I frequently disagree with Nancy Pelosi, especially when it comes to funding Iraq,...

...but, this time we have something in common. American families have to come first. If American families come first that will stabilize the circumstances of their foreclosures. There needs to be an underpinning to their economic stability and that might mean extending unemployment further or working with mortgage companies to secure monthly payments families can afford. But, the basis of this economic clamor is due to the loss of jobs and home foreclosures.



...She says the bailout should include provisions to help families facing foreclosure to stay in their homes, as well as create jobs, extend unemployment benefits and prevent CEOs of failed companies to leave with multimillion-dollar "golden parachutes."...


To simply 'hand out' money in the way of a bailout does not insure the well being of our country. According to Hank Paulson we even have to extend the bailout to other countries.


I don't think so.


If other investment firms came to the USA to make a profit and attempt to help Americans with their purchases of homes to enhance their future security then the 'real security' lies in the financial security of the American family, their job security, their wellness and a promise to a future that is not undermined by Republican priorities that destroy lives and deplete the quality of life.


If Hank Paulson can ask Congress for nearly a trillion $US to bailout financial institutions, including those institutions in other countries, then there is no reason why those same monies can't go directly to the people facing foreclosure. This is such a scam its hideous.


You put a CEO at the top of the USA Treasury, what will he do? He'll seek to 'handle it' with only fiscal outcomes being the focus.


If you put a 'human being' at the top of the USA Treasury, they will see 'the people' being disaffected and act accordingly. The people in the Bush Executive Branch like their big banks, big money and big projects. We don't need them, we need Democrats to 'handle' Hank because the guy is indiscriminately insensitive to the real victims of these issues and that IS The American People. He couldn't care less and it shows at every turn.

There is no reason for what is transpiring. Bush and his financial 'Whiz-Kids' don't seem to understand good accounting practices, so they simply undo the entire infrastructure and watch the entire economic infrastructure disintegrate until it meets their satisfaction.

So, let's see if i get this right.

Countrywide Financial (click here) gets bought out by Bank of America (one of the larger surviving banks today) in January 2008 and all of a sudden everything else falls apart. Subprime lending is the culprit and therefore every financial institution is tainted by this form of lending.

NOT.

It would seem as though out of seek panic, Bernanke and Paulson decide that holding everyone's feet to the fire, while freezing everything, in the way that "Mark to Marketing" can will bring about the destruction of all the 'bad credit' in the world and then they can 'ride the ignorant' in the country into the ground while having dominion over a trillion $US to power play any advantage they can get out of it.


All this HAS to occur according to Hank because there is JUST NO TIME to explain 'the plan' to Congress. So, therefore, Congress HAS to pass a trillion $US spending bill on Monday to give confidence to the markets EVEN THOUGH the details can be worked out later.

???????????????????????????????what??????????????????????????

Why would lack of details instill confidence? Simply panic? Yeah.

Others panic is NOT a problem for me or for Congress. What will result in a huge deficit for the USA while the people of this country flounder will be a windfall for people other than the ones most disaffected.

I 'do not buy' the fact that details aren't important and if others think a bill opening up that level of power to ONE man in an office in DC is reassurance, it ain't. Look who got us into this mess. And he has an answer?

I don't think so.

NOR that the consumers of the USA should not be the focus of this 'bailout.'

The Congress needs to run an investigation to the causes of 'such a rush to judgement' by Hank when in fact the 'writing was on the wall' the entire time and in plenty of time to 'have a detailed plan.'

It is an outrage that the USA Treasury which has seen many people in that Secretary's seat including a man that resigned in the first years of this administration, can't 'detail' a plan that is supposed to be worth a trillion $US. I find that blatant incompetence and the American people are AGAIN asked to carry the burden of this White House's blundering.

I think foreign banks are managing 'JUST FINE.'


AUB secures US$ 800 Million syndicated loan facility (click here)
21 September 2008
"We are extremely pleased by the response to the facility. The success of the syndication in difficult international market conditions is proof of AUB, AUB's reputation in the market and the confidence that the participating banks have in our strategies." said Michael Collis, Senior Deputy Group CEO, Ahli United Bank, Ahli United Bank.
Ahli United Bank B.S.C. (AUB or Group), Ahli United Bank B.S.C. (AUB or Group) a 40.5% rise in net profits for the first half of 2008 of US$ 211.7 million, as compared to the same period last year. Operating income to 30 June 2008 stood at a record US$ 461 million (30 June 2007 - US$ 313.1 million). As of 30 June 2008, the Group's total assets stood at US$ 27 billion, an increase of 17.4% over 31 December 2007, reflecting robust growth. The growth was funded by an increase in customers' deposits by US$ 3.2 billion (+30%). Inter-bank deposits as of 30 June 2008 rose to US$ 7.4 billion.

The Art of the Con - The entire mess has been created by good 'ole Hank. It's all in the slight of accounting handling...

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson speaks during a taping of Meet the Press on September 21, 2008 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

The failed financial institutiosn were 'set up' for failure and then ridden into obsurity. It should never have happened. The Bush Bunch are incompetents.

....Mark to market rules and strict ratings may be appropriate (though unfair) in the good times as a means of preparing institutions for the bad times. That doesn’t mean they should be rigidly applied or even tightened up during the bad times. Hard exercise may boost your immune system to help stave off disease. Hard exercise after the onset of the disease may not be such a good idea.
Critics of some mild regulatory forbearance during this most serious of crises since the Great Depression will no doubt cite transparency as essential, but the two can go together. I’m not advocating hiding temporarily impaired assets. They can remain on the balance sheet with a footnote explaining the intent to hold to maturity.
It is time for common sense to come before accounting purity and cut our losses. It’s one thing to become a victim of a bad loan or a bad economy. It’s quite another thing to become a victim of unnecessarily strict accounting rules.

The time is right now to take back the country. Procrastination is a Dirty Word.

Bush wasn't even at the meeting with Congressional Leaders. What's the disconnect?

The Congress needs to 'insure' to the financial sector there will be low interest loans to secure their stability. As much as they need, but, to be paid back. This 'bailout' is nonsense. I don't believe in it and it will only serve to continue to extend this episode 'Economic Crisis.'


Bush wants the Federal Government to absorb the bad debt. No. In order to do that, the USA will become the largest Realtor on the planet. A realtor without any sales agents. The USA will become the biggest slum lord this side of Oshkosh. That real estate has to remain in the hands of private investment portfolios otherwise they will become worthless and the USA won't own anything except houses for demolition within a short period of time.

It can be argued that there is simply too many houses and commercial real estate on a continually failing economy to ever believe homes will be worth anything in the future. The basis of any average American's financial security is in the long term investment of a home. In my opinion that has been shattered and people are still not talking about this entire set of circumstances in a real way because no one wants to 'own the problem.' No one wants to admit, their monthly mortgages are being paid on real estate without intrinsic value. The ONLY aspect of real estate that continues to give it value at all, is its location. Location of valued areas of the country to live will provide value, but, in reality if someone wants a home at no cost these days it is available.

It is more realistic and more prudent to allow financial institutions to apply for regular loans at virtually no interest except for the administration costs and allow them to continue to manage their losses while continuing their incentives to develop markets and uphold value of held Real Estate. If a company has holdings that can be managed in a different way, say as rental property, then they need to look at those possiblities and move in that direction while recuperating their losses and minimizing their need for continued loans from the people of the USA.

The entire concept of 'bailing out' the FAILED POLICIES of a FAILED political party on a regular basis is hideous. Why should the people in the USA that simply 'know better' than to trust any policy a Republican comes up with, have to pay for the mistakes of those that elected them? If anything that is an incentive to continue to elect these baffoons. The 'idea' that Walker Bush can simply state, "Boy, you know we really goofed AGAIN and need more concessions from Congress to set the country back on the right path," while the morons continue to stay in office is an outrage !

Bush, Paulson and Bernanke need to be removed from office and so does Cheney. The fact of the matter is WHO CAN TRUST THESE IDIOTS? Look what they have done to this country? No one wants to admit the Democrats should be heading the government. They are the ones who now have the burden to deal with, so why not place Pelosi at the top of the Executive Branch and at least give the country the ability to 'clean house' and put expertise back in government before we simply hand over a wad of cash to businesses that went along with this moronity?'

The financial sector 'bought into' this Republican Crack Pot Economy so that Bush could be re-elected after he failed to secure the National Security from al Qaeda while entering Iraq, FOR NO GOOD REASON. Why should we have to 'handle' their failure? The government should never have bailed out Freddie, Fanny, AIG or any other financial institution. They should have opened the possiblity of allowing them to secure their further stability while they cleaned up their own mess.

You know what is going to happen here? All those bad debts the USA is buying for the "Bush Silverado Government in the Executive Branch" will end up becoming a blight, worthless and demolished and this so called 'Recuperable Bailout' will be nothing but a huge loss to the USA and add indeterminately to the USA debt. It will disaffect social programs and hinder any ability to recover this nation to the point where it was when Clinton left office.

We have a moral obligation to our children. To allow this travesty of a government plan to go forward is the worst possible outcome for everyone. Setting the financial institutions back on their feet only to allow them to do it all over again, is the most hideous effort that can occur.

We need quality in DC before we can move forward on any economic strategy that will work and we need to leave the 'bad debt' where it is while being patient in providing time in the way of very low cost loans as financial institutions work their way out of their own mess. Tack on the interest and payments on the end of any fiscal structure and as the institution begins to recover. Structure it so its managable for them. Bailouts are wrong and won't have good results; it will only prolong the economic depression.

Bush was right when he stated, '...they were all drunk.' Only it wasn't Wall Street that was, it was the electorate that can't seem to discern good government from expectedly bad government that provides personal boom-times 'if you know which way the mess is headed.'

Enough is enough !

It is high time the Republicans find out what it truly means to live a moral life as an American rather than just a morally religious life. This is the most outrageous mess this country has ever faced. Illegal and immoral war, illegal and immoral economic circumstances, unlimited domestic arms, police that have been turned into gun brigades, a backdoor draft, huge insoluable national debt, abandoned soldiers with mental illness, states without effective educational systems, loss of conservation values, energy policies that are immoral, a profound loss of national pride and international integrity, devastated outsourcing and bin Laden has been allowed to walk free for seven years while Ground Zero is still devastated.

What is wrong with America these days?

Get rid of the Republicans !

They have no policies that work and never did !

It's simply true, Palin has no experience to be President of the USA. She just doesn't. Compared to Hillary Clinton? Sarah Who?

..."I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said in an interview with the Omaha World Herald.
Hagel also expressed concern about Palin's lack of international experience. "She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."...
..."I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" Hagel said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."...

From Arbusto to sinking the USA Economy. Those that knew warned everyone !

The Emperor has New Clothes, provided by Dick Cheney. I mean the illustration is exactly correct. Bush became President without a clue as to how to conduct the best interests of the USA and was served up priority by Cheney, now as Veep in trouble with Halliburton. There we were as a nation, off to the races with a false economy. Bushes can only be one term Presidents. They have no clue, absolutely no clue and they continue to play the Old Republican 'Scandal' of priorities.

No Taxes to provide economic development.

Since when ?

Without taxes this 'go round' who will bail out the Bush mess this time.

Silverado wasn't even close to being this much of a mess. At least the Bushes had the FDIC to wipe out before it hit the tax structure. I mean who is kidding who here? Republicans are elected to as Carpetbaggers to the Federal Treasury.

KNOCK IT OFF !!



“George W. Bush founded an oil company, a drilling company, out in west Texas called Arbusto, which was very good at drilling dry holes.”

CBS really has Palin nailed. Interesting. Palin definately has a credibility problem. She's not trustrworthy.

Gov. Sarah Palin cited unauthorized travel by a state official as an example of his "insubordination" as a reason for his termination. A new document reveals, however, that his trip to Washington, D.C. was authorized by her office. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)

Palin originally agreed to participate in the investigation, authorized in July by the Republican-controlled legislature. She told Alaskans, "Hold me accountable."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) scored 0 percent in 2007 (24 percent lifetime) due to missing all 15 votes scored...

...including the key vote on repealing tax giveaways to big oil – a measure that failed by only one vote.

McCain Supports Tax Breaks For Oil Industry -- But Not For Wind Power (click here)
By Greg Sargent- August 12, 2008, 2:55PM
Here's something else that could create political complications for John McCain in key swing states as he continues to defend measures that would maintain tax breaks for the oil industry: He recently opposed extending tax breaks for the wind-power industry.
Making this more difficult for McCain, the fledgling wind-power industry is popular in key upper Midwest and central plains states -- and here you have McCain protecting such tax breaks for Big Oil, but opposing them for Big Wind, or, if you prefer, Little Wind.
McCain recently opposed the big $300 billion farm bill, which itself is extremely popular throughout the upper midwest, describing the bill as "a $300 billion, bloated, pork-barrel-laden bill" because of subsidies for industries like ethanol.
But in a little-noticed development, the bill also contained a measure extending a tax break for developing wind power, which McCain specifically opposed. Obama backed it. According to Senator Tom Harkin, an Obama ally, the wind energy industry is employing close to 2,000 people, some concentrated in those key swing states. It's little local issues like these that can move votes in states where the voting is expected to be extremely close....

Is the responsiblity of the Executive Branch to STOP catastrophe?

Beginning with The China Spy Plane Incident, followed by September 11, 2001 and through his entire administration, including Katrina, this Executive Branch did nothing to prevent disaster. The current financial crisis is another example of "The Same Old Mistakes."

Is it such a surprise that Ron Paul realized the extreme circumstances facing the USA under this administration? No. You had to be profoundly out of touch with reality not to see this coming. No needed a crystal ball to predict what was to come for the financial markets. What does that say about Paulson as well?

Ron Paul saw this financial mess coming (click here)
It's not like there wasn't anybody who saw the economic woes of the week on the horizon.On Sept. 10, 2003, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, testified before House Financial Services Committee, which was holding hearings regarding special privileges extended to government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In his testimony. Paul criticized such privileges in general and warned of the potential for disaster posed by government involvement with Fannie and Freddie specifically. Paul noted that according to the Congressional Budget Office, housing related GSEs received $13.6 billion in indirect federal subsidies in fiscal 2000 and had a line of credit with the United States Treasury exceeding $2 billion. That line of credit Paul said was an explicit promise by the Treasury to bail out GSE's in times of economic difficulty. (Sound familiar?)

The Resiliency Virus

Only a few were designed to survive. I made a rather crude model of the current trend to the virus rocking the financial sector.

I should state up front, I don't appreciate Canada and Great Britain placing their assets as risk to save a contemplated assault of the Bush White House. The stage was set by Georgie's folks and probably began with his first cabinet, but, in all honesty 'the timing' for the arrival of Hank Paulson is perfect.

The table is rather simple to follow. The financial institutions are listed from the NY Times multi-media article that connects when one clicks on the title to the entry.

If you click on the picture graph above it will enlarge for easy reading. Didn't care to put labels on the x and y axis, sorry, didn't think they were absolutely necessary, actually.

So, I suppose a splash of color would have been better, but, if you can't figure this simple illustration out when in black and white then you are a very sad soul indeed.

The numbers on the x-axis, that's the bottom if your moron content is high, match the financial insitutions in the column on the left, which are crudely abbreviated. Check the NY Times interactive if you need the complete names.

At any rate there are two bar graphs for each banking institution. One is the assets the institution had a year ago and the other is the PERCENTAGE of loss they have suffered until September 12, 2008.

You see, this was all very, very predictable. The financial institutions on the right of the graph are the onces with the lowest total 'worth' a year ago. All of them have been consumed by the 'Resiliency Virus' as it spread its wicked little 'Domino Effect' across the spectrum of failure. I honestly don't know where everyone has been looking but this is child's play actually. What concerns me more than anything is that our allies are getting involved as if its some kind of war.

IT ISN'T AT ALL A WAR, so much as a sovereignty issue and if there is not enough prudent maneuvers to protect themselves they will go where the USA is now, INSOLVENT. I mean you have to know that the USA dollar isn't worth the paper its printed on by now.

At any rate, here is the solution. Dear Gordon Brown and Steven Harper have a solution. Stop bailing out the USA to begin with. Vladimir might want to pay attention as well. The solution is simple. Ready?

The virus is designed to 'take out' the financial institutions that have the least assets. That doesn't mean they were poorly managed or deserved to be dissolved, it simply means they were the MOST VULNERABLE. So everyone can stop pointing figures at Bear Sterns thinking they are 'one up' on great management, 'CAUSE, you ain't. As a matter of fact, Bear Sterns is probably one of the best managed insitutions to hold out as long as it did, so some lessons in decision making can be learned from that Long Lived financial institution. But, I am sure I am boring everyone, so let's just get on with it.

Excluding Goldman Sachs, the best way to 'attack the Resiliency Virus' is to secure those institutions still in practice and I wouldn't be so quick to simply 'gobble up' insitutions like Merril or even Bear Sterns. Here is the deal.

The survivors are simply this, JP Morgan, Bank of America and Citibank have assets, but, it won't hold up without the backing of some solid sovereign authority and I AM NOT TALKING GOVERNMENT 'TAKE OVER.' What these 'survivors' need is to 'push back' against the trend. Ignore every other investment and make 'mega-institutions' out of the survivors. Literally, a battery of banks, uncontaminated by Bush/Paulson, that have the ability to absorb large investments through Government Loans to REINSTILL the less institutions already disaffected.

SORT OF LIKE 'BIG BROTHERS' if you can excuse the genderization of it all.

Basically, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the institutions that failed. What occured was manipulation of the Bush White House to destroy the USA's fiscal infrastructure to sink long standing institutions such as Social Security. It was purposeful and planned and no one should ever believe differently.

To maintain 'the integrity' of the fiscal institutions that will assist the others back on their feet, so to speak, is paramount to a good outcome. I strongly feel government take over of any of these institutions is plainly wrong. However, the 'reinfusion' of CONFIDENCE and plain old money into the surviving institutions to faciliate 'regrowth' of the fiscal sector will not only provide stability, but, also produce growth. Eventually. As these mega-banks reinfuse the financial sector it will be done prudently and purposefully and without government/political priorities. This is a sovereignty issue, because to fail is to be gobbled up by the Resiliency Virus and certain monetary demise. Not only that, but, it will certainly give Bin Laden a great deal of pride to say he was responsible when he had nothing to do with it. Who needs that kind of jihadist around the globe.

Now, look, these loans have nothing to do with government debt in the long run, because the financial sector is going to pay them back. It's just that time and patience and some tailor made solutions through a sensitive BUT WISE legislative process will be necessary. Government is very important in this process. The institutions will have to keep open and honest communication and audits available nearly continuously until all is resolved.

Now. This is doable and it will work. No national debt load in the long run means that a country can ask very low lending costs to these 'survivor' institutions with the understanding they will rebuild the lost infrastructure.

Goldman Sachs can take a hike and DON'T TRUST THEM to do the best thing for the best outcome.

Good luck, I'm watching !!!

How do you win an election in Israel?

By promising to annihilate every Hamas in Gaza. Ms. Sunshine she ain't. But she is also not going to begin the Third World War either !


The file photo taken on September 15, 2008 shows Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni smiling during a meeting with her Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos in Tel Aviv, Israel. Final results released by Israel's ruling Kadima party early Thursay showed that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won the party's primary, local news service Ynet reported. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Divisions within Israeli parties is not unusal, but, this is the first profound split in Kadima.


Kadima deeply divided after Livni's victory, Mofaz's Exit (click here)
By Yossi Verter
On the eve of the Kadima primary, Shaul Mofaz was asked about threats by Tzipi Livni and Roni Bar-On to quit Kadima if he won. "Livni is not a loyal person," he said angrily. "Kadima is holding democratic elections for the first time and MKs will refuse to accept the results?" He pledged that if he lost, he would stay and help the elected leader.....

Benazir Bhutto was focused on the Pakistani Tribal Areas during her campaign. She was optimistic her government could reconnect with them...

... bringing about national security rather than violence. Her widower would know her plans. So would her son. They can bring about stability in Pakistan in all regions that are void of terrorist influences. And in the regions that remain unstable and problematic, it just may be that is where al Qaeda and the Taliban have a strangle hold. The new Pakistani government must be given a chance.

(click title to entry, thank you)...Most of these fighters are probably drawn to the region to kill NATO troops and their local allies in Afghanistan. Indeed this is a big reason why the reconstruction effort there may be failing. Some 1,500 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan this year—roughly half of them by Western troops. In a bleak assessment of the progress of the war, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of America’s joint chiefs of staff, this month suggested that “time is running out” to turn things around....

Enough is enough. Its time to bring them home. Mental Health Issues are rampant. This is outrageous.

Two U.S. Soldiers Shot on Base; Another Soldier Held (click title to entry, thank you)

By Sudarsan RaghavanWashington Post Foreign Service Thursday, September 18, 2008; 2:20 PM
BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 -- A U.S. soldier is being held in connection with the shooting deaths of two fellow Americans on Sunday at their patrol base south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement Thursday.
News of the deaths came on the same day that seven American soldiers were killed in the southern Iraqi desert when their helicopter crashed. Military officials said that the early morning crash was not caused by enemy fire. They also said that two other U.S. soldiers died in two separate incidents Wednesday, not as a result of combat but under circumstances that have not yet been disclosed.
In total, that means 11 U.S. service members have died since Sunday for non-combat-related reasons....

Can't keep a good man down. He is the man with the answers and has been for years now !

To Barak, "Change" is a commitment, an ethic and a life-style. To everyone else 'Change' is a cliche. He is a great man and will make an incredible president. Barak has been "Walking the Walk" most of his life. It is his time. It is our time, too. I'm a believer.


...In recent days, Democrat Obama has seemed to regain his footing amid Wall Street's chaos and a renewed focus on the economy, a Democratic strength with a Republican in the White House. Also, McCain's late-summer boost, credited to his choice of Palin as his running mate, has appeared to dissipate....

The graph is from the New York Times. I told you so. Didn't even last 36 hours this time.

Bailout Fails to Stem Global Stock Slump

...and I know this sounds ridiculous and outrageous and completely paritsan, but, I know what will turn this around. The federal officials clamoring to get this straightened out, can't do it, can they? Nope.

But.

In order to achieve it, Barak Obama has to be at the top of the Executive Branch. He has the ability to turn this mess around. I can help and a lot of others can help, but, I ain't helpin' McCain because he hasn't got what it takes.

Just.

That.

Simple.

Obama and the Democrats in 2008 !!!

Think about it.

AIG Hong Kong. Appropriate, China still has money.

AIG Tower
Photographer, Niels Jakob Darger

Oh, look, the market is going up again. Now watch after all the bartering today, it will fall again tomorrow. We've been here before and an $85 billion bailout is nothing compared to the $200 billion for Fanny and Freddie. The 'bailouts' are a bounce that never sustains. Institutions are collapsing folks, the 'bailouts' are meerly a down payment on what is actually happening globally.

When bailouts occur there is contracture of the market place because there is consolidation of middle management that is duplicated in the take-over. The company being bought out is cannabalized and its products marketed under a new name that no one recognizes. A 'take-over' or 'bailout' succeeds in doing one thing, it cuts the jobs in the market and synthesizes assets into liquid and the demographics of the 'business/fiscal' world changes.

The 'bailout' of AIG will bring what every other measure by the FED and US Treasury has brought, a 'bounce' that lasts about 36 hours. That is all that is going to happen here.

Look, this is serious. These are long standing financial institutions that once garnered a great deal of respect. They are gone. That is trauma and loss of fiscal clout within the infrastructure of the USA. Barclay's is welcome to obtain whatever advantage it can find by purchasing Lehman, but, its a British Company and its not purchasing Lehman to keep the doors open, so much as salvage its assets.

This is bad news no matter which way one looks at it and I just can't wait until the federal notes come due and the USA Treasury has to print more money without any commodity to back it up. These programs are only 'stop-gaps' to disaster and nothing more. The markets will bounce today, but, will stagnate again by Friday. This market is not going to recover. The reason the markets haven't completely collapsed yet is because they are bouyed by promissory notes that appear to have a degree of integrity. It won't last and in the meantime, Bush and his administratin is trying to figure out why the tax cuts aren't working the way they should.

This isn't terribly different than the 'negative feedback loop' of Human Induced Global Warming. An institution fails, it is rescued and hacked apart placing more people out of work, hence creating more problems with mortgages and so on and so on. This entire mess is a house of cards and it ain't over yet !!!

Barclays to pay $1.75 bln for some Lehman assets (click here)
Reuters , Wednesday September 17 2008
...Most of the price tag was accounted for by Lehman's New York headquarters and two data centers, while the British bank will pay just $250 million in cash for Lehman's North American investment banking and capital markets businesses....

Supporters flock to rally, take aim at Palin, McCain

..."This election is going to be a game-changer," Clinton said. "We have the opportunity to go beyond the failed policies of the past eight years, or continue them."
She spoke in broad terms about encouraging companies to provide health and retirement benefits and creating jobs through green energy.
Clinton also slightly reshuffled a line from her Democratic National Convention speech in which she urged her supporters to become Obama supporters: "No way, no how, no McCain and no Palin."...

'Hillary's women' reject McCain's VP choice (click here)
By Leonard Doyle in Washington

Wednesday, 17 September 2008
The National Organiastion for Women has decided endorse Barack Obama and Joe Biden's bid for power, snubbing Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin (above)
America's largest women's rights organisation delivered a snub to Sarah Palin's history-making candidacy yesterday by endorsing Barack Obama and Joe Biden's bid for power.
The National Organisation for Women (NOW) is 500,000 strong and hugely influential. The feminist organisation almost never supports a presidential candidate, but the Alaska governor's Christian fundamentalist faith and her opposition to abortion rights has forced its hand.
Other women's rights organisations are also campaigning against Governor Palin, pushed along by a spontaneous anti-Palin movement among women.
In Alaska at the weekend, a Welcome Home rally for Mrs Palin was dwarfed by a demonstration organised by Alaska Women Reject Palin, which was held on the lawn of a downtown Anchorage library....

Palin's Bridge to Wasilla. That is what I call change. People die in bridge collapse in the lower 48, but, Palin cronies receive gov't subsidies .

Palin supports $600 million 'other' bridge project
By GARANCE BURKE – 18 hours ago
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin may eventually have said "no thanks" to a federally funded Bridge to Nowhere.
But a bridge to her hometown of Wasilla, that's a different story.
A $600 million bridge and highway project to link Alaska's largest city to Palin's town of 7,000 residents is moving full speed ahead, despite concerns the bridge could worsen some commuting and threaten a population of beluga whales.
Local officials already have spent $42 million on plans to route traffic across the Knik Arm inlet, a narrow finger of water extending roughly 25 miles northeast of Anchorage toward Wasilla. The proposal exists thanks to an earmark request by Republican Rep. Don Young, whose son-in-law has a small stake in property near the bridge's proposed western span....


Bridge repairs going nowhere (click here)
by Alyson E. Raletz
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Gov. Matt Blunt called on highway officials to initiate an overdue statewide bridge repair program Monday.
The plea came one year and 15 days after he stood on an Interstate 29 overpass in St. Joseph and signed legislation that enabled the work on 802 of the state’s worst bridges.
Dubbed one of the oldest bridges in the state, the deck of the U.S. Highway 169 bridge that runs over Interstate 29 was slated for a makeover, Mr. Blunt said on Sept. 5, 2007, during a special ceremony.
Mr. Blunt had called a special session that summer to hasten the repairs.
Virtually untouched, the local bridge still resembles a patchwork quilt in September 2008.
“We’ve put it off long enough, but we want to make sure we have a great value for the citizens of Missouri,” Missouri Highways and Transportation Commissioner David Gach, of St. Joseph, said of the entire project....

That is a heck of reality in the USA. First people die and then bridges are repaired beyond what is even expect. Something "W"rong here !!

Wis. bridges safer after I-35W collapse (click here)
By: Sara Lieburn
The Daily Cardinal - September 16, 2008 A little over a year since its collapse, the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis will open Thursday. The tragedy sparked an inspection of similar bridges in Wisconsin.
The Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed last summer, is scheduled to reopen Thursday, and officials say Wisconsin has taken appropriate measures to protect against a similar tragedy.
The collapse of the bridge in August 2007 killed 13 people and initiated a special set of inspections on 16 similar bridges in Wisconsin.
Beth Cannestra, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, said the design error responsible for the I-35W bridge collapse was isolated to that bridge.
According to Cannestra, Wisconsin has taken a proactive approach with the special inspections following the collapse....

NTSB close to identifying cause of 35W bridge collapse (click here)
Last update: August 29, 2008 - 8:36 PM

The National Transportation Safety Board is close to identifying the cause of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse and plans to discuss its findings at a public hearing in Washington on Nov. 13.
The board said Friday that investigators are moving ahead with a draft of a final report after meeting Thursday with the parties to the official investigation.
They include the Minnesota Department of Transportation; the Federal Highway Administration; Jacobs Engineering, which acquired the bridge's original design consultant in 1999, and Progressive Contractors Inc., whose crews were resurfacing the bridge when it fell on Aug. 1, 2007.
Thirteen people died and 145 were injured in the collapse....

Overweight rig blamed in collapse of Kaufman County bridge; 3 hurt (click here for video)
06:51 PM CDT on Thursday, September 11, 2008
By DAN X. McGRAW / The Dallas Morning News

dmcgraw@dallasnews.com
A construction contractor pulling an oversized load estimated at 100,000 pounds disregard the posted weight limit of 24,000 pounds, causing a bridge in Kaufman County to collapse, authorities said. Three people were injured.
The bridge, on FM 1836 just north of FM 90 near the town of Prairieville, collapsed about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday when a crew from R.K. Hall Construction Co. drove a tractor-trailer hauling a backhoe over the bridge, said Kelli Petras, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Transportation.
The bridge had earlier been deemed deficient by TxDOT and was going to be demolished....