My husband sent me the following, it includes a map showing the counties throughout the United States and how they voted.  I believe he received it from NewsMax.  It’s always interesting to see these maps after the election is over.

If you would like to see a larger version of this map, click here.

Here is what hubby, as always the inspiration for this blog, had to say:

I know Obama won, I do not dispute that and actually am touched that a black man was elected president which is historic, I just wish he was conservative but in any case…

“I Will give him the support due a president” as I feel both sides of the isle should.”

The county election results are the sign that conservatism is not dead. The Electoral College tends to take all the apples in a state and put them in one basket, and I feel skews the actual results. Urban areas almost always lean to the left, and rural areas almost always tend to be conservative.  (And I add, why is that???)

Today it’s Sunday, and as always, we went to church. Apparently in our “free country” where people seem to have the freedom to say just about anything, no matter how disgusting, or how good, Pastors don’t have the freedom to share their opinion about who to vote for. But we did get a Voter Guide, and  I was able to track one down online to share here.  Please click the image to the left, and a pdf will open, or go to this page to find voter guides to share, for both National and State.

Today the hubby passed along an email written by a man in Chicago that’s been passed about a bit who sounds like he is an independent, not with either party.  I haven’t “snoped” it to check whether it’s a valid email or not, but many could have written this letter with all sincerity - what he says speaks to the silent ones (the lazy ones?) that aren’t getting up in arms about the election, and to those who are just voting for so-in-so without much thought as to why.  It’s a bit long, but worth the read:

My name is Joe Porter. I live in Champaign , Illinois .. I’m 46 years old, a born-again Christian, a husband, a father, a small business owner, a veteran, and a homeowner. I don’t consider myself to be either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person, not Republican or Democrat. I don’t believe there are ‘two Americas ‘ but that every person in this country can be whomever and whatever they want to be if they’ll just work to get there and nowhere else on earth can they find such opportunities. I believe our government should help those who are legitimately downtrodden, and should always put the interests of America first.

The purpose of this message is that I’m concerned about the future of this great nation. I’m worried that the silent majority of honest, hard-working, tax-paying people in this country have been passive for too long. Most folks I know choose not to involve themselves in politics. They go about their daily lives, paying their bills, raising their kids, and doing what they can to maintain the good life. They vote and consider doing so to be a sacred trust. They shake their heads at the political pundits and so-called ‘news’, thinking that what they hear is always spun by whomever is reporting it. They can’t understand how elected officials can regularly violate the public trust with pork barrel spending. They don’t want government handouts. They want the government to protect them, not raise their taxes for more government programs.

We are in the unique position in this country of electing our leaders. It’s a privilege to do so. I’ve never found a candidate in any election with whom I agreed on everything. I’ll wager that most of us don’t even agree with our families or spouses 100% of the time. So when I step into that voting booth, I always try to look at the big picture and cast my vote for the man or woman who is best qualified for the job. I’ve hired a lot of people in my lifetime, and essentially that’s what an election is - a hiring process. Who has the credentials? Whom do I want working for me? Whom can I trust to do the job right?

I’m concerned that a growing number of voters in this country simply don’t get it. They are caught up in a fervor they can’t explain, and calling it ‘change’.

‘Change what?’, I ask.

‘Well, we’re going to change America ‘, they say.

‘In what way?’, I query.

‘We want someone new and fresh in the White House’, they exclaim.

‘So, someone who’s not a politician?’, I say.

‘Uh, well, no, we just want a lot of stuff changed, so we’re voting for Obama’, they state.

‘So the current system, the system of freedom and democracy that has enabled a man to grow up in this great country, get a fine education, raise incredible amounts of money and dominate the news, and win his party’s nomination for the White House that system’s all wrong?’

‘No, no, that part of the system’s okay we just need a lot of change.’

And so it goes. ‘Change we can believe in.’

Quite frankly, I don’t believe that vague proclamations of change hold any promise for me. In recent months, I’ve been asking virtually everyone I encounter how they’re voting. I live in Illinois , so most folks tell me they’re voting for Barack Obama. But no one can really tell me why only that he’s going to change a lot of stuff ‘Change, change, change.’ I have yet to find one single person who can tell me distinctly and convincingly why this man is qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful nation on earth other than the fact that he claims he’s going to implement a lot of change.

We’ve all seen the emails about Obama’s genealogy, his upbringing, his Muslim background, and his church affiliations. Let’s ignore this for a moment. Put it all aside. Then ask yourself, ‘What qualifies this man to be my president? That he’s a brilliant orator and talks about change?’

CHANGE WHAT?

Friends, I’ll be forthright with you I believe the American voters who are supporting Barack Obama don’t have a clue what they’re doing, as evidenced by the fact that not one of them - NOT ONE of them I’ve spoken to can spell out his qualifications. Not even the most liberal media can explain why he should be elected. Political experience? Negligible. Foreign relations? Non-existent. Achievements? Name one. Someone who wants to unite the country? If you haven’t read his wife’s thesis from Princeton , look it up on the web. This is who’s lining up to be our next First Lady? The only thing I can glean from Obama’s constant harping about change is that we’re in for a lot of new taxes.

For me, the choice is clear. I’ve looked carefully at the two leading applicants for the job, and I’ve made my choice.

Here’s a question - ‘Where were you five and a half years ago? Around Christmas, 2002. You’ve had five or six birthdays in that time.. My son has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate Five and a half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep. 6, 000 meals, give or take.’

John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.

When offered early release, he refused it. He considered this offer to be a public relations stunt by his captors, and insisted that those held longer than he should be released first. Did you get that part? He was offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and torture began.

Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a foreign country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your fellow man? I submit that’s a quality of character that is rarely found, and for me, this singular act defines John McCain.

Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military service is questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man. A graduate of Annapolis, during his Naval service he received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. His own son is now serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq .. Barack Obama is fond of saying ‘We honor John McCain’s service…BUT…’, which to me is condescending and offensive - because what I hear is, ‘Let’s forget this man’s sacrifice for his country, and his proven leadership abilities, and talk some more about change.’

I don’t agree with John McCain on everything - but I am utterly convinced that he is qualified to be our next President, and I trust him to do what’s right. I know in my heart that he has the best interests of our country in mind. He doesn’t simply want to be President - he wants to lead America , and there’s a huge difference. Factually, there is simply no comparison between the two candidates. A man of questionable background and motives who prattles on about change, can’t hold a candle to a man who has devoted his life in public service to this nation, retiring from the Navy in1981 and elected to the Senate in1982.

Perhaps Obama’s supporters are taking a stance between old and new. Maybe they don’t care about McCain’s service or his strength of character, or his unblemished qualifications to be President. Maybe ‘likeability’ is a higher priority for them than ‘trust’. Being a prisoner of war is not what qualifies John McCain to be President of the United States of America - but his demonstrated leadership certainly DOES.

Dear friends, it is time for us to stand. It is time for thinking Americans to say, ‘Enough.’ It is time for people of all parties to stop following the party line. It is time for anyone who wants to keep America first, who wants the right man leading their nation, to start a dialogue with all their friends and neighbors and ask who they’re voting for, and why.

There’s a lot of evil in this world. That should be readily apparent to all of us by now. And when faced with that evil as we are now, I want a man who knows the cost of war on his troops and on his citizens. I want a man who puts my family’s interests before any foreign country.

I want a President who’s qualified to lead.

I want my country back, and I’m voting for John McCain.

Today I saw an ad on TV done by Hank Williams mentioning how Americans like him love their God, and their guns, but not in the violent sense of the word. He referred to the gun that was handed down to him by his grandfather, much like my husband had a 30/40 Craig Cavalry rifle handed down to him by his father a couple of years back.

I’ll be danged (as hubby would say) if I can find that ad now to post for you, but I do want you to stop on over and visit Hank Williams official website, where he has some info about his support of McCain and Palin…as many know he’s been traveling and singing with the Palin team lately. At his site provides a link to something I’d never heard of before, Sportsmen for McCain.

Now if you’ve read my posts before on guns and hunting, you’ll know I have a love/hate relationship with the whole thing.  I get a little uncomfortable when hubby takes his gun out of the case to admire it even though he tells me that it’s not loaded and the bullets are hidden in another room far from the gun.  And I hate coming up behind a car with a deer carcass tied on the back.  But bring me some prepared venison, and my mouth waters thinking of the recipes I can make from it.  So I guess you could say I’m just a bit conflicted.

Here’s Hank William’s video about his gun & Obama wanting to take away his freedom to keep this inherited treasure…is he right? Is that what Obama has said? Let me know if he’s wrong, but knowing Hank, who says it like it is and nothing more from what I’ve seen of his interviews lately, I’d say he is.

Where we live, voting at any election is easy, we just go around the corner, but for others, it’s easier to vote by mail for various reasons.

I received an email with a link to can get an Absentee Ballot, it came from my preferred party, but anyone can use it I’m sure, just click here and fill out the form.  The only thing I’m not sure of is whether you will start receiving emails from this website party when you fill out the form.

Update 10/20/08 - As you can see from a post I did today, I don’t encourage voting early except in the case that you must vote absentee, then you want to make sure your ballot reaches it’s destination on time.

Hi readers, here’s something I received by email today from a very upset friend, guess it’s making the rounds, but it’s full of good info…unless some of it isn’t correct…read and decide, comment if any of it isn’t true. And if it is, be sure it influences your vote!

The following is a condensation of a series from the “Investor’s Business Daily” explaining ‘What Caused the Loan Crisis’:

1977: Pres. Jimmy Carter signs the Community Reinvestment Act into Law. The law pressured financial institutions to extend home loans to those who would otherwise not qualify. The Premise: Home ownership would improve poor and crime-ridden communities and neighborhoods in terms of crime, investment, jobs, etc.

Results: Statistics bear out that it did not help.

How did the government get so deeply involved in the housing market? Answer: Bill Clinton wanted it that way.

1992: Republican representative Jim Leach (IO) warned of the danger that Fannie and Freddie were changing from being agencies of the public at large to money machines for the20principals and the stockholding few.

1993: Clinton extensively rewrote Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s rules turning the quasi-private mortgage-funding firms into semi-nationalized monopolies dispensing cash and loans to large Democratic voting blocks and handing favors, jobs and contributions to political allies. This potent mix led inevitably to corruption and now the collapse of Freddie and Fannie.

1994: Despite warnings, Clinton unveiled his National Home-Ownership Strategy which broadened the CRA in ways congress never intended.

1995: Congress, about to change from a Democrat at majority to Republican, Clinton orders Robert Rubin’s Treasury Dept to rewrite the rules. Robt. Rubin’s Treasury reworked rules, forcing banks to satisfy quotas for sub-prime and minority loans to get a satisfactory CRA rating. The rating was key to expansion or mergers for banks. Loans began to be made on the basis of race and little else.

1997 - 1999: Clinton, bypassing Republicans, enlisted Andrew Cuomo, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, allowing Freddie and Fannie to get into the sub-prime market in a BIG way. Led by Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd, congress doubled down on the risk by easing capital limits and allowing them to hold just 2.5% of capital to back their investments vs. 10% for banks. Since they could borrow at lower rates than banks their enterprises boomed.

With incentives in place, banks poured billions in loans into poor communities, often ‘no doc’, ‘no income’, requiring no money down and no verification of income. Worse still was the cronyism: Fannie and Freddie became home to out-of work-politicians,=2 0mostly Clinton Democrats. 384 politicians got big campaign donations from Fannie and Freddie. Over $200 million had been spent on lobbying and political activities. During the 1990’s Fannie and Freddie enjoyed a subsidy of as much as $182 Billion, most of it going to principals and shareholders, not poor borrowers as claimed.

Did it work? Minorities made up 49% of the 12.5 million new homeowners but many of those loans have gone bad and the minority home ownership rates are shrinking fast.

1999: New Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, became alarmed at Fannie and Freddie’s excesses. Congress held hearings the ensuing year but nothing was done because Fannie and Freddie had donated millions to key congressmen and radical groups, ensuring no meaningful changes would take place. ‘We manage our political risk with the same intensity that we manage our credit and interest rate risks,’ Fannie CEO Franklin Raines, a former Clinton official and current Barack Obama advisor, bragged to investors in 1999.

2000: Secretary Summers sent Undersecretary Gary Gensler to Congress seeking an end to the ’special status’. Democrats raised a ruckus as did Fannie and Freddie, headed by politically connected CEO’s who knew how to reward and punish. ‘We think that the statements evidence a contempt for the nation’s housing and mortgage markets’ Freddie spokesperson Sharon McHale said. It was the last chance during the Clinton era for reform.

2001: Republicans try repeatedly to bring fiscal sanity to Fannie and Freddie but Democrats blocked any attempt at reform; especially Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd who now run key banking committees and were huge beneficiaries of campaign contributions from the mortgage giants.

2003: Bush proposes what the NY Times called ‘the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago’. Even after discovering a scheme by Fannie and Freddie to overstate earnings by $10.6 billion to boost their bonuses, the Democrats killed reform.

2005: Then Fed chairman Alan Greenspan warns Congress: ‘We are placing the total financial system at substantial risk’. Sen. McCain, with two others, sponsored a Fannie/Freddie reform bill and said, ‘If congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial sy stem and the economy as a whole’. Sen. Harry Reid accused the GOP ;of trying to ‘cripple the ability of Fannie and Freddie to carry out their mission of expanding home ownership’ The bill went nowhere.

2007: By now Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee over HALF of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. The mortgage giants, whose executive suites were top-heavy with former Democratic officials, had been working with Wall St. to repackage the bad loans and sell them to investors. As the housing market fell in ‘07, subprime mortgage portfolios suffered major losses. The crisis was on, though it was 15 years in the making.

2008: McCain has repeatedly called for reforming the behemoths, Bush urged reform 17 times. Still the media have repeated Democrats’ talking points about this being a ‘Republican’ disaster A few Republicans are complicit but Fannie and Freddie were created by Democrats, regulated by Democrats, largely run by Democrats and protected by Democrats. That’s why taxpayers are now being asked for $700 billion!!

If you doubt any of this, just view the videos below and listen to your lawmakers own words. They are condemning!

Postscript: ACORN is one of the principle beneficiaries of Fannie/ Freddie’s slush funds. They are currently under indictment or investigation in many states. Barack Obama served as their legal counsel, defending their activities for several years.

My husband, the inspiration for this blog, sent me to view the following video.  It is pointedly biased, I admit, but I think we need a little more bias on the “other side”.  I haven’t commented on this all week, because I’ve been busy with other things, but it’s been unsettling to me to see how the problems with the economy, which are blamed on poor regulation of the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc., have been blamed on “the current administration” or in the words of Nancy Pelosi, “the failed policies of the Bush administration”.  Who, and what party, was saying what in the following clip from a 2004 hearing? And I wonder how long this video will stay online?