Tuesday, September 23, 2008

'Ya' think?' Department


Hitting the wires this evening: FBI Investigating Potential Fraud by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman, AIG.


Wasn't this supposed to happen, say, back in 2004 when the original, Clinton-era crimes were exposed (Washington Post: Report Slams Fannie Mae)?

...Though it didn't quantify the effect of what it called pervasive misapplication of accounting rules on the company's books, the report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight cited one instance in 1998 where the company inappropriately deferred $200 million of estimated expenses, which enabled management to receive full annual bonuses. Had Fannie recorded the expenses in 1998, no bonus would have been paid, the report said.

Management in the late nineties included Clinton operatives Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick and Jim Johnson. Otherwise known as Barack Obama's economic advisory team.

This set of creeps sucked down nearly $200 million in compensation in only six years. And taxpayers are left holding the empty shells that they raped and pillaged.

Oh, and for my progressive readers who claim Raines and Johnson aren't advising Obama: take up your quarrel with the Washington Post.
  • The Washington Post, 7/16/08: “In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae’s chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case’s D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.”
  • The Washington Post, 8/28/08: “In the current crisis, their biggest backers have been Democrats such as Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (Mass.). Two members of Mr. Obama’s political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae.

Oh, and "progressives": these weren't lobbyists, they were running the show.

Update: Yep, that's the same Jamie Gorelick who played an enormous role in 9/11 (she's often referred to as "The Mistress of Disaster"; I hear that's the term she prefers).

Linked by: Fausta. Thanks!

Photos o' the day: Stuff the MSM Forgot to Show the Rubes



Spotted at Audiworld



I guess the media forgot to report that the largest re-enlistment ceremony in military history was held on July 4, 2008 at the Al Faw Palace in Baghdad (via Israpundit).

Atlanta Gas Lines, Fuel Shortages cheered by Democrats


Atlanta drivers -- and many others throughout the South -- are suffering through fuel shortages resulting in long waits at gas stations. Linda Gregg of Virginia Highlands waited two hours to gas up her Toyota Prius.


"It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. What is this, Haiti?" Other drivers agreed, some of whom had driven dozens of miles trying to find a gas station with fuel.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) applauded the waits as "necessary conservation measures that are moving America closer to a green economy." *


The Democratic leaders pointed out that their 30 year track record speaks for itself.

Democrats have blocked the development of new sources of petroleum.
Democrats have blocked drilling in ANWR.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the coast of Florida.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the east coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the west coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the Alaskan coast.
Democrats have blocked building oil refineries.
Democrats have blocked clean nuclear energy production.
Democrats have blocked clean coal production.

A proud tradition, to be sure, and one certain to get more Democrats elected in the fall.

* I'm pretty sure this is what they said, but the dog was barking when they were talking, so I won't guarantee the transcription.

Thought Experiment o' the Day


Did you catch Sarah Palin's latest gaffe? Check out the screen-cap I grabbed from Faux News, knowing full well the Rethuglicans would pull it down!

Gawd, how embarrassing!

She has, like, no experience! Versus Obama, who has, like, way more executive experience! Way more!

What? Dude! No Way!

You say it was Biden, and not Palin who screwed up?

And Biden just contradicted Obama on whether they support clean coal?

And Biden just contradicted Obama on whether they support the AIG bailout?

And Biden just did his best impression of Hillary Clinton when he told a harrowing tale of snipers forcing his chopper down in Duke Nukem, Level Six?

* * *

Thought experiment: care to imagine the reaction of Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric, the New York Times and Keith Olberdunce if Palin had pulled any of these classic Biden blunders?

Line o' the day: Incoming!


"McCain's hand grenade has exploded the rot at the core of today's feminists; and by exposing the inner emptiness of feminism, she has also torn apart the center of all the victimhood/identity politics that have driven the Democratic Party for a generation."
                                    -- Dr. Sanity: McCAIN'S HAND GRENADE & DEMOCRATIC MELTDOWN

Via Vanderleun and Larwyn.

Actual Statements on Insurance Claim Forms


Sean sent this one in.

* Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have.

* The other car collided with mine without giving me warning of its intention.

* I thought my window was down, but I found it was up when I put my head through it.

* I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.

* A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.

* The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve several times before I hit him.

* I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother in law and headed over the embankment.

* In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.

* I had been shopping for a plant all day and was on my way home. As I reached an inter-section a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision and I did not see the other car.

* I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.

* I was on the way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident and damage my big end.

* As I approached the intersection a sign appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.

* To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front I stuck a pedestrian.

* My car was legally parked as it backed into another vehicle.

* An invisible car came out of nowhere, stuck my car and vanished.

* I told the police that I was not injured, but on removing my hat I found that I had a fractured skull.

* I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him.

* The pedestrian had no idea which direction to run. So I ran over him.

* I saw a slow moving, sad faced old gentleman as he bounced off the roof of my car.

* The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.

* I was thrown from my car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.

* The telephone pole was approaching. I was attempting to swerve out the way when I struck the front end.

* The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week.

* I knocked over a man, he admitted it was his fault as he'd been knocked over before.

Snopes says the truth of this email is "undetermined" which I take to mean as "fully verified."

T-Mobile unveils first Google phone: Android G1


CNet has the photos and a full roundup of stories.

The G1's "compass mode" leverages Google Maps' Street View based upon the orientation of the phone itself! T-Mo has the video.

Can I say one other thing about T-Mobile? They have, bar none, the best customer service of any wireless phone company I've dealt with.

Follow the money: Barack Obama Edition


Writing at the American Thinker, Mac Fuller describes the flow of funds around Barack Obama in an exquisitely documented article.

Did you know that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright has received $15 million in federal funds? Yep, that's the same Wright who accompanied Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan on a trip to Libya (and the Pan Am 103 mastermind Muammar Gaddafi), published Hamas propaganda in his newsletter and espoused racially divisive, anti-American rhetoric for decades. All the while, he was collecting millions in taxpayer funds from "G*dd**n America, the USKKK of A" (his words).

Unsettling to say the least. Yes sir, read the whole thing.

Puntastic


Denny's got a good list of puns going. A few of my favorites:

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

6. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'

7. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

8. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Any Questions?


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,"

At least 18 times since 2001 Democrats blocked efforts at overhauling Fannie and Freddie even as accounting scandals and executive ripoffs became public.

Why? For starters, the top two recipients of Fannie and Freddie campaign donations were Democrat fatcats Chris Dodd ($165K) and Barack Obama ($126K) (Source: Open Secrets)

And Fannie Mae paid well. Clinton-era Democrats, serving as the CEO, CFO and Vice Chairman, paid themselves $200 million in only six years even while a $10 billion accounting scandal was exposed. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

And Democrats like Chris Dodd also got favorable loans under a "VIP program." Dodd alone saved over $75,000 on his mortgage payments. (Source: Conde Nast Portfolio)

So where are former Fannie Mae CEOs like Franklin Raines ($90 million in salary) and Jim Johnson ($21 million in salary in one year)? As you might expect, they're serving as Barack Obama's key economic advisers. (Source: Washington Post)

Hiring Fannie Mae's two former CEOs as economic advisers? Barack Obama: not ready to lead.

Linked by: The Anchoress and Neoneocon. Thanks!

Contrast you can believe in


The New York Sun publishes the speech Sarah Palin never got to give. It appears the Obama campaign thought it was more important to play politics than display a unified front against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He must be stopped.

The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a "Final Solution" — the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a "stinking corpse" that is "on its way to annihilation." Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman — not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world...

Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel's enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain's promise and it is my promise.

And then there's this:

Here’s a swift test. Be honest. What sentence can you quote from his convention speech in Denver? I thought so. All right, what about his big rally speech in Berlin? Just as I guessed. OK, help me out: Surely you can manage to cite a line or two from his imperishable address on race (compared by some liberal academics to Gettysburg itself) in Philadelphia? No, not the line about his white grandmother. Some other line. Oh, dear. Now do you see what I mean?

That was Christopher Hitchens. Read it all ("Why is Obama so vapid, hesitant, and gutless?").

Now consider: Palin's memorable quotes already outshine any of the rhetorical flourishes and breathless pontificating of Obama's jaunts to Berlin and Denver.

Hat tip: Charles Johnson.

Palin Smears: Orchestrated by Obama's Campaign?


Dr. Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report has the must-read story of the week. It would appear that several federal election laws have been broken and that none other than David Axelrod appears to be behind an "astroturf" campaign against Sarah Palin. Read the whole thing (Dan Riehl has the executive summary).

Extensive research was conducted by the Jawa Report to determine the source of smears directed toward Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Those smears included false allegations that she belonged to a secessionist political party and that she has radical anti-American views.

Our research suggests that a subdivision of one of the largest public relations firms in the world most likely started and promulgated rumors about Sarah Palin that were known to be false. These rumors were spread in a surreptitious manner to avoid exposure.

[Ed: also known as "Astroturfing"]

It is also likely that the PR firm was paid by outside sources to run the smear campaign. While not conclusive, evidence suggests a link to the Barack Obama campaign. Namely:

* Evidence suggests that a YouTube video with false claims about Palin was uploaded and promoted by members of a professional PR firm.

* The family that runs the PR firm has extensive ties to the Democratic Party, the netroots, and are staunch Obama supporters.

* Evidence suggests that the firm engaged in a concerted effort to distribute the video in such a way that it would appear to have gone viral on its own. Yet this effort took place on company time.

* Evidence suggests that these distribution efforts included actions by at least one employee of the firm who is unconnected with the family running the company.

* The voice-over artist used in this supposedly amateur video is a professional.

* This same voice-over artist has worked extensively with David Axelrod's firm, which has a history of engaging in phony grassroots efforts, otherwise known as "astroturfing."

* David Axelrod is Barack Obama's chief media strategist.

* The same voice-over artist has worked directly for the Barack Obama campaign.

Using the same research tactics they've employed in tracking terrorist supporters online, the Jawa team deconstructed the professionally organized campaign of lies aimed at destroying Sarah Palin's candidacy.

A related note: on 9/2, I noted that the same Palin slime chain mail had been posted in hundreds of forums simultaneously. It was an obviously orchestrated campaign.

Gosh, I wonder who could've been behind that sort of thing? Could it have been hopey, changey-type folks?

Linked by: Gateway Pundit. Thanks!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Fannie Mae: The New York Times rides to the rescue of the GOP


The New York Times, September 11 2003 ("New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae"):

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


Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

Why did the plan fail?


Democrats -- including Barney Frank and Chris Dodd -- strongly opposed any overhaul.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.'' ...Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed... ''I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,'' Mr. Watt said.

The Congressional Transcript Wire reports that during the hearing on the regulation of Fannie and Freddie, Frank's statement included a variety of assertions:

...the two government-sponsored enterprises that we're talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis... I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the treasury... Some of the critics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say that the problem is is the federal government is obligated to bail-out people who might lose money in connection with them... I do not believe that we have any such obligation... ...nobody who invested in them should come looking to me for a nickel, nor anybody else in the federal government.


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.

I think we now see pressure on it that's generated in part by exaggerated fears of a financial crisis.

According to the Hartford Courant, Democrat Chris Dodd actually stopped the Bush administration's attempts at reining in Fannie and Freddie:

Taxpayers face a tab of as much as $200 billion for a government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the formerly semi-autonomous mortgage finance clearinghouses. And Sen. Christopher Dodd, the Democratic chairman of the Senate banking committee, has the gall to say in a Bloomberg Television interview: "I have a lot of questions about where was the administration over the last eight years."

We will save the senator some trouble. Here is what we saw firsthand at the White House from late 2002 through 2007: Starting in 2002, White House and Treasury Department economic policy staffers, with support from then-Chief of Staff Andy Card, began to press for meaningful reforms of Fannie, Freddie and other government-sponsored enterprises, known [as] GSEs...


How did Fannie and Freddie counter such efforts? They flooded Washington with lobbying dollars, doled out tens of thousands in political contributions and put offices in key congressional districts. Not surprisingly, these efforts worked. Leaders in Congress did not just balk at proposals to rein in Fannie and Freddie. They mocked the proposals as unserious and unnecessary.

As recently as last summer, when housing prices had clearly peaked and the mortgage market had started to seize up, Dodd called on Bush to "immediately reconsider his ill-advised" reform proposals. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said that the president's suggestion for a strong, independent regulator of Fannie and Freddie was "inane."

Sen. Dodd wonders what the Bush administration did to address the risks of Fannie and Freddie. Now, he knows. The real question is: Where was he?

Perhaps Dodd's actions were related to the favorable loan deals he allegedly secured through Fannie's Countrywide distribution channel:

Senators Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide’s “V.I.P.” program in 2003 and 2004...

...James Johnson, who had been advising presidential candidate Barack Obama on the selection of a running mate, resigned from the Obama campaign Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that he received Countrywide loans at below-market rates...

Obama adviser Johnson also pulled down $21 million in compensation from Fannie before the implosion.


Or maybe the Democrats' reluctant to reform Fannie traces back to the fact that Dodd, Obama and Kerry were the top three recipients of Fannie Mae's money.

These jamokes deserve to be frog-marched out of Congress and directly into a holding cell. Someone needs to clean up Washington; McCain and Palin are better prepared to do so than anyone else.

And especially better prepared than a questionable pol straight out of the Chicago machine, brought to you by the likes of Tony Rezko and Bill Ayers.

Hat tips: Hot Air and Larwyn. Related reading: Root Cause.

Official 2008 Standardized Test for Democrats (STD)



Section 1: Diplomacy and War


FISA:
Pilloried the administration's international terrorist wiretapping program
Immunized the telcos from lawsuits regarding the international terrorist wiretapping program

Meeting with Iran's leaders without preconditions:
Favors meeting Iran's leaders without preconditions
Requires conditions before meeting with Iran's leaders

The Surge in Iraq:
Opposed the Surge until it was obvious to everyone that it had worked
Admitted the Surge worked but did not admit he erred in opposing it

Cuba Embargo
Opposes the Embargo, saying it "utterly failed"
Favors the Embargo, calling it "an important inducement for change"

Section 2: Terrorism and the Middle East


Guantanamo Bay:
Favors giving terrorist POWs full rights of US citizens in the civilian court system
Claims he does not want to grant terrorist POWs the rights of criminal suspects in the US

Patriot Act:
Opposed Patriot Act
Voted for Patriot Act

Palestinian Elections:
Opposes holding elections with Hamas on the ballot
Favors holding elections with Hamas on the ballot

Jerusalem:
Favors an undivided Jerusalem
Favors a divided Jerusalem

Section 3: Economy


NAFTA:
Hammered the administration's support for free trade
Said his anti-NAFTA rhetoric was "overheated"

Clean coal:
Favors coal-to-fuel programs
Oppposes coal-to-fuel programs

Illegal Immigration:
Favors cracking down on employers abusing immigration laws
Opposes cracking down on employers abusing immigration laws

Fannie Mae:
Pillories the administration for loosely regulating Fannie Mae
Hires the disgraced CEO of Fannie Mae, three months before its fails, to lead his VP search

Section 4: Education and Social Issues


School Vouchers:
Told reporters he favored local voucher programs
Announced his intention to quash local voucher programs

Welfare Reform:
Favors welfare reform in his ads
Opposed the largest welfare reform effort in the last two decades

Faith-based initiatives:
Favors public grants for faith-based initiatives
Opposes public grants for faith-based initiatives

Gay Marriage:
States should decide gay marriage
California's attempt to decide gay marriage for itself is 'divisive'

Second Amendment:
Believed the DC Handgun Ban was constitutional
Agreed with the Supreme Court striking down the DC Handgun Ban

Abortion
Believes “mental distress” should qualify as a health exception for late term-abortions
Believes “mental distress” should not qualify as a health exception for late term-abortions

Death Penalty
Opposes the death penalty
Favors the death penalty

Section 5: Politics


Publicly financed elections:
Promised to "aggressively pursue" a publicly financed general election
Broke his promise to "aggressively pursue" a publicly financed general election

On the question of Union contributions constituting "special interests":
Describes union money as "special interest" contributions
Describes union money as simply funds provided by "working people"

Wearing a U.S. flag pin:
After 9/11, does not wear a flag pin because it represents a substitute for "true patriotism"
Once the general election begins, wears a flag pin

Pastor and spiritual mentor the Reverend Jeremiah Wright:
Can no more disown Wright than his "white grandmother".
Disowns Wright after he becomes a huge political liability

Serving as Chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC, run by terrorist Bill Ayers)
In his first run at Congress, points to the CAC as his central qualification
Omits the CAC from his resume in his run for the presidency

The beautiful thing about this test is this: there are no wrong answers, as Obama has expressed every opinion listed herein. It's all about judgment and core convictions. Oh, and nuance!

Especially for: Jon.