I love this quote by Bumiller (the bold add on is mine),  "I'm not going to say it was a cheap shot or not",  BECAUSE THAT WOULD GET ME KICKED OUT OF THE CHURCH OF HIS OBAMANESS!

"Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator
reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the
past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the
company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting
scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and
intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to
trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie
Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr.
Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting
earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the
deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae
used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the
regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes
some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement
with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports
from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again
that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the
regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as
Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies
and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does
nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary.
OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without
delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing
Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for
quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not
act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk
that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall
financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on
this GSE reform legislation."

Of
course, congress voted down the reforms, probably because FNM and FRE were two
of the largest donors to both parties.

10 Things You Need to Know About Senator Obama’s Tax Proposals

Under the tax plans of Barack Obama and his Democratic friends in Congress, American families will only be left with… the change in their pockets.

In 2009, Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress have an idea for a bill. Well, really, it’s a lot of bills that will be paid for by nearly every American in the form of higher taxes and higher costs for food, energy and other products.

So if you have a retirement account, work in or shop at a small business, are close or in retirement, or even flip on a light switch, then there are a few things that you should consider.

Under that plan:

1. Small main street businesses would be forced to pay tax rates as high as 62.3% under Senator Obama’s tax proposals.

2. Senator Obama’s tax plan would tax small businesses at a higher rate than Wal-Mart!

3. Taxes on retirement income and savings could increase by at least 33%, hitting millions of seniors when they need these resources the most.

4. 4 million workers over the age of 50 – those eagerly looking forward to retirement – would be hit with increased tax bills. 

5. Millions of Americans would only keep 38 cents of every dollar that they earn.

6. Senator Obama’s tax plan would reduce the after tax wages of millions of workers by 17.7%.

7. It will take 227 days per year, nearly 8 months, just to pay your tax bill!

8. 97,065 carpenters, 110,908 police officers, 254,992 nurses, 208,562 postsecondary teachers and 237,000 dentists would see tax increases, if the earnings cap was successfully eliminated.

9. 10.3 million workers would see an average of $5,650 taken from their paycheck and given to government programs.

10. Even YOU might be considered “Rich.”

http://www.rightchange.com/

PALIN/McCain 2008

"On the other hand, McCain has had a very rough 24 hours, when he said on Monday that the fundamentals of the economy are strong."

This is another clear case of the media framing the news instead of reporting it.  They could just as easily have said, "Barack Obama embarassed himself by asking: What Economy is John McCain talking about?"

Our economy has the time-tested proven ability to correct itself because the fundamentals of the economy are rock solid.  The fundamentals of our economy are based on capitalism.  Is Senator Obama suggesting that we change the fundamentals from capitalism to something else, e.g. socialism, communism?

Somebody needs to ask Senator Obama what he plans to do with 'the fundamentals of our economy' of he thinks they need to be changed.