Life in the Third Layer

And how many degrees are they from Sarah Palin?
Thanks to Glen, over at Art Machine.

I agree with Hillary about Mavericks.

And I need someone to explain to me how a maverick loner independent thinker who does his own thing has a brand new resurgence plan (unveiled at the town hall debate on Tuesday October 7) that is really an existing program of the FHA that went into effect the first of October — at least, that is what I heard on All Things Considered on October 6th. It is the Hope for Homeowners program, which “helps homeowners refinance their mortgages into more affordable, government-backed loans.” You can find the interview with Brian Montgomery, Federal Housing Administration commissioner, on the NPR website.

Virginia must have something in the fall air that is affecting people’s thought processes.
In the debate Gilmore said that he disagrees with the bailout, proving that he can still identify an issue and use it to manipulate voters. So he has found an itch to scratch, and voters are forgetting his record and settling back in the autumn glow thinking “hey, that boy has something there. I don’t like the bailout either.”
Well, nobody likes the bailout. It wasn’t our dream of perfection. However, the bailout hopefully will save a lot of people’s retirement, and administrative oversight is built into the plan thanks to both Democrats and Republicans who were making the best of a bad situation created by the Bush administration’s failure to govern. Gilmore did the same thing to Virginia’s economy that Bush did to the U.S. economy, and his lack of ability to govern is well demonstrated.
Anyone who listens to him has a memory disorder.

The New York Times today is saying that both Barack Obama and John McCain, since one of them will inherit management of the bailout, agree that there must be more oversight of the Treasury Department. McCain is of course the deregulation person of old, formerly content to follow the Bush lead on this rather complex question about something he did not understand. Now he is apparently being advised to say we need regulation, although he probably hasn’t a clue what that means in practical terms. He can of course ask Sarah Palin.
Obama/Biden is looking better to anyone with economic awareness or a memory that goes back further than last Sunday?s exhortation to the faithful, and these are probably the folks turning the tide to favor Barack Obama.

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This election year I am what I have always said people should not be ? a single-issue voter. I am voting the economy.
Republicans have called Democrats the party of big government, tax and spend liberals. In fact, the United States is a big country, and it requires a big government. The major function of government is to administer a fair system of taxation and to use the money wisely to maintain physical and financial security, services, and infrastructure for a sustainable system.
All governments are ?tax and spend.? That is how they keep things running. Under Republican leaders, we have failed to sustain our physical and financial security, services, and infrastructure. Republicans have traded these critical supports for tax cuts for wealthy citizens, an ill-conceived and poorly executed war in Iraq, and an unrealistic energy policy that benefits the oil industry and breaks working people?s budgets. The rest of the developed world has moved ahead of us in wind and solar power as well as transportation and communications technology. Among developed nations, we have the highest infant mortality, which is a significant statistical measure of quality of life. These are all Republican economic failures.
The Republican idea that the market does not need oversight or regulation has resulted in the necessity for the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The debt of these private companies, a sum greater than the national debt of any other nation except the U.S., is now added to the federal deficit. Everyone loses except the institutions that created the crisis by predatory lending practices and current government officials who permitted banks to prey upon clients they were supposed to be serving and keeping financially secure.
The next president will face a deficit around $500 billion, estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. Over the next ten years, over $2.3 trillion will be added to the national debt. These figures assume that the Bush tax cuts will be allowed to expire in 2010. The deficit will be worse if they are made permanent by McCain/Palin.
Under Republican leadership, we have seen crises in housing, healthcare, energy, and financial services. Costs of living are up from food to heating oil. Homeowners have lost value in their homes or literally lost their homes. Retirement is a frightening prospect as companies downsize and go bankrupt. Individuals dumped from employment in their 50?s draw out their retirement savings for personal and family expenses while they search for employment in a bleak job market. Unemployment is at 6% even with a large number of our National Guard members serving on foreign soil. The damage done to the American consumer base, the great United States middle class that has been the source of wealth, will take many years to repair.
This election year we literally cannot afford to be distracted from the dismal failure of Republicans to govern. There is a hard road ahead even with intelligent and resourceful people in leadership. It will be the height of irresponsibility to be distracted by divisive social issues put forward by people who don?t even know where the middle class lives. John McCain thinks that you are in the middle class if you make less than $5 million a year. The median income in the United States is $4,960,000.00 less than $5 million.
I am voting for Barack Obama. He has spent his life helping people live better. That is what a community organizer does. And does our community ever need organizing.