It’s simple really.

When Republicans were successful during the 90′s in getting real welfare reform passed the Dems had to find a new vehicle to keep their wealth redistribution engine churning. They found the perfect piggy bank in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Couching the scheme in lofty sounding rhetoric about the American Dream, blah, blah, blah. I do not think for one minute that the Democrat party did not know that, at some point, these loans were going to go belly up and that the “patriotic” taxpayers were going to have to bail them out. They put their friends in to run the scheme and all the politicians, even alot of Republicans, got their palms greased.

Easy credit has become the new welfare. 100%, interest only mortgages became the new way to funnel money to constituents. We have low income households with large screen TVs and $100K in “Student” loans. This bailout is going to wipe the books clean of alot of bad behavior while exacting no penalty for that same bad behavior.

The reason they are trying to rush this through is because they don’t want the people to see just how ugly this problem really is.

Isn’t it quite clear that the Dems are trying to get Bush and Congressional Republicans to give them cover for passing this half baked plan? Why should we be their lackys on this?

Wouldn’t it be better to propose a reasonable alternative and let the Bush Administration and the Democrats own this turkey? The Bush presidency is essentially over. Why let them write a $700B check on the way out the door?

I think this outline of a plan hatched by House GOP makes alot of sense. Cutting the Capital Gains and Corporate tax to zero, even temporarily, would cause a deluge of capital into our financial markets. There is plenty of cash on the sidelines to solve this problem without the government becoming a slumlord. Read an overview of what they are proposing[here]:

(http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12288069?f=most_read)

What Mr. McCain can say is that what we really need to do is find out how this happened and he is going to put a justice department in place to identify those reponsible and bring them to justice.

No further evidence of the sinking like a (Ba)rack Obama campaign is this upcoming sit down with the don of the Dems, Bill Clinton. I started out scratching my head on this one but then the lightbulb went off and it made perfect sense.

On current course and speed Obama probably stands to lose by a Dukakisian margin. Bill has the one wild card that Obama might be able to play that could help Obama avoid a complete disaster, Hillarious. The only questions that remain and why Obama has been called in is, “What do we want and can we get it?”.

I believe the Clintons hold all the cards on this one. Barry has been exposed as a phony. Gaffe after gaffe has all the Dems in a panic. His campaign has run out of energy and Joe Biden isn’t about to provide any. He’s maxed out at 40% and is trying to fire up his base in September rather than reaching out to any “independents”. He is going to have to throw a long ball and he is going to have to do it soon. Pelosi, Reid, and other well known Dems are even more unpopular than President Bush. He really has nowhere else to turn than to his old nemesis’, the Clintons.

It could be as simple as money. Maybe Bill just wants Hillary’s campaign debts payed back. But with Barry’s money machine breaking down, maybe he isn’t as flush as he was a couple of months ago. Could it be a position in a potential Obama Administration? Listen, would it surprise anyone if Biden was asked to step down and Hillary reconsidered? Remember Bob Torricelli and Clinton’s role in making that happen? Maybe Hill wants to be Secretary of State, Attorney General, or even Defense Secretary.

Whatever it is, two things are certain. One is that the Clintons can probably get whatever they want for trying to prop BHO up. The other is desperation always makes things interesting.

Senator McCain, time to clean up Washington.

This Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae debacle goes right to the core of everything I hate about the Federal government. Sleazy money, sweetheart deals, and who you know payoffs are exactly what is wrong with the status quo. Michelle Obama gets a $315K job as a hospital bureaucrat(I sure as hell didn’t know hospitals paid that good!) and in return hubby Barack arranges for a sweet earmark for the same facility. Business as usual. Joe Biden’s lobbyist son needs a new gig while dad runs for office so they arrange a $1.2M a year stint as CEO for a hedge fund. Sure, no problem there. There are millions and millions of dirty money around the Fannie/Freddie failure and I, for one, think we should find out where all the money went. From the $20M buyout of former Clinton lackey Franklin Raines right up to all the Senators and Congress critters who got bought off and were in the bag for the GSEs.

The failure of Fannie and Freddie proves three things.

First, that the government has kept intact it’s near perfect record of screwing up everything they touch. Why anyone would even consider that throwing more government at any one of our problems just goes to show that maybe our education system isn’t working too well, either.

Second, that Washington, DC is the part of our country that is broken. It is not middle America that causes all these problems. It is the fatcats and elitists in Washington that usually drag us into the muck. I say, let’s find out who had a hand in this debacle and make sure everyone knows their names, regardless of party. Just like Ms. Palin, I am no more sympathetic to Republicans who engage in sleaze than I am with Democrats. Anyone that doesn’t think there is a clear path to politicians on this should read this article from today’s WSJ:

Here

Read More →

I have already commented that the selection of Sarah Palin by John McCain was nothing short of brilliant. It has left me wondering, “Is he really that smart?” or, “Did he just veer into something?”. I wonder, for example, when he made his decision. Did he have Sarah Palin in his pocket and wait for Obama to make the uninspired pick of Joe Biden, knowing that Obama being a hack politician would go the safe route? In any case, I believe it reveals that maybe his military training will be the difference maker in how this race plays out over the next 2 months. Even finishing 3rd from the bottom of his class, I am way sure he got more exposure to battle strategy than Mr. Obama ever did.

Now, I do not know whether they teach formally Sun Tsu’s, “The Art of War”, at the Naval Academy, but I would bet a dime to donuts that McCain has read it. Here’s a couple of great passages from Tsu:

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
– Sun Tzu, the Art of War

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
– Sun Tzu, the Art of War

OK, folks, this is it. The Dem convention is already a bust. Do not, I repeat, do not, listen to any positive analysis from the MSM that says otherwise. There is no excitement, no personality. Any time this ship of fools is out where all can see they come off looking like a bunch of children. All you have to know is that the highlight, maybe other than Hill, from last night was the goofy governor from Montana(btw, Montana GOP, what is up with you all?).

The whole thing is just boring. No matter what happens tomorrow night, BO cannot salvage this convention. Whatever oratorical flourishes and platitudes he lays out there will be outdone with this whole stadium and stage play that confirms what alot of people already don’t like about him. That he is an elitist with a messianic complex. I believe Americans still like their politicians with a little humility. Color me skeptical.

This has presented our party(I assume the GOP is still our party) with a unique opportunity. I am talking about a moment in time where we can completely change the game. I am talking about a McCain victory. I am talking about picking up House seats. And, yes, I am talking about picking up Senate seats, too. I think it is ripe for the picking. Here is a point by point playbook for how to do it.

1. Step up and defend the last 8 years- This is step one. I am so sick and tired of the Democrats talking about the last eight years as if we are a third world country. George Bush has been a solid president in difficult times. Don’t you think it is worth pointing out that we have been safe under the leadership of Mr. Bush? Grow some cajones and talk about it. I think we need to talk about Iraq as a success, if not a victory. It’s OK to acknowledge that mistakes were made but give GWB credit for rejecting the stupid recommendations of the 9/11 commission and going the surge route. This would also tee up McCain for later in the week. As for the economy, there have actually been three economies. There was the 2000-2003 economy that was already in recession when Bush came into office and then was sent into a tailspin after 9/11. Isn’t it funny that there has not been one mention of the 9/11 travesty from any Democrat, even though that was just seven short years ago? More on that later. Then there is the 2003-2007 economy. When an initial “stimulus” didn’t work, Bush went back to the drawing board and developed a much more effective approach with across the board tax breaks. By every measure the 2003-2007 economy was one of the most robust across the board economies that we have ever seen. Don’t forget that the “Bush tax cuts” were a massive tax break for the middle class the Dems are so fond of. If they are allowed to expire that will amount to huge tax increase on the middle class. Obama is saying he wants to keep those parts of the Bush cuts, but why haven’t we seen action from the Demos? Remember when Bill Clinton said, “I worked so hard to give that middle class tax cut, but…”. I think the middle class might just want to hold on to the bird they have in the hand. Finally, the 2007-2008 economy is troubled but it can’t really just be hung on the white house(who runs Congress, again? More on that later, also…) and there are solutions to the things that are ailing. Also, by historical measures such as income, unemployment, etc. the economy is not nearly as bad as Dems are making it out to be.

Bottom line- Cowboy up on the last eight years. This is key.

2.Attack, Attack, Attack the Democratic Congress- They are more unpopular than Bush and, what’s more, they are personally disliked. Make Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi the face of the Democrat party. Our economy only started going downhill when they took over Congress. What did they do? 40+ plus votes to surrender in Iraq. Meanwhile, Chris Dodd was getting a sweetheart mortgage deal from Anthony Mozzillo and they are up to their eyeballs in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lobby money. I want to make them look like crooks. They had just as much of an ability, probably more, to take steps that would have averted some of the economic pain. Make sure it is well known that Biden has been a Congress critter for over 30 years. They fought Bush every step on the way of his terror fight. Ask the American people how safe they feel with Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Barbara Boxer, and Jim Mcdermott leading the way. What’s more, this could be done with a sense of humor. Ideal role for Cheney. I think Bush could be effective doing this to. Lord knows he has had to take their garbage for eight years.

Bottom line- The face of the Democratic party is a face frozen by botox.

1. Make an overt effort for the values vote- Listen, if Nancy Pelosi wants to hand us the Catholic vote, I say, let’s go ahead and pick it up. I don’t get the impression that this is McCain’s favorite area to emphasize, but, let’s face it, the guy does have a 100% pro-life voting record. I hope he sees that some of the tailwinds he has been feeling lately are the result of his performance at the Saddleback Church. I think he needs to follow that up by making values and faith a centerpiece at his convention. And, no, I am not talking about a Pat Buchanan style culture wars centerpiece but make sure that values voters, Protestants, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, and all people of faith are honored. I realize abortion is a difficult issue to talk about. But, in this cycle, I think it is a game changer. The Dem party has gotten way too far out to the left and Obama personally has views that are out of step with most Americans. I believe Catholics have been the winning constituency in like our last 12 elections(somebody can fact check me on that). The American people do not believe in Partial Birth Abortion or Same Sex marriage. Pelosi and Obama do. We need to point that out.

2. Make national security the issue- Clearly, the dems think they can ride the, “It’s the economy, stupid” train to victory, again. But, I would ask, if America is in a dangerous world, and we are, don’t we need to provide for our security first? What good is any economy if we don’t first make the world a safer place? This is a winner for us. It is a complete embarassment that they have gone through two days of their stupid convention and nothing about 9/11 has even been mentioned. Do they think people’s memories are that short? There has been no discussion of Iraq, Iran, the Middle East, the Russian incursion into Georgia, Afghanistan, or Pakistan at the Democratic convention. We have to sell our role as leader of the free world and why it benefits us. I do not believe people in our country are naive. McCain will dust Obama on foriegn affairs. We need to take on this lie that our respect is down around the world. I think George Bush’s steadfastness has got our standing at an all time high.

3. Sell the global economy- Anybody who watched the Beijing Olympics and apparently just about everybody did, that believes we can turn the clock back on being part of a global economy is kidding themselves. That train left the station along time ago. The key for the American future is to make sure it is American companies that are leading and winning around the world. Like Springsteen once wrote, “Foreman says those jobs are going, boys, and they ain’t coming back.” McCain was right when he indicated so in Michigan(please, though, Mr. McCain, don’t use the term “green jobs”…it sounds so phony). No, the answer for America is to make sure OUR companies have the resouces they need and that our people get the education they need to prosper as the global economy grows. We are, after all, the highest boat in the water. Paint Obama’s protectionism and populism as failed policies from the past. Really, I would compare Obama to Jimmy Carter. We were in similar circumstances in 1976 and alot of folks remember what happened when we elected a little known populist. We shouldn’t need to do it again.

4. Belittle Obama- Paint him as a babe in the scary woods. The netroots hate this. But, the reality is that Barack Obama is not qualified to be president. We do not know enough about him to entrust him with this job. I think the way to get to him is not attack but to disregard him, something like, “Obama, you’re kidding, right?” He and his supporters have shown that they hate this. I think McCain is onto something. When you run into someone who takes themselves so seriously, maybe the best thing to do is ignore them. Once off his teleprompter, he really seems quite ordinary. Poke him, prod him, get him off his game.

5. Make McCain the only viable choice- See number 6

Since Joe Biden seems to want to compare what gets discussed around his kitchen table to what gets discussed at any of Mr. McCain’s kitchen tables, maybe we should take him up on it.

It appears that what gets discussed at Joe Biden’s table is the nation’s business in the form of his sons’ lobbying clients interests. Either that, or how to get a $1.2M a year job at a hedge fund for which Joe’s son wasn’t qualified. Or, how to fend off a lawsuit from a disgruntled investor from the same crooked hedge fund.

I am guessing that what gets discussed at the McCain’s table is conditions in Iraq, where McCain’s son serves honorably.

Joe Biden is a hypocritical blowhard.

I like the Olympics as much as the next guy. Maybe a little more than most, probably not less. I generally root, root, root, for my team but I am not so much a homer that I won’t pull for an underdog, even against the USA, even if it is an athlete from a country that I don’t admire so much such as Venezuela or Cuba if the athlete has overcome barriers to reach the pinnacle of their sport. I am a sucker for a David vs. Goliath story.

Generally, though, I believe for most folks the Olympics serves as an every other year reminder that we all have a recognizable vein of Patriotism running through our bodies. It is hard not to be moved when you see those athletes, who have worked so hard and who have usually had the support of hundreds of their fellow citizens, stand on that podium while their national anthem is played.

I had not really thought about how it might be affecting the current body politic until Misty May and Kerri Walsh stood in front of the NBC cameras immediately after their historic 2nd consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball and thanked President Bush for coming by and offering his support. I believe it was, “Thank you, Mr. President…” or something to that effect. Can you imagine the shock the MSM must have had in hearing these two young, attractive, popular ladies thanking the evil George Bush? Isn’t the accepted paradigm that everyone hates the president?

They affirmed what alot of us conservatives have known all along. That the haters are the 20 percenters, the hate America first Daily Kos types and their willing accomplices in the media.

It doesn’t stop there. We have had a steady parade of athletes, even the precocious Kobe Bryant and the great Lebron James go before the cameras and say how proud they are to be American, prompting one MSM sycophant to pose the question, “Is it now cool to be a patriot?” I hope so. I loved the high profile basketball players going over to watch Michael Phelps, a recognition of his greatness but acknowledging that they were Americans, too.

Well, what about Obama? He was holed up in Hawaii. But, doesn’t the patriotism on display in Beijing undermine the whole premise of his candidacy? His mantra is America Sucks! Ever since he got religion about wearing his flag pin he has been trying to fool people into thinking he doesn’t come from the hate America wing of the Democrat party. But every once in awhile he lets his guard down as he did in Berlin or with the 7 year old girl in Indiana and we are reminded that Barack and Michelle would be perfectly at home sitting down and ripping America with your average Daily Kos blogger.

I hope the Beijing feeling doesn’t disappear before November.