Day: September 24, 2009

2009 Anal-Ocity

Yes , there is stupid everywhere and unfortunately a lot of the anal statements come from those on the Right, politicians, pundits, media, etc.  Once again my friend , Bill O’Reilly has done it, bless his little black heart.

On one of his recent shows he, O’Reilly, was bitching about the other news media dudes and gals that “pick” on him and seem to single him out for criticism.  I found this comment by him to be a gem of a piece of anal verbiage.

“just drives me crazy that you can’t have be an honest dialogue in this country anymore.”

Bill—-Bill—of all people to make such a statement………

The Right’s talking heads just keep telling a story and it is seldom the whole story and in some cases it is a blatant lie.

I just had a scary thought….can you imagine the total BS that would come out of a roundtalk discussion that included Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Beck and Palin.  Talk about your intellectual license.  That is just plain scary!


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The Christian Conservatives Meeting

A meeting is going on in Washington of Christian conservatives among those jockeying for position with this group is Pawlenty, Huckabee, Romney are the biggest names on the bill.  But some are not in attendance like Palin and Newt.  So just how explosive can the meeting be without the two biggest gas bags?

The WaPo is reporting on the meeting:

Conservative activists see exploitable opportunities in Obama’s policies and performance that also can stir more centrist voters, such as suspicions of “big government” and the almost uniquely American skepticism of global warming that prevails in much of the heartland.

“The idea that the healthcare plan takes away choice and freedom, people see their liberties at risk,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), the conservative Christian lobby group organizing the summit of self-styled “values voters.”

The Family Research Council also claims “Obamacare” will lead to federal funding for abortion — an allegation hotly disputed by the president and his supporters — and Perkins told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference that this issue went “beyond the ranks of the pro-life movement.”

The religious right has been at the forefront of conservative efforts to rally public opposition to climate change legislation aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

Conservative Christian radio stations have spent the summer saying the legislation’s “cap and trade” provisions would represent the biggest tax increase in U.S. history. That has stoked opposition and could have an impact when the legislation, already passed in the House of Representatives, is considered in the Senate.

Opposition to abortion rights and gay rights long have been leading rallying cries of the religious right, but its activists also tend to follow broader conservative values such as low taxes and support for a strong U.S. military.

The “straw boss” of the straw poll at the meeting comes out as Huckabee and Romney an also ran.  Did Romney lose because he is a Moron?  Or is Huckabee more like the whackos at these meetings?

With all that reported,  there is too much BS in one location.  Like they are afraid of “big government” and they want them out of our lives, but in the same breath want condemnation of gays and abortion, two personal choices.  Hypocrites!

Beyond hypocrites, these dipsticks are LAIRS!  There is NO amendment in the health care bill that would allow for the funding of abortions….BTW it is against the law to use Fed money to pay for abortions….a fact they seem to want to leave out of their rants.  All in all a bunch of dipsticks that believe T. Rex had a saddle.

The whole conservative movement has all the trappings of a Jerry Springer episode….all the sex….all the drama….all back stabbing….and finally all the trainwreck amusement.

That is my take on the hot air coming from the Christian Conservatives meeting.

Overdraft Fees In Danger?

The bane to many worker stiffs is the dreaded overdraft fee when you spend a little ytoo much and do not have the funds to cover it…..you know the $30 you pay to the bank and the $25 you pay to the business….the very things that make your deposit smaller than it should be.

Well guess what?  Looks like the Congress will take up the plight of the consumer and his battle with overdrafts.  As reported in the WaPo:

A backlash is brewing on Capitol Hill against banks that charge large fees for overdrafts without asking or telling customers, the latest sign that the financial crisis is shifting the balance of power from banks toward borrowers.

Banks struggling to survive have become increasingly reliant on the fees, which could total $38.5 billion this year.

But congressional Democrats, who pushed through new restrictions on credit cards this spring, now are promising a crackdown on overdraft fees, using words like “criminal” and “rip-off” to describe the practice of letting people overspend and then charging them fees without warning. Most overdrafts are now incurred on debit card transactions.

The attack on overdraft fees comes as Congress is considering a fundamental overhaul of financial regulation. The Obama administration has proposed the creation of a new agency empowered to write and enforce rules protecting consumers in financial transactions, removing that power from banking regulators. Dodd also favors the creation of a single agency to oversee the health of banks, consolidating a responsibility held by four agencies.

Moebs Services projects that the industry will make $38.5 billion off the fees this year, up from $18 billion in 1999, in part because the average fee large banks charge for each overdraft has climbed by $10, to $35.

Industry groups argue that customers are responsible for monitoring their account balances, that overdrafts should not happen unintentionally and that overdraft loans — the money advanced automatically to cover the overdraft — are a service that banks offer.

So far not much has been out there about this issue, but I see it becoming a heated debate, especially if banks see one of the sources of revenue drying up.  Of course this will be part of the “new” financial reform bill, but it will be interesting to see how this will play in the media and therefore in the debate that will follow.