More on who is to blame for the credit crisis:
‘SNL’ Take-Down Taken Down
By Tobin Harshaw
“The presidential campaign has been good for ‘Saturday Night Live’ — and for Hulu.com,” reports Advertising Age’s Michael Learmonth. “In a few short weeks, the first clip of Tina Fey impersonating Gov. Sarah Palin has become the site’s most-viewed of all time. But it appears NBC.com and Hulu.com may have run into some trouble with the latest SNL political send-up. A clip poking fun at the bailout, and specifically, at former Golden West Financial Group co-chiefs Herb and Marion Sandler, has been taken down from NBC.com and Hulu.com sometime on Monday, leaving many speculating as to why. A good guess: The clip, a fake C-SPAN news report, identifies the Sandlers, who sold their Golden West Financial S&L to Wachovia in 2006 as ‘People who should be shot’ in a graphic.”
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/snl-take-down-taken-down/?ref=opinion

Who are the Sandlers?

Herb and Marion Sandler, owners of Golden West Financial Corporation, was giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic Party campaigns."[6]
Golden West was sold in 2006 for $24 billion to Wachovia Bank. The merger was completed in October 2006. The Sandlers owned about 10% of the company at the time of the sale, making their share of the sale price worth about $2.4 billion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Sandler
Wachovia had to be sold last week, due to the subprime mortgages they aquired when they bought Golden West.

How Catholic Money Funded Obama's Community Organizing

By Deal W. Hudson
October 7, 2008
http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2008/dwh_10071.shtml

One of the untold stories in the Obama campaign is how his background in community organizing has direct links to Catholic funding -- from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (web site)
Catholic journalist Stephanie Block has been writing about the CCHD for many years, but it has been difficult to stimulate any serious concern about their funding the innocuous sounding activity of "community development." Innocuous or not, Obama years as a community organizer were supported, in part, by Catholic money dispersed by the USCCB.

Barak Obama - was lead organizer in Chicago for the Developing Communities Project, it received a $40,000 Catholic Campaign for Human Development grant in 1985 and a $33,000 grant in 1986.

While he was in Chicago Obama was trained by the top Alinskyian organizers. One mentor was the ex-Jesuit, Greg Galuzzo, lead organizer for Gamaliel. The Developing Communities Project operated under the Gamaliel Foundation, a network of Alinskyian organizations that receive 4-5% of all Catholic Campaign for Human Development grants each year.

Who is Saul Alinsky?
In Rules for Radicals (his final work, published in 1971 one year before his death), he addressed the 1960s generation of radicals, outlining his views on organizing for mass power. In the first chapter, opening paragraph of the book Alinsky writes, "What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away".[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky

Obama's Alinsky Jujitsu
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
The agitator's job, according to Alinsky, is first to bring folks to the "realization" that they are indeed miserable, that their misery is the fault of unresponsive governments or greedy corporations, then help them to bond together to demand what they deserve, and to make such an almighty stink that the dastardly governments and corporations will see imminent "self-interest" in granting whatever it is that will cause the harassment to cease.
In these methods, euphemistically labeled "community organizing," Obama had a four-year education, which he often says was the best education he ever got anywhere.
Is it any wonder, then, that Obama's Alinsky Jujitsu is making mincemeat of the woman who merely interviewed Alinsky, wrote about him, and spent the next 30 years in corporate law and in the lap of taxpayer-funded luxury in government mansions?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/obamas_alinsky_jujitsu.html

Barack Obama and Alinsky's Rules for Psychopaths
By James Lewis
A psychopath is a person without conscience; someone who constantly breaks the moral rules of the community. Saul Alinsky was a "community organizer" who found a career that fit that personality disorder. In the Orwellian upside-down world of the Left, community organizers disorganize communities. That is the meaning of revolution, to overturn whatever exists today in the raw pursuit of one's own power.
Alinsky boasted about his close alliance with Frank Nitti, Al Capone's second in command in the Chicago Mob during the 1930s. Al Capone's Mob were domestic terrorists, and not for any noble cause either. They poisoned the Chicago politics of their era. Alinsky's close alliance with Frank Nitti tells us something crucially important today. Alinsky was also a lifelong ally of the Stalin-controlled Communist Party, at a time when Stalin was known to have murdered tens of millions of people. He was proud of building a bridge between organized crime and the power hungry Left. That tacit alliance may continue today.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_alinskys_rule.html


Saul Alinsky’s son: “Obama learned his lesson well”
By Judi McLeod Tuesday, September 2, 2008
In Artful Dodger style, Barack Obama, plays down his mentorship with Communist author Saul Alinsky. But Alinsky’s son, L. David Alinsky, credits Obama for “learning his lesson well” from the Communist guru.
Indeed, Alinsky Jr. who credits his late father for the success of last week’s Democratic National Convention, may have done something that Obama’s detractors couldn’t: blown the cover on the presidential hopeful’s communist leanings.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4784

Catholic Voting & the “Seamless Garment” Theory
by Patrick Madrid
How to vote with a clear conscience
Are some [issues] more important than others?
http://www.envoymagazine.com/pdf/envoy_votersguide.pdf

Karl Rove Lists 10 ‘Factually Wrong’ Biden Debate Statements
Karl Rove sets the record straight on 10 things Biden said in the debate last night.

Biden said McCain voted the same as Obama on the budget resolution vote. Fact: McCain voted No, Obama voted "Yes" to increase taxes on those making $42,000 year.
Biden said people would pay no more taxes under Obama than they did under Reagan. Fact: The top rate under Reagan was 28%, Obama wants to return it to 39.5%.
Biden said it would take 10 years to get new oil into production. Fact: It would take only about 2 years.
Biden said used of force resolution in Iraq was not an authorization for war. Fact: Yes it was.
Biden said McCain voted the same as Obama on funding the troops. Fact: McCain voted yes, Obama voted "no."
Biden said we are spending as much in 3 weeks as we have in 7 years in Iraq. Fact: Not true
Biden said Article 1 of the Constitution refers to the Executive branch. Fact: Article 1 refers to Legislative branch
Biden said there is a windfall profits tax in Alaska. Fact: Not true
Biden repeated the lie about a nuclear weapons bill that Obama passed. Fact: Not true
Biden said McCain opposed Clinton on Bosnia. Fact: Not true
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=187263

Biden doesn't understand what the Veep job really is.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/03/biden-gets-veep-role-wrong/


A 1999 New York Times article explains how we got in the financial mess we are in
Read this article which appeared in the NEW YORK TIMES ON SEPTEMBER 30, 1999. It answers the question. Some of the quotes in here are eerily prophetic.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Agency’s ’04 Rule Let Banks Pile Up New Debt, and Risk
Dennis Brack for The New York Times
"Many events in Washington, on Wall Street and elsewhere around the country have led to what has been called the most serious financial crisis since the 1930s. But decisions made at a brief meeting on April 28, 2004, explain why the problems could spin out of control. The agency’s failure to follow through on those decisions also explains why Washington regulators did not see what was coming."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/business/03sec.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters from EWTN
"If someone were running for state treasurer and that candidate made it a point to state publicly that he was in favor of exterminating people over the age of 70, would you vote for him?... If personal character matters in a political candidate, and personal character involves the kind of thoughts a person harbors, then such a candidate who publicly states that he is in favor of the evil of exterminating people over the age of 70 - or children who are unborn - has also disqualified himself from receiving a Catholic’s vote."
http://www.ewtn.com/vote/brief_catechism.htm

More Voter Guide Links
As a Catholic, I have an obligation to inform my conscience before I vote. These voter guides are very helpful
http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/
http://www.usccb.org/bishops/catholicsinpoliticallife.shtml

What is the Most Efficient Way to Care for the Poor?
Suppose I am coerced to pay $100 in federal taxes that are for the purpose of caring for the poor. First, the legislator who makes the laws about collecting the money takes a slice, then the tax collector takes a slice, then the boss and auditor of the tax collector take a slice. Next, the social worker who determines eligibility for services and their boss and auditor of the social service agancy take a slice. Then the one who assures us that their is no fraud going on takes a slice. How much is left to give to the poor?
When I donate money to charity, I want to know the administrative expense ratio. That is, is the money going to some fat cat or is it really going to the cause for which I gave it? If my goal is supporting the poor, it seems to me to be more effective to give money to Catholic Charities than it does to the federal government.
I think it is foolish to vote for someone because they promise to do something "for the little guy." It seems that most of those promises are "voter bait." If they ever delivered on their promises, they would have to think of something else to bait the voters. Is it any wonder that campaign promises are quickly forgotten after the election? Wise up, Americans! Vote based on the character of the man and the one who will kill the fewest babies. That's the "little guys" I care about!

More of the blame game, only this has a ring of truth to it
So that's what a Community Organizer does!
What did Obama do with the Community Reinvestment Act money? Did he stop the flood of money going to these bad mortgages?
http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom

U.S. archbishop at Vatican says Democrats becoming 'party of death'
By Cindy Wooden
The Democratic Party in the United States "risks transforming itself definitively into a 'party of death,'" said U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Vatican's highest court.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0804933.htm

Bishop calls abortion 'homicide'
Scranton Diocese priests read abortion position letter to parishionersBy Laura Legere
In the letter, Bishop Martino refers to abortion as “homicide” and writes, “It is a tragic irony that ‘pro-choice’ candidates have come to support homicide — the gravest injustice a society can tolerate — in the name of ‘social justice.’”
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2008/09/30/news/sc_times_trib.20080930.a.pg1.tt30bishop_s1.1980663_top.txt

Catholic Answers has a wonderful Voters Guide for Serious Catholics Video. You can find it at http://www.catholic.com/
The Voter Guides booklet says there are five non-negotiables for Christians:

• Abortion
• Euthanasia
• Embryonic Stem Cell Research
• Human Cloning
• Homosexual "Marriage"

Please pay attention to the "How Not to Vote" section.
http://www.caaction.com/pdf/Voters-Guide-Catholic-English-1p.pdf

Presidential Voter Guide at kitchentableblog
Investigate the presidential candidates with our in-depth research and analysis on all the important Values Voter issues. From bioethics, marriage and family law to judicial and religious liberty issues, our policy experts present this valuable guide.
http://www.kitchentableblog.com/EF08H02.pdf

Secret, Foreign Money Floods into Obama Campaign
By: Kenneth R. Timmerman U.S. federal law bans any foreigner from donating to a U.S. election campaign.
http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/Obama_fundraising_illegal/2008/09/29/135718.html

The pro-bailout view:
Recent Market Commentary From Fidelity
Insight on Government Rescue Plan
September 29, 2008
The first lesson learned throughout the history of financial crises is that when financial markets simply stop working on their own, the government may be the only backstop available to prevent a systemic financial collapse that jeopardizes the entire economy.
http://personal.fidelity.com/misc/framesets/iw.shtml

The anti-bailout view:
Commentary: Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer
By Jeffrey A. Miron
So what should the government do? Eliminate those policies that generated the current mess. This means, at a general level, abandoning the goal of home ownership independent of ability to pay. This means, in particular, getting rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with policies like the Community Reinvestment Act that pressure banks into subprime lending.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Bailout marks Karl Marx's comeback
By Martin Masse
In his Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, Karl Marx proposed 10 measures to be implemented after the proletariat takes power, with the aim of centralizing all instruments of production in the hands of the state. Proposal Number Five was to bring about the “centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.”
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2008/09/29/bailout-marks-karl-marx-s-comeback.aspx

Why wasn't the financial Crisis Avoided?
In late 2004, Democrats Defended Freddie, Fannie ... while Republicans were asking for more regulation
http://election.newsmax.com/bailout_fanniefreddy.html

Watch this video on YouTube
It's about who tried to prevent this problem and who helped to cause it. (OK. I'll spoil the ending a tell you. McCain tried to fix this mess years ago. Obama helped create it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxgSubmiGt8

Since I have an MBA, I am interested in how all this happened and how we are going to get out of this crisis.

Why Didn't We See This Credit Crisis Coming?
This didn't happen overnight. The credit crisis has been building for years.
Graphic shows timeline of credit crisis events with banking and mortgage foreclosures data;
http://apnews.myway.com/image/20080915/FINANCIAL_MELTDOWN.sff_GFX890_20080915183434.html?date=20080929&docid=D93GC9FG0

Stocks fall sharply ahead of bailout vote
There are new restrictions allowing Congress to limit how much of the money goes out the door at once. It also includes caps on pay packages of top executives as well as assurances that the government also would ultimately be reimbursed by the companies for any losses. The Treasury would be permitted to spend $250 billion to buy banks' risky assets, giving them a much-needed necessary cash infusion. There also would be another $100 billion for use at president's discretion and a final $350 billion if Congress signs off on it.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080929/wall_street.html

Let's put this in perspective. What Foreign News sites are saying about how we got in this financial mess:
What it costs: $700 billion. Ok, in relation to some other big things it´s not that much. Financial markets help the world produce that much twice a week. And if we assume that the assets the agency buys are worth at least half of what it pays, then it´s not that far from the cost of the latest US farm bill.
http://johannorberg.net/

Total cost of the 2008 US Farm Bill

In the 2008 farm bill, the current ten-year spending level is approximately $600 billion.
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/wto.info/twninfo20080522.htm

The US subsidizes farmers. Now we want to do the same with the financial industry?

The Blame Game

Blame the bubble on FDR, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton

Article in theaustralian.news.com.au

As usual everybody blames markets and calls for regulation when there is a financial crisis. But in Dagens Industri today (in Swedish, subscribers only), I remind the readers of some milestones in the pre-history of the crisis:
1933: As part of the New Deal, investment banks are stopped from also acting as commercial banks (which would have given them bank deposits and more stability).
1938: As part of the New Deal, President Roosevelt creates the mortgage association Fannie Mae and in 1970 Congress creates Freddie Mac. With their implicit government guarantees they can offer cheaper loans and expand until they dominate the American mortgage market.
1989: The American government decides to step in and pay for the savings and loan crisis, which sets a precedent: If you take too big risks with mortgage loans, the government will save you.
1995: The Community Reinvestment Act is revised so that banks and thrifts are stopped from targeting the wealthy, and are forced to give home loans to low- and moderate income-households as well. In return they are allowed to re-package and sell those subprime risks to others, which Bear Sterns pioneers in 1997.
2001-2003: Instead of letting the market get rid of bad businesses and loans after the dot com bubble and 9/11, the Fed reduces its rate from 6.5% to 1%. There is only a mild recession, but at the cost of a dramatic expansion of the money supply, that creates a real estate bubble.
These were definitely not the only villains in the story, but if I deliberately wanted to create a financial crisis, I think that this is almost exactly how I would do it.
The prices increased, people borrowed more, and Mae and Mac ran leverage ratios that exceeeded 60 to 1 (cheered on by the Democrats who now blame free markets for the crisis) to keep giving loans to people who could not really afford it. And meanwhile everybody involved thought that they couldn´t really lose, because the government would bail them out.
It only took more traditional interest rates for the bubble to burst (with the help from some new accounting regulations). The independent investment banks that did not have access to bank deposits collapsed and almost brought the whole system down.
All those who now think that the solution is to give more powers to politicians, authorities and central banks should at least go to the trouble of looking at what they did with the powers they already had. Decision makers on the market do act irresponsibly and incredibly short-sighted from time to time. So do decision makers in government.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24421918-20261,00.html

The Financial Mess: How We Got Here
By Abraham H. Miller of American Thinker
I am not suggesting that the CRA [Community Reinvestment Act] by itself led to the current crisis, but the CRA was the first and most important part of the food chain. The CRA caused the expansion in the number of questionable loans that lending institutions made, but Wall Street and insurance underwriters were all to willing to package these loans, enhance their ratings through convenient exercises in fantasy, sell them, and insure them with reserves that were more inadequate than the incomes of the people who got the loans in the first place..
The best thing that can emerge from the current financial crisis is the realization that the government needs to stop directing economic decision making. In a sense, the government is putting out a fire it started when it both created the CRA and assessed lending institutions by how well they were doing in response to the program. When Clinton decided, in his usual arrogance, that he knew better than the market how banks should lend money, the seeds were sown for the current financial disaster.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/the_financial_mess_how_we_got.html

More information on the Community Reinvestment Act:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act

http://www.ffiec.gov/cra/

http://www.policylink.org/EDTK/CRA/Why.html

How did the economy get in this bad shape?
Clinton, Republicans agree to deregulation of US financial system
By Martin McLaughlin
Nov. 1999
http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/nov1999/bank-n01.shtml

It happened the same way with the health insurance problem.
Blame Congress for HMOs
by Twila Brase
http://www.cchconline.org/privacy/hmoart.php3
Wasn't it Will Rogers that said that when Congress tells a joke, it is a law?

Scaring Us to Death
by Walter Williams
Things are not nearly as gloomy as the pundits say. Most of today's economic problems, whether it's energy, health care costs, financial problems, budget deficits or national debt, are caused by policies pursued by the White House and Congress. As my colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell suggested in a recent column, we don't look to arsonists to put out fires that they've created; neither should we look to Congress to solve the problems they've created.
http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/09/24/scaring_us_to_death

What Happened to Market Discipline?
by John Stossel
Irresponsibility induced by government-created perverse incentives is the culprit. For decades politicians of both parties have relieved big companies of the responsibility that market discipline would have imposed. The promise -- explicit or implicit -- to bail out companies "too big to fail" weakens market discipline. That invites recklessness.
We do need protection from reckless businessmen. But there is only one way to provide that: market discipline. That means: no privileges, and no bailouts.

Quo Vadis, Catholic vote?
Jeffery T. Kuhner, Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/21/quo-vadis-catholic-vote/
The Catholic bloc is the key swing vote in this year's election that will decide the next president of the United States - and shape our destiny in this watershed moment in history. Catholics must support Sen. John McCain.
Both campaigns are courting Catholics vigorously. Catholics constitute America's largest single religious denomination. The church has 47 million adherents - nearly one-quarter of all registered voters. In pivotal battleground states, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, they form almost a third of the electorate. Moreover, 41 percent of Catholics are independents.

What if the bailout plan doesn't work?
Under the current plan, the U.S. government will buy up to $700 billion in assets from private holders on Wall Street. That would help banks stabilize their balance sheets, and in theory provide an incentive for banks to begin extending credit among themselves again — a critical component of a functional financial system.
Here’s the good news: If everything goes smoothly, it is even possible that taxpayers will profit from the deal in the long run, as the underlying assets accumulate value over the coming years and the government is able to ultimately sell them back into the market at higher prices than it’s paying now. Of course, it’s also possible that the values will never come back, in which case taxpayers would be on the hook.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080923/pl_politico/13769

Obama: Bailout likely to delay spending programs
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he probably would have to delay the spending programs he has called for during his campaign in light of the massive government bailout being proposed for the nation's financial industry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_el_pr/obama

Does that change how you will vote? If you are voting to line your own pockets, then you have been warned that it won't happen. Campaign promises don't mean a thing after the election is over.

Barack Obama's opposition to Born Alive Act
Gianna Jessen was aborted. She had been left to die in a Los Angeles hospital. And she had been rescued.The saline solution had burned her body and the long time without oxygen left her with cerebral palsy.
Gianna is 31 now. She still sings. She even runs in marathons! And she speaks out on behalf of other children aborted and left to die. She has spoken out in a new ad aimed at presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Please watch this video.
BornAliveTruth.org Gianna ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anieuWFWe8s
and this one:
Gianna Jessen of BornAliveTruth.org on Hannity & Colmes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVf_o1C2nI&feature=related

and this one:
Jill Stanek, former nurse, on Barack Obama's opposition to Born Alive Act
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3041755&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,407882,00.html

Jill Stanek's web site http://jillstanek.com/

Gianna Jessen's web site
http://bornalivetruth.org/
http://www.giannajessen.com/

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/civil-religion/music/2008/09/gianna-jessen-sings/

The US Economy and the Race for President
The US Economy and the Race for President
My German cousin wrote me about the bankruptcy of the US bank, Lehmann Brothers. He is blaming the war in Iraq. He asked my opinion of the race for president. He said he thinks Sarah Palin is a hick and is inexperienced in foreign affairs compared to Obama and Biden. He says McCain is too old.
Since he does not understand how things work in the US, I have to explain things in detail. This is my response to him:
The problems in the economy have nothing to do with the conflict in Iraq. Things are much better in Iraq now.
The economy is a complex issue.
For several years, the banks made it too easy to get a loan for a house. The interest rate set by the Federal Reserve was unusually low. Many people who normally could not afford a house when the rates were higher were able to get a loan. The greedy banks did not make these people prove they could pay the loan, because the bank would sell the loan to other investors. Many investors like to buy mortagages (house loans) because they are usually a safer investment than others.Also, many people bought homes as an investment because the increased demand for homes made the value go up. They would keep the home for only a year, then sell it and keep the profits. This is called "flipping." The loans they took had an adjustable interest rate, which means the rate can go up or down, depending on what the US Treasury charges the bank for the interest. Instead of the rate staying the same or going down as many thought it would, it instead went up. That meant that many people could no longer afford the loan payment and had to sell the home for a loss, if they were able to sell the house at all. Too many ended up losing the house when the bank took the house away from them. So there have been rising mortgage defaults and plunging home values in the U.S due to tight credit markets. When there are more houses being sold than there are buyers, the price of the house goes down.
When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, the economy cools off. It means fewer houses will be built and fewer business investments, which decreases jobs. If people lose their job, they can't make loan payments.
The U.S. Treasury earlier this month seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are agencies that make loans. They are not really owned by the government, but the Treasury took them over to keep them from going bankrupt. This means the taxpayers are going to have to pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's negligence. That is why there is a need for stricter financial regulation than before.
As for me, the price of a house has no effect. Bob and I paid the whole loan for our house so we own it totally. As long as we don't sell before the economy gets better, we will be OK. We both have good jobs, so only the higher price of gas and food have an impact on us. Financially, we are better off than we were when Clinton was president.
There is a mixture of inflation and recession going on. The price of gasoline is going up because of more competition from China for oil and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have stopped pumping for oil. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina is still having an effect on this. Also, there are environmentalists that want the price of gas to go up so that Americans will buy less gas. They don't allow drilling for oil in our own country and push for more corn to be turned into gasoline, which makes the price of corn go up. The increase in gas prices to fuel farm machinery and higher corn prices means higher food prices. Usually, in a recession, prices go down and that is not the case this time.
Americans are dependent on gasoline to power our cars until an affordable car is on the market that requires less or no gasoline. I hope that will happen very soon. There is talk of a car that is powered by air compression being on the market soon. It is made in India. One can recharge it by plugging it into the household electric socket. It only goes 175 miles before it needs to be recharged, so it will mean that gas stations will have to make available a way to recharge the tanks. If that happens, we can pay less money to the Arabs. That would make our economy much better because we would have more money to spend on other things.
Please don't believe what the media says about John McCain and Sarah Palin. They have 10 times more experience that Obama. Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska. She manages a multi-billion dollar budget. She has cleaned up corruption in the government of her state. She has made it possible to build a natural gas pipeline through the state that will make our energy cheaper. She had to get Canada to agree to let Alaska do this. That takes a lot of work to make another country agree to this. Sarah Palin is the chief commander of the Alaska National Guard. The Alaska National Guard is on duty full-time because it is so close to Russia. They are our first line of defence against attack from Russia. That mean that the US military has to work closely with the Alaska National Guard. She has done a great job in this role. The Alaska National Guard love how Sarah Palin leads them. If Sarah Palin is a hick, then my husband is one too. Bob loves to go deer hunting. Hunting is a big sport in this country. It is necessary to manage the wild animal population. It shows she has courage and is competitive, though she is still very feminine. I admire her for being a mom to 5 children and still able to work a job.
Obama was a "community organizer" which means he handed out papers for political candidates door-to-door. He was a state legislator for a few years, but wrote no legislation or got any passed. He got elected Senator because the person who ran against him had to quit the race and then the substitute candidate is a radical. Mostly, people voted for Obama because the politics in Illinois is corrupt and people feel sorry for a Black man. People feel guilty about being so racist against Blacks a long time ago. There was a lot of anger in the country against the conflict in Iraq and so he used that anger to get elected to the Senate, where he also has done no real work. He got there after the conflict started, so he can't be hated for voting in favor of it. It is getting better in Iraq in spite of what he has done to stop it. It would be a disaster to stop fighting now. Obama has never been in charge of any government and never had to balance a state or federal government. He knows nothing about how to fix the economy. He promises people he will give them government benefits that will fill their pockets, but has no way of paying for them because you can only tax people so much before the economy gets worse. That is not what is best for the country in the long run. He says he will tax only the rich, but what he would have to do to pay for all this is tax anyone who is making enough to have a spare dollar. He is almost a socialist or communist. We have never had any candidate for the president that is this extreme about the economy.
Obama is a butcher. He voted in favor of letting babies who survived an abortion die by withholding medical care. The legislation would have required doctors to care for a baby after it was born even if the mother wanted it dead. That is infanticide and killing a baby is murder. Obama is a radical extremist when it comes to the abortion issue. He is like Hilter when it comes to respect for human life. We already have a million babies die each year to abortion. Obama would defeat all the effort done in the last 30 years to stop the slaughter of babies.
Sarah Palin is to be praised for giving birth to her baby even though she knew it would be disabled. Her baby is the kind of baby Obama would have voted to kill.
Sarah Palin is the total opposite of Hilliary Clinton. She wears a skirt and lipstick. She is a real woman and mom. She loves her husband and family. She is in this race to serve, not to be famous or popular. She is not doing this to prove women are as powerful as men. She is more like the ideal American woman than Hilliary.
No person has all the experience needed to be president. Yet most of our presidents were governors of states, which is what Sarah is. Being a governor is a better qualification than being a Senator. For example, Ronald Reagan was the Governor of the state of California before he became President and Clinton was the Governor of the state of Arkansas. Governors of states are leaders, not just people who vote on legislation that was written by others. Governors of states have real responsibilies and manage huge budgets. Senators do not. In some ways, she is more qualified than McCain, Obama or Joe Biden.
However, McCain has been a Senator for a lot longer than Obama, so he is more qualified than him. McCain will be a much better manager of the economy than Obama.
Our country has been through times much worse than now, so I have hope that things will be better soon. What goes up must come down, and when the price goes down, the demand goes up. So what goes down will eventually go up. Our economy has done so much better since Reagan, that people forget how bad it was under Jimmy Carter (another former state governor).
Just as Israel was punished for its bad leaders, I fear what will happen if we elect such an incompetent, evil man as B. Hussein Obama. I am praying that the American people will make the right decision. In the news today, polls in 11 battleground states show Obama retains narrow lead as 78 Electoral College votes are still a toss-up. Sarah Palin has made the race for the White House nearly dead-level even.
Even my mom, who is a life-long Democrat, says she will not vote for Obama. She is offended that people say McCain is old at 72. She is 86, so 72 is young to her. That is an amazing change. A lot will depend on whether Catholics vote pro-life. The race is really just starting because most people don't pay much attention until the last 2 months of the campaign when the TV ads start. A lot has changed since it started almost 2 years ago. This race is going to be a lot of mud slinging, dirty politics.
In other news, I am hoping the Pope's visit to France will make more Catholics go back to church. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for the United States!
Our son, Tim, started college this fall. Our youngest will start next year. I am going to start training as a hospital chaplain on October 9 for 6 months. I will keep my technical writer job, but eventually I want to work as a chaplain. Hospital chaplains minister to the sick. In this way, I would be able to serve God and his Church.
God bless,
Betty

The US Economy and the Race for President
My German cousin wrote me about the bankruptcy of the US bank, Lehmann Brothers. He is blaming the war in Iraq. He asked my opinion of the race for president. He said he thinks Sarah Palin is a hick and is inexperienced in foreign affairs compared to Obama and Biden. He says McCain is too old.
This is my response to him:
The problems in the economy have nothing to do with the conflict in Iraq. Things are much better in Iraq now.
The economy is a complex issue.
For several years, the banks made it too easy to get a loan for a house. The interest rate set by the Federal Reserve was unusually low. Many people who normally could not afford a house when the rates were higher were able to get a loan. The greedy banks did not make these people prove they could pay the loan, because the bank would sell the loan to other investors. Many investors like to buy mortagages (house loans) because they are usually a safer investment than others.Also, many people bought homes as an investment because the increased demand for homes made the value go up. They would keep the home for only a year, then sell it and keep the profits. This is called "flipping." The loans they took had an adjustable interest rate, which means the rate can go up or down, depending on what the US Treasury charges the bank for the interest. Instead of the rate staying the same or going down as many thought it would, it instead went up. That meant that many people could no longer afford the loan payment and had to sell the home for a loss, if they were able to sell the house at all. Too many ended up losing the house when the bank took the house away from them. So there have been rising mortgage defaults and plunging home values in the U.S due to tight credit markets. When there are more houses being sold than there are buyers, the price of the house goes down.
When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, the economy cools off. It means fewer houses will be built and fewer business investments, which decreases jobs. If people lose their job, they can't make loan payments.
The U.S. Treasury earlier this month seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are agencies that make loans. They are not really owned by the government, but the Treasury took them over to keep them from going bankrupt. This means the taxpayers are going to have to pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's negligence. That is why there is a need for stricter financial regulation than before.
As for me, the price of a house has no effect. Bob and I paid the whole loan for our house so we own it totally. As long as we don't sell before the economy gets better, we will be OK. We both have good jobs, so only the higher price of gas and food have an impact on us. Financially, we are better off than we were when Clinton was president.
There is a mixture of inflation and recession going on. The price of gasoline is going up because of more competition from China for oil and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have stopped pumping for oil. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina is still having an effect on this. Also, there are environmentalists that want the price of gas to go up so that Americans will buy less gas. They don't allow drilling for oil in our own country and push for more corn to be turned into gasoline, which makes the price of corn go up. The increase in gas prices to fuel farm machinery and higher corn prices means higher food prices. Usually, in a recession, prices go down and that is not the case this time.
Americans are dependent on gasoline to power our cars until an affordable car is on the market that requires less or no gasoline. I hope that will happen very soon. There is talk of a car that is powered by air compression being on the market soon. It is made in India. One can recharge it by plugging it into the household electric socket. It only goes 175 miles before it needs to be recharged, so it will mean that gas stations will have to make available a way to recharge the tanks. If that happens, we can pay less money to the Arabs. That would make our economy much better because we would have more money to spend on other things.
Please don't believe what the media says about John McCain and Sarah Palin. They have 10 times more experience that Obama. Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska. She manages a multi-billion dollar budget. She has cleaned up corruption in the government of her state. She has made it possible to build a natural gas pipeline through the state that will make our energy cheaper. She had to get Canada to agree to let Alaska do this. That takes a lot of work to make another country agree to this. Sarah Palin is the chief commander of the Alaska National Guard. The Alaska National Guard is on duty full-time because it is so close to Russia. They are our first line of defence against attack from Russia. That mean that the US military has to work closely with the Alaska National Guard. She has done a great job in this role. The Alaska National Guard love how Sarah Palin leads them. If Sarah Palin is a hick, then my husband is one too. Bob loves to go deer hunting. Hunting is a big sport in this country. It is necessary to manage the wild animal population. It shows she has courage and is competitive, though she is still very feminine. I admire her for being a mom to 5 children and still able to work a job.
Obama was a "community organizer" which means he handed out papers for political candidates door-to-door. He was a state legislator for a few years, but wrote no legislation or got any passed. He got elected Senator because the person who ran against him had to quit the race and then the substitute candidate is a radical. Mostly, people voted for Obama because the politics in Illinois is corrupt and people feel sorry for a Black man. People feel guilty about being so racist against Blacks a long time ago. There was a lot of anger in the country against the conflict in Iraq and so he used that anger to get elected to the Senate, where he also has done no real work. He got there after the conflict started, so he can't be hated for voting in favor of it. It is getting better in Iraq in spite of what he has done to stop it. It would be a disaster to stop fighting now. Obama has never been in charge of any government and never had to balance a state or federal government. He knows nothing about how to fix the economy. He promises people he will give them government benefits that will fill their pockets, but has no way of paying for them because you can only tax people so much before the economy gets worse. That is not what is best for the country in the long run. He says he will tax only the rich, but what he would have to do to pay for all this is tax anyone who is making enough to have a spare dollar. He is almost a socialist or communist. We have never had any candidate for the president that is this extreme about the economy.
Obama is a butcher. He voted in favor of letting babies who survived an abortion die by withholding medical care. The legislation would have required doctors to care for a baby after it was born even if the mother wanted it dead. That is infanticide and killing a baby is murder. Obama is a radical extremist when it comes to the abortion issue. He is like Hilter when it comes to respect for human life. We already have a million babies die each year to abortion. Obama would defeat all the effort done in the last 30 years to stop the slaughter of babies.
Sarah Palin is to be praised for giving birth to her baby even though she knew it would be disabled. Her baby is the kind of baby Obama would have voted to kill.
Sarah Palin is the total opposite of Hilliary Clinton. She wears a skirt and lipstick. She is a real woman and mom. She loves her husband and family. She is in this race to serve, not to be famous or popular. She is not doing this to prove women are as powerful as men. She is more like the ideal American woman than Hilliary.
No person has all the experience needed to be president. Yet most of our presidents were governors of states, which is what Sarah is. Being a governor is a better qualification than being a Senator. For example, Ronald Reagan was the Governor of the state of California before he became President and Clinton was the Governor of the state of Arkansas. Governors of states are leaders, not just people who vote on legislation that was written by others. Governors of states have real responsibilies and manage huge budgets. Senators do not. In some ways, she is more qualified than McCain, Obama or Joe Biden.
However, McCain has been a Senator for a lot longer than Obama, so he is more qualified than him. McCain will be a much better manager of the economy than Obama.
Our country has been through times much worse than now, so I have hope that things will be better soon. What goes up must come down, and when the price goes down, the demand goes up. So what goes down will eventually go up. Our economy has done so much better since Reagan, that people forget how bad it was under Jimmy Carter (another former state governor).
Just as Israel was punished for its bad leaders, I fear what will happen if we elect such an incompetent, evil man as B. Hussein Obama. I am praying that the American people will make the right decision. In the news today, polls in 11 battleground states show Obama retains narrow lead as 78 Electoral College votes are still a toss-up. Sarah Palin has made the race for the White House nearly dead-level even.
Even my mom, who is a life-long Democrat, says she will not vote for Obama. She is offended that people say McCain is old at 72. She is 86, so 72 is young to her. That is an amazing change. A lot will depend on whether Catholics vote pro-life. The race is really just starting because most people don't pay much attention until the last 2 months of the campaign when the TV ads start. A lot has changed since it started almost 2 years ago. This race is going to be a lot of mud slinging, dirty politics.
In other news, I am hoping the Pope's visit to France will make more Catholics go back to church. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for the United States!
God bless,


Betty

Sarah Palin is no ordinary pro-lifer.

Mona Charen says, "Sarah Palin is no ordinary pro-lifer. She is an attractive, intelligent, ambitious, successful woman who has actually lived her convictions." Something about Sarah Palin set them [the media] off before their own politically correct impulses ("Must Avoid Sexism") could inhibit them. By the ferocity of the response, you might have thought Palin was a secret member of a polygamous cult or had forced her daughter to give birth after a rape. But no, she was just the mother of five, hunting, fishing, NRA member, and governor.
"I wonder if it was that baby." Read the article at:http://townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/09/09/is_trig_at_the_heart_of_medias_reaction_to_palin

Nancy Pelosi, when you don't know what you're talking about, would you please be quiet?
The Speaker's war with the Catholic Church has now spilled over to the Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has challenged when life begins. The Roman Catholic Church says life begins at conception. The Speaker, who claims she is an ardent Catholic, says down through the years the Catholic Church has not been able to agree when life begins. Church authorities have hotly disputed her view. Now a group of Pelosi's fellow House Members has weighed in with a sharply worded letter, organized by Representative Thaddeus McCotter, of Michigan. McCotter is part theologian, part street-fighter. Clearly he is one of the most articulate Members who have graced the Floor of the House of Representatives. Read the article at:http://townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/08/the_speakers_unusual_description_of_catholic_dogma
Her actions remind me of the old joke, "Don't confuse me with the facts." I surely hope she has not confused Catholics. At least her actions gave the bishops a reason to correct her.

Prime examples of liberal bias in the media: Newsweek's Anna Quindlen and MSNBC's Chris Matthews
Palin's a Tough, Smart Conservative Woman: Deal With It!
by David Limbaugh
Liberals excel in blinding themselves to their own biases and hypocrisy and blaming conservatives for their own sins, all of which they are showcasing in their frantic reaction to the Sarah Palin nomination.
Not only are they trying to destroy Palin. They are straight-facedly denying it and accusing Republicans of manufacturing this charge to exhibit phony sympathy for women.
Conservatives, after all, couldn't possibly be supportive of female Palin based on merit; it's just a political ploy to purloin Hillary voters. Liberal captives of identity politics just can't comprehend that neither gender nor race matters to conservatives. It's all about the candidate's political philosophy, approach to governance and qualifications to serve -- not those artificial constructs that liberals have exploited through the years.
Don't get me wrong. Palin's beauty and tough-as-nails femininity are refreshing icing on a delicious cake for conservatives, but if she were not demonstrably conservative, they'd be depressed -- not energized.
But you'll never convince the liberal press, which sees everything through the lens of gender and race consciousness and indiscriminately projects that propensity onto conservatives. Read the article at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2008/09/09/palins_a_tough,_smart_conservative_woman_deal_with_it!?page=2

Phyllis Schlafly outlines reasons why the the Democrats' Platform is a bad idea from both a pro-life and from an economic standpoint.
We Can't Afford the Democrats' Platform by Phyllis Schlafly http://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/09/09/we_cant_afford_the_democrats_platform
The past two presidential elections taught the losing Democrats a couple of political lessons. They learned that attacks on guns and defense of abortion are no longer winning issues for them, and this new awakening is reflected in their 2008 party platform adopted in Denver.
The platform grudgingly states, "We will preserve Americans' Second Amendment right to own and use firearms." The powers-that-be in the Democratic Party have learned to tolerate a few pro-gun candidates.
Feminist pressure won't let the Democrats recede from their "proudly" stated 2004 platform position that "Abortion should be safe, legal and rare." This year's platform is just as pro-abortion, but uses slightly softer words, stating that the Democrats support "a woman's ability to make her own life choices and obtain reproductive health care, including birth control" (throughout nine months and with taxpayers' money, of course).
Proclaiming that "we will end the Bush administration's war on science," the Democratic platform promises to "lift the current administration's ban on using federal funding for embryonic stem cells." The genuinely pro-life Republican Platform calls for "a ban on human cloning and a ban on the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research purposes."
http://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/09/09/we_cant_afford_the_democrats_platform================

The Demise of the "Sisterhood of Single-Issue Feminists"
If you listened very carefully to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s dynamic speech to the Republican Convention last Wednesday night, you could plainly hear the death cry of single-issue feminism. The nomination of Governor Palin, a pro-life feminist, for Vice President of the United States has put the final nail in the coffin of an increasingly discredited and narrow-minded worldview that believes that women cannot thrive in a world without unrestricted abortion-on-demand. Equally importantly, her historic candidacy promises to transform the tone and complexion of American feminism.
Read this article at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28418

The Best Man Turned Out To Be A Woman
Ann Coulter
John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate finally gave Republicans a reason to vote for him -- a reason, that is, other than B. Hussein Obama.
[The media] claimed Palin was chosen only because she's a woman. In fact, Palin was chosen because she's pro-life, pro-gun, pro-drilling and pro-tax cuts. She's fought both Republicans and Democrats on public corruption and does not have hair plugs like some other vice presidential candidate I could mention. In other words, she's a "Republican." ....
As for former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge and Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, the other also-rans, I can think of at least 40 million unborn reasons she's better than either of them.
Read this article at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28370


A caller to the Rush Limbaugh program last week had a great insight. Sarah Palin, if elected, will be taking to Washington a baby that B. Hussein Obama voted to let a woman abort. What a contrast in values!

Freudian slip? Obama's "my Muslim faith."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/08/obama-mistake-on-being-muslim-seized-by-rivals/ST. LOUIS Sen. Barack Obama's foes on Sunday seized upon a brief slip of the tongue when the Democratic presidential nominee was outlining his Christianity but accidentally said "my Muslim faith."
The three words - immediately corrected - were uttered during an exchange with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," when Mr. Obama was trying to criticize the quiet smear campaign suggesting that he is a Muslim.
Within one hour of the interview, anti-Obama groups had edited it out of context and were sending it around via e-mail. They also were blogging about it.
Mr. Obama, who is a Christian and often proudly speaks about how his faith has influenced his public service, said he finds it "deeply offensive" that there are efforts "coming out of the Republican camp" to suggest "that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith."
The exchange came after Mr. Obama said that Republicans are attempting to "scare" voters by suggesting that he is not Christian, which McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said was "cynical."
Hmmmm!

Religion Remains Major Dividing Factor Among White Voters - Gallup Poll
John McCain has led Barack Obama all summer among highly religious white voters and continues to do so in the first three days of September, with no sign of change coincident with the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/110053/Religion-Remains-Major-Dividing-Factor-Among-White-Voters.aspx


Republicans’ Enthusiasm Jumps After Convention
[The Gallup] Poll finds that the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket has more than matched the Barack Obama-Joe Biden ticket's convention bounce of last week with a "rebound" bounce, and in the immediate aftermath of the GOP convention McCain and Palin now have a slight edge over their opponents.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/110107/Republicans-Enthusiasm-Jumps-After-Convention.aspx


Zogby Poll: Republicans Hold Small Post-Convention Edge
The McCain/Palin ticket wins 49.7% support, compared to 45.9% backing for the Obama/Biden ticket, this latest online survey shows. Another 4.4% either favored someone else or were unsure.
Pollster John Zogby: "Clearly, Palin is helping the McCain ticket. She has high favorability numbers, and has unified the Republican Party. The striking thing here in this poll is that McCain has pulled ahead among Catholics by double-digits. On the other hand, Palin is not helping with likely voting women who are not aligned with either political party. The undecided independent women voters decreased this week from 15% to 7%, but those women went to Obama. Palin is also helping among men, conservatives, notably with suburban and rural voters, and with frequent Wal-Mart shoppers, who tend to be "values" voters who like a good value for their money."
http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1548

Alaska National Guard Commander Praises Sarah Palin's Performance as Commander in Chief

Don't dismiss the fact that Sarah Palin is Commander of the Alaska National Guard-- consider this.

Alaska is the first line of defense in our missile interceptor defense system. The 49th Missile Defense Battalion of the Alaska National Guard is the unit that protects the entire nation from ballistic missile attacks. It is on permanent active duty, unlike other Guard units.

As governor of Alaska, Palin is briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counter-terrorism. Her exposure to classified material may rival even Biden's and certainly by far exceeds Obama's.

She is also the commander-in-chief of the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), a federally recognized militia incorporated into Homeland Security's counter-terrorism plans.
Listen to this video:
http://www.hyscience.com/archives/2008/09/alaska_national.php

Archbishop Raymond Burke Leaving St. Louis
Pope Benedict the XVI has named Archbishop Burke to the Vatican's Supreme Tribunal of Apostolic Signatura in Rome.
The Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority of the Catholic Church.

The announcement was made at the Vatican.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=148943&catid=40

Archbishop Burke has courageously defended the truth about abortion, gay rights, and embryonic stem cell research, despite the attacks from the media. He has fought the good fight. The Archdiocese stands in his debt for his pastoral care and repeated smacking down of heretics, especially handling the problem at St. Stanislaus. I am sad to see him go, but he is too good for this town. He deserves a more prestigious position. May his successor be as brave as Burke was.

Presidential candidates and "the content of character"
I'm expecting a reaction from the Barack Obama campaign about the question of whether he is Muslim. I can see it now - a flood of anti-Obama sites and pro-Obama sites to deal with this question. This is a snippet from an e-mail I received this week that was refuting what Obama says in public v. what the truth really is:

7. *I Never Practiced Islam* - NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it daily at school,
where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until
your wife made you change, so you could run for office. 4-3-08 Article 'Obama
was 'quite religious in islam''
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

There is no doubt in my mind that Obama is Muslim by birth and training. It is hard to deny that. The question is how much influence will that have if he is elected President? I don't think it is a good thing to have this background if it means he would be soft on Muslim extremists. How can we know if that would be the case? I don't think we can. Obama has such sparse public experience that he is a blank slate. People don't have a complete picture of what kind of person he would be on this issue.
It is stupid to vote against him for this reason alone. It is also stupid to vote for him because he is Black. So this is the next question in evaluating Obama. Race doesn't make you better than anyone in the same way it doesn't make one worse than anyone. We were taught by Dr. Martin Luther King that we should judge people by the "content of their character", not the color of their skin. Race is neutral, despite what those who voted for him in the primary think. Here's another snippet from that e-mail:

6. *My Name is African Swahili* - NOT EXACTLY, your name is Arabic and 'Baraka'
(from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is also
Arabic and so is Obama.Barack Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected, he
would be the first Arab-American President, not the first black President.
Barack Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother's side and 43.75% Arabic
and 6.25% African Negro from his father's side. While Barack Hussein Obama's
father was from Kenya , his father's family was mainly Arabs.. Barack Hussein
Obama's father was only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father's birth
certificate even states he's Arab, not African Negro). for more go to..... http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.phtml?Barack_Hussein_Obama_-_Arab-American,_only_6.25%25_African

If Obama is not Muslim and is, instead, as he claims, a Christian, then what kind of Christian is he?
He belongs to the United Church of Christ. We already know the anti-white racist teachings of his pastor, Jerimiah Wright. We know that Obama has cut ties to his pastor. But that leaves the question, does he subscribe to the kind of Christianity that teaches a moral code that is consistent with the 10 commandments and Sermon on the Mount?
This is what the official web site for the United Church of Christ says:
"The UCC has roots in the "covenantal" tradition-meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members."
http://www.ucc.org/beliefs/
"The United Church of Christ is one of the founding faith groups of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
"http://www.ucc.org/justice/advocacy_resources/pdfs/reproductive-health-and-justice/reproductive-health-and-justice.pdf

I believe this means the United Church of Christ does not meet the 10 commandments and Sermon on the Mount test. We know that people sometimes claim to adhere to a denomination, but don't agree with all the tenets of that faith. So we have to look to the individual to see if they are actually living what their denomination teaches. What is "the content of Obama's character?" Does his claim to be Christian hold water? That is the real question.

Abortion is my litmus test for any denomination or candidate. I can't stomach a person who thinks it is right to kill an unborn baby. That shows a deep character flaw, in my eyes. For me, this article says it all:
Obama is the Most Pro-Abortion Candidate Ever
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/TerenceJeffrey/2008/01/09/obama_is_the_most_pro-abortion_candidate_ever

I rest my case. I have looked beyond Obama's religious affiliation and race. I have followed Dr. King's advice, so I can honestly say I could never give the slightest thought to voting for Obama. I may not like the McCain alternative 100%, but I will do my best to support him. I see too much to lose if I don't. The Religious Right would lose a war, not just a battle, if Obama gets to pick the next two Supreme Court justices.
How has it come to this? We have so few good choices for candidates for President. Is it because so few politicians have a clean enough record to survive the smear campaigns that our political system has become? Do we need to focus on building future candidates instead of discovering them?
10 commandments for future Presidential candidates (and for all of us, for that matter.)

1. Value human life in all stages.
2. Do follow a moral code.
3. Be faithful to your spouse.
4. Be a good dad or mom.
5. Study macroeconomics.
6. Don't do drugs or be an alcoholic.
7. Don't be involved in corrupt politics or business.
8. Get lots of real life experience that prepares you for the huge responsibilities of public life.
9. Improve your character by working hard to accomplish something significant that seemed impossible.
10. Help the poor improve their lot in life, not by giving them a hand out.

Archbishop Burke is vindicated. The local newspaper the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been raking him over the coals for years, so I wonder if that will stop. I'm not going to hold my breath.

Vatican upholds declaration of excommunication for St. Stan Six
By Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/28/2008

The St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church
(Kevin Manning/P-D)

ST. LOUIS -- The Vatican has upheld St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke’s 2005 declaration of excommunication of the Stanislaus Six, the six lay members of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Church board who refused to turn over church property and assets to the archdiocese.
The board members were declared excommunicated after they hired a priest — the Rev. Marek Bozek — who had been suspended by his own bishop in the diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau. Bozek was also declared excommunicated by Burke, but his appeal was not addressed by the Vatican.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rejected the board’s appeal of the excommunications, writing in a decree dated May 15, 2008, that "it is evident that the Board Members have committed the delict of schism by constituting St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish as an independent entity capable of appointing its own clergy apart from the hierarchy of the Church."

"In a gradual process the parish has been removed from the jurisdiction of the local Ordinary," the Congregation’s prefect, Cardinal William Levada continued. "This can be seen as an expression of the refusal of the members of the Board to subject themselves to the lawfully constituted Ecclesiastical authority."

Schism, the canoncial offense that triggered the excommunications, is defined in the Catechism and the Code of Canon law as "the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."

Catholic law says that only a bishop can appoint priests to parishes.

The board members were given 30 days to appeal the Vatican’s ruling.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/6F31FC0EDBC935E7862574570052E872?OpenDocument

Thomas Sowell is a conservative Black economist whose opinion I respect. He is asking some important questions. Are we this desparate to erase "white guilt?" So desparate that we will elect an unqualified person, even a radical, to be president of the US? Think long and hard before you vote for BHO. America has so far escaped the worst of socialism and the oppression that eventually comes with it, but that doesn't mean it couldn't still happen.

An Old Newness
By Thomas Sowell
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
"No doubt it is only a matter of time before there is a black president, ... The issue is whether we want to reach that landmark so badly that we are willing to overlook how questionably that landmark is reached. ....
Although Senator Obama has presented himself as the candidate of new things -- using the mantra of "change" endlessly -- the cold fact is that virtually everything has says about domestic policy is straight out of the 1960s and virtually everything he says about foreign policy is straight out of the 1930s.
Everything seems new to those too young to remember the old and too ignorant of history to have heard about it."

Be sure to read the second page of this article.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/04/29/an_old_newness

What's Wrong with Planned Parenthood?
Planned Parenthood Puts A Hit Out On Black Children
By Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
Monday, April 28, 2008

• A recent Wall Street Journal story cited that Planned Parenthood is contributing an unprecedented 10 million dollars to various political campaigns this election cycle.
• In Kansas the organization is under criminal investigation for falsifying documents and performing late term abortions.
• In Ohio, Planned Parenthood is being sued for failing to report the rape of a 16-year-old by her father.
• Planned Parenthood centers attempt to hide child abuse or statutory rape by encouraging underage mothers to falsify their ages in order to receive an abortion.
• Others believe that the organization, founded by Margaret Sanger, has actually swindled the government out of money.
• ...experts estimate that 75% of Planned Parenthood centers are located in close proximity to minority neighborhoods. Over 1,200 black babies are aborted every day in America which amounts to over 35% of the total number of babies aborted in the nation.
• Planned Parenthood facilities around the country have been accused of accepting contributions from racist donors.

Now is the time for blacks and whites to work together, to strike a blow against the unethical practices of the “death industry” in America. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2008/04/28/planned_parenthood_puts_a_hit_out_on_black_children

A Stark Contrast: Sen. Barack Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, with Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Ground Zero becomes all the more meaningful when I think of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's blaming Americans for 9/11 attacks and "God Bless America" not "God damn America."

Sen. Barack Obama's pastor says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America."
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright has made a number of controversial statements. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side, has a long history of what even Obama's campaign aides concede is "inflammatory rhetoric," including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own "terrorism."
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4443788&
Now look at this article:
Pope Benedict XVI Loves Americans -- and Millions of Americans Love Him
by Newt Gingrich
I witnessed firsthand this week that Pope Benedict loves America and Americans.
The first great moment of connection came at the end of the White House welcoming ceremony when Pope Benedict XVI said simply, "God Bless America."
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26166

EWTN has transcripts of Benedict XVI's speeches and a video archive.
http://origin.ewtn.com/USPapalVisit08/index.asp

I have been reading these articles because I didn't always have time to watch them when they were first broadcast and sometimes the Pope's accent made it hard for me to hear. Since I don't have cable, I had to listen to Catholic radio, which doesn't always do the occasion justice. This is especially so with the event at the World Trade Center. The video from there says so much more than the words. You will see the pastoral side of Benedict XVI if you watch it. If you are looking for a reason to love this man, this moment is it.

As a sometimes catechist, I loved the speech to the youth. It was inspiring, and totally on the level the audience could understand. I admire a theologian that can distill the truth into easy to understand language, and do it with as much charm as he did. It makes me want to imitate him. Benedict XVI's charisma is very different from John Paul II's, but it is still there.

Here are excerpts ftom one of the best articles I've seen on Benedict XVI's visit to the US.
In a time of healing, let us remember all victims
By Joe Fitzgerald Monday, April 21, 2008 -
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1088501
Three years ago, while multitudes chanted “We have a new pope!” upon seeing white smoke at St. Peter’s Basilica, critics of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger were already predicting gloom and doom....
From the moment he became Pope Benedict XVI, he was on a collision course with local malcontents whose resistance to the teachings of the church added immeasurable ugliness to the scandal that left it reeling.
In their exploitation, they shamelessly created a witch hunt in which basic American tenets, such as the presumption of innocence, were tossed to the wind in reckless pursuit of ideological agendas....
By the time Archbishop Law left in the throes of the scandal, however, that collar had become a scarlet A, thanks to a lynch-mob mentality implying every priest was guilty by association, a slur made unconscionable by the fact it was intentional.
Yes, it was heartwarming to read of the pope’s unprecedented private meeting with local victims of priestly abuse; even his most wild-eyed critics were momentarily mollified.
But, lest it be overlooked, he also had the grace to allude to forgotten victims, too, urging love for those faithful priests who, while remaining true to their vows and callings, were made to pay a price for crimes they did not commit.
No list of victims is complete if it doesn’t include the ones who unfairly bore the brunt of suspicion and loathing, much of it triggered by dissidents hoping to hobble a vulnerable Catholic Church by any means necessary.