GoldenDogs

Hi Steve,

Facts are facts and it is clear that Obama is doing very poorly. Yeah, I admit that I'm not an Obama supporter and I'm sure Roman and others can feast on my statements as being ultra-partisan... and it's true, I'm quite partisan... but pointing out my partisanship really does nothing to mask the very plain fact that Obama has truly bungled his first months in office.

I'm worried for the country.

Hi, everyone!

I was in the hosital for the last two weeks, and I'm here to try and catch up with politics. Needed a break from it because it has gotten to the point that it has become so silly. There are many in the political arena who seem to be more interested in hearing their own voice and passing their own bullshit than really ;istening and doing what is in the best interest of the people.

We all have time, but maybe we all should start by listening to each other, and then seeing where we come down, instead of just blasting each other.

Hey Roman,

I wondered where you had gone off to... I'm glad you're back and glad you're okay!

B

OH MY GOD!!!!!!

I agree.

LOL at Jay!! <<relief>> I was beginning to think I was a radical... and in steps Jay to back me up! At least on this issue, I'm at last in step with someone... hehehe... I wish Roman was here to see this!!

That is where I agree with you.

I think the U.S. has no right to judge other countries for their nuclear programs or arms.

To protect one's borders is one thing. But to tell someone else they're not allowed to have theirs to protect themselves is outrageous.

Perhaps the concern is that the country supposedly now able to make a nuke bomb has openly stated it wishes to blow Israel off the face of the map. I think it is a question of responsibility with a weapon of mass destruction and the stability of certain countries who desire to have one. Concerned with the notion that the United Kingdom has a nuke? Nah. Iran? Ummm... hell yeah.

Just my honest opinion and not intended to be political in any way.

I agree that taxes should be lowered now and that the government could get more innovative in ways to make money. I'm just generally against the anti-tax rhetoric that has an extremely short memory and that doesn't really look at things in the right perspective.

Agreed... I don't mind paying my fair share... as long as it truly is shared fairly. What bugs me is the sometimes triple-tax we get slammed with. Gax taxes are a good example of that. If gas prices rise (or a tax increases them), then that hits every segment of the marketplace. So, we technically pay tax on the gas we buy for our cars while business and industry raise prices to compensate for the increase in fuel costs. So, when we go to the store, everything is higher and we are basically hit with multiple increases repeatedly for each thing we buy and consume...

Taxed to get to the store, taxed to buy the products that have already been taxed for transport to the store...

Hey B&B...

I know that we're in dire straights and somebody has to pay for it... But the thing about taxes is that we're all being nickel-and-dimed to death. Sure, many of us can withstand a buck here or there, but I truly feel government needs to stop coming to me and you as the fix-it. I live in California and have been double-whammied with governmental irresponsibility -- triple that given my local community which is also experiencing a shortfall and looking at ways to make all of US pay their way out of it. It just doesn't seem fair that they always turn to us, especially when they continue building up debt.

There is going to come a point where we reach this threshold where people just can't do it anymore and still make it on their own, or trying to grow their families or their businesses. Seriously, when times get tight, people obviously tighten their belts and the first things they cut almost always involve "luxury" or service-type things... You don't go get a haircut, you just get some trimmers and get a buzz cut... Or, if you have some guy cutting your grass, you start cutting your own grass, etc. Same with business... the rich folk always protect their profit margin and that means they'll cut ME AND YOU first before cutting their own profit... most business owners, anyway, do this.

I just think that our friends in government should back off for once and look elsewhere for revenue... maybe sell off the Washington Monument or something...

Ugggh, double post.

Strike the record...

Where was all of this fiscal responsibility when Bush was in office? }

BTW, hi Brian.

Howdy... I admit that I'm one who was quite upset with the free spending of Republicans and Bush, himself, the past eight years. There was absolutely NO fiscal responsibility and I hope to see an improvement of that the next 4 or 8 years.

With regard to the housing market... we scored in this environment and just bought new construction for a killer price and a freakin' AWESOME interest rate (omg, we got a 4.5%!!) Oddly, both my wife and I are in positions that are not jeopardized by the current economic environment, though our places of business are affected.

Hi Greg!!!

And, it might be easier to count the crooks who were NOT in the Bush Admin.

But, I guess we just have to get used to 4 years of bitching from people who defended the worst admin. (Bush) in American history.

Yo, Roman... what's up?!?

From FOX News:

Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Obama's chief of staff, had direct discussions with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about Obama's vacant Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Sources with knowledge of the conversations told the Sun- Times Emanuel spoke with the governor and pushed for the appointment of Valerie Jarrett in the days after the presidential election and asked that it be done by a certain date.

The sources said Blagojevich told aides about conversations with Emanuel and sometimes gave them directions afterward. Some conversations between Blagojevich and Emanuel were likely caught on tape, the sources said.

An Obama source strongly denied Emanuel spoke with the governor directly about the seat, the Sun-Times reported.

C H A N G E ?

From FOX News:

A federal grand jury is investigating how a California firm that contributed to the political activities of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson won a lucrative government contract.

Richardson is President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to head the Department of Commerce. An official with Obama's transition office did not have immediate comment Tuesday.

C H A N G E .

From the Washington Post:

One of President-elect Barack Obama's top immigration advisers oversaw a Clinton-era program that awarded U.S. citizenship to thousands of convicted criminals and failed to conduct adequate FBI background checks on foreigners during a push to reduce a backlog of naturalization applications.

T. Alexander Aleinikoff and Mariano-Florentino "Tino" Cuellar, a professor at Stanford Law School and a senior Treasury Department adviser in the Clinton administration, were named last month by Mr. Obama to co-lead his immigration policy transition team.

C H A N G E .

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/d...gration-policy/

We'll see.

You have said this in the past and then came back with a nasty comment when someone posted something you didn't like.

So, like I said, we'll see.

Why, you dirty rotten...

J/K... Actually, our views of the past seem somewhat different as it always takes two to tango... But the past doesn't interest me. I truly want to get along with you and enjoy chatting with you. I think we can do it... opposing political viewpoints isn't reason enough to dislike someone or not get along. I think we got off on the wrong foot and misstepped ever since.

Email me... or I can email you. I want to get to know you better.

We'll see.

You have said this in the past and then came back with a nasty comment when someone posted something you didn't like.

So, like I said, we'll see.

Why, you dirty rotten...

J/K... Actually, our views of the past seem somewhat different as it always takes two to tango... But the past doesn't interest me. I truly want to get along with you and enjoy chatting with you. I think we can do it... opposing political viewpoints isn't reason enough to dislike someone or not get along. I think we got off on the wrong foot and misstepped ever since.

Email me... or I can email you. I want to get to know you better.

I saw this report on MSNBC, and they've always included the newsmakers of the year in the nativity scene. The President of Italy, Carla Bruni and her husband are also in the nativity scene.

And the top seller this year? You guessed it... Mr. Barack Obama!

They hailed him as the Messiah and said his election was a miracle, but now Barack Obama has made it into the Holy Family to appear in the Nativity scene alongside Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus.

Hand-carved figures of Mr Obama and his wife Michelle are on sale in a Naples Christmas market with the rest of the Nativity set regulars.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/f...icle5332568.ece

From columnist Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times:

As a representative of the outgoing senator and president-elect and a member of the same party, it would be hard to believe Emanuel or someone did not communicate somehow with Blagojevich or his staff.

What's puzzled some people and raised suspicions among others is Emanuel's refusal to talk about it (reportedly physically pushing one reporter's tape recorder away and having a verbal altercation with another) and the delay on Obama's part in releasing the promised diary of contacts.

From a practical point of view, if everything is above board, what's to hide?

C H A N G E .

Rahm Emanuel talked with governor's office about who should fill Obama's Senate seat

Chief of staff for Obama had list of names

One source confirmed that communications between Emanuel and the Blagojevich administration were captured on court-approved wiretaps.

Another source said that contact between the Obama camp and the governor's administration regarding the Senate seat began the Saturday before the Nov. 4 election, when Emanuel made a call to the cell phone of Harris. The conversation took place around the same time press reports surfaced about Emanuel being approached about taking the high-level White House post should Obama win.

Emanuel delivered a list of candidates who would be "acceptable" to Obama, the source said.

C H A N G E .

First, Jesse Jackson Sr. calls Obama the N-word, now Jesse Jackson Jr. is revealed as Candidate 5? Not a good year for the Jacksons.

Jesse Jackson + Candidate 5 = Jackson 5.

hehehehehe

1. You are the last person to tell me how to react to a post.

2. I have said on many occasions, that corruption exist in both parties. It is not mutual exclusive. Maybe you were not listening to me. Wouldn't be the first time.

3. I want to see how Obama handles this situation. I feel he had no contact with this fool about his former seat, but someone in his transition team has. I will be waiting to see how he handles it, and hope it doesn't take the few days he just said it would. The longer this takes, the more it drags out and the more it gets him off message. It helps that the [!@#$%^&*] called him a mother !@#$%^&*] when he did not play ball, But we'll see.

Ahh, hell.. I was going to post a nasty response to you, but changed my mind.

Let's be friends, Roman.

I don't know.

I'll ask former Republican Senate contender Jack Ryan that question........once he gets out of the sex clubs he took his ex-wife to.

I guess we'll now play everyone's favorite gameshow "Only the Democrats Are Corrupt".

Roman, both Republicans and Democrats are corrupt. It's the nature of politics and individual failing of a person and has nothing to do with affiliation to a political party, in my opinion.

But please don't knee-jerk react to my post by shifting the focus to a corrupt Republican. We can play that game all day long going back and forth mentioning every corrupt jackass on both sides of the aisle.

Besides, Obama has had no contact with Governor B. His people say so... Not so much as a brief memo even SUGGESTING they should discuss the vacant Senate seat... right? I mean, personally, I find it hard to believe that it has never come up in conversation... not even when the two met and were photographed meeting on December 2...

But, friends, I will take Obama at his word -- just as the press did for much of his campaign -- and will avoid asking any questions that could result in any answers at all.

But I'll leave the speculation to the pundits, such as John Fund at the Wall Street Journal, who writes:

What remains to be seen is whether this episode will put an end to what Chicago Tribune political columnist John Kass calls the national media's "almost willful" fantasy that Mr. Obama and Chicago's political culture have little to do with each other. Mr. Kass notes that the media devoted a lot more time and energy to investigating the inner workings of Sarah Palin's Wasilla, Alaska, than it has looking at Mr. Obama's Chicago connections.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1228953565...ss_opinion_main

Wow, makes you wonder how deep the corruption runs in Illinois government. Any other high-profile Illinois Democrats have dirty secrets hidden away?