irreality

In his column yesterday at Time.com, Joel Stein explains exactly why so many people are angry about President Barack Obama’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan.

A lot of optimistic people bought houses near the historic height of the market, say November 2005, for absurdly high prices, say $1.12 million, in places like the eastern Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles. These people are very, very sad. Trust me on this. But the sudden drop in housing prices hasn’t made it any harder for these people to pay their loans. That’s because your home’s value is utterly irrelevant until you want to sell it…

…The only people affected by plummeting real estate prices are the ones who bought a house that cost more than they could afford, hoping for a spike in value so they could sell at a profit or take out a new loan based on an increased value. Their home wasn’t just a place to live; it was an investment they thought they could liquefy at will. If we’re saving these poor souls from the 26.7% drop in their investment, we should give twice as much aid to everyone who has lost approximately 50% in the stock market since its peak.

My wife and I bought a house we could afford, we drive pre-owned cars, we perform in depth price comparisons while shopping for anything, and then we wait for the item to go on sale before actually buying it.

Due to massive amounts of underemployment/unemployment, we’ve been forced to work with roughly half our regular income for the last 3 years.  We made adjustments, cut expenses, and somehow managed to not make any late payments.  But we’re now deeper in debt than we were, and even though we did the right thing and managed our finances responsibly, there’s not much we can look forward to receiving in the way of relief.

If we reimbursed people who lost cash on risky investments — or “subsidize the losers’ mortgages” — we’d create a moral hazard, telling everyone there’s no risk to gambling. It’s why parents fight their instinct to save their kids from the consequences of their mistakes.

I understand that mistakes can be made, and sometimes things slip through the vetting process… but 4 times now?

Timothy Geithner (our new Secretary of Treasury) not only failed to pay all of his taxes, he was also one of the regulators who seemingly turned and looked away while Citigroup spun towards what would become the biggest bank rescue in US history.  Tom Daschle, in addition to having been paid over 5 million dollars by various health insurance companies and hospitals, hasn’t paid over $120k in taxes, and as such has withdrawn his nomination to head up the Department of Health and Human Services.

But wait, there’s more.  Nancy Killefer withdrew her nomination to be the nations first “chief performance officer” due to issues regarding payroll taxes on her household help.   And of course, let’s not forget Bill Richardson, who withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary due to a grand jury investigation over how New Mexico’s state contracts were issued to political donors.

So again I say to you, Mr. President – what the fuck is going on here? You know, when private citizens fail to pay taxes, we generally are hit with fines and penalties, not nominations to public office.

With Joe the Plumber “War Correspondent” telling the media that they shouldn’t be doing their job, it was only a matter of time before a real reporter took a moment to comment.

The next day, CNN’s Rick Sanchez did just that.

SANCHEZ:
Meanwhile, something else to take note of today. I want to share with you the thoughts of Samuel Wurzelbacher — you know, “Joe the Plumber” — now Joe the war correspondent. Yes, he’s been in Israel filing reports.

And here’s his analysis, as reported by the Associated Press. You’re going to love this: “I don’t think journalists should be anywhere around war. I mean you guys report where our troops are at. You report what’s happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I think it’s asinine. I think media should be abolished from, you know, reporting, war is hell.”

There you have it.

Samuel, let me talk to you directly.

First, I was born in a communist country, so I’m familiar with people like you — and Fidel Castro, by the way — not to name drop — who also think “that media should be abolished.”

Number two, I’ve covered wars. And while I can’t speak for war correspondents who put their lives on the line every day, I can tell you, what they do is requisite — essential to our democracy.

Whether you’ve insulted them is up to them to tell you.

But I will tell you who you have insulted. Forty-one journalists were killed last year — two already killed this year — while trying to practice their craft. They can’t speak for themselves, because they’re no longer with us, Samuel.

And their children, their wives and husbands, their fathers and mothers — they don’t have a TV show.

So on behalf of them, Sam, let’s see, you’re not really a licensed plumber. You’re not really a war correspondent. And your name isn’t even really Joe. I think we all do know, though, who you are.

You know that guy who lives down the street — the guy who shows up at the backyard barbecue when there’s free food?

You know that guy?

He knows everything about everything, but really knows nothing, hates everything and everybody. He can’t understand why anybody would find any fault with him. You know, the obnoxious guy — there’s always one at every party or every gathering on every block. You know that guy. We all know that guy.

Well, that guy wasn’t made famous by John McCain and Sarah Palin. You were, Sam. So we’re stuck with you. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t call you out.

In fact, I just did.

So now that Joe the Idiot Plumber is a  “war correspondent” reporter for Pajamas TV (who the fuck is Pajamas TV?), we can look forward to more brilliant, thought provoking insight and intelligent discourse from the news media, like the following exchange between Joe and some reporters in Israel:

I’ll be honest with you: I don’t think journalists should be anywhere allowed war.  I mean, you guys report where our troops are at. You report what’s happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I think it’s asinine. You know, I liked back in World War I and World War II when you’d go to the theater and you’d see your troops on, you know, the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for ‘em.

Now everyone’s got an opinion and wants to…down soldiers. You know, American soldiers or Israeli soldiers…I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting. You know, war is hell. And if you’re gonna sit there and say, ‘Well, look at this atrocity,’ well, you don’t know the whole story behind it half the time. So I think the media should have no business in it.  (from Rawstory.com)

Hmmmm..  I wonder where Joe thinks those WW1 and WW2 newsreels in the theaters came from.

But since we should be abolishing the media from war zones, why are you still there?  You said that you were there to get the “average Joe’s” view on the situation there in Gaza – guess what?  That makes you a reporter, too.

Can you kindly shut the fuck up now, Joe, and go back to whatever toilet you were hiding under a few months ago?  After all, the best way to lead is by example.

Conservative talk show host and documentary filmmaker John Ziegler is out to prove that Barack Obama won the 2008 election because of media bias, and that “the media assassination of [Sarah Palin], her character and family, was one of the greatest public injustices of our time.”

When asked by Ziegler if she thought that Tina Fey and Katie Couric have been treated as heroes for creating a negative image of her, Palin agreed, saying

“A lot of people are capitalizing on, I don’t know, I think, perhaps, exploiting that was done via me, my family, my administration.”

This begs the question – why go on Saturday Night Live if you’re being exploited so horribly by people on the show?  For crying out loud, Palin even participated in the skits that poked fun at her.  It seems that poor Sarah doesn’t seem to understand what comedians actually do.

If anything, Katie Couric deserves an award for exposing Palin to the rest of the nation for what she really is – an incompetent, female version of George W, who couldn’t even name one major newspaper or magazine when asked what she read.

Of course, that doesn’t matter at all, because if the media wasn’t “in the tank for Obama”, McCain would have won, dontchaknow.

Yeah, right.  Keep grasping at straws, guys.

Can someone, you know, remind me why, you know, Caroline Kennedy is even, you know, being considered for, you know, Hillary’s Senate seat?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…Caroline-Kennedy-repeats-you-know-142-times-in-interview.html

No, really.  Here’s the transcript:

http://www.nytimes.com/…kennedytranscript

I’m all for women’s rights, and I’m all for women in positions of power, but for the love of god, what kind of moron even considers putting this idiot in the Senate?  In addition to being stupid, she’s never held any elected office, and can’t be bothered to even vote most of the time.

“I was really surprised and dismayed by my voting record,” she told the Associated Press. “I’m glad it’s been brought to my attention.“

Oh, wait…  she’s a Kennedy.

That explains it all, you know?

Well, maybe.

The US Department of Transportation recently started accepting proposals from states and businesses who were interested in developing any of eleven federally designated high-speed rail corridors.  Two of the specified routes run right through Texas – one entering the state from the southeast and ending in Houston, the other coming in from the north, and running through Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.

With the federal government promising a 80-20 match for funding, one would expect companies to be jumping all over it, but no proposals for these two routes have been submitted yet.

Peter LeCody of Texas Rail Advocates thinks it is because Texas has a bit of work to do first.

“Texas is not on the horizon to take advantage of the recently authorized Railway Safety Act,” he said, noting the law that has prompted the federal call for programs. “Other states are already planning for high-speed passenger rail corridors, and some have timetables in place to have intercity passenger rail service as early as 2012. Texas does not.”

Part of that is due to the The Texas Constitution, which currently forbids spending any money from gasoline sales on rail programs. TXDOTs executive director, Amadeo Saenz, said the department is well aware of the call for proposals and is working on a plan.

“We need the flexibility to solve our transportation problems with the right solution. Our motor fuel taxes can only be used for highways. We have studies that say we need 18 or 19 new lanes on I-35 through Dallas to solve our congestion problems. Well, you are not going to fit that many lanes on I-35. What other solutions could give you the same results in terms of moving traffic? Perhaps rail or transit is the answer in that corridor, but we don’t have that flexibility.”

Change may be coming soon.  When the 2009 Legislature comes to session, they will be asked to decide if creating a new rail division within TXDOT to oversee development of passenger rail lines between Texas’ biggest cities is a good idea.  In addition, Senator John Carona has introduced a bill that would call a vote next fall to amend the state constitution to exempt high-speed passenger rail facilities from property taxes.

All aboard!

It has been days since the cowardly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and the bodies of the terrorists are due to be buried as per their religious followings require.

There’s one problem however.  Hanif Nalkhande and the Jama Masjid Trust, the keepers of the local 7.5-acre Muslim Badakabrastan graveyard, is refusing to bury the bodies.

“People who committed this heinous crime cannot be called Muslim,” said Hanif Nalkhande, a trustee. “Islam does not permit this sort of barbaric crime.”

Of course, there are other Muslim graveyards in Mumbai, but Jama Masjid has so much influence in the city that none of the graveyards are likely to accept the bodies either.

Hanif’s words will likely be burried under other stories and lost, and I’m sure will draw the ire of those who support terroristic acts like these.  Infact, local scholar Maulauna Zubair Ahmed is already speaking out against the decision.  But here’s to the hope that there are more Muslim men like Hanif, who are willing to speak out and call these acts what they really are – heinous, barbaric crimes, that go against the true will of Allah.