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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50621)	9/15/2005 12:58:53 PM
From: CYBERKEN	Respond to of 59480

Given the amount you are arrogantly milking from working Americans, it behooves you to pray VERY hard...

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50621)	9/15/2005 1:00:06 PM
From: CYBERKEN	Respond to of 59480

But the days when someone can have faith in God and still be a TRAITOR are GONE in America. Go on fooling yourself...

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50621)	9/16/2005 1:12:11 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 59480

Fannie Mae Dissolving Grass-Roots Lobbying Network By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Annys Shin Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, September 16, 2005; D01 Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae has quietly dismissed several senior employees and is dismantling its vaunted grass-roots lobbying corps, a network that has reached deeply into the halls of Congress for more than a decade. As it wrestles with a multibillion-dollar financial restatement and an overhaul of its business, the District-based firm laid off 20 grass-roots lobbyists and publicists in its five regional offices, company officials said. The Monday morning conference call that announced the job cuts effectively ends Fannie's long reign as the king of ribbon-cutting politics -- its controversial use of favors to and friends of members of Congress to get what it wants on Capitol Hill. The workers laid off Monday helped direct a grass-roots network considered among the most sophisticated and extensive political-influence machines in corporate America, exceeding even the much-storied programs of AT&T Corp. and a range of military contractors. The changes are part of an effort by Fannie's new chief executive, Daniel H. Mudd, to de-emphasize political maneuvering and refocus on the company's core mission of keeping the home mortgage markets well funded. The company's credibility was badly tarnished last year by a $10.8 billion accounting scandal that led to the ouster of Franklin D. Raines as chief executive and from which it is still struggling to recover. One indication of the company's newfound modesty is Mudd's own move from a sprawling office in the company's elegant executive suite on the second floor of Fannie's Wisconsin Avenue headquarters to a much smaller and barer space on the first floor. The executive suite is crowded with meeting spaces and teams of accountants rushing to complete Fannie's complicated financial restatement. Fannie had already disclosed that it was paring by a third the outside lobbyists it dispatched to Capitol Hill, where they became a power in their own right. But behind the scenes it was also taking apart its elaborate system of wooing legislators from their home states and districts. This spring, the company eliminated the headquarters office that coordinated such grass-roots communications. It also stopped using as a lobbying arm its 55 "partnership offices" across the country. The partnership offices will be reorganized later this month and renamed "community business centers," according to company officials. The company also decided this year not to renew the contracts of the nation's two most prominent experts in grass-roots politics: Michael J. Whouley of Dewey Square Group, who was a senior aide in Sen. John F. Kerry's failed run for the White House last year, and Ralph E. Reed Jr. of Century Strategies LLC, former executive director of the Christian Coalition and an adviser to President Bush's campaign. The partnership offices, located in all but three states and costing about $50 million annually, were part business and part political operations. As political entities they arranged frequent public events to proclaim the start of popular community development projects and invariably invited lawmakers so they could take credit with the local press. The offices conducted a thousand such ceremonies annually and once held as many as 2,000 in a single year. The grass-roots network overseen by Fannie's regional and partnership offices also made friends with lawmakers by recruiting people who were close to them, such as local bankers and charity chieftains, and then regularly asked the recruits to contact legislators on Fannie's behalf. At its height last year, Fannie had 2,000 such "affinity contacts" who had agreed to secure a response from lawmakers no later than 24 hours after Fannie asked them. Fannie also had a database of 100,000 other supporters who would barrage lawmakers with material from the company. The targeting of individual lawmakers was so precise that Fannie lobbyists were able to ask advocates to telephone lawmakers just as they were about to vote on amendments that Fannie wanted to defeat. One person close to the company, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, boasted that the network once got the barber of a House member to write a letter to the lawmaker as a way of advancing Fannie's cause. The tactics worked. Pressure from Fannie has been credited with repeatedly derailing legislation it did not like, including an effort last year that would have created a tough new regulator to oversee the company. A similar bill is before Congress this year, and Fannie's lobbying -- now in support of a new regulator -- has been noticeably lower-keyed, lawmakers and observers of the company have said. It has not mobilized its grass-roots army, for example, in part because it had been overused in the past -- angering the lawmakers that Fannie wanted to persuade -- and in part because Fannie's home-grown advocates have become wary of continuing their support in the midst of an accounting scandal. Fannie was chartered by Congress to support homeownership, and the bulk of its business involves buying mortgages from banks and other lenders and packing them into larger securities for investors, thus providing lenders with the cash to make more loans. Fannie's local offices will continue to conduct business, such as seeking loans for apartment buildings and single-family homes. In addition, the company plans to hire seven public relations workers, some of whom will probably be drawn from among those who were laid off. The bolstering of the company's communications staff raises the prospect that Fannie will continue to play politics, albeit from the back of the room rather than in open sight. Still, Fannie officials said the company is determined to stand clear of political hardball. It has also killed a $40 million-a-year advertising campaign about homeownership. While the company said the ads were educational, critics lambasted them as little more than an image-burnishing effort. "We're now taking some steps to better align our business with the needs and focus of our customers and partners," said Charles V. Greener, Fannie's spokesman. "Our focus is on our business, and the community business centers will continue to serve as catalysts in their communities to expand affordable housing opportunities and to work with our customers and lenders to get more people into homes and help them remain in those homes." Fannie is pressing to pass the bill that would create a new regulator for its industry. It is so eager to enact the legislation that it has instructed its outside lobbyists to approach lawmakers only sparingly, allowing Congress to work unfettered to approve a measure that the company once fought against. While the company has not been able to release financial statements because of its accounting problems, Fannie's earnings have almost certainly come under pressure lately. The company has had to shrink the size of its investment holdings, which have been its main source of profit. As of July, the latest figure available, the company's investment portfolio was declining at an annualized rate of about 20 percent, to $788.8 million. © 2005 The Washington Post Company

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50621)	9/16/2005 1:13:50 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 59480

kennyboy role model:Germans Haven't Forgotten Schroeder's Unfulfilled Pledge Record Jobless Rate May Haunt Chancellor in Sunday's Vote By Craig Whitlock Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, September 16, 2005; A22 BREMEN, Germany -- When he took office seven years ago, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder made a big promise he didn't keep. "My most important job is the fight against the scourge of unemployment," he declared in his victory speech after winning the 1998 election. During the campaign, he told Germany's 4 million jobless that he would slash unemployment. Voters should kick him out of office if he failed, he added later. Today, Germany's jobless rate is worse than ever; the number of people out of work hit a post-World War II high this year. German voters haven't forgotten Schroeder's pledge, and polls suggest they are ready to depose him in Sunday's national elections. Angela Merkel, the candidate of the Christian Democrats who wants Schroeder's job, and her allies have been relentless in their reminders. "You have spent seven years making empty promises," she said in Parliament last week, telling lawmakers that Schroeder was "a man who has had his chance." The criticism rings familiar to Schroeder, 61, who defeated longtime German leader Helmut Kohl by harping on the same thing. He called Kohl "the chancellor of unemployment" and ripped him for not having done more to invigorate the economy. Germany exports more goods than any other country and has the world's third-largest economy. But it has been dogged by high jobless rates and weak economic growth for the better part of two decades. An aging workforce, generous social welfare programs and a cultural resistance to change have stymied efforts by a succession of governments to fix the economic problems. Schroeder's Social Democrats and their partner in government, the Greens party, were hobbled by large deficits stemming from the huge public investment to unify the country after the Berlin Wall collapsed. The coalition did trim social benefits and cut some taxes to encourage companies to hire more workers, but the strategy has not panned out. Many of Germany's biggest industrial companies remain profitable, but have shifted jobs to Eastern Europe and other regions where it is cheaper to operate. "He really thought that curbing costs would improve the situation and reduce unemployment -- he really believed that," said Michael Vester, a professor at the University of Hannover, in Schroeder's home town. "But this was an error. It didn't work." In addition to the worsening job climate, average personal incomes have stagnated on Schroeder's watch. That, in turn, has caused Germans to consume less, hurting economic growth. Things got so bad that Schroeder decided in May to call new elections a year early. With many lawmakers in his own party abandoning him, he said German voters needed to decide whether the country should continue his policies. In public, he looked tired and beaten. Some analysts suggested that he had lost his enthusiasm for the job. Since then, Schroeder has recovered some of his zest on the campaign trail. His coalition, known as "red-green" for the colors of its two parties, has gained in the polls by predicting that Merkel's Christian Democrats will shred Germany's social safety net and cut taxes for the rich. But he's offered few new ideas, and polls indicate he faces long odds to win another term. At a rally in Bremen, a river port in northern Germany, about 4,000 people turned out in a drizzle Wednesday to hear Schroeder defend his record. He seemed to draw energy from the crowd as he pumped his fists in the air and thundered into the microphone. He talked about climate change, the war in Iraq, health care, social justice, relations with Russia and automobile fuel standards. But he didn't say much about jobs or make any more promises. When he did talk about the economy, he accused the media of ignoring the good news, pointing to a World Bank study that ranked Germany fifth in business innovation. "I am proud of this, I am proud of this!" Schroeder said. He acknowledged that more economic changes were necessary, but didn't go into detail. "They will be done -- by us -- so that the social justice in this country remains intact." Several voters at the party-sponsored event said they would vote for Schroeder and the Social Democrats, but only reluctantly. Bruno Schroeder, 54, a former financial adviser, said he would support the chancellor (who is no relation), mostly because he disliked Merkel more. He said he usually votes for the Social Democrats, but complained that Schroeder's performance "could have been better." "He needed to do a better job showing the country the direction in which we need to go," he added. Thorben Harleng, 26, a student, was also unenthusiastic. When asked what Schroeder needed to focus on, Harleng responded simply: "Jobs." But he said he would vote to reelect the chancellor, calling him a better choice than Merkel. "I don't think she could have done any better," he said. That Schroeder has made the race close is a testament to his political skills. Though the polls show that Germans favor the Christian Democrats over the Social Democrats, on a personal level, Schroeder tops Merkel, who tends to be reserved and dour, in voter popularity. They think he outshined her last week in a one-on-one debate. "What is Schroeder's trick in having the contour of 5 million unemployed people disappear in a campaign puff of smoke?" the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper said in an editorial this week. "It is the work of a great political illusionist." © 2005 The Washington Post Company

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50621)	9/16/2005 4:44:52 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 59480

Subject: Fw: WHAT THE NEWS DOESN'T SHOW This has some pretty strong words in it but it tells the truth. Thought I might inform the few friends I have on my recent traumatic experience. I am going to tell it straight, blunt, raw, and I don't give a damn. Long read, I know but please do read!!! I went to volunteer on Saturday at the George R. Brown convention for two reasons. A: I wanted to help people to get a warm fuzzy. B: Curiosity. I've been watching the news lately and have seen scenes that have made me want to vomit. And no it wasn't dead bodies, the city under water, or the sludge everywhere. It was PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR. The people on T.V., (99% being Black) were DEMANDING help. They were not asking nicely but demanding as if society owed these people something. Well the honest truth is WE DON'T. Help should be asked for in a kind manner and then appreciated. This is not what the press (FOX in particular) was showing, what I was seeing was a group of people who are yelling, demanding, looting, killing, raping, and SHOOTING back at the demanded help!!!!! So I'm thinking this can't possibly be true can it???? So I decide to submit to the DEMAND for help out of SHOCK. I couldn't believe this to be true of the majority of the people who are the weakest of society. So I went to volunteer and help folks out and see the truth. So I will tell the following story and you decide: I arrived at the astrodome only to find out that there were too many volunteers and that volunteers were needed at the George R. Brown Convention Center. As I was walking up to the Center I noticed a line of cars that wrapped around blocks filled with donations. These were ordinary Houstonians coming with truckloads and trunks full of water, diaper! s, clothes, blankets, food, all types of good stuff. And lots of it> was NEW. I felt that warm fuzzy while helping unload these vehicles of these wonderful human beings. I then went inside the building and noticed approximately 100,000 sq. ft. of clothes, shoes, jackets, toys and all types of goodies all organized and ready for the people in need. I signed up, received a name badge and was on my merry way... excited to be useful. I toured the place to get familiar with my surroundings; the entire place is probably around 2 million sq. ft. I noticed rows as far as the eye can see of mattresses, not cots, BLOW UP MATTRESSES!!! All of which had nice pillows and plenty of blankets. 2 to 3 bottles of water lay on every bed. These full size to queen size beds by the way were comfortable, I laid in area. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing!!! A makeshift hospital created in 24 hours!!! It was unbelievable, they even had a pharmacy. I also noticed that they created showers, which would also have hot water. I went upstairs to the third floor to find a HUGE cafeteria created in under 24 hours! Rows of tables, chairs and food everywhere - enough to feed an> army! I'm not talking about crap food either. They had Jason's deli food, apples, oranges, coke, diet coke, lemonade, orange juice, cookies, all types of chips and sandwiches. All the beverages by the way were put on ice and chilled!!!! In a matter of about 24 hours or less an entire mini-city was erected by volunteers for the poor evacuees. This was not your rundown crap shelter, it was BUM HEAVEN. So that was the layout: great food, comfy beds, clean showers, free medical help, by the way there was a library, and a theatre room that I forgot to mention. Great stuff right???? Well here is what happened on my journey - I started by handing out COLD water bottles to evacuees as they got off the bus. Many would take them and only 20% or less said thank you. Lots of them> would shake their heads and ask for sodas! So this went on for about 20-30> minutes until I was sick of being an unappreciated servant. I figured certainly these folks would appreciate some food!!! So I went upstairs to serve these beloved evacuees some GOOD food that I> wish I could have at the moment! *The following statements are graphic, truthful, and discussing UNRATIONAL behavior* Evacuees come slowly to receive this mountain of food that is worth serving to a king! I tell them that we have 2 types of great deli sandwiches to choose from - ham and turkey. Many look at the food in disgust and DEMAND burgers, pizza, and even McDonalds!!!! Jason's deli is better than McDonalds!!!! Only 1 out of ten people who took something would say "thank you" the rest took items as if it was their God give right to be served without a shred of appreciation!!! They would ask for Beer and liquor. They complained that we didn't have good enough food. They refused food and laughed at us. They treated us volunteers as if we where SLAVES. No not all of them of course, but 70% did!!!!!! 20% were appreciative, 10% took the food without any comment and the other 70% had some disgusting comment to say. Some had the nerve to laugh at us. And when I snapped back at them for being mean, they would curse at me!!! Needless to say I was in utter shock. They would eat their food and leave their mess on the table. Some would pick up their stuff, many would leave it for the volunteers to pick up. I left that real quick to go down and help set up some more beds. I saw many young ladies carrying mattresses and I helped for a while. Then I realized something. There were hundreds of able bodied young men who could help!! I asked a group of young evacuees in their teens and early twenties to help. I got cursed at for asking them to help!!! One said "We just lost our fucking homes and you want us to work!!! " The next said "Ya Cracker, you got a home we don't". I looked at them in disbelief. Here are women walking by carrying THEIR BEDS and they can't lift a finger and help themselves!! WHY SHOULD I HELP PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT TO HELP THEMSELVES!!!! I waved them off and turned away and was laughed at and more "white boy jokes" were made at me. I felt no need to waste mybreath on pitiful losers. I went to a nearby restroom where I noticed a man shaving. I used the restroom, washed my hands and saw this man throw his razor towards the trash can...he missed. he walked out leaving his disgusting razor on the floor for some other "cracker" to pick up. Even the little kids were demanding. I saw only ONE white family and only TWO Hispanic families. The rest where blacks. Sorry 20% to 30% decent blacks, and 70% LOSERS!!!!! I would call them N***S, but the actual definition of a n***r is one who is ignorant, these people were not ignorant..they were ARROGANT ASSHOLES. The majority of which are thugs and lifetime lazy ass welfare recipients. We are inviting the lowest of the low to Houston. And like idiots we are serving the people who will soon steal our cars, rape, murder, and destroy our city while stealing from our pockets on a daily basis through the welfare checks they take. We will fund our own destruction. By "US" I don't mean a specific race, I mean the people who work hard, work smart, have values and morals. Only people who want to help themselves should be helped, the others should be allowed to destroy themselves. I do not want to work hard, give the government close to half the money I earn so they can in turn give it to a bunch of losers. I don't believe in being poor for life. My family immigrated here, we came here poor, and now thank God, and due to HARD WORK we are doing fine. If immigrants, who come here, don't know the language can work and become successful... WHY CAN'T THE MAJORITY OF THE HOMEGROWN DO IT!!! If we continue to reward these losers then we will soon destroy our great country. I just witnessed selfish, arrogant, unappreciative behavior by the very people who need help the most. Now these same people who cursed me, refused my cities generosity, who refuse to help themselves are DEMANDING handouts on their own terms!!!!!!! They prance around as if they are owed something, and when they do receive a handout, they say it's not good enough! Well you know what..these types of people can go to hell for all I care! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Richard L. Johnston, M.D. > University of Mississippi Medical Center > 3805 Crane Blvd. > Jackson, MS 39216