Power Shopping Palin!

I would guess that we all know by now that the Republican Party, the party that promises to stop the excesses in Washington, spent $150,000 in 2 months on clothes, hair styling and accessories for Sarah Palin and her family from such "joe six-pack" and "joe the plumber" stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Nieman Marcus.

Who knew that being a hockey mom could be this expensive!

Lois Brown is just Not Worth the Risk!

I first began blogging about Lois Brown in February 2007 as Lois contested Kirk West for the Conservative party nomination for the federal riding of Newmarket/Aurora. Originally my impetus for blogging was that, in my opinion, Kirk West represented a young man who was chock full of great and very innovative ideas on how to serve riding constituents and as such was light years ahead of anything that Lois offered. His campaign slogan of "Not The Same Old Same Old" said it all! On the other hand, it was readily apparent, even to the casual observer, that Lois Brown was devoid of any original or innovative ideas. Lois' concept of an original thought was the robotic repetition of the Conservative mantra of the day. Quite okay if you're sucking up to leadership, but not nearly enough to break down the walls of a traditional and historic Liberal stronghold.

As the nomination race "heated-up" a number of bloggers began leaving comments in response to my posts alleging various improprieties and possible wrongdoings by Lois, all of which were corroborated, and then published on my blog. It is very important to stress that not once did Lois Brown challenge or respond in any way to these very serious allegations.

Rather than turning this into a very lengthy post, I would urge you to visit my archives starting with my first Lois Brown on Feb 10/07. Here are a few highlights;

• a comment was left by a blogger accusing Lois and the former Alliance party riding association of improprieties and possible wrong-doings in the actual voting process during the vote which nominated Lois as the Alliance candidate. As well the final vote count was never announced nor has it ever been made public. Lois has never responded nor commented on this allegation.
• during her 2007 nomination campaign, Lois' old web site stated that she was endorsed by Frank Klees. One blogger posted that Frank Klees was not endorsing either Lois or Kirk. Another blogger challenged Lois to produce evidence of Frank Klee's endorsement which she never did. A third blogger stated that Frank Klees had fired Lois while she was working for him. Lois has never responded nor commented on the supposed endorsement.
• allegations surfaced in her 2007 nomination campaign that Lois was given preferential access to the Conservative party riding membership list by the executive of the riding association supposedly to "renew lapsed memberships." Kirk West was never asked to help in resigning lapsed members at that time. Lois had the membership list for at least 5 months prior to the nomination vote, making trips to Ottawa to deliver signed members, while Kirk received his copy with just weeks left before the vote. Lois has never responded to this allegation, nor has the executive of the riding association.
• on the night of the nomination vote Lois Brown's people felt it ethical to plaster all four walls of the auditorium with her campaign material, in addition to covering the backrests of every single chair. It was only after Kirk West arrived and initially was unable to display his material, that someone instructed Lois' people that they were only entitled to use 2 walls only. The bottom line was that enough space was cleared for Kirk to display one sign and leave a synopsis of his vision for the riding on most of the chairs.
• On the night of the nomination vote, Stephen Somerville then the president of the riding association, in his opening remarks openly endorsed Lois from the podium prior to the candidates speeches and before the vote. Two Questions .... is this legal and ethical? Secondly .... why Stephen?

Personally, the most interesting aspect of this entire fiasco is that somewhere along the way, some nitwit or a collection of nitwits within the Lois Brown campaign ... maybe Lois Brown herself apparently began to feel uncomfortable with my blogs .... and suddenly the accusation was made that I ...Robert Otto was not Robert Otto at all. These matrons of the logically challenged suddenly deduced that Robert Otto was Kirk West.

They had arrived at their conclusion because, after scrutinizing the membership list(s), and telephone directories they were unable to find a listing for Robert Otto. Obviously it had never occurred to them that I might not be a registered member of the Conservative party (which I'm not) or that I could have an unlisted telephone.

Rather than Lois Brown confronting me directly to challenge and repudiate my allegations Lois' people began to send me juvenile emails asking .... "that I reveal myself because I could be easily working for Belinda Stronach" ... that "I'm hiding in the shadows and suffering from a small man complex" ... and that "I should expose myself otherwise everything on my blog may as well be an urban legend" ... URBAN LEGEND ....oooooooh .......I like that!

It is also my understanding from several sources that apparently sometime after Lois Brown defeated Kirk West she asked for a meeting with Kirk to discuss the Robert Otto blogs. She was still firmly convinced that Kirk was me. Apparently Lois and a number of her disciples grilled Kirk at a coffee shop...... HATS OFF TO KIRK FOR EVEN ATTENDING THAT MEETING. PERSONALLY I WOULD HAVE TOLD LOIS TO TAKE A FLYING FADOO. But that's just me ...I'm plain Cantankerous.

I also understand that Kirk has now been in effect blackballed from the party by Lois Brown.

LOIS ........ENOUGH IS FINALLY ENOUGH !!!!!!!!!!

I will not stand by any longer as you run rough-shod over other people with your Gestapo-like tactics. Kirk West has never done one single solitary thing to harm you. As a matter of fact he even went so far as to step aside when you asked him to so that you could lose to Belinda Stronach in the last election. Did he also not campaign for you????? You should be ashamed of yourself if only you knew how.

You have impugned the integrity and reputation of a fine young man. Kirk deserves a public apology from you and from all of the others who participated in defaming him.

LOIS I challenge you to meet me ..... Robert Otto ...Not KIRK WEST. We will meet in the same coffee shop and you can bring as many people as you wish. I will bring two members of the press because quite frankly I can't trust you to tell the truth after the meeting is over. I will answer all of your questions and you will answer all of my allegations. Once were done you can make the trip to Kirk West's house and apologize.

LOIS .... MY NAME IS ROBERT OTTO ..... AND YOU'RE 15 SECONDS OF FAME ARE UP!!!!

Just email me with your contact information and I will be there.

The Bail-Out of Wall Street Will Not Bail-Out Main Street!

The claims by Bernanke (Fed) and Paulson (Treasury) that the best way to open-up the credit markets is to recapitalize financial institutions through buying-up their toxic waste has absolutely no basis in fact.

This method of recapitalization is a total rip-off of Americans ... pure and simple! All this plan does is to provide a massive bail-out of the common and preferred shareholders and unsecured creditors of banks and other financial institutions and will do very little to open credit markets. Because at the end of the day, even assuming that all of the toxic waste has been snapped-up by your tax dollars, a large number of banks will still remain under capitalized, as they have been since 2007.

Also, it does nothing to resolve the severe stress in money markets and interbank markets which are now on the edge of a systematic meltdown. It does little to resolve the debt burden of millions of distressed homeowners, and the cost of borrowing $700billion to Americans will go right through the roof.

Paulson's Plan is a total and unmitigated disgrace. If its intent was to Bail-Out Main Street instead of the gypsies, tramps and thieves on Wall Street, then why have we not seen simple, yet cost-effective strategies, such as;

• public injection of preferred shares into distressed financial institutions.
• the mandated matching of capital by current shareholders to ensure that shareholders take the first loss. Why should non-investors be on the hook for reckless behaviour. They haven't speculated nor invested money so why should they now have to cover investor losses. Doesn't sound like a free market economy to me.
• suspension of all dividend payments.
• conversion of some of the unsecured debt into equity via a debt for equity swap.

In this way shareholders and creditors are forced to contribute to the recapitalization of affected financial institutions, and now, the $700billion bailout becomes a $350billion taxpayer bailout with only 50% used to buy toxic assets with the other 50% taking the form of public capital injection.

It is absolutely pathetic that the only financial strategy which Congress is looking at is Paulson's and Bernanke's Plan. Unless both are the world's foremost financial minds, Congress should also be seeking the advice of world-class economists and financial experts on behalf of the American people, to evaluate alternative plans which could possibly be more efficient and less costly in resolving this huge crisis.

In my opinion, the bottom-line on the bail-out package, as it currently stands, will privilege the gains and socialize the losses!

Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place of their Own Making.

This is where the U.S. government sits tonight. Whichever way Congress moves on the bail-out or as the spinmeisters are now labeling it ...the rescue package ... the fools on capitol hill will be facing their constituents in a no-win situation.

If they adopt the bail-out package, Congress will be accused of bailing out the Wall street psychopaths and sociopaths while sticking the American public with yet another Ponzi-scheme from the bankers.

If they don't adopt the plan and the credit markets freeze, sending the U.S. economy down the tubes, they will be blamed for that as well.

The fact of the matter is that Congress deserves its ultimate destiny. These pompous, self-serving, do-nothing, fat-cats sat on their collective butts and allowed this financial mess to happen. All of this mess could have been so easily avoided if THEY HAD DONE THEIR JOBS. If they had actually cared one iota about the American public whom they were elected to serve and not destroy!

Even the slightest amount of regulation and oversight could have prevented all of this. But no, the cowboys on the Hill completely and effectively deregulated Wall street allowing all of the corporate gypsies, tramps and thieves to excess America to death.

Tonight the Congress, Bush, Bernanke, Paulson, et al; continue their charades and theatrics. On the one hand Bush, Bernanke and Paulson are stating that a financial Armageddon will happen if the bail-out isn't approved.

On the other hand Congress appears to be balking. They claim that they need more time to deliberate the the implications and ponder alternative plans and modify the current proposal to make it more palatable to voters.

Forget about making your "solutions" more palatable to American's!!!!

Grow a back-bone and do what's right!!!! Quit rolling-over like little puppies every time some financial scum-bag or lobbyist offers you a bone!

If American's are left "holding the bag" for a mess which they didn't create, then every incumbant in Washington should be fired (voted out of office) because they did not do their job and as a result placed every single American in harms way.

Obama and McCain are right. Washington does need a change ... and that change should begin by giving every single politician their walking papers.

Palin Will Not file her Ethics Reports untill After the Palin-Biden Debate.

Sarah Palin received a 4 day extension on her federal financial disclosure report. Now her report will be due by Oct. 03/08, with the Federal Election Commission also stating that Palin could extend the due date even further - to Oct 06/08 if she requested still more time.

Trevor Potter, general counsel for the McCain-Palin campaign, told the Federal Election Commission that the campaign thought that it had until Oct 04/08.

Presidential, vice-presidential and congressional candidates must all file ethics reports outlining their assets and liabilities. That includes income, investment properties, stocks and debt.

As of now, Palin intends to release her disclosure report on the day AFTER her debate with Joe Biden in St. Louis. Hmmmmm!

Riddle me this Batman .... if John McCain filed his ethics reports before the deadline, then how on God's green earth could their be any confusion at all as to the due date of Palin's report?

Presumably Palin has a battery of accountants, lawyers etc., to complete these documents and ensure that they are submitted on time. It's not as though Sarah is sequestered in a log cabin somewhere in Alaska filling out these reports by the light of a kerosene lamp.

So my question is a very simple one. Is the Republican campaign so incompetent that they become confused by due dates, or is there more to this story than meets the eye? Stay tuned!

Just a thought .... if Sarah Palin and her people are incapable of submitting one single report to the American people on time because of apparent confusion by something as simple as a due date, then why would Sarah feel that she could help run an entire country without becoming confused?

U.S. Election Junk Talk #2: from the Candidates, their Spin-Meisters and Hangers-On.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE said:

"Sarah Palin got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS:

In the 1996 mayoral election Palin garnered a total of 616 votes. In her 1999 re-election race she received 909 votes. My abacus tells me that over 2 elections Palin received 1,525 votes.

As you will recall Joe Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but still received 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

Palin with 909 votes ....... Biden with 76,165 votes ........ hmmmmmm!

CONCLUSION: Either he told one "doozie" of a lie, or poor Gov. Mike is severely mathematically challenged. I would hope that it was the latter!

U.S. Election Junk Talk #1: from the Candidates, their Spin-Meisters and Hangers-On.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY said:

"We need change all right - change from a LIBERAL Washington to a CONSERVATIVE Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington. Throw out the big government LIBERALS, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: Newsflash Mitt - George "Wuh" IS A CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN who has been president for almost 8 years, and those "looney Democrats" have only been in charge of the House and Senate since January 2007.

Question: So who exactly are those big government Liberals you want run out of Dodge?

Sorry ... you are the winner of the first annual TWITT Romney Award!