Scoop’s Views

Congress has approved a $300 billion funding measure to help people who are at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure, and now, it seems, almost every media outlet in the country is busy touting the ways to stake claim to your chunk of change from that bailout.

To be in foreclosure means you haven’t paid your mortgage. Wow! What a concept. Most of the people in the current mortgage crisis are people who managed to get mortgages from lenders who offered sub-prime loans. The loans were given to people with a variety of options, but many people who never would have managed to get a mortgage from traditional lenders managed to buy a home. Great. Until the taxpayer-funded bailout.

Tags: afford, approved, bills, Congress, crisis, dream homes, emergency bailout, financial woes, fiscally-responsible, foreclosure rates, foreclosure risk, foreclosures, home affordability, homeowners, in foreclosure, lenders, lending institutions, loans, mortgage bailout, mortgage crisis, mortgage lenders, political correctness, politically correct, politicians, sub-prime, sub-prime mortgages, subprime, subprime mortgages, taxpayer bailout, taxpayer money, taxpayers, traditional mortgages

While you and I are sitting at home, enjoying all the creature comforts, American fighting men and women are in distant lands, including Afghanistan and Iraq, sweating their butts off, literally, while going on patrols, doing raids, and other duties, and their performance – or responses – could be the difference between life-and-death.

As for Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate who is doing a tour of specific areas in Afghanistan and Iraq, supposedly getting a first-hand look at the situation on the ground, things are much different. His environment will be hot, sandy, dirty, but secure, for the most part. Because Obama, like McCain and others during past trips, are members of Congress, the military will provide a shroud around the “dignitaries” – ensuring, to the best of their ability, the survival of the elected officials, even at the expense of service men and women.

Tags: 2008 presidential candidates, 82nd Airborne Division, airborne, armed conflict, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama II, Barack Obama, barry o'bomber, body armor, desert fatigues, Ft. Bragg, G.I. Bill, Harvard University, heroes, infantry, infantry platoon leader, insurgents, John F. Kennedy School of Government, John McCain, LBE, load bearing equipment, McCain abortion, McCain for President, McCain issues, McCain potatoes, Obama for President, off-the-record, paratrooper, photo op, photo opportunities, publicity stunt, Purple Hearts, real heroes, rucksacks, security details, U.S. Army Rangers, United States Army, United States Military Academy at West Point, Vietnam, water, weapon and ammo, weapons qualification, West Point

MSNBC is reporting former Republican Sen. Phil Gramm is stepping down as co-chairman of Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign.

Tags: co-chairman, former Republican senator, John McCain, McCain for President, nation of whiners, Obama for President, Phil Gramm, Phil Gramm resignation, Phil Gramm resigns, presidential campaign, resignation

Fox News had an open microphone near the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and during that time, the loud-mouth did what he had done ever-so-well in the past: shoved his foot in his mouth, all the way to his knee, and then, while trying to pull it back out, makes things even worse.

This time, though, it was different: it was a news crew that was recording conversations — without advising those in the area, or those who the crew knew would be recorded — and then aired those non-disclosed recordings. On one hand, you can argue it’s a violation of ethical behavior by journalists, but this is TV news, so that argument is out the window.

Tags: apologies, Barack Obama, black males, black people, blacks, castrate, castration, Chicago, Christian behavior, cut off Barack Obama's nuts, cut off his nuts, ethical principles, Fox News, journalistic ethics, measure of a man, news crews, open microphone, Operation PUSH, Operation Rainbow, out-of-wedlock, payoffs, public events, public forums, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, responsibility, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Roland Martin, Roland S. Martin

Senate is rewarding telecommunications providers for breaking the law
York Times is reporting that the United States Senate, by a vote of 69-28, approved a bill overhauling the rules covering secret government eavesdropping and granting immunity to telecommunications companies that aided in the wiretapping of Americans without warrants. Doing Chicago-style two-stepping, Barack Obama, who originally spoke harsh words against the illegal wiretaps, voted today in favor of granting immunity to the telecommunications companies. His former presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, stayed true to her original position and voted against the immunity.

Tags: Barack Obama, Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, David Stout, domestic spying, due process rights, eavesdropping, Eric Lichtblau, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigations, federal courts, FISA, foreign, Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security, illegal wiretapping, immunity, intrusions, mismanagement, National Security Agency, No Such Agency, NSA, phone subscibers, re-election, Senate, senators, telecommunications companies, telecoms, terrorist attacks, terrorists

It seems Sen. Joe Lieberman (Independent-Connecticut) is firing up President George W. Bush’s dusty old propaganda machine used to make Americans worry more than necessary about a potential terror attack.

In the case of Lieberman, a guy who’s unsuccessfully sought a seat in the White House in the last two presidential elections (2000 and 2004), using fear tactics in hopes of boosting support for the candidate he is supporting on the November Presidential ballot: Sen. John McCain (Republican-Arizona).

Tags: 1960s, 9-11, 9/11, Arizona, attacks, Barack Obama, Capitol Hill, Cold War, Connecticut, cronies, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, dirty bombs, double-talkm, Dubya, forked-tongues, gas masks, George W. Bush, hip waders, Illinois, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, meals-ready-to-eat, MREs, nuclear annihilation, presidential campaigns, presidential elections, press conference, propaganda, propanda machine, protective masks, re-elected, rhetoric, senators, September 11 2001, terror, terrorists, Washington DC, White House

Here’s a non-partisan joke going around in email. It’s hilarious, can be enjoyed by both parties, and it may be politically correct. If it isn’t, don’t complain to me because I don’t care.

While walking down the street one day a U.S. senator is hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter who’s standing at the Pearly Gates.

Tags: barren lands, Beezlebub, campaigning, Campaigns, caviar, champagne, clouds, clubhouse, contended souls, dancing, dead, death, devil, diablo, dine, dinners, dressed in rags, formal evening attire, Friends, garbage, golf course, golfing, green golf course, harps, Heaven, heaven-and-hell, Hell, joking, lame-duck-senator, lobster, parties, party, Pearly Gates, picking up trash, politicians, Politics, Prince of Darkness, Satan, Senator, senator-in-limbo, singing, St. Peter, trash falling from above, voted, votes, voting, waste

Health insurers have been rating physicians and physician practices over the years. In some of those ratings, you find some really bland things, as well as some scores that always incite heated and passionate reaction.

It took physicians — through the American Medical Association (AMA) — quite a few years to get hip to the idea of rating the insurance industry, but the tables have now been turned. The outcome: the expected over-inflated image of health insurers saying the ratings aren’t fair, as well as brutal honesty, it seems, about the timeliness of payments made by the health insurers.

Tags: AMA, American Medical Association, claims, denials, health insurance, insurers, not medically necessary, ratings, Reviews, U&C, usual and customary

While Hillary Clinton focuses on staying in the 2008 presidential race as long as possible, meaning as long as she and former president and husband Bill Clinton, can afford to make loans to her campaign, Barack Obama is busy personally answering calls from concerned voters in Kentucky, Florida, and Michigan.

Although votes were counted in Kentucky last night without issue, many people there still have questions about Barack Obama and his intentions, especially as they relate to the Blue Grass state.

Tags: American public, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Obama, Blue Grass state, campaigning, Campaigns, Democratic Party, Elections, electorate, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, November 2008, Obama, phone calls, politicians, Politics, presidential election, voters, votes, White House

An unidentified Marine sniper, formerly stationed in Iraq, has been pulled out of the country and sent back to the United States. Why? Because he allegedly used a Quran as a target early this month during some target practice at a shooting range at the Radhwaniya police station, located on Baghdad’s western outskirts, according to reports.

Did the U.S. Marine do this? Under U.S. law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a case must first be made, and then his innocence or guilt is determined, not hang him first and then figure out later if he actually did anything wrong. Oh, wait! Muslims are offended by this offense, so, by all means, let’s hang him now and later figure out his guilt or innocence.

Tags: Afghanistan, al Qaeda, armed forces, Article 6, Bagdad, Baghdad, billions of dollars, bulldozers, Christians, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, Constitution, criminal act, deep concern, food, George W. Bush, Gordon Johndroe, guilt, guilty, Holy Bible, homes, inner-city, innocence, Iraq, Iraqi Islamic Party, Iraqi Prime Minister, Islam, Jews, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, Marine sniper, Muslims, National Security Council, Nuri al-Maliki, police officers, police station, Quran, Radhwaniya, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, reprimand, Saddam Hussein, schools, Section 3, severest of punishments, shot Quran, shot-up Quran, sniper training, spokesman, Talmud, target practice, U.S. law, U.S. Marines, U.S.-Mexico border, UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice, video teleconference

It seems that every few months, another multi-term politician is apologizing and stepping down from office, or, in the case of a Congressman who sought homosexual encounters in airport men’s rooms, promising to step down, but lying about that, as well.

The latest politician caught in the adulterous web is the six-term Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY), who was nabbed by police in Alexandria, Virginia, just after midnight on May 1.

Tags: adultery, airport, Alexandria Virginia, Alexandria Virginia police, apologizing, apology, BAC, blood alcohol test, Congress, congressman, driving while intoxicated, DWI, Elections, extra-marital affair, homosexual encounters, Laura Fay, men's room, New York, New York Giants, police, Republicans, sick children, sick daughter, Super Bowl champions, Vito Fossella, White House

Are President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, and India’s Pradeep S. Mehta, secretary general of the center for international trade, economics and the environment of CUTS International, an independent research institute based in New Delhi, all locked in an emotional argument without fact-based evidence?

Tags: American society, better food, better nutrition, Bombay, call centers, China, Condi, customer service skills, CUTS International, Dubya, exportation, exporting, exports, famine, food, high demand, hungry people, imports, India, Indian economy, middle-class, Missouri, New Dehli, nutrition, outsourcing, political paradigms, politically incorrect, Pradeep S. Mehta, President George W. Bush, prices increase, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, sub-Sahara