Listening to Harry Reid/Chris Dodd news conference...

I don't know how they can stand up there and lie through their teeth like that...blaming the White House and Republicans for this financial debacle.  They know that is a lie.  They know, especially Chris Dodd, was central to this.  Also mentioned Barney Frank.  Good grief.  The hypocrisy is staggering.  They should be talking about getting us out of this mess....just yesterday they were saying don't play the blame game.  Telling McCain not to politicize it while they are politicizing it.  That man makes my skin crawl. 

And saying there was a "deal" and McCain blew it up.  The only "deal" was among senators...the only house person present could not negotiate.  He just had to listen.  If they had the plan and had gone to the house with it, then the house would have blocked it there and hours if not days would have been wasted.  Amazing the gall of some folks.  Ridiculous!!!

Why can't they all stop the political posturing and just fix this mess.  The House is only reacting to the onslaught of emails from their constituents saying protect us here, we don't like this carte blanche 700 billion.  I for one am GLAD at least the Republicans in the house said whoa wait just a minute here. 

• Listening to Harry Reid/Chris Dodd news conference... - sam
  • I'm tired of the blame game myself. - Chele
  • I'm watching a few minutes behind - sbMT
    • Yes...this is the same Harry Reid who took to the microphones... - sam
      • This post is laughable and pitiful - me
        • The suspension of his campaign was laughable - What suspension?
          • He left the campaign trail to go to washington... - sam
        • I use your words...this response is laughable... - sam

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Such a jerk! I truly hope the O can out manuever him. He's worse than Pelosi and Barney Fife put together.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123206643514588079.html

FLASHBACK: Dem Senate Leader Harry Reid: 'Our Federal Wallet Stretched To Limit By Illegal Aliens Getting Welfare'

'Even worse, Americans have seen heinous crimes committed by individuals who are here illegally'

August 5, 1993

The Office of Sen. Harry Reid issued the following:

In response to increased terrorism and abuse of social programs by aliens, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today introduced the first and only comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress.

Currently, an alien living illegally in the United States often pays no taxes but receives unemployment, welfare, free medical care and other federal benefits. Recent terrorist acts, including the World Trade Center bombing, have underscored the need to keep violent criminals out of the country.

Reid's bill, the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993, overhauls the nation's immigration laws and calls for a massive scale-down of immigrants allowed into the country from approximately 800,000 to 300,000.

The bill also changes asylum laws to prevent phony asylum seekers. Reid said the U.S. open door policy is being abused at the expense of honest, working citizens.

We are a country founded upon fairness and justice, Reid said. An individual in real threat of torture or long-term incarceration because of his or her political beliefs can still seek asylum. But this bill closes the door to those who want to abuse America's inherent generosity and legal system.

Reid's bill also cracks down on illegal immigration. The 1990 census reported 3.3 million illegal aliens in America. Recent estimates indicate about 2.5 million immigrants illegally entered the United States last year.

Our borders have overflowed with illegal immigrants placing tremendous burdens on our criminal justice system, schools and social programs, Reid said. The Immigration and Naturalization Service needs the ability to step up enforcement.

Our federal wallet is stretched to the limit by illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, medical care and other benefits often without paying any taxes.

Safeguards like welfare and free medical care are in place to boost Americans in need of short-term assistance. These programs were not meant to entice freeloaders and scam artists from around the world. Even worse, Americans have seen heinous crimes committed by individuals who are here illegally, Reid said.

Specific provisions of Reid's Immigration Stabilization Act include the following:

-- Reduces annual legal immigration levels from approximately 800,000 admissions per year to about 300,000. Relatives other than spouse or minor children will be admitted only if already on immigration waiting lists and their admission does not raise annual immigration levels above 300,000.

-- Reforms asylum rules to prevent aliens from entering the United States illegally under phony asylum claims.

-- Expands list of felonies considered aggravated felonies requiring exclusion and deportation of criminal aliens. Allows courts to order deportation at time of sentencing.

-- Increases penalties for failing to depart or re-entering the United States after a final order of deportation order. Increases maximum penalties for visa fraud from five years to 10 years.

-- Curtails alien smuggling by authorizing interdiction and repatriation of aliens seeking to enter the United States unlawfully by sea. Increases penalties for alien smuggling.

-- Adds alien smuggling to the list of crimes subject to sanctions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Expands the categories of property that are forfeited when used to facilitate the smuggling or harboring of illegal aliens.

-- Clarifies that a person born in the United States to an alien mother who is not a lawful resident is not a U.S. citizen. This will eliminate incentive for pregnant alien women to enter the United States illegally, often at risk to mother and child, for the purpose of acquiring citizenship for the child and accompanying federal financial benefits.

-- Mandates that aliens who cannot demonstrably support themselves without public or private assistance are excludable. This will prevent admission of aliens likely to be dependent on public financial support. This requirement extends to the sponsor of any family sponsored immigrant.

-- Increases border security and patrol officers to 9,900 full-time positions.

END

"People are angry about bailouts, but would be more upset if the big 3 go under."

I hope they put his info on the news. I just can't type fast enough to cover it and don't want to put words in his mouth. The hearing was 6 hours long! Whew!

What I got from most of it was that GM and Ford have unsecured debt while Chrysler has secured debt and that the Chrysler CEO would step down if that would help his company.  Wagoner (GM) and Gettlefinger are working together and GM keeps defending the UAW.

"Bankruptcy is the wrong approach," Dodd says. "There is concensus that inaction is not an option and the concensus is that we are not going to write a check without stipulations. My sense is that I have a working situation here and I'm going to get it done.... I need the federal reserve and the treasury to step up."

On the other bailouts, "I am through giving them money. I still have 9.000 people a day losing their homes and they (I think he's talking about Paulson) still haven't done anything about it."

First, he's talking about Iran. They say he is going to talk about health insurance, the economy, etc.

It's getting scarier and scarier every day.

By the way, there is a web page for people who want to thank Harry Taylor for speaking out unless they're afraid Bush's goons will come after them for doing so.  Normally, I would have been afraid of being targeted by the government for being a *Bush enemy* (definition:  anyone who disagrees with Bush policies) and I wouldn't have signed it.  However, if I'm going to die, anyway, of radiation from his nuclear war, I'm beginning to just not care any more.  The site is http://www.thankyouharrytaylor.org/

Every politician in Congress (except Murtha and Feingold) seems to be paralyzed when it comes to this President.  Maybe there's some truth to Senator Byrd's book *Losing America* where he asserts that the White House knows if any congressman was unfaithful to their spouse, ever visited a pornsite on the web, has any fetishes, pecadillos, idiosyncrasies, etc. and would blackmail that politician with such knowledge.  Given his known *dirty-trick politics,* such behavior would seem to follow Bush's modus operandi. 

both say they demand a PLAN from all three before they will agree to give them any money, that they wanted full accountability and transparency.  (I had to DOUBLE-CHECK to make sure it WAS Pelosi and Reid I was hearing.)

I think this is a good idea.  Maybe if those conditions had been applied to Paulson, the Wall Street crooks would have had to toe the line a bit.  Instead, sadly, Wall Street gets a blank check, NO oversight, NO transparency, and Paulson keeps changing his mind about what to do with the money.

I don't want to see America lose GM, Ford or Chrysler.  They have the technology available to them to manufacture cars that can get 50 miles per gallon.  (I bought one in the mid 1980s.)  Maybe they need to spruce up the old ཽ Mustangs, or even the beloved ཱུ Chevies with that kind of gas mileage for those of us who can't afford the expensive hybrids they want to offer. 

The main problem, though, seems to be the arrogance of the CEOs of these companies (particularly with the private jet issues).  One of these CEOs (I can't remember his name now) was asked if he would resign if it was for the good of the company, and he flatly refused and indicated there was nothing wrong with his performance.  In my opinion, the cockier their attitude, the less they may be likely to get.

The other option of bankruptcy would force restructuring, and I believe would force out the incompetent CEOs and managers, developing a viable plan and starting from scratch, while still operating and not needing to lay off so many workers.

I've known for well over a year now that we were in a recession.  I used to watch the Dow every day, did a happy dance and sang a little song (with apologies to Neil Sadaka):  "Dow, doobie do, Dow down.  Come on, Come on, Dow, doobie do, Dow down.  Goin' broke is hard to do."

I think those of us with the least noticed this trend a long, long time ago.  I realized then that until and unless the richest of the rich started to feel the "pinch," people like us would never have a chance because we were the invisible Americans.  (I guess this is the "bottom-up theory.")

In a convoluted sort of way, this might help some Americans.  I know it's going to hurt a lot of people, as well, but the less money people can spend, the more prices will be forced to go down.  That old "what the market will bear" kind of thing.  So working from the "bottom up," as Obama has mentioned, seems to go along with the way I've been thinking this for a long time now.

Regulations must be put back in place regarding Wall Street.   They all will be getting their Christmas bonuses this year -- quite hefty ones -- and you and I are paying for them.  Meanwhile, Christmas in my home is looking very bleak this year.

I read somewhere that the CEO of any company, by law, shouldn't be allowed to earn more than the President of the United States earns.

Sounds like a good place to start.

My wishes for a great evening to you all. 

If I didn't lose count, that's #8 since he was elected. Do I have to listen to 4 years of this?  Or is this just about chosing his cabinet and if so, did he fill all the spots yet?

I can read. I don't need to see him except when he takes questions from reporters.

FYI, I never listened to GW's press conferences either. I can't stand canned speeches.

slipped that in as well.  Not a big shock since he was the highest recipient of contributions from AIG.  He slipped that in and things were passed so fast that no one could catch it and now everyone is crying outrage.  I'm sure Obama is glad this was snuck in so he could repay AIG back for his second highest contributions...right under Dodd.  Jerks! 

They should have let AIG fall.  I'm so sick and tired of bailing out companies.  We need to start letting them file bankruptcy and restructure.  Maybe then....they will start handling their money better.  While government keeps bailing them out, they aren't going to change their ways.  They are just going to keep asking for government handouts while the big execs get rich.

x

Here is NPR's write up of today's press conference by the president for those who would like a quick run down.  I just listened to it.  Made me nauseous.

WASHINGTON December 4, 2007, 1:04 p.m. ET · President Bush said Tuesday that the international community should continue to pressure Iran on its nuclear programs, asserting Tehran remains dangerous despite a new intelligence conclusion that it halted its development of a nuclear bomb four years ago.

"I view this report as a warning signal that they had the program, they halted the program," Bush said. "The reason why it's a warning signal is they could restart it."

Bush spoke one day after a new national intelligence estimate found that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003, largely because of international scrutiny and pressure. That finding is in stark contrast to the comparable intelligence estimate of just two years ago, when U.S. intelligence agencies believed Tehran was determined to develop a nuclear weapons capability and was continuing its weapons development program.

It is also stood in marked contrast to Bush's rhetoric on Iran. At his last news conference on Oct. 17, for instance, he said that people "interested in avoiding World War III" should be working to prevent Iran from having the knowledge needed to make a nuclear weapon.

Bush said Tuesday that he only learned of the new intelligence assessment last week. But he portrayed it as valuable ammunition against Tehran, not as a reason to lessen diplomatic pressure.

"To me, the NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) provides an opportunity for us to rally the international community — to continue to rally the community — to pressure the Iranian regime to suspend its program," the president said. "What's to say they couldn't start another covert nuclear weapons program."

He also asserted that the report means "nothing's changed," focusing on the previous existence of a weapons program and not addressing the discrepancy between his rhetoric and the disclosure that weapons program has been frozen for four years.

Bush said he is not troubled about his standing, about perhaps facing a credibility gap with the American people. "No, I'm feeling pretty spirited — pretty good about life," Bush said.

"I have said Iran is dangerous, and the NIE doesn't do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world."

Bush said the report's finding would not prompt him to take a U.S. military option against Tehran off the table.

"The best diplomacy — effective diplomacy — is one in which all options are on the table," he said.

The president also said that the world would agree with his message that Iran shouldn't be let off the hook yet.

In fact, Europeans said the new information strengthens their argument for negotiations with Tehran, but they also said that sanctions are still an option to compel Iran to be fully transparent about its nuclear program. European officials insisted that the international community should not walk away from years of talks with an often defiant Tehran that is openly enriching uranium for uncertain ends. The report said Iran could still build a nuclear bomb by 2010-2015.

In Kabul, Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates reinforced the U.S. position that the new U.S. intelligence assessment shows that Tehran remains a possible threat. He said it shows that Iran has had a nuclear weapons program and that as long as the country continues with its uranium enrichment activities, Iran could always renew its weapons program.

The U.S. intelligence assessment "validated the administration's strategy of bringing diplomatic and economic efforts to bear on Iran," Gates said Tuesday, speaking at a news conference with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.

Bush called the news conference, his first in nearly seven weeks, to intensify pressure on lawmakers amid disputes over spending and the Iraq war. Taking advantage of his veto power and the largest bully pulpit in town, Bush regularly scolds Congress as a way to stay relevant and frame the debate as his presidency winds down.

Democrats counter that Bush is more interested in making statements than genuinely trying to negotiate some common ground with them.

Specifically, Bush again on Tuesday challenged Congress to send him overdue spending bills; to approve his latest war funding bill without conditions; to pass a temporary to fix to the alternative minimum tax so millions of taxpayers don't get hit with tax increases; and to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

"Congress still has a lot to do," Bush said. "It doesn't have very much time to do it."

On another matter, Bush was asked about a rape victim in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man not related to her — a violation of the kingdom's strict segregation of the sexes. Saudi Arabia has faced enormous international criticism about the sentencing.

"My first thoughts were these," Bush said. "What happens if this happens to my daughter? How would I react? And I would have been — I'd of been very emotional, of course. I'd have been angry at those who committed the crime. And I'd be angry at a state that didn't support the victim."

Bush, however, said he has not made his views known directly to Saudi King Abdullah, an ally. But he added: "He knows our position loud and clear."

The president said the U.S. economy is strong, though he acknowledged that the housing crisis has become a "headwind." He said administration officials are working on the issue, but he is wary of bailing out lenders. "We shouldn't say, 'OK, you made a lousy loan so we're going to go ahead and subsidize you.' "

Asked about the 2008 election, Bush steered himself back out of commenting on politics. "I practiced some punditry in the past — I'm not going to any further."

On other issues, Bush said:

—"The Venezuelan people rejected one-man rule" when they rejected a constitutional provision that would have enabled Hugo Chavez to remain in power for life and drive changes throughout Venezuelan society. "They voted for democracy."

—He talked by telephone Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and briefed him on the new Iran intelligence estimate. Bush also said he told Putin that "we were sincere in our expressions of concern" about irregularities in the voting that produced a sweeping parliamentary victory for Putin's party.

—He has "cordial relations" with Democratic leaders of Congress despite the sharp words between the White House and Capitol Hill. He blamed Democrats for the lack of compromises, saying, "In order for us to be able to reach accord, they got to come with one voice, one position."

If history is still allowed to be accurate generations from now, this is how the inception of America, the evangelical theocracy, should be documented.

From: http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110007415
JOHN FUND ON THE TRAIL

Judgment Call
Did Christian conservatives receive assurances that Miers would oppose Roe v. Wade?

Monday, October 17, 2005 12:01 a.m.

Two days after President Bush announced Harriet Miers's Supreme Court nomination, James Dobson of Focus on the Family raised some eyebrows by declaring on his radio program: When you know some of the things that I know--that I probably shouldn't know--you will understand why I have said, with fear and trepidation, that I believe Harriet Miers will be a good justice.

pinned him to the wall like a bug (no offense to bugs out there).  Intersting also that he mentioned McCain's former policy chief (or something) Tori Clark wrote a book with the name.  I love to see the hyocrites squirm. it sends a thrill up my leg.

take - reelection.  He said Obama would surely win  because what Kenyan ever lost a race?

to run for office?  Old rumor, but if true I am delighted.  We are once again attracting decent, intelligent individuals with true patriotism for government service.  Obama's positive impact on our nation just keeps going and going . . .

labeled combative.  He has an opinion show.  When he asks a question and the guest regurgitates a talking point or avoids answering the question, Mathews holds his/her feet to the fire.  Remember what the press is for?  Finding the truth?