All Your Base Are Belong To Us — The Kip Lange Homepage

You fucking cowards. You cringing fucking cowards. You won’t pass a bill that is desperately needed because of election year politics.

A pox on both your houses.

Cowards.

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I hate the bailout plan. You hate the bailout plan. We all hate the bailout plan. But we need the bailout plan.

Listen. For those of you who think this is something recent, think again. This thing has been in the offing since the 1970s. It began during the Carter administration. Suburban whites were getting more mortgages than urban blacks. So, under pressure from the lefties, we started slacking off on the strictness of mortgage lending.

We’ve been doing two things. We’ve been giving mortgages to people who can’t afford them, and we’ve been overvaluing properties. Which means, in some cases, people are taking out mortgages that are higher than the actual market value of the property.

What happens? You know what happens. People can’t pay their mortgages. In many cases, the mortgage, as I said, is more than the house is worth, so they simply just abandon the house and the bank that lent the property owner the money is stuck with a loss.

How does this translate into a financial meltdown? I’ll oversimplify. Banks lend money. A lot of the money they lend is in housing. Suddenly, the housing loans are going bad. This means the banks have less money to lend. More important, no matter how good a shape the bank is in, the bank doesn’t want to lend money. The market hates uncertainty. Hates it. Loathes it. So a bank may say, well, even though we have the money, we’re not going to lend it — it’s just not prudent right now. We’re going to wait.

This affects you very simply. Suddenly you need a hell of a lot of a better credit score to get any kind of loan. The banks themselves lend to themselves and the same happens there — they’re more reluctant to lend.

Here’s another oversimplification. Most Americans don’t have the money to buy a $20,000 car. So they take out a car loan and put a certain amount of money down. Five years ago, say, your credit score needed to be 650 to qualify for that loan. Now that the banks are reluctant to lend, let’s say it’s 720. That means a vast number of people can no longer buy that car.

And the auto company can’t sell the car. Their profits decline. They’re not making as much money. They have to cut corners. They have to lay people off. Same goes for small companies that operate with credit. They can’t get the small business loan anymore, so they can’t pay their employees.

It goes on like this, spiralling and spiralling and spiralling. Now. What’s Uncle Sugar going to do? Uncle Sugar is going to step in and say, listen, we will cover these bad mortgages. You don’t have to worry. They are not automatically bailing everybody out. They’re just saying, look, if worse comes to worse, we’ll buy that mortgage out from under you. You don’t have to worry.

You have certainty.

And, as I said, the one thing the market can’t stand is uncertainty.

I understand the urge to say, let ‘em fail. Let ‘em all fall apart. But the reason the government steps in in situations like these is to try to make sure a downturn in the economy, a medium-level recession or something, does not turn into a depression (now, do not confuse what we are going through with the Great Depression — the problem there was liquidity in the markets, not credit, although there are some similarities).

If the government did nothing, credit would freeze up. Money would not be moved around. You would ultimately suffer.

This is a vast oversimplification of what is going on, but I’m stating it anyway. The most obvious parts. There is no one person who understands how the market works. The market is a beast of its own. There are people who spend decades studying certain parts of the market, and understand those, but there is no one person who understands completely how the market works. It’s simply too vast and complicated. It’s been around too long. If you think you know how the market works, you don’t. Period. End paragraph.

I’m a conservative. I hate to see government solutions to private sector problems. But government does exist for a reason, and this is one of them. They will cushion the fall, and hopefully instead of crash-landing, we’ll just thud somewhat heavily onto the ground.

You should, however, stay pissed off. Just try to remember who you should be pissed off at. You should be pissed off at the liberals in the 1970s who insisted that mortgages be given to people who simply couldn’t afford the mortgages, and every person who followed that reasoning up until the present date.

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If Obama wants to win, going after McCain for saying “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” is not how he’s going to do it.

I just don’t think that Americans…after witnessing a rebound from the dot-com bubble…really feel, by and large, like the economy itself somehow is broken. It’s an argument over management of the economy. That’s what people want to hear: “I will manage this economy so we will all be better off.”

Not “America sucks”, which is what is basically what Obama is saying. I also happen to personally disagree, as well. The American workforce is the American economy and I think the American workforce is strong.

What happened to the politics of hope…? If Obama’s going to go negative, he sure as hell has to do a better job than this. Even going back to bitching about gas and talking about inflating your tires would be better than this.

Get off this message. Get back on the “renewal” thing, Barack. It surprises me that the original Obama has so much disappeared, that so much vitality seems to have leaked out since the primaries. He has a historic run. He should be making historic speeches, not lame potshots at the US economy. We all know he can orate immensely well.

The Obama campaign has not, I think, found its groove, while meanwhile, the McCain camp kinda has. They’re both on message, both now “pro-hope” and “reform”. Their stumping actually looks more fiery at this point, which is scary. And anyone who says the Obama campaign has found its groove has to explain to me why Obama is where he is in the polls despite George W. Bush being immensely unpopular and the rest of the Rs teetering in the House and Senate (although the Dems have horrid poll ratings in Congress).

The McCain campaign is energized and Obama needs to do something to throw them off message. Quickly. The debates will actually matter for once (which proves we still have people simply too stupid to figure out which candidate they want).

Is Obama losing his lustre? It remains to be seen, I guess.

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Despair not, ye who hold the iPod Classic! Rumors are afloat that Apple will give the old baby a software update that will let it use Genius playlists on the go. Which would be nice.

Information over here at Gizmodo…

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Courtesy of pastapadre.com:

Transactions

FB Reagan Mauia – Signs with Bengals

LB Jon Corto – Added to Bills

LB Blake Costanzo – Added to Bills

DT Alvin McKinley – Released by Broncos

DT Josh Shaw – Signs with Broncos

LB Antwan Peek – Released to Free Agents (IR)

WR Paul Hubbard – Released by Browns

WR Steve Sanders – Signs with Browns

LB Shantee Orr – Signs with Browns

C Pat Ross – Signs with Cardinals

FB Andrew Pinnock – Released by Chargers

FB Mike Tolbert – Added to Chargers

RT James Marten – Released by Cowboys/Signs with Raiders

QB Brooks Bollinger – Signs with Cowboys

SS Tyrone Culver – Signs with Dolphins

CB Joey Thomas – Released by Dolphins

FB Boomer Grigsby – Released by Dolphins

FB Casey Cramer – Signs with Dolphins

FS Jamaal Fudge – Signs with Falcons

DE Brent Hawkins – Released by Jaguars

G Milford Brown – Signs with Jaguars

TE Dan Campbell – Released to Free Agents (IR)

LB Chris Chamberlain – Added to Rams

RT Willie Anderson – Signs with Ravens

RG Adrien Clarke – Released by Ravens

C Matt Lehr – Released by Saints

QB Ingle Martin – Added to Titans

QB Daunte Culpepper – Retires

Ratings Up

HB Matt Forte – Bears – 80 to 82 – Looked like the real deal week 1 vs. the Colts.

LG Josh Beekman – Bears – 74 to 76 – Got the start and at LG and was able to pave the way for Forte on the ground.

HB Andre Hall – Broncos – 75 to 77 – Looked very explosive against the hapless Raiders.

WR Eddie Royal – Broncos – 77 to 80 – Made us remember why we call him DeAngelo “Fall”. Torched DeAngelo repeatedly and looked very good doing it.

LB Jamie Winborn – Broncos – 75 to 79 – Started over the oft injured Boss Bailey and made plays vs. the Raiders.

LB Matt Roth – Dolphins – 76 to 80 – Could have found his niche as a 3-4 OLB. Had 2 sacks in the opener.

WR DeSean Jackson – Eagles – 79 to 80 – Has made the most of receivers going down with injuries in Philly. Tye Hill was benched after attempting to cover him.

LB Stewart Bradley – Eagles – 79 to 80 – The new man in the middle for the Eagles, this one might stick.

HB Michael Turner – Falcons – 88 to 89 – If I had a nickel for every time someone blew up on the Lions defense…A good start none the less for the Burner Turner.

LB Parys Haralson – 49ers – 74 to 76 – Recorded 2.5 sacks getting the start for the Niners in Week 1.

HB Brandon Jacobs – Giants – 87 to 88 – My mother could average 3 yards a carry behind the Giants O-Line. But he sure is powerful.

WR Matt Jones – Jaguars – 77 to 79 – Maybe Garrard’s guy after a tough offseason. Injuries to the supposed starting WR’s have helped also.

QB Aaron Rodgers – Packers – 84 to 85 – Made it look simple vs. one of the top defenses in the NFL. Once the coach takes off the diapers watch out.

TE Dante Rosario – Panthers – 74 to 77 – Blew up in a big way in Week 1 vs. the Chargers. Caught the game winner in the back of the end zone as time expired.

Ratings Down

DE Jarvis Moss – Broncos – 81 to 77 – Inactive the 1st week in his second season for the Broncos.

LB Tully Banta-Cain – 49ers – 79 to 76 – Came to the Niners with high hopes, now he has been replaced at OLB.

CB DeAngelo Hall – Raiders – 93 to 91 – Yes after only one week. Reminded us why some people confuse speed with ability. He has speed, isn’t much of a corner though.

Injuries

FB Jeremi Johnson – Bengals – Knee IR

LB Angelo Crowell – Bills – Knee IR

WR Joe Jurevicius – Browns – Knee (PUP)

HB Carnell Wililams – Bucs – Knee (PUP)

C Al Johnson – Cardinals – Knee IR

QB Brodie Croyle – Chiefs – Shoulder (3 weeks)

C Jeff Saturday – Colts – Knee (8 weeks)

G Ryan Lilja – Colts – Knee (PUP)

DT Trey Lewis – Falcons – Knee (8 weeks)

LT Guy Whimper – Giants – Foot IR

K Lawrence Tynes – Giants – Knee (7 weeks)

LG Vince Manuwai – Jaguars – Knee IR

RG Maurice Williams – Jaguars – Arm (12 weeks)

DT Justin Harrell – Packers – Back (PUP)

QB Tom Brady – Patriots – Knee IR

G Stephen Neal – Patriots – Shoulder/Knee (PUP)

WR Drew Bennett – Rams – Foot (8 weeks)

QB Kyle Boller – Ravens – Shoulder IR

CB Dunta Robinson – Texans – Knee (PUP)

QB Vince Young – Titans – Knee (4 weeks)

Contracts

LB DJ Williams – Broncos – 6 years

WR Plaxico Burress – Giants – 5 years

RT Eric Winston – Texans – 5 years

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In the interests of fairness, I honestly have to say that I do not think Senator Obama used the “pig on a lipstick” saying to attack Governor Palin. If anything, I think as soon as he heard that roar, he thought, oh crap, I probably shouldn’t have said that.

Cynics will tell me otherwise and in many cases like this I might agree it was a calculated attack, but Obama is already having enough trouble with women, and there’s plenty of other material to attack Sarah Palin on.

Just doesn’t add up. Campaign trail gaffe, is all it is, but net loss, Obama, fair or unfair.

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I simply wanted to provide access to a list of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, seven years ago today.

We will never forget.

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Well, it’s been a good week or so for those of us in the R column. And, as of yet, the best dirt the reporters can dig up on Palin isn’t sticking, unless you count the strange developing story that she might have “cheated” in the Miss Alaska pageant (just some rumor floating around).

My take on this: Obama made a huge mistake not picking Hillary Clinton. Hillary can go out as the attack dog against Palin now, but not the *VP* attack dog, so she’s really hobbled. I know a lot of people were hoping for an Obama/Clinton ticket and I must honestly say, I’m sorry it didn’t happen. It would have given the Democrats a far better shot at the election. Joe Biden is an old-guard blowhard who’s, up until now, had pretty much great things to say about John McCain. I see the strategy in picking him, but McCain’s higher-risk choice of Palin shows that risks often carry rewards.

This time around, the debates may actually matter. Which actually bothers me a little, that there are still people around who are “on the fence” between Obama and McCain. Say what you will about either candidate, but it’s pretty clear now what their policies will be (in vague terms, but enough vague terms spoken over time add up to something resembling a consistent policy promise).

As for whether or not McCain’s bounce will last, it’s too early to tell. But the Obama campaign does need to do something that will slow Republican momentum or risk having to play catch-up for a lot longer (perhaps all the way) than they’d like to.

Things sure just got a lot more interesting, though. And as a conservative, I applaud McCain’s pick not because of her gender, but because of her various stances on the issues. McCain has made the base very happy, and that is indeed crucial.

None of this brings Tom Brady, back, though, and that’s a damn shame.

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Yeah. There we go. Brady’s gone for the year with a torn ACL. Undergoing surgery.

There goes the season, and many people’s fantasy teams…

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The latest from NFL.com is:

Yahoo! Sports and Peter King of Sports Illustrated are reporting Sunday night that Brady has major ligament damage in his knee, possibly a torn ACL.

Also, the Pats have apparently brought in Chris Simms for a physical, although it’s pretty clear he would Cassel will start.

What a blow. Man. Right now, everybody is seeing playoffs crumble in their heads.

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