The Respectfully Republican Conversation

I'm listening to C-SPAN right now about what kind of oversight they have concerning the money to banks.  Someone is lying.  B of A was told they had to take the money.  This way no one could pinpoint which bank was going under and we wouldn't stampede the banks that did take loans.

I just heard the guy say it's only for banks who need the money.  Two, are you watching where the money is going?  Yes. is it for aquisitions or upping dividends, No.  But it is being used to maintain dividends?  Yes. 

If they have over-sight, why did whatever bank purchase a bank in China?  Why can't anyone get loans, per Trump.  Why don't our legislators do they're homework before going into these types of meetings, so we can really get down to what is happening out there.

Did I miss something.  I was in the kitchen cleaning up and had the TV turned up in the den so I could hear it.  I heard Cavuto and some woman talking about plans...I think they were talking about BO's stimulus plans.  In it there was PORK!..money for children's museums, something to do with golf courses, other stuff that I don't consider "infrastructure.  I may be wrong, but I wanted to know if anyone heard this.  I need a TV in my kitchen!

Shirley

Call me a weirdo but I kinda like her dress ....I would buy it but then I love those autumn colors .. I just would not want to stand next to the couch!!  LOL

How come Laura kept calling it the Susan Cullman Foundation???

----------------

Well, BO could be telling the *truth* ... maybe *he* didn't talk to them or him ... I guess it doesn't count if one of your advisors talks to them.  I think I said this before, but if someone is asking that stuff, then the staff or BO knew darn well that some phinagling was going on .. they should have said right then that they would report the governor to the authorities ...

 If anyone thinks that Obama is above all this mess, consider the fact that no one "Plays" in Illinois, unless he "Pays". There is no republican party in Illinois, just an extension of the dems. They make deals with the dems,  and everyone is in the can for someone, so nobody squels. But now that Blag is in such deep ****, he has nothing to lose. He  is mad as hell with Obama for sending Rhambo in to sell him out. Blago will talk. He will tell all about Rezco's connections. He will tell all about Rhambo's tactics. He will take down Obama with him. No one can become a garbage collector in Chicago without being dirty:

from Bloomberg news:

Blagojevich Arrest Fits Tradition in Illinois, Land of the Plea
Email | Print | A A A

By Tony C. Dreibus and Joe Carroll

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Rod Blagojevich has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors: He became the fourth of the past seven governors elected in Illinois to be arrested. Residents blame the sad tradition on a culture of patronage.

"Government in Illinois isn't about political ideology or helping people," said Christopher Mooney, who teaches political science at the University of Illinois-Springfield. "It's about which idiot brother-in-law are you going to get a job on a road crew because he helped you get into office."

The governor, a Democrat, was charged yesterday with trying to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat, according to a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors. Three previous governors were jailed: Otto Kerner, governor from 1961 to 1968; Dan Walker, who held the job from 1973 to 1977; and George Ryan, who served from 1999 to 2003.

Blagojevich, 51, and his chief of staff, John Harris, 46, threatened to withhold state assistance to now-bankrupt Tribune Co. in connection with the sale of the Wrigley Field ballpark, according to federal prosecutors. No pleas were entered and neither defendant made any statements during the hearing.

The men also allegedly sought to force the firing of members on the Chicago Tribune's editorial board who were critical of the governor. Tribune Co. owns the newspaper and the Chicago Cubs baseball team, which plays at Wrigley.

State politicians being carted off to jail reflects a local indifference to wrongdoing that needs to be changed, said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a former city alderman.

"We have a culture of machine politics and it lends itself to corruption," said Simpson. "We are the capital of corruption in the U.S."

History of Corruption

Political corruption has a bipartisan history in the state. Kerner, a Democrat convicted in 1973, was jailed after the manager of two horse-racing tracks admitted to bribing the then- governor; charges were filed after Kerner left office. Walker, a Democrat convicted in 1987, a decade after leaving office, served less than two years of a seven-year sentence for receiving improper loans.

Ryan, a Republican charged with accepting trips and gifts in exchange for political favors, was sentenced to more than six years in 2006.

Robert Sorich, who led Democratic Mayor Richard M. Daley's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and three other men were found guilty by a Chicago federal court jury in 2006 for illegal hiring. Daley, first elected in 1989 and the son of the city's longest-serving mayor, wasn't accused of wrongdoing.

"They must have a cell reserved somewhere for aldermen and governors," said Tommy FitzGibbon, executive vice president at MB Financial Bank in Chicago, who wants Blagojevich to resign. "It's an embarrassment."

‘What an Idiot'

The region's reputation was in the national spotlight during this year's presidential election. Republican presidential nominee John McCain ran political ads claiming that Democratic rival Barack Obama is part of a "corrupt Chicago political machine."

The Blagojevich arrest has brought more notoriety to the region. Clients in Germany and Ireland were aware of the arrest and brought it up in morning telephone calls with Caimin Flannery, a partner in Caimin Flannery & Associates in Naperville, Illinois, about 35 miles west of Chicago. The international business-development firm advises companies on mergers of $10 million to "several hundred" million dollars.

"Most people I've talked to today feel: ‘What an idiot,'" said Flannery, who was born in Ireland and speaks nine languages. "It's just the greed factor."

‘A New Low'

The governor was charged with conspiring to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions, including the replacement of Obama. Court-approved wiretaps intercepted Blagojevich last month conspiring to sell the Senate seat, said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. At various times, Blagojevich sought in return a cabinet post, an ambassadorship or a seat on a corporate board for his wife, Fitzgerald said.

"This is a sad day for government and it's a very sad day for Illinois government," Fitzgerald said. "Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a new low."

The governor's office has become the heart of a corruption culture in the fifth-largest U.S. state, said Tamara Holder, a Chicago defense attorney.

"It's definitely ingrained," Holder said.

Blagojevich, in his second term, has been buffeted by scandals in the state government and budget shortfalls. A Chicago Tribune poll in October put his approval rating at 13 percent, the lowest ever recorded by the newspaper's surveys.

No one among more than a dozen residents interviewed said they were caught off-guard by the arrests.

"You've been getting report after report of something negative going on," said Hector Galvan, a trading consultant for RJO Futures, the private client division of R.J. O'Brien & Associates LLC in Chicago.

While Blagojevich is the latest Illinois governor in court, Galvan said the state has also produced admirable politicians.

"The President-elect is from here," Galvan said. "You can't let a few spoil it for everyone else."

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in Chicago at Tdreibus@bloomberg.net.

Roctobermom, I don't think it was Laura calling it the "Cullman" foundation.  I think it was Fox not understanding her southern accent or not knowing ANYTHING about Susan Komen Foundation.  I SO wanted to correct that mistake, but then I'd be "cheating."  After all the years Laura Bush has worked with this foundation she surely knows their name.    She one smart woman..has to correct her dh's grammar or the way he says his words. LOL  I can only imagine that she shrinks in her seat when she listens to him talk.  LOL

Oh, Vivre, I'm a slow mover.  I'd do just fine in Congress.  I know I would!  I can sit on my arse and be a do-nothing like SOME other politicans.  I might even run for prez in '12...LMAO!  No, I'll take Nancy Pelosi's job.  She gets to fly on a private jet that we pay for.  Newt didn't.  I just love Nancy. 

Shirley

Vivre ... Thanks for the weirdo compliment!!  LOL 

Lies and technicalities.

    In Memoriam




It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a MEMORIAL CHAIN in, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian Peoples looking the other way!

Now, more than ever,with Iran ,among others, claiming the Holocaust to be "a myth", it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

Tucked into the $14 Billion automaker bail-out is a pay raise for Judges.  They can't stop themselves.  We'll have to watch for whatever else the House wants to tag on to it.

This is just a $14 bil give away program.  How can the automakers expect to be able to change their ways in only 3 months?  Again, there aren't many stipulations in this loan. just a car czar who is unnamed.  Is Lee Iocca still available?

Rosemary, I'm hearing that the Senate may not pass it.

If these "bailouts" are giving something to everybody but what they are intended why should we think the CEOs should know how to clean up their act?  Our own government is in serious need of a new CEO.  We need to kick out everyone and start all over.  Wonder where the campaign money would come from? 

Since I dare not post over <------------------------------- I'll post this here.  I say for anyone who likes Holland's social views...GO GO!  I bet many of the dems would like this to happen in our country. $$$$

This is from Reader's Digest in Canada.

http://www.readersdigest.ca/mag/2000/08/think_drugs.html

Holland's Drug Policies: The Lesson for Canada

BY GLADYS POLLACK

Some twenty-four years ago, the Dutch government embarked upon an innovative experiment, a tolerant "soft drug" policy, whose repercussions today are wide-ranging

BACK IN 1976, the Dutch Parliament liberalized its policy towards drug use, a policy differing broadly from that of its European neighbours. The new drug legislation differentiated drugs such as heroin, cocaine and LSD, which were viewed as presenting "an unacceptable risk," from the "softer," less dangerous cannabis products.

Possession of 30 grams of marijuana or hashish (supposedly enough to satisfy the average user's needs for several weeks) was decriminalized. With certain restrictions, the Dutch government also permitted sale of marijuana and hashish in licensed coffee shops. These shops were prohibited from advertising or selling more than 30 grams to one customer. The sale of hard drugs was illegal in the shops, as were sales to persons under 18 years of age. Importing, exporting and selling cannabis products remained illegal outside of the coffee shops.

What are the consequences of the legalization of the so-called risk-free drugs?

Prior to the 1976 drug policy, the content of joints in Holland were similar to those smoked elsewhere in Europe. THC (delta-nine-tetrahydrocannabinol), the component that provides the high, was three to five percent. Nederwiet, the now-popular Dutch-grown cannabis, is far more potent, with a THC that can rise to up to 20 percent, providing a quicker, more enduring high than yesteryear's joint.

A leading British expert on the effects of cannabis on users, Dr. Heather Ashton, of the University of Newcastle's School of Neurosciences, found that more and more of the elevated-level THC cannabis was required to get a high as smokers developed a tolerance to the high THC-level joints. THC, which does not dissolve in water, is absorbed by human fatty tissues and remains there longer than either nicotine or alcohol. Thus, the THC effects remain with the heavy user far longer than he might think, causing a decline in short-term memory, diminished ability to learn and decreased motor skills. Regular users of the high content THC Nederwiet are developing a dependency on this "soft" drug, Ashton has found.

Dutch professionals working with the abusers of "soft" drugs have found that young people, especially those lighting up with the high THC cannabis, may become chronically passive, spending days smoking joint after joint, unable to find direction in their lives.

Even though the coffee shops are prohibited from selling to minors, cannabis use among Holland's 14- and 15-year-old high-school students rose sharply between 1984 and 1996. Back in 1984, four percent of these teenagers surveyed said they had tried cannabis once. By 1996, 28 percent of boys and 21 percent of girls admitted to smoking up. Addicts (registered cannabis users being treated) increased by 25 percent in 1997. At the same time only a three-percent rise in the numbers of people looking for help with alcohol-related problems was recorded.

Twenty odd years ago, the Netherlands was comparatively free of international drug-trafficking criminals. Today, Holland has become an illegal drug producing and distributing giant, a devastating threat not only to the Netherlands but across Europe. Of the amphetamines seized in France in 1996, 68.5 percent originated in the Netherlands as well as some 80 percent of the ecstasy tablets seized. In 1988, almost 40 synthetic drug-producing sites were found in the Netherlands. 

 And Nederwiet, most of which is illegally produced, is also wending its illegal way to the Netherlands' neighbouring countries. Holland's soft-drug yearly sales are estimated at some $3 billion.

In the 1970s, proponents of the liberalized policy said that the coffee-shop soft-drug environment would save users from the clutches of drug peddlers and stop them from falling into hard drugs. Critics however, argue that this policy tells kids it's perfectly okay to smoke cannabis and provides an easy stepping stone to the use of synthetic drugs like ecstasy. They question the mentality brought about by soft-drug legalization and the generally tolerant attitude towards drug use which followed, and worry that this may endanger the Netherlands as well as its European neighbours.

Heroin addiction, virtually unknown in the Netherlands prior to the policy change, has escalated, with the number of addicts estimated by the Netherlands' Institute of Mental Health (called the Trimbos Institute) to be 25,000. An estimated 12,000 addicts are being treated in methadone-maintenance programs.

While there may be no psychological step up from cannabis smoking to heroin, and not all pot smokers progress to hard drugs, more than 90 percent of heroin addicts treated at De Hoop (The Hope) drug rehabilitation centre in Dordrecht, Holland, were habitual grass users before moving on to heroin.

Despite legislation which forbade the sale of hard drugs in coffee shops, they were being sold there. So, five years ago the government clamped down, reducing the number of shops and the amount of cannabis products sold to an individual user, from 30 grams to five.

Holland's tolerant drug laws were aimed at preventing drug users from getting caught up in an illegal drug environment. But the escalation in the use of coke, ecstasy, speed and heroin in that country questions the efficacy of its government's drug policy. As a result, twenty six years after liberalization, drug laws in the Netherlands are still being debated and observers are left wondering if the longed-for benefits of legalization were just wishful thinking.

Yes, Rosemary, the predictions are that the companies are going to go bankrupt ANYWAY, so why not reorganize NOW!  But your right...when the next prez comes in he'll get it done.  I don't like the fact that Bush is pushing this too.

Shirley,

I can tell you exactly why Bush is pushing this.  His legacy.  He doesn't want any more on the unemployment rolls then we have to have.  They'll reorganize eventually and hire most of them back anyway.  Life will go on in the auto industry.  They just might have too many people on the payroll, and that sitting in malls routine and getting paid, what is that about?  Anyone here get laid off and was paid for years to do nothing?  The unions are out of control. 

Here's this other doozie.  I don't go to work, I get paid.  Someone has to fill in my job and guess what?  He gets overtime for doing my job that I got paid for.  And I can keep not going to work forever.  How do I know this?  My brother-in-law was one of them who loved picking up the overtime for people who sat home on a daily basis.  Unbelievable.  I don't want us paying for that.

I thought by jumping in here after the election,there would not be much to talk about.LOL

Rosemary. They raised my tax bill too. There is not a place in the country where housing prices went up, yet they are reassessing higher everywhere. The reason is revenues are so down, most towns cannot make payroll, so they are using the only ploy they have, raise taxes. We will be hit again when Obama gets his hand in it.

I love the idea of tossing out all of Congress. We could have a national lottery. Anyone who meets age and education qualification can put their name in the hat and we can just draw names. We would be much better off!

Sherri. You are right. Obama is brilliant. He is so smart he has been able to con the media, and half the country. How many more shady associations do we have to put up with before people get the message? I would be willing to put up with 8 years of Hillary if we could get rid of this crook. At least she tried to act in the best interest of the country. Obama has no scruples. He did anything he could to take power, and now he can put forth an agenda that could destroy us. I just cannot give him any benefit of the doubt. He is just too unscrupulous to ever believe he has any good intentions.