In a stroke of irony I have a post on my blog which considers whether Obama = Jimmy Carter.  Read the full story there .

So why is this ironic?  Because I personally have been arguing here that Obama = George W. Bush .  :)

Read the full analysis on my blog .

The highlights:

Cross posted from The Right Counterpoints - GoRight

This is yet another example of how the EPA under the Obama Administration has become an activist organization which is working against the interests of the United States.

A combination of Obama's energy policies which keep us dependent on foreign oil coupled with speculation over the unrest in the Middle East have caused gas prices to skyrocket to record highs.

EDITORIAL: Gas prices and the Gulf oil spill

Things aren't looking good, folks.

S&P Slashes Outlook on U.S. to 'Negative' Amid Soaring Debt

Sounding the alarm about the country’s deep fiscal problems, Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded its outlook on the U.S. credit rating to “negative," raising the likelihood the U.S. will lose its coveted 'AAA' rating as Washington struggles to fix its beleaguered balance sheet.

This is just totally hilarious.  Ever since taking office Obama, Mr. Hope and Change, has ended up vindicating everything ... and I mean literally EVERYTHING that George W. Bush did in the war on terror.  Here is just the latest example:

In abrupt reversal, 9/11 suspects to get Guantánamo military tribunals

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/02/military...

Most of these people don't even know what they are celebrating for or really care or understand what they are getting in return. In time, the predictable, corrupt process will pit opposition factions against each other as they scramble and jockey to secure power on the backs of the rubes who just helped them create enough hysteria to get Mubarak down.

So I see that House GOP is pushing abortion funding restrictions... Obviously this will go nowhere - even if passed in the Senate, it would get vetoed by Obama. I also think it would reflect negatively on the House GOP in the minds of independent/swing voters, as completely unrelated to the promoting a pro-business pro-jobs agenda.

The only answer is that this is a throwaway gesture to the base - see we fight for you, and even though we got defeated, please provide even more support for us next time.

See here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/us/01ruling.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Ideology or just plain dispassionate law?

I tend toward the latter. In a way, I don't think this is a matter of opinion. It IS unconstitutional. But that has rarely mattered before of matters of murkiness where judges who were so inclined would work backwards from a what they felt was an important or needed law and then twist the constitution to underpin it.

Period.

What else is there to say on the topic?  :)

 If you disagree, state your case below.

Hello all. Things are great. Hope all is well. While I haven't been following politics much lately, I have been peeking in at polls in the last week or so as the elections approach to see how the idiots clogging up my TV with silly ads are doing (ads that aren't any different in terms of solid content than late night infomercials promising you millions if you follow a few easy steps...what does "earn up to $10,000 per month or more" mean anyway?? Whatever.). Anyway, I am stunned at how well the GOP is doing.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

With so much going on, I wish we were still chattering.   The oil spill, McChrystal's interview and Afghanistan,  the upholding of gun rights in Chicago, the G20 deciding on austerity over further stimulus to Krugman's dismay, Russian deep-cover spies!----there is still a lot to talk about.

This is an open thread

 Hope everyone is doing well!

April 15th.  The date we all love as it represents our financial contributions to our society  ;-)

I've contacted Ender about the latest spam.  I've suggested he go ahead and implement the "verification" feature that would mean an extra step for regular posters, but would foil bot spam.   

I'll be out of town for the next several days, and most likely entirely unplugged, so please ignore the spam.

Just 'cause

First some housekeeping:  I've contacted Ender about the spam comments.  There's thousands from our friends in China, so my apologies, but I'll wait and let him clear that user out.   Also, are there really people who believe you get paid for posting comments with links?   I thought that latest "hey, get paid real money for doing next to nothing!" scam got debunked.   

Second, how 'bout those Saints?   New Orleans needed that, and the team earned it.  

Whither the Democrats now?

This is an open thread

Cheers!

Posted as an article on Source of Title . Not sure how much interest SC will have in the stuff I write nowadays as a part of my duties at my home site; much of it will be related to the title insurance industry, and the rest will probably be mostly related to real estate in some fashion.   In this case, I think there could be some general interest because  1.) FHA's policy portfolio has exploded in the past 12-24 months as the agency has taken over the market for the "subprime" home buyer and the private market for no-money-down loans, option ARMs, NINJA loans and the like have evaporated, and 2.) FHA's financial position is in question as defaults on FHA insured mortgages have spiked, and there have been predictions of a bailout.

Lend America ceased operations earlier this week in the wake of a case brought against it documenting 40 cases of mortgage fraud involving FHA-backed loans, cases which likely only scratch the surface of the true scope of the fraud committed by the company.  The situation prompts the question: how is such widespread fraud possible to maintain for such a long period of time, especially when dealing with a federal agency?  A closer look at FHA's policies, and one might start to wonder why massive frauds like Lend America aren't more common.