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POPSBecome a Bank Holding Company Like them, I’ve got some bad loans out there, and I’m suffering from “market turbulence.” My nephew is into me for two grand on a college loan, and he can’t seem to get a job that doesn’t require a hair-net. Meanwhile, my bartender at the Chug-a-Lug will testify that I’m behind on my bar tabs because of the “unusual and exigent circumstances” roiling financial markets. That’s the very line that American Express used to get its snout into the public trough, so why not me?
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POPSThe Perils of Cheap Oil CONT'D: "When economic growth resumes across the globe, demand for oil will surge once again. Only this time around, given the constraints presented by declining oil fields and the current apparent freeze in investment in new oil production capacity, the supply-demand equation will likely send oil prices shooting back up, perhaps even further than before. "Which is why now is the time, more than ever, for government leadership that promotes conservation, energy efficiency, fuel economy, and increased production of renewable energy. Waiting until the economy recovers before tackling energy would be a huge, huge mistake."
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POPSChanging Back Obama wants to "restore funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program." He will spend $200 million a year on state and local matching grants. He will also "launch a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over 10 years" plus "stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq and start investing that money in Phoenix, Nashville, Seattle" and "re-commit federal dollars to strengthen mass transit . . . ports, roads, and high-speed rails." CDBG actually gave "aid" to millionaire enclaves such as Greenwich, Conn. And as urban policy scholar Kimberly Hendrickson pointed out in an American Enterprise Institute study: "Mainstream urban scholars and practitioners — on both the left and right — have become dismissive of, and even hostile towards, programs once heralded as bold and visionary . . . now widely seen as harmful to cities and their residents."
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POPSConspiracys Are rockin' This is the big momma of conspiracy theory's. What really happened to Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis and the rest. That nasty ole government again.
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POPSObama Addresses 9/11 Government Complicity Bush says this, "For example, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed described the design of planned attacks of buildings inside the U.S. and how operatives were directed to carry them out. That is valuable information for those of us who have the responsibility to protect the American people. He told us the operatives had been instructed to ensure that the explosives went off at a high -- a point that was high enough to prevent people trapped above from escaping." Bush talks about EXPLOSIVES in building "Seven is Exploding" NYFD say Explosives brought down Towers
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POPSWhat is Blackwater Doing in Alaska? The Blackwater guards are nominally employed by Chenega, an Alaska Native corporation associated with the Alaskan coastal village of Chenega Bay, population 86. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, architect of the “Bridge to Nowhere” and recently convicted of a seven-felony string of corruption charges, is one of the principal proponents of the anti-missile system and was also instrumental in writing laws which help secure government contracts for Alaska Native Corporations. Chenega gets contracts through the Small Business Administration, rakes off a percentage, then lets giant Blackwater provide the actual services. Since 2000 Chenega has received over $1.1 billion in sole-source or non-compete bids from the Army, Air Force and Department of Homeland Security. It's good to have friends in high places.
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POPSStop Blaming Capitalism For Government Failures stagnation had Americans looking for an alternative. That’s what Reagan offered, denouncing big government and promising a new “morning in America.” Under Reagan, some taxes were reduced, inflation was subdued, a few regulations were relaxed--and the economy roared back to life. But while markets were able to function to a greater degree than in the immediate past, the regulatory and welfare state remained largely untouched, with government spending continuing to increase, as well as some taxes. Later administrations were even worse. Bush Jr., often laughably called a champion of free markets, presided over massive new governmental controls like Sarbanes-Oxley and massive new welfare programs like the prescription drug benefit. None of this is consistent with capitalism. As the economic system that fully recognizes and protects individual rights, including the right to private property, capitalism means, in Ayn Rand’s words,
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POPSNo $$ for you Democrats are suggesting, however, an even more ambitious reason to nationalize. Once the government owns Detroit, it can remake it. The euphemism here is “retool” Detroit to make cars for the coming green economy. If you think we have economic troubles today, consider the effects of nationalizing an industry of this size, but now run by bureaucrats issuing production quotas to fit five-year plans to meet politically mandated fuel-efficiency standards — to lift us to the sunny uplands of the coming green utopia.
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POPSUnfair and Unbalanced I listen to talk radio on occasion. It is available, along with sources of opposing view points, as the result of one of America’s greatest freedoms: free speech. I have never subscribed to the idea of following only individuals that I agree with. That kind of dedication, in my opinion, stifles the mind and leads to a myopic and very narrowed view of life. Democrats are talking about ending conservative dominance of the radio dial. They would accomplish this through the Fairness Doctrine. While I don't agree with conservative ideas people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and others espouse, they are experiencing a dominance because they have a following. That in itself doesn’t make what they say valid but we no more have the right to shut them down than we do to shut down liberal media outlets. Taking away freedoms granted by the Constituion is not the action of a free and enlightened society. Doing so will surely negatively affect us all.
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POPSPayroll Withholding The only way the government got the American citizens to consent to paying taxes is through a war. I also find it interesting this escrow system still exists now, whether there is a war or not.
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POPSRahm Emanuel's Patriot Act All Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be asked to serve their country... Asked? If they're going to ask, why pass a law?
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POPSHave We Already Tipped Over The Edge? By 2012, it will be more than half on the dole, and this will be an electorate where the majority of the electorate will be able to vote itself more lollipops from the minority of their compatriots still dumb enough to prioritize self-reliance, dynamism and innovation over the sedating cocoon of the Nanny State. That is the death of the American idea – which, after all, began as an economic argument: "No taxation without representation" is a great rallying cry. "No representation without taxation" has less mass appeal. For how do you tell an electorate living high off the entitlement hog that it's unsustainable, and you've got to give some of it back?
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POPSEven As AIG Pleads For Another $40 Billion Dollars In Loans
~ ~ ~ They're Discovered at a $343,000 Secret Gathering, AIG Signs and Logos Hidden~ ~ ~ The company’s portion of the total meeting costs is under $25,000. Additionally, financial planner attendees are responsible for their travel-related expenses, registration fee ($199), and guest registration fee ($250).The company’s portion of the total meeting costs is under $25,000. Additionally, financial planner attendees are responsible for their travel-related expenses, registration fee ($199), and guest registration fee ($250). Conference Sponsors (as seen on a board in one of the conference rooms) -AIG SunAmerica Mutual Funds -OppenheimerFunds -Russell Investments -Brinker Capital -Investment Advisory Services -Curian Capital -Dimensional Fund Advisors -eMoney Advisor -Financial Guidance -Genworth Financial -Hanlon Investment Management -Invesco AIM -Icon Advisers -IAS -iShares -John Hancock -Lockwood Advisors -Morningstar -Rochdale Investment Management
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POPSBush Spy Revelations Anticipated When Obama Is Sworn In
One encouraging sign for civil liberties groups is that John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress, is a key figure in Obama's transition team, which will staff and set priorities for the new administration. The center was a tough and influential critic of the Bush administration's warrantless spying. Among the unanswered questions: * Were there quid pro quo promises made to the phone companies and internet carriers who cooperated with the secret spying? For example, were co-conspirators promised lucrative government contracts? * Did the program appropriate the CALEA wiretapping infrastructure? Under CALEA, Congress forced telecoms to build surveillance capabilities into the phone and internet network, but promised it would only be used with court orders. * What did the first version of the surveillance program sweep into its net? In March 2004, a squadron of top officials at the Justice Department, including then-Attorney
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POPSAmerican Express seeks bank holding co. status Great for AEX but notta for it's borrowers getting all the benefits of US Government protection and virtually nothing given in return. I'd like to thank Mr. Paulson again for showing how much he cares about us who are burried in interest charges from companies like American Express. Thanks Henry.
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POPSNewt Gingrich Offers To Chair RNC Gingrich has operated best as a philosopher for the conservative movement, someone who can both capture the essence of conservatism and put it into action. Gingrich has the skill to communicate to a national audience and an emeritus status that will have people paying attention when he speaks. As RNC chair, his political baggage becomes irrelevant, allowing him to focus on party- and agenda-building instead of running for office. Most importantly, Gingrich understands the technological tools that escaped the GOP in 2008. American Solutions has established a very impressive grassroots structure for policy, which could easily be adopted and adapted to the RNC. As Patrick Ruffini has been arguing at Rebuild the Party, the RNC needs to close the technology gap with the DNC in a hurry. Gingrich could get the GOP to a terrific start in doing just that. Please let this happen. If so, we will be repopulating Congress with boatloads of true conservatives by 2010.
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POPSKenyans' High Hopes for Obama This article from The Standard, a major newspaper in Kenya, shows that some Kenyans feel like Obama has made "promises" to help them and that he will make African (Kenyan) development and aid a high priority. Kenyans are going to have to wait in line, though, behind the American people.
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