Market comments and a little of politics for Memorial Day weekend.

OK, the stock market month of May ends after the close of trading on Tuesday. Yesterday the Put to Call ratio closed at the lowest level since January 13th, Friday closing at a 0.70 reading. Also the Intraday low of that day, hit 0.56 at 10:00am EST. This might be another signal that next week expect a selloff to a lower low of at or below 12,200 on the Dow, at or below 1300 on the SP 500, at or below 2700 on the Nasdaq and 800 or below for the Russell 2000. If this happens, you can count on a continued decline with lower highs and lower lows occurring as we approach the critical legislation required to increase the debt limit ceiling for our Government. This legislation must be approved no later than the first week of August.

On a side note, it is ridiculous that this debt ceiling legislation is being held hostage by Republicans because even if Democrats folded and agreed to every single debt reduction the Republicans want to make, including destroying Medicare, the debt ceiling would have to be raised.

I want to salute all those who have served in the service of our country and especially the Armed Forces and various branches of our Military. We have paid a dear price in blood and treasure for our freedoms, even while several freedoms have been restricted for the sake of fighting the "War on Terror". Even this week an extension of the Patriot Act was enacted by Congress and signed by the President. You would think with the ability to Wiretap and listen into conversations both domestic and foreign, we would have built some strong cases against those on Wall Street who have scammed the government and the American people of Trillions in tax dollars. Most in the Middle Class are struggling to survive because of the financial crisis, caused by these so called professionals. The only person in jail is Bernie Madoff. It makes me sick. But for now, enough of politics for the moment. :)

What's really at stake in the November Presidential election? The direction of the Supreme Court and whether our Constitutional rights are protected!!

Yes, history is being made this year by who we chose as our next President. Some see the historical choices between whether we choose an African-American or our oldest President. But others see this election as a battle for the essence of our way of life: for the next President will most likely appoint at least one new Supreme Court Justice and possibly 2. This will determine many issues near and dear to the hearts of all Americans. Will the Court continue its right leaning direction where the right of habeas corpus was suspended? Will the Court eliminate the rights of people to determine what choices they are allowed to make regarding end of life decisions when those individuals can't decide for themselves, as was the case with the family of Terri Schiavo? Will a woman have dominion over her own body in deciding whether or not to continue an unwanted pregnancy? Will the Executive Branch have sole discretion as to renditions of foreign citizens off the streets of cities all over the world? Will the Executive Branch be allowed to determine when it wiretaps U.S. citizens without the approval of the FISA Court?

We are stuck with the likes of Anthony Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito for many years to come, as Supreme Court Justices serve for life. The next President will determine whether our Constitution is upheld or trashed, as has been the case these past 7 plus years under President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Some decisions have been close as was the recent split decision of the Court regarding reinstating habeas corpus for detainees in Guantanamo. Sec. of Defense Robert Gates wants to shut down Guantanamo as he sees it as a stain on the reputation of the U.S. around the world. Both Barack Obama and John McCain also want to shut it down for similar reasons.

But here we have President Bush and Vice President Cheney who saw fit to bypass the law and put these prisoners there keeping them from our legal system and the scrutiny and fairness which our judicial system is known for throughout the world. They were allowed to do this by the Republican Congress and then supported defacto by the Democratic Congress, too afraid to challenge this President. The media was also complicit by not challenging this President often enough. It took regular lawyers trying to preserve the Constitution to take up the cause of these prisoners who don't really deserve it, to stand up and be willing to fight this battle, not for the prisoners but for our way of life. They believed the Constitution is important enough to fight for. Many on the right see them as unpatriotic. I see them as the most patriotic and I salute them all. We need all 3 branches of government functioning properly. We have had both the Congress and Executive Branch functioning terribly. We almost had the Judiciary branch doing the same if it were not for the 5 voting in favor of restoring habeas corpus and striking down 2 other times the Bush Administration's attempts of circumventing our Constitution.

So what is at stake in the election in November is enormous and will determine the kind of country we live in for the next generation. Get involved in this one as your life depends on it as does the very life of this blessed country. If you are not registered to vote make it a priority in your life.

Cheney Urged Wiretaps over objections of Justice Dept

This from the Washington Post today, June 7th, 2007

"Stand-In for Ashcroft Alleges Interference
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 7, 2007

Vice President Cheney told Justice Department officials that he disagreed with their objections to a secret surveillance program during a high-level White House meeting in March 2004, a former senior Justice official told senators yesterday.

The meeting came one day before White House officials tried to get approval for the same program from then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who lay recovering from surgery in a hospital, according to former deputy attorney general James B. Comey.

Comey's disclosures, made in response to written questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, indicate that Cheney and his aides were more closely involved than previously known in a fierce internal battle over the legality of the warrantless surveillance program. The program allowed the National Security Agency to monitor phone calls and e-mails between the United States and overseas.

Comey said that Cheney's office later blocked the promotion of a senior Justice Department lawyer, Patrick Philbin, because of his role in raising concerns about the surveillance.

The disclosures also provide further details about the role played by then-White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales. He visited Ashcroft in his hospital room and wrote an internal memorandum on the surveillance program shortly afterward, according to Comey's responses. Gonzales is now the attorney general. He faces possible congressional votes of no-confidence because of his handling of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

"How are you, General?" Gonzales asked Ashcroft at the hospital, according to Comey.

"Not well," replied Ashcroft, who had just undergone gallbladder surgery and was battling pancreatitis.

The new details follow Comey's gripping testimony last month about the visit by Gonzales and Andrew H. Card Jr., then President Bush's chief of staff, to Ashcroft's hospital bed on the night of March 10, 2004. The two Bush aides tried to persuade Ashcroft to renew the authorization of the NSA surveillance program, after Comey and other Justice Department officials had said they would not certify the legality of the effort, according to the testimony and other officials.

Ashcroft refused, noting that Comey had been designated as acting attorney general during his illness.

The episode prompted sharp criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, who questioned whether Gonzales and Card were attempting to take advantage of a sick man to get around legal objections from government lawyers. It is unclear who directed the two Bush aides to make the visit.

Democrats said yesterday that the new details from Comey raise further questions about the role of Cheney and other White House officials in the episode.

"Mr. Comey has confirmed what we suspected for a while -- that White House hands guided Justice Department business," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). "The vice president's fingerprints are all over the effort to strong-arm Justice on the NSA program, and the obvious next question is: Exactly what role did the president play?" To read the rest of the article click on the words, "Washington Post", at the top of this article.

VP Dick Cheney, or Darth Vada as he is usually called by his friends, has been the power behind the throne in so many ways for this Administration, which now becomes more clear with every day. He was the one pushing the claim of a Nuclear threat by Saddam Hussein, the leaking of Valerie Plame's name for which Scooter Libbey, the fall guy and Cheney's close friend and aid, received a 2 1/2 year sentence this week for a crime of perjury in the Patrick Fitzgerald, Special Prosecuter, investigation. And now the revelation that he was behind this story and pushing the illegal Wiretaps against Justice Dept. objections.

Cheney should have been fired in 2004 by President Bush, who has not been served well by this VP. But it's not too late Mr. President to save your legacy and get rid of Cheney. Think about all the positive effect this would have with the Republican party. We could blame Cheney for almost everything wrong in the past 6 plus years and give you a fresh start with the Country.