OK guys, listen up! It's getting WORSE!

[Pyrotex]

You got my vote pyro, why don't you run for office! No wait your ideas make too much sense, that can't be allowed in politics.

Thanks, MooMan! :)

 

You know, I've been wondering what I should do after I retire--which is gonna be in the next five years or so, whether I like it or not. Though frail of body, I'm faced with the question: what to do with this over-educated, cold-fusion powered, oh-so-easily-bored mind of mine? :confused:

 

My old hobbies (stamp collecting, back-yard astronomy, macrame) just don't excite me any more. My darling wife (whom I adore beyond words) has given me an ultimatum--I will NOT sit around the house all day playing video games!

 

So... why not become an internet blog pundit? Something like:

 

PYROTEX -- Middle-of-the-Road Fanatic!

Who do you turn to when Conservatives AND Liberals SUCK BIG TIME???

The Common Sense Centrist Samarai, That's Who!

Pyrotex -- Out to Save Civilization from Pea-Brained Ideologs!!!

 

What do you think? :)

[questor]

While you are kicking butt, be sure you look at congressmen who also contributed to this debacle by aiding and abetting the placement of sub-primes. Look at Chris Dodd and Bernie Frank.

It turns out Sen. John McCain foresaw the impending Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac Mortgage Crisis more than two years before it happened, and co-sponsored legislation that would have required greater oversight of the mortgage lending entities. But, of course, that legislation was torpedoed by the Democrats, never making it out of committee. Obama did nothing to speak out at the time in behalf of the legislation, and would not sign on as a co-sponsor. Here's what John McCain said on May 25, 2006:

 

Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae's regulator reported that the company's quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were "illusions deliberately and systematically created" by the company's senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

 

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's former chief executive officer, OFHEO's report shows that over half of Mr. Raines' compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

 

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

 

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

 

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

 

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this.

[Pyrotex]

I have no trouble acknowledging that Bernie Frank is "in bed with special interests and having a really good time". He isn't the first (of EITHER side) and he won't be the last (of EITHER side) to play that game.

 

Power corrupts. Fortunately for all of us, those who go to Congress to stuff their pockets are in the minority. I would hazard a guess that at least 75% of our Congress are there to serve this country and their constituents to the best of their ability, and pretty much resist the temptations of power.

 

Please don't play the "anecdote" game. One rotten apple does NOT, in fact, prove that the whole barrel is rotten, or even that the other apples in that barrel "approve" of the rotten one. Nor does it prove that the other barrel is pure and innocent.

 

I decry and resent ALL Congress folks who sully their office with petty money-grubbing and power-pandering. But I also know that their influence is insignificant compared to the weight of those Republicans and Democrats who serve with integrity.

[Larv]

I've been wondering what I should do after I retire. My darling wife (whom I adore beyond words)...

Rare and precious, you lucky fellow.

 

...has given me an ultimatum--I will NOT sit around the house all day playing video games!

You can do what I'm doing: writing down all the important dramas of my life and arranging them chronologically. It's a B movie—a liturgy of excuses—but at least it sets the record straight.

 

—Larv

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Y'all are too much:hihi:

 

And yes wifey(s)('s)(ies) (what the heck is the plural:doh:)....forget it:doh:

 

Anyways the problem ain't so much the parties but the greedy, self righteous bastards with one hand in Unca Scam's pockets and pictures of the skeletons lurking in his closet in the other.

[Pyrotex]

Precisely, Def Dis.

 

Then there are those strange "mutants" like Ted Kennedy. Over-zealous Liberal, to be sure. Willing to spend lotsa money to "cure" everybody's problems. Brings home the Pork like nobody. Lotsa skeletons in his closet, you bet.

 

BUT--:D he is unequaled in getting BOTH sides of the House to work together, cooperate, compromise, and get legislation passed, even Conservative legislation. Mr. Teamwork. So, what do we do with him, throw him out or keep him? :)