Here are the results of a poll I found on http://www.personalliberty.com. I thought it was interesting to see what folks think of the bailout, considering the government is doing this supposedly to help the American people.
The Total Number of people who voted in this poll: 26498 (as of date of post)
1) Who is most to blame for America’s current economic crisis?
70% voted: Democrats and US Congress
10% voted: The Bush Administration
3% voted: Wall Street
13% voted: Banks and sub-prime lenders
2% voted: Real estate and mortgage professionals
0% voted: Investors
2% voted: Home buyers
2) Do you agree a government bailout was the answer to America’s financial crisis?
7% voted: Yes
80% voted: No
13% voted: Undecided
3) Do you believe the American taxpayers should have to foot the bill for our financial systems mistakes?
8% voted: Yes, we have to or we’ll end up in a prolonged recession or worse a depression.
76% voted: No, America is too far in debt already.
16% voted: Absolutely not, the American people should never be responsible for bailing out the private sector.
0% voted: Undecided
4) Do you believe the government bailout will ultimately rescue our country's financial system?
8% voted: Yes
23% voted: No
64% voted: Undecided
5) Do you believe Barack Obama was the best choice to handle the country's future economic policy?
12% voted: Yes
81% voted: No
7% voted: Undecided
If we don't want this bailout....WHY is there a bailout?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Veterans Day -- Freedom Is Not Free
I know this blog is full of political motivations and thoughts. But this day November 11th nothing is more important then to honor those whom have served our country in times of war and peace. These brave individuals have sacrificed life and limb to provide us with the GIFT we call FREEDOM. To all of those Veterans whom I have and have never had the Honor of meeting I would like to say THANK YOU. For you are the ones whom have given me the ability to live and enjoy the freedoms of this great country. You have given my son a country to be proud of and even more the honor of looking up to the true heroes that you are.
On a Personal Note I would like to thank my father who volunteered for the United States Army to fight in Vietnam. He served as a Sergent in the Green Berets and was part of an A-Team fighting in the most remote hellish places in Vietnam. From enduring 8 hour firefights, to risking his life fighting the enemy to get close enough to bring his wounded brothers in arms back to safety. I love you and thank you for showing me what a Hero means. He received two Bronze Stars for heroism in the face of danger. One story I remember well, but may not tell it well, is the story of one of his actions. During a firefight in the middle of the jungle he was dropping smoke to signal to the meda-vac helicopters so they could lower basket to retrieve men whom where wounded in the battle. The smoke drifted into the enemy lines and the basket where lowered in enemy territory. My father picked up his wounded men and fought his way to the baskets more then once to get his men to safety and to the life saving treatment they needed.
As we sit here today worried about our futures and concerned about our own welfare in this troubling economic times, lets not forget about those who served and are serving today. Just like the war my father fought in, this current war is not a popular war to most Americans. But lets not treat these brave men and women the same way the American people treated the Vietnam vets when they came home. Lets honor them and thanks them and their families for the sacrifice they have made at home and overseas.
So as I finish this post please reach out to those you know that have or are serving this country and thank them. If you do not know one I am sure if you look around you will find a Hero you never knew existed right next to you.
To my father again you are a Hero and a great man, it is an honor to be your son and friend.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Just so you know
CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
Robert "Bob" Laurence Barr Jr(LB)
Robert "Bob" Laurence Barr Jr. was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and now resides in Smyrna, Ga. His father was an Army officer and civil engineer, and Barr grew up largely overseas, living in countries such as Malaysia and Pakistan before graduating from high school in Iran.
Returning to the United States to attend the University of Southern California, he joined the Young Democrats and protested against the Vietnam War before having a political change of heart and becoming a Republican. He graduated in 1970, moving to Washington to study international affairs at George Washington University. While there, he was hired as an intern at the CIA and later worked as an intelligence analyst at the agency until 1978. While at the CIA, he earned a law degree at Georgetown University.
After law school, he moved to the Atlanta area, working as a lawyer and becoming active in local politics. In 1984, he ran unsuccessfully for the state House.
Two years later, President Ronald Reagan appointed him U.S. attorney for the northern district of Georgia, a position he held until 1990.
He lost a bid for U.S. Senate in 1992 before winning a seat in Congress in 1994. He held the seat until 2003.
Barr now works as an attorney and runs a public affairs and lobbying firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, headquartered in Atlanta.
He is married to his third wife, Jeri. Between them, the couple has four children.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John S. McCain III(R)
John McCain III was born in the Panama Canal Zone where his father, Naval Admiral John McCain Jr., was stationed. He now resides in Phoenix, Ariz.
The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain spent more than 20 years in the Navy, a quarter of it in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.
On Oct. 26, 1967, McCain's jet was shot down over Hanoi during a bombing mission. He broke both arms and shattered a shoulder and a knee while ejecting from the aircraft. When he landed, he was pulled from a lake by a North Vietnamese mob and stabbed with bayonets.
McCain was beaten repeatedly over the next 5 1/2 years. When his captors learned he was the son of a prominent Navy admiral, they offered to release him early. McCain refused to go along with what he saw as a propaganda ploy, and he insisted that soldiers captured before him leave first.
After retiring from the Navy, McCain moved to Arizona and in 1982 was elected to Congress, succeeding Republican Rep. John Rhodes, who retired after serving 30 years. McCain served two terms in the U.S. House before he ran successfully for the Senate in 1986.
He and his wife, Cindy, have four children together. McCain also has three children from his first marriage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Nader(I)
Ralph Nader was born in Winsted, Conn., the son of Lebanese immigrants.
He graduated from Princeton University in 1955 and Harvard Law School in 1958.
In 1963, then 29, Nader hitchhiked to Washington, D.C., and got a job working for then-Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He was a freelance writer for The Nation and The Christian Science Monitor and advised a Senate subcommittee on automobile safety.
In 1965 he released "Unsafe at Any Speed," a study showing many American automobiles, especially those of General Motors, to be structurally flawed.
Since then, Nader has founded several prominent consumer advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, Public Interest Research Group, Center for Auto Safety, Clean Water Action Project, Disability Rights Center, Project for Corporate Responsibility and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law.
He ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 1996 and 2000, but never drew more than 3 percent of the vote. He won just 0.3 percent as an independent in 2004. He is running for president in 2008 again as an independent.
Nader has never married.
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Barack Obama(D)
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, where his American mother and Kenyan father met while students at the University of Hawaii. His father returned to Kenya, where he became an official in the economics ministry, when Obama was 2.
He graduated from Columbia University and earned his law degree from Harvard Law School. He became the first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.
Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago and he led a voter registration drive to help then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. Obama was a senior instructor in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. He represented a South Side district in the Illinois Senate.
He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.
He and his wife, Michelle, who is also a Harvard Law graduate, have two daughters.
Go to Bio»
Robert "Bob" Laurence Barr Jr(LB)
Robert "Bob" Laurence Barr Jr. was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and now resides in Smyrna, Ga. His father was an Army officer and civil engineer, and Barr grew up largely overseas, living in countries such as Malaysia and Pakistan before graduating from high school in Iran.
Returning to the United States to attend the University of Southern California, he joined the Young Democrats and protested against the Vietnam War before having a political change of heart and becoming a Republican. He graduated in 1970, moving to Washington to study international affairs at George Washington University. While there, he was hired as an intern at the CIA and later worked as an intelligence analyst at the agency until 1978. While at the CIA, he earned a law degree at Georgetown University.
After law school, he moved to the Atlanta area, working as a lawyer and becoming active in local politics. In 1984, he ran unsuccessfully for the state House.
Two years later, President Ronald Reagan appointed him U.S. attorney for the northern district of Georgia, a position he held until 1990.
He lost a bid for U.S. Senate in 1992 before winning a seat in Congress in 1994. He held the seat until 2003.
Barr now works as an attorney and runs a public affairs and lobbying firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, headquartered in Atlanta.
He is married to his third wife, Jeri. Between them, the couple has four children.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John S. McCain III(R)
John McCain III was born in the Panama Canal Zone where his father, Naval Admiral John McCain Jr., was stationed. He now resides in Phoenix, Ariz.
The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain spent more than 20 years in the Navy, a quarter of it in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.
On Oct. 26, 1967, McCain's jet was shot down over Hanoi during a bombing mission. He broke both arms and shattered a shoulder and a knee while ejecting from the aircraft. When he landed, he was pulled from a lake by a North Vietnamese mob and stabbed with bayonets.
McCain was beaten repeatedly over the next 5 1/2 years. When his captors learned he was the son of a prominent Navy admiral, they offered to release him early. McCain refused to go along with what he saw as a propaganda ploy, and he insisted that soldiers captured before him leave first.
After retiring from the Navy, McCain moved to Arizona and in 1982 was elected to Congress, succeeding Republican Rep. John Rhodes, who retired after serving 30 years. McCain served two terms in the U.S. House before he ran successfully for the Senate in 1986.
He and his wife, Cindy, have four children together. McCain also has three children from his first marriage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Nader(I)
Ralph Nader was born in Winsted, Conn., the son of Lebanese immigrants.
He graduated from Princeton University in 1955 and Harvard Law School in 1958.
In 1963, then 29, Nader hitchhiked to Washington, D.C., and got a job working for then-Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He was a freelance writer for The Nation and The Christian Science Monitor and advised a Senate subcommittee on automobile safety.
In 1965 he released "Unsafe at Any Speed," a study showing many American automobiles, especially those of General Motors, to be structurally flawed.
Since then, Nader has founded several prominent consumer advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, Public Interest Research Group, Center for Auto Safety, Clean Water Action Project, Disability Rights Center, Project for Corporate Responsibility and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law.
He ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 1996 and 2000, but never drew more than 3 percent of the vote. He won just 0.3 percent as an independent in 2004. He is running for president in 2008 again as an independent.
Nader has never married.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barack Obama(D)
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, where his American mother and Kenyan father met while students at the University of Hawaii. His father returned to Kenya, where he became an official in the economics ministry, when Obama was 2.
He graduated from Columbia University and earned his law degree from Harvard Law School. He became the first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.
Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago and he led a voter registration drive to help then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. Obama was a senior instructor in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. He represented a South Side district in the Illinois Senate.
He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.
He and his wife, Michelle, who is also a Harvard Law graduate, have two daughters.
Go to Bio»
Indifferent Voters
Taken from the Political Campaign website for Daniel Lewis, a Libertarian candidate for US Senate for Tennessee.
"Indifferent Voters may believe that it doesn’t matter one way or the other who gets elected to the U.S. Senate. This is true, as long as a candidate from one of the two major parties keeps getting elected. The two major parties have stopped caring about the voters and sold out to special interests that fund their multi-million dollar campaigns. Your vote is of little value to them. They know that a majority will vote for either of the two major parties. The two major parties count on you voting for them by default.
Each time the government assumes a new power or begins to address a new problem, the influence of special interest groups becomes greater. The only way to break this cycle and begin making a difference when we vote is to break the monopoly held by the two major parties and significantly reduce the scope and power of government. Your freedom and liberty is too important to be taken over by the government and special interest groups."
I am constently confused by folks saying that they have to vote for either McCain or Obama on the grounds that "there has to be a change". Why is it believed that voting for either party is going to do anything except what "is" already. Most people are lazy when it comes to politics. They really have no clue what it is they are voting for or why. Until people take ownership and educate themselves, nothing will change. Until people stop voting for Republicans or Democrats, nothing is going to change.
"Indifferent Voters may believe that it doesn’t matter one way or the other who gets elected to the U.S. Senate. This is true, as long as a candidate from one of the two major parties keeps getting elected. The two major parties have stopped caring about the voters and sold out to special interests that fund their multi-million dollar campaigns. Your vote is of little value to them. They know that a majority will vote for either of the two major parties. The two major parties count on you voting for them by default.
Each time the government assumes a new power or begins to address a new problem, the influence of special interest groups becomes greater. The only way to break this cycle and begin making a difference when we vote is to break the monopoly held by the two major parties and significantly reduce the scope and power of government. Your freedom and liberty is too important to be taken over by the government and special interest groups."
I am constently confused by folks saying that they have to vote for either McCain or Obama on the grounds that "there has to be a change". Why is it believed that voting for either party is going to do anything except what "is" already. Most people are lazy when it comes to politics. They really have no clue what it is they are voting for or why. Until people take ownership and educate themselves, nothing will change. Until people stop voting for Republicans or Democrats, nothing is going to change.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Blackout
Thanks to Jack Lail's post, I have this little bit of info. to pass on.
Blacked Out
The Treasury Department has hired three outside firms this week to help administer its $700 billion, taxpayer-funded bailout of troubled banks. But some key details of those contracts remain a mystery.
The agreements with Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP that the Treasury Department posted on its web site each had blacked-out paragraphs in the sections dealing with compensation.
The government's three-year contract with Bank of New York Mellon does not show how much the company will be paid to act as the master custodian of the bailout fund. The contract says that the bank will be paid a monthly fee, but that fee is blacked out.
The Treasury Department's six-month deal with Simpson Thacher for legal advice on equity purchases in
One of the reasons that we created BailoutSleuth was to help ensure that the process, including the selection and compensation of contractors, is as transparent as possible.
All three of the contracts that the Treasury Department awarded this week were subject to competitive bidding. However, the legal-services deal was open only to six firms that the government sought out, and just two of them submitted proposals.
The Treasury Department did not respond to our request for comment on the blacked-out portions of the contracts. A spokesperson told other news organizations that the particulars of Bank of New York Mellon's compensation would be revealed sometime in the next few months, when other details are finalized.
Bank of New York Mellon and Simpson Thacher did not respond to our request for comment.
The Treasury Department's third contract, with EnnisKnupp and Associates Inc., had no redactions. That agreement runs for a year and calls for $2,495,190 in compensation -- $2.4 million for labor and $95,190 for travel expenses.
The Treasury Department hired EnnisKnupp to provide advice on its plan to buy distressed assets from banks and investment companies. The firm has a large contingent of employees working on the project, including President Stephen Cummings and other principals, said Harmony Watling, spokeswoman at it headquarters in
Friday, October 17, 2008
From The LP Blog Site- Good reading
posted by Andrew Davis on Oct 08, 2008
Let’s take a look at how the NRA feels about Sen. John McCain.
In 2001, NRA President Wayne LaPierre said, “Is it possible that John McCain thinks you have too much freedom?” According to NewsMax, LaPierre was angry over advertisements McCain appeared in for Americans for Gun Safety, an anti-Second Amendment group who’s website now points to the Brady campaign, and McCain-Lieberman, a bill designed to close the so-called “gun show loophole.”
After appearing in the ads, the NRA called McCain, “one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment” and “the poster boy for Americans For Gun Safety.” Strong words.
By the way, McCain’s position hasn’t changed on the “loophole” issue.
As early as April of this year, NRA Executive Director Chris Cox told The Hill, “John McCain still has some work to do” to gain the trust of the NRA. Cox added, “Truth be told, he’s not there yet.”
In 2004, the NRA issued lifetime rankings of all members of Congress. Sen. McCain received a “C+”, indicating a mixed record on the Second Amendment.
Bob Barr has an “A+” lifetime rating from the NRA. Bob serves on the board of the NRA. His record on the Second Amendment is without question.
Given the fact that Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox have exposed John McCain as an anti-gun sympathizer, we here at Bob Barr 2008 fully expect that the NRA will announce their support for Bob Barr tomorrow and run ads against both Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Debate Archive
You can Watch all of the Primary and Presidential Debates here.
If you can stand watching them again http://www.youdecide2008.com/video/
If you can stand watching them again http://www.youdecide2008.com/video/
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