Now I'm selfish

According to THE MESSIAH, if I don't feel like paying 60% of my income in taxes so that welfare pieces of shit and government employees (but I repeat myself) can live the high life, I'm selfish. Seriously people, how can anyone with an IQ over 50 or income over $0 support this communist?

And according to this idiotic woman, once Obama is in power, she will no longer have to pay for gas or her mortgage. Pretty good deal huh? If this doesn't define communism, I don't know what does.

My Prediction

You read it here first:

1. McCain wins by 6 EVs by winning Ohio and Florida. Mickey Mouse surprisingly enough shows up to vote, twice, and both times votes for McCain. Take that ACORN!!

2. Dems get 58 seats, But since McCain goes away and AZ has a Dem governor, they get an extra one. So they are at 59. Then you have RINO Olympia Snowe and Dems have the effective 60 they need. But Joe Lieberman says "OH NO YOU DIDN'T", turns sides and they're back to 59.

3. The last of the riot fires are extinguished next Friday evening.

4. Martial law is extended until November 23rd. On 11/24 gun shops across the land run out of ammo by 10:00am with lines around the block.

5. Dow surges late Tuesday as rumors of a McCain win start spreading. Then Dow falls by double digits percentage wise on Wednesday as the riots take hold. Stock market is closed during martial law time. Reopens 11/24, falls to 6000 within 3 minutes.

6. In a surprising show of bipartisanship, McCain says WTF, and gives the presidency to Barry as a show of good will. Country first and all that bullshit.

7. Sarah Palin and Joe Biden have a winner take all. pay per view, cage match to see who becomes VP. Despite the looming Great Depression 2, a record 98 million households sign up for the show at $99 per head.

8. Talk radio and conservative bloggers are deemed to be a national security threat and banned by the new administration.

9. Elections are deemed too expensive and are cancelled for 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016

UPDATE: Looks like I'm not the only one predicting riots.

Free speech...if it's the right kind

In LA, some jackass hangs up an effigy of Sarah Palin.

In Kentucky some jackass hangs up an effigy of Barrack Obama.

In LA, the jackass is admired by the locals and is a mini-celebrity.

In Kentucky, the jackass is arrested and could face jail time.

In Los Angeles, the jackass is not arrested and the local media praise him for exercising his freedom of speech.

Free speech and all that you, know? Or as it has become clear, free speech is fine. But just don't speak against the wrong people. At that point in time your free speech, ain't so free anymore.

I'm sure the ACLU will jump to the defense of the Kentuckians any day now.

Man this country is fooked.

Hmmm

Why is it that Israelis are backing McCain 4:1 and Iraqis are also for McCain?

Wonder if it has to do with the fact both people know what it's like to live under fascism and would prefer it not occur in the US.

STOP THE PRESSES!!

Alert, alert, alert!!

Alert alert, alert!!

This is a broadcast bulletin transmission.

Alert, alert, alert!!

Stand by for transmission in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

This just in.

It has been reported in the liberal mainstream media that not every voter who distrusts Obama is a racist. I repeat, it has been reported that there has been a discovery of a non-Obama voter who is not a racist.

We don't have much information on this man, except that he is, well, a man, he is white, he is well educated, he lives in Texas and will be voting AGAINST Obama for reasons having nothing to do with race. This mystery man, named "Dan" lives next door to a bona fide reporter at MSNBC. And the MSNBC reporter has revealed that his neighbor is NOT, I repeat, NOT a racist and yet will still not vote for the MESSIAH. We do have confirmation. This is not a hoax. Just like Joe The Plumber, we will go through every conceivable public (and some private) document belonging to Dan and make sure there isn't something in his past to refute the claim. As of right now though, this is real folks, and this is huge.

I was not alive to witness the first moon walk. But I feel like I am witnessing history of the same magnitude today. Imagine, a white conservative man who is not a racist. It's surreal to read about such a thing. I'm still in disbelief. What barrier will we break through next? A man who owns a gun that is not a nutjob militia member? I know, I know, I am getting ahead of myself and it may well take another 10 or 20 years for this next step. But wow, today is a day to mark down on your calendars folks. The glass ceiling has its first crack.

Thank you MSNBC and thank you Domenico Montanaro for having the courage to print this.

Good news...recession is over

Both GM and Starbucks say everything is A-OK and we've hit the bottom of the downturn. (If things are looking up, I wonder why SBUX is closing 600 stores and GM is begging for money in Washington)

Real estate agents say now is a great time to buy and we've hit bottom (again).

George Bush said the economy is just super duper.

Ben Bernanke says all is well.

CNBC is convinced Dow will be at 15K by next year.

So this is all fantastic news. Right?

Just one question: Can we have our $700B bailout back? I mean if things are looking up like we're being told, surely the economy can stand on its own and we can get our money back.

Really confused

One of my theories on investing - and it is my no means an original theory - is buy when everyone sells and sell when everyone buys. One article like this won't make me rush to the auction house. A steady stream of them will.

Money shot:

The consequence for anybody who owns a home is that the reigning turn-of-the-millennium assumption that you could count on your house not only maintaining its value but providing a nice cushion that you could cash out for a comfortable retirement is no longer in effect.

It's almost as if the author is saying buying a home is a piss poor investment today. and that you would be wise not to buy anything for a long time. The time to sell real estate was right around when Time Magazine had a smiling doofus hugging his house on the cover. This was back when housing was going to double every 28 seconds and everyone would retire a la Donald Trump by the time they were 33 after flipping 18 Miami condos.

The time to buy will be when Time's cover will have that same doofus taking a dump on his house. That will be the best buy signal you will ever have.

We're getting close. Not there, but getting close.

Confused

I'm no economist or expert or nuthin. So I have a hard time understanding complex issues. But here is a question that I've been wondering about. Last week we were told that the economy was turning around. New home sales were up. Existing home sales were up. Yesterday the stock market went up 11%. CNBC staff was having orgasms on air. It was like 1999 all over again.

So if things are so like totally awesome, why did the Fed have to lower rates to 1%? Did you all notice how oil spiked up 7% after the announcement. Or is gas so cheap these days that we don't care anymore about the price of oil.

Just wondering.

Tuesday Tumbler

I posted this one before but just for fun here is an update

812 Oakton Pond CT
Marietta, GA 30064

Price Reduced: 05/27/08 -- $839,980 to $798,800
Price Reduced: 07/14/08 -- $798,800 to $728,800
Price Reduced: 08/05/08 -- $728,800 to $650,000
Price Reduced: 10/01/08 -- $650,000 to $550,000

That's only a 35% reduction in price over the past few months. But Atlanta never had a bubble and never had or never will have a crash. And it was a great time to buy in early 2008 as numerous real estate agents told me.

I might start showing some interest at $300K...which at this rate should be sometime in February/March. Although by the time Obama is done taxing my ass, I won't be able to afford much more than $150K.

Financial crisis anger

It's a little odd for me. I have been predicting this financial "crisis" for some time now. I have been saying house prices will crash and take down everything else with it. So this "crisis" we're in now seems quite normal to me. I'm happy it has finally happened. I've profited from it and will really profit from it by buying up cheap assets like stocks and housing in the near future.

I don't know what to think when I hear the MSM talk about anger and despair people are experiencing these days. Are they really? According to the MSM whenever a Republican is president the economy is always on the brink of a depression. Homelessness was eradicated in the 90s after all, only to reappear the day Bush took office in 2001.

So when I hear all this talk of fear in the air by Joe 6 Pack, I have no idea whether to believe it or not. Like I posted yesterday, there were 124,000 people at a NASCAR race in Atlanta over the weekend. If there is all this fear and panic, where the hell is it?

What McCain's Commericals should have been saying

I wonder if the editor at CNN who allowed this to print will have a job next week.

Obama and Biden speakh

The idiot and the socialist, a 3 act play

New Deal Eh? 2

So we are getting the new New Deal because we are in this great depression right? Odd, I could swear we aren't in one.

Example: yesterday I attended the NASCAR race in Atlanta....OK insert redneck, joke here and here.

It was the first time I had attended a race. I'd been to a qualifying day before in Las Vegas, but not the actual race. So yes, there were definitely a lot of people that you would expect to see at one of these things. But plenty of regular people that you wouldn't. Yes it's not exactly the same crowd as a a performance of Madame Butterfly, but to be quite honest, when I attend a performance of Madame Butterfly I want to punch most of the fellow attendees in the face.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. The place holds 124,000. My ticket cost $134. Many, many people also had a pit pass, which allowed them to walk around on the infield and see the pits. That was another $100. There were countless vendors selling t-shirts for $25 or $30 and doing brisk business. A cup of lemonade was $6 and there was always a line for it. I don't know what a beer cost, because I brought my own cooler full of it. Oh and parking was between $20 and $75 depending on how close the spot was. So I would venture to say the average person spent $200 for the day.

Now I am no economist or nuthin, but when you have 124,000 people in Georgia, plunking down $200 to watch cars go in a circle for 4 hours, that does not sound like a freaking depression, does it? And this is the middle class that Obama keeps telling me is in dire straits and one missing paycheck away from starvation. It is such total bullshit and yet the media and the American people are buying this nonsense. Obama even had an ad at the race on the radio play by play talking about how McCain = Bush and Bush has wrecked the middle class. It was laughable. People in $134 seats, drinking $6 lemonade and wearing $30 t-shirts being told they are destitute.

New Deal Eh?

So I am reading more and more than Obama and his thugs are almost done registering Mickey Mouse and intimidating plumbers who ask questions. Their work has shifted to creating a second New Deal. You remember the first right? It brought us such totally wicked awesome things like the FHA, allowing anyone with a pulse to buy a house they can't afford. It also brought us Social Security. This super duper fantastically awesome system works like this. I send the government $12,400 a year and when I'm old and gray they will send me back nothing. Thank you sir, can I have another please?

Not to be outdone during the New Deal, FDR, Socialist in Chief also made it illegal to own gold for a brief period of time in 1934. FDR's goons actually went and confiscated gold from people's bank safety deposit boxes. If you attended a publik skool run by unions, you probably never heard about that. Look it up, it's interesting reading and a nice preview of what is coming with Obama. And although he didn't succeed FDR attempted to expand the Supreme Court and pack it his his own people. Again, if you attended a union run publik skool you have no idea what I'm talking about, look it up. And of course unlike every president before him who did not run for a 3rd term, FDR said screw tradition, I'm turning king baby and ran for not just a 3rd term but a 4th. And the reason your unionized "educators" didn't teach you any of this is simple: during FDR's rein, union membership more than tripled. You don't bite the hand that feeds you right? With FDR's blessing millions of people became union members. That is they became leeches on the system that produce nothing yet consume everything. FDR also created an army of government "workers" (have you ever known an actual govt worker to does any work?). That is the true legacy of FDR. Unions, unions and government workers, who are also unionized.

And what did the New Deal actually accomplish? Not a hell of a lot. The economy in 1933 when FDR took over was no worse than in 1939 when WW2 started. The US didn't join the war until 1941 (again publik skools graduates, don't worry if you are confused, trust me on this, you probably didn't have time to learn about WW2, what with gay studies and black history year consuming most of class time). Between 1939 and 1941 the US economic situation became brighter as it was selling lots of supplies to Britain - and a little on the side to Germany too. But the point is between 1933 and 1939 all the socialist spending by FDR didn't do anything. What FDR did was take a deep recession and turn it into a deep depression. Of course he is a liberal Democrat so nobody in the media or in education dares utter anything negative about him. But if you just look at basic statistics like GDP, unemployment etc, you see that FDR didn't do a hell of a lot. Unemployment in 1933 was 24%. In 1938 it was 19%. Better, sure. An economic miracle? Not so much. In 1930, well into the recession of the time, it was 9%. Today it's 6.3%.

More Obama Thuggery

Imagine this story were the same except the names Obama and McCain were reversed. I guarantee it would be on CNN's front page for the next 7 days.

From National Review Online:

After releasing this morning’s numbers showing McCain ahead in Ohio and Florida, the Strategic Vision polling company received several death threats through the contact e-mail on the company’s web site.

David Johnson, the CEO of Strategic Vision, shared the messages with National Review Online.

One of the messages stated:

My goodness, your polls stinks. There are 3 polls that have Obama by double digits and only yours has Obama down. WOW!. How come your poll is the only one giving Palin high favor ratings? I think you nee dto be careful tonight when you get in your car and might want to check underneath your car. SCRAP YOUR IDIOTIC POLLS OR ELSE!

Another stated:

A poll that gave Sarah Palin and Barack Obama the same favorability rating is wrong off the bat. Be careful going outside tonight because you might not see tomorrow.

A third message stated:

Why would your presidential election poll results be so drastically different from every other reputable poll taken over the same time period? Are they that dumb or are you guys that smart? Smart guys wind up dead.

Just to recap what hope and change means:

- military votes not counted thanks to Obama's Virgina goons

- Mickey Mouse is a registered voter thanks to ACORN, Obama's former employer

- TV stations threatened by Obama's lawyers for running McCain ads

- Missouri law enforcement ordered to arrest anyone who "lies" about Obama

- Pollsters threatened with death by Obama's goons

- Saharh Palin's email hacked by the son of a Democrat politician and Obama supporter

- Joe The Plumber's DMV records accessed for daring to ask Obama a question

If you don't have your non-US passport ready, don't say I didn't warn you. This is getting more and more like Germany early 1930s.

Papers Please!!

Yep, an Obama administration will be just swell. I wanted to say the next 4 years would be just swell, but with tactics like this, I wonder if there will be an election in 2012.

By Randy Ludlow

The Columbus Dispatch

"State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about "Joe the Plumber." Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher became part of the national political lexicon Oct. 15 when Republican presidential candidate John McCain mentioned him frequently during his final debate with Democrat Barack Obama.

The 34-year-old from the Toledo suburb of Holland is held out by McCain as an example of an American who would be harmed by Obama's tax proposals. Public records requested by The Dispatch disclose that information on Wurzelbacher's driver's license or his sport-utility vehicle was pulled from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles database three times shortly after the debate.

Information on Wurzelbacher was accessed by accounts assigned to the office of Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers, the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Toledo Police Department.

Translation: Dare to question The Messiah in public and the police will be sent after you and your life will be destroyed. Hmm where else did they do that kind of stuff? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Sorry, you can't vote, you're real

Obama's former employer, ACORN, is out registering Mickey Mouse in Florida and Obama dismisses it as fear mongering. At the same time Democrat election officials in Virgina, are throwing away military absentee ballots.

Probably not a big deal though, since it's not like Virginia or Florida are important states in the election. Probably just more fear mongering right Barry?

What was that about the "R" word

One of my simple pleasures in life is witnessing Larry Kudlow's stupidity come back and bite him in the ass. Yesterday after the DOW was up a whopping 2%, Larry and his pals on CNBC was touting the good news. This was more proof that we had hit the bottom and good times were coming baby. Dow to the moon! The Recovery has now begun. Everyone go out and buy buy buy baby.

Man I hope none of you were - or are - silly enough to take the advice of talking dunderheads like Kudlow. Kudlow and his ilk are the equivalent of real estate agents. It is always a good time to buy. Stocks are always a good long term investment. If you don't buy now you will price yourself out forever. And yet, like real estate agents, the general public comes back for advice over and over. Kudlow was talking about a Goldilocks economy in 2007 and all the way through Sept 2008. Most of his guests were yes men who mocked anyone who dared suggest a crash was possible. His guest ratio was usually 5:1 bull to bear, with the bear made to look like the fool.

Well who's the fool now Larry? Futures have been halted today due to a 6% decline in value. Less than 12 hours after you declare the bottom has been reached, markets are shit down. How do you live with yourself?

PS: The day Kudlow say sell, is the day I take out a $250K personal loan and buy every stock I can get my hands on.

Welcome to Obama's Hell

A McCain supporter was attacked in PA. The letter "B" was carved into her face. This is the savagery we will be living with for the next 8 years. And once savagery like this gets instituted it doesn't just go away. Start getting your foreign passports NOW.

I can only imagine how this woman's life will be destroyed, Joe The Plumber style by the jackals in the media. She's under 21 and I'll bet someone uncovers that he's had a beer or two. And then of course that will mean she deserved this and anyone who says otherwise is a KKK member. Mark my words, this woman will be crucified by this time tomorrow and her savage attacker will be America's newest hero, simply fighting for hope and change.

And here we go again

To recap:

$300B mortgage bailout bill from July

$700B bailout bill from Sept

$150B stimulus package from April

Result: foreclosures are up 71% this quarter

Solution: another bailout of course. The new scheme involves the FDIC bailing out idiots who cant make their payments with modified mortgage terms. Here is the funny part though:

After the FDIC became conservator of mortgage lender IndyMac this summer, Bair instituted a loan modification process for loans that were 60 days or more past due and which IndyMac either owned directly or serviced. About two-thirds of the 60,000 loans under IndyMac's umbrella are considered potentially eligible for the new program, she said.

Through this week, IndyMac Federal has mailed more than 15,000 modification proposals to borrowers and has called many thousands more in continuing efforts to help avoid unnecessary foreclosures," Bair said. So far, more than 3,500 have accepted the offers

3500 out of 15,000? Wow talk about successfull programs!! People realize that it's better to just walk away than get saddled with some mortgage on a house that will never get back to the value they bought it at. These modifications usually mean extending the mortgages out to 40 or even 50 years to lower the payment. Only the stupidest of stupid people would agree to such a scheme. But the government being the government will keep coming up with stupid ways to waste my money.

Put yourself in the shoes of one of these morons. Option A is walk away and never think about the house again. Option B is sign up for a debt trap where you will be paying a mortgage in the year 2058. And this for a house that was built in a few days by a crew of illegal aliens, as most houses built this decade were. Only an inept government employee could possibly see Option B as beneficial.

NYC = Richmond = LA?

OK so I'm no political expert or nuthin, but I'm just not buying this Obama love-a-thon in some places. You look at some of these polls and things just don't make sense. In 2004 Virgina voted for Bush 54/46. And now the polls say Obama is going to win 55/45. So in 4 years 20% of the population makes that radical a shift? Or North Dakota where it was 63/36 Bush in 2004 and now it is supposedly tied. Or Indiana where it was 60/40 Bush and now Obama supposedly is leading by 3.

Sure people do change their voting patterns. If they didn't the same party would win every election. But We are talking about millions and millions of people going from a social conservative born again Christian from Texas to a sort of Muslim, ultra-liberal, tax and spend liberal from Chicago. I just don't see you average N.Dakotan or Virginian or Indianan (?) changing their political views that radically in 4 years.

What I do see is a lot of people telling pollsters they want the black guy. We as a society have been so indoctrinated with PC garbage that people are afraid to say they will vote for the rich old white guy. Even telling a stranger over the phone that is.

One other thing I've noticed is this: in blue states, the polling this year mirrors the results from 2004 pretty closely. California was 54/45 for Kerry in 2004. Polls in 2008 say Obama will win...drum roll please...54% of the vote. NY went 59/40 Kerry in 2004. 2008 polls say NY will go...sit down for this...59% for Obama. Illinois, home state of Obama. In 2004 it went 55/44 for Kerry. In 2008 the home state of the supposed greatest thing since sliced bread, will, according to polls get a whopping 58% of the vote.

Bear with me while I adjust my tinfoil hat, but this just doesn't smell right. What we are being led to believe is that redder than red states like Indiana and N. Dakota are suddenly embracing a radical socialist with 20 point swings in the electorate from 2004. But bluer than blue states are holding steady from 2004. So nobody in NY or CA or IL that voted for Bush in 2004 will vote for Obama in 2008. But hundreds of thousands of people in Virgina, N. Dakota and Indiana who voted for Bush will. In other words we are being led to believe that Republicans in CA and NY are more conservative that Republicans in Indiana and Virginia.

That just makes no sense.

Tax cuts = higher taxes

When you give tax cuts to people who pay no taxes, you get closer and closer to complete welfare state. I like this easy outline with some interesting graphs too. If Obama's plans are implemented, within 5 years more than 50% of the population would pay no taxes. Once you have 50% paying $0 in taxes, you have a majority who will always vote for more spending and higher taxes on the minority. And once that happens, the end will truly be here for capitalism in the US.

But the polls say...

Why would the Democrat governor of Pennsylvania be worried about The Messiah possibly losing Pennsylvania, when the never inaccurate polls say The Messiah will win by double digits? I guess it's time to hit the graveyards of Phillie and start registering dead people as Democrats. Sorry ACORN workers of Philadelphia, no World Series for you this year. You have work to do.

I guess all those redneck racists - as Jack Murtha (D-PA) refers to his own constituents - clinging to their guns and religion - as Obama says - aren't warming up to an avowed socialist who voted to ban all handguns while a state Senator. Shocker I tell ya!

Accuracy, we don't need no stinkin' accuracy

Final popular vote in 2004 was 51/48 Bush.

Here is what the polls were saying in late Oct:

Survey USA poll taken 10/23- 10/25
Kerry leading 49-46

Zogby poll taken 10/21 - 10/24
Kerry leading 47-45

American Research Group poll taken 10/23 - 10/25
Kerry leading 50-47

Fox News poll taken 11/1
Kerry leading 48-45

They were about 6% off, in favor of Kerry.

This time around Obama is ahead by 6% on average using the same pollsters that got it so wrong in 2004. And as part of that 6% there is a poll released this week showing Obama winning by 1 as well as a poll showing Obama winning by 14. Both taken during the same time period with some stark differences in the results.

Here is my own poll, although granted rather unscientific. 71% of people say polls are bullshit 91% of the time.

I'm Ed and I approved this message.

If at first you don't succeed

I've lost count on how much money the government has printed to stimulate the economy. Let's see there was the $700B bailout. There was the $30B Bear Sterns bailout. There was the $150B stimulus package. There was the $300B mortgage bailout. There was the other $300B bailout of Fannie and Freddie. There was the $85B bailout of AIG. Am I missing anything? Probably another few billion here and there. But so far we have close to $1.5 TRILLION - that trillion with a T.

All that spending and yet today there is news that both Bush and Pelosi are on track for yet another stimulus package to the tune of $300B. Because since the first $1.5 trillion has been a complete failure, the next $300B will work. Makes sense to me. And this stimulus will once again send tax rebate checks to those that don't work and send nothing to those that make too much money, which last time around was defined as anyone making $150K a year. Which is odd since according to Obama, one has to make $250K a year to be considered rich. Maybe Barry will cut us sorta, but not quite rich folk a break this time around and send us some stimulus check action as well. How about it Barry, can you help an upper middle class brother out?

Tax Cuts?

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Obama promising up and down that any family making under $250K a year will get a tax cut? I know I saw at least 29 commercials yesterday saying so. Then why is it when I use Obama's own calculator available here and enter my income as $200K to $250K, filing married, the result I get is this:

"You will probably not get a tax cut under the Obama-Biden plan."

Play around with that thing for 2 minutes and it quickly becomes crystal clear that "tax cuts" are nothing more than welfare give aways. Someone making $20K a year, who right now pays $0 in taxes, will get $1000 "tax cut". That's all you need to know about Obama's fiscal policies, right there.

And anyone making over $50K a year who plans to vote for him thinking, oh goodie, I get a tax cut, well you're a moron.

Question

If we are indeed in the worst economic environment since the great depression, how is Obama raising $150M a month? And a second question. That $150M is supposedly from millions of middle class types. The same people who Joe Biden says can't afford a tank of gas are sending Obama money.

Or could it be that the money is coming from dubious sources?

Just saying, either we are in a depression and this money is illegal. Or the money is legit and this dire economic crisis Obama keeps talking about doesn't exist. The two options however are mutually exclusive.

NEWSFLASH: black guy endorses black candidate

Lots of ooohs and ahhs all over the MSM today at the news that Colin Powell endorsed The Messiah. But, you see color has nothing to do with it. And I believe that.

About two years ago I attended a function where Colin Powell was the keynote speaker. And man that guy can give a speech. The content of the speech was pretty boiler plate liberal talking points. Let's help society. Help those in need. Contribute to the greater good, etc. The kind of utopian nonsense we hear from The Messiah on a daily basis. Quite inspirational really, if you're into that kind of stuff and also funny. That is one thing I remember thinking, this guy's got a great sense of humor, not something I would have expected from a stuffy looking military man. nd also during that speech, he took a lot of jabs at Bush. Dude was pissed off at Bush, and I suppose rightly so given how he was treated by Bush and the gang. Oh and the speech was in San Francisco so as you can imagine the audience was howling with delight.

So my point is this: Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama not as a conservative who has seen the light, the way the MSM is making it seem. He endorsed Obama as a fellow liberal who wants payback against Bush and the GOP. And I really do believe race doesn't have much to do with it. I think Powell would have endorsed Mickey Mouse if he were running as a Democrat. He was probably hoping Bush would lose in 2004 but wasn't about to endorse Kerry while still in Bush's cabinet.

This Week

Today I am supposed to clean the house. And since I hate doing the cleaning thing, I try to postpone and procrastinate as much as possible. Part of today's procrastination was watching a network news program, This Week with George Stephanopolous . One of the guests was Newt Gingrich. Another guest was Donna Brazile, Gore's campaign chief.

It became obvious why Gore lost. That woman is a complete moron. She couldn't even tell the difference between the deficit and debt. Had Gore won, that dolt would have been in his cabinet. Shiver!

As always I didn't disagree with a thing Newt said. He lays everything out so eloquently. Why oh why did he not run for president? Yeah he probably wouldn't have won the nomination since people figure he has too much baggage to win nationally. But he would have got people thinking. And I think an Obama-Gingrich match up would have been pretty good. Newt could ave wiped the floor with The Messiah on every issue.

It was an hour long discussion on how Obama will rule. Not once in that hour was it mentioned that Gallup's tracking poll has Obama up by only 2. Nor the fact that Zogby's latest poll, released today has Obama up by only 3. Add in a mini-Bradley effect - which everyone seems convinced no longer exists, but is always talking about it nonetheless - and this thing is a tie.

But Bush said...

I am once again getting really confused. I hear our esteemed leader on the radio saying all is well in the economy. And I see commercials on the tee-vee from the NAR (National Association of (Lyings) Realtors) saying now is the best time to buy a house. So I think, OK I guess I should rush out and buy me one of them $500K 1 bedroom condos that are sure to double in value in 2 years.

But then I also see reports like this:

The American housing market, where the global economic crisis began, is far from hitting bottom. Home prices across much of the country are likely to fall through late 2009, economists say, and in some markets the trend could last even longer depending on the severity of the anticipated recession.

So far this makes sense. Could the MSM actually be coming around and accepting the fact that the housing crash is just starting and we have a long, long, long way to go before even thinking about a bottom? This article reads like a post I would have written about a year and a half ago. Something about price to rent ratios. Something about affordability. The kind of talk that was dismissed by so-called experts whose only reply was "NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY". Well, it was a bad time to buy last year and the year before and the year before that. And it still is a bad time to buy today. And it will most likely be a bad time to buy next year as well.

I have heard numerous idiots, I mean experts say that Miami is at the bottom. Prices are down 35% they say, so it must be a good time to buy. Bullshit. If a Honda Civic were once $50K and it were now "on sale for $30K, would it be a good time to buy a Civic? Not when the MSRP is $18K it isn't. And that's the case with Miami. Sure prices are down form ridiculous levels. But prices are still ridiculous.

And it comes down to the fundamentals. Just like a stock's price can be deemed cheap or expensive based on P/E rations (price divided by earnings). The higher the P/E ratio, the more expensive the stock is since it will take more years of earnings to make up for the initial incestment. Real estate works the exact same way. A property's P/E ratio equivalent is the price-to-rent ratio. That is how many years worth of rent does the property cost? In Miami that figure is 22. The average for the past 20 years was 15. You do the math on whether now is a good time to bu or not. Miami didn't become 46% more expensive over night and so that 22 figure must come down to somewhere around 15 in order to make real estate profitable.

When you strip away all the bullshit like 'owning is the greatest investment anyone can make' or 'when you buy a house, you really buy a home' or 'why throw your money away on rent', the price-to-rent ratio is what matters. The rest is nothing but marketing nonsense put in place by the housing industry. How is owning a house on which I will be upside down for 10 years a great investment? How am I throwing my money away on rent when my rent is lower than my after-tax cost of ownership? And last I checked, a home is a home based on who lives there and how people live, not based on the contract that allows one to live there.

And then there's this from the article:

As of June, 2.8 percent of homes previously occupied by an owner were vacant. Nearly 1 in 10 rentals was without a tenant. Both numbers are near their highest levels since 1956, the earliest year for which the Census Bureau has such data.

Translation: rents are falling off a cliff which suggests that the price-to-rent ratios will have to shoot below historical mean this time around. Buying now would be about the worst financial move anyone could make. But don't take my word for it, I didn't take a weekend seminar on how to sell real estate, so I may have no idea what I'm talking about, compared to your local real estate agent.

Dog and goldfish registered to vote....in Obama's home town

Will the US ever see a fair election again? Not with a guy from Chicago in charge it won't. Unless you think having a goldfish and a dog as registered voters is no big deal.

Old and not so bright

I can see a new bailout being brewed up to save these new "victims".

"I have to tighten my belt a little," said Cecilia McBride, a 67-year-old widow whose IRA is down $100,000. To save on expenses, she no longer drives her car but instead uses her golf cart to get around Sun City Center, a retirement community located 30 miles south of Tampa.

Uhm hello, McBride, anyone home? At 67 you do not put all your money in stocks. That is investing 101. Somewhere in your 50s you start slowly moving away from stocks to bonds and CDs. You do that so if there is a sudden downturn, you don't have to start eating cat food. If your retirement loses 30% when you're 30, no big deal, you have time to make it up. If it happens when you're 67, well you're screwed.

But since personal resposility doesn't count for anything anymore, I'm sure Bush and/or Obama will make things right with this moron and send her a check for $100,000 soon enough. McCain will buy her a brand new house too.

Mentally challenged man forced to vote for Obama

A nice preview of Obama's rule...

His family was shocked, but what shocked them more was that Jack claims that his aide commandeered his vote."They told me to vote for Obama, I said no I wanted to vote for McCain," said Jack Justice, a voter.

Hey Sen. McCain, is this another example of why we shouldn't fear an Obama presidency? Is this yet another example of why you respect Obama so much? Is this what you meant when you said you admire Obama's skills and energy last night in New York City?

When you're done praising Obama on a daily basis, you might want to start looking into voter fraud. That is if you don't think doing so might offend your pal Barry. I know you are all about bipartisanship and all that. But come on, did you really spend 5 years in a POW camp only to have the basic notions of fair elections taken away by your opponent? Don't you think 'COUNTRY FIRST' includes fighting this kind of stolen electioneering?

You said you would rather lose an election than lose a war. Great rhetoric. How about not giving a shit what the NY Times says about you in return for not losing the country?

He will never learn

Obama is paying ACORN millions of dollars to register people 73 times and register Mickey Mouse and register inelgible felons. He is also sending letters to TV stations threatening to take away licences if they air anti-Obama ads. He has instructed sheriffs in Missouri to arrest anyone they think is lying about Obama.

What is McCain's reponse? What is Mr. Bipartsians's response? What is the response of Mr. Let's All Get Along, lifetime Senator?

His response naturally is to go to a dinner in NY City hosted by Democrats and make fun of himself while praising Obama. This, with 2.5 weeks before the election, just as the polls show that he may have a fighting chance after all. I'm no political expert or nuthin' but wouldn't a night of campaigning in say, oh I dunno, Ohio, be a better use of McCain's time? Obama is up by a touchdown and a field goal late in the 4th quarter. McCain should be throwing 30 yard passes to the sidelines. Instead he's running up the middle trying to get 2 yards without stopping the clock. What is the matter with this guy?

Here is a glimpse of what McCain was doing last night....

"I don't want it getting out of this room, but my opponent is an impressive fellow in many ways," McCain said. "I've had a few glimpse of this man at his best and I admire his great skill, energy and determination. I can't wish my opponent luck, but I do wish him well."

It's one thing if McCain gave it his all but was cheated out of the race by the ACORN thuggery. But when McCain doesn't even try to win, then hell, Republicans really have nobody to blame but themselves.

Exit question for McCain: Where do you think Obama's great skills, enery and determination will be used first?

a) double my taxes
b) repeal the 2nd Amendment
c) ban blogs like this that are critical of him
d) triple the funding for ACORN ensuring Democrats never lose an election again
e) appoint Bill Ayres as Secretary of Education

UPDATE:

As was mentioned by a comment...we get this from last night as well:

Michelle Obama ordered room services at the Waldorf. What did she get? Oh nothing special, just some "lobster hors d'oeuvres, two whole steamed lobsters, Iranian caviar and champagne, a tipster told Page Six."

WHOA! **Iranian** caviar? Are you effing kidding me?

I stayed at the Waldorf once. I ordered room service. Nothing fancy like this. It was a burger, fries and a beer. Bill was $50. And this was in 2001, so I'm guessing today it would be $65 easy. So Mrs. O's tab must have been $500 at least.

She spends $500 on an afternoon snack. But they're not elite. No sir. Just a working stiff from Chicago.

Bye Bye Fox News

If I were a staffer at Fox News, or the Rush Limbaugh show or National Review, I'd start sending our resumes. Outlets like these won't last much longer after Obama gets into office. Don't believe me? Why don't we let Obama himself explain.


From the NY TIMES:

“I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls,” Obama told me. “If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn’t vote or me, right? Because the way I’m portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?

Translation: Next time I'll make sure there is no Fox News talking about those pesky issues like ACORN or Bill Ayres. Just because I voted to ban handguns in Illinois or that I supported the DC gun ban doesn't mean I'm anti-gun you know. It's just these Fox News lies that have to be silenced.

Just remember everyone, we have always been at war with Eurasia.

Sean seems to be on the same wavelength.

Credit Crunch?

So am I a lone island all to myself or something? I know politically the answer is probably a resounding yes. But I pose this question regarding credit. All I hear in the MSM, and unfortunately from my new BFF, John McCain, is credit crunch this, credit crunch that. As someone who doesn't use any credit, I don't really care that much. I have no debt, I want no debt. Debt is slavery after all.

However the banks I deal with, and some I don't deal with haven't clued in no my no debt lifestyle. Between the mrs. and myself we'd get on average 10 credit card offers a week. These days that number has doubled, maybe even more than doubled. It has gotten to the point where almost all of our mail is some credit card offer. Either a new card or an existing card sending us "convenience check" offers. The temptation to take up all these offers, max them all out, move to Mexico, become Juan Jesus Hernandez and never look back is so tempting.

I also once upon a time made the mistake of talking to a mortgage broker and giving him my email address. I get weekly emails from him telling me how wonderfully low the rates are and how I could easily qualify for all the money in the world.

So I ask where is this credit crunch I keep hearing so much about? Wait I know, I can answer my own question. The credit crunch is out there for the 520 FICO deadbeats who can no longer score $500K mortgages or $50K car loans on a $35K salary. Someone like me with excellent credit and high income can still get all the debt I want. But that is the way it should be. This is the natural state of things. Yet for some reason the government wants to bring us back to the un-natural state where anyone with a pulse is able to get credit.

I want the credit crunch to continue. I want it to be made permanent. Debt should only be issued to those that can pay it back. Why in the world is this so hard to understand?

Phew

I didn't watch the debate last night. I was too scared of what McCain would say after the insane mortgage buyout proposal he let loose last time around. I was half expecting to read this morning that along with the house he will be be buying for everyone, he will also put a brand new Escalade - with 23" rims of course - in the garage of all those new houses. Why not? It only takes about 10 seconds to print the additional $500B that it would cost. And as an added benefit he could also win Michigan, what with GM union employees making $50 an hour to weld something getting lots of overtime. Kill two birds with one stone right Senator McCain?

I was happy to see Joe the Plumber make it in the news again. I guess it dawned on someone at the MSM that not everyone who makes $250K a year is a Wall St. executive. A half competent campaign would have had that exchange with Obama in a 30 second ad running in Ohio and Florida 24/7. But a 1/2 competent campaign wouldn't have told a crowd of people that the opponent is a good guy who would make a good president either. A 1/2 competent campaign also wouldn't promise to buy a house for everyone. Oh wait I already complained about that, never mind.

On to other news...stocks are down again because Citi says things ain't lookin' too good. Wow. Never saw that coming. After all El Presidente and Paulson and Bernanke and everyone at CNBC assured me that if the bailout bill passed, all would be super duper neato right away. What happened?

And damn it I love the spin they put out in the media. Their huge quarterly loss was due to "credit related mis-steps". Are you kidding me? A mis-step is you lend Bob down the road $150K for a house when in reality he should have only qualified for $140K. What these morons did was lend Joe $900K and then 6 months later lent him another $200K for good measure. And then did it about 5 million more times. That my friends, as our esteemed Senator for Arizona would say, is not a mis-step. It is a complete clusterfuck.

Shocker!!

After the 11% pop on Monday, the DOW is down 550 today ** on top of the 75 it was down yesterday. As I said on Tuesday, this "crisis" does not get solved overnight because the government throws around some money at banks. The bubble took years to create and it will take years, if not decades to fully unwind.

The auto industry is in for one hell of a long recession. All those people buying $50K cars using HELOC money from their bubble priced homes are done. They are not going to buy another car for years. Whoever is buying a car these days is no longer buying the highly profitable SUVs anymore. Without those sales Ford and GM are finished.

All those real estate jobs are gone for a few years as well. The mortgage brokers, the real estate agents, the title company clerks, the escrow companies...all of these people that made very good money buying via buying and selling homes are not going to make a dime for years to come. Same with construction workers.

And all these people won't be eating out, going on vacations or buying new TVs from Best Buy.
The federal govt can spend all the money it wants propping up banks, it won't do a damn thing to bring all that income back.

And that is why stock values will not be shooting up any time soon. The DOW could be at 7000 easily by the end of the year. Maybe even 6000. Or maybe this is some kind of bottom around 9000. Who knows? One thing I do know is, it sure as hell won't be at 11,000 as some people were thinking on Monday.

So as I said yesterday, I will say again today. Buying stocks right now is gambling. Nothing more, nothing less. Wait until it stabilizes, be it at 6000 or 9000. Wait for a month or two of stability. That is a month or two without wild gyrations. Then, and only then start nibbling. If you really do want to gamble, might as well hit the 21 tables, it's more fun and your odds are better.

** Update, it's down 733 and also down the most in % terms since 1987. This means only one thing, Paulson will demand another $700B. Can't possibly have the CEO of Goldman Sachs miss out on his $100M bonus now can we?

Nice job eh?

While the US of A is poised to elect a Marxist to office, Canada has re-elected a Conservative government. Canada was led by a series of Liberal Party governments during the 90s and early 00s. Picture a more leftist version of Nancy Pelosi and that's what Jean Chretien, the former Prime Minister was in Canada. During that time of high taxes, high spending and a protectionist trade policy Canada was also mired in a 10 year long recession. Then the good people of the Great White North got their shit together and tossed the Liberals out. Today the highest marginal tax rate in Canada is lower than the highest rate here. And surprise, surprise, the US dollar which was worth $1.60 CAD when the Liberals were in office is now worth $1.00 CAD. Amazing what a few years of fiscal conservatism can do for a country, huh?

And yesterday the people of Canada, liking this whole capitalism thing, gave the Conservative Party a solid majority government.

Americans should learn from Canada and not endure the oncoming economic pain for the next 8 years. But they won't because as I have said on numerous occasions, Americans are fucking morons.

Liberals...funny but sad

Here is a clip from Howard Stern's show. He had one of his flunkies interview Obama voters in Harlem. Voters who will vote for Obama because of his pro-gun and pro-life stance as well as his pick of Palin for VP. These morons are so braindead they have no idea what Obama's views are but will of course vote for him nonetheless. (some language might not be suitable for work).





And sticking with stupidity in New York City, here is a nice short video once again demonstrating the tolerance and diversity displayed by liberals. Tolerant and diverse is wonderful as far as the liberal is concerned...that is as long as you agree with everything he believes in. If not, this is how the liberal treats you...

Still don't buy it

Before everyone gets too giddy about the rally yesterday, and today's probable rally....

The DOW's 6 best days, percentage wise were in the 1930s. Dead cat bounces and sucker rallies happen often in bear markets. Some of NASDAQ's best days were in 2000. There were 7, 8, 9% rallies in April of that year. That was after a 20% drop from the high and right before another 40% drop from there on.

Nothing really changed over the past 3 days. The bailout is as stupid today as it was on Friday. It will be inflationary and won't do anything other that create a whole new category of unintended consequences. Printing $2t worth of dollars is not economic growth. If that were the case, Zimbabwe would have the world's best economy.

Consumer confidence is still in the shitter. Personal consumption makes up 65% of the economic activity. That won't change any time soon. I was at a Nissan dealer on Saturday and can honestly say I have never seen a car dealer more empty. And this includes the weeks after 9/11.

Personally I need to see some stability before jumping back in. 10% down then 10% up then 10% down is not the kind of market I want anything to do with. This isn't investing it's gambling. And if I'm going to gamble there are more fun ways than on stocks.

Thanks W.

Here is what Bush has done in the past 30 days:

1. Give the Obama campaign the perfect campaign stump speech by saying the economy is on the verge of disaster.

2. Demoralize conservatives by working with Pelosi and Reid to come up with the bailout bill.

3. Demoralize conservatives even more by making it appear as if the end of the world would happen if the bailout bill fails

4. Cause a panic sell on Wall St. after #3 becomes reality.

5. See #1, except with twice the effect.

6. Come up with even more bailout measures that demoralizes conservatives even more.

7. Implement the bailouts to make sure that if they do work - big if - the effects will start showing up right around the time Obama in sworn in, ensuring that like Clinton, he gets the credit for a good economy he had nothing to do with.

8. After 1-7 happens, ensure Democrats control the White House for the next 40 years.

Hey brother can you spare some W-2 income?

If I have learned anything from Obama and McCain over the past couple of weeks is that working hard, playing by the rules, paying taxes and being a decent citizen is for idiots. Being a deadbeat asshole who breaks all the rules, does nothing, contributes nothing and is a general parasite of society is the way to go.

Out of curiosity I looked up the 411 on unemployment insurance. Not a bad deal, not a bad deal at all. You can get up to 52 weeks of it and the max is $333 a week. $17,316 a year of tax free income. Only catch though is you have to have had W2 income for a certain period of time. Unfortunately I don't and so can't qualify since my income is all non-W2.

But with Christmas (wait can I still say the C word now that Obama is in power)? The non-denominational, non religious, non-celebratory, winter day that is on the 25th of December, having nothing to do with anything other than Santa and Candy Canes, is coming up. Stores always hire people to work the Christmas (aww shit there I go again, I'm probably going to jail) rush. So if I work a few hours a week at Macy's get my W2 income, I reckon I have $17K of gubermint money coming in next year.

Add to that some food stamps (about $300 a month). I'd qualify for the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) which can be up to $6000 a year). Since I'd be poor, I would get government housing assistance via Section 8 meaning essentially free rent. Since I'd have lots of free time, I could go to the food bank and never pay another grocery bill again. Don't roll your eyes, just yet at that suggestion. I volunteered at a food bank once and they have better food than you might think. So I get the food there and use the $300 a month from food stamps to buy beer and other essentials. Unlike the olden days, food stamps today aren't actual coupons. You get an ATM card that can be used to buy anything in a grocery store. There isn't even the stigma of using public welfare attached anymore. And on on top of all that, utilities and - soon gasoline - is very subsidized for the "poor".

By taking advantage of all the government programs out there, I can have a solidly comfortable middle class existence while waking up at noon every day. The coming onslaught of socialism cannot be stopped. If I can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em.

A preview of an Obama / Pelosi / Reid Regime

WASHINGTON (AP) - After consulting with Barack Obama, Democratic leaders are likely to call Congress back to work after the election in hopes of passing legislation that would include extended jobless benefits, money for food stamps and possibly a tax rebate, officials said Saturday.

By 2016 this country will be indistinguishable from France.

Was it all a setup?

I am in utter disbelief at the McCain campaign these days. Not even 72 hours after proposing nationalizing the entire financial system by buying people's mortgages, he defended Obama on a stump speech. Instead of calling Obama the communist thug he is, McCain said he is a good family man with whom he has a few disagreements. I honestly don't know what to think. I see one of two options.

1. McCain truly is a senile old man.

2. He fully converted to liberalism somewhere along the way and this campaign is his contribution to electing a generation of far-left liberals that will make FDR look like Reagan.

What other explanation is there? Every thing he says and does benefits Obama. And not only that, everything he says and does benefits Democrat Senate and House candidates. Obama will be president with a 60+ majority in the Senate. He can appoint anyone he wants to the Supreme Court. He can pass any legislation he dreams up. Obama will be for all intents and purposes a King with a rubber stamp Parliament. And all this because of McCain.

Is it too late to get Romney on the ballot?

Hod did that amnesty work out Juan?

Irony is delicious some days. Like, really, really delicious. Only 26% of Hispanics support McCain according to this article.

Some days my disgust with McCain runs so high I forget he was the McCain in the McCain-Kennedy Amnesty Act. Thanks for the reminder politico.

And here's a hint for the GOP: if you don't want to be a permanent minority party, get your shit together. This means no more candidates like McCain. No more amnesty proponents. No more socialists. No more bipartisans. You win when you bring a gun to a knife fight. You lose, when you bring a McCain to a gun fight.

2005: Now is a great time to buy

That's what the real estate shills were saying. And also were saying in 2006 and 2007 and even laughably early 2008. And now this, 1 in 6 people are upside down on their home.

I love headlines like these. Simply reinforces the fact I was right all along and all these idiot so-called experts were wrong. I guess paying $500K for a shoddy 3 bedroom, 2 bath, home with no yard, built by illegals in a week wasn't such a good idea huh? And the idea that the shithole would be worth $750K in 2 years - as no doubt was promised by the real estate shill selling it - was also kinda dumb thinking back on it huh?

But no worries McCain will buy up all those mortgages and all will be better. Because I know and you know that every time the government gets its dirty fingers involved in something, the result is always positive.

The new Obama / ACORN math

Obama's got one hell of an organization. He has somehow managed to get 105% of the population of Indianapolis to register to vote. This was done via Obama's ex-employer, ACORN. The same ACORN that had its offices raided in Las Vegas earlier this week for voter fraud. The same ACORN that is under investigation in Missouri for registering the same person 15 times.

Now that's what I call a get out of the vote campaign. Not only will get get 100% of the dead vote, as Democrats always do. This time he will get 105% of the live vote too. Man will the next 8 years be fun or what?

Must Read

The vanishing tax payer.

NONE OF THE ABOVE

That was that for me.

He wants amnesty for illegals.
He wants carbon taxes.
He is the McCain in McCain-Feingold.
He not only voted for but fought for the bailout bills. Yes, bills, there were two signed this year.
He was for the stimulus packages.
He is against drilling in ANWR.

And last night he came right out and said he wants to buy people's houses for them by having the government buy up "bad" mortgages. So I guess anyone with a good mortgage, ie someone who is responsible and pays their bills on time, gets fucked over once again. McCain says Reagain is his hero? Bullshit. Reagan believed in free markets and would never in a million years have supported any of these insane socialist measures McCain is proposing. And all this while with a straight face saying he won't raise taxes and will keep spending at current levels. Jesus, is anyone out there gullible enough to believe that? That is anyone other than Sean Hannity and the kool-aid drinking brigade at National Review?

I can't in good conscience support a muslim communist. But I can't also in good conscience support McCain.

I urge everyone out there to vote for neither one. Write in Ron Paul. Vote for Bob Barr. Hell, write in Donald Duck. Just don't choose either one of these two. Casting a ballot for either one of these disasters just sends the message to next group in 2012 that they can say and do whatever they want and still get our votes.

debate notes (live)

McCain is going senile. He has suggested that the govt should buy up mortgages to keep home "owners" in their homes. Earth to Sen. Senile...this is already happening. This was in bailout #1 and bailout #2. And it hasn't done shit. You cannot artificially prop up home prices. Stop throwing money down this black hole. Home values will keep falling until they adjust to the mean.

Oh goodie, McCain will now raise my Social Security taxes too. Good god, and this is supposed to be the conservative option?

Obama says we'll be off foreign oil in 10 years? Looks like we have 2 Senator Seniles.

Obama is making me laugh a lot. He will cut spending? Oh Barry, stop it, you're making my sides hurt.

Hmmm a spending freeze proposed by McCain. Finally he's making sense. But wait? You want to bail out millions of idiot home "owners" too using tax dollars. How do you do both? You can't of course.

Obama brings up 9/11? Give me a fucking break. On 9/11 his buddy Billy Ayres was quoted in the NY Times that he wishes he had done more. Of course McCain says nothing about Ayres. Why would he?

Too much debt question...finally a question that makes sense. Obama's answer sounds good. But where was he 2 years ago when Freddie and Fannie were handing out money like candy? He talks the talk but will never walk the walk.

A teacher making $35K a year pays $0 in taxes, she has nothing to complain about. It is laughable to talk about parasite govt employees making sacrifices. Teachers and other parasites like that are the reason we're so screwed up.

Double the child credit to $7000 says McCain. Nice bribe for parents. Yet another welfare give away. This guy is a conservative?

You cannot cut taxes for 95% of Americans when 40% of Americans pay no taxes. Why the hell isn't McCain saying this? Does he understand how this works even? Man this is so damned frustrating to watch.

It's not hard to fix Social Security says McCain. Sure it's not hard. You double my taxes and halve my benefits because I'm ruch. And you cut the tax and double the benefits for the poor...the same people who will get a free mortgage from you too. Simple indeed. Please, god tell me this is a joke and this isn't the Republican candidate.

Poll after poll says 95%+ of blacks are voting for Obama. Yet so far 2 of the 6 questions have been from so-called undecided blacks in the audience. I'm waiting for the undecided born again Christian whose an NRA member and loves NASCAR. Yeah, there's no bias in the media.

The "computer" was invented by the government? So says Obama. Is that like Al Gore investing the internet? I don't know the full history of the computer, but I'm quite confident that statement is false. What do you know? I was right, the computer was invented by a German, not the government.

Drill baby drill. McCain hits this one.

Should health care be treated as a commodity? This is from an undecided voter? Give me a fucking break. Did anyone from the McCain camp have anything to do with vetting these people? Oh yea. This is the same gang that didn't know Gwen Ifill wrote an Obama book.

I can't say I totally disagree with Obama's answer on health care. Although come on IT is going to be the solution? Give me a break. As someone who has worked in IT for 10 years I can tell you that is not the answer. I have seen more projects than I can think of where IT was going to be the magic bullet to every problem. IT can help, but at the margin, and even there, not much. But on everything else, he nailed that answer.

I like McCain's answer on health care too. $5K tax credit is nice in theory. Although that will simply make the cost increase by $5K on average. The govt cant make people rich by sending them money. We could make the minimum wage $1000 an hour and make everyone a millionaire. There's a reason we don't. Think about that and you'll see why the $5K tax credit won't either.

I like Obama's answer to the war too. WTF? Am I actually agreeing with this guy? Someone wake me up from this nightmare.

Note to self: never be in one of these debates as a question asker, you will look like a total moron to the whole world. Where did they find these people? If I were a Nashvillian, I would be ashamed of my fellow citizens.

Should we respect Pakistan's sovereignty? Obama uses the liberal pronunciation of Pakistan, ie PO-kee-ston. Of course he calls Germany, Germany and not Deutchland. And I haven't heard him say anything about Me-HI-co. But why quibble huh Barry? And what's this? We are fighting militants eh? Guess terrorists are no longer PC either. Wouldn't want to offend Osama bin Laden. Good response by McCain on this one. Rattled Barry pretty well.

McCain will get Osama because he knows how? Uhm Senator, if you know how, why haven't you given Bush the secret formula these past 7 years? That is a ridiculous statement by McCain.

If I were scoring this from the point of view of an undecided voter, I give Obama an A- and McCain a C+. I say all this without having seen any analysis, purely from my first impression. I also say this due to McCain's answers on the economy and his socialist proposals. He totally ignored the fact that millions of people took out HELOCs and walked away with new BMWs and trips to Fiji all the while crying victim. And these victims will now have all their debts forgiven at the expense of people who played by the rules and didn't over extend. I am disgusted by McCain after tonight.

Typical White people

Expert: 401k values are in the toilet, therefore 401k owners will vote for Obama.

In this case the expert is right. But he is only saying 1/2 the story. Yes many 401k and IRA accounts are in the toilet. The 201K is now a reality. But whose fault is that? As with everything for the past 7.5 years, it's Bush's fault of course.

But what about the fault of the 401k holders? Why the hell didn't everyone get out last year? It was about as obvious as could be that the financial markets would get smacked hard this year. You don't need a PhD in finance to figure out that when $15K a year illegal aliens are buying $720K homes, something is not quite right in Denmark. But instead of doing a little research the great unwashed masses just kept on buying stocks for the IRA and 401k accounts.

Even a cursory search of "stock market" and "crash" would have led anyone to thousands if not tens of thousands of websites and blogs that were saying get out of the market. Including of course this one. I didn't time it perfectly and I got back in a little early. But I only got back in with about 25% of my money and that has taken a bit of a beating, which has brought me back to about even for the year. The other 75% has been sitting in various high yield money markets and interest bearing savings accounts. 4% APY isn't sexy, but it's a hell of a lot sexier than losing 7% of the principle in one day. So while the masses are panicking over whether they will retire at 65 or 85, I'm sleeping well at night.

It's not like I had access to some top secret information. This was all out in the open for everyone to see. But did people take that advice? No. They were too busy watching clowns like Jim Cramer and taking his advice to BUY BUY BUY. Or they were too busy watching American Idol to even know what is in their 401K.

And now the great unwashed needs a villain (Bush, McCain) and a hero (Obama). Anything to take responsibility away from themselves.

Ain't socialism grand?

Pinch me

I must be in some awful dream these days. Otherwise I cannot explain the madness all around me.

The housing bubble was created by Alan Greenspan, when he lowered the prime rate to 1% and held it there for 2 years. This caused cheap money to flow into the hands of Obama constituents. That is the weak, the lazy, the poor, the unskilled, the unemployed. In other words your typical Democrat. These parasites bought $600K homes using food stamps as qualifying income, thanks to the relaxed rules implemented by Bill Clinton and Barney Frank.

Fast forward a decade and we have a housing crash of untold proportions.

And the fix for it is? Lower the rate back down to 1% and make housing loans available to anyone with a pulse. That's what the "experts" (see post below) are asking for.

If after all this, the people still go back to the polls and vote in Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Obama, well then this country truly deserves to be destroyed.

Here is a preview of the next 8 years of economic policy. Go to 0:25 for the really good stuff.

Surprise

To recap:

$300 billion for bailout bill #1 in July

$700 billion for bailout #2

Lehman dead

Wachovia dead

Wamu dead

California on verge of bankruptcy

Mass looking for federal loans

European banks failing left right and center

All because of the housing implosion which I have been predicting for 2+ years.

But let's stroll down memory lane and see what the "experts" were saying...same experts that have been telling you all will be well after the bailout bill gets passed.

"Retail housing was growing for some time at a level that was not sustainable. I don't see the subprime mortgage market troubles imposing a serious problem. I think it's going to be largely contained"
- Henry Paulson, April 20, 2007

"I think the worst of this may well be over.”
- Alan Greenspan, October 2006

"House prices are unlikely to continue rising at current rates". A moderate cooling in the housing market, should one occur, would not be inconsistent with the economy continuing to grow at or near its potential."
- Ben Bernanke, October 27, 2005

"There is no evidence of a housing bubble in the United States and housing demand should stay strong for years to come."
- Larry Yun, Chief Economist of the NAR July 20, 2005

Remember these quote whenever you hear an "expert" quoted on TV.

But he's an east coast Dem?!?

You'd think a Senator of 36 years, especially a highly esteemed, well edumacated, lawyering type like Biden would use big words and stuff when talking about important issues and the like. And the hick from Alaska who doesn't even read newspapers couldn't even string together a coherent sentence.

Or maybe not.

From CNN:

An analysis carried out by a language monitoring service said Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin spoke at a more than ninth-grade level and Sen. Joseph Biden spoke at a nearly eighth-grade level in Thursday night's debate between the vice presidential candidates.

His analysis ranked the candidates' speech on several other levels, too. Here's the breakdown:

Grade level: Biden, 7.8; Palin, 9.5 (Newspapers are typically written to a sixth-grade reading level.)

Sentences per paragraph: statistically tied at 2.7 for Biden and 2.6 for Palin.

Letters per word: tied at 4.4.

Ease of reading: Biden, 66.7 (with 100 being the easiest to read or hear), versus 62.4 for Palin.

The Good and The Ugly

Roll Call of bailout bill.

If you in good conscience vote for any of the names listed in the YES column, then please don't ever complain about anything to do with finance again. If you can vote for someone who just wrote a $2 trillion check to the government, you have lost the right to ever discuss finances again. Don't even complain about your taxes being too high. Don't ever complain about inflation. Hell you obviously have no clue about much, so don't complain about anything again. Go stick your head in the sand and just pretend the world is OK.

Bored?

Someone wrote to me and asked how could I possibly have been bored by the debate since he thought it was quite lively.

I was and is bored by most of these things because of their nature. It's ridiculous questions posed for the most part with canned answers by both sides. A true debate would be something like the moderator picks 5 topics. Say taxes, energy, Iraq, education, health care. Then each of those topics is debated for 16 minutes, with each side getting an alternating minute. That's a true, point counterpoint debate. And you get to learn about the big picture of where candidates stand on an issue. And you can't fake something like that. Either you know what you're talking about or you don't.

Think of the debates like a history final. The debates as are set up now, are like a pop quiz. If you stay up the night before and memorize dates and places, you'll do well. It's also meaningless as 2 days later you forget everything. The exam should be essay based instead where you get 2 topics and have to write 1000 words for each. You can't cram for a test like that, you have to know the whole story and explain your thoughts in detail.

Honestly had I been an "independent" or even worse "undecided" voter, nothing from last night would have changed my mind on anything. Let's see they both think the economy should be strong, they both think education is important and they both hope that the president won't die in office. Gee thanks, now I am so much more informed.

Debating

My thoughts randomly:

Biden almost put me to sleep early on

Palin looked very nervous early on

Ifill was fair and those were pretty good questions

Biden looked fluxmoed when refuting the Afghanistan commander comments

Palin missed a great opportunity to talk about the Democrat links to Fannie and Freddie

It's NU-CLE-AR for crying out loud

Palin's answer to Biden's tax comments should have been
1. Clinton promised tax cuts, he presided over the largest tax increase ever
2. How can 95% of people get a tax cut when 40% of people pat $0 in taxes

The answer to the nuke question should have been "I won't answer a question that would give away strategy to a potential enemy". Neither of them caught that.

I was kind of bored throughout.

Newsies

I've been a bit behind the times with the Sarah Palin newspaper business. I knew she went on the Katie Couric show and failed the pop-quiz administered by Ms. Couric. I tried and tried to see footage of the pop-quiz administered to St. Obama or Joey Biden, but for the life of me I can't seem to find any. I'm sure given the non-biased nature of the MSM and especially Katie, that footage is there, but just hard to get to.

Anyway back to the newspaper "controversy". She didn't name any specific rags and well that means she can't right? Honestly if anyone asked me what newspapers I read on a daily basis, I couldn't name any either. I don't read newspapers. I can't remember the last time I actually sat down with a newspaper. Probably on a flight somewhere.

Think what you will of her, does anyone seriously think the governor of a state doesn't at least know the names of a newspaper or two? She didn't want to play the pop quiz game with Katie and all of a sudden she doesn't know how to read. OK if that's the way the MSM plays it.

What I think was beyond stupid was the McCain campaign agreeing to these interviews. McCain went on The View and was accused of bringing back slavery by Whoppi Goldberg. The same show that was gushing over Obama when he was on. So does the McCain camp learn a lesson? No. They send Palin on Katie's show to be ambushed.

McCain has run about the worst campaign imaginable. And he deserves to lose. I say this as someone who is scared shitless of Obama's coming fascism. But damn it, it's almost as if McCain is playing to lose on purpose. He could have come out against the bailout bill and taken a stand against pork barrel spending. Instead he acts like a fool running around Washington screaming that if the bill doesn't pass the end of the world will arrive.

Does he not read polls? Does he not notice the overwhelming disgust with this bill coming from the American people? This is politics 101. When in an election, don't take a position that is opposed by the majority of people. He could have clearly distinguished himself from Obama by taking a principled fiscal conservative stand. And he would have completely gone against the "McCain is Bush's 3rd term" story that Obama and the MSM have crafted. And in the next debate he could have said "Sen. Obama, you chose the path of socialism, I chose the path of American free enterprise". And win or lose, that would have been putting COUNTRY FIRST. And if nothing else it would have lit a fire under conservatives for 2010 and 2012. Something to rally around. Instead he pissed off conservatives and didn't gain a single liberal or independent vote. Some maverick he is. When push comes to shove he votes with 75 other Senators and tells the 60-70% of Americans who oppose the bill to shut up and do as they're told.

Oh Ron Paul where are you?? Hell oh Mitt Romney/Rudy/Fred where are you?

Stupidity of government

Once again the hand of government screws things up for the good guys in order to protect the bad guys. The latest brilliant scheme by the government is to regulate credit card companies into the ground. They will impose restrictions on what kind of products credit cards can offer, what interest rates can be charged and a host of other intrusive regulation.

This effort is once again to protect the stupid from being stupid. I guess the intention is to shield the deadbeats from taking on too much debt and - GOD FORBID - having to pay a penalty when they screw up.

The end result is now the end of the 0% credit card offer. I dig those offers and have used them a lot. if a credit card wants to give me free money for 12 months, I'll take that offer every day. I take that free money and invest it in a 4% CD, then pay it back at the end of the 12 months. But now thanks to the new regulation I won't be able to do that anymore.

So let's review. There is a credit crunch happening. The goal of the government is to get credit flowing. And they do this by making it harder for credit card companies - ie those that give out credit - to conduct business. This is what government does every single time. It takes a bad situation and makes it worse. Government is inherently set up to do this. It is irrational. It is inefficient. It is just plain evil. And yet for some unknown reason a solid majority of people want even more of it.

Thew new "CRISIS"

All around the Daily Kos inspired Democratic funded MSM there is a new "crisis". Get ready for it. Sitting down? OK here it goes....

Car dealers are hurting!!

Yes ladies and gents this is the new crisis. People can't buy a new car! Can you believe it? I mean hell if someone making $30K a year can't afford to buy a $60K luxury SUV with an eight year loan, we must bail them out. OK that's somewhat of an exaggeration, but not that much. Where is it written that everyone needs to drive a brand new car? I haven't owned a new car for years. I also haven't had a car payment in years and will never have another car payment again. And guess what? I somehow survive and get from point A to point B just fine. A car payment, especially on a new car is about the dumbest financial move one can make.

I saw a segment on CNBC where they interviewed a woman at a dealer. She said she went for a test drive but wasn't sure if she could get a loan to buy the car. Boo hoo lady. Stick to your old car. Or here's a crazy idea...save enough to buy a car with cash. No, instead let's spend $700B in a bailout to let this moron have her car loan and spend the next 84 months paying off a depreciating asset.

God I hate what this country has become.

Day 3

Once again I woke up this morning. And the sun came up once again, amazingly enough, without a bailout bill. Once again I will drive to work in crappy traffic as millions of others do likewise. Everything today is as it was yesterday which is as it was last week, which is as it was last month.

Yet for some reason the MSM,George Bush, Obama and McCain keep telling me the end is here if the bailout bill isn't passed. My only question is why does anyone believe a word said by either of these twits?

And as I predicted on Monday, the spineless GOP is caving and will vote for the bill with a token tax cut that will apply to 17 people. If anything, the GOP is predictable. Stand up on principle. Then get scared when the NY Times editorial board says mean things about you. Then cave in showing "bipartisanship", AKA giving Democrats 90% of what they want. And the bipartisan in chief was once again John McCain.

Here is the final version of all the bipartisanship:

House officials spent much of Tuesday considering their own changes, including an extension of unemployment pay and a $1,000 tax credit for less affluent homeowner"The bill would also extend the business tax credit for research and development, expand the child tax credit, protect millions of families from the alternative minimum tax and provide tax relief to victims of recent floods, tornadoes and severe storms.

So if you are a deadbeat asshole who doesn't work or better yet a deadbeat asshole who doesn't work and don't pay your bills expect a check in the mail. Unemployment benefits are already at 26 weeks. How much more extension do these people need? I could go out today and find 3 jobs if I had to. But somehow Democrats think 26 weeks isn't enough.

If you have a whole bunch of kids you can't afford to raise and need government assistance, expect a check. If you are stupid enough to live in a flood zone, expect check in the mail.

If however, you are responsible with your money, are employed, aren't a deadbeat and live in an elevation above sea level....well you can go straight to hell. Ahh bipartisanship, don't you just love it?

Oh I forgot the FDIC limit will be raised to $250,000. Like that make a big effing deal. Right now the limit is $100,000 PER BANK. So if you have $250,000 in cash all you have to do is open up 3 accounts at 3 banks with $85,000 in each account and your entire $250,000 is insured. Takes about 10 minutes online to do that. And that is a better strategy even if the limit is raised to $250,000. Yeah there is FDIC insurance, but do you really want to have your entire stack of cash in one basket when the government may or may not have enough money to cover FDIC deposits? This only encourages more irresponsible behavior by consumers and rewards banks who are the cause of this "crisis".

It never ends.