The Navy has confirmed the wreckage of a sunken vessel found last year off the Aleutians Islands is that of the USS Grunion, which disappeared during World War II. Underwater video footage and pictures captured by an expedition hired by sons of the commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, allowed the Navy to confirm the discovery, Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny said Thursday in a news release.
McAneny said the Navy was very grateful to the Abele family. "We hope this announcement will help to give closure to the families of the 70 crewmen of Grunion," he said.
The Grunion was last heard from July 30, 1942. The submarine reported heavy anti-submarine activity at the entrance to Kiska, and that it had 10 torpedoes remaining forward. On the same day, the Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base. The submarine was reported lost Aug. 16, 1942.
Japanese anti-submarine attack data recorded no attack in the Aleutian area at the time of the Grunion's disappearance, so the submarine's fate remained an unsolved mystery for more than 60 years, the Navy said.
Abele's son's, Bruce, Brad, and John, began working on a plan to find the sub after finding information on the Internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion's possible location.
In August 2006, a team of side scan sonar experts hired by the brothers located a target near Kiska almost a mile below the ocean's surface. A second expedition in August 2007 using a high definition camera on a remotely operated vehicle yielded video footage and high resolution photos of the wreckage.
#2
A friend of mine, not American, asked how long subs can stay out.
Sixty, seventy years, I answered.
It took him a moment to get it.
The country he comes from uses its military against its civilians.
They have a different view of fighting men.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
10/03/2008 22:24 Comments ||
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Glenn Reynolds says, "This is just wrong." I think it's cute, and bet Sarah will/does too.
You only have four more weeks to pick the perfect Halloween costume for your pooch. The AP is reporting that the big trend for pet costumes this year is Hollywood [and Washington].
Did I mention it's for a dog? :-D
Mods - any way to post the too-cute-for-words picture here?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2008 16:27 ||
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Sir Nigel Sheinwald, ambassador in Washington since last year, delivered his unvarnished assessment of the White House front runner in a seven-page letter to the Prime Minister, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, just before the Democratic nominee's visit to Downing Street just over two months ago. The candid letter, marked as containing "sensitive judgements" and requesting officials to "protect the contents carefully" gives a remarkable insight into how the Foreign Office views the political phenomenon who stunned Mr Brown's inner circle by defeating their favourite, Hillary Clinton, in the Democratic primaries.
Although the picture Sir Nigel paints is a highly complimentary one - Mr Obama's speeches are "elegant" and "mesmerising", he is "highly intelligent" and has "star quality" - he also judges that his "policies are still evolving" and that if elected he will "have less of a track record than any recent president". The letter's contents suggest that Mr Brown could initially find it difficult to deal with a President Obama because he remains a largely unknown quantity who "resists pigeon-holing" and the leak is likely to complicate relations.
Last month, the prime minister was forced to backtrack after an article written in his name broke with convention by showering praise on the Democratic candidate at the expense of his Republican rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
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Make him sec-gen of the UN, he'd quit the pres race in a heartbeat.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/03/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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#3
Doubt it, RJ. The UN is nothing without the US and the Presidency of the US is a much bigger prize. He wants to bring American down from the top, rather than working the sidelines.
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - The U.S. Embassy said Thursday that it is encouraging Brazil to buy Boeing-built F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets - one of three models selected by Latin America's largest nation as finalists for a fleet revamp. Its statement said the "U.S. regards Brazil as a key strategic partner and supports Brazil's program to modernize its armed forces."
"Purchase of the F18 with its superior technology will be an important step in developing our partnership," the statement added. "We are fully behind Boeing's sales effort."
Boeing Co. said selection of the F-18 for the jet fighter short list "reinforces the Super Hornet's ability to meet the operational requirements of the Brazilian Air Force and the forward-leaning stance of the U.S. government regarding transparency and technology release."
Brazil is expected to make a final decision late next year, the company said. Brazil will buy 36 new planes to replace its current Dassault-made Mirage fighters, with the first deliveries set for 2014.
The selection of the F-18 came as surprise because top Brazilian officials said recently that France and Russia were willing to provide a higher level of defense technology transfer than the United States. The other fighter jet finalists are Dassault Aviation's Rafale and Saab's Gripen NG. Brazil will buy 36 jets. Russia's Sukhoi SU-35, the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin's F-16 were eliminated from the candidate list, the air force said in a statement.
No surprise on the F-16, it's older tech. Mildly surprised on the Typhoon only because I thought EADS would do just about anything to sell them.
Brazil is seeking to link its purchases of fighter jets and other defense upgrades to broader partnerships that will help the country develop its own state-of-the-art weapons industry, Strategic Affairs Minister Roberto Mangabeira Unger told The Associated Press earlier this month. "We will not simply be buyers or clients, but partners," he said. "Any arrangement into which we will enter must, in principle, contemplate a significant element of research and development in Brazil."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So, the US backs Boeing in the process and this is surprising why? Twit. Of course the US is backing a US company.
#5
Well, Venezuela has some light attack/training aircraft they bought from Brazil a while back. It's generally described as a nice aircraft with a lot of bang for the buck.
And they're going to be buying supplemental or replacement aircraft of that type from China.
#6
I don't know if Brazil still has an aircraft carrier or not, but that would be another good reason to choose the F/A-18. With the possible discovery of oil near a few rocks Brazil claims several hundred miles from their coast, a force-deployment capability might be a good deal.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/03/2008 18:13 Comments ||
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called for changing the world's financial system. He said the current world financial crisis could be more serious than the one in 1929. The current system follows a development model "that is destroying the world not only physically but also morally." He said the crisis signals the end to a financial system featured with the lack of ethics and the existence of an unfair mechanism.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
He's the leader of the government in a country where the government makes seventy dollars from every barrel of oil it pumps, or at least should... and there's problems getting milk.
Chavez: Waaaaahhhh! I don't have enough moneeeeeee! You're meeeeeeeeeen! Gimmee gimmee gimmee!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2008 15:50 Comments ||
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#3
Are recessions bad? Perhaps in many ways. Perhaps they serve deflationary purposes, particularly in commodities. Is oil a commodity? Is Chavez interested in any of this? Perhaps.
#4
Are recessions bad? Perhaps in many ways. Perhaps they serve deflationary purposes, particularly in commodities. Is oil a commodity? Is Chavez interested in any of this? Perhaps.
The war over the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia may have ended two months ago, but Russian troops have remained deep within Georgia ever since.
Now as part of a peace plan orchestrated by the French, about 200 European Union monitors have arrived in Georgia. Over the next nine days, the Russian forces are meant to pull back, leaving the monitors to keep the peace.
#1
I heard a radio report about this "exhibit", and it struck me that a lot of it could have been purchased on Ebay, and much of the rest at a weekend military history convention/auction. I guess that passes for "trophies of war" amongst the soviets.
Future Russian nuclear-powered submarines will be equipped with Bulava nuclear missiles which can rip through 'any' missile defense barrier.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Since the USN itself is debating the 21st Century, SPAWAR, Post-WOT utility of CVN21 through-deck Carriers, perhaps Russia should consider "GOING HYBRID" itself as per BATTLESPACE MANAGEMENT = FUTURE NAVAL CONCEPTS, plus course the propsed OWG-NWO "1000-Flags/Nations" INTER-NATION GLOBAL NAVY [Humanitarian, "Police Action"].
#2
Wasn't it a couple of weeks ago the Russians said they weren't interested in a new cold war. Now they are talking about missiles that's only purpose is to attack Western nations.
#6
So if they can't nuke europe, they got nothin?
Sounds like somebody needs about cooperation, instead of bullying. All bullies wake up one day and realize they are not as young and strong as they used to be, and they live in fear of how they will get by when they can't MAKE people do what they need them to do anymore. It causes a great deal of anxiety and insecurity to the bully.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the global financial crisis tolled the death bell for the U.S. financial dominance and called for bringing onboard the "outreach" countries in implementing worldwide financial reforms.
We're still the Great Dane, pal, and you're still the yippy mutt with bad teeth ...
"The time of domination by one economy and one currency has been consigned to the past once and for all," Mr. Medvedev told a Russian-German development forum in St. Petersburg on Thursday. "The existing global mechanisms failed to maintain financial stability. We need new mechanisms of collective decision-making and collective responsibility," he said. "It is imperative to enlist the participation of 'outreach countries', of all major economies, not just G8, in efforts to set up a new global financial architecture."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who attended the forum and held talks with Mr. Medvedev, agreed.
"We should draw lessons from the current crisis," she said. "We need new mechanisms of international [financial] architecture."The German Chancellor said she still believed Russia's response to the Georgian attack against South Ossetia was "disproportionate", but hinted at an early resumption of talks on a new partnership pact between the European Union and Russia.
She also said it was "too early" for Georgia and Ukraine to be given a roadmap for NATO membership.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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She also said it was "too early" for Georgia and Ukraine to be given a roadmap for NATO membership.
Translation: Vlad and Company passed word to "Gazprom Gerhard" Schroeder to jerk Merkel's chain. And jerk it real hard.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/03/2008 1:08 Comments ||
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#2
I think the history books are gonna look back at this as the clear sign that government meddling can have really bad unforseen circumstances and I also think the pundits and politicians are intentionally avoiding pointing fingers at what happened and blaming "wall street" for their own reasons.
#6
I'm beginning to think that if you want to know what's going to happen tomorrow, subtract 70-80 from the current year and read This Day in History. The faces seem to change, but not much else.
FRENCH leaders scrambled to reassure consumers, voters and investors today, after the official statistics agency warned that the eurozone's second largest economy had slipped into recession.
The French economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of the year, and on Friday the Insee agency forecast that gross domestic product would drop by a further 0.1 per cent in both the remaining quarters of 2008.
Economists define a recession as two successive quarters of negative growth but the government, desperate to maintain public confidence in the face of the global slowdown, steered deliberately clear of the term.
"Finance Minister Christine Lagarde now regards the risk of negative growth in autumn for the second quarter in a row as real," her ministry announced, confirming Insee's estimates in a statement Friday.
But neither Ms Lagarde, nor the French chairman of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, would confirm that the slowdown had tipped into recession for the first time since 1993.
"ECB experts tell us that we have slowing growth," he said on the French radio station Europe 1.
"I will not use any word other than that - slowing growth with significant risks that growth may become even weaker."
Budget Minister Eric Woerth noted that taking into account the whole of 2008, the economy ought to grow by one per cent.
"There's a technical and statistical definition, and there's the reality of things," he said, when asked if he would define the situation as a recession.
But the press and the opposition had no such reticence.
Both the right-wing Le Figaro and the left-wing Liberation dailies headlined on France's descent into recession, and the Socialist party leader seized on the figures as an opportunity to attack President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"Yes, the recession is here," Francois Hollande told the daily Le Parisien.
"This means the decisions, especially tax choices, made by Nicolas Sarkozy on the day after the presidential election have been revealed as inappropriate, ineffective and unfair and have amplified the shock of the global situation.
#1
"the Socialist party leader seized on the figures as an opportunity to attack President Nicolas Sarkozy"
What a coincidence. The Democrats Socialist party leader in the U.S. used our financial problems (caused in large part by the Dems Socialist party) to attack our President (of another party, natch) too.
Funny how that works....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2008 21:21 Comments ||
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Sarah Palin questioned Republican presidential candidate John McCain's decision to abandon efforts to win Michigan, a campaign move she only learned about Friday morning when she read it in the newspapers.
In an interview with Fox News Channel Friday, the Alaska governor said she was disappointed that the McCain campaign decided to stop competing in Michigan. In an indication that the vice presidential candidate had not been part of the decision, she said she had "read that this morning and I fired off a quick e-mail" questioning the move.
"Todd and I, we'd be happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants of the car manufacturers," Palin said, referring to her husband. "We'd be so happy to get to speak to the people in Michigan who are hurting because the economy is hurting."
Palin acknowledged the GOP ticket's lackluster poll ratings in the state, but said: "I want to get back to Michigan and I want to try."
Word of the McCain campaign's decision to move staff out of Michigan and stop advertising in the state broke around midday Thursday the same day as Palin's vice presidential debate against Democrat Joe Biden. The campaign had decided Wednesday night that the $1 million a week it was spending in Michigan wasn't worth it with internal polls showing Democratic nominee Barack Obama approaching a double-digit lead.
On Friday, Palin sought to re-establish herself as an asset for Republican John McCain's struggling presidential candidacy, branding their Democratic rivals as liberals not ready to lead in a time of crisis.
Fresh off an upbeat debate performance, Palin told a ballroom full of $1,000 donors in Dallas that McCain advisers warned her that Biden was "a skilled debater."
"Now I know what they meant," she said. "He did his best to convince us that the two most liberal members of the Senate belong in the White House. But that was a tough sell, and especially in a time of crisis for our country."
The Alaska governor's fiesty tone came as she eased back into the campaign trail. She attended two fundraisers Friday in Texas and also meet privately with Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens to discuss energy policy. Pickens, once a major Republican Party donor, is sitting out this campaign to promote a plan to expand wind power.
As a governor of Alaska, Palin has dealt with a variety of oil and gas issues. She told the Dallas donors that as vice president, "one issue I will be leading is energy independence."
The campaign has planned a series of rallies for Palin in other battlegrounds. Among the stops scheduled for the days ahead are Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. She will also be in California this weekend for a fundraiser and rally.
Based on the schedule, the campaign appears to be relying on Palin to invigorate Republican voters in Colorado and North Carolina, states that have reliably voted Republican in past presidential elections. Obama leads in polls in Florida and Pennsylvania.
Palin is hitting the road after being sequestered for three days of debate preparation at McCain's Sedona, Ariz., compound and after interviews with ABC and CBS where she stumbled over foreign and domestic policy issues.
Palin told Fox News that she would spend more time speaking to reporters, a switch from the tightly managed media relations during the past month.
"I look forward to speaking to the media more and more every day and providing whatever access the media would want," Palin said.
Palin said she had been "annoyed" in her interviews with CBS News anchor Katie Couric and had been caught off guard when asked what newspapers and magazines she read and to name Supreme Court decisions she disagreed with questions Palin appeared not to be able to answer.
Her responses, Palin said, were "an indication of being outside that Washington elite, outside of the media elite also."
But Palin held her own in the debate with Biden, displaying facility with some issues such as energy and comfort as an advocate for McCain and as a hard-hitting critic of Obama.
Later, in San Antonio, she let on that she was breathing a little easier now.
"Last night was fun, the debate," she told donors at the Marriott Rivercenter. "I was glad it was over when it ended."
that was Ace's snarky shot - Barney Frank has some 'splaining to do. His "special friend" was a Fannie Mae exec
who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Franks efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.
So did Franks partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agencys push to relax lending restrictions.
Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannies assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie.
Both Frank and Moses assured the Wall Street Journal in 1992 that they took pains to avoid any conflicts of interest. Critics, however, remain skeptical.
"Its absolutely a conflict," said Dan Gainor, vice president of the Business & Media Institute. "He was voting on Fannie Mae at a time when he was involved with a Fannie Mae executive. How is that not germane?
"If this had been his ex-wife and he was Republican, I would bet every penny I have - or at least whats not in the stock market - that this would be considered germane," added Gainor, a T. Boone Pickens Fellow. "But everybody wants to avoid it because hes gay. Its the quintessential double standard."
A top GOP House aide agreed.
"Cmon, he writes housing and banking laws and his boyfriend is a top exec at a firm that stands to gain from those laws?" the aide told FOX News. "No media ever takes note? Imagine what would happen if Franks political affiliation was R instead of D? Imagine what the media would say if [GOP former] Chairman [Mike] Oxleys wife or [GOP presidential nominee John] McCains wife was a top exec at Fannie for a decade while they wrote the nations housing and banking laws."
Franks office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Frank met Moses in 1987, the same year he became the first openly gay member of Congress.
"I am the only member of the congressional gay spouse caucus," Moses wrote in the Washington Post in 1991. "On Capitol Hill, Barney always introduces me as his lover."
The two lived together in a Washington home until they broke up in 1998, a few months after Moses ended his seven-year tenure at Fannie Mae, where he was the assistant director of product initiatives. According to National Mortgage News, Moses "helped develop many of Fannie Maes affordable housing and home improvement lending programs."
Critics say such programs led to the mortgage meltdown that prompted last months government takeover of Fannie Mae and its financial cousin, Freddie Mac. The giant firms are blamed for spreading bad mortgages throughout the private financial sector.
Although Frank now blames Republicans for the failure of Fannie and Freddie, he spent years blocking GOP lawmakers from imposing tougher regulations on the mortgage giants. In 1991, the year Moses was hired by Fannie, the Boston Globe reported that Frank pushed the agency to loosen regulations on mortgages for two- and three-family homes, even though they were defaulting at twice and five times the rate of single homes, respectively.
Three years later, President Clintons Department of Housing and Urban Development tried to impose a new regulation on Fannie, but was thwarted by Frank. Clinton now blames such Democrats for planting the seeds of todays economic crisis.
"I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president, to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Clinton said recently
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/03/2008 18:26 ||
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#1
OK, can we please get an independent counsel to investigate this matter? Or, how about the Justice Department? Huh? Somebody? House ethics? Somebody?
Somebody asked about this yesterday. And, believe it or not, it appears to be true...
WASHINGTON -- A tax break for NASCAR racetracks and other motor-sports facilities is among the "sweeteners" tucked inside a 450-page financial-services bailout bill to make the package more palatable to lawmakers.
Ummm, some of them were in the bill to which the bailout was attached. The 'wooden arrow' issue, for example. Let's be careful as to what was where and when.
The Senate-passed bill includes an array of so-called "tax extenders." One extends for two years a tax policy that had been allowed to expire in December that lets motor-sports facilities be treated the same as amusement parks and other entertainment complexes for tax purposes. That allowed them to write off their capital investments over a seven-year period. The motor sports industry feared that without a specific legal clarification, motor-sports facilities would be required to depreciate their capital over 15 years or longer because of a recent Internal Revenue Service inquiry into the matter. That would make repaved tracks and new concession stands more expensive in the short term.
It isn't a new tax break, rather the way tax law historically has been interpreted, said Lauri Wilks, the vice president of communications for Speedway Motorsports, which owns the NASCAR tracks in Fort Worth, Texas; Sonoma, Calif.; Concord, N.C.; and elsewhere. "It gives us incentive to go ahead and invest in our facilities," she said.
Wilks said she couldn't put a price tag on the measure because track owners would pay the same amount, just over a longer period. "Whether you pay all up front or depreciate them over time, the cash outlay is the same," she said. And the culprits?
A bill to extend the tax treatment had been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and co-sponsored by a number of North Carolina members including Reps. Robin Hayes, a Republican, and Melvin Watt, a Democrat. Thompson and Hayes voted against the original bank bailout bill Monday, which didn't include the tax extenders added by the Senate and passed Wednesday. Neither has said how he will vote when the House takes up the new bill.
In the Senate, the motor-sports provision was sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Some watchdog groups oppose loading up the bill with unrelated items. "Unfortunately, it took a legitimately historic piece of legislation that lawmakers on principle could vote for or against it, and they just loaded it up with business as usual, a huge tax package not related at all to the bailout, and crammed it over to the House," said Steve Ellis, the vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group. "And it's going to be interesting to see whether this turns any votes or not."
#1
Ok, I take back what I said about the bill only helping the overseas bankers. Now that NASCAR's involved, it has to pass!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/03/2008 10:33 Comments ||
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#2
Working for a Nascar team this sickens me. The bailout is crap and adding all these tax riders is blatant vote buying. It's too bad Bush has suddenly turned into a socialist because in the past he would have vetoed this crap. Don't get me wrong I am against the bailout, not giving Nascar tracks a little tax break.
#3
Last I heard NASCAR was doing OK. And then there is support for: manufacturers of kid's wooden arrows, Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum producer's, wool research, corporations operating in American Samoa, and small- to medium-budget film and television productions. Lot's of other "goodies" in the bill.
* Wool research.
* Auto-racing tracks - $128 million.
* Corporations operating in American Samoa - $33 million.
* Small- to medium-budget film and television productions - $10 million.
#4
GlennBeck was all over this last nite. In the segment, he had two leaders of government Watchdog groups going over each of these items and link the names/faces of the politicians they were trying to influence. I remember the 'Wooden Arrow' bill was to influence two Oregon votes.
#5
Talk about burying the lead. The AMT just took it it the shorts! Long overdue.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/03/2008 13:33 Comments ||
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#6
Did they get rid of the AMT, Minister? That's great. (Though the Dems will probably try to sneak it back in after the election.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2008 14:11 Comments ||
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#7
They (A) Raised the AMT exemption from $33K to $45K for single and from $46K to almost $70K for Married/joint. and (B) You still get to use your personal credits.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/03/2008 15:12 Comments ||
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#8
The bill was passed, Bush signed it. Another sad day, unless your a wood arrow manufacturer, rum runner, wool whatever, oh I'm just sick.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/03/2008 16:00 Comments ||
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#9
It is indeed a sad day for the United States. My congressman, John Duncan voted against the bill. A poll he conducted from his website indicated 87% of his constituents were opposed to the Pig in the Trough Bill. He served his constituents well but alas it didn't do any good.
#10
I think people are getting confused. There are two unrelated bills here, the bailout bill and a tax bill. This is simply because the bailout bill was passed by the Senate first and the Senate cannot introduce a tax bill, so the second was tagged on to the first as a procedural matter. So ignore the tax bill, it's a distraction.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2008 19:14 Comments ||
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#12
In a nutshell Barbara, the only difference between the bill that failed in the Reps and passed in the Senate was the increase of the FDIC limit from 100k to 250k. All the rest belongs to the Tax Extenders Bill, 74-25. Here is a summary.
I completely agree. You know what's whack? I felt completely sad & ashamed of the US when Elian Gonzalez was 'repatriated' back to Cuba. Is this kinda thing like the sunspot cycle?
BTW, this tax 'break' is fine with me, in my professional opinion, standing on its own. If the issue is 'entertainment complexes' being treated equally, stuff like track resurfacing and other faster wearing assets should be written off faster. It would be interesting, for example, to see how the NE Patriots and the new stadiums for Dallas / NY Yankees, etc. get their depreciation allowances on all their stuff.
#15
...to see how the NE Patriots and the new stadiums for Dallas / NY Yankees, etc. get their depreciation allowances on all their stuff.
Clarifications: 1) The Patriots built Gillette Stadium that went live in 2002 and was financed with no public money. I'd think the rules would be different if public financing was involved. 2) Are these rules retroactive, or just going forward from when the changes take place? You mean I gotta actually read this bill? Ugh...
Funny tax story (sorry if I mentioned it before, I think I did). This client makes $200K a year, but in 2005 he goes out and buys a Prius, because the sales guy says he gets a $2,000 tax credit if he buys the car. Naturally, he does not call until well after the following tax season's underway.
Guess what tax credit you don't get when you're making enough to incur the AMT? That's right!
#17
This is what I just sent all my congress critters and W via email by way of congress.org - I have had a few beers and am pissed off. Fuck it.
"I am glad Sen Stabenow & Rep McCotter voted against the bailout - it was more pork & foolishness. Thank you both - keep up the good work. Mr. President, as someone who voted for you twice and believes you are deep down, a good man I am appalled you supported this hog/turkey of a bill - you are better then that - I am dissapointed and saddened. Sen Levin, you never cease to dissapoint. Surely congress could have waited longer and forged a better more sound bill - or - killed it all together - as usual the congressional approval rating is about accurate. Our Founding Fathers are turning in their graves - gov't getting entwined w/businesss - what a travesty - going against what are founding documents assert - if the gov't had stayed out of the sub prime business in the first place this whole issue would've been minimized.
Historically speaking, a republic generally lasts only about 300 yrs - until the masses learn they can vote for their lifestyles or out of the largesse of the state coffers. I see nothing good on the horizon, and as a real patriot who has went to a combat zone in the defense of his country it saddens me."
BTW-Stabenow is a dem, I think maybe she hit the wrong voting button but whatever..I give credit where it's due. I want to go on safari and make extinct all the rinos...
#18
Good or bad about the bailout aside I think someone should find out what pork was added and at who's request and those requesters should be tarred and feathered and their names splashed all over the nation as those that choose to profit off of America's fear and potential fiscal collapse.
#19
Rj - Mike Church on Sirius went through some of that. I don't remember all the names - but, there was money put in to study caffeine withdrawal...congress is a bunch of corupt morons.
#5
We'll see today if Nancy really wants the bailout to pass or not.
She doesn't - not quickly, at any rate, and not cleanly and not effectively. She wants power and she's far more extreme than most people realize in her politics. In fact, when she ran for speaker she made it clear she wanted to move the Dems very far left.
#6
Always remember in American Politics that there is a lot more to the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence than "We the people". The second half of that paragraph gets very specific. I hoped against hope that we wouldn't have to use the "reset" key we have, but it's not lookin' good, folks.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/03/2008 20:49 Comments ||
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#1
Sarah didn't let the side down. I'll admit to some loss of faith over the past few days; myself, I screamed "KELO v. NEW LONDON, for the love of God!" at my teevee when Kutie Colic hit her with that "what OTHER Supreme Court decision didn't you agree with" uppercut. After the two most recent MSM proctoscopies interviews in which Sarah did a fair-to-middling impression of a deer caught in headlights, my Spidey sense was saying train wreck...train wreck...train wreck all day long on Thursday. But - not unlike the Obamessiah in the 1st debate - she didn't get flustered, held her own and basically won by not losing.
Frank Luntz did some of his automated focus-group analysis on Fox News right afterwards...a mixed audience of undecideds, supposedly half and half each Donk and Trunk leaning. Sarah scored extremely high on the audience's response lines - her positives were high enough that Luntz is anticipating a big movement back in J-Mac's direction in the next few days.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/03/2008 1:03 Comments ||
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#2
She doggone bummdiggity did well. yeehaw.
Posted by: Joe six pack ||
10/03/2008 13:36 Comments ||
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#3
I *think* we just pulled a visit from the junior troll crew.
#6
She did good, kept the punches going and didn't give up! As a doubter last week, I'm feel more like she belongs and is not out of her league anymore. Just stop saying that annoying "We're the mavericks" ™ so many times and she might win.
Biden is telling absurd lies about Afghanistan tonight. In particular, he's repeatedly claimed that "we've spent less in Afghanistan in seven years than we spend in a month in Iraq."
He's made that claim, or claims to that effect, repeatedly. It is, to put it bluntly, a complete Goddamned lie.
According to the Congressional Research Service, spending on the war in Afghanistan since 2001 has been $172 Billion. Spending in Iraq is, as the Democrats repeatedly mention, a little under $10 Billion a month.
In other words, Biden's number is off by, oh, something like 2000%. Perhaps Obama's Sub-Committee ought to have held some hearings on Afghanistan after all.
.As a side note, amazingly, Biden just fell apart on foreign policy there. Did he really promise that Obama would launch a war in Darfur? Never mind his whole mess of an answer on his vote for the Iraq War. Does anyone think that it's really even remotely credible that Joe Biden voted to give George Bush the authority to go to war because he thought he wouldn't use it. If Joe Biden did that, he's among the stupidest men alive
#2
I'm surprised you would print such balderdash. NPR very carefully explained this moring that Biden's claim is technically correct even if he is comparing Iraq combat funding with Afghan reconstruction funidng. And everything Palin said was a lie.
#3
Thank God we have NPR to clarify things for us. We're truly blessed. The patriotic thing to do is to restore substantial government funding for NPR immediately and to tax cable news stations.
1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted the exact same way as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.
2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.
3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, Drill we must. But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to raping the Outer Continental Shelf.
4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of its passage.
5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says hes always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.
6. ALERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCains record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.
7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people's health insurance coverage -- they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false
8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska -- she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it's not a windfall profits tax.
9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.
10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation -- he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.
11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was dead wrong on Iraq, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.
12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldnt see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.
13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesnt meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20.
14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won't pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.
#7
Ok all you Bosniacs since Joe Biden likes to talk about Joe Biden, and I'll say that again, since Joe Biden likes to talk about Joe Biden perhaps he should be called the Double Talk Express.
Biden had 2 opportunities to name the Afghan Theatre commander and didn't, even after Govorner Palin did.
#8
It doesn't matter if Joe lied, misspoke, or walked out there drunk with his dick out for the world to see. The MSM says he won the debate. That is the end of the story. Now go back to your room and close your mind.
More than three weeks ago, Sen. John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska to be the first female vice president nominee for the Republican Party. Since Palin's first public appearance in Dayton, Ohio, when McCain announced Palin as his vice president, the media have since ridiculed Palin.
Regardless of what many see in the tabloids with remarks like "lipstick on a pig," and the focus on her daughter's pregnancy, negative ads are starting to wear thin with some women.
In a survey of more than 500 women by BettyConfidential.com, 65 percent of women said they have become more interested in the presidential campaign since Palin was added to the Republican ticket and a significant majority of woman admire her, despite political differences they may have.
Continued on Page 49
#1
From the article: If Palin is elected, she will break through the "glass ceiling" as the first female vice president.
Interesting, one of the "drinking games" I heard or read today to have during the debate, was ???? a shot, a two gulp.... unimportant as to the imbibing quality, just that it was on the list.
How disappointed those folks must now feel, they didn't get that shot... glass ceiling was never mentioned.
#3
Let me tell ya, a drink every time Joe Biden referred to himself as Joe Biden will getcha', especially when he repeated himself.
Along the line whenever he referred to himself in the 3rd person I would ask, "Who is Joe Biden? This Guy!!! (give the Fonse two thumbs toward myself and say it in the famous beer commercial Wasabi! phonication).
Looked almost as bad as Axelrod did (unless he always looks drunk and fumbles talks).
#4
Everytime I heard Biden say Scranton I kept thinking of Dunder-Miflin as the American Street and middle America. I don't even think it's the same Scranton but the images are now entwined.
#1
Frank was game and took the extensive, high db abuse. He called out the old blowhard for his rudeness. I think Frank came out well ahead in the exchange, so clearly O'Reilly totally blew the opportunity.
#4
Here's Barney Frank, the paragon virtue in of the House working with his Donk friends to keep those regulation happy Trunks from targeting Freddie and Fannie. /sarc
#5
You can't tell so much from this clip but on my tv Frank looked terrible, sweaty and as if he were wearing a groucho nose. I have to wonder if he trusted Fox makeup people or if he has none because for a politician to go on looking like that, it made him look foolish.
I think most Dems avoid Fox because they call them on bullshit. Attack O'Reilly for being rude but Frank lost this one big. Of course the main media outlets won't hold Frank to count for what he did so it'll be forgotten and be put into Liberal lore as another reason to avoid Fox.
#9
What does it say about deep blue Massachusetts that they keep electing guys like this and Kennedy?
Why in the Hell would anyone in their right mind want to live in a blue state?
O'Reilly nailed this fat degenerate to the wall. Pity he couldn't have punched his lights out as well. Of course, Barney would probably have liked that...
#10
I saw some of that exchange, and ended up walking out of the room. I know Senator Franks is guilty as sin, but had I not known I'd have believed his side just because Mr. O'Reilly was so rude. O'Reilly persuades only those who already believe him; for the rest, his sheer decibel level drives them to the opposite side.
#11
Amen, TW. I one heard Rush Limbaugh tear into somebody who was in fact a certifiable, genuine creep--some person connected to the New York Public School system--and Rush was so shrill I almost gave my sympathy to the other guy.
Too many people mistake rudeness for wit. It adds to the poisoning of the debate.
#12
O'Reilly rude? This is how you SHOULD treat a man who almost single handedly wiped out millions of people's retirement funds; a man who put the home ownership of minorities ahead of the national welfare; a man who public lies are only exceded by his private immorality. O'Reilly rude? He should have kneed him in the groin and threw his lying ass through a window.
#14
I've noticed Barney the Fags nose recently also. Large, red, running. Is this POS sucking up a plate of coke before he does these interviews ? He runs his mouth at 90 mph, slurs everything and talks in half sentences. Hmmmmm.
#15
Steve White's article the other day made more sense than all these blathering talking heads put together.
Rep. Frank did plea for Bachus' ammendment to be heard on the floor, for what its worth...unfortunately I think it is because he wants to add his own crap which would ultimately delay or kill the ammendment.
#16
O'Reilly is a boor and a bully. I never watch him because all of his interviews end up in shouting matches just like this. He sheds no light at all. He makes Geraldo look professional. Franks deserves it, of course, in fact he probably liked it. But it would be better if O'Reilly was smart enough to patiently question the subject so that Frank would convict himself with his own words.
#17
Saw the interview. Frank and others need to be held accountable for his/her part in this subprime debacle that started in Fannie and Freddie. Frank does not tell the truth but spins and bobs and weaves and tries to hide anything that looks like the truth.
#18
O'Reilly rude? This is how you SHOULD treat a man
That was not my point, Carbon Monoxide. The honourable Senator in my opinion should immediately be turned out on the street to die in the cold, unemployed, unloved, and alone. Shouting over him isn't nearly enough. However, the shouting makes those who do not know the facts believe the one being shouted at, rather than Mr. O'Reilly... which is very, very counterproductive.
#20
I believe that's Representative Frank, tw. But you are right about O'Reilly. If I was running the show at Fox I'd can his ass. What I'd like to see is Frank being called upon to give testimony with a really sharp independent investigator on his case. I'd like to see him sweat while he pleads the Fifth.
#22
Honor is earned, not given because of a title, this isn't England ot crapistan. You want to be called honourable - act with honor. Barney Frank is a lying jack aAss just like Joe "I support clean coal" Biden.
#23
O'Reilly is an ass. His technique does nothing to call the Frank on the carpet. He could have had a timeline that laid out how the dems and Frank in particular pushed Fan/Fred to buy questionalble loans from banks, how those same banks were threatened with lawsuits or fines if they didn't make loans to po folks and how Frank and the dems resisted time and again any real control on Fan/Fred. Barney talking about 1994 is a friggin joke and he should have been called on it in a way that didn't distract from the message. O'Reilly is simply not effective.
#25
Franks is an ass. I disagree w/Billy O on many things but I am glad he went after Franks like he did. At least it was up front & vented like many of us plebians would like a real chance to vent at the imperial senate. Bawney Fwanks is a lying douchebag. He and chis dodd will have much to answer for on the other side.
The US vice-presidential candidates are preparing to hold their first televised debate with tens of millions of Americans due to tune-in to the battle between Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, and Republican Sarah Palin. The McCain camp was kinda bragging before the debate. I always cringe when that happens -- it's so easy to get left with egg on your face. In this case it decidedly did not happen.
Thursday's debate in St Louis comes as a poll found that most US voters have huge doubts about Palin's experience and ability to lead. "Six in 10 voters see her as lacking the experience to be an effective president, and a third are now less likely to vote for McCain because of her," the Washington Post said of its joint poll with ABC News. I have a mild suspicion that was a setup. She put in a damned good performance.
Palin, the Alaska governor, will be scrutinised during the debate as she has been ridiculed for the answers she gave during recent interviews. "She'll be just fine. She'll do fine tonight," McCain told MSNBC, rejecting criticism that his campaign had mishandled her by shielding her from the media. "She's experienced. She's knowledgeable. She's very strong person. I'm proud of her record, and I'm proud of her." I don't think she knew all the details of every topic she touched on, but she knew her stuff pretty solid. If she had been a regular Rantburg reader she'da torn Joe a new one on the Pak-Afghan-Iran-Iraq topics, but I guess she can't be perfect. Biden, on the other hand, threw out some outright falsehoods -- Rove called him on a half dozen of them within minutes of the end of the debate. He also had some pretty hazy ideas about Paleostine, calling Bush's handling of it since 2000 an unmitigated disaster while ignoring the actuality of intricately interwoven move and countermove: Yasser getting caught out in the Karin A episode, losing control of the Paleos (assuming he ever had it), Zinni throwing up his hands at dealing with him, Sheikh Yassin and Rantissi getting zapped, episode after episode, Yasser croaking, dealing with Sharon, then Sharon's stroke -- none of them existed in Bidenworld, none of them needed any kind of diplo attention. There was no mention of Libya, no mention of relations with India, no mention of the shift in European politix toward conservatives and away from the sour social democracy that was running things when 9-11 occurred.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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Republican presidential candidate John McCain is withdrawing staff and resources from Michigan in order to concentrate on other states where his prospects are stronger, a campaign aide said on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Given Sarah's performance at Thursday's debate, I hope J-Mac's rethinking this. I'd personally discount the polls from the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News (assuming they'd both grossly oversample Quislingcrats to get the desired result), but all but one of the other polls quoted in the RealClearPolitics Michigan average are still at single digit Obama leads. Given as the Obama vs. McCain MI averages were only two percent apart as recently as 9/10, I think there's a real possibility that Sarah's running mate could be back in the hunt. IF he tries, that is...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/03/2008 0:46 Comments ||
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#2
Economy of Force. You apply your resources to exploit your opponent's weakness not expend it against his strength. You're not going to get 50 states. Allocate appropriately.
#3
Economy of Force is one consideration. But if you fight everywhere you force your opponent to defend everywhere. I would hope that McCain wouldn't give up anything without a fight.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
10/03/2008 10:16 Comments ||
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#4
Frederick The Great: "He who defends everything defends nothing."
#5
Word from little sister in Battle Creek is that Joe and Jane Six-pack are not all in bed with The One. Even the UAW types are not blindly following their leaders' calls to support BO.
She and all in her circle are McCain/Palin.
#8
Sarah Palin talked an awful lot about creating tens of thousands of jobs. That should go over well in Michigan, land of the automobile manufacturers, I'd think. And isn't the First Dude a Teamster or something, by virtue of being an oilman?
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will seek a change in the law so he can run for a third term in 2009, arguing on Thursday that the financial crisis demands a leader of his business acumen.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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(PTI) After more than three years of tortuous and fractious domestic politics of India, the Indo-US nuclear deal today secured the stamp of approval of the US when the Senate overwhelmingly voted a bill rejecting all the killer amendments, paving the way for its implementation.
The landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement, entered into between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush in 2005 on which the UPA risked the coalition government, was approved by the Senate with 86 voting for and 13 against with bi-partisan support after throwing out the amendments moved by two Democratic Senators.
Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, a strong supporter of India, also voted for the Bill, which still contains a provision that would ensure cessation of US nuclear cooperation with India in case New Delhi conducted an atomic test.
President George W Bush, who personally took steps to push the deal and the legislation, and Biden hailed the passage of the legislation saying it would strengthen global nuclear non-proliferation efforts and help India increase its energy production.
The legislation, which has already been cleared by the House of Representatives in the midst of pre-occupation with the financial bailout package, will now head to the White House for Bush signing it into a law.
With today's Senate vote, the deal is now ready for being inked by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she arrives in New Delhi on her rescheduled trip on Saturday with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Senate approval marks the culmination of a rough journey the deal undertook in the last three years, especially in India with the Left parties withdrawing their support because of their strong opposition to cooperation with the US.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned by police on Thursday for the eighth time since May on corruption allegations that led him to resign from office last month. Investigators questioned Olmert for around two hours on the "Investment Center affair," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, adding that the outgoing premier was likely to be questioned again in the coming weeks.
The probe - one of several concerning Olmert - involves allegations that as trade minister he steered tens of millions of dollars worth of state funds toward a firm owned by his former law partner, Uri Messer.
It is one of several criminal investigations into Olmert, who resigned on September 21 to battle the charges amid a growing chorus of criticism from political allies and foes alike.
All the allegations concern his dealings as Occupied Jerusalem mayor and trade minister in the 13 years before he assumed the premiership in 2006.
He will continue to serve as caretaker premier until Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni forms a new governing coalition or the country holds snap elections - a period of political limbo that could last weeks or months.
Police have recommended that the 63-year-old Olmert be indicted on criminal charges in two cases where he is accused of illegally accepting large sums of cash from a US financier and multiple-billing foreign trips.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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From Free Republic: Bailout passes: Pelosi promises show trials to pin blame on Repubs [VANITY]
No sooner had the $805B bail-out bill passed the House than Pelosi went to the TV cameras and promised show trials under Henry Waxman to pin the blame for this mess (on Republicans). She then praised Barney Frank's courage and leadership in delivering the country from the evil of Republicans in general and Wall Street in particular....
#6
I for one would welcome these show trials. Democrats from the Carter and Clinton eras have a lot to answer for, as do a lot of Democrats from the Bush era. However, that's why the show trials aren't going to happen. Instead the Democrats will attempt to pile on regulations to right wrongs they have scapegoated onto the Republicans.
I'm kinda hoping that people won;t have enough confidence in our government to snap up these bonds. I'm crossing my fingers for some good yields. I certainly wouldn't mind grabbing some 10 year for 7 percent or something. Hell, if we return to the good old days of high inflation, I might be forced to grab some 30 year at 13%. Wish I was around back then to grab some.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/03/2008 17:12 Comments ||
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#9
Hell, if we return to the good old days of high inflation, I might be forced to grab some 30 year at 13%.
I'm gonna hold out for the 15% coupons. Those were the days - when a simple one-year CD yielded 10%, and interest-bearing checking accounts with $500 minimums paid 5%.
#10
If there were a Republican they could pin this on, you can bet they would have done it by now.
That no one from Camp McCain saw fit to mention Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines as Obama advisors is ... well, frankly, typical.
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
10/03/2008 17:20 Comments ||
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#11
I remember those days, too, ZF.
I also remember how much interest we had to PAY for mortgages, credit cards, etc.
Pfui.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2008 17:23 Comments ||
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#12
That would be the Reps Frank and Bachus who led a move for an amendment then voted yes. Take back everything I thought about it this morning, effen sticks.
Kansas voted 3/4 no. Rep. Moore, the sole yes, has district in Lawrence (liberal college, city buys houses then rents them out) and KC area (where people have been building new houses on the outskirts of town, waiting a couple years, selling them at increase value then building a new house on the new edge of town rinse repeat for over a decade now).
$805 bl? What the hell? Is this extra the Senate pork, or an expectation of the dollar devalue between now and 2010?
Rep. Slaughter seemed to think that this bill was a tournequet to stop the bleeding. Hope we don't lose the limb from improper technique or worse just infusing the patient with blood while the wound bleeds.
On the other hand, suggest people buy interest in Schwepps over the next week. Lime futures look good too.
#13
Sure, the inflation and the rates sucked. But for the next 25 years, when inflation was a few percent, people who bought those 30 year notes where collecting intereset in the teens on a friggin government bond. I would kill to buy guvmint bonds that pay in the teens.
And not only that, people who paid huge rates on their homes got to refinance when rates dropped and their homes were worth more as a result of the rate drop. Not that it's a fantastic investment technique, just that it's not all bad.
Inflation sucks ass and can be an economies death rattle, but if it's short term, it presents some opportunities.
Jeez, people, unleash that greedy capitalist junk yard dog you got inside!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/03/2008 17:33 Comments ||
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#14
I also remember how much interest we had to PAY for mortgages, credit cards, etc.
But here's the thing - do you also remember how cheap home prices used to be?
#15
We are borrowing money we don't have to attempt to shore up entities, many of which we know nothing about. This will drive the dollar lower and make things more expensive for us. Then notes will be held by our adversaries and enemies.
What bin Laden could not do with fuel-laden airplanes, the Congress has done with their mortgage enabling legislation, and now their so-called fix. They will sink this country.
I am very outraged and discouraged. The first thing we should do is to vote every muthaf**kin Senator or Representative OUT of office who voted for this bill. There is no difference between trunks and a$$es on this one. Then we keep track of the rest and vote them out next cycle. I would rather vote for a gorilla in a tuxedo than have these criminals in office.
And this is the tip of the sh*tberg. We have social security and other resource eating monsters in the wings. I think I better stop ranting now.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Nikolaevsk, AK ||
10/03/2008 18:14 Comments ||
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#16
Again with the currency devaluation. Could someone please tell me which currency the dollar is going to devalue against?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/03/2008 18:21 Comments ||
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#17
I would rather vote for a gorilla in a tuxedo than have these criminals in office.
#19
"I would rather vote for a gorilla in a tuxedo than have these criminals in office.
How're ya gonna tell the difference between them?"
The gorilla are more honest, Raj.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2008 21:07 Comments ||
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#20
I agree with AP. The fact that this isn't a profanity-filled, viciously killing-mad rant is tribute to my respect for Rantburg. Between this and the Fannie/Freddie video I'd say most of the House/Senate, and ALL of the Dems, deserve to be tried, convicted and shot for treason. They've certainly earned such an end.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Several big life insurance stocks fell sharply Thursday, dragged down by jitters about their role in the credit crisis and fears sparked by a comment from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Wednesday about a potential bankruptcy in the industry.
"We don't have a lot of leeway on time. One of the individuals in the caucus today talked about a major insurance company. A major insurance company -- one with a name that everyone knows that's on the verge of going bankrupt. That's what this is all about," Reid said prior to the Senate's approval of the $700 billion bailout bill.
Steven Schwartz, an analyst who covers insurance companies for Raymond James & Associates, said that even before Reid made his bankruptcy comment, investors were growing worried about life insurers' exposure to real estate as well as "secondary exposure" via investments in troubled finance firms like Lehman Bros, Wachovia and Washington Mutual.
But the comment from Reid clearly caused even more fear.
"Harry Reid didn't help any," Schwartz said.
Kind of makes you wonder what Harry's personal portfolio contains, and when he shorted them ...
New York-based MetLife was one of the hardest-hit insurers Thursday. Its stock plunged nearly 16%. Thursday's drop comes after a 14% decline on Wednesday. In light of this, MetLife issued a statement Thursday afternoon to address Reid's comments. "The statement yesterday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid does not apply to MetLife. MetLife is financially sound and has high ratings from all of the major insurance ratings agencies. MetLife is fully able to meet all its obligations," the company said.
Shares of Hartford Financial Services fell about 33%, following a 7% decline on Wednesday. The stock has lost more than half of its value this week.
Jeffrey Schuman, analyst for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, wrote in a report that the sell-off stems from worries about the company's third quarter results, which will be released later this month. Schuman estimated that Hartford has "likely" experienced credit losses of up to $800 million from preferred stocks and debt tied to Lehman, AIG and Washington Mutual.
These concerns prompted Fitch Ratings to impose a "negative outlook" on the company Monday, raising more concerns about the company's need for capital.
Schuman wrote in a note that the recent drop was "likely overdone" but added that Hartford will face "difficult operating headwinds and ongoing credit losses" in the near-term.
A call to Hartford for comment Thursday was not immediately returned. But on Wednesday, the company said that its "core operating businesses are performing well and our liquidity remains strong."
A spokesman for Sen. Reid backtracked a bit Thursday and said that the senator was not aware of any company being in danger of bankruptcy. "Senator Reid is not personally aware of any particular company being on the verge of bankruptcy. He has no special knowledge about [a bankruptcy] nor has he talked to any insurance company officials," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Sen. Reid, in an email to CNNMoney.com.
"Rather, his comments were meant to refer to the conditions in the financial sector generally. He regrets any confusion his comments may have caused," Manley added.
Still, shares of other top life insurers also fell sharply Thursday. Paris-based AXA dropped 12.5%. Other insurers -- including Canadian based Manulife Financial Corp., which owns John Hancock, Prudential Financial and Principal Financial Group -- also slipped, falling 6%, 11% and 15.5% respectively.
Schwartz of Raymond James said some of the concerns about insurers are overblown. He said that, generally speaking, insurers haven't invested in the types of "truly toxic assets" that have led to huge losses for some investment banks and commercial banks.
He described the failure of AIG, which lost billions of dollars on credit default swaps tied to subprime loans and was essentially taken over by the government in exchange for an $85 billion bridge loan, as "very atypical" for the insurance industry. "The industry will get through this," said Schwartz. "[But] that's not to say there won't be strains."
#3
The good people of the State of Nevada ought to put a muzzle on this guy. Send him to pasture. The economy would improve considerably and we would win the WOT much sooner.
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Published: September 30, 1999 Note the date
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. "Pressure from the Clinton Administration"
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 just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.'' Raines changed the compensation plan to be based on the number of loans held. The more loans, the more he and his Donk executive pals made. In his case it was $65M and a $25M Golden Parachute.
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. The next two paragraphs are critical.
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.'' This is amazing, the NYT had it right 9 years ago.
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.
Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.
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.
In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent. Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings.
In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.
The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.
#1
Go read Barry Ritholtz's blog, The Big Picture, if you can stand it. They're all up in arms that the racist Rethuglicans would DARE suggest that Fannie/Freddie got in trouble through making dicey loans to minorities. Ritholtz also said that Phoenix, San Diego, and Miami were "non-minority" cities. You have to wonder what planet he's been on. It certainly didn't have South Florida on it.
As for the New Yuk Times, I'm not surprised to see they got something right nine years ago. The question is whether they've gotten anything right since. I'd bet not...
#2
Wow the NYTs reported this story. Who would have known they reported factual stories then.
Clinton administration pressured banks to make risky loans! The creeping socialism then is nothing compared to what will come under a Barack Hussein Obama administration.
#4
We have minorities in San Diego. Maybe not like Detroit or Newark...it's more brown than black. But the problem the way I saw it in San Diego was the skyrocketing price of homes...from half a million to a million for little cracker boxes, even while the developers and their pet politicians kept blathering about affordable housing. Nobody, minority or otherwise, could afford these places if they had conventional mortgages. The developers were in hog heaven running their damn bulldozers all over the place. They couldn't build 'em fast enough even with the cheap, illegal labor they were importing from south of here. Schools and hospitals were overcrowded, freeways were congested, police and fire protection were afterthoughts and now they're telling us we don't have enough water. I think also that there were a lot of speculators taking advantage of these exotic mortgages and jacking up the prices even further. I knew all along that it was all about greed and corruption and I knew it was a bubble that sooner or later had to burst. But only now am I beginning to see that it was nationwide. And it's ironic that the very people who were supposed to be helped by all this are the ones who are gonna suffer the most.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices closed at their lowest level in two weeks Thursday, tumbling below $94 a barrel on doubts that a revamped financial bailout plan will be enough to avoid a protracted economic slump and revive dwindling U.S. energy demand.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $4.56 to settle at $93.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was crude's lowest settlement since Sept. 16. Prices earlier jumped as high as $100.37 but eased back later as traders digested the details of the revised bailout package. The November crude contract fell $2.11 to settle at $98.53 on Wednesday.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 13.74 cents to settle at $2.7095 a gallon, while gasoline futures fell 10.5 cents to settle at $2.255 a gallon. Natural gas futures lost 24.7 cents to settle at $7.481 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, November Brent crude fell $4.77 to settle at $90.56 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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Share prices crumbled on stock markets worldwide Thursday on anxiety over the fate of a US finance sector bailout and disappointing US economic data. Markets were unsettled in the face of the global banking crisis even after the US Senate approved a revised $700 billion rescue package and sent it back to the House of Representatives.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Representative Spencer Bachus' (R-AL) proposal for a House ammendment makes a lot of sense to me (appropriate up to $250bl which at $50bl per month as Paulson suggested is only the amount which can be spent per month appropriately, is plenty of time to see if it works and then review futher money appropriations) - I think he is abosolutely right that if the American people are not confident in the bailout (or workout as it was suggested) then how are they going to be confident in said market? That and the negative approval prospect of the Senate proposal is bullcrap.
And Senate, bullcrap on the pork. Bullcrap on trying to force the hand of the House of Representatives into making the vote immediately without review with so much paperwork to review especially with such sweeping decisions. And bullcrap on the House Debate Rules Committee.
#3
Sounds like Steny Hoyer is actually going to make certain he has votes in hand before bringing this out again. Looks like they've turned enough sheeple to ram this through. And, it's a much worse version than the first one. Unbelieveable. We have now lost any semblance of a republic. Certainly taxation without representation. Will anyone of these turncoats be ejected from office on Nov. 4 ? Obviously, they are not worried.
#6
Post last night after a bundle of T&T's, and it is a passionate topic for me. Coffee clearing the cobwebs.
Now, the ammendment as Rep. Bachus explained it made good sense to me and I think it should be allowed to be debated and voted upon as it is without additional changes. There were good points made especially the unchecked power the Sec. of Treasury would receive do unaccountably distribute money "To the same captains of industry which as it turns out were captains of the Titanic". Rep Bachus claims that if the ammendment is added without changes then enough votes would swing in order to pass the bill, everybody happy including myself. Paulson says he can only appropriate $50bl per month wisely so why does he need so much money all at once? Also it was explained that as the bill currently is it would take a passage of Congressional bills to make changes which, if vetoed, would make the process of change impossible. Both candidates are calling for more oversight then why support this bill which creates less oversight and accountability of the appropriation of money. "It shouldn't be a bailout, it should be a workout where the actions of the Treasury come up for review by a House panal every month for 5 months and then, if everything seems to be working as it should, then the remaining amount of money would be appropriated at the allowance of $50bl per month."
Sounds prudent to me. I have no confidence in the bill as is, debating the ammendment would go a long ways to restoring my confidence. And to the Senate, screw you elitist opportunistic hogs. *sips more coffee
#9
That sounds more like profit taking than bearish sentiment over the bailout. People bought when prices fell off the cliff, now that they got a 'pop' they sold and took the profit.
Swings of a few hundred points aren't indicative of anything other than it being a trading day.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/03/2008 18:19 Comments ||
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#10
Enough swings of a few hundred points and you're down 20%. We'll see tomorrow. But I think most folks are starting to realize this was a mistake.
Sales of Japanese cars in the United States have increased like clockwork, rising every month for more than two years. That is, until they sputtered in the spring and then fell off a cliff.
Thanks to skittish American consumers and a U.S. credit crunch that is drying up financing for car loans, Japanese car exports to the United States plunged in August as car production in Japan recorded its steepest decline in a decade.
The swoon in North American car sales -- which account for more than half of the operating profits of Toyota, Honda and Nissan -- is a major reason why Japan's export-driven economy began shrinking in the second quarter and why many economists here are predicting a long recession.
The sudden and painful fizzle of the U.S. car market, the world's largest, comes on top of a longer fadeout in Japan's car market, the second-largest. Sales of new cars in Japan have been falling steadily for 18 years. "People, especially young people in big cities, feel they don't need a car," said Shigeru Kashima, professor of transportation planning at Chuo University in Tokyo. "They don't have the desire or admiration for owning a car, like people of my generation did. Cars are a hassle for them."
Many Japanese are hanging on to old cars, buying smaller ones or simply giving up on driving, according to a 2006 survey by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Excellent public transportation in Tokyo and other major Japanese cities allows commuters to get to work without having to pay some of the world's highest car taxes, tolls, and insurance and parking costs.
Carmakers are also being punished by an emerging demographic catastrophe: Japan has the world's largest proportion of people older than 65 and smallest proportion of children. Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Japan's nine other carmakers are going to have to build their future on something other than cars, analysts say. "I think we are at a crossroads," Kashima said. "The Japanese economy is not going to expand, and it does not make sense for these companies to make the same thing over and over again."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Tokyo = New DETROIT, as per major Auto companies???
Also, methinks that should be written as "CONGESTED/CROWDED" BIG CITIES.
#3
Excellent public transportation in Tokyo and other major Japanese cities allows commuters to get to work without having to pay some of the world's highest car taxes, tolls, and insurance and parking costs.
They've been relying on car taxes, tolls, gasoline taxes, et al to subsidize mass transit. It's gonna be a bitch to replace that funding once all the drivers are gone, isn't it? And then there's the taxes on domestic profits from car companies - that's not there any more, is it?
#4
Another factor not mentioned, are laws/rules against owning older cars. This would cause car upgrades every 3 - 5 years.
Many of these have been relaxed, and so the article mentions keeping older cars but the impact of that cannot be well understood without the knowledge of the old car rules.
Used to cost increasingly more to license an older car in Japan, and was very discouraged.
#5
Here come the layoffs. I dont pitty the Japanese but the cars are made here.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/03/2008 16:06 Comments ||
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#6
Another factor not mentioned, are laws/rules against owning older cars.
Thanks for the tip. I knew about these laws, but had no idea they had been relaxed. Finally, democracy rears its ugly head over the godheads / industrial policy freaks at MITI.
A lot of it has to do with some grass roots support for the 'classic' Japanese cars ... i.e. Surpa / Skyline / etc.
Not all the rules are gone by a long shot, but enough relaxing has occured to where you can now consider keeping an older car whereas before it was a no brainer to upgrade.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Navy has confirmed the wreckage of a sunken vessel found last year off the Aleutians Islands is that of the USS Grunion, which disappeared during World War II. Underwater video footage and pictures captured by an expedition hired by sons of the commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, allowed the Navy to confirm the discovery, Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny said Thursday in a news release.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Several big life insurance stocks fell sharply Thursday, dragged down by jitters about their role in the credit crisis and fears sparked by a comment from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Wednesday about a potential bankruptcy in the industry.
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending 
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices closed at their lowest level in two weeks Thursday, tumbling below $94 a barrel on doubts that a revamped financial bailout plan will be enough to avoid a protracted economic slump and revive dwindling U.S. energy demand.
Sales of Japanese cars in the United States have increased like clockwork, rising every month for more than two years. That is, until they sputtered in the spring and then fell off a cliff. 
