Dear President Obama,

You used a veto threat to get the new TARP money save the credit markets, but if the new money is implemented in the same way as under Bush, your credibility will be severely damaged.  The current TARP bailout has failed at getting the credit markets moving - today there is a report that existing recipients are moving the funds offshore.  It has failed to restart the credit markets and left their investor of last resort (the USA) with little control or even upside.

You should use the new round you demanded to BUY a few large banks out right, and then use those banks to start making loans.  The old system is shattered, and if the USA is underwriting what remains then it should have ownership control.

May I recommend Citigroup?  It can be bought for a low low $20B on the exchange.

Sincerely,

Prologue

"Early in 1981, the Roldos administration formally presented his new hydrocarbons law to the Ecuadorian Congress.  If implemented, it would reform the country's relationship to oil companies...He died in a fiery airplane crash on May 24, 1981...

[In Panama, General] Torrijos...adamantly refused to give in to the Reagan administration's demands to renegotiate the Canal Treaty.  Two months after Roldos's death, Omar Torrijos's nightmare came true; he died in a plane crash.  It was July 31, 1981"

John Perkins, former economist, MAIN, Inc.

Act One
"Rove has past ties with Ashcroft as an adviser to the former Missouri
senator's political campaigns. A company that Rove controlled was
reportedly paid more than $300,000 by Ashcroft's 1994 Senate campaign
for direct mail and other services, according to a New York Times
report. Rove also reportedly played a role in two earlier Ashcroft
campaigns for governor. "
Village Voice, Oct 2003

"Small pieces of plane and human remains were scattered over a large
area in rocky and densely wooded terrain.  Democrats, in particular,
were stunned by the loss. Mr Carnahan was a two-term Governor who was
hugely popular in the party. Politically, moreover, he died at a
crucial time. His race against Senator Ashcroft, a darling of the
conservative Christians, was among the most closely contested in the
country.
The Independent, Oct 2000

Act Two
"Paul Wellstone is a hunted man. Minnesota's senior senator is not
just another Democrat on White House political czar Karl Rove's target
list, in an election year when the Senate balance of power could be
decided by the voters of a single state. Rather, getting rid of
Wellstone is a passion for Rove, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush "
The Nation, May 2002

"The mangled remains of the plane in which Sen. Paul Wellstone died
were so badly damaged by the impact and subsequent fire that some key
clues to help investigators understand the cause of the crash appear
to have been lost."
CNN, Oct 2002


Act Three
"Karl Rove has threatened a GOP high-tech guru and his wife, if he
does not "'take the fall' for election fraud in Ohio." ...[Mike]
Connell and his firm are currently employed by the John McCain
campaign."
The Huffington Post, July 2008

"A single-prop, private airplane crashed next to a vacant house on
Charolais Street Northwest Friday evening, exploding into flames and
killing the pilot.  Michael Connell, 45, of Bath Township, was alone
in the plane, according to State Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Sheppard."
Akron Beacon Journal, December 19th 2008


More coverage:
CBS
DemocracyNow

Rep Jerrold Nadler was on Democracy Now yesterday and he said some things that make me realize the President is in fact a dictator for the period he is in office. Nadler said the following.

"A president, anyone in this country, must be subject to the rule of law and not above it. The people are sovereign, not the president. And someone who says that if the president does it, it's legal, betrays the Constitution and betrays the entire goal of American government, which is to have rule by the people, not by a king."

But this was preceded by a discussion of the pardon power.

"The pardon power is pretty unlimited. Some people would say totally unlimited... It is entirely possible that this President Bush will say, "I hereby pardon anyone who, between September 11th, 2001 and December 31st, 2008, allegedly violated the statutes against torture," or whatever. He could do that. That's a preemptive pardon. I think it's wrong, as a matter of--not as a matter of law. It ought to be wrong as a matter of law."

That the pardon power is unlimited means that when the president does something illegal, he could simultaneously pardon himself for that crime. In other words, Nixon and Cheney were/are correct. The only exception to this absolute power is spelled out in the Constitution in Article 2, Section 2.

"and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

In other words, if Congress is unwilling or unable to impeach and doesn't move on that before pardons are issued, then the President is de facto King of the United States. Ironically, Nadler thinks impeachment is off the table for several reasons. But it may be the only mechanism for justice in this case. With the recent confessions from Cheney, expect blanket pardons.

The appointments of Axelrod and Emanuel represent that Obama is
maintaining one key element of the Bush White House: staying on
political message while governing.  He has re-branded the transition
as Change.gov, kept his "Rove" at his side and brought in the guy
credited with positioning the Dems for their win in 2006.  He is not
going to just drop the campaign now he is President.  

Attack McCain on his perceived strength, his foreign policy.

He was caught on tape being clueless about Shia/Sunni.

Now he doesn't even know who our allies are, again caught on (audio) tape.

This is a total gift.

Nothing I've seen is as damaing as the Greenwald video "The Real McCain 2"

http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/39179-mccain-s-youtube-problem-just-became-a-nightmare

There are about five 30 second ads in there, of which about 2 or 3 are devastating.

Can someone explain to me why some version of these aren't running?

Obama really needs to run a face-to-camera ad where he uses the "L" word, maybe as part of the Lincoln quote.  Then the media storm would spread the word.

What I want to know is while she was mayor how did Palin both bring in $26.9 million of Ted Stevens-approved earmarks AND leave office with $19 million of debt??

Thats impressive and makes her sound even more like Bush.

Does the fact they are running a secessionist candidate mean that is Phase 2 of the Republican's Operation Destroy America?

OK so Palin is looking like a disastrously bad pick all around. But just on the experience issue lets compare the size of the constituencies represented by the Governor and the Senator.

SP: Alaska, 2007 population ~690,000
BO: Illinois 13th District, 2006 population ~780,000

Attack ad draft script.

"Randy 'Duke' Cunningham was an ace fighter pilot and Vietnam War hero who inspired the movie 'Top Gun'.  After serving honorably in the Navy, he entered politics and was a Congressman for more than a decade. But being a Washington insider got the better of 'Duke' and he started taking millions from defense industry lobbyists, including a yacht.  He is now serving an 8 year sentence for taking bribes.  Not all war hero politicians are immune to lobbyist influence in Washington."