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Bank of America agrees to modify loans in 11 states, including California, to help keep people in their homes Associated Press - October 6, 2008 12:54 PM ET LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bank of America is agreeing to modify tens of thousands of loans to keep people in 11 states, including California, from losing their homes. The bank says it will modify mortgages for customers of Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial, the troubled mortgage lender it acquired last summer. Illinois and California sued the company around that time. The two states negotiated the settlement, with nine other states joining in.

Now that the conventions are behind us, the 2008 election is shaping up to be much closer than anyone would have believed months ago. Still, it will be an uphill battle for John McCain as Barack Obama has the advantage this year. If Obama wins, it should be a wake-up call to Republicans that the nation’s political landscape has dramatically changed, making it difficult for Republicans to win national elections. A key factor in the challenge facing Republicans is shifting demographics. States such as Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, once considered solid red states, are now faltering for...

Will election of radical Barack Obama cause chaos in America? Some think so. One insider claims, “Once he’s elected, more and more people will see his radical agenda. They’ll see his socialist, reconstruction plan for America emerge,” and he adds, “it’s what we’ve been warning people about for months.” Just look at his record, at least what has been released. From his radical associations, to being neck deep in Fannie Mae, some are calling him a “living hoax.” And with the Democrat orchestrated financial disaster that Americans must now bail out, people are fed up more than ever. “They’re fed...

A whole bunch of state polls were released Thursday (9/18) and they are all over the place.

The Electoral College is what it is: an antiquated system that irks both political parties at times. But it is still, as the Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby pointed out last month, “the best system for picking a chief executive suited to a nation like ours: a geographically large, ideologically diverse, socially complex federal republic.” It won’t be eradicated or severely amended anytime soon, so it’s time to begin to embrace it, at least when November 4 rolls around...

At least 29 states plus the District of Columbia, including several of the nation’s largest states, faced an estimated $48 billion in combined shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2009 (which began July 1, 2008 in most states.) At least three other states expect budget problems in fiscal year 2010. In general, states closed these budget gaps through some combination of spending cuts, use of reserves or revenue increases when they adopted a fiscal year 2009 budget. At this point in the year, most states have already adopted those budgets; only two states — California and Michigan — continue...

Last December, it was already becoming apparent that state governments across America were headed for some dire financial straits. Even the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, hardly a free market think tank, said at that time thirteen states were facing revenue shortfalls totaling $23 billion. Of course, these quickly became the “good ole days” once the Center released an updated analysis this summer, showing twenty-nine states facing shortfalls of $48 billion. How did things get so out of control, so quickly? Not surprisingly, it started with rampant overspending. In fact, the average state grew government by 9.3% last year...

The Patriot Post Founders' Quote Daily "In the next place, the state governments are, by the very theory of the constitution, essential constituent parts of the general government. They can exist without the latter, but the latter cannot exist without them." -- Joseph Story (Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833)

"A View from Corporate America: Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing" is the fifth installment in a series of surveys of senior U.S. executives and their advisors. Similar surveys were conducted by DCI in 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2005. (see here : http://www.aboutdci.com/WinningStrategies.aspx) From the 2008 report, the six states with the most favorable business climates are : Texas (highest ranking), North Carolina, Geogia, Florida/Tennessee (tie) and Nevada. Among executives who named Texas as having a favorable business climate, the factors mentioned most frequently are: Tax climate (31%); Labor/Workforce (Cost and availability) (29%) and Pro-business climate (26%). Among those who...

I believe it is time for congress to dissolve state governments. Here are my reasons: 1) State governments simply don’t care about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The majority of laws enacted by state governments violate the rights of American citizens in one way or another. 2) State governments don’t care about their own state constitution either. The majority of laws enacted by state governments violate their own state constitution. 3) State governments look the other way while municipal governments within the state, which are created and controlled by the state government, routinely pass ordinances that violate, the...

So much for the 50 State Strategy, announced just last week. The Obama campaign admits neither FL and OH "was hospitable to Obama this year." Even three states Kerry won (PA, MI, NH) "look competitive" for McCain. Obama will try to pick off VA, NM, and others to make up the difference. Is Obama the underdog in this Year of the Democrat?

...Now it turns out that states have been goosing their financing arrangements to maximize their federal payouts and dump more of their costs onto taxpayers nationwide. The swindle works like this: A state overpays state-run health-care providers, such as county hospitals or nursing homes, for Medicaid benefits far in excess of its typical rates. Then the federal government reimburses the state for "half" of the inflated bills. Once the state bags the extra matching funds, the hospital is required to rebate the extra money it received at the scam's outset. Cash thus makes a round trip from states to providers...

The U.S. Supreme Court created a huge political backlash when it ruled that local governments could use eminent domain to seize private property and transfer it to other private owners for "economic development." Since the Kelo ruling in 2005, 42 states have enacted limitations on eminent domain — not always effective ones. But like lawmakers in many other states, some California officials are trying to block real eminent domain reform. On June 3, Californians will vote on Proposition 99, a ballot initiative sponsored by groups representing cities, counties, redevelopment agencies and other pro-condemnation interests. It purports to protect property rights...

States have considered more than 1,100 bills that deal with aspects of immigration this year, while a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus April 23 called the Democratic leadership "spineless" for not taking up comprehensive immigration reform.Meanwhile, the House passed a bill to extend a visa program for religious workers, and the governors in three border states asked Congress to extend an operation that has placed National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexican border.And Catholic organizations and religious orders joined with other church groups in signing a letter protesting a bill introduced in Congress that would force immigrant families to live...

Important Supreme Court Decision Rejects UN High Court over US Treaty Obligations By Piero A. Tozzi (NEW YORK — C-FAM) A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision reaffirmed the right of the United States to govern its affairs in accordance with the US Constitution rather than specific provisions of international treaties. In the process, the Court rejected a directive of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Medellín v. Texas not only reaffirmed principles of sovereignty and self-government, but also undercut arguments of international pro-abortion activists that accession to international treaties requires nations to disregard domestic constitutional protections for the unborn. In...

BOSTON - A group of state attorneys general is taking the EPA back to court to try to force it to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that rebuked the Bush administration for inaction on global warming. The high court decided a year ago that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to take action. But 17 states and others said in a court filing Wednesday that the EPA has not issued a decision on regulation. Their court filing seeks to compel the EPA to act within...

"Why Do People Hate Us So Much?" The horrific Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, accompanied by the hijackings and subsequent crashing of four domestic passenger jets, were universally condemned by almost all governments, including many that have been traditional foes of the United States. Amid all the carnage and the confusion that Americans felt, one question frequently asked was: "Why do people hate us so much?" Pictures of people rejoicing in the streets of other nations stood out in stark contrast to news reports of expressions of sympathy and support from around the...

California and other states that want to ban road-building in large swaths of national forests should have to pay for the resulting increased costs of fighting wildfires on those federal lands, U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said Thursday. Rey, the undersecretary for natural resources and the environment in charge of the U.S. Forest Service, said the Bush administration has encouraged states and local governments to offer input in the management of federal lands. But he told a Wildland Urban Interface conference that one of the unintended consequences is that state-imposed moratoriums on development in roadless areas boost the cost of...

Four children including two brothers were killed, and 12 others were hospitalized with injuries, in Minnesota last week when a van reportedly ignored a stop sign and barreled into a school bus. The driver of the van, who did not speak English or have a valid drivers license, was charged with homicide. Authorities described the driver as an illegal immigrant using a phony name. She had pled guilty in 2006 for driving without a license. For years, courts and lawyers have intimidated towns from protecting themselves against the invasion of illegal immigrants. In 2006, Escondido, Calif., backed away from its...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2008 – More than 60 years after the custom was last observed, five states have endorsed the Silver Star banner as their official symbol for honoring war-wounded veterans. The practice began in 1918, and the Silver Star banner was granted semi-official status by the Army adjutant general, said Steve Newton, founder of Silver Star Families of America. Sometime between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II, he said, the practice was lost. Silver Star Families of America has been working to get the banner granted official status since 2005, Newton...

College Board Announces Increased College Readiness by: Bethany Stotts, February 20, 2008 On Thursday, February 14, the College Board released its annual Advanced Placement exam findings, announcing that the number of high-school test-takers gaining a score of 3 or more on AP tests has risen 3.5% nationwide over the last five years. The CB board celebrated these increases because rising scores not only indicate that more high-school graduates are prepared to succeed in college (15.2% nationwide), but because studies have shown that AP test-takers are more likely to understand key subjects such as math and physics, making America more competitive...

Illinois is already completed, so my state is out. But if you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oregon, North Carolina, Wisconsin, etc. left in the Democrat party primaries. With Obama and Clinton fairly close, but Obama winning by large margins lately. Would conservatives be better off entering the Democrat primaries they can participate in to vote for Hillary and keep it close or vote for Obama to help him get a huge delegate lead and end the Clinton's stranglehold that has been over the Democrat party since 1992. Conservatives who can't support McCain and nothing else really left to decide...

Editor's note: A May deadline looms as just one flash point in a political showdown between Homeland Security and states that oppose Real ID demands. This is the third in a four-part series examining the confrontation. No television, no wedding or family photographs, and definitely no image of herself on her driver's license: That was the devout Christian life that Nebraska resident Frances Quaring was trying to lead. Which is why, after the state of Nebraska rejected her request for a license-without-a-photograph in the mid-1980s, Quaring sued the state in a landmark case that ended up at the U.S. Supreme...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2008 – The position of the chief of the National Guard Bureau has been elevated to a four-star billet 100 years after the bureau came into existence. The chief of the National Guard Bureau also became a principal advisor to the secretary of defense through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a result of a Jan. 28 stroke of the president's pen that triggered the most sweeping changes for the National Guard in 100 years. The Division of Militia Affairs, the precursor of the modern National Guard Bureau, came into existence in February 1908,...

Everything is dependent on the amount of delegates each candidate gets ...

In last week's column I highlighted comments made to the Financial Times of London by U.S. Comptroller General David Walker in which he compared the current political, social, and economic situation in the United States to that of the Roman Empire shortly before its collapse. I heard from a number of readers in response to the column… Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians. While a couple of folks used the opportunity to plug a particular presidential candidate or legislative issue, almost all were in agreement that things in our nation must change drastically and quickly. Despite a booming economy, low unemployment, and...

There are very, very few things about the Constitution that I would just outright change. There are lots of very important areas where reasonable people can differ, with enormous consequence, and I would certainly like to see those clarified, but that's not what I mean here. Here I'm talking about things in the current Constitution, as amended, that are just plain wrong. The first and foremost among these is the 17th Amendment. If I could change one thing about the Constitution, it would be to clarify the meaning of "general welfare". If I could change two, though, the second would...

All In the Family by: Bethany Stotts, December 07, 2007 .... A new report released by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) reveals that American political nepotism extends not just through the executive branch, but throughout Congress. The report showed that of the 535 Congressional seats (Senators and Representatives), 50 Members had relatives who served as Senators, Representatives, or Governors. The ATR report identified 15 members, 13 from the House and 2 from the Senate, who gained their seats immediately following their relatives’ resignation, retirement, or death. Of these “legacy” Congressional seats: • Four seats were inherited by widows...

In Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority,1 the Supreme Court held that state interests are more properly protected from federal encroachment by the procedural safeguards found in the federal political process rather than by judicially defined limitations.2 Justice Powell, in a strong dissent, asserted that the majority's decision reduced the tenth amendment to "meaningless rhetoric."3 In explaining its decision, the majority observed that State governments, through equal representation in the Senate, retain sufficient influence over the federal political process to insure their autonomy and sovereign interests.4 The Court, however, recognized that the seventeenth amendment, which provides for the popular...

U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, has introduced the Toll Road Prohibition Act, the latest bill designed to prevent tolling on federally built highways. HR 3802, introduced Oct. 10, would require states and cities to repay the U.S. government all federal funds used for construction of highways, bridges or tunnels, along with “reasonable interest,� before introducing tolls. “The American people should not be required to pay for the same highway twice, once through their tax dollars and again through new tolls on federal interstate highways,� Boswell said. The legislation would not prohibit the states from entering into public-private toll agreements, but...

Many people with whom I talk about politics with are stunned by my constant assertions that America is not supposed to be a democracy. I credit public education for this. The fact is that most people are almost totally ignorant of history and completely brain-dead about the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers did not give us a democracy, nor did they intend to. They were very well-educated men (especially by today's standards), and they knew, historically, democracies had never worked, even on the small scales when they had been attempted. They knew if democracy wouldn't work on the small scale of...

It's a hardy perennial in the more philosophically-oriented conservative circles, despite its manifest political infeasibility: the argument that the Seventeenth Amendment should be repealed or should never have been passed. While this argument does have its virtues, I disagree. Regardless of whether it was a good idea at the time, repealing the 17th Amendment today would only weaken the mechanisms that are essential to conservative policies and conservative philosophy. Specifically, restoring to state legislatures the power over the election of Senators would make the Senate less directly accountable to the people and insulate the federal courts even further from public...

In the heat of the electoral controversy — the worst possible time to make constitutional decisions — many people, such as Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, are calling for an end to the Electoral College. Big mistake. Someone once said, Don’t knock down a wall merely because you cannot immediately see what it’s good for. The same can be said for the Electoral College. We should keep in mind that the Founding Fathers were of somewhat better caliber than the politician you are likely to see on television, including those with presidential ambitions. The Electoral College was not an idea floating...

Abstract: "The Irony of Populism: The Republican Shift and the Inevitability of American Aristocracy" analyzes the shift in the role of the Supreme Court following the movement towards a democratic Senate which culminated in the Seventeenth Amendment. The Supreme Court's shift is presented as the inevitable result of the system of mixed government that underlies the constitutional order, which orders American Government into democratic, aristocratic, and monarchical parts. While in the original conception of the constitution the Senate was the aristocratic part, the Senate would become part of the democratic part with the Seventeenth Amendment and prior procedural changes. Into...

Title: The Road to Mass Democracy: Original Intent and the Seventeenth Amendment Author: C. H. Hoebeke Published: New Brunswick, N. J.: Transaction Publishers, 1995. Price: $39.95 (hardcover) Pages: 211 Reviewer: Todd J. Zywicki Affiliation: Mississippi College School of Law The Constitution of 1787 provided for the appointment of United States senators by state legislatures. In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified, installing the current regime of direct election of U.S. senators. The bloated and special-interest-driven nature of the federal government during this century has led scholars in recent years to reexamine the original framework of the Senate and to...

With respect to states' rights, it should be readily apparent to all that state governments cannot exert any meaningful influence or control over the federal government, judiciary, or any other federal institution. Let us state the problem precisely. At the present time, there are no checks and balances available to the states over federal power or over Congress itself in any area. However, in the history of our country, it was not always this way. In the original design by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, there was an effective check on Congress through the state legislatures' power to appoint...

How could these Republicans help Labor Unions to victory? Stop S.2123 now! Call your Senator To all who read this: Copy and paste it and send it along to your family and friends. Call your Senator now to stop S.2123. The misnamed and egregious "Public Safety Employer-Employee cooperation act of 2007" was introduced by Senator Gregg on October 1 with enough Republicans (nine Republicans) to invoke cloture and pass the Bill.

This weblog calls for the repeal of the 17th Amendment and addresses the abusive hegemony committed by the U. S. Senate. If Americans want to remove some corruption from government, the first significant step is to repeal the 17th Amendment. Americans should fear the steady growth by the oligarchy in the Senate. We should fear the oligarchs more because our Constitution cannot be spoiled by bombs, the courts, or the President; only through legislation.

I'm curious as to what FReepers have to say on this topic. Did our (America) go downhill with the start of Abraham Lincoln being elected and the South loosing the Civil War?

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Some states feast at the expense of others, according to the Tax Foundation's latest annual analysis of federal taxing and spending patterns.

<p>The American air force is working with military leaders from the Gulf to train and prepare Arab air forces for a possible war with Iran, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.</p> <p>An air warfare conference in Washington last week was told how American air chiefs have helped to co-ordinate intelligence-sharing with Gulf Arab nations and organise combined exercises designed to make it easier to fight together.</p>

The summer that shook the American workplace The new threat and hidden agenda of Labors new Government By Will Fine, Executive Director National Alliance for Worker and Employer Rights This summer has been the summer that shook the foundations of the Employee -Employer relationship as no time has in nearly thirty years. While our national security is being defended overseas, our domestic security has become imperiled by governmental transformation at the hands of Labor Union Central Command that has deployed a government it can control. The credibility of Congress is at stake to defend a free workplace.

It's now leaking out that there was more going on than met the eye at the Security and Prosperity Partnership Summit in Montebello, Canada, in August. The three amigos - President George W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon - finalized and released the "North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza." The "Plan" - that's what they call it, with a capital P - is to use the excuse of a major flu epidemic to shift powers from U.S. legislatures to unelected, unaccountable "North American" bureaucrats. This idea was launched on Sept. 14, 2005,...

The way things are going, the first votes in the 2008 Presidential election may yet be cast in 2007, more than 10 months before the national elections next November. This is not an improvement. In a little-noticed move this week, Wyoming Republicans moved their party conventions to January 5, beating out Michigan, which just moved its primaries to January 15. State laws in Iowa and New Hampshire require those states, in turn, to leapfrog Michigan and Wyoming, potentially pushing one or both elections into December. So voters in those two states might have to interrupt their holidays to participate in...

PHILADELPHIA, July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former U.S. Senator, and possible presidential candidate, Fred Thompson and Gov. Mike Huckabee will speak before an audience of nearly 2,000 state legislators and business leaders at the American Legislative Exchange Council's National Forum luncheon at ALEC's 34th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on Friday, July 27. This event is just part of ALEC's annual meeting held July 24 to 29 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown at 1201 Market Street. Other speakers will include Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, The Honorable Dick Armey, The Honorable Billy Tauzin, Neil Cavuto of FOX...

Click the link to see the table.

BOSTON -- When former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney began airing television ads in a handful of states last winter, his opponents paid little notice. Early advertising in presidential campaigns -- particularly commercials broadcast almost 11 months before the first contests -- seemed a classic waste of resources. Four months and more than $4 million later, Romney's ads are still running, and the GOP presidential candidate is reaping the dividends. Although he remains well behind former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona in most national polls, his standing in the states that will kick off...

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2007 – The Army is helping out U.S. states and territories that are in the paths of potentially deadly hurricanes by providing equipment to help fill shortages identified by National Guard commanders there, a senior Army official said today. The Army is either issuing or loaning 2,600 pieces of equipment to a handful of coastal states, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, said Army Brig. Gen. David Halverson, director of operations, readiness and mobilization, for the deputy chief of staff for operations and plans. This announcement comes on the first official day of an Atlantic...

RALEIGH, N.C. - MySpace.com will provide a number of state attorneys general with data on registered sex offenders who use the popular social networking web site, the company said Monday. Attorneys general from eight states demanded last week that the company provide data on how many registered sex offenders are using the site and where they live. MySpace initially refused, citing federal privacy laws. MySpace obtained the data from Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., which the company partnered with in December to build a database with information on sex offenders.

Share this with All your Friends... And SHOW this to your children and grandchildren !!!! THE YEAR 1907 This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine! The year is 1907. One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some of the U.S. Statistics for the Year 1907: ************************************ The average life expectancy in the U.S. Was 47 years old. Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. Had a bathtub . Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City Cost eleven dollars. There...