The Donald endorses Mittens

A crony capitalist endorses a crony capitalist:

The Video:

 

 

The Story:

(CNN) — Celebrity business magnate Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday, telling reporters he will not mount an independent campaign if Romney is the Republican nominee.

Trump, who has repeatedly flirted with the possibility of his own White House bid, revealed his decision in Las Vegas two days before Nevada’s Saturday caucuses.

“It’s my honor, real honor, to endorse Mitt Romney,” Trump said, with Romney and his wife standing nearby. Calling Romney “tough” and “smart,” Trump said, “he’s not going to continue to allow bad things to happen to this country.”

Romney responded by praising Trump for “an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works and to create jobs” and for being “one of the few who has stood up to say China is cheating” in international trade.

via Trump endorses Romney – CNN.com.

The White House reacts: (Video) (H/T Washington Examiner)

Drudge called that sneering. I thought it was rather funny myself. 😛

Blogger Roundup Here.

A very nice article on the decline of the left

This comes via InstaPundit.

An article by Walter Russell Mead in the American Interest on decline of liberalism in America; some highlights:

“The blue model is breaking down so fast and so far that not even its supporters can ignore the disintegration and disaster it now presages. Liberal Democrats in states like Rhode Island and cities like Chicago are cutting pensions and benefits and laying off workers out of financial necessity rather than ideological zeal. The blue model can no longer pay its bills, and not even its friends can keep it alive. Our real choice, however, is not between blue or pre-blue. We can’t get back to the 1890s or 1920s any more than we can go back to the 1950s and 1960s. We may not yet be able to imagine what a post-blue future looks like, but that is what we will have to build. . . . There are a lot of reasons to be nostalgic for the old days (especially for the white males who were, far and away, the biggest beneficiaries of the old system), but there are also good reasons to bid the blue model good riddance.”

Please, go read the rest of that; because in a sense, this article says much of what I have written in the past on my old blog. Basically, that the left went off the rails years ago; along with organized labor, when they shifted from offense to defense. Since then, they have gotten worse and worse.  A perfect example was in 2008, that whole thing with Hillary and Obama was a perfect manifestation of the class warfare between Man and Woman, Black and White; it all got to be a bit too much for me. Which is why I left them.

The sad thing is, the left, as it were, got even crazier after Obama was elected. It was as if the arrogance of the left went through the roof; they had the media, the white house, congress —- everything — and what did Obama do with all that favoritism? He blew it! I believe the grassroots left knows they were played; the establishment left does not really care, they are getting paychecks; but the people I know, the bloggers, are not happy.

Which brings me to my last point; I really wish this process between Newt and Romney would finally end and the Republican Party would get behind one of them. This whole populist versus establishment fighting is wearing very thin with me. It has nuances of the left’s class warfare; which I really do not get into at all. Do not misunderstand me here; I am all for airing someones dirty laundry and misdeeds, but to wrap it up in a package that the left would approve of, is not a way to fight a battle.

In other words; Florida’s primary cannot come quick enough!

 

Nitpicking Megan McArdle a bit

Megan McArdle is a good writer that makes a whole bunch more money writing than I do.

She writes a very good blog entry about the President’s State of the Union address. In it, she writes the following, that I feel the need to comment about:

The harsh way to put it is that the speech was an extended whine about how all the rich bankers and George Bush have screwed everything up.  That was fine campaign rhetoric when he was a Senator.  But it’s pretty weak when he’s been in charge for most of a full term–two years of that with a majority in congress.

You see this is the entire problem; the Democrats lead by President Obama, continue to perpetuate the outright lie that the President George W. Bush and the cabal of rich bankers caused the Wall Street crisis and that drove our economy into the ground.  This is nothing more than outright historic revisionism.  The truth is the so-called “bankers” took advantage of the situation.  As I have written on this blog and my previous blog, in 1973, the Democrats passed the community reinvestment act.  In 1993, the Democrats added the subprime clause to that act, which created the ability for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack to sell high-risk, adjustable rate mortgages to those who, under normal circumstances could not even remotely be qualified to get them.

There was one thing that did exacerbate the situation, that was the removal by Congress and not by Bush; the regulation that was supposed to prevent predatory lending conditions.  Furthermore,  The Republicans in Congress at the time, can be blamed for backing off an investigation, when the then President of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played the race card in response to a warning from the Bush White House that the housing market was about to crash.

Now the question as to the morality of the bankers is another story entirely.  However, the very idea that somehow a cabal of banks actually brought the economy down is weapons grade conspiracy theory nonsense.  The only thing that “The Bankers” and Wall Street did was take advantage of a situation created by the very socialists who are blaming the banks for the situation in the first place.

 

Video: New Santorum SC Ad, “Easy Answer”

This comes via Time:

Personally, I think the ad reeks of desperation. What do you think?

Others: The Other McCain, Hot Air and USA Today

(H/T Memeorandum)

 

 

Humble request to ZeroHedge

I really hate having to criticize other bloggers. Because I happen to know that Blogging is a tough thing to do without some idiot outsider criticizing your work. It sucks and I know I do not like it when people do it to me. However, I believe this one is highly warranted.

I posted here last night about a possible pop in China’s economy. So, this morning, I happen to go over to ZeroHedge’s site and see the following headline:

“China Is Proud To Announce It Is Reflating The Bubble – Will “Actively Push” Investors Into Stocks”

Here is the little problem with the above story. There is NO reference link to the story at Bloomberg. The nearest thing I could find was a story similar in nature, but included nothing that was referenced in the story above. I am not accusing Zerohedge of lying. But, something is quite fishy here. Either Bloomberg reedited the story, because maybe part of it was fished out as bogus or someone at Zerohedge took some editorial liberties.

Either way, the story got bounced around the Alex Jones crowd a bit and I wanted to fish it out and see if it were true or not. However it is quite hard to do that, when there is no reference link to it. So, to the guys over Zerohedge; guys, please, links to stories or they’re not true, is that too much to ask?

Thanks,

-Pat

 

I think this is a bit of a stretch

First off, let me say that I have never ever supported the #OWS movement at all.  However, I think that accusing the people that put this float on of Antisemitism is a bit of a stretch.

Here’s the video of the float: (Via Weasel Zippers) (I love the name of that blog… 😛 )

Now Donald Douglas, who I happen to think is a pretty nice guy; he likes Hendrix, he can’t be that bad! Anyhow, says that this float was essentially this:

I respect Douglas opinion, and he could very well be right about this; but he could be wrong too. I did not see any Israeli flag on the float.  My point is this, as I have written around here before; we, as Conservatives, need to be real careful about tossing the Jew-hater flag out at the political football game. I mean, pinning the thoughts of a few people on an entire crowd is collectivism and this Conservative writer despises that mindset. This is what separates me from the “Neo-Conservative” wing of the Conservative movement; because I happen to reject the “group think” mentality that goes on in those circles. Further, I reject the entire notion of collectivism as a Conservative way of thinking. Sorry, that’s a page from the leftist playbook and I want no part of it.

Again, I reject what the #OWS is all about, they’re anti-capitalists, that is a given — But I won’t place them all in the “Jew-Hater” corner. As someone who’s been accused of such tripe, I will not fire off that accusation at a group of people — at a individual, maybe.   But at a group? No. Sorry, that is just not how I roll. (as the young people like to say today. 😀 )

You might disagree, and that’s okay — stupidity is not illegal. 😉

Others: Daily Mail, The Informer, Atlas Shrugs, Doug Ross, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Scared Monkeys

It is a good question

It is really…:

It is a darned good question.....

Thanks to an advertiser who wishes to remain anonymous, cars and trucks on Arizona Highway 260 in East Central Arizona are driving by a billboard advertisement that recently went up, bearing President Obama’s face on what appears to be a mock U.S. $100,000,000,000,000 (One-Hundred Trillion Dollar) bill.

The billboard’s caption: “But Who Will Pay the Piper?”

Chuck Perrine of Jones Outdoor advertising in Tucson, Ariz., confirmed to CNSNews.com that his company created the 10 ft- by-40 ft. billboard, which he said “went up within the last month.”

Perrine said the sign is located “near Linden (Ariz.),” but said that the advertiser is “not interested” in disclosing any further information about his identity–or his reason for purchasing the ad.

via CNSNews.com – Mysterious Billboard Puts Obama’s Face on $100,000,000,000,000 Bill, Asks: ‘But Who Will Pay the Piper?’.

It is a very good question to ask and you want to know the answer? That would be us, the American Tax Payer, that is whom will pay the piper for many years to come. After all the stimulus that the Democrats rushed out the door? It failed. Don’t believe me? Here’s the video proof: (H/T HotAir)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As all of us, who are right of Obama, said over and over and over; you cannot prime the pump of the economy — it is either there or it is not. Further more, the huge housing bubble burst and subsequent collapse of the stock market; which wiped out many people’s 401K’s, not just the rich — is living proof that you cannot socially engineer the economy.  It works, but only for a season. Bubbles burst, and things come back to normal and people lose and sometimes lose big.

Hats off to the person who decided to put this up. Of course, in the lame stream media he will be denounced as some sort of evil racist or something….

Others: Another Black Conservative, Weasel Zippers and The Other McCain

Obama Says: "I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money"

This is unbelievable.  (H/T HotAir)

Video:

Partial Transcript:

We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.

The problem is; that was not a part of his prepared remarks, here is what he was supposed to say:

Now, we’re not doing this to punish these firms or begrudge success that’s fairly earned. We don’t want to stop them from fulfilling their responsibility to help grow our economy.

By the way, the radio host is Mark Levin, whom I normally find to be highly annoying; mainly because his voice sounds like the equivalent of dragging a cat backwards through a fan. But, I have to say, that I agree with everything that is said here.

Ed Morrissey, whom I have much respect for, points out the glaringly obvious here:

He should have stuck with the TelePrompter. The President doesn’t get to decide when people have “made enough money.” In fact, as the radio host notes, that’s a statist point of view. Furthermore, the responsibility of an entrepreneur isn’t to “grow our economy,” core or otherwise. It’s to grow his own economy. In a properly regulated capitalist system, the natural tension of self-interests create economic growth through innovation and efficient use of capital and resources.

Put simply, a free people work for themselves, not for the government. Barack Obama seems to have a problem understanding that.

But then again; Marxists usually do. Yesterday, I posted a video by Chris Matthews over at MSNBC basically saying that we should cool it with the Nazi references, when it comes to politics and the Right…and Left. The reason why I say that I agreed with that; is because comparing this President to Adolf Hitler is giving Hitler and this President way too much credit.  Nazism was started because Hitler saw the failures of socialism and sought to improve upon it; a plan the ultimately failed thankfully. This President is just a flat out socialist; he is highly against any sort of unfettered Capitalism at all. I mean, do not misunderstand me here; I am all for seeing the people that capitalized on our economy going down the toilet, having to pay the piper.  But to get in front of people and make a statement like this, is just inexcusable. This might come as a shock to those on the left; I am for Capitalism, but I am not for the reckless greed, that leads to destruction. There is a big difference.

The Bottom Line: The President needs to stick to the teleprompter. Because every time that he goes off of that teleprompter, he exposes himself and that exposure is starting to look very, very ugly.

Update: Others: RedState, Left Coast Rebel, Whiskey Fire, The TrogloPundit, Beltway Confidential, Cassy Fiano, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Neptunus Lex, Confederate Yankee, YID With LID, Animal Farm, Villainous Company, protein wisdom and Pajamas Media

Video: We Will Remember

(H/T HotAir)

Sign the Pledge at We Will Remember.

Justice: Goldman Sachs sued by the SEC for the Meltdown of 2008

Finally, some justice to these bastards:

Via the NYT:

Goldman Sachs, which emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis, was accused of securities fraud in a civil suit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which claims the bank created and sold a mortgage investment that was secretly devised to fail.

The move marks the first time that regulators have taken action against a Wall Street deal that helped investors capitalize on the collapse of the housing market. Goldman itself profited by betting against the very mortgage investments that it sold to its customers.

The suit also named Fabrice Tourre, a vice president at Goldman who helped create and sell the investment.

In a statement, Goldman called the S.E.C. accusations “completely unfounded in law and fact” and said the firm would “vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.”

The instrument in the S.E.C. case, called Abacus 2007-AC1, was one of 25 deals that Goldman created so the bank and select clients could bet against the housing market. Those deals, which were the subject of an article in The New York Times in December, initially protected Goldman from losses when the mortgage market disintegrated and later yielded profits for the bank.

As the Abacus deal plunged in value, Goldman and a prominent hedge fund made money on their negative bets, while European investors like IKB and ABN Amro lost more than $1 billion, the S.E.C. said.

According to the complaint, Goldman created Abacus 2007-AC1 in February 2007, at the request of John A. Paulson, a prominent hedge fund manager who earned an estimated $3.7 billion in 2007 by correctly wagering that the housing bubble would burst.

Goldman let Mr. Paulson select mortgage bonds that he wanted to bet against — the ones he believed were most likely to lose value — and packaged those bonds into Abacus 2007-AC1, according to the S.E.C. complaint. Goldman then sold the Abacus deal to investors like foreign banks, pension funds, insurance companies and other hedge funds.

But the deck was stacked against the Abacus investors, the complaint contends, because the investment was filled with bonds chosen by Mr. Paulson, who is not named in the suit, as likely to default. Goldman told investors in Abacus marketing materials reviewed by The Times that the bonds would be chosen by an independent manager.

“The product was new and complex, but the deception and conflicts are old and simple,” Robert Khuzami, the director of the S.E.C.’s division of enforcement, said in a statement. “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party.”

In response Goldman Sachs says:

The SEC’s charges are completely unfounded in law and fact and we will vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.

Yeah, sure the accusations are unfounded. If I were a Goldman employee; I would be looking for a new job pronto.

From the SEC Press Release:

The SEC’s complaint alleges that after participating in the portfolio selection, Paulson & Co. effectively shorted the RMBS portfolio it helped select by entering into credit default swaps (CDS) with Goldman Sachs to buy protection on specific layers of the ABACUS capital structure. Given that financial short interest, Paulson & Co. had an economic incentive to select RMBS that it expected to experience credit events in the near future. Goldman Sachs did not disclose Paulson & Co.’s short position or its role in the collateral selection process in the term sheet, flip book, offering memorandum, or other marketing materials provided to investors.

The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs Vice President Fabrice Tourre was principally responsible for ABACUS 2007-AC1. Tourre structured the transaction, prepared the marketing materials, and communicated directly with investors. Tourre allegedly knew of Paulson & Co.’s undisclosed short interest and role in the collateral selection process. In addition, he misled ACA into believing that Paulson & Co. invested approximately $200 million in the equity of ABACUS, indicating that Paulson & Co.’s interests in the collateral selection process were closely aligned with ACA’s interests. In reality, however, their interests were sharply conflicting.

According to the SEC’s complaint, the deal closed on April 26, 2007, and Paulson & Co. paid Goldman Sachs approximately $15 million for structuring and marketing ABACUS. By Oct. 24, 2007, 83 percent of the RMBS in the ABACUS portfolio had been downgraded and 17 percent were on negative watch. By Jan. 29, 2008, 99 percent of the portfolio had been downgraded.

Investors in the liabilities of ABACUS are alleged to have lost more than $1 billion.

The SEC’s complaint charges Goldman Sachs and Tourre with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5. The Commission seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest, and financial penalties.

Allow me to humbly submit that I hope that these bastards get exactly what is coming to them. I mean, these guy literally gambled as the stock market and by proxy; our economy went straight into the toilet.   Many people that I know; like my parents, lost a good deal of money on this stuff. Not only that, after the credit crises hit; G.M. ended up having to shed a bunch of expenses; and as a result, my parents lost their optical and dental insurance. That came as a indirect result of this Wall Street mess. So, as far as I am concerned; throw the book at these bastards.

Capitalism is one thing, heartless greed is another; and these bastards crossed that line, big time. 😡