I am writing you a brief note to please try to support NSF, ONR, NIH, and other scientific research funding in the new economic recovery bill. I am a PhD graduate of UH and now a postdoctoral research applying for funding and research. Each of my funded research activities directly or indirectly economically benefits many people (fellow collaborators, graduate students, undergraduate students, community members involved, and research support (administrative) staff of UH and other institutions. However, funding of proposals seems to have decreased per proposal, thus limiting the economic impacts of much scientific research. I hope that it is possible to reverse these trends in part with this simulus package.

Thank you very much,
Sincerely,
Aran Mooney

My wife Paula Hualani Blackshire, Pat Jardin Cruz, Caprice Ng and Cheryl Robinson have saved homeowners in Hawaii millions of dollars in interest. With this new innovation homeowners and non homeowners can pay of their debt in a fraction of the time.

This innovative tool can be implemented in State & Federal Goverments to pay down the debt ratio and build liquid assessts.

My wife and the ladies of Oahu would love to set up a presentation for you, when you come back to Oahu. Please feel free to visit our site http://www.nomortgage808.com or call Paula at 808-220-2219.

Our Senior Branch Manager is Pastor Mike Tobey former Pastor to the St. Louis (Baseball) Cardinals. Pastor Mike is arriving back in Hawaii next year. We would love for you too meet him also. With the current crisis that we are all in. We could get the national debt down with your Supreme leadership.

Thank You Mr. Abercrombie for your time.

Respectively,

Billy D. Blackshire

(808) 457-6801

Bpblackshire@hotmail.com

Thank you for the mention and the trackback! We are looking forward to hearing about your personal experiences with social media on Saturday. I can only imagine it is just as exciting a time for politicians on the social web as it is for so many others – there is not a profession untouched by our unfettered conversations.

Aloha and mahalo,

Roxanne (Podcamp Hawaii Founder)

I hope Hawaii will receive or somehow benefit from those added “sweeteners”.

There’s nothing to indicate it will be good for the economy beyond just freeing credit between banks and the biggest creditors. They will still lend money now, at much higher rates (due to “risk”) and will still keep small business, non-perfect creditors and others representing a good chunk of Main St. under- or non-capitalized. None of the risk to them (banks) is really that alleviated.

Whiile I can see the logic behind raising the FDIC insured level to $250K (to prevent a run by the big depositors), I still don’t agree with it. If other banks fail (and it’s rather likely many will), this will exponentially increase the possible liability and thus more quickly dwindle the FDIC fund.

As for the economy in general, jobs are evaporating before everyone’s eyes and none of that is going to be abated any time soon. The true reason why the economy has tanked has been this corporate giveaway these past eight years, and really no attention to the fact that our disparities, esp. in this tough economy have become emergency-level alarming (or should be). No one notices, in media, in DC, certainly not in corporations where the windfalls are fueling record profit levels and where even though they’re running very lean on manpower, they still manage to squeeze out (due to the sword of Damocles syndrome, pressure and worker desperation) increased productivity and GDP all the while shedding over 3/4 million jobs this year. While wages stagnate for all the lower 90’s, prices escalate. This stagflation is beginning to surpass Ford’s era.

Worst of all is the fact this gives far too much power to the Treasury Secretary. I realize y’all have amended the original proposal, and attempted to put in some safeguards. Keep in mind that Bush signs things with his “signature statements” — meaning he may just remove all the restrictions Congress put in place. True, it’s only while he’s in office for now … but what happens if the next President desires to continue his exec. order? Even on the emergency spending bill, Bush was quoted as saying he “reserved the right to interpret it” as he saw fit (paraphrase).

The premise of this sub-prime mess is concoction of business and false impressions given, and expectations by starry-eyed homeowner wannabes. We should expect both would shoulder a little of the responsibility at least, but certainly the big corporations participating in this knew it was a Pyramid scheme. We’ve now shown them the morals of this lesson — that unlike individual citizens who’ve been hammered or overextended, we will allow them to make such truly comprehensive mistakes and/or scams.

If these same banks can ask for changes to bankruptcy laws, with an imperious attitude of “let them die” and expecting their newly enacted laws to be notably punitive, it is beyond hypocrisy for them to expect, much less receive anything but a “let them die” response in return, regardless.

Yes, it seems self-destructive perhaps. But where I am, hope died years ago. Since 2002, I’ve seen my situation go from a full-time job with medical, to only temporary, catch-as-catch can types for even some big corporations (I currently work for Shell Oil, training the folks in Chennai, India to assume my job and all our Finance jobs on Oct. 31 — times are tough in Big Oil, eh?) Did likewise for another large bank just last year. We are, as we’re removing our middle class, creating a two-caste country. There will be the elite business owner/upper management class, and a desperate working poor — similar to Latin American democracies such as Pinochet-era Chile. Make no mistake, when you cut out the entire discretionary spending of over 90% of the population, you will have a massive economic slowdown (recession, depression, whatever you wish to call it.) Even with Wall Street’s dodging the bullet, we in regular America will not. We’ll get hit with our bullet and theirs, and the bleeding will be intense.

Beyond just the spectre of the coming depression and challenge of finding income is this: I’m transgendered. Do you have any idea how difficult that can be in searching for work, esp. here in Bush’s back yard — Houston? Even if we get Pres. Obama elected, we still have to worry about Barney Frank and the Human Rights Campaign stripping us out of the bill. We have no voice for our community on the Hill, much less any political representation. We’re already way below the national average on income and employment levels as is. This giveaway (on top of everything else) of some of my tax responsibility to people who wouldn’t even hire, much less care for folks like myself, being taxed with no avenue to represent myself or my community’s views is beyond frustrating. I cannot adequately express the distress this causes.

Nevertheless, it’s too late now. It’s passed, and the President happily signed this in record time (that should be a signal to you that something’s not right), and what was already a bad condition is now exacerbated simply to help all the wrong people. Rep. Brad Sherman and Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s quotes were spot on the money. This will be a decision that will come to be regretted in the months and years to come.

It’s a sad day for America, and a very dark day for me personally.

I heard an economist speaking this morning at what he said made sense. Give everyone, across the board, a 5.5% interest mortgage and that would take care of the problem better then what is happening now.

Nothing in this bill takes care of anything I believe we have just lined more pockets.

Oh, and remember too much pork can cause heart attacks.

I’m thinking long and hard about not voting for you and Hirano next time around. I’ve supported you all the way through but I can’t think of any other way to say, I’m sick and tired of all of you guys.

Section 110(b)(2) of the Bill allows for Troubled Mortgages purchased by the Government to be renegotiated with better terms: Lower Interest Rates, Lower Principal Balance, and other modifications.

If I were a troubled Homeowner, I’d be PRAYING to be bought out under this program just so I can get access to the Relief Programs this Bill would create under Section 110!

Please please please, guys, read the Bill.

Section 134 ensures this costs Taxpayers $0 after 5 years. Yes, that’s up to $700 Billion we might spend within 5 years to rescue homes and get our Economy moving again, but at the end of 5 years, any shortfall in the Troubled Mortgages the Government purchased will be recouped by the Financial Institutions that sold us the Troubled Mortgages.

It costs us NOTHING in 5 years, it rescues our Economy, and it HELPS the Average Joe homeowner struggling to make payments by REDUCING the mortgage terms with better rates and reduced principal balance.

Seriously, it’s all right in the Bill: http://financialservices.house.gov/essa/ayo08c04_xml.pdf

Section 110 (Assistance to Homeowners)
Section 134 (Recoupment)

plus Section 111 (Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance) caps all those “Golden Parachute” and excessive pay schedules that most everyone is concerned about.

This is a solid bill, we should move forward with it. Trust the Wisdom of Senators Akaka and Inouye, who recently approved this very same Bill in the Senate.