Maggie's Farm

sorry o/t -- but for an uplifting change of pace:

http://www.f22-raptor.com/media/video_gallery/videos/F22_AirShow_Langley.wmv

breathtaking airplane.

well, the index symbol is (C) --pronounced as "See?"

A FIX-IT plan, from yesterday's "Jim Cramer's Mad Money" website (recaps the day's tv show):

"The markets need radical changes, not a silly stimulus package," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Friday.
"The markets need radical changes, not a silly stimulus package," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Friday.

The market's problems, he said, hinge on mortgage insurers such as MBIA (MBI), Ambac (ABK), PMI Group (PMI) and MGIC (MTG).

The market's problems, he said, hinge on mortgage insurers such as MBIA (MBI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), Ambac (ABK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), PMI Group (PMI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) and MGIC (MTG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating).

Cramer said those companies are in dire straits because they don't have the money to cover $500 billion worth of bank loans mired in the subprime mess.

These companies, Cramer warned, could go "belly up" in weeks, if not days. If that happens, he predicts, the banks could quickly run out of capital, and the Dow could plunge as much as 2,000 points.

Cramer said the crisis could be avoided if the federal government steps in and purchases the four failing insurers and then pays out 50 cents on the dollar to the banks for the failed loans.

Under the current scenario, he points out, the banks get nothing and the whole economy suffers if the insurers fail.

With Cramer's plan, a single $250 billion injection could cure the entire problem and establish a bottom for the financial stocks. If this step is taken, he predicts, the Dow could rally as much as 2,000 points instead of losing 2,000 points.

below these asterisks (*), an email i rec/ recently:
***************

Charley Reese was a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel for many yrs and one of the finest writers and clearest thinkers in the media at large. I have read his columns online for a long time. But he retired. Here is one of his typical works. I hope you will read it. It is apolitical.
---------------

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA'S WOES

BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton- picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. BUSH for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

(end quoted email)

http://www.thestreet.com/_tscs/s/cramers-mad-money-recap-a-quick-fix-for-the-economy/funds/madmoneywrap/10399604.html

-- maybe it'll open for ya -- it's behind a 'members' firewall, maybe -- maybe not -- cain't rememember --