Posts Made By: david elosser

"Napolitano has faced questions since The Associated Press reported last month that Homeland Security officials did not follow their internal priority lists when choosing which border checkpoints would get money for renovations. Under a process that is secretive and susceptible to political influence, officials planned to spend millions at tiny checkpoints, passing over busier, higher-priority projects." (I've got an old shed in my back yard that needs renovating. Where's my stimulus?)

"Senate Democrat, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, said that, despite Napolitano's assurances, he felt Homeland Security was treating the economic stimulus plan like a "bottomless pit" of taxpayer money." (Well, one trillion dollars is pretty close to bottomless, anyway.)

"While Napolitano's review may disclose information about the selection process, it appears unlikely to change much. That's because Homeland Security has already signed many construction contracts, including low-priority projects such as the $15 million renovation for the sleepy border checkpoint at Whitetail, Mont." (Gotta stop them Canadians from flooding across the border.)

"Two Montana Democratic senators, for instance, said they personally appealed to Napolitano to get money for lower-priority border projects. That includes the $15 million plan for Whitetail, which will build a checkpoint the size and cost of a Hollywood mansion at a crossing that serves three travelers a day." (Yeah, but that Bed and Breakfast is a pretty good drawing card for tourists.)

"Congress required the department to create a priority list in 2003 but the Obama administration added its own subjective decision-making to the process, making it vulnerable to the political influence that Obama pledged to keep out of the stimulus." (Obama did what? Broke a campaign pledge? No way!)

""We're deep in debt, we really do need to be smart about how we spend money," Dorgan said. "In my judgment, this is not a smart investment."" (That's because "smart" and "judgement" are not in this administration's vocabulary.)


http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090916/D9AOM5V80.html

David E

Strong arguments on both sides of the fence, but I'm a supporter of providing defense for our allies even when they don't always understand or appreciate it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_on_re_eu/eu_eastern_europe_missile_defense

Here's one incredible quote from another article: "Vice President Joe Biden earlier refused to confirm to CNN that the George W. Bush-era plan was being shelved. But he did explain the logic of doing so, saying Iran -- a key concern for the United States -- was not a threat."

Turns out VP Biden may have had a prominent role in this decision:
""The whole purpose of this exercise we are undertaking is to diminish the prospect of the Iranians destabilizing that region in the world. I am less concerned -- much less concerned -- about the Iranian potential. They have no potential at this moment, they have no capacity to launch a missile at the United States of America," [Biden] said. Biden said he is "deeply" involved in the review of the missile defense program."

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/17/united.states.missile.shield/index.html

From an opinion piece in the UK Telegaph: "This is bad news for all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defence of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. A deal with the Russians to cancel missile defence installations sends a clear message that even Washington can be intimidated by the Russian bear."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100010237/barack-obama-surrenders-to-russia-on-missile-defence/

David E

Student Loan legislation is now on the fast track in the House.

This bill will cost $87 BILLION dollars:
http://www.northwesteducationlaw.com/2009/07/articles/higher-education/house-to-move-fast-on-student-loan-legislation/

And from the Wall Street Journal:
"In the face of resistance from the financial sector, President Barack Obama praised a House bill designed to end government subsidies to banks and other providers of student loans.

The measure, introduced earlier Wednesday by House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., would eliminate private lenders from the federal student loan program. By July 2010, all new federal student loans would be made by the government's direct lending program. Critics say that would amount to a nationalization of the student loan market. "


But of course, in spite of costing $87 billion dollars, President Obama-Kennedy is claiming it will reduce the deficit: ""I am proud that this legislation not only pays for itself, but also saves taxpayers money and reduces the deficit," Obama said."

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090715-716167.html

David E

"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raised the stakes against Israel on Friday and called the Holocaust a lie, just as world powers try to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil.

"The pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false ... It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim," he told worshippers at Tehran University at the end of an annual anti-Israel "Qods (Jerusalem) Day" rally."

""This regime (Israel) will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it ... This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end," he [Ahmadinejad] said in a speech broadcast live on state radio."

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42553620090918

David E

It speaks for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJE3SMHRTs&feature=PlayList&p=8737ADABB136CE80&index=31

David E

"Every other declared nuclear weapon state is modernizing its stockpile and the most dangerous wannabes - North Korea and Iran - are building up their offensive missile capabilities and acquiring as quickly as possible the arms to go atop them..."

So...

"President Obama is preparing to move ahead with the most ambitious arms-control agenda in decades, calling for dramatic cuts in US and Russian arsenals, a halt to the Bush administration's plan for a more advanced nuclear warhead, and the ratification of a global treaty banning underground nuclear tests."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/02/22/nuclear_agenda_draws_scrutiny/

"Barak Obama has demanded the Pentagon conduct a radical review of US nuclear weapons doctrine to prepare the way for deep cuts in the country's arsenal, the [United Kingdom] Guardian can reveal."

"Obama has rejected the Pentagon's first draft of the "nuclear posture review" as being too timid, and has called for a range of more far-reaching options consistent with his goal of eventually abolishing nuclear weapons altogether, according to European officials.

Those options include:

• Reconfiguring the US nuclear force to allow for an arsenal measured in hundreds rather than thousands of deployed strategic warheads.

• Redrafting nuclear doctrine to narrow the range of conditions under which the US would use nuclear weapons."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/20/barack-obama-us-nuclear-weapons

David E

The first question is, are we doing the right thing in Afghanistan? And the next question is, are we pursuing the right strategy?

No, not my questions. These questions were asked by President Obama on a Sunday morning CNN television show!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092002878_pf.html

David E

Well, President Obama-Kennedy may not know what to do about Afghanistan, but he's ready to move quickly to save our nearly bankrupt news orginazitions. How would we save them? Sit down everyone... no, I mean it. Sit down if you're not already...




TAX CUTS!
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/59523-obama-open-to-newspaper-bailout-bill

David E

An opinion piece from the Jerusalem Post. A lot of interesting points are made here; the American People are not the only ones saying "No" to this President, it has turned into a world-wide fad.

On the list of No-Sayers:
Iran
North Korea
China
Russia
Saudi Arabia
The Palestinians and the Isrealis
The Governor of New York

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198168048&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

David E

"Regulators have approached big banks about borrowing billions to shore up the dwindling fund that insures regular deposit accounts."

This is really bizzare. Can anyone out there imagine a health insurance company charging them monthly premiums and then asking them for a loan to keep themselves solvent?

I have two questions, what happened to all that trillion dollar TARP fund? 8O

And, will the banks be allowed to cap the salaries of the FDIC Regulators?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FDIC-could-seek-bailout-from-apf-3266069115.html?x=0&.v=9

David E