Nearly 7 years after 9/11, the Bush Administration has failed on it promise to capture and/or kill the top leaders of Al Qaeda. LINK

Our government is too busy infighting, or at least it seems this way. What is really going on at the White House? Who’s in charge anyway? Isn’t Bush the Commander in Chief? Why did he not take his change to take out the Taliban leadership at a funeral in 2006?

“Intelligence reports for more than a year had been streaming in about Osama bin Laden’s terror network rebuilding in the Pakistani tribal areas, a problem that had been exacerbated by years of missteps in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, sharp policy disagreements, and turf battles between American counterterrorism agencies.”

”...Special Operations forces are still waiting for the green light. The plan has been held up in Washington by the very disagreements it was meant to eliminate.”

“Just as it had on the day before 9/11, Al Qaeda now has a band of terror camps from which to plan and train for attacks against Western targets, including the United States. Officials say the new camps are smaller than the ones the group used prior to 2001. However, despite dozens of American missile strikes in Pakistan since 2002, one retired CIA officer estimated that the makeshift training compounds now have as many as 2,000 Arab and Pakistani militants, up from several hundred three years ago.”

“American intelligence officials say that the Qaeda hunt in Pakistan, code-named Operation Cannonball by the CIA in 2006, was often undermined by bitter disagreements within the Bush administration and within the intelligence agency, including about whether American commandos should launch ground raids inside the tribal areas.”

Who is running this dog and pony show? I thought Bush was serious about stopping terrorism? Why do we have open borders? Why is there no military presence on the US/Mexican border? Why are Taliban funerals attended by terrorist leaders and haters of America allowed to take place with US Intelligence knowledge and nothing is being done about it? I’m sick of all the talk and posturing, I want action!

In case you haven’t heard….

“Individual Americans have a right to own guns, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday for the first time in the country’s history, striking down a strict gun control law in the U.S. capital.

The landmark 5-4 ruling marked the first time in nearly 70 years the high court has addressed the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It rejected the argument the right to keep and bear arms was tied to service in a state militia.”

LINK to article.

From the Washington Times
By Bill Gertz

Part One Link

“The inspector general of the Government Printing Office today said his office is conducting an “end-to-end” review of the agency’s production of electronic passports.”

“The Washington Times reported that the GPO had contracted with two European companies to produce computer chips with a wire antenna assembled at a plant in Thailand. The company in Thailand, Smartrac, charged in a court filing in Netherlands last year that its technology was stolen by China.”

GPO profits go to bonuses and trips
Part 2 Link

“When the government’s main printing agency booked $100 million in unexpected profit it went on a spending spree: large bonuses to top managers, trips to Paris and Las Vegas, and an official photo of the boss that cost $10,000.”

“Investigators say that at least 25 GPO officials received bonuses of between $2,000 and $12,920 that totaled $181,593. The bonuses were paid for fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2006, but have not yet been paid for 2007, investigators said.”

“The Washington Times’ investigation disclosed that the security of the blank-passport production involves computer chips purchased in Europe and then shipped to Thailand for outfitting with a wire antenna that transmits personal data to an electronic scanner at U.S. border entry points. Security specialists said the use of foreign chips and assembly abroad makes the blank passports, a key travel document, vulnerable to theft or counterfeiting.”

“Additionally, records obtained by congressional investigators show unusual travel by senior GPO officials to conferences and other events in such places as Las Vegas; Atlantic City, N.J.; London; Paris; Hamburg, Germany; and Tokyo, among other locations. Mr. Brink, the assistant public printer for Security and Intelligence Documents, for example, traveled to Paris in June 2006 for an electronic-passport forum that cost more than $5,000. He also traveled to London in May 2006 for a trip that cost $3,800.”

And our President, pretending that national security is so vital we need to send 4000 troops to die for a country which does not want, or appreciate, freedom. This same President allows open borders and US passports to be manufactured in a foreign country with no ovesight. What a joke.

Yes, it’s true. More insane policies by the Bush Administration. You’d think we already had Hillary as President with these laws passed of late. When is this country going to finally wake up and see what’s its doing to destroy itself. We need change in this country. I’m tired of the politics as usual crowd.

“In their bipartisan zeal to quickly cut a deal on an economic stimulus bill, GOP lawmakers overlooked something that will certainly inflame the conservative base _ illegal immigrants could receive a tax rebate check from the government.”

Link from the Politico

Excerpt from the WSJ written by Peggy Noonan 1/25/08

“On the pundit civil wars, Rush Limbaugh declared on the radio this week, “I’m here to tell you, if either of these two guys [Mr. McCain or Mike Huckabee] get the nomination, it’s going to destroy the Republican Party. It’s going to change it forever, be the end of it!”

This is absurd. George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party, by which I mean he sundered it, broke its constituent pieces apart and set them against each other. He did this on spending, the size of government, war, the ability to prosecute war, immigration and other issues.

Were there other causes? Yes, of course. But there was an immediate and essential cause.

And this needs saying, because if you don’t know what broke the elephant you can’t put it together again. The party cannot re-find itself if it can’t trace back the moment at which it became lost. It cannot heal an illness whose origin is kept obscure.

I believe that some of the ferocity of the pundit wars is due to a certain amount of self-censorship. It’s not in human nature to enjoy self-censorship. The truth will out, like steam from a kettle. It hurts to say something you supported didn’t work. I would know. But I would say of these men (why, in the continuing age of Bill Clinton, does the emoting come from the men?) who are fighting one another as they resist naming the cause for the fight: Sack up, get serious, define. That’s the way to help.”

WSJ article

Bush’s latest bill signed into law lets irresponsible home owners who borrowed too much money, paid too much for their home, spent the equity in the home like it was free money from an ATM machine and squandered it all, off the hook. Normally, if you are forgiven payment on a debt, the IRS makes you pay tax on that balance. Now a borrower can walk scott free from their house, not pay back the mortgage and not pay tax on the forgiven debt. Bush’s legacy will be that he allowed deadbeats to get away with murder. What kind of message does this give to America’s kids? How is this moral? Bush is really becoming a liability to the Republican Party. Wait til next November and see who wins office. Thanks George, you’re the best Democrat ever to take office.

By Jim Wasserman – jwasserman@sacbee.com
Published 5:49 am PST Friday, December 28, 2007

For households mired in mortgage troubles, there’s one less worry this year.

That’s the nasty tax consequence of avoiding foreclosure by selling a home through a “short sale” or other loan rearrangements.

A bill signed by President Bush last week lets homeowners off the hook for a little-known tax bite that occurs when mortgage debts are forgiven. The reprieve applies to households that use short sales or other mortgage relief efforts during 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The National Association of Realtors is among those saluting the president’s action, calling it “an issue of fairness and not kicking people when they are down.”

First, the definition of a short sale. It’s where the bank agrees to accept less than it’s owed when a home sells. These sales, which enable banks to avoid the even costlier process of foreclosing and selling the house in a declining market, have become increasingly common this year.

Under the standard short-sale scenario, if you sold your house this year for $350,000 but owed the bank $400,000, you’d have hefty tax consequences in 2008. The IRS would count that $50,000 in canceled debt as taxable income. It’s what’s known as “forgiven debt” and typically triggers a 1099 tax form.

But now, the IRS is required – for three years – to abandon its traditional tax rules on canceled debts. The moratorium also applies if a lender forgave some of your mortgage debt through a loan workout.

It’s a temporary measure during this real estate slowdown and is only for loans involving a primary residence. It does not apply to investor-owned properties.

The hope is that without the fear of incurring an IRS tax bill, more struggling borrowers will call lenders and negotiate alternatives to foreclosure, according to the real estate industry, which backed the bill.

In the capital region, one short-sale specialist praised the move but said it won’t really bring much debt relief.

“Many of these people weren’t going to pay the tax, anyway,” said Scott Thompson, a partner in Mortgage Resolution Services in Carmichael. “There was a part of the tax code that granted them immunity if they were insolvent.”

But, he added, it’s “clearly a good thing” that people already under financial stress won’t have to worry about additional tax problems.

So now we’re going to do a government bailout for all those people who leveraged their homes, used them as ATMs and then went out and bought SUVs, boats, went on vacations, etc. So people who were irresponsible and entered into loans they had no ability to repay and buy homes that were 8-12 times their income levels will be rewarded. The tax payers now will have to bailout their neighbors who lived high on the hog for the past 7 years. Unreal. Those people who knew the housing market was overheated and homes were just too pricy to buy in this market will now sufer even more. I guess this is the legacy GWB wants, just as his dad gave was the ADA which provided 25 handicapped parking spots at your local Safeway, which 99% are empty. And for some reason I thought I voted Republican in both those elections. Good job guys.

Bush Bailout:

I guess Bush wants to give both the House and Senate to the Libs next November.

“President Bush refused to rule out a military strike against Iran Tuesday, though he confirmed the latest National Intelligence Estimate showed the Islamic state had halted a weapons program.”

WAR