Remember the post a few days ago about having a sense of humor? Well here is another little ditty to help you along:
"If life looks cloudy, maybe your windows need washing."
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Everyone Must Get A Sense of Humor
I have always believed that if you can't enjoy a good joke or laugh out loud at something that strikes your funny bone, then there is something very wrong with your soul - chill out - lighten up -
This short sentence is just what we need today as a guide to a better life, that is, a good way to look at our stress points and strech them out to give ourselves some breathing room -
I don't know who wrote this but it's a good one:
A keen sense of humor helps us to overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerated the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected and outlast the unbearabel.
This short sentence is just what we need today as a guide to a better life, that is, a good way to look at our stress points and strech them out to give ourselves some breathing room -
I don't know who wrote this but it's a good one:
A keen sense of humor helps us to overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerated the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected and outlast the unbearabel.
Speculators Drive Housing Down Turn
All is not well in the money news busness as this report will show - the media doesn't want to show all the reasons why the housing market tanked and that it hasn't tanked as bad as the media wants us to believe - along with the Fed under Greenspan's policies of easy money.
This is very interesting as it points up facts that we can use to make future decesions - information based on fact is powerful and can save us from destructive agendas.
Keep the faith - the battle is joined!
Speculators May Have Accelerated Housing Downturn
Rising Number of Defaults Also Could Complicate Effort to Help Homeowners
By *RUTH SIMON* and *MICHAEL CORKERY*February 6, 2008
As lenders pore over their defaulted mortgages, they are learning that the number of people who bought homes as investments is much greater than previously believed. Such borrowers turn up frequently in analyses of loans that defaulted within months after origination.
In many cases, these speculators lied on loan applications, saying they intended to live in the homes in order to obtain more favorable loan terms or failed to provide the requested information. Roughly 20% of mortgage fraud involved "occupancy fraud," or borrowers falsely claiming they intended to live in a property, according to an analysis by Base Point Analytics, a provider of fraud-detection solutions in Carlsbad, Calif.
Another study, by Fitch Ratings, looked at 45 subprime loans that defaulted within the first 12 months even though the borrowers had good credit scores. In two-thirds of the cases, borrowers said they intended to live in the property but never moved in. Some home builders have come to similar conclusions: They now believe that as many as one in four home buyers in some markets were investors during the boom, up from their earlier estimates of one in 10 buyers.
The high number of hidden speculators helps explain some of the problems roiling the housing and mortgage markets. The loans backing these speculator purchases turned out to be riskier than ratings agencies and investors who bought mortgage-backed securities once thought. Investors tend to be more likely than borrowers who live in the homes to walk away from their purchases when home prices fall. "We couldn't understand what was driving so many borrowers to default so early in the life of their mortgage," said Glenn Costello, a managing director at Fitch.
Much of the occupancy fraud was concentrated in markets such as Florida, Nevada and Arizona, where prices were appreciating by double-digit percentages annually, said Kevin Kanouff, president of Denver-based Clayton Fixed-Income Services, a unit of Clayton Holdings Inc. that reviews about seven million loans a month on behalf of investors.
In Las Vegas, as many as 60% of the foreclosures last year involved non-owner-occupied homes, according to Applied Analysis, a real-estate-research firm. The Las Vegas firm compared the addresses of the borrowers with the locations of their homes. Where the addresses didn't match likely indicated a speculator.
The temptation to lie can be substantial and may have been encouraged, or at least tolerated, by mortgage brokers and real-estate agents eager to close a home sale. Standards tend to be tougher for borrowers purchasing investment properties, since these loans are considered riskier. Lenders typically allowed investors to finance no more than 90% of a home's value, but if borrowers said they planned to live in the property, they could buy a home with no money down, even if they had scuffed credit and didn't document their income, said Pete Ogilvie, a mortgage broker in Santa Cruz, Calif., and president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers.
In the early years of the housing boom, demand for homes rose because of strong economic fundamentals and low interest rates, which made it more affordable for a large swath of Americans to buy homes. But as home prices began to soar, hordes of investors jumped in.
Once there was a whiff that prices could no longer rise, this speculative demand evaporated, sending prices falling in some markets. The housing boom would eventually have cooled, anyway, but investors amplified the boom and bust. Rising defaults among speculators may complicate government efforts to assist home buyers. The Bush administration has said it wants to help only homeowners facing foreclosure, not speculators. But foreclosures of investor-owned properties can create ripple effects in neighborhoods, pushing down prices and making it tougher for people who live in those communities to refinance or sell their homes if they can't make their mortgage payments.
Lenders and builders said they tried to weed out speculators during the boom. To discourage flipping, some builders put clauses into contracts stating that investors who resold their homes soon after they bought had to give up some of their profits."We had people at the end signing four-page documents, 'I am not an investor. I am not an investor. I am not an investor,' "
Robert Toll, chief executive of luxury builder *Toll Brothers* Inc., said at a UBS AG conference in 2006. And the person "turned out to be an investor, of course."While it is true that occupancy fraud can sometimes be difficult to detect, fraud experts said lenders and builders could have vetted their borrowers more closely. Pulling a borrower's credit report, for instance, may reveal multiple mortgages. In other cases, appraisal reports will sometimes indicate that a tenant lives in the property, and Internet searches can also turn up indications that a borrower owns multiple homes.
"There's a lot of telltale signs," said Frank McKenna, chief fraud strategist for BasePoint, which develops computerized fraud-detection tools. But "the industry was very focused on volume," he said.
This is very interesting as it points up facts that we can use to make future decesions - information based on fact is powerful and can save us from destructive agendas.
Keep the faith - the battle is joined!
Speculators May Have Accelerated Housing Downturn
Rising Number of Defaults Also Could Complicate Effort to Help Homeowners
By *RUTH SIMON* and *MICHAEL CORKERY*February 6, 2008
As lenders pore over their defaulted mortgages, they are learning that the number of people who bought homes as investments is much greater than previously believed. Such borrowers turn up frequently in analyses of loans that defaulted within months after origination.
In many cases, these speculators lied on loan applications, saying they intended to live in the homes in order to obtain more favorable loan terms or failed to provide the requested information. Roughly 20% of mortgage fraud involved "occupancy fraud," or borrowers falsely claiming they intended to live in a property, according to an analysis by Base Point Analytics, a provider of fraud-detection solutions in Carlsbad, Calif.
Another study, by Fitch Ratings, looked at 45 subprime loans that defaulted within the first 12 months even though the borrowers had good credit scores. In two-thirds of the cases, borrowers said they intended to live in the property but never moved in. Some home builders have come to similar conclusions: They now believe that as many as one in four home buyers in some markets were investors during the boom, up from their earlier estimates of one in 10 buyers.
The high number of hidden speculators helps explain some of the problems roiling the housing and mortgage markets. The loans backing these speculator purchases turned out to be riskier than ratings agencies and investors who bought mortgage-backed securities once thought. Investors tend to be more likely than borrowers who live in the homes to walk away from their purchases when home prices fall. "We couldn't understand what was driving so many borrowers to default so early in the life of their mortgage," said Glenn Costello, a managing director at Fitch.
Much of the occupancy fraud was concentrated in markets such as Florida, Nevada and Arizona, where prices were appreciating by double-digit percentages annually, said Kevin Kanouff, president of Denver-based Clayton Fixed-Income Services, a unit of Clayton Holdings Inc. that reviews about seven million loans a month on behalf of investors.
In Las Vegas, as many as 60% of the foreclosures last year involved non-owner-occupied homes, according to Applied Analysis, a real-estate-research firm. The Las Vegas firm compared the addresses of the borrowers with the locations of their homes. Where the addresses didn't match likely indicated a speculator.
The temptation to lie can be substantial and may have been encouraged, or at least tolerated, by mortgage brokers and real-estate agents eager to close a home sale. Standards tend to be tougher for borrowers purchasing investment properties, since these loans are considered riskier. Lenders typically allowed investors to finance no more than 90% of a home's value, but if borrowers said they planned to live in the property, they could buy a home with no money down, even if they had scuffed credit and didn't document their income, said Pete Ogilvie, a mortgage broker in Santa Cruz, Calif., and president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers.
In the early years of the housing boom, demand for homes rose because of strong economic fundamentals and low interest rates, which made it more affordable for a large swath of Americans to buy homes. But as home prices began to soar, hordes of investors jumped in.
Once there was a whiff that prices could no longer rise, this speculative demand evaporated, sending prices falling in some markets. The housing boom would eventually have cooled, anyway, but investors amplified the boom and bust. Rising defaults among speculators may complicate government efforts to assist home buyers. The Bush administration has said it wants to help only homeowners facing foreclosure, not speculators. But foreclosures of investor-owned properties can create ripple effects in neighborhoods, pushing down prices and making it tougher for people who live in those communities to refinance or sell their homes if they can't make their mortgage payments.
Lenders and builders said they tried to weed out speculators during the boom. To discourage flipping, some builders put clauses into contracts stating that investors who resold their homes soon after they bought had to give up some of their profits."We had people at the end signing four-page documents, 'I am not an investor. I am not an investor. I am not an investor,' "
Robert Toll, chief executive of luxury builder *Toll Brothers* Inc., said at a UBS AG conference in 2006. And the person "turned out to be an investor, of course."While it is true that occupancy fraud can sometimes be difficult to detect, fraud experts said lenders and builders could have vetted their borrowers more closely. Pulling a borrower's credit report, for instance, may reveal multiple mortgages. In other cases, appraisal reports will sometimes indicate that a tenant lives in the property, and Internet searches can also turn up indications that a borrower owns multiple homes.
"There's a lot of telltale signs," said Frank McKenna, chief fraud strategist for BasePoint, which develops computerized fraud-detection tools. But "the industry was very focused on volume," he said.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Exxon Profits too High? Taxes too Low?
Why is it that the socialist media has such a problem with profit? And why do they always pick out oil companies? Why not Microsoft? We all need oil products right? We are desperate for them, right?
Big liberals hate the market economy as I have stated many times. Hillary said she would take the profits from the oil compaines as it isn't fair they should be so well managed - - -.
Remember we can't drill for any more oil even if the price continues to go up and up - she says we have to drive less and buy green light bulbs.
Vote for the Democrat in November and watch our economy tank.
Keep the faith - the battle is joined!
Exxon's 2007 Tax Bill
Exxon's tax bill is $30 Billion as posted on February 05, 2008
Corporate profits receive a lot of media attention, but what receives considerably less attention are the corporate taxes paid on corporate profits. Do a Google search for "Exxon profits" and you'll get about 8,000 hits. Now try "Exxon taxes" and you'll get a little more than 300 hits. That's a ratio of about 33 to 1.
I'm pretty sure that Exxon's tax payment in 2007 of $30 billion (that's $30,000,000,000) is a record, exceeding the $28 billion it paid last year.
By the way, Exxon pays taxes at a rate of 41% on its taxable income![Update: The $40.6 billion and $39.5 billion figures are after-tax profits. For 2006, Exxon's EBT <http://seekingalpha.com/article/63131-exxon-s-2007-tax-bill-30-billion%3E (earnings before tax) was $67.4 billion, it paid $27.9 billion in taxes (41.4% tax rate), and its NIAT (net income after tax), or profit, was $39.5 billion.]
Over the last three years, Exxon Mobil has paid an average of $27 billion annually in taxes. That's $27,000,000,000 per year, a number so large it's hard to comprehend. Here's one way to put Exxon's taxes into perspective. According to IRS data for 2004, the most recent year available:
Total number of tax returns: 130 million.
Number of Tax Returns for the Bottom 50%: 65 million
Adjusted Gross Income for the Bottom 50%: $922 billion
Total Income Tax Paid by the Bottom 50%: $27.4 billion
Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers, which is 65,000,000 people! Further, the tax rate for the bottom 50% is only 3% of adjusted gross income ($27.4 billion / $922 billion), and the tax rate for Exxon was 41% in 2006 ($67.4 billion in taxable income, $27.9 billion in taxes).
Mark J. Perry, Ph.D.
Big liberals hate the market economy as I have stated many times. Hillary said she would take the profits from the oil compaines as it isn't fair they should be so well managed - - -.
Remember we can't drill for any more oil even if the price continues to go up and up - she says we have to drive less and buy green light bulbs.
Vote for the Democrat in November and watch our economy tank.
Keep the faith - the battle is joined!
Exxon's 2007 Tax Bill
Exxon's tax bill is $30 Billion as posted on February 05, 2008
Corporate profits receive a lot of media attention, but what receives considerably less attention are the corporate taxes paid on corporate profits. Do a Google search for "Exxon profits" and you'll get about 8,000 hits. Now try "Exxon taxes" and you'll get a little more than 300 hits. That's a ratio of about 33 to 1.
I'm pretty sure that Exxon's tax payment in 2007 of $30 billion (that's $30,000,000,000) is a record, exceeding the $28 billion it paid last year.
By the way, Exxon pays taxes at a rate of 41% on its taxable income![Update: The $40.6 billion and $39.5 billion figures are after-tax profits. For 2006, Exxon's EBT <http://seekingalpha.com/article/63131-exxon-s-2007-tax-bill-30-billion%3E (earnings before tax) was $67.4 billion, it paid $27.9 billion in taxes (41.4% tax rate), and its NIAT (net income after tax), or profit, was $39.5 billion.]
Over the last three years, Exxon Mobil has paid an average of $27 billion annually in taxes. That's $27,000,000,000 per year, a number so large it's hard to comprehend. Here's one way to put Exxon's taxes into perspective. According to IRS data for 2004, the most recent year available:
Total number of tax returns: 130 million.
Number of Tax Returns for the Bottom 50%: 65 million
Adjusted Gross Income for the Bottom 50%: $922 billion
Total Income Tax Paid by the Bottom 50%: $27.4 billion
Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers, which is 65,000,000 people! Further, the tax rate for the bottom 50% is only 3% of adjusted gross income ($27.4 billion / $922 billion), and the tax rate for Exxon was 41% in 2006 ($67.4 billion in taxable income, $27.9 billion in taxes).
Mark J. Perry, Ph.D.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
McCain in the Liberal Camp : Immigration
John McCain has no intention of adhering to any of the founding precepts of the conservative phillosophy - he will take any road that will lead him to the White House no matter how low he has to go.
He has turned out to be no more than a whore for the liberal Democrats and the main stream media, that is, the 'drive by media'. Is it any wonder why they are pushing him to win the nomination?
Please read this on his immigraton policies - I posted others on McCain's immigration thinking but I can't hurt to keep a fire under it so we won't forget where he is coming from.
If you still want to vote for him, than you will get just what you wanted - you can't blame Bush for your lack of forsight.
McCain and friend
February 5, 2008
By Mark Cromer -
While Sen. John McCain is clearly more embittered than humbled by the crushing defeat that a furious American people dealt his mass amnesty plan last summer, the co-architect of the scheme to grant as many as 30 million illegal aliens instant legal status now swears he has found religion on immigration and is ready to secure the border.
Correctly assessing that his chances of winning the Republican nomination would be somewhere south of Rep. Ron Paul's if he were to continue to promote his plan for comprehensive immigration reform, Mr. McCain now blurts out the sound bite "I'll secure the border" anytime he is within five feet of a microphone.
While it has been met with skepticism among many Americans, Mr. McCain's tough talk on border security must sound quite appealing en espanol, as it has attracted a very interesting supporter to his campaign.
But Juan Hernandez is one endorsement that Mr. McCain won't be trumpeting in front of the cameras. Mr. Hernandez, who now serves as one of Mr. McCain's Hispanic Outreach Directors, is no amateur in the debate over illegal immigration into the United States. Though largely unknown to the public, he's been at the center of the policy maelstrom for years, a critical frontline player for the proponents of open borders and an unflinching advocate for strident Mexican nationalism.
Though born in the United States to a father from Mexico and a mother from Texas, Mr. Hernandez has left no doubt as to where his loyalties lie. Serving as a cabinet member to Mexican President Vincente Fox — the first American in Mexico's history to do so — Mr. Hernandez has tirelessly fought against assimilation in America.
In an interview with ABC's Nightline, Mr. Hernandez said Mexican Americans must always think "Mexico first," whether they are one generation in the United States or have been here for seven generations.
In public remarks both before and after the terror attacks of September 11, Mr. Hernandez declared that Mexicans in the United States must never surrender their loyalty to Mexico, but rather must always keep "one foot in Mexico."
Now that's straight talk; just not the kind that Mr. McCain wants voters to hear between now and the convention, or November if he wins the nomination. So perhaps it's not too surprising that Mr. McCain played dumb when a voter asked him about his association with Mr. Hernandez during a town hall meeting in Florida.
Questioned by a woman who recited Mr. Hernandez's comments that illegal immigrants are forced to steal citizens' Social Security numbers because they couldn't find work without them — which shifts the guilt to Americans — Mr. McCain quickly went into his stock stump mantra promising border security."He's on my staff because he supports my policies and my legislative proposal to secure the borders first," Mr. McCain asserted. "I don't know what his previous positions are or [his] other positions are, he supports mine." Mr. Hernandez does indeed support Mr. McCain — and that speaks volumes.
The fundamental question that American voters must ask themselves is: Why would a zealous Mexican nationalist who has dedicated much of his life to eliminating the border between Mexico and the United States now suddenly support a candidate who claims to favor securing the border once and for all? Could it be that Mr. McCain's assertions translate a little differently to Mr. Hernandez's ear? Indeed, that wide grin Mr. Hernandez likes to flash suggests that what he's hearing from Mr. McCain has a familiar ring to it, perhaps not unlike that of a Tijuana police chief vowing to crack down on corruption.
The bottom line is that Mr. Hernandez is a savvy man with enough sophistication to know that what Mr. McCain is not saying is equally important — if not more — than his pablum about "border security." And Mr. McCain is not saying he will support vigorous enforcement of our nation's immigration laws in the interior of the country, particularly at job sites; he's not saying that he supports deporting any significant number of illegal aliens already in the country; and he is surely not saying that he will end the chain migration laws that strike to the core of encouraging illegal immigrants to get into the nation at all costs and then wait for an amnesty that will allow them to bring their extended families north.
No, Mr. McCain is saying none of these things.Mr. Hernandez hears the senator's "straight talk" loud and clear, and it seems to be music to his ears.
Mark Cromer is a senior writing fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization.
He has turned out to be no more than a whore for the liberal Democrats and the main stream media, that is, the 'drive by media'. Is it any wonder why they are pushing him to win the nomination?
Please read this on his immigraton policies - I posted others on McCain's immigration thinking but I can't hurt to keep a fire under it so we won't forget where he is coming from.
If you still want to vote for him, than you will get just what you wanted - you can't blame Bush for your lack of forsight.
McCain and friend
February 5, 2008
By Mark Cromer -
While Sen. John McCain is clearly more embittered than humbled by the crushing defeat that a furious American people dealt his mass amnesty plan last summer, the co-architect of the scheme to grant as many as 30 million illegal aliens instant legal status now swears he has found religion on immigration and is ready to secure the border.
Correctly assessing that his chances of winning the Republican nomination would be somewhere south of Rep. Ron Paul's if he were to continue to promote his plan for comprehensive immigration reform, Mr. McCain now blurts out the sound bite "I'll secure the border" anytime he is within five feet of a microphone.
While it has been met with skepticism among many Americans, Mr. McCain's tough talk on border security must sound quite appealing en espanol, as it has attracted a very interesting supporter to his campaign.
But Juan Hernandez is one endorsement that Mr. McCain won't be trumpeting in front of the cameras. Mr. Hernandez, who now serves as one of Mr. McCain's Hispanic Outreach Directors, is no amateur in the debate over illegal immigration into the United States. Though largely unknown to the public, he's been at the center of the policy maelstrom for years, a critical frontline player for the proponents of open borders and an unflinching advocate for strident Mexican nationalism.
Though born in the United States to a father from Mexico and a mother from Texas, Mr. Hernandez has left no doubt as to where his loyalties lie. Serving as a cabinet member to Mexican President Vincente Fox — the first American in Mexico's history to do so — Mr. Hernandez has tirelessly fought against assimilation in America.
In an interview with ABC's Nightline, Mr. Hernandez said Mexican Americans must always think "Mexico first," whether they are one generation in the United States or have been here for seven generations.
In public remarks both before and after the terror attacks of September 11, Mr. Hernandez declared that Mexicans in the United States must never surrender their loyalty to Mexico, but rather must always keep "one foot in Mexico."
Now that's straight talk; just not the kind that Mr. McCain wants voters to hear between now and the convention, or November if he wins the nomination. So perhaps it's not too surprising that Mr. McCain played dumb when a voter asked him about his association with Mr. Hernandez during a town hall meeting in Florida.
Questioned by a woman who recited Mr. Hernandez's comments that illegal immigrants are forced to steal citizens' Social Security numbers because they couldn't find work without them — which shifts the guilt to Americans — Mr. McCain quickly went into his stock stump mantra promising border security."He's on my staff because he supports my policies and my legislative proposal to secure the borders first," Mr. McCain asserted. "I don't know what his previous positions are or [his] other positions are, he supports mine." Mr. Hernandez does indeed support Mr. McCain — and that speaks volumes.
The fundamental question that American voters must ask themselves is: Why would a zealous Mexican nationalist who has dedicated much of his life to eliminating the border between Mexico and the United States now suddenly support a candidate who claims to favor securing the border once and for all? Could it be that Mr. McCain's assertions translate a little differently to Mr. Hernandez's ear? Indeed, that wide grin Mr. Hernandez likes to flash suggests that what he's hearing from Mr. McCain has a familiar ring to it, perhaps not unlike that of a Tijuana police chief vowing to crack down on corruption.
The bottom line is that Mr. Hernandez is a savvy man with enough sophistication to know that what Mr. McCain is not saying is equally important — if not more — than his pablum about "border security." And Mr. McCain is not saying he will support vigorous enforcement of our nation's immigration laws in the interior of the country, particularly at job sites; he's not saying that he supports deporting any significant number of illegal aliens already in the country; and he is surely not saying that he will end the chain migration laws that strike to the core of encouraging illegal immigrants to get into the nation at all costs and then wait for an amnesty that will allow them to bring their extended families north.
No, Mr. McCain is saying none of these things.Mr. Hernandez hears the senator's "straight talk" loud and clear, and it seems to be music to his ears.
Mark Cromer is a senior writing fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Energy Independence? Maybe? - Nah
I've always believed that no matter what the situation there is hope for a positive outcome - in the case of energy and the costic political situation that exists in this country I may be wrong thinking we can become energy independent -
The socialists that infest our government today will have nothing to do with America remaining centeral to peace in the world and America determining it's own future.
The socialists, Democrats in all their glory, are invested in having America become a third rate country so they can get control of the population and change the direction of this country from a democracy to a totalitairian socialist nightmare.
Maybe not in my life time, but rest assured, the hand writing is on the wall given what the main stream Democrats want for our market economy and the religious globel warming monsters that infest all walks of life -
This article does hold some hope that with intelligence and common sense we can make a run at being energy independent.
Keep your chin up and keep the faith - the battle is joined!
*Energetic Economics*
An alternative to the usual stimulus packages.January 31, 2008By Clifford D. May
It’s become a ritual: The economy grows sluggish and politicians rush to “do something” about it. What they do almost never has a beneficial economic impact, as any reputable economist will tell you — here <," target=_BLANK>http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWRmNmQ0NjhiZmZiNjYyYTg5NWEyZTFlMTg5ZjZkMjY=>, for instance.
But what if lawmakers could guarantee that the price you pay to fill your car’s tank will go down, not up, in the years ahead? What if they could launch a new industry that creates more jobs for more Americans? What if this would produce environmental benefits, too? Would that not send a message to the markets? And would that not represent the kind of change so many politicians have been promising?
Here’s the deal: Everyone who is not an economic illiterate knows that competition leads to lower prices. But there is no competitive market in transportation fuels. In most parts of the country, you can buy gasoline. Most cars can run on gasoline.
It doesn’t have to be that way. There are alternative fuels. And there are automobiles built to burn them. But there is a chicken-and-egg dilemma: Why buy a car that can use alternative fuels if those fuels are not readily available at a local service station? Why devote a pump at a local service station to alternative fuel when so few customers ask for it?Elected officials could solve this problem with a stroke of the pen. An “open standards” fuel law would require that all new cars sold in the United States be Flexible Fuel Vehicles — able to run not just on gasoline, but also on a variety of alcohol-based fuels.
A car that is flexible fuel capable costs only about $100 more. But if you want to make this transition cost-neutral for the automobile companies, consider a tax break to reward them for making the transition as quickly as possible.American companies would benefit most — they are ahead of the pack in developing flexible-fuel technologies. (For example, check out how many Flexible Fuel Vehicles are now being manufactured by Chevrolet <http://www.chevy.com/%3E.)Why not a tax break, too, for anyone who buys a new Flexible Fuel Vehicle? If people took advantage of the offer, that would energize the economy while also producing environmental benefits, because new cars run cleaner than old cars and because ethanol — the most common alcohol fuel — burns cleaner than gasoline.
Right now, most American ethanol is made from corn but it can be made from just about any starchy crop: sugar cane (already widely used in Brazil), yams, and sweet potatoes, to name a few. And any kind of biomass, including wild grasses, crop residues, fallen leaves and weeds that clog rivers can be used to make methanol, as can urban trash and coal - two commodities the U.S. possesses in abundance.That would be just the start: Americans are innovators and they would come up with a wealth of new ideas. Like what?
How about funneling unwanted carbon dioxide into reservoirs covered with algae that would feed on the carbon dioxide (as all plants do), then turning the algae into alcohol fuel? Is that feasible? That’s what entrepreneurs get paid the big bucks to figure out.Before long, billions of dollars that we are now sending overseas could be going into the pockets of Americans — farmers, auto workers, alternative fuel producers and investors.
With a variety of fuels competing, the cost of fuel — including gasoline — would go down. The OPEC cartel would no longer decide how much you pay to drive your car. A free market would make the decision — as it should.
In 1998, Saudi oil export revenues were $32 billion. Shortly after September 11^th , they almost doubled to $63 billion. In 2006, they reached $203 billion — and with oil now near $100 a barrel, they are still climbing. But fuel competition can reduce this unprecedented transfer of wealth from American, European, and Japanese families to Arab sheiks, Iranian mullahs, Hugo Chavez, and Vladimir Putin.
As demand rises from a growing international fleet of Flexible Fuel Vehicles — because the American standard would soon become the global standard — Third World farmers could rise from poverty by growing crops for fuel and for export.
Memo to candidates promising “change”: What change would be more significant than to energize the U.S. economy, create new jobs, encourage innovation, provide consumer choice at the pump, clean the air, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, protect national security, and provide useful assistance to Africa’s poor?/—
Clifford D. May, a former/ New York Times/ foreign correspondent, is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.//— Clifford D. May, a former New York Times foreign correspondent, is the president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies <http://defenddemocracy.org%3e/ , a policy institute focusing on terrorism./
The socialists that infest our government today will have nothing to do with America remaining centeral to peace in the world and America determining it's own future.
The socialists, Democrats in all their glory, are invested in having America become a third rate country so they can get control of the population and change the direction of this country from a democracy to a totalitairian socialist nightmare.
Maybe not in my life time, but rest assured, the hand writing is on the wall given what the main stream Democrats want for our market economy and the religious globel warming monsters that infest all walks of life -
This article does hold some hope that with intelligence and common sense we can make a run at being energy independent.
Keep your chin up and keep the faith - the battle is joined!
*Energetic Economics*
An alternative to the usual stimulus packages.January 31, 2008By Clifford D. May
It’s become a ritual: The economy grows sluggish and politicians rush to “do something” about it. What they do almost never has a beneficial economic impact, as any reputable economist will tell you — here <," target=_BLANK>http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWRmNmQ0NjhiZmZiNjYyYTg5NWEyZTFlMTg5ZjZkMjY=>, for instance.
But what if lawmakers could guarantee that the price you pay to fill your car’s tank will go down, not up, in the years ahead? What if they could launch a new industry that creates more jobs for more Americans? What if this would produce environmental benefits, too? Would that not send a message to the markets? And would that not represent the kind of change so many politicians have been promising?
Here’s the deal: Everyone who is not an economic illiterate knows that competition leads to lower prices. But there is no competitive market in transportation fuels. In most parts of the country, you can buy gasoline. Most cars can run on gasoline.
It doesn’t have to be that way. There are alternative fuels. And there are automobiles built to burn them. But there is a chicken-and-egg dilemma: Why buy a car that can use alternative fuels if those fuels are not readily available at a local service station? Why devote a pump at a local service station to alternative fuel when so few customers ask for it?Elected officials could solve this problem with a stroke of the pen. An “open standards” fuel law would require that all new cars sold in the United States be Flexible Fuel Vehicles — able to run not just on gasoline, but also on a variety of alcohol-based fuels.
A car that is flexible fuel capable costs only about $100 more. But if you want to make this transition cost-neutral for the automobile companies, consider a tax break to reward them for making the transition as quickly as possible.American companies would benefit most — they are ahead of the pack in developing flexible-fuel technologies. (For example, check out how many Flexible Fuel Vehicles are now being manufactured by Chevrolet <http://www.chevy.com/%3E.)Why not a tax break, too, for anyone who buys a new Flexible Fuel Vehicle? If people took advantage of the offer, that would energize the economy while also producing environmental benefits, because new cars run cleaner than old cars and because ethanol — the most common alcohol fuel — burns cleaner than gasoline.
Right now, most American ethanol is made from corn but it can be made from just about any starchy crop: sugar cane (already widely used in Brazil), yams, and sweet potatoes, to name a few. And any kind of biomass, including wild grasses, crop residues, fallen leaves and weeds that clog rivers can be used to make methanol, as can urban trash and coal - two commodities the U.S. possesses in abundance.That would be just the start: Americans are innovators and they would come up with a wealth of new ideas. Like what?
How about funneling unwanted carbon dioxide into reservoirs covered with algae that would feed on the carbon dioxide (as all plants do), then turning the algae into alcohol fuel? Is that feasible? That’s what entrepreneurs get paid the big bucks to figure out.Before long, billions of dollars that we are now sending overseas could be going into the pockets of Americans — farmers, auto workers, alternative fuel producers and investors.
With a variety of fuels competing, the cost of fuel — including gasoline — would go down. The OPEC cartel would no longer decide how much you pay to drive your car. A free market would make the decision — as it should.
In 1998, Saudi oil export revenues were $32 billion. Shortly after September 11^th , they almost doubled to $63 billion. In 2006, they reached $203 billion — and with oil now near $100 a barrel, they are still climbing. But fuel competition can reduce this unprecedented transfer of wealth from American, European, and Japanese families to Arab sheiks, Iranian mullahs, Hugo Chavez, and Vladimir Putin.
As demand rises from a growing international fleet of Flexible Fuel Vehicles — because the American standard would soon become the global standard — Third World farmers could rise from poverty by growing crops for fuel and for export.
Memo to candidates promising “change”: What change would be more significant than to energize the U.S. economy, create new jobs, encourage innovation, provide consumer choice at the pump, clean the air, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, protect national security, and provide useful assistance to Africa’s poor?/—
Clifford D. May, a former/ New York Times/ foreign correspondent, is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.//— Clifford D. May, a former New York Times foreign correspondent, is the president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies <http://defenddemocracy.org%3e/ , a policy institute focusing on terrorism./
Thursday, January 31, 2008
McCain Looks and Sounds like Bill Clinton
From what I have heard, John is starting to sound like Bill in some of his statements concerning Mit Romney - that is the troop withdrawal statement John says Mit made but video has proved differently -
There is a proverb that covers things like this : The man of interity walks securely, but he who takes the crooked path will be found out.
Bill Clinton is known for his fabracation of the truth - now McCain is following in his foot steps -
Here is another saying that is right for the occasion : Intergrity - when once compromised is gone forever and in not replacable.
Do we want this guy for our president? I don't.
There is a proverb that covers things like this : The man of interity walks securely, but he who takes the crooked path will be found out.
Bill Clinton is known for his fabracation of the truth - now McCain is following in his foot steps -
Here is another saying that is right for the occasion : Intergrity - when once compromised is gone forever and in not replacable.
Do we want this guy for our president? I don't.
John McCain Wants OPEN Boarders
I still don't like or trust John McCain and, of course, I never have. If you recall, I said that I got a very bad feeling from him at the 2004 Republican convention - he came across as insincere in his speech and his body english. I told my wife then that he is not to be trusted and he has proven me correct.
The following interview with Michelle Malkin on the Gleen Beck radio show goes a long way in finding the true John McCain. How he has gotten this far in the election process is no mistery to me - I will expand on this in the near future. I'm afraid it will be more of a rant than anything but I fell strongly on this subject.
This is a little long but good discussion and debate must be part of our daly time allocation.
*McCain’s Dishonesty on Immigration and Border Control
*GLENN: From Radio City in Midtown Manhattan, this is the third most listened to show in all of America. I'm glad you're listening today. I will tell you that the staff at the Glenn Beck program has had an intervention on me about a half hour ago because I'm a little testy, quite frankly. It might have to do with internal bleeding that we haven't been able to find yet or, you know, the anemia or any of the other things going on in my life right now, the lack of sleep, et cetera, et cetera. Or it could just be boiled down to John McCain. And when I say John McCain, my frustration comes from I don't understand America that can say, look at how wrong John McCain has been. 70% of America says John McCain is wrong about immigration. They believe in securing the border, et cetera, et cetera. And he says he has an epiphany.
Well, now, when you listen to the American people, okay, great, I had an epiphany, I listened to the American people. The reason why I'm so upset is what you're going to hear in the next few minutes. It is something that most of America doesn't know and when you hear the facts laid out before you about John McCain, it should make your blood boil. Whether it will or not, I don't know, but it should. Michelle Malkin is here and she's gooding to lay the whole story out. Hi, Michelle.
MALKIN: Hi, Glenn.
GLENN: Have you ever seen such an audacious slap in the face to the American people as this?MALKIN: I haven't felt one like this in a long time, Glenn. I'm still reeling from it. But I do hope that as more people find out about McCain's open border roots that they won't buy the dye job that he's given himself and the instant immigration makeover that he's trying to sell to conservatives and Republicans.
GLENN: Okay, I want you to lay it -- two pieces of audio, one from John McCain being asked about it and then another piece of audio from the gentleman that is now working with him. So you tell me the best time to play it while you explain what he's doing right now behind everybody's back.
MALKIN: Sure. Well, last month I received a tip from a concerned reader and she had listened to John McCain speak to the Hispanic Republicans in Nevada at a conference and apparently at this conference McCain was trying to tout his connection to a man named Dr. Juan Hernandez who has been named the national director of Hispanic outreach for the McCain 2008 campaign. This reader of mine was appalled when she learned of this hire and it had exactly the opposite effect that apparently McCain wanted it to have. This was supposed to be reassuring to Hispanic Republicans that this guy had been hired as outreach.
My colleague at hotair.com, Bryan Preston, confirmed this staff hire and, in fact, on John McCain's daughter's campaign website, there's a lovely, cozy picture of Juan Hernandez pivoting with Meghan McCain and Mark MacKinnon who is the campaign guru for John McCain. Well, who is this guy? I'm quite familiar with him. I've debated him several years on the cable TV circuit because he's one of the most ubiquitous ethnocentric open borders zealots on the scene.
GLENN: I have never -- you know what, Michelle, he's been on my show quite a few times. In fact, I've banned him from the show. I'm just not going to give the guy any more airtime.
MALKIN: Good. He is an expert at filibustering and he is an expert at crooked talk. He talks a smooth game about how, of course, he supports our immigration laws but at the same time he had served as a Mexican cabinet official under Vicente Fox where he worked diligently to do nothing but undermine sovereignty and our laws. Yeah, it would be a great time to go ahead and play one of those audio clips because --
GLENN: Let's play, Stu, let's first play the John McCain and then we'll play the second clip of Juan Hernandez.
STU: Right, this is the answer because someone actually asked about Juan Hernandez.GLENN: Here it is, here's John McCain.
VOICE: I wonder if you agree with those policies. If so, explain it to me. And if not, why is he on your staff.
McCAIN: He's on my staff because he supports my policies and my proposals and my legislative proposal to secure the borders first, that no one will receive Social Security benefits who is in this country illegally. I don't know what his previous positions are, other previous positions are but he supports mine. I have nothing to do with his. And he has volunteered to help me with outreach to our Hispanic citizenry as that is his reach as I outreach to every citizen in America. I've made very clear my position on immigration, made very clear on my position on Social Security and, of course, I am grateful that we have so many people who came from Ireland to the United States of America and anybody else who can come here legally under the right system and that's the only system that I would ever support and I have no idea but I will check into the information you've given me. But I want to promise you I will secure our borders. I will not allow anyone to come here illegally. I will not allow anyone to receive Social Security or any other benefit because they have come here illegally and broken our laws.
GLENN: Okay. That's John McCain. Now, it's so disingenuous to say he doesn't know who this man is or his policies. This is a guy who used to work for Vicente Fox. He is the most open border guy you could possibly imagine. Here's just one clip of Juan Hernandez, and we've got tons of them and we'll be playing them over the next few days. Here's just one clip of Juan Hernandez on TV.
HERNANDEZ: I don't think that we need to build walls to control immigration. We are the 21st century now and we're a country that has always broken down walls. Once again with regard to securing the borders, we need to work with Mexico. We're never going to have a secure border. We're not going to put a wall up for these hundreds and hundreds thousands of miles. We have to work with our neighbors. We need to think now for the future. Canada, the United States and Mexico as a block.
GLENN: Canada, Mexico and America as a block. That's who this guy is. Michelle?
MALKIN: A block, not a region. He said it many times. He also, when he worked for this Mexican bureaucracy called the presidential office for Mexican abroad, what he did was he spent his time traveling all across our country lobbying local, state and federal officials for driver's license for illegal aliens. He defended his operators who were carrying illegal aliens to the country and who promoted extending banking privileges here in the United States to illegal aliens, lobbied to get lower rates for them so that they could send home billions of dollars in remittances back to their country. The guy does not believe in borders. He is a senior fellow at something called the Reform Institute which is a think tank that John McCain founded and it has come under scrutiny by the mainstream media because it underscores John McCain's hypocrisy not just on open borders but also on campaign finance because he's used his supposedly nonpartisan, nonprofit thinking to solicit donations from big donors who he then goes and crusades for while he's sitting on Senate committees. At this reform institute which is in part funded with George Soros money, Juan Hernandez was in charge of leading the lobbying campaign for John McCain's amnesty effort last year. And this reform institute also sponsored an art contest for students where they spent their time demonizing the border. And you can go and look. I linked this on my website, to all of the art that compares the walls our borders and our border fences to the Berlin wall which keeps people in instead of walling people out to prevent invasion, to prevent undermining our sovereignty, to prevent encroaching of our laws. And for McCain to have the gall to stand there and tell that voter in Florida who, by the way, learned about this Juan Hernandez thing by looking at our research on the Internet, for him to say that he supports securing the border first when he's got a guy outreaching to illegal aliens to persuade them to make John McCain President? It's more than nauseating. I have an ulcer.
GLENN: Michelle, I mean, I don't think -- I just don't think I have ever seen, well, at least on the GOP side I don't think I have seen anything more insidious than this kind of stuff. I mean, this is Bill Clinton insidiousness. This is somebody who is taking and wrapping themselves around an issue and trying to convince the American people that he's doing one thing and he is doing exactly the opposite behind our back.If John McCain would get into office and this stuff would happen, I really honestly think, Michelle, and talk me down from this tree, I think John McCain is more dangerous even than Hillary Clinton because at least Hillary Clinton has Bill Clinton to make her triangulate eventually. There will be no stopping between John McCain and the Progressives of going down a road that is massive internationalists. Right or wrong?
MALKIN: I'm with you on much of that. I think it's fascinating to --
GLENN: But hang on, Michelle. My point is if you have Hillary Clinton try to pull off what John McCain is going to try to pull off, I mean, and I don't believe he doesn't know this guy's policies. This guy is a leader. If he tried to pull this off and you have a Progressive Democratic congress, there's no one to stop it because there's enough John McCain Republicans in congress that it would sweep through. They're going to sweep through all kinds of treaties, all kinds of internationalism and there would be no stopping it. I mean, you've got -- how did we get welfare reform? We got it with a Democratic President and a Republican congress. They swept it through. You want to have gigantic international global warming treaties or gigantic treaties that are signed for setting up a block of Mex-Ameri-Canada, you put John McCain in office.
MALKIN: Yeah, I understand your point about triangulation and I'm very down. I'm very depressed about the rise of John McCain. But I don't completely believe that we wouldn't be able to stop it. Look, we had a globalist open borders Republican President try to push amnesty through with the Progressive left, the open borders left. His name was George W. Bush and he did not get his way and that's thanks in large part to the conservatives and talk radio and in the grassroots who John McCain has the same hostility to. The point is we don't want to repeat history here. I don't want another George W. Bush open borders type in the White House. And, you know, I'm galled by all of the Republican establishments who think we should shut up about it. Yes, everybody should know about Juan Hernandez. Everybody should know about Jerry Perenchio who is the billionaire founder of Univision who is a national campaign co-chair of John McCain. People should know about it.
GLENN: What is his -- besides him being the head of Univision, what is, you know, what's so devious about him?
MALKIN: He's also -- I mean, he's Juan Hernandez with a billion dollars. Let's put it that way. He's led the campaign to fight an English emergent initiative which was hugely popular and won overwhelmingly in California with the 227 that abolished so-called bilingual education which is keeping students hostage and basically forcing them to learn a foreign language instead of English and it was included popularly and overwhelmingly especially by Hispanic parents, law-abiding Hispanic parents who were appalled at the public schools with teaching their kids Spanish instead of English. Well, Perenchio, who is the national co-chair for McCain, poured millions of dollars not only directly into the opposition campaign but he put hourly public service announcements on Univision claiming that this was just -- it was not about helping Hispanic families, he was about helping his bottom line an keeping people from watching Univision instead of putting it into American culture. He's also given tons of money to Planned Parenthood and the National Resources Defense Council and you can see these are birds of a feather, Juan Hernandez, Jerry Perenchio, John McCain who, you know, isn't just a guy, the open borders type but also happens to be one of these stop global warming fear mongers. So it all says, and people should know the company that he keeps and the outreach that he is doing now to Reagan is, you know, completely cynical move to try and get into the office and nobody should buy it. This is the New York Times' favorite Republican.
GLENN: So Michelle, we were doing the math today on the election. How do you reverse this?MALKIN: Well, I said last night that it is a Mt. Everest battle for Mitt Romney and, of course, Mitt Romney has this problem but one problem he doesn't have is he doesn't have a record of crushing his shoe heel into the face of the conservatives. I would rather have someone who has, you know, had an epiphany and is now coming to court conservative votes because he wants to represent them than to somebody who even, as he now claims that he's the conservative frontrunner, continues to insult and spit in their faces.
GLENN: Michelle Malkin, I've got 30 seconds. If it's John McCain, Hillary Clinton, do you pull the lever for John McCain?MALKIN: Not at this moment I don't. I'm running a poll right now on my site and you can see that there are a majority of my own readers who are going to sit home. And I think it's a big warning to the conservative movement out there. We still have time to fix this.
GLENN: Michelle Malkin, thank you very much, appreciate it.
The following interview with Michelle Malkin on the Gleen Beck radio show goes a long way in finding the true John McCain. How he has gotten this far in the election process is no mistery to me - I will expand on this in the near future. I'm afraid it will be more of a rant than anything but I fell strongly on this subject.
This is a little long but good discussion and debate must be part of our daly time allocation.
*McCain’s Dishonesty on Immigration and Border Control
*GLENN: From Radio City in Midtown Manhattan, this is the third most listened to show in all of America. I'm glad you're listening today. I will tell you that the staff at the Glenn Beck program has had an intervention on me about a half hour ago because I'm a little testy, quite frankly. It might have to do with internal bleeding that we haven't been able to find yet or, you know, the anemia or any of the other things going on in my life right now, the lack of sleep, et cetera, et cetera. Or it could just be boiled down to John McCain. And when I say John McCain, my frustration comes from I don't understand America that can say, look at how wrong John McCain has been. 70% of America says John McCain is wrong about immigration. They believe in securing the border, et cetera, et cetera. And he says he has an epiphany.
Well, now, when you listen to the American people, okay, great, I had an epiphany, I listened to the American people. The reason why I'm so upset is what you're going to hear in the next few minutes. It is something that most of America doesn't know and when you hear the facts laid out before you about John McCain, it should make your blood boil. Whether it will or not, I don't know, but it should. Michelle Malkin is here and she's gooding to lay the whole story out. Hi, Michelle.
MALKIN: Hi, Glenn.
GLENN: Have you ever seen such an audacious slap in the face to the American people as this?MALKIN: I haven't felt one like this in a long time, Glenn. I'm still reeling from it. But I do hope that as more people find out about McCain's open border roots that they won't buy the dye job that he's given himself and the instant immigration makeover that he's trying to sell to conservatives and Republicans.
GLENN: Okay, I want you to lay it -- two pieces of audio, one from John McCain being asked about it and then another piece of audio from the gentleman that is now working with him. So you tell me the best time to play it while you explain what he's doing right now behind everybody's back.
MALKIN: Sure. Well, last month I received a tip from a concerned reader and she had listened to John McCain speak to the Hispanic Republicans in Nevada at a conference and apparently at this conference McCain was trying to tout his connection to a man named Dr. Juan Hernandez who has been named the national director of Hispanic outreach for the McCain 2008 campaign. This reader of mine was appalled when she learned of this hire and it had exactly the opposite effect that apparently McCain wanted it to have. This was supposed to be reassuring to Hispanic Republicans that this guy had been hired as outreach.
My colleague at hotair.com, Bryan Preston, confirmed this staff hire and, in fact, on John McCain's daughter's campaign website, there's a lovely, cozy picture of Juan Hernandez pivoting with Meghan McCain and Mark MacKinnon who is the campaign guru for John McCain. Well, who is this guy? I'm quite familiar with him. I've debated him several years on the cable TV circuit because he's one of the most ubiquitous ethnocentric open borders zealots on the scene.
GLENN: I have never -- you know what, Michelle, he's been on my show quite a few times. In fact, I've banned him from the show. I'm just not going to give the guy any more airtime.
MALKIN: Good. He is an expert at filibustering and he is an expert at crooked talk. He talks a smooth game about how, of course, he supports our immigration laws but at the same time he had served as a Mexican cabinet official under Vicente Fox where he worked diligently to do nothing but undermine sovereignty and our laws. Yeah, it would be a great time to go ahead and play one of those audio clips because --
GLENN: Let's play, Stu, let's first play the John McCain and then we'll play the second clip of Juan Hernandez.
STU: Right, this is the answer because someone actually asked about Juan Hernandez.GLENN: Here it is, here's John McCain.
VOICE: I wonder if you agree with those policies. If so, explain it to me. And if not, why is he on your staff.
McCAIN: He's on my staff because he supports my policies and my proposals and my legislative proposal to secure the borders first, that no one will receive Social Security benefits who is in this country illegally. I don't know what his previous positions are, other previous positions are but he supports mine. I have nothing to do with his. And he has volunteered to help me with outreach to our Hispanic citizenry as that is his reach as I outreach to every citizen in America. I've made very clear my position on immigration, made very clear on my position on Social Security and, of course, I am grateful that we have so many people who came from Ireland to the United States of America and anybody else who can come here legally under the right system and that's the only system that I would ever support and I have no idea but I will check into the information you've given me. But I want to promise you I will secure our borders. I will not allow anyone to come here illegally. I will not allow anyone to receive Social Security or any other benefit because they have come here illegally and broken our laws.
GLENN: Okay. That's John McCain. Now, it's so disingenuous to say he doesn't know who this man is or his policies. This is a guy who used to work for Vicente Fox. He is the most open border guy you could possibly imagine. Here's just one clip of Juan Hernandez, and we've got tons of them and we'll be playing them over the next few days. Here's just one clip of Juan Hernandez on TV.
HERNANDEZ: I don't think that we need to build walls to control immigration. We are the 21st century now and we're a country that has always broken down walls. Once again with regard to securing the borders, we need to work with Mexico. We're never going to have a secure border. We're not going to put a wall up for these hundreds and hundreds thousands of miles. We have to work with our neighbors. We need to think now for the future. Canada, the United States and Mexico as a block.
GLENN: Canada, Mexico and America as a block. That's who this guy is. Michelle?
MALKIN: A block, not a region. He said it many times. He also, when he worked for this Mexican bureaucracy called the presidential office for Mexican abroad, what he did was he spent his time traveling all across our country lobbying local, state and federal officials for driver's license for illegal aliens. He defended his operators who were carrying illegal aliens to the country and who promoted extending banking privileges here in the United States to illegal aliens, lobbied to get lower rates for them so that they could send home billions of dollars in remittances back to their country. The guy does not believe in borders. He is a senior fellow at something called the Reform Institute which is a think tank that John McCain founded and it has come under scrutiny by the mainstream media because it underscores John McCain's hypocrisy not just on open borders but also on campaign finance because he's used his supposedly nonpartisan, nonprofit thinking to solicit donations from big donors who he then goes and crusades for while he's sitting on Senate committees. At this reform institute which is in part funded with George Soros money, Juan Hernandez was in charge of leading the lobbying campaign for John McCain's amnesty effort last year. And this reform institute also sponsored an art contest for students where they spent their time demonizing the border. And you can go and look. I linked this on my website, to all of the art that compares the walls our borders and our border fences to the Berlin wall which keeps people in instead of walling people out to prevent invasion, to prevent undermining our sovereignty, to prevent encroaching of our laws. And for McCain to have the gall to stand there and tell that voter in Florida who, by the way, learned about this Juan Hernandez thing by looking at our research on the Internet, for him to say that he supports securing the border first when he's got a guy outreaching to illegal aliens to persuade them to make John McCain President? It's more than nauseating. I have an ulcer.
GLENN: Michelle, I mean, I don't think -- I just don't think I have ever seen, well, at least on the GOP side I don't think I have seen anything more insidious than this kind of stuff. I mean, this is Bill Clinton insidiousness. This is somebody who is taking and wrapping themselves around an issue and trying to convince the American people that he's doing one thing and he is doing exactly the opposite behind our back.If John McCain would get into office and this stuff would happen, I really honestly think, Michelle, and talk me down from this tree, I think John McCain is more dangerous even than Hillary Clinton because at least Hillary Clinton has Bill Clinton to make her triangulate eventually. There will be no stopping between John McCain and the Progressives of going down a road that is massive internationalists. Right or wrong?
MALKIN: I'm with you on much of that. I think it's fascinating to --
GLENN: But hang on, Michelle. My point is if you have Hillary Clinton try to pull off what John McCain is going to try to pull off, I mean, and I don't believe he doesn't know this guy's policies. This guy is a leader. If he tried to pull this off and you have a Progressive Democratic congress, there's no one to stop it because there's enough John McCain Republicans in congress that it would sweep through. They're going to sweep through all kinds of treaties, all kinds of internationalism and there would be no stopping it. I mean, you've got -- how did we get welfare reform? We got it with a Democratic President and a Republican congress. They swept it through. You want to have gigantic international global warming treaties or gigantic treaties that are signed for setting up a block of Mex-Ameri-Canada, you put John McCain in office.
MALKIN: Yeah, I understand your point about triangulation and I'm very down. I'm very depressed about the rise of John McCain. But I don't completely believe that we wouldn't be able to stop it. Look, we had a globalist open borders Republican President try to push amnesty through with the Progressive left, the open borders left. His name was George W. Bush and he did not get his way and that's thanks in large part to the conservatives and talk radio and in the grassroots who John McCain has the same hostility to. The point is we don't want to repeat history here. I don't want another George W. Bush open borders type in the White House. And, you know, I'm galled by all of the Republican establishments who think we should shut up about it. Yes, everybody should know about Juan Hernandez. Everybody should know about Jerry Perenchio who is the billionaire founder of Univision who is a national campaign co-chair of John McCain. People should know about it.
GLENN: What is his -- besides him being the head of Univision, what is, you know, what's so devious about him?
MALKIN: He's also -- I mean, he's Juan Hernandez with a billion dollars. Let's put it that way. He's led the campaign to fight an English emergent initiative which was hugely popular and won overwhelmingly in California with the 227 that abolished so-called bilingual education which is keeping students hostage and basically forcing them to learn a foreign language instead of English and it was included popularly and overwhelmingly especially by Hispanic parents, law-abiding Hispanic parents who were appalled at the public schools with teaching their kids Spanish instead of English. Well, Perenchio, who is the national co-chair for McCain, poured millions of dollars not only directly into the opposition campaign but he put hourly public service announcements on Univision claiming that this was just -- it was not about helping Hispanic families, he was about helping his bottom line an keeping people from watching Univision instead of putting it into American culture. He's also given tons of money to Planned Parenthood and the National Resources Defense Council and you can see these are birds of a feather, Juan Hernandez, Jerry Perenchio, John McCain who, you know, isn't just a guy, the open borders type but also happens to be one of these stop global warming fear mongers. So it all says, and people should know the company that he keeps and the outreach that he is doing now to Reagan is, you know, completely cynical move to try and get into the office and nobody should buy it. This is the New York Times' favorite Republican.
GLENN: So Michelle, we were doing the math today on the election. How do you reverse this?MALKIN: Well, I said last night that it is a Mt. Everest battle for Mitt Romney and, of course, Mitt Romney has this problem but one problem he doesn't have is he doesn't have a record of crushing his shoe heel into the face of the conservatives. I would rather have someone who has, you know, had an epiphany and is now coming to court conservative votes because he wants to represent them than to somebody who even, as he now claims that he's the conservative frontrunner, continues to insult and spit in their faces.
GLENN: Michelle Malkin, I've got 30 seconds. If it's John McCain, Hillary Clinton, do you pull the lever for John McCain?MALKIN: Not at this moment I don't. I'm running a poll right now on my site and you can see that there are a majority of my own readers who are going to sit home. And I think it's a big warning to the conservative movement out there. We still have time to fix this.
GLENN: Michelle Malkin, thank you very much, appreciate it.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
For The Love of P-51 Mustangs - America
I absolutely love this aircraft - I have seen and heard them at the Oshkosh air show on several occasions - each time I hear that engine start for the first time, I have such deep emotions that I find it almost impossible to describe -
It must be something primal as I never get tired hearing and seeing this magnificent machine preform -
Old Aviators and Old Airplanes ...
This is a good little story about a vivid memory of a P-51 and its pilot by a fellow who was 12 years old in Canada in 1967. You may know a few others who would appreciate it.It was noon on a Sunday as I recall, the day a Mustang P-51 was to take to the air.
They said it had flown in during the night from some U.S. airport, the pilot had been tired. I marveled at the size of the plane dwarfing the Pipers and Canucks tied down by her. It was much larger than in the movies. She glistened in the sun like a bulwark of security from days gone by.
The pilot arrived by cab, paid the driver, and then stepped into the flight lounge. He was an older man; his wavy hair was gray and tossed. Looked like it might have been combed, say, around the turn of the century.
His flight jacket was checked, creased and worn - it smelled old and genuine. Old Glory was prominently sewn to its shoulders. He projected a quiet air of proficiency and pride devoid of arrogance. He filed a quick flight plan to Montreal (Expo-67, Air Show) then walked across the tarmac.
After taking several minutes to perform his walk-around check the pilot returned to the flight lounge to ask if anyone would be available to stand by with fire extinguishers while he "flashed the old bird up. Just to be safe."Though only 12 at the time I was allowed to stand by with an extinguisher after brief instruction on its use -- "If you see a fire, point, then pull this lever!" I later became a firefighter, but that's another story.
The air around the exhaust manifolds shimmered like a mirror from fuel fumes as the huge prop started to rotate. One manifold, then another, and yet another barked -- I stepped back with the other s. In moments the Packard-built Merlin engine came to life with a thunderous roar, blue flames knifed from her manifolds. I looked at the others' faces, there was no concern. I lowered the bell of my extinguisher. One of the guys signaled to walk back to the lounge. We did.
Several minutes later we could hear the pilot doing his pre flight run-up. He'd taxied to the end of runway 19, out of sight. All went quiet for several seconds; we raced from the lounge to the second story deck to see if we could catch a glimpse of the P-51 as she started down the runway. We could not.
There we stood, eyes fixed to a spot half way down 19. Then a roar ripped across the field, much louder than before, like a furious hell spawn set loose---something mighty this way was coming. "Listen to that thing!" said the controller. In seconds the Mustang burst into our line of sight. Its tail was already off and it was moving faster than anything I'd ever seen by that point on 19. Two-thirds the way down 19 the Mustang was airborne with her gear going up.
The prop tips were supersonic; we clasped our ears as the Mustang climbed hellish fast into the circuit to be eaten up by the dog-day haze.We stood for a few moments in stunned silence trying to digest what we'd just seen. The radio controller rushed by me to the radio. " Kingston tower calling Mustang?" He looked back to us as he waited for an acknowledgment.The radio crackled, "Go ahead Kingston." "Roger Mustang. Kingston tower would like to advise the circuit is clear for a low level pass." I stood in shock because the controller had, more or less, just asked the pilot to return for an impromptu air show!
The controller looked at us. "What?" He asked. "I can't let that guy go without asking. I couldn't forgive myself! "The radio crackled once again, "Kingston, do I have permission for a low level pass, east to west, across the field?" "Roger Mustang, the circuit is clear for an east to west pass." "Roger, Kingston, I'm coming out of 3000 feet, stand by."We rushed back onto the second-story deck, eyes fixed toward the eastern haze.
The sound was subtle at first, a high-pitched whine, a muffled screech, a distant scream. Moments later the P-51 burst through the haze. Her airframe straining against positive Gs and gravity, wing tips spilling contrails of condensed air, prop-tips again supersonic as the burnished bird blasted across the eastern margin of the field shredding and tearing the air.
At about 400 mph and 150 yards from where we stood she passed with the old American pilot saluting. Imagine. A salute! I felt like laughing, I felt like crying, she glistened, she screamed, the building shook, my heart pounded.
Then the old pilot pulled her up and rolled, and rolled, and rolled out of sight into the broken clouds and indelibly into my memory.
I've never wanted to be an American more than on that day. It was a time when many nations in the world looked to America as their big brother, a steady and even-handed beacon of security who navigated difficult political water with grace and style; not unlike the pilot who'd just flown into my memory.
**He was proud, not arrogant, humble, not a braggart, old and honest, projecting an aura of America at its best. That America will return one day, I know it will.Until that time, I'll just send off this story; call it a reciprocal salute, to the old American pilot who wove a memory for a young Canadian that's lasted a lifetime.*
It must be something primal as I never get tired hearing and seeing this magnificent machine preform -
Old Aviators and Old Airplanes ...
This is a good little story about a vivid memory of a P-51 and its pilot by a fellow who was 12 years old in Canada in 1967. You may know a few others who would appreciate it.It was noon on a Sunday as I recall, the day a Mustang P-51 was to take to the air.
They said it had flown in during the night from some U.S. airport, the pilot had been tired. I marveled at the size of the plane dwarfing the Pipers and Canucks tied down by her. It was much larger than in the movies. She glistened in the sun like a bulwark of security from days gone by.
The pilot arrived by cab, paid the driver, and then stepped into the flight lounge. He was an older man; his wavy hair was gray and tossed. Looked like it might have been combed, say, around the turn of the century.
His flight jacket was checked, creased and worn - it smelled old and genuine. Old Glory was prominently sewn to its shoulders. He projected a quiet air of proficiency and pride devoid of arrogance. He filed a quick flight plan to Montreal (Expo-67, Air Show) then walked across the tarmac.
After taking several minutes to perform his walk-around check the pilot returned to the flight lounge to ask if anyone would be available to stand by with fire extinguishers while he "flashed the old bird up. Just to be safe."Though only 12 at the time I was allowed to stand by with an extinguisher after brief instruction on its use -- "If you see a fire, point, then pull this lever!" I later became a firefighter, but that's another story.
The air around the exhaust manifolds shimmered like a mirror from fuel fumes as the huge prop started to rotate. One manifold, then another, and yet another barked -- I stepped back with the other s. In moments the Packard-built Merlin engine came to life with a thunderous roar, blue flames knifed from her manifolds. I looked at the others' faces, there was no concern. I lowered the bell of my extinguisher. One of the guys signaled to walk back to the lounge. We did.
Several minutes later we could hear the pilot doing his pre flight run-up. He'd taxied to the end of runway 19, out of sight. All went quiet for several seconds; we raced from the lounge to the second story deck to see if we could catch a glimpse of the P-51 as she started down the runway. We could not.
There we stood, eyes fixed to a spot half way down 19. Then a roar ripped across the field, much louder than before, like a furious hell spawn set loose---something mighty this way was coming. "Listen to that thing!" said the controller. In seconds the Mustang burst into our line of sight. Its tail was already off and it was moving faster than anything I'd ever seen by that point on 19. Two-thirds the way down 19 the Mustang was airborne with her gear going up.
The prop tips were supersonic; we clasped our ears as the Mustang climbed hellish fast into the circuit to be eaten up by the dog-day haze.We stood for a few moments in stunned silence trying to digest what we'd just seen. The radio controller rushed by me to the radio. " Kingston tower calling Mustang?" He looked back to us as he waited for an acknowledgment.The radio crackled, "Go ahead Kingston." "Roger Mustang. Kingston tower would like to advise the circuit is clear for a low level pass." I stood in shock because the controller had, more or less, just asked the pilot to return for an impromptu air show!
The controller looked at us. "What?" He asked. "I can't let that guy go without asking. I couldn't forgive myself! "The radio crackled once again, "Kingston, do I have permission for a low level pass, east to west, across the field?" "Roger Mustang, the circuit is clear for an east to west pass." "Roger, Kingston, I'm coming out of 3000 feet, stand by."We rushed back onto the second-story deck, eyes fixed toward the eastern haze.
The sound was subtle at first, a high-pitched whine, a muffled screech, a distant scream. Moments later the P-51 burst through the haze. Her airframe straining against positive Gs and gravity, wing tips spilling contrails of condensed air, prop-tips again supersonic as the burnished bird blasted across the eastern margin of the field shredding and tearing the air.
At about 400 mph and 150 yards from where we stood she passed with the old American pilot saluting. Imagine. A salute! I felt like laughing, I felt like crying, she glistened, she screamed, the building shook, my heart pounded.
Then the old pilot pulled her up and rolled, and rolled, and rolled out of sight into the broken clouds and indelibly into my memory.
I've never wanted to be an American more than on that day. It was a time when many nations in the world looked to America as their big brother, a steady and even-handed beacon of security who navigated difficult political water with grace and style; not unlike the pilot who'd just flown into my memory.
**He was proud, not arrogant, humble, not a braggart, old and honest, projecting an aura of America at its best. That America will return one day, I know it will.Until that time, I'll just send off this story; call it a reciprocal salute, to the old American pilot who wove a memory for a young Canadian that's lasted a lifetime.*
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Words to Live By
I don't know who said this but when something is this good, it belongs to everyone :
IF YOUR WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO TURN OUT WELL, GIVE THEM TWICE THE TIME AND HALF THE MONEY.
IF YOUR WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO TURN OUT WELL, GIVE THEM TWICE THE TIME AND HALF THE MONEY.
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