“I see the shock therapy's not working any more....”

“Glen needs dirty sock therapy if the Shock doesn't clock.”

“I hate to have to tell you this but I Still don't feel surrounded.


It reminds me too much of Maxwell Smart:

"Wouldja believe two retired Mounties and a cranky Dachshund?"

”

“This analysis shows that the cost of the average family coverage is approximately $12,300 today and could be expected to increase to approximately:

- $15,500 in 2013 under current law and to $17,200 if these provisions are implemented.

- $18,400 in 2016 under current law and to $21,300 if these provisions are implemented.

- $21,900 in 2019 under current law and to $25,900 if these provisions are implemented.

This analysis shows that the cost of the average single coverage is $4,600 today and could be expected to increase to:

- $5,800 in 2013 under current law and to $6,400 if these provisions are implemented.

- $6,900 in 2016 under current law and to $7,900 if these provisions are implemented.

- $8,200 in 2019 under current law and to $9,700 if these provisions are implemented.

Just think about that, folks. The cumulative increase for a typical family would be over $20,000 over the next ten years. What could you do with that money? What could you invest in with that money? What could you purchase? Instead, it will be wrapped up in paying more for your healthcare just so some ego-driven politician can get his picture at a signing ceremony for this healthcare bill. Just so he can buy votes from the moocher class that will allow him to stay in office with all the perks and the prestige he currently enjoys.”

“Who paid for that "study", strat?

You can't really be that gullible, can you?”

“And the increases to private insurance regardless of any pending laws would be what? You need to put it in perspective, Dood. Medical costs are skyrocketing regardless of any federal plan.”

“Price Waterhouse did the study. Who would know better than an insurance firm about premiums? It's just another income redistribution scheme”

“Who would know better about raping the American public through high-cost premiums to feed the bloated cow than an insurance firm? NOW there's information you can TRUST!!!”

“well, the tobacco companies did years of studies showing that cigarettes had no adverse health effects, and they were all correct too. Stop being so paranoid, Rosey.

Just because a company has billions to lose if the facts come out against them doesn't mean that they would sponsor a study that might skew or downright fabricate results”

“These guys are right, strat. Have you ever known government to be wrong or slightly disingenuous about anything---especially how much something will cost?

Trust government, strat, not profit-seekers.”

“better yet, don't trust anyone”

“The US Government is in dept some 90 Trillion dollars. They have stolen that money from you and me. But you trust them anyway. They have already been proven to be attached at the hip to some very shady people and organizations, but you still trust them.

$90,000,000,000,000.00

That's a conservative estimate. But you just want to give them another trillion and it's gonna phuck up everybodies lives to boot. It's immoral, what's happening right now.

Why would anyone trust them for anything? Why would anyone put up with that from the people that are supposed to be looking out for us? How much wealth redistribution is enough? How long will you tolerate rampant corruption in the name of your idealogy?


WHY!

Keep you social justice.
Keep your wealth redistribution.
Keep you hands off my healthcare.
Keep you corruption.

We surround them”

“Who paid for the "study", strat?

America�s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is the national association representing nearly 1,300 member companies providing health insurance coverage


I repeat: You can't really be that gullible, can you?”

“yeah yeah yeah, you take the liberal spin and regurgitate it faithfully. I'm not impressed and furthurmore I think it's a valid analysis.”

“I'm sorry... liberal spin?

Who paid for the "study", strat? Am I wrong?

Have you never heard of a hired gun?

Are you really that gullible?”

“I already told you the 1st time you asked, weirdo. I belive it's a valid analysis.

The government doesn't need a hired to take my healthcare. They are the government and will just take it by force at the point of their guns. If I don't like it, there's nothing I can do about it, because they have the guns.

Are you so gullible to think that they won't?”

“So you are that gullible.

Wow!

On what do you form your opinion that it is a valid analysis?”

“Mozilo's friends on the Hill
Democrats block probe of Countrywide

Angelo Mozilo has lots of friends. Or at least, he used to. The former chief executive of Countrywide Financial now faces a series of federal lawsuits, including one brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and insider trading. Suddenly, some of the most powerful Washington politicians are eschewing the shameful appellation "Friend of Angelo."

Back in the early 1990s, when Countrywide was climbing to the top of the mortgage industry, Mr. Mozilo was looking to make friends on Capitol Hill. According to documents obtained by congressional oversight investigators, these key VIPs were afforded preferential and personalized treatment, including specially priced home mortgage loans at below-market rates. This generosity was not limited to elected officials but was extended as well to select congressional staff members, administration officials and Washington lobbyists.

In his aggressive pursuit of market dominance, Mr. Mozilo tried to make friends everywhere, especially among people who had a primary responsibility to craft legislation and oversee government enterprises with a stake in the U.S. housing market.

In March 2009, the minority staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform produced a detailed, 63-page report that analyzed Countrywide's VIP program and Mr. Mozilo's successful scheme to buy political influence and manipulate public policy decisions.

At that time, I renewed my call for congressional hearings into the Countrywide scandal, but my requests have been denied repeatedly and obstructed by the Democratic majority.

While some have attempted to characterize our efforts to uncover the true scope and depth of this pay-for-play program as a partisan attack targeting specific members of Congress, it should be noted that Republicans controlled both Congress and the White House at the height of the Countrywide VIP program's influence.

It stands to reason, therefore, that more Republicans than Democrats could have been the beneficiaries of Mr. Mozilo's special treatment. The undisputed fact remains: We know there was corruption. We know Countrywide's intent was to influence decision-makers to pursue policies that favored Countrywide's portfolio.

Yet congressional Democrats seem afraid to move forward with the investigation into a bribery scandal that contributed to the housing crisis and the financial collapse.

A variety of excuses have been offered for Congress' failure to launch a full-scale probe into the Friends of Angelo program. At first, it was argued that deference was needed for the Senate Ethics Committee to conclude an investigation into the conduct of two senators.”

“lol, and yet, though all this was happening under a republican government, the dems are to blame. Why didn't the republicans investigate Countrywide to begin with? The warning signs were pretty blatant”

“Don't get distracted strat.

Here is the text of the study that the health insurance lobby paid PricewaterhouseCoopers to perform: http://www.politico.com/static/PPM116_pwc2.html

I'm sure you read it before you pronounced it valid. What specifically about the analysis do you find so persuasive?”

“'lol, and yet, though all this was happening under a republican government, the dems are to blame'

Maybe the reps were all bought out like the dems are?”

“We all have to understand that some profits that BigBiz makes have to be considered taxes, because they are used to buy and control, thus RUN government.”

““We all have to understand that some profits that BigBiz makes have to be considered taxes, because they are used to buy and control, thus RUN government.”

And THAT is taxation without representation.

Let's have a tea party!”

“NAARP won't attend, when R=Rich.”

“You should've seen the shill from the US Chamber of Commerce on Washington Journal this morning attacking measures to protect consumers from predatory practices and regulating financial products so we don't have a repeat of last Fall.

Talk about your axis of weasels ---

They'd rather have the system collapse than cut back on their windfall profits (while AIG and Goldman resume their activities unabated).

I saw Marcy Kaptur last week saying the FBI branch that investigates financial crimes needs to be increased by a factor of ten to even begin to handle this mess but *any* increase in their funding is fought by Both factions of our current single party system.

She's no partisan flake ---- she was going after Robert Rubin as well as Sumner, Geithner and their whole "club". Apparently some Fed members from around the country aren't happy with the NY Fed's behavior leading up to the crash (and afterward) and have been doing some talking.”

“"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth — and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts ."

- PATRICK HENRY, 1775”

“I have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't always agree with them.
- George Bush”

“Vile is kind of on shaky ground on that 'tin foil hat' thing. LOL”

“I heard he found a turd in his backpack...”

“one of my friends who was new to backpacking asked me to pack his bag for him. Being the good friend that I am, I concealed a six-pack at the bottom of his pack. The whole hike he was complatining about the weight, to which I responded, "dude, all our packs are that heavy - that's backpacking." Then we got to camp and all enjoyed a beer.

Moral of the story: why hide a turd in someone's pack when you could hide a delicious lager?”

“Why do so many in the Obama administration like this man?



http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/32021/”

“because they're communist fascists, of course. I thought we'd well established that already”

“Well....I established that, not we.

Ok pepsi, maybe there's hope for you yet. If you admit that, then why don't you have a problem with it. You are aware that Mao killed some 70,000,000 human beings in his own Country, right?

Follow the link above. It's the lady at the White House in charge of monitoring FOX news, and it's shows her at a high school commencement speach this year, and she's quoting and glorifying Cahirman Mao to inspire graduating high schoolers.”

“Well you've sold me too strat. Where do I sign up?”

“Which one are you, dUd?”

“



Why do the Big Bad Patriots shop at the Chinese Big Box
then scream like stuck pigs when anyone reminds them?

”

“Poll: Only 34 percent of Californians approve of Pelosi's performance
By Jordan Fabian - 10/19/09 01:05 PM ET

A poll released over the weekend shows that only 34 percent of Californians approve of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) job performance, down 14 points from March.

The study, conducted by the Field Research Corportation, also showed that 44 percent of respondents disapproved of her job performance while 22 percent held no opinion. In the organization's last poll in March, 48 percent of respondents approved of Pelosi's job performance while 35 percent disapproved.”

“All extremes, of course, are bad. All that is good and useful, if carried to extremes, may become � and beyond a certain limit is bound to become � bad and injurious”

“that's a Lenin quote, by the way. Of course, since I quoted him, this means that I am a big Lenin fan, and support his cummunofascism ideals. Did you know that Lenin murdered eleventy gazillion of his own people? Typical liberal.”

“more for you from V.I.L. Clearly, I'm an evil person for sharing them:

What we prize most is peace and an opportunity to devote all our efforts to restoring our economy.

An end to wars, peace among the nations, the cessation of pillaging and violence-such is our ideal.

We reject all clauses on plunder and violence, but we shall welcome all clauses containing provisions for good-neighbourly relations.

and before you crawl up my ass with your Beckish accusations, I'm not saying Lenin was a good guy - that'd be ridiculous. I'm saying that simply quoting someone doesn't mean you're chair of their fanclub. And simply because someone was a bad person doens't mean they didn't have good ideas or, at least, good, quotable statements. You show me a quotable public figure who has a clean history and I'll eat my coffee cup.”

“You like reading the subject line?”

“

Fear Not: What does virtual rumor-mongering say about Christians?

WASHINGTON (Associated Baptist Press) -- Thanks to the Internet, some gullible American Christians can engage in one of their favorite hobbies -- digging up the metaphorical corpse of Madalyn Murray O�Hair and rhetorically flogging it -- more easily than ever before.

Even though the famous atheist�s body was discovered in 1998 and positively identified in Texas -- and even though she apparently has been dead since she disappeared in 1995 -- patently false rumors about her alleged anti-Christian campaigns continue to spread. Credulous Christians who once forwarded these kinds of rumors in mimeographed chain letters or spread them on talk radio now can broadcast them around the world with the mere click of a mouse.

And, of course, O�Hair is not alone in the annals of perceived enemies of Christ about whom some Christians will spread the most ridiculous stories, not bothering to do the merest hint of fact-checking on them.


From the old Procter & Gamble Satanism libel to tales of more recent vintage about President Obama�s faith and citizenship, Internet-fueled rumors seem to run rampant. And, frighteningly, Christians seem at the very least to be as susceptible as the population at large to the habit of spreading false stories.


So, why are Christians so willing to believe unsubstantiated rumors? And more troubling, why are Christians, who should hold the highest standards of truth-telling, so eager to spread such rumors -- and even downright libels?
[...]


Rumors like the ones tied to O�Hair become more powerful when they tap into the hostility and distrust toward government that is widespread among conservative Christians. It�s easy for the average evangelical to believe any rumor that fits this larger political paradigm.
[...]
Ethicist Tillman called on Christians to examine their biases and prejudices, which he described as �tough exercise,� because it forces Christians to explore the influences that shaped them.


Gullibility may grow out of fear and anxiety, he added. And that directly relates to what people believe.


�I suggest to my students, �Tell me something about your fears, and I will tell you something of your theology,�� Tillman said. �Dealing with our fears -- an action usually dismissed or ignored -- may be one of the keys to understanding just which e-mails we forward and those we don�t.�

David Gushee, a Baptist ethicist at Mercer University�s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, agreed Christians who spread tall tales by e-mail reflect a significant slice of American culture and act out of deep emotion.


�Certainly, many Christians seem attracted to conspiracy theories and urban myths and these mass e-mails that propagate them,� he said. �But I am not sure if that is because they are Christian or because they are just Americans of a certain type -- people who feel angry about the way the world is, who feel alienated from �elite culture,� who feel embattled by cultural trends that they cannot control and do not at all like, and who often feel looked down upon by those with more education or higher social status.�

The key to confronting such bad habits among Christians is proper spiritual formation on the ethics of truth-telling, gossip and rumor-spreading, experts said.


�Congregations should nourish true spiritual friendships -- relationships in which others will love us enough to instruct and correct us,� said Robert Kruschwitz, director of Baylor University�s Center for Christian Ethics.

�If we are gullible, we need some help to sort out the nonsense we should question from the truth that we should spread.... If we are fearful and envious, just too quick to gossip or criticize, we need that deep love that calms our fears and removes the need to impress others. That love comes from God through Christ, but the Holy Spirit often communicates it to us through our good spiritual friends.�
[...]
Gushee pointed to multiple New Testament principles pertinent to the matter of spreading urban myths -- loving one�s neighbor and one�s perceived enemy, not participating in gossip, not judging others and observing the Golden Rule.

�In general, we need to help Christians act like Christians in public life and not just in private life, and not to get sucked into the polarization, partisan idolatry and demonization so common now in media and government,� Gushee said.


http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53”

“Pepsi, Is Lenin one of your favorite philosophers that you turn to most? That's what Dunn said about Chairman Mao....to a bunch of high school students...


Violin, your article is nothing more than unprovable rumor mongering and suggestive innuendo based on gullible religious phobias. I have to call bu11sh1t.”

“Boortz;

The Community Reinvestment Act is back ... but disguised as a different animal. This reporthttp://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/63699-feds-enlist-fannie-and-freddie-in-bid-to-boost-mortgages should scare the tar out of you. From the Hill:

The Obama administration launched a new initiative Monday aimed at supporting affordable mortgages, backed by the federal government.

Several cabinet agencies announced a new program to provide assistance to state housing financing agencies (HFAs), administered in part by the government-run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac companies.

The U.S. departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), along with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), will allow state financing agencies to issue new bonds, while Freddie and Fannie will provide the state funds with credit lines, which the federal government will backstop.

The program puts the government in the interesting role of using Fannie and Freddie, which were taken into conservatorship last year in the midst of the mortgage crisis, of administering the credit lines to the state agencies.

Administration officials maintained Monday that the program would not mirror those from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the late 1990s that inflated the mortgage market, saying the state agencies would be more judicious about lending to subprime borrowers.

Government does not learn from mistakes. Government and politicians profit from mistakes. Yet another difference between the government and the private sector.”

“Gullibility may grow out of fear and anxiety, he added. And that directly relates to what people believe.


That describes Beck's sycophants pretty well.”

“WRONG! Beck's the only one who's not afraid to ask the tough questions. Just stick to Jon Stewart and Bill Mayer”

“I don't know that I'd call them "tough" questions as much as I'd call them completely bats...

"Can you let your son's body become the same temperature as your son's head before you turn this into a political campaign against the president? Could you do that?"
- Comment on Michael Berg, the father of murdered American businessman Nicholas Berg

"Would you kill someone for that?...I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore...I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it,...No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out. Is this wrong?"

"Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies."
- to Keith Ellison

"The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be President would be "What the hell you mean we're out of missiles?"”

“strat - I've raised this question before. If the Community Reinvestment Act caused the mortgage crisis, then why did non-bank lenders lead the way over the cliff?

One of the first lenders to fail was Countrywide Mortgage. They had NO CRA obligation. They made sub-prime loans because the profits were higher - period.

The following charts show that non-CRA lenders made far more sub-prime loans in all major US markets and in the US as a whole:









You can continue to believe the lie that the CRA was responsible for this mess if you want, but its just flat out untrue.
If blaming poor people gives you comfort, that says a lot about you.”