WOW! GOOD NEWS COMES IN THREES

1) This morning an Iranian official hinted that Iran might suspend its production of uranium if it got "cast iron guarantees" on the delivery of supplies from international sources. IS THIS JUST ONE MORE TEASE? It is nothing but rumor now, but it is the kind of news I have been hoping and praying about for a long time. Stay tuned!


2) Wachovia has negotiated the sell of the company to Wells Fargo. President Steele has praised the management of WFC and he offers the encouraging note that the deal will allow Wachovia to remain intact. Shareholders will receive about $7.


3) Palin did a fine job in the debate and Biden once again stretched the facts enough to provide fodder for campaign ads. Plagerist never learn?


Because middle class voters in key swing states tend to be anti big business and pro union, both candidates blamed greed on wall street for the mortgage meltdown. Little was said about the complicity of congress. The record is that McCain introduced a bill in 2005 to reign in the abuses of Fannie Mae; this bill was shot down by democrats who said that there was no problem and that lending should continue. For the most part, the story of how we got into this mess will be left up to individual congressional races as some republicans voted with democrats when banks were pressured to make risky, nothing down, no documentation loans to one and all. It will be up to the great numbers of honest bank employees to make the case that banks, wishing to make any mortgage loans, were required to make considerable numbers of risky loans or to face prosecution. Companies like BBT avoided the meltdown by focusing on loans to builders. They got burned a little when construction died but the loans to builders were of a commercial category where the pressure to lend to the unqualified was not so great.


Last night, whenever either candidate blamed greedy wall street, the focus group approval dials went up. When either mentioned government blame, the dials of men went up but the dials of women went down. Women were much more supportive of government intervention. They are willing to break contract laws, forcing banks to suffer at the expense of individual borrowers, without any determination of bad faith on the part of banks. Women have always been more supportive of government mandated health care.


The comparison of the heavy government involvement in the mortgage market and Obama's plan to mandate health care should be helpful. Anyone who even thinks about support for massive government health care should stop to think about the governments intervention to make mortgages affordable. Government mandated, affordable health care, will ultimately be extremely expensive. It is ironic that Russia is no longer a super power because socialism tends to fail, while America continues to move in that direction.


IRAN


BOY! If the table were ever set for a deal in Iran, it is now. Last night, when Biden was asked which was the most dangerous situation, Pakistan or Iran, he focused on Pakistan. Pakistan has nuclear weapons but they are on our side. Would it be better that they not have nuclear weapons? Certainly! However, which country has expressed its desire to use nuclear weapons? Iran!


Obama has implied that US forces have recklessly killed innocent civilians in Afghanistan. There has been collateral damage, as there is in all wars, however, this has been the first war in history in which targets have been precisely selected. Instead of throwing hundreds of relatively inexpensive bombs into enemy territory, where there are women, children and other non combatants, the USA has sent $70,000 precision guided missiles and bombs directly to the vehicles and headquarters of known leaders. The enemy has often hid behind the skirt-tails of women and the diapers of children, but one of the reasons millions of Sunnis in Iraq joined the fight against al Qaeda is for the very reason that al Qaeda has killed indiscriminately and the US has done an excellent job of preserving life.


Most importantly, there are rumblings in both Afghanistan and Pakistan about potential peace for peace negotiations between the remaining Taliban leaders and the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistani. Negotiations are not likely to begin before the US election, but US precision ordinance is making the leaders of our enemy cower in caves.


The words of Obama have been extremely hurtful. He has repeatedly given encouragement to the enemy in Iraq, Afghanistan and in Pakistan. He has been adept at converting some of his hurtful words into rational positions, but the man is dangerous. His plan to invade Pakistan in order to take out Osama bin Laden has been modified to the position that we will take him out if we get actionable intelligence. For many months, the Pakistani government has allowed the USA to take out enemy leaders in Pakistan, provided we did not acknowledge that we have the governments permission. Obama has made it difficult for the Pakistani government to work with America without catching political heat. Obama has demonstrated his naivete or he has purposely tried to win the election by causing more pain to America, you decide which. When an American Presidential candidate says that US troops are killing innocents, the statement races like wild fire through the enemy camps. When he says that the US should invade Pakistan, the US becomes the feared enemy rather than the friendly ally.


RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL POWER


Russia, in exchange for military aid to Somalia, has influenced yet another nation to recognize the break away states of Georgia as independent countries. Now in addition to Russia, there are two who recognizes these small territories as nations, Nicaragua and Somalia. Both very influential countries on the world stage (yuk-yuk). Russia is losing this battle. If it wants to continue this ruse, it will continue to do so at great economic costs. The way to resolve the issue while allowing Russia to save face is through a multi-party peace accord with Iran.


Obama has shown little knowledge about the role of nuclear power in world wide diplomatic struggles. However, his position continues to evolve. He is slightly more aware of the need for nuclear power than he has been in the past. It is absolutely amazing that China is in the process of building 100 nuclear power plants, designed by Westinghouse, while Obama continues to push for 30 cent on the dollar subsidies for expensive and unreliable wind mills. Subsidize nuclear at the same level and the price of gasoline will be below 70 cents per gallon in 7 years.