Free Republic

WHAT'S REALLY SCARING WALL ST...... fresh threats of higher taxes on the most productive......bank bailout mystery..........contradictory policy measures......vows to unclog the banking system of toxic mortgage debt, along with a mortgage "cram down" that would make that debt more toxic. Candidate Obama won over the street even as he was bashing the financiers who'd plunged the country into crisis b/c of bad bets on risky bonds. Sources say Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan, Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs, John Mack, Morgan Stanley and Dick Fuld, then of Lehman Bros were supporters, as were Larry Fink of money-management powerhouse BlackRock, and senior execs...

MANHATTAN BEACH -- Trying to fire up a lackluster crowd at a "get out the vote" rally, City Councilman Jim Aldinger asked who would be working over the weekend to get Californians to the polls on Tuesday. Only a handful of the 80 activists raised their hands at the rally Thursday for gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. Campaign consultants reported similarly tepid responses from volunteers around the state -- even though an expected low voter turnout and an extremely tight gubernatorial primary could make this year's "get out the vote" efforts more decisive than in past statewide campaigns. Secretary of State...

THE PRESIDENT'S RENOVATION STRATEGY Renovation strategy? That's one word you could use. Today George Bush begins a series of speeches trying to turn more public support for the war on terror in general and the war in Iraq in particular. It's an effort to rebuild his approval numbers. We've seen this before. The public becomes restless, and George Bush launches a series of speeches about the war in Iraq. Today Bush will talk about the global war on terror at George Washington University. I'm still a supporter of the Iraqi war. I still believe that Saddam Hussein had to be...