(OR: Can’t you just smell rotten, when it’s really bad?)
In the news, April 12, 2016, Goldman Sachs Group bank agreed to pay 5 billion ($5,000,000,000.00) for failure to adequately tell its buyers of the health of the mortgages & other loans sold to them.
The rotten smell should be hitting your nostrils like a whirl wind. Since 2011 the federal government has made American Banks pay way over 106.55 billion in fines. Add the above and the figure available is way over 111 billion. This is just what is easily found. Rooster says banks, but you must remember these banks are owned by shareholders, who do not get the benefit of the money paid in fines or in the defense costs to get there. Really, a few of our citizens are paying the price. The bank officers do not. ( WARNING) Rooster does not have all the fines imposed by the Federal government on Banks. Cannot find them in one place. Best estimate it is over 300 billion since 2011.
Where the money goes is another very bad smell. When asked the departments will tell you, that after they take theirs (Warning) the rest goes into the U.S. Treasury. There is no accounting.
Let your nose follow the smell. You will recall the real estate collapse of 2008. It started its slide in 2007 peaked on Dec. 30, 2008 and carried through 2009. Obama took office twenty days after the peak.. The last bunch of years of the Bush administration the Senate and House were well under Democrat control. The Democrats had demanded (Bush objected) that Fannie Mae and Freddie mac accept loans banks would not otherwise have approved. This was the Democrats desire to let everyone (The poor, because the non-poor could already buy a house.) buy a house. This message was loud and clear and went through the lending world like wild fire through kindling. Rooster remembers selling a condo in early 2009. He received three offers and not one of them should have qualified under the old bank rules. To the Rooster it was obvious they could not pay. Rooster asked the lender how come he would approve them, and he said because that was the word from D..C. Get the poor into houses. Rooster almost pulled out, because he could see not only the future of such loans, but he could see the pain and suffering to the millions of people who would be foreclosed on when they failed to make payments. He did not. At that time he had to sell that property. The point is the whole thing was caused by Liberal Democrats like Senator Dodds and Barney Frank. They just wanted to give to the poor and let the rest pay for it. Well the rest is all the share holders of the big banks today. But the smell in 2009 was God Awful. Because of the loss of so many mortgages, do you recall what Obama did to the small banks? He and his went out and raised the bar of bank qualification and then closed a gazillion of smaller banks across the country. All their books of business were then pushed on to the larger banks. Remember? I’ll bet many of you changed banks because of what Obama did. Rooster certainly did. Recall Santa Barbara Bank and Trust. No more. Gone, but the smell lingers on.
Well let’s come to 2011 until today. The big banks were then held to blame for participating in the rotten loans the Federal Government had demanded. It started in 2011 when Bank of America ponied up 8.5 billion in fines. Yes for taking the loans the Federal Government set up. Then in 2012 Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, Chase Bank of Am. And Ally all paid 25 billion. You say Bank of American again? Don’t ask. Then HSBC was hit for 2 billion, and UBS for 1.5 Billion. Rooster won’t detail them, but the partial total in 2013 was 34 billion, 2014, 35.75 billion and Rooster does not have the total for 2015. Just in what Rooster can find the total is well over the annual budgets of most states and is almost the same as one of Brown’s budgets in liberal California.
So who has paid for the liberals mistakes? All the shareholders of all the little banks that were destroyed (Do not forget the thousands and thousands who lost their jobs.) and all of the shareholders of all the big banks . Who does not lose? Barney Franks and Dodds and their cohorts who started it, and all the Bank officers who would not fight the fight and let the people see where the real smell is coming from. If Rooster was the new president he would appoint Winston to conduct an investigation as to where all these fines went, and pull up all the cover-up mess, until the real cause is exposed. There is no doubt it would fall right into the lap of the liberal Senators and Representatives then in command. Why would he do that? Because it would be such a wonderful education for those around today.
PROTEST: Fly the Betsy Ross flag. It is the one flag where all the States supported the Constitution.
Wc: 838 Rooster Bradford gives up all rights to this article and seeks no compensation for its use. 2016

(OR: Conservatives of a different color.. talked.)
Bet most of you missed this one. It was the other night on Fox News hosted by John Stossel. Rooster was under the weather and started working the T.V. He was lucky to come upon it. Winston enjoyed it, so sit back and Rooster will tell you all about it. If you search for Fox Business News, John Stossel you still can probably preview the show.
The Libertarian party is generally listed as the number three party in the U.S. It will have its convention on May 27, 28, and 29 at the Rosen Center Hotel and Resort in Orlando Florida. At number three it boasts registered membership of around 325,000 thousand. This is a bit off center, because they are not in some States, and membership and registration to vote are two different things. For example the GOP is number 2 in the U.S. with 41.2 million registered voters and the Democrat/Socialist (The American Socialist part disbanded in 2008, since the Democrat Party was taking all the air out of its sails.) party is the biggest with 43.5 million registered. These figures change daily as people in different states move from party to party. No question, by any measure the Libertarian party is tiny in comparison to the two major parties. As number three we still need to know.
Anyway John Stossel pulled together three of their Presidential candidates. There are about 9. He conducted a debate, with audience and all the trappings. The event size was considerably smaller, but nevertheless it was nice to see Fox cover it. His guest candidates were just three, Gary Johnson, John McAfee, and Austin Peterson. John Stossel was the sole moderator, but the responses were well done and informative. Their answers were pretty much the platform of the party. Rooster ( his pooka), Winston agreed that there was not one of the candidates who stood out as a barn storming, get out the vote type of guy, but they gave it the old college try. Let’s take a look at the major points made.
They are stanch supporters of individual rights and stanch demanders of little governmental interference with individual choices. Such things as the right to life, to speech, to action and to property. If you want to consume something you have that right limited by only injury to others. For example drugs should be the choice of the individual not the State. Religion or the lack thereof is inviolate. They demand Government transparency. The Government should be kept out of abortion. All the Bill of rights should be followed without qualification. In the world of economics, the State is limited to defending private property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework for voluntary trade. Government is prohibited from redistribution of wealth, managing trade. They support a clean and fresh environment in which they claim the Government is the worst polluter. Energy should not be subsidized. Income tax should be repealed and the IRS turned to dust, after a balanced budget amendment is passed. They want free trade and no governmental subsidies or guarantees. In the labor business arena they want freedom and no governmental interference. Probably means they support a ban on compulsory Union contracts, since they would violate individual choice. With health they want an open and free market. No Governmental run dole system for hypochondriacs. Retirement is an entirely free deal for individuals which means Social Security will be phased out and private plans encouraged. In national security, a strong military, but a freeze on foreign entanglements because we should not be an international peace force. As to immigration they have an interesting take. They are in support of free movement across borders with the Government simply providing restricted entry to those who pose a threat to security, health or property. (Pretty open) They condemn bigotry as irrational and repugnant So, on any issue they will opt for individual rights over governmental control.
In short, the fair thing to say is they believe freedom will ring the correct chord, if Government will simply get out of the way. They feel people in Government will continue to develop more power for themselves and they are opposed to this ego trip.
PROTEST: Fly the Betsy Ross flag. It is the one flag where all the States supported the Constitution. Wc: 703 Rooster Bradford gives up all rights to this article and seeks no compensation for its use. 2016

(OR: Gad Zooks, Its coming. Watch out, Watch out.)
Rooster is grateful for the few who ask his opinion on the upcoming election. For what it’s worth here it is.
The big gorilla in the mix, is the unknown number of gutless folks who will vote for freebies. Add those who really believe Socialism is the answer. Their number is at least 35 to 40 percent of all eligible to vote. Just take a look at the robots who send millions of dollars to Bernie’s socialist message. Add those voting for Hillary and you have just proved the 40 percent. If you are a democrat this is comforting for now.
This means of the available 60 % the GOP has to work like hell to get enough to win. We are not discussing political registration. We are talking people in general. Of the 60% a lot are registered Democrat, decline to say etc. They do not present a solid wall of support for the GOP.
Under todays, normal conditions any regular GOP candidate will never win with an overwhelming majority. Like Bush it will be a squeaker. In fact Obama never got an over whelming vote of confidence either, but his side is more solid that is the other. Union members, governmental employees, and folks receiving government assistance in one form or another will tend to support the status quo. The figures are all over the place, but you can rest assured they are an army of millions, and millions. How many will defect their personal interests is unknown.
Normal conditions are not what is happening today. Whether Bernie overtakes Hillary or not, the Democrats will put into play a Socialistic program. Clearly that line will be drawn for the first time ever. The word Democrat will fade. Socialist will dominate. Winston, my pooka agrees.
Within the GOP there is a great stirring in an attempt to field a winner against Socialism. It is a mix of those who see the problem and those who do not. There are only two who have the potential to be the GOP contender….. Trump and Cruz. The Rooster likes them both, but each will rule differently. Rooster believes both will follow the Constitution, but Cruz will be stronger in that support. Not by much. Trump is not a legal scholar but he knows how to listen and gather good advisors around him who are. He will do that. Cruz will be a stronger Christian, than Trump, but not by much. Cruz has the greater grass root organization, but these are not normal times. Trump will stir the caldron with a greater flourish. Cruz is not a good actor, but both are on the same stage. Cristie, who is a lot closer than most of us, identified the difference. He said Trump had a movement going and no one else did. A movement is needed to win. Deep dissatisfaction regarding our loss of liberty and freedom fuels that movement. It runs across party lines. Democrats of the old school are ready to jump ship. They will if either Hillary or Bernie fly the red flag. The fact that Trump can attract better than Cruz will be the deciding factor and it will come slowly. First the GOP will speak, and then all voters will have a say. Wisconsin was not the cure for Cruz. It was the GOP line speaking its honest mind, led by their hero Walker. No other state has that mix. Rooster has rolled the dice and it appears Trump will prevail. Personally he wants Trump, but for a simple reason. Trump took the time and investigated the fraud that Obama is. He did this during the first term. He has the evidence. This is why Joe the Sheriff endorsed him. It would please the Rooster for the winner to challenge the FBI to match and exceed what Trump and Joe already have regarding Obama’s lies and deceit. With that report he would simply have a congressman file it with Congress and make it public. That’s all. No impeachment. If it is carefully done and laid out it will shame a lot of Obama’s supporters to rethink believing what their leaders tell them. This could be the beginning of an education turn around. Next would be the elimination of the Department of Education. Trump is the better choice to do both. Of course once a president is sworn in things can change without warning. Dice are fickle you know..
PROTEST: Fly the Betsy Ross flag. It is the one flag where all the States supported the Constitution.
Wc: 748 Rooster Bradford gives up all rights to this article and seeks no compensation for its use. 2016