tony115

This is one funny video.

YouTube - "Hardball" Way Too Hard for Obama Supporter Kirk Watson

Maybe he'll have notes next time on the candidate that he supports.

He can go here for notes! LMAO!

Barack Obama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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popeye

Yep! I have asked time and time again. What has Obama accomplished and what does he stand for besides generic CHANGE? I have NEVER recieved an answer. Obama is a rock star nothing more. He is way to left and way to inexperienced to be running the greatest super power of the world.

The only platform I can find for him is "if you don't like Bush then vote for me"

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SkyFire

Perhaps you need to think before you speak. If he doesn't stand for anything, how do you know he is "way too left" ?

tony115

Too funny!

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loyolabenson

haha So true

subigo

Ouch.

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LazyHippy

Fuck, what's wrong... I'm agreeing with you again! lol (Well, apart from left bit.. and the US is the only superpower.. winning a race of one)

But yeah, Obama doesn't seem to have much substance is way too focussed on image. I can't see him being prepared to take potentially unpopular action to sort out the debt, avert global recession and deal with the root causes of terrorism.

But what a fucking choice... McCain and Obama or Clinton... about the same as here - lesser of two evils. I think you have more say in some ways as you directly pick the candidates and can influence policy that way, here we don't have as much influence before an election, but then we don't give one person anywhere near as much power. Both our systems are outdated though, not changed much since the days when the votes were delivered by horse, they should be updated to ensure one person's vote has the same value as someone else's vote elsewhere in the country.

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popeye

because the few votes in the senate that he WAS there to participate in he voted liberal. In fact he has the most liberal voting record in the senate. That is on the few votes he was there.

I am not aware of any legislation that he has authored, nor has he stated any policy except "Im for change vote for me"

EDIT: Since you seem to be a supporter please enlighten me on any legistlation that he has authored or his platform that he is running on.

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popeye

I love British politics..them boys get nasty yelling, throwing punches. I have watched many times when Tony Blair got drilled hard. Wish our politics were more "in your face"

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DruSam

Trust me, Obama would be doing Americans a great service by doing absolutely nothing. I'd rather have a politician with no ideas rather than bad ideas. Since the politicians with good ideas don't get elected.

Futhermore, Americans need to work towards fixing their own problems. Some magical avatar of "hope and change" isn't going to make war, inflation, immigration, and healthcare problems go away just by voting for him.

The great thing about Ron Paul was his idea of giving Americans the tools and legislation to solve their own problems rather than expecting bureacrats in washington to come up with magical solutions. Ah, what a dream that was...

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popeye

3 months ago I would had never voted for RP. Now with the choices we are gona have I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

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turbolapp

You're all talking about him like he's dead. By all means, put your money where your mouth is and vote for the man. CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Paul vows to press on « - Blogs from CNN.com

I'm voting for Obama in the primaries. :-P

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popeye

Since your voting for him in the primaries, could you please point me to a website or something that has his platform laid out (I have looked all over the net). I would really like to know what we are possibly headed for in the next 4 years.

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BeerHat

Popeye, we need to take these next 4 years and reform the Republican party.

Hillary or Obama is going to be our next president. Knowing the Clintons, if I were Obama, I would wear my seat belt everywhere.

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DruSam

I did vote for Paul. My primary was back on January 16th. I donated a long time ago, and obviously all the money Paul raised did not translate into votes. Told friends and family about Ron Paul as well.

I lost, status quo wins.


Obama, Clinton, and McCain offer no monetary solution. They offer great ideas for programs that sound awesome in principle. Yet they will result in two things:

1. higher inflation from borrowed money from the Fed Reserve or foreign banks
2. more taxes to pay for interest on that borrowed money



We better get rich doing AM. The middle class is in for a world of hurt guaranteed.

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turbolapp

It's all over the net, you just don't like what you see.

Here's an example of what's important to me: foreign diplomacy. Cause frankly, I'm freakin tired of being seen as the arrogant Bully. (and Bullies always go down in the end)

Renewing American Diplomacy

• The Problem: The United States is trapped by the Bush-Cheney approach to diplomacy that refuses to talk to leaders we don't like. Not talking doesn't make us look tough – it makes us look arrogant, it denies us opportunities to make progress, and it makes it harder for America to rally international support for our leadership. On challenges ranging from terrorism to disease, nuclear weapons to climate change, we cannot make progress unless we can draw on strong international support.
• Talk to our Foes and Friends: Obama is willing to meet with the leaders of all nations, friend and foe. He will do the careful preparation necessary, but will signal that America is ready to come to the table, and that he is willing to lead. And if America is willing to come to the table, the world will be more willing to rally behind American leadership to deal with challenges like terrorism, and Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs.
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Obama will make progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a key diplomatic priority. He will make a sustained push – working with Israelis and Palestinians – to achieve the goal of two states, a Jewish state in Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security.
• Expand our Diplomatic Presence: To make diplomacy a priority, Obama will stop shuttering consulates and start opening them in the tough and hopeless corners of the world – particularly in Africa. He will expand our foreign service, and develop the capacity of our civilian aid workers to work alongside the military.
• Fight Global Poverty: Obama will embrace the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty around the world in half by 2015, and he will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion to achieve that goal. He will help the world's weakest states to build healthy and educated communities, reduce poverty, develop markets, and generate wealth.
• Strengthen NATO: Obama will rally NATO members to contribute troops to collective security operations, urging them to invest more in reconstruction and stabilization operations, streamlining the decision-making processes, and giving NATO commanders in the field more flexibility.
• Seek New Partnerships in Asia: Obama will forge a more effective framework in Asia that goes beyond bilateral agreements, occasional summits, and ad hoc arrangements, such as the six-party talks on North Korea. He will maintain strong ties with allies like Japan, South Korea and Australia; work to build an infrastructure with countries in East Asia that can promote stability and prosperity; and work to ensure that China plays by international rules

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DruSam

oops i forgot:

3. more borrowed money from foreign banks to pay off the interest of the old borrowed money.

I hope Obama can some how diplomatically convince our foreign creditors to drop our debts?

...send them flowers maybe?

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xXKingdom_SEOXx

Agreed 5 million times…

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Jizzlobber

And what do we know of the hidden agendas associated with the big money coming in to finance his campaign? Some of those people are gonna want to at least get a reach around.

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tony115

Is it a good idea to meet nations where we have already set conditions that they must adhere to in order to talk with the United States?
Iran says no preconditions for talks with U.S.
Will we not look weak? Like not attacking terrorists after the USS Cole incident?
USS Cole bombing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Didn't Clinton form an impromptu arrangement before he left office that was capsized by Arafat's Palestinian regime because of support to terrorists? Also what about Bush sending in diplomats after pre-conditions were met? BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | US approves Arafat-Powell meeting
Isn't Bush visiting Africa as we speak? And did he not extend aid to Africa?
Bush Has Quietly Tripled Aid to Africa - washingtonpost.com
See above. Also how will he extend aid without borrowing more money or raising taxes?
Do you recall the last incident when Clinton allied with NATO?
Ex-Security Chief Blows Whistle on UN's Kosovo Mission -- 09/27/2005
The Court Martial of Michael New
Did we not just impose tariffs because of our trade deficit?
U.S. slaps new duties on cheap*Chinese goods* - Mar. 30, 2007
Will he seek to end these tariffs?

Obama is a politician like McCain and Clinton. They offer ideas that get cheers yet in reality to push forward those ideas money is needed. The question I continually ask is where will the money come form for their ideas. Will it be more government taxes or less government spending? And if it is less government spending, will it target our military like former President Clinton?

Too many questions and not enough answers.

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popeye

Asia...blah...blah..blah...Africa..blah...blah..blah....Global poverty..blah...blah...blah...Palestinians blah...blah..blah..No, No I want to see his social, economic and military stance pertaining to the United States. He isn't running for the United Nations, he is running for President of the United States.

I have seen all this shite before. I want to know what he expects to do about the current problems facing the US like illegal immigraion, possible recession, what social programs does he expect to immplement. What is he going to do with our military cut it or raise a larger army.

It wasnt the fact I didnt like what I had seen, it was the fact that I havent seen anything of any substance.

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popeye

maybe a crack rock and a blowjob??

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SkyFire

I hope you are better at monetization than you are with search engine results!

The next four years will be more of the same. The US is in an unstoppable spiral of intellectual, moral (ya ya every one has differnt morals, that's fine they are all still in the same boat), and physical decay, and it's taking the world right along with it.

Without a president willing to attack the entire system and start over it doesn't really matter who leads. I say president because most americans are complete idiots who would rather have another cheeseburger than stand for something (other than that cheeseburger) and blindly follow whatever they are told by their leader(s) and selected media outlets.

Again, you lack logic. If he never authored any legislation, how do you know he stands liberal? They vote 'Yes' and 'No' not 'Liberal', 'Conservative', or 'Dumbass'.

radio

This is a big fucking boohoo for you. This is the typical, I haven't seen it so it must not exist bullshit typical of head in the sand wankers. Turbolapp showed you substance of something that is important to her, but that's not good enough for you? She has to go find his positions on your hot button issues? BOO FUCKING HOO!

That does it, I resign myself from political threads on WF.

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SkyFire

I hope you are better at monetization than you are with search engine results!

Again, you lack logic. If he never authored any legislation, how do you know he stands liberal? They vote 'Yes' and 'No' not 'Liberal', 'Conservative', or 'Dumbass'.

The next four years will be more of the same. The US is in an unstoppable spiral of intellectual, moral (ya ya every one has different morals, that's fine they are all still in the same boat), and physical decay, and it's taking the world right along with it.

Without a president willing to attack the entire system and start over it doesn't really matter who leads. I say president because most americans are complete idiots who would rather have another cheeseburger than stand for something (other than that cheeseburger) and blindly follow whatever they are told by their leader(s) and selected media outlets.

/* edit */

Double posted instead of edited, sorry.

turbolapp

Noooo!




And Popeye, trying doing a search. I hear Google may be able to help you.

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popeye

Im sorry Mr. Skyfire but I must inform you that you are terminal with Liberalism. Again I ask....Point me in the direction of where I can find Obama's platform concerning real policy. Not how he is gona feed the Africans or Bring about peace in the middle east. Thats the same ole bullshit they all say. I want to know what the fuck he plans to do with us.

Mr. Skyfire, I am truly sorry, their is no cure for your disease. We are going to have to move you to a Liberal colony in San Fransico. Where you will spend your last days in unwashed tie dyes, singing Kum Ba Yah, smelling of patchouli and taking turns defecating on pictures of George Bush.

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popeye

bye?

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SkyFire

Your inability to articulate anything in an intellectual manner speaks volumes about you. You (appear to) cover your lack of any real knowledge with personal attacks and supposition.

You've just gone on about your opinions on 'Liverals'. Perhaps you have some facts to back up your opinions? Or perhaps you can explain what it is, precisely, that makes a non-'Liberal' less as you put it, diseased, than a 'Liberal'?

If not I suggest you stop labeling and attacking people you think you disagree with because, had you bothered to look, I've not expressed a single political opinion in this thread. You expect to find opposition so when you look opposition is what you get.

loyolabenson

QFT.

popeye

NO..you started with the insults. I sir was asking for his platform because 99% of his "followers" have no idea where the hell he stands on anything besides "Bush sucks vote for me". I wanted to see if any of his "followers" could even point to policy..real policy and my assumptions were correct..NOPE!

You started the insults and you got some back at you. If you are not a liberal then something is wrong because you sure show the symptoms....Attacking someone personally that doesnt believe in your beliefs.

Not once on this forum have I insulted someone for thier beliefs. I may have traded some insults only because they were cast at me first.

I am done with these thread. Talking politics with flamming liberals is useless. I would rather poke myself in the eye with a fuckin pencil.

Again I ask for the fourth time "SHOW ME SOME POLICY WITH SOME SUBSTANCE FROM OBAMA"

You can't because thier isn't any.

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DruSam

I think Obama has extensive policy.

I just disagree that he can responsibly pay for them all without putting the hurt on taxpayers or running up more loans causing inflation (which in a way is another form of tax...). I say the same for Clinton and McCain. But I don't expect McCain to create more programs, I expect him to create more wars.

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tony115

You seem correct in your assertion. Where will the money come from as these Agents of change,Hilary and Obama, move their agendas forward. Also if Obama can state that he would attack Pakistan if intelligence knew Bin Laden was in their territory, why would he not fully disclose his initiatives here in the US. He has often talked about universal health care and driver licenses to illegal aliens. He may have briefly discussed economics on the "stump" but he has largely remained general in his ideas which all good political candidates demonstrate. Rather than attack Obama or Mc Cain or Clinton we as a people need to determine how we can best help ourselves. Obviously WF members are attempting to do more than wait for rebates from the government. So I respect all of you for that regardless of where your political affiliations may lay.

As for Obama supporters; they really must come to the table better than Senator Kirk Watson. Yes he is a Senator and they do "vote" on legislation, yet he has only proposed legislation that you can count on one hand. Does that make him a bad person or a bad Senator? Who can say. We do know that he has a rather young career in government and he has kept his nose clean so far which is troubling. Troubling only because if there are no skeletons in one's closet now, do they start to materialize when one achieves a higher position? I would prefer a more active politician because I know what issues they stand for and against. Both Hilary and Clinton held off voting on the troop surge until it was apparent that the bill would move forward. Playing it safe will not help to turn around the issues facing our Republic. We will need more than motivational speeches. We will need works and actions. Surely Clinton will address that part of his campaign during the debate tonight.

P.S. Political threads are common during election years. I would be surprised if there are more than a handful of comments if this thread was started 2 years ago.

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turbolapp

Can I hold you to that?

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sealthf28

I watched the part of interview on TV. That guy as a congressman couldn't answer simple question. We can really sense how Obama supporters are. Lot of his supporters are duped or cheated by his non-substance big talk "Change". What he really changed in politics for the past 17 years? What's real fact he united others in the senate? Then He often curse others as dividers.

He labeled himself better that other politicians, where it is better? Is he clean? Washington is broken/bad, why he got into Washington? Why he didn't leave wishington? Why he is associated and want to get endoresment from those oldest guys in senates?

His words and his actions just don't match!

tweak50

Symptoms? Are you fucking kidding me? You attack every thread on this forum that is not pro republican, so apparently these "symptoms" are shared by you as well.

Its blindly obvious that no matter what Obamba does you will not be happy. So why the fuck do you keep posting this useless nonsense dribble? Just wait till the "fad" of hating bush is over and you and the rest of the 12% of the country that still likes him can go back to licking out his ass.

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yragcom1

I don't trust Obama. He's coming off like Hitler did before he got into power.
I don't trust McCain. Anyone remember the Keating 5?
I don't trust Hillary. Still screaming about "Universal Health Care".
I don't trust Ron Paul. He's the 2008 Ross Perot.
So...GO HUCKABEE!

turbolapp

Blindly obvious? Is that like jumbo shrimp?

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tweak50

More like government intelligence lol

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Jondoe0069

The democrats are pretty much fucked. I had to vote for Hilary in the primaries. I thought I would never vote for a woman, but I think she's more manly than her husband. Plus things were much more peaceful when Bill was in the office getting blown and getting his cigars wet with pussy juice. I'm sure Hilary would 69 her female interns too.

I'm voting for Ron Paul though if he's on the presidential ballot.

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Setec

All this "what has he done? what does he stand for?" crap is willful ignorance. You have time to shoot the shit here but can't be bothered to look up the info you need to vote? Concrete information about his positions and his record is all over the Internet. The "empty suit" meme is for people who actually believe everything that comes out of a Clinton's mouth.

As for what Obama stands for, here's a blog post linking to his policy speeches. There's a lot more detail on his website:

Economists for Obama: Obama Policy Speeches (or Doesn't Susan Estrich Know How to Use Google?)

For his record, this is the best post I've seen:

Obsidian Wings: Barack Obama

Here's a more detailed list of his U.S. Senate accomplishments:

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

Short summary of his major Illinois accomplishments:

Charles Peters - Judge Him by His Laws - washingtonpost.com

A graphic summarizing his Illinois record:

The New York Times > U.S. > Image > Obama’s Record in the Illinois Senate

Here's a really interesting profile of Obama written in 1995, which kind of shows his authenticity, the way his main no-BS message remained the same:

Chicago Reader | Obama-rama: What Makes Obama Run? Lawyer, teacher, philanthropist, and author Barack Obama doesn't need another career. But he's entering politics to get back to his true passion--community organization. December 8, 1995

Also, FYI, he's a professor of Constitutional Law, and he graduated #1 from his class at Harvard Law. He's much, much smarter than Hillary or Mccain.

Here's a Youtube video that really captures what Obama's about. It's an off-the-cuff answer to somebody's question about education after a rally in Texas the other day. It's just completely different from the kind of stuff you hear from most politicians, so common sense, so non-ideological. He dares to not pander.

YouTube - Barack Obama in Beaumont, TX

Obama's not the lesser of 2 evils. Every 4 years we sit around thinking, "well, these choices suck, why can't someone like _____ run?" Obama fills in that blank. He's a good guy with common sense and he's smart as hell.

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Setec

"No matter what unconscionable thing I do to them, they just thank Me for not doing something even worse." -God

Duhhhhhrrrr Buy My Stupid eBook! <--as seen in Jon's sig!

"Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it." -Mark Twain

Setec

Over 1,000,000 donors, including me. Average donation about $130. The only thing these people want for their money is a President who doesn't owe any donors special favors.

Um, then look at the parts of his website other than his foreign policy summary.

Barack Obama | Change We Can Believe In | Issues

You can find all that off his website. But, off the top of my head...

Immigration: Strongly increased border security, plus a path to naturalization for people who are here, provided they learn English and pay a fine and back-taxes. Once they become citizens they have to pay taxes and can't work for less than minimum wage etc, which solves a lot of the economic problems illegals are causing.
Recession: Short-term tax rebates for the middle class to boost consumers. Long-term investment in infrastructure, especially energy independence, which will create a lot of public works jobs and private sector green jobs.
Military: He's planning to increase the number of troops we have, and gradually redeploy them out of Iraq back home for training or into Afghanistan.

If you want more detail, go to his website. He's got a bunch of lengthy PDFs about all these issues. Don't expect his supporters to regurgitate everything for you on a forum.

You're contradicting yourself. The only way to buy into the idea that Obama's an "empty suit" full of talk with a cult-like following is to trust what Hillary Clinton says about him.

That's a problem with how a lot of people see politics: they say they don't trust any politician, but they're inclined to believe just about every negative thing any politician says about the others, and so they end up thinking they're all a bunch of crooks. That's wrong, and it's lazy. Sometimes good people do go into politics for good reasons and don't get corrupted along the way. It doesn't happen as often as it should, but it does happen, and it's possible to sort them out. That means not buying into anyone's bullshit, including the negative bullshit flung by the likes of the Clintons.

Obama's one of the good ones. I've read both his books and a shitload of biographical articles about him, including stuff dating back to before he entered politics. He's been consistent on his main messages all his life, and he's extremely good at everything he tries. You may have some policy disagreement you just can't get past or something, but don't get suckered into thinking he's not experienced or smart or honest or tough enough. His character and background are ideal for the job.

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Setec

"No matter what unconscionable thing I do to them, they just thank Me for not doing something even worse." -God

Duhhhhhrrrr Buy My Stupid eBook! <--as seen in Jon's sig!

"Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it." -Mark Twain

Setec

It's stupid to judge all his supporters by one airheaded Texan local politician. Ask Hillary's supporters to name her concrete accomplishments during her so-called "35 years of experience" and they'll come up empty 99% of the time. She's less accomplished than Obama is... she's just been famous for longer.

Here's an awesome YouTube video... some jerk reporter tried to corner a random young Obama supporter with those gotcha questions and got his ass handed to him:

YouTube - Obama vs Clinton Hollywood Democratic Debate 3

Is that just another cultist? I'd like to see Chris Matthews pick on that kid.

In Illinois, he was behind the biggest ethics reform they've ever had. In the U.S. Senate, he was behind the biggest ethics reform since Watergate, and transparency reform, creating USAspending.gov to allow people to track all government spending and make it clear which legislators are being wasteful. Those are just the big accomplishments... he's done a lot of less famous work on voter rights, etc.

Read about his Illinois death penalty reform to see how he really took an issue on which everyone was bitterly divided and ended up passing a really good bill unanimously. That's the best example. In the U.S. Senate, he worked with Republicans on all the government reform I mentioned above. He also worked with Dick Lugar on nuclear non-proliferation, making sure all the nukes left over in former Soviet republics are secure so they can't fall into the wrong hands.

He's completely clean... not a corrupt bone in his body. He's got enough raw political talent as a speaker he never needed to be corrupt to get ahead.

He didn't leave Washington because he's trying to fix it. What good could he do from outside compared to what he can do as President?

Why did he want endorsements? Um, everybody in politics wants endorsements. The more the better.

Yeah, they do. Unless you're getting your opinion on them straight from Hillary Clinton, rather than looking at the facts for yourself.

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Setec

"No matter what unconscionable thing I do to them, they just thank Me for not doing something even worse." -God

Duhhhhhrrrr Buy My Stupid eBook! <--as seen in Jon's sig!

"Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it." -Mark Twain

cashsalute

obama's a islamo fascist .

YouTube - Obama Muslim?

Now thats one sexy jihadist.

Jizzlobber

Yeah, like the first time the terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in '93. Guess the body count was too low then . Or maybe when dead U.S. soldiers were being dragged through the streets by cheering Somali mobs - supposedly the same people we helped rescue from starvation . Or how about the attack on the USS Cole - 19 dead, 39 injured . What did the Clinton administration do in response to all those events? The only time he showed any sack was ordering air strikes against Iraq for Saddam's failure to comply with UN weapons inspectors - which just so happened to be on the eve of the House meeting to consider the four articles of impeachment against him . Good times.

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superman

it's a amazing how people will support a guy who says nothing and offers nothing ... He just says change change ....



Stupid totally stupid people ...

Peaceful God man stupid people think terrorist are the good guys and the
Bush is the bad guy ...

They hate war they say like anyone really love war ...
The hate the soldiers who fight and say they are killing people ...
Yes killing people who would in a heart beat kill you and your family ...

Strange these liberals say this about war and soldier ....
The are against getting information out of terrorist even if they are planning to kill millions... Like water boarding is so wrong we should not hurt these good terrorist ...
Totally without understanding are these liberals ...

Why is it we have police and they have no problems calling the police to stop someone...
Stop the criminals cause crimes ,but don't stop the terrorist who believe they are support to kill all of us. (yes you liberals too)

God the common sense of people is lost ...

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LazyHippy

I'm assuming English isn't your first language, but try to get to grips with the basics of grammar and punctuation, please.

I don't have time to try and respond to each of your poorly-constructed points, but consider this:

A terrorist is a criminal. Terrorism is a criminal act, not an act of war. Those who want to you to think otherwise are those who, as you put it, love war.

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Setec

Why do you post shit that makes you look like an idiot? Especially right below 3 lengthy posts in which I list all kinds of resources about Obama's substance?

For someone who claims not to be a liberal, you sure love Hillary Clinton's talking points about Obama. I hope you realize that you don't have to believe everything she says just because you think she's hot. She's not going to leave Bill (at least not for you), so there's really no point.

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Setec

"No matter what unconscionable thing I do to them, they just thank Me for not doing something even worse." -God

Duhhhhhrrrr Buy My Stupid eBook! <--as seen in Jon's sig!

"Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it." -Mark Twain

Blastyourass

I have been watching Barrack Obama for quite sometime and what I have seen, has been nothing short of disappointing. Obama has been mostly silent in regards to his policy on the mortgage and housing crisis. You guys know, the BIGGEST FUCKEN THING on the US shores.

He has done little to address the millions of Americans that are “suffering” as a result of these loans they were sold by irresponsible lenders.

I came across thisinteresting article in the Huffington Post by Earl Ofari Hutchinson. Here are some quotes that I thought I would share with my readers. Since they need to know what candidates truly have their backs. Meaning, which candidate is truly here for the people which they represent and the millions of homeowners that were swindled by the banks.

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama says he’ll crack down on fraudulent sub-prime lenders. If he really means it he can start by firing his campaign finance chair, Penny Pritzker. Before taking over Obama’s campaign finances, she headed up the borderline shady and failed Superior Bank. It collapsed in 2002. The bank’s sordid story and its abominable role in fueling the sub-prime crisis are well known and documented. It engaged in deceptive and faulty lending, questionable accounting practices, and charged hidden fees. It did it with the sleepy-eyed see-no-evil oversight of federal. It made thousands of dubious loans to mostly poor, strapped homeowners. A disproportionate number of them were minority.

On February 20, 2008, Flashpoints Radioproduced an investigative report segment into how Penny Pritzker’s possible role in the current predatory lending(aka. sub-prime) crisis. According to investigative reporter Tim Anderson, Superior Bank, FSB of Hinsdale, Illinois, was owned by the Pritzker family until closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. Superior Bank was among the original lending institutions who used their investors money to purchase “subprime” mortgages for securitization. Pritzker banking resources working with Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch developed the original mortgage securitation package, putting mortgages into a bond and then selling the bond. Like many banks nationwide, the decision to participate and underwrite subprime business ultimately proved fatal for their mortgage division.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008ListenD’loadPodcast - Today on Flashpoints: Today on Flashpoints, An investigative report into Penny Pritzker, the 2008 campaign finance chairman for Barack Obama, who was a key mover and shaker in creating the sub-prime meltdown;

After federal regulators closed the $2.3 billion Superior Bank in July 2001, investigations revealed that the suburban Chicago thrift was tainted with the hallmarks of a mini-Enron scandal. New legal developments are adding additional twists, including racketeering charges. And yet the bank’s owners, members if one of America’s wealthiest families, ultimately could end up profiting from the bank’s collapse, while many of Superior’s borrowers and depositors suffer financial losses.

The Superior story has a familiar ring. Using a variety of shell companies and complex financial gimmicks, Superior’s managers and owners exaggerated the profits and financial soundness of the bank. While the company actually lost money throughout most of the ’90s, publicly it appeared to be growing remarkably fast and making unusually large profits. Under that cover, the floundering enterprise paid its owners huge dividends and provided them favorable loans and other financial deals deemed illegal by federal investigators.

Wanting to avoid a lawsuit, the secretive Pritzkers quickly agreed to what the FDIC hailed in December as the biggest settlement they had ever negotiated. The Pritzkers would pay $100 million immediately, then $360 million over 15 years. But there were lots of little provisions in the agreement that benefit the Pritzkers. First, as former bank consultant and longtime thrift watchdog Tim Anderson notes, the $100 million doesn’t even quite pay back all of the unpaid loans made to the owners. The Pritzkers also pay no interest on the $360 million, and since it is paid over many years, the real cost to the Pritzkers may be only around $250 million. As of September 2002, according to FDIC figures, the insurance fund was still out $440 million after this settlement.

But it gets even sweeter for the Pritzkers. The FDIC also agreed to pay the Pritzkers 25 percent of any claim won in a lawsuit against Ernst & Young. Since the FDIC is now suing for $548 million, the Pritzker share could be $137 million. On top of that, the agreement stated that the Pritzkers get half of any civil penalties from such a lawsuit (after certain agency expenses). The FDIC is asking for triple damages, or $1.64 billion; the Pritzker share could be over $800 million.

Even taking into account the “record” settlement they made with the FDIC, the Pritzkers could make more than $700 million in additional profit for running a financial institution into the ground. They had already profited handsomely, sharing in the more than $200 million in dividends to the owners in the ’90s. They accomplished all this with an investment of about $21 million for each partner—though the Pritzkers had also already benefited from $645 million in tax credits.

Meanwhile, roughly 1,000 depositors who had deposits above $100,000 in a Superior account—money above the FDIC-insured limit—lost about $65 million. Most of them were middle-class individuals, attracted by Superior’s high interest rates.

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Work From Home With Moe
"Because having a job sucks!"

Blastyourass

Obama boosters will try to muddy the water by fingering Pritzker’s brother, Jay Robert Pritzker, who heads up a campaign committee for Hillary Clinton. That’s irrelevant. Jay Robert did not head up Superior Bank when it ran roughshod over homeowners in Illinois and nationally. He does not head up Clinton’s campaign finance committee. The campaign committee he started is one of dozens of Clinton campaign committees that operate in many states.

Obama’s message is one of hope and especially change. He can prove it by changing his finance chair, and doing it now. And then telling the public what he will do to stop bank’s like the one his financial point person headed from bleeding needy and desperate home buyers dry.

The predictable happened when many of those lost their homes. When the bank collapsed Pritzker and bank officials skipped away with their profits and reputations intact. Aside from the financial and personal misery sub prime lenders caused the thousands of distressed homeowners, sub-prime lending has been a major cause of the housing crisis in many areas, and has dealt a sledgehammer blow to the economy. Obama has said nothing about Pritzker, Superior Bank, or their dubious practices.

Instead, there was a touching, even teary eyed photo op, moment during one of Obama’s Texas campaign swings. There was Obama talking to a group of San Antonio residents and lambasting the CEO of a sub-prime lender for greedily snatching at a $100 million buy out package while thousands of home borrowers that his company snookered into loans at below market rates faced foreclosure or the threat of foreclosure.

So let me get this straight Obama. You can berate a CEO like Angelo Mozilo (I assume that is who you are speaking of) for taking profits as a result of snookering the American people. But when it comes to accepting money for your campaign, it is quite all right to take money from a woman who snookered American Homeowners and was made rich off the backs of people for which she made toxic loans to.

Excuse me Barack Obama, Penny Pritzker is guilty of the very same thing for which you had a lambasting fest in San Antonio. Now, lets see if main stream media is also under Obama’s goofy grinned spell and if they will pick up this very important information that the American people “need” to know.

__________________
Work From Home With Moe
"Because having a job sucks!"