McCain just came into town to insert a 2 year capital gains holiday into the bill - because Republicans don't want their rich buddies to have to pay for the bailout. Please tell me the Dems won't fall for this!

Posted at September 26, 2008 10:49 AM in response to Top McCain Ally Hints McCain Will Go To Debate Because Congress Is "Back In Business"

This IS the October surprise.

Posted at September 25, 2008 8:08 AM in response to Fascism is the Name for What's Happening

This is NOT socialism, it has another name. What we have here is much, much worse.

"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." - Franklin Roosevelt

Posted at September 24, 2008 6:13 AM in response to Republicans Oppose Socialism? Hardly.

I think you are oversimplifying the crisis a bit. The mortgage loan packages or bundles that we're being asked to buy up are not the whole story. The real problem is the legalized gambling, err, excuse me, credit default swaps. These are insurance policies written by the banks to cover the loan packages that are basically bets that the loan packages will fail or not. These were manipulated so that the policies covered far more than the underlying mortgages were worth - many times over. The upshot is that the loan holders get paid a LOT more if the loans fail than if they are paid. Hence Ameriquest is encouraging folks to take out loans they couldn't afford. They get paid more on the credit swap if the loans failed.

If the banks or insurance companies have far more liability than asset on these policies, and they hold enough of them, they are going down. If the government buys up the junk mortgages, we take the hit and the bank doesn't have to pay off the policy. This is what happens when you have no regulation or oversight.

So the homeowner that took out the loan is at fault. But the crisis is more due to the pumped up value of the credit default swaps by lenders gaming the system.

At least that's my understanding. If I misunderstood, someone please enlighten me! It's a confusing mess.

Posted at September 24, 2008 1:41 AM in response to Understanding the Size of the Bailout Proposal - And Why I Think The Bailout Is Worse Than The Crash

Wow, Obama gets the better of a fool in this round. Now I'm sure our side will win. It exceeded my wildest dreams! Why did he agree to this, can someone please explain?

Posted at September 10, 2008 12:16 AM in response to Obama on O'Reilly (Pt. 2 of 5) - An Analysis of How Full of Shit O'Reilly Is

Wow, Obama gets the better of a fool in this round. Now I'm sure our side will win. It exceeded my wildest dreams! Why did he agree to this, can someone please explain?

Posted at September 10, 2008 12:15 AM in response to Obama on O'Reilly (Pt. 2 of 5) - An Analysis of How Full of Shit O'Reilly Is

errr, AT McCain...

Posted at August 27, 2008 3:22 PM in response to THE FIASCO AT INVESCO

So I suppose instead of aiming our guns and McCain and the Republican party for the damage they have done, we'll just hand over the ammo.

Posted at August 27, 2008 3:19 PM in response to THE FIASCO AT INVESCO

He not only needs to stop the McCain flattery, he needs to start hammering home how McCain and the Republicans have brought this country to its knees.

For example, Obama today was talking about how Phil Gramm said we were a nation of whiners. Great, but why didn't he talk about how Gramm's policies ruined the economy - banking deregulation that led to the mortgage crisis, commodities and energy deregulation that led to Enron and higher fuel prices, deregulation of SEC that led to fraud in the securities market, etc.. McCain thinks Gramm is the smartest guy in the room, and likely to end up as his Treasury Sec! Why isn't he reminding people of this stuff? He needs to make McCain SCARY!

Unless folks are reminded everyday of how these termites have eaten away the foundations of this country and strip-mined the wealth, they'll start thinking that that McCain, war hero that he is and all, might be the safe bet.

Obama screwed up tacking so far to the right that he's cut a good lead in half or less. The only way he's going to recover is if he hardens up his message and tightens it. That intellectual stuff is great for the netroots, but he's going to lose the working class. They are so tired of scrambling for a buck these days that they can't pay attention to someone searching for just the right word and complimenting the opposition.

Posted at August 21, 2008 12:56 AM in response to Please, Barack, Stop Telling Us What a Great War Hero is John McCain

His attack dog Bayh? LOL.

Posted at August 21, 2008 12:18 AM in response to Please, Barack, Stop Telling Us What a Great War Hero is John McCain