they cant even handle their OWN finances, and amricans think they can handle all of ours?? if it wasnt so seriously scary, it would be hilarious. i think i prefer NOT to have this kind of "change"

of course i'm gonna hafta fwd this to my brother; this is the kind of thing he likes to post on his blog.

to be fair, how about the other side, with the republicans and all? does anyone know? just curious.

It's funny how people still think the two parties are any different from each other. It's like eating at a bad buffet...both buffet lines are horrible. Well...for the exception of Ron Paul, but unfortunately most Americans were to stupid to realize how Ron Paul was, 'WE THE PEOPLES' best hope in restoring the Republic.

Msemilyh....you should watch the film Idiocracy.

And you think the Republicans, who just lost as much as a million dollars in suckers' contributions to an embezzler--not to mention losing two wars--could do better?

OBAMA ACCEPTANCE SPEECH TO BE IN BRONCOS STADIUM

CROWD OF 76,000 TO CHEER ON NOMINEE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER - Democrats say Barack Obama will accept his party's presidential nomination before up to 76,000 people at the Denver Broncos' football stadium.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Monday the final night of the convention would be held at Invesco Field at Mile High instead of the smaller Pepsi Center, which can accommodate 21,000. (more)

Whatever happens over the next 16 months, President Bush will leave office having presided over one of the fastest accumulations of government debt in the history of the United States.

During his time in office, federal debt held by the public – Washington's equivalent of a credit-card balance – will have increased by more than 50 percent, to about $5.5 trillion. Uncle Sam will be paying interest on that sum for years to come.

But US debt had declined during President Bill Clinton's last four years. Some budget experts say Bush has missed a historic opportunity to improve the nation's fiscal position.

"Federal debt – that's the Bush legacy on the budget," says Stan Collender, a veteran Washington budget expert and managing director of Qorvis Communications.

http://www.csmonitor.com/20...

Legacy of Deficits Will Constrain Bush's Successor
http://tinyurl.com/34ezjh

The Democratic Dividend
The stock market prefers Democratic presidents to Republicans. Why?
http://www.slate.com/?id=20...

"Federal debt – that's the Bush legacy on the budget," says Stan Collender, a veteran Washington budget expert and managing director of Qorvis Communications.

It's a deliberate destruction of the United States economy along the lines forecast by Osama bin Laden. 9/11 was the first successful terrorist act in history, in that it caused the Unted States government to accede to nearly all of bin Laden's demands. Wiretapping and torture were just gravy for bin Laden--economic destruction was what he wanted all along.

"The mujahedeen recently forced Bush to resort to emergency funds to continue the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is evidence of the success of the bleed-until-bankruptcy plan -- with Allah's permission,'' bin Laden said in the video that aired on the Qatar-based satellite network, according to the translation, posted today to al-Jazeera's Web site.

"All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point East to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al-Qaeda, in order to make the generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic, and political losses without their achieving for it anything of note other than some benefits for their private companies,'' bin Laden said, according to the al-Jazeera transcript.

"We, alongside the mujahideen, bled Russia for 10 years, until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat ... So we are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy."

Officials with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have informed Bernanke about a plan that would have been unheard-of in the past: a general examination of the US financial system. The IMF's board of directors has ruled that a so-called Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) is to be carried out in the United States. It is nothing less than an X-ray of the entire US financial system.

On the money TSM....basically just taking the teenager`s credit card away...overdrawn... the credit fairy has left the building...

Progressives Must Guard Against Helping to Promote Republican Narrative That Alleges Obama "Flip Flops"

The Republican spin machine is locked and loaded to promote the notion that Barack Obama is a "flip flopper." Four years ago it was their principal line of attack against Kerry and it worked like a charm.

In 2004, the goal of this narrative was to convince swing voters that Kerry had no core values -- that his positions and commitments were blown by the winds of public opinion just as he was blown right and left in the notorious campaign ad of Kerry wind-surfing.

Not long after the 2004 election, I was in a New Jersey taxicab. The driver was a typical male New Jersey cabbie. "So what do you think of Corzine?" I asked. "Oh, Corzine, tough guy. Like him," he replied about the then-Senator.

"What do you think of Bush?" I asked. "Like him too. Tough guy. Stands up for what he believes," came the answer.

"What about Kerry?" I asked. "Kerry? Can't stand him. Flip-flopper."

People want leaders who are firmly committed to their values. The key thing that affected the New Jersey cabbie's view wasn't the positions or views of the candidates. It was whether they stood up for what they believed. There are many independent voters just like him.

I believe that John Kerry has very clear values, but he left himself open to be defined to swing voters as if he didn't.

Barack Obama is firmly committed to progressive values that contrast sharply with the values implicit in necon foreign policy and dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest Bush-McCain economic policies.

Remember that there is a huge gulf between the values of Obama and McCain. Obama stands clearly in the progressive tradition of giving every human being equal opportunity to fulfill their potential. McCain stands squarely on the side of ultra-conservative values that protect the power and prerogatives of the wealthiest among us.

Obama stands firmly against the neocon foreign policies of preemptive war and unilateral action that lay at the root of the worst American foreign policy disaster in a generation. McCain stands just as firmly for the neocon vision and the Bush approach to the rest of the world.

Obama believes that economic growth happens from the bottom up and doesn't trickle down on the rest of us. He supports the rights of workers to organize to defend their standard of living, and a world where we're all in this together, not all in this alone. McCain intends to continue Bush's economic policies that have assured that all of the economic growth in the last seven years has gone to the wealthiest 1% of Americans.

Obama understands that our world faces the greatest environmental crisis in history as we seek to prevent human beings from altering our climate. First and foremost, John McCain's loyalties lie with the oil industry.

We need to remember that John McCain's campaign is managed by lobbyists from the biggest special interests in America, while Barack Obama understands the need to mobilize tens of millions of Americans to change Washington from the ground up.

Progressives should go right ahead and question Obama's positions on issues -- and they should continue to hold him accountable when he is elected president. But remember that the Republicans are desperate to convince independent voters that Obama is "just another politician" whose values flow from the latest poll instead of his own commitment to principle. Don't help them. If you do you will be wrong, and you will also help the Republicans fulfill their unthinkable fantasy of a third Bush term.

http://www.huffingtonpost.c...

msemilyh: "to be fair, how about the other side, with the republicans and all? does anyone know? just curious."

They're doing their damnest to fix the bridge they broke, and to curtail people's First Amendment rights (going to court today about that). And of course, they came up with a hum-dinger of a logo.....

"Wide stance? Check.

In Minneapolis? Check.

Prison stripe-wearing? Check.

Starry eyed? Check.

As for the elephant humping the “2008″…

Are they going for a “Still screwing the country in 2008″ theme, or is it a reference to hypocritical adulterers like David Vitter and just about the entire Republican presidential field?

All of the above? Check!

Apparently they ran out of space for a collapsing bridge."

Mattloch...you be unpatriotic...

Did I miss the part about how the Democrats will run the country? This was a cut/paste job about their convention. It's like a phony panic piece about expenses and planning. I really don't see what the big deal is here.

Magiepoo, I don't think Obama will have a problem with the flip-flopper label, since his opponent actually is the worst as far as changing his position to suit his audience. Obama pretty much stays on message and has for quite a while now.

Agreed PP,, Food at a convention is a big deal,, sorry you didn`t pick up on that,, gotta lower your standards a little,, Remember that Pres Obama likes ducks...

Would you call this a satire?

"May you live in interesting times."

Yes, 2010 was long ago and far away.

As we look back on history, it appears that some Presidents had an easy
ride-times of growth and stability. Teddy Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding,
Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Clinton come to mind. Those were good years to be
President.

Others were elected just when the Republic was facing terrible crises:
Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, George W. Bush. They
rose to the occasion, even though they were controversial and widely hated
while in office. Not such good years to be President.

Just a few years prior, in 2008, the country began foundering. We were in
the sixth year of the Iraqi Occupation, and the economy was flat. The
mainstream press clearly wanted a Democrat elected.

Although we didn't know it until some years later, oil producing nations had
colluded to secretly buy their own oil on the open market, driving oil
prices to shocking levels above the true demand price- reaching a high of
$162 a barrel in October, 2008, just before the general elections.

Their purpose was simple: to effect regime change in the United States.

And of course, the U.S. economy was already in a real estate slump and also
suffering the curse of stagflation; slow growth and high inflation.

There were a million home foreclosures.

Independent truckers went under by the thousands.

Airlines failed. Airlines with names now long-forgotten: United, Delta,
Northwestern, American. All now merged, of course, into the one lone U.S.
carrier we love so much: Southwest.

Against this backdrop of weariness of the war on terror, and economic
distress, the American people were ripe for a demagogue, and they certainly
got one in Barack Hussein Obama.

He and his running mate Kathlene Sibelius inspired them with vague notions
of hope and change; of a world in which diplomacy settled all international
problems, of free universal health care, of abundant alternative energy, of
peace and love.

It was a vision too good to resist.

The Republican nominee, a name you probably haven't heard in years? anyone?
Yes, it was John McCain, an obscure Senator from Arizona? had no clue how to
run a national campaign, and a platform nearly as liberal as Obama's.

The selection of Condoleeza Rice as his running mate looked brilliant at
first. Unfortunately, black voters viewed her as white, and women voters
viewed her as one of the guys.

Even so, the McCain/Rice ticket would have won the election if it weren't
for the fact that 16 percent of conservative Republicans voted for? anyone
remember? That's right, Bob Barr, another name that's a footnote in history.

After Obama's narrow win, thanks to recounts in Broward County, Florida, the
country was positively giddy. A Democrat House, Senate, and President. At
last an end to gridlock in Washington. Camelot!

When Congress convened in January, 2009, the 44th President of the United
States did something unique in history: he made good on his campaign
promises.

Certainly most Americans never really thought he was serious during the
campaign. But whether because of inexperience, idealism, or simply
incompetence, he followed through.

In Obama's first One Hundred Days, the Congress passed his initiatives, and
he signed them into law as he said he would.

He repealed the Bush tax cuts, and increased capital gains taxes.

He enacted a windfall profits tax, and instituted price controls on gasoline
and diesel fuel.

He passed universal health care, which added an additional 10 percent tax
increase on all working Americans.

He signed the Immigrant Amnesty bill which created 12 million new citizens
instantly, each with entitlements.

He closed the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and summarily released
all the detainees.

He repealed the Patriot Act, and cut funding for espionage, and eliminated
all terrorist listening and wiretaps.

Most important, he began the complete and immediate withdrawal of all
American troops from Iraq.

He ignored the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who wanted to retain
bases in Kuwait and Qatar. Instead, he went with the recommendation of
Secretary of Defense Dennis Kucinich, and ordered all troops back to U.S.
soil.

Voila! In One Hundred Days, by May of 2009, it was all done, and the vision
was complete. He did exactly what he said he would do.

And so it was in the summer of 2009 that things began to unravel for Obama.

Of course, the economy needed a tax cut, not an increase, and unemployment
quickly rose to 12 percent. Even attorneys and economists were put in the
bread lines. Hard times.

Price controls on gasoline immediately led to shortages and gas lines.

The global cooling trend we have seen for the past 25 years first became
obvious in 2009, exposing the CO2 global warming fraud. People were
justifiably angry.

Federal deficits increased massively because thousands of baby boomers,
facing job loss and much higher taxes, simply gave up and took social
security.

Although the superb U.S. health care system was thrown into disarray, the
bright spot was the creation of the Federal Department of Health care, and
the immediate hiring of 250,000 administrators, inspectors and auditors, the
only job growth in any economic sector in 2009.

By February 2010, the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq was complete. It
was a very expensive undertaking.

And then in March, the gradual Shiite insurgencies from Iran turned into a
true Iraqi civil war. In May, Iranian tanks crossed the border and quickly
took Baghdad. Although the exact number is not know, at least 230,000 Sunni
Iraqis died as we stood by.

Iran also quickly moved into undefended Kuwait.

President Obama did exactly what he said he would. He sent Secretary of
State Maria Cantwell to Tehran to meet with Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

After two weeks of high level talks, the United States agreed to allow Iran
to retain Iraq and Kuwait to create stability in the middle east, with the
understanding that Israel would not be disturbed.

Cantwell returned to Washington, and explained the agreement in her famous
speech, in which she proudly noted that the Obama administration had finally
achieved "peace in our time" in the Middle East.

So there was some surprise at the rocket attacks on Tel Aviv on August 14th.

President Obama said, "This is not the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad I knew."

The Obama administration decided it would be destabilizing to take sides in
the conflict, and approximately 29,000 Israeli civilians died during the
summer and fall.

American Jews were appalled at the inaction. Yes, in 2010 most American Jews
were Democrats, but because of 2010, they are solid Republicans today.

As awkward as it was, everything might have turned out all right for the
Obama administration going into the fall mid-term elections of 2010, if it
hadn't been for the dirty bomb in the Port of Long Beach.

The administration had cut funding for the inspection of containers, because
they felt it showed a "lack of trust" in the international trading
community.

It wasn't really a very big bomb, and thank goodness, not a real nuclear
device, but nonetheless it contaminated some expensive real estate- Newport
Beach, Palos Verdes Estates- and ultimately caused the death of 14,000
Americans. People were especially annoyed that Disneyland had to be closed
for decontamination.

And so, in the midterm elections, Republicans regained control of both the
House and Senate, and the rest is history.

The impeachment proceedings against President Obama for "failure to protect
and defend" were swift and nearly unanimous. Vice President Sibelius
resigned. Newly-elected Speaker of the House, J.C. Watts, became the 45th
President of the United States.

But you know the rest of the story well.

Republicans finished the war on Islamic fundamentalists, largely by aiming
ICBMs at Mecca and Medina.

No Democrat has been elected President since.

Republicans have held both Houses of Congress.

History of Western Civilization and Economics are now taught in all public
schools, and in English only.

Marriage is defined as one man and one woman.

And there are border fences, north and south.

We old codgers remember the ancient Confucian curse: "May you live in
interesting times."

Well, 2010 was an interesting year, but it was not a good year to be
President."

We all know how Republicans run the country.

Prisons in Mississippi got coffee makers, pillowcases and dinnerware -- all intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The state's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks took more coffee makers, cleaning supplies and other items.

Plastic containers ended up with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.

Colleges, volunteer fire departments and other agencies received even more.

But the Mississippi hurricane victims who originally were intended to receive the supplies got nothing, a CNN investigation has found.

Last month, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had stored $85 million worth of household items in warehouses for two years. Instead of giving the supplies to victims of the 2005 hurricane, FEMA declared them surplus and gave them all away to federal agencies and 16 states in February.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/...

witters~if it was not so sad ,I'd call that the Republicans dream...or wish list. You know,I think President Bush is the single worst thing to happen to my country since Nixon and should be impeached....But I'd poke out my eyes and cut off both hands before I spread that sort of tripe about him or any other of my countrymen/women. For shame.Pray for it and it will come.

EVERYONE: That piece was SATIRE! change the names around and it would also apply to the GOP's. IMO - BOTH parties are full of sh** !!

Either one of them could further ruin this country unless 'we the people' get off our duffs and say 'ENOUGH'!!!

I wouldn't call it satire, just extremely unlikely. Satire is usually, you know, funny. I do find it a little odd that you are predicting such rotten things for our country though. Oh, but you're just joking and it's OK because it's about Obama, right?

Witters, in the rush to condemn Republicans, the satire was missed..as usual. LOL.

Sorry ladies read my comment~ I do not and never have "condemned Republicans" ~ I have and will continue to exercise my right to speak my displeasure about President Bush.

If you have to explain the joke~ it ain't no joke.

Re reading it, I'm not sure it could be labeled satire, nor is it a wish list. It sound more to me like something we should all be a bit concerned about. Of course we know not all of it is likely to happen but if only a portion........?

" People were especially annoyed that Disneyland had to be closed
for decontamination." Sorry witters I saw this and went RED!!! lol

Sure Nancy,things happen and no matter which person is elected the whole of the US government will spring into action to take care of us...right?

"We, in Ireland , can't figure out why people are even bothering to hold an election in the United States .

On one side, you have a bitch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, running against a lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a war hero married to a good looking woman who owns a beer distributorship.

What are you lads thinking over there?"

Riiiiight Sage, I just won't hold my breath. They don't do such a good job taking care of themselves so I'm a little skeptical about them taking care of me. :-)

I chuckled when I saw the part about Disneyland. My granddaughter is completely addicted to anything Disney. In fact they're going this next weekend with her family and the two month old baby. She said he said he wants to go. Can you imagine her outrage if they had to close it???? Oh dear.

SAGE: The government "taking care of us" is what all the lazy people want! Then when they can't buy something except on Tuesday's and Thursday's because the government says so they will be the first to scream about their rights! Only nobody will have any rights anymore. No, the sky is not falling, but our freedoms are - in mass quantity.

Disneyland being closed would be the least of my worries!!!

That piece was SATIRE

Parody is probably as good a word. "To mock".

Satire: to expose folly.

There's a fine line there, but university-level writing classes tend to dwell on parody as a basis for satire. Satire trends toward humor, while parody trends toward ridicule.

May you live in interesting times."

Yes, 2010 was long ago and far away.

As we look back on history, it appears that some Presidents had an easy
ride-times of growth and stability. Teddy Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding,
Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Clinton come to mind. Those were good years to be
President.

And three of four of them achieved great things. The fourth was an idiot second only to George W. Bush.

Others were elected just when the Republic was facing terrible crises:
Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, George W. Bush. They
rose to the occasion, even though they were controversial and widely hated
while in office. Not such good years to be President.

Three of them rose above the challenge. The last one failed miserably. Of course, he was an idiot the likes of which the country hadn't seen since Warren G. Harding.

Just a few years prior, in 2008, the country began foundering. We were in
the sixth year of the Iraqi Occupation, and the economy was flat. The
mainstream press clearly wanted a Democrat elected.

And showed that desire by giving his opponent's flip-flops a pass while scrutinizing any Obama speech for the slightest hint of nuance.

Although we didn't know it until some years later, oil producing nations had
colluded to secretly buy their own oil on the open market, driving oil
prices to shocking levels above the true demand price- reaching a high of
$162 a barrel in October, 2008, just before the general elections.

And then cutting the prices suddenly to aid the Republican nominee. It had worked before.

Their purpose was simple: to effect regime change in the United States.

As I noted, it had worked before. But not this time.

And of course, the U.S. economy was already in a real estate slump and also
suffering the curse of stagflation; slow growth and high inflation.

Brought on by seven years of idiotic economic practices and a trillion-dollar war with the wrong country.

There were a million home foreclosures.

Bringing home ownership below the levels seen in the previous, Democratic administration. Fortunately, RNC challenges kept most folks in homeless shelters from voting.

Independent truckers went under by the thousands.

Swelling the ranks of those willing to dodge sniper fire and IED's to bring supplies to Halliburton employees in Iraq.

Airlines failed. Airlines with names now long-forgotten: United, Delta,
Northwestern, American. All now merged, of course, into the one lone U.S.
carrier we love so much: Southwest.

Which *STILL* lost your luggage on nonstop flights.

Against this backdrop of weariness of the war on terror, and economic
distress, the American people were ripe for a demagogue, and they certainly
got one in Barack Hussein Obama.

You keep using that word...I do not think it means what you think it means.

He and his running mate Kathlene Sibelius inspired them with vague notions
of hope and change; of a world in which diplomacy settled all international
problems, of free universal health care, of abundant alternative energy, of
peace and love.

You know, the opposite of what the Republicans had delivered.

It was a vision too good to resist.

You betcha.

The Republican nominee, a name you probably haven't heard in years? anyone?
Yes, it was John McCain, an obscure Senator from Arizona? had no clue how to
run a national campaign, and a platform nearly as liberal as Obama's.

Before he started running for President, of course. After getting the nomination, he did what the lobbyists told him to.

The selection of Condoleeza Rice as his running mate looked brilliant at
first. Unfortunately, black voters viewed her as white, and women voters
viewed her as one of the guys.

And an incompetent "guy" at that. No one could have foreseen...

Even so, the McCain/Rice ticket would have won the election if it weren't
for the fact that 16 percent of conservative Republicans voted for? anyone
remember? That's right, Bob Barr, another name that's a footnote in history.

And that zero was by *FAR* their better option than McCain, aka Four More Years.

After Obama's narrow win, thanks to recounts in Broward County, Florida, the
country was positively giddy. A Democrat House, Senate, and President. At
last an end to gridlock in Washington. Camelot!

And *THIS* time the idiots on the Supreme Court stayed out of it.

When Congress convened in January, 2009, the 44th President of the United
States did something unique in history: he made good on his campaign
promises.

Beginning with the Inauguration Day arrests of Bush and Cheney.

Certainly most Americans never really thought he was serious during the
campaign. But whether because of inexperience, idealism, or simply
incompetence, he followed through.

We'll pick "idealism" for $100, Alex.

In Obama's first One Hundred Days, the Congress passed his initiatives, and
he signed them into law as he said he would.

Over the impotent objections of the 30 remaining Republican Senators.

He repealed the Bush tax cuts, and increased capital gains taxes.

And the economy swelled, as it had under Clinton.

He enacted a windfall profits tax, and instituted price controls on gasoline
and diesel fuel.

And entrepeneurs responded with alternative energy designs.

He passed universal health care, which added an additional 10 percent tax
increase on all working Americans.

Offset, of course, by the removal of crippling health-insurance bills and recovery of lost productivity.

He signed the Immigrant Amnesty bill which created 12 million new citizens
instantly, each with entitlements.

Those entitlements included the right to obtain driver licenses (with appropriate insurance) and the right to pay into the Social Security system, which became solvent overnight.

He closed the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and summarily released
all the detainees.

With an apology for their treatment.

He repealed the Patriot Act, and cut funding for espionage, and eliminated
all terrorist listening and wiretaps.

Half of which had been conducted illegally on legitimate US Citizens.

Most important, he began the complete and immediate withdrawal of all
American troops from Iraq.

And they began once again contributing to the economy.

He ignored the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who wanted to retain
bases in Kuwait and Qatar. Instead, he went with the recommendation of
Secretary of Defense Dennis Kucinich, and ordered all troops back to U.S.
soil.

In exchange, he offered the Iraqi government Bush and Cheney, who were subsequently tried in the same courtroom Saddam had occupied, and sentenced to the same gallows that sent him to his death. A large portion of the regular armed forces were redeployed to Afghanistan, where they defeated the re-energized Taliban and actually captured Osama bin Laden, in cooperation with Pakistani forces.

Voila! In One Hundred Days, by May of 2009, it was all done, and the vision
was complete. He did exactly what he said he would do.

And god looked down from heaven, and saw it was good.

RANDOM! you stopped too soon in your rebuttal!!! How about the "rest of the story"!! LOL LOL LOL! pretty funny senerio Random!!! You wish! MAYBE in your dreams what you posted will come to pass but I doubt it.