http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2009/07/obamas-taxpayer-funded-summer-getaway.html
So the imposter and his entourage are off on yet another vacation to a plush resort. Are you going on vacation this year or are you having a staycation?
The getaway is $50K a week. Read the article, see if that doesn't make your jaws clench in rage once again at the utter arrogance of the imposter throwing around money like there is no tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Save the Bumblebees
I was reading a magazine over the weekend and there was a one page ad to save the bumblebees. I had no idea they were having a shortage, you would never know by my yard. They swarm my bee balm, spearmint, catnip, and various other flowers, as many as two dozen at a time along with the blue wasps (very allergic to them).
Anyway it does not take much and I need to follow my large bees to see where their hive is cos I am sure there is some honey that needs to be harvested. Bees are responsible for pollinating 1/3 of our natural foods, including many of the ingredients used in the 100% all natural haagen-Dazs ice cream. (Yes it is an HD ad). They are disappearing at an alarming rate, the bees, not the ice cream, (although I expect the HD is disappearing at an alarming rate when on sale, but I digress.)
Bee-friendly flowers provide food (nectar) that keeps honey bees alive and pollen that helps fruits and vegetables to grow. So create a honey bee spa in a pot on your window sill, a honey bee garden in your backyard, or honey bee sanctuaty in a neighborhood park.
Choose flowers that produce nectar and pollen, such as sunflowers, daisies, cosmos, zinnias, dahlias, asters, marigolds, hyacinths, hollyhocks, crocuses, foxglove, and geraniums.
Select an assortment of flowers that bloom successively over the spring, summer, and fall in order to provide food through the seasons.
Pick blue, purple, orange and yellow flowers-these are most attractive to honey bees.
Plant patches of like flowers in close proximity to one another.
Plants seeds or flowers that will successively bloom over the spring, summer, and fall, providing food for all seasons.
Do not use pesticides!
For more information on starting your own honey bee garden visit helphoneybees.com to learn more about planting your honey bee garden and see other ways to save the honey bees.
Anyway it does not take much and I need to follow my large bees to see where their hive is cos I am sure there is some honey that needs to be harvested. Bees are responsible for pollinating 1/3 of our natural foods, including many of the ingredients used in the 100% all natural haagen-Dazs ice cream. (Yes it is an HD ad). They are disappearing at an alarming rate, the bees, not the ice cream, (although I expect the HD is disappearing at an alarming rate when on sale, but I digress.)
Bee-friendly flowers provide food (nectar) that keeps honey bees alive and pollen that helps fruits and vegetables to grow. So create a honey bee spa in a pot on your window sill, a honey bee garden in your backyard, or honey bee sanctuaty in a neighborhood park.
Choose flowers that produce nectar and pollen, such as sunflowers, daisies, cosmos, zinnias, dahlias, asters, marigolds, hyacinths, hollyhocks, crocuses, foxglove, and geraniums.
Select an assortment of flowers that bloom successively over the spring, summer, and fall in order to provide food through the seasons.
Pick blue, purple, orange and yellow flowers-these are most attractive to honey bees.
Plant patches of like flowers in close proximity to one another.
Plants seeds or flowers that will successively bloom over the spring, summer, and fall, providing food for all seasons.
Do not use pesticides!
For more information on starting your own honey bee garden visit helphoneybees.com to learn more about planting your honey bee garden and see other ways to save the honey bees.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The 912 Project
http://www.the912project.us
Have you heard? There is sort of a new kid on the block. I had heard of this before but never really investigated until Team Sarah sent me an email asking me to join forces. I checked it out and decided "Yes I Can" join this group and support what it believes in.
There are 9 Principles:
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
The 12 Values are:
1. Honesty
2. Reverence
3. Hope
4. Thrift
5. Humility
6. Charity
7. Sincerity
8. Moderation
9. Hard Work
10. Courage
11. Personal Responsibility
12. Gratitude
These are basic but something we should all agree to. Check them out if you want to take back America.
Have you heard? There is sort of a new kid on the block. I had heard of this before but never really investigated until Team Sarah sent me an email asking me to join forces. I checked it out and decided "Yes I Can" join this group and support what it believes in.
There are 9 Principles:
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
The 12 Values are:
1. Honesty
2. Reverence
3. Hope
4. Thrift
5. Humility
6. Charity
7. Sincerity
8. Moderation
9. Hard Work
10. Courage
11. Personal Responsibility
12. Gratitude
These are basic but something we should all agree to. Check them out if you want to take back America.
Gidget Dies at 15
Ok as Americans how can we be so concerned with Healthscare when the Taco Bell dog died yesterday? She had a stroke and will be cremated. Are we going to celebrate her life for the next few weeks. Personally I feel we should, she was cute, entertaining and had a positive impact on the world.
Rest in Peace Gidget.
Rest in Peace Gidget.
More Lies From The Imposter
O'S BROKEN PROMISES
HEALTH BILLS V. PREZ'S WORDS
By BETSY MCCAUGHEY
Obama: His reform drive has led to bills that hurt everyone who has insurance now.
PRESIDENT Obama promises that "if you like your health plan, you can keep it," even after he reforms our health-care system. That's untrue. The bills now before Congress would force you to switch to a managed-care plan with limits on your access to specialists and tests.
Two main bills are being rushed through Congress with the goal of combining them into a finished product by August. Under either, a new government bureaucracy will select health plans that it considers in your best interest, and you will have to enroll in one of these "qualified plans." If you now get your plan through work, your employer has a five-year "grace period" to switch you into a qualified plan. If you buy your own insurance, you'll have less time.
And as soon as anything changes in your contract -- such as a change in copays or deductibles, which many insurers change every year -- you'll have to move into a qualified plan instead (House bill, p. 16-17).
When you file your taxes, if you can't prove to the IRS that you are in a qualified plan, you'll be fined thousands of dollars -- as much as the average cost of a health plan for your family size -- and then automatically enrolled in a randomly selected plan (House bill, p. 167-168).
It's one thing to require that people getting government assistance tolerate managed care, but the legislation limits you to a managed-care plan even if you and your employer are footing the bill (Senate bill, p. 57-58). The goal is to reduce everyone's consumption of health care and to ensure that people have the same health-care experience, regardless of ability to pay.
Nowhere does the legislation say how much health plans will cost, but a family of four is eligible for some government assistance until their household income reaches $88,000 (House bill, p. 137). If you earn more than that, you'll have to pay the cost no matter how high it goes.
The price tag for this legislation is a whopping $1.04 trillion to $1.6 trillion (Congressional Budget Office estimates). Half of the tab comes from tax increases on individuals earning $280,000 or more, and these new taxes will double in 2012 unless savings exceed predicted costs (House bill, p. 199). The rest of the cost is paid for by cutting seniors' health benefits under Medicare.
There's plenty of waste in Medicare, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates only 1 percent of the savings under the legislation will be from curbing waste, fraud and abuse. That means the rest will likely come from reducing what patients get.
One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration."
This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care. Do we really want government involved in such deeply personal issues?
Shockingly, only a portion of the money accumulated from slashing senior benefits and raising taxes goes to pay for covering the uninsured. The Senate bill allocates huge sums to "community transformation grants," home visits for expectant families, services for migrant workers -- and the creation of dozens of new government councils, programs and advisory boards slipped into the last 500 pages.
The most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll (June 21) finds that 83 percent of Americans are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their health care, and 81 percent are similarly satisfied with their health insurance.
They have good reason to be. If you're diagnosed with cancer, you have a better chance of surviving it in the United States than anywhere else, according to the Concord Five Continent Study. And the World Health Organization ranked the United States No. 1 out of 191 countries for being responsive to patients' needs, including providing timely treatments and a choice of doctors.
Congress should pursue less radical ways to cover the uninsured. We have too much to lose with this legislation.
HEALTH BILLS V. PREZ'S WORDS
By BETSY MCCAUGHEY
Obama: His reform drive has led to bills that hurt everyone who has insurance now.
PRESIDENT Obama promises that "if you like your health plan, you can keep it," even after he reforms our health-care system. That's untrue. The bills now before Congress would force you to switch to a managed-care plan with limits on your access to specialists and tests.
Two main bills are being rushed through Congress with the goal of combining them into a finished product by August. Under either, a new government bureaucracy will select health plans that it considers in your best interest, and you will have to enroll in one of these "qualified plans." If you now get your plan through work, your employer has a five-year "grace period" to switch you into a qualified plan. If you buy your own insurance, you'll have less time.
And as soon as anything changes in your contract -- such as a change in copays or deductibles, which many insurers change every year -- you'll have to move into a qualified plan instead (House bill, p. 16-17).
When you file your taxes, if you can't prove to the IRS that you are in a qualified plan, you'll be fined thousands of dollars -- as much as the average cost of a health plan for your family size -- and then automatically enrolled in a randomly selected plan (House bill, p. 167-168).
It's one thing to require that people getting government assistance tolerate managed care, but the legislation limits you to a managed-care plan even if you and your employer are footing the bill (Senate bill, p. 57-58). The goal is to reduce everyone's consumption of health care and to ensure that people have the same health-care experience, regardless of ability to pay.
Nowhere does the legislation say how much health plans will cost, but a family of four is eligible for some government assistance until their household income reaches $88,000 (House bill, p. 137). If you earn more than that, you'll have to pay the cost no matter how high it goes.
The price tag for this legislation is a whopping $1.04 trillion to $1.6 trillion (Congressional Budget Office estimates). Half of the tab comes from tax increases on individuals earning $280,000 or more, and these new taxes will double in 2012 unless savings exceed predicted costs (House bill, p. 199). The rest of the cost is paid for by cutting seniors' health benefits under Medicare.
There's plenty of waste in Medicare, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates only 1 percent of the savings under the legislation will be from curbing waste, fraud and abuse. That means the rest will likely come from reducing what patients get.
One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration."
This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care. Do we really want government involved in such deeply personal issues?
Shockingly, only a portion of the money accumulated from slashing senior benefits and raising taxes goes to pay for covering the uninsured. The Senate bill allocates huge sums to "community transformation grants," home visits for expectant families, services for migrant workers -- and the creation of dozens of new government councils, programs and advisory boards slipped into the last 500 pages.
The most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll (June 21) finds that 83 percent of Americans are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their health care, and 81 percent are similarly satisfied with their health insurance.
They have good reason to be. If you're diagnosed with cancer, you have a better chance of surviving it in the United States than anywhere else, according to the Concord Five Continent Study. And the World Health Organization ranked the United States No. 1 out of 191 countries for being responsive to patients' needs, including providing timely treatments and a choice of doctors.
Congress should pursue less radical ways to cover the uninsured. We have too much to lose with this legislation.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Angry One and Her Attendants
First Lady Requires More Than Twenty Attendants
Recession, Depression, What, Michelle Worry?
July 7, 2009
Dr. Paul L. Williams
“In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said. “See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, “ Michelle Obama
No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession. Just think Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary.
How things have changed! If you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:
1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)
5. Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
6. $90,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)
8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)
14.. Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)
18. Tubman, Samantha (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
21. Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
22. Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)
Copyright 2009 Canada Free Press.Com
canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12652
There has never been anyone in the White House at any time that has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense, when even Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush one; and prior to Mamie Eisenhower social help came from the President's own pocket.
Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom travelled aboard Air Force One to Europe .
Recession, Depression, What, Michelle Worry?
July 7, 2009
Dr. Paul L. Williams
“In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said. “See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, “ Michelle Obama
No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession. Just think Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary.
How things have changed! If you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:
1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)
5. Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
6. $90,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)
8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)
14.. Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)
18. Tubman, Samantha (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
21. Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
22. Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)
Copyright 2009 Canada Free Press.Com
canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12652
There has never been anyone in the White House at any time that has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense, when even Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush one; and prior to Mamie Eisenhower social help came from the President's own pocket.
Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom travelled aboard Air Force One to Europe .
CZARs
When I hear the word "CZAR" it makes me think of Russia, so what is the US doing with 32 of them? Who are they and where did they come from? Was there a bid that went out asking who wants to be a czar? They are federal employees, aren't they? Does anyone know anything about them? ONe stepped down already for being in trouble, should surprise no one as the current administration is full of crooks, and one admits to being a Communist. Why do we need them? Does anyone know when they appeared, who found them, hmmmmmm.
The definition of a czar is:
also tsar or tzar (zär, tsär) A male monarch or emperor, especially one of the emperors who ruled Russia until the revolution of 1917.
A person having great power; an autocrat: “the square-jawed, ruddy complacency of Jack Farrell, the czar of the Fifteenth Street police station” (Ernest Hemingway).
Informal. An appointed official having special powers to regulate or supervise an activity: a racetrack czar; an energy czar.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/not_obamas_czars_but_his_commi.html is a good article to read regarding these czars.
The definition of a czar is:
also tsar or tzar (zär, tsär) A male monarch or emperor, especially one of the emperors who ruled Russia until the revolution of 1917.
A person having great power; an autocrat: “the square-jawed, ruddy complacency of Jack Farrell, the czar of the Fifteenth Street police station” (Ernest Hemingway).
Informal. An appointed official having special powers to regulate or supervise an activity: a racetrack czar; an energy czar.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/not_obamas_czars_but_his_commi.html is a good article to read regarding these czars.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
What Were You Doing 40 Years Ago Today?
So if you are old enough to be alive 40 years ago what were you doing? We lived in Des Moines, Iowa and went next door because we did not have color TV to watch the men walk on the moon. I don't really remember it but I suppose at the time it was a big deal. Personally I think going out in space is a HUGE waste of money when this country is so broke. Really what has it done for us and what will it do for us. Anyway where were you?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Happy Birthday Aunt Jessie
My fav aunt is 75 today. You would never know it by looking at her, she just got home from a two week trip and I can only imagine she never stopped for a minute to rest while she was gone. I read her daily email and honestly she wears me out.
So Aunt Jessie, here is to you and many more. Hope your day is filled with cake and family.
Bank CLosures and Retail Sales are UP
So today the WH claims retail sales are up, but you know what they are basing it on? Energy consumption. How does using more electricity for my a/c make Wal-Mart sales go up? I don't know what they are smoking in the WH but I don't see what they do.
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/07/06/daily39.html?ana=from_rss
Economist: FDIC gearing up for bank closures
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is gearing up to handle a large number of bank failures expected as a result of bad mortgages, both in residential and commercial real estate, an economist said Tuesday.
“They know they’re going to take down a large number of banks and they can’t do it until they’re staffed up,” said Mark Dotzour, chief economist and director of research for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
Dotzour expects federal regulators to establish an agency, similar to the Resolution Trust Corp. that disposed of assets belonging to insolvent S&Ls in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“Once they start to sell [foreclosed real estate], we’ll find out what the market really is,” Dotzour told attendees at an economic summit hosted by a handful of real estate groups in Tampa, Fla.
Dotzour blamed federal intervention for the lack of commercial real estate investment activity in recent months, as well as the failure of businesses to make major decisions.
“Nobody knows what to do so they’re doing nothing,” Dotzour said at the luncheon meeting at the Intercontinental Tampa.
Government, in its quest to help the economy, is causing harm by propping up failing companies and regularly changing rules, he said.
“No one can predict what the government will do,” Dotzour said.
“People are frozen. It’s not that they don’t want to invest in the future, the rules are unclear,” he said.
He jokingly called the Federal Reserve “inksters” for routinely printing money to bail out big business, including banks that are still not making many loans.
The government’s role in a capitalistic society, he said, “is to make the rules and get off the dance floor.”
Businesses and individuals that can’t pay their bills should resolve their problems in bankruptcy court, not with money from the government, he said. It’s a process that has worked for decades, for generations.
“Everyone has a lesson to learn here, including you and me,” he said. “We have to live within our means.”
Dotzour expects foreclosure rates to continue to climb, real estate prices to fall more and cap rates to rise to at least 9 percent before leveling off.
In 2010 and 2011, interest rates will begin to rise, as will inflation. Once investors realize the market is at bottom, deals will begin to flow again, he said.
In the meantime, he compared the bad loans that remain on banks’ books to a smelly cat litter box and the feds keep throwing more litter on top to mask the smell. But they’ll eventually have to remove the organic material to fix the problem.
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/07/06/daily39.html?ana=from_rss
Economist: FDIC gearing up for bank closures
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is gearing up to handle a large number of bank failures expected as a result of bad mortgages, both in residential and commercial real estate, an economist said Tuesday.
“They know they’re going to take down a large number of banks and they can’t do it until they’re staffed up,” said Mark Dotzour, chief economist and director of research for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
Dotzour expects federal regulators to establish an agency, similar to the Resolution Trust Corp. that disposed of assets belonging to insolvent S&Ls in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“Once they start to sell [foreclosed real estate], we’ll find out what the market really is,” Dotzour told attendees at an economic summit hosted by a handful of real estate groups in Tampa, Fla.
Dotzour blamed federal intervention for the lack of commercial real estate investment activity in recent months, as well as the failure of businesses to make major decisions.
“Nobody knows what to do so they’re doing nothing,” Dotzour said at the luncheon meeting at the Intercontinental Tampa.
Government, in its quest to help the economy, is causing harm by propping up failing companies and regularly changing rules, he said.
“No one can predict what the government will do,” Dotzour said.
“People are frozen. It’s not that they don’t want to invest in the future, the rules are unclear,” he said.
He jokingly called the Federal Reserve “inksters” for routinely printing money to bail out big business, including banks that are still not making many loans.
The government’s role in a capitalistic society, he said, “is to make the rules and get off the dance floor.”
Businesses and individuals that can’t pay their bills should resolve their problems in bankruptcy court, not with money from the government, he said. It’s a process that has worked for decades, for generations.
“Everyone has a lesson to learn here, including you and me,” he said. “We have to live within our means.”
Dotzour expects foreclosure rates to continue to climb, real estate prices to fall more and cap rates to rise to at least 9 percent before leveling off.
In 2010 and 2011, interest rates will begin to rise, as will inflation. Once investors realize the market is at bottom, deals will begin to flow again, he said.
In the meantime, he compared the bad loans that remain on banks’ books to a smelly cat litter box and the feds keep throwing more litter on top to mask the smell. But they’ll eventually have to remove the organic material to fix the problem.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Statue of Liberty
Photograph by Dean Conger
On July 4, 1884 France presented the United States with an incredible birthday gift: the Statue of Liberty! Without its pedestal it’s as tall as a 15-story building. She represents the United States. But the world-famous Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor was built in France. The statue was presented to the U.S., taken apart, shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in crates, and rebuilt in the U.S. It was France’s gift to the American people.
It all started at dinner one night near Paris in 1865. A group of Frenchmen were discussing their dictator-like emperor and the democratic government of the U.S. They decided to build a monument to American freedom—and perhaps even strengthen French demands for democracy in their own country. At that dinner was the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (bar-TOLE-dee). He imagined a statue of a woman holding a torch burning with the light of freedom.
Turning Bartholdi’s idea into reality took 21 years. French supporters raised money to build the statue, and Americans paid for the pedestal it would stand on. Finally, in 1886, the statue was dedicated.
Fast Facts
* Engineer Gustave Eiffel, who would later design the Eiffel Tower in Paris, designed Liberty’s “spine.” Inside the statue four huge iron columns support a metal framework that holds the thin copper skin.
* Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi knew he wanted to build a giant copper goddess; he used his mother as the model.
* The statue—151 feet, 1 inch (46 meters, 2.5 centimeters) tall—was the tallest structure in the U.S. at that time.
* The arm holding the torch measures 46 feet (14 meters); the index finger, 8 feet (2.4 meters); the nose, nearly 5 feet (1.5 meters).
* The statue is covered in 300 sheets of coin-thin copper. They were hammered into different shapes and riveted together.
* The statue sways 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) in the wind; the torch sways 5 inches (12.7 centimeters).
* Visitors climb 354 steps (22 stories) to look out from 25 windows in the crown.
*
* Seven rays in the crown represent the Earth’s seven seas.
Il Divo
Love Simon Cowell or hate him but you got to love him for creating Il Divo. I saw them Saturday night. Their voices are truly a gift from God and boy do they know how to use them. Most of the songs were not in English but who cares? You could recognize the songs even though I had no idea what language they were singing in. Each one has a unique beautiful voice on their own but when they power up and sing together well the goosebumps and tears don't do their talent justice. The place was packed and the cougars were out, but what a great time. If you ever get a chance to see them, do so, you won't be sorry.
All Star Game
So why does numnuts have to ruin the All Star Game. He was off in Europe on his latest apology tour, ogling 16 year old girls (http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-leer-heard-round-the-world)while his family sported $6K clutches and his oldest sported severe bad taste in peace sign Tees and now he comes back to the US and has to throw out the first pitch and emcee the game.
Leave baseball alone, you have destroyed all that I love in this country, leave my sport alone. Baseball is the only sport I love, and now he has to come along and ruin the All Star game. You have work to do, go back to the White House and do your job; you know the job you stole.
Leave baseball alone, you have destroyed all that I love in this country, leave my sport alone. Baseball is the only sport I love, and now he has to come along and ruin the All Star game. You have work to do, go back to the White House and do your job; you know the job you stole.
Monday, July 13, 2009
School Supplies
Wal-Mart has begun to get their school supplies out. I love school supplies,there is nothing better than newly sharpened pencils, a pad of paper, a box of 64 crayons, and don't forget the Elmers. They had the spiral 70 page notebooks for $.15 and I bought one in each color. Did I need them, no but they are school supplies and how can you resist not buying something for school. I know I will peruse the aisles cos when they put the pencil boxes for $.25, they make great craft boxes. There is a line in the movie "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan is talking a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, I know how she feels.
Go get yourself some school supplies, you will feel better.
Go get yourself some school supplies, you will feel better.
Stay-Cation Swap
So many people are deciding to stay in their own city and do day trips instead of take a real vacation complete with airfare, hotel, restaurants and whatever else people do on vacation.
This swap has you treating your swappee to: postcards from your city, a handmade item of whatever you like, yarn in the color of the sports teams, an edible or drinkable item from somewhere in your state, and local or state items and brochures of places that are a must see.
I have participated in quite a few swaps this year and I think I have more fun putting my box together than in getting one.
So do you know what your city has to offer? I was surprised as what mine had.
This swap has you treating your swappee to: postcards from your city, a handmade item of whatever you like, yarn in the color of the sports teams, an edible or drinkable item from somewhere in your state, and local or state items and brochures of places that are a must see.
I have participated in quite a few swaps this year and I think I have more fun putting my box together than in getting one.
So do you know what your city has to offer? I was surprised as what mine had.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Death By Chocolate
In the paper today is an article about a guy who died while working in a chocolate factory. Camden, NJ, a man died after falling into a vat of melted chocolate in a New Jersey processing plant. He was 29 and a temp worker at the Cocoa Services, Inc. plant. He was loading chocolate into a vat where it's melted and mixed before being shipped off to be made into candy. A co-worker tried to shut off the machine and two others tried to pull him out of the 8' deep vat. He had been hit and fatally injured by the agitator that mixes the chocolate.
What a way to go!
What a way to go!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Guns are Safer than Doctors
From my friend Bob:
This is logic you have to love. I rest my case.
Doctors
(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year = 120,000.
(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services.
Now think about this:
Guns
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (YES, Million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188.
Statistics courtesy of FBI.
So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Remember, 'Guns don't kill people, doctors do.'
FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT
ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.
Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!
Out of concern for the public at large, I withheld the statistics on lawyers
for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention!
This is logic you have to love. I rest my case.
Doctors
(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year = 120,000.
(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services.
Now think about this:
Guns
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (YES, Million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188.
Statistics courtesy of FBI.
So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Remember, 'Guns don't kill people, doctors do.'
FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT
ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.
Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!
Out of concern for the public at large, I withheld the statistics on lawyers
for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention!
Liberty Swap
So I belong to an online group of Conservative Knitters. We had a Liberty Swap for the 4th of July.
You were to send your swappee the following:
L-something to make her laugh
I-something to inspire her
B-something beautiful
E-something expressive of her
R-something rebellious
T-something tacky for the 4th
Y-some red/white/blue yarn.
Here is my package I received.
Obamagenda
A short list of the troubling changes coming from the newly formed Obama administration:
* Within days of taking office, signed an executive order overturning a policy that kept the federal government from paying for abortions overseas.
* He supports the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which would overturn any law that restricts abortion in any manner anywhere in the nation.
* Appointed Ks Gov to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, a Catholic, was recently rebuked by the Archbishop of KC for being so pro-abortion.
* Supports open homosexuality in the US military.
* Wants to expand hate crime statutes to include sexual orientation.
* Committed to passing ENDA (Employee Non-Discrimination Act) to include protection for sexual orientation or gender identity.
* Demonstrated a deep antipathy toward any serious efforts to protect tradiotional marriage against homosexual encroachment. He says he is against gay marriage but opposes a constitutional ban. He fully supports civil unions.
* He wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
* Wants to expand adoption rights to include homosexuals.
* Lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research.
* Opposes President Bush's abstinence-only education policy.
* Wants to reduce the amount of tax credit some Americans receive for donating to charities or churches.
* Within days of taking office, signed an executive order overturning a policy that kept the federal government from paying for abortions overseas.
* He supports the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which would overturn any law that restricts abortion in any manner anywhere in the nation.
* Appointed Ks Gov to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, a Catholic, was recently rebuked by the Archbishop of KC for being so pro-abortion.
* Supports open homosexuality in the US military.
* Wants to expand hate crime statutes to include sexual orientation.
* Committed to passing ENDA (Employee Non-Discrimination Act) to include protection for sexual orientation or gender identity.
* Demonstrated a deep antipathy toward any serious efforts to protect tradiotional marriage against homosexual encroachment. He says he is against gay marriage but opposes a constitutional ban. He fully supports civil unions.
* He wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
* Wants to expand adoption rights to include homosexuals.
* Lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research.
* Opposes President Bush's abstinence-only education policy.
* Wants to reduce the amount of tax credit some Americans receive for donating to charities or churches.
In GOD We Trust
So Hobby Lobby (one of my fav stores) always has a full page ad at certain holidays of the year. This 4th of July they had an ad addressing America and it's faith. Some of the excepts are as follows:
George Washington said "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to impore His protection and favor."
Patrick Henry said "An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!..."
John Jay (First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court) said "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts."
Congress 1853 said "We are a Christian people..."
Throughout the history of the US we are a nation of Christians no matter what numnuts says.
George Washington said "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to impore His protection and favor."
Patrick Henry said "An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!..."
John Jay (First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court) said "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts."
Congress 1853 said "We are a Christian people..."
Throughout the history of the US we are a nation of Christians no matter what numnuts says.
Voter Registration
Here's how voter registration should work: You move, your registration moves with you. You turn 18, you're added to the voters logs. You pay taxes, get a license, sign up for state or federal benefits, and registration is automatic.
The US registers 68% of the voting age population. All but three nations studied register 91% or better. The US puts a burden of registration on the voter.
Kit Bond had a role in passing the Help Americans Vote Act of 2002. One facet of that act was the creation of statewide databases, which were set up to accommodate data sharing with other agencies and states. The system is already ready; Congress just needs to turn it on.
So after 7 years why has Congress refused to turn this system on? How many more issues could be resolved by this data being shared?
The US registers 68% of the voting age population. All but three nations studied register 91% or better. The US puts a burden of registration on the voter.
Kit Bond had a role in passing the Help Americans Vote Act of 2002. One facet of that act was the creation of statewide databases, which were set up to accommodate data sharing with other agencies and states. The system is already ready; Congress just needs to turn it on.
So after 7 years why has Congress refused to turn this system on? How many more issues could be resolved by this data being shared?
Declaration of Independence
The liberal rag printed a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Interesting parts of it are as follows:
"...All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness-That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government..."
We the people succeeded from Great Britain because the King was not following the rules, hence our current need for the Tea Parties and fighting agains the current administration.
"HE has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out their substance."
"HE has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:...FOR imposing taxes on us without our consent;..."
"In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may deifne a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
Read the Declaration of Independence and see if you don't think this is 1776 all over again.
"...All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness-That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government..."
We the people succeeded from Great Britain because the King was not following the rules, hence our current need for the Tea Parties and fighting agains the current administration.
"HE has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out their substance."
"HE has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:...FOR imposing taxes on us without our consent;..."
"In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may deifne a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
Read the Declaration of Independence and see if you don't think this is 1776 all over again.
Missouri Goes Blue
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is getting the last laugh in Missouri - and $450K in state taxpayer money, thanks to a settlement with the Department of Social Services. ACORN had accused Missouri of not following state law in registering residents who receive food stamps and Medicaid. Now, ACORN, says, the state is doing a bang-up job of getting new people onto the voter's roll - up to 11,000 a month.
Missouri was the last state to declare who got their electoral votes in the Potus election, but barely went red. With the nutjobs at ACORN Missouri is sure to be a smurf now.
Missouri was the last state to declare who got their electoral votes in the Potus election, but barely went red. With the nutjobs at ACORN Missouri is sure to be a smurf now.
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