A Response from Senator Nelson

Dear Mr. Kayser:

Thank you for contacting me about the $700 billion to bail out Wall Street. I voted against it because I believed it lacked meaningful relief for homeowners facing foreclosure, and it left taxpayers with the short end of the stick. 

Still, make no mistake: I understand the severity of this financial crisis. The bottom line is that until we stem the record number of home foreclosures, this crisis will continue to worsen. 

That’s why I’ve proposed a three-part plan to address the financial crisis, including help for homeowners.

First, I’m working on legislation to create new ways for homeowners to refinance their mortgages and stay in their homes. My proposal will require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to retool mortgages that they hold on their books. It will also establish a direct loan facility within the Federal government to require lenders and other financial institutions that benefit from the bailout to refinance or modify mortgages in danger of default or foreclosure. 

Second, I am calling for an investigation into the business practices of major credit rating agencies that helped foster the enormous growth of the mortgage-backed securities industry. Investors relied on and trusted in those credit ratings, and the public deserves to know how these rating agencies concluded that such risky investments could receive high credit ratings. 

And finally, we must better regulate all aspects of the financial markets. Today’s financial crisis results from years of inadequate oversight that has been far too tolerant of excessive risk taking.

Meantime, I’ll continue to press Congress to act quickly to keep people in their homes and put our economy back on track. 

Phillies!

GO Phillies!

The Phillies are up 3 games to 1!

Game 5 on Thursday!

Watch John Cleese discuss Sarah Palin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMyNk8J1c8g

Bring Back Tar and Feathers!

Back in the early days of our country elections were rough. Candidates would hold large drunken parties and use the power of drink to persuade the voters.  Voting was held at county courthouses so candidates had easy access to the voters.  James Madison saw the potential problem with this and refused to get involved in that type of campaigning.  He felt that the elected official would then be tempted to side with legislation that helped his friends rather than all of his constituents.  James Madison, the fourth president and "Father" of our constitution, lost that election.  But clearly he had great foresight into the problems of elections and politicians in general.  What Madison and other founders greatly worried over was money.  They felt that taxing the population would bring large amounts of money under the control of the Federal government and this would lead to corrupt government.  A general tarrif was favored instead. Wouldn't a national sales tax on all goods be more efficient and less prone to excess and cheating than our present system? Wouldn't a tax board comprised of middle class citizens be more efficient and less prone to excess and cheating than the billionaires who currently are in charge?

Why is Hank Paulson telling the Fed and the American people that banks need more money, that Goldman Sachs needs more money? OUR MONEY!  The man was given $700 million upon his departure from Goldman Sachs and now he wants the Fed to bail out that same company?  Hey Hank, how about giving them back that $700 million?

We spend obscene amounts of money in Iraq and Afghanistan. Money we can no longer afford. We need to put that money to good use right here at home where Americans can no longer afford their own homes. What is wrong with this picture.  

In the Revolutionary War era tax collectors and cheaters were tarred and feathered.

I nominate Paulson.  Who's with me!

Enough is Enough

With the presidential election just a few weeks from now, ask yourself the question that Ronald Reagan asked, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"  In this case it's eight years ago when Bush stole the White House from Al Gore.  The Republicans have had pretty much a free ride since 2001.  This does not excuse the Dems, who are just as much to blame for the state we are in as we head to November.

So, under Republican leadership we hae:

The stock market has collapsed

We are in a no-win war in Iraq

Afghanistan has fallen into a terrible mess

Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose

New Orleans is still in almost total disrepair

Dick Cheney tells us defecits don't matter 

Abu Ghraib

Jack Abramoff

$1.8 billion of Halliburton charges to the US government "disappeared"

Illegal wiretapping

Searches and seizures without warrants

Tom Delay

Alberto Gonzales

Valerie Plame

Guantanamo Bay

Is that enough?  And the weak kneed Dems have done nothin to stem the tide of corrupt ineffectual government.

McKeating and Palter

So the Alaska investigation into "Troopergate" has found that Sarah Palin violated state ethics law by trying to influence the firing of Trooper Mike Wooten. No need to go into the details here. If you are interested in how hubby Todd Palin was involved in the case you can certainly search the internet. And if you want to find out the involvement of John McCain into the Keating 5 case you can also find it on the internet.  And if you want to find out how McCain's wife Cindy continued involvement with Keating from 1987 to 1998 you can also find it on the internet.  

I think it is beyond simple politics when the McCain-Palin team makes a point of Barak Obama's name...Barak Hussein Obama.  HEY, this is America!  There is no excuse for this low life type of campaigning.  I, and hopefully most Americans, are offended by this.  This shows exactly the type of people McCain and Palin are, i.e. ruthless and unbending in their attempt to capture the White House.  It shows contempt for what America is, and the words written at the base of the Statue of Liberty.  If you want to know what those words are you can certainly look it up on the internet. I would hope that Americans pay attention to what type of administration McCain and Palin would bring to the Oval Office. 

Which brings up the Obama-Ayers connection.  Bill Ayers has admitted that he took part in some small scale bombing in protest of US involvement in Vietnam.  That was 40 years ago. Ayers and Obama were on an anti-poverty board in Chicago.  Ayers is today considered an education expert, thus his participation on the board.  The McCain-Palin team has linked the board participation and the bombings in a misleading and deceitful way.  Obama associates with terrorists is a LIE.  First of all, when these "terrorist" acitivities took place Obama was, are you ready, EIGHT YEARS OLD.  But obviously the McCain-Palin team has used their association to imply that Obama is a terrorist.  Barak Hussein Obama is a terrorist.  Shameful tactics.  They have nothing substantial to bring to voters, so they use these lies to attack the other candidate.  

It will be intersting to watch the spin on "Troopergate."  BTW, the McCain-Palin team tried to delay the announcement out of Alaska until after the election.  Is anyone surprised?

Main Street or Wall Street?

The "Bailout"

Hank Paulson says the Fed must pump more money into "the banks."  

Some points to consider:

(1) Goldman Sachs gives Hank Paulson seven hundred million dollars (that's seven zero zero comma zero zero zero comma zero zero zero) in salary and bonuses.

(2) Goldman Sachs lends Hank Paulson to the Treasury (now that he can afford to be a public servant).

(3) As the Secretary of the Treasury, Paulson insists that we give Goldman Sachs a lot of money, in exchange for a lot of crap. (If not, we all die.)

(4) Except it's not Hank Paulson's money, it's ours.

(5) If the crap turns out to be crap, we're stuck with it. (And by the way: if it's not crap, why are they so desperate to unload it?)

(6) In four months, Paulson returns to Goldman Sachs.

(7) Paulson receives salary and bonuses from the money we just gave to Paulson to give to Goldman Sachs to give to Paulson.

(8) It's our money. Or was. But we don't get preferred shares. We don't get a ten percent dividend. We don't even get a free copy of The Warren Buffet Way: Second Edition (Paperback). We get crap.

Amazing stuff.  They would like you to think this is "Main Street" and not Wall Street.  How dumb do they think we are?