20 Republican Senators including John McCain signed a letter on May 5, 2006 urging action be taken:

We are concerned that if effective regulatory reform legislation for the housing-finance government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole. ...

Today, almost half of the home mortgages in the U.S. are guaranteed by these GSEs. They are mammoth financial institutions with almost $1.5 Trillion of debt outstanding between them. With the fiscal challenges facing us today (deficits, entitlements, pensions and flood insurance), Congress must ask itself who would pay this debt if Fannie or Freddy could not? [emphasis in original letter] ...

It is vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that these institutions benefit from strong and independent regulatory supervision, operate in a safe and sound manner, and are primarily focused on their statutory mission. More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event either GSE should fail.

John Hinderaker of Power Line writes:

One thing I hadn't realized is that McCain's reform legislation was passed through the Senate Banking Committee, but was not able to gain majority support on the Senate floor. All twenty Senators who signed the letter calling attention to the urgency of reforming Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac were Republicans. After May 2006, the Democrats continued to use Fannie and Freddy as their private slush funds until the inevitable collapse, which McCain had warned against so eloquently, occurred.

Many folk have been asking me about all the Amendments and Referendums on the Colorado ballot.  Amendments are put on the ballot by citizen initiative, while Referendums are put on the ballot by the State Legislature.  Kevin Lundberg the state representative from House District 49 has his suggestions for voting on the state wide Amendments here.

Boulder County has two ballot issues 1A and 1B.  1A would cost the County taxpayers nearly $100,000,000.00 in order to pay for solar and other renewable energy projects.  I will be voting NO on 1A.  1B will extend a sales tax surcharge to 2018 that would otherwise expire.  This is being billed as causing "no increase in any County tax" which is dishonest as it will extend the time of the tax if not the dollar amount.  I will be voting NO on 1B.  Boulder County is very corrupt and has been in one party hands for years.  I don't want to give this bunch more money to play with.

Wall Builders has the best short voter guide for the Presidential race.

Colorado Right to Life sent questionaires to the candidates for state office.  The responses are here.

Colorado Family Institute has a voter guide that covers all the Federal and State races in Colorado.

Family Research Council Action has their Presidential Voters Guide here.

Family Research Council Action and Focus on the Family Action have published their guide to how all the members of the US House and US Senate voted this last year.

BJ Nikkel has some interesting suggestions on how to vote for the judges here.

John Hinderaker of Power Line posts some interesting background on Obama:

it appears clear that as of 1996, the New Party and its parent organization the Democratic Socialists of America considered Barack Obama to be their guy--one of a handful of avowed socialists running for office at any level in the United States. It strikes me that Obama has some explaining to do.

They have screen captures showing both groups considered Obama as their candidate when he ran for State Senate in Illinois.

Those were the words of Missouri Governor Matt Blunt today regarding the Obama campaign's enlisting of Missouri law enforcement to threaten and intimidate his critics.  The Governor's statement on his official Missouri State website is here:

“St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign.

“What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.

“This abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson. I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson’s thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights.  The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election.

“Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family.  Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility.  When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts - not a free society.”

Emphasis added.

One bit of actual good news is this report on a 30 year old church run affordable housing program that actually works and has not resulted in the foreclosures that are behind our current financial crisis.

Many affordable housing programs and their proponents are to blame for this mess, including ACORN.

However, there's one notable example of an affordable housing program that has avoided the foreclosure fate thus far.

Read the whole article!

I don't know if this report is true but William Kristal passes on a report that:

The huge European bank Fortis is apparently about to fail. The ripple effect on the American banking system could be disastrous, with bank runs, liquidity crises, and stock sell offs possible Monday. Wachovia may well fail next week. As Larry put it, this really will be 1933 soon if we don't move rapidly to stabilize the banking system.

And here's the bad news: the current bailout bill, whatever its merits and likelihood of passage, does nothing to address this.

Lovely.

We still do not know what will happen with the the Bailout Bill being debated by our Congressmen and Senators in Washington DC.

Center right opinion as to what should be done varies all over the map.  The Wall Street Journal warns:

Above all, the risk is that the current panic will damage the overall economy and lead to a deep recession

They have a good point since the Great Depression was caused by bad government policies.  However they conclude:

our vote is that this government intervention is justified to defend the system.

The Wall Street Journal also warns of the Democrat's efforts to add things to the Bailout Bill that will actually make things worse.

Democrats have already decided to spin off potentially billions of taxpayer dollars from the bailout fund to their own political buddies

This needs to be stopped, and the House Republicans supported by John McCain are trying to do so.  Let there be no mistake, the Democrats have a majority in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, and therefore have the power to pass any bill they want.  The only reason the Republicans have any power to influence the end result is that the Democrats are scared and want to be able to share the blame when the problems with the Bailout become apparent.

Michelle Malkin is one of those on the Center Right that most strongly opposes the Bailout.  Her commentary can be read here.

Hugh Hewitt has been a strong supporter of the idea that a Bailout is required, even if it is less than ideal:

without it the financial crisis will spread and the small businesses of America and the people who own and staff them will be deeply injured.  These businesses are the backbone of the economy, and they are in danger.  This isn't just a bailout of Wall Street; it is a breakwall for Main Street.

Dr. Jerry Pournelle writes:

As I surmised, the bailout -- good idea or poor -- can't be made to happen until Barney Frank and Senator Dodd are allowed to wet their beaks. The Democrats want part of that pie. Obama's leadership abilities were put to the test, and apparently found wanting ...

It's a horrible bill. It gives arbitrary power to executive officials and absolves them from blame (barring actual theft). It potentially saddles every taxpayer (which is not the same as every citizen!) with several thousand dollars in debt. ...

There isn't a hell of a lot of leadership being shown here. ... That is probably not going to work. I sure hope something does before it's too late and nothing will work.

Dr. Pournelle's point about taxpayers versus citizens is that a very large percentage of the population don't pay any taxes and therefore only those who actually pay taxes will get the bill for paying for this.

Glenn Reynolds speaking of home ownership for the masses:

I agree, but it needs to be homes that people can actually afford.

Here in Boulder County Colorado and worse yet in the city of Boulder, our Democrat elected officials are doing their best to keep housing prices high by buying up every available scrap of land for Open Space.  Those same officials are shocked shocked when there is so little affordable housing in the city of Boulder and Boulder County.  They don't seem to get the concept that when they take land off the market, all housing will go up in price including affordable housing.

Rick Newman in US News and World Report writes:

How to Punish Wall Street, Protect Main Street

Federal loan sharks: what a concept. In exchange for its deep pockets, the government funded by you and me could keep our financial-service providers in business and either make money on the deal through fees and high interest rates, or cause its borrowers so much discomfort that they race to get out of hock. Now, there's a deal that's too good to refuse.

We can only hope that the Bailout does more good than harm.

As the last week has brought home to many, we live in troubled financial times.  Scott Johnson of Power Line posts some great advice from Lawrence Lindsey on financial self-preservation in times like these:

First, readers would be well advised to actually sit down and write up a budget if they have any doubts about whether their current income is covering their bills. Just to be clear, expenses include not only the minimum payment on an item like a credit card, but all the charges incurred in the month plus the minimum payment. And income does not include any draws on saving or home equity lines of credit. I once went through a budget exercise with a struggling 20-something and asked why he didn't have anything budgeted for gasoline for his car. His response was that he simply put it on his credit card so it didn't count as long as he was making the minimum payment.

Making minimum payment on a credit card or other revolving credit account is the path to bankruptcy.  If you can't pay the whole thing off every month, pay all new charges plus twice the minimum payment.  If need be cut up the credit card so there will be no new charges, and then pay more than the minimum payment each month.  No matter what you do, make sure the payment gets in on time each month.  Late charges will cost you far more than the interest rate.

Second, people should make sure that they have at least three, and ideally six, months' income saved in a place where they can get at it readily like a bank account or money-market fund. This is on top of items like retirement saving and college accounts.

Have enough cash (as in the folding green stuff) on hand to hold you though at least a week in case you can't make it to the bank (storm or other emergency).

Third, once this threshold is met, it is doubtless a good idea to start reducing debt, particularly on credit cards and auto loans. These are about to get much harder to obtain as the credit crunch inevitably spreads from the commanding heights of the financial sector into the consumer credit arena. It will not be surprising to see the limits on credit cards lowered sharply, fees for holding cards rise, and auto loans tough to qualify for. The goal for households should be to be able to use credit cards for convenience only--paying the bill in full each month--and to have the ability to pay cash for larger purchases like a car.

Finally, for those lucky enough to meet the above criteria, where one deploys one's assets becomes a serious matter in the current environment. There was a saying in the 1930s that you should not have all your eggs in one basket. It meant spread the assets around. In the calm environment of the last few decades this dictum was rejected for the convenience of one-stop financial shopping. You might want to consult a financial adviser or at least inquire at the institutions where you have assets what the insurance limits are and under what circumstances your assets can be seized by creditors of the institution. This means asking questions about deposit-insurance limits, the assets backed by money-market funds, and whether your investments are in custodial accounts.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance limit is high enough to protect the amount of money most folk have in a bank, but for those better off it may be required to split your money among several banks to be sure it will all be covered.

Another factor to consider is that if your bank fails, while the FDIC will make sure you don't lose your money, it may take some time before you have access to it again.  Meanwhile you still have to pay the mortgage, the auto loan, credit cards, and put food on the table.  This is another reason to have an account at another bank with a month's worth of money in it.

On 9/19/2001 Obama was quoted in the Hyde Park Herald as saying (in part):

We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

Commenter James Felix on Michelle Malkin's website answers this well:

It is also indisputable that the majority are also male and have dark hair. A majority of them have also never attended a Star Trek convention. Are Y chromosomes, dark hair and a lack of appreciation for sci-fi also contributing factors?

Of course not. A basic tenet of logic is that correlation is not causation.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, there are a lot of countries that are much poorer and more desperate than any in the Middle East who somehow do not give birth to terrorist movements. Why not? If poverty and unemployment are contributing factors why aren’t they recruiting Americans who find themselves down and out? Surely AQ would dearly love to have some average-looking American citizens doing their work here within our borders. So where are the legions of Appalachian AQ operatives?

Unemployment and poverty aren’t the problems. The problem is that you have a demented society that teaches it’s children practically from birth that the road to paradise is paved with dead infidels. You have two generations now that have been trained to be receptive to the message that Bin Laden and his twisted ilk put out.

You can repeat the idea of a poverty/terror link till you’re blue in the face, it won’t make it true.

Barak seems to be very confused about the motivations of those that would attack us.  Of course he sat for 20 years listening to his Pastor Jeremiah Wright.  This is the same Jeremiah Wright who led Obama to Christ, at whose church Barak met his wife, who married them, and baptised their children.  Jeremiah Wright is a believer in and a leading teacher of "Black Liberation Theology" which lead him to preach about 9/11:

I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday, did anybody else see him or hear him? He was on Fox News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the Fox News commentators to no end. He pointed out, did you see him John, a white man, and he pointed out, an ambassador, that what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Mohammed was in fact true, America’s chickens are coming home to roost. We took this country by terror, away from the Sioux, the Apache, the Arowak, the Comanche, the Arapahoe, the Navajo. Terrorism. We took Africans from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism. We bombed Granada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel. We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenagers and toddlers, pregnant mothers, and hardworking fathers. We bombed Qaddafi’s home and killed his child. Blessed are they who bash your children’s head against a rock. We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to payback for the attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hardworking people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they would never get back home. We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye. Kids playing in the playground, mothers picking up children from school, civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.

We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and Black South Africans and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.

So according to Jeremiah "God Damn America" Wright it is the fault of the white citizens of the USA that we were attacked on 9/11.  No wonder someone who attended his church for 20 years is a bit confused!