So what caused the collapse of financial institutions and the economic crisis / recession?  Well, conservatives have maintained since the beginning that it was pretty much the logical outcome of lending money to people that can't pay it back.  Which leads to the institutions those people are supposed to pay back losing money...which led us to bailouts, etc.., etc..

But the real question is what caused the bad lending in the first place?  Well, a few days ago, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan went before Congress and pretty much laid the blame exactly where it belongs.  Which means it wasn't appreciated and won't be paid attention to, but...

"While the roots of the crisis were global, it was securitized U.S. subprime mortgages that served as the crisis' immediate trigger," Mr. Greenspan explained. "The surge in demand for mortgage-backed securities was heavily driven by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were pressed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Congress to expand affordable housing commitments." Unfortunately, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac weren't the only government agencies to feel the pressure. Mr. Greenspan also noted, "I sat through meeting after meeting in which the pressures on the Federal Reserve - and on, I might add, all of the other regulatory agencies - to enhance lending were remarkable."

In other words, cheap housing policies. Don't expect to hear too much about this in the "mainstream media" outlets.  Especially since we're almost at the point where housing is to be declared a "right"...right along with health care.  read more »

So who's closer to your own views on politics, the President of the United States (AKA "The One) or some anonymous member of the Tea Party movement?

For 48% of American voters the answer is the Tea Party.  The One clocks in at 44%.  That's according to the latest numbers from the Rasmussen poll.

On major issues, 48% of voters say that the average Tea Party member is closer to their views than President Barack Obama. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 44% hold the opposite view and believe the president’s views are closer to their own.

Not surprisingly, Republicans overwhelmingly feel closer to the Tea Party and most Democrats say that their views are more like Obama’s. Among voters not affiliated with either major political party, 50% say they’re closer to the Tea Party while 38% side with the President. ...

Keep in mind that this poll comes AFTER Obama, the Democrat leadership and the media have spent a great deal of time trying to portray the folks in the Tea Party movement as radicals, etremists, or (in some cases) "birthers" and/or outright racists.

And STILL, more Americans identify with them than Obama...which points to what should be a pretty good November for conservatives.  read more »

Given all of the overwhelming evidence about our country's finances, to say nothing of the projections just ten years out, (even the admissions of the guys with green eyeshades in the White House), THIS is truly amazing.

In yet ANOTHER interview promoting the wonderful benefits of ObamaCare AFTER it has become law, The One declared that his remake of the health care system was necessary because "this country was going to go bankrupt".

O.M.G.

Of course there's no mention of how they cooked the books in the House to make it appear that this sorry bill would save money, (how it only counts 6 years of expenses and 10 years of revenue for its first decade...or that it double counts savings/cuts in Medicare, leaves out the cost of the "doctor's fix", etc., etc..).

And no mention of the fact that, bill or no bill, the country was and is still heading towards bankruptcy...and that it's big government programs (like ObamaCare) that are taking us there.

No shame.  No shame whatsoever.

For years, prolife activists and leaders have worked to advance their agenda in both the Republican and the Democrat party.  Obviously we've had more success with the GOP, but that doesn't negate the importance of having your voice heard in both of the major American political parties.

The "life" issue is (and should be) above partisanship.

And for that reason, the pro-life community has nurtured pro life candidates and politicians in the Democrat party.  You know, because at some point in time their votes can help advance (or stop) anti-life legislation.  And when their party is in the majority, (like now), this can become even more important.

But along came ObamaCare.  Specifically, the just passed Senate version with enough loopholes and even direct language that will lead to the largest expansion of abortion since Roe vs. Wade became the law of the land in the early '70's.

And where were the long nurtured prolife Democrats when it mattered?  Well, some where there.  But many of them weren't.  Specifically, some pretty high profile ones like Bart Stupak, who essentially held himself out as the House leader of prolife Democrats.  He demonstrated just how deep his prolife principles really were when he was put on the spot by Obama and Pelosi.  When he was faced with the fact that his (and a few similar Democrat) votes meant victory or defeat for the long hoped for government healthcare grab, they caved and tried to hide behind the flimsy fig leaf of an executive order as a rationalization for their treason.  read more »

Fellow Conservative,

The most critical congressional vote in generations will probably happen THIS SUNDAY.

That’s when the Democrat leadership wants to ram its ObamaCare bill through the House – without even voting on it!

Contact your Representative and say NO today!

Believe it or not, Pelosi and other House Democrats are trying to rig a vote under a special “rule” that will incorporate the changes they want the Senate to make to the Senate bill – and then allow the full House to simply vote for the “rule” without actually voting on the Senate bill itself.

They say they will simply “deem” that it has been passed.

They want to hide what they’re actually voting for and let wavering Democrats be able to claim they didn’t actually vote for the bill when they run for re-election this fall.  read more »

Kudos to the folks over at the NRCC for producing the following video which, in a nutshell, explains just how we got where we are in the ObamaCare debate when it comes to the shifty procedures the Dems are employing to ram it through.

Pass it on.

One expects to get news about what big government programs like ObamaCare would do from, say, the Heritage Foundation.  But the Associated Press?  Yes, the AP, that othewise reliable bastion of cover for liberals and/or Democrats alike.

But here we are, with the AP putting out a report on their own study today which verfies what conservatives have said: that American health insurance premiums will go UP as a result of Obamacare.

Heck, even Democrat Senator Dick Durbin admitted as much last week, (see video below)...

But now we have even more "bi-partisan" verification, via the AP:

WASHINGTON — Buyers, beware: President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul will lower premiums by double digits, but check the fine print.

Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say. If cost controls work as advertised, annual increases would level off with time. But don't look for a rollback. Instead, the main reason premiums would be more affordable is that new government tax credits would help cover the cost for millions of people. ...

"There's no question premiums are still going to keep going up," said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a research clearinghouse on the health care system. "There are pieces of reform that will hopefully keep them from going up as fast. But it would be miraculous if premiums actually went down relative to where they are today."

Given that there is so much news coming from all different directions about just how far along (or not) Pelosi and the House leadership is to wrangling up the votes to pass ObamaCare, it's sometimes hard to know just where things stand.

But today, (just like the last few days), I get an email from BarackObama.com, (join the list, it's always good for a laugh), asking for people to target Louisiana Republican Representative Joseph Cao and pressure him to vote "yes".

Of course, Cao was the only Republican in the House that voted for the House version of ObamaCare last fall, but he has since changed to a "no" vote.  And while I understand that he's not exactly sitting in a Republican district (it's the district he won after the criminal fall from grace by the former Dem Rep. William Jefferson), it still doesn't make much since to dedicate an entire daily blast to your email list encouraging people from all over the country, (I'm in SC for goodness sakes), to target this guy.

In short, it smacks of desperation.

If it's really down to trying to turn a Republican, rather than just focusing on getting 216 out of the 257 Democrats that are in the House to support it, then things aren't going so well.  read more »

With each passing day lately it seems we're treated to another flip-flop by Obama and/or the Democrat leadership on their big health care "reform" boondoggle.

The latest the admission this weekend by the White House that they're no longer concerned about - or plan to oppose - any of the special "deals" that are in the Senate version of the health care bill.  You know, those things like the "Cornhusker Kickback" and the "Louisiana Purchase" that were necessary to buy off enough Democrat Senators to get to 60 votes and overcome the Republican filibuster of the bill.

In the overwhelming negative popular reaction to those deals, Obama and other Democrat leaders proclaimed that the "new" new and improved version (which they would hammer out via a reconciliation bill with the House) would NOT have those deals.

And now we get this:

Still seeking votes for his proposed health care overhaul, President Barack Obama appears ready to reverse his position and allow unpopular deal-sweetening measures in the hopes of finding Democratic support for legislation whose future will be decided in coming days. …

Clinching support, though, might require Obama to back away from his insistence that senators purge the legislation of a number of lawmakers’ special deals.

Taking a new position, Axelrod said the White House only objects to state-specific arrangements, such as an increase in Medicaid funding for Nebraska, ridiculed as the “Cornhusker Kickback.” That’s being cut, but provisions that could affect more than one state are OK, Axelrod said. ...

This is it.  The moment of truth in the US House...and what is probably our last, best chance to stop the liberal,big-government takeover of our health care system.

The House will be voting soon on whether or not to pass the Senate version of "ObamaCare", and we have to stop it.

Contact your members of Congress and tell them to vote NO!

Right now, liberals from the White House and the Democrat leadership are meeting behind closed doors trying to create a "compromise" package that will give Democrats in the House enough cover to vote for the bill...promising them that the Senate will enact these changes AFTER they approve the current Senate bill.

In other words, they're saying "trust us".

Tell them "NO". Let them know that the American people do NOT want this bill - and that we do NOT trust them withour health care.  read more »