I have to admit it. My liberal friends were right.. They told me if I voted for McCain, the nation's Hope would deteriorate, and sure enough there has been a 20 point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index since the election, reaching a lower point than any time during the Bush administration.
They told me if I voted for McCain, the US would become more deeply embroiled in the Middle East, and sure enough tens of thousands of additional troops are scheduled to be deployed into Afghanistan.
They told me if I voted for McCain, that the economy would get worse and sure enough unemployment is approaching 8.8% and the new stimulus packages implemented recently have sent the stock market lower than at any time since 9-11.
They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "crooks" in high ranking positions in Federal government and sure enough, several recent cabinet nominees and Senate appointments revealed resumes of scandal, bribery and tax fraud.
They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "Pork at the trough" in Federal government and sure enough, 17,500 "Pork Bills" showed up in Congress since Inauguration Day...
They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more deficit spending in DC and sure enough, Obama has spent more in 30 days than all other Presidents together in the history of the good'ole USA....
Well I ignored my Democrat friends in November and voted for McCain and Palin.
And my Democrat friends were right .
All of their predictions have come true.
Movies
This page supports a boycott of music CDs, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)labels, and any media promoted and/or distributed by the RIAA. The editor will purchase NO music CDs in 2008!
UPDATE: Sandpaper For The Soul purchased NO RIAA lables in 2008!
Television
Political Reflections and Affirmations
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten
comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something
like this: (take it to the end, I guarantee you will learn something valuable).
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So , that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
Since you are all such good customers, he said, I'm going to reduce the
cost of your daily beer by $20.Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what
about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the
$20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted
that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each
end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's
bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each
should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued
to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare
their savings.
I only got a dollar out of the $20,declared the sixth man. He pointed to
the tenth man, but he got $10!
Yeah, that's right, exclaimed the fifth man. I only saved a dollar,
too. It's unfair that he got TEN times more than I!
That's true!! shouted the seventh man. Why should he get $10 back
when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!
Wait a minute, yelled the first four men in unison. We didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine
sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the
bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money
between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our
tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit
from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and
they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas
where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For democrats no
explanation is possible.
Books
Recommended Reading
"A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam" by Lewis Sorley
"Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam" by H.R. McMaster
"The Political Language of Islam" by Bernard Lews
Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War by Rick Atkinson
"What Went Wrong: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East" by Bernard Lewis
"Radical Son" by David Horowitz
"Bias" by Bernard Goldberg
"The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America" by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
"The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright
"Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice" by David Galula
"Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam" by John A. Nagl
"Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America" by Walid Phares
"The War of Ideas" by Walid Phares
Heroes
Joe Leiberman Ronald Reagan Harry Truman Sam Nunn Gen. Creighton Abrams Cong. Harold Ford Jr. Former White House Spokesman
Larry Speaks Former Congressman Henry Hyde David Horowitz P.J. O'Rourke Bernard Goldberg
Sand Paper for the Soul's Details
Status:
Single
Hometown:
Flyover Country
Zodiac Sign:
Libra
Occupation:
Politician Watcher
Sand Paper for the Soul steaming over the intrusion of government into our lives! Posted at 10:42 PM Nov 17 view more
I liken this page to Chicken Soup for the Soul, except it is gauranteed to rub some folks the wrong way. Given THAT aspect of it, I've named the page "Sand Paper for the Soul" knowing how it will "rub" some readers. At heart I am a political junkie and a comedy lover. I use this page to take a critical and sometimes humorous look at politics. This page is a work in progress....
As for me, I tend to be "right leaning". You can interpret that as leaning towards being correct which would be suitably ambiguous, or you can interpret it as just to the right of the political center. You can make your own call.
Enjoy the page or not, it's totally up to you. What a country!
SP4TS
Who I'd like to meet:
FLASH: Sandpaper For The Soul will be giving the MySpace page a makeover soon! The current layout just won't suffice for documenting the rampant, unconsitutional behavior of the Obama Administration! So I'm working on some new ideas for the page and I hope to get it overhauled soon! Check back often!
Sandpaper For The Soul salutes our military veterans, retirees, and active duty force! Sandpaper thanks you for your service and committement to our nation and freedoms!
Governor Palin Cleared of Wrong Doing and Ethics Violations in "Troopergate"- Read my blog!
Congressional Democrats to Target Pentagon Budget for 25% cut-WHILE WE'RE AT WAR! It's in my blog!
Congressional Democrats to Target private 401(k) for taxes and eventual elimination- Read my blog!
CSI: Political Party Corruption and the U.S. Credit Meltdown
Let's play investigator. If you're investigating a crime, and you're looking at the crime scene one thing you do is dust for prints and try to identify potential suspects.
Let's say we've surveyed the crime scene and found failed banks, credit vacuum, failed lending institutions, rampant corruption of public officials, etc. We've run the prints and here are our possible suspects:
Chris Dodd- Senator. Democrat. Authored legislation that President Bill Clinton signed making it legal for Aurthur Andersen to serve Enron as both auditor and as investment consutlant. Recipient of the largest total campaign contributions of all U.S. Senators over last the 20 years from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Helped thwart Republican efforts in the Senate in 2003, 2004, and 2005 to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by using Senate procedures to kill legislation in committee.
Bill Clinton- Democrat. Former President. Signed authorizing legislation allowing Arthur Andersen to both audit and advise Enron. Set the stage for manipulation of Enron books and the ultimate collapse of Enron. Appointed Jamie Gorelic to Vice Chair of Fannie Mae in 1997.
Bob Rubin- Democrat. Former Clinton Treasury Secretary. Made the frantic call to President Bush's Treasury Secretary in 2001 requesting the Bush Administration intervene and save Enron.
Arthur Andersen- Audit firm and Consulting agency for Enron. Oversaw the management of Enron's books while also running their audits. Prior to the legislation written and sponsored by Democrat Senator Chris Dodd and signed by Democrat President Bill Clinton, it was illegal for an investment and consulting firm to also serve as the auditor for customer companies.
Ken Lay- Presiding CEO of Enron when it collapsed. Frequent golf friend of President Bill Clinton. Frequent Lincoln Bedroom guest of President Bill Clinton. Convicted on 10 of 11 counts of securities fraud against him in connection with the fall of Enron. Bob Rubin, President Clinton's former Treasury Secretary tried a last minute request to the Bush Administration to rescue Enron.
Enron- Formerly a Houston based energy that went bankrupt in late 2001. Systemic securities fraud and corruption brought the company down resulting in the conviction of Ken Lay and the dissolution of Arthur Andersen after Enron and Arthur Andersen took advantage of the law that was changed to allow AA to serve as auditor and investment consultant. Dangerous investment practices that would, under the previous law, have been detected in the audit process were, after the change, obscured during AA's audits so as not to impact their profitable investment business.
Diane Feinstein- Senator. Democrat. Steered lucrative defense contracts to her husbands company though legislative pressure.
William Jefferson- Congressman. Democrat. Under investigation by the FBI for graft. Found with $90,000 of FBI sting money wrapped in tin foil in his home freezer.
Charlie Wrangle- Congressman. Democrat. Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee that writes tax law. Discovered to have failed to pay any income taxes on the income of his off-shore rental properties. House Ethics Committee is "investigating" him after his statements that he had neglected to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income from a vacation home in the Dominican Republic. Back taxes due on this are estimated to be $10,000. He is also under investigation for using a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem, rented at below-market rate, as a campaign office- a violation of New York State Law.
Nancy Pelosi- Congresswoman. Democrat. Speaker of the House. Second in the successional line for the Presidency. Tax filings revealed she funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars of PAC money to her husbands company. Publicy decries the practice of funneling PAC money to congressional relatives and tried to ban it. Her effort to ban the practice was defeated and she has continued to practice this to present day.
Harry Reid- Senator. Democrat. Senate Majority Leader. Investigated by the Los Angeles Times for suspicious land deals in Nevada. Reid and family members profit through kick backs on commercial land deals in Nevada.
Barney Frank- Congressman. Democrat. Chairman of the committee charged with oversight of the banking system. Defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Chairmen during committee hearings in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Helped kill legislation in 2005 authored by John McCain to reign in Fannie and Freddie practices.
Maxine Waters- Congresswoman. Democrat. Defended and complimented stewardship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in Congressional hearings in 2005.
Jamie Gorelic- Deputy Attorney General under Clinton Administration, Vice Chairman of Fannie Mae from 1997 - 2003 during which a $10 billion accounting scandal was discovered. Government Regulators accused Fannie Mae in 2002 of improper accounting to the tune of $9 billion in unrecorded losses. In addition, in another scandal it was discovered that falsified financial transactions helped Fannie Mae meet earning targets in 1998 and thus triggered multi million-dollar bonuses for top execs- Gorelic received $779, 625
Jim Johnson- Former Executive Officer of Fannie Mae. Stepped down after fraudulent morgage transactions nearly bankrupted Fannie Mae. Johnson personnally profited by $21 million through pay and compensation. Jim Johnson was also a managing director with Lehman Brothers, another financial institution that has collapsed in recent months. Personally led Barack Obama's process for selecting Obama's running mate. Donated the individual maximum contribution of $4,600 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign and raised and bundled between $200,000 and $500,000, also for Obama. Participated for Obama in efforts to recruit former President Bill Clinton supporters for the Obama team.
Franklin Raines- Sitting Executive Officer of Fannie Mae when it collapsed. Took over $90 million in personal payments based on overstated earnings of about $6.3 billion before the collapse of Fannie Mae. Civil charges were filed against Raines by the OFHEO seeking $110 million in penalties and $115 in returned salary bonuses from Raines and two other Fannie Mae executives. Raines was one of several public officials who received below-market rate loans from Countrywide Financial based on his personal associations. While CEO of Fannie Mae, he received over $3 million in loans. Raines has told people and it was reported in the Washington Post that he has taken calls from Barack Obama for advice on the housing and lending industries.
Barack Obama- President. Ex-Senator. Democrat. Recipient of second largest total campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a 20-year period even though he's only been in the Senate for four years. Appointed Jim Johnson, former Fannie Mae Chairman, as head of his Vice Presidential Candidate Selection Committee. He reportedly sought advice of Franklin Raines on housing and mortgage issues. Raines was Chairman of Fannie Mae when it collapsed and had profited by $90 million in pay and bonuses from Fannie Mae.
Timothy Geithner- Secretary of the Treasury for the Obama Administration. Didn't know he had to pay taxes on all of his income. Had an epiphany and paid thousands in back taxes when he was nominated to his position as Secretary of the Treasury and chief of the IRS.
George W. Bush- President. Republican. Tried in 2003 and 2004 to get legislation through Congress to tighten regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Legislation died in committee each time. Democrats on those committees complimented the management of Fannie and Freddie and lauded their efforts to increase the number of loans made to people who would not have qualified under previous lending policies and encouraged them to continue increasing the risky loans.
John McCain- Senator. Republican. Republican candidate for President. Authored legislation in 2005 to strengthen regulation and oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Legislation died in committee when Democrats in both chambers used parliamentary procedures to prevent committee votes.
Can we draw any conclusions from this list?
-One party set the legal wheels in motion and then protected the processes that allowed the credit melt down.
-One party populated the major credit institutions with party faithfuls who raked millions of dollars out them before they ultimately destroyed them.
-One party and one administration refused to bail out and cover up the looting and collapse of Enron
-One party began trying to head off the problems as early as 2003 and was defeated at every turn by the other party who protected their money makers
-One party has a Presidential candidate that actively alerted the nation to the problems and authored legislation to fix it in 2005 but was stymied by the other party
-One party has a Presidential candidate that, when the scope of the problem became clear, flew back to D.C. and tried to participate- again- in fixing the problem. The other party derided him and ridiculed him before their "plan" collapsed in a humiliating defeat in the House of Representatives
-One party has a Presidential candidate that is so closely tied to the collapse of the credit market through cash donations and the active involvement of key campaign chairmen and advisors that he COULD NOT participate in the fix and kept as much distance between himself and "the problem" as possible.
-One party seems to have a thread of corruption that runs through the very highest levels of it's party and political offices
It's a lengthy list of suspects and conclusions. But it appears there are two suspects you can dismiss from the investigation right off the bat. To sort through and investigate the remaining suspects, it will likely take a Special Prosectuor and a Grand Jury- if there is any national interest in such an investigation.
DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS!
Global Warming v. Evolution?
Seems to me that if Evolution is settled science and true beyond doubt, then we're in no danger from generational Global Warming. Wouldn't we and all other species evolve to adapt to the new climate? I sense a conflict here between competing "settled" sciences....
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