Mr. Obama’s Washington

Some of you who read my posts about investment banks driving up the price of oil through commodities futures trading did not believe me that this was a real issue, despite the fact that the Senate is investigating it. Well, it really is an issue and an important one, so important that the Department of Justice is going to investigate.

Senator Obama announced a plan to crack down on excessive energy speculation and fully close the loophole in the CFTC regulations that I referred to in my blog. This loophole is also called the "Enron Loophole" because it was created by McCain campaign co-chair Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron lobbyists, and exempts most trading on energy commodities from regulation. As a result, the CFTC is unable to oversee the oil futures market or investigate cases where excessive speculation is driving up oil prices. Just last month, John Hofmesiter, President of Shell Oil Company, says that the proper, uninflated production price of a barrel of crude oil is no more than $65.

http://www.financialpost.com/reports/oil-watch/story.html?id=532747

Clarence Cazalot, CEO of Marathon Oil, stated in November of 2007 that "$100 oil just isn't justified by the physical demand on the market - it is speculation on the futures market that is driving this."

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/12/markets/oil_hundred/index.htm?postversion=2007111216

Larry Chom, Chief Economist of Platt's, states in a recent Businessweek article that speculation is adding at least $50 to the price of every barrel of oil. You can read this article in the May 13, 2008 edition of Businessweek, but it is no longer available on their website unless you are a member.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/may2008/

To see what Senator Obama is doing to correct this serious problem and lower the price of gas and oil, go to his website:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gG5Rzb

Now THAT is my kind of President! Sees the problem, and moves to fix it, while Bush and McCain are sitting on their hands.

MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2008
NY Daily News revealed that some of the 66 lobbyists driving the Double Talk Express have made close to a million dollars lobbying for a notorious predatory lender, Ameriquest, which lured people into unsustainable mortgages. McCain doesn't blame Ameriquest or his lobbyist pals-- one his chief liaison to Congress (John Green) and the other is his national finance co-chairman (Wayne Berman). Instead he blames the victims, calling them irresponsible and trying to paint them as somehow morally deficient and undeserving of society's help as they lose their homes. Of course, McCain himself has voted for every single piece of legislation that has wrecked a regulatory system that could have and should have prevented the business practices that led to this-- and those votes are paying off big time as scores of lobbyists he has helped flock to his campaign.
When Sen. John McCain addressed the nation's burgeoning mortgage mess last week, he insisted it was time for a little "straight talk."

"I will not play election-year politics with the housing crisis," the GOP presidential hopeful insisted while unveiling his plan, which many have since described as friendlier to the mortgage industry than the Democrats' proposals.

What McCain did not say-- which some believe smacks of politics-- is that two of his top advisers were recently lobbyists for a notorious lender in the mortgage meltdown.

McCain's lobbyist brigade were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars before Ameriquest went belly-up-- but not before thousands and thousands of their victims lost their homes. The company was forced to settle suits in 49 states and pay $325 million in liabilities. "They would be defined as the most blatant and aggressive predatory lenders out of everybody," said Bruce Marks, head of the nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America.

McCain claims he kept Green and Berman out of the process when he decided to come down on the side of the predatory lenders and against the consumers and, in truth, that's the way his voting record shows he's always been. One of his p.r hacks, Tucker Bonds, blatantly lied to a press ever eager to believe every word: "Sen. McCain has never done anything that would violate the public trust and he has never done favors for special interests or lobbyists." I guess no one remembers McCain's close relationship with crooked Arizona banker Charles Keating, who admits he got what he expected from McCain for showering him with tens of thousands of dollars in expensive gifts and services-- while ripping off millions of dollars for Savings and Loans depositors.

Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." James 4:4

Senator Obama has been very up front during the campaign about his Christian faith. Only God can judge his heart if indeed he has accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, but based on his public statements about his faith as well as his actions, it is critical to explore what he believes and see if this man really is a Christian as he claims. What does Senator Obama believe regarding the basic tenets of the Christian faith? What does he believe about salvation?

Senator Obama is part of this new and emerging group of Christians I have called the "religious left." The "religious left" is made up of people who identify themselves as Christians and hold strong religious beliefs as well as sharing left-wing ideals. Obviously, this group has risen up in opposition to those who have been tagged the "religious right" or the "Christian right." Those in the "religious left" oppose God on issues like abortion and gay marriage, but are heavily involved in the ecumenical movement, environmental issues, opposing war for any reason, world hunger, and social issues like healthcare, welfare, and education. Sound familiar?

I am sending a formal invitation to Senator Obama to sit down with me on camera and deal with these serious questions regarding what he believes about his Christian faith. He has been eager to talk about his faith to the media and has appeared in many televised programs specifically about what he believes. Sadly, those who have interviewed him and moderated these special programs on faith, have either not had the understanding or desire to ask Senator Obama the critical questions to determine what this man really believes regarding the foundational beliefs of Christianity.

A Christian, according to the Bible, is a person who has made the conscious choice to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior by faith and follow Him. You CANNOT be a true follower of Jesus Christ and deny the Truth of the Bible. It is inconsistent to say, " I am a Christian," yet live in rebellion to the Bible. It is apparent as you listen to Senator Obama speak about his faith, that he does NOT hold the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God, representing Absolute Truth and our final authority in all matters. Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey me," and that means His Word!

And when i think of abfabinri, i think of a person who is willing to vote for a man who is dedicated to sending our young women and men to their deaths in Iraq. John McCain is willing to just that to obtain the votes of the mouth-breathing right Wing of his and your party so he can realize his ambition. You out of touch 23%ers have no problem with killing our troops to achieve the White House.

Id like to see a candidate address and try to fix this:

How many zeros in a billion? This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain... let's take a look at New Orleans .. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number... what does it mean?

Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C???. HELLO! Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage, Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax., Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'POLITICIANS!'

And I still have to press '1' for English.

What the heck happened?????

Readers, be informed, and beware! Sam Bodman, US Energy Secretary, is a Bush appointed Yes-man. Bodman states that insufficient production is making oil prices soar. Bush wants you to think that the OPEC countries are responsible for high oil prices, but the truth is, OPEC has been significantly increasing production over the past several months. Where is all that oil going? It's being stockpiled by US investment banks, who are creating a fake shortage to drive up the price. Congress has already started to investigate this criminal practice. Bush, who has deregulated the banking industry, tries to blame it on OPEC. By now you should be familiar with Bush's MO: he says you should be very afraid of Muslims. But who you should really be afraid of are investment bankers at Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Check this out:

Michael Masters of Master Capital Management (a global investment manager) testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs a couple of weeks ago. Quotes from his testimony:

"Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities futures markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. In the popular press the explanation given for rising oil prices is the increased demand from China. According to the DOE, China's demand for petroleum has increased in the last five years from 1.88 billion barrels to 2.8 billion barrels, an increase of 920 billion barrels. Over the same five year period, Index Speculators' demand for petroleum futures has increased by 848 million barrels. THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM INDEX SPECULATORS IS ALMOST EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM CHINA. Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding EIGHT TIMES as much oil to their own stockpile as the US Government has added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years."

"The Senate has asked the question "Are Institutional Investors contributing to food and energy price inflation?" And my unequivocal answer is "YES." In this testimony I will explain that investment banks are one of, if not the primary, factors affecting commodities prices today. Clearly, there are many factors that contribute to price determination in the commodities markets; I am here to expose a fast-growing yet virtually unnoticed factor, and one that presents a problem that can be expediently corrected through legislative policy action..."

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. They're supposed to be protecting us from these kinds of abuses, but Bush allowed loopholes in the CFTC regulations that you can drive a truck through. An oil truck, that is.

Links to Masters' Senate testimony, and 2 articles:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/052008Masters.pdf
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20011.htm
http://globalresearch.ca

You silly white asses. Is this the paper that dogged the clintons awhile back and have now been paid not to do it again? I wondered why there were so many negative comments about Obma on here, now I see why. Anybody who is for Obama, you keep them from posting. Doesnt matter you idiots, oh and by the way, this is not for the post, this is for the person who reads then deletes. This is my fourth post today and Im dont think even one got posted. Yeah I said it, IF GOD BE FOR YOU, WHO CAN BE AGAINST YOU?

obama's arrogant ass thinks he can change the president seal to say obama of america unstead of the united states of america he should be drawn and quatered !!!!

How dare Obama inspire 1.5 million donors, giving an average of $197 apiece, to help him raise more money than McCain?

"This is a big deal," said McCain of Obama's decision. "It's a big deal. He has completely reversed himself and gone back not on his word to me, but the commitment that he made to the American people. That's disturbing."

The fact that McCain has "completely reversed himself" on public financing -- and is currently breaking the law on a daily basis, making a mockery out of a campaign finance system he helped create?

In the fall of 2007, McCain opted into the public financing system for the GOP primaries, which meant he'd later receive just over $5 million in public funds in exchange for agreeing to a fundraising limit of around $54 million for the entire primary process, which ends when he accepts the nomination at the Republican National Convention in September.

By late November, his campaign was practically broke, so McCain took out a pair of $1 million loans, using the public funds he would receive as collateral.

Cut to Super Tuesday, when McCain had the Republican nomination all but wrapped up. Suddenly, he didn't want to be bound by that $54 million limit, so his campaign did a 180 and opted back out of the public financing system.

But as David Mason, the Republican-appointed chair of the FEC, has pointed out, you can't just unilaterally opt out -- especially after securing a loan based on having opted in. The response of the McCain campaign is quite simply to ignore Mason. And because the FEC currently lacks a quorum (thanks to stalling tactics by that human roadblock to reform, Mitch McConnell) that's where things stand, pending a ruling on a lawsuit filed by the DNC.


CNN's John Roberts. When McCain surrogate Nancy Pfotenhauer tried to contrast Obama opting out of public financing and McCain's steadfast resolve in the face of torture at the Hanoi Hilton, Roberts, as noted, firmly raised the question of whether McCain cheated the campaign financing system.

Looking back on the journey McCain has taken, from tireless champion of campaign finance reform to presidential nominee abusing every campaign finance loophole possible, Graham's words are actually a fitting epitaph for the loss of the Old John McCain of 2000. It is "just really sad for the country" that the man who once vowed "to have blood all over the floor of the Senate until we accede to the demands of the people" for meaningful reform has been replaced by the John McCain of 2008.

Francis Wilkinson who, writing in the New York Times, deemed it "probably the most obvious and inevitable decision he'll make all year -- justified both politically and ethically.'

What's more, because of the revolutionary way his campaign has used the Internet, Obama, unlike candidates of the past, no longer needs to spend 2/3 of his time in fundraising dinners with fat cat donors. And wasn't that goal of