Neal Boortz, RCP.com

 

You've seen the headlines, and you heard of the failures and buyouts. Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, AIG; all big names and all in big trouble. Then those mysterious quasi-government agencies with names like Freddie and Fannie become wards of the state and you learn that you and your fellow taxpayers are potentially on the hook for tens of billions of dollars.

 

The truth is that most of the blame rests on political meddling in the credit decisions of these mortgage lenders.

 

Washington made it clear to banks and other lending institutions that if they did not do something .. and fast .. to bring more minorities and low-income Americans into the world of home ownership there would be a heavy price to pay. Congress set up processes (Research the Community Redevelopment Act) whereby community activist groups and organizers could effectively stop a bank's efforts to grow if that bank didn't make loans to unqualified borrowers. Enter, stage left, the "subprime" mortgage.

 

These lenders knew that a very high percentage of these loans would turn to garbage - but it was a price that had to be paid if the bank was to expand and grow. We should note that among the community groups browbeating banks into making these bad loans was an outfit called ACORN. There is one certain presidential candidate that did a lot of community organizing for ACORN. I won't mention his name so as to avoid politicizing this column. So ... why aren't you reading the whole story in the mainstream media? Come on, are you kidding me? Do you really expect the media to blame this mess on deadbeat borrowers and political interference in the free market when it is so easy to put the blame on greedy lenders and evil capitalists? Remember ... there's an election going on. One candidate is decidedly anti-capitalist. Do the math. Read article.

 

Michael Barone, Rasmussen Reports.com

 

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, the 500-point plunge of the Dow, the government takeover of AIG -- all these have got the presidential candidates talking about the economy. But both Barack Obama and John McCain have been vague about their solutions. And for good reason.

 

Our economic problems are concentrated in the finance sector, and that's the part of the economy the average voter knows least about.

 

Strong arguments were made that the biggest dealers of securitized mortgages, the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were overleveraged. The Bush administration and some Republicans in Congress tried to place limits on the GSEs' investments, but this was successfully resisted by most Democrats and some Republicans. Strong lobbying prevailed over strong arguments, and Fan and Fred are now in federal conservatorship.

 

It's hard to make a 30-second spot about all this. It's easy to call for more regulation, but this is a tricky business, and there's a risk of stifling innovation, which has on balance vastly enriched us over the past 25 years. In any case, voters are not very good at analyzing regulatory changes. Read article.

JB Williams, NMJ.us

 

It’s not an easy task to find any Obama accomplishments. But the current banking crisis, driven by bad home mortgage lending policies over the last decade, provides a close up look at Obama’s past economic decision making, which happens to have played a major role in the current collapse of the mortgage and housing industries.

 

In short, though Obama is on the campaign trail blaming the current economic crisis on President Bush and John McCain, it is actually Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus and Democrats who are at the root of today’s financial woes. Facts don’t lie... Politicians do!

 

While claiming “he” is the solution to this as well as every other problem on earth, past Obama decisions are in fact at the epicenter of the crisis. Hot Air Blog does a magnificent job of detailing the hard facts concerning the long road to disaster traveled by Fannie and Freddie, as well as many other mortgage lending institutions. It was the effort to turn mortgage lending into yet another federal welfare program that led to the collapse of the mortgage industry.

 

Hot Air Blog details the history behind the disaster in its exposé Whose Policies Led to the Credit Crisis? Every American voter seriously concerned with how we got where we are today, must read this historical account of the facts involved. Read article.

 

Ann Coulter, Townhall.com

 

It's another election season, so that means it's time for Democrats to start uttering wild malapropisms about the Bible to pretend they believe in God!

 

In 2004, Democratic presidential candidate and future Trivial Pursuit answer Howard Dean told an interviewer that his favorite part of the New Testament was the Book of Job. The reporter should have asked him if that was his favorite book in all three testaments.

 

And now in 2008, we have Democrats attacking Sarah Palin for being a Christian, while comparing Obama to Jesus Christ. (And not in the sarcastic way the rest of us do.)

 

In 1776, Gen. George Washington -- a charter member of the founding fathers -- rallied his troops, saying: "The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves. ... The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of the army."

 

So Washington not only used the phrase "under God," but gave us one of the earliest known references to the rights of the "unborn." That's right! George Washington was a "pro-life extremist," just like Sarah Palin. Read article.

Jonah Goldberg, JWR.com

 

So, who should go to jail?

 

John McCain insists that the financial crisis is the direct result of Wall Street's "unbridled corruption and greed." Sarah Palin says likewise. Senator Obama, for the most part, has merely echoed what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has already said. Obama has an excuse though: He hasn't finished conducting his seminar on what's going on; he'll get back to us after a rousing multivariate analysis of the value of "decisiveness." Joe Biden says the Wall Street crisis is the result of George W. Bush's tax cuts, which makes as much sense as blaming the rising price of fairy dust. But as a wise man once asked, Who gives a rat's patoot what Joe Biden thinks?

 

Nonetheless, blame is settling on those old standby scapegoats, Wall Street fat cats.

 

So, I ask again: Who should go to jail? Read article.

Amir Taheri, NRO.com

 

On Monday, in an opinion piece published in the New York Post, I suggested that Senator Barack Obama had urged Iraqi leaders to postpone making an agreement with the United States until there was a new administration in Washington.

 

I said this because Obama himself had said it.

 

In an interview broadcast by NBC on June 16, 2008, Obama said that he had told Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari that “the Congress should be involved in any negotiations regarding the Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq” and “suggested it may be better to wait until the next administration to negotiate such an agreement.”

 

I said it because Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari said it.

 

In an interview published by the pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawast on September 11, 2008, Zebari raised the issue at length. This is part of what he said: “Obama asked me why, in view of a change of administration, we were hurrying the signing of this special agreement, and why we did not wait until the coming of a new administration next year to agree on some issues and matters.” Read article.

 

Michael Wissot, NewsMax.com

 

Good politicians can detect when their messages resonate with voters and when adjustments are in order.

 

The Illinois senator’s campaign has revised its longtime slogan of “Change We Can Believe In” to “Change We Need.” Such subtle shifts are crafted deliberately, often suggesting a new strategy or mind-set. Why else would you see this replacement festooned on every campaign sign, repeated throughout Obama’s Web site and echoed in his stump speeches?

 

It’s understandable why Obama has been defensive and rickety in recent weeks. The media frenzy on McCain running mate Sarah Palin, an energized conservative base, McCain’s surge in the polls and, well, the fact that no Republican should even be competitive in this election. How can a man who has been deified throughout much of this campaign potentially find himself an afterthought in November?

 

The more revealing harbinger of Change 2.0 is that Obama no longer controls his own fate. This election is quickly becoming a referendum on the bolder McCain-Palin ticket. Perhaps the American electorate has grown weary of Obama-mania, or perhaps voters are tired of waiting for tangibles from Obama’s candidacy. Regardless, Obama knows there’s a problem. Read article.

James Morris, Strategic Outlook.blog.Townhall.com

 

This article discusses the geopolitical implications of how the current US Presidential Election will affect US National Security in the coming decade. There are sharp differences between the two presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, on foreign policy and national security issues. To date, there has no rational argument presented (at least to my knowledge), that Mr. Obama has demonstrated any real competence in these matters, hence his selection of Senator Joe Biden of Delaware as his Vice Presidential running mate.

 

McCain on the other hand, with the exception of Dwight D. Eisenhower, has a better understanding of the geopolitical implications the US Presidency holds in the state of world affairs than any candidate in modern American history. McCain draws from personal experience in his basic understanding of the nature of the external threats facing the United States today.

 

Communism, Marxism, Islamic extremism, global jihadism, ethnic nationalism, National Socialism and transnational crime syndicates are movements that have been reenergized and enhanced by the technical advancements of the Information Age and represent a clear and present danger to the security of the Free World and the United States. The top priority of any US President lies in their ability to protect the citizens and national security assets of the United States. Read article.

 

Matthew Vadum, Spectator.org

 

With few exceptions, the mainstream media has fallen down on the job covering the meteoric rise of Senator Barack Obama, so when every once in a while a journalist takes an honest, critical look at Obama, people who believe in the democratic process should welcome the discussion. But instead of welcoming the opportunity, the Obama campaign tries to suppress legitimate debate by engaging in Leninist political theater.

 

If Obama has nothing to hide, what's he so afraid of?

 

The campaign's Obama Action Wire tried to drown out investigative journalist David Freddoso who wrote the New York Times bestseller, The Case Against Barack Obama, when he appeared September 15 on "Extension 720," a Chicago radio show.

 

The Obama campaign sent out an emergency "Obama Wire Alert" to supporters, urging them to stir up trouble for Freddoso, whose book is now number 5 on the Times' bestseller list (hardcover nonfiction), the Chicago Tribune's blog, The Swamp, reports. "The author of the latest anti-Barack hit book is appearing on WGN Radio in the Chicagoland market tonight, and your help is urgently needed to make sure his baseless lies don't gain credibility," the political all-points bulletin read.

 

"David Freddoso has made a career off dishonest, extreme hate mongering," the email claimed. Read article.

 

Daniel Henninger, Online WSJ.com

 

Yes, the Obama campaign is trying to hang the Bush presidency around his neck. Mr. McCain knows -- and should give -- the answer to that: Voter disgust with Washington goes far beyond George W. Bush.

 

In the 2006 off-year election, voters threw out the Republican bums and turned over control of Congress to the Democrats. In an odd thank-you, the Democratic Congress earned the lowest approval ratings ever recorded in opinion polls.

 

This decline is not part of the normal ebb and flow of politics. The fall, the malfeasance, is deeper. It's bipartisan. It's endemic.

 

You say Sarah Palin doesn't have enough "experience" to run Washington? Washington is barely fit to be run.

 

The problem isn't standard political corruption. The problem is that the $2.8 trillion federal budget is a vast ocean of Beltway pilot fish feeding off scraps from the whale -- lawyers, lobbyists, ex-Members of Congress. No one runs the Sea of Washington. It's too big, too deep.

 

Barack Obama wants to dig a deeper hole. John McCain should ask the American people if they want this to go on, because it's nonsense to vote for government to do "more" and then whine when it doesn't work or degrades into sweetheart-deal hell.

 

Unfocused "reform" rhetoric from Mr. McCain isn't enough. The public has been there, heard that. Sen. McCain should talk about what he knows -- fat Fannie and Freddie, farm-bill bloat, the ethanol subsidy fiasco, the federal procurement mess. Show people Gov. Palin's 18 single-spaced pages of 2007 vetoes. Then identify Congress's bipartisan supporters of the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act and ask the voters' support. Appear with GOP congressman from Sarah's new generation who want to help -- Eric Cantor of Virginia, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Kevin McCarthy of California. There are others. Read article.

 

Ernest S. Christian, IBD Editorials.com

 

The Democrats have spent a year demonstrating yet again why they are unfit to lead the nation — and perhaps unfit any longer to be a major political party.

 

A year ago, they were the default option and seemed to have the '08 election in the bag. All they had to do was step up and act responsibly. Then along came Barack Obama starring in a self-produced one-act drama about a fictional hero named Barack Obama.

 

The New York Times and Washington Post swooned. They rushed out rave reviews and embellished the script with additional exaggerations of their own. So did CNN and the networks.

 

Soon, the high-octane prospect of a left-wing charismatic with bonus points for race and a claim to historic significance became irresistible. Before the rank and file caught on to the media hustle, Barack Obama walked off with the nomination and ownership of the Democratic Party.

 

Now the Democrats are compounding the fraud by foisting him off on the voters. The Barack Obama they are peddling is a media-created virtual person endowed by his creators with characteristics that do not represent the real Barack Obama. Millions of people are being duped. Read article.

 

Cinnamon Stillwell, SFGate.com

 

There's a new affliction sweeping the nation, and it's known as Palin Derangement Syndrome. The phenomenon is similar to Bush Derangement Syndrome, a term coined by political columnist Charles Krauthammer to describe the personal animosity and irrational hatred directed at President Bush by his leftist opponents. But this time, Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, is the object of wrath.

 

The feeding frenzy began with the news of Palin's selection, but it was her electrifying speech at the Republic National Convention last month that really set it off. In one fell swoop, Palin managed to energize the Republican base, breathe life into the McCain campaign, launch some very effective jabs at Barack Obama, and quite possibly, attract the support of the 18 million Hillary Clinton voters.

 

The attacks on Palin have ranged from patronizing to vicious to fantastical. She has been caricatured as an inexperienced rube, a baby-making automaton, an uneducated underachiever, a bad mother, trailer-park trash, a rightwing religious fanatic, a sexual fantasy, and of course, a fascist. No subject has been deemed taboo in the effort to take Palin down. Read article.

 

Gabriel Garnica, RenewAmerica.us

 

According to Murdock, LegiStorm, a Capitol Hill watchdog group, shows that Obama's male legislative staffers earn an average of $ 54,397 while his female staffers average $ 45,152. A possible reason for this disparity only makes things look worse for our dear Marxist Messiah. It seems that among Obama's five best-paid advisers, only one is a woman and, among his top 20, only seven are women.

 

Simply put, Obama talks up a storm on equal pay for women and, consistent with his messiah moniker, presents himself as their savior when, in fact, the only thing he saves regarding women is the money he saves by paying them less than men.

 

Despite not putting his money where his mouth is, Barack Obama has the audacity to accuse John McCain and Sarah Palin of not respecting women in the workplace by being opposed to equal pay for equal work. In fact, in commenting on this supposed opposition to equal pay for women by the GOP contenders, Obama added "That doesn't make much sense to me."

 

What doesn't make much sense to me is how Barack Obama can point fingers at the GOP on equal pay for women while his own office grossly violates that very concept.

 

In contrast to Obama, John McCain's female staffers average $ 55,878 while his male staffers average $ 53,936. The facts show that women compose a majority of McCain's highest-paid aides, with three of the top five and 13 of his highest-paid 20 employees. Read article.

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