LAWYERBRUCE

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Why do naked people read?

OCTOBER 12, 2010

It was nice to see the Blackhawks finally win a regular season game. It was a good game against a feisty Buffalo Sabres team. Final Hawks 4 – Sabres 3.

The DeKalb City council is going to borrow money to finance projects the public doesn’t want. That apparently isn’t a concern for our leaders. After all, they know what is better for us than we do. The argument of borrowing money at no additional cost is selling fluff. Before this debacle is over, years from now, when the current powers are long gone, the term will be extended, taxes will be raised, expenditures will be raised, because now we have a new police station to furnish and staff. The argument will be, “It is cheaper to purchase new equipment than move the old equipment. We get state-of-the-art technology and we don’t have the expense of moving the old equipment.”

Too bad the book missed Obama, at least then we would know the title of the book. Why did they let naked people into the speech anyway? A book thrown at President Obama narrowly missed him on Sunday. As of this moment, the book thrower is unknown. The name of the book is also not known. You can bet the Secret Service folks are getting an earful today, at least they should be.

After the book throwing, that the President did not seem to notice, a naked man was seen being led away in handcuffs. It was obvious he had no weapons on him. The pen is mightier than the sword, someone once wrote. The writer was probably not the naked guy.

The Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, is the largest generator of real estate property taxes in Cook County. I will go out on a limb and say it is the largest generator of real estate property taxes in Illinois, although I have not researched that fact. The Willis Tower pays twenty million dollars a year in real estate taxes. How would you like that divided by 12 and be made a part of your monthly mortgage payment?

Favre looked like a politician or public figure caught sexting Monday night. His mind was not into the game. His career is about over. Brett, think Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Muhammad Ali, Ken Griffey, Jr. or Ron Santo. It is over. Don’t make us remember you as a struggling old man. Call John Elway for some advice on this. The wife probably isn’t saying much right now anyway.

Just three weeks until the election. I hope everyone votes, even if it isn’t for the candidates I am voting for. At least stand up and exercise your franchise.

Remember two weeks ago when the news was 24/7 about an eminent terrorist attack. What happened? I don’t think any attack was cancelled because NBC talked about it. Once again our intelligence isn’t and the government can manipulate the press. Every time a President is having a rough patch or Congress wants off the front page, a new troubling story is leaked to the press, who run with it. Wag the dog.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

http://www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com/

Monday, October 11, 2010

Kirk and Giannoulias are en embarrassment

October 11, 2010

I think it was in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I guess he had nothing else to do. The Catholic Church sure wasn’t for this. It did not want another trade route to the Orient. It also didn’t want people to find the end of the earth, which was where Hell was. It might be better than what the Church was offering.

Thank God for the first quarter. The Bears are only capable of playing hard for fifteen minutes. I can see why Carolina is winless this season. They all count though. Go Bears!

It was embarrassing watching Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias “debate” on Meet the Press Sunday. It was a perfect example of what is wrong with politics today. Neither of them answered any question directly. They both sat there and called each other liars, cheats, out of touch and the problem. Giannoulias kept justifying the collapse of his family’s bank by saying it was no different than other failed banks. Sounds like the ‘Blago’ defense. It is OK because others do it too. He was asked over four times if he knew his bank was loaning money to gangsters, convicted felons and influence peddlers. His response was he didn’t know the extent of their criminal activities.

Kirk justified his lying about his military record by repeating he ‘wrongly misspoke’. Apparently he was not sure if he was under enemy fire or what war zone he was in. He was not sure what awards he did not receive. He was not sure if he was in charge of the ‘War Room’. That is nice, we have people who could be in charge but aren’t sure if they are in charge. That gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling of confidence in my government.

I have never seen a politician who has not said he/she would;

1. Cut spending

2. Lower taxes

3. Create jobs

4. Improve medical care

5. Fix the welfare system

6. Be independent

7. Make a difference

I have also never seen a politician who had a real plan to accomplish any of these great ideas. Politicians lie about themselves in a positive manner, lie about their opponent in a negative manner, promise everybody everything, never give the details of any plan they talk about, raise money, distance themselves from old friends who are no longer popular, get involved in current stories they know nothing about in order to get positive publicity, talk to people they would cross the street to avoid before and after the election season, hire friends and relatives to high paying, short-term jobs working for the campaign and hire a spin doctor to feed dribble to the public after the candidate gets caught in a lie. If they win, they go to Washington DC, screw things up, come back twice a year with a big check for a photo op., make inaccurate claims about their accomplishments, if things are going badly, they blame their opponent or the other party and then start running for the next election.

Two year terms are too short for US Representatives. They are always working on keeping their job rather than doing their job. An Amendment to the Constitution should be drafted that changes a representatives term to four years with a two term limit. Campaigning should be illegal until forty days before the election. Fund raising should not be allowed until four months before the election. Lying during a campaign should be a crime. Every State should have the same right to recall an elected National politician by calling for a special election within sixty days if they get fifteen per cent of registered voters to sign a petition.

Something has to be done to the current system that is not working and results in the election of criminal, ignorant people and liars. Some offices would be better empty than filled by the morons we regularly elect. My thoughts may sound wrong or way out there but we have to do something. I am willing to consider any ideas.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The government is good at breaking things.

OCTOBER 10, 2010

The date is 10-10-10. What do you have planned for today. This will happen for the next two years and then not for 88 years. I doubt if I will be around on 01-01-01.

DAMN Yankees. The rich just keep getting richer.

CONGRATULATIONS! to two college football teams I follow. That was an impressive win for Northern Illinois University over Temple. University of Illinois also was impressive in beating Penn State in Happy Valley.

“Meet the Press” has a debate featured today on the program. Mark Kirk v. Alexi Giannoulias is scheduled to air. If you miss the morning airing, CNBC reruns “Meet the Press” in the afternoon. David Gregory is no Tim Russert, but then who is? He does a decent job as the host.

The NFL has another slate of games today. The Bears play Carolina on the road. Carolina has not won this year. I wonder if we will be able to say that at 4:30 this afternoon?

The foreclosure mess just keeps growing. Nearly every major lender has now stopped foreclosures as they sort out how to fix the mess they made for themselves. The banking industry has over ten federal agencies regulating their operations; every State has at least one agency regulating the banking industry. What were these watch dog agencies doing while this mess developed and grew for decades?

Why do we need these agencies when they do not know their role, don’t know how to do their job or just take industry vacations and hand-outs while doing nothing. This is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. This is a problem with how we govern. I would bet right now several governmental studies, expensive governmental studies, will not blame anyone especially Congress. If this is the fault of the industry, why regulate it. Let it fail on its own.

Several years ago, Congress and the Courts forced lenders to make loans in low income areas. The term was red-lining. The lenders knew these loans would not get repaid but regulators forced them to make the loans. It was justified with a discrimination argument. Looks like the lenders were correct all along. Now, we are all paying for it and will be for years.

With the enormous number of bad loans made without the proper paperwork or with forged paperwork or with original documents lost over the years while these loans were sold and resold to investment bankers, hedge funds and pension plans, it seems obvious Congress is going to quietly pass a law making all the suspect loans valid. The “too big to fail” argument again. All this mortgage paperwork now causing a problem only exists because the government or some regulator made it mandatory in the first place.

Our government at work once again. The politicians break something and then tell the voter the other guy did it and only they can fix it.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Concussions and Brett Favre; Good-bye Quinn

OCTOBER 9, 2010

“Secretariat”, a movie about the racehorse of the same name, got mediocre reviews. Hopefully, I will get to the movieshow to see it in the next few weeks. I like the subject matter and the reviews were not bad. It seems worth a few bucks to me.

Has Governor Pat Quinn ever had a job that was not with the government or a quasi-government agency? He has always been on the government dole. He has never had to make it in the real world where budgets exist and money isn’t free; where you hire people because you need them not as a favor; where you have to have the money to pay a new hire, not just work on a deficit. In the real world, deficits become due, you either pay them off or go out of business; in government work, that is not a consideration, the State of Illinois can’t go out of business.

Quinn is running ads scolding his opponent, Bill Brady, for being wealthy. When did it become a bad thing to be a success. Americans used to strive for success. We lived in a country where the streets were lined in gold. Now you get chastised for being a success. Just because Pat Quinn was not sharp enough to make it in the non-governmental world does not make it a bad thing if you do. Quinn is a success in his chosen field but his field is driven by greed, fraud, lies and self-promotion.

Welfare and entitlement programs are helping to tear this country apart. Generations of welfare sucking families ruins it for the needy. Being broke is a temporary situation people work to rectify. Being poor has become a way of life in this country. One in seven people get food stamps in America. That is over 41 million people receiving food stamps and most will never cease getting them. Food stamps are just the beginning; we give away medical care, rent money, housing, schooling, transportation, day care, grant money, low interest loans and so forth. The people who work pay for the lazy people. Welfare should be a temporary help to people suffering temporary financial embarrassment. No one is ENTITLED to welfare.

Pat Quinn and politicians like him give away our money to the takers in society expecting their vote. The have-nots then elect politicians sympathetic to their position. This is the opposite of how it should work. This country was much better off before the government started giving away the farm. If you have ambition and ability, become successful and run for public office to offer your expertise, the Pat Quinns of the world attack you for being wealthy. People like Bill Foster pass assinine laws and then attack you for following the law he passed.

I am sick of the state of politics as it currently exists. Let’s vote everybody out and start over. It cannot get any worse.

On a lighter note, a woman who worked for the NY Jets when Brett Farve played for them has come out about Favre trying to strike up a relationship with her. She says Favre sent her cell phone pictures of his penis. That is weird or is it a residual effect of years of concussions. You can hear some of his cell phone messages and see some of the pictures at;

www.deadspin.com

The inheritance tax, that currently does not exist, will come back on Jan. 1, 2011. The ‘death tax’ as it is known has not been around for a while. Obama is bringing it back. It is estimated that George Steinbrenner, by dying in 2010, saved over 500 million dollars in death taxes his family did not have to pay. Had he held on and died in 2011, his family would owe the tax.

As 2011 approaches, and the tax gets closer to being law, some elderly rich person is going to be murdered by his family to avoid paying the ‘death tax’. This will likely happen more than once. It will also likely happen that a sick, near death rich person kills himself or asks for assistance to die in 2010 thereby avoiding the ‘death tax’.

Our government at work or asleep, you decide. The 2009 stimulus package resulted in $250.00 checks being sent to 89,000 people who were dead or incarcerated. Some of the checks went to people who had not received benefits for up to 30 years. Some would have been as old as 136 years old, if they were alive, when the checks went out. The government said it was nobody’s fault. Then how did it happen? It has to be someone’s fault. It just didn’t happen.

Another example that the government thinks they are playing with Monopoly money.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

Friday, October 8, 2010

Racy photos and Bill Foster

OCTOBER 8, 2010

Krystal Ball, her real name, is a Democratic candidate for Congress from Virginia. She is upset because some racy, she says raunchy, photos of her were posted on the internet by a blogger. The photos were taken at a costume party six years ago, says the 29 year old. She is not saying they are not her or that they are retouched, she is just upset they were put on the internet. One photo shows her holding a chain attached to a dog collar around a man’s neck. She says this is her ex-husband. Boy they must have been a fun couple. This also says something about her ability to make a commitment. In the photo, the man is wearing a sex toy on his nose. In two of the photos she has the sex toy in her mouth. I am sure Mr. and Mrs. Ball are proud. Remember, these are just the photos that have been released or leaked. She looks mighty comfortable in front of the camera in theses suggestive shots. Check out the photos and make up your own mind. Go to address below and search for Krystal Ball

http://www.gawker.com/

At least it is clear where she stands on family values. The fundamentalist votesare apparently unimportant to her.

So now, according to a Senate investigation, a U. S. private contractor we hired to provide security in Afghanistan, paid warlords off for security personnel. They were on the payroll as Mr. White and Mr. Pink, names used in a Quentin Tarantino film “Reservoir Dogs”. The company was hired to provide security at Shindand Airbase. At the suggestion of U. S. Military personnel, the company paid local warlords to provide security people. This was all paid for by U. S. taxpayers.

The obvious question to me is; Why does our military have to hire security personnel? Isn’t that what our military does. How can we protect a country when we have to hire security to protect our Armed Forces? That is what happens when defense contractors have too big a say so in our military policy.

Locally, we are represented by Bill Foster. He had tough shoes to fill. He followed Dennis Hastert, one of the most powerful men in Congress. He was Speaker of the House. Bill Foster is running for reelection against Randy Hultgren.

Bill Foster has been in Congress several years now. He never boasts about a bill or law he introduced in Congress and got passed. He has a good reason not to. It has never happened. Foster votes along party lines when it is obvious that is how the vote is going. He votes against party lines when he knows his vote is meaningless. ‘Do nothing’ Bill (wake me when it’s over) Foster is just the type of rascal we must vote out of office. He got his shot. It did not work. Not everyone is cut out to be a Congressman. Bill Foster fits that profile.

He is running advertisements against his opponent, Randy Hultgren, attacking him for his employer taking bailout money. Bill Foster voted to hand out this money and now he wants you t vote for him because his opponent’s employer legally took the money. If Bill Foster did not want a business to take the money, he should not have voted to make it available to them. Randy Hultgren did not take the money, no matter how many times Bill Foster lies about it, his employer took the money Congress gave them.

Don’t vote for a law and then criticize someone for following the law. I will bet Mr. Foster uses every law available to him at tax time to lower his tax obligation.

Vote for Randy Hultgren. It is time to throw the incumbents back into the real world the voters live in.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN