Disqus - Latest Comments for Bob_Krause

Re: Conlin: Nobody else wanted to run against Grassley

Bob Krause — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:39:10 -0000

It is personally a bit of an insult that Ms. Conlin would choose to re-write her opponents out of recent history. Although I will be supporting her in the fall, I do expect that she will hold to a high standard of accuracy and honesty.

Bob Krause

Re: Anfinson relative: ‘This has been a long road’

Bob Krause — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:49:56 -0000

I would like to clarify that I am not related to Ms. Anfinson.
I think that there may have been confusion because Ms. Anfinson has a relative named "Bob Krause," who is no relation to me.
Bob Krause, Democratic Candidate for US Senate

Re: Palin’s forced folksiness falls flat in VP debate

Bob Krause — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:05:55 -0000

The point was not that the terrorists do not create collateral damage. The
point is that that collateral damage by US forces has been recognized by
military and civilian observers as a major event in our failure to control
the battlefield in Afghanistan. That a presidential candidate recognizes
that this is creating damage for our cause is a legitimate comment if we
want to turn a losing situation around.

If you are old enough to remember Vietnam, you will remember that we rarely,
if ever, lost a battle on the ground. We inflicted incredible damage upon
our enemies. But our B-52carpet bombing and the like only infuriated the
local populace and caused them to give shelter and support to our foes. It
is really great to win the battles, but is is even greater to win the wars.

In this case, I would look at a stratagy to win the war.

Re: Palin’s forced folksiness falls flat in VP debate

Bob Krause — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:37:11 -0000

Problem is, Afghanistan/Pakistan is a completely different war. The
mountainous terrain makes a better guerilla environment, and the Taliban
that once ran the country have a deeper base. Blow up a few wedding parties
by accident (and then deny it until forced to admit it), and the anger does
not turn against the Taliban. Say what you will about bad intelligence,
etc., that is a message that is broadcast to a half billion or so Asians
that are not naturally inclined to give the US the benefit of the doubt. If
you wonder where they get their troop replacements, you do not have to look
much farther than this.

Also, I think that the Bush Doctrine is more about pre-emptive warfare in a
general sense than religious ideology. We fought ideology before not under
these circumstances and won, but not by blowing up wedding parties. It was
a hearts and minds kind of thing. Remember those days?

Re: Palin’s forced folksiness falls flat in VP debate

Bob Krause — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:02:19 -0000

Wow! When Sarah Palin blows it, she REALLY blows it. As a retired Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel I was shocked with her Fox News Comment concerning Obama's discussions of the Afghanistan War. To wit:

"Some of his comments that he (Obama) has made about the war that I think may — in my world– disqualifies someone from consideration as the next commander in chief.” Palin said, “Some of his comments about Afghanistan and what we are doing there supposedly– just air raiding villages and killing civilians. That’s reckless."

Palin misses the point that 'collateral damage," as this messy stuff is called, is causing us to lose the war - not only in Afghanistan, but throughout the Middle East. I happen to be in the Middle East for a period of time. It would surprise many Americans how each air strike tradgedy hits the front pages here. Unless we can get a handle on this, it will not make any difference how many new troops we send into battle in this tumultuous land that has defeated nearly every foreign invader in its history.

Palin's comment smacks of the "more of the same" Bush Administration, i.e. deny reality, hope for the best, and blame loyal Americans for your failure.

Shame on you Sarah Palin!!

Bob Krause

Re: Grassley, Harkin support bailout bill

Bob Krause — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:20:11 -0000

Bailout - Seeing it as a CitiBank Customer

I think that many from Main Street and others not close to the epi-center have personal anecdotes of the greed and stupidity that drove this mess. When inflation hits, or when taxes go up, or when pension funds collapse, it is hard to forget those little hard nuggets of truth. That is why all this anger. The bad guys have not been brought to justice.

My particular anecdote is from a puchase of a small rental property in early 2006, when I applied for a loan from CitiBank. When I called and told the desk loan officers what I wanted, I was encouraged to apply for the loan as a prospective homeowner, even though I made it clear that it was to be a rental property. I was sent an affidavit to sign that would verify my residential intentions. Across the bottom of the affidavit was a clear statement that it was a felony to fib. But from the desk officer's perspective, that little fib evidently occurred quite often, and was encouraged. I suspect there must have been a better commission on the residential loans. In return for signing (which I did not) I would be offered a 2% down 'liar loan' (a loan with no requirement to give an income statement). Instead, with a clear conscience, I purchased a commercial loan at 10% down, mortgage insurance for the 2nd 10% down, and a higher rate. More cost, but I do sleep well now.

But I doubt that it was the loan officer that was pushing the perjuries alone -- that decision had to be made at the top at CitiBank by someone that knew how to game the system. And, there were obviously no internal management controls to catch the fraud - even today. CitiBank, Congress, the Justice Department, and other responsible agencies should do some forensics on this and not just say "everyone had a hand in this." The hand was clearly at the top, as in my personal episode. Employees will not act irrationally on something like this unless they have been told to act irrrationally. We need to find out, and there needs to be some slammer time.