What? You liberals actually think your Democrat party is on the side of the little guy? Man, I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn…

…the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Edolphus Towns, New York Democrat, does not believe the Countrywide VIP program is worth the committee’s time. In a letter sent to oversight committee members on Sept. 30, Mr. Towns characterized the VIP program as “… enhanced customer service, in a manner similar to airline frequent flier programs or supermarket discount cards.”

Countrywide Financial and Angelo Mozilo clearly are at the nexus of the current economic crisis. It was Countrywide’s packaging of subprime mortgages that helped inflate the housing bubble, and it was Mr. Mozilo’s VIP program that sought to minimize congressional scrutiny and derail housing policy reforms that could have mitigated the crisis.

The documents that can lift the veil from Countrywide’s VIP program are readily available, however, and their custodians are prepared to provide them to Congress upon receipt of a subpoena.

But somewhere in Washington, Mr. Mozilo’s secrets are getting cover.

Seems that the Friends of Angelo are still alive and kicking on Capitol Hill. What are the Democrats afraid of? As is pointed out in the linked piece, there is a chance that a lot of GOPers are involved, too. We’re supposed to go after corruption – Nancy promised us the most ethical Congress in history. What’s the hold up?

Well, I’ll tell you what the hold up is: Democrats of Big Government and Big Corporation work together to protect them selves. There’s not a chance in heck that any Democrat is going to want to go after Mozilo…do that and the corporate bosses might stop being so generous with donations and well-paid sinecures for retired Democrat Congresscritters. The dirty secret of American politics is how tight Big Government and Big Corporation are – they each use each other to gather untold wealth and keep competition at bay (in government by making it hard for challengers to meet the incumbents on an even financial playing field…Reid is raising $25 million dollars for his re-election; no matter who is challenger is, he or she won’t get 10% that much…because the big money in Big Corporations wants to protect Reid, who protects them; in business by setting regulations which make it hard for small and mid-sized players to compete with the big boys).

If we want to end this, then we must first end the power of the Democrats, then reduce government, and then put the squeeze on the big corporations (which also, by the way, fund a great deal of the non-governmental left – like Soros and his ATM for kook leftists). The whole, rotten mess built up over the past 75 years has to go – and a renewed American Republic take its place.

From top to bottom, we have to reform our government and our economy:

Legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways; hence, there are an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, bonuses, subsidies, incentives, the progressive income tax, free education, the right to employment, the right to profit, the right to wages, the right to relief, the right to the tools of production, interest free credit, etc., etc. And it the aggregate of all these plans, in respect to what they have in common, legal plunder, that goes under the name of socialism. – Frederic Bastiat

In the form of falling minimum wages:

Colorado will become the first state to reduce its minimum wage because of a falling cost of living.

The state Department of Labor and Employment ordered the wage down to $7.24 from $7.28. That’s lower than the federal minimum wage of $7.25, so most minimum wage workers would lose only 3 cents an hour.

Colorado is one of 10 states where the minimum wage is tied to inflation. The indexing is thought to protect low-wage workers from having flat wages as the cost of living goes up.

But because Colorado’s provision allows wage declines, the minimum wage will drop because of a falling consumer price index. It will be the first decrease in any state since the federal minimum wage law was passed in 1938.

Once again: its called a Depression. Get used to it. Obama and the Fed think they can inflate the economy…of course, so did FDR. It doesn’t work – credit has dried up and even if it hadn’t, no one wants to borrow and banks can’t afford to lend as they are, in real terms, insolvent due to the bad and/or upside down loans still on the books (rest assured my 396k mortgage is still listed at that value at the bank…even though the house is worth maybe 150k…and I’m one of many millions just like that).

We can only get out of this by building wealth – by making, mining and growing things. The world has over-capacity, but we don’t. Even in this downturn we’re still importing like mad…and we thus have the demand in our own economy to provide jobs and wealth for Americans…if we just get out of the business of thinking that inflation is the way out of a Depression.

Thank goodness Democrats are Democrats:

Governor Corzine said Monday he’ll consider raising the state’s gas tax during a second term or diverting money from other programs to keep the fund that pays for transportation projects afloat.

Yep, that’s it: three weeks before the vote in one of the most over-taxed States of the Union, suggest that more is coming! Brilliant.

I was wonder how Christie would put this one away…

But will the President do what is necessary?

As President Obama mulls the military’s request for a big troop build-up in Afghanistan, Americans have swung in favor of such a move, according to a new IBD/TIPP Poll.

The survey of 927 adults found that a plurality of 48% favors sending more troops and resources to Afghanistan. That’s a sharp reversal from September, when Americans opposed the idea, 55%-35%.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forc es in Afghanistan, has reportedly asked for another 40,000 troops to help control rising violence.

But Obama is in no rush to make a decision, holding a series of high-level meetings with military and political advisers on his next move.

And the upsurge in overall support for more troops in the IBD/TIPP Poll may not sway Obama.

That’s because the turnaround comes from a surge in support from Republicans — up 27 points just in October to 72%. A month ago, GOP respondents had leaned against sending more troops, 47%-45%.

But, Mr. President, we’re showing that we’re behind you 100% in your role as Commander in Chief. For us GOPers, politics does end at the water’s edge.

Win the war, Mr. President – we’ll provide all the political support you need, and the troops will do all the rest.

Run a dog fighting ring: you’re ok!

Be a conservative commentator: you’re out!

Is there a point to her still calling herself a Republican? Its not like the Democrats needed her vote – so, why provide it? Either she’s contemplating a party switch, or she’s just a complete fool…

Not too well:

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has praised Russia for its diplomatic work with world powers over Iran’s nuclear program.

But she has failed to reach agreement with Russia on new sanctions against Iran.

A month ago in New York, Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev appeared to suggest his country might support new sanctions against Iran.

In Moscow Ms Clinton was looking for a more solid commitment.

She did not get one.

And she won’t get one – because Russia wants a strong, nuclear-armed Iran to be a thorn in our strategic side; because Russia wants to rebuild some sort of Russian Empire; because we already gave away our best leverage – the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

We’re being governed by arguably the most foolish Administration in world history…

She grew up on Islam and hatred of the Jews – now she’s in the West, is a Christian and has this to say:

…Islam has been moderate from time to time, I point out. Voltaire put it best in describing it as a violent sect that had become “benign and tolerant”.

“I tell you why Islam was becoming moderate, and that was because Islam was weak. Then they discovered oil and a lot of Muslims looked on Saudi’s oil as a blessing from God.”

But it is also, perhaps, because the West does not believe in itself.

“The West is no longer proud of the Judeo-Christian culture and democracy. It does not believe in its own beliefs. Tolerating intolerance is not a sign of virtue, but gross negligence. The West hates itself and it’s very sad.”

She shakes her head at the thought that elements of Sharia law are recognised in England.

“We look to the European democracies as our escape to freedom. As a former Muslim and someone who lived under Islamic law, one of the major reasons I went to America was to escape my second-class citizen status.

“There are forces of reform in the Middle East. People are sticking their heads on blacklists, whether they are journalists, intellectuals or simply people who want change. When we see the West treat groups like Hamas as a legitimate government, and allowing something like Sharia law to be practised, it really weakens their position. And the radicals see that violence works!”

That last bit is very important, because it bears strongly on our new policy of “engagement” with the Islamists. Given that they are corrupt tyrants, the only thing they are likely to take away from Obama’s glad-handing is “hey, America is weak; let’s attack some more!”. We can’t win by tolerating – we can only win by insisting upon truth and justice.

What we need to do:

Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. – Abraham Lincoln