I Really like the sounds of this....

WELL SAID ME BOY....

By Jeffrey A. MironSpecial to CNN

Editor's note: Jeffrey A. Miron is senior lecturer in economics at Harvard University. A Libertarian, he was one of 166 academic economists who signed a letter to congressional leaders last week opposing the government bailout plan.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Congress has balked at the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. Under this plan, the Treasury would have bought the "troubled assets" of financial institutions in an attempt to avoid economic meltdown.

This bailout was a terrible idea. Here's why.
The current mess would never have occurred in the absence of ill-conceived federal policies. The federal government chartered Fannie Mae in 1938 and Freddie Mac in 1970; these two mortgage lending institutions are at the center of the crisis. The government implicitly promised these institutions that it would make good on their debts, so Fannie and Freddie took on huge amounts of excessive risk.

Worse, beginning in 1977 and even more in the 1990s and the early part of this century, Congress pushed mortgage lenders and Fannie/Freddie to expand subprime lending. The industry was happy to oblige, given the implicit promise of federal backing, and subprime lending soared.

This subprime lending was more than a minor relaxation of existing credit guidelines. This lending was a wholesale abandonment of reasonable lending practices in which borrowers with poor credit characteristics got mortgages they were ill-equipped to handle.
Once housing prices declined and economic conditions worsened, defaults and delinquencies soared, leaving the industry holding large amounts of severely depreciated mortgage assets.

The fact that government bears such a huge responsibility for the current mess means any response should eliminate the conditions that created this situation in the first place, not attempt to fix bad government with more government.

The obvious alternative to a bailout is letting troubled financial institutions declare bankruptcy. Bankruptcy means that shareholders typically get wiped out and the creditors own the company.

Bankruptcy does not mean the company disappears; it is just owned by someone new (as has occurred with several airlines). Bankruptcy punishes those who took excessive risks while preserving those aspects of a businesses that remain profitable.

In contrast, a bailout transfers enormous wealth from taxpayers to those who knowingly engaged in risky subprime lending. Thus, the bailout encourages companies to take large, imprudent risks and count on getting bailed out by government. This "moral hazard" generates enormous distortions in an economy's allocation of its financial resources.

Thoughtful advocates of the bailout might concede this perspective, but they argue that a bailout is necessary to prevent economic collapse. According to this view, lenders are not making loans, even for worthy projects, because they cannot get capital. This view has a grain of truth; if the bailout does not occur, more bankruptcies are possible and credit conditions may worsen for a time.

Talk of Armageddon, however, is ridiculous scare-mongering. If financial institutions cannot make productive loans, a profit opportunity exists for someone else. This might not happen instantly, but it will happen.

Further, the current credit freeze is likely due to Wall Street's hope of a bailout; bankers will not sell their lousy assets for 20 cents on the dollar if the government might pay 30, 50, or 80 cents.
The costs of the bailout, moreover, are almost certainly being understated. The administration's claim is that many mortgage assets are merely illiquid, not truly worthless, implying taxpayers will recoup much of their $700 billion.

If these assets are worth something, however, private parties should want to buy them, and they would do so if the owners would accept fair market value. Far more likely is that current owners have brushed under the rug how little their assets are worth.

The bailout has more problems. The final legislation will probably include numerous side conditions and special dealings that reward Washington lobbyists and their clients.
Anticipation of the bailout will engender strategic behavior by Wall Street institutions as they shuffle their assets and position their balance sheets to maximize their take. The bailout will open the door to further federal meddling in financial markets.

So what should the government do? Eliminate those policies that generated the current mess. This means, at a general level, abandoning the goal of home ownership independent of ability to pay. This means, in particular, getting rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with policies like the Community Reinvestment Act that pressure banks into subprime lending.

The right view of the financial mess is that an enormous fraction of subprime lending should never have occurred in the first place. Someone has to pay for that. That someone should not be, and does not need to be, the U.S. taxpayer.

Another interesting article

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1845818,00.html?cnn=yes

A few more tidbits on the Economy

I found some interesting articles from both perspectives of the crisis. Who can we believe or trust anymore? It seems every financial advisor has a differing opinion, and leaving the repairing of our economy in the hands of the very people who destroyed it is insane.

SO WHO DO WE TRUST, AND WHAT DO WE DO? It's time to stop playing politics, get your shit together and work for America people! And we as Americans need to be as informed as we possibly can be on the crisis, and the upcoming election season. It does matter, more than ever.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1845209,00.html?cnn=yes

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/29/financial-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-could-be-2015/

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/29/recovering-from-todays-disgrace/

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1845655,00.html?cnn=yes

Damn Republicans

How and the hell can they reject the house vote by more than 2/3rds, and then turn around and blame the Democrats???? What the heck is going on here? Are they leaving the door open for their Maverick McCain to give the "Working until the crisis is resolved" another chance? Think about it, now McCain can magically swoop in again for the next vote and miraculously get the house Publicans to vote Yay. He's a brillianty politician, and can really work across party lines.

I am so pissed at all of the politics of this fiasco, but in all honesty, it is clearly the Republicans at fault here. They are playing games, with all of our livelihoods, and by saying they are worried about the taxpayers first. SERIOUSLY, It's bullshit!

They were claiming their feelings were hurt by Nancy Pelosi's "Partisan" comments. Give me a break, grow up and stop screwing the average citizen. Look at the vote, and you'll see they clearly only care about their current positions, don't want to get voted out, and definitely don't want to be tied to the President. That's the Dems job I guess....

Anyone who believes this garbage as being a Democratic failure is nuts, needs to look at the facts and stop buying the BS.

What are the issues that matter to you most?

Just an open ended question.
If you are voting for McCain/Palin, why?

Obama/Biden, same thing why?

Palin's popularity bump is over!!

Seriously, anyone who supports this woman needs to really step back and look at the issues, her viewpoints, and her ability to hold a very important position in our country which is in serious trouble right now.

If you "Liked" her what did you like about her? She is obviously not qualified to hold a high position in the U.S., and even though she may be a relatively successful Governor in Alaska, she is no way prepared to lead our country. NOT AT ALL.

In a way you should feel sorry for her, because she was clearly a poliitical ploy which worked for 2 weeks, but is now clearly disasterous for the Republicans. Here is why:

- She will get absolutely destroyed by Biden in the debates, which McCain and the Republicans did everything they could to postpone. A few one-liners and zingers won't be enough to fool America anymore.

- Her cloudy background is only becoming more of an issue, and after the mistrust and fraud in Wall-Street, why would any right-minded American vote for someone with a cloud over their head.

- She doens't have the experience, period. Obama, may be young, but at least he can respond to tough questions, and has a deeper knowledge on serious world and national issues, that Palin clearly needs to read from a note card.


If you doubt any of this watch the interview with Katie Couric, it is everywhere on You-Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP12aNzocSc
This was a horrible interview which I am happy came to the forefront of the campaing, however, at the same time felt bad for her. She had no easy answers, and clearly withdrew to her stump speech answers, often not even on subject ( Financial Bailout= Healthcare??).


A feeble attempt to energize a very wrong, destructive party, and a cheap ass attempt to get women voters (Seriously, how dumb do they think women are?) has to make you feel sorry for shoving a young woman with little to no experience into the lime-light.

Now we can only hope she doens't have to actually take that office, or God help us all. Literally.

It's a shame idiots like this still exist, or can vote for that matter

http://jewagainstobama.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/now-this-is-going-too-far/

Presidential Candidates Stance on Education

Barack Obama- Democrat

Advocates ensuring access to high-quality early childhood education programs and child care opportunities, recruit well-qualified and reward expert, accomplished teachers. Make science and math education a national priority. Reduce the high school dropout rate and empower parents to raise healthy and successful children by taking a greater role in their child's education at home and at school.

- No Child Left Behind (NCLB): Says the overall goal of NCLB "is the right one … but the law has significant flaws that need to be addressed."

- Early childhood education: Proposes investing $10 billion a year to increase the number of children eligible for Early Head Start, increase access to preschool, provide affordable and quality child care and increase coordination across federal, state and local levels.

- Proposes to increase the child and dependent care tax credit.

- College tuition: Proposes scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.

- Advocates schools dedicated to enabling "teachers to learn from expert practitioners in the field." Says he would provide $1 billion in funding to create mentoring programs for teachers.

- Teacher service scholarships: Proposes an annual $4,000 tuition credit that will cover two-thirds of the tuition of an average public college and make community college completely free in America. Says he would expand the Pell Grant and lower interest rates on the existing federal student loan programs. Watch Obama speak about education

John McCain-Republican

Stated during GOP primary debates: "We need more charter schools. We need vouchers where it's approved by the local, state school boards. We need to have, clearly, home schooling if people want that … We need to reward good teachers and find bad teachers another line of work."

- No Child Left Behind (NCLB): Voted for NCLB. The McCain campaign, on its Web site, states: While NCLB has been invaluable in providing a clear picture of which schools and students are struggling, it is only the beginning of education reform.

- Title II Funding: Proposes devoting 5 percent of Title II funding - a provision of the Higher Education Act passed in 1998 to increase accountability and development of teachers - to states to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class or participate in alternative teacher recruitment programs. Said he would devote 60 percent of Title II funding for incentive bonuses for high-performing teachers located in challenging environments, teach subjects like math or science, or demonstrate student improvement.

- Proposes directing the first 35 perfect of Title II funding from federal coffers toward the school so principals and teachers can focus on the specific needs of their schools.

- Technology and learning: Supports expanding virtual learning by reforming the "Enhancing Education Through Technology Program." Said he would target $500 million in current federal funds to build new virtual schools and support the development of online course offerings for students.

- Said he would allocate $250 million to support states that commit to expanding online education opportunities. Proposes offering $250 million to help students pay for online tutors or enroll in virtual schools.

- Said low-income students would be eligible to receive up to $4,000 to enroll in an online course, SAT/ACT prep course, credit recovery or tutoring services offered by a virtual provider. Watch McCain speak about education

Bob Barr- Libertarian

Barr advocates the abolition of the Department of Education as well as elimination of federal grants and regulation; he also supports the repeal of the No Child Left Behind act.

-He believes the education should return to the local level. He supports state-level tax credits to parents who educate their children via private education or homeschooling.

- He believes the quality of education will benefit more from a competitive market-based system than from a government-controlled system."

Still a shot at 13-3??

Finally a win we can hopefully continue to build momentum off of. It was exciting to watch what our defense can do, and how one big play literally change the momentum of a game. Winfield's first half-ending sack/fumble recovery for touchdown left the Vikes in charge, with no looking back at all.

I had my concerns in the first half with the playcalling of a very pass heavy offense. I'm assuming it was trying to get Gus' feet wet and protect Adrian's hammy a little. Luckily, things smoothed out, we got back to basics ( Run focused offense) and Gus looked like a QB we could rely to make minimal mistakes, and move the ball down the field.

Our defense is playing phenomenally, and the guy pictured above is a huge part of that. Let's hope the trend continues, All-day gets some much needed rest, and we keep winning.

GO VIKES!!!

Bob Barr- Libertarian Party

Economic policy

Taxation
Barr advocates repealing the Sixteenth Amendment, which would effectively abolish the income tax and the Internal Revenue Service. He would replace the current tax system with a form of consumption tax, and mentions the Fair Tax as a possible alternative. "Meaningful tax reform begins with reining in government spending."[1]

Monetary policy
He would increase transparency and oversight in the operations of the Federal Reserve, while "reconsidering the Fed’s almost total control over the money supply."[2]

Social Security
Barr favors a transformation of the current Social Security system into one of "individualized system of private accounts."[3] He maintains that Social Security is not sustainable in its current form.[4]

Foreign policy

Trade
Barr supports free trade, and believes that the United States should promote and encourage "private involvement around the world". He contends that "the most effective way to preserve peace is through an expanding free market, backed by a full range of cultural and other private relationships".[5]

War in Iraq
Barr considers the invasion and occupation of Iraq to have been mistakes. He asserts that American presence "emboldens both insurgents and terrorists", and has cost "hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars." He supports "withdrawal without undue delay."[6]

Iran
He has stated that "an attack on Iran would be unnecessary, counterproductive, costly and dangerous", that "[t]here is no imminent threat, and only an imminent threat can ever justify a preemptive strike", and concludes "any nonproliferation strategy must begin with diplomacy and include a willingness to address the other side".[7]

Foreign aid
Barr asserts that foreign aid has "proved to be a drain on the U.S. economy while doing little good for the recipients", and that "aid is routinely used by corrupt foreign governments to oppress their people and enrich powerful elites. Foreign aid almost always discourages economic and political reform, while subsidizing nations which often work against U.S. interests."[8]

United Nations
Barr calls the United Nations "an enormous disappointment" and asserts that "[t]he U.S. should push to roll back the UN’s functions and slash America’s financial contribution".[9]

Civil liberties

Gun ownership rights
Barr supports the right to bear arms as an individual right. "I oppose any law requiring registration of, or restricting the ownership, manufacture, or transfer or sale of firearms or ammunition to law-abiding citizens."[10]

Marriage
Barr opposes any federal definition of marriage, whether by statute or constitutional amendment. He believes the states should be free to determine what constitutes marriage.[11]

Privacy
As a congressman, Barr voted for the Patriot Act, but only after his amendments adding "sunset clauses" were added to the final bill.[12] He has since publicly renounced his vote on that issue, and now stauchly opposes the Patriot Act.[13][14] Stating his present position on the subject at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention, Barr said of the Patriot Act: "I'd drive a stake through its heart, shoot it, burn it, cut off its head, burn it again, and scatter its ashes to the four corners of the world."[15]

Education
Barr advocates the abolition of the Department of Education as well as elimination of federal grants and regulation; he also supports the repeal of the No Child Left Behind act. He believes the education should return to the local level. He supports state-level tax credits to parents who educate their children via private education or homeschooling. He believes the quality of education will benefit more from a competitive market-based system than from a government-controlled system."[16]

Borders and immigration
Barr supports better border security to crack down on illegal immigration while also supporting reforms that will "sharply increase" legal immigration. Supports ending birthright citizenship and ending government benefits and services for illegal immigrants.[17]

Environmental policy
Barr believes the free market needs to be the foundation of the United States' energy policy. Supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.[18]

Health policy
Barr favors cutting costs by reducing controls and regulations. He maintains that Medicare and Medicaid are financially unstable, and "need to be transformed to emphasize patient choice, focus on the truly needy, and add cost-saving incentives."[19]

All information posted above found on Wikipedia.com. For more information click on the link below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Bob_Barr

McCain's Tax policies- CNN.com

This is just a basic summary of McCain's tax plan. If you'd like to see the whole plan click on the link below.

The Basic Summary:

• Voted against 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cut laws, but later voted in favor of extending tax cuts through 2010.


• Says he would keep the current rates on dividends and capital gains, and maintain the current income and investment tax rates.


• Says he opposes a proposal supporters call the "Fair Tax," which would repeal income taxes and other taxes and abolish the Internal Revenue, but has previously said he would sign it into law as president.


• Says he would double the child deduction from $3,500 to $7,000 and permanently repeal the alternative minimum tax.


• Says he would reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent.


• Advocates raising the exemption from taxation on estates up to $10 million while cutting the tax rate to 15 percent.


• Proposes that a three-fifths majority vote in Congress be required to raise taxes.


• Says he would permit corporations to immediately deduct the cost of equipment investment. Would prohibit new cellular telephone taxes and ban Internet taxes.


• Wants to establish a permanent tax credit equal to 10 percent of wages spent on research and development.

Personal Taxes:

Wants wealthy people who are enrolled in the Part D drug coverage program to pay more.·

Wants to reform the payment system so health care providers don't get paid when medical errors or mismanagement occurs.

· Favors importing low-cost prescription drugs from Canada.

"People like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett don't need their prescriptions underwritten by taxpayers. Those who can afford to buy their own prescription drugs should be expected to do so."-- McCain *

· Make 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent for everyone.

· Permanently reduce the reach of Alternative Minimum Tax, the so-called "wealth tax" that threatens the middle class.

"I will...propose...a middle-class tax cut -- a phase-out of the Alternative Minimum Tax to save more than 25 million middle-class families as much as $2,000 in a single year." -- McCain*

Taxing Wealth:

Preserve the 15% tax rate on carried interest - the cut that private equity and hedge fund managers take when the funds they manage make a profit.· Increase the amount of money exempt from the estate tax to $5 million.· Reduce the top estate tax rate to 15% from 55% - where it otherwise will be in 2011 under current law.· Keep capital gains and dividend tax rates where they are."Sharply raising taxes on investment is a step in the wrong direction for the competitiveness of U.S. capital markets." -- McCain*

All information listed found on the CNN.Com website

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

Obama's Tax Policies- "CNN.com"

This is just a summary there are over 21 pages of information on CNN. Just click on the link below for more particular information.


The Basic Summary


Opposed extending 2003 Bush tax cut law through 2010.



Supports eliminating marriage penalty and extending child tax credit.



Proposes a "making work pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family.



Proposes eliminating income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000 per year and eliminating all capital gains taxes on start-ups and small businesses.



Says he would reform the child and dependent care tax credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for child care expenses.



Favors tax cuts for middle-class workers and tax increases for top earners. Says he would restore the top two income tax rates to their pre-2001 levels of 36 percent and 39.6 percent. (Currently, they're 33 percent and 35 percent.)



Says he would maintain the estate tax but would freeze the estate tax exemption amount at $3.5 million.



Proposes to create an "American opportunity tax credit," which the Obama campaign describes as "a fully refundable credit" that "will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans and would cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university."



Personal Taxes



·Would let government negotiate for Part D drug prices.

·Would increase use of generic drugs in Medicare. ·Wants to close the coverage gap known as the "doughnut" hole in Part D for reimbursement of prescription drugs. ·

Favors eliminating subsidies paid to private Medicare Advantage plans.

·Wants to legalize importation of some prescription drugs.



"As president, I will reduce costs in the Medicare program by enacting reforms to lower the price of prescription drugs, ending the subsidies for private insurers in the Medicare Advantage program and focusing resources on prevention and effective chronic disease management." -- Obama **



Taxing Wealth



· Tax carried interest as ordinary income rather than as an investment gain, thereby subjecting it to much higher tax rates than 15%.



· Freeze the exemption amount of estates free from the estate tax at $3.5 million -- where it will be in 2009.· Freeze top estate tax rate at 45%.



· Raise capital gains and dividend tax rates to 20% from 15% for couples making more than $250,000 and singles making more than $200,000.



"We've lost the balance between work and wealth. I will close the carried interest loophole, and adjust the top dividends and capital gains rate..." -- Obama**



Business Taxes



· Leave all tax cuts in place for everyone except couples making more than $250,000 and single filers making more than $200,000. Those high-income groups would see their top two income tax rates revert to 36% and 39.6% from 33% and 35% respectively. And their capital gains and dividend tax rates would also revert to 20% from 15%.· Introduce new tax breaks for lower and middle-income households."We shouldn't be distorting our tax code to benefit a few powerful interests -- we should be insisting that everyone pays their fair share, and when I'm president, they will." -- Obama**

All information found from the CNN Political (Issues) website

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

So Long T-Jack.....

Hello Gus. Wow, how many Vikings fans would've thought at the beginning of the year we'd be not only 0-2, but pleading for Gus to become our starter? Worst thing is, we are excited for this change!
I am of the mindset, hey if he can stay composed, actually hit a freaking target, and be able to run more than 5 plays he should've been our starter. If this team fails to make the playoffs or finishes at .500, Childress is gone ( Possibly mid-season).

Let's get Chase Daniel next year in the draft, do whatever it takes, and a reliable veteran to mentor him. We need help and quick, the vikes could easily be 1-5 after our 1st 6, and that's frightening and frustrating.

I have a feeling Gus won't be a wizard, but he will be eons better than T-Jack!

Obama vs. McCain let's get it on!!!

I am giving the blogging thing a shot. It seems there are so many people excited and interested in politics this year compared to in the past. I am also curious to hear from friends and family members if they wish to get involved.

There are several different reasons for this of course, whether it be the historical aspects of this years election, Economic hardships and unemployment rates soaring, people for and against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and possibly Pakistan now.

No matter what the reason is, it's great! Everyone should be involved, use their rights to vote, and make a critical decision in this year's election of our next President of the United States.

However, it must be said that it is, as it always has been, politics as usual. Attack ads are everywhere, but worst of all the trend, of false claims, by both major candidates are growing more frequent. You have the right to vote, however it should also be your duty to be an "Informed" voter as well.

Seek the facts before making a decision. Please. I already know who I am voting for and it would take an AWFUL lot for me to change my vote now. I have been diligent on finding truths, and falsehoods of every speech and ad that BOTH candidates are presenting to the American public.

Many of us may not have as much time to do this each and every day. So my goal is to try and make it easier for anyone to look up this information. There are great third independent research groups who created websites to help differentiate fact from fiction.

Obviously, I've been interested in politics long enough to know that the Republicans will always use their coin phrases " They'll raise your taxes, support Big Government, Weaken our national Security" and the Dems will say " Republicans don't worry about the Middle Class, love giving tax breaks to the rich and big oil, There are so many programs we can create and utilize to help America grow and succeed."

These are a given. However this year has been a little different in the amount of blatant false claims, especially by the McCain Campaign. It makes myself, and hopefully many voters upset, and irritated.

On one hand he is claiming Obama is all talk (Rhetoric) and no details. However lately, it's been just the opposite. Obama has laid out detailed plans concerning the economy, education and health care "Reform". While McCain has shot barbs, an lies about Obama and simply stolen his opponents campaign slogan while throwing in the terms " Maverick and reform" to distract voters to believing he is a candidate of change. While no specific detailed plans have been specifically mentioned in his stump speeches.

He'll reform wall street by fighting corporate greed and fraud. How?

How will tax cuts to the top 5% and Corporations help the economy? It obviously hasn't created new jobs or worked well the past 8 years, or even in the Reagan and Bush I administrations?

Will you change your much touted stance as " De-regulator" and mandate regulate the financial and wall street markets, or is this just an amended viewpoint due to the current circumstances?

How can you say that someone who is going to cut taxes for 85 percent of Americans and 90 percent of American families, is going to raise taxes each and every day? What are you going to do for myself and the average American that is better than Obama's plan?

Just a few questions I'd like to have answered by the Republican ticket, or supporters. Preferably not Sarah Palin, because I know here answer will be a memorized note card response.

That's it for now. I will post a separate link to the fact checking and political information websites, and I encourage everyone to check them out.