Ferrari Mailing List: Re: And now it begins

[JAshburne (JAshburne]

Of all of the provisions of the bailout bill, the most dangerous and  
extremely troubling is the provision that a judge can override and  effectively 
renegotiate a mortgage contract.  This country's success  has been because of a 
number of free market capitalistic reasons, but one of the  most under 
appreciated and valuable factors has been the sanctity of contract  law.  It is 
right up 
there with private property rights, which are  also being eroded by expanded 
eminent domain applied to increase tax  revenues and restrictions about what 
can be done with private property.  Without the assurance that contracts 
between two parties are valid and  enforceable, there would have been nowhere 
near 
the growth and prosperity that  we have enjoyed.
 
I have financed companies and projects all over the world and the most  
important question about whether or not it is even possible to provide 
financing  
is about the political risk that contracts in that country will be  nullified 
by the government.  Countries that have a record of doing that  are unlikely to 
get any financing at all.  Witness Venezuela, Bolivia and  Ecuador and their 
recent actions in tearing up private party contracts  and appropriating 
natural resource company assets.  It will be years,  if not decades, before 
these 
countries will be able to really attract  international capital and in the 
meantime, their economies will suffer and they  will perpetuate their status as 
third world countries.
 
Socialism in this country will not appear overnight in one dramatic bang,  it 
will creep in slowly in a series of seemingly innocuous actions that are 'for 
 the good of the people (e.g. mortgage holders)".  But over time, these  
little actions will add up and it will take over.  We will look back  20 years 
from now and wonder how we fell down so far into the socialistic  abyss.
 
I am really truly very, very worried.
 
John
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/4/2008 10:40:57 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
rick.morris [at] brewhaus.com writes:

Well, I  for one am not ready for a socialist America.  Free health care?   It
astounds me just how many people buy into that, and do not have the  sense to
realize that the government is not a business- it does not 'make'  money, it
gets its money via taxes.  So, where do the tens of billions  of dollars come
from to pay for such a plan?  Any guesses?  I'll  give you a hint- expect a
drop in your take home pay.  The last thing  that America needs right now is
to see the reduced spending resulting from  people taking home less.  And if
you buy into the 'increase taxes only  on the rich', then I have a beautiful
bridge for you.  Virtually every  politician promises this, but they are not
about to bite the hand that  feeds them.  These are the very people that
donate the funds to run  your campaign- are you about to hit them with big
tax increases?   Sorry, it is the $50K to $250K income group that will be hit
again.   You want to make a change- abolish the IRS and put in a national
sales  tax.  There are no loopholes, people pay tax based on income (the  more
you make, the more you tend to spend), and you will also tax people  who
currently are not taxed (drug dealers, prostitutes, etc.) as well  as
unclaimed income (most of the service industry) that result in their  ability
to spend more.

And do we want to even guess the number of  lawsuits (hey, count me in) that
will be launched when banks have to eat  part of the interest rate and
principle (esp that second part!) of  mortgages for those who irresponsibly
over-bought, and now cannot afford  the payments?  Not only is this socialist
bordering on communist, but  it also penalizes everyone who was responsible
enough to purchase within  their means by forcing them to pay the full shot
for their home, and not  have the bank pay part of it for you.  And the Dem's
have the gall to  say that this is not redistribution of wealth!?  What is
wrong with  proposing that the banks renegotiate the term of the mortgage?
Maintain an  appropriate interest rate, and extend the term to 40 or 45
years?   This should sufficiently lower a payment to something that a person
could  afford, it would avoid any losses (the money is already lent, so  the
principle is returned more slowly but that results in increased  profit
through a higher interest portion of a payment), and would  avoid
foreclosure.  Most people do not hold their house for 30 years,  anyway, so
the loan would likely be repaid in well under that time frame,  and the bank
will have made more profit on interest.

Well, there is  my rant- sorry, I could not hold it in any longer.  But one
more  point.  Leave Iraq?  I am sorry, but a lot of people were in favor  of
going in, and once you do that you have to finish the job.  We may  not like
it while we are there, but you have to finish what you  start.  If we don't,
then we will be heading back there within five  years.

Okay, now I am done.

Rick


-----Original Message-----
From: jimshadow [at] verizon.net  [mailto:jimshadow [at] verizon.net]
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 7:22  AM
To: RAM
Cc: The FerrariList
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] And now it  begins


So ones ability to communicate holds weight over real world  experience?
What is it that Obama has done in his Senatorial experience  again aside from
master use of the 'Present' vote button.    Hardly impressive.
Oh yeah, he was a lead lawyer in suing a big bad  corporation
(Citibank)......that's good, right?   Nope.....that  forced Citi to make
loans available to people they never otherwise.   What's the harm in that?
Well now he has the idea that Fed bankruptcy  judges should be able to adjust
not only rates BUT principal amounts as  well???  COME ON!        But Obama
claimed he did  warn of the impending problems with sub prime loans then
turns around and  puts two of the most corrupt CEO's on his Advisory board...
I believe F.D.  Raines has made a buck or two off of sub prime lending....now
WE have to  bail it out?
Obama reeks and we will be in a world of hurt if this clown  gets
elected.......

Jim
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with  SprintSpeed

-----Original Message-----
From: "philville dejazzd.com"  <philville [at] dejazzd.com>

Date: Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:40:48
To:  JIM<jimshadow [at] verizon.net>
Cc: The  FerrariList<ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: [Ferrari] And now it  begins



In ref. to "Secret Foreign  Money"

This is only my opinion. Nothing based on facts, if  for no reason
other than facts seem to come and go as they  please.

As I said on Oct. 3rd at10:58 pm.... "SWIFT BOATS,  because you know
they are
coming  soon!"........I do not know what is true and what is not, so
I  will hve to go with my gut

I believe that John McC is a  great man and gave a lot, but 2
things....
1)  Having spent 6 to 7 years of his life in a prison camp is not  a
great reason to have ones finger poised over the doomsday  button.

2) He may be a great (and knowledgable) statesman  but I do not feel
that he is the apprpriate communicator to  get us back to being the
Unitd States of America that has  presided over world affairs in the
past.

Phil
----- Original Message -----
From: Rich  <Richf355 [at] comcast.net>
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008  12:05 am
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Latest Government Actions  (NFC) OT
To: Phil Tegtmeier  <philville [at] dejazzd.com>
Cc: The FerrariList  <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Adam"  <flatcrank [at] gmail.com>
> To: "Rich"  <RichF355 [at] comcast.net>
> Cc: "The FerrariList"  <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
> Sent: Friday, October 03,  2008 8:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Latest Government  Actions (NFC) OT
>
>
> > This is depressing.
> >
>  > I don't see any evidence of Obama raising half a billion  (from
> whom?)> and why wouldn't the McCain campaign be  all over it?
> >
> > Looking at  the FEC site, it seems like Obama has a total of
> $400M  and
> > with many donations above $2000, there's no  obvious "foreign" -
> -
> > what's  the process for identifying the sources?
>  >
>  >===================================
>
> This story seems to answer the questions you have.
>
> Secret, Foreign Money Floods Into Obama  Campaign
> Monday, September 29, 2008 9:23  PM
>
> By: Kenneth R.  Timmerman
>
>
>
>
> More than half of the whopping  $426.9 million Barack Obama has
> raised  has
> come from small donors whose names the Obama campaign  won't
disclose.
>
>
> And questions have arisen about millions more in  foreign
> donations the Obama
> campaign  has received that apparently have not been vetted as
>  legitimate.
>
> Obama has raised nearly  twice that of John McCain's campaign,
> according  to
> new campaign finance report.
>
> But because of Obama's high expenses during the  hotly contested
> Democratic
> primary  season and an early decision to forgo public campaign
>  money and the
> spending limits it imposes, all that cash  has not translated
> into a
> financial  advantage - at least, not yet.
>
>
> The Obama campaign and the Democratic National  Committee began
> September
> with $95  million in cash, according to reports filed with the
>  Federal
> Election Commission (FEC).
>
>
> The McCain camp and the  Republican National Committee had $94
>  million,
> because of an influx of $84 million in public  money.
>
>
> But  Obama easily could outpace McCain by $50 million to $100
>  million or more
> in new donations before Election Day,  thanks to a legion of
> small
>  contributors whose names and addresses have been kept secret.
>
>
> Unlike the McCain campaign,  which has made its complete donor
>  database
> available online, the Obama campaign has not  identified donors
> for nearly
> half  the amount he has raised, according to the Center for
>  Responsive
> Politics (CRP).
>
>
> Federal law does not require  the campaigns to identify donors
> who give  less
> than $200 during the election cycle. However, it  does require
> that campaigns
>  calculate running totals for each donor and report them once
> they go beyond
> the $200 mark.
>
>
> Surprisingly, the great  majority of Obama donors never break the
>  $200
> threshold.
>
>
> "Contributions that come under $200 aggregated per  person are
> not listed,"
> said Bob  Biersack, a spokesman for the FEC. "They don't appear
>  anywhere, so
> there's no way of knowing who they  are."
>
>
> The FEC  breakdown of the Obama campaign has identified a
>  staggering $222.7
> million as coming from contributions of  $200 or less. Only $39.6
> million of
>  that amount comes from donors the Obama campaign has  identified.
>
>
> It  is the largest pool of unidentified money that has ever
>  flooded into the
> U.S. election system, before or after  the McCain-Feingold
> campaign finance
>  reforms of 2002.
>
>
> Biersack would not comment on whether the FEC was  investigating
> the huge
> amount of  cash that has come into Obama's coffers with no public
>  reporting.
>
> But Massie Ritsch, a  spokesman for CRP, a campaign-finance
> watchdog  group,
> dismissed the scale of the unreported  money.
>
>
> "We feel  comfortable that it isn't the $20 donations that are
>  corrupting a
> campaign," he told Newsmax.
>
>
> But those small donations have  added up to more than $200
> million, all of  it
> from unknown and unreported donors.
>
>
> Ritsch acknowledges that there  is skepticism about all the
> unreported  money,
> especially in the Obama campaign  coffers.
>
>
> "We  and seven other watchdog groups asked both campaigns for
>  more
> information on small donors," he said. "The Obama  campaign never
> responded,"
> whereas  the McCain campaign "makes all its donor information,
>  including the
> small donors, available  online."
>
>
> The  rise of the Internet as a campaign funding tool raises new
> questions
> about the adequacy of FEC requirements on  disclosure. In pre-
> Internet
>  fundraising, almost all political donations, even small ones,
> were made by
> bank check, leaving a paper trail and  limiting the amount of fraud.
>
>
> But credit cards used to make donations on the  Internet have
> allowed for far
> more  abuse.
>
>
> "While  FEC practice is to do a post-election review of all
>  presidential
> campaigns, given their sluggish metabolism,  results can take
> three or four
>  years," said Ken Boehm, the chairman of the conservative
>  National Legal and
> Policy Center.
>
>
> Already, the FEC has noted  unusual patterns in Obama campaign
>  donations
> among donors who have been disclosed because  they have gone
> beyond the $200
>  minimum.
>
>
> FEC  and Mr. Doodad Pro
>
>
> When FEC auditors have questions about contributions, they  send
> letters to
> the campaign's  finance committee requesting additional
> information, such  as
> the complete address or employment status of the  donor.
>
>
> Many of  the FEC letters that Newsmax reviewed instructed the
>  Obama campaign
> to "redesignate" contributions in excess  of the finance limits.
>
>
> Under campaign finance laws, an individual can  donate $2,300 to
> a candidate
> for  federal office in both the primary and general election, for
> a total of
> $4,600. If a donor has topped the limit  in the primary, the
> campaign can
>  "redesignate" the contribution to the general election on its  books.
>
>
> In a  letter dated June 25, 2008, the FEC asked the Obama
>  campaign to verify
> a series of $25 donations from a  contributor identified as
> "Will, Good"  from
> Austin, Texas.
>
>
> Mr. Good Will listed his employer as "Loving" and  his profession
> as "You."
>
>
> A Newsmax analysis of the 1.4  million individual contributions
> in the  latest
> master file for the Obama campaign discovered  1,000 separate
> entries for Mr.
> Good  Will, most of them for $25.
>
>
> In total, Mr. Good Will gave  $17,375.
>
>
>  Following this and subsequent FEC requests, campaign records
> show that 330
> contributions from Mr. Good Will were  credited back to a credit
> card. But
>  the most recent report, filed on Sept. 20, showed a net
>  cumulative balance
> of $8,950 - still well over the $4,600  limit.
>
>
> There  can be no doubt that the Obama campaign noticed these
>  contributions,
> since Obama's Sept. 20 report specified  that Good Will's
> cumulative
>  contributions since the beginning of the campaign were $9,375.
>
>
> In an e-mailed response to a  query from Newsmax, Obama campaign
>  spokesman
> Ben LaBolt pledged that the campaign would  return the donations.
> But given
> the  slowness with which the campaign has responded to earlier
>  FEC queries,
> there's no guarantee that the money will be  returned before the
> Nov. 4
>  election.
>
>
>  Similarly, a donor identified as "Pro, Doodad," from "Nando,
> NY," gave
> $19,500 in 786 separate donations, most of  them for $25. For
> most of these
>  donations, Mr. Doodad Pro listed his employer as "Loving" and
> his profession
> as "You," just as Good Will had  done.
>
>
> But in  some of them, he didn't even go this far, apparently
>  picking letters
> at random to fill in the blanks on the  credit card donation
> form. In these
>  cases, he said he was employed by "VCX" and that his  profession
> was "VCVC."
>
>
> Following FEC requests, the  Obama campaign began refunding money
> to  Doodad
> Pro in February 2008. In all, about $8,425 was  charged back to a
> credit
> card. But  that still left a net total of $11,165 as of Sept. 20,
>  way over
> the individual limit of $4,600.
>
>
> Here again, LaBolt pledged that  the contributions would be
> returned but  gave
> no date.
>
>
> In February, after just 93 donations, Doodad Pro had  already
> gone over the
> $2,300 limit  for the primary. He was over the $4,600 limit for
> the  general
> election one month later.
>
>
> In response to FEC complaints,  the Obama campaign began
> refunding money  to
> Doodad Pro even before he reached these limits. But  his credit
> card was the
> gift that  kept on giving. His most recent un-refunded
> contributions  were on
> July 7, when he made 14 separate donations,  apparently by credit
> card, of
> $25  each.
>
>
> Just as  with Mr. Good Will, there can be no doubt that the Obama
>  campaign
> noticed the contributions, since its Sept. 20  report specified
> that Doodad's
>  cumulative contributions since the beginning of the campaign
> were $10,965.
>
>
> Foreign Donations
>
>
> And then there are the overseas donations - at  least, the ones
> that we know
>  about.
>
>
> The FEC  has compiled a separate database of potentially
>  questionable
> overseas donations that contains more than  11,500 contributions
> totaling
> $33.8  million. More than 520 listed their "state" as "IR," often
> an
> abbreviation for Iran. Another 63 listed it as  "UK," the United
> Kingdom.
>
> More than 1,400 of the overseas entries clearly were  U.S.
> diplomats or
> military  personnel, who gave an APO address overseas. Their
>  total
> contributions came to just  $201,680.
>
>
> But  others came from places as far afield as Abu Dhabi, Addis
>  Ababa,
> Beijing, Fallujah, Florence, Italy, and a wide  selection of
> towns and cities
> in  France.
>
>
> Until  recently, the Obama Web site allowed a contributor to
>  select the
> country where he resided from the entire  membership of the
> United Nations,
>  including such friendly places as North Korea and the Islamic
> Republic of
> Iran.
>
>
> Unlike McCain's or Sen. Hillary  Clinton's online donation pages,
> the  Obama
> site did not ask for proof of citizenship until  just recently.
> Clinton's
>  presidential campaign required U.S. citizens living abroad to
> actually fax a
> copy of their passport before a  donation would be accepted.
>
>
> With such lax vetting of foreign contributions, the  Obama
> campaign may have
> indirectly  contributed to questionable fundraising by foreigners.
>
>
> In July and August, the head of  the Nigeria's stock market held
> a series  of
> pro-Obama fundraisers in Lagos, Nigeria's largest  city. The
> events attracted
> local  Nigerian business owners.
>
>
> At one event, a table for eight at one fundraising  dinner went
> for $16,800.
> Nigerian  press reports claimed sponsors raked in an estimated
>  $900,000.
>
> The sponsors said the  fundraisers were held to help Nigerians
> attend  the
> Democratic convention in Denver. But the Nigerian  press
> expressed skepticism
> of that  claim, and the Nigerian public anti-fraud commission is
>  now
> investigating the matter.
>
>
> Concerns about foreign  fundraising have been raised by other
>  anecdotal
> accounts of illegal activities.
>
>
> In June, Libyan leader Moammar  Gadhafi gave a public speech
> praising  Obama,
> claiming foreign nationals were donating to his  campaign.
>
>
> "All  the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa
>  applauded this
> man," the Libyan leader said. "They  welcomed him and prayed for
> him and for
> his success, and they may have even been involved in  legitimate
> contribution
> campaigns to  enable him to win the American presidency..."
>
>
> Though Gadhafi asserted that  fundraising from Arab and African
> nations  were
> "legitimate," the fact is that U.S. federal law bans  any
> foreigner from
> donating to a  U.S. election campaign.
>
>
> The rise of the Internet and use of credit cards  have made it
> easier for
> foreign  nationals to donate to American campaigns, especially if
>  they claim
> their donation is less than  $200.
>
>
> Campaign  spokesman LaBolt cited several measures that the
> campaign  has
> adopted to "root out fraud," including a requirement  that anyone
> attending
> an Obama  fundraising event overseas present a valid U.S.
> passport,  and a new
> requirement that overseas contributors must  provide a passport
> number when
>  donating online.
>
>
> One new measure that might not appear obvious at first could  be
> frustrating
> to foreigners wanting  to buy campaign paraphernalia such as T-
> shirts  or
> bumper stickers through the online  store.
>
>
> In  response to an investigation conducted by blogger Pamela
>  Geller, who runs
> the blog Atlas Shrugs, the Obama  campaign has locked down the store.
>
>
> Geller first revealed on July 31 that donors from  the Gaza strip
> had
> contributed  $33,000 to the Obama campaign through bulk purchases
> of  T-shirts
> they had shipped to Gaza.
>
> The online campaign store allows buyers to complete  their
> purchases by
> making an  additional donation to the Obama campaign.
>
>
> A pair of Palestinian brothers  named Hosam and Monir Edwan
> contributed  more
> than $31,300 to the Obama campaign in October and  November 2007,
> FEC records
>  show.
>
>
> Their  largesse attracted the attention of the FEC almost
>  immediately. In an
> April 15, 2008, report that examined  the Obama campaign's year-
> end figures
> for 2007, the FEC asked that some of these contributions  be
> reassigned.
>
>  The Obama camp complied sluggishly, prompting a more detailed
> admonishment
> form the FEC on July  30.
>
>
> The Edwan  brothers listed their address as "GA," as in Georgia,
>  although
> they entered "Gaza" or "Rafah Refugee camp" as  their city of
> residence on
> most of  the online contribution forms.
>
>
> According to the Obama campaign, they wrongly  identified
> themselves as U.S.
>  citizens, via a voluntary check-off box at the time the
>  donations were made.
>
>
> Many of the Edwan brothers' contributions have been purged  from
> the FEC
> database, but they  still can be found in archived versions
> available for  CRP
> and other watchdog groups.
>
>
> The latest Obama campaign  filing shows that $891.11 still has
> not  been
> refunded to the Edwan brothers, despite repeated FEC  warnings
> and campaign
> claims that  all the money was refunded in December.
>
>
> A Newsmax review of the Obama campaign finance  filings found
> that the FEC
> had asked  for the redesignation or refund of 53,828 donations,
>  totaling just
> under $30 million.
>
>
> But none involves the donors  who never appear in the Obama
> campaign  reports,
> which the CRP estimates at nearly half the  $426.8 million the
> Obama campaign
>  has raised to date.
>
>
> Many of the small donors participated in online  "matching"
> programs, which
> allows  them to hook up with other Obama supporters and
>  eventually share
> e-mail addresses and  blogs.
>
>
> The  Obama Web site described the matching contribution program
> as similar to
> a public radio fundraising  drive.
>
>
> "Our  goal is to bring 50,000 new donors into our movement by
>  Friday at
> midnight," campaign manager David Plouffe  e-mailed supporters on
> Sept. 15.
>  "And if you make your first online donation today, your gift
> will go twice
> as far. A previous donor has promised  to match every dollar you
> donate."
>
> FEC spokesman Biersack said he was unfamiliar with  the matching
> donation
> drive. But he  said that if donations from another donor were
> going to  be
> reassigned to a new donor, as the campaign suggested,  "the two
> people must
> agree" to do  so.
>
>
> This type  of matching drive probably would be legal as long as
> the  matching
> donor had not exceeded the $2,300 per-election  limit, he said.
>
>
>  Obama campaign spokesman LaBolt said, "We have more than 2.5
> million donors
> overall, hundreds of thousands of  which have participated in
> this program."
>
>
> Until now, the names of those  donors and where they live have
> remained
> anonymous - and the federal watchdog agency in charge of
> ensuring that the
> presidential campaigns play by the  same rules has no tools to
> find out.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> © 2008 Newsmax. All rights  reserved.
>
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Elverson Pa  19520
610.525.8949
And, go to: ...  www.PhilvilleUSA.com

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