Quote:

WOW...I really hope that was a sarcastic comment...

I would love to know what Biden meant when he made those comments about some sort of attack in 6 months. That is a rather bold statement from someone who is on the Foreign Relations Committee. Never mind politics, what does he know?

Haha, that's classic. You have to pay for the police report.

Quote:

I don't leave anything in my car. They stole my ash tray with about $1.75 worth of change. It's a new car. But I don't think they were trying to steal it. I think they were trying to get whatever they could out of it. Enjoy the change @$$ holes.

My car was broken into on Morris St. right by Van Vorst Tuesday night. Just a heads up, I have seen a lot of glass on the street there lately. I think its an easy target since there is just a construction site and a commercial building. I would strongly suggest not parking there at night.

Anyway, they did some serious damage to my driver side door when they bashed the lock in. Has anyone reported this to their insurance and seen their rates go up? Also, it has been three days and I have not gotten a call back from the police to file a report. Will the insurance company require a police report in order to file my claim?

Thanks for your help.

I think Murtha is pushing for that...

You may want to pull your car into a garage election night either way...

Police prepare for unrest
By Alexander Bolton
Posted: 10/21/08 07:58 PM [ET]

Police departments in cities across the country are beefing up their ranks for Election Day, preparing for possible civil unrest and riots after the historic presidential contest.

Public safety officials said in interviews with The Hill that the election, which will end with either the nation?s first black president or its first female vice president, demanded a stronger police presence.

Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue in cities with large black populations. Others based the need for enhanced patrols on past riots in urban areas (following professional sports events) and also on Internet rumors.

Democratic strategists and advocates for black voters say they understand officers wanting to keep the peace, but caution that excessive police presence could intimidate voters.

Sen. Obama (Ill.), the Democratic nominee for president, has seen his lead over rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) grow in recent weeks, prompting speculation that there could be a violent backlash if he loses unexpectedly.

Cities that have suffered unrest before, such as Detroit, Chicago, Oakland and Philadelphia, will have extra police deployed.

In Oakland, the police will deploy extra units trained in riot control, as well as extra traffic police, and even put SWAT teams on standby.

?Are we anticipating it will be a riot situation? No. But will we be prepared if it goes awry? Yes,? said Jeff Thomason, spokesman for the Oakland Police Department.

?I think it is a big deal ? you got an African-American running and [a] woman running,? he added, in reference to Obama and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. ?Whoever wins it, it will be a national event. We will have more officers on the street in anticipation that things may go south.?

The Oakland police last faced big riots in 2003 when the Raiders lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. Officials are bracing themselves in case residents of Oakland take Obama?s loss badly.

Political observers such as Hilary Shelton and James Carville fear that record voter turnout could overload polling places on Election Day and could raise tension levels.

Shelton, the director of the NAACP?s Washington bureau, said inadequate voting facilities is a bigger problem in poor communities with large numbers of minorities.

?What are local election officials doing to prepare for what people think will be record turnout at the polls?? said Shelton, who added that during the 2004 election in Ohio voters in predominantly black communities had to wait in line six to eight hours to vote.

?On Election Day, if this continues, you may have some tempers flare; we should be prepared to deal with that but do it without intimidation,? said Shelton, who added that police have to be able to maintain order at polling stations without scaring voters, especially immigrants from ?police states.?

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/p ... or-unrest-2008-10-21.html

RealClear has the average of several polls at Obama leading by 6.9%. That includes the Pew poll which is the most favorable for Obama (It is about 4% higher then the next closest one) I am not trying to argue with you, but that is just one poll.

I really don't think the pollsters have a clue this year. The polls have been up and down for the last few months. Last week or maybe two weeks ago CBS/NYT has Obama up by 14 points and then the next day most polls were saying 7 points. I think it is just a totally different election then the country has had. Maybe Obama will by an electoral landslide, maybe McCain will win it. We shall wait and see...

Quote:

Sarcasm? Or are you not watching the news lately?

Quote:

Please explain how I am a racist from my comments above?

Quote:

Hahahaha. How do you interpret that Loopy? What is your interpretation of Obama's statment? And just because I am questioning his economics, doesn't mean I am a racist and think he is Muslim. You are the typical Democrat in this election. If you question Obama at all, your a racist.

Vote drives defended, despite fake names

Mickey Mouse tried to register to vote in Florida this summer.

Orange County elections officials rejected his application, which was stamped with the logo of the nonprofit group ACORN.

Tow truck driver Newton Bell did register to vote in Orange County this summer. In the hands of ACORN, his paperwork went through without a hitch.

Two cases, two outcomes, each with a connection to ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Nationwide, ACORN is a favorite GOP target for allegations of voter registration fraud this year.

That's not new. Similar complaints followed the 2004 elections. A criminal investigation in Florida found no evidence of fraud. ACORN even has a cameo role in the scandal over the 2006 firings of several U.S. attorneys by the Bush Justice Department.

Under attack again, ACORN leaders defend their work. Often, they say, things are as not simple as they're portrayed.

Take Mickey Mouse.

Yes, that's their logo. But they say their workers routinely scanned all suspicious applications.

"We don't think this card came through our system," said Brian Kettenring, ACORN's head organizer in Florida.

With more than 450,000 member families nationwide ? 14,000 in Florida ? ACORN is a grass roots advocacy group focused on health care, wages, affordable housing and foreclosure.

Bell, the truck driver, certainly, is more representative of ACORN's work in Florida than the cartoon mouse is.

This year, ACORN signed up 1.3-million voters nationwide and about 152,000 in Florida, mostly in Orange, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. ACORN estimates it flagged 2 percent of its Florida registrations as problematic because they were incomplete, duplicates or just plain bogus.

That's enough to give headaches to election officials and to provide ammunition to Republican activists.

Brevard County elections officials have turned over 23 suspect registrations from ACORN to prosecutors. The state Division of Elections has received two ACORN-related complaints, in Orange and Broward counties.

ACORN wasn't active in the Tampa Bay area. Last week, however, Pinellas County elections officials gave local prosecutors 35 questionable registrations from another group, Work for Progress.

The GOP accuses ACORN of registration fraud all over the country. In Las Vegas, authorities said the group's petitions included the names of the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys.

"This is part of a widespread and systemic effort ? to undermine the election process," says Republican National Committee chief counsel Sean Cairncross, who describes ACORN as a "quasicriminal organization."

No, Kettenring said, it's more like Wal-Mart.

"Some percentage of Wal-Mart workers try to get paid without doing their work or steal from their employer," he said.

Some ACORN workers, he said, have simply made up names.

Maybe, elections officials say, but it's still annoying.

"We did experience a significant amount of problems, enough that we did contact the group to express some of our frustration with their work," said Linda Tanko, Orange County's senior deputy supervisor for voter services.

ACORN's problems included applications with unreadable handwriting, missing information, signatures that didn't match those on file, altered dates of birth or Social Security numbers, applications for people already registered to vote and names that appeared repeatedly, often with different addresses.

ACORN said it terminates canvassers who forge applications. In Broward County, it fired one worker after he turned in applications with similar handwriting and brought the matter to the attention of the Supervisor of Elections Office.

Pay to gather registrations started at $8 an hour, and the goal was 20 signups per day. The organization did not pay by the signature or pay bonuses for volume. The organization also tried to follow up on each registration, calling the person listed to confirm that the form is accurate.

In most states, ACORN must turn in every form that is filled out. "We must turn in every voter registration card by Florida law, even Mickey Mouse," Kettenring said.

Well, not yet, said Jennifer Krell Davis, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State.

Florida does have a law saying third-party voter registration groups must turn in every form without regard to things like party affiliation, race, ethnicity or gender. So far, however, the state has not written the rules to implement it.

In Florida, ACORN is best known for its 2004 effort to lead a petition drive to raise the minimum wage. The FDLE looked into voter fraud allegations then and found no laws were broken.

ACORN also played a role in the firing of one of nine U.S. attorneys dismissed in 2006.

In New Mexico, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was fired "because of complaints by elected officials who had a political interest in the outcome" of, among other things, a Republican voter fraud complaint against ACORN, according to an internal Justice Department report last month.

This year, 39 members of the House of Representatives have asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate ACORN.

One of those, Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, also has written to supervisor of elections offices in Central Florida seeking "all ACORN-related registration of voters within the last two years."

Republicans also accuse Sen. Barack Obama of trying to distance himself from ACORN, which he represented in a federal lawsuit in 1995.

ACORN's political action committee has endorsed Obama, but the group says its voter registration efforts are nonpartisan.

And the McCain campaign's complaints now are puzzling, ACORN says, because two years ago McCain was the keynote speaker at an immigration reform rally ACORN co-sponsored in Miami. "In 2006," Kettenring said, "we were working together."

This sums up Obama's views.

When addressed by a concerned plumber whos taxes will go up under Obama's tax plan, Barack says,

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too. I believe when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everyone."

I guess painting the White House red will create some jobs.

Quote: Asshat, that is the first time I have been called that. I think these people are ignorant to be making statments like this, but in no way is that the majority of the Republican party. Unfortunately, the media doesn't cover both sides equally. Hostile Territory Much attention has been focused on ugly comments aimed at Barack Obama from some people attending rallies for John McCain and Sarah Palin. But consider these incidents that have received little or no media attention. At least four demonstrators at a Sarah Palin rally in Philadelphia Saturday wore t-shirts that referred to Palin as a four-letter word too obscene to quote here. Friday, vandals attacked the York County GOP headquarters in South Carolina. The Rock Hill Herald reports the culprits stole campaign signs, defaced a McCain banner and spray-painted "Republican means slavery." The Portland Tribune reports two men were charged with felonies after making a Molotov cocktail and burning down a McCain sign. And, a YouTube video shows a pro-McCain march in New York's liberal Upper West Side during a street fair in September. The McCain supporters were greeted with middle-finger salutes ? sometimes two at a time ? and told to "go home" and that they had "no brain." One heckler even likened the marchers to Nazi Germany. I'm going to refrain from the name calling.

Quote: Loopy, this is great stuff. Sound bytes from a select number of Palin rally attendees. I think it is so pointless when people post this stuff. I could load up the site with uneducated or extreme Democrats as well. There are plenty of people like this that are voting for Obama as well.

Quote:

Nothing....

I saw them this morning. Very random. Went from semi-poetic to seeing if you had your ID for a night on the town.

Quote:

There will be a tax added to all homeowners of the building. If you are making over $250,000 and live in this building, God have mercy on your soul.

They finally paved Grand St. too. You don't get that offroading feel anymore which is nice.

By STEVEN A. HOLMES

Published: September 30, 1999

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''

Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

Under Fannie Mae's pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 -- a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.

Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.

Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990's. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent.

In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent.

Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings.

In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.

The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.

Quote:

No, that is just false.

Good oped piece in the times.

Revolt of the Nihilists
By DAVID BROOKS
In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt inherited an economic crisis. He understood that his first job was to restore confidence, to give people a sense that somebody was in charge, that something was going to be done.
This generation of political leaders is confronting a similar situation, and, so far, they have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed. Instead, by rejecting the rescue package on Monday, they have made the psychological climate much worse.
George W. Bush is completely out of juice, having squandered his influence with Republicans as well as Democrats. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is a smart moneyman, but an inept legislator. He was told time and time again that House Republicans would not support his bill, and his response was to get down on bended knee before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
House leaders of both parties got wrapped up in their own negotiations, but did it occur to any of them that it might be hard to pass a bill fairly described as a bailout to Wall Street? Was the media darling Barney Frank too busy to notice the 95 Democrats who opposed his bill? Pelosi?s fiery speech at the crucial moment didn?t actually kill this bill, but did she have to act like a Democratic fund-raiser at the most important moment of her career?
And let us recognize above all the 228 who voted no ? the authors of this revolt of the nihilists. They showed the world how much they detest their own leaders and the collected expertise of the Treasury and Fed. They did the momentarily popular thing, and if the country slides into a deep recession, they will have the time and leisure to watch public opinion shift against them.
House Republicans led the way and will get most of the blame. It has been interesting to watch them on their single-minded mission to destroy the Republican Party. Not long ago, they led an anti-immigration crusade that drove away Hispanic support. Then, too, they listened to the loudest and angriest voices in their party, oblivious to the complicated anxieties that lurk in most American minds.
Now they have once again confused talk radio with reality. If this economy slides, they will go down in history as the Smoot-Hawleys of the 21st century. With this vote, they?ve taken responsibility for this economy, and they will be held accountable. The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.
I?ve spoken with several House Republicans over the past few days and most admirably believe in free-market principles. What?s sad is that they still think it?s 1984. They still think the biggest threat comes from socialism and Walter Mondale liberalism. They seem not to have noticed how global capital flows have transformed our political economy.
We?re living in an age when a vast excess of capital sloshes around the world fueling cycles of bubble and bust. When the capital floods into a sector or economy, it washes away sober business practices, and habits of discipline and self-denial. Then the money managers panic and it sloshes out, punishing the just and unjust alike.
What we need in this situation is authority. Not heavy-handed government regulation, but the steady and powerful hand of some public institutions that can guard against the corrupting influences of sloppy money and then prevent destructive contagions when the credit dries up.
The Congressional plan was nobody?s darling, but it was an effort to assert some authority. It was an effort to alter the psychology of the markets. People don?t trust the banks; the bankers don?t trust each other. It was an effort to address the crisis of authority in Washington. At least it might have stabilized the situation so fundamental reforms of the world?s financial architecture could be undertaken later.
But the 228 House members who voted no have exacerbated the global psychological free fall, and now we have a crisis of political authority on top of the crisis of financial authority.
The only thing now is to try again ? to rescue the rescue. There?s no time to find a brand-new package, so the Congressional plan should go up for another vote on Thursday, this time with additions that would change its political prospects. Leaders need to add provisions that would shore up housing prices and directly help mortgage holders. Martin Feldstein and Lawrence Lindsey both have good proposals of the sort that could lead to a plausible majority coalition. Loosening deposit insurance rules would also be nice.
If that doesn?t happen, the world could be in for some tough economic times (the Europeans, apparently, have not even begun to acknowledge their toxic debt) ? but also tough political times.
The American century was created by American leadership, which is scarcer than credit just about now.

Okay, that was my mistake. I wasn't trying to spin it. He had to DELAY the speech because his prepared remarks were going to be:

Obama's prepared remarks, from earlier today in Colorado.

And today, Democrats and Republicans in Washington have agreed on an emergency rescue plan that is our best and only way to prevent an economic catastrophe.


So either way, he was under the impression that this bill was going to pass. Minutes before the speech, he had to change the telepromter feed.

Quote:

I am not letting McCain off the hook. But Democrats are saying it is McCain's fault. Obama had made a speech minutes before the vote, and he was saying the bill was going to pass as well. My only point is, what was the point of the speech? Why would the SPEAKER of the House get up and make such a speech when other Democrats and Republicans had been saying that they had come together to draft this bill?

Quote:

SLyng, I thought Pelosi was a horses a$$ before the vote. But do you really think her speech was necessary? And if she felt so strongly against this bill, why would she vote for it? I love how the Democrats keep saying, everyone has a gun to their head. This is politics. They are in control of the house and the Senate. They could come up with their own bill, get the American people behind them, and make Bush look foolish if he didn't sign it into legislation.

I know exactly what is going in Capital Hill. I worked there. But I have a feeling that the chambers had a few people in it when Pelosi made this speech. What was her point in that rant? But, what do you expect from a leader of the "do nothing" congress.

There is no way you can blame this on John McCain. If the Democrats really believed in this, they could have passed it themselves. They didn't need Republicans behind them.

And for that matter...all of Washington. They should be all thrown out of office. They don't care about us. It is all about getting re-elected.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., this morning released a statement about the U.S. government's rescue of AIG.

?The fact that we have reached a point where the Federal Reserve felt it had to take this unprecedented step with the American Insurance Group is the final verdict on the failed economic philosophy of the last eight years," Obama said. "While we do not know all the details of this arrangement, the Fed must ensure that the plan protects the families that count on insurance. It should bolster our economy's ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills and save their money. It must not bail out the shareholders or management of AIG.

?This crisis serves as a stark reminder of the failures of crony capitalism and an economic philosophy that sees any regulation at all as unwise and unnecessary," Obama continued. "It?s a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people; a philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to the rest. Instead, the pain has trickled up ? from the struggles of Main Street all the way up to the crises on Wall Street.

?Despite his eleventh hour conversion to the language of reform, Senator McCain has subscribed to this philosophy for twenty-six years in Washington and the events of this week have rendered it a colossal failure," Obama continued. "It is time for a new economic strategy, guided by the principle that America prospers when all Americans prosper, where common-sense rules of the road ensure that competition is fair, open, and honest. That is the strategy I will pursue as President, and I will bring the change we need to restore confidence in our financial markets and strength to our economy,? said Barack Obama."

So do you support it or not? Unfortunately, you can't vote present if you become President. And it may be good to know what AIG stands for.

Their was a car with a broken window outside of my apartment on Sussex St. this morning. So I called the non-emergency number because the guys stuff was all over the street and I would want someone to call it in as well. Anyway the operator told me that they could not come unless the owner called it in? That makes no sense. What if they are on vacation or parked it the night before and are not coming back until later in the day? Anyway, I gave her a hard time and told her that all of his paperwork was literally on the street and she was sending someone.

So if your neighbors door has been kicked in and they are on vacation, do the police have to wait for the owner to call it in?

That's never going to happen. NJ is notorious for excessive amount of government. They need to condense all these small town services into the county level like Maryland and other states do.