The Contract From America

[Sinatra]

The momentum forming behind the Tea Party movement is ASTOUNDING folks. I have seen nothing like it in my lifetime. You thought 1994 was a wave of fight-back conservatism? Just wait.

Obama is giving every indication of attempting to raise taxes in the coming year.

If he does so, the Dems will revolt - to say nothing of everyone else...

 

[Douger]

All organized crime rings operate "under contract"

 

[Foxfyre]

All organized crime rings operate "under contract"

Well actually, so have I for the last several years. And so do all union workers and almost all construction projects, and many other people working in many other industries. And I have my signature on some warranty contracts and maintenance contracts and agreements with people I have hired.

So would you care to restructure or modify your implication there so you don't look like you are so obviously using a strawman argument?

 

[Foxfyre]

Still following the CPAC meeting this weekend, I was frustrated that some of the speakers are just spouting the same old - same old without offering any comprehensive constructive solutions. But some have been brilliant and give me hope that the group will agree on a Contract From America that will resonate with most of us and be the basis by which we will sort out the best candidates to elect in November.

One of the issues brought up was the role of government re TARP, the stimulus package, et al, and what the Constitutional role of government should be when dealing with 'financial crisis'. So far nobody is thinking that TARP or the stimulus package is the way to go and all are agreed that everything that originally led to the financial collapse is still possible and nothing has been done to correct the problems that existed then and still do.

Then I received this in my e-mail today. It is a brilliant example of what happened and should illustrate to most what needs to happen to fix it:

A damned good analogy!

Easily Understandable Explanation of Derivative Markets

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit . She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. She borrows enough to keep her afloat for awhile and keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around about Heidi's "drink now, pay later" marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers, mostly unemployed alcoholics, flood into Heidi's bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit .

By providing her customers' freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi's gross sales volume increases massively. Government officials are praised by the happy alcoholics and, claiming the tabs of the alcoholics to be valuable assets, pressure the local bank to increase Heidi's borrowing limit. There is no reason for any undue concern, since the bank has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform those customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then bundled and traded on international security markets. Naive investors don't really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation's leading brokerage houses. Many of Heidi's suppliers were willing to extend her generous credit and themselves invested in the bond funds and rejoiced as their investments continued to grow and grow.

One day, even though the bond prices are still climbing, the bank's cash reserves are sinking too low, so a risk manager decides that the time has come to call in Heidi's loan. He so informs Heidi.

Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since, Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and the eleven employees lose their jobs.

With Heidi in default on her bank loan, overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS drop in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the banks liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.

With Heidi out of business, her suppliers are left holding bad debt and have lost 90% of their investments as well. Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations. Her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are declared 'too big to fail' and are bailed out by a multi-billion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from their cronies in Government. The government officials then look to cover the deficit created by the bailout with new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers who have never been in Heidi's bar.

And the unemployed alcoholics? They are made eligible for a plethora of government relief programs and move on to a Chinese bar in the next block where the government officials urges the proprietor to extend them credit.

Now, do you understand?

 

[Foxfyre]

Okay Ron Paul fans, here's the result of the traditional CPAC straw poll taken at some point during the event:

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) ran away with the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, with 31 percent of the vote. Paul's libertarian conservative message has made him a hero to small- government Republicans for years, but this is the first CPAC straw poll he has ever won.

Paul's victory came as a surprise to supporters of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who has won the straw poll at this event for the last four years. Romney was second this year, with 22 percent.

Another surprise came with Sarah Palin's third-place finish, with 7 percent of the vote. Palin is a favorite of the conservative base, but was one of the few Republicans included in the straw poll ballot who did not attend or speak to the conference.

CPAC's straw poll is an unscientific, voluntary poll, but it has served as a barometer of support for possible Republican presidential candidates among their all-important conservative base.

Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Sarah Palin is Third With 7 Percent -- Politics Daily

I have no clue what this means, if anything, but it is velly, velly interesting.

 

[American Horse]

Okay Ron Paul fans, here's the result of the traditional CPAC straw poll taken at some point during the event:

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) ran away with the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, with 31 percent of the vote. Paul's libertarian conservative message has made him a hero to small- government Republicans for years, but this is the first CPAC straw poll he has ever won.

Paul's victory came as a surprise to supporters of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who has won the straw poll at this event for the last four years. Romney was second this year, with 22 percent.

Another surprise came with Sarah Palin's third-place finish, with 7 percent of the vote. Palin is a favorite of the conservative base, but was one of the few Republicans included in the straw poll ballot who did not attend or speak to the conference.

CPAC's straw poll is an unscientific, voluntary poll, but it has served as a barometer of support for possible Republican presidential candidates among their all-important conservative base.

Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Sarah Palin is Third With 7 Percent -- Politics Daily

I have no clue what this means, if anything, but it is velly, velly interesting.

Those who voted in the Straw Poll know it is meaningless in naming an actual nominee in the next presidential election. My opinion is that the membership used the straw poll to send a HUGE message to the rest of the party: 'The old rhetoric and policies are not going to get it,' thus their choice is an outlier. Paul's philosophy is closer to their hearts than all the others, and his name as a choice is a threat.

Glen Beck's "Keynote" speech caught fire in the audience and it as hardly a speech favorable to the recent Republican Party. The audience was hotly enthusiastic when he called out "progressives" and big spending in and by the party.

 

[Foxfyre]

Okay Ron Paul fans, here's the result of the traditional CPAC straw poll taken at some point during the event:

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) ran away with the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, with 31 percent of the vote. Paul's libertarian conservative message has made him a hero to small- government Republicans for years, but this is the first CPAC straw poll he has ever won.

Paul's victory came as a surprise to supporters of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who has won the straw poll at this event for the last four years. Romney was second this year, with 22 percent.

Another surprise came with Sarah Palin's third-place finish, with 7 percent of the vote. Palin is a favorite of the conservative base, but was one of the few Republicans included in the straw poll ballot who did not attend or speak to the conference.

CPAC's straw poll is an unscientific, voluntary poll, but it has served as a barometer of support for possible Republican presidential candidates among their all-important conservative base.

Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Sarah Palin is Third With 7 Percent -- Politics Daily

I have no clue what this means, if anything, but it is velly, velly interesting.

Those who voted in the Straw Poll know it is meaningless in naming an actual nominee in the next presidential election. My opinion is that the membership used the straw poll to send a HUGE message to the rest of the party: 'The old rhetoric and policies are not going to get it,' thus their choice is an outlier. Paul's philosophy is closer to their hearts than all the others, and his name as a choice is a threat.

Glen Beck's "Keynote" speech caught fire in the audience and it as hardly a speech favorable to the recent Republican Party. The audience was hotly enthusiastic when he called out "progressives" and big spending in and by the party.

I agree that Beck has been the star of the gathering so far. And he and Paul are closely aligned on several key issues. So you may be right. The message is clearly no more business as usual, the old dog and pony show won't work any more, and the people are demanding a new day.