I Know Y’all Been YouTubed To Death Today, But…

Enron, Worldcom, Tyco vs. Fannie/Freddie

Your Government In Action

It’s one thing to declare total economic wipeout if the bailout bill doesn’t get passed.
IT’S A WHOLE ‘NOTHER THING WHEN YOU DECORATE THE BILL LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE!!

Government in action

From nypost.com

Many were small - tax breaks for film and TV production, toy wooden arrows, wool research, auto racing tracks, and Indian tribes; relief for litigants in the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

But at least one was huge - a $3.5 billion measure intended to force health-insurance companies to cover mental illness as they do physical sickness.

Mo’ Pork

Like Section 325 which provides essential tax breaks for the “wool research fund.” Seriously.

[...]

And Section 309, a tax credit for economic development, in America. Actually, American Samoa. Metro State Political Science professor Norm Provizer says putting in the goodies simply gets votes.

In Section 316: a tax break for railroad track maintenance.

And Section 317, a tax break for race tracks

Mo’ pork

The passage of the bill is a positive, though there were way too many unrelated amendments included in the legislation. For example, it provides tax credits for biodeisel and extends depreciation rules for restaurant improvements. There is a reason why this bill is 451 pages long.

Homework 4U

Here is the copy of a memo I found this morning online. If you wish, do a google search under the name of the person who signed it.

If you can’t read it, click here.

Russia’s Abortion Problem

Experts: 64 Percent of Russian Pregnancies End in Abortion
By Galina Stolyarova

The number of infertile women in Russia is growing by 200,000 to 250,000 each year, with the main cause being complications from abortions, Marina Tarasova, deputy head of the St. Petersburg Reseach Institute For Gynecology and Obstetrics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said on Monday.

Speaking at an international conference highlighting new methods of oral contraception, Tarasova warned that by the end of 2007 there were already more than 5.5 million infertile couples in Russia.

The low birth rate remains one of the key reasons behind Russia’s ongoing demographic crisis. According to official statistics, every fourth teenage girl in Russia has some form of gynecological ailment or reproductive health disorder.

Each year in Russia, more than 64 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion, while in Western European countries the level is below 25 percent. By comparison, there are 10 to 15 abortions per 100 pregnancies in the U.K. and 5 or 6 per 100 in the Netherlands.

One in ten women who undergo an abortion in Russia is below 18 years of age, doctors say. Gynecological disease rates for teenage girls in 15-17 age group, have jumped by an alarming 30 percent in the last five years. (more…)

Percentage of Pregnancies Aborted by Country

At Least It Sounded Like A Good Idea

Found this suggestion from a reader over at tcpalm.com to sound like…well…common sense.

Here’s an idea: Regarding the $700 billion bailout, we are told if things continue as is, a crisis could mean no credit availability and no spending and thus our economy could come into a recession or, even worse, a depression.

So, why not consider the idea that the government could more wisely spend that $700 billion by giving it back to those of us who make less than $250,000, rather than Wall Street?

Then people will be able to pay their bills, get their homes out of foreclosure, etc., and start spending again, thus leaving Wall Street to deal with the messes they themselves created.

Sounds more logical to me.

Patricia Connor

Let’s think about this some more. I think it is safe to conclude that most folks would NOT spend their government-issued checks reducing debt. In fact, it would create more debt.

ACORN:The Piggy Bank That Keeps Giving

Lawsuit over ACORN files in court today
by Rebecca Mowbray, The Times-Picayune
Wednesday October 01, 2008

[...]

The imbroglio dates to 1999 and 2000, when the nonprofit was calling for local increases in the minimum wage and trying to unionize hospitality workers in New Orleans. Dale Rathke, the founder’s brother, was serving as comptroller through a related organization called Citizens Consulting Inc., and Lewis said he abused his authority by using the group’s credit cards to buy things that were unrelated to its work.

A co-worker alerted Wade Rathke, who consulted with a few of ACORN’s national leaders. When the group’s longtime accountants at the New Orleans firm Duplantier, Hrapmann Hogan & Maher conducted an audit and found that $948,507 had been stolen, the Rathke family set up a formal repayment schedule. Dale Rathke was removed as comptroller at CCI, but he stayed on as a consultant at ACORN.

Lewis said the 51-member board did not know about the apparent theft until an ACORN financial supporter heard about it this spring and raised questions about whether its contributions had been misappropriated.

National board members were furious at the disclosure, and they have asked for a full airing of how the money was stolen and why it was kept secret from group for so long.

Dale Rathke resigned in early June. Wade Rathke also resigned from his position as chief organizer but remains with an affiliated group, New Orleans-based ACORN International, which does human rights work overseas. (more…)

Either Dale has something on them (ACORN) or this organization is really that brazen about keeping folks who steal money from their own coffers.

Protect The Party…UPDATED (1)

For this past week or so I have been completely pissed over this bailout crap and how folks in both mainstream media and the blogosphere have ignored the root causes of this issue. I’ll get to more on how Fannie and Freddie are being used as cover later. But for now, here is something that was just highlighted on Drudge this afternoon.

In a confidential internal memorandum obtained by Face The State (PDF), the Colorado Democracy Alliance outlines a roster of “operatives” who worked for Democratic victory in the 2006 general election. The document outlines specific tasks for various members of the state’s liberal infrastructure, including a campaign to “educate the idiots,” assigned to the state’s AFL-CIO union. Among the operation’s intended targets: “minorities, GED’s, drop-outs.” (more…)

The next time someone tells me that Democrats do a much better job at reaching out towards Blacks, now I have a point of reference of what they are talking about.

***UPDATE: If you checked out the link above and downloaded the pdf, you would have seen the name “Carolyn Siegel” given the “Educate the Idiots” campaign. Did some searching online and discovered that she is with ACORN. Yep, the same ACORN whose job it is to help minorities (I mean, “the idiot class”).

I’m Plugging This Corner Into My GPS Now

Study says panhandlers can get up to $40/hour
KREM.com

SPOKANE VALLEY — The city is exploring the issue of panhandling and is looking at ways to potentially curtail that activity.

A city study revealed that some panhandlers can earn between $30 and $40 per hour.

Two of the more popular locations for panhandlers in the Valley are at the intersection of Sullivan and Interstate 90 and the area around the city’s Wal-Mart store. (more…)

Not surprised at all.

Meanwhile, the “War on homelessness” continues.

Who Are These People?

Click on picture to find out.