Archive for November, 2007
http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/hp599.htm
From the page: “October 10, 2007
HP-599
Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
on Announcement of New Private Sector Alliance – HOPE NOW
Washington, DC–Thank you, Secretary Jackson, for being here today. And thank you to everyone here today with one common objective – helping homeowners stay in their homes. We all know well the turmoil in today’s mortgage markets. A combination of stagnant or falling house prices, low down payment mortgages and resetting adjustable-rate mortgage rates are creating real challenges for many American homeowners. More and more homeowners are having trouble meeting their monthly mortgage payments, and foreclosure rates have risen in recent quarters. Foreclosures are painful not only for families, but also for neighborhoods, for mortgage servicers, for mortgage investors, and for the economy as a whole. This morning, I welcome you all here to applaud a new alliance of mortgage market participants who recognize that cost, and are stepping up efforts to prevent it for as many families as possible.
On August 31, President Bush announced a foreclosure prevention initiative. He asked Secretary Jackson and me to spearhead an effort to identify struggling homeowners and help as many as possible to keep their primary residences. We have been meeting with the nation’s leading mortgage counselors, mortgage servicers, lenders, investors and other industry experts to explore their ideas on how to reach and help homeowners.”
From the page: “U.S. government, banks finalizing rate-freeze plan:report
By Chris Oliver – Last update: 1:43 a.m. EST Nov. 30, 2007
KONG KONG (MarketWatch) — The U.S. Federal government and leading financial institutions are finalizing details of a plan that would extend low introductory rates offered to some borrowers who took out adjustable rate mortgages, according to reports. The plan, being hammered out between the Treasury Department and a number of large mortgage lenders, would include subprime mortgage borrowers, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations. The report said the gist of the plan was to extend the low introductory rates on home loans made to borrowers who will have trouble meeting higher reset rates. Under one scenario, the extension of lower rates could run as long as seven years, the report said. About two million adjustable rate mortgages are scheduled to reset to higher levels over the next two years.”——————————————————-
What, a bailout for bad decisions by consumers? Another government subsidy of, what can you call it; gullibility? naivity? stupidity? How will that realistically help the economy? Isn’t this type of government interference a trait of communism? See the Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on Announcement of New Private Sector Alliance – HOPE NOW Get real, this is a bailout of THE BIG BANKS, at the expense of consumers who were smart enough to not overextend themselves. EDIT: ok , smart enough to overextend themselves with non-essentials, like second homes and “investment” property. I was reminded many of us are overextended due to life’s true necessities. I’m referring to the sub-prime borrowers who went in over their heads for greed and had enough for necessities.
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071127.html
from the page: “by Chuck Baldwin
November 27, 2007
Many Christian conservatives see Mike Huckabee as the best candidate to deliver the GOP from an impending pro-abortion presidential nomination of either Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney. Huckabee is doing especially well in Iowa, particularly among evangelicals. Is Mike Huckabee worthy of this support, however? The facts say no.
I have already attempted to warn my evangelical brethren as to the dangers of supporting Mike Huckabee. See http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071102.html However, that first column was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Here are more reasons to beware of Mike Huckabee.
Robert Novak recently wrote a column about Mike Huckabee entitled, “The False Conservative.” In the column he said, “Huckabee is campaigning as a conservative, but serious Republicans know that he is a high-tax, protectionist, big-government advocate of a strong hand in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans.”
Novak also said, “There is no doubt about Huckabee’s record during a decade in Little Rock as governor. . . He increased the Arkansas tax burden by 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes.”
Novak continued saying, “Quin Hillyer, a former Arkansas journalist writing in the conservative American Spectator, called Huckabee ‘a guy with a thin skin, a nasty vindictive streak.’ Huckabee’s retort was to attack Hillyer’s journalistic procedures, fitting a mean-spirited image when he responds to conservative criticism.”
Calling Huckabee a proponent of big-government is an understatement. “If you listen closely, all the things he supports increase the size, power and cost of government. From subsidies for energy research to increasing money for health care and government housing, the size, power, and cost of government will not shrink under a President Mike Huckabee; they will increase . . . Mr. Huckabee swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution when he became governor, yet many of his proposals are clearly unconstitutional.” (Source: David Ulrich, Letter of the Week, World Net Daily, 10/26/07)
In addition, Dr. Jerome Corsi reports that “Financial inducements arranged by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to establish a Mexican consular office in Little Rock may have violated state law, according to an Arkansas attorney.”
Writing for World Net Daily, Dr. Corsi exposed the fact that Mike Huckabee “worked with some of the state’s most prominent and politically powerful businesses to establish the [Mexican] consulate as a magnet for drawing illegal immigrants to the state to accept low-paying jobs.”
Corsi goes on to report that “Arkansas attorney Chip Sexton provided WND a written legal brief arguing the state government’s sublease to Mexico of office space for the consulate was illegal under Arkansas law. Sexton contended the deal raised questions about the appropriateness of private citizens and corporations in Arkansas providing financial incentives for the government of Mexico to locate a consulate office in Little Rock.”
Corsi also writes that “Robert Trevino, commissioner of Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, told WND he and Huckabee helped arrange state and private financial support to induce Mexico to establish the consulate as a business development ‘quid pro quo.’
“Trevino signed on July 7, 2006, a ‘Facilities Use Agreement’ with Mexican consular officials to rent state government office space for $1 a year on the second floor of the Arkansas Rehabilitation Services building at 26 Corporate Hills in Little Rock.”
According to Sexton, not only did subleasing state government offices to Mexico violate Arkansas state law under Ark. Code Ann. 22-2-114(C)(i) which provides: “After July 1, 1975, no state agency shall enter into or renew or otherwise negotiate a lease between itself as lessor or lessee and a nongovernmental or other government lessor or lessee,” but it was even more offensive in that “there was nothin
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071102.html
by Chuck Baldwin
November 2, 2007
With Christian conservatives trying to scramble to find a Republican presidential candidate they can support, some of them seem to be coalescing around former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. Janet Folger, especially, seems to be trumpeting his candidacy. But is Mike Huckabee someone Christian conservatives should be supporting? Not everyone thinks so.
Randy Minton, chairman of the Arkansas chapter of Phyllis Schlafly’s national Eagle Forum, said, “We called him a pro-life, pro-gun liberal, when I was in the state legislature and he was governor.” Phyllis Schlafly herself was even more direct.
President and Founder of Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly, said this about Governor Huckabee: “He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles.” She went on to say, “Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a ‘compassionate conservative’ are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee.”
Even one of Huckabee’s strongest supporters within the Religious Right, Pastor Rick Scarborough, head of Vision America, admitted, “Mike has always sought the validation of elites.” Of course, my question for Rick Scarborough is, With an indictment such as that, how can you continue to support Mike Huckabee?
According to an opinion piece written by John Fund in the Wall Street Journal, “Paul Pressler, a former Texas judge who led the conservative Southern Baptist revolt, told me, ‘I know of no conservative he [Huckabee] appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist Convention.'”
Fund went on to say that “Mr. Huckabee’s reluctance to surround himself with conservatives was evident as governor, when he kept many agency heads appointed by Bill Clinton.”
Fund also said this about Huckabee: “‘He’s just like Bill Clinton in that he practices management by news cycle,’ a former top Huckabee aide told me. ‘As with Clinton there was no long-term planning, just putting out fires on a daily basis. One thing I’ll guarantee is that won’t lead to competent conservative governance.'”
Mike Huckabee is also terrible on immigration. According to Jim Boulet, Jr., executive director of English First, “Rudy Giuliani spent years defending the right of New York City to remain a sanctuary for illegal aliens. Yet Giuliani was a veritable Lou Dobbs Jr. on illegal immigration in comparison to Mike Huckabee.”
Regarding Huckabee’s stance on immigration, Mr. Minton said, “Until of late, he has been an open-borders guy on immigration–amnesty, the whole works. As governor, he wanted to give free college scholarships to all illegals.”
Minton’s assertion is backed up by Daniel Larison at The American Conservative. He said, “Like his fellow presidential candidate [who recently dropped out of the race], Sen. Sam Brownback, Huckabee regards it as his Christian duty to help subvert and liberalize U.S. immigration laws. Together, they embrace the notion that fidelity to the Gospel requires privileging the interests of non-citizens over those of fellow citizens.”
Ann Coulter agrees: “On illegal immigration, Huckabee makes George Bush sound like Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). Huckabee has compared illegal aliens to slaves brought here in chains from Africa, saying, ‘I think, frankly, the Lord is giving us a second chance to do better than we did before.’
“Toward that end, when an Arkansas legislator introduced a bill that would prevent illegal aliens from voting and receiving state benefits, Huckabee denounced the bill, saying it would rile up ‘those who are racist and bigots.’
“He also made the insane point that companies such as Toyota would not invest in Arkansas if the state didn’t allow non-citizens to vote, because it would ‘send the message that, essentially, “If you don’t look like us, talk like us and speak like us, we don’t want you.”
http://www.sos.state.ms.us/ed_pubs/PressReleases/Articles.asp?prno=1935&search=
From the page: “Voter Registration Deadline Nears for Primary Elections
Secretary of State Eric Clark reminds all prospective voters that Thursday, July 3, is the last regular business day to register to vote in party primary elections to be held August 5.
“I want to encourage all Mississippians who are not registered to get registered and vote in this important election,” Clark said. “I would also remind registered voters who have moved to update their registration with their county Circuit Clerk or at City Hall.”
Voters may cast ballots in the primary election of their choice. A voter may not “cross over” to vote in another party’s run-off election. For example, a voter who casts a ballot in the Republican primary on August 5 may not vote in the Democratic run-off election on August 26.”
29
Nov
07
WDBJ7 – Home – wdbj7.com
http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=7411021&nav=S6aK
From the page: “November 26, 2007
GOP will demand ‘oath’ of February primary voters
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — If you’re planning to vote in Virginia’s February Republican presidential primary, be prepared to sign an oath swearing your Republican loyalty.
The State Board of Elections on Monday approved a state Republican Party request to require all who apply for a GOP primary ballot first vow in writing that they’ll vote for the party’s presidential nominee next fall.
There’s no practical way to enforce the oath. Virginia doesn’t require voters to register by party, and for years the state’s Republicans have fretted that Democrats might meddle in their open primaries.”
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The problem they clumsily may be trying to address is “cross registration” and such. Many people express the desire to register with the opposition party to move the platform away from its stances, to try and pick a candidate that would be more vulnerable, or to just affect the opposition’s system in some way. The idea is to then vote your own party line in the main election and maybe changing party affiliation at that time.
Most states address that issue, such as in Miss’ippi.. But few requests oaths. Thats just not practical nor smart.
While I agree that cross registering is a problem, its still a low level and ineffective tactic. Therefore its impractical to try and deal with it in this manner. Plus this “oath” approach does smack of totalitarian intent. For example, will they try to prosecute those they deem as having broken their “oath”?
BTW, crossing party lines in the main election is what gave Ronald Reagan his huge margins back in the day. Ain’t nothing wrong with voting for the right candidate, even if he’s in another party. See our SU discussion on this matter.
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