Foreclosure Follies

As President Obama tries to move his $275 billion dollar foreclosure plan of robbing Peter to bailout Paul plan forward. His radical activist friends at ACORN are already taken the law into their own hands breaking into foreclosed houses like burglars and thieves. Michelle Malkin has the money quotes and the real "documented" story:

But a closer look at ACORN’s sob stories shows that the prototypical foreclosure “victims” by the Left don’t deserve an ounce of sympathy – or a cent of our money.
Earlier this week, ACORN activists broke into a foreclosed home in Baltimore. With a mob cheering and camera crew taping, ACORN leader Louis Beverly busted a padlock and jimmied the door open at 315 South Ellwood Ave. The home once belonged to restaurant worker Donna Hanks, who assailed her evil bank for raising her mortgage by $300 and leaving her on the street.
“This is our house now,” Beverly declared with Hanks by his side at the break-in. What ACORN didn’t tell you: Hanks’ house was sold in June 2008 for $192,000. She bought the two-story home in the summer of 2001 for $87,000. At some point during the next five years, she re-financed the original home loan for $270,000. Where did all that money go? (Hint: Think house-sized ATM.)
Baltimore ACORN leader Louis Beverly, who also claims to be a foreclosure victim himself, was charged with burglary for the break-in and released. He is literally a housing thug – having been charged with separate second-degree assault and property destruction charges earlier this year and battery, assault, handgun possession and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure in 1992; and slapped with a peace order issued against him in 2006.

Remember Obama and others talking about how foreclosed homes are the real problem. Well this foreclosed home that ACORN thugs broke into had already been sold and so was no longer part of the problem. It seems ACORN is part of the real problem with there criminal tactics.

President Obama's speech and the fiscal reality

Well President Obama has finally pulled out the "hope" speech out of his jacket pocket last night in the address to congress. Here are some of the money quotes:


"As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan by President's Day that would put people back to work and put money in their pockets. Not because I believe in bigger government - I don't. Not because I'm not mindful of the massive debt we've inherited - I am. I called for action because the failure to do so would have cost more jobs and caused more hardships. In fact, a failure to act would have worsened our long-term deficit by assuring weak economic growth for years. That's why I pushed for quick action. And tonight, I am grateful that this Congress delivered, and pleased to say that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is now law." Yep! It's law alright. Before it was passed Obama was talking fear and "catastrophe". Now that we taxpayers are in hock for a trillion dollars Obama has pulled out the "hope" message out of his pocket. The first money from this bill will be going to the black hole of Medicaid. You know the program that in part pays for the illegal immigrants who use hospital emergency rooms as doctors offices. Hola suckers! How much is this "hope costing us taxpayers? Here is the Obama and Democratic talking point which Obama used again last night:

"Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs."

Hmm sounds good until you do the math and see that with a trillion dollar "stimulus bill" that works out to $285,714.00 per job. Oh yeah another thing President Obama and the Dems forget to tell us. That since there was no E-Verify provision in the Stimulus Bill it means that those jobs may not all go to U.S. citizens but, illegal immigrants could be hired to work on those infrastructure construction projects too. Hola Suckers again!

More Huffington Post hypocrisy!

Kurtz at the WAPO has the goods on a journalist jerk who created a You Tube clip making it appear that Fox News anchor John Gibson said something he did not about Attorney General Eric Holder. Here are the money quotes:


"A Baltimore television reporter has lost his job after acknowledging that he doctored a video to make it appear that Fox News Radio host John Gibson had made a racial slur.
In the bogus video, which was picked up across the Internet, Gibson seemed to be comparing Attorney General Eric Holder to a monkey with a "bright blue scrotum." There had been chatter on Fox News earlier about such a monkey, which had escaped from a Seattle zoo.
A spokeswoman for WBAL-TV confirmed yesterday that technology reporter John Sanders is no longer employed by the station but she declined to comment on whether he had been dismissed. His profile was promptly removed from the NBC affiliate's Web site. "



But even more outrageous is the liberals at the Huffington Post ran with this story. After so many years lambasted Fox News for it's bias the Huff Post now has egg on it's face. As John Gibson correctly notes:


"My ire in this situation is directed at the Huffington Post," Gibson said. "I really think this would have been very easy to check. A kid made a mistake and did something goofy, fine. But these guys [at the Huffington Post] claim to be and are regarded by many as a legitimate news organization. It spoke to their bias against me that they went ahead with it."

Hooray for Huffington?

The Huffington Post headline today is "SLUMDOG SWEEPS". And this is important to me because? Only a LA California based blog like Huffington would consider this news. When in fact to most people what happens in Hollywood does not affect most peoples lives.

THE TARP PLAN ILLUSTRATED

They say one picture is worth a thousand words. It takes a few more to illustrate the Toxic Asset Reduction Plan or as I call it the Turd Asset Reduction Plan:
The TARP, in Pictures

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Humor Creative Writing tarp

Vickie Iseman vs The New York Slime

Carlos Slim the Mexican Billionaire must be breathing a sigh of relief. As it seems none of the 250 million he recently provided to bailout the New York Times will not be going to pay lobbyist Vickie Iseman in a defamation suit. It was a feeble attempt by the paper to slime John McCain by insinuating that he had been having an affair with Univision Lobbyist Vickie Iseman. This of course was nonsense! As is increasingly the case the New York Times and other elites in the media they ignored the real story. Make no mistake people were getting screwed by McCain but, it was the American people. As the Mickey Kaus pointed out:

"Former Univision CEO, controlling shareholder and Iseman client Jerrold Perenchio is a National FInance Co-Chair of McCain's campaign. Presumably he brings in more than $85,000; b) The worry isn't that McCain was taking advantage of Univision, et. al. It's rather the other way around. Or, more precisely, that this was a smarmy, mutually self-interested alliance that helped McCain and Univision in ways that maybe went beyond promoting the national interest. "


That's the real scandal behind this story. It is about the lobbist influence on McCain and explains the real reason why he is always pushing for amnesty for the millions of illegal immigrants (the majority Hispanic). He is shilling for his friends at the Spanish language network Univision and making sure that the audience and Univision's revenue do not head south.

Of course the New York Times completely missed the connection or just ignored it. Just another example of why they continue to go downhill in their reporting and readership.

The Stimulus money is green but, is Obama?

So let me get this straight after Obama used fear to get his and the Democratic Stimulus Bill passed fast or there would be a "catastrophe". He then delays the signing by a day. So much for urgency. But, not only that he is going to take Air Force one and fly over halfway across the country to sign the bill. Huh? How much is that going to cost in fuel, security and carbon in the atmosphere to fly the Presidents plane to Denver? How about he just stay in the White House and sign it at the desk. Oh, that's right it would not make for a big photo op if he stayed in Washington.

No E-Verify in Stimulus Bill! Hola suckers!

You would think it would be a no-brainer for Congress which is about to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on the Stimulus Bill job creation programs would make sure that those jobs would actually go to Americans. But, the dumbocrats like Pelosi and Reid Washington and even President Obama did not demand that E-Verify use it be included in the bill. So construction companies and other employers who will get some this money will be able to continue to hire illegal immigrants without checking if they are legally entitled to work here. That means less jobs for U.S. citizens and more money flowing out of the country. Roy Beck has the money quotes:

"All protections for U.S. workers were stripped from the Stimulus Bill tonight. Illegal aliens can be hired at the same rate as usual.
House Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid and the Obama White House were absolutely certain about one thing for the House/Senate negotiating committee on the Stimulus Bill:
There was to be no special restriction to keep illegal aliens from getting new jobs created by the bill at a cost of $250,000 to $500,000 each.The Democratic leadership of our federal government made it clear that there has been no change from eight years of a Republican White House that let the Chamber of Commerce call the shots on immigration.
Pelosi, Reid and Obama gave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce exactly what it wanted -- freedom for unscruplous businesses to continue to hire illegal aliens at the same rate as in the past, and to use the hundreds of billions of Stimulus dollars to do it."

File this info in the "Hola suckers" file and remember those politicians who voted for this Bill without protecting U.S. workers!

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Obama meets the press.

President Obama had his first Presidential news conference last night and it was refreshing. He answered the questions well and was specific. A good start in my opinion. Still he was trying to put lipstick on a pig of a stimulus bill. Which he admits is still not perfect. There were some good points made that bringing energy efficiency to Federal buildings would not only create jobs but, would save money (for us taxpayers) down the road. He should expand that to exsisting local schools so that we taxpayers will also benefit from the savings too. This to me is a good idea. Along with making sure that teachers can teach and if they can't get rid of them. We don't have unlimited money to waste on anything.
I think his using the unemployment figures in Elkhart Indiana as an example of the fear mongering he is supposed to abhor. There's no doubt that Elkhart has a unfortunately high unemployment rate. That's why Obama's people choose to go there for the road show. But, what is not emphasised enough is the main industry in Elkhart is RV (Recreational Vehicles) that get something like 10 miles to the gallon. Well duh! That would be one product that U.S. citizens are not going to be buying in an economic downturn. Of course that industry will suffer. Companies stay in business by making products people want and need. Not by having the Federal Government just throw money out there and hope it hits something. I wish Obama and Congress would understand that.

Faith based Obama

Obama continues another program of George Bush. The "Faith Based Initiative". David Waters has the money quotes in the Washington Post:

"Candidate Obama didn't care for President Bush's 2002 executive order that allowed faith-based groups to discriminate in hiring and still get federal grants to run social programs. "If you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them -- or against the people you hire -- on the basis of their religion," Obama said in Ohio last July.
So it was somewhat surprising last week when President Obama failed to rescind Bush's order when he announced the rules for his own White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships."

So much for change we can believe in as Obama fails to turn off the government money faucet flowing to religious organizations.

"The goal of the new faith-based initiative, Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, "will not be to favor one religious group over another -- or even religious groups over secular groups. It will simply be to work on behalf of those organizations that want to work on behalf of our communities, and to do so without blurring the line our Founders wisely drew between church and state."

Waters does a smack down of this argument.

But this line is blurry. How much blurrier (and more contentious) will it get when millions in federal funds start to flow"

Waters is quite right, The lines are already blurry thanks to George Bush and Obama is not doing anything to change that. The only question I have is will Obama follow through on his talk about transparency in Government when it comes to the Taxpayer dollars these "Faith Based" organizations receive? Will we taxpayers be able to see which get the money, how much and what they spend it on. Right now I have little faith we will.

STIMULUS & THE AUDACITY OF FEAR

"A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe." -- President Obama, Feb. 4.

Hmmm, that sounds just like President Bush now doesn't it.

Meet the new boss same as the old boss. Or Charles Krauthammer said in the Washington Post:

"So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared "we have chosen hope over fear." Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill. "

Meanwhile is the LA Times finally getting it?

As California continues it's downward fiscal spiral. The good news is that financial disaster may be starting bring the politically correct bias of the LA Times back to some of the reality of what has actually been going on in the state. At least if the column by George Skelton is any indication. He lays out the costs to California of having so many illegal immigrants in the state. Here are some of the literal money quotes:


" The state is spending $775 million on Medi-Cal healthcare for illegal immigrants, according to the legislative analyst. Of that, $642 million goes into direct benefits. Practically all the rest is paid to counties to administer the program. The feds generally match the state dollar-for-dollar on mandatory programs."



"There also are other taxpayer costs -- especially through local governments -- but those are the biggies for the state. Add them all up and the state spends well over $5 billion a year on illegal immigrants and their families.

Of course, illegal immigrants do pay state taxes. But no way do they pay enough to replenish what they're drawing in services. Their main revenue contribution would be the sales tax, but they can't afford to be big consumers, and food and prescription drugs are exempt."



At this point he also ignores the money the illegals are sending back to their home countries that does not stay in the California economy. Also like the stated number of illegal immigrants in the country his costs numbers may also be low. But, it is a start that even a papers like the LA Times are starting to realize there is a downside and a cost to taxpayers for unchecked illegal immigration. As Skelton rightly observes:



"Meanwhile, California should be honest about the costs. Illegal immigrants are not the sole cause of the state's deficit. But they are a drain."



That truth is a refreshing start.

This is a problem? It is for the New York Times

Another crazy headline from todays New York Times:

Only the ultra liberal editors at the New York Times could find a problem with the fact that the welfare system of the U.S. is not growing and costing U.S. taxpayers more tax dollars. That is what President Bill Clinton and the Republicans had hoped would happen in 1996 when Bill Clinton pledged to "end welfare as we know it". Hello New York Times the system is working there is no need to fix it.

Quote of the Day

I'm on the Long Island Railroad the other day heading as part of my commute to the BCP Washington bureau. I overhear a fellow talking to his friend with a lilting Caribbean accent about women who are calling him claiming that his brother made them pregnant. He's telling them why are you calling me? I did not make you pregnant! Exasperated he tells his companion:

"My life is good but, my family makes it a mess!"

It's kind of the way I feel about whats going on with Washington some days!

New York Times: Even if it does not bleed it leads!

Headline at the New York Times this morning:

"No Injuries Reported in Iraqi Elections "

What the F?
Here is the exhibit A, the lead paragraph:

"BAGHDAD — Voters turned out early and calmly on Saturday for Iraq’s provincial elections, the first in the country for four years. By noon, halfway through the voting, no one had been reported injured or killed."

Sounds like the editors were dissappointed that nobody was killed or even injured.

The stimulus bill for who?

As the House starts debate on the Stimulus Bill for the country. A group of corrupt business and immigration lawyers are lobbying to have the E-Verify provision stripped from the bill. Roy Beck explains:
"The lobbyists for a variety of industries that hire lots of illegal foreign workers are rallying their troops to phone U.S. House leaders; they hope to strip a provision of the giant stimulus bill that would require recipients to use E-Verify to keep illegal aliens from getting the new jobs."

Is it too much to ask that if we U.S. taxpayers are going to be providing money for a trillion dollar stimulus bill that efforts like using E-Verify be used to insure that the workers hired using that money be citizens and/or legally entitled to work here. You can call your U.S. Representative and tell them that you want to make sure that the E-Verify provision remain in the stimulus bill. The Capitol Switchboard number is: 202-224-3121 Let your own Representative know that his/her constituents expect this bill to explicitly require E-Verify to make sure all new jobs go to Americans and legal immigrants already here. I did!

They call this News?

Today's front page above the fold story in the Washington Post concerns the decline in U.S. womans figure skating. This is news? Or is it just a concern of some Washington Post editor whose daughter is an avid ice skater. Call me the ice man but, this story does not belong on the front page and the editor who approved it's placement does not deserve to be an editor of the front page.

Krazy Krugman/Washington economics

We are hearing a lot about how the Obama Administration and congress is going to an "economic stimulus" program. Which sounds all well and good considering how screwed up the economy is thanks to the sub prime debacle. Of course there are some detractors saying it is too expensive and is not worth it. I have not been following the details too closely what little there are. But, New York Times columnist/economist Paul Krugman tries to explain the costs and why it's worth it. He may have won a Nobel Prize in Economics but I am not impressed. here are the money quotes:

"First, there’s the bogus talking point that the Obama plan will cost $275,000 per job created. Why is it bogus? Because it involves taking the cost of a plan that will extend over several years, creating millions of jobs each year, and dividing it by the jobs created in just one of those years."

Okay so far. Of course opponents will try an exaggerate the cost of the program. So liberal Krugman has a point here. But, he then goes on:

"The true cost per job of the Obama plan will probably be closer to $100,000 than $275,000 — and the net cost will be as little as $60,000 once you take into account the fact that a stronger economy means higher tax receipts."

The true cost is closer to $100,000 per job? Even at a cost of $60,000 it's still an outrageous cost per job! He can't be serious can he? How about the government give say $10.000 to U.S. citizens who have owned our homes for x number of years. We'll create jobs by putting on new roofs, windows etc.. on our houses. I need to mount some solar panels on my roof that are currently taking up space in my living room. I'll spend money buying some solar frames to do that. That would be a better way to stimulate the economy than to spend $100,000 to create a $50,000 dollar job. Only in Washington D.C. and in the mind of a liberal economist does spending this kind of money make sense.

The Nueva York Times and Carlos Slim

I have been wondering about all the recent front page stories that have been appearing in the New York Times regarding illegal immigration recently. It appears the Grey Lady is going down on Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim who is giving the paper a $245 million dollar lifeline to stay afloat. Matt Welch at Reason.com has some interesting info on Mr. Slim and what it means for the coverage at the paper. Here are some of the money quotes:

"Let's face it. The New York Times would never strike a deal with a U.S. tycoon of a similar profile, for fear of triggering real or apparent conflicts between the newspaper's coverage and the investor's interests. Not that you could ever find such a U.S. tycoon: The conglomerate of Slim-controlled telecom, banking, tobacco, retailing, insurance, construction, and other interests has been estimated to add up to 7 percent of Mexico's GDP. Even in his heyday, John D. Rockefeller accounted for only about 2 percent of the U.S. economy."

Slims companies control 90% of Mexico's Telephone system and 70% of the wireless phones. I wonder how all the illegals here in the U.S. keep in touch with family in Mexico? Hmmm?

Say bye bye now Caroline.

Well there was good news that Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her name to get Hillary Clinton's New York Senate seat. Good riddance too!. Here are some of the money quotes from today's Washington Post:

"after first avoiding the press, then holding a series of halting interviews and giving vague answers, Kennedy's front-runner status diminished somewhat. She also appeared resistant to opening her finances to scrutiny, lending to the view that after largely avoiding the spotlight for most of her life, she was only a reluctant candidate for public life."

It must have come as a shock to her that there would be such scrutiny. I mean she is a Kennedy aren't they entitled to government positions.

"I'm sure her uncle Ted would want nothing more than to see her in his brother's seat in the United States Senate."

I'm sure he does. But, we in New York State do not. It's time that people in the political dynesties like the Kennedy's and the Bushes understrand that the U.S. Government is not an employment agency set up just for them

Inauguration Day: The end of the "just words" era.

I arrived back in Washington late Sunday night on a packed flight. The city is filled with the Obamaites are here to see the "messiah" and the Red line Metro trains are already packed at this early hour. I will have to drive back to Long Island early tomorrow because the Amtrak trains leaving the city are sold out beyond Wednesday. You can sense the excitement in the city. Even Cafe Ole one of our favorite restaurants here in northwest DC was packed on the usual quiet Monday night. Today is the day when hope crashes head on to the reality. Today is the day when Barack Obama becomes our President and the speeches he gave have to become something more than just words. At least that is my hope.

Hats off to Homeland Security

When going through security at National Airport here in DC I forgot to put my multi tool knife in my checked baggage. It was a good news bad news situation. On one hand I was not able to take my multi tool on vacation. Though they did offer a Fed Ex envelope to let me send it back home. It was a cheap tool and shipping would have cost more than a new one. The good news is the TSA screeners did catch to knife in my bag. So the system is working. That to me is worth more than having the cheap multi tool knife in my possession. Hats off to the screeners and TSA.

Leaving mysterious DC

My gal and I are off to Central America for about ten days. So I will not be blogging for that time as I am not one who needs a keyboard in front of me every minute of the day. We will be returning to the BCP Washington bureau two days before the inauguration. We hope. If just one of our flights has problems I doubt we will be able to get back to DC before Tuesday's inauguration. One thing we are curious about is the apartment across the hall. In the fifteen years in the building no one has lived in it. It is supposed to be owned by someone in Brooklyn New York. Maybe once or twice a year someone comes in and checks up on it and gets into car with New York plates. It will be interesting to see if it is occupied for the inauguration. Until then I hope to be out of range of wifi, keyboards, and computer screens and have the night stars as my entertainment.

City of Barack

I'm currently working out of the BCP Washington Bureau as the city awaits for a flood of millions of Obamaites for the inauguration. They have already loaded up the Metro Card machines with Obama's image:
It's 12 days until the era of "just words" ends. At least I hope so.

Money, money, money

I am hopeful that the Obama administration is on the right track with the stimulus package. There are hopeful signs that they will not repeat the mistakes of the Bush administration and the dumbocratic Congress that just seem to throw money at the problem. Here is the money quote from today's Washington Post:"In the meantime, Obama said he will incorporate a trio of provisions in the nearly $800 billion stimulus package under review by Congress -- dubbed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- to ensure that the money is not wasted. The provisions include establishing a special panel to monitor use of the money; a Web site that will allow taxpayers to monitor use of the money; and a ban on lawmakers' pet projects, known as earmarks."
To me this is a good policy let's hope it's not "just words".

Bill Richardson portrait heading for the dumbocratic hall of shame?

Looks like somebody may need to get another portrait ready for the Dumbocratic Hall of Shame. Bill Richardson may be the next one to be hung up. I'm glad to see Richardson leave the scene. I've always questioned his judgement on a number of issues. Like his support for keeping Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General just because he was "Hispanic".
Then there was his call to give the illegal immigrant fugitive Elvira Arellano a pardon.
Actually Richardson's troubles do not surprise me. I had a friend who worked on one of the morning TV shows. Whenever Bill Richardson appeared. I think he was Energy Secretary at the time. He would take the coffee/water cup that the show provided on the set so the guest would have something to drink if they needed it. Since my friend was responsible for these mugs he would ask Richardson for the mug back. Richardson just looked at him and said "nope". It's not that the show could not afford to lose the coffee mug it's that Richardson just thought that he was entitled to take it. He's just the kind of creep that we are better off not having in office especially as Commerce Secretary.

Looking back on 2008

On this cold an snowy New Years Eve here at the BCP Long Island bureau I thought I take a look back on what got my attention in 2008:

Well let's see there was a writers strike:


William F. Buckley dies

Jeremiah (Wright) was a bullfrog or was he just a good friend of Barack Obama who gave a speech on race in March

In New York City having three kids becomes a status symbol.

Barack Obama pulled some stats out of his butt but, most in the mainstream media never checked him on it.

Tim Russert died

Something was not kosher at a meat packing plant in Iowa and it concerned illegal immigrant workers.

My employer sent me out to Minneapolis to set up communications systems for the Republican convention. Loved that balloon drop


It was bailout mania in September Nancy Pelosi said "The Party is Over" looking back the party had just begun and the money has not stopped flowing since.

Obama downplays his involvement with ACORN and as usual the liberal media does a Sargent Schultz and sees nothing wrong with the connections.

Obama's tax cut plan is a good one

Hope is on the way if today's Washington Post article on how the Obama administration plans to give U.S. taxpayers an immediate tax cut is any indication. What is good to see is that it looks like a very efficient means to get money into the wallets of us taxpayers. Here is the money quote:

"Obama, in the second week of a vacation in Hawaii, continues to work on his economic plan, aides said. He is considering immediate tax cuts of $1,000 for couples and $500 for individuals, which would be delivered through reduced tax withholding from paychecks, a transition aide said. That plan could cost about $140 billion over the next two years, the aide said."

I think this plan is good for a number of reasons because it:

1)Can be implemented fast and with immediate results.

2)Can be implemented multiple times (if needed) without delay.

3)Would eliminate “pork” and costly bureaucratic delivery of checks (from the IRS) since the money will go directly and immediately to U.S. taxpayer’s wallets.

4)Would encourage people to be legally employed and not work “off the books”. Increasing tax revenues that would otherwise be lost.

It's this kind of thinking from the Obama administration that may help the middle class more than any Bush Administration or Pelosi/Reid left leaning Democratic proposals ever did. I say Obama should go for it.

War children is just a shot away....

We dined at a local Indian Restaurant here in northwest DC the other night. I overheard the Indian owner discussing world politics with some customers at another table. It was his view that there would soon be a war between Pakistan and India. This may not qualify as "actionable intelligence" here in Washington. But, you never know.

Christmas Greetings from AIG and the Federal Reserve

This time of year is particularly a dangerous time for us taxpayers. It is a time when those in Washington can slip out bad news but, chances are less people will notice it. The reason for this is because everyone is running around for the Christmas holidays. Even most of the media empties out of this town for the next week or so. Not me. I am looking for the bad news leaked out. I think I found it in today's Washington Post. It concerns AIG and how it was able to get some of those nasty credit default swaps off it's books. Here are the money quotes:"American International Group retired $16 billion in credit default swaps, the contracts that almost caused the company's collapse, after buying the underlying securities with help from the Federal Reserve."

"The fund created by the Fed and AIG to protect the insurer's customers from losses has now purchased collateralized debt obligations with a face value of about $62.1 billion, the firm said in a statement."

"The business guaranteed more than $70 billion in securities created by pools of different kinds of debt, including sub prime mortgages, that plunged in value. The federal government committed $150 billion to bail out AIG and prevent losses at investment banks that bought protection on fixed-income securities from the insurer."

Whoa! AIG only guaranteed $70 billion in securities. But, we taxpayers gave them $85 billion and then another $65 billion in loans? What wrong with this picture?