Friday, November 14, 2008

Did President Elect Obama Not Register?

All male citizens 18 - 25 must register with the Selective Service. There may be evidence that President Elect Obama may not have done so and people have made an effort to cover that up after the fact. Debbie Schlussel has the details.

This intrigues me on multiple levels beyond the penalties:
Men who do not register could be prosecuted and, if convicted, fined up to $250,000 and/or serve up to five years in prison. In addition, men who fail to register with Selective Service before turning age 26, even if not prosecuted, will become ineligible for:


Student Financial Aid - including Pell Grants, College Work Study, Guaranteed Student/Plus Loans, and National Direct Student Loans.

U.S. Citizenship - if the man first arrived in the U.S. before his 26th birthday.

Federal Job Training - The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) offers programs that can train young men for jobs in auto mechanics and other skills. This program is only open to those men who register with Selective Service.

Federal Jobs - men born after December 31, 1959 must be registered to be eligible for jobs in the Executive Branch of the Federal government and the U.S. Postal Service.


There is the question of the cover up and we should all know by now, it is not the crime, it is the cover up that is usually the problem.

I also always am fascinated by those investigating things like this, how something small and seemingly trivial can be the smoking gun. For example, if you look at the document, it is suppose to be from 1980 and there is a United Postal Service stamp on it that says USPO but the postal service stopped using that stamp in 1970 and went to USPS. Smoking gun, don't know. Not sure how someone could explain it away though.

Finally, I have always had a beef with the Selective Service regarding the fact only males need to register. I live in a state where the Governor is female and both Senators are female and if you call and ask why is it only males have to register, you will get some lame answer that sure does not sound "empowering to women" to me.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

President Elect Obama Employment Questionnaire

I am guessing the President Elect will not be answering any of these questions himself.

#14 If you have kept a diary... that could be embarrassment, please describe.

#18 Please describe any relationship with any financial institutions.... Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac.

#46 have any member of your family close social or business associates been arrested, charged with a crime or convicted...

#59, Do you or any member of your family own a gun. If so please provide complete ownership and registration information, whom it is used by. etc. etc.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Wealth Redistribution 101


Today we learn that the idea of wealth redistribution is not as attractive when it is your wealth not getting to you.

Former Obama workers claim they were short-changed


Indianapolis - The Obama campaign says most of the payment issues that brought hundreds of upset campaign workers to the Indianapolis office Wednesday have been resolved.

Campaign spokesman Jonathan Swain says a few people showed up Thursday and made arrangements for payment by mail.

A few hundred people stood in line for several hours Wednesday waiting to get paid for working in the final days of the campaign. Many of those people said they were underpaid for the number of hours they worked.

Read the original story:

Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.

The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

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The large gathering of around 375 people prompted police to call in extra officers and set up temporary barricades. The barricades helped keep the crowd from spilling out onto Meridian Street. Police say the several hundred people in line were for the most part orderly.
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Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail.

"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.


"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.


Some people weren't satisfied with filling out a claim form for money they felt was still due to them.

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"Talking about they'll mail it to us. I ain't worried about that, man. They're not going to mail nothin'," said Martin.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

My Head Hurts

In the last 4 year, President Elect Obama took more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other person in Congress over the last 30 years except for the head of the Banking committee, Chris Dodd - D.

And somehow the economy was the number 1 issue...



Monday, November 03, 2008

Redistributing the wealth

Got this in an email today...


Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.



Redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Media Bias, What Media Bias?

An ad from a recent edition of Newsweek: