Socialist Republic

Bush and Obama are competing to shovel out trillions of dollars, so we can return to the good times of yesterday.

But wasn't yesterday the root cause of today? Didn't saving nothing and spending more than we earn, purchasing what we cannot afford in cars, consumer goods and houses, buying far more from abroad than we sell abroad -- didn't that cause this crisis and crash?

We will not be able to spend our way out of this crisis because we don't have anything to spend - unless we create the money out of thin air. And that is exactly what we are doing with bailout handouts and stimuli by the billions.

Turbulence Ahead

Everyone is dressed the same. Everyone looks as comfortable as they did three years ago, at the height of prosperity. The mall is still there, and people are still walking into the stores and daydreaming with half-full carts in aisle 3. Everyone's still overweight. (An evolutionary biologist will someday write a paper positing that the reason for the obesity epidemic of the past decade is that we were storing up food like squirrels and bears, driven by an unconscious anthropomorphic knowledge that a time of great want was coming. Yes, I know it will be idiotic.) But the point is: Nothing looks different.

I know it's bad out there. They keep telling me how bad it is on the TV. But if they weren't telling me it's bad on the TV, how would I know it's bad out there?

Ron Paul for President in 2012

We who believe in the original American idea, or even some remote version of it, or ever believe in a free markeplace, must rally now, or forever resign from public life. What will we tell our grandchildren? We didn’t try because we didn’t think we could win? Shouldn’t the American people be given that choice? Shouldn’t the media be forced to confront it as well? Remember, our currently serving lame duck president is a “conservative Republican.” And he willingly “socialized” the American banking system to buy a few good days on the stock market for the Republican nominee.

We'll pause after this post for a visit with friends and family and leave you with this note of optimism for the future. The next four years are sure to be more of the same big government, soaring debt and less freedom. That gives us four years to prepare to support change in the next administration - real change that is. Ron Paul may be up to the task and we hope so but his age is against him and, sooner or later, we will need another with the conviction and eloquence he possesses. Where is the next free marketeer, the next revolutionary who can light a beacon for freedom in the despondent souls of Americans who have been taught that their future lies in their government and not in their own ideas and actions? We need to rely on ourselves but we need a leader who will not oppress us but reserve the power of government for constitutional purposes. Keep an eye out for such a man or woman. He or she will be the one who is attacked most severely by the mainstream media and by the current leadership of our government.

Snippets

President-elect Obama promises an economic plan designed to save or create 2.5 million jobs and redirect the economy over the next two years. Economists from across the political spectrum, including some who have served as informal advisers to Obama, have put the size of an economic recovery package as high as $700 billion over two years. Obama wants to "jolt" the economy but he has no tools to do it excepting through heavy borrowing and printing press currency. Then what? Spending money that isn't there.

Just a minor point, to be sure, but Barack Obabma is not yet "President-elect." The Electoral College convenes in mid-December to actually elect him based upon the popular vote in November.

< This is the method described in the U.S. Constitution. However, that document is now considered to be woefully out of date and it's not take[n] seriously any more.

Snippets of wisdom from Wrisley.com

Von Hayek in 1975 (you must hear this)

In light of the present crises, and the appalling ignorance of the present generation of policy makers of any historical understanding, it is so helpful to remember that we've been down this road before, and done all the wrong things before. Forget learning from history. The present generation does even know enough history to learn anything from it. So this interview really makes it clear what has come before.

This podcast not only illustrates the wisdom of F.A. Hayek, but also the cluelessness of the press on economic theory. You can listen here.

The Pilgrims’ Real Thanksgiving Lesson

Feast and football. That’s what many of us think about at Thanksgiving. Most people identify the origin of the holiday with the Pilgrims’ first bountiful harvest. But few understand how the Pilgrims actually solved their chronic food shortages.

Many people believe that after suffering through a severe winter, the Pilgrims’ food shortages were resolved the following spring when the Native Americans taught them to plant corn and a Thanksgiving celebration resulted. In fact, the pilgrims continued to face chronic food shortages for three years until the harvest of 1623. Bad weather or lack of farming knowledge did not cause the pilgrims’ shortages. Bad economic incentives did.

The first attempt at governance by the Pilgrims was communism? It didn't work so well then either.

The Big Three Should Stand on Their Own Feet

If the automakers get $25 billion from the capital markets because the federal government guarantees the loans, other businesses won't be able to borrow that money. Resources that go into making cars can't be used to make something else.

Why should politicians decide who gets those resources? It's not as though congressmen using government force are better than the decentralized voluntary market at spotting the most promising investments. Far from it. They will make their decisions on the basis of political considerations, such as who gave them contributions or might finance a get-out-the-vote drive in the next election.

John Stossel gets to the heart of the matter. Political considerations, not the free market, are the basis of who gets a bailout handout.

The US Dollar

Tonight I want to look at the US dollar. It was announced last night that the Treasury was in cahoots with the Fed and together they were giving US $322 billion to Citibank. Bunch this together with the US $275 billion given to AIG and two entities that together don't have a market cap of US $25 billion on Friday night have received a grand total of US $600 billion. Neither have a net profit because they are losing money, so if you're waiting for a return on investment, look to infinity and beyond. What I am wondering is how anyone can justify such a complete waste of money. Then I wonder just why it is that no one is complaining?

Shenanigans at the Treasury and the Fed?

The Bailout Surge

We must remember that governments do not produce anything. Their only resources come from producers in the economy through such means as inflation and taxation. The government has an obligation to be good stewards of these resources. In bailing out failing companies, they are confiscating money from productive members of the economy and giving it to failing ones. By sustaining companies with obsolete or unsustainable business models, the government prevents their resources from being liquidated and made available to other companies that can put them to better, more productive use. An essential element of a healthy free market, is that both success and failure must be permitted to happen when they are earned. But instead with a bailout, the rewards are reversed – the proceeds from successful entities are given to failing ones.

The government bailouts are the antithesis of free market capitalism and there is no constitutional basis for such interventions.

Half-Timer

We live in a time of great production of goods, but also of wants. Few among us have taken Thoreau’s advice to “Simplify, simplify” to heart. Quality of life has become synonymous with consumption, almost in direct proportion. A little observation reveals a slightly more complex relationship because ownership has overhead expenses.

Stuff not only uses space, it requires maintenance, needs protection from unsavory individuals, and needs an inventory system. When it takes little effort to accomplish this, having stuff enhances our happiness. For every person, though, there comes a level of accumulation where the responsibilities of ownership become an outright burden.

I intend to move into a condo or townhouse in a few years. The excess furniture and other belongings will be a burden unless I get rid of them before the move. I'm working on it but it's an effort to keep more clutter from getting into the house even as I clear some of it out of the house.

The Bailout Explained

In case you are confused by the government's math in terms of the bailout $$$ (say, how much did AIG get?), this video explains it for you.



Fuzzy math?

Calling the Kettle Black

While publicly grandstanding about their concern for Main Street, Congress voted to turn $700 billion of Main Street’s dollars over to Wall Street in defiance of overwhelming opposition from their constituents. Then they proceeded to lace the bill with more pork than Jimmy Dean and Bob Evans combined. By the way Mr. Sherman, what pay cuts did you or your fellow politicians take to show solidarity with Main Street? Yeah, I thought so.

Then there is my favorite quote by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. "Until we can see a plan where the auto industry is held accountable and a plan for viability on how they go into the future . . . until they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money," Maybe it is time we held Congress to this standard. Ms. Pelosi, until the American taxpayer can see a plan where Congress is held accountable and a plan for viability on how Congress will operate in the future…until Congress shows the American taxpayer the plan, we cannot show you the money.

The only way to hold Congress accountable is to vote them out but each election cycle, the worst offenders are re-elected again and again.

The killer frost for global warming

Saying silly things and asserting goofy claims is usually harmless as entertainment, so long as the claims are subjected to rigorous analysis and debate. But contrarian arguments about global warming, climate change and freezing heat are not tolerated by the scientists with an uneasy grip on the research money.

It's clear now that the earth has been cooling for the past decade, to the sorrow of the special pleaders and despite everything Al can do about it. The solar cycle peaked, the sun is quieter, the sunspots have faded and everybody but Al is cooling off.

OK. Crank up the SUV's, light the cigars and fire up the charcoal grills. The global warming hoax is exposed as a fraud and the greenies are in retreat. Well, I'm sure they will continue to alarm us with false claims but instead of Earth Day or whatever they call it, let's have a Carbon Emissions Day - take a day trip in your SUV and enjoy the comfort, light up a good 10￠ cigar and cook (charcoal or propane is acceptable as either are reprehensible to the greenies - they prefer you to let your steak cook via sunlight or a windmill) a steak on the grill. We all need to do our part to warm the planet up again.

The Austrians Were Right

Today, a major economic crisis is unfolding. New government programs are started daily, and future plans are being made for even more. All are based on the belief that we’re in this mess because free-market capitalism and sound money failed. The obsession is with more spending, bailouts of bad investments, more debt, and further dollar debasement. Many are saying we need an international answer to our problems with the establishment of a world central bank and a single fiat reserve currency. These suggestions are merely more of the same policies that created our mess and are doomed to fail.

Ron Paul offers Congress some advice (they won't heed it).

Ron Paul vs. Bernanke 11/18

In case you missed it, during a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, Ron Paul asked Bernanke if he had any plans for the coming failure of the fiat dollar. Bernanke's answer may scare the bejeesus out of you unless you believe the house of phony dollars that is the US economy will endure.

Who Killed Detroit?

How has this Global Economy profited or prospered America?

In the 1950s, we made all our own toys, clothes, shoes, bikes, furniture, motorcycles, cars, cameras, telephones, TVs, etc. You name it. We made it.

Are we better off now that these things are made by foreigners? Are we better off now that we have ceased to be self-sufficient? Are we better off now that the real wages of our workers and median income of our families no longer grow as they once did? Are we better off now that manufacturing, for the first time in U.S. history, employs fewer workers than government?

The US was once the envy of the world - a manufacturing mecca. Then, our friends in Washington, D.C. decided they wanted to "share the wealth" and began parceling out pieces of the pie until the plate was empty. Pat Buchanan recounts the process of how the politicians helped move manufacturing jobs, plants and profits out of this country to other countries.

Socialism and Medicine

Any discussion of medical care and its availability can stir emotions like nothing else. Any time I write on this subject in a public venue, I am assured of receiving strong hate mail from people who are convinced that I want only the rich to receive health care. Other people try to defend what exists in the United States today, which is not easily defended, at least not from a free-market point of view.

As I see it, the subject of medical care is extremely complex, not because of the nature of health care, but rather because of the vast number of government regulations and policies that already govern what currently exists. Government intervention into nearly every aspect of our lives is so common that people often lose sight of how things would operate absent the intervention.

The clamors for universal health care are growing and the new administration intends to provide it, so, it seems likely we will get it but, is there a better way? Yes, if you believe in Tinkerbelle or free markets.

It's Priceless

Politicians have more ways of escaping from prices than Houdini had ways of escaping from locks. When savvy pols want to hand out goodies, but don’t want to take responsibility for raising taxes to pay for them, they can tax people who can’t vote — namely the next generation — by getting the money by selling government bonds that future taxpayers will have to redeem.

Even such deficit spending leaves a record, however — a national debt that is the ghost of Christmas past. But politicians can even get around that.

Politics is the art of deception. It is like magic - it's fun to watch until you discover how it's done and then you realize you were a fool to fall for the fraud.

Evil Concealed by Money

Evil acts can be given an aura of moral legitimacy by noble-sounding socialistic expressions such as spreading the wealth, income redistribution or caring for the less fortunate. Let's think about socialism.

Imagine there's an elderly widow down the street from you. She has neither the strength to mow her lawn nor enough money to hire someone to do it. Here's my question to you that I'm almost afraid for the answer: Would you support a government mandate that forces one of your neighbors to mow the lady's lawn each week?

Dr. Walter Williams on government imposed "kindness".

The Voting Is Far From Over

Now first, let’s get this little fact out of the way. What the political types in Washington are discussing right now is not really a bailout of the automakers. It’s a bailout of the United Auto Workers. It’s a union bailout. It’s payback for the millions of dollars and thousands of hours union volunteers have poured into (almost exclusively Democrat) political campaigns. These politicians are trying to save union jobs at the current inflated rate .. nothing less.

Neal Boortz says what politicians won't say: They are attempting to bail out their union buddies so they will continue to send loot to their campaign coffers,

The Confessions of Osama Bin Laden

So how could I, Osama Bin Laden, breach your trillion dollar security state? Unless of course a breach is the intended purpose.

Who robbed you of $12 trillion from your Social Security system? Was it me or those you elected? Why won't your newsmen ask that question? Was it me who robbed you of trillions in Iraq? Was it me or those who you willingly elected? Republicans and Democrats? Was it me who rendered your banks insolvent? Was it me who disrupted Wall Street and destroyed investor confidence? Was it me who threatens to topple the global economic system? Or was it your own elected leaders?

Our response to 9/11 has been much more costly in terms of freedom, lives and wealth than the perpetrators could have imagined. No logical person believes the attacks on our buildings were spawned by our own government but the attacks on our liberties by our own government since then were facilitated by our own government promoting fear amongst us and using it against us.

Patriotism

True patriotism today has gotten a bad name, at least from the government and the press. Those who now challenge the unconstitutional methods of imposing an income tax on us, or force us to use a monetary system designed to serve the rich at the expense of the poor are routinely condemned. These American patriots are sadly looked down upon by many. They are never praised as champions of liberty as Gandhi and Martin Luther King have been.

Liberals, who withhold their taxes as a protest against war, are vilified as well, especially by conservatives. Unquestioned loyalty to the state is especially demanded in times of war. Lack of support for a war policy is said to be unpatriotic. Arguments against a particular policy that endorses a war, once it is started, are always said to be endangering the troops in the field. This, they blatantly claim, is unpatriotic, and all dissent must stop. Yet, it is dissent from government policies that defines the true patriot and champion of liberty.

[T]he gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) is recognized for a lesson on the meaning and obligations of patriotism.

What Sam Adams Would Think of the Current US

[W]atch Ron Paul. He takes the argument away from his opponent and tries to direct the discourse to sound political doctrine – and especially sound economics and the Constitution. Obviously you can’t do this within the controlled Media. You must become as Guerilla-like as Ron Paul or Sam Adams. It’s quite interesting and entertaining. For instance, go into the grocery store, and, when you are ready to pay, ask the clerk if she takes "coupons." She will usually say, "Sure!" and ask you, "What kind do you have?" Then pull out some Federal Reserve Notes [commonly but erroneously called "dollars"] and offer them to her. Many times she will be too tired or bored to engage you. Occasionally you will stumble across a budding libertarian. "It only takes a spark to get a fire going." Think back to the seemingly insignificant events that added up to your own Epiphany.

Constant vigilance is required to maintain freedom. You know, like Americans used to do before we became a bunch of sniveling weenies (except Ron Paul).

Should We Worry About Deflation?

Yes, the current economics brain trust is worried that consumers will collectively show the good sense to delay purchases, pay down debt, and increase their savings. After all, this liquidation of malinvestments will likely take a while. The prudent thing to do in times of uncertainty is not to ramp up debt and spend money you don't have.

But now, all of a sudden, "saving" is a dirty word.

The government wants us to spend to get the economy humming again. The Fed has lowered the interest rates so you'll increase your spending (and increase your debt). The bailout is supposedly going to encourage banks to provide easier credit so you will borrow (and increase your debt). They are providing a good example by spending money they don't have on the bailout handouts (and increasing their debt and yours).

On the Bailout: Coble "Aye", Sanford "Nay"

S.C. Governor Sanford went to Washington to tell lawmakers the Palmetto State did not want a bailout. Don't Bail Out S.C.

Then, Columbia, SC mayor Bob Coble went to Washington to beg for $76 million from the federal taxpayer. Bail Out Columbia

Wrisley notes the different approaches of the governor and the mayor. I really don't want to travel to Washington like Mayor Bob for my bailout handout - can't they just send me the money?

Are you an idiot to keep paying your mortgage?

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Schiff says. "People are going to feel like complete morons if they don't participate. The people getting punished are the ones who never made an irresponsible decision to buy a house they couldn't afford."

The government is offering loan servicers $800 for every homeowner they get into the plan.

Schiff predicts that loan agents "will be cold-calling people trying to get them into it. Just like they encouraged people to overstate their income to get a bigger loan in the first place, now they will encourage them to understate their income to qualify for a smaller loan."

Government is rewarding the irresponsible by punishing the responsible with taxpayer money if they can't (or don't want to) pay their mortgage payments. Kathleen Pender explains where some of our bailout handout money is going.

Obama says aiding economy trumps budget deficit

"The consensus is this, that we have to do whatever it takes to get this economy moving again, that we have to -- we're going to have to spend money now to stimulate the economy," he told the CBS television network's 60 Minutes news program.

"And (consensus is) that we shouldn't worry about the deficit next year or even the year after; that short term, the most important thing is that we avoid a deepening recession."

During his presidential campaign Obama pledged to fund all of his policy proposals, but the severity of the economic downturn has made balancing the budget a low priority as the government takes measures to stimulate economic growth.

Obama is not concerned about piling up the debt to wage an unconstitutional and ineffective War on the Economy.

America the Illiterate

During the 2000 debates, George W. Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level (6.7) and Al Gore at a seventh-grade level (7.6). In the 1992 debates, Bill Clinton spoke at a seventh-grade level (7.6), while George H.W. Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level (6.8), as did H. Ross Perot (6.3). In the debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, the candidates spoke in language used by 10th-graders. In the debates of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas the scores were respectively 11.2 and 12.0. In short, today’s political rhetoric is designed to be comprehensible to a 10-year-old child or an adult with a sixth-grade reading level. It is fitted to this level of comprehension because most Americans speak, think and are entertained at this level. This is why serious film and theater and other serious artistic expression, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of American society.

Chris Hedges thinks he knows why candidates don't get into substantive debates on the campaign trail.

Lawmakers, Investors Ask Fed for Lending Disclosure

Members of Congress, taxpayers and investors urged the Federal Reserve to provide details of almost $2 trillion in emergency loans and the collateral it has accepted to protect against losses.

At least five Republican members of Congress yesterday called for the Fed to disclose which financial institutions are borrowing taxpayer money and what troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. More than 300 more investors and taxpayers also pressed for more disclosure in e-mails and interviews with Bloomberg News.

You really didn't expect them to tell you what they're doing with your money, did you?

Economics Double Speak

[F]ew people recognize the necessary implications of the economic statements they are constantly making. When they say that the way to economic salvation is to increase credit, it is just as if they said that the way to economic salvation is to increase debt: these are different names for the same thing seen from opposite sides. When they say that the way to prosperity is to increase farm prices, it is like saying that the way to prosperity is to make food dearer for the city worker. When they say that the way to national wealth is to pay out governmental subsidies, they are in effect saying that the way to national wealth is to increase taxes. When they make it a main objective to increase exports, most of them do not realize that they necessarily make it a main objective ultimately to increase imports. When they say, under nearly all conditions, that the way to recovery is to increase wage rates, they have found only another way of saying that the way to recovery is to increase costs of production.

A little nugget from Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson. (Emphasis added by your kindly editor.)

Why Bankruptcy Is the Best Option for GM

If GM were told that no assistance would be available without a bankruptcy filing, all options would be put on the table. The web could be cut wherever it needed to be. State protection for dealers would disappear. Labor contracts could be renegotiated. Pension plans could be terminated, with existing pensions turned over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC). Health benefits could be renegotiated. Mortgaged assets could be abandoned, so plants could be closed without being supported as idle hindrances on GM's viability. GM could be rebuilt as a company that had a chance to make vehicles people want and support itself on revenue. It wouldn't be easy but, unlike trying to bail out GM as it is, it wouldn't be impossible.

GM is in hock up to it's ears. The case for letting it go bankrupt is made by Michael E. Levine...

A teenager asks: Who'll pay the national debt?

This week a 13-year-old reader from Topeka wants to know: What is the government going to do about paying down the gigantic national debt? We wish we had a better answer. Another asks: What happens if investors stop buying all our debt?

I'm really worried about the national debt. Our country owes over $8 trillion. Trillion! I live in Topeka, Kan. and although I'm just 13 years old, I know that I'm going to be part of the millions of people who are going to be paying for this debt (if we ever pay it off). I want to know how the government plans to help us solve this huge problem.
- Leobardo E., Topeka, Kan.

Leobardo has a good reason to be concerned as the debt will have to be paid by his generation and by his children and grandchildren. He wants to know how the government plans to help. The answer is the government is not going to help. The Fed is will continue to defer debt repayment today by creating more debt for Leobardo and his descendants.

Pelosi outlines aid package for US automakers

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Saturday the House would provide aid to the ailing U.S. auto industry, requiring that the industry meet new fuel-efficiency standards, produce advanced vehicles and restructure "to ensure their long-term economic viability."

Pelosi, D-Calif., did not disclose the amount of funding House leaders intend to seek for the industry — automakers have been seeking $25 billion in loans to stabilize their sinking companies. But she said the funding should come from the $700 billion financial bailout approved by Congress in October.

The government is planning to get into the automobile business using the bailout loot to leverage the deal. They're even going to tell the manufactures how and what to manufacture. Oh, boy.

Illegal Immigrants Returning To Mexico For American Jobs

Mexican immigrants to the United States have begun making the deadly journey back across the border in search of better-paying Mexican-based American jobs.

"I came to this country seeking the job I sought when I first left this country," said Anuncio Reyes, 22, an undocumented worker who recrossed the U.S. border into Mexico last month, three years after leaving Mexico for the United States to work as an agricultural day laborer. "I spent everything I had to get back here. Yes, it was dangerous, and I miss my home. But as much as I love America, I have to go where the best American jobs are."

This piece is from The Onion is certainly satire, but it sounds plausible. Perhaps our politicians have inadvertently provided a solution to the illegal immigration problem.

'Socialism'? It's Already Here.

Barack Obama told a Toledo plumber that he would "spread the wealth around."

America can't have that, exclaimed the Republican ticket while Republicans -- whose prescription drug entitlement is the largest expansion of the welfare state since President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society gave birth to Medicare in 1965; and a majority of whom in Congress supported a lavish farm bill at a time of record profits for the less than 2 percent of the American people-cum-corporations who farm -- and their administration were partially nationalizing the banking system, putting Detroit on the dole and looking around to see if some bit of what is smilingly called "the private sector" has been inadvertently left off the ever-expanding list of entities eligible for a bailout from the $1 trillion or so that is to be "spread around."

Did you laugh when John McCain became indignant about "spreading the wealth"? His indignation was only a vestige of his conscience whispering in his ear and not a conviction to promote freedom and liberty were he to be elected.

The Humpty Dumpty Economy

Although Congress loves to grandstand about oversight, it has thus far shown no courage to interfere, or even question, the change in strategy. Paulson claims that he is simply rolling with the punches. The truth however, is that the original plan was flawed from inception, as I clearly pointed out in a string of commentaries following his proposal. How could the Treasury Department, with all its funding and PhD’s, not make similar predictions? Paulson is either a liar or completely incompetent. My guess is he is both.

Congress is proposing policies to prevent the market from making necessary corrections to stabilization. Why? They think they have to intervene or, otherwise, they will be construed by the citizenry as ineffective, bumbling and unnecessary, but their meddling is validating the conclusion that they are exactly that.

The TARP Is Dead, Long Live the TARP

So Congress gave Hank Paulson the $700 billion, and the first thing he did was to take $125 billion out of the bag and give it to his pals at the nine biggest banks and investment banks in the country. Never one to display ingratitude, he gave $10 billion to Goldman Sachs, the firm he had headed before passing through the revolving door to the Treasury.

He went on to give other big financial institutions a cut of the loot, too. So generous was old Hank with the taxpayers’ money that he has now handed out $290 billion of the $350 billion that Congress authorized him to spend immediately. He has traded the money for preferred shares in the recipient companies, thereby realizing Eugene Debs’s cherished dream of bringing socialism to the United States, but – mirabile dictu – he has not spent a dime on the rotten paper whose purchase was the heart and soul of the big bailout law.

If you've been reading these posts, you already are familiar with the laments of Robert Higgs, but you'll enjoy reading this column, not only for its sarcastic wit, but to arm yourself with some facts and data with which to compose a rebuttal when you confront others who are still in denial about the craziness which has transpired in the last two months.

Should We Really Bail Out $73.20 Per Hour Labor?

The chart above shows average hourly compensation (additional data source here) for the Big Three ($73.20) and Toyota ($48.00), compared to average hourly compensation for Management and Professional Workers ($47.57), Manufacturing/Goods Producing ($31.59) and all workers ($28.48), data available here.

Why do the Big Three auto manufacturers need a bailout? Let's start with the UAW monopoly requiring hourly wages which are not competitive with other auto makers. If they can't compete by paying these wages, they need to fail, renegotiate with the UAW for competitive wages or sell their companies to someone who knows how to compete with their rivals. This economic stuff is so easy - why do they need my advice?

Ron Paul Answers Your Questions: Part One

Do you love the smell of libertarianism in the morning? If so, today is a good day for you.

Ron Paul

Last week we solicited your questions for Congressman Ron Paul.

There was such a big response (more than 400 comments) that we have split Paul’s answers into two batches, the first of which is posted below.

Disagree? Please post in the comments of this post.

Don't Bail Out My State

South Carolina's governor says more debt isn't the answer.

Who bails out the "bail-outor"?

Washington is short on cash these days and will borrow every dime of the $150 billion to $300 billion for the "stimulus" bill now being worked on. Federal appetites may know no bounds. But the federal government's ability to borrow is not limitless. Already, our nation's unfunded liabilities total $52 trillion -- about $450,000 per household. There's something very strange about issuing debt to solve a problem caused by too much debt.

Gov. Mark Sanford (Republican, SC) asks probing questions. His is a lonely voice among the growing multitude of moochers in search of government hand outs.

Bush Warns Against `Too Much' Government in Markets

This is what he said:

In a speech at the Manhattan Institute in New York before weekend talks among leaders from the Group of 20 nations, Bush said policy makers should resist the urge to meddle too much in markets as they seek to reverse the financial and economic turmoil now engulfing the world.

``History has shown that the greater threat to economic prosperity is not too little government involvement in the market, but too much,'' Bush said. ``Our aim should not be more government, it should be smarter government.''

And this is what he did:

For all his defense of markets, Bush this year extended the reach of government by backing bailouts of American International Group Inc., Bear Stearns Cos., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His administration is also implementing a $700 billion financial rescue program which U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson yesterday shifted toward relieving pressure on consumer credit, scrapping an effort to buy devalued mortgage assets.

Actions speak louder than words.

Before and After - Election Results

The names change but the game remains the same.

Hank Paulson, Naked Emperor

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson finally confirmed what lonely bailout opponents tried to tell the American public all along: The man doesn't know what the hell he's doing.

Paulson held a bazooka to taxpayers' heads. He groveled on his knees in front of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He lured leaders from both political parties into linking arms in a panicked Chicken Little line dance for the beleaguered mortgage industry. Paulson demanded an unprecedented $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program for the good of the country. For the health of the housing market. For the survival of the economy. No time for deliberation. No time to review the failures of such interventionist approaches around the world. Now, now, now!

And now?

Oh well, it's only money. And it's somebody else's money. But spending is the problem, not the solution. Until the bureaucrats realize this, and it appears they never will, the problems will only escalate.

Ron Paul on the Global Economic Summit

America’s Economic Crisis Is Beyond The Reach of Traditional Solutions

What Reich and the American economic establishment do not understand is that the recession paradigm does not apply. There are no jobs waiting at US manufacturers for a demand stimulus to pull Americans back into work. The problem is not a liquidity problem. To the contrary, there have been many years of too much liquidity. Credit has grown far more than production. Indeed, US production has been moved offshore. Jobs that used to support the growth of American incomes and the tax bases of cities and states have moved, along with US GDP, to China and elsewhere.

The work is gone. All that are left are credit card and mortgage debts.

Gloomy report of our economic status from Paul Craig Roberts.

Preemptive Suit?

We give the job to someone who tells us in advance he isn’t going to do his job properly.

That job is simple enough. The president’s duties are few and not onerous. In performing them, he must "preserve, protect, and defend" the Constitution. But we know in advance that he will not, despite the oath he has taken to do exactly that. It has been that way throughout my lifetime, and probably before that.

In her speech urging her delegates to support Obama, Mrs. Clinton repeatedly referred to one of her pet themes: universal health care. She indicated that Obama shared her passion for such a program. But government-sponsored health care is provided by coercion, as are all government "benefits," and, in any event, is not supported by any hint of Constitutional authority.

The Constitution was written over 220 years ago and has long been disregarded and relegated to antiquity status by nearly all politicians (except Ron Paul) and, more importantly, by the voters who keep electing them.

Stable Money Is the Key to Recovery

When President Richard Nixon closed the gold window some 37 years ago, it marked the end of a golden age of robust trade and unprecedented global economic growth. The Bretton Woods system derived its strength from a commitment by the U.S. to redeem dollars for gold on demand.

True, the right of convertibility at a pre-established rate was granted only to foreign central banks, not to individual dollar holders; therein lies the distinction between the Bretton Woods gold exchange system and a classical gold standard. Under Bretton Woods, participating nations agreed to maintain their own currencies at a fixed exchange rate relative to the dollar.

Since the value of the dollar was fixed to gold at $35 per ounce of gold -- guaranteed by the redemption privilege -- it was as if all currencies were anchored to gold. It also meant all currencies were convertible into each other at fixed rates.

Government regulators from around the world meet tomorrow to devise more government regulations and to try to "help" the US economy.

End-of-Everything Blues

And what does our staff curmudgeon have to say about the imploding economy? Not much. As far as he's concerned he did his duty years ago by warning that we were borrowing our way into deep trouble. He handed in this commentary from 2 1/2 years ago to prove his point.

" Judging by the titles of many commentaries some ominous monetary events await us. 'Systemic Banking Crisis!' warns a writer. 'Debt-driven Meltdown,' howls another. Still others predict 'Economic Armageddon,' 'Financial Apocalypse,' and 'Category 6 Fiscal Storm.' Articles titled 'Economic Pain' and 'Major Upheaval' seemed very tame to me, but 'Demographic Tsunami' and 'Economic Earthquake' laid it right on the line. We're in for it!" End-of-everything Blues

John Wrisley @ Wrisley.com, aided by his crusty accomplice - Potiphar Gride (we believe that the picture above is he), has been predicting our current economic troubles for a long time. We've been listening and heeding his advice. Hope you have too.

The Party's Over

The idea of paper money having a vague intrinsic value can be highlighted in the age-old story of the two brothers who owned equal shares in a pub. Whenever one wanted a pint of beer, he would pay the other a dollar, who would then pay him back for his own draw of beer. Pursued ad nauseum, this meant that the same dollar could account for unlimited quantities of beer; provided of course neither brother ever used it to buy something other than beer from his sibling.

More importantly, the game could continue until the brewery sent its chap around to collect money for all the beer that had been drunk by the brothers.

Unlimited credit attained by worthless fiat dollars is about to come to an end.

Progressives Should Audit the Fed

"Progressives" always call for more regulation of the free market, and the current crisis is no different.

Yet, for nearly a century, the Federal Reserve System has escaped the Progressive regulatory impulse. Progressives decline to subject Federal Reserve policy to even an audit. Libertarian Congressman Ron Paul observes, "Congress, although not by law, essentially has given up all its oversight responsibility over the Federal Reserve."

The Fed enables "Progressives" (all politicians except Ron Paul) to finance their nefarious programs, so they don't want to interfere with the goose which lays the fiat dollars.

U.S. Treasury shifts focus of credit bailout

Despite the mind-boggling amount of money that Congress has authorized the Treasury to spend — $350 billion immediately, and another $350 billion that Congress would approve under a fast-track procedure — Paulson is running short of money and time.


Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. announced at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday plans to create a consumer lending fraud fund. (Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times)

The Treasury has already committed about $290 billion. It has allocated $125 billion to the nine biggest American banks and investment banks; another $125 billion for publicly traded regional banks; and $40 billion to expand the existing bailout of American International Group, the insurance conglomerate that collapsed in September.

$700 billion just won't be enough to feed the locusts attracted to the bailout cornucopia.

US May Lose Its 'AAA' Rating

The United States may be on course to lose its 'AAA' rating due to the large amount of debt it has accumulated, according to Martin Hennecke, senior manager of private clients at Tyche.

"The U.S. might really have to look at a default on the bankruptcy reorganization of the present financial system" and the bankruptcy of the government is not out of the realm of possibility, Hennecke said.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Want some government money? Apply now!

In the meantime, care to apply for some TARP money? Turns out there's a five-page, downloadable document to fill in -- if you're interested...here's the link.

Just fill out this simple form and you can get your cut of the bailout pie...

GOP should ask why U.S. is on the wrong track

Now, in light of the election, many are asking: What is the future of the Republican Party?

But that is the wrong question. The proper question should be: Where is our country heading? There's no doubt that a large majority of Americans believe we're on the wrong track. That's why the candidate demanding "change" won the election. It mattered not that the change offered was no change at all, only a change in the engineer of a runaway train.

Ron Paul on bailouts, Obama and the future of the Republican Party.

The Mirage of Inflation

Who among us does not feel richer and prouder when he is told that our national income has doubled (in terms of dollars, of course) compared with some preinflationary period? Even the clerk who used to get $75 a week and now gets $120 thinks that he must be in some way better off, though it costs him twice as much to live as it did when he was getting $75. He is of course not blind to the rise in the cost of living. But neither is he as fully aware of his real position as he would have been if his cost of living had not changed and if his money salary had been reduced to give him the same reduced purchasing power that he now has, in spite of his salary increase, because of higher prices. Inflation is the autosuggestion, the hypnotism, the anesthetic, that has dulled the pain of the operation for him. Inflation is the opium of the people.

The Fed, with its printing presses, continues to "create wealth" by increasing the money supply. It is a stealth tax on our standard of living. It is the reason that a working man can no longer support his family unless the wife also works as was the case in the 1950's and 1960's. Henry Hazlitt explains...

Government Officials Are Speaking Gibberish

“Systematically significant institution”? Why? If AIG were to receive no more taxpayer money, would that cutoff entail the end of civilization? And how exactly does giving the company assets (cash) help it dispose of its assets (rotten securities)? It sounds more like trading something for nothing. To say that this make-believe “investment” will in any way “protect the taxpayer” only insults our intelligence.

Where's my bailout? Am I not significant? Gimme, gimme, gimme. I want a piece of the pie too.

Progress Doesn't Come from Washington

It's exciting that the world is so excited about Barack Obama. I'm excited, too. That he achieved the presidency says something good about America.

But the excitement also frightens me. It reinforces the worst impulse of the media and political class: the assumption that all progress comes from Washington. In a free society, with constitutionally limited government, the president would be a mere executive who sees to it that predictable and understandable laws are enforced. But sadly, the prestige and power of the presidency have grown, and liberty has contracted. That is not something to celebrate.

The solutions to our economic woes lie not in Washington, D.C. - that's where the problems originated. John Stossel explains.

Getting Beyond Race

[M]ost of today's problems have little or nothing to do with racial discrimination. That's not to say that every vestige of racial discrimination has been eliminated but as my colleague Dr. John McWhorter said in "End of Racism?" Forbes (11/5/08), "There are also rust and mosquitoes, and there always will be. Life goes on." The fact that the nation elected a black president hopefully might turn our attention away from the false notion that discrimination explains the problems of a large segment of the black community to the real problems that have absolutely nothing to do with discrimination.

Walter Williams on why Obama may help us to focus on real issues instead of contrived ones.

What Creeps These Members of Congress Be

Congress has held no televised hearings to look into the tremendous fall in fuel prices since last summer, when I paid more than $4.00 per gallon for a while. Oil company executives have not been summoned to Washington so that they can be applauded for sloughing off the greed that (allegedly) impelled them to charge so much for their products in June and July. No member of Congress has apologized for calling the businessmen there last spring to berate and threaten them while angrily mouthing sentiments that can only be described as idiotic.

Oil companies get blamed for high prices but receive no credit for low prices by the politicians whose goal is to fool us into thinking they are doing something useful.

A Recipe for the Next Great Depression

Along with the ascendancy of the Democratic Party to control of the executive and legislative branches of government has come the repetition of the tired, old mantra of an alleged need for a "new New Deal." God help us. The original New Deal unequivocally made the Great Depression much worse, and much longer-lasting, than it would otherwise have been.

Congress is repeating the mistakes of the past.

Are We There Yet, Are We There Yet?

Whew! These dedicated public servants clearly do not intend to rest until they’ve pretty much cured all the world’s visible ills, including bad breath and flat feet. If they fail, in any event, it won’t be because they were too timid about throwing the taxpayers’ money at the problems.

All of which raises the eternal question, have we become a communist country yet? Yes, I know you probably think this question is silly, but I intend to treat it with the seriousness it deserves in the light of past, present, and likely future government actions.

Robert Higgs uses 10 points of the Manifesto of the Communist Party to measure our progress on our road to communism.

China's Path to World Power

Economic independence is vital to political independence.

Following Hamiltonian precepts, the United States grew from 13 rural and agricultural colonies into the greatest industrial power in all history, producing 42 percent of the world's manufactured goods. We were the awe and envy of mankind, the self-sufficient republic, maker of half of the armaments produced by all the nations in World War II.

That is the America we grew up in -- that has now vanished.

The U.S. has nearly completed the transition from independence to dependence.

Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loans

The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn't require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.

What's going on here? $2 trillion - almost 3 times the original bailout of $700 billion! With no transparency, corrupt deals are a certainty.

Precedent O'Bama, Wedding Bombs, and Other Good News

I don’t get it. What is wrong with these idiots? Debt is easy to avoid. Herewith some blinding wisdom: If you can’t pay for it, don’t buy it. You saw it here first, a percipient contribution to economic theory. Works like a charm, too. Or how about this? Don’t buy more house than you can live in. Move over, Keynes, Ricardo, here I come.

Another story is about how banks are all unhappy because they’ve got bad loans. A probing question if I may (characteristic of this column): Who made the bad loans? Permit me another searing insight. If you lend money to people who can’t pay it back, they won’t. I know, I know, a difficult concept. Not something a Wall Street banker would know.

Fred scans the headlines and is getting depressed - really depressed.

No He Can't

I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel no elation. There is no smile on my face. I am not jumping with joy. There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all that I know about the requirements of human flourishing and survival – all that I know about the history of the United States of America, all that I know about American race relations, and all that I know about Barack Obama as a politician. I would have to deny the nature of the "change" that Obama asserts has come to America.

What heresy is this? Why isn't this writer infatuated with Obama like so many others? Read on and find out.

'Center-right' America lurches further left

"The greatest dangers to liberty," wrote Justice Brandeis, "lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding."

Now who does that remind you of?

Ha! Trick question! Never mind Obama, it's John McCain. He encroached on our liberties with the constitutional abomination of McCain-Feingold. Well-meaning but without understanding, he proposed that the federal government buy up all these junk mortgages so that people would be able to stay in "their" homes. And this is the "center-right" candidate? It's hard for Republicans to hammer Obama as a socialist when their own party's nationalizing the banks and its presidential nominee is denouncing the private sector for putting profits before patriotism.

A choice between a Republican and a Democrat is like choosing between a firing squad with lead bullets or copper bullets. Either way, the result is unsatisfactory.

Apocalypse Now

The last time the sky fell was 96 years ago. Few saw it coming; no one panicked. But panic wouldn't exist if it weren't a useful instinct from time to time. The celestial bricks came unglued in August 1914. By 1918, 40 million people had died. But that was just the beginning. WWI bankrupted or destroyed almost every major government of Europe. The plumy families that had dominated the continent for centuries - the Hohenzollerns, the Romanoffs, the Hapsburgs - were all clobbered. The Ottoman Turks fared no better. Then, scarcely 20 years later, France's Third Republic was another victim…and so was Germany's Third Reich.

Civilizations come and go with the wind. Bill Bonner wonders which way the wind is blowing now.

Here's a shocking story

Here's a shocking story your myopic popular news media have not covered: Since July 15 the U.S. government has borrowed $1.115 trillion!!!! That's not even four months! On October 3rd Congress set the debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion. and it's a good thing, too. The debt has just smashed through the former ceiling of $10.6 trillion and could crack through the new barrier about the time of Barack Obama's inaugural. As of November 6th we-the-people are in hock for $10.616 trillion. And that's only the public debt, not the trillions of un-funded liabilities hanging over our heads.

But not to worry. It can never be paid. In fact, for all the huge financial figures floating around in the bowels of computers, there is only some $830 billion of actual cash in circulation around the world. . That is, hand-to-hand U.S. coin and currency. If you have some of it stuffed in your underwear drawer you are better off than most folks.

(Clipped from Wrisley.com)

Why Obama Will Be Worse Than Bush

I'm of the view that all presidents should be simultaneously inaugurated and impeached, and that there should be a streamlined procedure to expedite their conviction and removal from office upon each president's first documented violation of his constitutional oath.

This would be more than merely a convenient time-saving measure; it is entirely justified in light of the alacrity with which presidents become enemies of the Constitution.

Another reference to a 221 year old artifact which is largely ignored and/or defiled by politicians.

Humility or Hubris?

I cannot put it better than Will Wilkinson did at The Fly Bottle, “It means something profound that a black man was elected to the most visible, high-status position our society offers. The mere fact that Obama won truly does make our society a better place.” I also share Wilkinson’s reservations. In a truly free society, the presidency would not be the most visible high-status position our society offers. That designation would be reserved for a variety of private-sector roles. Unfortunately, however, the presidency does have that status today, and Obama’s election must be appreciated from that perspective. Relatedly, I am uneasy about, though understanding of, the public displays that followed John McCain’s concession Tuesday night. Again, Wilkinson: “[F]rankly, I hope never to see again streets thronging with people chanting the victorious leader’s name.”

I'll leave it to the reader to decide why I emphasized the last sentence.

The Incredible Growing Government

[T]his gigantic 8.7% fall in disposable income is doubly bad news because not only do YOU have less to spend, but the government is taking in less tax revenue, too, and since the huge layers of government (federal, state and local) already constitute the entire economy by spending half the money spent in the economy, this is Bad, Bad News (BBN), indeed!

And now that the governments of America have literally become the economy (and paying themselves handsomely in the process!), there is no way that the government can be allowed to shrink, and it will have a voracious, constant need for more and more money, sucking you dry, sort of like having teenage children, but without the sullen insolence and incessant whining.

Richard Daughty is miffed - again.

Peter Schiff on the Economic Impact Of Obama Victory

Peter Schiff a brilliant man, the other two characters are confused and pretty slow.
Believe it or not, the media actually employs people like that. I guess they must feel sorry for them.
Actually their comments are so stupid I almost feel sorry for them.



I was watching CNBC when this exchange aired. The two anchors were just astounded that someone thought differently than they did about the wisdom of government intrusion into economic matters. They finally got someone on the show with a rational viewpoint and the anchors came completely unglued and had no intelligent (or intelligible) response.

More Bailouts Needed!

Remember the prosperous whaling industry just a century ago? Whales provided the oil for every lamp in every home and business. The whaling industry employed over 70,000 people. Those were real jobs, but the government refused to prop up the industry and today not a single lamp uses whale oil to light the night sky.

Look at the print industry. The newspaper and magazine are going the way of the dinosaur. Replaced by digital print. And who is there to care? And what happened to typewriters and Smith Corona? Smith Corona was a staple name just 30 years ago.

David N. Vaughn questions the wisdom of bailing out failed enterprises.

A Lesson for the LP

Bob Barr never fully repudiated many of the awful positions he took in the past. He certainly sounded better than McCain or Obama on the campaign trail, but he always left much to be desired. He talked about smaller government, but most of the things he said could have been said by any establishment Republican candidate. Ronald Reagan probably sounded more radical in his time than Bob Barr has this past year. Why would people get excited about a third-party candidate, who has no shot of winning, when his ideas aren’t even that radical or exciting?

The Republican party is not the only party to founder on a rocky shore. Libertarians were presented with a Republican castaway who espoused muddled ideas inconsistent with libertarian principles. Democrats will be able to implement their agenda with only token opposition as Republicans and Libertarians regroup.

Obama Zombies

Now that Obama has been elected, what's to become of his fervent, delusional supporters? We don't know and we don't care.

And the Winner Is . . . Peggy the Moocher

Sorry to break the bad news to Joe the Plumber. But the winner of Campaign 2008 is Peggy the Moocher. No matter who moves into the White House, Peggy has good reason to do a happy dance. The plain, ugly fact is that both major political parties are committed to spreading the wealth in one form or another. It’s all just a question of how much and how quickly.

Interesting comparison of expectations from government.

Capitalism and the Financial Crisis

There are 15 cabinet departments, nine of which control various aspects of the U.S. economy. They are the Departments of: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, Energy, Labor, Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior. In addition, there is the alphabet soup cluster of federal agencies such as: the IRS, the FRB and FDIC, the EPA, FDA, SEC, CFTC, NLRB, FTC, FCC, FERC, FEMA, FAA, CAA, INS, OHSA, CPSC, NHTSA, EEOC, BATF, DEA, NIH, and NASA.

Here's my question to you: Can one be sane and at the same time hold that ours is an unregulated laissez-faire economy?

Government wants more regulations because "the free market didn't work." We haven't tried a free market.

Barriers Broken?

A McCain victory would have been perceived at home and abroad as a ratification of the past eight years, and it is hard to imagine a worse course of events than that. The Obama victory symbolizes a well-deserved repudiation of this ghastly experience.

Of course, the Obama victory elicits its own spin, which is also highly dangerous. The main message concerns race. All the headlines blared that a racial barrier had been broken. The subtext here is impossible to miss: heretofore America has been a hopelessly racist country that put up barriers to the advance of people of color.

Government policies should not target any group(s) for "advancement" by targeting other group(s) as "too wealthy."

A Debt Beyond Redemption

The word "redeem" means "buy back." It is used in Christian theology to describe what Jesus did for mankind in general (common grace) and individuals (special grace). It was used during the era of the gold standard to describe the right of a holder of paper money to redeem this money for gold coins at a fixed price.

The debt of the United States government is now beyond redemption.

The only way for this debt to be redeemed officially is through mass inflation. If this is the way of redemption, then the economy is beyond redemption.

There will be a great default. The question is when, not if.

This is perhaps the biggest dilemma facing the Obama administration. Our current administration has nearly doubled the debt in eight years. Obama will not be able to fulfill his promises without exacerbating the problem of debt. $10.5+ trillion is a lot of money, even if it is fiat money. We cannot spend our way out of debt by printing more fiat money. There will be a day of reckoning says Gary North.

Barack Obama elected 44th president

President-elect Barack Obama walks on stage at his victory celebration in Chicago with his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha.

President-elect Barack Hussein Obama II gave a rousing victory speech early this morning. He was confident and inspiring. He comes from a humble background and from out of practically nowhere to become the first black person to be elected to the presidency of the United States. His campaign was as organized and brilliantly planned as any campaign ever. It's the American dream on steroids. I congratulate him and wish him well. He is my president and yours and he faces tough challenges on many fronts. His brilliance and organizational skills can be valuable tools during his presidency. This blog will follow his progress closely and critique his performance as we see it along the way with as much fairness as we can muster. He has promised much to many. Now he will be faced with the reality that he cannot deliver on them all. He will have to make choices that will disappoint many. The decisions he makes will be the measure of the man. Godspeed.

Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage!!!

Scary that people believe that a presidential candidate can and should do this. Scarier still that presidential candidates think they can and should do this.

Time to Choose

Time to Choose - Who Will It Be?

Are you going to vote? Why? Will you vote for Obama or McCain? Why? Do you believe your candidate will make our country better? How? Are you voting because your candidate will help the country or because he promises to address issues that will directly affect your quality of life? (If you have already voted, the questions still apply, only in the past tense)

If you don't know the answers to these questions, don't vote. If you do know the answers, you know it will do no good to vote.

How are the banks doing these days?

Obama and the Politics of Crowds

The masses greeting the candidate on the trail are a sign of great unease.

The affluent will have to pay for the programs promised the poor. The redistribution agenda that runs through Mr. Obama's vision is anathema to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and the hedge-fund managers now smitten with him. Their ethos is one of competition and the justice of the rewards that come with risk and effort. All this is shelved, as the devotees sustain the candidacy of a man whose public career has been a steady advocacy of reining in the market and organizing those who believe in entitlement and redistribution.

Because of his oratorical skills and his charisma, Obama is more frightening than McCain. Be afraid, be very afraid lest he leads us further astray while we cheer him on. But yet, perhaps, he will hasten the process of awakening those among us who seek liberty and reject the ever growing power of the state and its dominion over us.

Why Ron Paul Didn’t Win

Americans have been bullied and pushed around long enough. They may be confused but they know something is wrong and needs to be put right. It would have been very easy to take Mr. Obama apart and reveal his deceits and lies, to reveal who owns him, to reveal his pet prejudices and favorites, and to show just how badly he will end up ruling with his panoply of programs. Dr. Paul had the issues squarely on his side.

So instead of that picture, we have the Republican Party choosing a far, far weaker candidate. Why didn’t Ron Paul win the nomination of his Party?

Michael Rozeff knows why the Republicans would rather lose the election than reveal what their real agenda is.

Asleep at the Wheel

The U.S. becomes what it wasn't

Having no plausible enemy of any sophistication, the Pentagon exercises itself by attacking primitive nations in the Third World, and usually losing. For this you do not need an F22. You could lose as well with slingshots.

The spectacle of an alleged superpower struggling to beat yet another collection of ragtag guerrillas may seem darkly comical, but winning or losing isn’t the point; the endless wars keep the contracts flowing, the promotions coming, and fuel demands for a larger army.

The always insightful Fred Reed explores the military mindset and the folly of military misadventures - who wins and who loses.