Free Speech was great while it lasted

Free Speech was great while it lasted.

August 7, 2009

Photoshop by Kevin Dayhoff

Go here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/d49en

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/free-speech-was-great-while-it-lasted.html http://tinyurl.com/ksbass

http://twitpic.com/d49en Free Speech was great while it lasted. http://tinyurl.com/ksbass

20090807 sdsom fb twitp KED Free Speech

Free Speech, Pres 2009 44 Obama-Barack, Medicine Health Care Reform, Politics Liberal double standards,

*****

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Sarah Palin: Who needs this crap?

Sarah Palin: Who needs this crap?

Media fear and loathing and Palin Derangement Syndrome on steroids.

July 3, 2009

On Friday afternoon, “Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced … that she was resigning her office later this month, a stunning decision that could free her to run for president more easily but also raises questions about her political standing at home,” wrote Jonathan Martin in Politico.

“Palin disclosed the surprise news Friday afternoon from her home in Wasilla with her husband, Todd, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who the governor said would take over the state on Saturday, July 25.” http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24497.html#ixzz0KGHArXOv&D

Well, I for one do not think that she is preparing herself for a presidential run in 2012. I think that many of the armchair pundits have it wrong, except Howard Kurtz – he got it right. http://tinyurl.com/l3sdtx

I have family in Alaska and as a result I have followed the career of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for many years – long before she was thrust into the nightmare of the national spotlight last fall.

I watched the video of her announcement (Friday) afternoon and my immediate reaction is that she has had enough – and who could blame her?

I hope for her sake and the sake of her family that she retires to being a private citizen.

Hopefully she can write a book or two, make some speeches, pay off her ginormous legal bills and go fishing and hunting for a long time away from the likes of the National Organization of (Liberal) Women types, the traditional elitist eastern establishment misogynistic press, and the liberal hate bloggers.

If one puts her tenure in the national glare in the context of how this nation, collectively, treated Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton in their bid for national office – and now Governor Palin; we should, as a nation, hang our heads in shame.

The scurrilous attacks have shown no signs of letting up. Since last fall, liberal lefties have launched one after another, silly vexatious ethic commission charges – all of which have proved to be essentially groundless.

They have got to have been an enormously time-consuming and expensive challenge – and a drain on Gov. Palin and her family.

Just recently there was the infamous Letterman incident in which he told what Howard Kurtz mentions in the following piece as “an insensitive joke about her daughter getting ‘knocked up’ by New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez."

Then there was the hit-job by what Mr. Kurtz refers to as a “hard-edged Vanity Fair piece, in which former McCain campaign strategists questioned her mental state and even wondered whether she was suffering from postpartum depression.” (http://tinyurl.com/krnbhk)

Of course, all the attacks have been made by “unnamed sources.”

Not to be overlooked was the recent incident in which Wonkette prominently posted an inappropriate photoshop of her child, who has downs syndrome.

If any of the above had happened to President Barack Obama of his family, for example, the “Katie Couric-s” of the world and the National Organization of (Liberal) Women types would have been up in arms. Yet the double-standards persist.

It’s Palin Derangement Syndrome on steroids.

On June 28, 2009, William A. Jacobson, on his blog, “Legal Insurrection,” noted:

“It really is hard to understand why some adults feel the need to make fun of Trig Palin, a one-year old who has Down Syndrome. Politics alone cannot explain it. If you don't like Sarah Palin, fine, but why go after Trig?

“The controversy regarding the photoshop of Trig by Alaskan blogger Linda Biegel is only the tip of the iceberg. Ever since Sarah's nomination, Trig has been a target. Last fall, the popular DC-based ‘gossip’ website Wonkette joked how Trig must have wished he'd been aborted. Now Wonkette has taken Biegel's Photoshop antics as an excuse to go after Trig anew.

“In a recent post, Wonkette promoted and joked about even cruder Photoshops of Trig at the Something Awful web forum, where people can post anonymously (examples below). Wonkette even included one of these photoshops in its post (above right) while mocking Trig as the ‘New Jesus,’ ‘Holy Infant’ and ‘Sacred One.’

“All the attacks on Trig are Sarah's fault, according to the Wonkette post, since Sarah had the audacity to bring Trig on stage at the Republican National Convention (where the original photo in question was taken), which Wonkette calls using Trig as a ‘cheap political prop.’ I guess that makes the Obama kids fair game according to Wonkette since they were brought on stage at the Democratic National Convention…”

Mr. Jacobson continues, “Palin basically poked a stick in the world’s largest beehive filled with cheap & tireless insanity, and the SomethingAwful.com goons have unleashed a pack of Photoshop Dogs From Hell to make the most incredible collection of Sarah Palin Desecration Images in the History of Time, the end.

“General Bullshit > Sarah Palin thinks photoshopping special needs babies is appalling [Something Awful]

“(At the top is one) of the milder Photoshops in the Something Awful forum which are Sarah's fault according to Wonkette:"

In the context of the non-stop character assassination by the lefty-haters and the elite media since Arizona Senator John McCain picked her for his vice presidential running mate last fall - - Who needs this crap?

Howard Kurtz got it right. Read “Maybe She Got Tired of the Full-Court Press
Will Palin, Plucked From Obscurity, Return to It?” By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 4, 2009

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/07/sarah-palin-who-needs-this-crap.html

20090703 sdosm Palin Derangement Syndrome

*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Blip.fm: http://blip.fm/kevindayhoff_soundtrack Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835 Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems: http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/

Kevin Dayhoff: http://www.westgov.net/ Westminster Maryland Online http://www.westminstermarylandonline.net/ http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/

Byron York - The Escalating War Between Obama and Bush

Washington Examiner Political Digest for April 14 2009

Byron York - The Escalating War Between Obama and Bush
Former White House adviser Karl Rove's bare-knuckled response to recent statements by Vice President Joe Biden has brought into public view a growing resentment on the part of Bush administration veterans over what they regard as repeated and unwarranted slams from the Obama White House.

Read the full story.


William C. Flook - Activists ready for mass Tea Party protest

Tax day Tea Parties being held across the country are intended to evoke the Boston Tea Party of 1773, when Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty threw British tea into Boston Harbor as part of a tax protest that helped spark the Revolutionary War.

Read the full story.


Sebelius received more money from Kan. abortion doctor than reported
In a response to questions from the Senate Finance Committee made public last week, Sebelius wrote that she received $12,450 between 1994-2001 from Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers.
But in addition to those campaign donations, records reviewed by The Associated Press show that Tiller gave at least $23,000 more from 2000-2002 to a political action committee Sebelius established while insurance commissioner to raise money for fellow Democrats.

Read the full story.


Minnesota court says Franken leading vote-getter for Senate
A Minnesota court confirmed Monday that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman.

Read the full story.

Chris Stirewalt's Morning Must Reads

New York Times -- U.S. May Drop Key Condition for Talks With Iran


Wall Street Journal -- Bank Vet Pegged to Run Bailout


Bloomberg -- Goldman Sachs Plans to Raise $5 Billion to Repay U.S.


Wall Street Journal – Pakistani Peace Deal Gives New Clout to Taliban Rebels


Washington Post -- U.S. Appears Set To Boycott U.N. Session on Racism

Sign up for the Washington Examiner's Political News Digest

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20090414 Washington Examiner Political Digest for April 14 2009
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
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New York Times – Sept. 30, 1999: Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

The New York Times – September 30, 1999: Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
Hat Tip: Analog

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

By STEVEN A. HOLMES

Published: September 30, 1999

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

[…]

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''

[…]

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

Read the entire article here: Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

19990930 NYT Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

http://tinyurl.com/6p5d9j

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9c0de7db153ef933a0575ac0a96f958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dayhoff: www.westgov.net Westminster Maryland Online www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/

Profiles in Self Beclowning: Lisa Gladden by Mark Newgent

Profiles in Self Beclowning: Lisa Gladden by Mark Newgent

Friday, January 16, 2009

Lisa Gladden has said some mind numbingly stupid things over the years:

Gladden said “party trumps race” defending racist political attacks against Michael Steele.

Last February she labeled opposition to tax increases as “undemocratic” saying, “we have a responsibility, if not to ourselves, then to the larger community. We have to pay taxes.”

Defending her opposition to Jessica’s Law she gave the most asinine response in the history of Maryland politics.

[…]

Now we have this:

“It doesn’t matter if the state of Maryland is broke as long as Barack Obama is going to be President of the United States – this is great!”

[…]

See the video of Gladden cheerfully belcowning herself here.

Posted by Mark Newgent at 1/16/2009 10:58:00 AM

Labels: Lisa Gladden, self beclowning

Read Mr. Newgent’s entire post here: Profiles in Self Beclowning: Lisa Gladden by Mark Newgent

20090116 Profiles in Self Beclowning Lisa Gladden
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dayhoff: www.westgov.net Westminster Maryland Online www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/

Running on empty – What a difference an election makes

November 23, 2008 by Kevin Dayhoff

By the end of last week the prospect of an auto bailout was running on four flat tires.

However, with the backdrop of the economy continuing to remain at the forefront of the media spotlight, the “Detroit Three,” General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, continue their tours de force beg-a-thon performance in the media with a great deal of support coming from the Democrat Party.

What a difference an election makes. If you will remember, during the election campaign, the Democrats railed about the increase in the national debt, increased spending, and failed economic policies.

And of course, earlier in the 2008 presidential campaign, when the price of oil and gasoline spiked, it was President George W. Bush’s fault. After the price of gas fell precipitously, the Democrats and their media sycophants fell strangely silent.

Moreover, on Election Day, when the Wall Street rallied, the media credited the prospects of the election of presidential candidate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama with the reasons for the uptick in the stock market.

The day after the election the stock market had the largest percentage drop in history on the day after an election. The media was silent – as in crickets chirping…

Many credited the election victory of Senator Obama on the chaos in the economy. Of course, the great paradox is that the very same foxes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Committee chair Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who caused the chaos in the financial henhouse have now been rewarded and are now in charge of protecting and fixing it. (See It’s the Congress, Stupid!, Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3.)

Now these very same folks want to work their magic on the automobile industry in the United States – with taxpayer money, of course. They want to further raise the national debt by bailing out the Detroit Three – which is the focus of my “The Tentacle” column this week: Rewarding Bad Behavior

As an aside, speaking of changing his tune, you will notice that President-elect Obama has been eerily silent about Iraq, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and other aspects of his war on the Bush Administration’s national security polices now that he has been given a number of national security briefings.

Nevertheless, there remains a nagging concern that international terrorists are still plotting to kill Americans and we are still fighting two interminable ground wars overseas. The Iranians and North Koreans are still playing with their nuclear erector sets. Somali pirates are seizing ships in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes outside of the Gulf of Aden.

And in spite of the predicted outbreak of the Age of Aquarius as a result of the recent election, we find ourselves in economic chaos which continues to escape appropriate hyperbole and reactionary rhetoric.

Congress and our critical financial conglomerates have behaved so badly that their behavior raised the specter that the United States and the world would revisit the joys and riches of the Medieval Ages if something was not done.

Yet last week, the financial bailout had the look and feel of a circular firing squad as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stood before the nation, and said something to the affect: “You know, about that initial bailout strategy… Well nevermind, the facts have changed and we now have a new and improved pyramid scheme to sell you.”

His performance had all the reassuring aspects of a snake oil salesman from the 1890s as he sketched-out a new approach to encourage consumer confidence, borrowing, and get American families back in the mood for opening their pocketbooks.

No word as to how many Google searches occurred for “economic feudalism” last week as Americans started to feel like feudal serfs being sacrificed as a result of the lack of leadership of the overlords.

If this were not enough of a witches brew, many Americans – and the stock market – continue to feel morning sickness in a pregnant pause of anxiety over president-elect Obama’s election rhetoric to revisit free trade agreements, raise taxes, and unleash a new social-welfare system upon the nation that would make President Franklin D. Roosevelt green with envy.

Intellectual, morally and economically, a glance at Washington these days indicates that it not only the Detroit Three that is in trouble these days, the American taxpayer is more at risk than ever as a result of Congress running on empty.

####

20081119 Running on empty (752 words)

Running on empty – What a difference an election makes

Running on empty – What a difference an election makes

November 23, 2008 by Kevin Dayhoff

By the end of last week the prospect of an auto bailout was running on four flat tires.

However, with the backdrop of the economy continuing to remain at the forefront of the media spotlight, the “Detroit Three,” General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, continue their tours de force beg-a-thon performance in the media with a great deal of support coming from the Democrat Party.

What a difference an election makes. If you will remember, during the election campaign, the Democrats railed about the increase in the national debt, increased spending, and failed economic policies.

And of course, earlier in the 2008 presidential campaign, when the price of oil and gasoline spiked, it was President George W. Bush’s fault. After the price of gas fell precipitously, the Democrats and their media sycophants fell strangely silent.

Moreover, on Election Day, when the Wall Street rallied, the media credited the prospects of the election of presidential candidate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama with the reasons for the uptick in the stock market.

The day after the election the stock market had the largest percentage drop in history on the day after an election. The media was silent – as in crickets chirping…

Many credited the election victory of Senator Obama on the chaos in the economy. Of course, the great paradox is that the very same foxes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Committee chair Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who caused the chaos in the financial henhouse have now been rewarded and are now in charge of protecting and fixing it. (See It’s the Congress, Stupid!, Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3.)

Now these very same folks want to work their magic on the automobile industry in the United States – with taxpayer money, of course. They want to further raise the national debt by bailing out the Detroit Three – which is the focus of my “The Tentacle” column this week: Rewarding Bad Behavior

As an aside, speaking of changing his tune, you will notice that President-elect Obama has been eerily silent about Iraq, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and other aspects of his war on the Bush Administration’s national security polices now that he has been given a number of national security briefings.

Nevertheless, there remains a nagging concern that international terrorists are still plotting to kill Americans and we are still fighting two interminable ground wars overseas. The Iranians and North Koreans are still playing with their nuclear erector sets. Somali pirates are seizing ships in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes outside of the Gulf of Aden.

And in spite of the predicted outbreak of the Age of Aquarius as a result of the recent election, we find ourselves in economic chaos which continues to escape appropriate hyperbole and reactionary rhetoric.

Congress and our critical financial conglomerates have behaved so badly that their behavior raised the specter that the United States and the world would revisit the joys and riches of the Medieval Ages if something was not done.

Yet last week, the financial bailout had the look and feel of a circular firing squad as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stood before the nation, and said something to the affect: “You know, about that initial bailout strategy… Well nevermind, the facts have changed and we now have a new and improved pyramid scheme to sell you.”

His performance had all the reassuring aspects of a snake oil salesman from the 1890s as he sketched-out a new approach to encourage consumer confidence, borrowing, and get American families back in the mood for opening their pocketbooks.

No word as to how many Google searches occurred for “economic feudalism” last week as Americans started to feel like feudal serfs being sacrificed as a result of the lack of leadership of the overlords.

If this were not enough of a witches brew, many Americans – and the stock market – continue to feel morning sickness in a pregnant pause of anxiety over president-elect Obama’s election rhetoric to revisit free trade agreements, raise taxes, and unleash a new social-welfare system upon the nation that would make President Franklin D. Roosevelt green with envy.

Intellectual, morally and economically, a glance at Washington these days indicates that it not only the Detroit Three that is in trouble these days, the American taxpayer is more at risk than ever as a result of Congress running on empty.

####

20081119 Running on empty (752 words)

First Bush-Obama Meeting: Hard Feelings and Hand Sanitizer

First Bush-Obama Meeting: Hard Feelings and Hand Sanitizer

As President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama prepare for their post-election meeting at the White House on Monday, memories of their first encounter linger.

Bill Sammon FOXNews.com Sunday, November 09, 2008

President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama are probably hoping their meeting Monday goes better than their first get-together, which left a bad taste in the mouths of both men.

Four years ago, Obama and other newly elected members of the Senate were invited to the White House for a breakfast meeting with Bush, who pulled the young Chicagoan aside.

"Obama!" Bush exclaimed, according to Obama's account of the meeting in his second memoir, "The Audacity of Hope." "Come here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours -- that's one impressive lady."

The two men shook hands and then, according to Obama, Bush turned to an aide, "who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president's hand."

Bush then offered some to Obama, who recalled: "Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt."

The president then led Obama off to one side of the room, where Bush said: "I hope you don't mind me giving you a piece of advice."

"Not at all, Mr. President," Obama told the commander-in-chief.

"You've got a bright future," Bush said presciently. "Very bright. But I've been in this town awhile and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you've been getting, people start gunnin' for ya. And it won't necessarily just be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody'll be waiting for you to slip, know what I mean? So watch yourself."

[…]

I thought I was actually showing some kindness," Bush said indignantly. "And out of that he came with this belief?"

The president added with a bit of a scowl: "He doesn't know me very well." (Ed: My emphasis)

[…]

Remove all heavy and sharp objects from the room and read the entire article… First Bush-Obama Meeting: Hard Feelings and Hand Sanitizer. It should remind you of the Ann Coulter admonishment – sometimes, you can never be nice to a liberal. Wow, did I ever learn that lesson the hard way…

Bill Sammon is Washington Deputy Managing Editor for FOX News.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/09/bush-obama-meeting-hard-feelings-hand-sanitier/#

20081109 First Bush Obama Meeting Hard Feelings and Hand Sanitizer

Just Say “NO” to Slots

Just Say “NO” to Slots

by Kevin E. Dayhoff October 31, 2008 The Tentacle

There are two constitutional questions on the ballot next Tuesday. I will be voting “NO” on both. Question 2 will amend the state constitution to allow slots. Question 1 would amend the Maryland Constitution to allow early voting in Maryland.

In an earlier column I explained why I feel strongly that early voting in Maryland is not such a hot idea.

Question 2 is not nearly so black and white. I have a good number of well-intentioned and thoughtful friends and colleagues who are voting for slots, and almost an equal number of people who are just as responsible and well informed and are voting against slots.

After a great deal of thought, study, and research, I will be voting “NO.”

[…]

Maryland state government already has a pathological spending addiction and the current slots referendum only fuels the problem.

And there’s the rub. I cannot say it better than The Cecil Whig: “The people (who) are now trying to sell you slots are the same people (who) passed the largest tax increase in Maryland's history and said that it would solve our fiscal problems. They are the same people who said that there wouldn't be a BG&E rate hike…

[…]

20060000 OMalley BGE Ad

[…]

“If you believe the General Assembly will use the revenue generated from slots wisely, to lower taxes and control further spending, then we recommend you vote for it.

“But if you are concerned that legislators will waste the revenue from slots and citizens will not benefit with tax decreases and spending will again outpace tax revenues, then we recommend you vote against the referendum.”

[…]

Read the entire column here: Just Say “NO” to Slots

20081031 The Tentacle: Just Say NO to Slots

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

When I wrote Journalistic Bubble Wrap in The Tentacle on October 15, 2008 -

One of the hottest subplots to the 2008 presidential campaign is how would the contest, the polls and the final outcome have looked if the “old – elite” media had not been so biased towards the Democratic Party in general and specifically the Democrat nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

I wish I had written it as well as when Orson Scott Card wrote Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

October 5, 2008 - Featured on Rush Limbaugh 10/22/08

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-05-1.html

Editor's note: Orson Scott Card is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this opinion piece he takes on both while lamenting the current state of journalism.

An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.

What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.

The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.

They end up worse off than before.

This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.

Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)

Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled "Do Facts Matter?" ( http://snipurl.com/457townhall_com] ): "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."

These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.

Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!

Read the rest here: Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

20081005 Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

When I wrote Journalistic Bubble Wrap in The Tentacle on October 15, 2008 -

One of the hottest subplots to the 2008 presidential campaign is how would the contest, the polls and the final outcome have looked if the “old – elite” media had not been so biased towards the Democratic Party in general and specifically the Democrat nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

I wish I had written it as well as when Orson Scott Card wrote Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

October 5, 2008 - Featured on Rush Limbaugh 10/22/08

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-05-1.html

Editor's note: Orson Scott Card is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this opinion piece he takes on both while lamenting the current state of journalism.

An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.

What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.

The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.

They end up worse off than before.

This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.

Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)

Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled "Do Facts Matter?" ( http://snipurl.com/457townhall_com] ): "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."

These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.

Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!

Read the rest here: Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

20081005 Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

Folks have been asking where they can find my three-part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle from October 1, 2 and 3, 2008.

They may be found here:

October 3, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On May 13, 2008, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama compared the current housing crisis in the U.S. to the Great Depression in a campaign stop in Missouri.


October 2, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2
Kevin E. Dayhoff
For several weeks the nation and the world have been watching the financial news emanating from Washington and Wall Street with that “deer in headlights” look as everyone holds their breath in disbelief and worries another shoe will drop.


October 1, 2008
Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In response to the increasing wrath of the American voter, the U.S. House of Representatives came to its senses on Monday and voted 288 to 205 to kill the rash and ill-conceived proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

20081003 My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

Folks have been asking where they can find my three-part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle from October 1, 2 and 3, 2008.

They may be found here:

October 3, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On May 13, 2008, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama compared the current housing crisis in the U.S. to the Great Depression in a campaign stop in Missouri.


October 2, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2
Kevin E. Dayhoff
For several weeks the nation and the world have been watching the financial news emanating from Washington and Wall Street with that “deer in headlights” look as everyone holds their breath in disbelief and worries another shoe will drop.


October 1, 2008
Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In response to the increasing wrath of the American voter, the U.S. House of Representatives came to its senses on Monday and voted 288 to 205 to kill the rash and ill-conceived proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

20081003 My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

How much for the Heller case lawyers?

How much should the Heller lawyers be paid for winning the case against the DC gun law?

A controversy is growing over the proper payment of the three lawyers who handled the Heller case that result in the DC gun law being struck down as unconstitutional. The trio make their case today in the Examiner.

How much for the Heller case lawyers?

Alan Gura, Robert A. Levy, and Clark Neily, Guest columnists 10/3/08

Prevailing parties in civil rights cases are entitled to a "reasonable" attorney's fee. We are the attorneys who represented Dick Heller in the landmark Supreme Court case striking down Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban on Second Amendment grounds, and we have asked the court to award us $3.5 million for six years of litigation.

The Washington Post has characterized that request as "adding insult to injury" and a "windfall" to which we are not entitled. The Post's editorial is long on rhetoric but short on analysis. In fact, the $3.5 million request is perfectly reasonable under existing court precedent.

The purpose of the fee-shifting provision is to ensure "vigorous enforcement" of civil rights laws, especially when monetary damages are not available and the claimants may not be able to afford competent legal counsel. To attain that goal, prevailing lawyers should receive a market rate for their efforts.

[…]

With respect to our recorded hours, the total was under 3,100 for three lawyers over six years. No reasonable person could consider those hours excessive, particularly considering that we were up against more than a dozen lawyers – some of them eminent Supreme Court practitioners – from the D.C. Attorney General's office and three of the nation's largest and most elite law firms.

[...]

More: How much for the Heller case lawyers?

20081003 How much for the Heller case lawyers

The Pelosi Charm

The Pelosi Charm

Monday, September 29, 2008

Democrat Speaker of the House left no doubt that she skipped the class in charm school that taught that it is to one’s advantage to be nice to folks when you want something from them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMLo7i38D58

“Reps. Boehner, Blunt, and Cantor said they had at least a dozen more votes for the bill until Nancy Pelosi came to the floor just after 12:20 eastern time and gave an exceedingly partisan speech that effectively killed the bill.” (GOP: Pelosi Killed Bill With Partisan Speech Posted by TOM BEVAN on the Real Clear Politics blog)

This speech was incomprehensible reprehensible revisionist history in which, what may very well be the most galling moral relativism, she praises Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) whose fingerprints are over the causes of current financial meltdown.

Representative Frank said in 2003: “I think it is clear that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are sufficiently secure so they are in no great danger... I don't think we face a crisis; I don't think that we have an impending disaster. ...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do very good work, and they are not endangering the fiscal health of this country.” (Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said in 2003: “I have sat through nearly a dozen hearings where, frankly, we were trying to fix something that wasn't broke. [sic] ...These GSEs have more than adequate capital for the business they are in: providing affordable housing. As I mentioned, we should not be making radical or fundamental change... If there is anything to fix or improve, it is the [regulators].” (Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger)

“Five years ago, Republicans proposed ‘the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry [in a decade].’ (Source: New York Times) Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee blocked efforts at fixing Fannie and Freddie. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said, ‘Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac... are not facing any kind of financial crisis,’” (Doug Ross: Any Questions)

Speaker Pelosi says that the current meltdown is all the fault of President George W. Bush and free market capitalism. Yet this is inconsistent with: Wayne Barrett at the Village Voice: “[Clinton appointee] Andrew Cuomo... made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country's current crisis. He took actions that... helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments. He turned the Federal Housing Administration...into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded "kickbacks" to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans. Three to four million families are now facing foreclosure, and Cuomo is one of the reasons why.” (Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger)

Hat Tip for AP photo: Don Surber – “A confident Democrat Barney Frank promises solvency in our time as he announces the breakthrough bailout. Voting is only a formality…”

Related:

Transcript of Speaker Pelosi’s Floor Statement on the partisan Financial Rescue Legislation moments before it was voted down

Doug Ross: Any Questions

Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger

Don Surber

20080928 The Pelosi Charm

The Pelosi Charm

The Pelosi Charm

Monday, September 29, 2008

Democrat Speaker of the House left no doubt that she skipped the class in charm school that taught that it is to one’s advantage to be nice to folks when you want something from them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMLo7i38D58

“Reps. Boehner, Blunt, and Cantor said they had at least a dozen more votes for the bill until Nancy Pelosi came to the floor just after 12:20 eastern time and gave an exceedingly partisan speech that effectively killed the bill.” (GOP: Pelosi Killed Bill With Partisan Speech Posted by TOM BEVAN on the Real Clear Politics blog)

This speech was incomprehensible reprehensible revisionist history in which, what may very well be the most galling moral relativism, she praises Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) whose fingerprints are over the causes of current financial meltdown.

Representative Frank said in 2003: “I think it is clear that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are sufficiently secure so they are in no great danger... I don't think we face a crisis; I don't think that we have an impending disaster. ...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do very good work, and they are not endangering the fiscal health of this country.” (Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said in 2003: “I have sat through nearly a dozen hearings where, frankly, we were trying to fix something that wasn't broke. [sic] ...These GSEs have more than adequate capital for the business they are in: providing affordable housing. As I mentioned, we should not be making radical or fundamental change... If there is anything to fix or improve, it is the [regulators].” (Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger)

“Five years ago, Republicans proposed ‘the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry [in a decade].’ (Source: New York Times) Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee blocked efforts at fixing Fannie and Freddie. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said, ‘Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac... are not facing any kind of financial crisis,’” (Doug Ross: Any Questions)

Speaker Pelosi says that the current meltdown is all the fault of President George W. Bush and free market capitalism. Yet this is inconsistent with: Wayne Barrett at the Village Voice: “[Clinton appointee] Andrew Cuomo... made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country's current crisis. He took actions that... helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments. He turned the Federal Housing Administration...into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded "kickbacks" to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans. Three to four million families are now facing foreclosure, and Cuomo is one of the reasons why.” (Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger)

Hat Tip for AP photo: Don Surber – “A confident Democrat Barney Frank promises solvency in our time as he announces the breakthrough bailout. Voting is only a formality…”

Related:

Transcript of Speaker Pelosi’s Floor Statement on the partisan Financial Rescue Legislation moments before it was voted down

Doug Ross: Any Questions

Doug Ross The Fannie Mae testimony that will make you scream in anger

Don Surber

20080928 The Pelosi Charm

Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they can't change the facts by Bill Wilson

Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they can't change the facts by Bill Wilson

9/28/08

All the back and forth over the proposed $700 billion bailout of New York financial firms has degenerated into gibberish, incomprehensible to most voters.

[…]

While a few elected officials try to figure out a way to deal with the crisis, many on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in the partisan salons are busy doing what they do best - playing the blame-game and looking to escape exposure of their culpability.

House Banking Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, led off the spin effort by stating, “The private sector got us into this mess. The government has to get us out of it.”

Notice that Frank doesn’t say “Wall Street” got us in to this mess. For him and all too many of his allies, it is the “private sector” that is evil. A chorus of lesser voices have been dutifully parroting Frank ever since.

What Frank, Senate Banking Committee chairman Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CN, and others of their ilk are afraid of is that the public will learn the facts of this debacle. And the facts are clear.

The crisis we face is not a failure of the private sector. This crisis was conceived, manufactured, nurtured and defended by government and the horde of apologists who feed off of it.

As Deep Throat admonished a generation ago, let’s follow the money. In 1995, the Clinton Administration issued rules that required banks and lending institutions to give loans to people who could not afford them. The lending standards were essentially gutted. This was an overt act of government.

The banks complied and gave the loans. They got the money to lend by selling the bad mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These semi-government entities “bought” the bad mortgages from the banks. But where did Fannie and Freddie get the money to buy the bad debt?

[…]

Read Mr. Wilson’s entire opinion here: Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they can't change the facts by Bill Wilson

http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/Politicians_never_learn_they_cant_change_the_facts.html

20080928 Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they cant change the facts by Bill Wilson

Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they cant change the facts by Bill Wilson

Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they cant change the facts by Bill Wilson

9/28/08

All the back and forth over the proposed $700 billion bailout of New York financial firms has degenerated into gibberish, incomprehensible to most voters.

[…]

While a few elected officials try to figure out a way to deal with the crisis, many on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in the partisan salons are busy doing what they do best - playing the blame-game and looking to escape exposure of their culpability.

House Banking Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, led off the spin effort by stating, “The private sector got us into this mess. The government has to get us out of it.”

Notice that Frank doesn’t say “Wall Street” got us in to this mess. For him and all too many of his allies, it is the “private sector” that is evil. A chorus of lesser voices have been dutifully parroting Frank ever since.

What Frank, Senate Banking Committee chairman Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CN, and others of their ilk are afraid of is that the public will learn the facts of this debacle. And the facts are clear.

The crisis we face is not a failure of the private sector. This crisis was conceived, manufactured, nurtured and defended by government and the horde of apologists who feed off of it.

As Deep Throat admonished a generation ago, let’s follow the money. In 1995, the Clinton Administration issued rules that required banks and lending institutions to give loans to people who could not afford them. The lending standards were essentially gutted. This was an overt act of government.

The banks complied and gave the loans. They got the money to lend by selling the bad mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These semi-government entities “bought” the bad mortgages from the banks. But where did Fannie and Freddie get the money to buy the bad debt?

[…]

Read Mr. Wilson’s entire opinion here: Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they cant change the facts by Bill Wilson

http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/Politicians_never_learn_they_cant_change_the_facts.html

20080928 Washington Examiner: Politicians never learn they cant change the facts by Bill Wilson

Carroll County Times Editorial: City was wasteful in spending

Carroll County Times Editorial: City was wasteful in spending

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

City was wasteful in spending

No matter how the mayor or Westminster or council members want to spin it, sending 15 people to a conference and then racking up a $1,500 bill for an expensive meal of lobster and alcohol is not prudent given the city's dire financial situation.

In fact, it was just a month ago that Mayor Thomas Ferguson, in announcing the elimination of several positions and firing of several employees, said, "[The layoffs] are clearly driven by the economic environment we're in. Revenue is not growing."

He also said, "The city is looking at all aspects of the government to find productivity gains and cost savings."

Well, perhaps not all aspects.

In all it cost the city $19,000 to send 15 people to the Maryland Municipal League conference. The conference itself can be a good, learning experience. But the city could have done as most companies watching dollars do and saved money by sending half as many people and having them report back to everyone else about what they learned.

And then there's the matter of the extravagant dinner at the expensive Fager's Island restaurant and Bar, which some on the council have tried to pass off as worthwhile for its "team building" value, at a cost of almost $1,500.

Most families, when faced with mounting bills and difficulty paying, don't go out for extravagant dinners or engage in other wasteful spending. Perhaps a cookout with hamburgers and hotdogs would have been better for the "team building" atmosphere than throwing money around like there's no tomorrow, even as these same officials lamented the lack of money that is forcing them to fire people.

The mayor says he will pay the bill out of his own pocket. He says he has done that in the past. But the council members and others who spent the evening drinking alcohol and eating lobster amount to a slap in the face to the employees who were terminated, supposedly, because of budget woes. It's also a slap in the face to taxpayers, who all through the budget season listened to them moan and groan about how tight money was - to the point that the council never did hold a public hearing on the final budget.

Westminster voters today should be asking themselves about the decision-making abilities of the people who they have elected to office.

In front of the public, they whine about having no money in the budget. Then they scoot off in droves to a conference where money - that same tax money - flows quite freely. And upon being questioned, they defend their extravagance as somehow necessary and helpful to the city.

This conference is just one example, but if it is indicative of the way Westminster handles its finances, it is no wonder money is tight and people need to be laid off to pay for the alcohol and lobster.

20071130 City municipal offices relocate by Ryan Marshall

20080611 No agenda is sign of poor government

20080720 Carroll County Times Westminster shutting out the public

20080908 Thoughts on Westminster posting an agenda in a timely manner

20080827 Carroll County Times editorial: City was wasteful in spending

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/08/27/news/opinion/editorial/editorial533.txt

20080104 Wall Street: Journal Criminalizing the CIA

Wall Street: Journal Criminalizing the CIA

I could not agree more… “So here we go again, ringing up CIA agents who thought they were acting in good faith to keep the country safe… But why should any future agent take any risks to gather information, or pursue an enemy, if he thinks he is likely to have to answer to some future prosecutor for his every action?”

Criminalizing the CIA

January 4, 2008; Page A10

REVIEW & OUTLOOK by The Wall Street Journal

When news broke that the CIA had destroyed videotapes of a couple of early terrorist interrogations, Democrats in Congress demanded a criminal investigation. Now that Attorney General Michael Mukasey is obliging, they still aren't satisfied. So here we go again, ringing up CIA agents who thought they were acting in good faith to keep the country safe.

On Wednesday Mr. Mukasey assigned prosecutor John Durham, a 25-year Justice Department veteran, to investigate if CIA agents committed a crime when they destroyed the tapes in 2005 under orders from the then-head of the covert Directorate of Operations. But that isn't enough for John Conyers (D., Mich.), who wants a full-blown "special counsel" to wade into the CIA's covert-ops division and deliver a public excavation…

[…]

The interrogations also took place at a time -- starting in 2002 -- when some Members of Congress were regularly briefed on the CIA practices, including "waterboarding." Among those briefed were Jay Rockefeller IV and Nancy Pelosi, neither of whom saw fit to object to the methods. We are now in a different political place, and in a different election year, and these same Democrats want to join the left in accusing the Bush Administration of "torture" and a cover-up.

The Bush Administration is already on its way out, so the real damage here may be to our ability to gather future intelligence no matter who is President…

[…]

One of the stock criticisms of the CIA after 9/11 is that the agency played it too safe in pursuing al Qaeda. But why should any future agent take any risks to gather information, or pursue an enemy, if he thinks he is likely to have to answer to some future prosecutor for his every action?

As for the tapes, no doubt the agency now wishes they had never been made, much less destroyed. But the irony is that their destruction might well have saved the U.S. from the embarrassment of having them leaked to the world and turned into a propaganda victory for our enemies…

[…]

Yet instead, we are now unleashing prosecutors against agents who on the evidence so far were acting not to pursue some political agenda but to defend the nation against its most ruthless enemies. We hope Mr. Durham understands the difference, and that we don't cripple the very spooks we need to fight the war on terror.

Read the entire opinion here: Criminalizing the CIA

####