Thinking Right

By Ragnar Danneskjöld

October 7, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this

Good morning all. Excellent argument by Mr. Wooten, I have little to add. I voted against the amendment when I recognized it as an effort to reverse one of those rare meritorious state supreme court rulings. My analysis was simpler – the proposed amendment does nothing to enhance individual freedom, but rather obviously adds power to overlords. I could not think of an intelligent reason to support it after reading it, so I voted against it. I suppose my bias is ultimately the same as that which led me to oppose the national bailout bills – too much potential for abuse and waste, and too little potential for useful correction.

By T

October 7, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this

Unlike Mr Wooten, I am convinced TADs can work, but only in cases where they are well conceived and managed. SOme points: 1) The Georgia State Legislature removed the “blighted” language from it’s TAD legislation in 2007, so TADs can be more widely proposed across Georgia. 2) Every TAD can be set up differently. The school board and municipality governing any Georgia TAD can set their own conditions. The Atlanta Beltline TAD is set up so that substantial portions of the increased tax revenue is committed to the Atlanta School Board during the 25 year active TAD period as the TAD-contained property is developed. Atlanta schools don’t have to wait 25 years to start receiving it. (see chart here http://www.beltline.org/Funding/TaxAllocationDistrictTAD/tabid/1731/Default.aspx) 3) Atlanta’s Beltline Project and it’s associated TAD are the result of extraordinary support by private individuals, public groups and companies. Although a “YES” vote on Amendment 2 is, I believe, a good vote and a responsible vote for Atlanta’s Beltline Project, other Georgia municipalities and school boards will have neither the expertise nor the funding to evaluate proposed developments to a similar extent. They will instead have to rely on a “less-than-robust” analysis or worse, the developer’s sales pitch, to decide on whether or not a TAD proposal has a chance to succeed. Thoughtful Joe Citizens, especially those who’ve come in contact with many an unscrupulous developer over the years, can envision developers having a field day pressuring Georgia’s municipal bodies and school board members into setting up TADs in support of their projects without sufficient oversight or protection of local taxpayer interests. If Amendment 2 passes in its current form, communities of all compositions ranging from Norcross to Waycross will be fair game for high-pressure tactics from developers who will smell “free money” for their projects.

By Ga Values

October 7, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this

I have been voting for 40 years and have never voted for an amendment and never will. Georgia is in desperate need of a new constitution but who would trust the Georgia Legislation if they wrote one.

By Jim The Conservative

October 7, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this

Todays conservative colume from the Athens Paper

Do you have a sense of your pocket being picked? You should. According to a recent Reuters news service story, the Wall Street bailout caps a series of U.S. government-backed financial and housing measures during the past 30 days that could have a total tab of more than $1.8 trillion. This comes to a debt of more than $17,000 for each of the slightly more than 105 million households in the United States.

In the future, each of our households - and it will roll on to those of our children, grandchildren and probably our great-grandchildren - will have to pay back this debt. Of course, this is just added to the more than $10 trillion in debt already owed, or about $95,000 per household. So each household now is the proud owner of more than $112,000 of our nation’s debt.

One of the things that really should get our dander up are the earmarks - best translated as “pork” - that were added to the Wall Street bailout bill by our illustrious senators in order for it to gather enough support to pass. What do tax breaks for wooden arrow manufacturers, NASCAR tracks, film and television production and Caribbean manufacturers have to do with the central issue of the financial crisis? You are correct - it’s absolutely nothing. Yet these are just some of the items used to buy votes, and add to the debt load of each American household.

You may think Big Oil, or Big Pharmaceuticals or another Big will come in and help pay down our debt, but this is only an illusion. The cost of goods and services offered by any company of any size has the tax liability embedded within that cost. Whenever you buy that next tank of gas, get a refill on a prescription or purchase the next item at your local big-box discount store, you pay a price that includes the income taxes that company pays annually to the government.

We have become a debtor nation. As our government has accrued unfathomable amounts of debt, so have many Americans succumbed to the allure of easy money through no-documentation mortgages, consumer loans, credit cards and equity lines of credit.

Democrats and Republicans are culpable for the mess in which we find ourselves. The free-market system for housing loans was encroached upon by government regulations and erroneous influences. These were the first undercurrents that eventually would give rise to the financial tsunami with which some of our financial markets have been devastated. However, just like a tsunami does not hit all coastlines on the globe, not every financial institution, insurance company or commercial bank found itself within the rising floodwaters of the subprime mortgage wave surge. Unfortunately, our politicians have decided those institutions that built their houses upon the sand needed to be bailed out by U.S. taxpayers. This goes against the free-market principles of our great republic.

Irresponsible lending is just as wrong as irresponsible borrowing. While few can live a debt-free life, especially if they desire to own a home, many use debt to purchase depreciating or disappearing assets. Some will bristle when Congress votes to raise the debt ceiling - now at more than $10 trillion. Many of those same people, however, subsequently will run out to purchase for themselves, on credit, the latest gadget.

Excesses in consumerism lead to the same problems as excesses in government spending. At the end of the day, someone must pay the bills when they come due. Why should we expect our elected officials to have any different mindset than those they represent? In fact, if we vote them into office, don’t we expect them to represent the way we think?

In just a few weeks, we will be electing many local, state and national leaders who will have the responsibility to spend our money. Will the person who gets your vote have a track record of spending that matches the way you handle your finances? And is the way you handle your finances enabling you to live within your means? If so, your support for that candidate will be well-placed. If not, now is the time to change your ways, and decide to vote for the person who will be the best steward of our dollars.

As I looked at the roll call vote for the Wall Street bailout bill last week, I couldn’t help but notice that Congressman Paul Broun’s “no” vote reflected the overwhelming feedback he had received from his constituents in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District. Unfortunately, a majority of our senators and representatives decided they would take a bad deal rather than no deal. And for this, we now have a national debt burden - in addition to the ongoing annual spending of our government - of more than $112,000 per household.

• Jerry Haas, a local Banner-Herald columnist

By Churchill's Mom

October 7, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this

I am still mad about Auburn’s loss to a school without athletic dorms but since Jim won’t do his job here’s today’s Palin. She’s a hockey mom Fer sure.

By Richard Cohen Tuesday, October 7, 2008; Page A21

Reading William Kristol’s column in yesterday’s New York Times, I discover that Sarah Palin and I have something in common. Kristol, who was once Dan Quayle’s chief of staff and therefore, shall we say, has a Mister Rogers approach to certain politicians, got Palin on the phone and reported that “she doesn’t have a very high opinion of the mainstream media.” This is where we are in agreement. On account of Palin, neither do I.

In her debate against Joe Biden last week, she mischaracterized Barack Obama’s tax plan and his offer to meet with foreign adversaries of the United States. She found whole new powers for the vice president by misreading the Constitution, if she ever read it at all. She called one moment for the federal government to virtually disappear and a moment later lamented the lack of its oversight of the financial markets. She asserted that she “may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or you [Biden] want to hear” because, apparently, the rules don’t apply to her on account of her being a hockey mom. Fer sure.

Not enough? Okay. Palin also said that she “and others in the legislature” had called for the state of Alaska to divest itself of investments in companies that do business with Sudan. But, as the indefatigable truth-hunter at The Post found out, the divestiture effort was not led by Palin. In fact, her administration opposed the initiative, and Palin herself only came around to it after the bill had died.

In spite of it all, much of the media saw a credible performance. I could quote the hosannas of some of my colleagues, but I spare them the infamy that will surely follow them to their graves. (The debate’s moderator, Gwen Ifill, used the occasion to catch up on some sleep.) Many of my colleagues judged Palin simply as a performer and inferred that her performance would go over well in homes with aboveground swimming pools.

A perfect example is the Wall Street Journal, whose (conservative) editorial page has been absolutely fixated on a strict (Scalian) reading of the Constitution. Did it wonder what in the world Palin meant by the authority she found in the Constitution to increase the role of “the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate”? What? Oh, never mind. The Journal chivalrously ignored the matter. Palin is excused from knowing the limits of the office she seeks.

In effect, columnists, bloggers, talk-show hosts and digital lamplighters have adopted the ethic of the political consultant: what works, works. It did not matter what Palin said. It only mattered how she said it — all those doggones, references to her working-class status (net worth in excess of $2 million), promiscuous use of the word “maverick,” repeated mentions of “greed and corruption on Wall Street” (Who? Be specific. Give examples. Didn’t anyone here go to school?) and, of course, that manic good cheer. Palin knows that the standard is not right or wrong, truth or lie, but the graph that ran under both debaters on CNN, measuring approval, disapproval or, maybe, the blood sugar levels of certain people in their focus group. Things have changed. Might used to make right. Now a wink does.

Since I began with the Times’ conservative columnist of the moment, I will end with its conservative columnist of years past — the estimable William Safire. In 1996, he called Hillary Clinton “a congenital liar.” It was a head-snapping characterization that, alas for Clinton, has defined her for the ages and that she stubbornly vindicates from time to time.

But what about Palin? Can you imagine the reaction of the press corps if Clinton had given the audience a “hiya, sailor” wink? Can you imagine the feverish blogging across the political spectrum if Clinton had claimed credit for stopping a bridge that, in fact, had set her heart aflutter? What if she had shown that she didn’t know squat about the Constitution, if she could not tell Katie Couric what newspapers or magazines she read or if she had claimed an intimacy with foreign affairs based on sighting Russia through binoculars?

Ah, but the scorn, approbation and ridicule that would have descended on Clinton — I can just imagine the Journal editorial — have been withheld from Palin. Much of the mainstream media, grading on a curve suitable for a parrot — “greed and corruption, greed and corruption, greed and corruption” — gave her a passing grade or better. I agree with Palin. It’s the mainstream media that flunked.

By Ga Values

October 7, 2008 9:03 AM | Link to this

Saw Saxby Chambliss(Socialist/RINO,Ga) solution to the “Gas Crisis” on the TV last night, what is he smoking?? Here is a description of his Gang of 10 Traitors solution from the WSJ:

“Their enthusiasm has given conservative candidates a boost in tough races. And Mr. McCain has pressured Barack Obama into an energy debate, where the Democrat has struggled to explain shifting and confused policy proposals.

Still, it was probably too much to assume every Republican would work out that their side was winning this issue. And so, last Friday, in stumbled Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker and Johnny Isakson — alongside five Senate Democrats. This “Gang of 10” announced a “sweeping” and “bipartisan” energy plan to break Washington’s energy “stalemate.” What they did was throw every vulnerable Democrat, and Mr. Obama, a life preserver.

That’s because the plan is a Democratic giveaway. New production on offshore federal lands is left to state legislatures, and then in only four coastal states. The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the coast — putting off limits some of the most productive areas. Alaska’s oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a no-go.

The highlight is instead $84 billion in tax credits, subsidies and federal handouts for alternative fuels and renewables. The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on … oil companies! The Sierra Club couldn’t have penned it better. And so the Republican Five has potentially given antidrilling Democrats the political cover they need to neutralize energy through November.

Sen. Obama was thrilled. He quickly praised the Gang’s bipartisan spirit, and warmed up to a possible compromise. Of course, he means removing even the token drilling provisions now in the bill. But he’s only too happy for the focus to remain on the Gang’s efforts, and in particular on the five Republicans providing his party its fig leaf.” this text will be bolded
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE SAXBY OR THE WSJ?

By Redneck Convert

October 7, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this

Well, why don’t they let me just hand the 50 bucks a year on the trailer to a developer and cut out the middle man?

Anyway, I’m against paying taxes for schools. It don’t help me and hunderds of Those People are just doing You Know What to beat the band to have more lunkheads and expect me to pay for the schooling.

Besides, me and the missus plan to send our grandson little Sonny Zell George to the Academy for the Christian Way and Light down in Cumming so he can learn good GA values and not have to go to school with a bunch of Those People and illegals and Jews and libruls. We don’t want him growing up to be a godless librul the way so many kids do that go to public schools. I could use that 50 bucks to help pay the tuition.

Yesterday I saw about a 1,000 of Those People lined up at the courthouse for early voting. I sure hope Wooten is right that GA ain’t in play. It looks like the libruls and rabble-rousers are doing their best to get everybody they can to vote against old Saxby and old man McCain.

Have a good day everybody.

By GMAN

October 7, 2008 9:18 AM | Link to this

It’s the ECONOMY stupid!!!

Bush/McCain - Gambling with your children’s futures!

By Ga Values

October 7, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE SAXBY OR THE WSJ?

By Ga Values

October 7, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this

Redneck Convert

I have really bad news for you, I sent my childeren to privite school & they have turned out to be Liberals. Even the 2 that are now paying their own way are voting for Obama and are mad at me for not doing the same.

I have figured out how to use bold, WOW

By Ga Values

October 7, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this

Good quick read for the Lawyers & Accountants

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/the-streets-emergency-responders/

By ron

October 7, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this

Good morning Jim,I don’t see anything to argue with you about today.Vote no.Use taxes only for what they’re intended for.

Massachusetts has an initiative on it’s ballot to scrap the entire state incometax system.That’ll be wild if that passes.

By booncrocks

October 7, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this

Yeah it’s the economy stupid. Any fool who thinks that the current situation has zero to do with poor people and other slackers who got to buy a home for little to nothing down because Barney Frank socialist Democrats wanted to “help” them with the American Dream is just that: a fool. This nation will get what it deserves with a full Democrat socialist congress and a quasi Marxist at 1600 Pennsylvania. You morons on the left and other various ignoramuses think 6.5% unemployment is bad? Ladies, you haven’t seen anything yet with a full fledged socialist US federal government. For the rest of you productive and working Americans and small biz owners who create and maintain jobs in this nation, start making arrangements to take whatever steps necessary to ensure your money is safe and secure away from the socialist Democrats. A mattress or hold in the ground in the back yard is starting to look pretty damn good.

If you want another barometer of where this nation is headed, take a look at the losers who the Obamagoons are trotting out to vote:

CLEVELAND - Volunteers supporting Barack Obama picked up hundreds of people at homeless shelters, soup kitchens and drug-rehab centers and drove them to a polling place yesterday on the last day that Ohioans could register and vote on the same day, almost no questions asked.

The huge effort by a pro-Obama group, Vote Today Ohio, takes advantage of a quirk in the state’s elections laws that allows people to register and cast ballots at the same time without having to prove residency.

Republicans have argued that the window could lead to widespread voter fraud because officials wouldn’t have an opportunity to verify registration information before ballots were cast.

Remember, voter fraud is a neocon myth and if you dare question a voter’s validity, you will be deemed a racist just like if you say anything negative about Obama’s socialist policies or do not vote for Barack - even if you have voted Republican all your life, you will be deemed a racist. Get ready folks, a storm is brewing on the horizon, and it’s not going to be pretty. But, America ultimately gets what it deserves. Fortunately, there’s still a lot of us who are not dependent on government for the answers to life’s ills or at best, attempting to make life “better” like that joke called Social Security. Finally, any of you pinheads who are going to vote Obama because of the economy stupid who think that we are headed to another Great Depression, pick up a book and learn about what one really was like - or better yet, speak with someone who actually lived through it. Speaking of voting and the economy, how come we haven’t heard much from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid lately?

By John

October 7, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this

Jim;

I am not a fan, but you have nailed this issue. Where are all the conservative Geogians when you need them? These are the same people who cry for lower taxes and less government. It takes a lot of nerve to take money from a broke education system and give it to developers. That being said, these nuckleheads in GA will probably vote Yes.

By Just Checking

October 7, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this

“…the people who get rich by getting government in debt…”

You mean THE REPUBLICANS and their friends? Is this discussion limited to Georgia and the good-buddy contracts here, or can we bring up the Federal government and track the flow of money from our national treasury into the pockets of people who demand (and receive) NO accountability for the work they allegedly perform in a country where no one dares to audit them?

BTW, how much IS our debt right now, and how much of it was spent on “private contractors” for things we’ll never see?

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 10:07 AM | Link to this

For once I agree with the Idiot of the AJC, little Jimmy Woodenhead: I am forced to pay bloated property taxes to support the worthless schools, and I GD well do not want one red cent of that money going to other purposes, like into the pockets of lying thieving developers. This diversion of school tax money reminds me of that lying, thieving former governor of Georgia, Royie (Sure I am a Crook, but a well connected Crook) BarnesHole, who stole Georgia 400 toll money for his equally crooked pals developing the worthless Atlantie Stationie. Roy the crook was not done, he also gave 100 million dollars in Medicaid money to a fellow crooked lawyer for advising the State on how to cheat the Feds out of the State Medicaid cost share. My only question is why that crook is still free to walk the streets of Marietta? He still gits to practice law, because all lawyers are lying thieving crooked scum bags, but have you noticed our little Idoit of the AJC is just too chicken livered to attack them in print. Speaking of scum bag lawyers, where is that other idiot, jmblaw? Hiding out with Roy the Crook? Well, come the revolution, we will hang them all….imho

By JW

October 7, 2008 10:10 AM | Link to this

By Ga Values wote and wrote and wrote…..(get your own column!)

Blame the democrats for making the GOP do “bad” things. Ignore the fact that it is a GOP administration that asked for a$700B bailout. Forget about the fact that it is the GOP that wants to drill all over the place. Do your GA values allow you to have any common sense? Keep is short, simple.

By Ga Values

October 7, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this

Looks like The Hartford was the name insurance company that Reid said was insolvent, the market took care of it not a government bailout. That’s a I hope because no one knows what was in the 437 pages.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/business/07insure.html?dlbk

By Johnny Maverick

October 7, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this

Today I would like to clarify that the following statements I made in the past are no longer operative. I apologize for having ever said I was guilty of wrongdoing in the Keating affair, for such admission was false and is not in keeping with 100% factual truthfulness of everything I have ever said or will ever say in the future.

I created the appearance of impropriety so it was my — I was guilty, and therefore did not represent the people of my state in the manner which they expected of me. — CNN, Larry King, 10/12/02

Despite my recovery, the Keating Five experience was not one that I have walked away from as easily as I have other bad times. Twelve years after its conclusion, I still wince thinking about it and find that if I do not repress the memory, its recollection still provokes a vague but real feeling that I had lost something very important, something that was sacrificed in the pursuit of gratifying ambitions, my own and others’, and that I might never possess again as assuredly as I once had. — McCain, Worth the Fighting For Page 204

Because as my spokesmen stated yesterday, the whole Keating thing was a big liberal smear job that had no basis in any facts whatsoever. I was completely innocent, and regret giving the impression that I ever accepted the reprimand of the ba5t@rds that persecuted me.

Sincerely and 100& Truthfully,

John McCain, ex-POW and Man of Honor and Integrity

By Ragnar Danneskjöld

October 7, 2008 10:26 AM | Link to this

Dear Crooks @ 10:07, “all lawyers are lying thieving crooked scum bags,” I resent you noticing my alleged resemblance to a sack.

By GOPs got to go

October 7, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this

Oh my God, I actually agree with Wooten.

Is it snowing somewhere really hot?

Have pigs sprouted odd appendages?

Is there a guy in the Vatican who is reading the Koran?

Is George W Bush voting for Obama?

Is Wooten voting for Obama?

Should I “duck and cover”?

I’m scared………

By Frost

October 7, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this

McCain linked to private group in Iran-Contra case AP…

McCain revisiting Keating 5 banking scandal again AP

those in glass houses must not throw stones…….More coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this

The Really Good News is that law students are going deep into debt to pay for being educated as lying, thieving scum bags, and now cannot find jobs as lying thieving scum bags with which to repay those loans. Even better, those education loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy court…ha ha ha, suffer scum, suffer…We need debtors prison for lawyers…make it so…Give em hard labor, like making little rocks out of bigger rocks….fer like 12 hours per day, seven days per week….

By GOPs got to go

October 7, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this

Some sacks pay for their off spring’s education into the sack business.

I prefer to visualize the sacks asking “Paper or Plastic?”

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this

Frost 10:46

Are you a paid Dem volunteer or you just can’t concentrate on the subject de jour?

THE KEATING 5 BANKING FIASCO HAS ALREADY BEEN INVESTIGATED. McCain was found to have no involvement. Bad judgment was the worst thing said about McCain in connection with this investigation. There was NO CRIMINAL ACTIVITY involving McCain. Your insinuations are pure propaganda.

Would you not take up space here with misleading information? How about some real Chicago crook involvment like Obama’s buddy and supporter Rezko??

Back to amendments. I have already voted NO on this one.

By GaLiberal

October 7, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this

Moron Jim said: It’s there because the people who get rich by getting government in debt came up with a neat new way to make long-term debt attractive to local politicians.

While I agree with Moron Jim on this point, his ditribe is unsupported. There are many success stories (as there are many failures) where TADs have reviatilitzed areas. Clevelands Flats is a perfect example. A deteroiating bunch of old shipping warehouses was successfully turned into a great waterfront shopping and dining area. Yes, it took a big infusion of city and county money, but it paided off in the long run. Of course, one can point all kinds of fingers at the disaster of Underground. Underground was not a viable project and dumping more money into it was not prudent. There was nothing to attract the bigoted, snobs who work within Atlanta city limits into staying. They wanted to race back to their white gated enclaves in their gas guzzling SUVs and trucks and wash off the stench. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. People just need to be selective about how this money is spent.

That’s the problem with Moron Jim and his Rethuglicon knee-jerk buddies. They take the short view that personally benefits them vs the long view that benefits everyone including their children.

When you vote Rethuglicon, you vote against your own best interests. And Moron Jim’s screed against TADs is living proof.

By ron

October 7, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this

Richard Fuld had his moment in the sun,answering pointy questions from Congress,where he took all credit for the demise of Lehman Bros.He also agreed with himself that he was worth every bit of the $350 million plus,plus that he was paid while doing all the damage.Some others digressed.

He something to the affect that he was counting his bunuses or boni,whatever is the case,and he looked up and the company was gone.Possibly stolen by short sellers.

He did ask one rather pertinent question for which everyone is awaiting the answer.

“How come you bailed out everyone else and left Lehman to sink’?

That’s a question that I think everyone deserves an answer to.

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 11:32 AM | Link to this

Lying Lehman was left hanging because they were the biggest lying scum on lying scumbag street….Someone should slap Fuld silly…ah volunteer,,,slap, pig, slap….have a heart attack Dick….

By Just Checking

October 7, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Dusty, why do the Palins pal around with people who hate America?

Alaska Independence Party founder Joe Vogler: “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her d-mned institutions. The fires of Hell are glaciers compared to my hate for the American government.”

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this

GaLiberal,11:22

Your ignorance is so TIRESOME. Can’t you post ANYTHING without all the stupidity?

Over used ignorance: Rethuglicon, moron, ditribe,bigoted snobs, white gated enclaves, stench, kneejerk buddies, screed

Try to enlarge your decency vocabulary. No one is impressed by a lack of intelligence. Try something else for a change.

By getalife

October 7, 2008 11:41 AM | Link to this

If Jim says vote no then vote yes.

A depression where our government throws trillions at it and keeps the market at 9000 is incredibile.

Insane times.

By Captain Freedom

October 7, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this

THE Captain appreciates the feeble attempts at hecklement that exude from the wafting Dusty, not for the quality of the heckle (which ranks very low indeed), but rather for the role she serves as straight man (no offense, Hellenic Homo!), as parry, as Dino to my Jerry. (ahhhhaaaaaahhhhh, niiiiice laaaaaay-dee)

No, check that. Dusty rather brings to mind the thespian stylings of Margaret Dumont, favorite foil of the Marxist Groucho. Asked why he so enjoyed working with Dumont, Groucho replied, “Because she never knows what the hell is going on around her, but she always acts like she does.” And twas ever thus with Sister D.

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

Just checkin,(from Dem hdqrts)@11:35

Why do the Obamas pal around with jailbirds, bigots and anti-Americans?

Joe Vogler has nothing to do with Sarah Palin. Her husband dropped all connections with Bogler’s group long ago.

Are you a member of the Communist Party?

By Hillbilly Deluxe

October 7, 2008 11:50 AM | Link to this

Amendment 2: Not no but Hell No

This bailout thing doesn’t seem to be going the way it was planned. Anybody know what Plan B is?

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this

getalife 11:41

Getalife stays depressed.

Insanity??

By GayGrayGeek

October 7, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this

Dusty - AFEES, dear. AFEES, or STFU.

One acronym, or the other. Your choice.

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

Hey dirt bag, ya forgot me on your list of most honored….Palin is trailer trash, just like dusty and her ilk….dirty ball has a slightly larger vocab than palin, but lacks the MILF body….

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

Captain Freedom @11:46

It wasn’t funny THE FIRST TIME.

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this

Dusty: R U a gay porn star?

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 11:58 AM | Link to this

GayGrayGeek @11:52

You are beset with senility and repetition.

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this

Hey Dusty: On Sunday, do ya muff dive fer Jesus?

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this

11:53

More trash from Dem locals.

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this

11:59

POFO posturing!!!

By Just Checking

October 7, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this

(note the “g” on the end of the gerund)

Dusty, actually Sarah Palin expanded the definition of “pal around with” when she repeated it over and over regarding the relationship between two people on the same charitable, anti-poverty board, referencing activities that one engaged in during the 60’s while the other was a small child. Therefore, HER use of this example as a fear-mongering tactic justifies the question:

Why did Todd Palin JOIN the AIP in the first place, when the views of the founder and the party were clearly stated?

Do we let bygones be bygones or not? YOU DECIDE, but you can’t have it both ways, Dear.

By Devastator

October 7, 2008 12:05 PM | Link to this

John McCain wants you to forget about his role in our country’s last major financial crisis and costly bailout: the savings and loan crisis of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

But voters deserve to know that the failed philosophy and culture of corruption that created the savings and loan crisis then are alive in the current crisis — and in John McCain’s plans for our economic future.

We just released a short documentary about John McCain’s role in that financial crisis — watch it now and share it with your friends:

http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo

Voters should know the facts about John McCain’s poor judgment — judgment that has twice placed him on the wrong side of history.

Please forward this email to everyone you know.

Thanks,

David

David Plouffe Campaign Manager Obama for America

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this

John (Keating Five Crook) wants controll of your tax money….Guess why?

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this

Just chicken 12:03

Excuses! Excuses for Obama!!

Rezko, bigots galore, criminal contributions, anti-Americanism..OBAMA

YOU DECIDE, dear Godzie..

By Devastator

October 7, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this

Over the weekend, John McCain’s top adviser announced their plan to stop engaging in a debate over the economy and “turn the page” to more direct, personal attacks on Barack Obama.

In the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, they want to change the subject from the central question of this election. Perhaps because the policies McCain supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend.

But it’s not just McCain’s role in the current crisis that they’re avoiding. The backward economic philosophy and culture of corruption that helped create the current crisis are looking more and more like the other major financial crisis of our time.

During the savings and loan crisis of the late ’80s and early ’90s, McCain’s political favors and aggressive support for deregulation put him at the center of the fall of Lincoln Savings and Loan, one of the largest in the country. More than 23,000 investors lost their savings. Overall, the savings and loan crisis required the federal government to bail out the savings of hundreds of thousands of families and ultimately cost American taxpayers $124 billion.

Sound familiar?

In that crisis, John McCain and his political patron, Charles Keating, played central roles that ultimately landed Keating in jail for fraud and McCain in front of the Senate Ethics Committee. The McCain campaign has tried to avoid talking about the scandal, but with so many parallels to the current crisis, McCain’s Keating history is relevant and voters deserve to know the facts — and see for themselves the pattern of poor judgment by John McCain.

So , we’re releasing a 13-minute documentary about the scandal called “Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis” — it is available at KeatingEconomics.com, along with background information that every voter should know.

Watch a preview right now and share it with your friends.

The point of the film and the web site is that John McCain still hasn’t learned his lesson.

And this time, McCain’s bankrupt economic philosophy has put our economy at the brink of collapse and put millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes.

By ButtHead

October 7, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this

This is a very bad idea, betting on future earnings, have we learned nothing? How about we do it the old fashion way, we balance the check book and if we don’t have it you don’t spend it. Learn to say no to all the special interest groups.

By GayGrayGeek

October 7, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

Dusty - if one is to judge a man by the far-in-the-past actions of others, then either it’s

a) Obama is bad due to Ayers AND McCain is bad due to Keating

or

b) neither one matters.

I know that Republican’ts like yourself want to have your cake and eat it too, but this time there’s no $700 billion bailout for you. It’s one standard, for all. Even for Those People.

And, anyway - AFEES or STFU.

By Just Checking

October 7, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

Dusty, why no response to the question? Are you pulling a Sarah P and talking directly to the people instead? (Darn right, we don’t answer questions!) And hey, I’m only asking about the Palins right now…. (there are skeletons in McCain’s closet too, wanna see?) Do we leave the past in the past, or don’t we? We have many hours left to discuss character if you’d prefer that to issues.

Here’s my next question. I know you love America, because you say so. Does your HUSBAND hate America? If so, you could explain to us how Sarah Palin could love America and be married to a man who hates America, or at least “pals around with” people who hate their own country? We’d all welcome the insight on that one.

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this

12:12 Dem Headquarters volunteer

Obama wants ALL YOUR MONEY. Calls it tax cut.

CHANGE means SMALL CHANGE left for YOU… so saith OBAMA!

By Devastator

October 7, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this

Voters’ concerns over the U.S. economic crisis have helped lift Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to a clear lead over Republican rival John McCain, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

The survey, conducted just one month before election day, shows Mr. Obama and running mate Joe Biden with 49% of the vote to 43% for Mr. McCain and Sarah Palin. Eight percent of voters say they support neither man or haven’t decided.

The poll shows that advantage is driven partly by the economy. Fully six in 10 Americans say economic issues are most important to their vote. And by 46% to 29%, voters say they believe Mr. Obama would handle the economy better than Mr. McCain. The poll of 658 registered voters carries a margin for error of 3.8 percentage points.

By 34% to 29%, voters say Mr. Obama’s handling of the financial crisis has left them more reassured about his candidacy rather than less reassured. But Mr. McCain has lost ground during the crisis, with voters saying they’re less reassured about him by a 38% to 25% margin.

The recent presidential debates have also hurt the Republican ticket. By 50% to 29%, voters say Messrs. Obama and Biden have done a better job than Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin in debates so far.

By getalife

October 7, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this

McPalin are the faces of white powder. There are shouts of terrorists, kill him and treason. Sieg Heil Hitler.

Americans are on the edge of insanity and the gun-ammo business is booming.

Somewhere, obl is LOL.

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

12:16 Dem Headquarters

BARNEY FRANK (DEMOCRAT) blocked all efforts by McCain to control gigantic mortgage firms in previous years. Barney Frank(DEMOCRAT) said no controls were needed and nothing was passed.

Quit lying, Devastator.

By MrLiberty

October 7, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this

In California, blighted meant any piece of property not generating enough tax revenue for the scumbags in government to waste. Often it meant empty fields in prime consumer locations.

Yes, this bill is nothing more than a subsidy for developers who wish to take no risk with their own money but who wish to reap all the rewards privately.

Nobody ever asks why an area becomes blighted. Sometimes it is because poor people have been luered by the Community Redevelopment act into loans they cannot afford on houses they will not be able to maintain. Once the maintenance is forgotten, the area begins to look blighted. Then we have the older folks who can no longer affored the rising property taxes. A fixed income cannot compete with these.

If government wants to end blight and encourage revitalization, they need only look at how much they are stealing from the community and the individuals living there.

By Captain Freedom

October 7, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this

THE Captain today re-posted his comparison of Sister Dusty to the late Margaret Dumont for the benefit of those who missed it earlier. For unlike the pifflings of Dusty, which are unworthy of even a first cursory read, THE Captain’s ruminations are acknowledged World Wide as the ne plus ultra of Online Internet Tube prosidy and metaphoric poesy. And THE Captain sheds tears of empathic compasssionate conservatism at the thought that somewhere a starving child might be denied the opportunity to nourish himself at the teat of THE Captain’s mighty pen.

But THE Captain, unlike His Bible, is not inerrant, and would like to confess to a minor error, much as St Johnny Maverick did @10:18 on Wooten’s blog. (And aren’t we blessed that someone like the Former POW and Next President of the USA would stop by and visit Wooten’s blog…talk about your influential journamalists! Betcha Bookman never gets juice like that!)

For indeed, THE Captain did compare Dusty to the great Margaret Dumont, but there are two flaws in the comparison. First, Margaret Dumont was a svelte 185 pounds soaking wet, as compared to Dusty’s inestimable girth. (NASA is at work on a device capable of measuring such.)

Second, Dame Dumont died in 1965. THE Captain regrets that this aspect of the simile is untrue. Deeply.

THE Captain regrets any errors He might make, but still posits that everything He says is 100% truthful and Honorable, just like the Godly Abe McCain.

By Reaity Check

October 7, 2008 12:37 PM | Link to this

Dusty @ 11:28

Why do you dimiss the Palin connection Vogler, But try so hard to connect Obama to Ayers? Obamas association with Ayers was when he first started in politics, The “first dude was as recent as 2002. What about the balance here?

Just asking…..

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this

Just chicken12:21

Obama’s BIG FLAWS are more interesting, doncha think??

Why are YOU interested in my husband? MYOB! He’s not a politician, just a veteran.

Do you have a husband? R U a socialist? Why are you promoting one? Obama resembles one. REZKO IS TALKING!!!!

See ya later, Chicken!! Can’t play the ol’ propaganda ploy with you any more. More important things to do…

By Devastator

October 7, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this

Dusty,

That doesn’t disavow McCain’s role in the S&L scandal nor does it explain his collaboration with the man responsible for it.

By BS Aplenty

October 7, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this

Why Barack Obama Should Not be President

Barack Obama attended the Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois, for almost twenty years. Attended, taught, learned, worshipped and sang along with his wife and children until his abrupt resignation in May 2008. That resignation was brought about due to heightened national awareness of the “nature” of Obama’s congregation. A nature that was further brought into focus by unsavory sermon tapes of former TUCC minister, Jeremiah Wright. But for all the bluster and ignorance reflected in his sermons, Wright’s ranting from the pulpit only hinted at a deeper, more troubling truth about TUCC and Obama.

What is it that made TUCC such a political liability to the first African-American nominated by a major political party? The answer to that question lies in the doctrine and teachings of TUCC. In short, this congregation, unlike ANY other United Church of Christ church in the United States, adopted, endorsed and promotes the doctrine and teachings of one James H. Cone. Cone systematized what has been called black liberation theology as outlined in his two books, the first entitled, Black Theology and Black Power and a follow-on, A Black Theology of Liberation. These are the only two books sold by the Trinity United Church of Christ on its website. TUCC doesn’t sell or give away the BIBLE on its website – a circumstance I find very telling.

The two books mentioned are, to say the least, “interesting” reads. Black Theology and Black Power is the seminal work on black liberation theology and A Black Theology of Liberation is a follow-on. Cone viewed his theology as, “…complete emancipation of black people from white oppression by whatever means black people deem necessary. So-called (white) Christianity, as commonly practiced in the United States, is actually the racist Antichrist.” “Theologically,” Cone affirms, “Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man ‘the devil’.” And, there’s more – much more - but you get the picture.

So there you have it, the principal doctrine endorsed and promoted by the Trinity United Church of Christ teaches the overtly racist sentiments of James H. Cone. The preaching and “ignorance”, as some say, of Wright is shown to be symptomatic of that larger racism and neglects to see that the entire TUCC congregation accepts the doctrine of Cone under the guise of a Christian church. Wright was just a mouthpiece, it’s the congregation, including Obama, which endorsed and promotes this racist doctrine.

ANY person or group that attempts to systematically demonize another group because of race is, by definition, RACIST.

Needless to say for Obama and his presidential campaign by May 2008 the ‘cat was out of the bag’. And, after twenty years of commitment to TUCC, Barack Obama finally, cynically made a decision to leave. A decision his avid campaign supporter, Oprah Winfrey, made several years earlier as she cynically managed a business agenda of her own. One would have to be patently naïve not to understand the motivation behind both departures. Nor is it much of a political stretch to acknowledge the release of these sermon tapes focused attention on the fall-guy, Wright, while diverting a direct, and potentially, campaign-ending blow to Obama.

What one is left after all the media lights have dimmed is this unsettling fact. For twenty years Barack Obama accepted the racist doctrine of his church – twenty years. And, only when this inconvenient truth was brought to national light did he decide that maybe that doctrine was no longer acceptable.

I give you the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama.

By Frost

October 7, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

Bad judgment was the worst thing said about McCain in connection with this investigation.

say that again Dust to Dust

DO U SEE THE CONNECTION BOY??????????

By Palin Pal

October 7, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

“I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her d-mned institutions. The fires of Hell are glaciers compared to my hate for the American government.”

—The preceeding message will be reposted automatically every time a Republican hand job repeats the word Ayers, Rezko, or some other nonsense in an attempt to divert your attention from the very real issues facing Americans today.—

By Dusty

October 7, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this

Oh please, I am laughing all the way out the door.

Captain is well known, truthful and honorable, loves a lady who died in 1965 (the last time he looked at a woman.)!!!

OhOh wa haha ooohooohh Captain is almost better than POFO! Soooo long….

By Devastator

October 7, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this

Talk to your family about why you’re voting Obama. There is no more important voice than your own. Check out My.BarackObama.com/TheTalkfor suggestions, resources, and more information.

Sincerely,

Scott & Martha at Obama HQ

By Devastator

October 7, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this

John McCain wants you to forget about his role in our country’s last major financial crisis and costly bailout: the savings and loan crisis of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

But voters deserve to know that the failed philosophy and culture of corruption that created the savings and loan crisis then are alive in the current crisis — and in John McCain’s plans for our economic future.

We just released a short documentary about John McCain’s role in that financial crisis — watch it now and share it with your friends:

http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo

Voters should know the facts about John McCain’s poor judgment — judgment that has twice placed him on the wrong side of history.

Please forward this email to everyone you know.

Thanks,

David

David Plouffe Campaign Manager Obama for America

By GayGrayGeek

October 7, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this

I find it amazing, amusing, and amazingly amusing that the right-wingers, paleocons and Republican’ts on this blog consider church-going to be such a Bad Thing.

By hillbilly ragger

October 7, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this

To see how “BS Aplenty” lives up to its name @ 12.42 I give you — an actual link to the Trinity UCC website’s books for sale.

Try to find the one that’s got his panties in a twist. Good luck!

By Captain Freedom

October 7, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this

While THE Captain in His near-inerrancy considers the “writing” “style” of BS Aplenty would be an embarrasment to any rider of a grade school short bus, He applauds the bull slinger’s diligence in trying to alert America to the fact that Obamandingo is a boogety boogety blackity black scary negro person.

How deftly sneaky of Obamandingo and Oprahmandingo to actually CUT TIES with their Church. It is not only suspicious, but it also proves that they are cut-n’runners. Not like Our Gal Sarah, who maintains close ties with her fellow congregant snake handlers and faith healers.

Nothing sneaky there…Sarah Plain does not care if you know that she attends a church where black “preachers” are encouraged to put their hands all over Our White Women in an attempt to cast the witchery away and guarantee electoral triumph. And she has never tried to hide that fact that her First Dude is an Alaska First Patriot who supported secession from the USA. Why, she was so forthrightly upfront about this that she has appeared before this proto-terrorist cabal several times as governor. She doesn’t sneak around like Obama Hussein. (Notice THE Captain quit talking about Oprah. He is no fool, and has no wish to wake up with a horse’s head in his bed.)

Now some Islamatheistoliberals would suggest that quitting a church and renouncing a preacher is a sign of burgeoning reason and independent intelligence, but THE Captain says horse hockey mom to that claptrap and says HE does not trust any man or not-man person who is not willing to give his or not-his life over to a bundle of insupportable superstition and shy fairy woo. And neither does Sarah Plain, who said today, “those who believe that yes, it is man’s actions that sometimes give what the climate does from God’s hand with the airspace above Alaska and also our beautiful coastline, where Putin, whose names kind of rhymes with Satan didja ever notice that Katie Couric, also instead of filtered through the filter also which is a natural process. Thank you, Jacksonville, and also the State of Florida which God has blessed with a whole buncha those electoral vote thingies, godblessya.”

Perhaps Dusty can translate?

By Carbon F.

October 7, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this

Is Wooten suggesting that there are faceless nameless crooks who use government to enrich themselves? I’m mortified! Hell, if they weren’t crooks, they wouldn’t let them run for office. It’s only because of honor among thieves that nobody gets caught.

What is the mission in Afghanistan now?

Afghanistan demonstrates nearly as clearly as Iraq why a mission needs to be defined succinctly. The mission in Afghanistan was to capture or kill Bin Laden, destroy AL Queda, (starting to get vague here), and neutralize the Taliban, (starting to get very vague). Then we’d install a friendly government, (starting to get impossible here), and hopefully stick around long enough to ensure that the government we install can long endure, (starting to get stupid here).

What is the mission of US troops in Afghanistan?

Similarly,

What is the mission of the Bailout? To prevent the impossibly bleak scenario that “experts” badgered congress with?

It seems Republican Administrations do things for no good reason. Republicans. If I hear one more person say that it’s good the surge is working….or what? What does the surge’s success imply about the planning for future offensive campaigns in Iraq? What does it mean in terms of what stage of the war we’re in? What is the mission of US troops in Iraq?

It’s America’s 4 second attention span that allows the polls to be as close as they are.

Is there no consequence for foolhardiness?

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this

Ignorant SL*T Dusty: I never, ever volunteer fer anything, I act alone and with wanton disregard for all….so shove it up there with the rest of your brains…the exit only chute….

By Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST

October 7, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this

This is a cut & paste from the insider where everyone is jumping on Saxby about a commercial that is to put it delicately not the truth.

By JAY

October 7, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this

IF HE CAN FORCAST THE FUTURE BY SAYING A YES VOTE WOULD BEAT A DEPRESSION, THEN HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO STOP FANNIE & MAC FROM THEIR MELT DOWN.CHAMBLISS HAS BECOME JUST ANOTHER CLOSET SOCIALIST.HE ALSO SAID HE VOTED YES TO SAVE WALL STREET, I HAD NO IDEA THAT WALL STREET PUT HIM IN OFFICE. HE & JOE [STAND UO CHUCK] BIDEN MUST HAVE THE SAME DNA——-

By getalife

October 7, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this

McPalin rallies are turning into Hitler like, white powder, rallies.

When their kooks shout out terrorist, kill him, treason and McPalin say nothing,that is unAmerican and unpatriotic leadership.

They want to kill the next President of our country. The Secret Service should arrest these failed leaders for inciting violence on our next President.

Send them and their kooks to Gitmo. I told you they are dangerous and insane.

By Republicans R Crooks

October 7, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

The only chance Captain has of not being rejected as a dork is to luv a dead lady….but wait, she is turning over in her grave, screaming “NO, git that dork away from my dead body.” Rejected again, Dork Cap…..