ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
PhilippinesFiance Waiver
If your talking about VWP ( Visa Waiver Program), the Philippines is not included.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-03 22:28:00
PhilippinesIntroducing New Members
welcome to VJ and the Philippine forum...
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-03 01:23:00
PhilippinesWhat happen to the PHIL forum?????
QUOTE (SenoritaTeresita @ Nov 3 2008, 07:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sunandmoon @ Nov 3 2008, 10:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Robert E Lee @ Nov 3 2008, 04:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Eros_the_Plumber @ Nov 2 2008, 07:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I am just wondering what happen to this forum, it was so full of life and vibrant few months ago when I joined. kicking.gif


Now what happen? unsure.gif

Did everyone got their VISA and we are the only ones left behind..... blush.gif


Please we need some OXYGEN in the room....anything to cheer us up a little.... jest.gif


Nice wimpy car you've got there, Bubba. Now, let's put a little zest to the PI forum - how about racing your wimpy car against my General Lee! I'll give you a 2 minute headstart and we'll go 20 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway. Whoever wins gets the free pass on Beale Street. good.gif good.gif good.gif


this guy might give you a run for the money. maybe not for 20 laps, possibly a 1/4 mile....




Was that you, Roy? Wow! You run fast, don't you?


any few years back, but I've lost a step or two. tongue.gif laughing.gif it made hunting more of a sport when not using a weapon.... laughing.gif
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-03 22:39:00
PhilippinesWhat happen to the PHIL forum?????
QUOTE (Robert E Lee @ Nov 3 2008, 04:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Eros_the_Plumber @ Nov 2 2008, 07:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I am just wondering what happen to this forum, it was so full of life and vibrant few months ago when I joined. kicking.gif


Now what happen? unsure.gif

Did everyone got their VISA and we are the only ones left behind..... blush.gif


Please we need some OXYGEN in the room....anything to cheer us up a little.... jest.gif


Nice wimpy car you've got there, Bubba. Now, let's put a little zest to the PI forum - how about racing your wimpy car against my General Lee! I'll give you a 2 minute headstart and we'll go 20 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway. Whoever wins gets the free pass on Beale Street. good.gif good.gif good.gif


this guy might give you a run for the money. maybe not for 20 laps, possibly a 1/4 mile....


sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-03 22:23:00
PhilippinesWhat happen to the PHIL forum?????
QUOTE (Eros_the_Plumber @ Nov 2 2008, 04:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I am just wondering what happen to this forum, it was so full of life and vibrant few months ago when I joined. kicking.gif


Now what happen? unsure.gif

Did everyone got their VISA and we are the only ones left behind..... blush.gif


Please we need some OXYGEN in the room....anything to cheer us up a little.... jest.gif


now open...


sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-02 19:38:00
PhilippinesGas Prices in PI vs US
Cheapest I've seen where I am in SF Bay Area is $2.41at a Costco. the avg is about $2.85
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-02 15:38:00
PhilippinesHow did we met our partner?
not so colorful. but here goes. A few years back I went to the Philippines to met the cousin of a friend of one of my friends here in the US. Things did not work out, but I kept in touch with the people I met during my visit. back in 04, the cousin of the lady I had gone to met, gave my cell number to one of her friends to text me a birthday greeting. perhaps she thought it would make her cousin jealous if I was communicating with the friend of her cousin. that person did not have enough load to send a text to USA. later she asked a friend of her's, my wife, if she could borrow some load. my wife told her no, too expensive. later in the day my wife had a change of heart, but asked her friend if she could have the number and she would send me the text. we exchanged a few texts, after a couple of days I called her, the rest is history....
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-08-25 17:01:00
PhilippinesObama's Acceptance Speech as the 44th President of U.S.A.
To those who think negatively of Obama and things go as you think they will, in two years there will be the opportunity to vote the Democrats out of control of the House.
This is what makes America so great. That someone can be elected President regardless of race and we all can voice our opinions.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-05 18:41:00
PhilippinesObama's Acceptance Speech as the 44th President of U.S.A.
The man hasn't been in office yet for one day. can we at least show the same class as Mc Cain...

Text of McCain's concession speech
By The Associated Press – 16 hours ago

Text of Republican John McCain's concession speech Tuesday in Phoenix, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions.

___

MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have — we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him.

(BOOING)

Please.

To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

Let there be no reason now ... Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans ... I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

We fought — we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours.

AUDIENCE: No!

MCCAIN: I am so...

AUDIENCE: (CHANTING)

MCCAIN: I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We do, too (OFF-MIKE)

MCCAIN: The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I'm especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother ... my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.

I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign.

All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also — I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen ... one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength ... her husband Todd and their five beautiful children ... for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don't know — I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

(BOOING)

Please. Please.

I would not — I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century.

Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

AUDIENCE: USA. USA. USA. USA.

MCCAIN: Tonight — tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama — whether they supported me or Senator Obama.

I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender.

We never hide from history. We make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-05 18:04:00
Philippineschecklist for AOS
QUOTE (KC?MP @ May 19 2008, 08:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Roy and Yazi @ May 20 2008, 11:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
copy of NOA2 from the 129f petition

Isn't the copy of Form I-797C Notice of Action (Approval Notice) is also the NOA 2 from the I-129f?

sorry, my bad blush.gif i I guess I've become used to using abbreviations during the process.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-05-19 22:32:00
Philippineschecklist for AOS
copy of NOA2 from the 129f petition
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-05-19 22:17:00
PhilippinesDS-156 and Document Verification fees
I agree with the others. best to have her redo the DS-156 online. the information entered on the DS-156 is encoded in the bar code.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-08 00:46:00
PhilippinesBringing X-ray from St. Lukes on my interview?
QUOTE (mahalako @ Nov 7 2008, 03:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Roy and Yazi @ Mar 11 2008, 07:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
no need to bring your x ray to the interview.

hi there i see that your fiance have a child i just want to know please if the child have to go to the interview and take the medical and did was the k2 visa granted at the same time when you had the interview or just what did you do so your child will go with you to the us at the same time my fiancee have a child too and i just want to know what to do thanks.


if mother and child want to come to the USA together, then they both would be taking medicals and attending the interview at the same time.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-07 22:59:00
PhilippinesBringing X-ray from St. Lukes on my interview?
no need to bring your x ray to the interview.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-03-11 18:46:00
Philippinesremeaning days in pinas is being deffecult!!!!!!
There has been alot of good advise and sentiments expressed in this thread. good.gif leaving home is bound to be an emotional time, especially when leaving for somewhere so far from home. the tears and sadness will be overcome by the happiness your family feels for you. your mom's love and your family's love will follow you whenever you go in this world. in our case, I know it was especially hard for my wife's mom to part with her granddaughter, who was the first born grandchild. any sadness she felt was overcome by her happiness that her granddaughter would have a dad.

Danny, I hope Ruchie is holding up ok.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-09 18:54:00
Philippinesasking about flight POE SFO
here's a photo of immigration at SFO

http://www.flysfo.co...ior/112k8c1.jpg
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-09 19:17:00
Philippinesasking about flight POE SFO
QUOTE (natassja_keisha @ Nov 9 2008, 04:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Sis baggage cart is free. Is your son "makulit"? Arrived SFO last sunday, last to be interviewed in immigration and last to pick-up my 4 balikbayan boxes. No hassle its just my son so makulit. Have a nice trip,bevs.


yap good.gif baggage carts are free for arriving international passengers at SFO. my wife's POE was SFO. as I recall it was hassle free.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-09 19:11:00
PhilippinesAttention: Filipino who are here in California
QUOTE (yankee @ Nov 7 2008, 09:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sunlyk @ Nov 7 2008, 11:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
As I read some threads like the whereabouts of Filipino here in US and groups in a certain states. I was thinking it would be nice and easy for Filipino if they are closeby an make them as a contact, who knows someday we can set up a gathering and the fact that we feel good if we know a friend/s who live closeby.

I'm from Belmont, California 40 mins from San Francisco. Please feel free to add me as a friend here and we can PM for complete details like address or phone number.


I am from Texas but will be in Anaheim, Cali this Nov. 11-17, I am interested to meet anybody nearby and looking forward to start a new friendship. please feel free to pm and we can exchange contact details..thanks..


I'm sure there are several pinays from VJ who are in the LA Region. wonder who many in the SF Bay Area?
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-07 13:12:00
PhilippinesAttention: Filipino who are here in California
QUOTE (sonomacountygal @ Nov 7 2008, 09:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sunlyk @ Nov 7 2008, 09:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
As I read some threads like the whereabouts of Filipino here in US and groups in a certain states. I was thinking it would be nice and easy for Filipino if they are closeby an make them as a contact, who knows someday we can set up a gathering and the fact that we feel good if we know a friend/s who live closeby.

I'm from Belmont, California 40 mins from San Francisco. Please feel free to add me as a friend here and we can PM for complete details like address or phone number.


Hi! We live in the Northbay area. I am from Forestville, CA in Sonoma County. Nearest cities are Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Petaluma. San Francisco is a good 70 miles away or one and a half drive from Forestville. -- Marie


just as a point or reference, Belmont is about 25 miles south of SF on the Peninsula.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-07 12:31:00
PhilippinesAttention: Filipino who are here in California
We're in the SF Bay Area. I'm familar with Belmont. I grew up there. how do you like it so far? have a happy life in the USA.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-07 12:24:00
PhilippinesAlready here in Fremont, CA. yey!
welcome to the SF Bay Area. I'm familar with Fremont. There's a Goldilocks not too far from you in Newark. have a happy life here in the USA.

Edited by sunandmoon, 07 November 2008 - 12:26 PM.

sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-07 12:22:00
PhilippinesInterview Passed!!!!!!!!!
Congrats good.gif
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-12 21:38:00
PhilippinesIF YOU COULD NAME YOUR CHILD .....
QUOTE (AJAnTESS @ Nov 13 2008, 06:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (pepe N pilar @ Nov 12 2008, 11:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (AJAnTESS @ Nov 12 2008, 09:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My son - Jose Manuel, after baseballer Canseco & pugilist Pacquiao.
My daughter - Maria Lorena, after racketeer Sharapova & birdie girl Ochoa.


You want to name your son after Jose Canseco inspite of what they say about his use of steroids?


The alleged use of steroids is just hearsay until somebody proves it. Same goes with the other guys, A-Rod, Palmeiro, McGuire, Tejada, etc.

I used to follow Canseco during his glory days with the A's, along with McGuire and Eckersley. During that time, I lived in Union City, Calif. which was just a short drive down the Nimitz Freeway from the Alameda County Coliseum.


Canseco has admitted to using steroids.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-13 21:19:00
PhilippinesVaccination Requirments
QUOTE (GreatWhiteNorth @ Nov 15 2008, 04:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sunandmoon @ Nov 15 2008, 06:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Vaccination Requirements

United States immigration law requires immigrant visa applicants to obtain certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of an immigrant visa. Panel physicians who conduct medical examinations of immigrant visa applicants are required to verify that immigrant visa applicants have met the vaccination requirements. See IV Vaccination Requirements for the list of required vaccinations and additional information.

As a fiancé(e), you are not required to fulfill this requirement at the time of your medical examination for a fiancé(e) visa. However, you may want to do so. These vaccinations are required when you adjust status following your marriage.

http://travel.state....tml#Vaccination


Ok, I now understand that they are required before a Change of Status. Last question is: Is the CoS required within the 90 day window?

Thanks,

GWN


It's not required to AOS before the I-94 expires ( 90 days), but it's best to do so as soon as possible.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-15 19:37:00
PhilippinesVaccination Requirments
Vaccination Requirements

United States immigration law requires immigrant visa applicants to obtain certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of an immigrant visa. Panel physicians who conduct medical examinations of immigrant visa applicants are required to verify that immigrant visa applicants have met the vaccination requirements. See IV Vaccination Requirements for the list of required vaccinations and additional information.

As a fiancé(e), you are not required to fulfill this requirement at the time of your medical examination for a fiancé(e) visa. However, you may want to do so. These vaccinations are required when you adjust status following your marriage.

http://travel.state....tml#Vaccination
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-15 19:06:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (Alan and Noemi @ Nov 15 2008, 06:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Gay marriage: I don't personally like it. I don't personally want my children exposed to it at a young age. I also don't have the right to tell others that they cannot. Separation of church and state! This is between the two parties and God, or whatever deity they believe in. Open your mind... and think. In a government that has separation of church and state... why is the government in the marriage business at all? Why does the government tell you who you can marry? The sex you can marry? How many you can marry? It is not something that should even be part of government in a free society. As long as they are not hurting or interfering with others, people should be allowed to do what they want without government interfering.


maybe if the term marriage is taken out of the mix, this could become a less emotional issue. maybe the focus should be calling it a civil union, domestic partnership, where a gay couple would have the same rights as a husband and wife.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-15 22:31:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
Who Caused the Economic Crisis?
October 1, 2008
MoveOn.org blames McCain advisers. He blames Obama and Democrats in Congress. Both are wrong.
Summary
A MoveOn.org Political Action ad plays the partisan blame game with the economic crisis, charging that John McCain’s friend and former economic adviser Phil Gramm “stripped safeguards that would have protected us.” The claim is bogus. Gramm’s legislation had broad bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Clinton. Moreover, the bill had nothing to do with causing the crisis, and economists – not to mention President Clinton – praise it for having softened the crisis.

A McCain-Palin ad, in turn, blames Democrats for the mess. The ad says that the crisis “didn’t have to happen,” because legislation McCain cosponsored would have tightened regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But, the ad says, Obama "was notably silent" while Democrats killed the bill. That’s oversimplified. Republicans, who controlled the Senate at the time, did not bring the bill forward for a vote. And it’s unclear how much the legislation would have helped, as McCain signed on just two months before the housing bubble popped.

In fact, there’s ample blame to go around. Experts have cited everyone from home buyers to Wall Street, mortgage brokers to Alan Greenspan.
Analysis
As Congress wrestled with a $700 billion rescue for Wall Street's financial crisis, partisans on both sides got busy – pointing fingers. MoveOn.org Political Action on Sept. 25 released a 60-second TV ad called "My Friends’ Mess," blaming Sen. John McCain and Republican allies who supported banking deregulation. The McCain-Palin campaign released its own 30-second TV spot Sept. 30, saying "Obama was notably silent" while Democrats blocked reforms leaving taxpayers "on the hook for billions." Both ads were to run nationally.


Blame the Republicans!


The MoveOn.org Political Action ad blames a banking deregulation bill sponsored by former Sen. Phil Gramm, a friend and one-time adviser to McCain's campaign. It claims the bill "stripped safeguards that would have protected us."

That claim is bunk. When we contacted MoveOn.org spokesman Trevor Fitzgibbons to ask just what "safeguards" the ad was talking about, he came up with not one single example. The only support offered for the ad's claim is one line in one newspaper article that reported the bill "is now being blamed" for the crisis, without saying who is doing the blaming or on what grounds.

The bill in question is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which was passed in 1999 and repealed portions of the Glass-Steagall Act, a piece of legislation from the era of the Great Depression that imposed a number of regulations on financial institutions. It's true that Gramm authored the act, but what became law was a widely accepted bipartisan compromise. The measure passed the House 362 - 57, with 155 Democrats voting for the bill. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 90 - 8. Among the Democrats voting for the bill: Obama's running mate, Joe Biden. The bill was signed into law by President Clinton, a Democrat. If this bill really had "stripped the safeguards that would have protected us," then both parties share the blame, not just "John McCain's friend."

The truth is, however, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act had little if anything to do with the current crisis. In fact, economists on both sides of the political spectrum have suggested that the act has probably made the crisis less severe than it might otherwise have been.

Last year the liberal writer Robert Kuttner, in a piece in The American Prospect, argued that "this old-fashioned panic is a child of deregulation." But even he didn't lay the blame primarily on Gramm-Leach-Bliley. Instead, he described "serial bouts of financial deregulation" going back to the 1970s. And he laid blame on policies of the Federal Reserve Board under Alan Greenspan, saying "the Fed has become the chief enabler of a dangerously speculative economy."

What Gramm-Leach-Bliley did was to allow commercial banks to get into investment banking. Commercial banks are the type that accept deposits and make loans such as mortgages; investment banks accept money for investment into stocks and commodities. In 1998, regulators had allowed Citicorp, a commercial bank, to acquire Traveler's Group, an insurance company that was partly involved in investment banking, to form Citigroup. That was seen as a signal that Glass-Steagall was a dead letter as a practical matter, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley made its repeal formal. But it had little to do with mortgages.

Actually, deregulated banks were not the major culprits in the current debacle. Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase have weathered the financial crisis in reasonably good shape, while Bear Stearns collapsed and Lehman Brothers has entered bankruptcy, to name but two of the investment banks which had remained independent despite the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

Observers as diverse as former Clinton Treasury official and current Berkeley economist Brad DeLong and George Mason University's Tyler Cowen, a libertarian, have praised Gramm-Leach-Bliley has having softened the crisis. The deregulation allowed Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase to acquire Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. And Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have now converted themselves into unified banks to better ride out the storm. That idea is also endorsed by former President Clinton himself, who, in an interview with Maria Bartiromo published in the Sept. 24 issue of Business Week, said he had no regrets about signing the repeal of Glass-Steagall:

Bill Clinton (Sept. 24): Indeed, one of the things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as it has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which was much smoother than it would have been if I hadn't signed that bill. ...You know, Phil Gramm and I disagreed on a lot of things, but he can't possibly be wrong about everything. On the Glass-Steagall thing, like I said, if you could demonstrate to me that it was a mistake, I'd be glad to look at the evidence. But I can't blame [the Republicans]. This wasn't something they forced me into.

No, Blame the Democrats!



It's true that key Democrats opposed the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, which would have established a single, independent regulatory body with jurisdiction over Fannie and Freddie – a move that the Government Accountability Office had recommended in a 2004 report. Current House Banking Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts opposed legislation to reorganize oversight in 2000 (when Clinton was still president), 2003 and 2004, saying of the 2000 legislation that concern about Fannie and Freddie was "overblown." Just last summer, Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd called a Bush proposal for an independent agency to regulate the two entities "ill-advised."

But saying that Democrats killed the 2005 bill "while Mr. Obama was notably silent" oversimplifies things considerably. The bill made it out of committee in the Senate but was never brought up for consideration. At that time, Republicans had a majority in the Senate and controlled the agenda. Democrats never got the chance to vote against it or to mount a filibuster to block it.

By the time McCain signed on to the legislation, it was too late to prevent the crisis anyway. McCain added his name on May 25, 2006, when the housing bubble had already nearly peaked. Standard & Poor's Case-Schiller Home Price Index, which measures residential housing prices in 20 metropolitan regions and then constructs a composite index for the entire United States, shows that housing prices began falling in July 2006, barely two months later.


The Real Deal


So who is to blame? There's plenty of blame to go around, and it doesn't fasten only on one party or even mainly on what Washington did or didn't do. As The Economist magazine noted recently, the problem is one of "layered irresponsibility ... with hard-working homeowners and billionaire villains each playing a role." Here's a partial list of those alleged to be at fault:

The Federal Reserve, which slashed interest rates after the dot-com bubble burst, making credit cheap.


Home buyers, who took advantage of easy credit to bid up the prices of homes excessively.


Congress, which continues to support a mortgage tax deduction that gives consumers a tax incentive to buy more expensive houses.


Real estate agents, most of whom work for the sellers rather than the buyers and who earned higher commissions from selling more expensive homes.


The Clinton administration, which pushed for less stringent credit and downpayment requirements for working- and middle-class families.


Mortgage brokers, who offered less-credit-worthy home buyers subprime, adjustable rate loans with low initial payments, but exploding interest rates.


Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who in 2004, near the peak of the housing bubble, encouraged Americans to take out adjustable rate mortgages.


Wall Street firms, who paid too little attention to the quality of the risky loans that they bundled into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), and issued bonds using those securities as collateral.


The Bush administration, which failed to provide needed government oversight of the increasingly dicey mortgage-backed securities market.


An obscure accounting rule called mark-to-market, which can have the paradoxical result of making assets be worth less on paper than they are in reality during times of panic.


Collective delusion, or a belief on the part of all parties that home prices would keep rising forever, no matter how high or how fast they had already gone up.

The U.S. economy is enormously complicated. Screwing it up takes a great deal of cooperation. Claiming that a single piece of legislation was responsible for (or could have averted) the crisis is just political grandstanding. We have no advice to offer on how best to solve the financial crisis. But these sorts of partisan caricatures can only make the task more difficult.

–by Joe Miller and Brooks Jackson

http://www.factcheck...mic_crisis.html
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-15 18:16:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (nowhereman @ Nov 14 2008, 07:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (TomMyra @ Nov 13 2008, 10:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hey I lived in a socialist country for 7 years. We were very poor there. Socialism is a complete failure where it is tried.

It is much much better to be poor in the US, I know from personal experience.

The problem with the left is that they know so much that is not. Government elites will dictate and run your life. America is special because of opportunity not trying to be socailist like the rest of the world. For the Obama lovers there are other socialist countries to move to and see the failure.

There is nothing new with Obama. In four years we will all be crying, just remember Jimmy Carter.

A retarded hamster could do a better job than Bush... the right will give someone like Bush a pass yet throw all sorts of mud against the wall when a Democrat is involved. You want to know why you lost? Look in the mirror.


you seem to be hung up on the use of retard... be a good Democrat, be P.C. should be " a hampster with special needs"
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-15 18:06:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (nowhereman @ Nov 12 2008, 06:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sunandmoon @ Nov 11 2008, 07:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (nowhereman @ Nov 10 2008, 07:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sunandmoon @ Nov 10 2008, 08:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (nowhereman @ Nov 10 2008, 04:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I love how the right wingers said nothing while the Bush administration wrecked this country over the past 8 years, but there are numerous Obama hating threads & the guy isn't even in office yet. You tards are your own worst enemy... spew hate and ignorance, spread half-truths, rhetoric and lies, take responsibility for absolutely nothing & blame the democrats for everything.
wow.gif


and vice versa...

Thats total BS... count the Bush hating threads & count the Obama hating threads... not even remotely close. Whats worse is that Bush DID screw things up & Obama isn't even in office yet. Ridiculous to say its the same.


pardon, but I was just making the point it happens on both sides. to me, a prerequisite to being a Politician is to be full of BS, speak half truths and blame the other side. name calling also goes on from both sides. you clearly proved that... whistling.gif

You are clueless... your reply "proves" that. If both sides were equally guilty I would agree with you, but it's not even close. no0pb.gif


OK. whistling.gif about Politicans, I was just making a sarcastic comment. I wasn't assigning XX % of blame to one side and XX % blame to the other. wink.gif
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-12 16:32:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (nowhereman @ Nov 10 2008, 07:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sunandmoon @ Nov 10 2008, 08:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (nowhereman @ Nov 10 2008, 04:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I love how the right wingers said nothing while the Bush administration wrecked this country over the past 8 years, but there are numerous Obama hating threads & the guy isn't even in office yet. You tards are your own worst enemy... spew hate and ignorance, spread half-truths, rhetoric and lies, take responsibility for absolutely nothing & blame the democrats for everything.
wow.gif


and vice versa...

Thats total BS... count the Bush hating threads & count the Obama hating threads... not even remotely close. Whats worse is that Bush DID screw things up & Obama isn't even in office yet. Ridiculous to say its the same.


pardon, but I was just making the point it happens on both sides. to me, a prerequisite to being a Politician is to be full of BS, speak half truths and blame the other side. name calling also goes on from both sides. you clearly proved that... whistling.gif
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-11 18:24:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (nowhereman @ Nov 10 2008, 04:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I love how the right wingers said nothing while the Bush administration wrecked this country over the past 8 years, but there are numerous Obama hating threads & the guy isn't even in office yet. You tards are your own worst enemy... spew hate and ignorance, spread half-truths, rhetoric and lies, take responsibility for absolutely nothing & blame the democrats for everything.
wow.gif


and vice versa...
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-10 19:49:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (charles! @ Nov 7 2008, 08:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
eb0dfafc.gif


charles, need some butter for that popcorn...


sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-08 00:02:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (steve_maria @ Nov 5 2008, 03:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (lokashadow04 @ Nov 5 2008, 04:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
"Im sad abt the result but have to move on and wait and see wat will be happen within 4 yrs...!!!"


Goodluck to all of us!!!!


If u don't like obama thier is one thing u can do..why u don't move out to other place where u like the president..you are too judgemental..and don't compare yourself to obama coz obama is too far ahead from you...


huh.gif I'm guessing this is not the person you intended to quote...
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-05 19:10:00
PhilippinesObama won????!!!
QUOTE (AJAnTESS @ Nov 5 2008, 02:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My friends, we are in deep trouble because word just came out from the Obama headquarters that the new Cabinet has been formed as follows:



DEFENSE - Mike Tyson - He will bite the ears off the leader of any foreign country that disrespects the free world.

TREASURY - Wesley Snipes - He subscribes to the idea that filing a false income tax return can not help in solving the deficit.

AGRICULTURE - Madonna - She says that cotton is the best material, girl.

INTERIOR- Britney Spears - She thinks that the Department has something to do with not wearing panties.

ENERGY - Barry Bonds - He believes that only HGH or steroids can bolster someone’s energy and physical strength.


rofl.gif
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-05 18:20:00
Philippinesinterview and medical exam
QUOTE (chizkeyk @ Nov 15 2008, 05:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Congratulations... You will receive a packet or you can call St. Lukes and tell them that you want to pick-up that "packet". It contain all the information and instruction you need.


Actually now, I think you download it from the website. can use the link provided by AJAnTESS.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-15 20:31:00
Philippinestourist visa to the Philippines
QUOTE (Corbin @ Nov 15 2008, 10:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
So all I need is my passport to get into the country?


yap good.gif
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-16 01:45:00
Philippinestourist visa to the Philippines
you can visit up to 21 days witout a visa.
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-16 01:36:00
Philippinesi 134 questions
QUOTE (narzel @ Nov 17 2008, 04:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
U am resending my i 134 to my fiance we fortunately caught an error and need to correct her daughters last name of course this spurs a moment of panic did i get everything else right
my questions are as follows

1. is it ok to put n/a in blanks that arent applicable like citizenship questions that do not pertain
Leave blank if native born citizen

and also on the stocks and bonds section i have a 401a program but cant touch it and was told i need not put it in if i did not intend to use it for verification of income i also put n/a on the question i have on deposit in savings_____ since i have no savings account only checking

If you have sufficient income, no need to use assets.

2.also will my fiance need to bring i 134 to the biometrics???

there is no biometrics appt. when applying for visa. the separate Biometrics appt is when you AOS. you bring the I-134 to the visa interview. fingerprint scanning ( Biometrics) will be done at the interview.

sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-17 19:56:00
PhilippinesInterview's done we got pink slip
Congrats good.gif
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-09-28 14:01:00
Philippinesk-2 question
QUOTE (narzel @ Nov 18 2008, 04:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
my fiance would like to know i think it is on the 156k for her daughter where it ask if anyone other than her has prepared the form does her daughter need to sign that or does my fiance sign as the other preparer?


the DS-156k is NOT required for the K-2 applicant. only the K-1, your fiance, submits an DS-156k. been there done it...

k-1 visa application instructions.

http://manila.usemba...ov/wwwfk1en.pdf
sunandmoonMalePhilippines2008-11-18 20:29:00