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Did Sen. John McCain drop a bomb that will ultimately sink the Republican ship, as Nina Easton of Fortune magazine commented after the Presidential Debate at Belmont Unviersity?
Citing that the $700 Billion dollar bailout (McCain called it a Rescue) would not be enough, McCain said that he would propose a $300 billion dollar program that would enable the Treasury to buy bad mortgages and modify the mortgages to enable the homeowner to retain their homes at the new decreased market rates.
This plan, first of all, caught McCain’s surrogates offguard. Mitt Romney was as surprised as anyone when he heard the plan mentioned. The pundits have said that McCain should probably have laid initial groundworkfor this idea before it was a part of his comments tonight.
Additionally, McCain did not mention the conservative economist who is in support of this plan. The principle goal is to get property values back in check. As I have stated before, I find this concept unfavorable because those whose mortgages are not at risk will see their values decrease further as the riskier mortgaged homes are modified and the property appraisers re-evaluate all values on a comparable basis.
This basically “flies” in the face of the conservative base values, as I see it. The next few days will show exactly what Sen. McCain was suggesting, and what impact it will have, both on the economic recovery and the future of a McCain Presidency. Quoting Michelle Malkin “We’re Screwed 08″.
Sen. McCain has put politics aside for a short while (so to speak), and has returned to Washington DC to be a key player in the mortgage bailout legislation, and he encouraged Obama to do so. Obama did not feel there was a necessity to do so, until he was invited to a meeting at the White House.
When one cuts through the rhetoric of the campaigns, and through the language of President Bush, what is the real rush in the $700,000,000,000.00 bailout in our mortgage crisis? Is there a potential for a rush on the banks by middle America, and is this the reason for the rushing?
We all have the basic understanding that our deposits are insured, up to $100,000 per depositor in each bank. But, though the FDIC is an arm of the government, are the assets and reserves of the FDIC adequate to substantially insure the depositors as the markets appear now? We have seen the bad paper on the books of Lehman Brothers and others, and the ailing troubles at AIG. Is it too far of a speculation to think that the assets and reserves of the assets were depleted as a result of the falling markets, and now are not in a position to sustain a run on the banks?
If the federal government is going to commit each of us to this $700,000,000,000 bailout, I believe that we have the RIGHT to DEMAND transparency in financial system. There is obviously “more than what we are being told” in this rush to legislation, because the majority of Americans are AGAINST this bailout. Someone, anyone…….. Washington……. can you hear us!!! Tell us what the real rush is if you want us to support the cause!!! Sen. Biden, I am Patriotic, but I want the true facts!!
In an effort to counteract the effects of the Palin Factor- the invigoration of the Republican Party as a result of the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska for Vice-President– the Obama campaign has made a major effort to court the women’s groups. As a result, today, the National Organization of Women (NOW), has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the Presidency.
This is the first time since Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in 1984 has NOW endorsed ANY Presidentail candidate in a general election. This then begs the question of why this high profile women’s organization would support Obama over the McCain team, when Obama clearly does not support the idea of equal pay for equal work?
As I indicated in a thread several days ago, Sen. Obama pays his female staffers approximately $2500.00 less than their male counterparts. Conversely, Sen. McCain pays his female staffers approximately $6000.00 more than their male counterparts. Thus, the Obama team cannot discredit Sen. McCain as not being supportive of women’s rights, for equal pay, when he himself is not practicing what he “preaches”.
It is estimated that approximately one-third of all ballots cast in the upcoming general election will NOT be cast on Election Day, November 4th, 2008. Instead, one-third of all voters will utilize their state’s Early Voting system.
This election cycle has thirty states that offer an Early Voting system, in one form or another. To see what impact this may have on the election, one need only look at the dates that some of the states begin this process.
In the battleground state of Virginia, Early Voting begins on Friday, September 19th, followed by Idaho on September 22nd, Missouri and South Dakota on September 23rd. (For the complete list, http://www.bipac.net/calendar_gen.asp?g=nam_gotv ).
What makes this so important is the fact that the Republicans have experienced a major boost since the Republican Convention, and this will carryover to the Early Voting. Throughout the election cycle, a common note has been stated, in that Sen. Obama has yet to “close the deal” with the American public. Beginning September 19th, he may have lost any chance to do so. Unfortunately, we must still wait until November 4th to see John McCain acknowledge receiving Barack Obama’s concession phone call.
The 16th President of the United States governed this nation not with just the brilliance of his mind, but with the strength of his heart, and did so because the extreme stakes during his Presidency required that he draw on his faith in the decisions he faced. Today, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska has drawn criticism to some of her faith-oriented comments regarding the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq, where her son was deployed to just several days ago.
The great orator that he was, Abraham Lincoln, in his second Inaugral Address, said:
“Neither [side] anticipated that the cause of the conflict [i.e., slavery] might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully.
“The Almighty has His own purposes. ‘Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!’ If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope –fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.
“Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’ “
Lincoln, after the North lost a disastrous Battle of Bull Run, said:
The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God can not be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party — and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose.
I am almost ready to say this is probably true — that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.”
“I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say
that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the
world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not
do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God
bless the women of America!”
Abraham Lincoln
Source: March 18, 1864 – Remarks at Closing of Sanitary Fair, Washington D.C.
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So, I ask, why is it so wrong to evoke one’s faith for the safety and protection of those who so boldly and so willingly take up the cause to protect the very freedoms we so dearly hold!!??
I am having a hard time trying to understand the criticism that is being lobbed at Gov. Sarah Palin in accepting the VP nomination when tapped by John McCain, in light of the recent birth of her fifth child, who has Down Syndrome, and her teenage daughter’s pregnancy.
First, is there no reporting of the fact that she is practicing what she preaches. Her pro-life stance is supported by the fact that her daughter did not seek to abort the pregnancy. Regarding her infant son, I have not seen anyone say that Gov. Palin knows full well the challenges that lie ahead for Trig, and her family, since she has a thirteen year old nephew in similar circumstances.
No, instead, her parental skills are challenged. Her devotion to her family versus her career choices are questioned. Just days before the announcement of McCain’s VP choice, Sen. Joe Biden was lauded and praised for his sacrifice in travelling to and from Washington everyday to make sure his young sons had a proper home life after the tragic death of their mother and infant sister. His decision to keep his Senate seat that he had won just weeks prior to the accident was never questioned, nor should it have been. Did anyone question his parenting skils in realtion to his career when his daughter was arrested in 2002 outside a bar in Chicago for her behavior and interference with a police officer? No, his spokesperson simply said it was a private family matter, and the liberal press buried the story. (This picture is Sen. Biden’s 30th birthday, less than 4 weeks before his wife’s accident)
The women’s right movement has fought many a battle, big and small, to level the playing field in the workplace and in politics. This political season we saw Sen. Hillary Clinton almost break through the glass ceiling into the White House. Yet women like Sally Quinn, Maureen Dowd, and Campbell Brown have vocally criticized Gov. Palin for putting her career ahead of her family. Isn’t their argument one that diminishes the equality that is sought? One of the champions of women’s rights has, to the best of my knowledge, kept a quiet silence in this bashing of Gov. Palin. Gloria Steinem has neither criticized nor defended Gov. Palin’s decision. One can surmise that perhaps she sees Gov. Palin’s nomination as a validation of the working Mom!
But with all of the rhetoric about Gov. Palin as a working Mom, and the pros and cons of her decisions, if everything else remained the same except that Todd Palin was the VP choice, would any of these family matters be used in the evaluation of HIS qualifications to be the Vice President? IMHO, I think not!
