Cap and Trade Will Lead to Capital Flight

The real inconvenient truth is that the cost of government regulations, taxes, fees, red tape and bureaucracy is a considerable expense that has to be considered when companies decide where to do business and how many people they can afford to hire. Increasing governmental burden directly causes capital flight and job losses, as Spain has learned. In this global economy its easy enough for businesses to relocate to countries that are more politically friendly to economic growth. If our government continues to kick the economy while its down, it will be a long time before it gets back up. In fact, jobs are much more likely to go overseas, compounding our problems.

Government is discouraging businesses from operating in the United States by taxing and regulating them out of the country.

Alice in Medical Care

Politicians may talk about "bringing down the cost of medical care," but they seldom even attempt to bring down the costs. What they bring down is the price-- which is to say, they refuse to pay the costs.

Anybody can refuse to pay any cost. But don't be surprised if you get less when you pay less. None of this is rocket science. But it does require us to stop and think before jumping on a bandwagon.

The great haste with which the latest government expansion into medical care is being rushed through Congress suggests that the politicians don't want us to stop and think.

Government interference in health care will not improve our doctor/patient experiences.

Basic Premises

What follows are a few of the basic premises on which I base my thinking. You might or might not agree with them, but may I suggest that you make a list of your own basic premises. It will help you clarify your thinking.

1. Government is inherently incompetent, and no matter what task it is assigned, it will do it in the most expensive and inefficient way possible.
2. The American government is corrupt from top to bottom.
3. If you rely on the mass media to inform you about your community, state and nation, you will, with rare exceptions, be woefully ignorant of what is really going on.
4. The universal franchise is a bad idea. The notion that the destiny of the nation should be put in the hands of ignoramuses, parasites, boobs, party hacks and idiots is absurd on its face.
5. Public education in America is a failure and is so flawed it cannot be reformed.
6. Not much has changed in the past 5,000 years of human history.

All of that might sound cynical, but it really isn't. True conservatives have argued for years that government, even a benign one, is like a clumsy, retarded giant, and therefore you have to be careful to limit what tasks you assign it.

A look back at the philosophy of retired columnist Charley Reese.

Where is the Real Stimulus Bill?

Politicians and bureaucrats want you to think that they are the producers. They want you to believe that they are the god of the machine magically appearing to solve all problems.

Politics is nothing more nor less than the process of manipuling people. And the people-manipulators can no more restrain themselves from manipulating people than a hungry hyena can force itself to stop eating carrion.

As long as you keep enabling politicians by believing in them and making heroes of them and demanding that they help you at the expense of others (which is the only possible way politicians can help you) then you will forever, knowingly or not, be the carrion for the hyenas.

So where is the economic stimulus bill that tells politicians and bureaucrats to get the hell out of our way?

Government actions are deleterious to the economy.

The Misrepresentation of Healthcare Reform

We may grant that “the public” want (as the British would say) the government to set up an insurance program to compete with private insurers and are even willing “to pay higher taxes so that all Americans have health insurance that they can’t lose no matter what.”

So what? By asking this question, I am not displaying naïveté. Politicians of course will use a favorable poll for cover when they do what they want to do anyway.

I mean something else: Why should the people get something through government–that is, at the point of a gun–simply because they want it? We make that assumption reflexively, but why? Fifty-seven percent may be willing to pay higher taxes for universal health insurance, but let’s not overlook what else they are willing to do: tax the 37 percent who aren’t willing to pay higher taxes. (Six percent don’t know if they are willing or not. Sigh.)

Don't want government run healthcare? Too bad for you. A majority of your fellow citizens want it so you are going to pay for their healthcare as well as your own.

The Political Class Is In Session

Do you often find the operations of government confusing and seemingly counterproductive? You’re not alone. It’s not your fault. There’s actually a simple explanation, but understanding that explanation requires you to mentally rebel against a lifetime of “education,” conditioning and propagandization.

Here’s that simple explanation:

The purpose of all, or nearly all, functions of the modern state is to facilitate and maximize the transfer of wealth from the pockets of the productive class to the bank accounts of the political class.

Take a moment to digest that claim, and come back when the room stops spinning.

Why do our politicians want to "help" us? Do they not think we are capable of helping ourselves? Do we really want government bureaucrats to manage every aspect of our lives? The scary answer to these questions is that a majority of Americans want government solutions for their problems.

Tarheels vs. the Internet

Tarheel legislators still want Amazon and other online retailers to start taxing their constituents. The Seattle-based retailer has no physical presence in the state, but a pending North Carolina bill holds that since affiliate Web sites in the state link customers to Amazon, the company is now responsible for extracting cash from Carolina shoppers.

Tax grabbing legislators in NC are trying to force Amazon to collect NC sales tax in Seattle. The scheme is not working and NC merchants will lose sales.

To its credit, Amazon yesterday refused to accept the expected new compliance burden and announced the cancellation of its North Carolina affiliate relationships.

What If Government Ran Health Care? (Sprint Ad Remix)

Die Hard Illusions

Down deeper, in the dark, corroded heart of the government economist is a fatal conceit.

We know from the experience of the 20th century that Friedrich Hayek was right. He called it the “Fatal Conceit”: the idea that central planners working for the government are free from sin and error. He wrote early in the century…when National Socialism and Communism were still popular.

Now we know; central economic planning doesn’t work. Everywhere it was tried it was a disaster. The more the bureaucrats planned, the bigger the mess they made. But now we are supposed to believe that central financial planning will save the world from the mistakes of the bubble era. That is the grand illusion waiting to be toppled. What fun it will be to see it come down!

The Fed has used up its ammo. It's out of bullets. That doesn't mean it won't continue to dry fire the weapon, but it won't hear a BANG, just a hollow and disheartening CLICK.

The Climate Change Climate Change

Steve Fielding recently asked the Obama administration to reassure him on the science of man-made global warming. When the administration proved unhelpful, Mr. Fielding decided to vote against climate-change legislation.

If you haven't heard of this politician, it's because he's a member of the Australian Senate. As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to pass a climate-change bill, the Australian Parliament is preparing to kill its own country's carbon-emissions scheme. Why? A growing number of Australian politicians, scientists and citizens once again doubt the science of human-caused global warming.

The Cap & Trade - otherwise known as Cap & Tax - legislation is based on the idea that the earth is warming and it's our fault. Al Gore has led the charge with lemming-like legislators, sensing political opportunites, following in his wake. Pelosi is not sure she can continue the charade because a rising tide of scepticism is brewing.

No Answers to Our Health Care Questions

You know why a lot of people are nervous about this health care thing? They're not getting answers.

And you know what really annoys them? The folks who are supposed to provide those answers are offended by the questions.

Questions like: "Will I ever have to wait for vital care?"

Answer: No.

Question: But they wait in Canada.

Answer: But not that long.

Question: But some, very long.

Answer: Very overblown.

Question: So I won't have to stand in a long line?

Answer: Not now.

Question: Will you pay for this taxing health benefits folks already have now?

Answer: Everything's on the table.

Question: Well, is that on the table?

Answer: We're looking at a lot of things.

Question: OK, then on that specific tax health benefit thing?

Answer: Move on.

Neil is asking questions but not getting any answers on the government-run health care dictum which Obama is pushing through Congress.

Cap and Trade to Limp Across Finish Line?

Republicans point out that the Waxman-Markey bill would create a convoluted federal bureaucracy that would control key sectors of the economy and of our lives. Minority Leader John Boehner created this graphic, showing how the bill is intended to work;

The Democrats, not having read the bill, were unable to comment.

I'm sure there must be a historical precedent for the folly that Waxman-Markey represents--ordering the weather to change!--but I can't think of one offhand.

The climate bill will probably pass with very little coverage from the press. They are much too preoccupied with Gov. Sanford's philandering and the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. (Go to the Power Line blog to expand the chart)

Does Our Freedom Depend on Gold?

Many believe, and rightly so, that gold has intrinsic value. As a result, gold served as the ultimate and most stable form of currency in the 19th century. A gold-backed U.S. dollar permitted unprecedented economic growth in the background of a relatively deflationary economy. However, despite the clear economic advantages to having a gold-backed currency, this is not its most important purpose.

Throughout world history, the greatest threats to the freedom of men and women have most often come from the very individuals that have claimed to be their protectors, namely, their own rulers and governments. And, contrary to popular belief, the situation is no different today.

A gold standard for the dollar would limit the Fed's ability to rob us.

The Nirvana Fallacy

Regulators are human beings with the same shortcomings as everyone else. Even if we assume they have the best motives, on what basis do we believe they could possibly know what they need to know to manage a financial industry that is complex beyond conception -- and changing every day in response to new conditions?

Obama speaks as though these facts don't exist. He goes so far as to say, "[W]e're proposing a set of reforms to require regulators to look ... -- for the first time -- at the stability of the financial system as a whole." (Emphasis added.)

That is precisely what no one can do. The financial system isn't a machine. It's people -- a huge number of them -- engaging in countless transactions often on the basis of hunches that are not quantitative and never written down. How is a regulator to keep tabs on -- much less manage -- that?

Free markets and government intrusions are dichotomies. John Stossel explains...

Nanny Government

I grew up plugging stuff in. Did I ever get shocked? You betcha. It taught me to be more careful the next time. Now when you buy an electrical appliance the first thing you do is get some scissors or a knife to cut all of the warning labels off the cord. And then there's those ugly stickers on your visor telling you about the dangers of airbags with children in the car. The wonderful federal government has mandated that these stickers be impossible to remove. Impossible hell. I know how to remove them, and I take them off of every car I drive ... even the rental cars. That ugly sticker hovering above my eyes is just a constant and revolting reminder of the nanny state we're becoming.

Neal Boortz goes on a rant about our governmental nannies.

The Columbus Era 1492–2009

If not for the pure luck that America had gotten in the way, Columbus would have been consigned to being just another obscure footnote in history. But without knowing it, Columbus was taking one of the first steps to a establishing a world dominated by Europeans, and later their biggest power – the United States.

It can be argued that in the years since, as a result of Columbus and others from the age of exploration, to the age of colonialism, to the 'global village' of today, that the world has been dominated by Europeans' and their descendants. That great journey of 'white men' who have surveyed, conquered, and vanquished the world for the past five hundred years is something I call "The Columbus Era".

It can be argued that that epic period of time is now coming to an end. Other powers, particularly in Asia are in the forefront, while economic power is now being dispersed around the globe.

The era of United States hegemony is coming to an end. Where do we go from here?

Politicians Talking Gibberish About Health Care

Economic laws are like the forces of nature. They can be held off, as a levy holds off a flood, but they will eventually overwhelm any attempt to violate them. The most fundamental economic law is this: you cannot consume more than you produce without taking the difference from someone else. Government produces nothing. Therefore, any health care benefit that government provides must be funded with money taken by force from someone else. There is no political theory, mathematical equation, or black magic incantation that can change this.

Are we entitled to health care? Tom Mullen explores the question.

Census....Nose Count or Prying?

The 2010 Census will require you to provide a fantastic amount of personal information. Here's a member of Congress who is going to provide what the Constitution requires and no more.

Rep. Michele Bachmann. (R-MN) says she's so worried that information from next year's national census will be abused that she will refuse to fill out anything more than the number of people in her household. Mrs. Bachmann says the questions have become "very intricate, very personal" and she also fears ACORN, the community organizing group that came under fire for its voter registration efforts last year, will be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts.

Census....Nose Count or Prying?

A clip from our favorite curmudgeoun

Ron Paul on the Geithner-Fed Scam

Dr. Ron Paul chimes in on the meddlings of the Fed.

Who Will Regulate the Regulators?

[G]iving the Fed even more regulatory "authority" is like giving an alcoholic another bottle of whisky, a murderer another gun, or a bank robber another ski mask. It is bound to make things worse, not better. "We the people" have no ability to regulate the regulators in any way. Our only hope is to end the Fed before it creates an even greater depression than the one it has created for us today.

Timothy Geithner is asking for more power for the Fed. Only in America can the institution responsible for causing the present crisis be rewarded for doing so. That is a perfect example of Thomas J. DiLorenzo's 1st law of government: In government, failure is success.

The Letter

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

A portion of a letter written to Glenn Beck. This grandmother has had enough of big government and believes it is time for a revolution. Pitchforks anyone?

Hero or Villian?

Under no article nor section in the Constitution is there a mention of the right of the Congress to establish a central bank; however, in 1913 the Federal Reserve System was created by an act of Congress. The Federal Reserve Bank is run by a board of seven "governors" appointed for fourteen-year non-renewable terms by the President and confirmed by the senate. This permanent, ad-hoc "fourth" branch of government has the power to influence the value of the dollar as well as the economy in general, yet is relatively immune to the will of the people. With fourteen-year terms, the governors are more or less free to do as they please with little, if any, chance for the American people to hold them responsible for their actions. The board can be thought of as analogous to a hypothetical group of fourteen-year cabinet members who, as a whole, would wield as much or more power than the President.

The Constitutionality of the Federal Reserve is examined by Ross DeForrest.

The American Empire Is Bankrupt

[T]he rest of the world knows we are bankrupt. And these nations are damned if they are going to continue to prop up an inflated dollar and sustain the massive federal budget deficits, swollen to over $2 trillion, which fund America’s imperial expansion in Eurasia and our system of casino capitalism. They have us by the throat. They are about to squeeze.

There are meetings being held Monday and Tuesday in Yekaterinburg, Russia, (formerly Sverdlovsk) among Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and other top officials of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The United States, which asked to attend, was denied admittance. Watch what happens there carefully. The gathering is, in the words of economist Michael Hudson, “the most important meeting of the 21st century so far.”

The dollar is under pressure and is being scrutinized from abroad.

The Spending Threat

President Obama and his allies in Congress are gearing up to wallop families and businesses with an array of new taxes to fund a host of spending plans. These won't just hit hard at average families -- they threaten to derail any economic recovery.

Democrats can't seem to constrain their spending impulses. Social Security and Medicare are going bankrupt from overspending, yet Washington refuses to trim costs. The budget deficit exploded to $1.8 trillion this year as a result of financial bailouts and the stimulus package, yet Congress and the president continue to jack up annual appropriations as if the Treasury was flush with cash. And Democrats are aiming at a grand health-care "reform" that could cost taxpayers $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

So hold on to your wallets, America. Those spending plans leave Democrats desperate to raise revenue, and they'll be coming after you from every angle in coming months.

Government refuses to face the reality that it is spending money they don't have and can't hope to raise for generations to come. It's like that movie where Sandra Bullock is on the bus and it has to keep going 60 mph or it will blow up. Government is afraid of what will happen if they stop or slow the spending so they just keep piling it on.

Mr. Obama, Tear Down This Empire

Mr. Obama, Tear down this empire.

The kingdom of Alexander the Great reached to the borders of India. The Roman Empire controlled Western Europe and the Hellenized states that bordered the Mediterranean. The Mongol Empire stretched from Southeast Asia to Europe. The Byzantine Empire lasted over a thousand years. The Ottoman Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf in the east to Hungary in the northwest; and from Egypt in the south to the Caucasus in the north. At the height of its dominion, the British Empire included almost a quarter of the world’s population.

Nothing, however, compares to the U.S. global empire. It is an empire that would make Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Genghis Khan, Suleiman the Magnificent, Emperor Justinian, and King George V proud. What makes U.S. hegemony unique is that it consists, not of control over great landmasses or population centers, but of a global presence unlike that of any other country in history.

The world is a big place. We cannot tell eveyone to be like us or else. The US has troops stationed in more than 100 countries with the implied threat which that entails. Much of the unrest around the globe is caused by our own meddlings in the affairs of others.

Chinese Laughter the Sound of US Stupidity

The winner of the Mogambo Award For Most Imbecilic Statement Of The Month (MAFMISOTM) comes from a Financial Times article where we read that Tim Geithner, whom I ungraciously call (with a sneer and a voice dripping with a tone of Pure Mogambo Contempt (PMC)), the “rat-like Treasury Secretary of the United States,” tried to convince China that “the US would do what was necessary to bring its budget under control.” Hahahaha!

The Keynesian remedies being applied by Geithner and his cronies are based on theories which assume all we need to do is spend and the economy will begin humming along again. "Bringing the budget under control" is a different concept than balancing the budget - and a much more adventurous one.

WHERE'S MY OPRAH AND AMERICAN IDOL?

"What happened to my soap opera?"

"Where can you get one of them converter things?"

"I can't afford one of them converter things."

"Where is Barack Obama's birth certificate?"

"Why didn't you warn us this was going to happen?"

"I have a right to TV."

"The government needs to do something about this."

We are presented with a great opportunity here. Let's get the names of all of the ignoranuses who couldn't figure this thing out by Friday and get them converted to digital ... with one condition. They surrender their voter registration cards. We have enough idiots voting in this country ...

We are sure glad we don't have to listen to those PSA's anymore. Neal Boortz said there would be many who still weren't prepared for the digital conversion last Friday.

SANFORD / ATLAS: Alternatives to government health takeover

Whether it's four-year waiting lines for major surgeries in Canada or four-hour wait times for emergency care in Britain, in practice, government-run health systems by and large fail the very patients they were created to protect. In these systems, access to doctors, surgeries and new lifesaving treatments are severely limited. Innovation is discouraged, and medical technologies are deficient, forcing patients to undergo more invasive and dangerous care. Patient outcomes are worse, and costs keep escalating.

Obamacare or Hillarycare - we don't want it says Gov. Mark Sanford.

Mowing the Sward of Damocles

California is broke. Good. They deserve it. It’s not as if bankruptcy were an act of God, like getting hit on the head by a giant meteor. It was deliberate stupidity. Spend more than you make, and you end up on the street. I’m supposed to feel sorry for that? I’ve known roundworms with better sense. As I understand it, the Democrats refuse to cut spending and the Republicans refuse to raise taxes. See? A lobotomy in two-part harmony. Sounds like the whole country.

Fred Reed has been reading the news again.

Crops under stress as temperatures fall

It is now more than 200 years since the great astronomer William Herschel observed a correlation between wheat prices and sunspots. When the latter were few in number, he noted, the climate turned colder and drier, crop yields fell and wheat prices rose. In the past two years, sunspot activity has dropped to its lowest point for a century. One of our biggest worries is that our politicians are so fixated on the idea that CO2 is causing global warming that most of them haven't noticed that the problem may be that the world is not warming but cooling, with all the implications that has for whether we get enough to eat.

The earth's climate seems to be cooling, not warming. Are you listening Congress and Mr. Obama?

Ron Paul on Tobacco Controls

They should just go ahead and ban tobacco, add it to their list of illegal drugs and narcotics, and imprison anyone caught holding, selling, smuggling or smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco, dipping snuff or growing tobacco on public or private property. The government is on a power trip and wants to control every aspect of our daily lives. They're incrementally adding more restrictions and saying it is for our own good. I say this: Enough already!

House Health-Care Proposal Adds $600 Billion in Taxes

Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.

Democrats will work on the bill’s details next week as they struggle through “what kind of heartburn” it will cause to agree on how to pay for revamping the health-care system, Rangel, a New York Democrat, said today. The measure’s cost is reaching well beyond the $634 billion President Barack Obama proposed in his budget request to Congress as a 10-year down payment for the policy changes.

The government coffers are empty. Hang on to your wallets because Uncle Sam needs you. In order to fund the health care legislation being contemplated by Obama and Ted Kennedy, the strapped taxpayers will have to cough up some of those dollars they've been refusing to spend on Chinese imports. Senior citizens will be asked to contribute by postponing a few of those unnecessary doctor vists and surgeries.

Kleptocracy in America

[P]oliticians in modern, developed democracies are now bribing voters on a breathtaking scale – protecting their bank accounts, shoring up their houses, giving them jobs and health care. In the US alone total US government debts, obligations and commitments now come to $112 trillion. Congressmen risk neither jail nor insurrection. Cometh the old question; how do they get away with it?

Currently, 50% of every dollar spent comes from borrowing. This week brought news that the developing countries – led by China – are still adding to their positions in US Treasury bonds. The funds are spent immediately. The payer and the payee – neither of whom vote in current US elections – can worry about settling the debt later. What a marvelous invention is inter-generational government debt, funded by foreigners!

The art of political bribery is explained by Bill Bonner.

Fed Would Be Shut Down If It Were Audited, Expert Says

The Federal Reserve's balance sheet is so out of whack that the central bank would be shut down if subjected to a conventional audit, Jim Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, told CNBC.

With $45 billion in capital and $2.1 trillion in assets, the central bank would not withstand the scrutiny normally afforded other institutions, Grant said in a live interview.

"If the Fed examiners were set upon the Fed's own documents—unlabeled documents—to pass judgment on the Fed's capacity to survive the difficulties it faces in credit, it would shut this institution down," he said. "The Fed is undercapitalized in a way that Citicorp is undercapitalized."

Grant said he would support legislation currently making its way through Congress calling for an audit of the Fed.

The Federal Reserve is acting with impunity because it is accountable to no one. Ron Paul has proposed legislation - H.R. 1207 - which would put their shenanigans under Congressional scrutiny. We're cautiously optimistic that this would be a good thing but we are concerned that it would be akin to putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen house.

The Consequences Have Started to Arrive

Our government risks morphing what would have been a severe deflationary recession into an inflationary recession/depression in the longer term. Their decision to choose the inflationary route is based on the fact that inflation bails out those in debt. Make no mistake, for a country with $11.4 trillion in debt and a 2009 deficit equal to 13% of GDP, inflation is perceived as the only way out. However, inflation can never bail out anything or anyone, it only helps the very rich maintain their purchasing power while robbing it from the rest of the country. It will also be at the great expense of those who have made the mistake of holding their savings in dollar denominated fixed income instruments and who have not protected themselves by owning hard assets.

The Fed's policies are leading towards inflation and devaluation of the dollar. In inflationary times, debtors pay back creditors with cheaper dollars. Inflation is good if you owe money but, if you are frugal and debt free, you are punished if you have saved your dollars for a rainy day.

Americans Love Government

Congress has allowed Social Security and Medicare to accumulate an unfunded liability of $101 trillion. That means in order to pay promised elderly entitlement benefits, Congress would have to put trillions in the bank today earning interest. Congressional efforts to create "affordable housing" have created today's financial calamity. Congress props up failed enterprises such as Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service with huge cash subsidies, and subsidies in the forms of special tax treatment and monopoly rights. I can't think of anything that Congress does well yet we Americans call for them to take greater control over important areas of our lives.

Walter Williams wonders why Americans love government.

That's Better

Maybe Garfield has the proper outlook ...

Good and Bad Numbers

Everybody is busy counting…but nothing’s adding up the way they want.

The Chinese are counting on the American’s not to clip their coins; Americans are counting on the Chinese to keep accepting them. The Chinese count on the Americans to buy their widgets; Americans count on the Chinese to loan them the money to pay for them.

The Chinese ask the Americans for some numbers, “some arithmetic.” The Americans squeeze and mold, cram the equations through their models and computers, but still the numbers come out the same: with a negative sign in front of them.

But sometimes bad numbers can be good, or so the market is trying to tell us. What would once have been terrible numbers are now reason for celebration and sighs of relief. Anything under half a million, for example, is apparently a wonderful number of jobs to lose in a month. Maybe we should get some of these newly laid-off people around for a party, to join in the celebration. They must be positively stoked to be part of such a “less-bad” statistic.

Deception is necessary to avoid panic. We are being reassured by our leaders - with an assist from the media - that they can fix the mess they made. "Just stay calm people. We are on the job."

Interview with Future Prediction Expert Gerald Celente

"How will it all end?", we queried. Will the dollar survive?

"The dot com bubble should have burst and gone away in a short sharp recession. But the boys at the Fed re-inflated the economy by lowering interest rates to a 46 year low -- and in turn created the real estate bubble -- much bigger than the dot com bubble. "

"Now they’re creating the bailout bubble -- which will ultimately dwarf the real estate bubble. It will cause the implosion of the global economy world wide -- which will not be able to be repaired by creating yet another bubble. Every time the government fails, it tells a bigger lie and then a still bigger lie."

"These previous bubbles were not allowed to pop -- but they didn’t destroy the infrastructure of the country. This bailout bubble will."

Gerald Celente does not have a crystal ball that we are aware of, but his analyses of trends in the economy lead him to some dire predictions for us.

p.s. Don't read this if you have a queasy stomach.

China airs fears on US debt, dollar: lawmaker

Senior Chinese leaders have privately voiced fear over the soaring US budget deficit and are increasingly looking to diversify from the dollar, a Republican congressman said.

"We heard across the board -- in private -- substantial, continuing and rising concern," Representative Mark Kirk said after a trip to China that included talks with government officials and central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan.

"It's clear that China would like to diversify from its dollar investments," the lawmaker said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank.

Kirk's assessment differed with that of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said last week on a separate visit that Chinese leaders had expressed "justifiable confidence" on the future of the recession-hit US economy.

Somebody is lying. Well, they're politicians so we shouldn't be surprised. But it's our bet that China is uneasy about the Fed's quantitative easing projects and they are preparing to bail from the dollar before it collapses.

Conspiracy, Census and the Case for Secession

Secession should not be feared but embraced. Our country was borne by secession and in my opinion can only be saved by secession. Secession in my mind is an inherent, God-given right. If one is bound by or to the state by force, freedom has no validity and cannot exist. Secession is the virtual unbinding of the chains of tyranny. It is the emancipation if you will, from the servitude of the state and awakens the spirit of liberty. What better solution is there when extreme conditions exist?

The overbearing and strangling throttlehold the state has on us cannot be relieved with compliance and patriotism. Our chains cannot be unlocked by supporting those who impose them on us.

Global Warming?

Some Global Warming Headlines from Drudge today...

Think twice about 'green' transport, say scientists

Driving SUV better than taking train?

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Green Bay breaks 1943 cold record...

NDakota city sees first June snowfall in 60 years...



Signs put the heat on BURGER KING...

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Obama's global warming bill 'patently absurd'; 'How do you control the weather?'

I Don't and Won't Vote: Here's Why

“All right, here it is: I hereby unilaterally declare forever and hereafter that I will never use physical violence, fraud, or deception in order to control the life or property of anyone in this room. Is that clear?”

There were eight other people in the room, one of whom was the professor. Everyone nodded assent. So far so good.

“Okay. Now, is there anyone here who does not agree to extend the same treatment and philosophy towards myself?”

The professor asked for some clarification, and made clear his belief that he felt hurting someone’s feelings, even by proxy, might constitute aggression. I tried assuring him that this wasn’t so, but that started eating up a lot of time. In the end, he abstained from answering either Yes or No. No one else objected in any way to what I’d said.

“Well, all right. Now, let me see a show of hands – how many of you are voters?”

To my shock, everyone raised a hand – except me, of course.
“Wow,” I said, genuinely stunned. “Well, my next question to all of you then is, when are you going to stop voting?”

It doesn't matter whether you elect a Democrat or a Republican. You still get big government. So, the only choice is to abstain unless you want to support big government.

Britain: the depth of corruption

In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger describes how the current scandal of MPs' tax evasion and phantom mortgages conceals a deeper corruption that is traced back to the political monoculture of the United States.

The theft of public money by members of parliament, including government ministers, has given Britons a rare glimpse inside the tent of power and privilege. It is rare because not one political reporter or commentator, those who fill tombstones of column inches and dominate broadcast journalism, revealed a shred of this scandal. It was left to a public relations man to sell the “leak”. Why?

The answer lies in a deeper corruption, which tales of tax evasion and phantom mortgages touch upon but also conceal.

Most of the mainstream media aid and abet deceptive politicians in Britain as well as in the United States.

That so many Labour and Tory politicians are now revealed as personally crooked is no more than a metaphor for the anti-democratic system they have forged together.

Their accomplices have been those journalists who report Parliament as "lobby correspondents" and their editors, who have “played the game” wilfully, and have deluded the public (and sometimes themselves) that vital, democratic differences exist between the parties.

Time to Run?

I'm amazed at the number of people who don't have passports. A passport is the nearest thing you have to a veto on Washington. Get it in order. You'll also need other valid documents. Now is the time to start getting them together. You should at least have your driving license, passport and birth certificate ready to go. You should also start collecting other documents you might need (marriage, divorce, and adoption papers, incorporation papers, name changes, social security papers, bank statements, recommendations, letters of authorization, educational and work certifications). These can take months to get from the proper source. You might also need to have them validated by the embassy of the country where you want to move.

It may soon be time to go. There's nothing to look forward to here. Just pack your bags and go. So says Lila Rajiva in this essay. Kind of reminds me of the threats made by those Hollywood types when GWB was elected. Still, you might want to be ready for anything. Lila has some preparation tips...

Benefit spending soars to new high

The recession is driving the safety net of government benefits to a historic high, as one of every six dollars of Americans' income is now coming in the form of a federal or state check or voucher.

Benefits, such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance and health care, accounted for 16.2% of personal income in the first quarter of 2009, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That's the highest percentage since the government began compiling records in 1929.

In all, government spending on benefits will top $2 trillion in 2009 — an average of $17,000 provided to each U.S. household, federal data show.

Every dollar government pays to benefit the idle and non-productive is taken from productive Americans. It's a huge obstacle to growth in manufacturing and employment.

The imperial presidency run amok

What I'm puzzling over is this. Under what authority did Presidents George W. Bush and Obama invest $50 billion of public money in a private company? Under what authority has Obama forced the firing of GM's CEO, mandated the terms of bankruptcy and announced principles for "the government's management of ownership interests in private firms?" Note that the president's principles apply to firms, plural. Apparently, my government is looking ahead to other investments on my behalf.

The Congress is taking their marching orders from Mr. Obama. It will not let their oath to support the Constitution deter them from offering tributes to the king. Nor will Obama let his oath to the same Constitution damper his enthusiasm for disregarding its restrictions on presidential authority.

US Stuck in Inflation-Causing Positions

His goal was to bluff and bamboozle the world’s investors – notably China – into believing that the US had its finances under control. Once we’re out of this mess, he told China’s top man, we’re going straight. No more binges of EZ credit and wild government spending. We just need a little more of that old time medicine…just one more time…to get us through this dark night of economic downturn. But once the sun comes up and the economy is back on the road to recovery, trust me on this, America is going to balance its budget, foreswear Quantitative Easing forever, and join AA. No kidding. Cross your heart and hope to die.

But some habits are hard to break. The habit of getting something for nothing is one of them.

China wants Tim Geithner to explain the arithmetic - you know, how $12T of debt = $0 of inflation. He can't do it.

Green With Guilt

The incessant hectoring by the media-political complex's "consciousness-raising" campaign has provoked a comic riposte in the form of "The Goode Family," an animated ABC entertainment program on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Cartoons seem, alas, to be the most effective means of seizing a mass audience's attention. Still, the program is welcome evidence of the bursting of what has been called "the green bubble."

I forgot to watch The Goode Family last night. I probably missed some refreshing gibes at the greenies.

Gerald and Helen Goode, their children and dog Che (when supervised, he is a vegan; when unsupervised, squirrels disappear) live in a college town, where T-shirts and other media instruct ("Meat is murder"), admonish ("Don't kill wood") and exhort ("Support our troops ... and their opponents"). The college, where Gerald works, gives students tenure. And when Gerald says his department needs money to raise the percentage of minority employees, his boss cheerily replies, "Or we could just fire three white guys. Everybody wins!" Helen shops at the One Earth store, where community shaming enforces social responsibility: "Attention One Earth shoppers, the driver of the SUV is in aisle four. He's wearing the baseball cap."

Tiananmen Square Is None of Your Business, Congress

[ Ron Paul's] Statement before the US House of Representatives, June 3, 2009

I rise to oppose this unnecessary and counter-productive resolution regarding the 20th anniversary of the incident in China’s Tiananmen Square. In addition to my concerns over the content of this legislation, I strongly object to the manner in which it was brought to the floor for a vote. While the resolution was being debated on the House floor, I instructed my staff to obtain a copy so that I could read it before the vote. My staff was told by no less than four relevant bodies within the House of Representatives that the text was not available for review and would not be available for another 24 hours. It is unacceptable for Members of the House of Representatives to be asked to vote on legislation that is not available for them to read!

The Congressional leadership is implementing its will without the time honored rituals of debate, discussion, disclosure or jurisdiction.

A Nation of Hyenas

This is the fundamental question that we as a society must answer if we are ever going to reverse the downward spiral we find ourselves in. Do we believe that individuals have inalienable rights or do we believe that a majority vote can take those rights away?

If one takes an objective look at our society as it has evolved over the past century, one must conclude that we have already answered it. Stripped of euphemism, almost every government institution in our society amounts to us using the brute force of government to violate the inalienable rights of our neighbors.

Sadly, we as a society have already answered the question.

We have elevated democracy to an ideal, at the expense of the individual rights that our government -- and any government of free people -- was constructed to protect. We have convinced ourselves that anything a majority vote sanctions is just, even if it violates those rights. Once we accepted that premise, the seeds of our destruction were sown.

The Austrian Cure for Economic Illness

Nine months into Great Depression-2, U.S. federal debt is $11.3 Trillion ($37,000 per capita). The government also has $62.9 Trillion in unfunded liabilities. Part of that amount is for Social Security, a legacy of the New Deal.

Tax receipts are plummeting. In the first six months of fiscal year 2009, which began in October 2008, income tax receipts fell 31 percent and corporate tax receipts, 64 percent. The budget deficit this April was $20.9 Billion, the first deficit in this tax-paying month in 26 years. April 2009 tax receipts dropped 44 percent compared with those in April 2008. Money collected by taxes is only going to cover half of the fiscal 2009 federal budget, requiring the government to borrow and print more than $1.8 Trillion to fund it. Equal-sized deficits loom for fiscal year 2010 onward. Tax receipts fell 50 percent in GD-1. Now eight months old, GD-2 is already rivaling that drop.

The government has a problem. Thinking it can save the economy by spending more money, it is faced with hign unemployment, frugal citizens with less income and near empty malls. That means fewer incomes and corporate profits to confiscate for their lavish programs. Dr. Donald W. Miller has the details.

Two Pints of Non-Alcoholic Lager and a Packet of Fat-Free Crisps

If you want to buy a drink at a pub in Oldham, northern England, you must stand in an orderly "post-office-style" line. It must be a straight line, starting one meter from the bar, with barriers, signage, and a "supervisor." There must be no drinking while standing in line, and no drinking within one meter of the bar. Customers cannot order more than two drinks at one time. And if a pub wants to advertise discounted drinks, it must give the police and local council at least seven days' notice.

Shhh! Don't tell Congress. They'll want to do it too. Wait...

General Motors: An Autopsy

It is part of human nature to seek security from change. Citizens, companies, and other interested groups have regularly sought market, pricing, and/or job protections through the intercession of the one institution that can, through the use of legal force, protect those interests: the government. Such protectionism is simply legalized theft in the form of the transference of wealth from one group (taxpayers, consumers, etc.) to another, more favored one (in this case, organized labor).

What happened to GM? The government killed it says Cortes DeRussy.