Sarah Palin weighs in on Romney's VP choice

After being conspicuously absent on Twitter, Facebook and Fox News for more than 24 hours, Sarah Palin, former Alaskan governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, finally weighed in late Saturday on Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his 2012 running mate.

Here's Palin's Facebook note, which mentions President Obama 26 times, Romney and Ryan three apiece:

Congratulations to Mitt Romney on his choice of Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. President Obama has declared that this election is about "two fundamentally different visions" for America. Goodness, he's got that right. Our country cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama's fundamentally flawed vision. We must now look to this new team, the Romney/Ryan ticket, to provide an alternate vision of an America that is fiscally responsible, strong, and prosperous--an America that understands and is proud of her exceptional place in the world and will respect those who fight to secure that exceptionalism, which includes keeping our promises to our veterans.

When I think about the direction our country is rapidly drifting in, I can't help but look at California as a cautionary tale. The Golden State once boasted the entrepreneurial innovation of Silicon Valley, the American creative engine of the arts, economically powerful and beautiful cities from San Francisco to San Diego, and fertile farmlands that helped feed the nation. Now it is descending into financial ruin accompanied by an exodus of middle class Californians leaving for other states. As one writer put it, California's "fastest-growing entity is government and its biggest product is red tape."

Obama's vision for America will make the rest of the country look like California, minus the beautiful scenery and warm weather.

Obama's America is today's California--complete with $100 billion taxpayer funded bullet trains to nowhere; out of control environmental extremists who have destroyed family farms and left some of the most fertile farm land in America fallow in order to protect a three inch fish; permanent high unemployment; government policies hostile to small business job creators; crippling high taxes; an abysmal real estate market; bloated government that wastes taxpayer money; endless budget shortfalls due to massive unfunded liabilities; city after city declaring bankruptcy; and a state government run by, in the words of one Wall Street Journal writer, "a brothel of environmentalists, lawyers, public-sector unions and legislative bums."

We can't afford Obama's vision. Our children can't afford it. Today we are over $15 trillion in debt and running up trillion dollar budget deficits year after year for as far as the eye can see. And our "leaders" have no plan to stop it! President Obama and this Congress don't even have the fundamental blueprint—a budget!—to outline where they intend to take us as they merrily roll along with their out of control spending and constant increases of our debt "limit." Our debt to China alone is more than we can ever hope to pay off in multiple generations. Such debt and dependence on foreign nations weakens us in countless ways. And yet our government keeps on spending despite the risks and despite conscientious, hardworking citizens telling them to just stop it. Our debt is growing by $3 million per minute. This debt, in conjunction with Obama's massive government over-reaches like Obamacare, has strangled the private sector, which in turn has stifled job growth and slowed all economic growth. The only way to get our country moving again is to get back to basics like normal people do with our home and small business budgets! That means we must live within our means, get government out of the way of our job creators, develop the God-given natural resources we have been blessed with to provide real jobs and real energy security, and stop growing government and wasting taxpayer money on D.C. cronyism and useless stimulus kick-backs for favored donors.

Barack Obama's record is one of dismal failure, which is why he isn't talking about it. He would rather spend his time demonizing his opponents. The simple fact remains that Mitt Romney is not responsible for the dire state of our economy or the corruption and incompetence of the current administration.

Over the next 86 days, Barack Obama will try to distract us from his record. Many in the media will roll along with him in this mission. We must not let them continue the deception and distractions, and we must not be afraid to call the President out on his lies. His entire record in office exposes the false promises he made four years ago. So, let's take a moment to remember what candidate Obama said just four short years ago.

Candidate Obama promised us fiscal prudence. But President Obama's reckless spending and lack of fiscal leadership has led to the downgrading of our nation's credit rating for the first time in history.

Candidate Obama decried reckless spending and promised to cut the deficit. But President Obama and those in Congress who control the purse strings and "go along to get along" have tripled it. President Obama's proposed budget was so absurdly and wildly irresponsible that not one member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, voted in favor of it. And yet the Democrat controlled Senate still refuses to pass a budget itself, and this refusal has been going on for years now. That is irresponsible and, much more, it's unconstitutional.

Candidate Obama promised us a "smarter government," but President Obama has created a government that's not too big to fail, but too big to succeed.

Candidate Obama promised us a plan for American energy independence. But President Obama has forced American taxpayers to subsidize bankrupt green energy companies with ties to his campaign donors. And when it comes to the energy we actually use to fuel our economy, President Obama's administration blocks drilling and drags its feet on the permitting process. Meanwhile, he supports foreign energy developments, but not American made energy development. His administration opposes everything from drilling in ANWR to building the Keystone Pipeline to coal plants, but he's all for subsidizing offshore drilling in Brazil and sitting back on his thumb while China moves in to pursue oil deals with Canada because his administration blocked responsible energy infrastructure development.

Candidate Obama promised us "the most transparent administration in history." But in addition to refusing FOIA-requested documents, President Obama's administration regularly holds meetings outside the White House and off the official White House visitor list with lobbyists and corporate interests they don't want us to know about.

Candidate Obama promised to unite all America, but President Obama has cynically divided us again and again in his efforts to win reelection by playing identity politics and class warfare and pitting one group against another.

Candidate Obama promised us a "fundamentally transformed" America, and that is the only promise he's delivered on. We can see now what his idea of "hope" is. Now we want change. He has failed to lead, so We the People must lead. And our leadership starts at the ballot box on November 6th.

Please continue to focus on the presidential race and on helping Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, but it's also imperative that we get involved in the nation's important House and Senate races. These candidates need our help to ensure that our next president has a responsible and ethical Congress that actually gets things done for America. Now on to November!

- Sarah Palin

As a guest on Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday, Palin said her first choice for Romney's running mate would have been Florida Congressman Allen West.

"The liberal left is absolutely terrified of Allen West and what he represents," Palin said. "A war hero who honorably served our country continuing today in his official capacity as a representative."

But she said she would support anyone that Romney chose. "Anybody but Obama," Palin said.

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Appeals court weighs next steps in BofA mortgage deal (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Legal wrangling over the proposed $8.5 billion settlement of some of Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) mortgage-backed securities liability could drag through the courts for years, a top appeals court judge said during arguments in the case.

The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York is weighing whether last June's Bank of America accord, which has been closely watched by other banks and bondholders, is a matter for federal court review or belongs in state court where it was first filed.

The settlement was intended to help Bank of America address much of its remaining legal liability from its ill-fated 2008 purchase of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. But some investors have challenged the deal, saying the payout is too low and want it to get more scrutiny from a federal judge.

Regardless of what the appeals court decides, the case "could come back to us," Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs said on Wednesday.

Jacobs and two other appeals judges did not indicate how they would rule.

Robert Madden, a lawyer for about two dozen institutional investors with tens billions of dollars at stake in the settlement, said at the hearing the matter could go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The investors he represents, including BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) and Allianz SE's (ALVG.DE) Pimco, believe the settlement should be returned to state court, as does Bank of America and trustee Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N).

Madden told the three-judge panel that more litigation surrounding the settlement could lead to the federal judge's work turning out "to be a waste of time."

The Bank of America pact was intended to address claims by investors who said the seemingly safe securities they bought proved toxic because they were backed by risky home loans based on faulty underwriting practices.

The agreement, which applied to 530 mortgage securitization trusts with $174 billion of unpaid principal, was seen as a template for other banks facing mortgage-backed securities breach-of-contract claims.

The same law firm that negotiated the Bank of America pact for institutional investors, Gibbs & Bruns, has also sent demands for an investigation to trustees overseeing mortgage securities sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N). If the settlement remains tied up in court, it could potentially also delay resolution of similar claims against other banks.

Initially, the Bank of America settlement was sent to a New York State Supreme Court judge in Manhattan to review. It was in state court that the parties used a New York trust law known as Article 77 that is normally reserved for resolving family trust issues.

But the agreement drew criticism from investors, including a group known as Walnut Place LLC, who were not part of the talks, but would be bound by the settlement terms. They complained the $8.5 billion payout was too low and wanted the case moved to federal court for more review. Walnut Place is the hedge fund Baupost Group, according to court documents.

In October, U.S. District Judge William Pauley ruled that the proposed settlement belonged in his court, citing "core federal interests" in the integrity of banks and securities markets.

Jacobs indicated on Wednesday that, even if the appeals panel affirmed Pauley's decision and he eventually signed off on a settlement in federal court, the litigation would not end there.

Appeals court Judges Peter Hall and Raymond Lohier were also on Wednesday's panel. Hall focused on arguments by Walnut Place that the accord was a "mass action" involving hundreds of trusts.

"I don't even see it as a mass action because it didn't start out as such," Hall said during the one-hour long hearing, referring to the case's introduction in state court as a settlement rather than a lawsuit on behalf of a class of plaintiffs.

The case is Bank of New York Mellon v. Walnut Place LLC et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-4571.

(Reporting By Grant McCool and Alison Frankel; Editing by Martha Graybow and Andre Grenon)

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