The Dems have 230 of the 218 votes needed to pass this proposal!

Yesterday, the Dem Congress showed us again why it stands at 20% approval. David Brooks is correct about it. There is a lot of blame to go around. It starts with the Speaker and the majority party. The Dems still think that this is 2004 or 2005. They still think that they are sitting in the bleachers blaming everything on Coach Bush!

It's time for Speaker Pelosi to resign and go back to representing San Francisco.

She can't lead her own party! Who can lead a party that can't come together at all?

The WSJ has a great editorial:

"This crowd can't even make sausage.

The 228-205 defeat reflects badly on all concerned, starting with the Democrats who run the House.

The majority party is responsible for assembling a majority vote, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed in that fundamental task."

They can't get anything done, which is why their approval rating is so low.

4 of the 94 Dems who voted against the proposal were from Obama's Illinois. Why didn't Obama call them?

Why didn't Obama pick up the phone and find an additional 12 Dems? Isn't Obama the nominee of the party? (Mr. Obama had said he was inclined to support the bill that failed Monday. But it remains an open question how much political capital he will seek to expend, or how invested he wants to become, in helping Democratic leaders win passage of a bill.)

The Dems want to lead but they don't want to make the difficult choices that come with governing.

I have written before that the Dems can't agree on anything except on their opposition to Pres. Bush.

They are the ultimate Monday morning QB. They just want to second guess the coach and avoid the tough calls. Yesterday, we saw that 40% of the Dems did not support their leadership.

The Dems couldn't unite around Pelosi, primarily because the left wing did not support the proposal. This is the part of the story that you are not getting from the media. It was the hard left that forced so many Dems to vote "no"!

Can you say Michael Moore? Moore was one of the strongest voices against the proposal.

Again, it's up to the majority party to lead. This majority party is not leading.

The Dems have 230 of the 218 votes needed to pass this proposal. It's time for them to use them! It's time for Dems to show the country that they can do something beyond talking about our problems.

P.S. This is more evidence that the left wing of the party forced many Dems to vote against the proposal. This ad from MoveOn.org is so full of lies that it makes you sick. Will Obama call on MoveOn.org to stop running ads like this one? Let's hope so:

This is Karl Rove reviewing the lack of seriousness in the Dem party:

The best and worst of our Congress!

Here is the good news. Before you jump off the roof, or invest yourself in lots of doom and gloom, the 777 drop in the market is not the worst ever.

In fact, it does not even make the top 5!

We've had worst days, such as Oct 1987 when the market dropped 20% or the dot.com collapse of 2000!

Nevertheless, this is a bad day. Responsibility took a day off in Congress today!

Yes, I supported the proposal. I joined other conservatives who were pleased with the Republican reforms over the weekend.

Sadly, we have seen the best and worst of Washington over the last 72 hours.

First, here is the best.

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the House Republicans. They were a profile in courage. They took a proposal, made it a lot better and were ready to vote for it.

Again, they were ready to vote despite 99-1 opposition from constituents.

The worst of Washington is Speaker Pelosi.

At noon, Speaker Pelosi took the floor and started blasting Republicans and Pres. Bush.

It was the kind of Bush-bashing found in MoveOn.org or The Daily Kos!

It's hard to believe the Speaker would talk like that!

To make matters worse, Speaker Pelosi did not have enough Dem votes to pass the bill. Did she know that when she was unloading on Republicans?

At noon, she is blasting everything Republican.

At 12:15, she is calling on Republicans to give her the votes lacking to pass the bill.

The Dems voted 141-94! In other words, only 60% of the House Dems voted to support the bill.

The Reps voted 66 for and 132 against! Only 33% supported the proposal!

141 plus 66 does not get you to 218!

So the Dem leadership freaked out. They started frantically looking for 10 or 11 Dems to switch their votes.

No one did! The Dems, the majority party, want no part of governing. Govern? Not this bunch!

So here we are. The Dems tell us that this bill is vital to our survival but only 60% of their members voted for it. How can a majority party say that a bill is necessary for our survival but won't pass it?

Again, the Dem Congress is totally worthless:

"Nancy Pelosi must be the most ineffective House Speaker of modern times. The Democrats have achieved virtually nothing since taking control of the House and Senate in 2006, and have consistently avoided the responsibility that goes with being the majority party." (Power Line)

Sorry. This is not a governing party. This is a bunch of clowns who sit around and blame everything on Bush.

P.S. Where is Barrack Obama? He could call on his party, the same one that has a congressional majority, and tell them to pass this proposal. They have 230 of the necessary 218 votes!

Obama could show some leadership and tell his party to stop reading polls and vote for the bailout. Of course, this is the same Obama who sat in Rev. Wright's church but did not hear anything for 20 years!

The Cowboys are not perfect! They're 3-1!

(Hurd almost picked off the onside kick late in the game)

The Cowboys-Redskins rivalry is the NFL version of the Yankees playing the Red Sox.

It goes back to the days of Coach Allen and Coach Landry! Roger Staubach and Billy Kilmer! Darrell Green intercepting a Troy Aikman catch! Who can forget some of those games at the old RFK?

These two teams hate each other. They play like they hate each other!

The fans hate each other. Just check out the fans on sports radio. You have to cover your kids' ears whenever the fans unload on each other.

The Cowboys lost a home game against the Redskins. On paper, it was a close game, 26-24!

It was not so close on the field!

First, there was a Washington receiver wide open for an easy TD!

Second, there were 12 guys on the field after a Redskin time out! How did that happen?

Incredibly, Dallas had a chance to get the ball back and almost did! The onside kick glanced off Hurd's fingers.

So the Cowboys are 3-1 and New York is 4-0! They still have 2 games with the Giants!

Don't panic. The Cowboys are a pretty good team. However, they are not perfect as we saw a couple of times yesterday!

The House Republicans made it a much better plan!

Once again, we see the total and complete uselessness of the Pelosi-Reed Congress.

Wonder why these guys are at such low approval? The RCP average is 18%!

In other words, the Dem majority can't govern.

They act like a minority party.

They are still in the "blame everything on Bush" business!

On this bailout, the Dems exercised zero leadership. They had the votes but were afraid to put anything down on paper.

The Dems' "profile in cowardice" opened the door for Republicans to improve the proposal.

And improve it they did!

Republican Rep. Eric Cantor is one of those House Republicans who fought to improve the rescue plan. Larry Kudlow praised Rep. Cantor and the Republicans.

This is what we got because the Republicans stood for principle:

"They put strings on the availability of funds beyond $250 billion, requiring fresh Congressional action for the last $350 billion.

They added a requirement that Treasury establish an insurance program which would be funded by participating companies.

This may be a big deal; I'm not sure exactly how it is intended to operate or how much, in the end, it will reduce the exposure to the taxpayer.

They established a bipartisan oversight committee, rather than a committee run only by the Democrats, as Dodd and Frank had proposed.

They took out special interest boondoggles for unions and for ACORN, the voter fraud organization.

They removed a provision that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to arbitrarily reduce mortgages, an ill-conceived measure that would have aggravated a central cause of the current crisis, the difficulty of evaluating mortgage-backed securities.

And they mandated a GAO study on the impact of the mark-to-market accounting rule, implicitly encouraging regulatory agencies to revise or abandon that principle, which is a key reason why banks that have little to do with the origins of the crisis are currently threatened." (Power Line)

Over the next 24 hours, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid will attempt to take the credit. Even Obama will try to take the credit! Let me say it again. The Dem Congress is worthless.

This rescue package happened because of Pres. Bush, Sec. Paulson, Sen. McCain and the House Republicans.

Yes, McCain's intervention was important to the final product!

P.S. The rescue package should be approved this week. Now, let's have a full investigation of Fannie Mae and the politicians who created this mess!

Let me say it again:

Capitalism did not create this crisis.

Free markets did not do it either.

This crisis was created by politicians buying votes by forcing banks to make mortgage loans!

Let's get the investigation started. We can start by putting Franklin Raines under oath and asking Sen. Dodd about the special deal that he got on his mortgage loan!

Sabathia and Braun make it a perfect Sunday afternoon!

It was a little scary for 7 innings. Sabathia was wonderful but he was losing 1-0. Sabathia was going on 3 days rest but he was pitching one heck of a game.

The Brewers looked awful at the plate. They loaded the bases in the 7th and scored only one run!

In the 8th, Braun hit one of the biggest home runs in Milwaukee baseball history.

You have to go back to 1982 when Robin Yount hit two against the Orioles on the last day of the season. (I was living in Mexico City and caught this game on TV!)

You might even go back to 1957 when Henry Aaron clinched the NL pennant with a walk off home run in extra innings. (Of course, that was the old Braves!)

I'll let Brewer historians place Braun's blast in Milwaukee baseball history. Nevertheless, this is one of the most exciting pennant race home runs that I ever saw! It was really fun to watch! It was great to watch Braun round the base and salute the rest of the team!

After watching Sabathia get the last out, I flipped over to catch the end of the Mets-Marlins.

I felt bad for Mets' fans. They have watched their team collapse and lose the on the last day of the season in back to back years.

What a terrible way to close Shea Stadium.

Back to the Brewers. I noticed that the team drew over 3,000,000 fans this year. I always knew that Milwaukee would support a good baseball team!

Go Brewers!

Another tough season for the Rangers!

The regular season is over for the Rangers. They lost their last game.

They finished second but 20 games behind the Angels.

Pitching, pitching and pitching. Kevin Milwood, the #1 starter, was very ineffective because of injuries. Vicente Padilla was good but you can't win with one starter. The 3rd and 4th starters were unreliable. In the end, the lack of quality starts burned out the bullpen.

The hitting was good. The Rangers scored a lot of runs. Unfortunately, they gave up more!

How can we improve the Rangers in 2009?

The infield is set. Blalock had a great September after a long time on the disabled list. Kinsler hit .319 but missed the last 3 weeks. Young is Michael Young. Davis is a wonderful young player with lots of upside.

The outfield includes Josh Hamilton. I don't mind counting on Milton Bradley if he can stay healthy. Bradley can also DH.

I would move Hamilton to RF and trade for a leadoff hitter who can play center field, such as Tom Goodwin and Darryl Hamilton back in the late 90s.

The catcher position is pretty good. The organization is very deep in catching. I think that Gerard Laird could be moved for some pitching.

How do you get pitching? It's too expensive to pick up free agent pitchers. Also, who is out there anyway?

Sabathia? Sheets? My guess is that they will be back with Milwaukee, specially if the Brewers go deep in the playoffs.

What about pitching? I think that you have to bite the bullet and continue developing young arms like Feldman and Harrison.

Can the Rangers be competitive in 2009? I think that they can be competitive if Milwood and Padilla pitch full seasons. It will be tough to catch the Angels but the Rangers could be more competitive.

P.S. The Rangers' highlight moment was Josh Hamilton at the Home Run Derby. It was fun to watch all of those long range missiles:

The Obama whining and The First Amendment!

Where is the outrage over this?

Where is the ACLU?

Where are the marches with the "police state" placards?

Has anyone seen a NY Times editorial or front page story about this? Please let me know!

It goes like this:

"....in Missouri, Obama has enlisted his allies in public office, including St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, to threaten criminal prosecution of any Missouri television station that runs ads about Obama that are untrue.

Since every politician sincerely believes that all ads run by his opponents are untrue, the field of potential criminal exposure is broad indeed."

This is outrageous. Worse than that, it's stupid.

Campaign ads come in all shapes and forms. Some are lies and nothing but lies.

For example, how about Obama saying that McCain wanted to fight the Iraq War for 100 years?

Or, what about the steady flow of campaign ads that Pres. Bush cut taxes for the rich?

Or what about Obama and Hillary Clinton blaming NAFTA for job losses in Ohio and PA?

What about the mindless attacks on Gov. Palin and her family?

How do you fight campaign ads?

First, you act like an adult.

You don't threaten to prosecute your political opponents because they want to remind voters that:

a) you sat in Rev. Wright's church for 20 years but never heard anything that he said;

b) you have corrupt friends like Tony Rezko;

c) you talk a good game about public education but your daughters go to private schools;

d) you have a friendship with a fellow like Bill Ayers;

e) you play the "race card" whenever it's convenient to do so! ("Dollar bill BO!")

We are seeing into Obama's soul.

BO does not like to be criticized.

BO has a problem with answering questions. BO wants to float into The Oval Office without any inquiry about his past.

We have seen the Obama campaign use tough tactics against people who challenge the candidate:

"Add this to the threatening letters his lawyers sent to station managers over the NRA ads,

the flash-mob smearing of David Freddoso,

and the appeal to the Justice Department to prosecute the American Issues Project for its perfectly factual yet devastating Ayers ad."

How is that going to work if he actually wins the election? It won't work well! Frankly, it's a bit scary!

Where is the "hope and change"? There is no hope and change, specially if you dare to question the candidate!

40 years later and still a great song!

Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb wrote some of the greatest songs of our generation. From 1967, when they made their US debut, to 2003, when Maurice suddenly died, the Brothers Gibb were a big part of our musical soundtrack.

In this video, we see the three brothers and a couple of musicians who were part of the group until 1969. Nevertheless, it was Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb who did the vocals and wrote the wonderful songs.

In the second half of 1968, The Bee Gees released their 3rd US LP called "Idea".

It included one of Robin Gibb's strongest lead vocals, "I started a joke":

"I started a joke, which started the whole world crying,

But I didnt see that the joke was on me, oh no.

I started to cry, which started the whole world laughing,

Oh, if Id only seen that the joke was on me.

I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,

And I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that Id said.

Til I finally died, which started the whole world living,

Oh, if Id only seen that the joke was on me.

I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,

And I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that Id said.

til I finally died, which started the whole world living,

Oh, if Id only seen that the joke was one me."

The B-side was "Kilbourn Towers", another nice song from the 'Idea" album:

The Brewers playing well when it counts!

Yes, I did check the Brewers-Cubs game during the presidential debate. Thank God for mlb.com and their virtual coverage of pennant race games!

A week ago, I was disappointed with the Brewers. I was certain that the Brewers would fold again!

They proved me wrong so far.

The Brewers control their destiny. They win and they are the NL wild card.

Sheets and Sabathia. That's a pretty good way for Milwaukee to close the season! Wouldn't it be amazing for Sabathia to clinch the wild card title for the Brewers on Sunday?

Again, don't count your chickens yet. At least, the Brewers don't need for someone to beat anyone else.

They win the last 2 games and they celebrate!

Talk about a great catch in a pennant race? This is about as a good catch as I've ever seen in a meaningful game. Well done Mike Cameron!

The mess and how we got into it!

In a previous post, I supported the bailout (or rescue) because it is the best of all possible options.

We need to take these "toxic" assets off the banks' balance sheets.

We need a new version of the RTC to value these assets and sell them back to the private sector.

In the end, we will recover most of these assets and pay back the $750 billion.

All of these assets have a value. What we don't know is their current value.

At the same time, I do agree with House Republicans that there may be a way of using insurance or other private sector mechanisms to accomplish the same goal.

I'm waiting for more details from the House Republicans.

By the way, God bless the House Republicans who took a principled stand and forced everyone to take another look at the original draft.

Again, I am not happy about bailing out anyone. My guess is that Pres. Bush would rather be talking about something else.

Yet, we are where we are. It'd be nice to go back but we can't!

Again, we are where we are. I am happy that conservatives like Jack Kemp, Larry Kudlow, the WSJ and IBD support Pres. Bush's proposal.

How did we get here? This video tells the story as well as anyone.

Let's hope that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reformed. Let's also expose the corrupt connections between Fannie Mae and politicians.

Last, but not least, can we finally get the federal government out of the mortgage business?

I'm not opposed to someone buying mortgage loans from banks. However, it should be done by private organizations who assume the full risk of their decisions.

The first debate!

How did they do?

I've watched most of these debates since Carter and Ford in 1976.

I don't think that these debates change a lot of minds, unless someone really fumbles.

No one did last night.

It was a draw on the economy. The "out party" is always going to win any discussion of current problems. However, it surprised me that Obama did not endorse the proposal that the Dems were pitching yesterday. Wonder how all of those Dems back in Washington feel about that?

Obama played the class warfare game again. He keeps talking about "taxing the rich" or that "Bush cut taxes for the rich".

I'm disappointed that McCain didn't beat him up on that. As we have demonstrated before, Pres. Bush cut taxes for people who pay taxes.

It was very good for McCain on foreign policy. At times, Obama looked so weak that it was embarrassing.

On Iraq, Obama is still living in 2002.

By the way, Obama did not take any political risk to oppose the Iraq War. He did not stand up to anyone by opposing the war in a very liberal district in Chicago.

Profile in courage? Lieberman not Obama!

Also, Obama was not a member of the US Senate in 2002. He did not have to cast a vote. He was a completely unknown state senator in Illinois!

On Iran, Obama looked lost, specially when McCain nailed him on those meetings without preconditions.

By the way, former Sec. Kissinger has already denounced Obama's remarks. (Fact Check: Kissinger Defends McCain's Iran Stance)

On Afghanistan, Obama does not understand how difficult it will be to chase terrorists around the caves.

Obama thinks that it's all about sending troops.

In fact, it isn't! We already have 30,000 troops in Afghanistan under a NATO operation.

McCain is right that you need to implement a counter insurgency strategy, the same that succeeded in Iraq.

It's great to talk about "taking our eye off the ball". Let's see how many Dems will support a Pres. Obama when we start taking casualties in a long drawn out conflict in Afghanistan.

Our last two Dem presidents were elected because of the economy. However, they were consumed by international affairs, specially Carter. Clinton spent much of his second term consumed with terrorism and Iraq.

My guess is that our next president will be consumed with foreign affairs rather than "hope and change"!

All of this talk about the economy may be what the voters want to hear. However, it won't be what consumes our next president.

The US economy is resilient and usually outperforms the "doom and gloomers".

Despite all of the "doom and gloom", our next president will inherit a growing economy, which is the envy of the world.

Again, the US economy is not our biggest problem.

Our next president won't be so lucky with foreign affairs: Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Mexico, Afghanistan, etc.

McCain had a great night because he was presidential and realistic about the threats that we face. McCain came across as a man who understands that we live in a very difficult world.

When will someone call for Sen. Dodd to step aside?

It's time for Sen. Dodd to step aside as Chairman of the Banking Committee. Move on, Sen. Dodd:

"Dodd knows all about greed and regulatory neglect, he's guilty of both.

Dodd received *favorable* treatment from Countrywide Financial via a loan through a *little-known* program that waived points, lender fees, and company borrowing rules."

He is also the recipient of huge Fannie Mae contributions!

Sorry! We can't talk about executive pay in Wall Street and keep Sen. Dodd as the face of this committee.

It's time for Sen. Dodd to step aside and let someone else run the investigation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac!

Thursday's show: A chat about Mexico!

On Thursday's show, we spoke with Laurence Iliff of The Dallas Morning News in Mexico City.

Laurence has been writing some very interesting articles about the political and economic situation south of the border. Overall, we are happy with the steady coverage of Mexico news and stories.

Today, there is a good op-ed piece: F. Cartwright Weiland's Obrador's big party a disgusting hoax.

Laurence caught our attention with his most recent article was Mexicans feeling pinch as income stream from U.S. slows:

"A growing number of deportations, along with rising unemployment, are forcing Mexicans to further tighten their belts as remittances sent home dropped by nearly 7 percent in July compared with a year earlier.

That's the biggest one-month fall on record as measured by Mexico's central bank."

Click here for the show!

The phone rings at 3am....McCain answers and BO hits the snooze button!

This is what CBS is reporting:

"John McCain got involved in the bailout negotiations after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Sen. Lindsey Graham yesterday that the bailout plan would fail unless McCain came in and brought balky Republicans aboard.

That's what Bob Schieffer reported on this morning's Early Show."

What's up with Obama?

BO's entire campaign has been about abstract language. He is for "hope and change" but nobody has a clue of what he is talking about.

Obama does not want to get near any bailout negotiations.

Why? Because BO does not want to own anything.

He does not want accountability. He wants to win if it works. He wants to blame everything on Bush if it does not!

McCain is also demonstrating that he jumps in and fights for something. Have you ever seen Obama do that? Has Obama ever stood up against a favorite Dem interest group?

We want leadership. McCain has again shown us that he is not afraid of getting a bloody nose to get something done!

Executive pay? How about Dem cronies?

We won't defend executive pay excesses.

However, how can the Dems make so much of executive pay and say nothing about Dems who got their own kind of "golden parachutes"?

Check out Countrywide Made Home Loans to Gorelick, Mudd:

"Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, made large, previously undisclosed home loans to two additional executives of Fannie Mae, the government-chartered firm at the center of the U.S. credit crisis."

Where is the outrage in the media? Can you imagine if Republicans had gotten these favorable loans? It'd be a NY Times front page story forever!

Yes, we support Pres. Bush's proposal. We agree with IBD:

"Everyone's chiming in on the financial mess, but we have yet to hear a better idea than that set out by our Treasury secretary and Fed chief. Congress should act on it without further showboating or delay."

At the same time, this mess needs to be investigated by the FBI and Congressional committees. I'm glad to see that the FBI is involved.

The Dems pretend to be the "party of little people". However, we are learning that some Dems got some very favorable mortgage treatment.

We need a massive investigation.

What do all of those names in the above chart have in common? They are Dems.

They are from the "party of little people and diversity"!

How many "little people" got such favorable treatment from their mortgage companies?

It smells bad, very bad! There is a lot of Dem bad odor in the air! You can smell it from coast to coast!

Pres. Bush made a fine presentation!

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need a rescue plan. However, Pres. Bush laid out a strong case tonight.

As the president said, this is a mess that started years ago and hit the fan this year. IBD has a nice history of all of this:

"While President Carter in 1977 signed the Community Reinvestment Act, which pushed Fannie and Freddie to aggressively lend to minority communities, it was Clinton who supercharged the process.

After entering office in 1993, he extensively rewrote Fannie's and Freddie's rules.

In so doing, he turned the two quasi-private, mortgage-funding firms into a semi-nationalized monopoly that dispensed cash to markets, made loans to large Democratic voting blocs and handed favors, jobs and money to political allies.

This potent mix led inevitably to corruption and the Fannie-Freddie collapse."

So here we are. It gets even worse because of the cozy relationship between Dems and Fannie-Freddie executives:

"Fannie and Freddie became home to out-of-work politicians, mostly Clinton Democrats.

An informal survey of their top officials shows a roughly 2-to-1 dominance of Democrats over Republicans."

Pres. Bush's proposal will take these bad assets out of the system. It will give a new RTC the time to go through the assets and liquidate them.

It makes sense to support Pres. Bush's proposal.

At times like these, I always check what Lawrence Kudlow is thinking. He supports the plan and that makes me feel a lot better!

I think that ideologues on both sides need to get real. This is not a political science class. This is the real world. Let's act like it!

When will The NY Times stop running "free" front page ads for Obama?

We live in a free country. We accept that newspapers are free to publish whatever they want.

However, the media must be honest or it will lose its only currency.

We can now call The NY Times a partisan extension of the Obama campaign.

Today, The NY Times ran a front page story connecting Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, with Fannie Mae.

The McCain people responded quickly:

"Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization.

Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month, contrary to previous reporting, as well as statements by this campaign and by Mr. Davis himself.

In fact, the allegation is demonstrably false. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006.

As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero.

Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006.

Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis -- weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual -- since 2006. Again, zero.

Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006.

Further, and missing from the Times' reporting, Mr. Davis has never -- never -- been a lobbyist for either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Mr. Davis has not served as a registered lobbyist since 2005. "

What was missing?

What about Obama getting the 3rd largest political contributions from Fannie Mae?

What about Mr. Raines and Mr. Johnson, a couple of Obama supporters?

We have said that The NY Times used to be a wonderful newspaper. It used to be the responsible liberal alternative to the conservative Wall Street Journal.

However, The NY Times is nothing but an extension of the liberal wing of the Dem party.

We also must remind you that The NY Times is losing readers and advertising revenue. We can blame some of that on changing habits, i.e. the Internet! However, you can also blame it on bad journalistic practices!

My guess is that serious journalists must be in shock about The NY Times. I have to believe that there are many serious people who understand that being in the tank for Obama is bad for journalism.

A great message for Catholics!

The Catholic Church is one of the strongest critics of abortion and same-sex marriage.

As a Catholic, we believe that life begins at conception.

We believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.

In this election, the contrast on abortion is clear. On marriage, Obama is vague.

There is a new abortion study and the results are interesting:

"In the first comprehensive analysis since 1974 of demographic characteristics of women who have abortions, researchers found that the overall drop in the abortion rate has been marked by a dramatic shift, declining more among white women and teenagers than among black and Hispanic and older women.

In 2004, there were 10.5 abortions per 1,000 white women ages 15 to 44, compared with 28 per 1,000 Hispanic women of that age and 50 per 1,000 black women.

That translates into approximately 1 percent of white women having an abortion in 2004, compared with 3 percent of Hispanic women and 5 percent of black women."

P.S. This is a great video. The message is great! Catholics are a critical vote in many of the battleground states, like Ohio and Pennsylvania. Let's send a message to the Dems that abortion is wrong!

The bailout is the only option today!

My guess is that Pres. Bush and Sec. Paulson don't like the bailout either.

Unlike members of Congress, Pres. Bush and Sec. Paulson have to make a decision. They have to choose between one real world option and another! They can't do "hope and change"! They can't give speeches and say "no" to everything. They can't go on talk shows and tell voters what they want to hear.

Their job is to make a difficult decision and calm down jittery investors.

This is a good example of leadership versus "giving speeches".

It's great to say "no".

It's better to come up with an alternative solution.

I hear lots of "no".

I don't hear any alternative solutions.

Are the bailout critics suggesting that we do nothing and let the situation get out of control? Do they understand what "doing nothing" means?

My recommendation is to create another Resolution Trust Corp, such as the one that worked so well back in the early 1990s. See Francis Cianfrocca:

"The end result of the RTC was that taxpayers made a profit, and it’s more than likely that the TARP will end doing the same thing."

How did that work:

"Congress created the Resolution Trust Corp. in 1989 to take over $125 billion in assets owned by 296 failed savings and loan associations.

Over the next six years it added $394 billion in assets belonging to an additional 747 insolvent thrifts.

The RTC's main job was to sell those assets, mostly real estate, at the best price it could get.

In the end, the S&L cleanup cost American taxpayers an estimated $124 billion.

The RTC ceased operation in 1996.

Despite the price tag of the thrift bailout, many believe the RTC successfully averted even worse consequences and higher costs." (Michael A. Hiltzik)

What would have happened if we had not started the RTC?

No one ever talks about that. The first Bush now gets a lot of credit for setting up the RTC. He didn't back then! The current Bush will get a lot of credit for this, too. He is not getting any now but he will eventually.

I agree with the "bailout" critics that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must be reformed. Perhaps, we should eliminate them. Also, we should call on Dems like Mr. Raines and Mr. Johnson to return some of their salaries!

I agree that we should hold hearings, and very soon! Shouldn't Dem Sen. Dodd, the largest recipient of Fannie Mae contributions, resign from the Senate Banking Committee?

I agree that the government should get out of the business of "encouraging" banks to make mortgage loans to potential voters.

The banks should make loans at their own discretion. The government should protect us from people who fly airplanes into buildings. It's that simple! Banks make loans. Government protects us from terrorists!

I agree that this is a mess. I also agree that it is a mess largely created by politicians:

However, you must stop the bleeding before you lecture the patient that the dope will kill him. There is a lot of blame to go around. There are lots of hands in the cookie jar. Nevertheless, let's save the patient first and start the investigation later.

The WSJ has the best summary:

"The fact is that the financial system needs basic, long-term reform, but right now the system is clogged with enormous amounts of toxic real-estate paper that will not repay according to its terms.

This paper, in turn, is unable to support huge quantities of structured financial instruments, levered as much as 30 times.

Until there is a new mechanism in place to remove this decaying tissue from the system, the infection will spread, confidence will deteriorate further, and we will have to live through the mother of all credit contractions.

This contraction will undercut the financial system, and with it, the broader economy that so far has held up reasonably well."

Last, but not least, our US$ 15 trillion GDP is not going to sink because of this mess.

The US economy is still strong and the envy of the world.

What other G-8 country has 6% unemployment and 3% GDP growth?

Please send me some names because I can't think of any.

Don't let the Dems' politically motivated "doom and gloom" get you down.

Drop The NY Times and pick up Thomas Sowell:

"Ninety percent of the people on this planet would exchange their economic situation for ours in a minute.

The media love hype, and have been dying to use the word "recession" all year but nothing has happened that meets the definition of a recession.

The American economy is growing, not declining.

Our unemployment rate is up to 6 percent but there are countries that would be delighted to get their unemployment rate down to 6 percent.

Our inflation rate is up a little but many countries would love to get their inflation rate down to where ours is."

I still feel good about the US economy. You should too!

So let's get this bailout out of the way and keep growing.

P.S. Better than that, keep Obama's tax increases away from the US economy! We can afford this bailout, specially if we reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We can't afford Obama's socialism!

The Dems are scaring your grandmother again!

It's election time. It's time for the Dems to scare your grandmother about her Social Security check.

Just listen to Obama:

""....if my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would've had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week."""

Thanks to FastCheck.org, we learned that Obama is not telling the truth:

"The plan proposed by President Bush and supported by McCain in 2005 would not have allowed anyone born before 1950 to invest any part of their Social Security taxes in private accounts.

All current retirees would be covered by the same benefits they are now."

Beyond scaring seniors, what bugs me is Obama's irresponsibility.

Sooner or later, we are going to have to reform Social Security. The program is not sustainable, unless we cut benefits or raise taxes. (It doesn't help that we've aborted 40 million "Social Security" contributors since Roe v Wade!)

Obama, or McCain, will have to privatize accounts for younger contributors. Otherwise, the program will go broke. Why is the media letting Obama get away with this?

Will the Dems hold hearings anytime soon?

As I mentioned before, I don't care about blame. I'm not trying to hang anybody. I just want to know how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ended up like this.

Today, the WSJ has a good summary of Fannie & Freddie:

"Created by government, and able to borrow at rates lower than fully private corporations because of the implied backing from taxpayers, these firms turbocharged the credit mania.

They channeled far more liquidity into the market than would have been the case otherwise, especially from the Chinese, who thought (rightly) that they were investing in mortgage securities that were as safe as Treasurys but with a higher yield.

These are the firms that bought the increasingly questionable mortgages originated by Angelo Mozilo's Countrywide and others.

Even as the bubble was popping, they dived into pools of subprime and Alt-A ("liar") loans to meet Congressional demand to finance "affordable" housing.

And they were both the cause and beneficiary of the great interest-group army that lobbied for ever more housing subsidies.

Fan and Fred's patrons on Capitol Hill didn't care about the risks inherent in their combined trillion-dollar-plus mortgage portfolios, so long as they helped meet political goals on housing.

Even after taxpayers have had to pick up a bailout tab that may grow as large as $200 billion, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank still won't back a reduction in their mortgage portfolios."

Shouldn't we hold hearings? Isn't this more important than Valerie Plame or "getting Rove"?

Again, I'm not trying to hang anyone or point the finger at one party or the other.

Last, but not least, how did a first term US Senator become the # 2 beneficiary of Fannie-Freddie contributions? Am I the only person who thinks that's a bit odd? I am glad to read Obama Dollars By Mac Fuller!

Are the 3-0 Cowboys this good?

The Cowboys at Green Bay. It's like the Dodgers playing the Giants. Or Boston playing the Yankees. Or USC playing Notre Dame. This is the kind of rivalry that fans dream of!

I recall writing that Dallas would lose at Lambeau Field.

I just didn't think that they could beat GB here in 2007 and up there this season. It's very tough to beat GB at home.

However, Tony Romo and the 2008 Cowboys are something special. They beat GB, 27-16!

It was a homecoming for Romo. He was born in Wisconsin. He grew up idolizing Favre. Like most Wisconsin kids, he was a huge Packer fan.

The 3-0 Cowboys are off to a perfect start. The good news is that they are playing great. The bad news is that they didn't finish strong in the last two seasons.

Can the Cowboys be strong in December and January? We hope so!

Who will play in the NFC title game in Dallas next January? Can you say Packers-Cowboys!

Like the Yankees, the Cowboys are playing their last season at Texas Stadium. They will move to a wonderful (and very expensive) facility in 2009.

Wouldn't it be nice to say goodbye to Texas Stadium with a Cowboys-Packers NFC title game?

You gotta love the Rays!

Congratulations to The Tampa Bay Rays, formerly known as The Devil Rays. I guess that it paid off to drop the "Devil" and just go with "Rays".

For 10 years, Tampa Bay been a last place team. They didn't win anything since joining the AL as an expansion team!

At first, they tried to buy a pennant with guys like Canseco. It didn't work. It usually doesn't!

A couple of years ago, new owners committed the franchise to winning.

First, they decided to build from within by drafting the best high school talent in the country. They had lots of chances because of all of those last place finishes.

Second, they hired Joe Maddon to manage the young guys.

Third, the owners didn't panic when the plan didn't produce results overnight.

In baseball, nothing good happens overnight. Ownership must be patient because building a winning organization takes time.

The Rays are in. They will either win AL East or wild card. Who would have believed this in spring training?

Congratulations to the Rays' players, coaches and ownership. They deserve every good thing that comes their way.

Thank you God! Thank you for Yankee Stadium!

The Yankees were usually the team that I was rooting against.

Nevertheless, I love the Yankee tradition, history and those 26 World Series championships.

I love "Pride of the Yankees", the great movie about Lou Gehrig. I watch it every time.

I love Billy Crystal's "61", the wonderful movie about Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.

The Yankees are 26-11 in 37 World Series! They are the most successful professional sports franchise in the US. What else can you say?

In 1972, my dad, mom, brother, sister and I took a trip to New York.

We went to Yankee Stadium to catch a Saturday afternoon game between Baltimore and NY.

I remember staring at the field before the game. Truthfully, I was overwhelmed.

I kept looking to the Yankee dugout to see if Maris, Mantle, Whitey Ford, Berra or DiMaggio were in the park.

During my Baltimore days, the Orioles, Yankees and Red Sox were usually playing in a pennant race. It was some of the greatest baseball ever. Over and over, Baltimore, Boston and New York decided the AL East in the last weekend of the season. Again, it was great baseball and Yankee Stadium was in the middle of it all!

More recently, the Rangers and Yankees played 3 great post-season series in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

New York won all 3 but it was great baseball.

Who can forget the back to back Boston-New York AL championship series of 2003 and 2004?

Who can forget Reggie Jackson's 3 home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 Series?

There are a ton of memories, specially watching all of those Yankee veterans in the pre-game ceremony.

Wasn't it great to have Babe Ruth's daughter throw the opening pitch?

Thank God for giving us Yankee Stadium and all of those baseball memories.

Best of all, thank God for Yankee Stadium after 9-11.

I will never forget game 3 and Pres. Bush's pre-game strike.

I stayed up late to watch New York win those extra inning games in game 4 and 5.

Who can forget Derek Jeter and Paul O'Neill with their NYPD and NYFD caps? It was a wonderful tribute to the policemen and firemen who died on 9-11!

The new Yankee Stadium will have its own story. How can the new stadium top 26 rings and so many memorable moments? It will be hard but the Yankees are the Yankees!

Does Obama understand what's going on in Latin America?

In Obama's world, the bad guys will turn nice when Pres. Bush leaves The White House. The world's nasty characters will go back to loving the US.

Perhaps BO should have a chat with former Pres. Clinton. Or, Obama should read some of the newspapers from the 1990s.

Obama wants to "repair our image" around the world.

I'm not sure what that means. There was lots of anti-Americanism when Clinton was president. Clinton couldn't get the UN to do anything, from Haiti to Bosnia to Darfur to Iraq.

The Irrationality of Anti-Americanism (A world gone mad) by Joe Loconte is worth reading:

"IF WE NEEDED more evidence that the anti-American vitriol from Europe and the Middle East is largely the product of manipulated imaginations, we have it.

A new World Public Opinion poll of 17 nations reveals significant support for the claim that the United States staged the 9/11 terrorist attacks--presumably for its own malicious and imperialistic designs."

Is the world going to change because we change presidents? Again, Dems should have a chat with Pres. Clinton.

Ask the former president about all of those attacks on US interests during his term.

Nevertheless, how do you "fix our image" by stabbing Pres. Calderon of Mexico and Pres. Uribe of Colombia?

Obama's words are clearly hurting our allies in Lat America.

Free trade is essential to reform Latin America. Look at Chile! Look at Mexico, which is a lot better off today because of NAFTA.

Obama is going to need our allies if he becomes president. Why is he hurting our allies and legitimizing demagogues like Chavez?

Remembering Buddy Holly!

The late Buddy Holly would have been 72 this month. He was born in Lubbock, Texas. He is also buried there.

Buddy, along with Richie Valens ("La Bamba") and The Big Bopper, died in a plane crash in 1959.

Most of us learned of Buddy Holly's life because of Don McClean's "American Pie", a song that told the story of the day that Buddy Holly was killed.

He was only 21 and a big recording star. He had huge hits, such as "That'll be the day", "Oh Boy", "True love ways", "Maybe baby" and "Heartbeat":

Buddy Holly also recorded "Peggy Sue" and "Peggy Sue got married", a couple of songs that ended up in recent movie soundtracks:

The Beatles were huge Buddy Holly fans. They recorded and wrote their own material. However, they made an exception for Buddy Holly's "Words of love":

Buddy Holly was before my time. However, I've come to love his music. I also appreciate his wonderful contributions to rock and pop music.

Beware of doom and gloom: It's all about getting high-tax BO elected!

On Friday, the market was up 350. On Thursday, it was up 400.

Trust me. I am not a financial planner. However, it does look to me that there are lots of people willing to invest in the US economy.

Beware of those who want you to panic. They want you to feel terrible and vote for Obama. They don't have any solutions other than vote for Obama.

On economic matters, I'd rather listen to Larry Kudlow than BO:

"Well, it’s time for some perspective.

The world is not coming to an end.

The stock market has tumbled, but it’s still over 10,000.

In late 2002 it was 7,500 and in mid-1982 it was 750.

Are things really that bad?

With home prices falling, foreclosures and defaults are at the root cause of the run against all manner of mortgage-related bonds held by the banks.

But as investment guru Don Luskin points out, foreclosures today are less than 3 percent.

During the 1930s they were 50 percent.

Or how about the unemployment rate?

Today it’s 6.1 percent.

Back in 1982 it was near 11 percent and for most of the 1930s it was over 20 percent."

Again, let me repeat it out loud: The fundamentals of the US economy are sound.

How do I know that? Because I remember 1982 when unemployment was over 10% and Latin American currencies were devalued.

I remember the October 1987 stock market crash when it dropped 500 points.

And, I recall the dot.com crash of April 2000 when all heck broke loose.

The US economy is sound.

It will be a lot "sounder" when we finally tackle entitlements.

How much longer can we avoid reforms to Social Security? Time is running out!

How much longer will Dems avoid the reality that Social Security is a time bomb?

It will be a lot better when we reverse the whole "entitlement mentality" promoted by Democrats. "Something for nothing" is what the modern Dem party stands for.

Again, the US economy is sound.

Who is not sound?

Obama-economics is not sound. It stinks! It will increase taxes, kill jobs, send more jobs overseas and let the federal government run our health care.

Let's chat with Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda!

Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda joined us Friday. Bill discussed the election, the Wall Street crisis and a few other things.

Click here for the show!

Glad to see McCain going after BO on Fannie Mae!

The media is obsessed with everything Palin in Alaska. They are going through everyone of her letters and contacts. The Palin madness continues!

Let's hope that the media will turn its attention to something far more serious.

Will the media demand an explanation about Obama's connections to Fannie Mae?

Will Obama call on these Democrats to return some of the big money that they earned from Fannie Mae?

Question: What would Obama be saying if McCain had these contacts?

Today, The WP editorial hit Obama on his dishonest attacks on McCain over regulation:

"It's a reasonable question which candidate has been more attentive to the brewing problems on Wall Street and which has a better prescription for them.

But Mr. Obama's attack does not give a fair reading of the McCain record. "

The Washington Post goes on to say that McCain has been an outspoken critic. For example:

"In 2006, he pushed for stronger regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- while Mr. Obama was notably silent."

Where was Obama in 2006? He was on The Ophrah Winfrey talking "hope and change" and promoting his book.

What about Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines, a couple of Obama's friends? Ed Morrissey writes this:

"They tried to pass Franlkin Raines off as a mere acquaintance, but the Washington Post twice reported that Raines was advising the campaign — once using Raines himself as a source.

Raines narrowly avoided criminal charges for his stewardship of Fannie Mae and had to surrender $2 million in cash (paid by, ironically in light of AIG’s failure, his insurer) and his outstanding stock options, which had been rendered worthless anyway.

Jim Johnson represents more of a challenge for Obama.

He was no mere “informal adviser”; Johnson bundled money for Obama, and at least briefly helped run his VP selection committee.

What else did Johnson do?

He took over $2 million in sweetheart-deal loans from Countrywide Mortgage, through the “Friends of Angelo” program, while Fannie Mae did business with Countrywide.

He hid two-thirds of his executive compensation at Fannie through evasive techniques designed to disguise it.

In fact, both Johnson and Raines exemplify the kind of CEOs that Obama routinely demands regulation to control.

While John McCain tried to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Obama took boatloads of their money.

While Obama talked reform and demonized CEOs, he took as advisers the very people responsible for Fannie Mae’s failure.

Which candidate will bring change, and which will bring more of the same?"

How about an independent prosecutor?

The "blame and more blame" game is silly.

No one has a good fix for this problem.

Besides, the market bounced back 400 points! Somebody is excited about the US economy!

Let's see what happens on Friday.

Beyond today, let me make these suggestions:

First, let's bring Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, a no nonsense guy.

Let Fitzgerald go into the memos and political contributions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Why is Senator Dodd # 1?

Why is Senator Obama # 2?

Don't get me wrong. I want Republicans investigated, too.

However, it does appear that Dems had a close relationship with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives.

Second, let's borrow a page from the S&L days.

The first Bush created The Resolution Trust Corp. It relieved banks of bad loans and real estate. It worked!

Third, let's stop the panic. The politically motivated panic is silly.

IBD has a great editorial called This too shall pass!

It reminds us that we've seen this movie before, from bank collapses to the 1987 stock market crash to the Dot.com blowout of April 2000.

We can get out of this.

We just need Obama to stop "bad mouthing" the US economy.

Is Obama getting a little "desesperado"?

What does a Dem do when he gets desperate?

First, he plays the race card. ("I don't look like those guys on the dollar bill")

Second, he attacks Fox News! (Of course, this is stupid since Fox News has the largest cable news audience. Let the Dems be stupid!)

Third, he attacks Rush Limbaugh. (This is bad since Limbaugh's audience includes those rural voters that Obama lost in the primaries)

Yesterday, Obama launched a new "immigration" ad.

What else can you say? It is outrageous and puts a lot words out of context!

Let's go to Power Line:

"ABC's Jake Tapper blows the whistle:

Sen. Barack Obama has launched a new Spanish-language TV ad that seeks to paint Sen. John McCain as anti-immigrant, even tying the Republican to his longtime conservative talk-radio nemesis Rush Limbaugh.

As first reported by the Washington Post, Obama's ad features a narrator saying:

"They want us to forget the insults we've put up with...the intolerance...they made us feel marginalized in this country we love so much."

The screen then shows these two quotes from Limbaugh:

"...stupid and unskilled Mexicans."--Rush Limbaugh

"You shut your mouth or you get out!"--Rush Limbaugh

The narrator then says, "John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces.

One that says lies just to get our vote...and another, even worse, that continues the policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families.

John McCain...more of the same old Republican tricks."

Here is the problem: Sen. McCain and Pres. Bush took huge political risks for proposing immigration reform.

Here is the second problem: The Dem Congress has done "nothing", and I mean "nada", to resolve the immigration crisis.

The Obama ad is also confusing because it was the Dems who blamed Mexico and NAFTA for all of those job losses in Ohio and PA.

Where was any mention of that in the ad?

Obama wants to impose "environmental and labor standards" on Mexico.

Did he mention that in the ad?

Here are the facts:

It was Republican Pres. Eisenhower who worked out the "brasero" program with Mexico.

It was a Dem Congress that killed it in the 1960s!

For more on the "brasero" program and how the Dems killed it read Don't Run for the Border and Borderline Insanity by John Fund!

The "brasero" program, despite its problems, was the most sensible solution to the US-Mexico border crisis. Why? Because it created a system for US employers to hire Mexican workers legally.

In fact, it worked so well that the unions freaked out.

It was Republican Pres. Reagan who signed the one-time amnesty in 1986. It allowed many to get their legal residency.

It was Pres. Bush and Sen. McCain who presented an immigration reform package in 2006-07.

Where was Obama? He was on The Oprah Winfrey Show! Obama was doing "hope and change" on TV.

Negative ads? I would say that this one tops the list! This is one of the most dishonest campaign ads ever!

Trust me. I've seen most of them. This one tops the "dishonestly" list:

Obama needs to admit his Iraq mistakes!

What happens when a presidential candidate can not say that "we are winning" in Iraq?

How can this man pretend to be the commander in chief?

It's evident that "the surge" worked. Iraq is a lot better today than it was in 2006, or before "surge" happened.

Obama opposed the surge. He now agrees that it worked but won't admit that he made a mistake.

I don't get it! What's partisan about supporting Israel against Iran?

(Our thanks to David A. Lunde for this sign)

We learned today just how deep PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) has penetrated in the Dem political body:

"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has canceled an appearance at a New York rally next week after organizers blindsided her by inviting Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, aides to the senator said Tuesday.

Several American Jewish groups plan a major rally outside the United Nations on Sept. 22 to protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Organizers said Tuesday that both Clinton, who nearly won the Democratic nomination for president, and Palin, Republican candidate John McCain's running mate, are expected to attend." (Politico)

Since when did expressing your outrage about the Iranian president's visit to New York turn into a partisan event?

Again, I don't get it!

Can't we put our partisan politics aside and express our outrage over Iran?

How does a Sarah Palin-Hillary Clinton joint appearance supporting Israel mean anything other than we support Israel?

Are the Dems so concerned with the "female" vote that they don't want the voters to see that we have a female VP and they don"t?

In the meantime, Jewish-Am groups are a bit angry. Who can blame them?

I guess that it will be Gov. Palin, and the Republican ticket, who will stand with Jewish-Americans in protest over the Iranian president in NY!

Also, Jewish-Americans are not as solid a Dem bloc as they used to be: Less a Democratic voting bloc than ever!

Jewish-Am support for the Dems goes back to the Truman presidency. It was Pres. Truman who formally recognized the state of Israel in 1948!

Wonder what Pres. Truman would say of the PDS Democrats?

Derek Jeter is great!

Derek Jeter is the face of the modern Yankees.

Over their long history and 26 World Series championships, you had the Ruth-Gehrig's Yankees, DiMaggio's Yankees, the Mantle-Berra-Ford Yankees and Jackson-Munson Yankees.

Today, it's Jeter's Yankees.

Last night, he passed Lou Gehrig with hit # 1270:

"And Tuesday night, Jeter again learned from the fans that he had surpassed the Yankees legend, becoming the sole owner of the most hits all-time at Yankee Stadium. "

Like Gehrig, Jeter is a winner. Jeter has 4 rings. Jeter has always been a contender for the MVP award.

Yankee Stadium will be gone this year. The Yankees will play in a brand new "Yankee Stadium" next year.

Jeter has a few goals ahead: 3,000 hits and perhaps a 5th World Series ring!

I can make this prediction: Jeter's #2 jersey will be the first one to be retired in the new stadium in about 10 years.

Barrack "Freddie-Fannie" Obama

BO has been talking a good game about bringing change to Washington.

As expected, he is blaming everything on Pres. Bush!

What's wrong with that picture? Today, Hot Air remined us of what The New York Times reported this five years ago:

"The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.....

It was the Bush administration that wanted to rein in the madness in the credit markets, and the Democrats who wanted to extend the Clinton policies that created the crisis we have now.

After the fit hit the shan, as Michelle says, these same Democrats want to shift blame back to the administration that wanted to increase oversight and curtail risk in lending practices while reducing patronage at the giant GSEs."

Don't get me wrong. Like the energy crisis, there is a lot of criticism to go around on this mess, too.

However, it is completely wrong to blame it on Bush or the Republicans!

There is another angle to this story.

Let me paraphrase Chico Escuela from Saturday Night Live?

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been "berry good" to BO.

In fact, real good:

"Of the $4.8 million total doled out to politicians (57% to Democrats), Barack Obama received the 2nd most of the 354 congressmen on the list--$126, 349 (and he's only been in office for about 6 minutes).

John McCain was #62 on the list with $21,550 received.

What does that say about who is part of the old order of payoffs and back room deals and who is the maverick that has embraced change?"

Let's face it: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invest in Democrats

Cuba and the hurricanes!

On Tuesday's show, we spoke with Henry Gomez of The Babalu Blog about Cuba and the hurricanes.

As we know, the hurricanes have hit the island very hard. The Cuban people need help but the Castro dictatorship is playing games.

Click here for the show!

We need "common sense" not more reforms!

Let's imagine that you start a finance company or a bank.

Let's imagine that you are lending your own money, i.e. your savings!

Let's imagine that you know that the federal government is not going to bail you out.

Would you lend money to someone buying a house without a down payment of any kind?

No. You would tell that person to rent, save some money and call you in the future.

Would you lend money to someone who can not prove his legal residency in the US?

No. You would tell that person that you need a valid Social Security Card or some form of legal documentation. After all, how can you lend money to someone who can't prove his identity?

Would you lend money to someone who is just speculating on the price of homes?

No. You would tell that person that you are a lender not a magician.

Common sense went out the window at Lehman Brothers and quite a few other places.

What can government do? Not much!

I guess that government can pass a "Don't be stupid Act" but future crooks will find the loopholes in that one too.

What we need is common sense and basic business principles.

Let the stockholders and company executives figure the Lehman Brothers out. Put them in a room, lock the doors, send lots of coffee and let them figure out the mess that the managers created.

Keep the taxpayer out of it.

It's time to send out a clear message.

The purpose of the federal government is to protect our citizens from terrorists who fly airplanes into buildings.

The rest is up to you!

The government was not created to bail out people who make bad business decisions.

PART 2: The NY Times in total meltdown over Palin

The NY Times used to be a great newspaper. I had a subscription for years. It was a wonderful compliment to The Wall Street Journal.

Like so many in the left, they went over the cliff the night that Al Gore couldn't win Tennessee.

Today, the newspaper is nothing but the left wing chapter of the Dem party.

Wonder why they are losing readers and advertising revenue? You can't blame this one exclusively on people not reading newspapers. The NY Post or NY Daily News do not have the same readership problems.

Scott Johnson has a great post about it:

"Not one Times columnist expressed serious concern about Obama entering into a high-dollar land deal with Rezko, a man he knew to be under federal investigation and now known to all as a convicted felon.

Though apparently not worried about Obama’s judgment, the polemical trio of Bob Herbert, Paul Krugman and Frank Rich are apoplectic about the prospects of Palin moving to Washington."

Yes, we want our media to ask tough questions and investigate our current or future leaders.

Is The NY Times doing that? I don't think so. Back to Scott:

"The Times’ unbridled hysteria over Palin has undoubtedly “raised profound questions” about the paper’s judgment in the minds of voters.

Palin, like any politician, has failings worthy of examination, but the sheer level of deranged panic only batters the paper’s already-diminished reputation.

By savaging her, the Times and its mainstream media peers actually could help the woman who strikes such fear in their hearts.

Once this initial wave of attacks subsides, Palin may well still be smiling, still exuding the can-do attitude at the core of her appeal. The more desperate the media get, the classier she looks.

Just don’t expect that story line to sneak into the Times."

It's a total meltdown over at The NY Times!

P.S. No one does it better than O'Reilly. Check out his reaction to the NY Times:

No more bailouts period!

The world did not end on Monday. I'm happy to report that!

The Cowboys played the Eagles last night. They won!

We survived Monday despite a 500 point drop in the stock market. (DOW DOWN 500+ POINTS...)

I guess that we can now look forward to the Cubs-Brewers series and the last home game in Yankee Stadium next Sunday.

Let Lehman Brothers go broke. They'll survive.

We will be better off in the future once people realize that the federal government is not in the business of bailing out anyone!

Funny woman but not much between the ears!

Here is the scoop on Whoopie.

She is a very funny lady, specially when she is playing a role in a movie.

Her "singing nun" movie was great. She was delightful, funny and worth watching.

However, the brain goes in reverse when she talks politics.

Let me be kind: She is a first class lefty Hollywood-ie!

This is the kind of Hollywood-ie that has been costing the Dems a lot of votes in recent elections.

They can't control themselves. They unload their anger and ignorance whenever there is a microphone and a Republican near by.

During Sen. McCain's trip to "The view", he was asked about judges.

McCain gave a very thoughtful answer. He believes that the people, not judges, should decide issues. He believes that judges should interpret not legislate from the bench.

Good answer. McCain was historically correct about the intentions of the Founding Fathers. Read The Federalist Papers!

Whoopie said: Will I be a slave again?

Hello Whoopie: McCain is talking about interpreting today's Constitution not the one approved in 1787.

I guess that Whoppie forgot that our Constitution was amended to end slavery.

In fact, we have amended the original constitution 27 times. The amendment process is the way to change it not through judges legislating from the bench.

Of course, everything is about abortion with liberals these days. Eventually, the left always has to find itself talking about Roe v. Wade! These people will always bring up the matter of abortion, even in the last 10 seconds of a Super Bowl game.

Fine. You want abortion? Let the people at the 50 states vote for it. We in Texas are perfectly capable of deciding whether or not abortion should be legal in our state.

Don't impose it on the rest of us by a 5-4 Supreme Court decision like Roe v. Wade!

Don't let judges invent rights, such as that of a woman to have an abortion. Let the people make those decisions through their elected leaders!

Stay silent Whoopie! Go back to playing a role in a movie. You do better at that than talking politics!

Trust me. Chavez is in trouble!

What do you when your economy is a mess? the lights go out often? the middle class is moving out?

What do you do? You put a battery on the anti-American character and unleash him. You also get into a fight with a US ambassador and send him home. You let Putin's bombers land on your country.

Is there a new "missle crisis" in the horizon? Not really.

Welcome to Chavez' world. Welcome to Chavez' unpopular world.

MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY has a nice post in today's WSJ:

"This is the scenario that Mr. Chávez faces ahead of the Nov. 23 gubernatorial elections in 23 states and the district of Caracas.

With the economy in shambles, inflation hovering around 30% and the opposition beginning to unite, Venezuela's messiah is feeling some heat. It is not impossible, assuming fair elections (which is far from certain), for opposition candidates to win at least three important states and perhaps as many as six.

For a man with dictatorial ambitions, this is anathema.

Which is why the Uncle Sam boogeyman is being trotted out, the Russians were called in, and Washington's ambassadors have been sent packing."

Trust me. It won't be long before the good people of Venezuela tell Chavez to "shut up"!

How do you cut taxes for people who don't pay taxes?

It's a great line. It gets a lot of cheers from the "yes we can" screamers, specially the ones attending college while their parents pay tuition.

It sounds so nice and generous. Isn't it amazing how you can sound generous by buying votes with someone else's money?

It's also a lie. It is the most obscene form of class warfare!

How can you cut taxes for people who don't pay taxes?

Bruce Bialosky is the founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California. He is a licensed/practicing Certified Public Accountant and Real Estate Broker.

Today, he wrote an article blowing up BO's latest attempt at class warfare. He calls it The 95% Solution:

"Mr. Obama seems not to be aware that in the last analysis of income taxes paid to the U.S. Treasury (in 2006), taxpayers whose earnings were in the lowest 50% paid only 3% of our total tax burden.

That means most of these taxpayers paid almost nothing.

The next lowest earning 25% of taxpayers paid only 11% of the total tax burden.

Collectively, this means the lowest 75% of earners paid only 14% of the current income taxes collected in this country.

Since 75% of Americans are already paying little or no taxes, how do you cut the taxes for 95% of Americans?"

The answer is that you can't cut taxes for people who aren't currently paying taxes.

Nevertheless, BO gets away with the line because the media is either ignorant or partisan.

Confirmed: The NY Times has the early signs of PDS!

This is a story on The NY Times' front page:

Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

The NY Times has discovered that a politician hires his or her friends and attacks critics:

"Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials."

OK. So what's wrong with hiring your friends and going after your critics? Didn't Bush and Clinton do that? Doesn't every elected official do that?

Have I been missing something in following politics all of these years? It'd be interesting to research how The NY Times reacted to Pres-elect Kennedy appointing Robert, his younger brother, as Attorney General. More recently, didn't Clinton fill the White House with his Arkansas friends?

Let's contrast this with Barrack Obama going after his critics a couple of weeks ago:

"Sen. Barack Obama's campaign organized its supporters Wednesday night to confront Tribune-owned WGN-AM in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air.
" an e-mail to supporters.

"He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

Did The NY Times run a front page story about this?

It's confirmed. The NY Times has a bad case of PDS, i.e. Palin Derangement Syndrome. By the way, they forgot to say that Gov. Palin has 80% approval in Alaska! No room for that little detail!

The Dems are not having any fun since they took over the Congress!

As I have written before, the Dems had the best of all worlds during the first 6 years of the Bush administration.

They were the Congressional minority.

All they had to do was sit in the bleachers and second guess the coach.

They were the Monday morning quarterbacks! After all, the Monday morning QB never throws an interception. His passes always go in for TDs! His plays always work. His defense never gives us a first down! His running back never fumbles!

In 2006, the Dems got their wish. They took over Congress. The US voters gave them a chance to help the coach run the game.

The Dems came in with lots of noise.

They have been a huge disappointment. The Congressional approval number is embarrassing low.

Can you say 20%? Even Bush is at 32%!

What's going on?

First, we have very complicated problems. It's nice to blame everything on Bush but that doesn't solve anything.

Let's take immigration reform. The Dems spent a lot of time saying that Republicans didn't like Mexicans.

What have they done to address the immigration issue? How do you nothing in Spanish? "Nada"?

Let's take spending. What about all of that debt that Bush is allegedly leaving for our grandchildren?

Our budget deficits are about 3% of GDP, a rather modest figure by historical standards.

Our problem is not the budget deficit.

Our real problem is entitlement spending. We've created a financial structure where spending happens no matter who wins the election.

It's nice and easy to blame Bush. However, no one can do anything about entitlements, unless the Congress wants to change the law.

We are going to leave our grandchildren with a big bill regardless of who wins the election.

We are going to leave them a big bill unless our next President and Congress have the courage to take the entitlement mess head on! (Pres. Bush tried to do something about it in 2005 and the Dems accused him of throwing your grandmother under the bus!)

Second, it's nice to attack Bush on Iraq. It's a lot more complicated to actually cut the funding and please the left wing wackos that got you elected.

Third, it's nice to talk about lower gasoline prices. It's a lot more complicated to do something about it, specially when India and China keep increasing their demand and we haven't built a nuclear plant in 30 years!

Reality has finally caught up with the Dems.

It was a lot more fun to blame everything on Bush and the Republicans!

Where are we? The Dem Congress is in serious trouble.

KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL has a few thoughts about all of this:

"The Democratic leadership got smart in 2006, running conservative Democrats who picked off unpopular Republicans in conservative districts.

Yet that same leadership has proceeded to govern in a way that has made many of those freshmen vulnerable in their first re-election.

Of the 20 most competitive Democratic seats, 16 are held by newcomers."

It's also going to be very difficult for conservative Dems to run behind the # 1 liberal in the US Senate (Obama) and the other very liberal (Biden).

This is going to be very difficult, specially in all of that real estate between NY City and Los Angeles.

Want a third Bush term? How about a rerun of Pelosi?

How many Dem incumbents are inviting Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid to campaign with them? Not many!

Happy # 62 to Barry Gibb!

To be honest, I'm a couple of weeks late on this one. However, I've been busy posting political opinions.

Let's wish a very happy birthday to Barry Gibb, who was born in The Isle of Man 62 years ago on the 1st of September.

Barry Gibb, and his younger brothers Maurice and Robin, started singing when they were kids. They hit the charts when they were teens.

In 1967, Barry was 21 and the twins were 19. They released international hits. They appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show", the # 1 Sunday night TV show back then:

Barry Gibb and Paul McCartney are the two most successful songwriters of the rock era. At one point, The Bee Gees had six consecutive # 1's in the US.

Happy birthday to Barry Gibb, one of our real musical favorites.

We know that times passes by when we are wishing "Happy 62nd" to Barry Gibb. Speaking of "time passing us by" and "childhood memories", here is "First of May":

Confirmed: Palin Derangement Syndrome has overwhelmed another angry feminist!

The good news is that Randi Rhodes of Air America has a very small audience. Like MSNBC's Keith Obermann, she does a lot of nasty Bush-bashing but can't generate much ratings.

The bad news is that she gets noticed whenever she makes a stupid statement. She was fired last spring for calling Hillary Clinton a nasty female adjective. She once claimed that McCain was actually treated very well at the Hanoi Hilton:

"Of course he (McCain) became very friendly with the Vietnamese.

They called him the Prince.

He was well treated actually.

And he was well treated because he traded these propaganda interviews for good treatment.

So look, it's a horrible story anyway you cut it, anyway you look at it, any way you you you deal with it.

But, it's not the story Fred Thompson told.

Nor is it the story Rudy Giuliani told.

Nor is it the story Sarah Palin told.

Nor is it the story anybody.

Cindy McCain knew to limit herself to 'I think what my husband did in Vietnam was heroic' because she knows the truth too."

Just curious. Where did Randi Rhodes get this from? Was she getting the talking points from The Hanoi Hilton's concierge?

Stupid Randi! What else can you say?

Randi is back with an attack on Sarah Palin:

"She’s the woman who shows up at the kid’s birthday party and starts opining about everything from politics to lawn care.

This is the woman that knows it all.

Will shout you down, will get revenge on you.

That’s who she is.

She’s friends with all the teenage boys.

You have to say no when your kids say, ‘can we sleep over at the Palin’s?

No! NO!’ (Hot air)

Again, where did Randi any of this information? Did she live in Alaska? Did she know the Palin family?

The angry left, and the feminist wing, has lost it. They can't control themselves or their anger.

Wonder when Obama will tell these people to shut up?

Don't hold your breath. My guess is that BO is afraid to tell these idiots to shut up. Why? They were the ones who got him nominated!

The "media in the tank for BO" is in the process of electing McCain!

Somebody will write a book about this someday. They will look back and come to two conclusions:

1) The media was in the tank for BO;

2) McCain won the election.

Charlie Gibson of ABC is a pretty good guy. He is not a wacko partisan. However, he did bring a sword to Palin's interview and roses to Obama's interview.

The Anchoress is a wonderful blogger. Check out her analysis:

"It is indisputably a good thing to ask a possible future Vice President tough and substantive questions.

What is bothering many (my email is bulging) is the seeming unwillingness of the press to subject a possible future President to the same rigorous examination."

Let's check out the questions, as long we are at it:

"Obama interview:

How does it feel to break a glass ceiling?

How does it feel to “win”?

How does your family feel about your “winning” breaking a glass ceiling?

Who will be your VP?

Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP?

Will you accept public finance?

What issues is your campaign about?

Will you visit Iraq?

Will you debate McCain at a town hall?

What did you think of your competitor’s [Clinton] speech?

Palin interview:

Do you have enough qualifications for the job you’re seeking?

Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders?

Aren’t you conceited to be seeking this high level job?

Questions about foreign policy-

territorial integrity of Georgia-

allowing Georgia and Ukraine to be members of NATO-

NATO treaty-

Iranian nuclear threat-

what to do if Israel attacks Iran-

Al Qaeda motivations-

the Bush Doctrine-attacking terrorists harbored by Pakistan

Is America fighting a holy war? [misquoted Palin]"

We like reporters who ask tough questions. We love to see our future leaders subjected to tough questions. What else can we expect?

What we don't understand is why it only applies to Sarah Palin!

Speaking of The Bush Doctrine, it was Charlie Gibson who misspoke.

There is no such thing as a Bush Doctrine, in the sense that there it's written down.

The actual Bush Doctrine has evolved from the evening of 9-11 to where we are today:

"He asked Palin, "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?"

She responded, quite sensibly to a question that is ambiguous, "In what respect, Charlie?"

Sensing his "gotcha" moment, Gibson refused to tell her.

After making her fish for the answer, he grudgingly explained to the moose-hunting rube that the Bush doctrine "is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense."

Wrong." (Charlie Gibson Wrong on the Bush Doctrine by Charles Krauthammer)

It was Charlie Gibson who got this wrong. Sarah Palin was right!

In the meantime, Palin's support continues to grow. She is driving the Dems mad because they don't know what to do with her!

The Dems are mad at the Republicans because we nominated a woman for VP and they didn't!

This is the same irrational behavior that we saw after the 2000 election. They were mad at Bush for winning Clinton's Arkansas and Gore's Tennessee.

Why didn't they get mad with Clinton and Gore for not delivering their home states? Why get mad at Bush for winning them?

Irrational, irrational, and more irrational is what these Dems are all about!

Did you hear this one? The latest AP poll has more bad news for Obama and his friends in the media:

"The poll suggests that perceived inexperience is more of a problem at the top of the Democratic ticket than in the No. 2 spot for Republicans.

Eighty percent say McCain, with nearly three decades in Congress, has the right experience to be president.

Just 46 percent say Obama, now in his fourth year in the Senate, is experienced enough.

Fully 47 percent say Obama lacks the proper experience — an even worse reading than the 36 percent who had the same criticism about McCain running mate Sarah Palin, serving her second year as Alaska governor after being a small-town mayor." (Ed Morrissey)

We warned the Dems not to use experience against Palin.

As I wrote yesterday, her qualifications are not out of line with previous VP nominees over the last 60 years.

It's Obama, not Palin, who has an experience problem.

P.S. Here is what Dem Mark Penn is saying about the media:

"I think here the media is on very dangerous ground.

I think that when you see them going through every single expense report that Governor Palin ever filed, if they don't do that for all four of the candidates, they're on very dangerous ground.

I think the media so far has been the biggest loser in this race.

And they continue to have growing credibility problems. And I think that that's a real problem growing out of this election."

I guess that we should say: Keep it up media! Keep up your love affair with Obama! You are helping elect John McCain!

Obama is really getting desperate by attacking McCain's war injuries!

Obama's latest TV ad mocks McCain for not using a keyboard and e-mail. Unfortunately, someone at the BO staff forgot to do their homework. You will see a lot of outrage about this cheap shot on McCain over the next few days!

McCain was a POW. He was beaten, tortured and nearly killed. He refused early release because his dad was a general. He was beaten more.

McCain lives with those injuries today. This is from The Boston Globe in 2000:

"McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care.

The outrage comes from inside: McCain’s severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes.

Friends marvel at McCain’s encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He’s an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can’t raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.

After Vietnam, McCain had Ann Lawrence, a physical therapist, help him regain flexibility in his leg, which had been frozen in an extended position by a shattered knee.

It was the only way he could hope to resume his career as a Navy flier, but Lawrence said the treatment, taken twice a week for six months, was excruciatingly painful.

”He endured it, he wouldn’t settle for less,” said Lawrence, who rejoiced with McCain when he passed the Navy physical.

”I have never seen such toughness and resolve.”

Is this what BO "getting tough" with McCain is all about?

Going after a man who can't use a keyboard because of injuries suffered in a POW camp?

Who is thinking over at the Obama camp?

As a young man, McCain was tortured because he refused early release. He stood up to his captors and rejected preferential treatment over his fellow soldiers.

What was Obama doing as a young man? He was sitting in Rev. Wright's church! Obama didn't have the guts to tell Rev. Wright to stop his outrageous sermons!

Obama quit the church for political reasons!

Who is tough? McCain!

Who is a poll reader and throws people under the bus for an election? Obama!

What Obama economics has done to Europe!

Keith Marsden is a senior economist at the International Labor Organization, a former economic adviser at the World Bank and a fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies.

This is what he reports about the US economy versus the European economies:

""U.S. output has expanded faster than in most advanced economies over the eight years of George Bush's presidency."

There is more:

"Obama, pursuing "social justice," is calling for a euro-style economic strategy of more taxes, more protectionism, more unionism, and more regulations -- the exact formula of community organizing that's produced slow economic growth and high unemployment throughout Europe."

"With jobs, the U.S. unemployment rate averaged 4.7 percent from 2001 to 2007. "

This compares with a 5.2 percent average rate during President Clinton's terms in office," reports Marsden, "and is well below the euro zone average of 8.3 percent since 2000."

Wonder why the Euros love Obama? They want the US to look as miserable as Europe does!

France must be one of the 57 states!

Here is your weekend cartoon.

If France and Europe had a vote, Obama would sweep on election day. Of course, France is not a state, even though we liberated them twice in the 20th century. France is not a state but we wouldn't mind getting our friend Sarkozy in exchange for Obama, Pelosi and a Dem to be named later!

We don't know how Poland, Ukraine or Georgia would vote. My guess is that they would vote for McCain!

Enjoy the humor and check out the international poll by the BBC!

In the meantime, check out the lines at US embassies around the world. Nobody is waiting for Obama to get elected before applying for a work visa! They wouldn't mind coming here even if we elected McCain!

"Hope and change" needs a new seal!

This Friday's Krauthammer is worth reading:

"The Democrats are in a panic.

In a presidential race that is impossible to lose, they are behind.

Obama devotees are frantically giving advice.

Tom Friedman tells him to "start slamming down some phones."

Camille Paglia suggests, "be boring!"

The weekly Baker from London is great too:

"Travelling in Britain this week, I've been asked repeatedly by close followers of US politics if it can really be true that Barack Obama might not win.

Thoughtful people cannot get their head around the idea that Mr Obama, exciting new pilot of change, supported by Joseph Biden, experienced navigator of the swamplands of Washington politics, could possibly be defeated."

Jack Tapper of ABC tells us that Obama is going to get really tough this time. He is really going after McCain:

Barack 'Isotoner' Obama to Take Off his Third or Fourth Pair of Gloves and Get Tough

What are they going to get tough about?

Are they going to tell us for 30 millionth time that McCain is Bush?

Or that McCain gave tax credits to the rich and corporations?

They have been doing this for the last 40 years and lost 7 of 10 elections. The won 3 by running candidates who didn't say that nonsense!

Don't you remember the Dems warning us that Reagan was unpopular in Europe? Or that Reagan cut taxes for the rich?

Memo to Dems: Can't you guys come up with a new criticism?

The "tax cuts for the rich" and "the world hates us" stuff is getting very old!

It gets old when Germany and France won't fight in a NATO operation in Afghanistan!

Or that McCain is old?

They are running a new TV ad saying that McCain does not know how to use a computer or send e-mail?

They've done that before and it ain't working, as they say in Texas.

Ed Morrissey reports that the Dems are telling BO to get tough:

"According to NBC and the New York Times, Democrats have put enormous pressure on Barack Obama to start hitting John McCain in a more personal manner and to get his momentum back in this race.

Team Obama says that the “bed-wetting” will not knock them off their game plan, but according to Andrea Mitchell, that may change.

Sources in the campaign tell her that they will start getting personal with John McCain and perhaps Sarah Palin, starting today."

Here is my guess: Obama is going to get really tough by telling us that McCain will be Bush's 3rd term! We can't wait!

New House numbers has the Dems "freaking out about Sarah"

If the election was held, McCain-Palin would win. Better than, the Republicans are back in the game about the congressional election.

Did Sarah Palin do that? No.

Has she energized the Republican base? Yes!

The latest RCP average has McCain up by 3 over Obama. The Republicans had a great convention. It is showing up in the polls.

Here is my favorite story: Battle for Congress Suddenly Looks Competitive!

According to Gallup:

" potential shift in fortunes for the Republicans in Congress is seen in the latest USA Today/Gallup survey, with the Democrats now leading the Republicans by just 3 percentage points, 48% to 45%, in voters' "generic ballot" preferences for Congress.

This is down from consistent double-digit Democratic leads seen on this measure over the past year."

What's going on?

Let's be cautious. There is a little convention bounce here. It may drop a few points before November.

Let's be optimistic. Who would have believed this in the spring?

The Republicans have 3 things going for them in the campaign to win back the House:

1) Palin has energized the base.

2) Nancy Pelosi's Congress has 20% approval in the latest RCP. Taking over the House was the worst thing that happened to the Democrats. They can't blame everything on Bush anymore!

3) Drill, drill, and more drilling. Gasoline prices are driving the energy independence campaign. So far, the Dems are for inflating tires. The Reps are for drilling for more oil and building nuclear plants in the US.

My guess is that the Dems will hold on to the House. However, it will continue to be a very small majority. Nevertheless, many Dems are starting to worry: DEMS ON CAPITOL HILL FEAR OBAMA FALLOUT... !

Pres. McCain and VP Palin will find a lot of friends in the 2009 House, specially all of those conservative Dems sprouting all over the South and West!

We have a name for all of this "freaking out about Sarah"

Dick Morris nailed it:

"Democrats can’t stomach seeing the feminist movement’s impetus for greater female political participation and empowerment “hijacked” by a pro-life woman who espouses traditional values.

They must obliterate her, lest her popularity eat away at their party’s core."

This is what all of these Palin attacks are all about. The Dems love women in high places, as long as they believe in abortion and the welfare state. And she is a woman who believes that a vote for Obama is a vote to save the planet and civilization from those terrible Republicans who cut taxes for the rich!

Palin is anti-abortion. She believes in self-reliance. And her son just went to Iraq!

It's so crazy that we've a created a title for it: PDS or Palin Derangement Syndrome!

Howie Carr posted that Moonbats dropping like flies from PDS epidemic:

"The bad news is, PDS appears to be incurable.

The good news is, it only strikes one demographic group - moonbats."

To say the least, the moonbats are out in full force. I have not seen such Dem silliness since God knows when! It's been a long time!

The "moonbat" lonely hearts club has a new complaint about Sarah Palin: New animal rights ad: Hey, Palin’s a savage who enjoys seeing animals suffer!

Palin believes in abortion, the 2nd amendment, the war in Iraq and killing wildlife in Alaska. Did you know that she wants to kill polar bears and wolves in Alaska?

The bad news is that this is getting insane.

The good news is that McCain-Palin are drawing huge crowds. Frankly, I have not seen the Republicans so energized and motivated since Pres. Bush's reelection in 2004.

What will they accuse Sarah Palin of next? Stay tuned because the moonbats are not done making fools of themselves yet! In the meantime, enjoy the video about Sarah shooting wildlife in Alaska:

P.S. I told you that these people can not control themselves. A Dem in the House is now comparing Obama to Jesus, the community organizer, and reminding us that Pontius Pilate was the "governor". Was Pilate a governor like the one in Alaska who wants wildlife killed?

Just how qualified is Gov. Sarah Palin?

She is driving the Democrats wild. She is making Dems say and do some of the dumbest things in recent memory. Palin has clearly gotten in the Dems' heads. Again, I have never such Dem irrational behavior since Gore couldn't win his home state of Tennessee in 2000!

Let's compare Sarah Palin with VP nominees since WW2, or the superpower era of the US.

Let's start with Harry Truman in 1944. At the time, he was an unknown US Senator from Missouri. He was selected because the Dems couldn't agree on a candidate at their convention. (Truman became president when FDR passed away)

Richard Nixon was 39 when Eisenhower picked him in 1952.

John Kennedy was 39 when he was considered for VP in 1956.

Truman, Nixon and Kennedy were legislators. They did not have executive experience, although Truman had business experience.

Spiro Agnew was a first term governor when Nixon picked him in 1968. Remember Spiro who?

McGovern picked Eagleton, dropped him and then picked Shriver Sargent. Neither one was heavy on experience.

Ford picked Dole in 1976, a House member with limited experience.

Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro, another House member with very limited experience.

Bush picked Quayle, another US Senator with little experience.

Clinton picked Gore because he served in Vietnam and voted for the Gulf War. He was not known as a foreign policy heavyweight.

Kerry picked Edwards in 2004, a first term Senator.

How does Sarah Palin compared with those choices? She is not bad.

Here is the bottom line on VP selections. Only Bush-41, picked by Reagan in 1980, and Cheney, picked by Bush-43 in 2000, were extremely experienced choices. No one questioned their credentials. LBJ, picked by JFK in 1960, is a close third!

Palin, like most other VP selection, has electoral value. She was chosen because she was an effective governor with very conservative credentials. It did not hurt that she is a woman after Hillary Clinton was overlooked by Obama.

Get over Palin! The Dems should stop running against Palin.

The Dems should tell us why Obama has the experience to be president! Can they do that?

Guess what? The NY Times thinks that Gov. Palin lacks experience!

No one is surprised. The NY Times does not like Gov. Palin:

"Voters have a right to hear Ms. Palin explain in detail her qualifications to be standby president with no national or foreign policy experience." (In Search of Gov. Palin)

We searched and found no editorial complaining that BO had no national or foreign experience.

Furthermore, The NY Times did not object to Rep. Ferraro selected by Mondale in 1984. Ferraro had been in the US House for six years back then.

I guess that experience is not required, as long as you believe in abortion and subscribe to The NY Times' liberal view of the world.

Here is the bottom line: Talking about Palin's experience exposes Obama's lack of experience.

This is a loser for Dems! Palin is a governor and ran a city. BO was a community organizer, a part time state legislator and has been running for president for much of his US Senate term!

BO is not ready for the major leagues!

Like the young pitcher who was rushed to the majors by an irrational management, BO is not getting anybody out these days.

BO is struggling.

BO looks like he's never seen major league hitters before.

Frankly, he hasn't!

It looks like the hitters know what's coming!

What's going on?

First, running in a presidential general election is very different than winning a liberal state senate seat in Chicago.

BO represented one of the nation's premiere left wing districts. It's the kind of district where they remember Ho Chi Minh as a victim of US imperialism! It's the kind of district where Che Guevara has a fan club!

Also, running against McCain is a lot different than running against Allan Keyes for the US Senate in 2004!

It's not so easy anymore! (Fox News poll: McCain leads by three, gains 16 points among independents since last month)

MARK CUNNINGHAM has an interesting column today at The NY Post:

"IF it suddenly seems like the Obama campaign doesn't have any idea what it's doing, maybe that's because it doesn't.

Barack Obama has never run a campaign against a real Republican.

And his main strategist, David Axelrod, is way out of his areas of expertise."

Why does BO look so unprepared against Republican attacks?

Nobody runs for president without a competitive campaign on their resume. Again, nobody does unless your name is Eisenhower and you've led the world to victory over Hitler!

Can the Dems dump Obama? No they can't! They are stuck with him!

Before you accuse me of being another anti-BO right wing critic, check out what some liberals are saying about him:

Autumn Angst: Dems fret about Obama

Obama's woes have nothing to do with 'lipstick'

McCain Poll Surge, Fundraising Give Democrats Election Jitters

We have not been attacked since 9-11

Everyone has their 9-11 story. I can still recall looking at the TV and watching a second plane hit the tower.

I will never forget it.

Today, we remember the families and all of those children who became orphans that day.

We also remember that we have not been attacked since 9-11. Why? Because Pres. Bush took the war to the terrorists!

Thank you Pres. Bush! We are winning this war! (The Terrorists Are Losing By Quin Hillyer)

"Freaking out over Sarah", part 2

This is crazy. This is what a Dem leader said about McCain picking Palin:

"South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler sharply attacked Sarah Palin today, saying John McCain had chosen a running mate "whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.”

Palin is an opponent of abortion rights and gave birth to her fifth child, Trig, earlier this year after finding out during her pregnancy that the baby had Down syndrome." (Politico)

What are the Dems thinking? My guess is that most women respect a woman who had a baby with down syndrome.

Again, what are the Dems thinking? The answer is that they are not thinking!

They are freaking out!

Obama needs to come clean about his radical Chicago pals!

Obama finally made it to The O'Reilly Factor. It's easy to understand why he avoided this venue for such a long time.

O'Reilly's ratings are # 1.

BO could not survive avoiding O"Reilly.

In last night's segment, Obama discussed his Chicago lefty pals:

Bill Ayers is a 1960's radical who blew up government buildings. He is not another 1960's spoiled "long-hair hippie" who got into socialism to get back at his rich father. He actually tried to kill policemen. He has never apologized to the people that he tried to kill.

Many of us do stupid things when we are young. Most of us recognize our mistakes and apologize for them.

Bill Ayers is not sorry that he tried to kill policemen or blow up buildings.

Bill Ayers and his wife are despicable human beings.

Question: What if McCain had a close relationship with an unrepentant abortion clinic bomber? How many front page articles would The NY Times have written about that?

On Rev. Wright, Obama is simply beyond belief. BO said that he never heard Rev. Wright say anything provocative. BO said that he went to church twice a month, or coincidentally the times that the Rev did not say anything political.

How can any responsible person stay in a church after the Rev's 9-11 sermon? BO either agreed with the Rev's outrageous remarks or he was afraid to stand up to him. Either one is bad in a potential president. I want a president who will stand up for the country and defend it when angry leftists say awful things about the US. Again, this is what Rev. Wright said on his first sermon after 9-11:

The Rezko situation is even more confusing because BO's home is in the mix:

These relationships speak volumes about Obama. It's time to BO to come clean and stop whining about his critics.

P.S. No one knows our politics like Michael Barone. I think that the Obama staff needs to read and consider Mr. Barone's recent column:

"For Obama, the outsider who gained the trust of the insiders, the position is different.

He was willing to use Ayers and ally with him despite his terrorist past and lack of repentance.

An unrepentant terrorist, who bragged of bombing the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon, was a fit associate.

Ayers evidently helped Obama gain insider status in Chicago civic life and politics--how much, we can't be sure.

But most American politicians would not have chosen to associate with a man with Ayers's past or of Ayers's beliefs.

It's something voters might reasonably want to take into account." (Obama Needs to Explain His Ties to William Ayers)

P.S. This is the story of John Murtaugh, whose famiy was targeted by Ayers! He wrote Barack Obama pal is an enemy, too:

" Early on the morning of Feb. 21, as my family slept, three gasoline-filled firebombs exploded at our home on the northern tip of Manhattan, two at the front door and the third tucked neatly under the gas tank of the family car."

Laugh with me! The Dems are still running against Bush!

A few months ago, we posted a comment about Jeff Dobbs' The only way to save the Democratic Party:

"Now that George W. Bush is no longer a participant in a presidential election, Democrats have lost the unifying locus of their hatred, and that hatred has found its place in being hurled upon the Democratic Party's own candidates.

The result of this tragic situation leaves the Democratic Party with only one viable option:

Repeal the Twenty-Second Amendment

Democrats everywhere should be working feverishly to ensure that President Bush can be placed on the ballot.

Yes, it has come to this.

The only person who can save the Democratic Party is George W. Bush."

Have you seen some of BO's ads lately? He is running against Bush!

What's the problem with that strategy?

First, it does not work. Voters are forward looking. They want to hear what you will do in the future rather than what the last guy did.

Second, Bush is more popular than the Dem Congress. This is not a case of everyone loving Dems and hating Republicans.

The RCP average is 18% approval for the Dem Congress!

Again, the Dems are not popular either.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are not getting Christmas Cards from many Americans.

The Dems are mad because Pelosi-Reid did not have the guts to stand up to Bush over Iraq.

We are mad because the labor unions don't allow the Dems to pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and the environmentalists don't let them vote on drilling.

Third, Obama can not close the deal with real people. Obama won the little states that will vote Republican in the fall. Hillary Clinton won the big battleground states, like PA and Ohio!

Fourth, McCain is not Bush. McCain has been the most independent Republican ever.

It's true that Bush and McCain have been partners on the Iraq War. They are profiles in courage over Iraq. They stood against polls. They showed leadership when everybody else was reading polls.

Beyond Iraq, McCain has been a strong critic of both parties on spending and the money flowing into our politics.

All of this stuff about McCain being Bush may work in front of left wing wackos or Hollywood-ies.

It's not working with real voters. Just look at the polls!

A great one about the angry left

We enjoy lots of blogs. Rick Moran is one of our favorites because he can write like this:

"Only 12 year old children and liberals believe politicians like Obama which is why they can become so disillusioned with politics.

When their heroes are shown to have feet of clay, they don’t blame their own naivete and child like belief in those who seek great power but rather they blame the “system” or they become even more infantile and blame their hero’s opponent for making him something less than what he purports to be.

I’ve seen it for nearly 40 years and it never ceases to amaze me."

Great quote! Profound statement!

Memo to Dems: Please, please, please continue attacking Gov. Palin!

The Dems are freaking out over Sarah Palin: Obama, Dems sharpen personal attacks on Palin!

Why is this woman driving the Dems crazy? What is she doing to the Dems?

First, Poll Shows Large Shift to McCain Among White Women! I guess that the Dems are a bit worried about that.

Now, they are saying nasty things about her: McCain Camp Accuses Obama of Comparing Palin to a Pig

How can the mayor of a small town in Alaska shake up the Obama campaign so much?

Besides, what's the big deal? I thought that this was the year of the Democrats!

Kristen Powers is a liberal and she has some advice for her party's nominee:

"YESTERDAY'S Gallup poll had John McCain ahead of Barack Obama by an astonishing 10 points among likely voters.

A Washington Post poll had that lead at only two points, but clearly showed a McCain surge - especially among women.

This wasn't what Democrats were expecting when they left Denver - yet they have nobody to blame but themselves.

Obama's toughest challenge has always been to connect with working-class swing voters.

So attacking the poster child for small-town values, Sarah Palin, was a bad strategy. "

Palin is driving the left crazy. We love it!

P.S. Take a look at Dominic Lawson's This 'babe' has floored the left:

"It is one of the most cherished illusions of the left that conviction politicians of the right are stupid: not just wrong, but actually obtuse.

The consequences of such prejudice are obvious: colossal underestimation, leading to blind arrogance, and thus electoral defeat."

Again, keep attacking Gov. Palin! These conservative ladies are getting pretty mad!

McCain has blown a big hole in Obama's balloon!

Like a veteran QB, McCain is tearing up Obama's defenses. The BO balloon is losing air and crashing fast!

Jonah Goldberg nails it:

"The more Obama has to explain why being a community organizer -- or a state legislator, or a one-term senator with few accomplishments under his belt -- is better preparation for the presidency than being a mayor or governor, the more he volunteers his own shortcomings when compared with McCain. "

The Obama team doesn't have a clue about reacting to Palin. McCain's pick was brilliant!

The experience card backfires because she was a governor and mayor. BO wasn't either.

The "woman" card backfires because the Hillary women are already angry with him. (The Obama-Palin Fight Benefits McCain)

"Hope and change" has run out of air. It is crashing fast! Please dial 9-11 because it's coming down fast to a neighborhood near you! Hide your dog and children because something big is about to come down and it won't be pretty.

Somebody will write a book about the 2008 election. They will recall how the master veteran QB McCain just destroyed Obama, the rookie defensive coordinator.