Simple Man Politics

We are just four days away from what I believe is the most important Presidential Election of my lifetime. The two opposing campaigns are doing just what you would expect them to do, which is attacking each other. They are both trying to discredit each other in the hopes that they can either scare you into voting for them or make the other look like such a liar that you won't trust them. Like I said for the campaigns they are maintaining the status quo that I expect with the same modus operandi that every campaign uses this close to election day.

We all know that each party's base is going to vote for that party's candidate. The real important voters in this election are people like me, the NPA's, (No Party Affiliation) independent voters, and maybe some Reagan Democrats and moderate conservatives.

I am not sure how the female vote is going to go, but this is due to the fact that those voters in that demographic have not reacted to Sarah Palin as it was intended they do. Add that to the fact that men are from Mars and women are from.....well I don't know for sure where they are from so I never try to understand them anyway. I just say yes ma'am or yes dear and go on about my business, and hope that at the end of the day I haven't screwed up and that they might agree with me on issues I consider important. Luckily for me my significant other and I are usually in sync, which generally bodes well for me.

All I really have left to say unless something that I think is really important happens and needs me to blog about it is that I firmly believe that you should get out and vote. I don't care if you are a Republican or Democrat or whatever. Now is the time for you to decide what you believe in, where you stand, and make your voice heard.

I firmly believe that the right to vote is the most important right we as Americans have. This is how we choose those who speak for us and defend us against the bad guys in this world who would do us and our friends great harm. The vote is also how we right the wrongs that are done to us or who will do us wrong by those who represent us in all levels of our government. From the towns we live in all the way to the most powerful position in the world at 1600 West Pennsylvania Ave, they all have to answer to us before they get to have their power. At least on election day the people have the power and we should not be hesitant to use it.

I am going to get down off of my soapbox now and go about my business just like all of you. whatever else you do after you read this, take a moment and think very carefully about what I have said here today. I know this blog hasn't been earth shattering or controversial today but it has all been my true feelings as well as just plain true. For me all of this is just simple logic for a simple man trying to keep politics simple. I hope I am sometimes successful in that regard. Get out and vote on November 4th, 2008 and remember that our founding fathers wanted that freedom for you.

Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you all on Monday CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Before I get started on today's blog I want to give a shout out to the Philadelphia Phillies, way to go on winning the World Series boys. That's number 2 in the last 126 years don't wait so long for the next one.

Now it's time for the blog.

I know I got a little bit long winded yesterday and I'm sorry about that, but I thought that those people deserved a little bit of constructive criticism as well as some truth. I won't be so long winded today.....I think.

Last night Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama gave his 30 minute prime time infomercial to the country. He bought the same time slot on several different cable and network channels to accomplish his goal of reaching as many Americans as possible. I found the entire production to be very well made. I also noticed that he made himself appear a lot more human and less of an elitist, which I think was a goal in this production he put on.

The show revolves around the lives of four different families and the hardships that they are having to endure. The stories of these very typical American families are heart warming and heart wrenching. Like every other middle class family in the country they are having to deal with problems and make decisions that have a serious and profound effect on them. My heart really goes out to them and I can identify with them. Life is hard and it has gotten harder over the last eight years.

However there are a few things that everyone who has an ounce of common sense knows. No one ever said life is going to be easy. No one ever said life is going to be fair. No one ever said you are entitled to go to college. No one ever said that you are entitled to health care. No one ever said you are entitled to the American dream. No one ever said just those things to me or any one else I know.

What people with common sense will tell you is that you can have at least a good life if not an easy one, you can have a good education, you can have quality health care, and you can have the American dream, if you are willing to work hard everyday and earn these things you can have them. The United States of America is not intended to be a land of entitlement.

Like I said I found Obama's infomercial to be very well made and he stated his case as best as he could in the show. I would like to say that I have learned something new about the mans policies but I did not. He didn't say anything in the entire 30 minutes that he hasn't said for the last 21 months of his campaign he just polished up his speech. he also afforded himself the opportunity at great financial expense to put forth his ideas without having to answer any questions about how he plans to accomplish all the things he promises. I guess he felt that no new news is good news for his campaign.

That is all I have to say about this subject. I am including the link for the full 30 minute infomercial at the bottom of this post. The link will direct you to all 4 parts of the infomercial. There is also a very cool music video at the end of the show. I hope you all watch the video so you can see what a charismatic speaker and showman he really is. He is quite possibly the greatest political orator of our time.

Have an excellent Thursday and I will see you all again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Today I am going to do something different and not concentrate solely on the Presidential candidates. I want to talk about some other political figures as well. I hope you all are ready because I'm going to jump right in and get started.

Barney Frank my favorite little fat man from Massachusetts is my first subject for today. The Democratic Congressman and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has been in the news a little bit lately but not enough to suit me. This pompous, arrogant, ignorant, snake oil salesman got his job during the Democratic takeover of the lower house in 2006. since then he has been one of those responsible for the collapse of Freddy Mac, Fanny Mae, AIG, and Lehman Brothers.

I say he is responsible for the simple fact that when he took over as chairman of the house committee responsible for regulation and oversight of financial institutions and the financial market he stood by and did nothing to avert the current crisis in those areas. At first he said there was nothing wrong with these companies and that the fundamentals of Freddy and Fanny were strong. Then when the defecation contacted the rotary oscillator he immediately blamed the republicans and their policy of deregulation, which is a fallacy created by Frank and others in his party to divert the blame from those like Frank who are responsible to those who were not.

Not only was Barney and others in congress and the senate warned there was a big problem by people like McCain and some in the financial industry but they already knew it and did nothing because they benefited from these companies financially. I think this idiot should at the very least be removed from his chairmanship and with any luck lose his reelection bid for his congressional seat.

Another one that deserves to be cast out on is backside is Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. This recently convicted federal felon is currently in a run for reelection to his senate seat. He was convicted of corruption and bribery involving 250k in renovations to his home in exchange for political favors. he is one of those members of the "good ole boy network" in Washington and Alaska that we have heard McCain and Palin say they were going to get rid of. I think the party shouldn't even wait and cast him out of the GOP now. If by some miracle he manages to win reelection he should be removed from the senate to. I don't want this crook with his hands on the taxpayers purse strings.'

Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania is another figure who has come to the forefront of the public eye in politics recently. This man who has been in public service for more than 30 years and is a former marine who has my thanks for his service to the nation,(OOOOORAH!!!!!) has been making outrageous statements for the last few years starting with the Haditha incident in which he said that 8 marines were guilty of murder in a massacre there although 7 of the 8 marines have been acquitted and only one is still under investigation and is charged with manslaughter. He has recently made such outrageous statements that his own constituency is both racist and redneck because they probably wont throw the handle for Obama. I think this is political suicide in his own district and I hope so, considering he is up for reelection to. I think it is time for this patriot flawed though he may be to step down and keep whatever dignity he has left, which probably isn't much.

Lets take a look at a media outlet now and I don't mean NBC, MSNBC, or CNN. Lets look at the Los Angeles Times. They claim to be in possession of a video tape of Barack Obama at a farewell dinner for Professor Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi is a former spokesperson for the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) an organization that our own government considers a terrorist organization. This video purportedly contains footage of Obama praising this man. The LA Times says that they won't release the video because it would jeopardize the identity of their informant. Apparently they will release the video after the election though. It seems at that point their informant won't be in any danger. Why not release it now the world is well aware of Obamas ties to this man as well as Bill Ayers who was also in attendance. Could this video cause irreparable damage to the Obama campaign if it were released. I am sure if there was a video of McCain with a white supremacy group they would not hesitate to release that for public consumption. i am sensing a double standard here.....really I am.

It has also been noted that under McCains own chairmanship the International Republican Institute repeatedly funded the Center for Palestine Research and Studies an organization founded by Rashid Khalidi. I am very interested in Johns straight talk response to this.

That's all I have for right now. I hope it will make you guys seriously consider your choice for President. If you live in Alaska, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania and are unlucky enough to be represented by Frank, Stevens, or Murtha I really hope you seriously consider not voting for those idiots. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Welcome back my friends to another installment of Simple Man Politics on this Tuesday the 28th of October 2008. As I promised today I have something more interesting to write about than the money spent on Sarah Palins campaign wardrobe. today I'm going to talk about Barack Obama's redistribution of wealth policy and I have it in Barack Obama's own words. I think you will be very surprised when you hear what he has to say.

In 2001 when Barack Obama was still a state senator in Illinois he gave a radio interview in which he discussed redistribution of wealth and the supreme courts inaction in making this happen. in the interview he also stated that he thought that redistribution of wealth was now an administrative task and might possibly be mandated legislatively.

Another thing he said in this interview was that the constitution was written to say what the federal government and state governments can't do to you but not what government should do for you on your behalf. What he basically said is that it is a tragedy that the constitution has not been more radically interpreted to force the redistribution of wealth. He believes that the Warren court was not radical enough in its interpretation of the constitution and missed an opportunity to make the redistribution of wealth a mandate.

I am not going to say any more on this subject today. Instead I am going to leave you with an audio recording of the interview which also contains a video at the end that rebuts Obama's own words. I hope you will give this recording a good listen to. I have listened to it at least three times and I am not in the least bit surprised that this is how Obama really feels. He has made it clear since he started his campaign that he wants to redistribute other peoples wealth. He wants to take it from those who have worked hard to earn their money and reward those who haven't earned that money by giving it to them. This is exactly what a socialist program looks like.

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday and I will see you again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Eight days to go my friends till election day. Can you believe that with that in mind the only thing the Democrats can talk about is Sarah Palins wardrobe, is this really an issue? What with the economy in the toilet, two wars, and Wall Street going south they are bitching about the RNC spending a 150K on clothes for their VP nominee when most of these ego maniacal, elitist, superstar wannabes spend that on a yearly or even semi annual basis on their own wardrobes without giving it a second thought. This is virtually all I heard about in the news all weekend. As Ron White says "you can't fix stupid".

If you look at what the politicians are wearing today you will swear to god that you have never seen more Armani, Saville Row, Hong Kong tailoring in all of your born days and that's just on the gentlemen in the public eye of the political arena. the women are even more outrageous wearing the latest one of kind designer outfits where just one outfit may cost at least 1/4 to 1/3 of the price the RNC spent on an entire wardrobe.

The scary part in all of this is that this is even being talked about at all. The liberal news media can't talk about it enough, salivating like the rabid dogs that they are for any chance to attack a woman who didn't do the shopping, didn't spend the money, and doesn't even own the clothing. Apparently this is more news worthy than the market sinking to its lowest point in more than five years after a 700 billion dollar bailout bill was passed, which should never have even been proposed let alone passed.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can think of a lot more important things i want to hear about from the news outlets, campaigns, and spin doctors than this. Well maybe I don't want to hear the spin doctors, but you all get my drift. One example of what I would like to hear from Obama is what will he do if we are attacked right here on our own soil. Another is what he will do if our allies such as Israel or the United Kingdom are attacked also.

Well this is all I have to rant about for today.....so far. If anything even remotely news worthy happens today I might write another post for all of you. Otherwise I will see all of you tomorrow with a topic just a little more important than this tripe I was forced to write about today. Have as good a Monday as possible CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Welcome to the Friday edition of Simple Man Politics. I have been waiting for suggestions from all of you my readers as to what I should write about on Friday's. This is an attempt to get all of you involved. It is also an attempt to explore ideas and spark debate. However since I have had no suggestions for this Friday's post I have decided to write about the Fairness Doctrine.

The Fairness Doctrine was a US FCC (Federal Communications Commission) policy. The policy required those who hold broadcast licenses to two things. One it required them to present controversial issues that were considered important publicly and two to do so honestly. The Fairness Doctrine was introduced to the US in 1949 and was abolished in 1987.

The reason that the Fairness Doctrine was abolished by the FCC in a 4-0 vote in the Syracuse Peace Council was because they found that the enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine by the government with regard to content programming restricted the journalistic freedom of broadcasters. This decision was upheld by the Appeals Court for the DC District in 1989.

In 1987 the Democrat controlled congress attempted to codify the Fairness Doctrine but then President Ronald Reagan vetoed the legislation. In 1991 the Democrat controlled congress attempted to revive the legislation but under threat of veto by President George H. W. Bush the movement died.

There is now some support for re instituting the Fairness Doctrine. People like Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Congressperson Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)just to name three are very interested in bringing back the Fairness Doctrine. The reason for that is their stated belief that commentators should have to offer opposing points of political view. they also believe that the Fairness Doctrine should be applied to websites, bloggers, cable TV, and satellite radio. Basically anyone or anything that offers political commentary like me.

there is opposition to the Fairness Doctrine as well. many prominent libertarians and conservatives oppose the Fairness Doctrine saying that it is an attempt by the Democrats who hate the success of conservative talk radio and have nothing but contempt for conservative commentators. The opposition also says that the Fairness Doctrine could include government dictated content policy, which means telling broadcasters and commentators what they can and cannot say. The opposition forces against the Fairness Doctrine will also tell you that media scarcity, liberal viewpoints being stymied at the corporate level, and public interests are all myths. it is important to note at this time that the Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama is against reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

The liberal democrats have the 3 major broadcasting companies ABC, NBC, and CBS firmly ensconced in their back pockets as well as MSNBC and CNN on cable outlets. They also have a host of Internet and print outlets that cater to their Socialist, Marxist, liberal ideology. The real reason they want the Fairness Doctrine back is to use it as a club to attack the right wing conservative broadcasters and commentators because they are consistently more successful at getting their message out in the venues they choose to occupy.

Fox news destroys its competition daily in the ratings war, with people like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity leading the way over there. In talk radio you have personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, and Dr. Michael Savage who constantly attack the left on the issues with facts that are indisputable and as a result the left cannot successfully defend themselves. The conservative print media is just as effective with publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, and Roll call on the front lines in the print war.

I personally believe that the Fairness Doctrine is a bad piece of legislation that may have been necessary at its inception but has no place in our current media culture. From one end of the media spectrum to the other you can find political points of view from both sides of the political arena. This attempt to resuscitate the Fairness doctrine is the lefts chance to destroy all of it's opposition while it is in power in both houses of Congress. They will not brook any successful opposition to them if they can help it. I believe that this is because they fear the truth.

That is all for today and this week my friends. I will see you all again on Monday. Have a fabulous weekend CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I did a piece on the legitimacy of Barack Obama as a President of the United States yesterday based upon whether or not he was a natural born citizen of the United States or not. I found an image of a Hawaiian Certification of Live Birth on line. The document is dated May 14th 1930, approximately thirty one years before Barack Obama was born.

There are some similarities and some discrepancies between the two documents. Because of this I felt it only fair to connect this blog to yesterdays blog so you can compare the two documents. You can decide for yourself whether you think Obama's Certification of Live Birth is valid or not. After what I have seen from the opposing document I am not so sure that Obama's is valid. Experts will tell you though and I agree it is hard to compare photocopies or downloaded images with regard to authenticity or validity.

Anyway here they are you decide. Have an awesome day CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. If I don't get any suggestions for the Friday blog I will be writing about the Fairness Doctrine and its possible impact on free speech.

The topic for discussion today is the legitimacy or lack there of of an Obama Presidency should he be elected. I was not going to write about this subject today but I keep getting emails and information from certain political groups that I have an association with regarding this subject. the reason for this line of questioning from some political groups and private citizens revolves around his supposed lack of US citizenship. As you might already know you can't become President of the United States if you were not born in the US.

There is a serious question about Obama's birth certificate. Some say that it is not a birth certificate. The reason some people are challenging this document is the fact the it has no official seal stamp from the State of Hawaii upon it and that it says it is a certificate of live birth, which is not the same thing as a birth certificate. Add to this the fact that his maternal grandmother in Kenya says that she was at the hospital in Kenya the day that he was born there. If that is true then he would not be a natural born US citizen, unlike John McCain who was born in a military hospital in the Panama Canal Zone which was a US territory at the time, which makes him a natural born US citizen.

There is also the fact the due to the second marriage of his mother to an Indonesian national who took Obama to Indonesia where he attended school for four years. The reason this is important is because during the years that Obama was there Indonesia didn't allow for dual citizenship and to attend school there you had to be an Indonesian citizen. the only way for Obama to then become a US citizen would have been for him upon entering the US to become a naturalized citizen of the US. Naturalized citizen is not the same thing as natural born citizen.

I personally believe that Barack Hussein, Obama is in fact a US citizen. However I would like to have an answer to the question of his birth certificate to. But since Obama refuses to release any of his personal records such as his medical records, Harvard records, Columbia records or his Occidental college records i don't think he will answer the question, at least not right now.

There is currently a law suit brought by Phillip Berg the former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania and a life long Democrat active in the party and a former candidate in many state senate an gubernatorial races. The law suit currently in Federal court challenging Obama's citizenship is asking for the release of all relevant documents and there is also currently a motion to dismiss from Obama's attorney's in the suit. The judge does not have to grant the motion to dismiss and can order discovery. That would force Obama to release all relevant documents. Obama's legal team is currently waiting on a decision to their requested motion and is hoping to stall everything till after the election.

That is all I have for you today. You will have to look at all the evidence and decide what you believe. I am including the photo of the certificate of live birth and a video emailed to me from a friend of mine that prompted this post i hope you watch it. Have an awesome day and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. I still don't know what you folks want me to write about on Friday so don't be shy and let me know.

There are a couple of different topics I want to discuss with you today. They are both on different subjects but are directly related to a particular party specifically. One topic is on racism and the other is on national security/foreign policy.I will discuss them in this order to.

The first thing I want to talk about today is the subject of racism. Racism is a very ugly thing and it can be associated with and attributed to many different motivations and actions. In the case I am going to cite it is attributed to ignorance and associated with the hate of a group of peoples own color, in other words they hate their own color. This form of self hate I believe is racism in reverse against their own kind.

This story starts with a twelve year old middle school student in New Smyrna Beach Florida and her name is Ashleigh Jones. The reason she is being called a racist by her classmates is because she wore a pro Sarah Palin t-shirt to school. she received the t-shirt as a gift for her volunteer work at her local Republican office by her co workers. The argument by her peers is that she is a Caucasian in support Caucasian candidates in this years Presidential election she must be racist. I find this reasoning to be disturbing for a number of reasons.


First, and most importantly I don't think that being a Caucasian supporter of a Caucasian candidate makes you a racist, because if that is true then Colin Powell is a black racist for supporting a black candidate in Barack Obama. Sounds about right to me, what do you think?


Second, I don't know how anyone could blindly level such a charge against this young lady when she has never evidenced any racial bias towards any ethnic group. This is according to people who have known her in the community.

The third reason this is disturbing to me is that the majority of the student body at New Smyrna Beach Middle School is Caucasian, not to mention the fact that this is also true of most of the population of this beach side town. I know this because I have spent quite some time in the past surfing that beach and I know quite a few people there. This appears to me to be the reverse racism against their ethnicity that I mentioned. this argument seems to prevalent within the Democratic Party on all levels. Who would have thought that the party who says they are for the people could be so hateful. they believe that if you vote against Obama its because of race and not because you believe him to be the wrong man for the job. One of my favorite restaurants is there to so I'm going to give a shout out and a shameless plug for J.D.'s Fish Camp they have the best grilled swordfish I have ever eaten.

My other topic for today is about something Joe Biden the Democrat Vice Presidential Nominee said on Sunday, which I didn't cover in my Monday post "Weekend Update". Biden was speaking to a group of donors on Sunday and made the comment that in the first six months of an Obama Presidency there would be an international crisis that would test Obama. he went on to say that they would all have to stand behind Obama because it might not look like he made the right response when dealing with the crisis.

This bothers me if for no other reason that I think Joe Biden is right. I think that Obama will be tested because he is an unknown and no one knows how he would react. Every Jihadist, Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah website I can find supports Barack Obama for President. Can that be because they perceive him to be week? I don't think it is because they think he will do what is right for our country.

This is also a concern to me because of some of Obama's past associations with people like al-Monsour and Khalidi. One is a self professed radical Muslim and the other has ties to Hamas and used to raise funds for them right here in the good ole US of A. Let us not forget his good friend Calypso Louie Louis Farrakhan the leader of the Nation of Islam. it makes the possibility of international crisis or attack against us all the more likely with the people who apparently support Obama.

Any way that is all I have to say for today. It's just a little food for thought, with maybe a pearl of wisdom or two thrown in for good measure. Y'all have a good day and I will see you again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!


P.S.By the way I'm still waiting for some suggestions from you guys, on what I should write about on Friday.

Well folks, we have had a rather interesting and entertaining weekend in politics. We had former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State Colin Powell come out on NBC's Meet the Press and endorse Barack Obama's candidacy for President. We had Joe the plumber appear on Huckabee. Vice Presidential nominee Sara Palin appeared on Saturday Night Live. Last but not least John McCain appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. I think all of these things are worth discussing so lets get started.

I would have to say right off the bat that I was really surprised that Colin Powell would endorse Obama for president. I watched the interview and found it very informative with regard to Colin Powell's views both socially and politically this election season. Colin Powell told Meet the Press that he believed that Obama's economic policy was going to be better for the country, and that he was a positive force for change in Washington as well as being experienced enough to be President. He also stated that he thought the McCain campaigns attacks against Obama were to negative and that McCain would take the country in the wrong direction. He went on to point out that his decision to support Obama was not based on race but on best choice for President.

Also on Saturday former Arkansas Governor, Presidential candidate, and currently the host of Fox News Channels hit show Huckabee Mike Huckabee had on Joe the plumber and musical guest Aaron Tippin but lets talk about Joe. Huckabee talked at length with Joe about what he thought of all the media attention he has received since that fateful day when he asked Obama about how his tax plan would affect him if he bought his plumbing business and managed to make 250k a year. Joe said he thought he didn't deserve all the attention and especially the media bias against him with information that was mostly wrong and very negative. It was pointed out that Obama came to his neighborhood he didn't go to see the candidate. He also found it disturbing that Obama would say it was fair to tax Joe and people like him to spread the wealth around. Joe pointed out that that sort of policy would stunt economic growth and lose jobs. He also pointed out that Obamas health care program would further hurt small business owners especially with his get health insurance for your employees or pay a fine ideology.

Sarah Palin appeared on Saturday Night Live this weekend. I thought that her opening bit with Alec Baldwin was hilarious. I was really surprised that Alec Baldwin would even appear in the same room with Palin let alone interact with her. It was nice to see the two of them peacefully coexist and pull of a very funny skit. The skit on Weekend Update and the rap by Amy Poehler was off the chain funny. It was definitely a different side of Sarah Palin we all say there and the ratings for the show were through the roof.

John McCain's appearance on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace was exactly what I expected it to be. They discussed a variety of issues and topics. I found Chris Wallace to be a little hard on McCain but fair also. The issues I was most interested in hearing about were McCain's tax plan versus Obama's, campaign finance, and the impact of Obama breaking his written promise to accept public financing for his campaign when he was a long shot candidate for President. I though John McCain was very candid and humorous during the interview and he didn't back down from any of Wallace's questions.

There you have the weekends political news. Like I said it was very entertaining as well as informative. On the subject of the Powell endorsement I did some research and couldn't find any white, liberal, Democrat politicians that he has endorsed but I'm sure that his endorsement was not racially motivated. I found after much research that the information on Huckabee's show was extremely accurate. As I said palins SNL appearance was both funny and refreshing and considering most of the rest of that show boring the producers got lucky with her as far as their ratings go. The McCain Wallace interview was as I said very well done.

Do i think any of these things will change peoples minds on November 4th? No I don't, but I also don't think any of these events hurt John McCain. I also think some of this stuff will make Reagan Democrats, Independents, and NPA's take a closer look at what we will get with an Obama Presidency. Remember people polls, interviews, and political rallies in the end are not what counts. The only thing that counts is November 4th, 2008 and what you decide and do on that day. So stay informed, educate yourself, and get out there and vote because that's how you make a difference.

Have a wonderful day CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. Enjoy the video!!!!!

Well folks, here it is Friday September 17th, 2008 and just 17 days to go till election day and I am happy to report to you that our economy is still working. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the world and its still the lowest unemployment rate this country has every seen thanks G.W. We are still winning the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our health care system is still the best in the world, just ask the Canadians who come here to see our health care professionals when they need a real serious surgery. As for Social Security well it's still here for people who need it. All in all I would have to say that even though we have had some rough and tough times recently we are still ahead of the curve compared to the third world, which to me is almost everywhere else outside our national borders.

I'm sick and tired of hearing all these whiners with their woe is me attitudes and their sob stories. I can't believe the impending entitlement disaster that we seem hell bent on establishing in this country. The constitution guarantees each citizen the right life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, basically the American dream. However it does not guarantee everyone to a house, job, and free money. No one ever said life was fair or easy, but if you want the American dream then you have to go out there and earn it.

Now I obviously can't speak for everybody in this country, which I sometimes think is detrimental to my fellow Americans best interests, but I can at least speak to as many of them here that are fortunate enough to know about this blog. By now you are probably wondering what I'm getting at, well here it is. Under Barack Obama and the Democrats they not only want to raise taxes, and don't you for one minute believe that if you make less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars they wont raise your taxes, but they also want to take your tax dollars which you can ill afford to pay anyway, and give it to people who don't do a damn thing to earn a living. That's right they want you to support a bunch of no account, lazy, do nothing all day, lay around the house, and watch tv bums. All i have to say is welcome to the new Socialist Welfare States of America. Aren't you glad Barack gets his economic advice from two former CEO's of Fannie Mae. franklin Raines, and James Johnson obviously know a lot about stealing money from hard working people.

I hope you all realize that this is in addition to buying mortgages from banks for people that couldn't afford the friggin loans in the first place. Not to mention bailing out all these flippin banks who had no business making the loans cause it was bad business and bad for their investors, and now we have to make sure the bankers keep their jobs. In the mean time all of us, which is to say the average Americans who pay their bills on time, get little Johnny to school, work two or three jobs will have to foot the bill for all of it because according to Senator and VP elect Joe Biden it is patriotic to pay more taxes. THAT'S COW FLOP!!!!!

I'm not going to just point a finger and say it's all the Democrats fault although I personally believe it all began with Carter and his Community Reinvestment Act. Hell look at his Presidency, we had record unemployment, out of control gas prices, a failing market, and even American citizens held hostage in Iran. I could tell right away that this peanut farmer knew how to protect and run our country. Not to mention we have the fab four of idiots running things in the senate and the house in the forms of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank. By the way the last to idiots are responsible for regulating the financial industry and we all could see what a fantastic job they did.

George W, Bush hasn't had the greatest record in the last two years when it comes to our economy either, but then again the Democrats have been in power in the congress for the last two years. Under George W, Bush we have seen government grow like a weed and spending is way out of control. On top of which, the largest entitlement program ever conceived came right out of his administration, and is the seven hundred and fifty billion dollar bailout bill. So like I said plenty of blame to go around.

Well that is all I have to rant about for today and I'm sorry it's not what you are usually used to reading from me, but I just got pissed off about it, and now your reading it. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I'll see you all next week, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

As you all know, we had the third and final Presidential Debate last night and now we are nineteen days away from the Presidential election. I was wondering what I have learned about the candidates after four and a half hours of political discourse between the two. I have come to the conclusion that I still know the same things about the these gentlemen that I knew before the debates and not much else. I know all the numbers and facts associated with their plans and proposals for the nation, but nothing new or different about the candidates themselves, which in some ways is very disconcerting to me.

With regards to John McCain I know that he is a decorated war hero. I also know that he has been in public service his entire life. I know that he is truly a maverick within his party and has stood up against his own party when he felt that they were wrong on an issue. I know that he has never taken a dollar for earmarks or pork for his state. I know that he is for less taxes and smaller government. I know he has a record for bi partisanship and working across the aisle to get things done. I know that according to several non partisan groups who crunch the numbers that his health care and economic plans will give the American people net gains in coverage and cash in their pockets and that is plans are better for us than Obama's. I know that John McCain is not George W. Bush. Last but not least I know that he is a man of his word, and as a result, he is an honorable man who can be trusted to do as he says he will do.

This is what I know about Barack Hussein Obama. I know he is a gifted and charismatic speaker. I know that he started his career as a lowly community organizer. I know that he represented ACORN in a class action lawsuit and that he trained most of their leadership cadre in Chicago, Ill. I know that he sat on the Annenburg and Joyce foundations and the Woods Fund with Bill Ayers and was recruited by Ayers to sit on these boards and together they gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to ACORN. I know that his political career started in Bill Ayers living room. I know that he was recommended to al-Mansour a self professed radical Muslim by Farrakhan another know association of his for financial aid to enter Harvard. I know he has a financial relationship with Rashid Khalidi a former member of the PLO. I know he spent more than twenty years in Reverend Wrights congregation. I know that his association with Father Phleger goes all the way back to his community organizer days. I know that he gets his economic policy from Franklin Raines and James Johnson who were both CEO's of Fanny Mae and stole tens of millions of dollars from the company. Lastly I know that according to various non partisan groups that his health care, economic, and foreign policies would be damaging to our country and that he would ultimately tax everyone right into the poor house creating the greatest economic crisis in our history since the great depression.

So basically nothing new has surfaced that I, and approximately three hundred million people, don't already know about these candidates. What it comes down to is who can you really trust to lead us and defend us. For my part, I think I will go with someone who has a record of working for us and looking out for us, instead of going with someone who has spent the better part of their life and career looking out for themselves and their special interests. As for the rest of you, all I can say is you have to do what your conscience tells you is the right thing to do.

Have an awesome day my friends CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Sorry I wasn't here yesterday but life gets a little busier than you expect it to sometimes. However I'm here now and I got a good topic to write about today. Today I am going to discuss the Employee Free Choice Act. This bill that is currently before congress involves the Americans right to vote whether or not to join a labor union which is a right I totally support but here is the rub.

I think The Employee Free Choice Act does not support the free choice of employees when it comes to voting for a union in their work place and here's why. Under the new law a union would be required to obtain 51 percent of employees signatures on a card in any given workplace and only signed cards are considered a yes for union control and organization of the company's labor force and an unsigned card just means not yet. This means that the union can continue to return until they get the 51 percent at which point they automatically assume representation of said work force. The rub is that these cards must be signed with every one's knowledge of the identity of the signer so pressure can be unfairly applied to those who don't sign to join. Basically it is a strong arm tactic which unions are good at anyway.

Under the old law the only way a union could enter and represent a labor force within any corporation was by secret ballot vote. The reason for this is so that each individual can vote his or hers own conscience without fear of harassment, retribution, and in some cases violence against them which are more tactics that unions are very good at applying against their opposition.

Every major Democrat Presidential hopeful in this years race to their party's nomination supports this bill. John Edwards even co sponsored the bill during his time in the senate and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama voted for it. The reason for their support of the bill is obvious it is because these Democrat politicians receive major endorsements and campaign contributions from the big unions and they know that the more people the union represents the more money they can hope to receive as contributions from these unions. That is something about unions I do have a problem with which, is the idea that if I were a member of a union my dues could go to support a candidate I don't believe in without my consent but that is a post for another time.

According to some bi partisan organizations who have looked into the Employee Free Choice Act they have discovered that this bill would actually disenfranchise more than 105 million workers which amounts to more than 2/3 or 68 percent of the American workforce. these people would automatically lose their right to a private vote on union membership if the bill is passed into law.

Since we vote for our Presidents, senators, and Congressmen by secret ballot i think we should vote for union representation in the same way. As a result of my feelings about this and most of the people I have spoken with I feel that congress should vote against this bill which would be disastrous for peoples rights such as free speech, voter rights, and the pursuit of ones own happiness. for the record I am a former member of the Teamsters local 560 and if you want to read an interesting story about a union research that one.

I hope you all have a great day CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Normally I do a lot of serious political blogging but I'm not going to do that today because to day is Columbus Day which is holiday and I plan on spending most of it with my family. So today instead of getting into some deep political and philosophical groove I am going to give a short review of a film. I know what your thinking lucky you right? Here we go.

Review:
Last week I went to the movies and saw An American Carol. The movie is a satire of everyone's favorite left wing loony film maker Michael Moore. I would have to say honestly that this is the first right wing film that I have heard of and after what I saw i hope there are going to be more. The film stars Kevin Farley, Kelsey Grammer, John Voight, James Woods, Dennis hopper, country performing Artist Trace Adkins. and Bill O'Reilly.

The film is about a left wing documentary film producer (Kevin Farley) who is out to abolish July 4th and the story is told by grandpa (Leslie Neilsen). During the course of his attempt to abolish July 4th he is visited by 3 spirits in his dreams. First by George S. Patton (Kelsey Grammer) then George Washington (John Voight) and the angel of death (Trace Adkins) who all show him the true meaning of why July 4th or Independence Day is so important. Along the way the character Michael Moore aka Michael Malone is interviewed by Bill O'Reilly and has a scene with a judge (Dennis Hopper) in an ACLU case depicting the ACLU lawyers as zombies. Michael Malone also has an interesting meeting with his agent (James Woods) on the state of his dead end career.

While I am quite sure that this film will not have any effect on the election and i don't think it is intended to. i think the film is basically accurate as to the mind set of those on far left politically and socially. The fact that the film approaches these people and the subject of left wing radicalism with humour and does it very well is a testament to producer David Zucker as a skillful filmmaker. If you are looking for a little light entertainment with a message and you are a right wing type then this film is a must see and I highly recommend it. I am also sure the those on the left in Hollywood and there are many are aghast at David Zucker and the very fact that he was audacious and brave enough to make this film and that also makes it worth seeing.

One other note Oliver Stone is about to release his new film on the life and Presidency of George W. Bush The film is titled W. The film has many Excellent actors in it such as Richard Dryfuss, Scott Glenn, James Cromwell, Elizabeth Banks and the role of G.W. Bush is played by Josh Brolin. All of these actors along with Oliver Stone believe that G.W. Bush was unqualified to be the President of the United States but believe that Barack Obama is imminently qualified go figure. From what I have seen and read this film is not a hatchet job on Bush and is just told from Oliver Stones perspective and Bush does come out of this film looking very human. When I see the film I will write more about it.

That is all for today and I hope you all have a great Columbus Day. Personally I can't see the point of celebrating Columbus as he didn't actually discover the new world and his sole ambition was to rape the lands and peoples of the new world for treasure and resources but that is a topic for another time and another post. I guess federal employees just need another payed holiday and double time pay if they happen to work today. I think the only people deserving of that payroll consideration are the first responders and our military who are even now protecting us today so we can play some football, bbq, and spend the day with our loved ones safely.

Have an awesome day my friends and I'll be back tomorrow, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Today I am going to write about something a little different than what I normally write about which as you all know is US politics. Today I'm going to write a little bit about politics and economies around the world in relation to the current economic crisis here at home.

As we all know the economy here in the US has taken a severe downward turn in the last couple of weeks and it has been at it's worst since the bailout bill was signed into law. This has prompted several governments to follow suit with their own versions of a bailout for their financial institutions. This just proves that America is the world leader once again because what happens here really does effect everyone around the world and if we don't fix this economic problem now that we have jumped in with both feet and committed taxpayer dollars to it we might possibly be facing a global recession.

In the UK they have instituted an 87 billion dollar bailout for banks. Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that the problem started in the US with irresponsible lending practices and has plunged the global financial markets to a point where it has ceased to function. PM Brown went on to say that the bailout in the UK could possibly exceed the 700 billion dollar bailout here in the US.

In Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel made a move to guarantee bank deposits in her country and while she was originally against a EU bailout plan put forth in Luxembourg she has since reversed her position and is open to the idea. Italian PM Berlusconi said that the reason she originally didn't support the joint EU rescue plan/fund was because she didn't have the power to do so.

French President Sarkozy is reportedly in favor of the EU bailout fund which is modeled after the 700 billion dollar US bailout plan. France along with Ireland is already showing negative growth as evidenced in their markets.

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi says his government favors a UK style bailout for its financial institutions and a revival of the discussion and possible passage of an EU wide bailout fund to shore up banks and lending institutions in the EU as well as to guarantee bank deposits held by its citizenry. He points out that in the case of Italy's financial market they are not as exposed to the current credit crisis as the US and UK are.

The Spanish PM Zapatero stated that the international community understood and supported the US financial bailout plan and hoped it would restore confidence in the market. Zapatero went on to say that with strict regulations in reserve and investment the Spanish economy has zero exposure to sub prime related assets and that its financial market is very solid and is resisting the market crisis.

We have also seen adverse conditions in the market in Russia and in the Asian markets to in some cases down as much as nine percent of volume. Russia suspended trading in its market because of their financial institutions being in free fall. Iceland has even asked Russia for 5 plus billion dollars to help bailout their banks.

While it is true that all of these problems around the world with the global financial markets is a direct result of the sub prime lending problems and the credit crunch I can't help but wonder who exactly is going to be held responsible for all of it here at home. While it is true that there was an incredible amount of corruption and thievery amongst corporate CEO's and top ranking executives under them they are not entirely responsible.

There are organizations like Acorn who are responsible for forcing banks to make loans to high risk borrowers that they would not otherwise provide loans to if their ability to grow, merge, and invest was not directly threatened by such organizations with the use of CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) complaints.

There are also some politicians who are responsible for the damage done to our financial market as well for the problems we now face both here and around the world. The two most notable figures are Congressman Barney Frank who chairs the The House Financial Services Committee and Senator Chris Dodd chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. These two men are responsible for regulating and enforcing the regulations that guide our financial institutions. Instead they looked the other way and allowed the damage to our financial market after the were warned three years ago. Why, because they benefited from contributions made to them by some of those organizations and financial institutions and didn't want to see their cash cows go away. The current Democrat Presidential Nominee may even be partially responsible for his early work as both a community organizer, leadership trainer, and attorney for Acorn but that remains to be seen.

All I can say to all my friends both here and around the world is that I am profoundly sorry that in our ignorance we both allowed these figures to stay in their positions of power and turned a blind eye when we knew this day would come. Now everyone is going to have to pay a steep price for our arrogance and transparent naivete that the people we trusted to protect us have failed.

I hope you all have learned something from this post today and that you have enjoyed reading it. I also hope it has made you mad enough to go out and demand that those responsible be held accountable and pay for it. I have to go for now but I will see you all on Monday have a super weekend and enjoy the holiday, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. I have decided to make Fridays topic open to my readers. If there is something related to politics that you would like me to write about let me know. Whatever I get the most request for I will write about on Fridays and I will let you know Fridays topic on Thursday.

As a political junkie i watch a lot of news and i have been aware of some interest in the organization known as Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). After finally becoming curious as to who this organization actually is I started doing research and I have found out that they are quite possibly the most radical, militant, socialist, and left wing organization in the US.

The organization known as Acorn grew out of the New Left and its subsidiary organization the NWRO (National Welfare Rights Organization). To say the least their efforts were not what they had hoped for and were largely unsuccessful. There ideology called for flooding the welfare roles with so many clients that the welfare system would collapse under the weight of itself and would force "a radical reconstruction of Americas unjust capitalist society". What actually occurred was that families broke down and a culture of dependency was under way in the US.

Acorn has since made its name in both strong arming banks into high risk home loans, and fraudulent voter registration. With regard to their activities involving high risk loans and the banking industry they used the CRA (Community Reinvestment Act). The CRA which up to the exploitation of Acorn was thought to really have no teeth. However Acorn realized that by using regulations within the CRA they could force banks to make these loans simply by filing complaints through the CRA on behalf of minority and low wage clients. The reason this was so effective was that it held up banks abilities to form mergers that were necessary to the growth of financial institutions. They became even more successful after Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae were forced to drop their standards with regard to sub prime loans by Democrat controlled congress in the 90's.

There activities in voter registration is another way in which they attempt to push their agenda. They use their employees and volunteers to register voters in an effort to support the candidates that most favor them and their ideological beliefs which has been a source of contention because they claim that it is a non partisan effort to register voters and create voter awareness. This has been proven to be largely a lie on the part of Acorn. Currently Acorn is under investigation in as many as 15 states for voter registration fraud. Law enforcement raided the Acorn office in Las Vegas Nevada and seized computers and documents. In Indianapolis Indiana Acorn turned in so many voter registration forms that the voter registration forms actually out number eligible voters in the city. other states also report instances of potential voter fraud in their states to. Including Acorns hiring of convicted felons to register voters some of who were convicted of identity theft there can be little doubt that this organization is guilty of the accusations of fraud being leveled against them.

The current Democratic Presidential nominee is well aware of Acorns activities and has a long history of working with and pushing their agenda both in the state of Illinois and on the federal level to. His association goes all the way back to his days as a community organizer with them and other left wing groups. Obama has also served as their attorney in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois which forced the state to implement the motor voter bill and which ultimately won Obama an award known as the Legal Eagle for his participation in the suit. Madeleine Talbot even used Obama to train a new cadre of Chicago's Acorn leadership. Obamas positions on both the Woods Fund and Joyce Foundation allowed obama to steer tens of millions of dollars into Acorns coffers and helped to cement his relationship with Acorn and it's leadership both in Illinois and nationally.

Now I don't know how you folks feel but after what I have read I think that this organization is a rogue outlaw entity and it should not only be denied any further access to taxpayer dollars but that it should be dissolved because of its major roles in the sub prime mortgage crisis and its malignant abuse of and fraud with regard to its voter registration practices. I also think that its assets should be seized and returned to the taxpayers who have been cheated and robbed by these criminal practices. I have also concluded that Barack Obama is most definitely complicit and should hold some responsibility for what has been done done to main street along with his cohorts Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you all again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Like a lot of you I watched the 2nd Presidential debate last night and like a lot of you I still have some questions left unanswered by the candidates and I am still greatly concerned. I didn't see a clear winner in the debate either and I was surprised that the town hall style format was anything but a town hall. There was no spontaneity between the candidates and the audience. Every time one of the candidates even started to break loose Tom Brokaw reined them in trying to adhere to the time constraints that the candidates had agreed to which for his part is understandable as it wasn't really a town hall meeting in the first place. As a result I came up with these observations of the candidates.

I thought Barack Obama acquitted himself well. He responded directly to the audience and the people who asked the questions there in particular attempting to make that connection and I think he was successful. He was a little more specific about his economic policy, energy policy and health care policy. While I don't agree with his ideas and as usual he was less than truthful i would have to say that if this debate was judged solely on performance he won it no contest.

I think John McCain was right on target with his plans for the American people. I was particularly impressed with his position on the economy except for his idea of having the government buy up all those bad mortgages as an addition to the bailout when there is already funds in the bailout for doing exactly that. I also think he is wrong to offer 5000 dollar tax credit to find health care coverage and then tax it on the employers end. He was right about which party was responsible for this mortgage crisis and I think he should have went into more detail about Obamas associations with people like Franklin Raines and James Johnson his economic advisors. I think Barack Obamas character and relationships with controversial figures are very important and legitimate targets for the McCain campaign. I think he blew Obama away on foreign policy and national security issues as well. So if this debate were to be judged totally on substance I think that McCain won.

Well there you have it the Presidential debate in a nutshell and I can only conclude that there was no clear winner although I think that the audience was a little more liberal and on Obamas side and that Obama was clearly the person who abused the time constraints the most. I think it is all going to come down to the next and last debate and if John McCAin expects to win he had better nail Obamas hide to the barn door and go after all of his past associations with the people who have most influenced him like Wright, Ayers, Phleger, al-Monsour, and Louis Farrakhan because if he doesn't he will lose. As for Obama if he just keeps doing what he has been doing which is just coasting and not screw up the White House is his.

Have a great day and I will be back tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Well what do you know we actually caught some corporate executives with their hands in the taxpayer cookie jar. just a week after we the taxpayer loaned AIG 85 billion dollars to pay off their debt, the honchos at AIG take a 440,000 dollar corporate retreat at one of the most exclusive resorts in California at the St Regis resort in Monarch Beach. An AIG spokesperson said the event was about entertaining independent insurance agents of AIG American General which is one of the company's major US operations and was planned months ago.

I understand the need to recognize and reward people who are successful in performance based payed positions because working on a commission basis is not that easy especially in sales and with the economy in the shape it is in right now. However i find it be an extremely criminal act to have this sort of event within AIG at this time and to fund it with taxpayer dollars and I don't care how far back it was planned. People are losing their homes, cars, insurance, and jobs right now and at the same time being asked to fund this and other corporate giants who are failing with this bailout bill and get treated with such disrespect it is outrageous. I think this is just one more reason why we shouldn't have bailed these idiots out. But to be honest our government and the politicians in charge of regulating these firms in the first place played a critical role in their financial demise and now they have to try to fix it i guess. I can't wait to see what other shenanigans are attempted by these corporate executives and the politicians who are regrettably in charge now.

Have an awesome day everyone CIAO4NOW!!!!!

We are well inside 30 days until the Presidential election and now all of the mudslinging is starting to happen. The major topic of all of this mudslinging seems to be around who is associated with who. Now while I may personally think this is a dangerous road to go down for both Presidential candidates I do think it is worth looking into. So what I am going to write about today is all of the candidates known controversial associations starting with Barack Obama and finishing with John McCain so lets get started.

Bill Ayers is the first association of Obamas we are going to look at. Bill Ayers is the former leader of the domestic terrorist group The Weather Underground and is responsible for several bombings in the 1960's. On September 11th, 2001 he said in an interview that he wasn't sorry for what he did and felt they didn't do enough and wouldn't discount more bombs as being necessary now. It is said that Obamas political career started in Bill Ayers living room and that Bill Ayers held several fundraisers for Barack Obama who had also attended them.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright is another controversial association of Barack Obama. This man is a racist and anti Semite who Obama called his spiritual mentor for more than 20 years. He not only presided over barack and Michelle Obamas wedding but even baptised both of their daughters. Obama claims that he never once heard Reverend Wright espouse anything racist or anti Semitic in all the time he was a member at Trinity even though these sermons were available on tape for sale at the church. This is the same individual who gave an award to

Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour (Donald Warden) is definitely a controversial figure in Barack Obamas life. A self confessed radical Muslim, advisor to the Saudi royal family, an ardent anti Semite, and former member of the Black Panthers. This man is responsible for helping to finance Barack Obamas Harvard Education.

Tony Rezco is another one of Obamas Associations that bears scrutiny. A convicted criminal and slum lord from Chicago he and Obama go way back to Obamas time as a community organizer. He was responsible for raising funds for Obamas political campaigns but was involved with Barack Obama in a land deal involving the current Obama residency and a piece of land adjoining their respective properties.

Father Phleger well what can you say about this association. Yet one more controversial figure in Obamas background but this guy is just stupid. He was also a community organizer and activist on Chicagos southside at the same time as Barack Obama and they worked with each other. He is also a close known associate of Louis Farrakhan.

Frank Raines is one of Obamas current associations. He is the former CEO of Fannie Mae and is currently advising Obama on his economic policies. He was CEO of Fanny Mae at the time all of the corruption started in the company and stole tens of millions of dollars from the company and its investors.

James Johnson is in the same position as Franklin Raines advising Barack Obama on economic policy. He is also a former CEO of Fannie Mae and also received millions of dollars from the company through corrupt practices at Fanny Mae.

Here is on of my personal favorite associations of Barack Obama Calypso Louie Louis Farrakhan. This is the man who introduced Barack Obama to al-Mansour. Farrakhan is the Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam and is another racist and anti Semite.

Another of Obamas associations was as an attourney for ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). This organization is responsible for strong arming banks into giving high risk loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them back and is linked to the current financial crisis we face in the economy and the market now. They are considered by some to be the largest radical organization currently operating. They were also to be a recipient of tax dollars from the bailout bill that didn't pass the house last week.

Rashid Khalidi is an alleged former member of a terrorist organization (PLO). He was a professor at the University of Illinois and is currently a professor at the Columbia University. They have both been helping each other out financially.

All of those people mentioned above are known associates to Barack Obama and I have checked the facts prior to writing this post. Now lets concentrate on John McCains controversial associations.

Charles Keating is definitely a controversial association of John McCains. He is the former owner and CEO of Lincoln Savings and Loan. He was convicted of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. John McCain is known as one of the Keating 5. and was investigated by the Senate ethics committee and the Democrats. He was later exonerated by the committee. McCain was the only Republican investigated the other four were Democrats.

Well there you go all of the candidates known controversial associations. Now while I am not a big fan of the Keating scandal I have to say that I would take McCains one known controversial association compared to Barack Obamas 10 known controversial associations especially when they include dangerous individuals like terrorists, racist, and anti Semites. Knowing what I have just told you do you really want this man in the White House with people of these sorts influencing him I don't. I hope you all have a great day CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Hello everybody I thought i would go ahead and get today's post out early. As you know the Vice Presidential debate was on last night and this is what I'm going to discuss today so lets get started.

1st let me congratulate Gwen Ifill on a job well done I knew she would do the job of moderating the debate professionally. I thought she had a great group of questions to ask the candidates and I thought she was very fair with how she asked the questions and in how she treated the candidates so kudos to her.

With regards to Joe Biden I thought he did a very good job last night and I thought he proved that if he had to step in to the office of President of the United States he was ready to do so. I think he did a very good job of defending his tickets policies and defending Barack Obama as well. He is obviously a man with considerable experience in the arena of politics as last night proves.

As for Sarah Palin we all knew that this was to be a sort of consensus on her and her abilities to perform her duties and to step into the shoes as President should the need arise. I think she showed herself to be more than capable of performing her duties and educable enough to learn to be President if the need to do so arose. It was obvious to me and a few others I know that she is truly a Washington outsider and that was refreshing. It was very smart of her to point out that she has only been in national politics for five weeks and to say to both Biden and Ifill that she wasn't going to answer the questions the way the wanted her to but would speak directly to the people. I also think that she did a very good job of keeping McCains name in the forefront of her answers and comments.

Overall I think the debate was very well run, moderated, and showed the difference in policies between the two tickets. I also think that both candidates made statements that were not exactly true but were not serious enough to do either candidate or ticket any harm. Was there a game changer for either party in the debate last night I don't think so. In my overall view of the debate though I would have to say that the debate was a clear win for Sarah Palin and the McCain/Palin ticket. That is all I have for today.....so far. If they manage to pass a bailout bill for Wall Street I may have to comment on that. Otherwise have a grand weekend and I will see you all on Monday, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I'm going to write about the upcoming Vice Presidential debate today but I'm not going to writing about either of the two candidates. Instead I'm going to write about the moderator for the debate and I think you will be surprised by what i say about the person and my opinion about their ability to be impartial during the debate.

The person who will be moderating Thursday nights debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden is a lady by the name of Gwen Ifill and is a reporter for PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). Mrs. Ifill has had some experience in moderating debates in the past including the 1994 VP debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards so she knows how to do the job. Although she was criticized for for her performance in that debate I thought that she was right to tell Dick Cheney that he only had 30 seconds to respond to an Edwards attack because that was the response time allowed.

However the current controversy surrounding Gwen Ifill is about a book that she has writtien which is titled "Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" and the fact that the release date is the same as the Presidential inaugaration. This is a problem to some conservative commentators and Republican politicians because it ties the financial success of her book to Barack Obama winning the election which these people cite as a conflict of interest.

Gwen Ifill believes that she is capable of remaining un biased for the duration of the debate and says that she doesn't know if Barack Obama will make a good President and is fully capable of assessing his pros and cons. She also tells Howard Kurtz the reporter who interviewed her and wrote the article for the post that her book also covers other black political figures such as Governor Deval Patrick of Massachussetts and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Even after Presidential Candidate John McCain heard about the book said that he was confident that Gwen Ifill would fullfill her duties as moderator as a professional.

I for one happen to agree with John McCAin and Mrs. Ifill. I think she will do an excellent and non partisan job of moderating the debate. I have seen her report the news including politics and she has always been fair and impartial when performing her duties as a reporter. She understands that it is her job to report facts and not innuendo or personal opinions in the stories that she covers. I also think it will be an interesting debate and I look forward to seeing the hockey mom and the gaffer on Thursday night.

HAve a great day and I will see you all on Friday unless som ething juicy happens between now and then and I have something to say about it CIAO4NOW!!!!!