I've made it perfectly clear that I'm against the bailout bill. That being said, I'm open to other ideas. There is an alternative to this bill put forth by Rep. Peter Defazio (D) that sounds promising. It's titled "No bailout act." See below for the summary of the bill:

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politi cs/blog/2008/09/bailout_alternative_offe red_ho.html

Bringing Accounting, Increased Liquidity, Oversight and Upholding Taxpayer Security

1) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require an economic value standard to measure the capital of financial institutions.

This bill will require SEC to implement a rule to suspend the application of fair value accounting standards to financial institutions, which marks assets to the market value, no matter the conditions of the market. When no meaningful market exists, as is the current market for mortgage backed securities, this standard requires institutions to value assets at fire-sale prices. This creates a capital shortfall on paper. Using the economic value standard as bank examines have traditionally done will immediately correct the capital shortfalls experienced by many institutions.

2) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission to restricting naked short sells permanently

This bill will require SEC to implement a rule that blocks naked selling, selling a stock short without first borrowing the shares or ensuring the shares can be borrowed. Such practices many times harm the companies represented in the sales and hurt their efforts to raise capital. There is no economic value produced by naked short sales, but significant negative effects.

3) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission to restore the up-tick rule permanently.

This bill will require SEC to implement a rule that blocks short sales without an up-tick in the market. On September 19, 2008, the SEC approved a temporary pause of short selling in financial companies "to protect the integrity and quality of the securities market and strengthen investor confidence." This rule prevents market crashes brought on by irrational short term market behavior.

4) "Net Worth Certificate Program"

This bill will require FDIC to implement a net worth certificate program. The FDIC would determine banks with short-term capital needs and the ability to financially recover in the foreseeable future. For those entities that qualify, the FDIC should purchase net worth certificates in these institutions. In exchange, these institutions issue promissory notes to repay the FDIC, counting the amount "borrowed" as capital on their balance sheets. This exchange provides short term capital, with not cash outlay. Interest rates on the certificates and the FDIC notes should be identical so no subsidy is necessary.

Participating banks must be subject to strict oversight by the FDIC including oversight of top executive compensation and if necessary the removal of poor management. Financial records and business plans should be subject to scrutiny while participating in the program.

In 1982, Congress approved a program, known as the Net Worth Certificate Program, that allowed banks and thrifts to apply for immediate capital assistance. From 1982 to 1993, banks with total assets of $40 billion participated in the program. The majority of these banks, 75%, required no further assistance beyond the certificate program.

5) Increase the FDIC Insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000.

The bill will require the FDIC raise its limit to provide depositors confidence that their money is safe and help eliminate runs on banks which are destabilizing to the industry.

The best part about the above plan is the fact that it wouldn't require taxpayer money to implement. Why is congress not considering this bill?

Here's some of the pork that's been added to the current bailout bill aka crap sandwich.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics /AP/story/709715.html Also included were more obscure terms extending tax breaks for motor-sports racing tracks, makers of wooden arrows for children, and the rum excise tax for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Folks, here's the bottom line; congress is addicted to spending YOUR MONEY.

I was overwhelmingly confident that the Edwards adultery scandal was true; it's been circulating on the internet for quite some time now. In my opinion, Edwards silence was an admission of guilt. That being said, I'm more disappointed with the mainstream media than I am with Edwards.

The Edwards situation is sad but the media coverage or lack there of, is just plain wrong; MSM dropped the ball...again. This is a trust issue for me and I'm sure others feel the same way I do. The MSM was well aware of this story (politico stated this) and yet they failed to inform the American people. MSM has been derelict in their duty for a long time now when it comes to informing the American people. This is an ongoing trend; remember the lead up to the Iraq war? In my opinion, MSM are more concerned with cheerleading for their party/candidate.

The "tabloid" paper actually deserves kudos for following a story and reporting it, they did more than mouth political punditry.
 

Obama is doing a pre-emtive strike on Republicans. He assumes that Republicans will create fear by playing the race card. It seems strange to me that Obama would bring up race before anyone else does. Bringing up race is what got Geraldine Ferraro into trouble isn't it?

Here's Ferraro's comment:

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.

Here's Obama's comment:

"We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?"

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsN ews/idUSN2040982720080620

Regardless of whether or not Republicans go after Obama using his race, IMO, it's not wise for Obama to accuse someone in advance.  It really is nothing more than an assumption on Obama's part. I'm surprised Obama would make a pre-emptive accusation like this, especially since many have claimed Obama trancends race.

Jim Johnson just stepped down....Just heard about it.

I thought it was important to set the record straight. Another diary stated that Clinton was releasing her delegates; she's not.

A Clinton spokesman said that Clinton is not technically releasing her delegates -- doing so would cause many of them to be dropped from the slate -- but noted that both Bill Bradley and Howard Dean did not formally release their slates until their conventions. http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/arch ives/2008/06/clinton_asks_pledged_delega tes.php

Barack's VP advisor needs to go.

Two degrees of separation: The Wall Street Journal reports that a very special friend of Sen. Barack Obama is also a very special friend of embattled Countrywide Financial co-founder Angelo Mozilo.

The Journal reports that James Johnson --  a high-ranking advisor to Obama -- was part of an elite group -- "friends of Angelo" -- who got more than $7 million in special loans from Countrywide. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2 008/06/obamas-countryw.html

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama, in his first day as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, named Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Jim Johnson and Eric Holder to lead the search for a running mate.

All three have strong ties to Washington. Kennedy Schlossberg is the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy. Johnson served as chief executive officer of the government- chartered mortgage-finance company Fannie Mae, and Holder worked as a deputy U.S. attorney general under President Bill Clinton. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2 0601087&sid=aKgnDWlDajR4&refer=h ome

I've never seen a church host so much hate. Below is a video of Father Michael Pfleger mocking Hillary Clinton.

Here's his relationship/information in reference to Obama.

Father Michael Pfleger, a fiery liberal social activist and a white reverend at an African-American church -- St. Sabina's Catholic Church on the South Side of Chicago -- is a longtime friend and associate of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, having known him since the presidential hopeful was a community activist. In September, the Obama campaign brought Pfleger to Iowa to host one of several interfaith forums for the campaign.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/ 2008/05/priest-and-obam.html

The Democratic Party insiders and mainstream media just screwed up...big time! The two entities joined together and decided the Democratic primary election.

Ignoring the American people and then adding insult to injury, the Democratic party chose to trump the will of the people. Day by day, little by little, the Obama campaign rolled out party insiders/superdelegates to offset any win/votes of the oppositon. The huge win in WV was the final straw for impatient insiders; The endorsement of John Edwards was presented in order to offset the WV win. It's apparent that the Democratic Party is willing to ignore important information from the WV primary; they're also willing to insult the WV people by trumping their votes through important endorsements/superdelegates. The media is more than happy to accommodate the Obama campaign by going along with the program. It looks as if the media is ready to close up shop and declare the race over. It's a sad day in America when The Democratic party brokers an election in the United States of America.

In reference to the media's involvement, this article sums it up pretty well.

Media Said To Have Already Written Off Contest In The Politico, Roger Simon writes, "If a tree falls in the forest when everybody expects it to fall, does it make a sound? Yes, says Hillary Clinton. It makes a deafening roar, says Hillary Clinton. SHE WON THE WEST VIRGINIA PRIMARY BY A KAZILLION PERCENTAGE POINTS TUESDAY NIGHT, AND THAT, SHE SAYS, HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING! Except the press doesn't think so. The press is unimpressed. This may be the first time in election history in which the press has withdrawn from a race before the candidate."

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bu lletin/bulletin_080514.htm