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	<title>Phatooine Presents: The Podium &#187; Current Events</title>
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		<title>Is Global Warming Fever Cooling Off?</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2010/02/15/is-global-warming-fever-cooling-off/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2010/02/15/is-global-warming-fever-cooling-off/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:06:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by Captain Obvious]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[climate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gore]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[IPCC]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=184</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ok, this is insane. I believe I will be able to say &#8220;I told ya so&#8221; when this is all said and done.
The scientist who is at the center of Climategate and whose raw data is &#8220;crucial to the theory of climate change&#8221; is recanting
Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ok, this is insane. I believe I will be able to say &#8220;I told ya so&#8221; when this is all said and done.</p>
<p>The scientist who is at the center of Climategate and whose raw data is &#8220;crucial to the theory of climate change&#8221; <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250872/Climategate-U-turn-Astonishment-scientist-centre-global-warming-email-row-admits-data-organised.html">is recanting</a></p>
<p><em>Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the observations of colleagues that he lacked organisational skills, that his office was swamped with piles of paper and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’.</p>
<p>The data is crucial to the famous ‘hockey stick graph’ used by climate change advocates to support the theory.</p>
<p>Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.</p>
<p>And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250872/Climategate-U-turn-Astonishment-scientist-centre-global-warming-email-row-admits-data-organised.html#ixzz0faHSldRb">Read more.</a><br />
</em></p>
<p>Now there is a whole lot of scientists suggesting that <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7026317.ece">the earth may not be warming much at all</a></p>
<p>Many of these articles linked (<a href="http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/158214">Source 1</a>  and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1250813/MAIL-ON-SUNDAY-COMMENT-The-professors-amazing-climate-change-retreat.html">Source 2</a>) suggest that &#8220;warming recorded by weather stations was often caused by local factors rather than global change.&#8221; I believe I have said this before. </p>
<p>I also said that a major problem is that there is all of this funding created by the fear-mongering of environmentalist who blindly follow the propaganda of Al Gore Jr. If you think about it, the scientists received initial funding, but in order to retain funding had to show results. Fake the numbers, you get paid to continue your research. Even worse is that crap that has been pushed on everyone to follow the &#8220;green movement&#8221; in order for people like Mr. Gore, who is heavily invested in the so called &#8220;green energy&#8221; companies to make a lot of money and to afford to fly around in private jets and take limousines to their events. Follow the money. Liberals have told me to do so with former Vice President Cheney and his connection to Halliburton and their no-bid contracts, now it&#8217;s time for a big dose of your own medicine.</p>
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		<title>Quick Hits: 8/22/08</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/08/22/quick-hits-82208/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/08/22/quick-hits-82208/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:45:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by Captain Obvious]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. Political]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion/editorial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drilling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foreign]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypocricy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obamacare]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=171</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m back again, ticked off at the world and ready to shove my opinion in your face. If you don&#8217;t like it, I don&#8217;t care. Just stop complaining.
Offshore drilling in the U.S. has long been opposed by President Obama for some reason, but why is it that U.S. Export-Import Bank promised Petrobras, Brazil&#8217;s state-owned oil [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m back again, ticked off at the world and ready to shove my opinion in your face. If you don&#8217;t like it, I don&#8217;t care. Just stop complaining.</p>
<p>Offshore drilling in the U.S. has long been opposed by President Obama for some reason, but why is it that U.S. Export-Import Bank promised Petrobras, Brazil&#8217;s state-owned oil company, $2 billion in loan guarantees to help finance lucrative drilling off the shores of Rio De Janeiro. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/20/loan-brazilian-oil-company-riles-conservatives-favor-offshore-drilling/">Source.</a> So let me try to understand this rationale thinking that the president has. It&#8217;s not ok for us to decrease our dependency on foreign oil by drilling off our own shores, but it&#8217;s ok to fund another country. </p>
<p>Now it seems we are a few years or so past the Valerie Plame case and many people still seem to think that Karl Rove and Bush leaked her name instead of Dick Armitage. While there was a lot of outrage over that, <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/21/sources-photo-key-cia-interrogator-shown-gitmo-detainees/" class="broken_link" >a picture of former CIA interrogators were shown to Gitmo detainees and one&#8217;s name was even released publicly</a> by the New York Times. Seems like a lot of hypocrisy.</p>
<p>Talk of hypocrisy, it seems that Obama is asking clergy to promote his health care bill from the pulpit. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/20/army-lord-obama-seeks-health-care-push-pulpit/">Source.</a> Where is the outcry from the people who want separation of church and state? </p>
<p>Ah, back to health care. Mr. President, if  tax dollars will not be used to fund abortions, illegal immigrants will not be receiving free health care and this will not lead to a single payer system, show us that in writing in the bill. You CAN&#8217;T and therefore you just say what you want and say those opposed to your &#8220;reform&#8221; bill are lying. I&#8217;ve had enough lies, put your money where your mouth is.</p>
<p>Personally, anyone who can hold a newborn baby and not have tears in their eyes and not believe that they need protecting is a cold person. </p>
<p>That&#8217;s all for now folks. Discuss this and much more on the <a href="http://www.phatooine.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=73" class="broken_link" >phatooine.net message boards.</a></p>
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		<title>More thoughts on healthcare &#8220;reform&#8221;.</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/08/11/more-thoughts-on-healthcare-reform/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/08/11/more-thoughts-on-healthcare-reform/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:39:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by Captain Obvious]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=167</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Look, I don&#8217;t know why this has to be such a hard sell if it is such a good idea. Why is there such an outcry against people taking advantage of their constitutional right? You have Senator Dingle saying that he hasn&#8217;t seen this kind of demonstrations since the KKK, Speaker Pelosi saying that disagreeing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Look, I don&#8217;t know why this has to be such a hard sell if it is such a good idea. Why is there such an outcry against people taking advantage of their constitutional right? You have Senator Dingle saying that he hasn&#8217;t seen this kind of demonstrations since the KKK, Speaker Pelosi saying that disagreeing is unpatriotic and many other asinine comments by others in the Obama administration and the Democratic congress.</p>
<p>One of the best arguments I have heard against the obamacare monstrosity though was on a popular talk radio show. A caller made the point of saying that if the health care or insurance system is so broken, why allow people to keep it if they like it?  </p>
<p>A close second was by President Obama himself.<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bqUmuZnmf7A&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bqUmuZnmf7A&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>
<p>His argument is that private companies are doing just fine, which is true. The next part has to be something he regrets saying though. He said that the post office is the one with problems. Yeah, so we should trust the government to operate health care like the post office, which has lost approximately $7BILLION this past fiscal year? That should seal the fate of the bill as a dumb thing to do.</p>
<p>Even dumber was the decision to get the SEIU members involved. A few of these so called &#8220;patriots&#8221; allegedly exercised their constitutional right to protest by beating up Kenneth Gladney, 38, a conservative activist from St. Louis, who said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow flags with &#8220;Don&#8217;t tread on me&#8221; printed on them. He spoke to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from the emergency room at St. John&#8217;s Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him before the attack. &#8220;It just seems there&#8217;s no freedom of speech without being attacked,&#8221; he said. </p>
<p>I want to know where the ACLU, NAACP, Rainbow Coalition and Al Sharpton are since this fits the category of a hate crime. Somehow I don&#8217;t think we will get an answer, but even with loud voices, the protests were not violent until the Chicago-style politics were thrust into the picture with union thugs beating up those who dare disagree with the government. Then again, we should  expect no less from SEIU members because the SEIU resident&#8217;s philosiphy can be summed up into one phrase: <em>We prefer to use the power of persuasion, but if that doesn&#8217;t work, we use the persuasion of power.</em></p>
<p>Discuss this topic and many more on the <a href="http://phatooine.net/forums">Phatooine.net forums.</a></p>
<p>For those of you who don&#8217;t think that the people who are protesting is being staged and they should just shut up, what happened to the mantra of the left during the Bush 43 administration that dissent is the highest form of patriotism?</p>
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		<title>Health Care Reform? Riiiiiiiiiight</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/06/16/health-care-reform-riiiiiiiiiight/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/06/16/health-care-reform-riiiiiiiiiight/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:22:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by Captain Obvious]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[healthcare]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=147</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So Democrats in general would want a &#8220;two payer system&#8221; of health care in order to have options, right? I&#8217;m thinking that we need to really pay attention to what they have said because inevitably, I believe we would end up with the single payer(government/state run) health care system. Want proof? Ok.
In this video, Obama [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So Democrats in general would want a &#8220;two payer system&#8221; of health care in order to have options, right? I&#8217;m thinking that we need to really pay attention to what they have said because inevitably, I believe we would end up with the single payer(government/state run) health care system. Want proof? Ok.</p>
<p>In this video, Obama says he supports the single payer health care system.</br><br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fpAyan1fXCE&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fpAyan1fXCE&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>
<p>However, in this video, he supports the 2 payer system&#8230; kinda. This is what he is selling to everyone in America right now. </p>
<p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Yily0Mf2eQ&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Yily0Mf2eQ&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>
<p>However, if you remember one of his attacks on John McCain in the 08 presidential race was that John McCain was going to tax health care benefits that you receive from your employer? You don&#8217;t remember? Here, let me refresh your memory. </p>
<p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H6vnHmAfJCY&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H6vnHmAfJCY&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>
<p>But when asked if  taxing health care was on the table, this sure seems to be worse than the &#8220;read my lips&#8221; speech by George H.W. Bush in 1988. <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/06/02/obama_health_overhaul_necessar.html">It may be necessary to tax employer-sponsored health care to expand coverage?</a> I thought this was what they rode John McCain&#8217;s ass about during the campaign. </p>
<p>So what happens if the average citizen has the option to be taxed more or to take the government health care? It&#8217;s almost a no brainer to those who think that medicare is a horrible health care system. Pay the taxes. However, employers may be taxed even more and withdraw. Less customers means higher risk, higher premiums in any insurance company. In that case the government simply has to undercut the private companies. If that happens, how long will the private insurance companies be in business?</p>
<p>Maybe we should just watch another video of another prominent Democrat  talk about health care reform.</p>
<p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rveFv6A-xpU&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rveFv6A-xpU&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>
<p>Just discuss this on the <a href="http://www.phatooine.net/forums">phatooine.net forums.</a></p>
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		<title>Quick Hits: 6/15/09</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/06/15/quick-hits-61509/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2009/06/15/quick-hits-61509/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:46:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=143</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ok, I&#8217;ve been busy and have done what many have asked, giving PresBO a chance and it&#8217;s time for me to start talking again. Lots of things have happened in the last 6+ months, and a lot of it doesn&#8217;t really matter but some does.
First off, we were told that we had to bail out [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ok, I&#8217;ve been busy and have done what many have asked, giving PresBO a chance and it&#8217;s time for me to start talking again. Lots of things have happened in the last 6+ months, and a lot of it doesn&#8217;t really matter but some does.</p>
<p>First off, we were told that we had to bail out Chrysler and GM because the economy would be so much worse with them in bankruptcy and we couldn&#8217;t afford that. Yeah, looks like we are still here even though they are both in bankruptcy. Is it too late to get my taxes back? What does it mean? It&#8217;s all really simple, when the government tells you that they MUST do something, don&#8217;t believe it and tell your Congressman and Senators that you do not support bailing out any company. As soon as the government gives money, it wants something back and it isn&#8217;t the money, it is control.</p>
<p>Apparently, global warming isn&#8217;t enough to <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526280,00.html">melt a glacier in Argentina.</a>  It&#8217;s a shame that this is the first report I have seen about glaciers advancing during winter. Now if they would just realize that ice forms in the winter and melts in the summer.</p>
<p>Of course we had some nut <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/11/museum.shooting.reaction/index.html">shoot up the holocaust museum</a>, we had another guy kill a later term abortion doctor and it is blamed on the &#8220;right wing&#8221;. Never mind that von Brunn was about to go to a conservative magazine and start shooting because it was run by &#8220;neocons&#8221;. Wait, wasn&#8217;t there a shooting in Little Rock, Arkansas? Yeah, there was. It seems like there was a black Muslim who was opposed to the wars and decided that shooting a recruiter and a young soldier was the right thing to do, but then again there is no mention of that is there?</p>
<p>President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Seems like having a person who has most of her decisions overturned by the SCOTUS, thinks that policy should be made on the Federal Appeals Court, and that just because you are a hispanic woman you will reach a better conclusion than a white man means that you are the best candidate to be a Supreme Court Justice. </p>
<p>Already there has been a lot of racism cries from liberals saying that any opposition to Sotomayor is race based. Nevermind that we all forget what happened to Justice Janice Rogers Brown and Miguel Estrada. </p>
<p>Iran had elections and, surprise, there are allegations of fraud. Their aspiring nuclear buddies, North Korea are no longer using their reactors for power but to make even more weapons grade fuel and testing rockets almost daily. Didn&#8217;t PresBO just cut funding on a missile defense shield or something?</p>
<p>Funny how VP Biden is saying that &#8220;<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/14/biden-says-guessed-wrong-unemployment-numbers/">everyone guessed wrong</a>&#8221; on the unemployment numbers. Really? This is the same guy whose economic advisor has some cockamamie way of showing how many jobs have been saved while at the same time announces more job losses. The stimulus has had no effect except inflation, own it and stop blaming Bush. No, that&#8217;s not going to happen, 4 years from now we will still be told that it is Bush&#8217;s fault. Get over it, he&#8217;s not in office anymore.</p>
<p>Anyways, I better wrap it up for today. More to come soon. In the meantime, discuss these topics on <a href="http://www.phatooine.net/forums">the phatooine.net forums</a></p>
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		<title>Is Obama already prepping for the 2012 election?</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/11/18/obama-2012-election-prep/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/11/18/obama-2012-election-prep/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:31:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently published an article critiquing the Obama questionnaire which he is requiring all potential cabinet members and other potential staffers in order to vet them. I&#8217;m not going to bash on President-elect Obama, but I am going to show how this could be the savviest move he has made since winning the election.
Obama knows [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I recently published <a href="http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/11/14/would-you-like-a-job-with-the-obama-administration/">an article critiquing the Obama questionnaire</a> which he is requiring all potential cabinet members and other potential staffers in order to vet them. I&#8217;m not going to bash on President-elect Obama, but I am going to show how this could be the savviest move he has made since winning the election.</p>
<p>Obama knows he probably can only use the &#8220;change&#8221; slogan in one election or it will backfire drastically. He is a long term thinker and he probably wants to have a second term, but how does he improve his chances before he serves a day in office? Eliminate the competition. Let&#8217;s think about it logically and maybe I can help this come together for you.</p>
<p>So far, Obama is rumored to be considering Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, which some feel is a good move, others think that it is a chance for Hillary to make Obama look like an incompetent president. I don&#8217;t believe that either is true. What if the reason Obama is handing out this questionnaire to potential staffers is to get dirt on potential opponents in the 2012 election? Sure, they would have to run against him, but if his first term is bad, why wouldn&#8217;t they?</p>
<p>So Hillary, Bill Richardson, Chriss Dodd, Joe Biden, Kucinich and company have to fill one of these out if they want to be in his administration. I don&#8217;t know about the rest of them, but Hillary will take a long time to fill that sucker out. Whitewater is just the beginning. Ken Starr? Nothing. Clinton Library? Now we are getting somewhere. That isn&#8217;t even counting any potential Republicans he may bring on to his administration.(Fat chance, but I thought I would mention it.)</p>
<p>I believe that this may be the smartest thing he has done, but if they fall for it and don&#8217;t see this coming, they deserve to have all the dirt brought up in 2012.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.phatooine.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=73&#038;t=15143">Discuss this article on the phatooine.net message boards.</a></p>
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		<title>What do you want to see change?</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/11/17/what-do-you-want-to-see-change/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/11/17/what-do-you-want-to-see-change/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:45:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>skalenfehl</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by skalenfehl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Independent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. Political]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[suggestions]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=121</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[President-Elect Obama has recently opened up an online suggestion box in light of the many issues that face America including a floundering economy, wars overseas, an energy crisis, etc. 
His agenda as written on his website:
&#8220;President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden have developed innovative approaches to challenge the status quo in Washington and to bring [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>President-Elect Obama has recently opened up an online suggestion box in light of the many issues that face America including a floundering economy, wars overseas, an energy crisis, etc. </p>
<p>His agenda as written on his website:</p>
<p>&#8220;President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden have developed innovative approaches to challenge the status quo in Washington and to bring about the kind of change America needs.</p>
<p>The Obama Administration has a comprehensive and detailed policy agenda. Among many important domestic and foreign policy objectives, priorities of the Obama Administration include: a plan to revive the economy; provide affordable, accessible health care to all; strengthen our public education and social security systems; define a clear path to energy independence and tackle climate change; end the war in Iraq responsibly and finish our mission in Afghanistan; work with our allies to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.&#8221;</p>
<p>The issues he is focused on as taken from his website:</p>
<p>    * Civil Rights<br />
    * Defense<br />
    * Disabilities<br />
    * Economy<br />
    * Education<br />
    * Energy and Environment<br />
    * Ethics<br />
    * Family<br />
    * Fiscal<br />
    * Foreign Policy<br />
    * Health Care<br />
    * Homeland Security<br />
    * Immigration<br />
    * Iraq<br />
    * Poverty<br />
    * Rural<br />
    * Seniors and Social Security<br />
    * Service<br />
    * Taxes<br />
    * Technology<br />
    * Urban Policy<br />
    * Veterans<br />
    * Women<br />
    * Additional Issues</p>
<p>Here is your chance for your voice to be heard and counted and let us know what you suggested. What issues concern you the most? What solutions do you have to offer? Here is your chance as to let your voices be heard:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople">Change.gov/Of the People, By the people</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.phatooine.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=73&#038;t=15067">Discuss this article on the phatooine.net message boards.</a></p>
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		<title>A financial bailout plan that will work.</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/09/30/a-financial-bailout-plan-that-will-work/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/09/30/a-financial-bailout-plan-that-will-work/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:02:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by Captain Obvious]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Independent]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=54</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After reading the wording on the bill that failed the House yesterday, I may have a solution that will work. The reason I will not support a bail out plan is because it rewards the companies who screwed up and leaves the taxpayer with the bill while former CEO&#8217;s are rich and suffer no consequence. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After reading the wording on the bill that failed the House yesterday, I may have a solution that will work. The reason I will not support a bail out plan is because it rewards the companies who screwed up and leaves the taxpayer with the bill while former CEO&#8217;s are rich and suffer no consequence. I will not let my representative vote for any form of a bailout package that makes us pay for garbage while decreasing the value of the dollar and doing nothing for the people who pay for it. Here is my proposed solution and I hope all of you will forward this on to your Representative and Senator.<span id="more-54"></span></p>
<p><strong>1. Hold those who are responsible for this crisis responsible. </strong></p>
<p>This means that the top executives must be investigated. If they knew that their accounting practices were wrong and they made million of dollars in bonuses, they should be required to pay that money back and be charged with fraud among other charges. They should not have any luxury as their immoral, if not illegal, business practices have left common people destitute or in a financial hardship.</p>
<p><strong>2. Stronger oversight.</strong></p>
<p>I am a firm believer in the free market, but when you are a financial institution, you are playing with people&#8217;s lives. </p>
<p><strong>3. Congressional leaders who will listen.</strong></p>
<p>In my previous article, I showed people who were defending Franklin Raines. No, if there is sufficient evidence of a CEO of a GSE committing a crime, he must be removed and the oversight committee must do their job.</p>
<p><strong>4. Instead of buying bad debt, put the money towards those with mortgages.</strong></p>
<p>There are approximately 51 million first mortgages in the U.S. at this point. <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94921465">Source.</a> Why not inject this money into the troubled companies by going from the bottom up? The estimated bail out is $700 billion. Divide that number by the 51 million first mortgages and you get $13,725.49 If you tell these companies that this money MUST be applied to mortgages as a condition of the bail out, why would they not take it? They will get the money. It doesn&#8217;t matter if the homes are in foreclosure or not, if there is a mortgage it is applied to it.</p>
<p><strong>5. Refinance every loan if the loan taker agrees.</strong></p>
<p>This is conditional as I will explain. The prime rate right now is 5%. If the companies are forced to renegotiate loans that people are stuck with, like an ARM which has shot their interest rates up to over 8%, down to 6% across the board, this would save families a lot of money. This would be helping every day families who are paying over a thousand dollars a month on a mortgage with 10% interest down to under $700(the math is a little fuzzy, but you get the point). Now, this is only an optional based on the loanee because they may have a lower interest rate and that would not be beneficial for them. I also think that there should be a way to make it so they can have a shorter or longer term. As I said, this should be optional. Imagine what a family of 4 could do with an extra $300 per month. </p>
<p><strong>6. The companies must follow guidelines for making loans.</strong></p>
<p>If the person is unemployed, has a shaky employment history, wants a loan for more than he or she can afford or has horrible credit, DON&#8217;T LOAN THEM MONEY! The age of making risky loans is over. You have to learn from the past. Merry Christmas. </p>
<p><strong>7. Congress MUST do something to lower the price of gas.</strong></p>
<p>Notice that with the high price of fuel, it costs more to drive to work and pay for anything and everything. With less cash on hand, people can not afford the basic necessities. This will free up their cash so they can make their mortgage payments.</p>
<p>I know that this is as social as I will ever get, but this bail out is going to occur in one form or another and we must not allow ourselves to get screwed. We as taxpayers are going to become owners of this company without holding stock or getting any of the benefits. I wouldn&#8217;t invest in bad paper, and none of us, whether democrat or republican should allow our tax dollar to do so either.</p>
<p>What I have proposed gets the money to the lender while taking care of the low and middle class who all politicians so boldly say they care so greatly about. PROVE IT!</p>
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		<title>If the economy is in such a crisis:</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/09/30/if-the-economy-is-in-such-a-crisis/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/09/30/if-the-economy-is-in-such-a-crisis/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:06:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by Captain Obvious]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 2008 Election]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=51</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So much is being made about the economy. I will be posting an idea of how to fix things in another post which should be up tonight, but I want to focus this post on several things that some may not be thinking about.
Let&#8217;s start with how we got here. We know for a fact [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So much is being made about the economy. I will be posting an idea of how to fix things in another post which should be up tonight, but I want to focus this post on several things that some may not be thinking about.<span id="more-51"></span></p>
<p>Let&#8217;s start with how we got here. We know for a fact that Fannie and Freddie cooked the books in order for their top executives to receive bonuses. These two Government Sponsored Entities(GSE&#8217;s) are regulated. The regulators actually testified before congress in 2004 about accounting irregularities. During these hearings, many democrats said things to defend Freddie and Fannie, even calling any criticism of Franklin Raines &#8220;a political lynching&#8221;. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs">Video proof.</a> I&#8217;ll get back to this a little later because this actually was a hearing, and this goes back further. Let&#8217;s follow the money trail.</p>
<p>The government pushed for getting people, even those who couldn&#8217;t afford it, into owning a home by relaxing lending standards. In the 1980&#8217;s ACORN would protest banks, stage sit ins and other things to try to get those financial institutions to relax their lending standards. ACORN? Yep, the firm Barack Obama worked for as a community organizer, taught people how to be a community organizer and represented in a case against the state of Illinois. These relaxed standards led to loans to people with questionable credit, low income and a lower expectation to pay back the loans.</p>
<p>Back to 2004, the hearings were held and we find that because Fannie and Freddie are GSE&#8217;s they do not fall under the statutes of Sarbaines-Oxley, which was legislation set up for greater accountability after the enormous Enron scandal. These hearings in a Republican controlled house and Senate went nowhere, understandably in the Senate as you have to have 60 votes to pass legislation. My beef with the Republicans is right there. They let it drop and nothing was done to change that broken system which some Democrats said was not broken.</p>
<p>Enter a bill introduced by Chuck Hagel(R-NE) called the <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-190">Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005</a> Of course this bill had 3 co-sponsors, but died. The co-sponsors were:<br />
Sen. Elizabeth Dole [R-NC]<br />
Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]<br />
Sen. John Sununu [R-NH]   </p>
<p>While Democrats are saying that John McCain was all about deregulating the industry, he had this to say about it in his speech on the Senate floor.<br />
<em>Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae&#8217;s regulator reported that the company&#8217;s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were &#8220;illusions deliberately and systematically created&#8221; by the company&#8217;s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.</p>
<p>The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight&#8217;s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae&#8217;s former chief executive officer, OFHEO&#8217;s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines&#8217; compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.</p>
<p>The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator&#8217;s examination of the company&#8217;s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.</p>
<p>For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac&#8211;known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs&#8211;and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO&#8217;s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO&#8217;s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.</p>
<p>I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.</p>
<p>I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.</em></p>
<p>Doesn&#8217;t sound like he wanted deregulation for a GSE that was obviously in the early stages of this current trouble.</p>
<p>Now, let&#8217;s look into why the house bill failed yesterday. It is my opinion that Nancy Pelosi did not want this bill to pass. They were counting on a number of Republicans to vote for this bill, even when the Democrats have a majority that would have passed without the Republican&#8217;s help. Nancy Pelosi made a speech on the House floor that would offend anyone who is either a Republican or Conservative. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMLo7i38D58">Video.</a> I for one would be pissed if I were a House Republican. So that sets the stage for a large number of Republicans not voting for this bill and now the Democrats are blaming the Republicans for not passing the bill.</p>
<p>That is not it, though. 95 Democrats voted against the bill. It is said that Senator Obama did not make any calls to House Democrats before the vote to support this bill. All they needed were 12 votes. But why did they not pass it? It is a very simple explanation. Senator Obama is helped in the poll numbers when the economy is in bad shape. If it is in the headlines, it keeps him up in the polls.</p>
<p>Now that I have that off of my chest, I want to know a few things.<br />
1. Why have there been no hearings calling Franklin Raines or Jim Johnson to testify under the penalty of purjury?<br />
2. Is bilking investors and, if a similar bill passed, taxpayers out of millions or billions not malfeasance?<br />
3. Why are the politicians who kept tighter regulation from being passed and have accepted an extraordinary amount of money in campaign contributions from these firms not being investigated or thrown out of office?<br />
4. If there are not going to be any more &#8220;golden parachutes&#8221;, should the CEO&#8217;s be forced to pay back the millions they bilked the companies out of?<br />
5. If the economy is so damned bad, why are the politicians still raising millions of dollars each month in this campaign?</p>
<p>Even with the Stock market rebound today and the strengthening dollar, I believe that something has to be done. That is for my next post.</p>
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		<title>Corporate Bailouts</title>
		<link>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/09/21/corporate-bailouts/</link>
		<comments>http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/2008/09/21/corporate-bailouts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:15:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Captain Obvious</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles by Captain Obvious]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/podium/?p=41</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mybe it&#8217;s just me, but damn, why do taxpayers have to pay money to keep a company in business? Maybe Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had their tentacles in the economy so far that nothing would solve their problems and it would make the economy as a whole so bad that even Sudan would loan [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mybe it&#8217;s just me, but damn, why do taxpayers have to pay money to keep a company in business?<span id="more-41"></span> Maybe Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had their tentacles in the economy so far that nothing would solve their problems and it would make the economy as a whole so bad that even Sudan would loan us money. </p>
<p>As a business owner, it is obvious to me that it is not the right thing to do with these bail outs. Let me ask some questions and maybe someone can answer them.</p>
<p>1. With the mortgage bail outs, do the people who owe them and actually paid their bills on time end up with a clear title?<br />
2. Do the American taxpayers own a share of the company and do we get a piece of paper that guarantees our stock share?<br />
3. Is it being paid for with anything but the U.S. government who is so far in debt that it can only print out more currency, thereby devaluing the dollar even more?<br />
4. Is this bail out going to help the overall economy or is it going to alleviate a slowdown and delay a recession that will bring on a possible deep recession or even a depression?<br />
5. HOW DOES THIS HELP THE U.S. TAXPAYER??????????????????<br />
6. Does this open the door to every corporation who is losing money in the U.S. to extend their hand to the government to save them?</p>
<p>Look, the problem is that corporations are hiring dumb asses to run their companies. If you would rather have someone like Raines or Johnson(both formerly of Fannie Mae, now advisors to the Obama campaign) run your company as opposed to someone who actually knows how to <strong>successfully</strong> run a business, then you deserve to lose your ass. Cooking the books is not making a profit.</p>
<p>Simply put, even if you talk about regulation, it is no substitute for good management. A company who tells the truth can approach its problems and get rid of the wasters, those who would rather hide behind the numbers are those who end up getting bailed out by the tax payers and receiving nothing for it. If my tax dollars are going to bail out a corporate entity, I better get a share or two of stock.</p>
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