Connecticut

Liberal  Simsbury First Selectwoman (i.e.Mayor) Mary M. Glassman had a startling revelation today over Connecticut's economic crisis. Doing a state capitol presser today, she revealed

 “We can’t come up here and ask the state for more money and we can’t go back to our communities and ask our taxpayers for more money.”

Funny how she was more adamant about tax and spend policies when she ran for Lt. Governor in 2006, .supporting the "millionaire's tax"

Government should live within its means. What a novel concept. Of course, in Connecticut Democrats sound positively disgusted that the economy and those cranky voters have put an end to the usual ping-pong of raising state taxes one year, local taxes the next.  

The Democrats "own" government now. Let's see how they pay for and/or break their promises.

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. "

~Benjamin Franklin

And so, it is end of 2008. What did we do? Where did we go? What did we become? Who were we?

The beginning of a New Year proclaims there is another opportunity bestowed upon us to turn things around, and to make things better for ourselves, our families, our co-workers, our neighbors, and our friends. So many people today have lost their sense of direction . People justify their actions with excuses. Politicians do it. Women do it. Men do it. They have missed the point of what achieving true happiness means.

Happiness does not mean doing whatever the heck we want without thinking of the consequences. Happiness does not mean abandoning our principles because we have been placed in an unfortunate position in life. Happiness does not mean allowing life to lead us into the dark wilderness. Happiness does not mean having children and then neglecting them. Happiness does not mean getting away with things because we think we may not ever get caught or no one is watching. And finally, happiness does not mean sitting back and thinking that our freedoms and our way of life in the United States will simply remain by us doing nothing.

Rather, it means doing the right thing and believing that what you do will come back to you in life. It means being a good parent. It means sticking to your beliefs. It means you taking control of your own life. It means loving your country and being a patriot in the entire sense of the word. It means standing up against people who behave poorly even if you are the only one with any guts to do so. It means, instead of new year resolutions that are meaningless, we turn inward and think long and hard how we can be better people this coming year in every facet of our lives. It means thinking and behaving as adults realizing everything we say and do has consequences.

Tall order, I know. But it's the only way to live if we don't want to not only lose our happiness but lose everything our Founding Fathers and those who came before us gave this great nation.

Early this year Senator Dodd thought he had the answer to the foreclosure crisis. Right after he returned from his miserable failure of a presidential campaign, Banking Chairman Dodd proposed the "Hope for Homeowners" plan.

  http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/4324

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, today announced his intention to introduce legislation that will create a new program within the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to provide aid to distressed borrowers currently trapped in mortgages they cannot afford.  Under the “HOPE for Homeowners Act of 2008," new mortgages that are offered by FHA-approved lenders will refinance abusive loans at a significant discount for homeowners facing difficulty meeting their mortgage payments

My problem at the time this was introduced was to promised to relieve imprudent lenders of much of the loss they should have eaten for bad lending decisions. Well, we've gotten way beyond that , having thrown a TARP over the whole blinkin banking sector. The new problem with Dodd's masterpiece----it isn;t helping homeowners.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Steve Preston said the centerpiece of the federal government's effort to help struggling homeowners has been a failure and he's blaming Congress....

The three-year program was supposed to help 400,000 borrowers avoid foreclosure. But it has attracted only 312 applications since its October launch because it is too expensive and onerous for lenders and borrowers alike, Preston said in an interview.

"What most people don't understand is that this program was designed to the detail by Congress," Preston said. "Congress dotted the i's and crossed the t's for us, and unfortunately it has made this program tough to use."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/16/AR2008121603177.html?hpid=topnews

Nice job Chairman Dodd. The Wall Street bankers all are keeping their multiple houses and your expensive rescue plan for ordinary folks over their head is dysfunctional.

Well, maybe the new HUD secretary will throw enough money at this problem to make it look like someone is getting helped.    He went to the "right school"  but I'm not sure a background in NYC is all that relevant http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-hud-obama14-2008dec14,0,5865966.story .  There's hardly any owner-occupied housing in the city, which suffers from a chronic housing shortage   http://www.nysun.com/real-estate/shortage-of-housing-threatens-city-institutions/73748/ and  the debiltating effect of decades of rent control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_New_York. Not exactly the background to deal with plummeting single family home values, in my book.

But it's certainly better credentials than Dodd's credentials to fix the auto business, as he felt compelled to kibitz http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/4685  after the President jumped in to clean up the mess Dodd made of the bailout bill  http://thenextright.com/ironman/step-away-from-the-vehicle-senator-dodd    Dodd is now upset about worker concessions; well, given the stock price of GM the investors already took their hit.  http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=GM#symbol=GM;range=1y Everyone who has looked at this knows the Corker plan is the only way to create a viable business model, but no doubt the Obama team will try and create "American Leyland" http://thenextright.com/ironman/can-hope-change-a-spark-plug to appease the Greens and UAW. 

Just so you know Santa knows who is naughty and nice, the Q poll came out and Dodd did rather poorly for a long time Democratic incumbent in the era of Obama ascendancy in the Blue States . Artful Doddger did a rather thorough write -up on the impact of the Q Poll in his blog   http://theartfuldoddger.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-poll-shows-dodds-vulnerability-in.html highlighting Dodd's vulnerability.

Let me add a couple of points here as to Dodd's winter of discontent.

a) He has an empty war chest at the moment and many of his old benefactors have entered a new chapter of their financial life. He may not be able to replenish at will like prior campaigns.

b) the "hard" opposition vote is larger than ever. Only 13% of CT voters will defintely re-elect Dodd, 27% will defintely vote to remove him.  We've seen what happened when there's an intensity deficit for a candidate. Dodd has this in spades; and unlike the war driven 2006 election or the Obamania of 2008, it's hard to see Democratic turnout in CT being quite as high in 2010.

If anything drives 2010 turnout it will be anger over the economy. Bad time to be chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, eh? 

Well, Chris, just remember your gift from Angelo Mozilo came early. Enjoy what you have.

"Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived. if it be my lot to die, let me do so with courage and honor" - General George S. Patton Fallen Heroes Memorial is an online memorial for all of the fallen service members of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, including photos and visitor-submitted messages. Please take a moment when you can and leave a message at www.fallenheroesmemorial.c

om. Scroll through the names of these gone but not forgotten soldiers for the sake of their families and for the sake our country. These soldiers did what they chose to do for love of country, freedom, and security for our great land. They did not sign up thinking they were going to bake cookies or sit safely behind a desk. These soldiers signed up willingly and stood up for what they believed in. Unlike most of us, who only talk the talk. They walked the walk. God Bless them.

Illegal immigrants are beginning to comprise a black market class of workers in our society, jeopardizing the financial health of companies which play by the rules, while themselves vulnerable to the exploitation by those willing to take advantage of their illegal status. Spencer Bachus Illegal immigration is and should be a major concern all Americans. There are currently fifteen to twenty million illegals living in our country by some estimates. Some are criminals in their own country and come here to continue in their of crime. Some are heavily involved in gang and gang related drug wars. Many illegal women have what is known as 'anchor babies' in the hopes they can stay in our country. Many use emergency rooms at hospitals as their monthly or weekly checkups. They have no health insurance, and they have no money to pay a private doctor. Hence, in some areas emergency rooms are inundated with many patients waiting for hours upon hours to be seen by a doctor.There are many problems facing our illegal immigration situation, and it affects our country and Americans more than they realize. Many will use the above arguments I mentioned as the main reasons why illegals should not be in our country, apart from the fact that they have broken the law from entering into our land. However, I believe the best case against illegal immigration is this. Illegal immigration is a new form of slavery. Most of these illegals are not criminals. Some are, but not most. Most come here to work. However, most will get nowhere. They will continue to work as cheap labor for the guy who owns that landscaping business, cleaning companies, and construction companies. Thereby, creating a new working poor in America. In many cases it resembles slavery. Some would rather call it indentured slaves. However, indentured slaves were promised freedom and land after 5 years of working for someone. Illegals are promised nothing. This is no way for any person living in this country to exist. Republicans often us the clause 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" when they want to discuss the abortion issue. Where is the illegal's life, liberty, and his pursuit of happiness if he remains a slave bound to whoever decides to hire him for the day to do manual labor at 40 bucks a day? The illegal immigration issue must be faced because it goes against all of the principles that our Founding Fathers had established for our nation. People who want to live in our country must come here legally. If they can't they may very well be better of where they came from. Slavery does not always come with chains and balls, it comes in many forms. Most forms of slavery are not tangible

Here's a look at the brave new old world of make work taxpayer funded pork barrel projects.

The lobbying group for CT municipalities has amassed a wish list of over $2.8 billion in "shovel-ready" projects it claims would be worthy recipients of President-elect Obama's largesse.

Get your nostrils ready for a pungent smell test .

http://ccm-ct.org/advocacy/2007-2008/ready_to_go_121108.pdf

Darien--perhaps the state's richest town--- "needs" $17 million for a new police station.

Clinton--population 15,000---thinks it has a variety of ways to spend a mere $74 million; including dredging a pond. 

East Hartford thinks a new senior center ought to cost $30 million

New Fairfield--which has virtually no pedestrian traffic---needs to finish its "downtown' sidewalks

New Haven has a mere $506 million in wishes, including this cryptic $20 million item . "Prospect/Trumbull area for CSO in conjunction with GNHWPCA" Thankfully, its Mayor was not elected Governor in 2006 or the state would have already filed for Chapter  9 (the municipal version of Chapter 11).    

Newtown has $132 million in needs; although one wonders if the design and bid for the high school at $40 million is a bit duplicative of the $42 million for the high school addition. Double counting?

Portland needs $1.5 million for a public boat launch. Guess this beats floating a bond, eh?

Putnam must have $13 million for a community center with a swimming pool. 

Stamford---run by the other Democrat who wanted Jodi Rell's job in 2006--needs only $478 million. This list includes $4 million for an "absorbsion chiller"; $48,000 for foreign language classes for officers, and $164,000 to train K-9's. Who said our economy is going to the dogs?

Westport is looking for $7.2 million. including $200,000 for the Longshore Golf Club halfway house. Is this for golfers in rehab? Guess financial times there are tough since Martha moved away? 

Wethersfield has among its $4.175 million in urgent needs building a "gateway entrance" at the north end of town. Trust me, You don't need to spend a dime to know when you've left the City of Hartford.

Woodbury needs another $2.5 million for a salt shed. Guess global warming isn;t here yet.

Folks, we are going to be treated to the biggest pork fest in human history under President Obama. My suggestion is to watch in awe and try not to get in front of the trough.

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you don't see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you'll see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

The liberal media is notorious for ignoring and turning a blind eye to the errors and sins of the Democratic Party. Did the left ever blame Clinton for the 1993 bombing in the World Trade Center, the soldiers who died in Somolia, and perjuring himself in court? Did the left and the liberal media want to discuss Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright, and Resko? Did the left and the liberal media want to ask tough questions to Barack Obama to see if he was truly qualified to be President? Do you think that President-Elect Obama for the next four years will witness the same kind of media negativity that President Bush encountered on a regular basis? Highly unlikely.

The Republican Party and those who claim to be conservatives need to make sure that they are not guilty of the same conduct that the Democratic Party is guilty of .......hypocrisy.

The Republican Party cannot turn a blind eye in the face of political corruption and scandal whether it involves a Democratic congressman or a Republican senator. Regardless of party affiliation, all wrongs need to brought out from under the rug. Otherwise, we are no different to the Democratic Party, and if we intend to ever win another election we will have to bold enough, strong enough, and honest enough to first clean our own house before ever attempting to point out the dirt in someone else's domain.

The Republican Party needs to be able to address that they are in desperate need of new leaders. There are some great leaders today who are conservatives. But they are few and far between.

Many in the Republican Party simply accept whatever is given to them at any cost. When Sarah Palin was announced as the VP for John McCain, I turned to my husband and said, "We are doomed." John McCain chose Palin for all the wrong reason and not for the reasons the liberal media dished out. But simply because she was by no means ready to be VP. It was McCain's desperate hope that she would help him win. Alas, McCain was given a bad hand, and he played badly. Now Palin is being thrown under the bus by the McCain camp when it was the McCain camp who picked her. When an executive hires someone inexperienced or not appropriate for the job, it is the executive who gets blamed for his poor choice and not the inexperienced employee. Avalanches begin from the top and work their way down. Not the other way around.

If the Republican Party wants to rise above the wreckage, we will all have to see things as they truly are. We must stand up when we see corruption in our Party. We must stand up against the Republicans in Washington who wish for more govt expansion. We must stand up against candidates ,although with well intent, are simply not going to win in the coming elections. Ask yourselves, does the Republican Party own you ? Or do you own the Republican Party? Do you say, 'right or wrong, my Party is correct"?

If the Republican Party wants to win the independents, the undecided, others who are true believers of a small federal govt, then the Republican Party will have to start telling it like it is. First and foremost, we are Americans. Therefore, we should be putting our country first. If we lose sight of that, America will no longer be the beacon of light.

I've allowed the dust to clear after last week's late night auto bailout debacle. In the passage of time, Senator Dodd's performance looks sorta like this

Several weeks ago, Senator Dodd was appointed the Senate's point person on the auto bailout. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/manufacturers/3711734/US-Senate-close-to-14bn-auto-bailout-deal.html The evening of the critical vote he claimed there were just "some issues that remain outstanding"

Hmm...like not having enough people in your own caucus behind the deal.   http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/12/senate_democrats_had_enough_re_1.asp

Not really addressing the issue of competitive employee compensation http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_go_co/congress_autos this year...not 2011..when GM is losing money at a titanic pace http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/13/BU5KV10HF.DTL 

and allowing the Republicans to control the final negotiations  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081213/ap_on_go_co/autos_corker

Indeed, one wonders why Dodd bothered at all, since he seemed to not care what sort of dreck the federal government generated on an issue of rather pressing concern...saying of Bob Corker

"If perfection was supposed to be his goal, he was sent on a mission he could never complete,"

Well, Chris, we know never to expect perfection from your efforts in the Senate. But we have learned to expect petulance and finger pointing after your failures http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hcu-autobailout-1212,0,6886086.story

An effective chairman would have rounded up his votes and forced some form of temporary compromise between the GOP and the UAW to pass a bill that offerred some meaningful relief. But after the TARP disaster, http://www.thenextright.com/ironman/chris-dodd-on-the-bank-bailout-yep-i-pulled-a-plaxico  Chris Dodd's delivery skills might be better employed at Domino's   

It's not just that Dodd is a liberal, or as my CT compadre Artful Doddger points out, his act back home is wearing very thin http://theartfuldoddger.blogspot.com/2008/12/this-was-not-good-weekend-for-publicity.html. It's that he just isn;t very effective at what he does anymore. And after almost 30 years in the Senate, there's little reason to expect improvement.

The irony, of course is much as the Bush adminstration does not want a GM bankruptcy on the record, they also do not want to be directly blamed for creating "American Leyland" . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Leyland Hence,  while they may permit the use of TARP cash to tide over GM and Chrysler, they may not be a whole lot more lenient than Bob Corker was http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac2c623a-cafe-11dd-87d7-000077b07658.html?referrer_id=yahoofinance&ft_ref=yahoo1&segid=03058

This will kick the can down the road a piece. Upon further reflection, I would suggest that the DC wizards think about a few other issues than whether GM ought to replace its CEO http://www.thenextright.com/ironman/message-to-senator-dodd-you-first

The always inquisitive Michael Barone suggests that beyond pay packages, union work rules have to be redone for the domestic firms to become competitive http://www.usnews.com/blogs/barone/2008/12/15/who-is-at-fault-for-the-decline-of-the-big-three.html

I would also suggest to the "save the planet" people out there that the market is indicating that in the immediate term, a massive retooling to electric cars is going to be an exercise in fiscal insanity. If Toyota doesn;t see that much of a market for the Prius until maybe 2011,  http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-toyota-plant,0,7578590.story, perhaps a more prudent short to mid term strategy for Detroit  might be to maximise revenue selling conventional vehicles? 

Sure it's unplesant and dull, but I've yet to see anyone explain how this works even for the purposes of postponing a bankruptcy until better economic times unless the Detroit 3 cut costs and sell profitable cars http://thenextright.com/ironman/can-hope-change-a-spark-plug

(as an aside, I figured out why the image is a) Detroit only sells big SUV's and b) no one buys their cars. I was in lower Fairfield County this morning. That's the deal down there--the only GM products I saw were Escalades and Tahoes--yuppies assume that's how it works for the whole country)  

I might also suggest much as the auto industry is a big picture, it isn't the biggest picture. Since the election of Obama, we have seen the Dow plummet and recover, but as the zeroes on the proposed stimulus package get larger, the value of American currency gets smaller.

 http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=USDEUR=X#symbol=USDEUR=X;range=3m

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=USDJPY=X#symbol=USDJPY=X;range=3m

Maybe its time to ask Senator Dodd who gets to bail out Uncle Sam?

"An Army is a team; lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap." - General Patton

"Mankind is at its best when it is most free. This will be clear if we grasp the principle of liberty. We must recall that the basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips but few in their minds." Dante

"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have." Leonardo Da Vinci

If you could invite 3 people for dinner from the past, who would they be?

My three would be General George Patton, Dante Alighieri, and Leonardo DaVinci.

These 3 men had much in common. They fought in wars, and theyl believed in the inherent right of being free. Man was meant to be free as our Founding Fathers believed. This concept of freedom is not a new idea. Freedom has been in the minds and souls of humans since the beginning of time. Our Founding Fathers were able to enact that idea into reality and create our great Nation.

Let us try and remember that when we hear of events taking place in India as well as in Israel. These democratic countries simply want to exist in freedom, and we should support them by not only offering our Intelligence and our Military; but also, we should simply permit them to do what they need to do to sustain their freedoms without America dictating to Israel what they can or cannot do.

If we claim to be lovers of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness then we should exhibit those fundamental beliefs by our actions towards our allies.

"I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the word seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses."-- Taylor Caldwell

On December 22, 1988 a Boeing 747 jet exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 270, including 11 on the ground. Just four days before Christmas. Many I am sure were going to visit family or return from a business trip to be with their family. Their lives ended in a blink of an eye.

Terrorists have been at it for a very long time, and we as Americans did very little to stop it until it reached our waters on Sept 11, 2001. Nothing has happened on US soil since 9/11, and many people have forgotten. Many people do not see terrorism as a core issue that America must deal with. Americans have become soft and fuzzy. Republicans have become wimps. Some spend hours upon hours debating issues that are so trivial and meaningless that give the appearance that the Republican Party is fractured and has lost its way. Time to pick up ourselves from our bootstraps and debate and fight for things that make this country strong. Time to get educated on what really matters. Time to stand up as patriots.