Economic Bailout Plan: Plans within Plans

Gateway to Socialism

Written on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 by lorien1973 :: 1 Comment so far

Well, the bailout bill passed. Who would have known that the Wayan Brothers were just ahead of their time?

Who, apparently, has more money than they know what to do with? The Gubmint! That’s who. They just willed $700 billion out of thin air to help out people who made bad choices. Ya know, maybe just perhaps, if the government would stop subsidizing bad behavior, they wouldn’t have to do this so often. Ya think?

I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear that now we are told $700 billion won’t be enough.

“At best, we can hope that it stems some of the more intense risk from the credit crisis. It prevents things from spiraling out of hand here,” said JPMorgan Chase economist Michael Feroli.

Some are worried, though, that the plan will not work at all.

“Nobody knows how it’s going to succeed,” said Howard Simons, strategist with Bianco Research in Chicago. “It seems the American public had better sense than Wall Street and Washington — the American public said, don’t throw good money after bad.”

Well, that might have been nice to know yesterday. But hey, thanks for letting us know at all!

The real question is; if $700 billion was okay, why didn’t they just approve $1.4 trillion, or maybe $20 trillion to make the economy just awesome! What? Inflation you say. Don’t talk about that? Suddenly making $700 billion dollars appear out of nowhere isn’t inflationary. Of course it’s not. What? The dollar will drop? Nope, again, making $700 billion appear out of nowhere won’t make that happen either. Which also, means, of course, that the price of oil won’t rise either. Look at all the bullets we just dodged. Isn’t it awesome?

But at least they fixed the underlying problems. So that this won’t happen again.

Further, according to House Oversight Committee staff, Emanuel has received assurances from Pelosi that she will not allow what he termed a “witch hunt” to take place during the next Congressional session over the role Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in the economic crisis.

Oh Wait. Nevermind. They aren’t going to fix it.

Ask yourself. If a Republican or Republicans were at the heart of this crisis, would there be investigations by the Democrats. Of course there would. What does that tell you?

Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.): I worry, frankly, that there’s a tension here. The more people, in my judgment, exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the Treasury, which I do not see. I think we see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and withstand some of the disaster scenarios. . .

That’s Barney Frank, who is involved with a former chief executive at Fannie Mae. Conflict of Interest? Of course not! He’s a democrat! Silly.

Chris Dodd (D) getting sweetheart loans from Countrywide? Is this a problem? Nope! He’s a democrat!

Maxine Waters (D), Gregory Meeks (D) getting lobby money from Fannie Mae? Problem? Nope! Democrats.

Well at least these people who have conflict of interests and are getting money from Fannie/Freddie didn’t write the bailout bill, right? Nope. Oh man, not looking good is it?

Here’s a great summary of how this crisis happened.

The government is refusing to fix the cause of the problem. Instead, all they are doing is removing the Moral Hazard. If Washington does not fix the CRA to ensure this doesn’t happen again, we are going to be here again in a few years - and it’ll be worse the next time around. Count on it.

On the plus side, murder is only difficult the first time around. The next time they come screaming for money, it’ll be easier. So there’s that.

This isn’t a solution. This is a gateway to a bigger problem.

Update: Shoot yourself. Get a house!

“We’re going to forgive whatever outstanding balance she had on the loan and give her the house,” Faith said. “Given the circumstances, we think it’s appropriate.”

Bullet: 20 Cents
Free healthcare from the government: Free!
Getting a home for not paying your bills and trying to off yourself: Priceless!

(H/T: Hotair)

Sarah Palin: The Experience Question

Debate 101

Written on Saturday, September 20th, 2008 by lorien1973 :: 2 Comments so far

Inevitably, the question of Palin’s experience is going to come up in the Vice Presidential debate. Democrats have been hitting this hard in the media.

After the events of the past week, the debate is the perfect time to turn this back on the press and on Biden, himself.

When asked if she thinks she is ready to become President, here is an answer that will probably not win her any points in the press, but the country at large will understand.

First off, I’m not running for President. McCain is running for President, I’m running for Vice President - just to clear that up. You all have been confused lately by the ticket.

If, by experience, you mean the people who sat up in Washington - totally clueless of the events of the past week. With Harry Reid, Democrat Majority Leader in the Senate, said “no one has a clue what to do” and Democrat Speaker of the House saying that she’d just adjourn Congress and leave it someone else to fix. And, next to me, we have Senator Biden who has been on the wrong side of every foreign policy issue in the past 25 years. Wrong on the first Gulf War. Wrong on the Surge and he wanted to cut and run from Iraq and split it up into 3 provinces, further increasing Iran’s influence in the region.

Is this the kind of experience you think we should have up there? If this is your type of qualifications and experience, then I’m not your person. If you want fresh blood up there, someone who has a history of cutting through the bureaucracy, cutting spending, and governing on the side of the people. Then, yes, I have the right experience. And John McCain and I will be ready to lead when elected.

I think it’s a terrific answer. Could probably be worded better - I’m no artist, but it would resonate around this country. People understand that Washington is a disaster (20% approval ratings for Congress) and believe that Washington is run by criminals. Exploit that; and they’ll win.

The Sarah Palin Problem: How to Resolve It

For Democrats and Republicans

Written on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 by lorien1973 :: 2 Comments so far

Both Democrats and Republicans have, what I’ll call The Sarah Palin Problem. It’s a complex situation that’ll resolve itself in the coming months. And we’ll see what happens in November.

For Republicans, she’s a good problem to have. She energizes the base of the party, something that McCain, alone, could never do. The enthusiasm gap for the election has never been closer; and McCain actually pulls more Republicans (90%) than Obama pulls Democrats (82%) (link). Since the party identification is narrowing as well, this greatly benefits McCain and affords him the chance to win in November, something that was unthinkable 3 weeks ago.

Read on…

Is Trig Sarah Palin’s Child?

Or is it her daughters?

Written on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 by lorien1973 :: 1 Comment so far

Just killing the meme here.

But before I do, can I make a point that you people on the internet will believe anything without actually researching it yourself? The meme started on Daily Kos (always a hotbed of truthfulness!) after someone pulled it out of their ass from looking at a single picture.

Then it just ballooned from there. How sad that you people seem to think that accusing a woman - with no evidence - of this sort of cover-up makes it to the front page of major Democrat sites, such as Democrat Underground, Daily Kos, etc.

First off, ignorance. The meme popularly states that most Downs births are from births under 35 (or some number below Palin’s actual age). This is because overall births are from this age group. However, after 42, woman have a greatly increased likelihood of giving birth to a child with Downs:

Recent data also suggest that paternal age, especially beyond 42, also increases the risk of Down Syndrome manifesting in pregnancies in older mothers

Again, I ask, is this the Democrat Party of the 21st century?

Now, putting the meme to sleep:

Story written In April, just before Trig’s birth.

Of course I had to check out the “Hottest Governor in the US” and quickly turned to see her pregnant (she has since had her baby) with bags and daughter in tote. Then it struck me as odd. Why is the Governor of Alaska in the airport and preparing to get onto my commercial flight?

So the meme is done, correct?

Thanks to Ace’s commenters for the link.

Sarah Palin Swimsuit Contest

Shocking Photos!

Written on Friday, August 29th, 2008 by lorien1973 :: 18 Comments so far

Sarah Palin swimsuit photos are here. One piece and two piece swimsuit photos from an Alaskan beauty contest. Stunning pictures! Sarah Palin must be seen to be believed.

See Sarah Palin’s swimsuit photos after the jump!

Read on…

Too Human Xbox 360 Review

Meh.

Written on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 by lorien1973 :: Be the first to Comment

After my last successful review of Two Worlds, where I believe I correctly predicted that a lot of online sites would review game at about a 7 on a scale of 10,  I haven’t been using my Xbox so much. But I did get Too Human, despite some mediocre reviews from the bigger online sites. Since everyone wants to know my opinion, I thought I’d share.

I just finished the first chapter of the game earlier today. I’m about 1/2 way through the second mission. The graphics for the game are great; the characters all look cool, the monsters have great detail and the landscapes are all nicely drawn and detailed.

But, I’m curious why the developers decided you can’t actually look at any of them? The inability to control the camera is the main problem with the game so far. It makes it hard to see the monsters you are fighting - this was a particular problem during the first boss fight, Grendel.  Also, it makes it about impossible to just stand there and look around the world - so you don’t quite the to see the impressive design to it. And that’s pretty sad.

Another problem with the game is the non-responsive controls. Unlike most games, where you hit A to fire your weapon or swing your sword, in this game it is handled with your thumbsticks. The control is very imprecise and sometimes makes you feel like you aren’t even in control of the action. It also sets you up for a lot of counter attack cheap strikes if your attack misses. It’s pretty frustrating.

Good thing dying doesn’t matter, though. When you die, your character is almost immediately brought to life nearby where you died. By almost, I mean, that you have to watch some way too lengthy animation before coming back to life. Besides there, there is hardly any effect to dying at all. Which is also nice, because you have no real way to heal yourself - healing things appear randomly - so sometimes it’s best just to walk in somewhere, knowing you’ll die and just come back later with full health. Silly. The game is highly focused on loot drops, a la Diablo, but they couldn’t think to add stim packs? It is supposed to be in the future, right? I mean, come on. I think the developers are a little too proud of their death animation.

There are some cool features in the game. Killing the trolls is very fun. They have a big hammer they smash on the ground to attack you. You need to jump or the shock wave will do damage. But if you use your gun and target the hammer, you can cause the troll to not have an attack and it just roams around till you finish it off. This also betrays a problem with the game as well. You fight a similar creature, a spider like robot that also has some sort of smash attack. But jumping over that shockwave is useless, you have to roll through it. How that makes sense? Who knows.

My major gripe for the game comes with the unbalanced fights. You have a few guys who follow you into each level, but they are next to worthless. And you’ll end up fighting 30-40 monsters at once. Death is inevitable. Especially with the non-responsive controls, poor camera angles, and just massive amount of fire power coming your direction. It really takes away the fun. All of these creatures on screen creates noticable lag as well, so your character responds slower usually resulting in death.

Overall, I’d say it’s a good game until Mercenaries 2 and Fable 2 come out. But in the long run, the game really needed more development time to fix some of these issues, that you’d think were fixable in Beta.

Socialism: Property And Healthcare Belong To Us

You thought it wouldn’t?

Written on Friday, July 11th, 2008 by lorien1973 :: Be the first to Comment

The socialist government of Spain is winning friends all over the EU. Half a million British expatriots are set to lose their healthcare under a new law. The government says the expats, many over 50 years old, are a burden on the system.

A spokesman for the regional health ministry said: ‘It is costing us an extra €1bn [£790m] annually to look after a million new residents as well as long-stay tourists, and our services are at saturation point.’

There’s more, though.

Back in 2002 the provincial government offered free healthcare to all expatriates of all EU nationalities in order to encourage foreign investment in the area’s then flourishing property market but today the market is enduring a significant downturn. In the past year alone, property has fallen by 40% on the Costa Blanca.

Why would property along the coast drop more than 40% in a single year. There has to be a reason for it, doesn’t it? When you read the previous story, you’d assume it was because of a housing slump. But if you are like me, you remember this story from earlier in the year.

Enforcing a much-neglected 1988 law, the Socialist government is getting tough about what constitutes coastal public domain — the strip of land stretching back from the water’s edge — and telling thousands of house and apartment owners their properties do not really belong to them.

“Out of the blue we’ve been told the house we have owned for more than 30 years is no longer ours,” said retired British electronics engineer Clifford Carter, 59, who lives with his Spanish wife in La Casbah, a beach side complex in eastern Spain.

“The house was built legally, but now they say we can only live here until we die but can’t sell the house or leave it to our children,” said Carter.

…

Along the Spanish coast, a protest group formed in January says it already represents 20,000 people. It notes that up to half a million others — apartment and villa owners and restaurant and hotel proprietors — could be affected. Most are Spaniards, but many are foreigners.

“This is the single biggest assault on private property we have seen in the recent history of Spain,” said Jose Ortega, a spokesman for the group and lawyer for many of those affected.

At least we know the reason that the prices dropped 40% in a year. The socialist government is destroying houses along the coast to “clean it up” and not allowing properties to be sold, thus holding down property taxes the provinces could raise. And then complaining that people are a burden on the system. Socialism is a wonderfully vicious circle.

Those British ex-pats should take heart. In a few years, even your home country wants you dead.

A newly released study shows that doctors and heart specialists who care for the elderly were all found to be influenced by the patients’ age when making their recommendations; it seems the age cut-off for comparison was 65.

The study found that too often resources are limited and doctors have to make difficult decisions.

On the plus side, at least they aren’t writing you lettings asking if they can kill you. Yet.

Bad Trends for Small Government Believers

Creeping Socialism.

Written on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 by lorien1973 :: 2 Comments so far

Gallup has come out with its annual poll, asking Americans whether or not Goverment is doing too much or not enough. This year the numbers are neutral:

A separate question finds Americans more likely to believe government is doing too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses (50%) as opposed to saying government should do more to solve the country’s problems (43%).

50% said the government should do less and leave things to businesses and individuals. 43% disagreed. On a more generic question, the results are far more positive:

When given a choice about how government should address the numerous economic difficulties facing today’s consumer, Americans overwhelmingly — by 84% to 13% — prefer that the government focus on improving overall economic conditions and the jobs situation in the United States as opposed to taking steps to distribute wealth more evenly among Americans.

It’s heartening to see that 84% of people agree that wealth redistribution is a bad thing. Reagan still lives on, apparently.

But this year poll would scare you, if you remember the one in 2006.

Queried about their views on the role of government, 54 percent of the 1,013 adults polled said they thought it was trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Only 37 percent said they thought the government should do more to solve the country’s problems.

54% said that government did too much. That’s down to 50% this year. And the side that believes government should do more is up to 43% from 37%. That’s a 10 point swing in 2 years, which is huge.

During the 2004 elections, based upon exit polling, 46% thought the government should do more, 49% thought it should do less (or the same).

The problem is, is that neither party is advocating free market solutions to problems. Both are wanting government to fix them. Republicans seem to have embraced big government solutions to problems as have the democrats. Bush did this with the prescription drug program, with no child left behind and by pushing his faith based initiative. All were pushing Washington solutions to your daily problems. If the Republican party is going to agree that Washington is the solution, what is the point of having the Republican party at all?

On the plus side, I’m a big fan of giving people what they ask for - and letting them realize that wanting is usually better than having. Maybe when they get bigger government after 2008, they’ll realize that they like having the choice of whether to live or die.

Last month her lung cancer, in remission for about two years, was back. After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that could slow the cancer growth and extend her life, Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn’t cover it.

It would cover comfort and care, including, if she chose, doctor-assisted suicide.

Media Just Making It Up These Days

Fake Names? Or Perfect Career Choices?

Written on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 by lorien1973 :: Be the first to Comment

In the video above, Good Morning America is doing a story about hot dogs. So they drag out this guy to talk about it. What’s his name? Why, Harry Balzer of course!

I’d just chalk that up to coincidence but a few days earlier, Time Magazing ran a story on Iphones and porn. And who do they quote from?

Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock says the company doesn’t condone iPhone porn distribution and will ban adult content from official applications, just as it has restricted adult content in the podcast section of the Apple store.

Jennifer Bowcock of course - if you don’t get the joke, think about it for a second. An extra L in the name will help.

So we have Harry Balzer talking about hot dogs (of course!) and Jennifer Bowcock talking about porn. You really couldn’t come up with two more perfect people that fit their stories so well if you tried.

Really makes me wonder; is the media just making up these names these days? Or are the marketing people doing it and fooling the media?

Republican Path to Victory in 2008

The only way.

Written on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 by lorien1973 :: 1 Comment so far

Instapundit links to this post at HotAir which mentions that Earmark requests have increased since the Democrats took over the House and Senate in 2006, despite promises to the contrary.

Instapundit makes the point that if the Republicans stood against pork spending, they’d probably still have their majority. I’m not sure I totally agree with this; but Republicans need to face that they need something to hang onto come November to avoid a complete wipe-out in the general election.

I’d suggest that Republicans start filibustering every bill that comes through the Senate until all the pork is removed. And make the case to the people very simply. “Yes we agree that this legistlation is important. So why are Democrat lawmakers filling it with so much pork spending, instead of passing the law straight up? We will continue the filibuster until all the pork is removed.”

Of course, this would require restraint on the behalf of Republicans who have shown no such restraint since 1996. Unfortunate; because it’s a winning issue and all it requires is doing what the Republicans are supposed to do - keep government spending at a minimum.

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