16
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17
3DHS / That LA Times Tape Story Sure Has Dried Up
« on: October 29, 2008, 04:45:31 PM »
Gosh, what happened Rich?
I didn't watch and FOX AND FRIENDS this morning but were they EVEN STILL pushing it?
I suppose if they weren't they heard that McCain was a really good buddy of McCain's and just dropped it.
I'm glad that Obama campaign guy put that stupid Megan Kelly in her place. That was really sweet.
I didn't watch and FOX AND FRIENDS this morning but were they EVEN STILL pushing it?
I suppose if they weren't they heard that McCain was a really good buddy of McCain's and just dropped it.
I'm glad that Obama campaign guy put that stupid Megan Kelly in her place. That was really sweet.
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19
3DHS / 'Good Samaritan' saves crying woman's foreclosed home
« on: October 28, 2008, 07:30:12 PM »
'Good Samaritan' saves crying woman's foreclosed home
(CNN) -- Tracy Orr sat in the back of the room and prepared to watch her foreclosed home go up for auction this past Saturday. That's when a pesky stranger sat down beside her and struck up a conversation.
"Are you here to buy a house?" Marilyn Mock said.
Orr couldn't hold it in. The tears flowed. She pointed to the auction brochure at a home that didn't have a picture. "That's my house," she said.
Within moments, the four-bedroom, two-bath home in Pottsboro, Texas, went up for sale. People up front began casting their bids. The home that Orr purchased in September 2004 was slipping away.
She stood and moved toward the crowd. Behind her, Mock got into the action.
"She didn't know I was doing it," Mock says. "I just kept asking her if [her home] was worth it, and she just kept crying. She probably thought I was crazy, 'Why does this woman keep asking me that?' "
Mock says she bought the home for about $30,000. That's when Mock did what most bidders at a foreclosure auction never do. VideoWatch why a woman would buy back a stranger's home »
"She said, 'I did this for you. I'm doing this for you,' " Orr says. "When it was all done, I was just in shock."
"I thought maybe her and her husband do these types of things to buy them and turn them. She said, 'No, you just look like you needed a friend.' "
"All this happened within like 5 minutes. She never even asked me my name. She didn't ask me my financial situation. She had no idea what [the house] looked like. She just did it out of the graciousness of her heart, just a 'Good Samaritan,' " Orr says. "It's amazing."
Orr says she had taken out a mortgage of $80,000 in 2004 when she first bought the home. At the time, she says she worked for the U.S. Postal Service. But she lost her job a month after taking out the loan when she says the Post Office fired her over a DWI while off-duty. She says a wrongful termination lawsuit is pending.
Without a job, she fell behind on her home payments. She sold some property in 2006 for $12,000 and paid it to the mortgage company, thinking she had done enough to save herself from foreclosure -- but to no avail, she says.
"It's just been a bad deal," says Orr, who now works at All Saints Camp and Conference Center, a Christian group with ties to the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, Texas.
With the foreclosure auction approaching, she planned to make the nearly 80-mile drive to Dallas this past Saturday with an investor friend. But she says he ditched her at the last-minute. She went to the auction with her family, and suddenly found herself in the back with Mock.
"I always talk to everyone around me," Mock says. "I mean you can always find out all kinds of interesting things when you talk to people around you. So I just asked her, 'Are you here to buy a house?' "
Mock, who is known as the "Rock Lady" for her small business selling flagstone and other rocks in Rockwall, Texas, says she went to the auction with her 27-year-old son to help him buy his first home. He bought his home, and soon afterward Mock came across Orr.
Mock says she's using one of her business dump trucks as collateral for the $30,000 sale price. "I can't afford to just give [the house] to her," she says.
As for Orr's payments, Mock says, "We'll just figure out however much she can pay on it. That way, she can have her house back."
Why be so generous?
"She was just so sad. You put yourself in their situation and you realize you just got to do something," says Mock, who says she has trouble walking by homeless people on the street and not helping them out.
"If it was you, you'd want somebody to stop and help you."
When she told her husband of 30 years that she'd just bought a home for a stranger, she says his reaction was: "Whatever."
"He's used to it," she says with a booming laugh.
Mock says she's excited for another reason too. Orr's house is located near a Texas fishing hot-spot. "She says I can come up there and fish, and I love to fish!"
Orr, who nearly lost her home, says her newfound friend has "given me back faith and hope to keep going and hold my head up."
"Things happen for a reason," Orr says.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/10/28/foreclosed.home/index.html
(CNN) -- Tracy Orr sat in the back of the room and prepared to watch her foreclosed home go up for auction this past Saturday. That's when a pesky stranger sat down beside her and struck up a conversation.
"Are you here to buy a house?" Marilyn Mock said.
Orr couldn't hold it in. The tears flowed. She pointed to the auction brochure at a home that didn't have a picture. "That's my house," she said.
Within moments, the four-bedroom, two-bath home in Pottsboro, Texas, went up for sale. People up front began casting their bids. The home that Orr purchased in September 2004 was slipping away.
She stood and moved toward the crowd. Behind her, Mock got into the action.
"She didn't know I was doing it," Mock says. "I just kept asking her if [her home] was worth it, and she just kept crying. She probably thought I was crazy, 'Why does this woman keep asking me that?' "
Mock says she bought the home for about $30,000. That's when Mock did what most bidders at a foreclosure auction never do. VideoWatch why a woman would buy back a stranger's home »
"She said, 'I did this for you. I'm doing this for you,' " Orr says. "When it was all done, I was just in shock."
"I thought maybe her and her husband do these types of things to buy them and turn them. She said, 'No, you just look like you needed a friend.' "
"All this happened within like 5 minutes. She never even asked me my name. She didn't ask me my financial situation. She had no idea what [the house] looked like. She just did it out of the graciousness of her heart, just a 'Good Samaritan,' " Orr says. "It's amazing."
Orr says she had taken out a mortgage of $80,000 in 2004 when she first bought the home. At the time, she says she worked for the U.S. Postal Service. But she lost her job a month after taking out the loan when she says the Post Office fired her over a DWI while off-duty. She says a wrongful termination lawsuit is pending.
Without a job, she fell behind on her home payments. She sold some property in 2006 for $12,000 and paid it to the mortgage company, thinking she had done enough to save herself from foreclosure -- but to no avail, she says.
"It's just been a bad deal," says Orr, who now works at All Saints Camp and Conference Center, a Christian group with ties to the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, Texas.
With the foreclosure auction approaching, she planned to make the nearly 80-mile drive to Dallas this past Saturday with an investor friend. But she says he ditched her at the last-minute. She went to the auction with her family, and suddenly found herself in the back with Mock.
"I always talk to everyone around me," Mock says. "I mean you can always find out all kinds of interesting things when you talk to people around you. So I just asked her, 'Are you here to buy a house?' "
Mock, who is known as the "Rock Lady" for her small business selling flagstone and other rocks in Rockwall, Texas, says she went to the auction with her 27-year-old son to help him buy his first home. He bought his home, and soon afterward Mock came across Orr.
Mock says she's using one of her business dump trucks as collateral for the $30,000 sale price. "I can't afford to just give [the house] to her," she says.
As for Orr's payments, Mock says, "We'll just figure out however much she can pay on it. That way, she can have her house back."
Why be so generous?
"She was just so sad. You put yourself in their situation and you realize you just got to do something," says Mock, who says she has trouble walking by homeless people on the street and not helping them out.
"If it was you, you'd want somebody to stop and help you."
When she told her husband of 30 years that she'd just bought a home for a stranger, she says his reaction was: "Whatever."
"He's used to it," she says with a booming laugh.
Mock says she's excited for another reason too. Orr's house is located near a Texas fishing hot-spot. "She says I can come up there and fish, and I love to fish!"
Orr, who nearly lost her home, says her newfound friend has "given me back faith and hope to keep going and hold my head up."
"Things happen for a reason," Orr says.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/10/28/foreclosed.home/index.html
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Sports / How 'Bout Them TITANS?
« on: October 28, 2008, 07:13:13 PM »
What a great game last night on Monday Night Football!
GO TITANS!!!!
YES WE CAN!
GO TITANS!!!!
YES WE CAN!
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3DHS / More Inspiraton From Obama, More Disappointment From McCain's
« on: October 28, 2008, 06:49:14 PM »
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/28/13364/503/1011/644778
Most of you won't be able to bring yourself to clicking on this link for fear it might reduce your enemy to a human being status but if you can, it might warm your heart.
Most of you won't be able to bring yourself to clicking on this link for fear it might reduce your enemy to a human being status but if you can, it might warm your heart.
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3DHS / Just FYI To All 3DHS'ers
« on: October 28, 2008, 04:42:39 PM »
You really have no idea how stressed out and cantankerous and irritable I am every day, all day due to the election.
Personally, I can't wait till next Wednesday when we can go back to the low-level disdain.
Personally, I can't wait till next Wednesday when we can go back to the low-level disdain.
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3DHS / Yep, Palin Believes in "Shar[ing] The Wealth"
« on: October 28, 2008, 03:53:46 PM »
Wow, Sarah Palin is a god damned socialist. She once said, in an interview, a couple of months ago, (not seven+ years ago) very matter-of-factly that Alaskans share the wealth.
So, Obama's off-hand comments PROVE that he has socialist tendencies according to everyone on the right here, then that must mean that Palin is a socialist TOO! Right?!?!?
Bonus Quote of the Day
"We're set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs."
-- Gov. Sarah Palin, quoted by the New Yorker, a few weeks before she was nominated for vice president.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/10/28/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html
Link to the New Yorker article.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/10/28/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html
So, Obama's off-hand comments PROVE that he has socialist tendencies according to everyone on the right here, then that must mean that Palin is a socialist TOO! Right?!?!?
Bonus Quote of the Day
"We're set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs."
-- Gov. Sarah Palin, quoted by the New Yorker, a few weeks before she was nominated for vice president.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/10/28/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html
Link to the New Yorker article.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/10/28/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html
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3DHS / if I hold on to hope, tomorrow will be brighter
« on: October 27, 2008, 07:23:38 PM »In this election, we cannot afford the same political games and tactics that are being used to pit us against one another and make us afraid of one another. The stakes are too high to divide us by class and region and background; by who we are or what we believe.
Because despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country. There is no city or town that is more pro-America than anywhere else – we are one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots. There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.
It won’t be easy, Ohio. It won’t be quick. But you and I know that it is time to come together and change this country. Some of you may be cynical and fed up with politics. A lot of you may be disappointed and even angry with your leaders. You have every right to be. But despite all of this, I ask of you what has been asked of Americans throughout our history.
I ask you to believe – not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.
I know this change is possible. Because I have seen it over the last twenty-one months. Because in this campaign, I have had the privilege to witness what is best in America.
I’ve seen it in lines of voters that stretched around schools and churches; in the young people who cast their ballot for the first time, and those not so young folks who got involved again after a very long time. I’ve seen it in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see their friends lose their jobs; in the neighbors who take a stranger in when the floodwaters rise; in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb. I’ve seen it in the faces of the men and women I’ve met at countless rallies and town halls across the country, men and women who speak of their struggles but also of their hopes and dreams.
I still remember the email that a woman named Robyn sent me after I met her in Ft. Lauderdale. Sometime after our event, her son nearly went into cardiac arrest, and was diagnosed with a heart condition that could only be treated with a procedure that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Her insurance company refused to pay, and their family just didn’t have that kind of money.
In her email, Robyn wrote, "I ask only this of you – on the days where you feel so tired you can’t think of uttering another word to the people, think of us. When those who oppose you have you down, reach deep and fight back harder."
Ohio, that’s what hope is – that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting around the bend; that insists there are better days ahead. If we’re willing to work for it. If we’re willing to shed our fears and our doubts. If we’re willing to reach deep down inside ourselves when we’re tired and come back fighting harder.
Hope! That’s what kept some of our parents and grandparents going when times were tough. What led them to say, "Maybe I can’t go to college, but if I save a little bit each week my child can; maybe I can’t have my own business but if I work really hard my child can open one of her own." It’s what led immigrants from distant lands to come to these shores against great odds and carve a new life for their families in America; what led those who couldn’t vote to march and organize and stand for freedom; that led them to cry out, "It may look dark tonight, but if I hold on to hope, tomorrow will be brighter."
That’s what this election is about. That is the choice we face right now.
Don’t believe for a second this election is over. Don’t think for a minute that power concedes. We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does.
In one week, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up.
In one week, we can choose to invest in health care for our families, and education for our kids, and renewable energy for our future.
In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo.
In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history.
That’s what’s at stake. That’s what we’re fighting for. And if in this last week, you will knock on some doors for me, and make some calls for me, and talk to your neighbors, and convince your friends; if you will stand with me, and fight with me, and give me your vote, then I promise you this – we will not just win Ohio, we will not just win this election, but together, we will change this country and we will change the world. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.
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3DHS / George Will Acknowledges US Is Actually Sort of Socialist Already
« on: October 27, 2008, 02:41:41 PM »
I don't know if anybody saw it or not but I was watching ABC on Sunday, This Week With Geo Stephonopolous and in the round table segment, there was a short discussion of "socialism" and, of all people, GEORGE WILL explained socialism in America in the exact same way that I have described it here in this forum.
I will continue to look for the transcript but he used the example of sugar subsidies and how though they are very low, we do support the sugar industry socially.
Also, he flat out stated the the US government has socialism for corporations.
I wish I could find the exact phrasing he used but I was totally taken aback.
And most of them concurred that what we've always acknowledged as "capitalism" in America is gone forever.
I will continue to look for the transcript but he used the example of sugar subsidies and how though they are very low, we do support the sugar industry socially.
Also, he flat out stated the the US government has socialism for corporations.
I wish I could find the exact phrasing he used but I was totally taken aback.
And most of them concurred that what we've always acknowledged as "capitalism" in America is gone forever.
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3DHS / OMG! PA McCain Campaign Fed Fake Maimed Girl Story
« on: October 24, 2008, 08:05:54 PM »
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/mccain-campaign-fed-hoax-racist-assault
Big news just hit the fan for McCain. I knew this was a bogus story when it came out that she refused medical treatment for her wounds. I've been through enough these last few years and know the pain would have been incredible and anyone of us would have begged for a doctor immediately. Well, it looks like the McCain campaign has their fingers all over this phony volunteer attack story and that's big trouble for him.
John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson." Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax...read on
This should hurt McCain severely. As FOX's Executive VP, John Moody said:
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.
For Pittsburgh, a city that has done so much to shape American history over the centuries, another moment of truth is at hand.
Bozell's operation ran with it and attacked the media. "Obama Supporter Maims McCain Volunteer, Will Media Care?"
Now I ask the question. Since McCain's camp was involved in trying to promote this race baiting attack story against Obama, will the media care? Let's hope so.
Big news just hit the fan for McCain. I knew this was a bogus story when it came out that she refused medical treatment for her wounds. I've been through enough these last few years and know the pain would have been incredible and anyone of us would have begged for a doctor immediately. Well, it looks like the McCain campaign has their fingers all over this phony volunteer attack story and that's big trouble for him.
John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson." Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax...read on
This should hurt McCain severely. As FOX's Executive VP, John Moody said:
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.
For Pittsburgh, a city that has done so much to shape American history over the centuries, another moment of truth is at hand.
Bozell's operation ran with it and attacked the media. "Obama Supporter Maims McCain Volunteer, Will Media Care?"
Now I ask the question. Since McCain's camp was involved in trying to promote this race baiting attack story against Obama, will the media care? Let's hope so.
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3DHS / Ayn Rand Would Be So Proud Of Where We Are Today
« on: October 24, 2008, 01:51:55 PM »
Greenspan Follies: The World Is as Ayn Rand Would Have Predicted
user-pic
By Dean Baker - October 23, 2008, 6:52PM
Alan Greenspan has finally acknowledged that he may have made some mistakes in allowing an $8 trillion housing bubble to grow unchecked. (Look for rivers flowing upstream.)
This modest act of contrition should be welcomed, but analysts have been far too quick to describe Greenspan as a prisoner of his free market ideology and the current crisis as a story of the free market running wild. This is far too generous a description of Greenspan and the current economic situation.
First, insofar as Greenspan acted (or didn't act) out of ignorance of the true situation, it was because he was ignoring Ayn Rand, not because he was following her.
Let's set the stage. Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and the rest of the big banks are run by hotshot Ivy League business school types. These are bright, hard working ambitious people who want to make lots and lots of money.
The executives at these banks are sitting on enormous piles of money that they can get access to as a result of being at these huge banks. The hotshot executives know that they can get huge bonuses by taking risky gambles with the banks' money.
The executives can make bets, that if they pay off, will get them tens of millions a year in bonuses and other compensation. Of course, if they lose they can bring down the house, meaning that they bankrupt Bear Stearns, Lehman, etc.
What would Ayn Rand expect to happen? On the one hand we have the hot shot executives, on the other hand the schmucks who own stock in these banks. Would Ayn Rand expect that the executives would put aside their ambition, their lust for success, their greed, in order to benefit shareholders who are too dumb to even know what a credit default swap is?
Not for a second; Ayn Rand would watch the Wall Street big boys run roughshod over their shareholders' interests and be applauding them every step of the way. That is how the game is played. If Greenspan didn't think the Wall Street crew would rip off their shareholders for every last penny, then he was not a worthy disciple of Ayn Rand.
As far as this being a story of the market having run amok, that is only partially true. The banks were able to get access to vast amounts of capital because everyone had faith in the "too big to fail" doctrine. In other words, all the people who lent Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG, Goldman and the rest money felt secure because they thought the government would come to the rescue at the end of the day if the hotshots messed up big time.
With the exception of Lehman Brothers, these folks were right. The Wall Street hotshots were gambling not only with their shareholders' money, but they could also count on the security blanket of a government bailout if they really got into trouble. In other words, they were gambling with the taxpayers' money also.
This is important because the Wall Street hotshots didn't have and don't want a free market. They want to be able to take big risks with other people's money, both their shareholders and the taxpayers.
This is not to say that we would want a real free market in finance. It's not even clear what that would look like. But it is clear that the Wall Street hotshots who brought us this disaster have no interest in a free market. They want to be able to operate with a government security blanket while not being required to contain risk or pay for this insurance. Calling them, or their patron Alan Greenspan, free market ideologues is far too generous.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/23/greenspan_follies_the_world_is/#more
user-pic
By Dean Baker - October 23, 2008, 6:52PM
Alan Greenspan has finally acknowledged that he may have made some mistakes in allowing an $8 trillion housing bubble to grow unchecked. (Look for rivers flowing upstream.)
This modest act of contrition should be welcomed, but analysts have been far too quick to describe Greenspan as a prisoner of his free market ideology and the current crisis as a story of the free market running wild. This is far too generous a description of Greenspan and the current economic situation.
First, insofar as Greenspan acted (or didn't act) out of ignorance of the true situation, it was because he was ignoring Ayn Rand, not because he was following her.
Let's set the stage. Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and the rest of the big banks are run by hotshot Ivy League business school types. These are bright, hard working ambitious people who want to make lots and lots of money.
The executives at these banks are sitting on enormous piles of money that they can get access to as a result of being at these huge banks. The hotshot executives know that they can get huge bonuses by taking risky gambles with the banks' money.
The executives can make bets, that if they pay off, will get them tens of millions a year in bonuses and other compensation. Of course, if they lose they can bring down the house, meaning that they bankrupt Bear Stearns, Lehman, etc.
What would Ayn Rand expect to happen? On the one hand we have the hot shot executives, on the other hand the schmucks who own stock in these banks. Would Ayn Rand expect that the executives would put aside their ambition, their lust for success, their greed, in order to benefit shareholders who are too dumb to even know what a credit default swap is?
Not for a second; Ayn Rand would watch the Wall Street big boys run roughshod over their shareholders' interests and be applauding them every step of the way. That is how the game is played. If Greenspan didn't think the Wall Street crew would rip off their shareholders for every last penny, then he was not a worthy disciple of Ayn Rand.
As far as this being a story of the market having run amok, that is only partially true. The banks were able to get access to vast amounts of capital because everyone had faith in the "too big to fail" doctrine. In other words, all the people who lent Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG, Goldman and the rest money felt secure because they thought the government would come to the rescue at the end of the day if the hotshots messed up big time.
With the exception of Lehman Brothers, these folks were right. The Wall Street hotshots were gambling not only with their shareholders' money, but they could also count on the security blanket of a government bailout if they really got into trouble. In other words, they were gambling with the taxpayers' money also.
This is important because the Wall Street hotshots didn't have and don't want a free market. They want to be able to take big risks with other people's money, both their shareholders and the taxpayers.
This is not to say that we would want a real free market in finance. It's not even clear what that would look like. But it is clear that the Wall Street hotshots who brought us this disaster have no interest in a free market. They want to be able to operate with a government security blanket while not being required to contain risk or pay for this insurance. Calling them, or their patron Alan Greenspan, free market ideologues is far too generous.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/23/greenspan_follies_the_world_is/#more
28
3DHS / John McCain: Socialist
« on: October 22, 2008, 03:43:16 PM »
http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/daily-show-flashback-mccain-socialis
Just another example of how indispensable Jon Stewart and the Daily Show are, catching things the media don't. McCain and Palin (indeed, the entire GOP establishment) have been bashing Obama as a "socialist" the past few days for having the audacity to propose raising the top tax rate from 36% to 39% while giving working folks (95% of the rest of us) some relief. The only problem: Stewart dug up footage of McCain making the exact same argument a scant eight years ago.
Stewart: "Now you can argue that this country has dabbled in socialism ever since the income tax was introduced, and that calling Obama's plan 'socialist' is a cynical ploy that even McCain realizes is a bankrupt tactic. Or, should I say, realized."
Audience member: "Why is it that someone like my father who goes to school for 13 years gets penalized in a huge tax bracket because he's a doctor."
McCain: "I think it's to some degree because we feel obviously that wealthy people can afford more."
Audience member: "Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism?"
McCain: "Here's what I really believe: That when you reach a certain level of comfort, there's nothing wrong with paying somewhat more."
Stewart: "That, of course, is the late socialist leader John Mccain. I believe he passed away during the Republican primaries. He will be missed."
Devastating. I smell a viral YouTube video brewing. Or an awesome Obama ad.
Just another example of how indispensable Jon Stewart and the Daily Show are, catching things the media don't. McCain and Palin (indeed, the entire GOP establishment) have been bashing Obama as a "socialist" the past few days for having the audacity to propose raising the top tax rate from 36% to 39% while giving working folks (95% of the rest of us) some relief. The only problem: Stewart dug up footage of McCain making the exact same argument a scant eight years ago.
Stewart: "Now you can argue that this country has dabbled in socialism ever since the income tax was introduced, and that calling Obama's plan 'socialist' is a cynical ploy that even McCain realizes is a bankrupt tactic. Or, should I say, realized."
Audience member: "Why is it that someone like my father who goes to school for 13 years gets penalized in a huge tax bracket because he's a doctor."
McCain: "I think it's to some degree because we feel obviously that wealthy people can afford more."
Audience member: "Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism?"
McCain: "Here's what I really believe: That when you reach a certain level of comfort, there's nothing wrong with paying somewhat more."
Stewart: "That, of course, is the late socialist leader John Mccain. I believe he passed away during the Republican primaries. He will be missed."
Devastating. I smell a viral YouTube video brewing. Or an awesome Obama ad.
29
3DHS / Reality Setting In
« on: October 21, 2008, 07:18:54 PM »
Growing Doubts About McCain's Judgment, Age and Campaign Conduct
Obama's Lead Widens: 52%-38%
http://people-press.org/report/462/obamas-lead-widens
Barack Obama’s lead over John McCain has steadily increased since mid-September, when the race was essentially even. Shortly after the first presidential debate on Sept. 26, Obama moved to a 49% to 42% lead; that margin inched up to 50% to 40% in a poll taken just after the second debate. Currently, Obama enjoys his widest margin yet over McCain among registered voters, at 52% to 38%. When the sample of voters is narrowed to those most likely to vote, Obama leads by 53% to 39%.
Full Article at Link
Obama's Lead Widens: 52%-38%
http://people-press.org/report/462/obamas-lead-widens
Barack Obama’s lead over John McCain has steadily increased since mid-September, when the race was essentially even. Shortly after the first presidential debate on Sept. 26, Obama moved to a 49% to 42% lead; that margin inched up to 50% to 40% in a poll taken just after the second debate. Currently, Obama enjoys his widest margin yet over McCain among registered voters, at 52% to 38%. When the sample of voters is narrowed to those most likely to vote, Obama leads by 53% to 39%.
Full Article at Link
30
3DHS / Sarah Palin: Socialist
« on: October 20, 2008, 09:27:06 PM »
Did Palin impose a windfall profits tax on Alaskan oil?
Yes. Alaskans will receive $1,200 each from the windfall tax, in addition to $2,069 they will receive from other oil taxes.
While Obama and McCain debate a windfall tax on oil companies - Obama in favor, McCain opposed - Palin has already imposed a windfall oil profits tax in Alaska.
In 2007 Palin pushed for and enacted a major increase in state oil taxes - a step that has generated stunning new revenues for Alaska as oil prices have soared. The Alaska Oil and Gas Association estimates the state collected $6 billion from Palin-imposed windfall taxes during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2008. Combined with other new and existing oil taxes, as well as royalties, the state's total oil revenue in the last fiscal year exceeded $10 billion - double the amount the state received the previous fiscal year. [1]
Palin's windfall tax will fund a $1,200 "rebate" that Alaska will give to every eligible man, woman and child in Alaska, to help offset soaring fuel prices. That money will be dispersed as part of larger, $3,269 check that Alaskans will receive that was paid for by state taxes on oil companies - a family of four will receive a check for $13,076. The fuel rebates will cost the state $750 million. [1-3]
Background:
In October 2007 Palin rolled out a tax increase plan on oil companies operating in Alaska, including a windfall profits tax. Palin's plan, called the "Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share" (ACES) plan, was approved by the state Legislature and includes:
* Raising the state's current net profits tax on North Slope oil from a 22.5% to 25.0% base.
* A "progressive" windfall profits tax: When oil prices rise above about $50 a barrel, the tax rate increases by 0.2% for each additional dollar a barrel.
* A 10% tax floor on North Slope oil, to kick in if prices go below about $40 a barrel. [4]
Palin in November 2007, on her ACES tax hike:
"The state of Alaska is currently the largest investor on the North Slope, having paid for 50 percent of all investments in 2007. Yet our share of net revenue, including royalties, property and corporate income tax, was about 40 percent. The "equitable share" component in ACES narrows this gap...
"One of the key knobs in my plan is the progressiveness knob. Progressiveness is the additional share we capture when oil prices and profits are high...
"The reality is we are a state very rich in natural resources. Currently, we do not receive fair value for our resources as they're extracted and sold for us, at a premium, to very hungry markets. My administration and the 25th State Legislature have an opportunity to build a tax structure that is clear and equitable. That's what we get with ACES." [5]
On September 5th, 2008 Alaska's Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell announced the $3,269 check that every eligible man, woman and child in Alaska will receive, which includes the $1,200 windfall profit rebate Palin backed and was approved the previous month. Parnell on the $1,200 windfall profit rebate:
"The royalty dollars that flow through the state are the people's wealth. The $1,200 resource rebate goes to that philosophy." [2]
Palin's oil tax increase is part of a larger global trend. High energy prices and the industry's difficulty in finding giant new oil fields has emboldened many nations, including market-friendly United Kingdom, home to oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell, to raise oil taxes and royalty payments in recent years. [1]
http://www.mccainfactcheck.com/facts/11/palin_windfall_profits_tax_344511.shtml
foot note links work at site.
Yes. Alaskans will receive $1,200 each from the windfall tax, in addition to $2,069 they will receive from other oil taxes.
While Obama and McCain debate a windfall tax on oil companies - Obama in favor, McCain opposed - Palin has already imposed a windfall oil profits tax in Alaska.
In 2007 Palin pushed for and enacted a major increase in state oil taxes - a step that has generated stunning new revenues for Alaska as oil prices have soared. The Alaska Oil and Gas Association estimates the state collected $6 billion from Palin-imposed windfall taxes during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2008. Combined with other new and existing oil taxes, as well as royalties, the state's total oil revenue in the last fiscal year exceeded $10 billion - double the amount the state received the previous fiscal year. [1]
Palin's windfall tax will fund a $1,200 "rebate" that Alaska will give to every eligible man, woman and child in Alaska, to help offset soaring fuel prices. That money will be dispersed as part of larger, $3,269 check that Alaskans will receive that was paid for by state taxes on oil companies - a family of four will receive a check for $13,076. The fuel rebates will cost the state $750 million. [1-3]
Background:
In October 2007 Palin rolled out a tax increase plan on oil companies operating in Alaska, including a windfall profits tax. Palin's plan, called the "Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share" (ACES) plan, was approved by the state Legislature and includes:
* Raising the state's current net profits tax on North Slope oil from a 22.5% to 25.0% base.
* A "progressive" windfall profits tax: When oil prices rise above about $50 a barrel, the tax rate increases by 0.2% for each additional dollar a barrel.
* A 10% tax floor on North Slope oil, to kick in if prices go below about $40 a barrel. [4]
Palin in November 2007, on her ACES tax hike:
"The state of Alaska is currently the largest investor on the North Slope, having paid for 50 percent of all investments in 2007. Yet our share of net revenue, including royalties, property and corporate income tax, was about 40 percent. The "equitable share" component in ACES narrows this gap...
"One of the key knobs in my plan is the progressiveness knob. Progressiveness is the additional share we capture when oil prices and profits are high...
"The reality is we are a state very rich in natural resources. Currently, we do not receive fair value for our resources as they're extracted and sold for us, at a premium, to very hungry markets. My administration and the 25th State Legislature have an opportunity to build a tax structure that is clear and equitable. That's what we get with ACES." [5]
On September 5th, 2008 Alaska's Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell announced the $3,269 check that every eligible man, woman and child in Alaska will receive, which includes the $1,200 windfall profit rebate Palin backed and was approved the previous month. Parnell on the $1,200 windfall profit rebate:
"The royalty dollars that flow through the state are the people's wealth. The $1,200 resource rebate goes to that philosophy." [2]
Palin's oil tax increase is part of a larger global trend. High energy prices and the industry's difficulty in finding giant new oil fields has emboldened many nations, including market-friendly United Kingdom, home to oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell, to raise oil taxes and royalty payments in recent years. [1]
http://www.mccainfactcheck.com/facts/11/palin_windfall_profits_tax_344511.shtml
foot note links work at site.