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POPSTo Reward the Top 5 to 10% of Top Sellers AIG Spent US$440,000 on Spa and Resort after Bailout. The group booked the resort's 3,100-square-foot Presidential Suite for US$1,600 a night for five nights, a discount from the standard rate of US$3,200 a night, a hotel document released by the committee showed. It also paid US$1,075 in "no-show fees." "Have you heard of anything more outrageous?" said Representative Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, who plans to seek an investigation of the spending. "They were getting their manicures, their facials, pedicures, massages while the American people were footing the bill." The group occupied more than 60 rooms. Receipts provided by Mr. Waxman were dated Sept. 22 through Sept. 30. AIG was bailed out on Sept. 16. (*sigh* Clipmarks needs to make the character limit for clips bigger -.-)
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POPSBailout Creating a Financial Black Hole (cont.)The latest propaganda from the government and the Illuminist think tanks tells us that, treasuries are more secure than gold because they are backed by the US government and gold has a counter party risk by whoever is storing your gold as the counter party. I’ve never heard any stupider comments. The Fed has informed Bank of America to be ready for a one-week universal shutdown of the banking system, including access to checking accounts, savings accounts and credit cards. This is why you need $5,000 in small bills in your safe at home and small denomination gold and silver coins.
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POPSThe crisis explained (quickly & w/ humour!!) "....Hank Paulson and his golfing buddies go to the track and lose the rent money playing the ponies, we should pay up?" Corrente - "UPDATE If you call Speaker Pelosi’s office at (202) 225-0100, a human answers! That’s what I just did at 11:17 PM EDT. So, if you want to share your views on the bailout, be polite!"
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POPSBuffett Buys Goldman Stake in `Economic Pearl Harbor' The one nice thing about capitalism is that it cannot fail, it may take punches and get beat up, but it always rebounds. Granted we, little people get stuck wiping up the dirt, while the ultra rich (excluding Buffet) continue to live pampered lives. Russia and other countries however will have a rockier road with their markets collapsing. Least so it appears.
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POPSJohn McCain Co-Sponsored 2006 Bill To Clean Up Fannie / Freddie ......for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's former chief executive officer, OFHEO's report shows that over half of Mr. Raines' compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac. The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.
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POPSGov. Palin Slashed Funds for Unwed Teenage Mothers I really can't understand how a governor could slash funds for teenage unwed mothers unless increasing their hardship is supposed to teach those sinners a lesson. I believe that is about the correct righteous tone that masquerades for apathy and stinginess in "fiscally prudent" circles these days. Of course, if one wants to get really biblical about the matter, one could always consider the significance of "Whatever someone sows that also he reaps" if you get my meaning.
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POPSBrass Knuckles and Party Unity Bubba, feeling his pain, wants to talk about securing the Clintons' future, and particularly about all the good things he did when he was president. It's all about respect he counts as his due from the Democratic wing of the Clinton Party. It's not like Hillary didn't win everything fair and square. The Democrats here are more than a little concerned about their man's slide in the polls; Gallup on Monday said the race is tied at 45-all. The news may get worse. There's the story now afloat that an Obama half brother is living in grim poverty in Kenya, scratching out a bare living on a dollar a month while the senator lives in luxury on $5 million a year. Far worse, a summerlong controversy continues about when and where the senator was actually born, and whether the circumstances of his birth could cloud his eligibility to serve. The Obama campaign has been reluctant to produce a birth certificate. The Clintons are surely trying to help sort this out.
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POPSHypocrisy or Incompetence? The Democratic National Committee will uphold the same standard: We will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. … They will not fund my party! Take a look at the top five industries that donate to Biden as well: * Lawyers/law firms * Real estate * Retired * Securities & investment * Miscellaneous finance Real estate and miscellaneous finance — wouldn’t that figure into the credit crisis and the housing market collapse?
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POPSCongress Should Be Winding Fannie and Freddie Down receivership and restructure them. This could take place without Congress having to pass a resolution explicitly guaranteeing all $5 trillion of the GSEs’ liabilities. That dreaded scenario would double the size of the public debt and drive the dollar to new lows. This episode demonstrates how stupid and dangerous it is to allow any company to operate under the assumption that it keeps the profits while the taxpayers take the losses. For now, the U.S. has to make clear that it is standing behind Fannie and Freddie and will not allow them to fail. But to prevent an even worse catastrophe in the future, Fannie and Freddie should be broken up or dramatically downsized. It may sound strange for conservatives to back a government takeover of any company, but a takeover aimed at restructuring, downsizing, and eventually reprivatizating the GSEs might be the least bad option if a run on them actually materializes.
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POPSMcCain's Typical Republican Tax Bill: It Greatly Favors Him & His Rich Wife No surprise here. The Republican McCain wants to funnel more tax dollars to the rich, which includes himself and his wife. Given that 50% of all tax returns in the US claim income of $30,000 or less, McCain and his wife would get the equivalent of 12 plus years income of 1/2 of all income earners in the US in one year's tax return. He is truly John McBush.
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POPSDon't Tell Obama, McCain: Conventions Taking In Corporate Cash are all donors to the Aug. 25-28 Democratic convention in Denver. Lobbyists for those groups can get credentials to both conventions or related events, allowing them to mingle with lawmakers acting on legislation important to them. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., the world's largest grain processor, benefited from and lobbied on a just-passed legislation renewing farm programs for five years, a bill McCain criticized. ADM is supporting the Sept. 1-4 Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. AT&T and Visa are also among the 23 companies that are helping to fund both conventions, according to the host committee's Web sites. Lobbying expert Rogan Kersh, said the corporate money could muffle the candidates' campaigns against so-called special interests. In a campaign devoted to change, both parties' much-proclaimed reform candidates will have their halos tarnished by the corporate largesse.''
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POPS Farming For Riches for direct payments each year to farmers, regardless of whether they grow anything. Can we honestly demand fair and free trade from other countries when this bill increases trade distorting payment rates and restores an illegal cotton program? Sen. Barack Obama has raised the rhetoric on fair trade and restoring fiscal discipline, but his support for the farm bill betrays the inconsistency of his position: Cry foul with our trade partners, but break the rules at home. It is time to wean ourselves from the huge crop subsidies being paid by taxpayers and the flawed policies that distort the markets, artificially raise prices for consumers and pit producers against consumers.
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POPSHillary an O'Reilly--Courtin the Repug vote?
Said O'Reilly: "You're going to raise taxes on the wealthy. That's income redistribution. You know what that is. And income redistribution is why some conservatives don't like you. It's because it takes from the wealthy and you give the less afluent - that's socialism - that has a socialist component ..." "No it isn't" said Hillary who recoiled from the S word like a vampire confronted with a cross. "Was Teddy Roosevelt a socialist?" she asked. When O'Reilly said "somewhat," she added that, "Teddy Roosevelt was a great American. Our country works better when we're all in it together.” On her $110 billion-a-year health care plan, O'Reilly, citing California's $8 billion health care deficit and New York's $5 billion health care deficit, asked "Are you going to tell me President Hillary Clinton is going to A) run this efficiently and B) not bankrupt the country when California and New York are already bankrupt?" In reply, Mrs. Clinton simply side-stepped defending the ruinous fis
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POPSHillary campaign fails to pay bills.
More: She owed Iowa’s Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees $3,500 for catering and venue costs, New Hampshire’s Winnacunnet Cooperative School District $4,400 in event costs, Qwest $24,000 for phone service, various branches of the Iowa-based supermarket chain Hy-Vee $15,000 for food, beverages and catering, and $7,700 to Ohio and Massachusetts branches of the theatrical stage employees’ union, for equipment costs. In fact, about a third of the nearly 700 individual debts Clinton reported at the end of February were for various types of “event expenses,” including $319,000 for catering and venue costs, $420,000 for equipment, $11,000 for photography and $9,000 for security And word is getting around that Clinton’s campaign does not promptly pay those who labor to make her events look good, “I feel insulted by the way that the campaign treated this company and treated us personally,” said the employee It's 3 AM and the bill collectors are calling....
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POPSBig Bucks Today, the U.S. dollar, is printed in bills in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. At one time, however, it also included five larger denominations. High-denomination currency was prevalent from the very beginning of U.S. Government issue (1861). $500, $1,000, and $5,000 interest bearing notes were issued in 1861, and $10,000 gold certificates arrived in 1865. There are many different designs and types of high-denomination notes. The high-denomination bills were issued in a small size in 1929, along with the $1 through $100 denominations. Their designs were as follows: * The $500 bill featured a portrait of William McKinley * The $1,000 bill featured a portrait of Grover Cleveland * The $5,000 bill featured a portrait of James Madison * The $10,000 bill featured a portrait of Salmon P. Chase * The $100,000 bill featured a portrait of Woodrow Wilson
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POPSUnited Nations-Backed Proposal $845 Billion Obama Bill 
OBAMA’S GLOBAL POVERTY ACT IS WORTHY OF McCAIN’S ATTENTION BECAUSE HE MAY have the opportunity to vote on it. ON FEBRUARY 13, OBAMA HIMSELF ISSUED A PRESS RELEASE HAILING PASSAGE OF THE BILL in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His press release said that his bill makes it official U.S. policy to achieve “the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme global poverty in half by 2015” and that the president must do this through the use of “measurable goals,” certain “efforts,” and “benchmarks” and “timetables.” An inquiring reporter might ask: what is the Millennium Development Goal? And what is the cost of such a gargantuan effort? But we have few inquiring reporters these days. Rather than explore the nature of a United Nations-backed proposal that could cost $845 billion, reporters at the New York Times did a story featuring the alleged relationship with a female lobbyist. Ironically, the liberal Times had endorsed McCain as the best Republican in the presidential race.
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POPSA lesson on Taxes How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so... The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings). Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got $1 out of the $20," declared the si
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POPS Bush's Dangerous Proposal In 1982, President Ronald Reagan identified serious flaws in LOST and rejected the treaty on multiple grounds. An effort to "fix" LOST during the Administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton resulted only in a new agreement that failed to fully address Reagan's concerns regarding the treaty. Despite the problems with LOST and the failure of the subsequent agreement to address those problems, the Clinton Administration signed the treaty on July 29, 1994, and submitted it to the Senate for ratification. Since then, LOST has remained in a state of limbo in the Senate, where it has never been brought to the floor for debate or a vote despite being successfully voted out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on at least two occasions. Unless and until it is ratified by the Senate, the United States is not a party to LOST and is under no obligation to provide funding for any activities related to the treaty. check out>rejectlost.org<for more information
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POPS The Amazing Obama-rama Fund Raising Support Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, cautioned that the fundraising pace may slip and downplayed talk of another $30 million month. “We’re obviously pleased with the amount of grass-roots support that we have, but it’s way too early to be making predictions like that,” he said.
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POPSDesperate to find a husband who makes at least $500,000 a year A Response That Could Not Be Put Any Better: I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I’m not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here’s how I see it.
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POPSThe Music Industry’s Last Stand Will Be A Music Tax The article (please read it all before you comment), basically states the idea of putting a $5-10 tax on all ISP Monthly bills. This tax would then allow you to download all the music, etc you want, DRM free without the fear of reprisals from the industry. The writer of the article seems to think this is a bad idea, however, IMO its a great idea. I know that not everyone downloads content illegally, but at least here in Canada, we all pay taxes for things we don't use or rarely use. many Canadians never get really sick or visit doctors, etc, yet they still pay taxes. Many Canadians work all their lives and never worry about being un employed, but we still pay "Employment Insurance" taxes. So maybe it would work here in Canada, and not in the US? Well, we will be better for it. Besides, what's $5 on a $80 cable & internet bill? Barely noticeable. (continued...)
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POPSStop half-the-war bill passes House.
"There's no way to get there from here," someone once said. One big step forward, at least, is that it has a name and number so when trying to talk about it you don't have to say things like: "The 2nd Amendment to Fall Supplemental Funding" This bill is called the Orderly and Responsible Iraq Redeployment Appropriations Act, HR 2957. One good idea is a clear policy against torture. There also appears to be a clear requirement that the government must start a withdrawal of troops. This article clipped here, though, distorts several provisions of the actual bill. If interested in comparing this ONE sample of distortion and propaganda spin, the actual text of the legislation can be found here, at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02956 which does NOT ask for a Full Withdrawal of troops by Dec. 2008 but a Limited Withdrawal by April 2008. Gosh...Bush could bring one soldier home by and meet the requirement. At least we're getting another Holocaust Muse
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