Oh God. Another bitch which insists in ordering 'off the menu'

Palin puts faith in God for 2012

Sarah Palin admitted having gone off script

Defeated Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said she hopes God will "show her the way" on any future bid for the White House.

The Alaska governor said 2012 was too far off for her to decide whether she would run for the US presidency.

Mrs Palin, who was accused of going rogue during the election campaign, also admitted veering "off script", but denied harming the Republican ticket.

She has been touted as a possible White House candidate in four years' time.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, the 44-year-old said: "I'm like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I'm like, don't let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is."

'Open door'

The mother-of-five added: "And if there is an open door in [20]12 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I'll plough through that door."

Mrs Palin admitted occasionally not having toed the line during the campaign, but added: "If I went off script once in a while, I can't for the life of me remember any one time where it would have harmed [Republican presidential nominee Sen John McCain], or the ticket."

She also said she neither wanted nor asked for the wardrobe costing at least $150,000 (£96,000) that the Republican Party controversially bankrolled for her during the campaign.

"I did not order the clothes. Did not ask for the clothes," she told Fox News. "I would have been happy to have worn my own clothes from day one."

Dismissing reports that she had been unaware Africa was a continent, Mrs Palin said: "Never, ever did I talk about, well, gee, is it a country or is it a continent."

This week, Mrs Palin has also scheduled national interviews with other TV networks and she plans to attend the Republican Governors Association conference in Florida.

Correspondents say she has a range of political options, including seeking re-election as governor of Alaska in 2010 or challenging the state's Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.

There is also a possibility she could run in a special election for the seat of Ted Stevens, Alaska's other senator. His bid for re-election last week remains undecided, although he may be forced to step aside whatever the outcome after being convicted of corruption.

Oh Yeah?
She's Running, see www.Palin2012.com

Writing for the Guardian on Sarah Palin and her return to Alaska is Ed Pilkington

So now we know what John McCain really thinks of his running mate Sarah Palin – and that's not just because of the awkward body language between them during his concession speech in Phoenix, Arizona.

An exasperated McCain has been telling friends in recent weeks that Palin is even more trouble than a pitbull.

In one joke doing the rounds, the Republican presidential candidate has been asking friends: what is the difference between Sarah Palin and a pitbull? The friendly canine eventually lets go, is the McCain punchline.

McCain's joke is a skit on Palin's most famous line after she was picked as his surprise running mate. Palin delighted the Republican base when she said the only difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom was lipstick.

We owe the new glimpse into the tense McCain/Palin relationship to Sir Nigel Sheinwald, the British ambassador to Washington. Sheinwald recently wrote a lengthy assessment of McCain in a telegram that winged its way across the Atlantic to Whitehall.

The jaws of senior mandarins dropped when they read Sheinwald's account of McCain's thoughts on Palin which the ambassador reportedly picked up from a military friend of McCain's. The telegram was restricted to an even smaller group of people than usual for fear of another embarrassing leak. "We took one look at this and hid it away," one Whitehall source said.

General Motors have closed at a 60-year low

GM shares decline to 60-year low

GM is especially struggling in its home market

Shares in US car group General Motors (GM) have closed at a 60-year low after the firm was hit by a broker downgrade.

The 23% fall to $3.36 came after Barclays Capital said the stock may slump as low as $1 as GM continues to struggle to turnaround its fortunes.

The broker downgrade came as GM announced a further 1,900 North American job cuts on top of the 3,600 it unveiled on Friday.

Like most carmakers, GM has seen sales fall sharply in its home market.

Government support

On Friday the firm also had to report a $4.2bn (£2.7bn) quarterly loss.

At the start of October, President George W Bush signed legislation that gives GM and fellow US carmakers Chrysler and Ford access to $25bn (£14bn) of cheap government-backed loans to help them develop less polluting cars.

Barclays Capital said GM may need extra federal funds.

GM also said on Monday that it was unsure the mortgage arm of its GMAC financial arm could survive. Like other US home loan providers, it has been greatly affected by a big rise in bad debt.

Not just another Monday

AARGH! AIG, ... ouch again.

A.I.G. May Get More in Bailout

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

The Bush administration was overhauling its rescue of the American International Group on Sunday night, according to people involved in the deal, amid signs that the interest on its current credit line of more than $100 billion was putting too much strain on the ailing insurer

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve were near a deal to abandon the initial bailout plan and invest another $40 billion in the company, these people said. The government created an $85 billion emergency credit line in September to keep A.I.G. from toppling and added $38 billion more in early October when it became clear that the original amount was not enough.

When the restructured deal is complete, taxpayers will have invested and lent a total of $150 billion to A.I.G., the most the government has ever directed to a single private enterprise. It is a stark reversal of the government’s assurance that its earlier moves had stabilized A.I.G.

The revised deal, which may be announced as early as Monday morning, is likely to intensify the debate in Washington over why some companies should be saved by the government while others are left to wither.

The money would come from the $700 billion that Congress authorized the Treasury to use to shore up financial companies. Just this weekend, Democratic leaders in Congress called on the Bush administration to drop its opposition to using some of that money to rescue Detroit automakers.

The government’s original emergency line of credit, while saving A.I.G. from bankruptcy for a time, now appears to have accelerated the company’s problems. That short-term loan came with a high interest rate — about 14 percent — which forced the company into a fire sale of its assets and reduced its ability to pay back the loan, putting its future in jeopardy.

The new deal would make the government a long-term investor in A.I.G., something that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had said he hoped to avoid. As part of the revamping, the government would lower the loan amount to $60 billion from $85 billion, lengthen the payment schedule to five years from two years, and lower the interest rate.

At the same time, the government, using part of the $700 billion fund, would buy $40 billion in preferred shares in A.I.G. In return, A.I.G. would pay a 10 percent interest rate on those shares, similar to the interest rate that banks agreed to pay last month when they received cash injections.

The government is also planning to spend an additional $30 billion to help A.I.G. buy up a type of securities called “collateralized debt obligations” that the company had agreed to insure against default. As the insurer of those securities, A.I.G. has been forced to put up large amounts of cash as collateral as the global economy has soured and the securities seemed increasingly likely to default.

Indeed, these securities, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, are held by institutional investors around the world, a fact that government officials have cited to justify saving the company using taxpayer money.

The new arrangement calls for A.I.G. to put the securities into a new entity, effectively removing them from the company’s balance sheet. A.I.G. would contribute $5 billion to the new entity, which would buy $70 billion of the securities at 50 cents on the dollar, or $35 billion. The remaining $30 billion of the purchase price would come from the government.

Finally, the government would invest another $20 billion in A.I.G. to help the company buy residential mortgage-backed securities that it also insured, and similarly place them into another entity off the company’s balance sheet.

The goal of both programs is to create separate entities to buy and hold the most toxic assets A.I.G. had promised to insure, so that if their value continues to fall A.I.G. would not have to account for those losses. The company has argued that the securities’ falling value does not necessarily mean it has suffered a financial loss.

Once A.I.G. buys the securities back from its trading partners, it will no longer have to provide cash as collateral under the terms of its insurance contracts — and collateral has been eating up more of A.I.G.’s cash than anything else since the broad financial crisis began.

A spokeswoman for the Fed declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Treasury did not return a call for comment. A spokesman for A.I.G. declined to comment.

A.I.G. negotiated the original $85 billion revolving credit line with the Federal Reserve after its efforts to raise money from private lenders failed in the panic of mid-September. The amount that it needed ballooned in just a few days, as counterparties to A.I.G.’s insurance on complex debt securities laid claim to whatever collateral they could get.

People briefed on the negotiations said the $85 billion was thought at the time to be the maximum amount that A.I.G. would need, including a little extra for a cushion. The interest rate was set at the three-month Libor plus 8.5 percent, which currently works out to around 14 percent. (Libor, or London interbank offered rate, is a commonly used index that tracks the rates banks charge when they lend to each other.) In exchange for making the loan, the Fed was promised a 79.9 percent stake in A.I.G.

The $40 billion of preferred shares will not change the size of the government’s stake in A.I.G., people briefed on the plans said.

Edward Liddy, the insurance executive brought in to lead the company out of the crisis, initially said he believed the Fed money would be like water pouring into a bathtub — a lot might be needed at first, but eventually the tub would be filled and the faucet could be turned off.

Since then, A.I.G. turned out to need more money than expected, and it has not been able to sell subsidiaries quickly enough to pay down the loan as required.

Even as the government works to solidify A.I.G.’s finances, elected officials have been demanding a fuller accounting of the company’s business practices and executive pay structure. In October, the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, reached an agreement forcing A.I.G. to freeze payments to former executives.

“I find it hard to conceive of situation that you could justify a performance bonus for management that virtually bankrupted the company,” Mr. Cuomo said after the agreement was made.

That agreement followed the revelation, in a hearing convened by Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, that the former head of A.I.G.’s troubled financial products unit, Joseph J. Cassano, had been put on a retainer of $1 million a month after being dismissed in February.

Mr. Waxman, as well as Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, have demanded that A.I.G. provide a more detailed accounting of its credit derivatives business.

Obama administration jobs

Names surface for top Obama administration jobs

By The Associated Press – November 7, 2008

President-elect Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for top administration posts, according to Democratic officials.

Obama has signaled that he will make no Cabinet-level appointments immediately, and his deliberations are tightly held by his closest aides. But that hasn't stopped Democrats and interest groups from circulating lists and offering recommendations to the Obama transition team.

Some are surprising, such as former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell as possible education secretary. Others are high-profile governors or members of Congress. Yet many are also little known to the general public — and may remain so.

Obama has less than 11 weeks to staff his new administration. Some names often mentioned as possible appointees to top posts:

DEFENSE SECRETARY

Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., member of Senate Armed Services Committee.

TREASURY SECRETARY

Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary and one-time Harvard University president.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 2004 presidential nominee.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., former chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., member of House Judiciary Committee.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former assistant U.S. attorney for civil rights.

ENERGY SECRETARY

Former Rep. Philip Sharp, D-Ind., president of Resources for the Future think tank.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

EPA ADMINISTRATOR

Lisa P. Jackson, commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Mary Nichols, head of California Air Resources Board.

Kathleeen McGinty, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

Howard Dean, chairman of Democratic National Committee, physician, former Vermont governor.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.

Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration.

Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of House transportation committee.

Mortimer Downey, former deputy transportation secretary.

INTERIOR SECRETARY

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles.

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., former executive director of Colorado Natural Resources Department.

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

James Lee Witt, former FEMA director.

Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton.

Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, chairman of 9/11 commission.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chairwoman of Homeland Security intelligence subcommittee.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

James B. Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser.

Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

EDUCATION SECRETARY

Colin Powell, former secretary of state, former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt.

Arne Duncan, chief executive officer of Chicago public schools.

Inez Tenenbaum, former South Carolina schools superintendent.

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union.

Former Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas.

OFFICE OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR

Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., chairman of House Budget Committee.

Gene Sperling, economic aide to President Clinton.

Jason Furman, Obama's campaign economic policy director.

Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY

Valerie Jarrett, Obama friend, chairman and CEO of Habitat Co.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.

LABOR SECRETARY

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of House Education and Labor Committee.

Former Rep. David Bonior, member of Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board.

Andy Stern, president of Service Employees International Union.

YEAH!

What Job Might Interest Earl Blumenauer in An Obama Administration

November 3rd 2008 2:59pm

BY: Hank Stern

Given the level of local attention on this Politico story positing Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) as a potential Secretary of Transportation in Barack Obama's administration (If Obama wins, of course), I found Blumenauer's response to a question I asked him recently very interesting.

The good folks at LiveWire had asked me to interview Blumenauer for their show airing Oct. 25. And one of the questions I asked was a silly throwaway about "if he could hypnotize Obama into giving him a Cabinet job, which post would appeal most to Blumenauer."

I'd figured Blumenauer — an early endorser of Obama — would talk about his interest in the Department of Transportation, a possibility that local politicos have been batting around for some time.

Instead, the east Portland congressman's response veered into something he said he'd lobbied Obama a little bit on – creating a new Cabinet position that served to link pieces of a "sustainable economy ... environmental protection and ways to involve the community."

"I would hope that the next administration thinks about how to tie those pieces together, create a portfolio for sustainability, for livability," Blumenauer said.

If you're killing time until the first election results on Tuesday, the interview is in the middle of this LiveWire segment.

America is a Great Country, I'm cooking a cheeseburger

GOBAMA

Hope will rule the day.

Yes We Can beat these violent men, Yes We Can.

Wow, what a campaign. NOT!

Oregon will lead the Nation with voter turnout

Oregon Votes by Mail

Record turnout predicted in Oregon election
10/23/2008, 5:28 p.m. PDT
By BRAD CAIN
The Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon voter turnout for the Nov. 4 election will set a modern record, eclipsing the 86.5 percent turnout the state saw in the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy presidential race, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury is predicting.

"There are a lot of people out there working to make sure everyone votes. It's going to be an incredibly high turnout," Bradbury said in an interview Thursday.

His prediction came as the latest tally showed the rate of mail ballot returns is running slightly ahead of this time in the 2004 presidential campaign, which had the second-highest turnout in Oregon history at 86.4 percent.

As of the end of the day Wednesday, nearly 195,000 Oregonians — or 9 percent of the state's 2.17 million registered voters — had mailed their ballots to local election offices, according to state figures.

In Oregon's 1960 presidential contest, Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat John F. Kennedy. That was back when Oregon was considered one of the most reliably Republican states west of the Mississippi.

It's a different story this year. Spurred by aggressive voter signup efforts by Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's campaign and other groups, Democratic voter registration has surged well past Republicans in a state that has been trending more Democratic blue in recent years.

Still, both Republicans and Democrats have been waging strong get-out-the-vote efforts since local election officials began mailing ballots to voters' households Oct. 17.

A coordinated effort involving the Obama campaign, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley's campaign and the Democratic Party of Oregon has been up and running in all 36 counties, a spokesman said.

"Volunteers are on the phones, at people's doorsteps and talking to their friends and neighbors," Democratic Party spokesman Marc Siegel said.

Despite Democrats' voter registration edge, Republicans aren't giving up.

"We started our effort the day the ballots went out last Friday. We are making phone calls and knocking on doors statewide to turn out our voters," said Oregon GOP spokeswoman Brianne Hyder.

Both sides are trying to persuade voters who've made up their minds about the various races and measures to not wait until the Nov. 4 deadline but to send them in now.

Under Oregon's unique vote-by-mail system, local election officials keep running lists of registered voters who have cast ballots. Campaigns and interest groups often purchase those lists during the voting period to help them contact people as part of their get-out-the-vote efforts.

To anyone who wants to avoid being called or contacted by the campaigns, Bradbury has some advice: "It's very simple — if you don't want to get those calls, mail in your ballot immediately."