Our own Greek tragedy

President Ford liked to say: "A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have." Which is true enough. But there's an intermediate stage: A government big enough to give you everything you want isn't big enough to get you to give any of it back. That's the point Greece is at. Its socialist government has been forced into supporting a package of austerity measures. The Greek people's response is: Nuts to that. Public sector workers have succeeded in redefining time itself: Every year, they receive 14 monthly payments. You do the math. And for about seven months' work - for many of them the workday ends at 2:30 p.m. When they retire, they get 14 monthly pension payments. In other words: Economic reality is not my problem. I want my benefits. And, if it bankrupts the entire state a generation from now, who cares as long as they keep the checks coming until I croak? 

Politicians go after the easy pickings until they are depleted. Then things get a bit more difficult and the thieves get more inventive. Since there is little left to pilfer in the economy now, it becomes necessary to steal from the future earnings of the, as yet, unborn victims.

We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change

The heavy snowfalls this month have been used as fodder for ridicule by those who argue that global warming is a myth, yet scientists have long pointed out that warmer global temperatures have been increasing the rate of evaporation from the oceans, putting significantly more moisture into the atmosphere — thus causing heavier downfalls of both rain and snow in particular regions, including the Northeastern United States. Just as it’s important not to miss the forest for the trees, neither should we miss the climate for the snowstorm. 

We found Al Gore! Heeeeee's back and just as loony as ever. All that snow was, you know, caused by global warming which is caused by, you know, all that breathing you're doing out there.

A Society of Criminals

Recently, a friend of mine complained about a spate of burglaries that had occurred near her newly bought home. A house down the street from hers had been burgled in the weeks before, and her next-door neighbor had been burgled not long afterward. In the latter case, the thieves had made off with a large-screen plasma television set and a laptop computer, apparently having walked out of the house with them in broad daylight.

My friend was evidently disgusted by this thievery — as well she should be — and seemed to have difficulty comprehending how the people responsible could bring themselves to break into a home and take what did not belong to them. "How dare they!" she said. "What makes them think they have the right to do this?"

That is a fair question.

We condemn crimes committed by individuals yet we condone crimes committed by the state.

The War on Terror Is Anti-Conservative

The so-called global war on terror, now referred to as overseas contingency operations, is without end and without limits, and has made the US hated and feared in most of the world, not respected. It has even made American citizens potential targets of their own government without any recourse to the protections afforded by the constitution.

And America's war against the world did not have to happen. There are real threats in the world against Americans and American interests, but military action in support of the national interest should only be a last option after every other step has been taken. And then there is the issue of blowback. Why is America the target of terrorists and suicide bombers? Surely not because it has freedoms that some view negatively. As Usama bin Laden put it, in possibly the only known joke made by a terrorist, if freedoms were the issue al-Qaeda would be attacking Sweden.

GWB used 9/11 as an excuse to invade Afghanistan and Iraq; not exactly what one would expect from a compassionate conservative. He turned the definition of conservatism - limited government and personal responsibility - on its head.

The State Grants No Quarter to Freedom

To promote his own divinity, the Roman emperor Commodus issued coins with his image in the lion-skin headdress of Hercules on one side, and the bow, club, and quiver of Hercules on the reverse. So that the message would not be lost on anyone, an inscription on the reverse dedicated the coin "to the August Roman Hercules."

History has a proxy in coinage, whether it's deliberately conveying the fantasies of rulers or subtly reflecting the prevailing sentiments of a people. If symbolism, inscriptions, and metallurgical content convey meanings, what story is told by an examination of the United States' coinage?

Portraits of former presidents and statesmen appear on our coins now but some of us remember when, instead, the coins were engraved with native Americans in traditional garb and other symbols of liberty.

Jefferson vs. Lincoln: America Must Choose

Over the course of American history, there has been no greater conflict of visions than that between Thomas Jefferson's voluntary republic, founded on the natural right of peaceful secession, and Abraham Lincoln's permanent empire, founded on the violent denial of that same right.

That these two men somehow shared a common commitment to liberty is a lie so monstrous and so absurd that its pervasiveness in popular culture utterly defies logic.

After all, Jefferson stated unequivocally in the Declaration of Independence that, at any point, it may become

"necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them..."

A call to arms.

America’s First Suicide Bomber

Anger is building up. People are beginning to do unusual things. Terry Hoskins bulldozed his house rather than allow a bank to foreclose on it. The local TV station conducted an online survey and found that 79 percent of respondents agreed with Hoskins’ action.

Perhaps the turning point was the federal government’s bailout of the investment banks whose reckless misbehavior diminished Americans’ retirement savings for the second time in eight years. Now a former head of the most culpable bank is campaigning to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits in order to pay for the bailout. President Obama has obliged him by creating a “deficit commission.”

The “deficit commission” will be used to gut Social Security, just as the private insurance health plan is paid for by cutting $500 billion out of Medicare.

It could not be more clear that government represents the interest groups that finance the election campaigns.

"I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"  ~ Howard Beale

21st CENTURY BREAKDOWN

The dollar is likely to collapse just based upon current spending and borrowing trends. The unsustainable entitlement promises made by politicians over decades would have guaranteed a dollar collapse by 2030 anyway, so we will just arrive sooner. Not one politician from either political party has the courage to stand in front of the American people and tell them they will not receive the Social Security and Medicare benefits they were promised. Not one politician from either party is even willing to discuss the fact these promises cannot be honored. This train has been headed down the track since the 1960s, picking up speed, and no one is willing to apply the brakes. The Baby Boomers have sold their children and grandchildren into slavery. Their unwillingness to sacrifice entitlement benefits, guarantees a vastly lower standard of living for their descendents. How very egocentric and superficial of them. The most coddled, self absorbed, egotistical generation in history would rather crash the economic system than make any personal sacrifice for future generations.

A dire forecast of our economic future. It seems a certainty that things will get worse - much worse - before they get better. 

Al Gore's Nine Lies

Climate Fraud: The godfather of climate hysteria is in hiding as another of his wild claims unravels — this one about global warming causing seas to swallow us up.

We've not seen or heard much of the former vice president, Oscar winner and Nobel Prize recipient recently as the case for disastrous man-made climate change collapses.

Perhaps he's off reading how scientists were forced to withdraw a study on a projected sea level rise due to global warming after finding two "technical" mistakes that undermined the findings.

The search for the missing Al Gore continues.

Al Gore Is Lying Low -- for Good Reason

Maybe Al Gore's been advised by legal counsel to lie low. He may be the leader of the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) movement, but he's not defending it in public, not even when it's falling apart and his new fortune is based upon it.

Mr. Gore and his financial backers earned millions of dollars in start-up "green" companies and carbon trading schemes. If the scam worked, he could've become the first "carbon billionaire."

"What goes up can fall down" applies to ill-gotten gains in the stock market or "carbon trading" schemes. In such schemes, it's foreseeable that trusting investors will (a) not only get hurt when the scam collapses, but they'll also (b) pursue legal remedies and sue him for fraud.

Where in the world is Al Gore now?

Whose Body Is It?

Take the case of BruceTower. Tower has prostate cancer. He wanted to take a drug that showed promise against his cancer, but the Food and Drug Administration would not allow it. One bureaucrat told him the government was protecting him from dangerous side effects. Tower's outraged response was: "Side effects -- who cares? Every treatment I've had I've suffered from side effects. If I'm terminal, it should be my option to endure any side effects."

Of course it should be his option. Why, in our "free" country, do Americans meekly stand aside and let the state limit our choices, even when we are dying? 

Government is already in control of many of our medical options and, as John Stossel points out, is restricting our freedom to make our own choices by imposing its "one size fits all" policies and regulations. So, how can we expect anything except more of the same if Congress gives us Obama Care?

Liquidating the Empire

[T]he Cold War ended dramatically with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the retirement of the Red Army from Europe, the break-up of the Soviet Union and Beijing's abandonment of world communist revolution.

Overnight, our world changed. But America did not change.

As Russia shed her alliances and China set out to capture America's markets, Uncle Sam soldiered on.

We clung to the old alliances and began to add new allies. NATO war guarantees were distributed like credit cards to member states of the old Warsaw Pact and former republics of the Soviet Union.

We invaded Panama and Haiti, smashed Iraq, liberated Kuwait, intervened in Somalia and Bosnia, bombed Serbia, and invaded Iraq again -- and Afghanistan. Now we prepare for a new war -- on Iran.

The empire has become a burden which we cannot bear but our politicians refuse to let it go. 

The incredible, vanishing greenback

The vastly greater looting of our paychecks through taxation and regulation after 1964 meant that, where prior to 1960 a single blue-collar wage could support an American middle-class family in a freestanding house, after 1970 it took two incomes -- husband and wife -- to do that. The hidden but vast social cost of this new arrangement was that the schooling and nurturing of children was now turned over almost entirely to unionized government propaganda officers. The arrogance, the illiteracy and innumeracy, the knee-jerk collectivism and presumption that government can and must step in to solve every problem exhibited by the resulting generation-and-a-half has set the stage for the final decline not just of America, but of virtually all the remaining mighty nation states of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Government attempts to "help" us have throttled the economy and enslaved the family. We are now working to support the political agendas of our politicians.

American Military Policy and the War on Terrorism

After 9/11 – a ruthless, tragic, terrible event, burned into our minds and our hearts – the United States had alternatives. We could have, as we had done in so many other cases of terrorism, pursued the criminals through the system of law enforcement. This would have meant a slower process, a process that would have been less emotional and less political, and would have required international police and intelligence cooperation. After 9/11, we had the sympathy of the world, and strong offers and guarantees of their support. It would have taken time – although in retrospect, this approach would have taken far less time, less money and destroyed fewer lives and livelihoods than what we really did.

A more thoughtful, and Constitutional, response to the events of 9/11 was either never considered or was rejected in favor of a helter-skelter, scattergun, kill-em-all and let God sort-em-out approach which has resulted in, so far, 8 years of  $1T+ warfare. 

Redux: The consequences of not understanding what you are doing can be consequential

Here's an addendum to consider with the previous post.

The consequences of not understanding what you are doing can be consequential

Oh lord. Oh lord. I can’t stand it. Somebody get me a drink.

Recently I saw an interview with General McChrystal, head butcher of the the Pentagon’s Democracy Implantation Force in Afghanistan. The General was explaining our ongoing victory. Yes, victory. We were making progress. It was only a matter of time. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel. He didn’t explain what were doing in a tunnel in the first place. I guess he forgot.

The man was a superb explainer. He was intelligent, lean and fit, tanned—American Gothic in olive fatigues. Earnestness rolled off him in waves, accompanied by Firmness, Soldierly Determination and, I suspect, utter incomprehension of what he was doing. Thirty years in the military will make the most brilliant officer into a simpleton. Most achieve it by the time they make first lieutenant.

Fred explains the military mindset.

The Paradox Of A 'Giving' Government

Addressing a joint session of Congress in 1974, President Gerald Ford made the surprisingly lucid observation that "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." Were he alive today, Ford might be amused by what's happening in Washington.

Indeed with companies suffering a sluggish economic climate--despite frequently faulty, but positive, GDP readings--there's a rush among some of our best companies to solve the depressed outlook through the accession of government handouts or favor. Needless to say this heightened reliance on alleged government generosity promises to end badly.

Ever wonder why politicians reward bankers, large corporations and labor unions and exploit the rest of us?  Politicians don't hear your howls and protests unless they are underwritten by campaign contributions.

Our World Balances on a Sea of Debt

Currently the average fractional reserve requirements for banks amount to under 10% which means that for every dollar (or equivalent) the banks have on deposit they can lend out at least ten such dollars – virtual dollars which they summon from nowhere – and on which they charge interest. 

Just as incredibly, this fact – the key to understanding how the international financial system actually operates and why the world is in such a mess – is discussed virtually nowhere in mainstream circles: not in The Financial Times, not in The Economist, not in the broadsheets, not in Parliament, not in the City and not in the economics departments of most Universities. 

Either the process is unknown in these circles therefore - a sign of mediocrity - or it is indeed understood but kept deliberately quiet - a sign of wickedness. 

Dollars via the printing press is one way to create (fiat) money, but totally illusory money (blips on a computer) can be conjured by the whims of bankers. The Onion was correct. Our economy is an illusion.

The Economic Crisis Is Only a Symptom

Our learned Founders knew history and the nature of man. They created a Constitution that represented two thousand years of wisdom and experience. Their remarkable achievement enabled a fledgling nation to rise quickly to a world power with unsurpassed wealth, freedom, and living standards.

Now we appear to be on the downside of our historical run. An enormous economic crisis engulfs our country and the world. Has our time of leadership come and gone? What happened?

At the risk of appearing simplistic, I argue that the driving force for our success was our conception of limited government. Our Founders knew the tendency of rulers and constructed a framework designed to protect citizens from government. This setting maximized individual freedom, encouraged initiative, and rewarded success. 

Our present government is in no way representative of the vision of the penmen of the Constitution. We appear to be headed into the final phase of the Cycle of Democracy.

A New Age of Jefferson: New Hampshire’s “Free Staters” started it all

They had moved up here drawn to our state motto, I think – Live Free or Die. But it was no big ideological thing, more a free-spirited awakening which brought the usual scoffs from the lace curtain MSM and conventional political religionists here in the cold where local politics sometimes seems a substitute for religion. I received an email from one blithe spirit who said that she was basically about “ . . . opposing gun laws, legalizing marijuana and Hillary is a bitch.”

What we had in common was the premise that Thomas Jefferson had recognized the natural state that formed of its own initiative when ideology was removed from the equation. And acknowledged that in the Constitution by declaring that the states had the natural right and the ability to defend themselves against an abusive, arrogant, immoral or delirious federal government.

Is it just me or is there a trend developing? See here and here and here. It seems that more and more of us are fed up with this bloated, arrogant and tyrannical behemoth which governs us.

Central Banks Are On the Defensive

Nobody at the FED will say what is really at stake: an independent audit of the government's gold holdings, which are officially held for the government by the FED for safekeeping. If the gold is gone, or if there are legal claims against it by foreign central banks as a result of FED swaps, this would constitute fraud on a massive scale.
The real power in the FED has always been the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In all textbook accounts of the years leading up to the Great Depression, the focus is on Benjamin Strong, the President of the New York FED. He set policy, not the Board of Governors.
The bulk of the world's gold holdings are stored in the vault of the New York FED. This includes most of the deliverable gold (99.9% fine) owned by the FED as trustee of the U.S. government's gold. The gold at Ft. Knox (probably coin melt, 90% fine) constitutes a second holding area, said to be 20% of the nation's gold. No one knows. It has not been audited since the early 1950's, not even by the private accounting firms that audit the FED on an annual rotation basis.

The FED does not want an audit of its books. Congress won't vote on Ron Paul's bill which would require an audit. Where is the transparency and where is the gold? 

Can Washington Meet the Demand to Cut Spending?

Timing is everything.


But this is an interesting time. It's easy to say that concern about federal spending is old, because it is. It's at least as old as Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. But the national anxiety about spending that we're experiencing now, and that is showing up in the polls, is new. The past eight years have concentrated the American mind. George W. Bush's spending, the crash and Barack Obama's spending have frightened people. It's not just "cranky right-wingers" who are concerned. If it were, the president would not have appointed his commission. Its creation acknowledges that independents are anxious, the center is alarmed—the whole country is. The people are ahead of their representatives in Washington, who are stuck in the ick of old ways. 

 Instead of cutting spending, Obama wants a commission to study the concept of cutting spending which is a concept totally alien to politicians in DC. The commission will spend a lot of money to figure out how we can cut back on spending and will eventually recommend a permanent cabinet post - Secretary of Spending - who will be in charge of the Department of Spending.

Money Supply Flood to Drown US Economy

“Call one drop of water a dollar. Five drops equals one milliliter. Question: What is the volume of water of $14 trillion?”


Instantly, I am back in high school, feeling panicked and trapped because the teacher has asked me a question that not only do I NOT know the answer to, or how to figure it out, but I don’t even care, and I never WILL care about it because if I was ever actually on a train that was leaving Chicago towards Los Angeles, 2,000 miles away, going 60 miles an hour, and I knew that another train was leaving Los Angeles going to Chicago at 70 miles an hour, I wouldn’t get on the damn train! It’s that simple!

So I don’t freaking CARE how long it would be before they met and they crashed into each other with a big explosion and there are bodies everywhere and what a mess, because I won’t be there! I’ll read about it!

Apparently, JMR Alan saw the panic in my eyes, or perhaps it was the way I was reaching under my jacket preparing to shoot my way out of here if necessary, but either way, he was pretty quick coming up with the answer: “Twenty times the volume of the Great Lakes. That puts the entire area of the United States 50 meters underwater.”

The Mogambo Guru provides another analogy to help us in comprehending the $13,000,000,000,000+ (or so, who can relate to such large sums of money?) and climbing national debt.

Nullification in a Nutshell

The “Principles of 98,” as they came to be known, are rarely discussed in modern history lectures even though these are integral to understanding how our federal Constitution was intended to function. These are the principles of state interposition or nullification that assert that if the federal government fails to check itself through one of its three branches, then it would be up to the states to rein in the feds.

The main basis for the theory is that the states created the national government when they joined the compact and not the other way around. The states therefore retained the power to judge for themselves the constitutionality of federal laws and reserved the right to refuse to enforce them if they went beyond their constitutionally delegated powers.

The States have been cowered by the federales and are not likely to oppose their mandates as Madison and Jefferson intended they do when faced with onerous decrees from the federal government. There are, however, some encouraging signs that some States are starting to circle the wagons.

Two Versions

OLD VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and storing up supplies for the winter.  The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool, and laughs, dances, and plays the summer away.  Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.  The grasshopper has no food or shelter and dies out in the cold.  MORAL?  Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard all summer, storing up food and supplies for the winter.  Come winter, he is well fed and warm.  The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool, laughs, dances, and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering, hungry grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed, while he is cold and starving.  CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN (Not Fox News) show up to provide pictures of the starving, shivering grasshopper, next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home, with a table filled with food...

An old fable (by Aesop?) is updated to conform to the modern attitudes imposed on us by the politicians and our own slothful acceptance of their schemes.

Food Stamp Price Tag Rising

The following chart shows the dramatic rise in spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as the Food Stamp program until 2008 when Congress changed its name to sound more palatable.

 

Most Americans think that we should aid those in real need, but individuals should do so voluntarily without resorting to forced government transfers.

Voluntary aid to people in need has been deemed unnecessary by the federal government since it began instituting wealth transfer programs in the FDR years. LBJ piled on in the 60's with his Great Society scam and, since then, the money spigot has been gushing from D.C.

It's Just an Illusion

Bernanke, who then paused for a moment, looked down at his prepared statement, and shook his head in utter disbelief. "You know what? It doesn't matter. None of this—this so-called 'money'—really matters at all." 

"It's just an illusion," a wide-eyed Bernanke added as he removed bills from his wallet and slowly spread them out before him. "Just look at it: Meaningless pieces of paper with numbers printed on them. Worthless."

According to witnesses, Finance Committee members sat in thunderstruck silence for several moments until Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) finally shouted out, "Oh my God, he's right. It's all a mirage. All of it—the money, our whole economy—it's all a lie!"

Relax - take it easy. It's only satire from The Onion - or is it?

US Budget Deficit: Enjoying the Ride on the Road to Ruin

It would be fairly easy to get the budget under control…that is, if there were no political system to prevent you. The US government shouldn’t be in the business of giving out drugs or regulating heart transplants. It also shouldn’t be in the business of telling the rest of the world what to do. The solution is simple: abandon the imperial agenda…let people take care of themselves, both at home and abroad…and downsize the federal government.

But that is not going to happen. We may be on the road to ruin…but too many people are enjoying the ride. We’re not going to stop any time soon. More than 40 million people on food stamps…thousands of military contractors…millions of government employees… People who want the government (other citizens) to pay for their gall bladder operations. People who pay no taxes. GM executives. AIG bondholders. University administrators. Lobbyists.

Politicians refuse to consider serious spending cuts except for political considerations; to mitigate the opposition by depleting their resources or to repress rebellious uprisings. Actually, these efforts are usually excuses to increase spending, not cut it. Government programs continue long after any usefulness has been accomplished.

Are US Taxpayers Bailing Out Greece?

Greece has insufficient funds in their treasury to make even the minimum payments that are now coming due.  Their debt level is about 120 percent of their gross domestic product and their public sector absorbs what amounts to 40 percent of GDP.  Any talk of cutting costs and spending is met with violent protests from the many Greeks heavily dependent on government payments.  Mounting fears of default have sent shockwaves through their creditors and all of the eurozone countries.

But there have been statements made by the European Central Bank to calm fears and give assurances that Greece will get the aid it needs.  Details of agreements are not forthcoming.

Is it possible that our Federal Reserve has had some hand in bailing out Greece?

We don't know what the Fed is doing with our money. Bernanke insists on keeping the Fed "independent" which is FedSpeak for "You're not intelligent enough to understand how we operate so we'll just do it while you're not looking."  Ron Paul asks the questions our mainstream media will not ask.

The Census and the Constitution

Does this house, apartment, or mobile home have hot and cold running water, a flush toilet, a bathtub or shower, a sink with a faucet, a refrigerator, a stove? Last month, what was the cost of electricity for this house, apartment, or mobile home? How many times has this person been married? 

After each question, the Bureau of the Census provides a statement of how the answer meets a federal need. I would prefer that they provide a statement of how answers to the questions meet the constitutional need as expressed in Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. 

It's almost time for the decennial governmental intrusion into our personal lives with no regard for the Constitution.  Your compliance is expected but is not mandated beyond a headcount of your residence.

The Obama Retirement Trap Has Started

Although the historical government solution to unsustainable government debt loads has always been the destruction of the debts by currency depreciation and eventual hyperinflation, there is always an intermediate step used to buy more time for the politicians in power. This action, usually side-stepped and downplayed by the establishment historians paid to hide the real facts of history, is wealth confiscation. Napoleon had it right when he stated, “History is a state of lies agreed upon.”

The largest source of liquid private wealth remaining in the United States is the $15 trillion in private retirement funds. The ultimate ownership, control and future of these funds has already been compromised and exchanged for the favorable tax treatment of private retirement plans. Congress writes the laws, so they can tax, penalize, hold your funds hostage and, although they’d never use the word “confiscate,” use your assets at their discretion.

The government may be considering a plan for you to "invest" in the national debt. Don't expect a high rate of return.

The Expanding Industry of US Government

Where should bright young grads go now? Well, follow the money…! Where’s the money now? Not in manufacturing…at least not in US-based manufacturing. And not in marketing either – gone are the days of selling soap to big families with big pay raises. How about finance? Forget it. The boom in credit lasted more than 50 years. But who can borrow now? Only the feds. Sure a few big banks will make money by helping the feds raise cash. But the big expansion in consumer credit is over.

Now, government is about the only major industry that is expanding. The feds have the money now. They’re even handing it out. Get in line!

Corruption in D.C. is the biggest game in town.

Down With the Presidency

The presidency – by which I mean the executive State – is the sum total of American tyranny. The other branches of government, including the presidentially appointed Supreme Court, are mere adjuncts. The presidency insists on complete devotion and humble submission to its dictates, even while it steals the products of our labor and drives us into economic ruin. It centralizes all power unto itself, and crowds out all competing centers of power in society, including the church, the family, business, charity, and the community. I’ll go further. The US presidency is the world’s leading evil. It is the chief mischief-maker in every part of the globe, the leading wrecker of nations, the usurer behind Third-World debt, the bailer-out of corrupt governments, the hand in many dictatorial gloves, the sponsor and sustainer of the New World Order, of wars, interstate and civil, of famine and disease.

We are celebrating Presidents' Day here at Bumpy Road.

Same Empire, Different Emperor

Since it has been six years since I gave a complete list of countries occupied by U.S. troops, I will once again list them here:

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burma Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Chad Chile China Colombia Congo Costa Rica Cote D'lvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France

Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malaysia Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mexico Moldova Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua

Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Somalia Spain South Africa South Korea Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

The ten territories where U.S. troops are stationed are: American Samoa, Bermuda, Diego Garcia, Greenland, Guam, Hong Kong, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Helena, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Wake Island.

Why?

The Last Man Standing

 One could stay in US dollars and gold. If the dollar goes to hell, rising gold could make up for the loss in purchasing power.

A hundred years ago gold and silver were the only items accepted as money. Paper money was carried around because it was convenient as opposed to gold and silver, which are heavy. Besides, if you had any doubt about your paper, you could turn it in at any national bank for gold, "the dollar was as good as gold." Furthermore, the dollar was backed by one of the strongest and most prosperous nations on earth.

Today the dollar is backed only by "the full faith and credit of the United States," the greatest debtor the world has ever seen.

This could be the right time to buy some gold if you want some insurance against inflation.

A Letter to Grover Cleveland

Bandits and pirates do not --- like these judges --- attempt to cheat us out of our common sense, in order to cheat u out of our property, liberty, or life. They do not profess to be anything but such villains as they really are. They do not claim to have received any "Divine" authority for robbing, enslaving, or murdering us at their pleasure. They do not claim immunity, for their crimes, upon the ground that they are duly authorized agents of any such invisible, intangible, irresponsible, unimaginable thing as "society," or "the State."...

There is not a single John Marshall among them. On the contrary, they acknowledge themselves robbers, murderers, and villains, pure and simple. When they have once taken our money, they have the decency to get out of our sight as soon as possible; they do not persist in following us, and robbing us, again and again, so long as we produce anything that they can take from us. In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race. They acknowledge it to be our unquestioned right and duty to kill them, if we can; that they expect nothing else, than that we will kill them, if we can; and that we are only fools and cowards, if we do not kill them, by any and every means in our power. They neither ask, nor expect, any mercy, if they should ever fall into the hands of honest men.
For all these reasons, they are not only modest and sensible, but really frank, honest, and honorable villains, contrasted with these courts of injustice, and the lawmakers by whom these courts are established.
Such, Mr. Cleveland, is the real character of the government, of which you are the nominal head. Such are, and have been, its lawmakers. Such are, and have been, its judges. Such have been its executives. Such is its present executive. Have you anything to say for any of them?
Yours Frankly, LYSANDER SPOONER. BOSTON, MAY 15, 1886.

Excerpt from a (long) letter to Grover Cleveland written by Lysander Spooner. 

Behind closed doors

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ITEM:   Behind closed doors and with no cameras present, President Obama signed into law Friday afternoon the bill raising the public debt limit from $12.394 trillion to $14.294 trillion.

<  Why would a chief executive who thrives on publicity want to sign an important bill without benefit of lights and cameras?      Because he is spending the United States into bankruptcy and is not interested in having pictures made of him doing it.

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"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." ~ P.J. O'Rourke

Thanks to Wrisley.com ;-)

Trouble at the Fed

In persistent denial that it was ample liquidity in the first place that caused the present dire economic situation, the head of the Fed holds the view that "too little inflation" has been the true threat all along. Fear of deflation is Ben Bernanke's recurrent nightmare. In fact, his deflation worries form the basis of the so-called Bernanke doctrine, which says that the cure is monetary expansion and, consequently, holding interest rates as low as possible.

Since his first days at the Fed, as a member of the Board of Governors in 2002, Bernanke has promised to be a big printer of money. And since he took over the helm from Greenspan as chairman of the US central bank in 2006, he has fully lived up to this pledge.

Bernanke is still trying to reinflate the housing bubble which was largely responsible for the recent crisis which he, with the help of Congress trying to make housing more affordable, was encouraging with artificially low interest rates. 

Economic Instability a Result of Extreme Imbecility

We are connoisseurs of imbecility. We have watched it for decades. It amuses us. It fascinates us. It intrigues and perplexes us. How come people can drive down the highway at 70mph…making thousands of precise calculations with mortal stakes, but then ask them a question about economic policy or foreign policy or no-shirt, no-service policy…and psssht…their good sense goes out the window? We’ve studied this question for many years…. In other words, we know an imbecile when we see one. And when we see Ben Bernanke or Tim Geithner our eyes light up. Our nostrils flare. And our chest expands. Before us is a specimen we know very well. Boobus Americanus Economistica.

Are the feds imbeciles or merely acting in an imbecilic manner? Bill offers his opinion.

Enough About Clinton, Enough About D.C.

Do you notice that we are all being subjected to a minute-by-minute play-by-play about another ex-dictator who had a heart attack and gets the 50 best doctors in New York to fuss over him? Last week it was John Murtha (may he rest in bloody hell), and now it’s Clinton. This statist worship is sickening. Americans have a love affair with being ruled, controlled, and bamboozled by the Master Class. They yearn for authority figures, and in fact they justify their serfdom while genuflecting to such notions as social justice, duty, and “fair share.” No “good patriot” wants to be seen as a heretic in the Church of Washington D.C.

Karen's take on the Mainstream Media (MSM) ballyhoo about Clinton's recent hospitalization is causing us concern here at Bumpy Road - we fear she may be watching too much television. At least she can see the MSM worship of tyrants, both current and former, and never fails to report it on her blog.

Paul Ryan's Budgetary Holy Grail

The truth is that the big money is in two federal programs: Social Security and Medicare. However, it is extremely rare to hear any of those concerned about federal spending target these programs for cuts. One reason is that Medicare alone covers about 45 million people, 22% of the voting-age population. Moreover, according to Census Bureau data, those over age 65--virtually all of whom qualify for Medicare--vote in the highest percentages of any age group. Consequently, any effort to reduce benefits for this population is going to confront strenuous opposition, which explains Republican pandering on Medicare during the health care debate.

Therefore, it is really heroic that Rep. Ryan did not shrink away from confronting head-on the necessity of slashing entitlements for the elderly in order to achieve his goal of abolishing the federal debt without an increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio.

 There is no political will in Congress to reduce spending, especially in the two largest programs - Social Security and Medicare - because the politicians would offend their largest voting bloc. They want to get re-elected, not cut spending and displease constituents. This makes Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal somewhat remarkable. Sadly though, we expect neither Republicans nor Democrats to support it.

Secession in the Air

What called the Tea Party into existence?

Some are angry over unchecked immigration and the failure to control our borders and send the illegals back. Some are angry over the loss of manufacturing jobs. Some are angry over winless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some are angry over ethnic preferences they see as favoring minorities over them.

What they agree upon, however, is that they have been treading water for a decade, working harder and harder with little or no improvement in their family standard of living. They see the government as taking more of their income in taxes, seeking more control over their institutions, creating entitlements for others not them, plunging the nation into unpayable debt, and inviting inflation or a default that can wipe out what they have saved. 

We are sympathetic with the Tea Party and its rebellious supporters. The Republican Party is attempting to subvert these subversives into their camp by demonizing the Democrats in power. Of course, Republicans in power have not performed much better than the current autocrats. We are waiting for Tea Partiers to dissociate from both political parties and assert their independence from Washington, D.C.

The Off-Center President

But there's something else that has led Mr. Obama to his falling poll numbers. When FDR followed the disaster that was Herbert Hoover, he took a new and different path. The government would now hold a new place in the daily American reality. When Ronald Reagan followed the disaster that was Jimmy Carter, he took a new and different path. The federal government would be pushed back from its intrusions on Americans. But when Barack Obama took over after the disaster that was George W. Bush, he did not, in terms of the most pressing domestic issue after unemployment, take a new and different path. He spent, just like Mr. Bush, only even more. It was as if he were saying, "You think Bush broke the bank? I'll show you what a broken bank looks like." This isn't a departure, it's a doubling down.

Obama will probably be a one term president. He has shown us what a true socialist ruler looks like and most Americans don't like it. Peggy Noonan has the analysis.

A Time for Choosing

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.

We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.

Thus spoke Ronald Reagan some forty-six years ago.  Tragically, today in America it appears the time for choosing may have passed. As each day goes by our debt grows more unsustainable; our security further imperiled; our economy more shackled; our government more tyrannical.

These are symptoms of an America that has chosen the wrong path: the road to serfdom over the road to civilization. This plight is the result of a hundred-plus year campaign by the socialist sophists to slowly but surely undermine the principles that built our nation to its hegemonic place. While the ends of a nation are peace and prosperity, there has always been a difference in opinion as to the means to achieve these ends.  This fundamental tension has rested upon the difference between liberty and tyranny.

Is it too late to right the ship, to turn the bloated behemoth around and guide it to port and out of the storm where we can tear it down, salvage anything useful and rebuild it into a more navigable vessel? Where there is hope, we find determination and, possibly, a passage to self-determination.

DAVOS: THE BOMB SHELTER

Their concern is genuine, similar to that of plantation owners whose slaves are falling prey to disease and death brought on by age and overwork. That such was inevitable did not occur to them so inured were they from living off the labor of others; and, now, while their dilemma is obvious the solution is not.

Were it not for the trillions of dollars of government aid in 2009, the global banking system would have already collapsed and the world would again be deep in the throes of another depression, where credit-driven demand sinks in an ocean of debt and settles on the bottom where it slowly drowns.

But the collapse has not been averted, it has only been delayed. The trillions of dollars spent to postpone the day of reckoning were borrowed and soon the bill will be proffered and payment demanded for having done so.

The Fed is concerned that you are not spending and producing. But you are hunkering down to protect you and yours. You are saving and acting frugally because it is the sensible thing to do when you are being taxed and regulated into poverty and servitude.

The Depression is Not Over

[P]rinting more money weakens wealth generators' ability to grow the economy whilst a decline in the money supply's rate of growth strengthens their ability to grow the economy.

Once the central bank raises the pace of money expansion in order to lift the economy out of a recession, it prevents the demise of various false activities. It also gives rise to new false activities. The outcome of such so-called economic growth is nothing more than the strengthening of wealth consumers and renewed pressure on wealth generators. All this undermines the process of wealth generation and weakens true economic growth.

The Fed's attempts to incentivize Wall Street and the banks are having a deleterious effect on Main Street and the productive sectors.

Disinformation Tactics: The Methods Used To Keep You In The Dark

Lies are fragile. They require constant attentiveness to keep them alive. The exposure of a single truth can rip through an ocean of lies, evaporating it instantly. In this article, we will examine the methods used to fertilize and promote the growth of disinformation, as well as how to identify the roots of disinformation and effectively cut them, starving out the entire system of fallacies once and for all.

The mainstream media, once tasked with the job of investigating government corruption and keeping elitists in line, has now become nothing more than a PR firm for corrupt officials and their Globalist handlers. The days of the legitimate “investigative reporter” are long gone, and journalism itself has deteriorated into a rancid pool of so called “TV Editorialists” who treat their own baseless opinions as supported fact.

We must be wary of media attempts to manipulate us if we are to be accurately informed with the facts and the truth.

Recoverygeddon

This so called recovery is problematic and now it is slowly entering a new dangerous phase. Bank losses have now been eclipsed as the major issue as sovereign debt emerges in a more sinister manner. This is only part of the problem and it will be overcome in the short term leading to resumed market growth. The real problem is the debt cycle and the emerging sovereign default concerns are showing us the future...

The Whitehouse believes that we are not too far from a job creation phase and should stimulate further. This also suggests we still have a "game on" situation and not another 2008 scenario on our hands here at this time. Talk is of huge deficits not fiscal restraint so expect more money entering the system as I suggested in my opening article this year. This is election year in many countries and mid term elections in the US so what politician will have the intestinal fortitude to remove stimulus this year?

Do you own gold (or silver)? I don't mean gold stocks but actual gold. If hyperinflation returns as it did in the 1970's, you would do well to have a few Gold Eagles or Kruggerands stashed away for a rainy day.

Porkulus II: Return of the Phony Jobs Boondoggle

Immutable law of Beltway political physics: The only real jobs that a government stimulus stimulates are government jobs. A year after President Obama signed his first almost trillion-dollar economic stimulus package into law, the federal workforce is at an all-time high. The nation’s unemployment rate has swelled to 9.7 percent, but Washington’s economy is thriving.

More than 2.1 million government workers will be on the federal payroll by the end of 2010. The lobbying industry is booming. USA Today reports that 14 federal agencies have hired 3,000 workers to oversee stimulus spending and have spent nearly $190 million so far on salaries and overhead.

Just one-third of the stimulus money has been spent so far, but the White House is now hectoring the Senate to ram through yet another phony jobs boondoggle in the name of bipartisanship.

Congress is on a spending spree to convince us it is "doing something" to create jobs. Unemployment numbers are awful and getting worse, posing a looming threat to their re-election.

Diary of a census resister

A post from a resister to the 2000 census. The government already knows where you live, where you work and where you shop. They know how many people live in your home. So why are they asking all these questions?

May 19, 2000 — morning
I am a census resister. I received my form in early April, and I have not filled it out or returned it. I believe the form I received (D-1) was the short form.

Since that time the census enumerator has been to my home three times and left a "Notice of Visit." Apparently I was not home on any of those occasions.

The last two were on consecutive days.

The Notice informs me that the enumerator stopped by and that I can provide the information over the phone. It also assures me that my privacy is protected by law and reminds me that it is important that everyone be counted.

The enumerator leaves a name and a telephone number as well as times when it is convenient for him (or her — I can't tell from the name) to take calls. Once it was 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; another time it was 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

I will update my account as events occur. [continue...]

THIS ONE ALMOST SLIPPED BY ME

Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to us for over 60 years with Social Security. There is no meaningful difference between the two schemes ... except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail, and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions.

Do you need a side-by-side comparison here? Well here's a nifty little chart.

BERNIE MADOFF	SOCIAL SECURITY
Takes money from investors with the promise that the money will be invested and made available to them later	Takes money from wage earners with the promise that the money will be invested in a "Trust Fund" and made available later.
Instead of investing the money Madoff spends it on nice homes in the Hamptons and yachts.	Instead of depositing money in a Trust Fund the politicians use it for general spending and vote buying.
When the time comes to pay the investors back Madoff simply uses some of the new funds from newer investors to pay back the older investors.	When benefits for older investors become due the politicians pay them with money taken from younger and newer wage earners to pay the geezers.
When Madoff's scheme is discovered all hell breaks loose. New investors won't give him any more cash.	When Social Security runs out of money they simply force the taxpayers to send them some more.
Bernie Madoff is in jail.	Politicians remain in Washington.

Now that was just spectacular. I'm guessing nobody has managed to present this situation to you with such crystal clarity before.

This chart explains how the government shell game works.

Balance The Budget?

Here's what I would do:

Eliminate all foreign aid, fire all czars and their staffs.   Maybe Mrs. Obama could survive without 125 assistants?  Eliminate the Dept. of Energy, which produces no energy, but stands in the way of those can.  Get rid of the Dept. of Education, which educates no one, and stands in the way of those who can.  Get rid of the Dept. of Commerce, which sells nothing, but interferes with those who do.  Get rid of the Dept. of Agriculture, which grows nothing, but irritates and interferes with those who do, and subsidizes and upsets market pricing.  Get rid of the Dept. of Labor, which does no labor, but destroys the free labor market, and interferes with productive labor for profit.  Get rid of many other entrenched bureaucracies.  (this is a column, not a book!)  The savings would be a trillion a year or so, just in government savings, and would free up a trillion in the private sector for not having to deal with the bureaucratic weasels. How to do it?

Don has some ideas for reducing government and balancing the budget.

More Spending is Always the Answer

Continually increasing the debt is one of the logical outcomes of Keynesianism, since more government spending is always their answer.  It is claimed that government must not stop spending when the economy is so fragile. Government must act.  Yet, when times are good, government also increases in size and scope, because we can afford it, it is claimed.  There is never a good time to rein in government spending according to Keynesian economists and the proponents of big government.

There is little likelihood that government will rein in spending money it doesn't have on things we don't need anytime soon.

Recession chugs on, except in government

First, the drop to 9.7 percent unemployment does not reflect the creation of new jobs that normally accompanies an economic recovery. The number of new jobs is actually declining. Total nonfarm payroll employment, for example, dipped by an additional 20,000 positions after a December decline of 150,000 positions. The unemployment rate the day Obama took office last year stood at 7.6 percent and 134.6 million people had jobs. When he signed the economic stimulus, Obama promised the bill would bolster the economy sufficiently to keep unemployment below 8.0 percent. But the unemployment rate has exceeded 8.0 percent since last fall, and total employment stands at only 129.5 million. The stimulus has been a bust.

Second, anybody who thinks the job situation is going to improve dramatically in coming months is not paying attention to what's going on behind the unemployment rate. The Hudson Institute' Diana Furchtgott-Roth notes that "the labor force participation rate declined from 64.9% to 64.6%, the lowest since August 1985. This means that more and more Americans are dropping out of the labor force. Last month 661,000 Americans left the labor force."

The government, in its infinite wisdom stupidity,  does not count as unemployed people who are [uh] unemployed if they are not "looking" for work, thus making the numbers less damaging politically.

Wars Sending US into Ruin

U.S. President Barack Obama calls the $3.8-trillion US budget he just sent to Congress a major step in restoring America's economic health.


In fact, it's another potent fix given to a sick patient deeply addicted to the dangerous drug - debt.


More empires have fallen because of reckless finances than invasion. The latest example was the Soviet Union, which spent itself into ruin by buying tanks.


Washington's deficit (the difference between spending and income from taxes) will reach a vertiginous $1.6 trillion US this year. The huge sum will be borrowed, mostly from China and Japan, to which the U.S. already owes $1.5 trillion.

The cost of our empire is more than we can afford so we just put it on the nation's credit card which, apparently, has no maximum limit.

The Unconstitutional Census Gestapo

Hopefully, those who understand that there is no validity to the modern census count and that it is fully unconstitutional, will aggressively resist the government’s unwanted advances. I do not allow any census taker on my property nor will I in the future. It is easier for me than most because I live in the country and access is one way. This is imposing to those trespassing on my property. But if others who don’t have the options I have are willing to either fully resist, or just give the number of people at the residence and nothing more, that attitude will impede the “progress” of those busybody intruders. In addition, if enough of us cause them problems, it might be more reported across the country; this causing even more dissent. Call it the beginning of the grassroot anti-census movement if you will.

The Constitution authorizes a headcount [enumeration] every 10 years. It does not authorize intrusive interrogations by census takers.

Market manipulation in the balance

The existence of the PPT is basically proven - I'm a reasonably skeptical person and even several years back I've found much I read to be convincing. Extremely large trades in the futures markets by unidentifiable huge traders with unbelievably deep pockets working through brokers known to be government fronts have been documented, usually at critical junctures. It's been some time since I followed this, but it was all quite convincing.

The view that the PPT should be thanked for saving us from a Great Depression has one serious flaw - you are assuming that the distortions required to save the market today will not cause an even greater collapse in the future. Many people have this reasonable view. If true, then the PPT isn't saving us from a depression, they are merely delaying one while also making it worse. And those who vilify the PPT are not in favor of anarchy etc....they just want to take the medicine now, rather than taking even more medicine later.

Speaking of conspiracies, what is the PPT and why are they meddling in the markets? Click through to find out. See also, Is the Stock Market Rigged?

Secret summit of top bankers

THE world's top central bankers began arriving in Australia yesterday as renewed fears about the strength of the global economic recovery gripped world share markets. 

Representatives from 24 central banks and monetary authorities including the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank landed in Sydney to meet tomorrow at a secret location, the Herald Sun reports.

Organised by the Bank for International Settlements last year, the two-day talks are shrouded in secrecy with high-level security believed to have been invoked by law enforcement agencies.

Wonder what these guys are up to?

Who "owns" the jobs?

ITEM:  HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A federal U.S. judge ordered jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney to halt its plans to move 1,000 jobs out of Connecticut and to Japan , Singapore and the state of Georgia.     U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in Bridgeport issued a permanent injunction, stopping the company's plans to shift the jobs.   Who "owns" the jobs?

< In effect the labor union told Pratt & Whitney that despite the fact  the company can't economically keep the Connecticut operation staffed at former levels, it can't shift 1,000 jobs elsewhere in order to bring costs under control.       The union is saying  the unionized worker "owns" the job, not Pratt & Whitney.  This flies in the face of the adage "He who owns the tools owns the job."  Pratt has one ace up its sleeve.  It can close.  And it will if the union forces it to lose money.

Wrisley points out one of the problems with labor unions.

I'm Part of the Problem

Yesterday, I inadvertently squandered $4000 plus worth of medical resources during a lunch break. That I could do this, gain no benefit, and not even see the bills, is what's right and wrong with American medical care.


I'll tell the story in moment but first consider that none of the politically active reform proposals being debated deal with the absence of market pricing for medical care, that system-wide problem that there is a disconnect between the supplier and the consumer, and this problem is absolutely pervasive. You rarely know the prices of what you are getting, and even when you do, the prices are an abstraction: something to know but not act on, since they don't really affect your premiums as with other forms of insurance.

Doctors don't discuss prices with their patients because the patients don't need to know the cost; their insurance requires they only make a co-payment for each visit and their insurance is responsible for the remainder (after the deductible is met). This disconnect of medical care with its associated costs leads to unnecessary and expensive tests and procedures.

Retirement Armageddon

The U.S. government has a nasty surprise for tens of millions of retirees: a now-empty piggy bank. Two of them, actually: Social Security and Medicare.

Congress will soon have a nasty surprise for voters: a larger deficit than announced to fill these now-empty piggy banks.

The Federal Reserve System will also have a nasty surprise for investors: newly created digital money to fill up the empty piggy banks when the Treasury cannot sell any more debt at low interest rates.

The free market will have a nasty surprise for everyone: rising prices in response to the Federal Reserve's digital money.

Medicare will have a nasty surprise for physicians who treat Medicare-funded patients: limits on payments per service that are set below urban costs (price controls).

Physicians will have a nasty surprise to patients: longer waiting periods (rationing by sitting in an office). The days of wine and roses are over. The era of nasty surprises has begun.

Social Security will go bankrupt in 2010.

 Gary North's crystal ball is looking like one of those scary Hollywood disaster movies. Old folks, especially old folks on the verge of retirement, should take heed of his musings.