Brain Droppings

"So when Congressional Republican leaders tell the president that Social Security private accounts are a nonstarter, they are conveying the informed views of their constituents.

Mr. Bush has reacted by railing against Democrats for obstruction -- as if Democrats are duty-bound to breathe life into his agenda and, even sillier, as if opposing a plan that the people do not want is an illegitimate tactic for an opposition party."

I mentioned this in a recent debate I had with some health care bill supporters and did not get a reply on the matter. Some of the Obama supporters I've talked with have the idea that the 2008 election result was supposed to yield the changes they wanted without having given much thought to the legislative process.

# posted by Diego @ 9:18 AM |

By July, Illinois will be $130,000,000,000 (that’s BILLION!) in debt. This crushing load hampers the state’s ability to fund public schools and universities, health care, and other essential public services. Most of that money is owed to the state’s pension funds and retiree health care plans. And YOUR SHARE of that debt is $25,000 per household.

How did this happen? Basically, Illinois spends $3 for every $2 it takes in. Only in Springfield is this kind of math possible. The state accomplishes this by borrowing or by simply ignoring its unpaid bills. And it has been doing so for years.

This year alone, Illinois will be short more than $14,000,000,000. Things are so bad that Illinois now has one of the worst budget deficits in the nation. This has to stop! Financial disaster is on the horizon. We can no longer ignore the problem.

Illinois must reduce its spending and bring its public pension and retiree health care plans in line with the retirement plans the rest of us have. Go to the What You Can Do page of this Web site to see how you can help.

Via Sun-Times.

# posted by Bill C @ 10:41 AM |

Complicating things for the president in Illinois is that Giannoulias was battered by primary opponent David Hoffman, who used the Giannoulias family's Broadway Bank — and its loans to mob figures and a convicted influence peddler — in a series of devastating TV spots.

That influence peddler is none other than Obama's own real estate fairy, Tony Rezko.

The national Republicans are eager to take Obama's old Senate seat with liberal Republican Mark Kirk. And they're hoping to tie the president to the seamy politics of the state and to Obama's old friend Rezko.

So how far will Barack be willing to go and risk getting bruised badly?

The better question is whether Obama cares about his old seat more than he cares about the rest of the seats the Democrats will lose if they continue down the current path. I'm guessing no.

"President Obama called, and apparently I missed it," Giannoulias said. "But the White House called to congratulate us last night." [Emphasis added.]

Obama has paid lip service to centrist concerns with his nod to a spending freeze but that was debunked within hours of the proposal as being much less than serious.

The Democrats in Illinois will be in a world of trouble if the Republicans in Illinois can get their act together. A big IF but not a total impossibility. Everyone recognizes that 2010 will be a good year for Republicans so fielding good candidates shouldn't be a problem. If only we could make a clean break from the corrupticans that have ruled the party since the 1970s. It's nice to dream.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Resurgance 2010

# posted by Bill C @ 8:23 PM |

Labels: Friday Music

# posted by Bill C @ 7:36 AM |

Labels: criminal, Debt, deflation, Depression

# posted by Bill C @ 3:51 PM |

“The deterioration has been pretty severe,” said Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of sovereign risk at Moody’s, in a Bloomberg Television interview in London. “We expect a pretty strong policy response in the next couple of years in order to keep the debt in the Aaa range. We expect them to bend but not to break.”

Treasury Secretary Wannstedt

Labels: Credit Crunch, deflation, Depression

# posted by Bill C @ 3:05 PM |

Labels: fusion

# posted by Bill C @ 8:55 AM |