Oct
3
Video great up until its conclusion. Goes to show you how corrupted the system is. And these BASTARDS have the sheer chutzpah to blame the free market for this mess?!!!
As for the conclusion of the video, that’s a joke, too. McCain is as big a BIG GOVT proponent as you’ll find in Congress. Worse, he sees every possible conflict as Hitler and the Sudetenland, never once considering how the bull-headed stupidity of WWI is perhaps the best foreign intervention lesson any country needs. Yet McCain wants to be the next Woodrow Wilson, but we’re economically bankrupt. In the face of economic collapse, McCain still actually believes interventionism into every nook and cranny of the world — into the affairs of other nations — is good for spreading democracy (not freedom and liberty)… Never mind that it costs $trillions to do. He’ll be worse than Bush, making the world safe for hypocrisy. (BTW, we’re not a democracy, but a liberty based republic… Our founding fathers hated democracy because it crushes liberty — look it up!)
Oct
1
This video tells you all you need to know about politics. The democrats are presently crying foul and trying to blame the republicans for being asleep at the switch for the past eight years thus causing the crisis. Now, it is our opinion that, yes, the republicans mostly were –with an exception here or there; the most we could expect from them was some mild regulatory changes that would have only forced this crisis onto us earlier and a bit smaller. That’s the case with this video and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
Here we have evidence of just what a bunch of liars the democrats are as their socialist love affair with Freddie and Fannie is exposed. Many analysts warned that these two GSE giants had financial statements rife with criminal accounting that would blow up eventually, yet nobody seemed to care — especially those most socialist in Congress, although you can say the same for major bond investors who counted on a government bailout to protect their investments for decades. What do financial statements matter when you’ve got an implied guarantee at the taxpayers’ expense?
As well, these two GSEs contribute large amounts of money to both parties, neither of whom, in the end, really pushed any legislation to get these entities under control. Moreover, in the vid you have Republican Christopher Shays making it clear he does not read the bills he signs when he comments that he thought the exceptionally clumsy legislation contained in the Sarbanes Oxley Act included some kind of oversight for the GSEs.
Indeed, both parties are unfit to rule. After all, if these people know so much about how to manage an economy, as they insist on doing through regulation year in and year out, and it good times or bad, then how the hell did they allow the economy to get into such trouble?
Moreover, informed minds understand damn well that it is decades of usnound, short-sighted legislation imposed on the free market going back to to the Federal Reserve Act in 1911 that enabled this crisis to develop and then crash. The economic illiterates among the voters have indeed voted into office their intellectual counterparts, and they’re now driving the economic train over the cliff, proving H.L. Menckens observation from nearly 70 years ago that democracy is the theory that the electorate deserves to get what it wants…. and good and hard!
Sep
28
Ron Paul: Watch out for freedom killing power grab over financial crisis
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Madam Speaker, I have, for the past 35 years, expressed my grave concern for the future of America . The course we have taken over the past century has threatened our liberties, security and prosperity. In spite of these long-held concerns, I have days–growing more frequent all the time–when I’m convinced the time is now upon us that some Big Events are about to occur. These fast-approaching events will not go unnoticed. They will affect all of us. They will not be limited to just some areas of our country. The world economy and political system will share in the chaos about to be unleashed.
Though the world has long suffered from the senselessness of wars that should have been avoided, my greatest fear is that the course on which we find ourselves will bring even greater conflict and economic suffering to the innocent people of the world–unless we quickly change our ways.
America , with her traditions of free markets and property rights, led the way toward great wealth and progress throughout the world as well as at home. Since we have lost our confidence in the principles of liberty, self reliance, hard work and frugality, and instead took on empire building, financed through inflation and debt, all this has changed. This is indeed frightening and an historic event.
The problem we face is not new in history. Authoritarianism has been around a long time. For centuries, inflation and debt have been used by tyrants to hold power, promote aggression, and provide “bread and circuses” for the people. The notion that a country can afford “guns and butter” with no significant penalty existed even before the 1960s when it became a popular slogan. It was then, though, we were told the Vietnam War and the massive expansion of the welfare state were not problems. The seventies proved that assumption wrong.
Today things are different from even ancient times or the 1970s. There is something to the argument that we are now a global economy. The world has more people and is more integrated due to modern technology, communications, and travel. If modern technology had been used to promote the ideas of liberty, free markets, sound money and trade, it would have ushered in a new golden age–a globalism we could accept.
Instead, the wealth and freedom we now enjoy are shrinking and rest upon a fragile philosophic infrastructure. It is not unlike the levies and bridges in our own country that our system of war and welfare has caused us to ignore.
I’m fearful that my concerns have been legitimate and may even be worse than I first thought. They are now at our doorstep. Time is short for making a course correction before this grand experiment in liberty goes into deep hibernation.
There are reasons to believe this coming crisis is different and bigger than the world has ever experienced. Instead of using globalism in a positive fashion, it’s been used to globalize all of the mistakes of the politicians, bureaucrats and central bankers.
Being an unchallenged sole superpower was never accepted by us with a sense of humility and respect. Our arrogance and aggressiveness have been used to promote a world empire backed by the most powerful army of history. This type of globalist intervention creates problems for all citizens of the world and fails to contribute to the well-being of the world’s populations. Just think how our personal liberties have been trashed here at home in the last decade.
The financial crisis, still in its early stages, is apparent to everyone: gasoline prices over $4 a gallon; skyrocketing education and medical-care costs; the collapse of the housing bubble; the bursting of the NASDAQ bubble; stock markets plunging; unemployment rising; massive underemployment; excessive government debt; and unmanageable personal debt. Little doubt exists as to whether we’ll get stagflation. The question that will soon be asked is: When will the stagflation become an inflationary depression?
There are various reasons that the world economy has been globalized and the problems we face are worldwide. We cannot understand what we’re facing without understanding fiat money and the long-developing dollar bubble.
There were several stages. From the inception of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to 1933, the Central Bank established itself as the official dollar manager. By 1933, Americans could no longer own gold, thus removing restraint on the Federal Reserve to inflate for war and welfare.
By 1945, further restraints were removed by creating the Bretton-Woods Monetary System making the dollar the reserve currency of the world. This system lasted up until 1971. During the period between 1945 and 1971, some restraints on the Fed remained in place. Foreigners, but not Americans, could convert dollars to gold at $35 an ounce. Due to the excessive dollars being created, that system came to an end in 1971.
It’s the post Bretton-Woods system that was responsible for globalizing inflation and markets and for generating a gigantic worldwide dollar bubble. That bubble is now bursting, and we’re seeing what it’s like to suffer the consequences of the many previous economic errors.
Ironically in these past 35 years, we have benefited from this very flawed system. Because the world accepted dollars as if they were gold, we only had to counterfeit more dollars, spend them overseas (indirectly encouraging our jobs to go overseas as well) and enjoy unearned prosperity. Those who took our dollars and gave us goods and services were only too anxious to loan those dollars back to us. This allowed us to export our inflation and delay the consequences we now are starting to see.
But it was never destined to last, and now we have to pay the piper. Our huge foreign debt must be paid or liquidated. Our entitlements are coming due just as the world has become more reluctant to hold dollars. The consequence of that decision is price inflation in this country–and that’s what we are witnessing today. Already price inflation overseas is even higher than here at home as a consequence of foreign central banks’ willingness to monetize our debt.
Printing dollars over long periods of time may not immediately push prices up–yet in time it always does. Now we’re seeing catch-up for past inflating of the monetary supply. As bad as it is today with $4 a gallon gasoline, this is just the beginning. It’s a gross distraction to hound away at “drill, drill, drill” as a solution to the dollar crisis and high gasoline prices. Its okay to let the market increase supplies and drill, but that issue is a gross distraction from the sins of deficits and Federal Reserve monetary shenanigans.
This bubble is different and bigger for another reason. The central banks of the world secretly collude to centrally plan the world economy. I’m convinced that agreements among central banks to “monetize” U.S. debt these past 15 years have existed, although secretly and out of the reach of any oversight of anyone–especially the U.S. Congress that doesn’t care, or just flat doesn’t understand. As this “gift” to us comes to an end, our problems worsen. The central banks and the various governments are very powerful, but eventually the markets overwhelm when the people who get stuck holding the bag (of bad dollars) catch on and spend the dollars into the economy with emotional zeal, thus igniting inflationary fever.
This time–since there are so many dollars and so many countries involved–the Fed has been able to “paper” over every approaching crisis for the past 15 years, especially with Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, which has allowed the bubble to become history’s greatest.
The mistakes made with excessive credit at artificially low rates are huge, and the market is demanding a correction. This involves excessive debt, misdirected investments, over-investments, and all the other problems caused by the government when spending the money they should never have had. Foreign militarism, welfare handouts and $80 trillion entitlement promises are all coming to an end. We don’t have the money or the wealth-creating capacity to catch up and care for all the needs that now exist because we rejected the market economy, sound money, self reliance and the principles of liberty.
Since the correction of all this misallocation of resources is necessary and must come, one can look for some good that may come as this “Big Event” unfolds.
There are two choices that people can make. The one choice that is unavailable to us is to limp along with the status quo and prop up the system with more debt, inflation and lies. That won’t happen.
One of the two choices, and the one chosen so often by government in the past is that of rejecting the principles of liberty and resorting to even bigger and more authoritarian government. Some argue that giving dictatorial powers to the President, just as we have allowed him to run the American empire, is what we should do. That’s the great danger, and in this post-911 atmosphere, too many Americans are seeking safety over freedom. We have already lost too many of our personal liberties already. Real fear of economic collapse could prompt central planners to act to such a degree that the New Deal of the 30’s might look like Jefferson ’s Declaration of Independence.
The more the government is allowed to do in taking over and running the economy, the deeper the depression gets and the longer it lasts. That was the story of the 30s and the early 40s, and the same mistakes are likely to be made again if we do not wake up.
But the good news is that it need not be so bad if we do the right thing. I saw “Something Big” happening in the past 18 months on the campaign trail. I was encouraged that we are capable of waking up and doing the right thing. I have literally met thousands of high school and college kids who are quite willing to accept the challenge and responsibility of a free society and reject the cradle-to-grave welfare that is promised them by so many do-good politicians.
If more hear the message of liberty, more will join in this effort. The failure of our foreign policy, welfare system, and monetary policies and virtually all government solutions are so readily apparent, it doesn’t take that much convincing. But the positive message of how freedom works and why it’s possible is what is urgently needed.
One of the best parts of accepting self reliance in a free society is that true personal satisfaction with one’s own life can be achieved. This doesn’t happen when the government assumes the role of guardian, parent or provider, because it eliminates a sense of pride. But the real problem is the government can’t provide the safety and economic security that it claims. The so called good that government claims it can deliver is always achieved at the expense of someone else’s freedom. It’s a failed system and the young people know it.
Restoring a free society doesn’t eliminate the need to get our house in order and to pay for the extravagant spending. But the pain would not be long-lasting if we did the right things, and best of all the empire would have to end for financial reasons. Our wars would stop, the attack on civil liberties would cease, and prosperity would return. The choices are clear: it shouldn’t be difficult, but the big event now unfolding gives us a great opportunity to reverse the tide and resume the truly great American Revolution started in 1776. Opportunity knocks in spite of the urgency and the dangers we face.
Let’s make “Something Big Is Happening” be the discovery that freedom works and is popular and the big economic and political event we’re witnessing is a blessing in disguise.
Ron Paul, TX
Sep
28
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On top of explaining the how’s and why’s, Paul asks the valid question: why don’t we ask those who predicted this was coming with near exact prescience to provide us the solution?
Who predicted this? Those with an understanding of the Austrian School of Economics.
Note Bernanke’s wiggly answer on fighting inflation — defining inflation as prices rising vs. the printing of money. Absent is any acknowledgment that stock and bond prices are massive beneficiaries of inflation.
Sep
25
Few in Congress have courage to finger the real cause of economic crisis
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From Ron Paul
Dear Friends:
The financial meltdown the economists of the Austrian School predicted has arrived.
We are in this crisis because of an excess of artificially created credit at the hands of the Federal Reserve System. The solution being proposed? More artificial credit by the Federal Reserve. No liquidation of bad debt and malinvestment is to be allowed. By doing more of the same, we will only continue and intensify the distortions in our economy - all the capital misallocation, all the malinvestment - and prevent the market’s attempt to re-establish rational pricing of houses and other assets.
Last night the president addressed the nation about the financial crisis. There is no point in going through his remarks line by line, since I’d only be repeating what I’ve been saying over and over - not just for the past several days, but for years and even decades.
Still, at least a few observations are necessary.
Sep
2
Police Defuse Protesters Plans with Pre-emptive Raids on Homes
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Welcome to Beijing USA. This news just about floored me until I remembered that this is only the naturally progression of U.S. freedoms and liberty that are rapidly being sucked down the drain under the guise of national security protocol since 9/11 unleashed the bogeymen fear-mongers from withing the NeoConn elements of the GOP — A crowd most interested in distracting criticism of flawed U.S. policies of global interventionism than they are about the basic tenets of the U.S. Constitution and its roots in individual and liberty. To hell with the First Amendment if it gets in the way of the cause.
Anyway — here’s the news from SFGate:
Activists and civil rights organizations had criticized police for a series of pre-emptive raids on Friday and Saturday on the homes of suspected demonstration organizers and at the meeting place for the “RNC Welcoming Committee,” an umbrella organization of dozens of activist groups and individuals from around the country. It has been planning convention demonstrations for over a year.
Police seized several laptop computers, digital cameras, schedules and 7,000 “welcoming guides” organizers planned to distribute to people coming to the Twin Cities for demonstrations. They also seized several gallons of urine and various tools activists use to link themselves together during protests.
How wonderful, Now, I’m no fan of what these folks were probably planning with their urine, but on the other hand I find far more egregious the idea that the Police can simply decide to preemptively strike homes of protest organizers and seize laptops, cameras, and literature. THIS IS NOT BEIJING, PEOPLE! Where do they get off on violating the constitution for the convenience of stamping out the work of protesters?!??
And then there’s this exchange:
Asked whether law enforcement used undercover infiltrators to obtain information on the suspected demonstrators, [St. Paul Police Dept spokesperson Tom] Walsh said “that’s an irresponsible question” and declined to answer.
Are you kidding me? How about a bloody straight answer vs. that one couched in flaccid moral high ground nonsense. Were you infiltrating or not? Or is this, too, covered under some expansion of the Patriot Act?!? Where the people cannot know the tools the police state is using on them — for national security, of course!
Welcome to America 2008, where most will simply yawn at this kind of news. And you progressives, don’t wash your hands with criticism of the GOP without looking into the mirror. It was your man Clinton who started segregating protesters away from spots that were too close and inconvenient to where he might be visiting — all under the guise of security. Your acceptance of pushing the Monica Lewinsky protesters to the other side of town in authorized protest areas paved the way for this so go take a hard look in the mirror.
What a sad point we’ve reached. If there is no reflexive reaction to what is transpriing, I fear we’ve crossed the Rubicon. The last one out, please turn off the light of liberty.
Sep
2
Welcome to Beijing, USA… 1st Amendment Trashed at Convention
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These videos are simply frightening. I’m no philosophical fan of Amy Goodman or her Democracy Now! show at least as far as it tends to promote Progressive socialism — the myth that is collective democracy. I’ve long thought the show deserved a rebuttal show called Liberty Now! — where we stop dawdling with the idea that the highest politics and government can reach is to fight like Hyenas over who gets to be share the spoils of the Kill — the Kill being those who are victimized by countless legislative victories for this special interest lobby or that.
Philosophy aside, though, I think Amy Goodman and Democracy Now are as privileged as any CNN or Fox News reporter to cover the events as they transpire at the Republican Convention, never mind how politically inconvenient they may be for the Bush Administration, the GOP, the the McCain camp. These videos are simply frightening enough, but what’s all the more frightening is the complete lack of coverage by the mainstream media on these arrests, and moreover, the collective yawn by most Americans, mixed in with a heavy dose among the GOP Neoconned Faithful that these arrests were warranted given who was arrested — the idea that security and lockstep support of pro world interventionism policy in the USA is more important that the 1st Amendment.
Of course, none of this is to support the self-proclaimed Anarchists (a misuse of the word since their actions are generally motivated by radical collectivist angst) who went on their own rampage when they splintered off from the peaceful demonstrations that dominated Monday afternoon. Nonetheless, the media should still be allowed to cover those more radical demonstrations unobstructed. What is it the police have to hide by arresting journalist witnesses?!?
Moreover, sad times these are when our own police forces act as they did with Goodman, under order from up on high no more concerned about the constitution they swear to uphold; that’s abdication of duty which is in some ways far worse than the automatons in Beijing that make their arrests perfectly in line with what one expects from totalitarian ideology.
Below is a Video where Goodman explains what happened upon her release. I may not agree with her political philosophy, but I will defend with my life her right to say it or else our country long ago crossed the Rubicon to oblivion!
Aug
28
MSNBC Staff Clashing
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This stuff is better than the actual elections.
Aug
27
Hypocritic Republicans Stamp Out PA Democracy; Tries to Eliminate Candidate Competition
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Atlanta, GA - Bob Barr’s presidential campaign has recently learned of an action by the McCain campaign and the Pennsylvania Republican Party to have Barr removed from the state’s ballot, this despite McCain’s promise in the 2000 election that he would, “never consider, ever consider, allowing a supporter of [his] to challenge [his opponent]’s right to be on the ballot in all 50 states.”
In 2000, McCain told reporters, ”Let’s not have the kind of Stalinist politics that the state of New York, the Republican Party, has been practicing.”
“This move by the McCain campaign completely contradicts everything John McCain stood for in 2000 when his competitors were trying to keep him off the ballot,” says Barr. “McCain has become a part of the same corrupted machine he spoke vehemently against only eight years ago.”
“This is America, where people have a right to run for office and a right to compete for the chance to lead the people of this nation,” Barr continues. “I look forward to the chance to compete fairly against Senator McCain for votes in Pennsylvania and every other state.”
Aug
7
City Endorses Pittsburgh Cable Monopoly
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Well, it is dandy enough to learn this a.m. that the City of Pittsburgh is entertaining opening its Franchise agreement to Verizon’s new FiOS (fiber optic) television service. The Post Gazette reports:
For the first time in Pittsburgh’s almost 30-year cable TV history, the stage is being set to give city customers a choice between providers.
And why have city residents not had choice all those 30 years? These next parts should give you a hint:
City Council yesterday authorized hiring the Cohen Law Group to negotiate a contract to bring Verizon Pennsylvania Inc. into the cable TV market, where Comcast has ruled since it acquired the franchise in 2002. The city’s first franchise deal for cable was with Warner Cable in 1980, an agreement that was transferred to TCI in 1984. TCI had an exclusive 15-year run before it merged with AT&T.
Franchise? Franchise, my ass. Granted, etymology of the word “franchise” is rooted in government privilege, but by no means should we be thinking of this as some sort of modern free market franchise such as in the highly competitive restaurant industry, where franchises compete at razor thin margins to bring customers the best quality to price trade off possible. No, no,NO! Instead, let’s call this pig by its real name: the local cable monopoly deal.
So why has the city forced onto it citizens a monopolized system of only one carrier? We think this might have something to do with it:
Comcast currently pays the city 5 percent of its gross annual revenues in franchise fees, about $4.1 million, said Mr. Stern. With Verizon and Comcast sharing the same stable of customers, the franchise fee would probably not change much, unless revenues dip in a price war.
So, in other words, those running the exceptionally expensive (and well over budget) city finances have a clear incentive to keep cable costs as high as possible. The motive? As we’ve seen with the Port Authority and other high (fat) costs benefit systems for government associated unions providing monopolized services, cuts are out of the question leaving higher and new taxes (like the hated drink tax) to fund spiraling costs. Were Comcast to be pressured by other cable operators to actually compete — say, like the phone companies must — you’d see prices drop much like they did when Ma Bell lost its government granted monopoly.
Liberty in Party Form- Bob Barr Coming to Pittsburgh Friday, October 10 at CMU!
- Bob Barr, Libertarian President Candidate, Comments on Corrupt Bailout
- Contrary to Big Govt Spin, Libertarian-minded Predicted Crisis
- Government?s Solutions to Economy Will Fail
- Election Rules Enforced Selectively: Texas Standoff
- Interventionist Candidates
- Candidate Bob Barr on the Issues via CNN
- McCain Camp Engaging in ?Stalinist Politics?
- R?s And D?s Granted Free Pass to Violate Election Laws of Texas
- Two Party System Reveals the Ugly Side of Democracy
- Vigilant Investor
- Crisis Update: A quick commentary with lots of article references
- Here comes the flood
- October Monday: Global Markets Hit Hard
- Politically connected bond managers circle bailout like sharks
- FDIC Up to $250,000
- Ron Paul on the Goldman Bonus Rescue / Pork Act of 2008
- Ron Paul today on the Pork Bailout
- Ron Paul Yesterday…
- StrategeryCapital Management LLC Launched
- More on Inflation: Schiff vs Swank
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