess on more than one occasion to bail out both the govenrment in 1895, and to stop the panic of 1907, among others. He even advocated the idea of a central bank, which Congress eventually followed. So in essence, J.P. Morgan could be looked at as the first 'Fed Chairman', who bailed out failing systems long before. Some have said Morgan advocated a central bank because he proved it was absolutely necessary in dire situations to have a central financial power that could step in at the right time and offer money, buy stocks, or create mergers. They also think that Morgan was tired of having this responsibility upon himself, as he was trying to run a banking business, not a regulatory agency of the treasury.We also need to remember that the Fed is not technically an arm of the government. They are a private institution that is not controlled by Congress or the President, but We the People. If we have an issue with the way things are being run at the Fed, then we as a people need to step in and fix it.While I don't think that every large failing company should be bailed out, and I am in a bit of disagreeance with helping AIG stay up, I don't think the bailouts we have seen so far are that dissimilar to tactics Morgan used over a century ago to save the US financial system from crisis.But the article is worth a read. Hopefully our regoinal banking system is firm enough that any widespread effects to not find their way to Salt Lake as quickly. Either way, keep an eye on the performance of the bank you go to. We may see a lot of small banks go under. In 1992, before the big turnaround we have seen in the last 15 years, 800 small or regoinal banks failed. We may see the same thing again.http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2008/09/16/the-fed-is-not-our-sugardaddy.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
--
Tijs Limburg
Chairman and CTO of DMX - Digital Media eXceleron, Inc.
Get eXcited!
www.dmxed.com
Blogs:
http://phystrings.blogspot.com/
http://getoutofthedark.blogspot.com/
The "Don't Tread on Me" Flag: The First Navy Jack is enjoying renewed popularity these days thanks to an order from the Secretary of the Navy that directs all U.S. Navy ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism.