As Sarah Palin and Joe Biden prepare for Thursday’s vice presidential debate, I am pulled back to the last time an unknown candidate appeared on the national stage in such a forum. It was 1992, when my father (John McCain’s senior officer in Vietnam), Adm. James B. Stockdale, appeared on stage to debate Al Gore and Dan Quayle.
Anyone over 30 will probably remember the spectacle. Messrs. Gore and Quayle were engaged in a bitter battle when, late in the race, my father accepted Ross Perot’s invitation to be his running mate. That decision created a rare, three person vice-presidential debate.
In an attempt to introduce himself to the American people, my father began with the philosophical questions “Who am I? Why am I here?” But as the evening wore on, he struggled.
Watching that debate from the front row in Atlanta was a surreal experience. My father, a bona fide war hero, was trying to adapt to a format of discourse utterly foreign to him. More from WSJ
LITTLE ROCK – The proposed $700 billion bank bailout under consideration by Congress lacks federal oversight and leaves too much on the table for banking executives, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said Tuesday.
Lincoln, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a letter to colleagues on the panel that draft legislation did not include enough oversight and accountability, and she criticized executive compensation provided in the plans.
“From my perspective, it is contrary to our American value system that we would put at risk the future of low-income working families at the same time that we are asking them to subsidize generous benefit packages for the heads of companies being bailed out by their taxpayer dollars,” Lincoln wrote.
The Arkansas senator was among lawmakers who remained insistent in the face of dire predictions from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson about the consequences if Congress balks at the administration’s proposal to rescue tottering financial institutions.
At a sometimes contentious daylong Senate hearing, Paulson and Bernanke warned that without the bailout, loans for businesses and consumers alike would dry up and the world’s largest economy would grind to a virtual halt. More from the Arkansas News Bureau
The article further states that “affordable housing advocates” are demanding that those who benefit from the “bailout” be required to reinvest in low/middle income neighborhoods with affordable housing loans. Isn’t this what got the banks in this mess to begin with? Making loans to “low income” people who bought houses they could not afford with no jobs and no documentation?
There should be no Federal bailouts. The CEOs should be investigated and prosecuted for any fraud or criminal activity.
To those who bought houses they could not afford by obtaining these loans – they should pay their mortgage like the rest of us. If they cannot pay their mortgage – well… sucks to be you. I, along with millions of hardworking Americans, bought a house my husband and I could afford. If payments aren’t made, we lose the house. The government won’t jump in and tell the bank they HAVE to let us live there. Nope… Don’t pay my mortgage, I find somewhere else to live.
Fair treatment for all – no Federal bailouts with the tax dollars of hardworking Americans. Let the banks fail, let the corrupt CEOs go to prison and if you can’t pay for your house, find something YOU can afford without government help. The market will correct itself in a captialist society.
A member of the Arkansas legislature has asked that state’s attorney general to clarify the law regarding illegal immigration and higher education.
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel recently released an advisory opinion stating that Arkansas public colleges and universities are not required to check for citizenship when enrolling students. That means illegal immigrants could get taxpayer-funded educational assistance in the Natural State.
Arkansas State Rep. Rick Green says most people in Arkansas are not aware of the benefits being paid to illegal aliens.
“And we were never actually able to put a finger on any certain amount because the state agencies do not actually check residency or citizenship when they are giving out benefits,” explains the Arkansas Republican. More from OneNewsNow
We cannot allow this to continue. As Arkansans struggle to pay their upcoming property tax bills, we learn that we are subsidising the education of law breakers. Yes, if you come to this country and our state illegally, you have broken the law. I do not want my tax dollars giving illegal invaders benefits of any kind, unless it is a one way ticket back to their country of origin.
Call our theaters in Pine Bluff, Monticello, El Dorado, Crossett and points in between – tell them we want to see “An American Carol” when it comes to theaters October 3rd!
STAR CITY — The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department wants Star City to take possession of a stretch of Arkansas 11B (South Jefferson Street) which runs right through the middle of town — and directly in front of City Hall.
In fact, the state so wants the city to take over ownership maintenance costs of the stretch of road, six-tenths of a mile long, from Arkansas 11 near Wurls’ Best Taxidermy to the Town Square, that it has already done some preliminary legal work and sent the city a prepared resolution for the city council to pass accepting ownership of the road, which the state resolution calls “for the betterment of Star City.”
But as one might expect, neither Mayor Gene Yarbrough nor anyone on the six-member city council wants to take responsibility for the road, which would be expensive to maintain.
So Yarbrough, at the city council’s regular monthly meeting last week, pitched an alternative proposal to the aldermen in which the city would take the road — but only if the state takes some other city street in return.
“The state keeps wanting to give us this highway here in front of our building (city hall) and my thing is ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” Yarbrough said. “Really, it’s a state highway and we really, really don’t want it as a city street. They know it’s in bad shape and they haven’t maintained it … yet they want us to take it over.” More from the Pine Bluff Commercial
Election day is 50 days away. Arkansans will decide if they want to allow a state lottery to fund the Hope Scholarship for students to recieve a college education.
Today, former University of Arkansas Chancellor John White endorsed the lottery Tuesday morning. Admittedly, Dr. White oppsed the lotter while working in Georgia at Georgia Tech University. Adding he voted against it then. But says he sees the good that can come from the lottery and has changed his mind.
“I thought no, this is a good thing. Georgia benefited as a state but more importantly, thousands, thousands of young people who wouldn’t either not have gone to college or wouldn’t have graduated. Now they had this opportunity.” More from KATV
It has been seven years since our nation was viciously attacked by radical Islamic extremists on September 11, 2001.It was on that morning my wife, Renee, and I were traveling through Utah, American truckers delivering a load of Christmas hams to a distributor in Medford, Oregon.In an instant, as we listened as the horror unfolded on the radio, our lives changed forever.Desperately searching a safe spot to pull my rig over in order to raise the satellite TV dish, the reality began to sink in – we were a nation at war.The World Trade Center, filled with unsuspecting men and women, went down in flames.
Our American first responders in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania reacted to the horror with professionalism.Faced with a disaster never before seen on American soil, they looked death in the eye with courage. They rushed those burning buildings, a real hell on Earth, to save as many innocent men, women and children as could be saved.Many of these first responders lost their lives.To all who served our nation at the onset of this War on Terror – the firemen, policemen and other first responders and their survivors, we sincerely thank you for your service and courage.
For the past seven years, military and civilian contactors alike have battled in Afghanistan, Iraq and engagements around the globe while law enforcement and American citizens have worked diligently to thwart attacks within the US.We have lost friends and family in the War on Terror.Our country is safer today than it was September 10, 2001, as President Bush has realized the grave danger our country was in and has taken the necessary steps to ensure it does not happen again.
I have also seen a nation suffering from “war fatigue”.We have gone on with our lives, working, shopping and going to school without thought of the men and women in harm’s way.The mainstream media gleefully reports any possible misstep, any perceived corruption on behalf of Blackwater and KBR and lost battles while ignoring the fact that we are winning this war.
Barack Hussein Obama, the Democrat candidate for president, will have you believe that he can “talk to the terrorists”, as he waves the white flag of surrender while insisting on pulling our troops out in the midst of victory.I have faced that enemy while in Iraq.One can only watch their videos on Memri and other intelligence sites to realize there is no talk, no negotiating with the Islamic jihadists.They understand one thing – a fight to the death.
This September 11, we solemnly remember those who died at the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and on Flight 93.We stand in awe and respect for the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard and civilian contractors serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and those taking the steps to ensure our nation is not attacked within our borders again.We must never let down our guard – we must not allow complacency to replace security.
Our nation must be victorious in the War on Terror and realize this is a life-long battle.Radical Islam must be defeated on all fronts – on the battlefield, in the courts and in public opinion.It will not be governments and negotiators who will win this war, but soldiers and citizens.In the war against radical Islam, defeat cannot be justified.
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