Obama’s race? Who cares?

Well, as everyone knew would happen, Obama’s campaign is saying that the Republican’s are going to make this election about race.  Basically, he’s saying the only reason that Republican’s are attacking him is because he’s black.  Nice try Mr. Obama.

Here’s a news flash for you.  No one gives a rat’s you-know-what that you’re black.  So far, the only one I see focusing on it is you.  Personally, I don’t care if you were purple with three arms, and I’m quite sure that the Republican party doesn’t either.  They’ll attack you because of where you stand on the issues and your associations with some fairly shady characters, not because of your skin color.

And if you really believe this, then everytime you attack Senator McCain, then you’re a racist and you’re attacking him because he’s white.  If you really want to impress America, do away with the double-standard, because that’s what really pisses people off.  

I can already hear the excuse when you lose this election; “They didn’t vote for me because I’m black.”  Just like Hillary would say, “They didn’t vote for me because I’m a woman.”  It’s always about being the victim with you guys. 

If you want a color-blind society, then quit using race as a crutch!  Most Americans don’t care if you’re white, black or green.  They just want to enjoy their lives just like everyone else.  Now I know that there are people who are on the fringe that would say otherwise, but the majority, and I would say 99 percent of people, really don’t care.     

And guess what?  There have always been people who HATE, and unfortunately, there always will be. 

Make Obama and the Dems defend their position!

Since our current leadership doesn’t have the courage to stand up to Obama, then I will.  

Candidates and elected officials take note:  THIS IS WHAT AVERAGE AMERICANS WANT!  SOMEONE WHO ISN’T AFRAID TO SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID!

This is taken from the AFP as it appeared on the Drudge Report.  The article remarks are in plain script, my response is in bold.

Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday accused White House rival John McCain of “posturing” as the Republican, tapping voters’ anxiety about sky-high fuel prices, called for offshore oil drilling.

In a speech later in the Texas oil capital of Houston, the Arizona senator was to call for a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore exploration to be lifted — reversing his own support for the ban when he ran for president in 2000.

McCain was again to push for a summer suspension of federal taxes on gasoline, to ease a little of the pain at the pump for voters already reeling from an epidemic of home foreclosures and job losses.

Obama, who has been hammering McCain and the Republicans on the economy, said his White House opponent’s support of the moratorium in 2000 was “certainly laudable.”

“But his decision to completely change his position and tell a group of Houston oil executives exactly what they wanted to hear today was the same Washington politics that has prevented us from achieving energy independence for decades,” the Illinois senator said in a statement.

Mr. Obama, you cannot be that stupid!  First of all, “tapping the voter’s anxiety about sky-high fuel prices”?  Guess what Captain Obvious?  We are anxious!  We’re scared to death!  You want to know why?  Because you politicians in Washington aren’t doing squat about solving the problem.

Second, McCain doesn’t have to tell the “big oil” companies a damn thing!  They are going to support him no matter what, because the alternative is YOU, and we all know what you think of the oil companies.  So what he says or doesn’t say is irrevelant.

What has prevented us from energy independence is Bill Clinton vetoing the bill that would have allowed us to drill in ANWAR in 1998, and you Democrats catering to the environmentalists who are more concerned about protecting the lives of polar bears than the lives of Americans.  

“Much like his gas tax gimmick that would leave consumers with pennies in savings, opening our coastlines to offshore drilling would take at least a decade to produce any oil at all, and the effect on gasoline prices would be negligible at best since America only has three percent of the world’s oil.

I agree.  Drilling will not provide immediate price reductions to gas prices, however it will send a signal to world markets that our days of dependence are coming to an end.  This is the same excuse that Bill Clinton used in 1998.  Quit living in the past!   Also, how do you plan on ever ridding ourselves of dependence on foreign oil if YOU NEVER START DRILLING?  One of two things are true with your statement, Mr. Obama;  Either you really are that dumb, or you think that the American people are.  Which is it? 

“It’s another example of short-term political posturing from Washington, not the long-term leadership we need to solve our dependence on oil.”

Short term?  According to you, it’s ten years from now!  How is that short term?  Tell the American people “you’re going to have to pay $5-$7 dollars a gallon for the next ten years” and then ask them if they think that’s “short term”?

My question to you Mr. Obama is, “what is your solution other than telling the rest of us to cut back”?  Tax the crap out of the oil companies so they can pass that cost onto us?  Develop new technologies and other fuel alternatives?  Talk about long term? 

Here’s a news flash!  These are things that can be done IN CONJUNCTION with drilling, and if in ten years, someone develops an engine that can get 100 miles to the gallon, then it means our reserves will go farther and we will be even less dependent.     

Obama is pushing for a “windfall tax” on oil companies’ record profits and for federal investment of 150 billion dollars over 10 years in renewable and green energies.

Idiot!  Right now, we should be giving the oil companies everything they need to tap our domestic reserves.  And “windfall tax” my butt!  Do you have any idea how much the oil companies pay in taxes, not to mention the money they reinvestment into research and development.  Their “windfall profit” as you call it, equates to about a 10% return.   

Are you going to go after every business that shows more than a 10% profit?  Better go audit Ronald McDonald because they profit about 1000% per burger.  And don’t forget about Wal-Mart.  What a baffoon!

And let’s talk about the 150 billion in “federal” reinvestment.  Do you know what this statement translated means?  It means you take MORE TAXES and you SPEND IT!  Why don’t you quit taxing us to death and let the free markets do what they do best.

Let me fill you in on something that everyone else in this country seems to know but you:  THE GOVERNMENT HAS NEVER, EVER DONE ANYTHING BETTER THAN THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND NEVER WILL.   

Mr. Obama, with respect to all of your orchestrated speeches and your empty rhetoric, you’re just another politician trying to sell the same product, just with a different package.  And your remarks today prove just one thing and one thing only; It proves that you wealthly college boys don’t have enough education to admit when you’re wrong.     

I can’t take it anymore!!!

Here’s how fed up I am with these elitist, egotistical, pompous, liberal democrats.  If I could stand in front of Congress, here’s what I’d have to say:

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  You were hired to do a job and make our lives easier, but today we are worse off than we were 2 years ago when you took control! 

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  In 2005, Democrats said that if they were in control of Congress, they had a plan to reduce the cost of oil and gasoline, but we now pay $1.70 more a gallon then we did back then!  They’ve been in the majority for 2 years, and things have gotten worse.  So by their own words, they testify against themselves.

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  In 1998, the bill to drill for oil in ANWAR was approved by both the House and Senate, but was vetoed by Bill Clinton.  His excuse was “it would take 8-10 years before we could feel the effects.”  IT’S BEEN 10 YEARS NOW!  I think it’s safe to say that we could use it right about now.

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  Last week, a bill to authorize drilling in ANWAR and off the coast was put up for vote and you voted against it for the same reasons it was vetoed by Bill Clinton! 

Blind Guides!

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  You fill the courts with liberal judges, who are more interested in legislating from the bench and putting porn on their personal websites, and now we have terrorists and enemy combatants being granted their day in U.S. courts.  You are more concerned about the rights of the people who kill our sons and daughters, then you are about protecting this country!

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  Your liberal judges actively ignore the will of the people and now we have homosexual marriages being legalized in California, even after the PEOPLE voted against it!

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  You reward the lazy and the slothful with more government handouts, and you tax and curse the successful and the ambitious!  You create and empower nothing but victims!

Woe to you, Democrats and Liberals!  You hypocrites!  You banish God from every venue, from every school and public function, and yet you open your daily sessions with prayer!  

In the upcoming election, before you touch the screen or punch the card, ask yourself some simple questions about your potential candidate, and it doesn’t matter if it’s for city council or President;

1.  Have they offered to take LESS of your money in taxes?

2.  Are they offering REALISTIC solutions to our energy crisis other than suggesting we conserve?

3.  Are they more concerned about the lives of the caribou than they are YOUR life?

4.  Are they willing to WIN the war in Iraq, or are they more interested in retreat?

5.  Are they working in favor of our manufacturers to reduce regulation and taxation so that they can provide higher wages and benefits to it’s employees?

6.  Are they removing regulations from businesses that will allow them to not only remain in this country, but expand?

7.  Are they doing anything that is going to bring IMMEDIATE relief to your pocketbook?  Note: A $1,000 tax credit is NOT relief. 

8.  And finally, HAVE THEY SUGGESTED THAT IT’S TIME FOR WASHINGTON TO TIGHTEN THEIR BELT AND GO WITHOUT, instead of bleeding us dry? 

This isn’t about partisan politics, this is about solutions and who has them.  If the candidate’s solution is more government, vote for the other guy!  Please!         

Congress, DO YOUR JOB!

I recently attended a meeting where the featured speaker was a current “Congressperson”.  In attendance, were approximately 40 prominent Republican supporters, who wanted to hear this person’s opinion on the current state of affairs in Washington. 

Now keep in mind, I’m not an elected official yet, so when I attend these things, I do so as a concerned taxpayer, not a politician.  Needless to say, after about 10 minutes, I was fit to be tied!  All I heard was every reason under the sun as to why no real progress is being made in Congress.  It’s an election year.  We’re not in the majority anymore.  Everyone’s focused on the Presidential race.  Blah, Blah, Blah…

How about this?  Weather it’s an election year or not, weather you’re in the majority or not and regardless of who wins the White House, YOU STILL HAVE A JOB TO DO!!!

Here’s why things don’t get done in Congress:

1.  Congress is too involved in things that don’t matter.  Who cares if baseball players are on steroids?  Hell, most Americans don’t care if they’re all juiced and have it on tap in the dugout!  Quit wasting time on things that you shouldn’t be involved in in the first place.    

2.  3 1/2 day work weeks!  What’s up with that?  Every other full-time American I know works at least 40 hours a week minimum!  They should be working 12 hour days, 7 days a week!  You want to go home, then do the job we’re paying you for and get something done!  

3.  4 months paid vacation!  That’s right!  The last time I checked a calender, there was 52 weeks in a year and our hard working representatives (sarcasm implied) are only in session for 32 weeks.  Here’s a novel idea.  You get two weeks vacation per year and the only days you get off are weekends and national holidays, just like the rest of us.  Leadership means you lead by example.

4.  Here’s another novel idea; if you’re running for re-election, then campaign all you want during the 4 months that you have off during the year, instead of the entire year since it’s an election year.  Besides, if you’re doing a great job, then getting re-elected should be easy; you’re an incumbent, you have access to the press and the media and raising money should be easy since you have name recognition.       

As you can see, I tend to get a bit miffed when I see all of the problems this country is facing, and all our so-called leaders can say is, “it’s an election year”.  If it’s an election year, then they should be doing their best stuff.  This is no different than professional sports. 

Ever notice that when a players contract is in it’s final year, they usually raise their level of play?  Why is that?  It’s because they want to get re-signed.  

In politics, politicians do their worst stuff in the final year and then blame it on the election year, but promise to do better the following year.  What garbage!

Remember this come November;  WE ARE THE EMPLOYER, THEY ARE THE EMPLOYEE.  What do you do with an employee who only shows up part-time for a full-time job?  What do you do with an employee who takes 4 months off PAID?  What do you do with an employee who was hired to do a job, but never does the job?  Answer:  FIRE THEM AND FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL! 

Housing Crisis - A solution

Are our politicians blind? 

I ask this, because their complete disregard for the current housing crisis staggers me.  So far, all I’ve seen is government bailouts and Barack Obama wanting the government to take control of the markets. 

What kind of leadership is this? 

There is a solution.  A solution that I’ve been proposing for almost a year now, and it would work, and it would work in a dramatic fashion.  Here’s how you stop the foreclosures dead in their tracks, allow people to remain in their homes, and allow the banks to continue to make money, without having to write down losses or go into the real estate business. 

First, you must understand that the banks that are servicing this paper, don’t want to go into the real estate business and they don’t really want to throw someone out of their home.  Second, most people didn’t wake up one day and decide that they didn’t want to make their house payment any longer.  Most were forced into the situation when their rates adjusted.  Thirdly, lending conditions were dramatically different then what they are today, so the process must be streamlined.  

So here’s how you solve the problem:

1.  Recast a new Note and Deed of Trust at the original rate of which the loan was taken.  (This would only apply to rate / term refinancing and ARM’s with negative amortization would be exempt) 

2.  Apply any past due payments, along with any fees, to the new loan amount and re-amortize the loan on a term that is most affordable for the borrower. (The loan must be a fixed rate loan) 

3.  Because the new loan is based upon making the payment affordable again, credit score, income, asset or property valuation is not needed or necessary. 

TADA!!!!!! 

By doing this, the servicer, A) receives monthly payments, which means profit.  B) They don’t have to go through the process of foreclosure.  C) They don’t have to sell a property in a declining market with virtually no way of obtaining a profit.   

So how does the homeowner benefit?  A) They get to keep their home.  B) The monthly payments are now affordable again. C) They no longer have to neglect paying other obligations. 

So how does the market benefit?  A) Property values stabilize.  B) Wall Street investors stop taking credit losses.  C) More money back in circulation due to the restoration of liquidity.     

The Housing Crisis - When worlds collide.

Everyday, it seems as if things just keep getting worse; the economic slowdown, the housing crisis, the credit crisis, higher energy costs.  If you’re like me, then you have one looming question:  Where is our representation? Where are our so-called “leaders”, with all of their wisdom and insight?  What are the solutions they’re proposing to stop this car wreck?  I haven’t heard one viable solution from any bureaucrat out of Washington.

Here’s what I can tell you about regarding one of these issues: 

Housing Crisis: This one is near and dear to me, because I’m in the mortgage industry.  The current situation has turned into a ticking time-bomb that can be diffused, but unfortunately, the powers that be, are too busy opposing each other to be effective. Case and point; Fed Chairman, Ben Bernacke, has cut the prime lending rate more than 1.5% over the past six months, bringing mortgage interest rates to below 6%.  That’s great news for homeowners who may have higher rates or have adjustable rates that may be changing in the near future.   Problem:  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to either revised or eliminate many of the loan programs that are needed for these borrowers to correct their present situation.  Many of these revisions happen on a daily basis, so even though a loan may be eligible today, it may not be tomorrow.  Also, Fannie and Freddie have now implemented what they are calling “risk-based pricing”. Meaning that if your loan has ANY increased risk associated with it i.e. lower credit score, higher loan to value, etc. (which most loans do thanks to decreasing property values) than your loan will be assessed a fee based upon that risk.  If you have a FICO score of between 620 and 640, look forward to a charge between 1 and 3 percent being added to your loan.   Another adverse factor is the declining property values.  This is attributed to the concept of supply and demand.  Currently, the market is saturated with homes for sale and due to the amount of time that it’s taking to sell a home; sellers are cutting deep into their profit margins.  Many are willing to take losses if it means not having to cover two mortgage payments.  Because of this, recent sales set the level of competing prices.  In other words, if you have two similar homes for sale for say $250,000, and one is sold for $220,000; guess what?  The poor guy who still has his on the market for $250,000 is hating life, because the one that sold for $220,000 set the market for what someone is willing to pay, and is now the best comparable when determining value. This is extremely tough for sellers who have foreclosures in their neighborhoods, have homes being sold on short-sales or have builders selling their homes for  To make matters worse, Fannie and Freddie have now implemented a “declining market” rule, which states that if a property is located in a market where the property values are declining, (the entire country) than the requested loan to value will be reduced by 5%.  In other words, if you need to refinance your home at 95% loan to value and you’re home is located in a “declining market” (the entire country) then your loan will be reduced to 90%, which essentially kills your loan.  Say hello to foreclosure! 

Your thoughts…