See: Allen West for Congress 2010

Lt. Col. Allen West Stands With Gov. Palin: Sen. Obama Is “Not One of Us”

In response to the inflammatory racial statements made by Congressmen Meeks D-NY, Towns D-NY, and Jackson D-Ill. in the Jason Horowitz New York Observer article, “Black Congressmen Declare Racism in Palin’s Rhetoric,” (Ret.) Lt. Col. Allen West, congressional candidate for Florida’s district 22, wrote the following:

“I have just finished reading an article written by Jason Horowitz in the New York Observer, “Black Congressmen Declare Racism in Palin’s Rhetoric,” and I am absolutely appalled. I refute the inflammatory comments of Rep. Meeks, Towns, and Jackson and I challenge them to debate me on the issue of race. Yes, I am a black conservative congressional candidate from district 22 in South Florida. This is a congressional district that is approximately 92% white. The tremendous support I’ve received in district 22, and throughout the country, doesn’t jibe with Rep. Towns’ claim that, “racism is alive and well in this country.”

With that said, I reiterate the comment made by Governor Palin: Senator Obama is “not one of us”. We are freedom loving Americans that believe in the Constitution, and shun marxist/socialist dogma. Sen. Obama’s political and social allegiance with William Ayers proves he is, “not one of us.” Let me bring to mind a simple maxim that my mom and dad taught me growing up in Georgia, “folks will know you by the company you keep.” And as a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel I shall share a simple point: because of Senator Obama’s associations, he would not be able to pass a background investigation in order to receive a security clearance. Yet, he seeks to be the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces?

It has become apparent that any person taking a stand against Sen. Obama’s campaign will face the “Brown Shirt” intimidation tactics of individuals seeking to stoke racial fires.

I am sick and tired of the 21st century version of plantation overseers that pass themselves off as black leaders but only keep the black community hostage. When I win this congressional race it will be interesting to see if the Congressional Black Caucus will open their doors to me. I suggest that the door be opened, but then again, would they be racist for not allowing me membership?”

Best Regards,

Lieutenant Colonel Allen B West (US Army, Retired) Candidate, Florida’s US Congressional District 22

Allen West For Congress

Via Gateway Pundit

Dear God! Shoot me now!

And the winner of the most boring television show in history, including all future history, was

Sarah Palin.

Seriously, could either candidate been more dull? More afraid to cause a fuss?

This was the format that McCain excelled at? You mean, after the stroke?

Are either of these men our best and brightest? Do either of these men deserve to be President? How about dogcatcher?

At best a draw. Advantage Barry Obama.

Oh, yeah. Fire Congress!

A lot of American homeowners have a mortgage. In this legal agreement, a lender provides funding for the purchase of a parcel of real estate and the borrower, the owner, agrees to pay that money back over a period of time plus interest.

Let’s set aside all the potential variations, adjustable rate mortgages, interest only mortgages, Islamic mortgages, etc. The bottom line is a parcel of real estate bought with a loan.

That mortgage has value. On day one, it’s value is the amount loaned plus all the interest that would be paid over the term of the loan. You would think you could sell that loan, that there would be a market for it.

Fast forward. Because of a variety of conditions at level of the borrower, the real estate which the mortgage is based upon has either lost value or is discovered to not be as valuable as when the loan was made. Picture mortgage brokers, bankers, appraisers and homeowners going to jail in some cases.

The business now holding this mortgage does not know how to value it. It is apparent that the original value is wrong.

But the mortgage still has a value. It is still secured by a parcel of real estate that has a to-be determined value.

The business holding the mortgage hopes, really hopes, that the actual value is close to the original value. The market for mortgages is far less certain.

The business wants to sell that mortgage, to recover as much of its original investment as possible. The market wants to buy that mortgage at as low a price as possible, to ensure that if there is a profit to be made, it can be.

No one sells or buys. The business holding the mortgage proclaims that there is no market. The government panics, spurred on by the phone calls from all the mortgage holder people who contribute to campaigns.

There is a market. The businesses holding the mortgages do not like the market because if they sell in that market they will not recover most of their original investment. That is not lack of market.

In fact, the businesses holding mortgages are wagering that a government bailout will pay more for these mortgages than the market. So much so that they are refusing to participate in an existing market.

I have $5.00 in my wallet. I will pay $5.00 for any $1,000,000 portfolio of American mortgages held by any entity. There, I have created a market for mortgages.

Let’s examine value a little more. The real value of a mortgage is the potential sale price of the real estate that secures the mortgage plus the value of payments yet to be received. A mortgage always has some value.

In a portfolio of 100 mortgages, there are 100 parcels of land as security. If any of the 100 borrowers is making payments, that adds value to the portfolio. That value is greater than zero but less than the original amount loaned.

It is up to buyers and sellers to agree on the value, or sales price, of that portfolio. It may be 5 cents on the dollar. It may be 30 cents on the dollar. It will be a discounted price but a price can be determined.

Unless sellers refuse to sell. Unless sellers believe that a third party, the Federal Government, will pay them more than the market will.

There is a market for mortgages. The sellers do not want to sell at market prices. The Federal Government has been convinced to intervene by these sellers.

We, American taxpayers, are being fed a steaming pile of bull by elected officials bought and paid for by the mortgage industry. This crisis was manufactured solely to ensure that mortgage holders receive a higher price for mortgages than a reasonable buyer would pay.

It think it’s time to fire Congress.

Read this. Send it to all your friends. Send it to your enemies and even strangers. This is the absolute truth about the Congress. No bull.

Steve Schippert posts at Wizbang:

We are witnessing a failure in government. Our Congress cannot work together to provide an immediate fix to a problem it created in the first place: forcing the American financial sector to extend mortgages to those who were high risk borrowers in order to champion to the American people that more minorities own homes than ever. That worked well under a booming economy. But when the natural cycle of economics turned downward, fear dismissed became reality unavoidable. The house of cards came tumbling down.

And even still, amid all the haggling and fighting going on in Congress over how to shore up the financial cash crisis, not a word is mentioned about changing the counter-intuitive practices forced upon mortgage lenders in the first place. In this respect, it’s not unlike how Congress and the White House chose to address illegal immigration: by trying to deal with those already here first rather than initially addressing the cause: the influx of illegals that continues to flow unabated.

Make no mistake, if we wake to Black Monday this week, the responsibility lies squarely upon Congress and the electorate which has put them there, not our banks. Our banks’ hands were forced by mandates from Washington, not their boardrooms.

And here we are. With a Congress so polarized that they are incapable of working together.

We elected them. We pay their salaries. If they mess this up, each and every one ought to be voted out of office in November. Complete turnover. Fire their asses. You and I both know that if we were even half this bad at our own jobs, we would have lost them a long time ago.

Fire Congress!