If God Wanted W to be President

George W. Bush reportedly told a friend, when he began his second term as governor of Texas, that he believed God wanted him to be President. Well, what if it was true? Judging from the fruits of W’s presidency, I think it’s clear that God wanted George W. Bush to be President so Americans would see that

• “Supply-side” and “trickle-down” economics don’t work.
• National arrogance and recklessness is self-destructive.
• Politics based on fear cannot endure.
• Faith and optimism do not create reality.
• Republicans are not more “moral” than Democrats, just more hypocritical.

And

• Politicians who put little value in government won’t take care of it.

Economic Leadership

What America needs are level headed leaders employing a more pragmatic business approach in addition to an embrace of ethics on policy. A balance of opportunity that favors the worker versus the imaginary rights of businesses and corporations. Not an endeavor to place owners at a disadvantage but an excursion focused on stability, growth and longevity for the worker and ethical business practices towards the consumer.

Recently aggressive legal alterations in the tax code, bankruptcy laws, and courts allowing corporations to renege on many employee agreements such as earned pensions have empowered greed to suck the blood out of the United States' economy.The monetary bowl within the United Sates is finite, especially today as our economy has not seen a major expansion in over 6 Years. As static financial sectors specifically oil, lenders, and housing artificially inflate their pricing; money is siphoned from other industries. This act of being ‘ripped off’ mixed with corruption renders normal economic checks useless in being able to keep our economy in balance. No wonder Former FED Chair Allan Green Span has retired.

In other words as one Industry increases its profit margins by artificially raising its prices, added fees, and variable rate increases it is tantamount to their actually cost of production decreasing. Specific industries engaging in these acts are: the Oil Industry, Health Care, Pharmaceuticals, Energy, and Military & Securities Companies. These practices lead to profits being taking from another industry either through direct business loss or indirectly thru increased cost of production (Ex: the Automobile Industry, Airlines). In essence causing a devastating negative economic prosperity busting domino down effect. A question for you? Has the U.S. economy expanded at a rate greater than prices in gas and housing? If your answer is no then I predict as of January 28, 2008 the United States is currently in recession.

Vouchers/Grants for Private Education

After extensive research the position of Checks & Balances blog in regards to vouchers and or Pell grants generously handed out to families for the purposes of sending children to private schools is in opposition to all such programs. The conclusion is simple; public funds ought to be efficiently used to elevate an education received in public secondary schools to the standards and results seen in private schools. Private institutions inherently create an exclusive infrastructure for creating inequality in the type of students admitted, furthermore certain lower socio economic classes may be priced out while more well to do families would unethically use vouchers on top of personal resources, thirdly using tax payer dollars to fund religious private schools is against the spirit of our Constitution.

Romney Most Disliked Republican

"Romney Leads in Ill Will Among Rivals

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 24) — At the end of the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire this month, when the Democrats joined the candidates on stage, Mitt Romney found himself momentarily alone as his counterparts mingled, looking around a bit stiffly for a companion.

Mitt Romney talks to supporters Tuesday in Coral Springs, Fla. While Romney is surrounded by friendly faces at his campaign events, it's a different story when he's with his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. They seem to have a deeply felt scorn for him.

The moment was emblematic of a broader reality that has helped shape the Republican contest and could take center stage again on Thursday at a debate in Florida. Within the small circle of contenders, Mr. Romney has become the most disliked.

With so much attention recently on the sniping between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama on the Democratic side, the almost visceral scorn directed at Mr. Romney by his rivals has been overshadowed.“Never get into a wrestling match with a pig,” Senator John McCain said in New Hampshire this month after reporters asked him about Mr. Romney. “You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”Mike Huckabee’s pugilistic campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, appeared to stop just short of threatening

Mr. Romney with physical violence at one point.“What I have to do is make sure that my anger with a guy like Romney, whose teeth I want to knock out, doesn’t get in the way of my thought process,” Mr. Rollins said.Campaign insiders and outside strategists point to several factors driving the ill will, most notably, Mr. Romney’s attacks on opponents in television commercials, the perception of him as an ideological panderer and resentment about his seemingly unlimited resources as others have struggled to raise cash.Mr. Romney’s campaign contends that the hostility is driven by the fact that he has aggressively sought to win the early primaries, setting himself up as the chief antagonist, first, to Mr. Huckabee in Iowa and then to Mr. McCain in New Hampshire.

Mr. Romney continues to be a mountain in the paths of both men, as well as Rudolph W. Giuliani, to the nomination."

Toyota Prius sales pass SUV's

Who says there is no market for low cost fuel efficient cars?


"The icon of America's SUV passion falls victim to stubbornly high gas prices and an increasingly stringent regulatory climate.
Latest Market Update
January 23, 2008 -- 16:25 ET

[BRIEFING.COM] There are volatile markets and then there are volatile markets. Wednesday's session was the latter variety, which is to say it was truly volatile.
Americans bought more Toyota Prius hybrid gas-electric hatchbacks last year than Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicles, the top-selling SUV for more than a decade.
The change of fortune, buried in U.S. vehicle-sales data for 2007 and unthinkable a few years ago, will find an echo at this year's Detroit auto show, which starts Sunday.
While Americans' love for powerful gas guzzlers remains strong, a slowing economy and high gasoline prices are forcing buyers to lower their sights."

Former Bush official: Waterboarding is torture

"‘No doubt,’ says Tom Ridge, first Homeland Security secretary"

"WASHINGTON - The first secretary of the Homeland Security Department says waterboarding is torture.

"There's just no doubt in my mind — under any set of rules — waterboarding is torture," Tom Ridge said Friday in an interview. Ridge had offered the same opinion earlier in the day to members of the American Bar Association at a homeland security conference.
"One of America's greatest strengths is the soft power of our value system and how we treat prisoners of war, and we don't torture," Ridge said in the interview. Ridge was secretary of the Homeland Security Department between 2003 and 2005. "And I believe, unlike others in the administration, that waterboarding was, is — and will always be — torture. That's a simple statement.""

White House urged to be less secret

President can start by declassifying daily briefings, advisory group says

"WASHINGTON - The government is lagging far behind in declassifying its secrets and the problem is getting worse as agencies create billions more electronic records containing classified information.

In a report released Wednesday, a joint presidential-congressional advisory group urged greater openness, a sore subject for a White House roundly criticized for secrecy.
The Public Interest Declassification Board said President Bush can take immediate steps to address the issue."

Key figure in CIA tapes case demands immunity

"WASHINGTON - Attorneys for Jose Rodriguez told Congress the former CIA official won't testify about the destruction of CIA videotapes without a promise of immunity, two people close to the tapes inquiry said Wednesday.

Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, ordered that the tapes, which show harsh CIA interrogation of two al-Qaida suspects, be destroyed in 2005. Rodriguez is scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Jan. 16.
Defense attorney Robert Bennett told lawmakers, however, that he would not let Rodriguez testify because of the criminal investigation into the case. Without a promise of immunity, anything Rodriguez said at the hearing could be used against him in court. "

White House reused e-mail tapes

"WASHINGTON - The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages - including those pertaining to the CIA leak case - have been taped over and are gone forever.
The disclosure came minutes before midnight Tuesday under a court-ordered deadline that forced the White House to reveal information it has previously refused to provide.
Among the e-mails that could be lost are messages swapped by any White House officials involved in discussions about leaking the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame."

Grandmother, 75, Gets Cuffs, Not Fries

"Tampa Bay Online
updated 8:40 a.m. ET, Sun., Jan. 20, 2008


By Carlos Moncada of The Tampa Tribune
CLEARWATER - If anyone was "lovin' it!" at the McDonald's that Jean Merola visited Thursday evening, it certainly wasn't her.
The 75-year-old grandmother of eight was arrested for disorderly conduct after she refused a police officer's orders to move her car while she waited for the coffee and fries she ordered at the drive-through window."