• Tony Strickland

    Democrat and Consumer Advocate Erin Brockovich Endorses Tony Strickland for California State Senate

    Erin-Brokovich-for-Tony-Str
    Erin Brockovich endorses Tony Strickland for California State Senate

    In a newly release television ad, Democrat and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich has endorsed Tony Strickland for California State Senate.

    One remembers Erin Brockovich from the movie about her life (of the same name), starring Julie Roberts revolving about the Anderson v. Pacific Gas and Electric case.

    Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was in trouble. Serious trouble. Four decades after the world’s largest utility started dumping 370 million gallons of cancer-causing chemicals into unlined ponds in Hinkley, California, the company’s actions had finally been uncovered. Uncovered by Erin Brockovich (a formerly unemployed, single mother of three working in a California law firm) who wanted to know what medical records had to do with a real estate file. What she found out led to the biggest settlement on record for a civil class action lawsuit.

    Here is the television ad:

    Tony Strickland is showing that he is a Republican that can reach out to Democrats and Independents because he is an “independent thinker.”

    As you know Flap is supporting Republican Tony Strickland for the California State Senate.

    Tony Strickland’s Facebook page is here.

    Strickland’s California State Senate website is here.

    And, while you are thinking about, go here and send Tony a few bucks to finance his media campaign.

    Tony-Strickland-and-daughte

    Tony Strickland in Moorpark, California with daughter, Ruby Ruth. Photo By Flap


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  • Animals

    John McCain Watch: Steve Schmidt Goes “Nuclear” on New York Times – The Light Bulb Goes On

    McCain Campaign Manager Steve Schmidt On New York Times Bias

    The Epiphany for the McCain campaign: The New York Times is a left-wing RAG.

    Flap first mentioned the beginning of the light bulb going on this morning.

    Now, the epiphany spreads to the left-wing writer of the Politico, Ben Smith who is also “in the tank”.

    Maybe Team McCain will kick their LEFTY asses off their press plane and grant interviews to those media outlets who are fair and balanced. Cut off their exclusive press releases too.

    And, to Steve Schmidt: don’t answer Marc Ambinder’s, Ben Smith’s or Jonathan Martin’s phone calls.

    Flap will love the whining.


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  • Iran,  Iran Nuclear Watch,  Israel,  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,  Sarah Palin

    Sarah Palin Watch: The Iran Speech Palin Was NOT Allowed to Give

    Where is Sarah Palin

    A woman holds a “Where is Sarah?” sign at an anti-Iran rally outside United Nations headquarters during the 63rd General Assembly in NYC. Activists from Jewish organizations demonstrated Monday against Iran at UN headquarters in New York in a rally overshadowed by US domestic politics with Senator Hillary Clinton declining to appear alongside Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

    Sarah Palin was disinvited from today’s demonstration against Iran’s President Ahmadinejad at New York’s United Nation’s headquarters.

    Her appearance in the rally in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza was cancelled in a flap between protest organizers and Hillary Clinton, who had also been scheduled to speak. Clinton aides were quoted as saying that they had been “blindsided” by the decision to invite Palin, which they called a partisan move. In the ensuing controversy, Clinton withdrew her participation, and Palin’s invitation was rescinded.

    But, Flap has the text of the speech she was NOT allowed to give:

    I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country – leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice of outrage.

    Tomorrow, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come to New York – to the heart of what he calls the Great Satan – and speak freely in this, a country whose demise he has called for.

    Ahmadinejad may choose his words carefully, but underneath all of the rhetoric is an agenda that threatens all who seek a safer and freer world. We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator’s intentions and to call for action to thwart him.
    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.

    The Iranian government wants nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is running at least 3,800 centrifuges and that its uranium enrichment capacity is rapidly improving. According to news reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Iranians may have enough nuclear material to produce a bomb within a year.

    The world has condemned these activities. The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its illegal nuclear enrichment activities. It has levied three rounds of sanctions. How has Ahmadinejad responded? With the declaration that the “Iranian nation would not retreat one iota” from its nuclear program.

    So, what should we do about this growing threat? First, we must succeed in Iraq. If we fail there, it will jeopardize the democracy the Iraqis have worked so hard to build, and empower the extremists in neighboring Iran. Iran has armed and trained terrorists who have killed our soldiers in Iraq, and it is Iran that would benefit from an American defeat in Iraq.

    If we retreat without leaving a stable Iraq, Iran’s nuclear ambitions will be bolstered. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons ? they could share them tomorrow with the terrorists they finance, arm, and train today. Iranian nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous regional nuclear arms race that would make all of us less safe.

    But Iran is not only a regional threat; it threatens the entire world. It is the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. It sponsors the world’s most vicious terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Together, Iran and its terrorists are responsible for the deaths of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and in Iraq today. They have murdered Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians, and other Muslims who have resisted Iran’s desire to dominate the region. They have persecuted countless people simply because they are Jewish.

    Iran is responsible for attacks not only on Israelis, but on Jews living as far away as Argentina. Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are part of Iran’s official ideology and murder is part of its official policy. Not even Iranian citizens are safe from their government’s threat to those who want to live, work, and worship in peace. Politically-motivated abductions, torture, death by stoning, flogging, and amputations are just some of its state-sanctioned punishments.

    It is said that the measure of a country is the treatment of its most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the Iranian government is both oppressive and barbaric. Under Ahmadinejad’s rule, Iranian women are some of the most vulnerable citizens.

    If an Iranian woman shows too much hair in public, she risks being beaten or killed. If she walks down a public street in clothing that violates the state dress code, she could be arrested.

    But in the face of this harsh regime, the Iranian women have shown courage. Despite threats to their lives and their families, Iranian women have sought better treatment through the “One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws.” The authorities have reacted with predictable barbarism. Last year, women’s rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 months in prison for committing the crime of “propaganda against the system.” After international protests, the judiciary reduced her sentence to “only” 10 lashes and 36 months in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence. She still faces the threat of imprisonment.

    Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that “Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that” effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.

    Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!
    Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime’s dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran’s behavior.

    Tomorrow, Ahmadinejad will come to New York. On our soil, he will exercise the right of freedom of speech – a right he denies his own people. He will share his hateful agenda with the world. Our task is to focus the world on what can be done to stop him.

    We must rally the world to press for truly tough sanctions at the U.N. or with our allies if Iran’s allies continue to block action in the U.N. We must start with restrictions on Iran’s refined petroleum imports. We must reduce our dependency on foreign oil to weaken Iran’s economic influence.
    We must target the regime’s assets abroad; bank accounts, investments, and trading partners.

    President Ahmadinejad should be held accountable for inciting genocide, a crime under international law.

    We must sanction Iran’s Central Bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps -which no one should doubt is a terrorist organization. Together, we can stop Iran’s nuclear program.

    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.

    Thank you.

    UN Iran Human Rights

    Protesters attend a rally across the street from the United Nations, Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York. The demonstration attended by various community leaders including Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel is aimed at protesting Iran’s human rights abuses and the appearance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.


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  • Hannah-Beth Jackson,  Tony Strickland

    Tony Strickland Watch: Why Bother with Katie Teague and the California Association of Poltical Centrists?

    Katie Teague 1

    Ventura County Republican Party (VCRP) Annual BBQ :
    Katie Teague and Rita Graham at the check-in Circa Fall 2005 (?)

    Why should former California Assemblyman Tony Strickland care about the California Association of Political Centrists (CAPC) and the debate/forum with Hannah-Beth Jackson they have scheduled for Wednesday of this week?

    He shouldn’t because it is a political set-up (to trash Strickland) facilitated by two disgruntled Republicans, one who was ousted as the Chairwoman of the Republican Party of Ventura County, Leslie Conejo and Katie Teague who is on the CAPC Advisory Council.

    Steve Frank has more on the FLAP.

    Any moaning that Tony Strickland is not attending the event is just HOT AIR.


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  • John McCain,  Media Bias,  New York Times

    John McCain Watch: Steve Schmidt Goes “Nuclear” on New York Times

    McCain Campaign Manager Steve Schmidt On New York Times Bias

    The impetus of this blow-up was the NYT-Rick Davis piece about his lobbying activities. But, the blow-up was inevitable. The fact is the New York Times, NBC News, Newsweek and others have become pro-Obama mouthpieces – ” 150% in the tank.”

    A fair shake from the MSM for John McCain?

    What an illusion…..

    By the way, do you think the NYT will investigate David Axelrod’s involvement in the Sarah Palin smear campaign?

    Hahaha

    Update:

    Flap wonders what the media would do if the McCain campaign declared the New York Times and NBC News persona non grata and kicked them off the Team McCain airplane? And, would refuse to entertain ANY interview requests or answer questions from any of their reporters?

    Just wondering……


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  • Sarah Palin

    Sarah Palin Watch: E-mail Hacked and Family Photos/Voicemail Stolen – Tennessee Grand Jury Scheduled to Hear Testimony?

    sarah-palin-email-hacked

    A Tennessee Grand Jury could hear testimony this week into the alleged hacking of Sarah Palin’s private Yahoo e-mail account (Via MM).

    The Knoxville News-Sentinel said the FBI is investigating the possibility that a University of Tennessee student who is the son of a state legislator from Memphis carried out the hacking.

    The report said FBI agents raided the apartment of David Kernell early Sunday morning.

    It said friends of Kernell were interviewed, and said they are due to testify about the case in Chattanooga this week.

    A federal grand jury is set to convene in Chattanooga on Tuesday.

    Kernell is the son of Memphis Democrat Mike Kernell, who acknowledged that his son is being investigated.

    Flap had this post over the weekend on an early morning search warrant service on the apartment of David Kernell.

    Stay tuned as this alleged, and attempted political “dirty trick” by “Obamacrat” David Kernell is fully investigated.

    David_Kernell

    Photo Courtesy of My Pet Jawa

    Update:

    The Justice Department has now confirmed that its investigation into the alleged hacking into Sarah Palin’s personal e-mail now includes Knoxville, Tennessee.

    The “investigatory activity took place … over the weekend,” according to Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney. She initially said the activity took place late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, then amended the time frame after reports of agents visiting the apartment building late Friday afternoon.

    She would not comment on whether that activity included an FBI search of the apartment of University of Tennessee Knoxville student David Kernell.

    She also would not confirm if anyone was served with a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury in Chattanooga.

    Previous:

    Sarah Palin Watch: E-mail Hacked and Family Photos/Voicemail Stolen – Search Warrant Served on “Obamacrat” David Kernell

    Sarah Palin Watch: E-mail Hacked and Family Photos/Voicemail Stolen – Who Was Behind the Hack? Was it David Kernell?

    Sarah Palin Watch: E-mail Hacked and Family Photos/Voicemail Stolen – Who Was Behind the Hack?

    Sarah Palin Watch: E-mail Hacked and Family Photos/Voicemail Stolen


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  • Iran,  Iran Nuclear Watch,  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran May Be Hiding Secret Nukes

    Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: “Iran will break the hands of invaders if attacked.

    As Iran’s President departs for New York and the United Nations there are a couple of stories about Iran’s covert nuclear program.

    Chief inspector: Iran may be hiding secret nukes

    The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Monday that Iran may be hiding secret nuclear activities, comments that appeared to reflect a high level of frustration with stonewalling of his investigators.

    IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran’s stonewalling of his agency was a “serious concern.”

    “Iran needs to give the agency substantive information” to clear up suspicions, he told the closed board meeting, in comments made available to reporters. He rejected the Iranian suggestion that the IAEA probe could expose non-nuclear military secrets, saying the IAEA “does not in any way seek to ‘pry’ into Iran’s conventional or missile-related military activities.”

    “We need, however, to make use of all relevant information to be able to confirm that no nuclear material is being used for nuclear weapons purposes,” he said, urging Iran to “implement all measures required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program at the earliest possible date.”

    If Tehran fails to do so, the IAEA “will not be able to provide credible assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran,” he said.

    Diplomats at the gathering described ElBaradei’s comments as unusually blunt…..

    Military intelligence: Iran halfway to first nuclear bomb

    Iran is halfway to a nuclear bomb, and Hizbullah, Hamas and Syria are using this period of relative calm to significantly rearm, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, the Military Intelligence’s head of research, told the cabinet Sunday during a particularly gloomy briefing on the threats facing the country.

    Ahmadinejad: We’ll stop any attacker

    Baidatz said there was a growing gap between Iran’s progress on the nuclear front and the West’s determination to stop it. “Iran is concentrating on uranium enrichment, and is making progress,” he said, noting that they have improved the function of their 4,000 centrifuges.

    According to Baidatz, the Iranian centrifuges have so far produced between one-third to one-half of the enriched material needed to build a bomb.

    “The time when they will have crossed the nuclear point-of-no-return is fast approaching,” he said, though he stopped short of giving a firm deadline. Last week in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, however, he put the date at 2011.

    President Bush has decided to punt this issue to the next President and the United Nations is doing nothing but beat their gums about Iran’s non-compliance with inspections.

    Israel is now talking about BREAKOUT CAPABILITY.

    The attack on Iran is coming unless Iran backs off. But, the Iranian Mullahs do not think the West has the stomach for more war in the Middle East.

    The alternative will be the destruction of Israel through nuclear blackmail or another holocaust – this time a nuclear one.

    Stay tuned……

    Previous:

    Iran Nuclear Watch: More Nuclear Power Plants

    Iran Watch: Unmanned Submarine Threatens Persian Gulf Oil Supply


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  • Barack Obama,  David Axelrod

    Sarah Palin Watch: The Anatomy of an Orchestrated “Grassroots” Smear Campaign

    Backup of an advertisement claiming that Sarah Palin is an anti-American radical.

    Dr. Rusty Shackleford of My Pet Jawa dissects the anatomy of an organized grassroots effort to spread false information about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

    Rusty’s post: Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated “Grassroots” Smear Campaigns & the People that Run Them is a MUST read this morning.

    In short:

    • 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.

    Here is the You Tube voice over artist (with links to David Axelroad and hence the Barack Obama campaign) comparison.

    Audio of YouTube video compared to official Obama campaign ad suggests that YouTube video was professionally made and possibly linked to Obama camp.

    The piece by Rusty takes some time to peruse but well worth the time to explore the inner workings of media in the internet age which is not what it seems.

    Fancy that……

    Michelle Malkin, now, has more on the apparent cover-up.

    Now, here’s the juicy part. Within an hour of publication of the Jawa
    Report’s investigation, “eswinner” deleted the smear video that he had
    uploaded several times on September 11. Here’s a screenshot of the cached copy:

    Let me underline that: At some point between approx. 12 midnight – 2am
    Eastern, “eswinner” logged into his account and tried to erase all
    traces of the deceitful, Palin-bashing ad.

    Stay tuned….

    Update:

    ACE has more about why this story is important and why the MSM most probably will NOT run with it:

    1) It’s calculatedly dishonest to attempt to scam the public with videos by “concerned citizens” which are in fact professional electioneering communications put out at the behest of a supposedly new-politics politician. People trust average “neutral” and “independent” citizens more than someone known to be an interested party. It was a scandal when it was revealed that stockbrokers were pimping their own stocks on day-trader sites, pretending to be just average investors with hot tips. Same deal here.

    2) Such ads don’t get fact-checked, as they’re supposedly from regular schnooks. No one fact-checks a regular schnook. So Axelrod and Obama can spread lies about Palin, completely refuted and debunked 11 days before the ad was posted, and not worry about media busy-bodies calling foul.

    The plan in this case was to tap into the massive traffic of the Daily Kos and have each reader send the video, under the radar, to ten friends, and have them send it to ten friends, etc. The post in question was written by someone who just happens to share a name with a Winner & Associates employee. YouTube ads are big business — and this one was so stinking of outdated lies it had to be done under the table, in the shadows. Where no one would take much notice of it; certainly not the media’s fact-checkers. But, if successful, it would go viral and a huge number of people would end up seeing it.

    And no one would know where this ad came from.

    The plan didn’t quite work — the lies being pushed were already utterly rubbished, and there were new, exciting smears the netroots were more interested in. But it didn’t fail for lack of trying.

    3) This is just the tip of the iceberg. David Axelrod is known as “the Master of Astroturfing,” and this is just his sloppiest and most brazen effort (thusfar detected). You know what also doesn’t get fact checked? The tens of thousands of coordinated comments smearing McCain and Palin posted every day on media and blog threads, many of which are being written by “concerned Christian conservative commenters” who are in fact agents of David Axelrod and the DNC — either directly, as in on-the-payroll sockpuppets, or indirectly, as in big internet groups determined to do “the dirty stuff Obama can’t do himsef.”

    Obama can’t cast doubt on Palin’s fitness as a mother without risking electoral debacle.

    But his legions of busy, busy, busy internet sockpuppets can. He gets the benefit of the smear without having to accept any of the responsibility for it. (Emphasis Flap’s)


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  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day

    Day By Day by Chris Muir September 22, 2008 – “Got the Blues”

    Day By Day 092208

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    You mean the source of some of the Sarah Palin smears has been linked to a public relations firm with ties to the Barack Obama campaign and the Democrat Party?

    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.

    Astroturfing (phony grassroots efforts) orchestrated by political partisans and not organic grassroots efforts by the radical left fringe to deliberately disseminate false information about Sarah Palin, you say?

    Fancy that.

    But, is ANYONE surprised?

    Previous:

    The Day By Day Archive


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  • Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2008-09-22

    • Republican incumbents in close races have the easiest vote of their lives coming up this week: No on the Bush-Pelosi Wall Street bailout.

      God Himself couldn't have given rank-and-file Republicans a better opportunity to create political space between themselves and the Administration. That's why I want to see 40 Republican No votes in the Senate, and 150+ in the House. If a bailout is to pass, let it be with Democratic votes. Let this be the political establishment (Bush Republicans in the White House + Democrats in Congress) saddling the taxpayers with hundreds of billions in debt (more than the Iraq War, conjured up in a single weekend, and enabled by Pelosi, btw), while principled Republicans say "No" and go to the country with a stinging indictment of the majority in Congress.

    • Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.

      The revelation sparked fury among the workers' former colleagues, Lehman's 5,000 staff based in London, who currently have no idea how long they will go on receiving even their basic salaries, let alone any bonus payments. It also prompted a renewed backlash over the compensation culture in global finance, with critics claiming that many bankers receive pay and rewards that bore no relation to the job they had done.

    • Republican White House hopeful John McCain Sunday accused his Democratic foe Barack Obama of showing a "lack of leadership" and foresight on the US financial meltdown and the Iraq war.

      The Arizona senator equated Obama's response to the financial turbulence rocking American and global markets with his initial opposition to the "surge" of US troops into Iraq last year.

      "Whether it's a reversal in war, or an economic emergency, he reacts as a politician and not as a leader, seeking an advantage for himself instead of a solution for his country," McCain said.

      McCain told the National Guard Association that he had offered a plan to resolve the debt meltdown which triggered the crisis, while the Democratic presidential candidate had not.

      "Senator Obama has declined to put forth a plan of his own. At a time of crisis, when leadership is needed, Senator Obama has simply not provided it," McCain said.

    • (tags: Sarah Palin)
    • For these reasons I hope Congress will slow down and have an open debate.

      And in the course of that debate, I hope someone will introduce an economic recovery act that makes America a better place to grow jobs. I hope the details will be made public before the vote.
      ++++++++++
      Flap agrees with Newt: If Washington wants our money, then it owes us some answers.

    • Everyone should read the actual text of the proposed bailout plan the administration is sending to Congress. It’s clearly not a final version (the part about only purchasing from financial institutions headquartered in the US has already been changed, as Kathryn notes below), but it’s the essential shape of the proposal. See if you can read through the whole of it without concluding that everyone in Washington has lost their minds.
      ++++++++++
      Too much power in the hands of the Treasury Secretary and inadequate oversight. Don't these moronic bureaucrats ever learn?
    • Had the Treasury and Fed not quickly stepped into the fray that morning with a quick $105 billion injection of liquidity, the Dow could have collapsed to the 8,300-level – a 22 percent decline! – while the clang of the opening bell was still echoing around the cavernous exchange floor.

      According to traders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, money market funds were inundated with $500 billion in sell orders prior to the opening. The total money-market capitalization was roughly $4 trillion that morning.

    • Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) says he’s seen this movie before: The Bush administration, citing an unprecedented national threat, puts the hammer on Congress to ram through gargantuan legislation with a minimum of review — and the murkiest of repercussions.

      “We will do something this week — but if we learned anything from right after 9/11, it’s that the biggest mistake is to pass anything they ask for just because it’s an emergency,” Leahy says.

    • The White House is pressuring congressional Democrats “to send a clear signal” before the markets open Monday that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s bailout plan will be approved quickly and essentially as written, a senior Democratic aide tells Politico.

      The warning: If investors don’t believe help is coming quickly, the markets could spiral downward all over again.

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

      The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets — including the New York metropolitan region — will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

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

    • (tags: Day By Democrats)
    • They list greed and Greenspan among the culprits, and there are comparisons to . . . Albania. But amid the gloating, there is fear for financial systems in Britain, Spain, Italy and elsewhere.
      ++++++++
      America should let European and Asian banks sink and NOT bail them out. About time for some America first economics.
    • In a change from the original proposal sent to Capitol Hill, foreign-based banks with big U.S. operations could qualify for the Treasury Department’s mortgage bailout, according to the fine print of an administration statement Saturday night.

      The theory, according to a participant in the negotiations, is that if the goal is to solve a liquidity crisis, it makes no sense to exclude banks that do a lot of lending in the United States.

      Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson confirmed the change on ABC's "This Week," telling George Stephanopoulos that coverage of foreign-based banks is "a distinction without a difference to the American people."