Remember the subprime mortgages? 2008?

"Washington’s new favorite subprime lender is none other than Uncle Sam. In a little noticed report last week—make that not noticed at all—the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the feds will lose $65.2 billion on risky loans and other “credit assistance” in the next fiscal year." Wall St. Journal editorial board.

This can be figured 2 ways. One is the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA), and the other is based on a measure of fair value. "Using FCRA procedures—the standard way in which costs of credit programs are measured in the federal budget—CBO estimates that new loans and loan guarantees issued in 2025 would cost the federal government $2.4 billion over their lifetime. Using the fair-value approach, which measures the market value of the government’s obligations by accounting for market risk, CBO estimates that those loans and guarantees would have a lifetime cost of $65.2 billion. (Market risk is the component of financial risk that remains even with a well-diversified portfolio; it arises from shifts in macroeconomic conditions, such as productivity and employment, and from changes in expectations about future macroeconomic conditions.)"

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60682?

Trump's economic plan and the Reagan movie

I watched some of Donald Trump's speech at the Economic Club of New York (Sept. 5) on Fox. Don't know if the Democrat media covered it--Trump joked about them being there. He itemized his 2025 tax agenda in a very dry, business-like style, very different than his rallies. Wants to make his tax cuts permanent--these benefited all the quintiles, but especially the middle class. Pelosi particularly lied about this his entire term. A 15% corporate tax rate “solely for companies that make their product in America,” “expanded” research and development tax credits, restoring 100% bonus depreciation, and no tax on SS for seniors or on tips. Some of his "pillars" we've heard in his rallies, but this is all economics. The Democrats are now the party of wealth, so some of these have their support. He talked about waste and fraud and said he would create a special commission led by Elon Musk.

We went to see the movie Reagan with a group of like-minded (all conservative Christians) Thursday night. Everyone I'd talked to who had seen it raved about it. One couple in our group saw it twice. It was OK, but then I hadn't seen a first run movie since before Covid, so I'm a little out of the loop on the cost, the sound system that assumes everyone is deaf, and I just had trouble seeing actors playing historical figures of MY lifetime. Although they did a good job of inserting TV news clips. I never voted for Reagan and until I read a book about the President, Pope and Prime Minister (that may not be the exact title) I didn't know much about his contribution to the fall of the USSR. Like many Americans of the last 40 years, I just absorbed the alphabet media ABCBSNBCPBS 3-5 minute assessment of the evening news. I was a Democrat and my workplace (academe) was probably 75% Democrat, so I never heard another view. But also, it seems I'd heard of him all my life. Mt. Morris isn't that far from Dixon, and he was the local guy who went to Hollywood. My father knew him, although Reagan was a few years older, and played college football against him. The "hometown" scenes in the movie were fun to see--Rock River, the Dixon arch and his family home. I would recommend it though, and it's probably close to the history, except it didn't mention the Pope. Of course, all the reviews will be negative. Leopards don't change their spots. Ignore them. The audiences in this town have loved it.

Ben Carson on media's role in campaigning for Harris

 

 

Ben Carson: Kamala Harris a great test for media to transform her into MLK, will Americans see through it? (bizpacreview.com)

Harris' two war dilemma

The two wars in which we are now engaged (Israel/Hamas and Russia/Ukraine) would not have happened if Biden/Harris hadn't shown how weak this administration is back in August 2021. But that ship has sailed. We're in it now and half the country seems OK with that really poor leadership, exchanging a man who couldn't talk for a woman who is afraid to talk.

 
My question is why do Democrats/leftists seem so interested in some sort of negotiated peace for Israel/Hamas when Hamas and all radical Muslims have declared that Israel has no right to exist, but never even suggest that a third party might work with Russia and Ukraine to save lives and work through territorial disagreements. Neither war is in our best interest.

Does it go back to all those Ukrainian deals made by Biden's son when Joe was vice president? A lot of money changed hands. Or could there be growing anti-Semitism in the U.S., especially in the Biden/Harris administration? And what is the motive of people willing to vote for Harris to extend this mess?

Hollywood likes Trump's polices, but they are queasy about character

I was listening to an interview of Hollywood actor Michael Rapaport. He said he thought Trump's language was rough and divisive, but he had to be bleeped at least 4 times, and he was being interviewed by Sage Steel (female, former sports announcer for ESPN). Supposedly he is a "convert" from Hollywood leftism, but that's not the first time I've heard leftists decry Trump's divisiveness and language. They forget what he's been called by the other side--with no proof. They forget that Democrats lied and created legal cases against him that would have never been brought against another American. Because Trump tells the truth about crime surging, inflation, wide open borders, George Soros and the prosecutors paid by the Democrats, the Biden/Harris regime and the bug out in Afghanistan, they somehow think that is name calling. I'm good with words and I don't like cussing or swearing, or the F-word used as a noun, verb, adjective and exclamation, (which I haven't heard Trump use but Megyn Kelly does) but calling someone Sleepy Joe Biden or putting the wrong accent on Kamala's name, or deliberately mispronouncing Gov. Newsom's name hardly adds up to "threat to democracy," or "deplorables," or "bitter clingers." When I do a search, I get a Microsoft news aggregator, and the stories are 90% anti-Trump. Even the photos are ugly. It collects the weirdest conspiracies you can imagine about Trump. And he says mean tweets and silly nick names? Give me a break!

*                                                      *                                         *

Mark Alexander wrote in early 2017: "“The day Trump arrived in DC, he dropped a bomb on the Beltway status quo in Congress and its special interests. He dropped a bomb on the regulatory behemoths and their bureaucratic bottlenecks. He dropped a bomb on the trade and national security institutions and alliances that failed miserably over the previous eight years. And he dropped a bomb on all the pundits and mainstream media outlets.”

And that tells you the depth of hate and fear from Democrats and some Republicans and the source of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It's a war and they are fighting back--they want him destroyed. And a growing number suspect that might include assassination. It's why they call him a threat to democracy--because it's all they've ever known--special interests, regulatory agencies, red tape and bottlenecks, failed trade and security alliances, and a biased, one party media.

Reading to children

The word gap in early childhood is important. A child with a Mom who reads to her may hear a million more words than one who doesn't have that advantage.  I have many happy memories of Mom reading to my brother and me in the big burgundy late 40s chair with arms large enough to hold two children of school age (the chair, not hers). I can probably even remember the books. We didn't know what an advantage she was giving us even though we lived in a rural town of 1,000 with all 12 grades in one building. No amount of DEI later in life or Head Start as toddlers can surpass a mother who reads to her children. I remember the Little Engine that Could, the Ugly Duckling, and the Wee wee Mannie and the big big Coo to this day. Those stories had an ideology and lessons, great illustrations and challenging vocabulary plus Mom did great accents.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190404074947.htm?

Good-bye Summer

Good-bye summer.

 
That's what I think on September 1. It's my favorite month, though. It was the start of school (in the old days) and I loved school. It is the month of my birthday and anniversary of our wedding (64 this year). Did you know that Good-bye is a contraction of "God be with you?" Think on that each time you say good-bye. You are blessing them with God's presence and protection. It's the basis of that old hymn, "God be with you till we meet again." 

“God Be With You Till We Meet Again”, which was written by Jeremiah Rankin, was simply composed so his church choir could have something to sing when they parted each week. Rankin was the minister for the First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. and said this about the hymn, “Written…as a Christian goodbye, it was called forth by no person or occasion, but was deliberately composed as a Christian hymn on basis of the etymology of “goodbye,” which is “God be with you.” He got the idea for the first stanza of the song when he saw the dictionary definition of “good-bye” was short for “God be with you.” The song was written in 1882 when Rankin was 54 years old."

Additional details in  Discipleship Ministries | History of Hymns: 'God Be with You Till We… (umcdiscipleship.org)

Harris' CNN interview August 29, 2024

Kamala Harris said something odd in her "interview" with Dana Bash on CNN last night. It sounded like she said money seniors saved on drugs (negotiated by Biden?) could have gone to fight fentanyl that has been devastating our communities (and she DID NOT say caused by drugs at border crossings). How does that work? How does the money saved in Mr. Senior Citizen's wallet get to the ICE to fight border criminals funded by China? Is this just word salad with brown lettuce? I looked up the Inflation Reduction Act, and couldn't figure out the money supply chain on that one. Everything I've read said the consumer is saving (and there are many exceptions and will only affect a few and doesn't start until next year).

"The Inflation Reduction Act amends the non-interference clause by adding an exception that requires the Secretary of HHS to negotiate prices with drug companies for a small number of single-source brand-name drugs or biologics without generic or biosimilar competitors that are covered under Medicare Part D (starting in 2026) and Part B (starting in 2028). Under the new Drug Price Negotiation Program, the number of drugs selected for price negotiation is 10 Part D drugs for 2026, another 15 Part D drugs for 2027, another 15 Part D and Part B drugs for 2028, and another 20 Part D and Part B drugs for 2029 and later years. These drugs will be selected from the 50 drugs with the highest total Medicare Part D spending and the 50 drugs with the highest total Medicare Part B spending. The number of drugs with negotiated prices available will accumulate over time."

What sort of shell game has she added to gaslighting?

Overall, the interview was poor, didn't reflect well on her.  Tim Walz looked sort of silly sitting there like a Secret Service watchman in Butler, PA. Harris was evasive, and seemed to be looking down at her notes.  She looked tired and exhauted, but then last week was her big event, so perhaps she was tired.  It was billed as an "hour event," but it was more like a half hour, and Harris said little.

Kamala vs Kamala campaign ads

Have you seen Trump's Harris vs. Harris campaign ads?

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS, 2024: Everyday prices are too high... Food, rent, gas, back-to-school clothes.

HARRIS, 2023: That is called Bidenomics!

HARRIS, 2024: A loaf of bread costs 50% more... ground beef is up almost 50%... There's not much left at the end of the month.

HARRIS, 2023: Bidenomics is working!

HARRIS, 2024: The price of housing has gone up. It feels so hard to be able to just get ahead.

HARRIS, 2023: We are so proud of Bidenomics!

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/08/26/trump_campaign_ad_quotes_harris_on_high_prices_thats_called_bidenomics.html

Robert F. Kennedy Jr,'s speech to support Trump

You may have missed Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s speech last week where he endorsed President Donald Trump for a second term. The major media outlets working with the DNC have completely censored him and refused to cover his campaign. The DNC tried to bankrupt him, just as they (i.e. Democrats) did Trump by bringing frivolous lawsuits. I probably don't agree with him on most issues, especially abortion, but he and Trump have shown the complete hypocrisy and illegal behavior of the Democrat party that screams "threat to democracy" every chance they get while doubling down on election interference. He's still on the ballot in some states. It's a good speech on many levels. Mainly it shows the complete corruption of the party in power in the White House, but if you watched how they crowned their current candidate with no input from the voters, you know that.

https://www.youtube.com/live/CG_dz4DjrkA?si=RojQgmPzCOhWmdP9

RFK jr aligns with Trump on many issues like ending the wars, protecting the border, protecting children from chronic diseases; they disagree on many others. Team of Rivals. (Abraham Lincoln). His biggest concern seems to be the health of children, and the rise on chronic health conditions.  He often refers to "when my uncle was President" which is about 1960, and an easy figure to remember. 
He condemns ultra processed food as the culprit in the shocking statistics on chronic diseases in children. Toxic chemicals he names as the second culprit--hormone disrupters cause girls to reach puberty earlier. Mass poisoning, he says. $4 trillion now on chronic diseases, whereas in 1960 it was zero. 70% of school lunches are processed food--poor have a high burden of chronic diseases. 74% of Americans are obese, he says. Imagine if they all needed Wegovy or Ozempic. A boon for Big Pharma. Or for less money give organic fruits and vegetables to every family. Make Americans Healthy Again.

 Of course, I want to save children too, but in the womb. They have to be born before Kennedy can improve their diet.

Put on your big girl pants

This may be the only sympathetic feeling I have for Kamala Harris: speaking in public. I'd bring along a guy for support, too (Walz). I'd let someone else speak for me if I could, too.  I'd make up rules to benefit only me, too. I spoke to my church as a teen-ager after a conference; I spoke at my professional organization's national meeting when I was the president; I spoke about how to use the library at freshman orientations in the Veterinary college for a number of years; when the WWW came online, I gave a seminar on how to use it, and a few other times. It was painful each time. I don't like public speaking. But she signed on for the job and she should start behaving like a big girl. We know she can, because she spoke to her sorority sisters rather than do her Vice President duties in meeting with Netanyahu of Israel a few days after she was anointed by the party to take Biden's place.

The crime scene was swept clean--July 13

The only police detective experience I've had is watching 8 years (plus re-runs) of the Closer. And even I knew this wasn't right.

"A SWAT counter-sniper who was working the Pennsylvania rally where former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated last month agreed with Republican lawmakers Monday that an “odd” pattern of evidence-handling had occurred following the deadly shooting.

Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer said it was “absolutely” concerning that the roof of the AGR International building had been quickly scrubbed and gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ body disposed of before an official autopsy report could be released."

Trump rally counter-sniper backs bombshell 'evidence tampering' claims by House GOPers (nypost.com)

Trump rally counter-sniper Ben Shaffer sparks uproar as he supports GOP's 'evidence tampering' allegation - MEAWW News

House Republican Forum on the Attempted Assassination of Former President Trump | C-SPAN.org

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks to Tucker

"In 1960 when my uncle was president our chronic disease rate was about 6%. Now it's 60%." Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on the Tucker Carlson show speaking about why he decided to back Trump. He believes 8 years of Harris would be devastating to the country.

 
Fact checkers deny this (I just checked), Annenburg, a far far leftist organization devoted to keeping your right to speech and assembly within "proper" bounds (i.e., supporting Democrats) says so, and then all lackeys comply. The "fact" checker then reports on RFKjr stats, and it looks to me like the researchers don't agree on the percentage (not the idea). Since Kennedy was then a Democrat running without approval of the party because he would draw off votes from Biden, Annenburg had to stomp it out. It's who this "fact" checker is.

Kennedy is still running in 40 states. Biden has now withdrawn his Secret Service protection, which he only got because Trump brought it up at the RNC. It's who they are.

Zuck and Kamala have a lot to answer for

Too little, too late. "Mark Zuckerberg 'comes clean' in damning letter about Facebook's election interference and pandemic censorship."  He admits what we all knew.

Just one more reason not to trust Harris, especially since she's been wearing her MAGA hat and steal Trump's ideas.

"Zuckerberg said in his damning letter addressed to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that in 2021, senior officials from the Biden-Harris administration, including the White House, "repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn't agree.""

https://www.theblaze.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-comes-clean-in-damning-letter-about-facebooks-election-interference-and-pandemic-censorship?

What's wrong with Democrats who support Harris?

I heard at the "All In" Podcast (193) that the media have given Harris 84% positive coverage and Trump 89% negative coverage. No bias there. What a disservice to Democrats! That means media want Democrats to vote for higher taxes, for losing all private health insurance, for taxing unrealized capital gains, for being priced out of home ownership, for price controls, for more inflation, for candidates Harris/Walz both of whom have had zip/nada/zilch employment in the private sector when technically we are a free market, capitalist economy, and a candidate, Kamala Harris, raised in Berkeley and Montreal with parents who were Communists swamped in the lies of socialism from conception to the last one in the room when Biden made his awful decisions.

 
And don't kid yourself that Harris/Walz are just going after envy vote--want to only tax the rich. It always falls to the Middle class. The poor don't pay taxes, they receive subsidies. The rich have so many tax lawyers they probably won't even notice, especially when they move their assets out of the country. Lots of countries are looking for their money--our government tries to drive them out! It will all fall to the middle class to keep the tax hungry Harris away from the door.

Does anyone with a brain work in the legacy media?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSpGiFqL8_E I think this is episode 193. Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks & David Friedberg cover all things economic, tech, political, social & poker.

Gender affirming care

It's not "gender affirming care." That's word salad. It's toxic.

Humans don't have genders. We each have a biological sex. Nouns have genders. Old English had genders; modern English for the most part does not. There may be a few of us where something went wrong with the design, but we shouldn't aim for the anomaly. There are people born without arms, too. 

It's also not care and it's not affirming to create words and phrases that deceive. "Affirming care" is violent and cruel. It is not positive, confirming or expressing agreement.

Praying for the opening of a new business

Prayer opportunities in the everydays. Isn't it nice to be included in God's work through prayer? I think this prayer is a model to join the Lord's work in a new business from my friend Darlene, a former member of our church now living in SC. (used with her permission)

"Would you all pray for my son Drew today? He is an executive chef of a new restaurant having their grand opening tonight. Pray for their success.

 
Pray that each of them, especially Drew leading them. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Not all of them are Christians but pray for the salvation of the ones that are to lead the ones that are not. I saw a caring and a love for each other among the servers, cooks and management. Pray for that love to grow.

When we were there for the friends and family, I felt a change in the atmosphere as I entered the restaurant. I could feel a release of the burdens of the day and a relaxation take over. Pray (especially in the times we are in) that the customers receive that same feeling. Pray for favor with God and man for the whole staff.

 
Pray the Lord be magnified and each person be lifted up! Pray they have a great time serving their customers and enjoying their work! and have fun. It would be an escape for the staff also.
Above all, commit their work to the Lord and they will be established.

 
Thank you for your prayers. I love you all ...Be blessed, Darlene"

Guttmacher, CDC and Pew

Although we know a lot about the U.S. populace from our government census, it doesn't ask about religion. So when you see those figures, it's not from the government census. There may be other agencies and organizations that do count heads for religion, but the Pew Research organization is the only one I know, and the one most quoted. Here's what it says about Christians, and it should be marching orders for all churches.

"Christians continue to make up a majority of the U.S. populace, but their share of the adult population is 12 points lower in 2021 than it was in 2011. In addition, the share of U.S. adults who say they pray on a daily basis has been trending downward, as has the share who say religion is “very important” in their lives."

"As of 2021, 21% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Catholic, identical to the Catholic share of the population in 2014."

That means Catholics are holding their own and Protestants are not. Also, it means that lack of religious observances like regular prayer and church attendance are factors in the increasing divisiveness in our society,

Here's another tip about statistics. Researchers rely on the Guttmacher Institute for abortion statistics. It is the research arm of Planned Parenthood. CDC is our government agency that tracks health and the reproductive health of the nation. Although reproduction is the opposite of abortion, that's where to look for abortion statistics. If you read an article about abortion or contraception, there is usually a mix of statistics using both CDC and Guttmacher. Those are the only two the Pew Research articles quote from. Although it's odd, abortion statistics from Pew is classed with religion and assigned to its religious editor. As far as I can determine neither one tracks, records or is concerned about the negative effects of abortion on the health and welfare of women, especially not in the long run. For that you'll need smaller, more female friendly organizations.

I looked up the 2 Pew religion writers/editors and one specialized in American blacks and Muslims and Europeans and the other in Muslims. Do you see any specialization gaps here?

I look at strange things so you don't have to.

Some DNC humor--Michelle Obama

 

Why do Democrats demonize their wealthy donors?

Maybe at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee the Republicans insulted their rich donors, but I don't remember that (referring to Michelle Obama's slam at the wealthy during her speech). I know the Democrats listen to their rich donors, because that's what began the march of daggers in the back for Biden. In mid-July George Clooney, a film star, called on Biden to get out, to retire, to fade away, to fall on his sword to save the party in power.  And he wasn't alone. All those Hollywood stars and corporate magnates with deep pockets and PACs were afraid Trump would rain on their power parade. During the 2016 campaign when another woman was campaigning for the White House, "At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released SO FAR to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million. (Fox, 8-23-16) In their 40 years of political life (as of 2015) the Clintons raised $3 Billion for their campaigns and their foundation. (WaPo, 11-19-15)  And they did it office sucking up as much money as they could.