Saturday, September 29, 2007

Cheney In '92: "How Many Additional American Lives Is Saddam Worth...Not Very Damn Many"

Thursday, September 27, 2007

General Peter Pace Is A Homophobe



I find it very funny that a man that kills people for a living claims his religion makes him feel gays and lesbians are immoral. I would ask him what religion does he follow that allowed him to invade an unarmed nation, destroy its infrastructure and kill scores of people. Phony asshole!!

Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Chickenhawk

Rush Limbaugh shows how he supports the troops.
During the September 26 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh called service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq "phony soldiers." He made the comment while discussing with a caller a conversation he had with a previous caller, "Mike from Chicago," who said he "used to be military," and "believe[s] that we should pull out of Iraq." Limbaugh told the second caller, whom he identified as "Mike, this one from Olympia, Washington," that "[t]here's a lot" that people who favor U.S. withdrawal "don't understand" and that when asked why the United States should pull out, their only answer is, " 'Well, we just gotta bring the troops home.' ... 'Save the -- keeps the troops safe' or whatever," adding, "[I]t's not possible, intellectually, to follow these people." "Mike" from Olympia replied, "No, it's not, and what's really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media." Limbaugh interjected, "The phony soldiers." The caller, who had earlier said, "I am a serving American military, in the Army," agreed, replying, "The phony soldiers."
Why does anyone lisen to this drug addled gas bag? This fool calling anyone a phony soldier, after he got out of service because of a cyst on his ass, is laughable. Where is that same outrage that was directed at MoveOn? When will the Senate be voting on a resolution condemning this fool? Maybe he was high on hillbilly heroin when he said it. He should be in jail for his drug crimes but instead he is still making millions and talking garbage.

New Home Sales Hit 7 Year Low

Sales weaker than forecasts as lower prices can't clear out glut; pace of sales falls to levels not seen since June 2000.
The pace of new home sales fell to a seven-year low in August, according to a government report Thursday that showed the battered housing and home building markets even weaker than forecasts.

New homes sold at an annual pace of 795,000 in August, according to the Census Bureau, down 8 percent from the revised 867,000 sales pace in July.

It was the slowest pace of sales since June 2000, as buyers had trouble finding mortgages or selling their existing homes. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that sales would fall to a pace of 825,000.

The report also showed the median price of a new home fell 7.4 percent from year earlier levels to $225,700 in the month, as prices were pressured by both the problems in mortgage finance and the excess supply of homes on the market.

The inventory of new homes on the market rose to an 8.2 month supply, as the glut of completed homes without a buyer was near a record high, with 180,000 completed homes listed for sale, just off the record high of 182,000 set in May of this year.
Can the entire housing market decline be blamed on just the mortgage meltdown or could it be that the affordability index, which is at an all time low, has played an equally important part of the housing market decline? In my area of New York it would be very hard to find many people who could afford their own home in today's market.

In the end it is all supply and demand and when the supply is overpriced the demand is low. How far will the prices fall? I believe in many areas you could see declines of 20% before this correction is over. The market needs to be affordable in order to grow. At present prices it is still unaffordable for most and this report on sales proves that point.

Economy Shows Growth, But Misses Forecasts

Revised GDP reading shows that economy expanded at 3.8% pace, but credit crunch impact looms.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the economy grew at a 3.8 percent annual rate in the April-to-June quarter, the strongest showing in just over a year. Although the new reading for the second quarter was slightly less robust than a previous estimate of a 4 percent growth rate, it nonetheless marked a substantial improvement over the feeble 0.6 percent growth rate registered in the prior quarter.

The increase in the rate of growth, though, is likely to be fleeting. A deepening housing slump and a painful credit crunch since the spring has darkened the mood of individuals and businesses alike. That has led analysts to predict that economic growth has slowed considerably in the quarter that ends Sunday.

The National Association for Business Economics says it believes growth in the third quarter - the period from July through September - slowed to a pace of around 2.4 percent. It predicts the growth rate in the final three months of this year will be around 2.5 percent. Others think growth will turn out to be weaker than those projections.
The fourth quarter actual growth numbers could turn out to be very disappointing as the credit crunch and the housing market decline will make its way into all areas of the economy. I believe that all industries associated with the housing market will show recession like numbers and that this will continue well into 2008.

Our economy has been operating on a borrow now pay later strategy for years as Americans borrowed on their home values to keep up a lifestyle that their incomes really could not afford. It appears the time to pay the piper may finally be here for both the American citizen and the American government. The pain may be a lot worse than people expect. Our dollar is declining daily while our deficit grows and the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates artificially low to ward off recession. Our manufacturing base is gone and even a declining dollar has not done much to correct our trade imbalance because we simply do not manufacture much here anymore.

The American middle class which was once the envy of the world is in quick decline. Are you really middle class if you need to constantly borrow to afford a middle class lifestyle? The answer to that question is obviously no but we continue to operate under the false illusion that it is true.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

War Money Yes, Child's Health Care No

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is seeking nearly 190 billion dollars to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, the largest war funding request ever in the six-year-old "war on terror," the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Gates was scheduled to testify later before a Senate committee on the request, which was 42.3 billion dollars greater than the administration's estimate when it presented its 2008 budget request in February.

"This additional 42.3 billion dollars puts us at just under 190 billion dollars for the global war on terror supplemental request for 2008 -- 189.3 billion dollars," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.
So $189 Billion dollars for war is necessary but children's health care is not. The House overwhelmingly passed an increase in the State Children's Health Insurance Program but the President has promised a veto.
Democrats clearly believe they have a winning issue with the State Children's Health Insurance Program legislation, so they're pulling out all the props. Yesterday, children were brought to press conferences around Washington. On the heels of a resounding 265-159 approval in the House last night, it was the Senate's chance to turn up the heat on President Bush, who has threatened to veto the $35 billion increase in children's health insurance funding.
This is an example of the President's priorities. There is always enough money for war but never enough to help the citizens of the country who will pay for the war for a generation.

The $189 billion requested is not part of the national deficit. It is done as a supplemental spending bill and is not included in yearly fiscal deficit numbers. When you hear the deficit has fallen remember that not everything is counted. The math is dishonest as is everything associated with this administration.

The American people need to stand up and demand an end to this war and the fiscal ruination that is being slowly perpetrated. Until we fully understand the strangehold of the military industrial complex on our government, we will forever be involved in military conflicts that enrich the few at the expense of many.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Home Sales Continue Spiral Down

Sales of existing homes drop for 13th consecutive month.
Housing markets continued to slump across the nation in August as the number of existing homes sold dropped for the 13th straight month, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.

Sales fell 4.3 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.50 million. Sales have fallen 12.8 percent since last August's pace of 6.31 million homes.

Lawrence Yun, senior economist for NAR, blamed much on the loss on the current credit crunch. "The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through," he said in a statement.

The slump pushed up the inventory glut to 4.58 million existing homes, the highest level in 16 years. There is now a 10-month supply of homes on the market at the present rate of sales.
They keep telling us the U.S. economy is healthy yet the housing market has collapsed, the Federal Reserve felt a rate cut was necessary to ward off inflation and the U.S. dollar continues its free fall. Now that is a good economy.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Violent Crime Is On The Rise

Violent crime in the United States rose more than previously believed in 2006, continuing the most significant increase in more than a decade, according to an FBI report released yesterday.
The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program found that robberies surged by 7.2 percent and homicides rose 1.8 percent from 2005 to 2006. Violent crime overall rose 1.9 percent, substantially more than an increase of 1.3 percent estimated in a preliminary FBI report in June.

The jump was the second in two years, following a 2.3 percent rise in 2005. Taken together, the two years represent the first steady increase in violent crime since 1993, FBI records show.

The uptick presents a significant political challenge for the Bush administration, which has faced growing criticism from congressional Democrats, big-city mayors and police chiefs for presiding over cuts in federal assistance to local law enforcement agencies over the past six years.
This is just another in a long list of consequences of electing Mr. Bush. War is expensive and cuts in assistance to local law enforcement can be directly tied to the rising crime rates. Can anyone think of one benefit to this nation of having had a Republican Congress and Republican President for the past six years? Unless you are a contractor like Halliburton or Blackwater I would say the answer is no.

US Says Iran Smuggling Missiles to Iraq

The drumbeat for war with Iran grows.
The U.S. military accused Iran on Sunday of smuggling surface-to-air missiles and other advanced weapons into Iraq for use against American troops. The new allegations came as Iraqi leaders condemned the latest U.S. detention of an Iranian in northern Iraq, saying the man was in their country on official business.

Military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said U.S. troops were continuing to find Iranian-supplied weaponry including the Misagh 1, a portable surface-to-air missile that uses an infrared guidance system.

Other advanced Iranian weaponry found in Iraq includes the RPG-29 rocket-propelled grenade, 240 mm rockets and armor-piercing roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, Fox said.
Wake up America before we are at war with Iran and the disaster that is Iraq will look like a day at Disney World in comparison. Without strong vocal opposition from the American people it is nearly certain that we will use military force against the supposed Iranian nuclear program. As our illustroius President said "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again."

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Hillary Clinton Will Vote No On Additional Funding For The Iraq War

I am probably one of the few that understand why Hillary Clinton voted for the war authorization in the first place. I believe she was in a uniquely difficult position on this vote. Had she voted against the authorization to use force and weapons were found she would have looked weak. Having spent eight years in a White House that also believed weapons of mass destruction may still be in Iraq, a vote against the authorization would have been spun into a rebuke of her husband's policies during his Presidency. Those who insist that she apologize for that vote don't understand the extra scrutiny that she is subjected to as a result of being the right wings number one hated person. Do I agree with her vote, absolutely not, but I can understand politically why she made that choice. I am not supporting Hillary Clinton for President, actually I have not decided whom to support. Her remarks on "Meet The Press" today were firm against continuing this war and she understands the only way to stop it is to vote against additional spending. I applaud her for this firm stance.