Paper Expressions Rubber Stamping & Video Tutorials

Politics- today's topic- Iwarned you but this you tube video is awesome!

just in case you cant see the film  click this link  to see it on youtube

Thought for the day.........

Our President's pension currently is $191,300 per year, until he is 80 years old.

Assuming the next president lives to age 80;

Sen. McCain would receive ZERO pension as he would reach 80 at the end of two terms as president.

Sen. Obama would be retired for 26 years after two terms and would receive $4,973,800 in pension. (not including the costs for secret service men that will be assigned all those years)

Therefore it would certainly make economic sense to elect McCain in November.

How's that for non-partisan thinking???

TO ALL MY FRIENDS....LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE..

George Bush has been in office for 7 1/2 years.  The first six the economy was fine.
A little over one year ago:
          1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
          2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
          3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%.
               4) the DOW JONES hit a record high--14,000 +
               5) American's were buying new cars,taking cruises, vacations overseas, living large!...
 
But American's wanted 'CHANGE'!  So, in 2006 they voted in a Democratic Congress and yes--we got 'CHANGE' all right. In the PAST YEAR:
            1) Consumer confidence has plummeted ;
           2) Gasoline is now over $4 a gallon & climbing!;
           3) Unemployment is up to 5.5% (a 10% increase);
           4) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $12 TRILLION
                DOLLARS and prices still dropping;
            5) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
            6) as I write, THE DOW is probing another low~~

$2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS HAS EVAPORATED FROM THEIR STOCKS, BONDS & MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS!
                
YES, IN 2006 AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE...AND WE SURE GOT IT!  ....
REMEMBER THE PRESIDENT HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY OF THESE ISSUES, ONLY CONGRESS.
AND WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
NOW THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO REALLY GIVE US CHANGE ALONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!!!
JUST HOW MUCH MORE 'CHANGE' DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND?

Now think about this editorial written by investors business daily:

 

The Real Culprits In This Meltdown

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, September 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Big Government: Barack Obama and Democrats blame the historic financial turmoil on the market. But if it's dysfunctional, Democrats during the Clinton years are a prime reason for it.

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Read More: Business & Regulation

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Obama in a statement yesterday blamed the shocking new round of subprime-related bankruptcies on the free-market system, and specifically the "trickle-down" economics of the Bush administration, which he tried to gig opponent John McCain for wanting to extend.

But it was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street's most revered institutions.

Tough new regulations forced lenders into high-risk areas where they had no choice but to lower lending standards to make the loans that sound business practices had previously guarded against making. It was either that or face stiff government penalties.

The untold story in this whole national crisis is that President Clinton put on steroids the Community Redevelopment Act, a well-intended Carter-era law designed to encourage minority homeownership. And in so doing, he helped create the market for the risky subprime loans that he and Democrats now decry as not only greedy but "predatory."

Yes, the market was fueled by greed and overleveraging in the secondary market for subprimes, vis-a-vis mortgaged-backed securities traded on Wall Street. But the seed was planted in the '90s by Clinton and his social engineers. They were the political catalyst behind this slow-motion financial train wreck.

And it was the Clinton administration that mismanaged the quasi-governmental agencies that over the decades have come to manage the real estate market in America.

As soon as Clinton crony Franklin Delano Raines took the helm in 1999 at Fannie Mae, for example, he used it as his personal piggy bank, looting it for a total of almost $100 million in compensation by the time he left in early 2005 under an ethical cloud.

Other Clinton cronies, including Janet Reno aide Jamie Gorelick, padded their pockets to the tune of another $75 million.

Raines was accused of overstating earnings and shifting losses so he and other senior executives could earn big bonuses.

In the end, Fannie had to pay a record $400 million civil fine for SEC and other violations, while also agreeing as part of a settlement to make changes in its accounting procedures and ways of managing risk.

But it was too little, too late. Raines had reportedly steered Fannie Mae business to subprime giant Countrywide Financial, which was saved from bankruptcy by Bank of America.

At the same time, the Clinton administration was pushing Fannie and her brother Freddie Mac to buy more mortgages from low-income households.

The Clinton-era corruption, combined with unprecedented catering to affordable-housing lobbyists, resulted in today's nationalization of both Fannie and Freddie, a move that is expected to cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.

And the worst is far from over. By the time it is, we'll all be paying for Clinton's social experiment, one that Obama hopes to trump with a whole new round of meddling in the housing and jobs markets. In fact, the social experiment Obama has planned could dwarf both the Great Society and New Deal in size and scope.

There's a political root cause to this mess that we ignore at our peril. If we blame the wrong culprits, we'll learn the wrong lessons. And taxpayers will be on the hook for even larger bailouts down the road.

But the government-can-do-no-wrong crowd just doesn't get it. They won't acknowledge the law of unintended consequences from well-meaning, if misguided, acts.

Obama and Democrats on the Hill think even more regulation and more interference in the market will solve the problem their policies helped cause. For now, unarmed by the historic record, conventional wisdom is buying into their blame-business-first rhetoric and bigger-government solutions.

While government arguably has a role in helping low-income folks buy a home, Clinton went overboard by strong-arming lenders with tougher and tougher regulations, which only led to lenders taking on hundreds of billions in subprime bilge.

Market failure? Hardly. Once again, this crisis has government's fingerprints all over it.

 

Sarah Palin

Email I received this morning-   Read only if you are intersted in the United States of America!

 

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A Gasser comment......Jim Gray has been a good friend of mine for many years.  We were friendly competitors while in the rubber industry and have maintained this friendship even after retirement (by e-mail as Jim and Sheri are in AZ).  I certainly have every reason to believe this is an honest and true piece of information.......................................Bob ==============================================================================   Friends:   A golfing buddy's wife in Fountain Hills AZ has a friend in A laska, and emailed her to get a first-hand opinion of Sarah Palin.  Forgive me for sending such a lengthy letter, but I considered the information to be important for you to know.  Please give it a read, and draw your own conclusion:  Hope all is going well with you all. Best regards, JIM GRAY   Judy, Sarah Palin is the US 's answer to Margaret Thatcher! Anyone who thinks she cannot handle the job or deal briskly and efficiently with ANY issue, including foreign governments … well, they haven't met our Sarah <grin>. As an Alaskan resident as well as a resident of Wasilla, AK, where Sarah Palin was at one time Mayor … I can speak with confidence. Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is exactly what she portrayed during her introduction this morning and exactly what our US Government needs. She is ethical to a fault (if there is such a thing), a refreshing change to the status-quo and as smart and determined a PERSON (gender really isn't an issue here as far as I'm concerned) as anyone could ask for at the head of government. Sarah is no naïve "small town mayor" – she just *started out* there. Btw, as Mayor of Wasilla, she brought this "small town" through a lot of GOOD changes and left it at the end of her term having grown to the 4th largest CITY in Alaska – a lot of growth and a stronger economic base than ever before. She has EXECTUTIVE experience *running a government* (something NONE of the other candidates can actually boast, even John McCain <g>) as Governor of Alaska and got there by defeating the *incumbent* Republican Governor, who was definitely part of the "old school" and who WAS very much in the pocket of the big oil companies. We in Alaska wanted change – and we got it in the person of Sarah Palin! Sarah Palin is everything she looks to be and more. Her approval rating as Governor of Alaska has been as high as 95% and is currently leveled out consistently in the upper 80 percentile throughout the state (and in both parties) - the HIGHEST approval rating of ANY sitting Governor. Sarah has been turning around corruption in the Legislature of Alaska - turning things on their ear for that matter; cutting spending i n spite of the increased income the state is currently receiving due to the high oil prices - she has insisted on putting a huge amount of the "windfall" into savings for the future rather than spending, spending, spending - and has insisted from the get-go on what she refers to as "honest, ethical and transparent governing" - no more closed door meetings and dealings - the big oil companies thought she would be a pushover and have learned better to their chagrin. She understands the "real people" and the economic issues we all face (Alaskans along with the rest of the country) - she was one of "us" not long ago. Rather than passing useless "laws" or throwing money at pet projects, she (most recently) temporarily suspended the state gas tax (on gasoline at the pumps, fuel oil and natural gas for homes, etc.) and has ordered checks issued to ALL residents of Alaska this fall in an attempt to assist with the burden of high fuel costs for the upcoming winter. I could go on and on, but that's enough for now <smile>. She isn't doing these things to be popular – she is doing it because her constituents are HURTING financially and she can help. She became Governor of Alaska by defeating the Incumbent Republican Governor and doing it *without* the money or the support of the Republican Party, which was20amazing in itself - and she won by a landslide. The "powers that be" at that time totally underestimated Sarah and learned better the hard way. She has done exactly what she claimed she was going to do and is just as popular today as the day she was elected - perhaps more so since even the Democrats up here seem to like her - she works well with both sides in the Legislature here. Sarah "belongs" to us (Alaskans) ... and although we are going to be terribly sorry to see her leave before she finishes the job she started here (two years ago) straightening out OUR State <grin> ... we understand she is needed for a bigger purpose and hopefully her Lt. Governor will be able to fill her shoes here and continue the job. As for worrying about what would happen if McCain were to die or step down or whatever ... Theta, up here in AK we've only been wondering how long we would be able to KEEP Sarah in Alaska and have seen her as our first woman President of the USA from the start. It's always been a matter of whether she would wait until the end of her TWO terms as Governor (no doubt at ALL that she would be re-elected if she ran for a second term at the end of her current term) ... or end up in Washington sooner. She could do the job TODAY. Personally, I feel a lot better about McCain now that I know he has someone as savvy, as strong, as ethical and as steady as Sarah at his back. She will be an excellent Vice President . and my guess is will be our US Republican Presidential candidate in four years - AND by then the country will KNOW her – will love and respect her as we do here - and she'll win by as much of a landslide as she did here in Alaska. I only wonder if McCain has a clue what he is unleashing on the US of A <grin>. She is going to be a fresh wind, but also a strong wind. Is that enough of an endorsement? If not, I'll add this ... Jerry and I have for many years felt the best "vote" was to vote for the lesser of two "evils" and hope they didn't do too much damage. Two years ago during our State Governor's race was the first time EVER that we actually asked for not just a little sign to put in our yard showing our support of our candidate (something we've never felt the desire to do at all before) - we asked for a full 4' x 8' "SARAH PALIN FOR GOVERNOR!" sign and were proud to have it. She hasn't let us or Alaska down. She will do the same for the USA if given the opportunity. Feel free to pass this on to anyone who may be20interested (and spam those who aren't!). -Deb Frost in Alaska

Please read the category title, so you aren't "offended" by this post

Here is someone with the money to fund a rebuttal to what Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee Chairman, said in 2004 that 'many Republicans have never done an honest day's work in their life'. The following full-page ad was placed in the Washington Post by a businessman named George J. Esseff, Sr.  He paid $104,655.60 to run the ad and only did it because he is sick and tired of the way that 'the rich' are portrayed by liberals these days.  It is a great read.

The Ad

Maybe you're a conservative Republican?

In today's America, ask a growing number of high school and college students, their teachers and professors, the self-anointed media elite and/or hard working men and women of all ethnicities, the question, 'What is a Republican?' and you'll be told  '... a rich, greedy, egotistical individual, motivated only by money and the desire to accumulate more and more of it, at the expense of the environment, the working poor....and all whom they exploit...'

I am a Republican - and I am none of those things....and I don't know any Republicans who are!
     WHAT I AM, first and foremost, is a loving husband of some 52 plus years, the father of four, and an American who's proud of his country...and his country's heritage.
     WHAT I AM is the grandson of immigrants who risked everything, including their lives and those of their children, to escape tyranny in search of freedom.
    WHAT I AM is a man who grew up during the Depression and witnessed first hand the effects of the Stock Market crash and the soup lines that followed.  I watched as both my parents and grand parents, who had very little themselves, shared what food they had with a half dozen other families who had even less.
    WHAT I AM is someone who worked his way through college by holding down three and four jobs at a time and then used that education to build a better life.
    WHAT I AM is a husband who, at age 24, started his own business for the 'privilege' of working 60, 70 and 80 hours a week, risking everything I had, including my health, in search of a better life for myself and my loved ones.
    WHAT I AM is a businessman whose blood, sweat and tears....and plenty of them..., made it possible for me to provide a secure living, not only for my family and myself, but also for literally hundreds of my employees throughout the years, employees who in turn were able to buy their own homes, raise their own families and give back to their communities and their country.
    WHAT I AM is a man who believes in God; a God who has blessed this country ... and all for which it stands.
    WHAT I AM is someone who knows, if you doubt miracles exist in today's world, you need only to look into the face of those who received them ... and the eyes of those who give them.
    WHAT I AM is an American who's proud that his President embraces a belief in God; proud of a President who understands, as 'politically incorrect' as it may be, there is evil in this world, and for the security and safety of all freedom loving people everywhere, it must be confronted ... and it must be defeated.
    WHAT I AM is an American who takes comfort in the knowledge that our President refuses to allow decisions concerning the very safety and security of this nation to be governed by the political whims of foreign governments.
     WHAT I AM is tired of hearing from leading Democrats who see only negativity in America, racism in her people, class warfare in her society and 'political incorrectness' in her character.
    WHAT I AM is a former Democrat who now understands that it is the soldier and not the reporter that guarantees us our freedoms of the press, speech and dissent.
WHAT I AM is a man who believes in the sanctity of life.  A man who is repulsed by the pandering of the political left for votes, at the expense of the unborn.
    WHAT I AM is a husband and father who believes in the sanctity of marriage and the preservation of the family unit.
    WHAT I AM is a ex-movie goer who is repulsed by those insecure, socially inept, elementary thinking, ego-inflated 'entertainers' who have appointed themselves 'experts' in the fields of national security and geo-politics and then use their forum to attack this nation, its leaders and its actions, much to the delight and encouragement of our enemies.
    WHAT I AM is an American who understands the difference between 'censorship' and 'choice.'  Evidently, these individuals do not, because when these same 'celebrities' receive public ridicule for their offensive actions, the first thing they yell is 'censorship.'  What they seem incapable of understanding is that the right of free speech and dissent is shared equally by those offended, as well as those who offend.  I support and will continue to support those films and performers whom I choose to and refuse to support those I don't.  It is my right as an American, a right I will continue to enthusiastically exercise.
    WHAT I AM is a voter, tired of politicians who, every time their voting records are subjected to public scrutiny, try to divert attention from their political and legislative failures by accusing their opponents of 'attack ads' and 'negative campaigning;' and the news media who allow them to get away with it.
   WHAT I AM is a Catholic who loves his God and his Faith, and who's been taught to respect all religions whose teachings are based in love, peace and charity.  As such, I am embarrassed and ashamed of those individuals in both private and public life whose decisions and actions are devoid of any sense of character or morals; individuals who are only driven by what's best for them, rather than what's right, often times at the expense of many, including our national security.
    WHAT I AM is a realist who understands that the terrorist attack that murdered hundreds of innocent Russian children could have occurred here, in our heartland.  That's why I sincerely believe America needs, now more than ever, a President who sees with a clear and focused vision and who speaks with a voice, when heard by both friend and foe alike, is understood, respected and believed.
   WHAT I AM is eternally grateful to Ronald Reagan for having the bravery to speak out against Communism and the courage of his convictions in leading the fight to defeat it; and to George W. Bush for the vision, courage, conviction and leadership he has shown in America's war on terrorism amidst both the constant and vicious personal and political attacks both he and his family are made to endure.
   WHAT I AM is a human being, full of numerous faults and failures, but a man, nonetheless, who though not always successful, has continually strived to do 'what's right' instead of 'what's easy.'  A man who is challenging the religious leaders of all faiths to not only preach to their congregations the fundamentals of 'what's right' and 'what's wrong,' but to also then hold them accountable for their actions in both the public and private sectors.
    WHAT I AM is disgusted with the Courts who, on one hand, call the murder of a pregnant woman a 'double homicide," but then refer to the abortion of her baby as 'pro-choice.
    WHAT I AM is someone deeply troubled by a political party which embraces a candidate whose primary 'leadership' qualities center around his protesting of the Vietnam war and his labeling the honorable men and women who fought in it, (50,000 of whom gave their lives in that action), as rapists and war criminals (John Kerry). That same political party then stepped forward this year to block the appearance of a true Vietnam war hero, retired Admiral and former United States Senator, Jeremiah Denton, (a man who spent seven years and seven torturous months in a North Vietnamese prison), from speaking before an open session of the California Legislature as part of that state's 4th of July celebration.  The reason Democrats gave for refusing to allow this American hero to speak before their state legislature was because of the 'conservative' nature of his views.  As an American, that troubles me deeply....as well it should you.  (Are you listening Mr. D?)
    WHAT I AM is a man who feels the need to spend ONE HUNDRED & FOUR THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED & FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS ($104,655.60, tax paid) of his own money, to purchase this advertisement in order to set the story straight.  Some may say this money would have been better spent feeding the world's poor.  At the risk of sounding self-serving, as an American and as a Republican, for the last six decades of my life, I have done exactly that ... and more.  Following the examples of my parents and grandparents, I have used my earnings to feed the poor, shelter the homeless, provide housing for the elderly and medical care for the sick ... and continue to do so ... and I'm not alone in that work.
    WHAT I AM is someone who is paying for this announcement at my sole expense in hopes of opening the eyes of those led blindly by ill-informed elements of our great nation, who through either ignorance or malicious intent, repeatedly attack and belittle those of us who belong to a political party that holds true to the belief, 'The rights of the governed exceed the power of the government.'  For those interested, I am speaking only as a tax-paying individual who is in no way associated with the Republican National Committee, nor with any of its directors or delegates.
    WHAT I AM is a man who understands, 'the American way of life' is a message of self-empowerment for all.
    WHAT I AM is an American who is grateful that our nation gives each of us the opportunity of self-determination and the right to benefit from the fruits of self achievement.
    WHAT I AM is an American who wants to preserve that way of life for all who seek it.
    WHAT I AM is blessed to be an American .... and proud to be a conservative Republican