Easy-Way-Out 101

Under our fearless leader, John McCain, there is a way for those poor citizens who over-extended themselves by buying a large home with a 125% loan to stay in their homes. It is their inalienable right to have a home, and health insurance, but that is another post. But what about those of us who were fiscally conservative? What about us Fat Cats who actually make our mortgage payments? I will outline a plan of action to take advantage of this latest shallow promise of McCain's to have Sect. Paulson to buy up bad mortgages. Here's what to do:

1. Stop paying your mortgage. It isn't considered a bad mortgage while you are paying on it! Swallow your pride and quit giving your hard earned money to a corrupt bank. Instead take what you're saving and go finance a boat or a new car.


2. Destroy your home. Your homes value also needs to decrease considerably, so you will be 'Upsidedown'. This means your home is worth less than what you owe. So pick up the sledgehammer and go at it like you're being foreclosed on. Why update your home or take pride in ownership, when you will only be increasing the value of your home and making you ineligible for McCain's mortgage plan.


3. Get new appraisal. Call the bank over, and let them evaluate the value of your home. You need it documented that you are upside down.


4. Vote for McCain. Or actually, a vote for Obama will also most likely bring the same socialist market plan. Keep voting back the same Democrats and Republican's who voted on the Bail Out Bill, so there won't be any way to filibuster such a bill.

I would like to understand WHY I should keep working hard to pay my bills. Why take responsibility for my financial decisions when I will be able to stay in my home regardless? I have so many fantastic ideas on my "Wish List" if I didn't have financial responsibilities. What is the point to be an honest homeowner? Where are my rewards? Although we are a dying breed, apparent in Gale's last post, I would rather die with dignity and honor. Does it sound melodramatic? Probably, but I am absolutely serious. How many people under the age of 50 feel the same way as us? Those of us who take pride in ownership. Those of us who work hard for what we have, are honest in our dealings with our fellowman, are now the minority. I feel like I identify more with the grandma's in the Nursing Home, who still save their pennies in a jar. Who patch up their husband's pants instead of buying new ones. Who can fruit and veggies for food storage, instead of eating out every night. Who prefers a smaller government to a large, over-extending hand-out government. Who doesn't buy a new t.v. or car or computer till the old one breaks. So you, I, Ethel and Viola can sip on some prune juice, while rocking in our recliners, reminiscing about the 'good ol' days'. And where do we go from here? Review Gale's post "What Can I Do?".

Please sir, can I have some more!

This debate was particularly frustrating for me....It was my fault for choosing CNN as my network of choice to watch the debate. CNN carried the debate without interruption as all the other networks did with one exception, along the bottom of the screen they had a graph with immediate reactions of independent voters streaming in real time. There were 2 lines, one yellow that represented women, and the other green for men. So as the debate went along viewers could see the positive and negative reactions that these two demographics were having to the things being said by the candidates.
I imagined these people in a little room in comfy chairs with buttons to push indicating a positive or negative feeling about what they were hearing. I found myself mesmerized by those little lines. I don't know how much of the debate I "saw" as I was drawn to this little graph like it was my lifeline to understanding. This is where the frustration began.
Literally every time that Barak Obama (or John McCain for that matter) spoke of a policy based on giving Americans more stuff, meaning programs and entitlements the lines went into the positive to the extreme. When Barak pronounced that health care was a "right" the lines almost jumped out of the screen and spilled yellow and green ink all over my living room floor. When Senator McCain called it a responsibility our little line folks were so low they almost needed Prozac. Women were especially taken by these pronouncements of gifts from the government and I was fuming mad every time it happened. The men were just as bad just not quite so slap happy about it. Then each time the candidates stood and talked of less government or government getting out of the way, the lines dropped like flies and people weren't so happy (or so the little lines said).

Almost every time that I was pushing the positive button in my mind the lines on the TV were going the opposite way. This tells you one of two things. One, I am very out of touch and need to leave politics alone, or this world is changing very fast right before my eyes. I assume that I have lived too long in prosperous times where people were ready to take responsibility for their lives and take hold of their future. We know from past history that when times get bad people are much more ready to have government give them a hand-up.

Now I don't want to act like a scrooge. I in no way believe that government shouldn't be part of our lives or that we don't have legitimate health care problems. I am not a Libertarian yet, I just see that role as being much more limited than the current political climate is pushing toward. When people are hungry they will too easily turn over their power in hopes of relief. The problem is, that power never comes back to the people and we inch slowly and painfully toward socialism.

I trust Sarah (this blog administrator and my co contributor) will post and give great analysis of the debate last night as she always does, as for me I am still washing off the yellow and green ink that spilled out of my TV while viewers held up their little proverbial wooden bowls and asked "Please sir can I have some more!"

Town Hall Debate

Just don't hurt me!

Tonight is a Town Hall style debate between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain. The moderator is Tom Brokaw, but the questions will come from 'undecided [planted] voters' in the audience. The candidates will have 2 minutes to respond, and 1 minute of discussion. Cross your fingers folks, John McCain has more experience in this format and hopefully he will come out on top! The biggest question for me is, will the questions and 'undecided voters' be blatantly prompted and planted, or will it be more discrete? If I was in the audience, I would LOVE to ask:

Because the United States Constitution enumerates your powers as an Executive, your understanding of the Constitution is vital. What do you believe is the most important part of the Constitution and needs the closest protection?

What would you ask?

Register to VOTE!

If you have not registered to vote, do it NOW! Many states close voter registrations today. Here is a link to find out your registration deadline.

New E-mail

Hey Moms! If you have an idea or issue you want us to look into, e-mail us at momsintopolitics@gmail.com!

Fact Finder

After listening to the Vice Presidential debate, you ask yourself, "Self, should I take them at their word? Were they both on the 'Straight Talk Express'?" I am here (along with factcheck.org) to set their stories straight. Here are some statements, followed by the facts:

Palin:

• "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year." FACT: It was individuals making $42,000 a year, not families. Families making $90,000 he voted to tax.
• Claimed that “millions of small businesses” would see tax increases under Obama’s tax proposals. FACT: At most, several hundred thousand business owners would see increases.
• "Barack Obama had said that all we're doing in Afghanistan is air-raiding villages and killing civilians. And such a reckless, reckless comment and untrue comment, again, hurts our cause." FACT: Here is Obama's actual quote: "We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there."
• "We're circulating about $700 billion a year into foreign countries" FACT: As of Sept. 30, imports are running at a rate of about $493 billion per year.
• "He's proposing a $5,000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. That doesn't cost the government anything...that's budget neutral." FACT: Experts predict that McCain's Health Care proposal would increase the the deficit over 10 years by $1.3 trillion. The same experts predict Obama's would increase the deficit $1.6 trillion over the same time frame.

Biden:

• Biden repeatedly claimed "McCain voted the exact same way" on a budget bill. FACT: McCain actually voted against it.
• "John McCain said he wouldn't even sit down with the government of Spain, a NATO ally that has troops in Afghanistan with us now." FACT: In a radio interview when asked if he would meet with the President of Spain, McCain responded: "I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are our friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion". He did not commit to meet with him, but did not refuse.
• "Our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan". FACT: Although Gen. McKiernan said, "The word I don't use for Afghanistan is 'surge', what is required is a 'sustained commitment'"; he followed it up with saying Afghanistan would need an infusion of American troops "as quickly as possible."
• Biden claimed that McCain said in a magazine article that he wanted to deregulate the health care industry as the banking industry had been. FACT: McCain was talking specifically about his proposal to allow the sale of health insurance across state lines.
• Biden claimed 5 times that McCain would give oil companies a "$4 billion tax cut." FACT: McCain’s plan would cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent — for ALL corporations, not just oil companies.
• Biden said that Iraq had an "$80 billion surplus." FACT: Iraqis have $29 billion in the bank, and in August passed a $21 billion spending bill.

My Analysis: Politicians always inflate numbers, and fudge facts. When looking at both of their inaccuracies, it became obvious to me the differences. Gov. Palin's numbers were over-exaggerated, she flubbed Gen. McKiernan's name, gave a shout out to 3rd graders, winked excessively, and changed the topic of the question several times. I also wish she would have left out the "darn its" and "heck of.." and "soccer moms". She can be relatable without sounding common. However, I believe Sen. Biden knowingly lied about McCain's voting record, hoping Gov. Palin wouldn't be able to catch him on that, and she didn't. He spoke elloquently, yet repeating the same inaccuracies. He was the typical groomed and seasoned politician. On the surface you could conclude he handly won the debate. I would argue that I am tired of 'experienced' politicians who can talk their ways out of messes and into personal gain. And to me, Sen. Biden represented the Washington establishment beautifully and even said at one point, "You know who I am, I'm not going to change". Then why spend millions of dollars on campaign signs plastered with the slogan "CHANGE you can believe in"?

What did you think?

p.s. sorry for taking so long to post this, I had to tend to a sick child all weekend!

Where's the Maverick?

"I will make them famous, and you will know their names!" Senator John McCain energetically proclaimed to awaiting republicans at their national convention. Well Senator McCain, I want names. I want to know who got us into this mess. Democrat or Republican. I don't care, I want them out! Even on his website it reads,

"John McCain will veto every pork-laden spending bill and make their authors famous....Earmarks restrict America's ability to address genuine national priorities and interfere with fair, competitive markets....Eliminate broken government programs."

Why did he vote "yes" on a bill which added $100 billion in earmarks to it? In probably one of the most pivotal crossroads our country has ever been in, he falls in line with the rest of the good ol' boys. And since when is pork considered a "sweetener"? Splenda, Sweet & Low, Ensure and pork? There is enough pork in this bill you would think it would offend well-known Jew, Barney Frank, instead it is making him salivate. The fact that it went from a 3 page document to over 400 pages does not surprise me. The fact that Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden voted 'Yea' does not surprise me. But the fact that Senator John McCain when given the perfect opportunity to be a 'maverick' and actually have the majority of the people of the United States behind him, it is shocking that he follows the democrats lead. And I have heard many representatives, including my own, actually say that the bill has been improved. How has more spending improved an already insanely bloated bill?

On another note,

Vice Presidential Debates. I am no longer excited. My fervor has fizzled. My interest is lost. My curiosity quashed. Of course, out of duty, I will begrudgingly watch. And I will try not to yell at the t.v. I will make no promises though, because unlike politicians, I intend to keep them! The only draw for me to watch, is you never know what will come out of Sen. Biden or Gov. Palin's mouths.

Will Sen. Biden say 'facts sometimes get in the way' or ask a freshly injured moderator Gwen Eiffel to "please stand up"?

Will Gov. Palin just not have an answer to a question or start spouting out campaign phrases like 'job creation', 'reformer', 'pitbull', 'tax cuts', like an overfed robot with turrets syndrome?

Our country needs more than campaign slogans and smear campaigns. It needs more than "change" or a "reformer". It needs solutions. I have not heard real solutions from either candidate, or anyone on Capitol Hill. The Bail Out Bill is not a solution, it is just one more shovel full of dirt while digging a very deep grave. The debates are no longer an opportunity for us to find a candidate who has similar standards, they are a forum to deliver well-crafted and generic lines to a gullible public. Do I sound pessimistic and disenfranchised? I hope so, because I am! Give me real solutions from a real person, and I will give you my vote.