Man Behind Run Away Toyota Prius Has Questionable Past

The man who became the face of the Toyota gas pedal scandal this week has a troubled financial past that is leading some to question whether he was wholly truthful in his story.

On Monday, James Sikes called 911 to report that he was behind the wheel of an out-of-control Toyota Prius going 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego. Twenty-three minutes later, a California Highway Patrol officer helped guide him to a stop, a rescue that was captured on videotape.

Since then, it's been learned that:

— Sikes filed for bankruptcy in San Diego in 2008. According to documents, he was more than $700,000 in debt and roughly five months behind in payments on his Prius;

— In 2001, Sikes filed a police report with the Merced County Sheriff's Department for $58,000 in stolen property, including jewelry, a digital video camera and equipment and $24,000 in cash;

— Sikes has hired a law firm, though it has indicated he has no plans to sue Toyota;

— Sikes won $55,000 on television's "The Big Spin" in 2006, Fox40.com reports, and the real estate agent has boasted of celebrity clients such as Constance Ramos of "Extreme Home Makeover."

While authorities say they don't doubt Sikes' account, several bloggers and a man who bought a home from Sikes in 2007 question whether the 61-year-old entrepreneur may have concocted the incident for publicity or for monetary gain. - FOX News Story

Health Care Bill Not So Healthy for Middle Class Taxes

A nonpartisan study is casting new doubt on President Obama's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.

The Senate health care bill crucial to saving President Obama's signature domestic initiative will hit the wallets of a quarter of all Americans making less than $200,000 per year, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee that assessed the way the bill would hit taxpayers directly through new taxes and fees and indirectly through taxes levied on health care providers and passed on to consumers.

The committee also determined that the bill would subsidized insurance premiums for 7 percent of taxpayers -- about 13 million people -- while some 73 million people would face higher costs from the new fees and taxes.

The potential tax increases in the bill could pose significant problems for the president as he makes his final push for health care reform because he promised to protect middle-class Americans from any tax hikes. Republicans already are pouncing on the committee's analysis.

"For every family that gets some benefit from this program, in other words, a premium subsidy, three families are going to get a tax increase and those three families obviously include the bulk of people you'd call middle class America," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox News.

Democratic leaders are scrambling to gather enough votes to pass the bill in the House later this month so that changes House members want can be added in the Senate through reconciliation, an unusual tactic that allows a simple majority in the Senate to counteract a filibuster by the minority. The steps are part of Obama's final push to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill.

The analysis comes as the Congressional Budget Office updated its cost tally of the Senate bill, estimating that the last-minute changes made to the bill before it was passed Christmas Eve upped the price to $875 billion, from $871 billion. The CBO also estimates that the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $118 billion over a 10 year period, revised down from $132 billion.

But the projection could be undermined by future spending needed to administer parts of the bill, including up to $10 billion for the IRS, up to $20 billion for Health and Human Services and up to $50 billion for "grant programs and other provisions."

The new analysis highlighting the tax burdens of the Senate bill could undercut the president's push. - FOX News Story

Foreclosure Rate to Increase Dramatically

The housing market is facing swelling ranks of homeowners who are seriously delinquent but have yet to lose their homes, and this is threatening a new wave of foreclosures that could hit just as the real estate market has begun to stabilize.

About 5 million to 7 million properties are potentially eligible for foreclosure but have not yet been repossessed and put up for sale. Some economists project it could take nearly three years before all these homes have been put on the market and purchased by new owners. And the number of pending foreclosures could grow much bigger over the coming year as more distressed borrowers become delinquent and then, if they can't obtain mortgage relief, wade through the foreclosure process, which often takes more than a year to complete.

As these foreclosed properties add to the supply of homes for sale, they could undercut housing prices, which have increased modestly through December, according to the most recent figures in the S&P/Case-Shiller home prices index. That rise partly reflected a slowdown in the flow of foreclosed homes onto the market.

The rate at which J.P. Morgan Chase seized properties, for example, peaked in the middle of 2008 and fell steadily last year, according to a February investor report. But the bank expects repossessions to increase this year, nearly doubling to 45,000 by the fourth quarter.

"Some of the positive housing data may not be signaling a true turning point, as many servicers are holding back on foreclosures and the related houses are not yet being offered for sale," said Diane Westerback, a managing director at Standard & Poor's. Westerback said it could take 33 months to clear the backlog. - CBS News Story

GMAC Bailout Costing Billions to Taxpayers

A bailout watchdog warned Thursday that the three infusions of federal for troubled lender GMAC could end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

In a new report, the Congressional Oversight Panel said it is "deeply concerned" that the Treasury Department has not insisted that GMAC "lay out a clear path to viability or a strategy for fully repaying taxpayers."

To date the government has dished out $17.2 billion for GMAC, giving taxpayers a 56 percent stake in the credit arm of General Motors. The latest infusion of federal funds for GMAC came in late December, shortly before the lender announced a fourth-quarter loss of $5 billion.

While the watchdog acknowledged that the government bailout of GMAC "played a major role in supporting the domestic automotive industry," the Panel cautioned that the bailout "came at great public expense" and may also have obstructed "the growth of a more competitive lending market." - ABC News Story

Pelosi Legacy - BS

New cuss word......

Years ago when I sometimes used unsavory language, I often used the expression "Bull S***." As I grew up a bit and discovered it was not necessary to use such crude language, that expression became "BS." What did I really mean when I used those expressions? I meant that something was ridiculous, or idiotic or a half truth or just stupid. It covered any number of negative formats. The dictionary defines it as: nonsense; especially: foolish insolent talk... I have decided that I no longer will use either of those expressions in the future. When I have a need to express such feelings, I will use the word "Pelosi." Let me use it in a sentence. "That's just a bunch of Pelosi.." I encourage you to do the same. It is such a nasty sounding word, it really packs a punch, we are no longer being vulgar, and it clearly expresses our feelings. If enough of us use it, perhaps the word could be entered into the dictionary. When on a ranch watch your step and don't step in Pelosi. It will get on the bottom of your boot and won't go away until next election. What a fitting and descriptive legacy for the Speaker of the House! Pass it on to at least 10,000,000 people. Do not break this chain or you will get more Pelosi than you can shake a bull at. P.S. Betcha when this new word reaches D.C., the PELOSI WILL HIT THE FAN! This is an email that I got......Gotta Love it!!!!

More Closed Door Out of the Public Meetings on Health Care

Democratic lawmakers say they are close to a final deal on a health care bill, but serious questions remain as to whether the final legislation can be passed by President Obama's deadline of March 18, when he departs for Indonesia and Australia.

The president was on the road this week selling his health care proposal in Glendale, Pa., on Tuesday and St. Charles, Mo., on Wednesday.

House and Senate Democrats continue to negotiate intensely on writing a compromise bill, the drafting of which in committee could happen as soon as Friday. But some Democrats are pushing back hard on the president's deadline, even as White House officials insist that imposing a deadline is the only way to get Congress to act. The Congressional Budget Office is also slated to release its cost assessment of the White House health care bill any day, which could alter the dynamics.

Late Wednesday night, Democrats emerged from a closed door meeting and said they were close to an agreement on a compromise bill that could pass both the House and the Senate. - ABC News Story

Republicans Polling Good in Illinois Governors Race

Illinois Republicans finally have a gubernatorial candidate, and for now at least he holds a 10-point lead over incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds State Senator Bill Brady leading Quinn 47% to 37%. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

The survey follows last week's announcement by the state elections board that Brady was the winner of the February 2 Republican Primary. He won by just 193 votes out of 750,000 that were cast.

Quinn, who is running for his first full-term after assuming office following Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, also ran a very close primary race with state Comptroller Dan Hynes for the Democratic nomination. Just before the primary vote, a poll found Quinn trailing Hynes 43% to 37%. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Pushing Health Care - Polling Numbers Plummet

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 22% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President (see trends).

Forty-two percent (42%) of Democrats Strongly Approve while 72% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major political party, 17% Strongly Approve and 45% Strongly Disapprove.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe that passage of the proposed health care legislation will hurt the economy. Just 25% believe it will help. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Judge Pick Under Intense Scrutiny

The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed the hearing for a controversial Court of Appeals nominee after the panel received a letter from a home-state prosecutor blasting the candidate as a judicial loose cannon and after Republicans raised concerns about bias in favor of sex offenders.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny gained notoriety in 2005 for his role in trying to fight the execution of convicted serial killer and rapist Michael Ross, also known as The Roadside Strangler, whom Chatigny had described as a victim of his own "sexual sadism."

His conduct in that case, which included threatening to go after Ross' attorney's law license, as well as his ruling in 2001 against sex offender registries created under Megan's Law, has caused a commotion among Republicans on the judiciary panel.

"I've never seen conduct like this," said a Republican source. "I'm shocked that the White House vetted this guy ... and still put him up for a judgeship."

The nomination is relatively fresh. President Obama submitted his name Feb. 24 for a seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, calling him a "first-rate" legal expert and "faithful" public servant.

With the hearing originally set for Wednesday, Republicans led by their ranking member, Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said they wanted more time.

"Senator Sessions and the Judiciary Republicans have asked for a delay in light of the nominee's extremely lengthy record and the fact that he was brought up so unusually quickly," Sessions spokesman Stephen Miller said.

Behind the scenes, Republicans are taking a hard look at Chatigny's role in the Ross proceedings which they say could be disqualifying -- particularly on the Court of Appeals, the last line of review before the Supreme Court. - FOX News Story

Chief Justice - State of the Union is a Pep Rally

Chief Justice John Roberts told students at the University of Alabama Tuesday that President Obama’s State of the Union address, in which he singled out a recent Supreme Court decision on campaign finance law for criticism, was “very troubling” and said the annual event has “degenerated into a political pep rally,” the AP reports.

Taking a question from a law school student, Roberts said anyone is welcome to criticize the court. “I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court - according the requirements of protocol - has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling."

Roberts also questioned the attendance of Supreme Court Justices at the State of the Union speeches. “I’m not sure why we’re there,” he said.

Update: White House Secretary Robert Gibbs responded to Roberts in a statement Tuesday night, saying of the decision in the Citizens United case : “What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections – drowning out the voices of average Americans. The President has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision and is working with Congress on a legislative response.” - Politico Story

What is troubling is that when a Republican shouts out "you lie" during a joint session of Congress at Obama, they cry foul over decorum. But when the "Chosen One" calls out the Supreme Court Justices outside of proper Decorum it is OK.

The President's Staff says he was saying what he believes, well!!!!! I don't think the "you lie" comment was out of left field.