Layton's and Ignatieff's Expenses Are Too Expensive!

If one wants to know how each of our 3 leaders will handle the finances of the country, one does not have to look any further than how they handle their own expenses as Members of Parliament.

For the most recent 12 month on-line report on MP's expenses (excluding salaries) here is a sample:

Jack Layton $628,913
Michael Ignatieff $570,984
Prime Minister Harper $281,255

Just think how much Mr. Layton and Mr. Ignatieff would suck from the puiblic coffers should they become Prime Minister!

By the way, Mr. Layton's wife, Olivia Chow dinged the taxpayers for $530,304. Combined, Jack and Olivia managed to take over $1,000,000 in expenses over a 12 month period from the public purse ... not bad for 2 socialists!

Perhaps Sheila Fraser our Auditor General should legitimize these exhorbitant expenses.

Ignatieff, Layton and Gun Control

To Iggy and Jack ... our two gun registry amigos .... allow me pass on some facts ... which I'm sure will not put even the slightest of dents into their illogical thought process when it comes to long guns.

• In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


• Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


• Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and other peoples, who were unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


• China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


• Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


• Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


• Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1980 one million people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century, after gun control was enacted: 56,000,000

Switzerland issues every household a gun. Its government trains every adult on how to use it.

Switzerland has the lowest gun related crime rate of any civilized country in the world.

The real truth is that gun control laws and registeries adversely affect only - law abiding citizens.

The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.

Assault is a behaviour ... it is not caused by an inanimate object!

By the way, 64,986,987 firearms owners didn't kill anyone today!

Looks like Prime Minister Harper is correct once again!!

The DisUnited States of America and the State Sovereignty Movement.

There is a growing state-level resistance to the federal government.

Tennesse Governor Phil Bredesen signed House Joint Resolution 108 (HJR0108), authored by State Representative Susan Lynn urging "Congress to recognize Tennessee's sovereignty under the tenth amendment to the Constitution."

Alaska, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Louisiana have had both houses of their legislature pass similar resolutions - but Tennessee is the first to have had such a resolution signed by the Governor.

Similar 10th Amendment resolutions have been introduced in 36 states around the country, and various states are considering single-issue legislation in direct contravention to federal laws.

Arizona, for example, passed a measure for public approval on the 2010 state ballot that would give Arizona voters the opportunity to nullify, or opt out, of any potential national health care legislation.

Here is the final version of the Tennessee resolution:

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Consttution of the United States reads as follows: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"; and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

WHEREAS, today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

Whereas, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE

CONCURRING, that we hereby affirm Tennessee's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed by the Speaker of the House and of the Senate, which shall have as its charge to communicate the preceding resolution to the legislatures of the several states, to assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship and to call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of Tennessee's Congressional delegation.

As at the time of this post, 42 out of the 50 states have introduced, are introducing, or have passed individual state sovereignty resolutions under the tenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Should Washington D.C., Resident's Move To Iraq?

What the heck is the Cantankerous one talking about now? Well I think that you might find the following statistics to be interesting.

Over the past 22 months there have been 2,112 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.

Considering that during that same time period there have been an average of 160,000 troops on the ground, the firearm death rate works out to be 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

Meanwhile back in Washington DC, the firearm death rate was 81 per 100,000 residents for the same time period.

The bottom-line is that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in Washington than you would be in Iraq!

Interesting when you consider that Washington has some of the strictest gun control laws in the U.S.

Premier McGuinty should be Ashamed of Himself ... but then again He's a Politician!

Here we go again ... another government scandal .... another cabinet shuffle ... some more platitudinal damage control .... some more media frenzy ... and after the passage of time all of this is forgotten and life goes on at the public trough for the "porkers" at Queen's Park.

There's no point in re-hashing or re-analyzing the misadventures of now former Health Minister David Caplan, who can be likened to a man riding backward in a carriage, never seeing a thing until it has passed him by.

It is more than fair to say that he is a man of dubious judgement who presided over a ministry run amok with unconscionable indulgence during a time of historic economic turbulence in our country.

On his watch at least $16 million dollars were doled-out in untendered eHealth contracts. And let's not forget that under his watch David Caplan presided over the insider wins fiasco at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

What was Dalton McGuinty thinking when he appointed Mr. Caplan as Health Minister?

My problem in all of this is not David Caplan for he delivered just about what you would expect from an incompetant minister. My problem is with Dalton McGuinty himself.

In politics there is one simple rule .... it isn't whether you win or lose but how you place the blame and Mr. McGuinty fired the first salvo in the "blame game" by stating that this is not a "new problem" but something which stretches back 10 years to the the time when the Conservatives were running the Province. Interesting comment.

Let's assume that what Mr. McGuinty says is true. The Liberals came to power in 2003 so by logical extension Dalton McGuinty has had 6 years to clean-up what he himself acknowledges to be an untoward system.

What has he done other than a "song and dance" as Mr. Caplan fell on his own sword. I can not help but to call into question Mr. McGuinty's character and decision making capabilities in light of the current fiasco and all of his broken promises since being elected.

Mr. McGuinty should be ashamed of himself, but then again he's a politician, a profession which tends to ruin one's character!

By the way, this past summer, Mr. McGuinty stated that the buck stopped with him for shoddy oversight.

Well Dalton, apparently the buck didn't stop with you, it simply found its way into the pockets of consultants.

Common Sense - Rest In Peace

The following is an Obituary that was printed in the London Times ..... sadly rather true!

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common sense lived by simple, sound financial policies of don't spend more than you can earn and reliable strategies such as adults, not children, are in charge.

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

Common Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a women failed to grasp the concept that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

I Know My Rights

I Want It Now

Someone Else Is To Blame

I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized that he was gone. If you still remember him, tell your friends about Common Sense. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

How's This as a Stimulation Package?

Like the rest of you I have been closely following the Obama Team's proposed solutions for America's economic woes. And like many of you I'm not so sure that the Stimulous Package will accomplish President Obama's goals.

If the Cantankerous Conservative was the President of the United States, here is what my stimulous package would look like:

(1) I would take all 1000+ pages of the current package and recycle them into something more useful.

(2) I would suspend ALL Federal personal income taxes for the next 12 months ... period ... end of story.

(3) For those folks who do not pay Federal personal income taxes I would give them a subsidy from the TARP funds. Better that Main street receives a bailout than the psychopaths in suits that slither around on Wall Street.

(4) Suspending all personal taxes would cost the same trillion dollars as the stimulous package is going to cost.

(5) The government would save boatloads of cash by not having to hire teams of bureaucrats to monitor and ensure that bailout funds are not spent on pork, earmarks or find their way into the pockets of those who seem to always profit from a crisis. Is this transparency or what?

(6) The government would not have to go to the Fed and Treasury to crank up the presses to print money which America does not have and which will only devalue the greenback and contribute to inflation.

(7) The interest which the government would save on borrowing an additional trillion dollars to float President Obama's Stimulous Package could be directed right back into infrastructure and job creation projects.

(8) Best of all .... every American will now have some serious cash which will then be injected into the economy in one form or another.

Is this all too simple? Sometimes simple is all that you need!

PS: My stimulation package is less than one page in length.

Oh Oh Canada!

Bank of Canada governor Mike Carney feels that Canada's "economy is in good shape to weather a global recession." Well, let's look at some of the facts!

• Canada's S&P/TSX composite has tumbled 22% since June, and in the U.S. the DOW has been falling for a year declining more than 25% so far.
• Ordinary Canadian's rely heavily on the spending of ordinary American's to prop up our economy, with 76% of Canada's exports flowing to the U.S. in 2007.
• Every 1% decline in cross-border trade with the U.S. pulls about $3.5 billion out of Canada's economy. Spending by Americans declined this summer - the first time that has happened since 1991.
• Already manufacturers in Ontario and Quebec are hurting from the slowdown.
• Forestry firms in the West are hurting from the slowdown.
• Economists Douglas Porter at BMO Nesbitt Burns and Benjamin Tal at CIBC World Markets have warned seperately that a deep U.S. recession will drag down Canadian real estate prices.
• Nouriel Roubini, a professor of economics at New York University, in a note to his clients this past Monday, stated that "we are in a generalized panic mode, and back to the risk of a systematic meltdown of the entire financial system."
• Already banks around the world have written off more than US$350 billion in bad loans and Roubini projects that number could rise as high as US$1.5 trillion.
• Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital in Connecticut predicts that the current financial crisis will be worse than anything we've faced in our lifetimes. He describes a depression so severe that it would forge a "new economic order", with sharply higher interest rates, a weaker American dollar, surging prices and shortages of consumer basics.
• Canada's GDP will shrink at a 0.4% annualized pace this quarter compared to a July prediction of 1.8% growth. There is very little or absolutely no expansion predicted in the first quarter of 2009.
• In Toronto, at 10:42am on Oct 23/08 the Canadian dollar weakened to C$1.257U.S. Earlier the currency dropped as much as 1.6%.
• Falling prices for crude oil.
• Tighter consumer lending.
• The gap between the yield on 1 month commercial paper and BOC's key rate was 55 basis points on Oct 22/08 down from a peak of 78 basis points on Oct 03/08.
• BOC's projection for 2009 consumer spending growth has been revised from 2.3% (July/08 forecast) to 1.5%.
• Business investment will decline 0.2% next year instead of growing 0.5% as predicted in July/08.
• Total inflation increased 3.3% in Sept./08 from a year earlier.
• The inflation rate was 3.5% in August/08, the fastest in more than 5 years.

Don't automatically drink the Bank of Canada's and Ottawa's Kool-Aid! Become informed ...get the real story yourself and then take whatever action you can to protect yourselves and your families as best you can!

Pay particular attention to the so called "Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Deathstar." There is a wealth of good information available on this impending financial Armageddon.

Bank of Canada Babble.

This past Tuesday, Bank of Canada governor Mike Carney, made the statement that "the economy is in good shape to weather a global recession, although growth will be anemic for the next six months."

What a breathtaking statement to make, when in fact a steadily increasing number of the world's most knowledgeable financial analysts and economists are making a solid case for a total world-wide economic meltdown and collapse. This is a far cry from a recession!

What insight, based on the present and anticipated continuing future financial crises, does Mr. Carney have that would lead him to be speaking in terms of a recession rather than a full-blown depression?

I would argue that Canada's economy will not be strong enough to weather the coming "perfect financial storm." I will address this in my next series of posts.

Perhaps Mr. Carney would care to let us know just how Canada will survive the anticipated imminent implosion of what, in investment circles, is now being dubbed as "The Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Deathstar" which when it blows, its toxicity will send every major economy into the abyss.

By the way, prior to Mr. Carney's appointment, he had a 13 year career with Goldman Sachs (remember them) eventually becoming a Managing Director of the firm.

I, for one, am not drinking any of Mr. Carney's Kool-Aid anytime soon!

The Presidential Campaign Clothes Wars.

Just some trivia for your next water cooler conversation ...

• Sarah Palin wore a $2,500 Valentino jacket at the Repub Convention.
• Barack Obama wears Hart Schaffner Marx suits that retail for about $1,500.
• John McCain consistently wears $520 Salvatore Ferragamo loafers.
• Cindy McCain wore an outfit estimated to cost $313,100 including diamond earrings and pearl necklace.
• 2007 Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards paid for two $400 haircuts.

Is there a point to this post? No not really ... I just found this trivia interesting in a National Inquirer sort of way.

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!

John McCain's McLying Game

Oh John, John, John ... you little maverick you! Big talk about wanting to be the new sheriff in town who has come to clean-up wild, wild Washington! Well giddy-up pardner!

It seems as though Sheriff John McCain, with his ten gallon hat and eleven gallon head, is not much different than the rest of those bad boys in Washington.

McCain started his campaign expressing his hope that the presidential campaign would not become sleazy. Well "holy talking out of the both sides of your mouth Batman." In fact, McCain's lies have traveled the full spectrum from annoying to the sleazy. Even the New York Times editorial board are calling John McCain a liar!

Let's check out some of the things which Sheriff McCain has said;

• 38 million American's heard Obama say in his speech at the Democratic National Convention that he was open to off-shore oil-drilling and the building of new nuclear-power plants. Then McCain in his own acceptance speech said that Obama was opposed to both of these potential options. Perhaps not a lie and just a senior moment.
• McCain is big on talking about supporting and protecting American workers. Yet Sheriff McCain supported the foreign buyout of an American company in Wilmington, Ohio which led to the loss of thousands of jobs.
• McCain says that Obama favors a government-run health-care system ... another lie! In fact Obama wants a market-based system subsidized by the government whereby there would be increased government regulation of the drug and insurance industries.
• McCain really turned sleazy when he ran a television ad claiming that Obama favored "comprehensive" sex education for kindergartners. In fact Obama favored a bill that would have warned kindergartners about sexual predators and improper touching. A big difference wouldn't you say?
• Obama, in talking about McCain's effort to remarket his economic policies, said that it was like putting "lipstick on a pig" McCain then accussed Obama of referring to Sara Palin. My personal opinion is that if the lipstick fits ..........couldn't resist that cheap shot.
• McCain is accussing the "elite media" for spreading rumors about Palin's personal life. In fact Palin rumors are originating in the blogosphere and the tabloid press.
• McCain has been contrasting his ALLEGED FOREIGN POLICY EXPERTISE and toughness with Obama's inexperience and alleged weakness. McCain wants to "win" the Iraq war and face down the Iranians. Then a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. The Iraqis said that they favored Obama's withdrawal plan, and surprise of surprises, Bush and the Boys started talking to the Iranians. So what does McCain do? He questions Obama's patriotism. saying that Obama would rather lose a war than lose the presidential election. HuH???
• When the financial crisis blew-up in America's face this week, Sheriff McCain in all of his sartotial splendor and righteous indignation promised, that when he went to Washington as president, he would clean-up all of the gypsies, tramps and thieves on Wall Street through stringent government over-sight and increased regulations. The trouble is that over the years Sheriff McCain has been one of the biggest proponents of deregulating Wall Street. In fact, John McCain was an effective gog in the wheel which set the financial deregulation table in the first place so that the Wall Street psychopaths in their Armani suits could dine like kings ... only this week they are dining-out on the taxpayers tab!

These are but a few examples. John McCain's campaign has been a never ending series of demeaning ads and a daily dose of widely documented and exposed McLies! This from a man who claimed that this was the type of election campaign which he did not want to run in the first place.

In my opinion, John McCain has raised serious questions about whether he has the character needed to lead America out of its current difficulties and challenges.

When a military "hero" is prepared to lie and to wallow in the mud in order to become president, he is not the principled maverick which he claims to be, but rather just another part of the sorry, self-serving Washington crowd which he claims not to be a part of. And that is probably the biggest McLie of all!

Putting on a Brave Face but the FDIC is Quaking in its Boots!

I watched Sandra Thompson from the FDIC on CNN this morning assuring viewers that their deposits of up to $100,000 are "safe and sound" because they are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Well folks, here are the straight goods!

In actual fact, the FDIC has only ONE-CENT in reserves for every dollar that it is responsible for ... ONE PENNY ON THE DOLLAR! As of today, the FDIC is responsible for insuring $8.6 TRILLION DOLLARS OF YOUR MONEY! You do the math.

The FDIC lacks the capital to fully insure your money. If the banking system continues to crumble, the U.S. government will be forced to BAIL-OUT the FDIC with funds which the government DOES NOT HAVE!

They will have to create more debt by printing and selling more bonds to meet the demand, which will then become the obligation of American taxpayers. My gosh, what a surprise!

Since these bonds will be immediately monetized they will be highly inflationary.

The possibility of Washington Mutual (WaMu) joining the ranks of the bankrupt has the FDIC quaking in its boots. With WaMu being the nation's largest savings and loan, a bankruptcy puts $310 billion in assets at risk, making the FDIC liable for stepping up to the plate. The question is, will they even have a bat?

Ron Paul says No to John McCain!

Ron Paul has rejected John McCain's appeal for his endorsement.

Paul said; "the idea was that he (McCain) would do less harm than the other candidate."

I must say that John McCain missed a golden opportunity to hold his tongue!