Misguided protests fall short thanks to the President’s skyrocketing approval ratings

Despite the sparsely attended and misguided so-called “Chicago Tea Parties” last week protesting against President Obama’s federal stimulus and recovery plan, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll just released confirms they are a small minority, and the President’s approval ratings are at an all-time high.

In the survey, 68 percent have a favorable opinion of the president, and 60 percent approve of his job in his short time in the White House. In a direct slap in the face of those obstructionists who staged the misnamed protests, 41 percent think that the country is headed in the right direction, and that’s a significant jump from the poll in January when only 26 percent said the country was on the right track.

I hope the obstructionism and protests continue. According the poll, almost half of all Americans believe the Democratic Party is better suited to getting the country out of a recession over the Republican Party, and just 20 percent believe the Grand Oil Party were better qualified to accomplish it.

"Music and Meander" at the Capitol is a bust

LANSING -- It might have been called "Music and Meander" or "Mega Bust," but the so-called "Chicago Tea Party" protest by right-wingers on the Capitol steps at noon Friday certainly did little to change anyone's mind.

The protest was based on the over-the-top, unprofessional rant a few weeks ago by CNBC's Rick Santelli on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to protest President Obama's economic stimulus package, and it did little but illustrate right-wingers are in the minority. The majority of Americans in both parties think a spending stimulus is needed to try and reverse the crisis caused by the Bush Administration policies.

I wasted my lunch hour to hear what they had to say, and all I saw was a maximum – a generous estimation - of no more than 150 people milling about, carrying handmade signs, passing out propaganda and listening to patriotic music. I saw a few of the usual suspects, like Leon Drolet, but not much was going on.

The protest was supposed to last until 1 p.m., but I left after listening to Bruce Springsteen's song "Born in the USA." Just like Ronald Reagan in 1984, these people have no clue what the song is all about. It's like their complete misuse and lack of understanding of what the Boston Tea Parry was for and about.

The song was about the tribulations soldiers experienced in the Vietnam War, and it also protests the hardships Vietnam veterans faced upon their return from the war.

I saw the normal signs with the rightwing talking point about the alleged "socialist Democrats," but even funnier were the ones complaining about the budget deficit. Where were these people when Bush took a budget surplus and turned it into a record budget deficit with tax cuts for the richest 1 percent and spent it on an unnecessary invasion of Iraq. Just think what we could do to rebuild and stimulate our economy with the billions of dollars spent on rebuilding on Iraq and the millions that disappeared because of the lack of oversight and no-bid contracts.

They could have went to the end of the Capitol sidewalk and asked the handful of people protesting the Iraq invasion what they thought. To their credit, they have been there every Friday rain or shine in the two years I have worked in Lansing.

Because my office overlooks the Capitol, I looked out the window at about 12:50, and the "protest" was basically over. If there were any speeches they had to be between 12:30 and 12:50 p.m.

To be fair, it's nice to be with like minded people who think the way you do. I know that's one reason I like political conventions and rallies after so many years of being neutral. The good news is more people agree with the President, and the people on the Capitol steps are a small minority.

Republicans should bring history book to protest at the Capitol

Apparently, somebody needs to give Republicans and Wall Street traders a history book.

Based on the over-the-top, unprofessional rant a few weeks ago by CNBC's Rick Santelli on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, something called the "Chicago Tea Party" is set for Friday, Feb. 27 against the economic stimulus package. It's all a little confusing, and it makes little sense. Republicans have no solution to the mess their policies plunged the country into, but they sure are trying to make a lot of noise by saying little.

Apparently, Santelli is under the mistaken belief that President Obama'a Homeowner Stability Initiative – which is not what they are protesting, I think – will give people something for nothing. What it will do is help people who need it and not give him something for nothing. Apparently, he's upset that the plan does not immediately foreclose on everybody and kick them out into the streets, and it supposedly "rewards bad behavior."

Of course, he ignored the greed, risky lending and bad behavior of the financial interests he supposedly reports on, and who actually caused the economic meltdown.

But, here in Michigan they are organizing a "tea party at noon on Friday at the Capitol in Lansing". They are asking people to bring "tea bags, protest signs and American flags." They should also bring a history book to read what the original tea party was all about.

The Boston Tea Party was to protest the Tea Act of 1763, and it was part of the discontent brought about by the Stamp Act of 1765. The Colonists were protesting "Taxation without Representation." This is just one more example of the Republicans not paying attention to the November election. The fact is the American people want the stimulus bill, and they voted for President Obama and his polices. The American people also gave Democrats control of the House and Senate for a reason, and that was to represent them.

They are represented, and somebody should tell then that on Friday.

CNBC's "House of Cards" set to re-air Wednesday

For anyone who thinks the foreclosure crisis is the fault of former President Jimmy Carter or irresponsible home buyers you need to watch CNBC's "House of Cards" set to re-air at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The informative report follows the origins of the global economic crisis, with first person accounts from home buyers, mortgage brokers, investment bankers and investors – "most of whom let greed blind them, leading to the greatest financial collapse since the Great Depression," according to the synopsis of the documentary.

Anyone who uses the GOP talking point that President Obama's Homeowner Stability Initiative will "pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills" needs to watch this.

In 2008, there were 3.2 million foreclosure filings in the US, according to an estimate from RealtyTrac. That’s an 81 percent increase over 2007, and this is the rhetoric coming from the right?

Expect GOP false attacks on Homeowner Stability Initiative

With the announcement of President Barack Obama’s plan to help millions of homeowners in danger of losing their homes with the $75 billion Homeowner Stability Initiative, we can expect the same kind of debunked Republican lies we saw used against the economic stimulus package.

Despite the lies being debunked numerous times, even Michigan Republicans like U.S. Reps Candice Miller and Mike Rogers continue to use the lies of the high speed rail line between LA and Las Vegas, money for STD prevention, money for ACORN and money for a mouse habitat in San Francisco. We will see some of the same tired, false talking points with the Homeowner Stability Initiative.

My favorite oldie but goodie is that the housing foreclosure crisis is the fault of former President Jimmy Carter. That follows the time-tested GOP strategy of if you're going to tell a lie, it might as well be a big one. That lie goes, that it was the fault of the "Community Reinvestment Act back in 1978 where lending institutions were required to start lending to people that couldn't afford to pay the loans back."

The fact is it simply addressed the practice of "redlining." Redlining is the practice of an insurance company or bank refusing to insure an auto or home based or lend money based solely on the geographic area where the person lives, provides an inferior product based on geography or at a higher price. The Community Reinvestment Act simply required banks to lend money to people previously for that reason, but the people had to be eligible for a loan in all respects.

It was greed, the lack of regulation and the sub-prime mortgages that led to the foreclosure crisis. Anyone doubting that just had to watch the recent CNBC documentary "House of Cards."

The documentary was more chilling and scarier than any horror or slasher movie, and it highlighted the collective folly that brought down Wall Street and cost millions of Americans their homes, jobs and retirement savings.

It showed how former used car and waterbed salesman were now selling mortgages instead of trainer mortgage specialists, and the goal was to get loans to as many people as possible to make money. Veteran mortgage bankers said gone were the days when a borrower had to have two year's worth of tax returns and they went to your jobs to interview you to prove income, and now you just had to "state" your income with no proof on the application.

I know a guy in Livingston County who got a mortgage to buy the lakefront home from his three siblings after their father passed away, and he didn't even have a job. Needless to say, the home their father built with his own hands was foreclosed within a year, despite refinancing at least twice.

Just remember that when the GOP misinformation, talking points and lies begin.