NEWT SOUNDED DIFFERENT IN 2002

One of the many thing we should be thankful for in this country is the freedom of the press. Especially when it comes to keeping records of where candidates stood on major issues in the past.
 
Newt Gingrich is in the spotlight this week now that he has emerged as the leading non-Romney for the Republican nomination. So of course he gets a deeper look for the next few days. As recent as 2002, Newt was a different animal when it came to those who should have control and where leadership should come from.
 

While debating with Ralph Nader, Speaker Gingrich said: "You had better be siding with the people enough that the people don't get so angry they take you apart, because in the end in this country, if you are deviant enough from the people... they will." Now I could easily send that out as the mission statement for Occupy Wall Street couldn't I?
 

Newt is also on the record saying the wealthiest Americans cannot be plutocrats because ultimately, the sentiments of the majority of Americans will win out.He also said he thinks corporations have too much power. I think the old Newt was right on target, don't you think?

 

During one such debate back in the "Other Newt" days, he said "I'd be very happy to get corporations out of politics. I think it'd be better for America if you had no union and corporate donations, but individuals could donate of their own after-tax income." 

 

It seems all the GOP candidates have had a turn switching their core values during the last decade. Freedom of the press allows us to review what was said and where. 

Whether Republican primary voters care about where their candidates stood earlier is up to them. I guess the next question is, who will be the next non-Romney challenger to the nomination?

WHITE HOUSE PERSONNEL FINANCES

With all that commotion during the Obama Cabinet vetting cycle, you'd think those with tax issues would decline the offered posts. Well luck would have it, you can now request financial disclosure forms for White House personnel on-line.

Click the link, insert the required info and have a look. I'm assuming they have have all their business in order by now.

TREASURY WILL TARP THE BIG 3

Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans blocked the auto bailout this week, leaving the Big 3 and the hundreds of thousands who rely on them for their daily wages holding their a$$.

Here was the only real chance for the GOP to give a serious jab at the United Auto Workers union. Both Democrats and the UAW agreed that Detroit's workers should lower their wages and reduce their benefits to match those of Toyota, Nissan, and Honda workers in the United States. The Republicans wanted the pay modification done by 2009, the Dems by 2011. The ripple effect for the Michigan economy and the American economy for that matter, will be significant.

So as far as future elections... Michigan, being a crucial presidential swing state probably won't vote Republican for generations. Everyday people across Michigan fully understand the Republican Party opposed a bailout of their states main industry. Does anyone think they will forget? You can count on Michiganians voting against McConnell and his pals with a vengeance.

So, as a last ditch effort, the US Treasury will come to the rescue with a portion of the TARP funds, in an attempt to salvage what's left of the Big 3 auto-makers and their antiquated business model. Yes, there will be a timeline for the complete overhaul of their fleet options, but so long as the President is willing to go along with the TARP option, we may see the better, more lean auto industry survive.

President Bush is a supporter of the UAW and the Auto bailout at this point. Sometimes an issue will reveal strange bedfellows.

With his lame-duck status, this provides Bush with a last minute assemblage of being useful. Now, if only we could do something about those last minute pardons we've been hearing about, you know...like what has happened at the end of every other administration since the end of WWI.

OBAMA'S TEAM: CHANGE HAS COME

Now that the election is several weeks in history, I have to ask…does this look like Hillary Clinton actually won? I am looking at the make-up of this new “cabinet of change” and I see some of the same, though brilliant, faces as if Bill never left office.

Granted Barack has to keep everyone on his page in the book of CHANGE, but I sit back and wonder what all the Obama supporters, who hated the Clinton legacy, are thinking now?

To really test their loyalty, Barack has asked Robert Gates to stay on as Defense Secretary.

Ok, so it’s temporary. I actually have no issue over it, but many of us Democratic loyalists shared office space with the Obama teams, listened to their anti-Hillary banter for months, only to see Obama’s Cabinet look like Hillary won. It does make me laugh a little as I have applauded every one of his appointments so far.

Lets see: Rahm Emanuel, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, Tim Geithner, Eric Holder and now Gates. The list goes on! I keep waiting for Al Gore, Howard Dean and Tom Daschle to be mentioned.

Here is my assessment of the orchestrated primary deal. Democratic insiders knew that if Obama was denied the nomination and it went to Hillary, about 30% of the potential electorate would drop off and we would have John McCain for president.

As the plan went, Obama gets the Nomination and the party loyalists continue their support for the Democratic nominee. Obama wins, and all of the same choices fill the cabinet as if Hillary had won anyway.

We saw the evidence across the nation. The Obama/Biden ticket received 30% more votes than the remaining Democratic lines in every precinct. Where the Republican voters, although fewer, kept the vote count steady across their line.

How is it that so many Obama supporters didn’t know or care about the rest of the ticket once they got to the voting booth? It’s very frustrating.

This is why Obama was our nominee and this is why I wouldn’t count on Obama supporters in races to come. I suspect this was a one shot deal and they just wont be there when you need em.

US AG ERIC HOLDER: WELCOME BACK

The buzz in the national political world is about the future US Attorney General. Obama is rumored to have picked Eric Holder, a former DC Judge, and Deputy AG under Janet Reno, he is rumored to have accepted the offer.

Holder, 57, whose appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate, was co-chairman along with Caroline Kennedy of the vice-presidential selection process which gave us Joe Biden as VP.

I think it’s evident that we are going to see a lot of very experienced political operatives filling the positions within the Obama Cabinet and key Capital Hill leadership rolls. If we are going to get out of the economic and judicial mess that Obama will be given on Jan 20th, we need people who know Washington in these positions.

Like Obama himself, Holder gets the title of the first black man to hold the chief prosecutor position for our great country. Born and raised in the Bronx, he has made a lifelong career in the Justice Department. Both he and Pres Elect Obama graduated from Columbia University. Holder would have to leave the firm Covington and Burling before entering the new office.

Considering the bad reputation the justice Department has gotten because of the actions of Ashcroft and Gonzales, the placement of Holder, the poster-child for integrity, is necessary and over due. I am once again impressed with the placement of these incredible talents by our new leader.

You know I’m watching the Secretary of State issue develop.

IT'S ALMOST OVER

I just had to post this funny lawn sign from Ohio.

Do you know how many we could have sold at Democratic HQ this fall?

The weather channel says Election Day will be in the 60s and sunny.

Any questions regarding where you may vote, call the Board of Election on Wall St in Kingston @ 845 334-5470

DEM CONVENTION DAY ONE: MICHELLE

We have just witnessed the first of four days of the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver.

With appearances from former rivals Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy, to Republican Obama supporters, we got to close with a close up and intimate conversation with Michelle Obama.

Another strong woman has taken her place in the Democratic Party; paying tribute to her parents and their work ethic, while acknowledging the hard fought civil rights movement and the tireless leaders who made tonight’s event possible.

Michelle moved me in a surprising way. I don’t know what I expected. I knew she would be well spoken and have great presence, but she made sense as well. She also brought a human side to this equation. Who are these people who wish to lead this nation? How did they get here?

It was nice to mention the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling. Evoking the name Hilary Clinton in her convention speech after all we’ve been through was a nice touch. I’m glad there was a bridge built to the Clinton legacy.

But Day two is just hours away. Senator Clinton will have her time as keynote speaker on stage for the world to view. Hanging on every word and study her every nuance. You can expect the best performance from the woman who came so close in 2008.

Will the three royal houses of the Democratic Party, Kennedy/Clinton/Obama come together to wrestle the White House from John McCain? We shall see.

Ill be by my television for this one.

OBAMA/BIDEN 08?

So there’s a distinct possibility that Obama may pick Joe Biden as VP. I always expected Joe to be on a short list, but now that the buzz is out there as a true contender, some Democrats quickly point out the policy differences between he and Barack on the end game for Iraq.

On the face, Biden would be a safe pick because of his foreign policy credentials and his long history as a lawmaker, he is a currently a six-term Senate veteran and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But the centerpiece of Joe’s campaign is at odds with Obama's withdrawal plan. Joe intends to partition Iraq into separate smaller states.

Biden had been calling for the division of Iraq into three regions at just about every campaign stop while in the primaries, one for Sunnis, one for Shiites, and one for Kurds.

Biden, back in 2006, said: “The idea, as in Bosnia, is to maintain a united Iraq by decentralizing it, giving each ethno-religious group -- Kurd, Sunni Arab and Shiite Arab -- room to run its own affairs, while leaving the central government in charge of common interests, the thee regions would each be responsible for their own domestic laws, administration and internal security. The central government would control border defense, foreign affairs and oil revenues.”

Biden even went so far as to have the Senate vote on the proposal and send it to the President, who scoffed at the idea. Now here’s the slippery part…Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd voted with Joe Biden. Amazingly Obama and McCain didn’t even show up for the vote.
So the question is, will Barack choose Biden as VP? I like Joe…he has good character, a well defined history, and you know what to expect when he’s on the job. He kind-of lends a sense of a better tested and secure aspect to an otherwise lofty campaign of Change without Creds. Like an old favorite sweater. But at what cost to the ideal of sending the old dogs packing?
With only weeks until Denver, I’m curious who the #2 will be, aren’t you?

BLACKWATER DIVERSIFIES

Blackwater Diversifies to Protect Itself.

Articles in the AP are hinting that Blackwater is planning to refocus its operations to prepare for a shift in the market; the securities market.

Blackwater is looking to aviation, logistics, and security training, even though the security work has earned the firm hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts since 9/11.

Erik Prince, the company's founder and CEO, told the AP in several interviews that despite the company being a constant magnet for controversy and the subject of negative news coverage, he still defends its “shoot-first-ask-questions-later” reputation.
He states that much of the good that the company does is overshadowed by the bad rap.

Blackwater operators have been at the center of a number of questionable incidents over the years. Last September's shooting in Baghdad, Its aviation branch, Presidential Airways lost one of its planes in Afghanistan because its pilot took the plane on a low altitude joyride and then there’s Blackwater's shadowy sister company, Greystone, which has scoured the Third World for discount soldiers who act like thugs in uniform.

Don’t think they’re hurting just yet: Presidential Airways has snagged at least three Pentagon contracts, worth close to $160 million, to provide its services in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.
Our very own State Department has renewed Blackwater's contract to provide security to diplomats in Iraq. Great!


The Washington Post announced yesterday: "Iraq Points to Pullout in 2010". Prince probably sees the writing on the wall and he’s plotting a graceful exit strategy. For the perceived image damage Blackwater has done for the US, falling profit margins is not enough of a punishment for the mercenary hunting party he has created. Bad things happen with the American flag embroidered on their uniforms.


The world community doesn’t see the difference between Erik Prince’s trigger happy punks and our proud military personnel.

They want to build planes and abandon the sniper profession, fine by me.


Here is a short YouTube documentary from last year. Not much has changed.
YouTube - BLACKWATER : THE SHADOW WAR

OBAMA OR McCAIN: NOTHING CHANGES

Is it still OK to feel less than thrilled about the two presidential candidates?

We are now forced to choose between the two nominees, the choice is clear; one will serve as our next President. So why don’t I see the potential for significant change?

As the media starts vetting Obama with the same fervor they do all other candidates, we discover more about what makes him tick. They have already made a fool of McCain, so now it’s Obama’s turn.

This VP search team he put together is the latest blunder; James Johnson turns out to be one of the very people the public would like to tar-n-feather now that we know more about his ties to Countrywide and FannyMae. Might not be such a big deal had the Obama campaign not gone after Mark Penn for his ties to Countrywide.

James Johnson, one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company's CEO, Angelo Mozilo.

The "Friends of Angelo" loans were at rates below market averages, three for the purchase of homes. One for $5 Million in Idaho, One for $1.3 Million in California and one in DC for $1 Million; All at rates around 3.8%.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama has criticized Countrywide's executives. Here is a quote from the AP: "These are the people who are responsible for infecting the economy and helping to create a home foreclosure crisis. Two million people may end up losing their homes," Mr. Obama said in March at a town hall meeting in Lancaster, Pa.

Here’s a shocker, a total of $19 million in bonuses was paid to Mr. Mozilo and the president of Countrywide, David Sambol. "They got a $19 million bonus while people are at risk of losing their homes. What's wrong with this picture?" Mr. Obama asked.

Also from the AP: From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Johnson served as CEO of the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae, which worked closely with Countrywide, one of the nation's leading lenders and loan servicing companies. In 1996, Mr. Johnson named Mr. Mozilo as chairman of Fannie Mae's national advisory council. A 1999 article in the American Banker said the two men had a "close friendship."

Countrywide and FannyMae were two of the four home mortgaging companies that Elliot Spitzer was about to pop for purposely loaning to ineligible applicants of Black and Hispanic origin in economically stressed regions. This was a quick way to wrap up unsecured loans “bundling” and reselling at discount rates to unsuspecting foreign investors, while insuring the economic demise of minority borrowers.

McCain isn’t off the hook, he’s got Phil Gramm from UBS on his staff and the Keating Savings & Loan scandal to reflect on.

These are powerful people and had the means to implement the sting that took Spitzer down before the bust. He gave them what they needed of course. But this swings around to the departure of Johnson from Camp Obama. This isn’t good.

Barack is looking less an instrument of CHANGE as the weeks go by.
With associates and staffers of this caliber, we may have the same nonsense in the White House after all. Regardless of the winner.