Exxon

Exxon has made the highest ever quarterly profit by a US company. If anyone is a winner, it is Exxon, not the people having to pay the price of gas in America.

"Exxon Mobil made a profit of $14.83bn (£8.97bn) between July and September, smashing its own record for the highest quarterly profit by a US company."



According to the BBC: Another record profit for Exxon

In the second quarter this year, when oil prices were still rising, the oil giant made a profit of $11.68bn.

The new record represents a 58% rise on profits compared with the same period last year.

Profit for the first nine months of this year was $37.4bn, up 29% on the same period last year.

The $1.6bn sale of a natural gas transportation business in Germany helped boost profits.

Meanwhile, because of his gas prices, Americans are struggling to pay the cost of gas...

Rex W Tillerson, chief executive of the company, said: "Exxon Mobil's strong results demonstrate the continued success of our disciplined business approach."

I bet the increase of profit has more to do with them raising the cost of gas to over $4 a gallon, which is probably what they refer to by "disciplined business approach."

It comes as no surprise Exxon is making record profits, the highest corporate quarterly profits in history, at a time when America are paying more than ever at the pump. When families are spending more than $100 per week just to get to and from work, yeah, Exxon is doing well...

After The Final Presidential Debate

What I saw at the Final Presidential Debate was John McCain acting like a desperate old politician trying very hard to make negative attacks, the other candidate Barack Obama doing a great job at not letting the smear tactics get the best of him.

CNN says: "John McCain came out of the gate strong, but Barack Obama gained strength as the night progressed Wednesday in the final presidential debate where each candidate tried to convince voters that he is better equipped to steer the nation through these troubled times.

Hours before the debate, CNN changed its Electoral Map. The new estimate shows that Obama now has 277 electoral votes to McCain's 174. To win the White House, a candidate needs 270."

I liked the split screen moments, where we could see one opponent speak while watching the reaction on the face of the other. I liked that.

McCain definitely came off as sarcastic, I can't stand that hissing like tone in his voice at times, nor do I consider it presidential the way he turns nasty and you can almost see that fury bubbling to the top. I have heard of his temper tantrums before, and you can see, even from these debates, that McCain is a hot head. Barack Obama kept his cool, calm temper, while McCain went on the attack, and McCain's snake-like grinning while he tries to tie Obama to terrorism turns me off as a voter. Obama is not connected to terrorists, and to see McCain lie over and over again, makes me never want to see him in politics after this. When is his term up???

Barack Obama did a good job on trying to remain on the issues, on topic, and McCain seemed willing, from the start, to try and dodge an issue but come in with a negative attack. We are tired of this, we want answers to the problems facing America, not more of this political back and forth.

McCain didn't get his knockout, and Barack Obama made him look even worse by sticking to the issues and dodging the negative attacks. In this debate, Obama did the right thing by taking the high road and not being tricked into defending himself against baseless accusations. McCain did bring up Ayers of The Weather Underground, and Obama did the right thing by addressing it, but he did not stick on that topic for long and quickly moved to ACORN, and the next attack McCain tried to deliver. I was proud of Barack's focus, and would be proud to have this man as my President. For the first time in my adult life, I will actually ben not only fond, but proud of the leader of my country. President Obama, I look forward to your leadership.

The people who wanted to see McCain strike and attack, will be happy. Those that like the calm mannered Barack will say he did a great job at withstanding McCain's constant attempts at causing Obama to waste his time defending himself versus stating his position. Obama did a great job at not letting those attacks become the focus of the discussion, and kept pulling the debate back to the economic crisis and what is really facing America.

Off topic, but I wanted to mention this: ExxonMobil was the biggest advertiser for the post debate commercials! Those big meany oil companies and their profits!!! ;)

I thought it was highly amusing, that ExxonMobil came up in the debate, their tax breaks and higher fuel efficient cars. Why? Because this is the company McCain wants to give billions of dollars in tax breaks to. Barack Obama specifically named them in the debate, and their ad was for? None other than, those fuel efficient cars we've been waiting for. However, just as in the documentary Who Killed The Electric car, you can tell how the commercial was made not to promote the idea of hydrogen vehicles or biofuel cars, but to show the schematics for tiny box cars that have no room or power. Ads of this nature have been documented by all car advertisement watchers. I won't go into it further here, this is part of my lifelong study of ads, watch Who Killed The Electric Car to gain a further understanding of that I am talking about here. Researchers compare the commercials made for fuel efficient cars vs Hummers, Titans, and other gas guzzlers. You'll be surprised to see how one vehicle is marketed, while the other commercials have negative messages regarding the vehicle they show, to keep people wanting the gas guzzler and not the "tiny sized" hybrid cars.

In the end, to use a McCain campaign line, Barack Obama won... hands down.

Final Presidential Debate

Tomorrow is the big day, and for many Americans, this has been a much anticipated moment.

The Final Presidential Debate of 2008 is upon us. And remarks, made this week, by John McCain may indicate this could be the most exciting of the debates of this election. McCain has vowed to "whip Barack's you-know-what." How Presidential.



The final presidential debate airs at 9 pm EST, 6 PST. The run time is about 90 minutes, and will be aired on every major network. CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and CNN etc...

According to Associated Press, and as I've mentioned previously by barack showing leadership on foreclosures, the two candidates will both try and show themselves as a leader in the debate.

Barack Obama and John McCain will both pursue the image of a strong leader in troublesome economic times as they meet Wednesday night for their third and final presidential debate.

Joe Biden says he will be disappointed if John McCain brings up William Ayers.

"In my view, the ads that are being run picturing Barack Obama and people saying 'known terrorist' -- I think that's over the top."

As he continued his two-day bus tour across the Buckeye State stopping at Lisbon's Steel Trolley Diner for lunch, Biden said "Barack Obama was eight years old when this guy Ayers was doing bad things."

Biden said he felt "good" about tomorrow's debate, expressing "total confidence" in Obama.

Biden warned that he would be "disappointed" to see McCain bring up Ayers in Wednesday's third and final debate, though McCain has threatened to do so in response to Obama's suggestion that the Republican candidate doesn't have the guts to raise the issue to his face.

All Obama has to do, Biden says, is "repeat the performance he's had the last two times out."

Biden said the debates have contrasted "a guy who’s confident and steady and a guy who's not quite sure of where he wants to take the country."

Accusations of voter fraud in battleground states are beginning to make the nightly news, and we just await election day. I plan on voting early, and so should you! And make sure you tune in for the final debate of the presidential election 2008.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

At the time of writing this entry, I have only blogged two DVDs, and I recommend this third one as much as the previous documentaries.

Earlier this week, I didn't feel like watching any more Alfred Hitchcock, although I enjoy his work, I felt like watching something to do with those nasty big corporations, that run the world. You know, like Enron.



As you can see by the image above, I chose, Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room. If you have not seen it, are interested in this type of stuff, you may want to give it a look.

Quoted from description...

Based on the best-selling book of the same name by Fortune reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind a multidimensional study of one of the biggest business scandals in American history. The chronicle takes a look at one of the greatest corporate disasters in history in which top executives from the 7th largest company in this country walked away with over one billion dollars leaving investors and employees with nothing. The film features insider accounts and rare corporate audio and video tapes that reveal colossal personal excesses of the Enron hierarchy and the utter moral vacuum that posed as corporate philosophy. The human drama that unfolds within Enron's walls resembles a Greek tragedy and produces a domino effect that could shape the face of our economy...

Listen to phone calls of stock traders cheer on California fires, as people die, so they can increase profits. You won't believe your ears. See, Enron controlled the energy markets, and by bringing down California power, during "Black Outs," the value of energy stocks would increase, this allowed them to fluctuate and manipulate their stocks and ultimately the cost being charged to the public. Americans were ripped off for millions, you must see this.

To quote Jeff Shannon, from Amazon:

The corrupt and closely-guarded mismanagement by Enron executives (including Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, later placed on criminal trial) is revealed through such heinous concepts as "Hypothetical Future Value" (a way of reaping fortunes based on false profit projections) and the use of offshore "shell" companies to hide the massive losses that eventually toppled the company (along with the venerable Arthur Anderson accounting firm) and left 20,000 employees jobless. As a maddening portrait of hubris and white-collar crime, Enron transcends political and corporate boundaries by showing how smart and powerful men grew blinded by greed and brought ruin upon themselves, along with thousands of otherwise innocent victims. For better and worse, it's a perfect double-feature with eye-opening 2004 documentary The Corporation.

While many documentaries like to portray corporations, as big bad things, America will never be without them. It is best to educate yourself on them, and be aware of what is going on in the modern business world.

Even Pepsi Cutting Jobs

Looks like even Pepsi is cutting jobs, over 3,000 this time.

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc., the world's largest snack maker, said it will cut 3,300 jobs after profit fell more than analysts estimated and the company lowered its forecast for the rest of the year. The shares dropped as much as 14 percent in New York trading.

PepsiCo wants to save $1.2 billion over three years as it closes as many as six plants and pares 1.8 percent of its workforce, including ``overlapping'' marketing and sales jobs, Chief Financial Officer Richard Goodman said today in an interview.

The maker of Gatorade and Pepsi-Cola will use some of the savings to boost marketing of its beverages in North America, which make up a fourth of PepsiCo's annual revenue. Drink sales in the U.S. and Canada decreased 3 percent in the third quarter as consumers cut back on soft drinks in groceries and convenience stores to better afford higher priced gasoline and food.

``The initiatives come at a time when it's evident they're necessary,'' Mark Swartzberg, a New Jersey-based analyst with Stifel Nicolas & Co., said today in an interview. ``Beverage performance in North America continues to be challenging and worse than expected.'' He recommends holding the stock.

Full-year earnings excluding some costs will be $3.67 to $3.68 a share, lower than its prediction of $3.72 in July, the Purchase, New York-based company said. The dollar's increase against other currencies will hurt profit in the fourth quarter, it said.

PepsiCo, the world's second-largest soda maker, dropped $5.44, or 8.8 percent, to $56.33 at 9:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares decreased 19 percent this year before today, compared with a 23 percent decline for Coca-Cola Co.

Americans are spending less on soda, to afford gas prices right now?

AIG Blog Relations

Something that has many Americans angry tonight, is the $440,000 retreat I brought up recently.

Well, today I got a blog comment from "AIG Blog Relations" and I felt I should make a quick post and direct your eyes that way and see their response to my entry. I am guessing AIG Blog Relations is someone being paid to, or a bot being directed to, post replies on blog entries regarding the AIG bailout.

I know a lot of people are angry about this, and rightfully so.

When people can barely fill up their car to go to work because of the gas prices right now, and they hear about people ordering $1,200 worth of food in a night, or spending $200,000 on rooms at an expensive California spa retreat. Yeah, ordinary folk tend to get angry.

And not only are average Americans digusted, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has called for people at American International Group Inc. to be fired over this.

"If AIG was throwing money around for tee times and hot stone massages while begging for Federal Reserve dollars, it's a scandal and an outrage and heads will roll," Baucus said. "I want to know who we can fire and how we can get this misspent money back and I want both of those things to happen pronto."

He said he is considering calling for a special investigation by the Federal Reserve Inspector General.

Even President Bush is mad LOL

Anyway, feel like saying something about this? Make an anonymous comment! join the discussion here

Rednecks For Obama

Some things just make ya proud to be an American.



This picture from Associated Press captures the moment perfectly. Americans in the street, showing their support, holding a "Rednecks for Obama" banner, being greeted by Senator Barack Obama.

When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or rather two of them, holding the banner: "Rednecks for Obama."

In backing the first African-American nominee of a major party for the US presidency, the pair are on a grassroots mission to bridge a cultural gap in the United States and help usher their preferred candidate into the White House.

Tony Viessman, 74, and Les Spencer, 60, got politically active last year when it occurred to them there must be other lower income, rural, beer-drinking, gun-loving, NASCAR race enthusiasts fed up with business as usual in Washington.

Viessman had a red, white and blue "Rednecks for Obama" banner made, and began causing a stir in Missouri, which has emerged as a key battleground in the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.

Being from the South, I grew up seeing a good bit of racism, some of it I will never forget, nor feel the need to go into here. However, when you look at stories like this, and understand that the New South, is not what it once was, you can see that fine thing that makes America what it is. People no matter the skin color, down in the South, learn that we are all in this mess together, and hating each other because of skin color will get you nowhere.

"I didn't expect it would get as much steam and attention as it's gotten," Spencer told AFP on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis, the state's biggest city and site of last week's vice-presidential debate.

"We believe in him. He's the best person for the job," Viessman, a former state trooper from Rolla, said of Obama, who met the pair briefly on that July day in Union, Missouri.

The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.

"He said 'This is incredible'," Spencer recalled.

It's been an unexpectedly gratifying run, Viessman said.

Rednecks4obama.com claims more than 800,000 online visits. In Denver, Colorado, Viessman and Spencer drew crowds at the Democratic convention, and at Washington University last Thursday they were two of the most popular senior citizens on campus.

"I'm shocked, actually, but excited" that such a demographic would be organizing support for Obama, said student Naia Ferguson, 18, said after hamming it up for pictures behind the banner.

"When most people think 'redneck,' they think conservatives, anti-change, even anti-integration," she said. "But America's changing, breaking stereotypes."

A southern comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, defines the stereotype as a "glorious lack of sophistication".

Philistines or not, he said, most rural southerners are no longer proponents of the Old South's most abhorrent ideology -- racism -- and that workaday issues such as the economy are dominating this year's election.

"We need to build the economy from the bottom up, none of this trickle down business," Spencer said. "Just because you're white and southern don't mean you have to vote Republican."

Stories like this are great and should make us all proud to be American. I do not like reading the stories about hearing people shouting "kill him" or "terrorist" when Barack Obama's name is mentioned, things like this show us the side of humanity that is often loss in the negative campaigning and ads. I do enjoy reading stories showing everyday citizens doing something, getting involved, whatever they can do. That's nice. That's American.

The Rednecks for Obama are definitely winners!

How Can Anyone Still Be Undecided?

Last night was the first time I actually started thinking about people who are "undecided" in regards to the upcoming election. "How can anyone still be undecided?" I thought. And it still has me pondering. So I started to look up some articles about these undecided voters to see if I could understand why they are still debating which side to vote for.

Some undecided voters are leaning toward Obama.

With disgust dripping from his voice, Mr. Sullivan read aloud a story on page 4B of USA Today about how AIG agents had spent $443,000 on a week-long retreat at a California resort six days after the government bailed them out. When he came to the part about Joseph Cassano, the head of AIG’s finance division, taking home $34 million and then being placed on a $1 million-a-month consulting retainer in February, he smacked the paper.

“They should have had these CEOs in handcuffs yesterday,” he said looking at the accompanying photograph of two former AIG CEOs taking an oath before testifying to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “I would have liked to have heard someone say ‘Bailiff, bring the shackles.’ I want outrage, I want heads to roll.”

Mr. Sullivan does not believe either Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain is forceful enough to lead the country out of its current economic morass but he is increasingly convinced Sen. McCain is too tied to the special interests in Washington to be given a chance try.

I can understand the frustration this guy feels. All Americans should be upset about this type of stuff. McCain even corrected someone during the second presidential debates for calling it a "bailout," he said he calls it a "rescue." A fine example of how McCain is "out of touch" with ordinary Americans. Americans feels the way Mr. Sullivan does, not the way McCain does.

Watching the debate Tuesday night Mr. Sullivan said he was angered by what he saw as Sen. McCain’s vague promises.

“He said ‘I know how to get America working again,’ but he never said how,” Mr. Sullivan said. “Two weeks ago he said our economy was fundamentally strong, well that tells me for a man who is supposed to be in the middle of the action, his head is in the sand.”

When the debate switched topics to foreign policy, Mr. Sullivan’s interest waned.

“Our house is on fire here, I don’t have time to cut my neighbor’s grass,” he said. “We need a strong domestic economy before we can fix the rest of the world.”

Everyday citizens are worried more about gas prices in America, than about foreign policy.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with our system when I go to my local grocery store and the apples there are from China,” Mr. Sullivan said.

“I’m conservative, I don’t want to see the Democrats get into power and spend like drunken sailors, but the pendulum has swung too far to the right. It needs to be brought back.”

I think many, many, many of us feel the same way right now. Some voters say after the debates, neither candidate "delivered" or "got angry enough."

Are you undecided? If so, please tell me why.

McCain Helping eBay Stocks In Speeches

Am I the only one who notices John McCain plugging eBay into his speeches?

Do you think this is a coincidence that one of his advisers is in fact Meg Whitman, who has made millions of dollars off eBay stocks?

Do you think McCain has eBay stocks in his investment portfolio?

I am surprised to see I am one of the only people bringing this up in blogs today. I noticed McCain consistently plugging how well eBay is doing right now in his speeches, how so many Americans make a living from auctions, and so on. However, that type of promotion comes on the heels of a lay off of 1,000 eBay employees.

I have mentioned this in my comments about the debates last night:

I also thought it was hilarious that McCain mentioned eBay and how many people are doing business on the site, but he left out the fact that eBay has just laid off 1,000 employees... this really shows how out of touch he is with the rest of us. Why? One of his advisers is ex eBay executive Meg Whitman. The people at the top are doing great, but the people who just lost their job aren't doing so well, but McCain will try and make it look like eBay is doing great and everyone is happy. Not the 1,000 who just got laid off.

Should politicians use heavily promoted events such as Presidential Debates to promote companies they are investing in? If these people own stocks in the companies they are promoting in their public speeches, this is like free advertisement.

Meg Whitman has made a lot of money with eBay stocks, and one has to wonder, how much will McCain make?

AuctionBytes says..

eBay CEO Meg Whitman exercised options on shares of eBay stock in June and twice during the month of August, and sold the stock for a total of $64.9 million for a net gain of $45.7 million for the year. The transactions were conducted under a prearranged trading plan that allows Whitman to sell up to 6,400,000 shares between June 2007 and February 2008.

McCain has touted Meg and her economic prowess as why she is his adviser, however, this comes at a time when eBay is laying off 10% of its workers!

According to Reuters & The Huffington Post...

McCain touts the economic prowess of, and suggests as a future Treasury Secretary Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay and someone who he has turned to for economic advice in the past. Normally, this is a solid point for McCain to press, highlighting entrepreneurship and the growth of female business leaders. The problem: eBay just announced that it was firing 10 percent of its work force.

EBay announced on Monday that it would cut 10 percent of its global workforce, representing the most significant layoffs in its history.

This is what McCain had to say about Meg Whitman and eBay during his speech... just like an advertisement.

I like Meg Whitman [former CEO of eBay and current McCain campaign adviser], she knows what it's like to be out there in the marketplace. She knows how to create jobs. Meg Whitman was CEO of a company that started with 12 people and is now 1.3 million people in America make their living off eBay. Maybe somebody here has done a little business with them.

At a time when the stock market is falling and Wall Street is in trouble, I highly doubt he is just dropping names like eBay in his speeches for free. Politicians never promote companies or corporations for free.

My grandpa told me long ago, "follow the money." I would place a wager that if you follow the money on this, you'd find out exactly why McCain talks so much about eBay in his speeches.

Bailout Execs $440,000 Spa Retreat

So here's what AIG execs are doing with those billions of tax-payer bailout dollars...

From MSNBC...

Less than a week after the federal government had to bail out American International Group Inc., the company sent executives on a $440,000 retreat to a posh California resort, lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown said Tuesday.

The tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees at the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy.

The retreat didn't include anyone from the financial products division that nearly drove AIG under, but lawmakers were still enraged over thousands of dollars spent on catered banquets, golf outings and visits to the resort's spa and salon for executives of AIG's main U.S. life insurance subsidiary.

"Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance," House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., scolded the company during a lengthy opening statement. "Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."

Aren't you in a hurry to help bailout more of these failing banks now?

Key Moments In Last Night's Debate

Last night was the second presidential debate of 2008, and there is only one more remaining.

What I want to do is grab some quotes from various news articles this morning and point out some good moments in the debate:

A couple of things I noticed right off the bat, he did not mention Sarah Palin a single time, nor did he bring up William Ayers, as I predicted he would not. Had McCain mentioned William Ayers, the Keating Five would've been brought to light in front of millions watching! So McCain chose the coward route and kept his mouth shut.

According to NY Times...

John McCain on Alternative Fuels

Obama appeared well-prepared to parry Mr. McCain’s criticisms, matching him statistic for statistic as they argued over domestic and foreign policy.

“Senator McCain and I actually agree on something,” Mr. Obama said. “He said a while back that the big problem with energy is that for the last 30 years politicians in Washington haven’t done anything. What McCain doesn’t mention is he’s been there 26 of them and during that time he voted 23 times against alternative fuels.”

McCain constantly tries to cast himself as someone who supports alternative fuels, but his record speaks the truth. McCain has voted against alternative fuels throughout his entire career.


McCain stated Obama spoke too loudly when talking about taking out targets in Pakistan...

At another point, Mr. McCain criticized Mr. Obama as saying he would speak, without preconditions, to the leaders of countries like Pakistan, quoting Theodore Roosevelt — at first incorrectly — explaining the way he would deal with leaders of foes.

“You know, my hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt,” he said. “Teddy Roosevelt used to say walk softly — talk softly, but carry a big stick. Senator Obama likes to talk loudly.”

“Senator McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I’m green behind the ears and, you know, I’m just spouting off, and he’s somber and responsible,” he said. “Senator McCain, this is the guy who sang, ‘Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,’ who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don’t think is an example of ‘speaking softly.’ ”

You could actually see McCain facial expression go from smiling to a more somber tone as Obama jabbed back effectively.

McCain tried to link Barack Obama to the current financial mess in America

Mr. McCain sought to blame Mr. Obama for the crisis in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac housing agencies, saying that Mr. Obama “and his cronies” had failed to speak out when the organizations began making the risky loans that he argued were at the heart of the financial crisis.

“Fannie and Freddie were the catalyst, the match that started this forest fire,” he said. “There were some who stood up against it. There were others who took a hike.”

Mr. Obama nodded disapprovingly. “Now, I’ve got to correct a little bit of Senator McCain’s history, not surprisingly,” he said “Let’s, first of all, understand that the biggest problem in this whole process was the deregulation of the financial system.

“Senator McCain, as recently as March, bragged about the fact that he is a deregulator.”

This should not be overlooked, McCain's deregulation is what helped the Keating Five scandal continue for years after it should have been stopped, and his deregulation attitude is exactly what has helped fan the flames of the current financial crisis in America.

From Washington Post Blog...

When asked if health care is a right or responsibility

One moment struck me as particularly unfortunate for McCain: When Tom Brokaw asked whether health care was a privilege, a responsibility or a right. McCain said it was a responsibility, but left unclear whose responsibility it might be. Obama said he believed it should be a right, and talked about how his mother, who died of cancer at 53, had to spend the last months of her life arguing with insurance companies. Pretty powerful, I thought.

As usual though, not much of a debate. The structure won't allow for one, and even when you could tell one of the opponents wanted to continue, time limis and no follow up questions continue to make these "debates" look more and more scripted. Full of rehearsed one liners and talking points and no real substance. Despite those feelings, I think Barack Obama Won Again.

Hopefully the final debate will be the big finale!

Keating Economics & John McCain

Find out just how involved McCain was in the Keating Five scandal in this video. It's pretty simple, he would help push for deregulation and immunity from prosecution for the crook behind the entire ordeal.

McCain's push for deregulation is what helped cause the Keating scandal, and further paved the way for the mess we see on Wall Street today in the form of $700 Billion Bailout.

From the Chicago Tribune:

"During the savings and loan crisis of the late '80s and early '90s, McCain's political favors and aggressive support for deregulation put him at the center of the fall of Lincoln Savings and Loan," Plouffe writes to supporters. "More than 23,000 investors lost their savings. Overall, the savings and loan crisis required the federal government to bail out the savings of hundreds of thousands of families and ultimately cost American taxpayers $124 billion."

"In that crisis, John McCain and his political patron, Charles Keating, played central roles that ultimately landed Keating in jail for fraud and McCain in front of the Senate Ethics Committee," Plouffe writes. "The McCain campaign has tried to avoid talking about the scandal, but with so many parallels to the current crisis, McCain's Keating history is relevant and voters deserve to know the facts."

McCain should have known the Keating Five scandal would resurface, and as an American citizen, it is startling how similar these events are. Notice McCain's answer, "more deregulation!

That very deregulation is why we are in the mess we are now. Thanks to John McCain.

Economy Is Hurting As McCain Concedes Michigan

It could be the gas prices, it could be the loss of jobs, but according to the Associated Press, Sarah Palin admits: "The economy is hurting." Governor Palin also questioned McCain's concession of Michigan due to the financial strain on the McCain/Palin campaign.

Sarah Palin questioned Republican presidential candidate John McCain's decision to abandon efforts to win Michigan, a campaign move she only learned about Friday morning when she read it in the newspapers.

In an interview with Fox News Channel Friday, the Alaska governor said she was disappointed that the McCain campaign decided to stop competing in Michigan. In an indication that the vice presidential candidate had not been part of the decision, she said she had "read that this morning and I fired off a quick e-mail" questioning the move.

"Todd and I, we'd be happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants of the car manufacturers," Palin said, referring to her husband. "We'd be so happy to get to speak to the people in Michigan who are hurting because the economy is hurting."

McCain has decided to pull out of Michigan and focus his campaign on other states at this time of his campaign.

Word of the McCain campaign's decision to move staff out of Michigan and stop advertising in the state broke around midday Thursday — the same day as Palin's vice presidential debate against Democrat Joe Biden. The campaign had decided Wednesday night that the $1 million a week it was spending in Michigan wasn't worth it with internal polls showing Democratic nominee Barack Obama approaching a double-digit lead.

The cost of advertising in these states must be putting a strain on his campaign.

Wonder Where All This Money Comes From?

The Los Angeles Times has said, "The House today approved a $700-billion financial rescue plan -- sweetened by $110 billion in tax cuts -- on a 263-171 vote four days after rejecting it in a move that stunned both Wall Street and Washington."

According to the Associated Press, "With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush who quickly signed it."

Today I read on the Wall Street Journal, "President George W. Bush signed the biggest government intervention in the financial markets since the Great Depression after U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers wary of growing signs of the nation's economic distress voted Friday in favor of a $700 billion Wall Street rescue package."



Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one who wonders these things? Where does all this money come from?

It must fall from the sky.

Gas Prices In America

We all know gas prices are out of control, they keep rising, then dropping a little then going up again. A hurricane comes along, or a gas line in the Middle East gets blown up by a terrorist and the price of oil just keeps going up and down, up and down. One thing remains the same though, the cost of filling up your vehicle in America is definitely not getting any cheaper, and one thing that is really putting a strain on our economy is the price of gasoline.

Here's a look at the gas prices in America...



This picture shows the gas prices in America. Oklahoma is paying the least right now, at just over $3.13. Alaska is paying the most at $4.84 a gallon. Without going too deep into it, even at the lowest gas prices right now this is putting a strain on American families.

I am lucky enough to not have to drive much to earn my living, but I have two twenty-something year old brothers, and I see what they are struggling with. One having to drive many miles in a day going from home to college campus, back to home, then to work, and so on. The other raising children, managing the bills of a household with multiple vehicles, and putting himself through college as well.

Being the oldest of the brothers I often give my younger brothers advice from time to time, and sometimes it has to do with money management. Because of my brother's job, he needs to have a big truck and it would be impossible for him to drive to work in one of the latest trendy hybrid cars. Long story short, he drives a Nissan Titan, and no matter how many compliments he gets about his truck, he always brings up the gas prices that are eating him up.

At 12 mpg, people in America are riding around in cars they can barely afford to drive back and forth to work in. The average guy doesn't even fill up his vehicle, he just puts in what he can and hopes it lasts him the remainder of the week! Which is what is actually making me want to learn more about the energy independence debate and alternative fuel options facing America.