126 Thoughts to “Obama picks Biden for running mate”

  1. FortKnocks

    The foreclosures are not only in places where immigrants live by the way….

    Want to know the real cause of the foreclosure crisis. The DE-REGULATION of the foreclosure industry, lobbied for by John McCain’s top economic adviser, Phil Gramm, remember, the same guy who called us a bunch of whiners because we aren’t doing as well as the fat cat elitists and their lobbyists (including Mr. Gramm) who have been running this country for 8 years?

    Having been bought and paid for, literally, by the home loan industry, Phil Gramm successfully lobbied for legislation that allowed home loan companies to maximize profits by preying upon new home buyers who were likely not to be able to afford their mortgages. The result was a crisis that has hampered our national economy and driven real estate values into the tank.

    This is the guy who John McCain turns to for advice on economic policy. He’s a likely cabinet member even. So as far as elitism is concerned, people should stop worrying about who earned their way into a good college and START worrying about the fat cats and their lobbyists who fund Republican party and advise George Bush / John McCain.

    http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/10/1191310.aspx

  2. Leila

    Mr. Culero, protected our borders? Exactly how would that address the 45% of people in illegal status who entered legally? It’s also breathtaking to blame the foreclosure crisis on illegal immigrants.

  3. Sorry, this is a much better link for John McCain’s top economic adviser and Father of the Home Foreclosure Crisis, Sen. Phil Gramm:

    http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/05/30/mccain_gramm/

  4. Alanna

    Leila,
    At some point we should implement an e-verify program, don’t you think? I understand there might be problems with the current system but we have been doing on-line banking for a decade and we should be able to get the bugs worked out of this system. I don’t believe it’s the best use of our time or resources to retroactively extract individuals that have resided here for an extended period of time but we need a starting point.

  5. Mark

    You know who would be good for McCain’s VP pick? Lt. Gov Michael Steele. I can wrap my head around him as a VP candidate. Very smart man.

  6. Alanna

    Welcome FortKnocks,
    Very interesting comment on Phil Gramm.

  7. Thanks Alanna. Your blog is the best thing to happen to this county since I moved here 4 years ago. Did you read the column I linked to? I just grazed the surface in my post.

    I find it so odd that Phil Gramm during his career as lobbyist first, Congressman second, has helped Enron, Big Oil, and other large corporations and banks defraud the American taxpayer billions and billions of dollars. Now he’s John McCain’s top economic advisor and yet the only time his name surfaces is when he calls the American people all “whiners” for worrying about the economy????

    Why are there so many lobbyist first types in the McCain campaign??? It was one thing to staff your campaign with lobbyists when you don’t have any money. They were the only ones who would work for free in exchange for the influence they gained (which allowed them to get paid in a round-about way by the lobbying firms who seek precisely that kind of influence on our Senators and Presidential candidates). But now that McCain is the nominee, he has the GOP coffers at his disposal. He can hire statesmen. He can hire patriots. He can hire people who put their “country first” it is says on McCain’s campaign sign. But what does he do? He keeps on paying these Lobbyist First types.

    Oh, and this thing with Russia and Georgia? Who do you think is advising McCain on foreign affairs, in particular on this conflict? Which lobbyist, bought and paid for by which country? Based on the moronic Cold War blustering McCain has been doing against Russia, can you take a guess??????????

  8. Rick Bentley

    “You cannot put 12-20 million people in jail or holding centers.”

    Sure we could, where there’s a will there’s a way … put them in a Guantanemo Bay type setting and let them phone back home and tell their relatives, the ones who have been living off remittances, they need the price of a plane ticket out of there. Many of them have money squirreled away and second houses back home, they will be able to come up with the scratch if they need to. So for 80% of these people it would pay for itself. If they could pay 5-10K to cross in here, they can come up with 1K to get out of a jail.

    The rest we dump into Mexico somehow. As to their sovereignty, if I may be crude for a moment, F them.

  9. Rick Bentley

    Alternately, let them profiteer off the money they made here, set themselves up with second homes in Mexico and El Salvador (it’s the way to become rich in El Salvador) and brace yourself for larger future waves of lawlessness.

    Crime should not pay.

  10. Rick Bentley

    And build that wall because Mexico is a BAD NEIGHBOR.

  11. Alanna

    Rick,
    You have got some wild ideas for handling this situation.

    We have had the welcome mat out, the economy had been flourishing and our immigration system was lax. It’s really no big surprise what happened. To suggest some type of concentration camps for these individuals is absurd. These people are now homeowners, business owners, parents, taxpayers and in many cases otherwise productive members of society. There is a huge economic and social cost for uprooting them that I believe most Americans will find too much to pay. The sooner we start looking for real solutions the better.

  12. Chris

    Rick,
    I am very opposed to ILLEGAL immigration, myself. However, I’m with Alanna you have some WILD ideas. It’s important to remember we ALL belong to the “human race”.
    You said “Dump them into Mexico somehow”. They are humans not bags of trash.

    You really want some ICE for that kool-aid, don’t you? Perhaps, the “black velvet boyz club” could help you out.

  13. Juturna

    Hey Rick maybe you should move to Mexico? You could live in El Salvador and be rich.

  14. Leila

    Rick, I am not sure how to put this exactly, but what you wrote shows such a tenuous grasp on reality, as well as history and even the daily news. It appears you have no notion of how many 12-20 million people are, as in what it would in terms of money and manpower to identify them, take them into CUSTODY, and move them anywhere much less hold them anywhere. I guess you have never paid attention to Guantanamo if you would make even a glancing reference to a place that has held 775 people. Even if you look at the Japanese internment camps of WWII, hardly something for us to emulate, the total number was around 110,000.

    Before, with your stated goal of waterboarding, slapping, and branding all deportees, you showed yourself cruel. Now it appears you show yourself, well, addled. This is the gentlest word I can think of. This doesn’t even bring up questions of legality, etc. This doesn’t even bring up the fact that you can hardly claim to be against illegal behavior when you are advocating it.

    It also again shows the total fixation on Mexico (you glancingly added El Salvador briefly, then reverted to Mexico again). Yet 22 percent of illegal immigrants aren’t even from our South, much less Mexico. That’s millions of people from continents outside the Americas.

    We know you are angry. One would have to be blind not to know with your constant references to a “Spanish ghetto” and your apparent belief that anyone who speaks Spanish in this country can do whatever he/she desires. But how can someone who has shown the wit you’ve shown at times be so unbelievably a stranger to reality and the meaning of numbers?

  15. Juturna

    Fort Knocks….

    Don’t forget McCain’s connection with the Keating five….also, his father in law and wife invested in Keating.

    On a personal note, I just read where Gary Hart was one of his groomsmen at his marriage to Cindy Halsey.

  16. Juturna

    Sorry, Hensley. Cindy Hensley, the only child…..

  17. Soy Culero

    Mr. Culero,

    Can you give specific examples of the sorts of brutal punishments for business you advocate?

    Sure, know what happens when a company is prosecuted for software license violations. The fines are basically logarithmic. A large business that uses, say, Microsoft Office without the appropriate licenses can be put out of business by fines in a hurry.

    Can you explain how you would identify every illegal alien adult in the country so as to deprive them of their jobs?

    e-verify.

    That isn’t even to mention children. Can you explain how you would get around the law that mandates services for the American-born children of illegal immigrants? Can you explain how you would reverse the US Supreme Court decision on educating all children, even if they are not American born or in legal resident aliens? Also, how would the government avoid paying for the care and eventual deportation of millions who might be so hungry and desperate under your desired scenario that they turned themselves in?

    We tried asking law-breakers to turn themselves in…surprisingly, it didn’t work. Avoiding paying for things is what the government does best!

    If someone has no work, no food, and their children are starving, how exactly will they get back to China or Africa for example?

    Again, same way they got here!

    How would you deal with the riots that would presumably occur? Shoot and kill everyone? Or if you arrested the rioters, would you refuse to feed and house them? What would you do with them?

    Rioters?? Well only in areas that have embraced lawlessness in the first place. Actions have consequences!

    There isn’t a single element of your plan that is in any way likely to happen, so it seems a bit beside the point. Every single aspect of what you appear to claim is so dead simple has vast economic, legal, and practical impediments, not to mention serious moral problems.

    There is a serious public-policy crisis and you offer cribs from Master Card commercials.

    Yeah, so? Right is right, no matter what package it’s in!

  18. Juturna

    Rick, if you post as John^&%#, I noticed you are being placed in moderation on BVBL. If you are not John^&%#, disregard.

  19. Soy Culero

    Leila,

    To respond to one other aspect of your list of queries. You’re right, none of what I’m describing is likely to happen, but we’ll keep fighting until we lose and the USA is a proper third world nation. I’ll never have to look back and say “I didn’t even try to make things better”

  20. Juturna

    Can you explain how you would identify every illegal alien adult in the country so as to deprive them of their jobs?

    e-verify.

    _______________________________________________
    There are fewer business that hire than there are illegals. There’s your opportunity. When a big CEO of a Fortune 500 does a perp walk captured and shown by FOX news and when that big CEO goes to Danbury (at least) all for hiring illegals it will be over. Until then….. by the way keep voting Republican to prevent this from ever happening!!!

  21. Juturna

    Rick – Here ya go babe… I didn’t know they had nice homes there!! Private security too!!!

    Villa For Sale or For Rent in El Salvador
    Tropical Surf Paradise, Private Security, Beach, Pool
    Asking Price: $189,000 USD
    Rent It For: $100 USD per day

    Serene and Private Gated Community with 24Hour Private Security

    http://www.viviun.com/AD-107600/

  22. Leila

    Well that is very noble of you Mr. Culero, especially in light of the fact that you still are making no legal or logistical sense, or addressing any issues of cost. Your faith in e-verify is touching, given that it has hardly moved beyond a pilot program and would have to vet, what is it, 150 plus million workers in the US. I don’t know the figure. That isn’t even to mention the millions of false positives given its failure rate. (Alanna, I know I owe you an answer on your question re e-verify, which I will have to do later since I have to leave.)

    Mr. Culero, your disregard for law makes your rage about illegal aliens “interesting.”

    I do agree with you that draconian employer sanctions would be an effective tactic although it’s highly unlikely that will begin to happen in any meaningful way. Plus there is the potential, which I guess you advocate, of crippling entire industries in select sectors that are very dependent on this labor with no immediate options of replacing it. I am thinking for example of the country’s entire production of fruits and vegetables.

  23. Moon-howler

    Soy Culero,

    You are railing, knuckle dragging and chest thumping over things that aren’t going to happen. The only way America is going to become a third world country is if people who think like you do take control. Have you seen any film clips of Idi Amin’s thugs/stormtroopers? They sort of remind me of what you are suggesting. I don’t think anyone can argue that Uganda isn’t a third world country.

    How about even one logical plan that remotely smacks of reality?

  24. Cindy B

    Going off topic again to remind anyone who is interested to come see “La Americana,” the final featured film in the “Crossing the Line” Immigration film series at GMU’s Prince William campus (Verizon Auditorium) at 2:30 pm this afternoon (Sunday).

    The director, Nicholas Bruckman, is flying down from New York for this screening and will take part in the discussion after the film.

    A closing reception, sponsored by GMU will feature catered food from Okra’s and The Foundation restaurants in Old Town Manassas. Free, but donations to defray the cost of the film series are welcome.

  25. Marie

    How did this conversation go from Obama picks Biden for running mate to immigration????

    I know immigration is a much debated subject. I certainly have my opinion on the subject. The bottom line is opinions are like noses everyone has one. On a scale of 1-10 is this really the biggest problem we are facing right now????

    The cost of the war (which can never be won) is above 580 billion dollars and the US government is still pumping money into the war while borrowing money from China and Kuwait. That wonderful tax rebate most everyone received was borrowed money from China. The middle class, lower middle class and poor in this country are going without adequate health care because they do not have nor can they afford health care insurance. Gasoline prices are sky high because our Congress has their pockets padded by the oil barons. There have been staggering layoffs in the job market. Our country is economically in the toilet and yet we tend to focus on the least of all the problematic issues that are facing us today. I am not saying that the US is doomed. I am just saying there are other issues far more important that need our attention. Unfortunately we have had a President and VP who have not been focusing on domestic issues. Hopefully, whomever is elected will begin to take care of the family at home.

    The only way we can try to solve any of these issues is through letters, phone calls and just plain harassing our elected public officials at the federal level. Get that pen out and write letters. Get on the phone and make calls. Get out and vote. Try to part of the solution.

    On a final note: Let’s not continue to vilify a group human beings. Let us stop the demoralization and dehumanization. The hatred needs to stop. The world is far too small for this nonsense. There are much bigger fish to fry.

  26. Jorge Pollo

    Donde esta Ricardo B?

  27. Marie

    Jorge Pollo,
    No se. No creo que me gustaría él si yo lo conociera.

  28. Chris

    I was just looking at Fox News, and they are live from Denver. One of the reporters Griff is working the demostration crowd. He wanted to talk to some of them and ask them what their message was. One dude was from a group called “Defend Denver”, and when asked what does “Defend Denver” mean. This joker started chanting, “F#%* Fox News”, and the rest of the crowd quickly joined in. Then Griff proceeded to ask them if they believed in freedom of speech and they just kept on with the “F Fox News”.

    I wonder if Defend Denver is like Defend DC, or the Help Save groups.

  29. Marie

    Chris,
    I do not think they are a group like the Help Save groups. I think they are a group
    of a few local Denver anarchists who plan to disrupt the Democratic National Convention.

  30. Chris

    Marie,
    Thank you. I’ve did a little digging and found a T-shirt these group of fools are selling.
    I’m not sure that a group of anarchist is any better. I’m pretty down of groups of ALL kinds these days.
    http://blogs.westword.com/demver/2008/08/fashionable_anarchists_create.php

  31. Marie

    I am pretty much down on all groups, too. I’d rather be a free thinker, do my own research and develop my own opinion and views. I have thought about joining a group or two but have decided against it. They all seem to take on a life of their own and then they have no life. However, I do like to get together with folks for discussions and to hear others out. Never know when someone has a more valid point to share and it is always good to exchange ideas. We call all have room to grow and learn.

    There is a group called Defend Colorado that is like the Help Saves but I do not think the Defend Denver group is affiliated. I think they are a bunch of people who wanted to hold a demonstration at the DNC. They could not demonstrate in the location they desired so they are now claiming their constitutional rights are being violated. They were given an area for the demonstration but did not like the location. I think security is the main concern for not allowing demonstrations real close to the facility.

  32. Marie

    Chris,
    Omit call. Fingers ahead of my thinking.

  33. Rick Bentley

    Juturna, I’ve never posted under that name (or any other name other than this one).

    “These people are now homeowners, business owners, parents, taxpayers and in many cases otherwise productive members of society” A crook is a crook is a crook and CRIME SHOULD NOT PAY. We don’t excuse other crimes for the reasons you cite.

    “how can someone who has shown the wit you’ve shown at times be so unbelievably a stranger to reality and the meaning of numbers?” I’m so darned angry at the way the situation is perceived as intractible, when it’s not at all. Maybe I propose solutions that veer pretty far towards draconian. Maybe I’m angry enough that I’d implement them. Maybe my position and perspective on life changed a GREAT DEAL when my family lived surrounded in an unsafe area for a couple of years, and it was obvious that the people who make the rules and suppsoedly enforce them didn’t give two ****s.

    Reality, meaning of numbers – you either make them want to come here, or make them want to leave. It’s as simple as that.

  34. Rick Bentley

    If you want to get rid of squirrels in your attic, you don’t feed them peanut butter and ensure that their kids feel comfortable in your home.

    I’ll spare you the cockroach analogy.

    If you catch someone stealing and they say “Don’t report me! I’ve been stealing from you for over 10 years and my family depends on it!” maybe some of you feel sympathy.

  35. Soy Culero

    Jorge and Marie,

    I’m learning a little Spanish myself!
    Me gusta rascar mis huevos!

    I gotta go drag my knuckles around a bit.

  36. Jorge Pollo

    Esteban(Soy Culero),
    Poor baby. Don’t scratch too hard. What’s the matter did your dog retire from licking them for you. So now you just scratch yourself. Why would you think anyone would give a flying f*** about your balls. You are are a sick puppy.
    And speaking of sick puppies
    Ricardo B,
    Does your black wife know you have such prejudices?

  37. Juturna

    Okay, Rick. I like a straight answer. Thanks.

  38. Chris

    Marie,
    The world needs more free thinkers such as ourselves. I also, enjoy hearing others opinions(this includes those of opposing views). I’ve many exchanges with those that don’t see things the way I do, and have always learned something.

    I heard the protesters had dubbed the area set aside for them the “Freedom Cage”.

  39. Rick Bentley

    My black wife shares many of my concerns – I’m going to leave it at that, she doesn’t want to publicly discuss her feelings on these matters.

    In general, in DC where my wife comes from, the tension over these same issues is no secret. The residents there choose to grin and bear it and out here we chose to fight back at the risk of being branded racist.

    Increasingly, I am very comfortable with the tradeoff of being considered ignorant/racist if it makes illegal aliens less likely to settle around me. Many of us are willing to make that trade. It affects in a very real way my family’s safety and welfare. So go ahead and bash me and my mindset all you want. I see an upside to it.

  40. Rick Bentley

    Back to Obama and Biden, does anyone else think that if elected he’ll abandon or bury this Amnesty thing? Does anyone really believe he’d want to take that fight on?

    And even if he did, is it not obvious that the GOP would realize it’s not in their interest and violently coalesce against it?

    Guest worker program, yes. Any kind of Amnesty for the crooks here already, no way, ever. What we need is for them to go home disillusioned and spread the word. And if they could ESPECIALLY spread the word about Prince William County, that would be sweet.

  41. Rick Bentley

    en América debe hablar Inglés, que no español es el idioma de las personas que a escondidas y violan la ley

    Las personas que no pertenecen aquí debe salir de casa. Ellos deben dejar de ser cobardes y ratones y luchar por su propia tierra. Ellos hacen cada lugar peor porque son demasiado miedo para hacer su propia tierra más fuerte.

  42. Rick Bentley

    No podemos tener a millones de personas en que son cobardes. Su propia tierra se convierte en vacío y los ricos compran cada vez más de él. Mientras tanto, ayudan a los ricos tener más dinero aquí también. Toda la situación es mala y es causa de la codicia y la cobardía.

  43. Rick Bentley

    Estamos bajo ataque en este país. Los ricos están tratando de asegurarse de que pagar menos para el trabajo. Cualquier persona que hace Estados Unidos más débiles de esta manera está haciendo una mala y estúpida cosa. Por favor, por favor, haga su propio país más fuerte en lugar de hacer más débil el mío.

  44. McCain works with lobbyists in his campaign, but that does not mean they will be cabinet members. That is how Washington works. The most effective people end up becoming lobbyists because that is how to enrich yourself. Better that than doing so while you still hold public office.

    Phil Gramm is no longer an official adviser. There are other lobbyists who have resigned as well. And just because they are lobbyists doesn’t mean all their advice is bad. The bad advice is coming from the political strategists, turning the campaign into a “Swift Boat” operation and forcing the candidate to speak in canned sound bytes.

    If Biden can be trusted to go off the cuff with all the nutty things he is known to say, McCain should be allowed to speak for himself as well.

  45. Alanna

    Rick,

    What’s happening in case you’re missing it is the Dems are now starting to play the political game with the immigration issue. 287(g), save, the fence, etc… so the Republicans will have to negotiate.

  46. Rick,

    You’re way behind the curve. Your views are an anachronism. Amnesty 2009 is on the way.

    This November you will see what I am talking about. American Latinos will hand the gop a shattering defeat. The gop will never try this crap again. And they will learn to distance themselves from fanatic nativists.

    O well. You can always go join the klu klux klan. Although even they won’t accept you on account of your wife.

  47. How was the discussion of the La Americana film today? The film looked fascinating! Did anyone happen to record the discussion on video? If so could you please upload it to youtube?

  48. Rick Bentley

    I’m quite sure Amnesty had its last gasp in 2007. Each time it comes up as an issue the coverage is more focused, and accordingly the public outcry against it is greater. Bottom line the more people understand it, the more they understand that self-deportation is a real option, the less they want Amnesty. Enough people understand that now. To quote The Who “We Won’t get Fooled Again”.

    We’ll see if I’m right or wrong but I know conventional political wisdom in 2007 was that this was Amnesty’s last gasp and I think that will hold up to be true. Obama and McCain would both like it, sure. That doesn’t mean they’ll be able to make it happen.

  49. Ricky,

    Amnesty is inevitable. When Latinos vote in one huge block for Obama this november and for democrats across the board, both parties will be scrambling to make amnesty and the gop will marginalize people like you.

  50. Off topic–when is Obama going to do anything about the predatory student loan/low-life colleges issue? Maybe it’s time to write to Biden.

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