Hi Barack,
I've been thinking about our 2 political party system and have finally came up with what could be a real solution to the problem. The problem is that the 2 party system breeds corrupt politcians. When a Democrat lies and gets elected there is no other alternative other than a Republican. So here's what we do.
We keep the two major parties, however when an election occurs a new Democrat or Republican will compete with whoever is in office now. And you have four choices not two. If Democrats decide they don't like Obama after 4 years they can put someone else up. Or Bush could have been replaced with a different Republican. I think this could work. We keep the 2 party system but make them but up alternative candidates to compete with their current candidate.
- James Wheeler - North Las Vegas, NV
I'm having doubts about your Health Care plan even with the Public Option. My question is how are you going to get 129 million people to enroll into the public option? Because what I'm understanding about this plan in order for the public option to drive down health care costs the public option is going to need to be the dominant player in the game in order to negotiate prices like Medicare does. So will the govt. be able to provide that much better of health care coverage in order to enroll 129million people in the plan and how long is it going to take to enroll this many people?source of information:
http://pnhp.org/blog/2009/07/20/bait-and-switch-how-the-%E2%80%9Cpublic-option%E2%80%9D-was-sold/
Please do not pass a plan that is only going to benefit the Health Insurance companies by requiring people to buy health care and not lower the health insurance costs. I do not trust this plan and it could end up really blowing up in your face. It's going to be taxes anyway. What's the differnce between taxes and mandatory health care? We should be pushing for single payer medicare for all plan. Not something as uncertain and weak as this.
President Obama,
When Republicans want to call Democrats Socialists / Communists / Marxists that really bothers me. I'm no Russian Communist and neither are you. And really the only thing that that gives me comfort on this is thinking somehow Republicans really don't believe the stuff they say. And that they are just playing dumb about the facts and they just do it to piss us off and accomplish their agenda of no change, no progress, traditionalist agenda. I really can't understand how they could think that people that grew up in this country want it be like Russia, because that's just not true. Almost nothing they say is true.
Having said that. I think the message we need to put out are just two things. And if we can get this message heard around the country I think we can bring this country back together and get a good health care bill passed. The message is this: Republicans are Liars, Democrats are not Communists. If we can chat that or something to that effect then I think we can bring some sanity back to this country. Because that's the truth and we need to tell the truth as harsh as it is to the other side. We need to criticize them as much as we like to criticize us.
I just had a crazy idea. Not sure if it would be possible, but might get this Health Care Refrom bill on the right track. Why don't Democrats make a deal with Republicans and agree to allow them both to pass a Health Care Bill and let Americans decide which plan is better?
I think the problem is that people are afraid of change. You shouldn't be afraid of something new that will help people. And if the product turns out to be a lemon then will just drop it. What's the problem? That's what Americans do. We are free to choose. We choose the best products and we use them if we like it. If not we dump it. It may be a success it may be a flop. The problem with govt is like two companies trying to sabotage the others product before it even comes out. Maybe Congress allow two health care plans to pass. One the Republicans come up with. Allow them both to pass and then we all can decide which one is the best. That's about as American as apple pie. We need to get this government working again.
Forget the Republicans! Pass the best possible health care bill possible! That is if you want to stay Presidents. You can't negotiate with Republicans. You should know that by now. They are the problem and on their way out anyway.
Rachel Maddow
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#32469091
I'm beginning to think the insurance and drug companies somehow got in Obama's pocket too now like they did Hillary's when Bill Clinton was president. A co-op? Not sure that will do much. Seems like just another failure of our govt to do... what's best for us instead of the big corporations. They have control of Congress can do whatever they want, and they are bowing to Republican pressure? What pressure? I don't buy it. Here's what I think I'm starting to realize about our govt. We have Republican and Democrats. Republicans are straight up honest about working for corporations. And the Democrats whose plan is to fight against the corporations until they... get the big check from the corporations to pay them off. But they all have the same goal. To get the money.
I'm done with this game. If there is no public option then I'm done with Obama and maybe done with this country. France, Canada, England here I come.
"School" - Nirvana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkEwIemPwWI
I think this song is talking about Lady Liberty. I like it. America after all was founded by rebels and their rebellion. So don't mess with us.
"She's a Rebel" - Green Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFz5HJocQ8M
Talked to my neighbor yesterday. They got the Obama Plan to get their loan modified. Like my modification it wasn't much of a modification though. Now they've filed for Ch 7 bankruptcy and will be leaving their home in the next few weeks. Out of the 8 homes in our section of the neighborhood myself and one other neighbor are the last two standing that are yet to foreclose on our homes. However I will probably be leaving soon and my other neighbor wants to also but he's ready to retire and doesn't want to mess up his credit. He bought his home for around $230,000 and now it's worth $80,000. One home might even become a double foreclosure. Had a neighbor that bought his home form a previous foreclosure for around $150,000 thinking it was a good deal and now it's worth half that. They may end up deciding to walk away as well. Like I said before, I predict a near 100% foreclosure rate in my neighborhood, before it's all said and done. The housing crisis is not over yet.
Haven't wrote in a while. Just don't have much to say right now. Just waiting to see what's going to happen with health care. Everyone should have govt coverage I think, if they want it. If they don't want it, they should be able to refuse it and get a tax break. Then the Repugs that don't want it don't have to worry about having their taxes increase instead decrease and everyone's happy. If they refuse the govt coverage maybe even offer to subsidize the premiums or the co-payments or something instead of the tax break. Just some thoughts. Being a programmer I find there is almost always a solution to any problem if you work at it.
Anyway I thought you might like this song. It gets me fired up and motivated and I hope it does the same for you.
"Duck and Run" - 3 Doors Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obYE4sFBmPg
Ok, I have one more that goes with this theme.
"Speed of Sound" - Coldplay
"All that noise, and all that sound,All those places I got found.And birds go flying at the speed of sound,to show you how it all began.Birds came flying from the underground,if you could see it then you'd understand?"
I like that lyric "All that noise and all that sound".
It's the sounds and words we hear that affect our thinking. Hopefully we can figure out what sounds will create a harmonious existence and those sounds that are made to destroy that purpose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iLt1U7A2-s
You absolutely did the right thing by admitting you regret your words about the police officer. You are already showing you are a bigger man and a better president than Bush or Clinton was by being honest and admitting when you are wrong. Plus you need to defuse these petty spats between citizens so you can stay focused on the real issues. Sure you sympathised with the professor because he's a friend or acquaintance of yours, but your friends shouldn't be bringing you into this stuff everytime they do something dumb. They'll start thinking they are above the law and can get away with anything like the professor seemed to think he could. I think you better let your friends know they are not above the law because they know the president. They will end up bringing you down with them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moymMS__iVI
I need a beer too. TGIF. This is getting too much. I'm proud of you. You are a good soul and it shows. You're mother and grandmother would've been proud. Keep up the good work.
"
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
He's told us not to blow it
Cause he knows its all worthwhile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muMcWMKPEWQ
OK now I know I'm going to be accused being paranoid or having a mental illness again. But I just was checking out the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and saw the full Obama press conference for the first time. And during the press conference he made a reference to the Matrix "Red Pill Blue Pill" scene to describe health care. Well just a couple days ago I posted a video of Filters "Hey Man Nice Shot" set to scenes from "The Matrix" that starts off with the "Red Pill Blue Pill scene. Plus I've posted conspiracy theory videos before that use the reference to the "Blue Pill, Red Pill" analogy. Really weird, but also pretty cool. But I do hope it's Obama's way of confirming receipt of my posts. And Obama I only hope these posts help you to make better decisions during your presidency. Having honest, non-partisan opinions are what I'm trying to provide here that's all. Someimes you need to step back and take and look at things from the outside. You are on the inside now, so it's probably hard for politicians like yourself to not bring politics into your decision making. I think you need to step away from the politics to make the correct decisions. Take for instance the whole Henry Gates thing. I think you sided with Gates more for political reasons than for what really happened. I don't think the police dept was conspiring to go after Gates for political reasons. I can see how you think that, but I would hope and doubt that would be the case. I think it was exactly what the cop said it was and not something politically motivated. Not everything in life is politically motivated. I know your life is politics, but not everyones life is. If you get what I'm trying to tell you. I think the officer was just doing his job. If you think it was some kind of setup job than I guess maybe it should be looked into, but I don't think that would be likely.
I think the great professor reacted very badly toward the police officer and should not have jumped to conclusions about race when the police officer arrived at his home. I think it was the professor that was being racist by seeing a "White" police officer and jumping to conclusions that he was there because he's "Black". I think the professor was basically just hoping the police officer was there because he's black so that he could start his personal race war. The hatred toward white police officers seems evident. This professor is the racist one and I'm tired of hearing about how white people are all racists and black people blaming all their problems on being black. It's just not true and people like Henry Gates should stop trying to play the race card everytime they have a problem. Now he wants to sue the police officer for doing his job and doing it correctly? Obama should not have criticized the cop. Obama is not a cop, never been a cop, and does not know how to do their job. And saying they did their job "Stupidly" was not the right thing to say because he does not know how to do their job. I realize that having a police officer come to your home would be a shock and would cause stress on anyone. It's probably what threw the professor off. But he made a mistake and should admit when he's wrong, and by going off and beating his own drum about how smarter and more powerful he is only makes him look even more foolish in front of the public. However the professor should have relaxed a bit and found out why the officer was there before he started jumping to conclusions. I don't think the officer was in the wrong here. I think the professor should apologize for jumping to conclusions and admit he was wrong. If not, then maybe he should seek psychiatric help.
I just want to take this time and let Barack know that I appreciate all the hard work he is doing right now. I know sometimes in my blogs that my complaints may come off as not being supportive, but that's just not the case. I see all the hard work Barack is putting in and I have to say that I support him 100% right now. Working on health care is very important. I can't afford health care right now myself and ones health should be priority. It's a smart decision. I was listening to AM radio again today (I know, I know ;) ) and caught some of Glen Beck's comments about Barck's plan and I have to say I'm convinced without a doubt that these people in the media and on the news are merely tools of the Wealthiest 1%. They have these people by the balls. IF I can be blunt. I really think they just go on TV and the radio and are told what to say and how to say it by the richest people in the world, basically because that's what they $$Pay$$ them to do. It's all about money and the BS that these people try to get you to believe is unreal. I think they basically think that it's just so ridiculous what they are saying that it doesn't really matter. They figure hey take the money and know one is going to believe the crap I'm telling them anyway. Right? I really don't see how anyone can go on the radio and kiss more ass to the richest people in the world and seriously believe that anyone in the country not that rich is really going to give a shit that Obama is going to fund the Health care plan on their backs and Glen Beck thinks this is wrong? He says well now they'll just raise prices on us and such. Come on. Go spread you BS elsewhere. Glen Beck is a tool. He' nothing more than an infomercial for the elite rich that run the country.
And Barack I like you as a President because you are a worker and hard work pays off. I hope you work so hard you feel sore and tired everday day. And know this, if you put in the hard work everything will turn out right. I hope you feed off the self satisfaction of real accomplishments of your Presidency. And not get caught up in your ego (everyone has one) of being the president. One of the things I hated most about George Bush was that he was on Vacation for most of his Presidency. What a waste. If you wanted to retire George you shouldn't have done it while you were president. Barack, you'll have plenty of time to retire after your presidency is up. This your final mission in life. When it's over it's going to be over. And do not get discouraged. We are with you. We are behind you 100%. We need someone that is going to put right what is wrong and I think if you put in the work and don't be a yes president. Don't buy in to everything that's being sold to you. Not even from your most trusted friends and advisors. Think for yourself and get to the truth behind everything you will find the way for America.
Matrix - Hey Man Nice Shot
"You fight and you were rightBut they were just to strongThey stick it in your faceAnd let you smell what they consider wrong"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZbDoyxmwac
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/weekinreview/19segal.html
This is what I'm talking about. Just caught this article. Is the New York Times stealing my material now? At least now I know I'm not the only one disgusted by what's going on.
So how did these banks make so much money? What did they do go to Vegas and put all that TARP money on Roulette Wheel and hit it big? However they did it, I'm sure the rest of us aren't going to be happy about it.
Here's an article about Goldman Sachs and how they made so much profit.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/5837373/Just-how-did-Goldman-Sachs-manage-that.html
Basically it's just a bunch of rich guys like Warren Buffet getting together and cooking the books. Like I thought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WIRd-vzliw
Just talked with one of my Realtor friends at my office today. He's an experienced Realtor and told me the banks have some 40,000 homes in Las Vegas that they haven't even put on the market yet. There is about 20,000 listed in the MLS now. So here's the reality of this. Even though they haven't put them up for sale yet, they are for sale. That's the reality. You can't tell me that if you wanted to buy one of the homes "not on the market" they wouldn't sell it to you. It's on the market. They are only trying to manipulate the numbers. That's all. And in my opinion it should be illegal. That means that home prices have not hit the bottom yet. The banks are only trying to make it look like they have. But if you buy a home at the price they want right now, it will probably either not appreciate at all for the next few years or it may decline in value even further, because of all the inventory still to be sold. Not to mention that there will probably be alot more people foreclosing on their homes in the future. So basically as low as home prices are right now, you would probably get it for half of what it is right now, if the banks were to dump their inventory onto the market. And I think they eventually may have to. They cannot afford to hold on to them. The longer they hold on to them, the more money they lose. So prepare yourself, because I think the worst is yet to come.
So President Obama, fixing health care is great. A noble thing, but if no one has a job and loses 10 years or more of savings what good is getting a check up? We can't survive without money. And it's not right for people that have worked hard for years to save their money and buy a home have it all wiped out, because the banks and Realtors having been overcharging for Real Estate for years. And because they decided to relax their lending practice in order to keep up the pace of home sales. You need to fix the housing problem and you can't fix it by giving banks money. You need to fix it from the bottom up, not the top down. I don't care how much the banks complain or whatever. This is serious and the money is literally being sucked out of the system like a sponge right now by the banks. The banks have record profits they report? Well, who gives a crap. Where did they get that money? They got it from working Americans, that's who. And they are probably manipulating the numbers on that as well. So them having record profits is not a good thing in my opinion. That just means they've figured out a way to take more money out of Americans pockets.
These banks seem to work like a slow outdated computer. Maybe they need an upgrade? They seem to have no clue what to do in this situation and only are making things worse. They are only looking out for the interest of themselves, when banks should be looking out for their communities. Instead they are bankrupting communities, shutting down businesses, causing higher unemployment. They need to save the community not themselves. And I don't care what the US Govt says. A corporation is not a human being, it's a machine. It's an collective idea or process not a person. I think sacrificing the machine for the good of the people is a more rational way to solve the economic crisis, than sacrificing the welfare of the people. Maybe the people that run them, the bank tellers, the loan officers, CEOs, and presidents etc. Maybe they will decide to sacrifice their institution in order to save their communities. We can always replace a corporation. People die and they don't come back. Corporations only go out of business. I hope they make the right decision. The banks need to write down all existing mortgages and go out of business if they have to. The actions they are taking now to save their companies are only going to further hurt America and themselves. I really don't care if a CEO loses their company and their job. They have more money than I or many others could ever hoped to have accumulate in their lifetime already. They will be fine. It's the rest of us that you should be worried about. It's not right to put so many people out of work and ruin so many lives just so a large bank like Bank of America or any of the others stay in business and CEOs like Ken Lewis keep their multi-million dollar jobs. Look what they've done? You really think they know what they're doing?
Let us pray!
Matisyahu "King Without A Crown"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Buy8dLlfBZE
Here's a song for us all. I think it's appropriate for the times.
Hands - Jewel
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x27mn6_jewel-hands_events
Maybe just a coincidence but Jewel is in North Las Vegas today. She's playing at Aliante Station. Not far from where I live.
I forgot to mention this. I just attended the Reator Association Orientation Classes for the past 2 days and there was one part of the class that I wasn't too happy about. During the last hours of the class the instructor was basically telling the new Realtors about something called absorbtion rate and told them all to get real excited about it because he was going to teach them it for free, and it costs a lot of money to learn what he's going to tell us. Well what he told us took about a minute and I don't see how it could be worth alot of money to teach. And all it is, is the rate that homes are selling / coming off the market as opposed to how many listings are in the MLS. He's telling everybody to tell their clients that the number of listings in the MLS are coming down and when that happens that means that home prices are about to go up. He's telling everyone to tell their clients this and then they will make a lot of sales and money. But what he's not telling everyone is that it is also commonly known by many Realtors that the reason the inventory is coming down is because the banks have not yet realeased all the homes that have been foreclosed on yet onto the market. They are trying to manipulate the market so they get the best price they can for their foreclosures. Surprise. Surprise. Which basically means if you buy a home today as low as home prices are, the homes have still not reached the bottom. Because if the banks were to release all their inventory at once, they would flood the market with listings and everyones home values would drop even further. I've also heard that the govt. is working on making the banks realease their foreclosures in order to protect the public from my lies and manipulation. But Realtors are being told basically to lie to their clients (for the banks) and tell them the numbers are indicating that a bottom has been reached, even though some of them know it hasn't. Now what do you think about your high standard Realtors? One last funny thing also. The guy telling all of us this acted kind of like an evil overlord duing the swear in ceremony and told us all to "rise my people" or something like that. Saying it like Sargon would from the "Lord of the Rings". Just a joke I guess, but kind of shows you the paychology of these people. How they really think. They know they are full of shit, but they justify it because that's their job. That's how they make their living. I'm not going to be one to follow their lead.
Banks Withholding Foreclosure Properties to Boost Saleshttp://www.eforeclosuremagazine.com/foreclosure-market/banks-withholding-foreclosure-properties-to-boost-sales
Another wave of foreclosures is poised to strikehttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-foreclosure4-2009jul04,0,5145254.story
Crist crushes Rubio in fundraising for U.S. Senate
sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/07/crist_crushes_rubio_in_fundrai.html
Here are my thoughts on this. Who cares. If I were running for Senate and was happy that I took a bunch of money from people in the midst of a recession / depression I wouldn't be too proud of myself. I wonder how Crist really feels about himself. What he thinks about himself. You see it's not what others think about you. It's what you think about you. You know what I would like to see. A politician so popular, so honest, that he could win an election by telling people to save their money, just vote for me in the election. I'd like to see someone that could win with his own finances and not beg for money like a bum.
I woke up today with a calm sense of reality and self. Reality in the sense that perception is reality, And self realizing the difference between right and wrong. It's a little hard to explain, but it may be like being born again or saved in the Christian sense. In my mind what's going on now seems to be just a classic battle between good and evil. The good being the majority of people and evil the banks and the rest of their minions. Kind of reminds me of the movie "Revenge of the Nerds". The nerds are the ethical, kind, good people. They're just not very attractive and don't have much power or money. And then you have the jocks who are rich, good looking, strong and love to dominate others and show their authority and power to the lower class. I think this is a similar situation. And what I think is going on is a simple show of power over the people of the US and the world for that matter. It's really know different than what Saddam Hussein did when he used biological and chemical weapons on his own people. It's just not as obvious. They have the power and they want to use it and show others who is in charge. Keep us in line so to speak. The power has corrupted them and now the only question is. What are we going to do about it? Now I realize why Green Day's new song is "Know Your Enemy". It's not a song you fall in love with immediately, but it has a good message. You need to first establish who the enemy is. Who is responsible? In the situation we have today it's not that apparent who it is. There are probably multiple enemies, but there is one enemy that I we can establish without a doubt and that would be the central bank and the banks under them. I think by boycotting the banks and using a credit union instead we can take away their weapon against us and defeat them and the people that use the bank as a weapon. I have declared war on the banks and I hope anyone that reads this will do the same. Stop using the banks for your loans, your credit cards, savings and checking accounts, retirement etc. Anything that has to do with your money do not do business with a bank. Do it with your local credit union. I am now a Realtor. You can bet that I will be working with credit unions for financing homes for my clients. I will also be working to convert other Realtors to do the same. I will never recommend a loan be given to any of my clients from a bank. Another thing, I'm not that happy about having to join the Association of Realtors, but don't really have a choice right now. They control the real estate industry. However it is really sad because I don't think they are going to be in business much longer. Not unless they change they're entire business structure. I think they realize this already because they are scrambling to make changes right now. Why are they not going to be in business much longer? It's simple math. Homes will not appreciate anymore like they used to. I predict homes will not appreciate more than 1% a year. Why? Because that's all they should have appreciated in the first place. Realors have always advertised that homes on average double in value every 10 years. That means 10% appreciation every year? I just took the Realtor orientation class and even in this market they showed a video that said that. That's not reality anymore. Homes I predict will only appreciate 1% a year from now on. They will keep in step with wages. I think appraisers are actually going to do their job correctly from now and give you the real value of a home. Which means 1% a year. Realtors usually charge around 4-7% commision to sell homes. But if a home only appreciates 1% a year, who is going to pay a Realtor 6% commission to sell their home? If you lived there for 6 years you just paid everything you've worked for to a Realtor. Once this becomes apparent and it may take 10, 15, or 20 years, the Realtor organization will look very different than it does today. Or it may be replaced entirely with a new organization. It's sad but I think it may be for the best anyway. The new organziation I think should be non-profit and operate similar to a credit union. There will still be real estate agents that will assist people with buying and selling homes however won't be working for a commission. It may be an hourly charge or pay for service charges of some kind. I haven't written in a while. Mainly because of been way to busy lately, but I wanted to get my thoughts down now that I've gotten a chance to express myself. Now that the Obama administration has coward in allowing blog messages to be seen by others, and in effect killed this blog, this message will only be viewed by a few people I know (EMK). So if you know others that would be interested in reading my thoughts go ahead an link to it to spread the message. Let's defeat the evil. Fight the power. Whatever. We need to make things right. We've been attacked and now it's time to respond.
