Did Bush/Paulson Scam Us? Were We Fooled Again?

Good Morning Papamoka Bloggers - Raw Story today is pointing to a letter from CONSERVATIVE Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) where he tells his Senate colleagues that he "intends to push for immediate legislation that would require Congressional authorization for any further payouts" related to the recent bailout package.

According to my sources in DC, many in Congress are beginning to believe that Bush and Paulson bailed out their friends on Wall Street, with few conditions to lend the money out. Many now feel that's all they really wanted. There are rumors flying around DC that they needed to save specific institutions and markets before leaving office.

Since investing the money they have done very little to encourage lending, and they appear to be holding on to the rest of the funds just in case something else goes wrong - an emergency buddy fund I guess? They are supposed to be freeing up credit. They were supposed to be demanding that banks lend money. What the hell is going on?

The ultra-conservative Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World, "It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money [Paulson] has given away to anyone. ... It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing. ... He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn't do it." I agree. I'm beginning to wonder if they know anything up there. What is wrong with them?

I never thought I would say this, but I think Inhofe is right! I, like so many others, came to believe that the government was trying to stop a disaster when they passed the legislation. Facts on the ground since are showing that things weren't as bad as suspected, and if anything it's beginning to look like Bush and Paulson created the panic based on very little data.

It's beginning to look like we might have been scammed again, just like with the Iraq War - another crisis that helped Bush and his buddies. What did Bush say, fool me once shame on me, or some perverted version of it? Maybe he's not the idiot we all took him for? Maybe he's just a much bigger CROOK! Then again, we're supposed to TRUST THE PRESIDENT when he warns us of a potential disaster. I don't know about you guys, but I feel sick!

Incredibly, our trustworthy Democrats in Congress - and center-right Republicans - didn't dig deep enough. I know they convinced many of us in the end, but aren't they supposed to know more than us? Then again, maybe they're not as smart as we think they are? Maybe we rely on a bunch of smooth-talking IDIOTS!

What in the hell is wrong with this government, especially our elected representatives? Nobody seems to know what they're doing. WE NEED ANSWERS NOW!

We need to FOCUS ON STOPPING THE BUSH CRIME SYNDICATE from plundering more. We need immediate investigations! We need action now! Unless something happens, this may be the first issue where I take a stand AGAINST OBAMA! Once in office, we need President-Elect Obama to support immediate investigations into possible Bush crimes, or we should take to the streets!

The American people voted for change, and we might not be able to wait until the inauguration. The Lame Duck Congress should act now! To protect our democracy for the future, we need to get to the bottom of what is happening to that money. I hope you agree.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Bush Lied, Cheney Lied and Scooter is Free

There is no proof more positive that this President and his crew are absolutely above the law than this move by President Bush. I. Scooter Libby will serve no jail time for crimes committed against the American people and its government because Bush says so.

Over at the Washington Post they have this to say about our "Does Not Apply to Me" President and his commutation of Scooter Libby for high crimes against America...

President Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence

By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 2, 2007; 7:28 PM

President Bush today commuted the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, sparing him the 30-month term to which he was sentenced last month for lying to federal investigators about his role in the White House leak of a CIA officer's identity.
Bush took the action just hours after a federal appeals court ruled that Libby was not entitled to remain free while he was appealing his conviction on four felonies. - Washington Post

America is officially up for sale when it comes to justice. Corruption in our government is only one simple coupon away from the Vice President's office.

Impeach Bush! Send him back to Texas or Maine or Levenworth. This is not a President but a corrupt corporate manager that just happens to be renting the White House out. This news only prooves that it is for sale to the highest bidder.

If your blood isn't boiling over this issue no matter what political party you belong to then you are not a person that believes in what the true America is all about. Justice is blind but it is not percieved the same way that it should apply to all in the eyes of this President.

This makes me sick!

So what are you going to do about it other than bitch and moan and reading this post? Calling your State Senator or Congressional Representative is a start! Let them know that this has your blood boiling! Get involved in the damn process and fix the wrong. No man is an island and this President is not a King. Although this President would like to think he is running a Monarchy he is not. Make your calls and do your part as a law abiding American citizen. Then bitch about it to your friends, family and neighbors and tell them to do their part!

Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring IT ON!

Bush Chucks Congress the Finger!

Picture courtesy of the White House

President Bush made it loud and clear that he does not work for the American people today by refusing to hand over any documents to the Congress regarding the investigation of the nine fired U.S. Attorneys. This pretty much proves that he is not a President of the people but a Monarch.

I’m laying odds for all the Las Vegas houses on how long the President can withhold the documentation the subpoenas were meant for. Two weeks and five to one odds he turns them over on a late Friday afternoon. Nobody in Washington reads the late news on Fridays.

One thing that this President is good at is timing and delaying tactics. While he entertains Putin from Russia in Maine and soaks up the sunshine at the family estate in Kennebunkport the press and all of us bloggers will move on to yet another topic. Ten to one odds that a diversion tactic comes out of the Putin summit!

Over at the Washington Post they have this to say about the President using his first amendment right at flicking the bird at the spineless Congress…

Bush Won't Supply Subpoenaed Documents

By William Branigin and Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 28, 2007; 12:42 PM

The White House said today it would not comply with congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony relating to the firings of federal prosecutors last year, setting up a potential constitutional confrontation over its claim of executive privilege.

In a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate judiciary committees, President Bush's counsel, Fred F. Fielding, said the White House refuses to turn over documents that were subpoenaed by the two committees on June 13. The deadline for handing over most of them was today.

"I write at the direction of the President to advise and inform you that the President has decided to assert executive privilege and therefore the White House will not be making any production in response to these subpoenas for documents," Fielding wrote in the letter to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"With respect, it is with much regret that we are forced down this unfortunate path which we sought to avoid by finding grounds for mutual accommodation," Fielding said. "We had hoped this matter could conclude with your committees receiving information in lieu of having to invoke executive privilege. Instead, we are at this conclusion."

The committees are seeking the documents to determine the extent of White House involvement in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys last year. That action by the Justice Department has caused an uproar in Congress and prompted many Democrats and some Republicans to call for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. - Washington Post

I get the feeling that no matter what laws are broken by this administration that there are a limited number of orange prison jump suits to go around. Our current Congress has no teeth or the desire to take a bite out of the Bush apple. No matter how much we all scream and shout about the iceberg dead ahead that is the crimes of this administration and demand it be corrected, the ship still steers full speed ahead with its collision course.

There is no shame in the Bush administration. As much as he holds his friends close he is not one that will ever let himself hang when someone closer to the gallows will take the rope for him. That is the key to the team of the Presidency that is driven by Cheney and propped up by the man supposedly elected to the highest office in the land.

Watch the news over the next couple of weekends to see the true hand of this President. Alberto will swing but it will be the President that will hand select the rope. Friends do that for friends I guess. At least that is what they do in our nations capitol. For now it will be shiny object over hear while something else is going on over there in the Bush camp.

Papamoka