We're living history

History textbook writers are updating the last chapter as we speak, writing about the housing bubble bursting. As you can see by this article, the loss so far has been about $1 trillion. The Yale economist in the article indicates that those losses may triple.

The question is: Will the textbook writers get the root cause correct? It is doubtful, since they get the root cause of the 1929 crash and the ensuing Great Depression wrong. They'll probably blame it on "predatory lending" practices and poor decisions by consumers, which were a factor, but will miss the root cause: unfettered money creation by the Federal Reserve. A dramatic rise in the money supply (artificially created, not a market rise) leads to easy credit. Easy credit leads to malinvestment, since people are intrigued and duped by the easy credit. Once the punch bowl is taken away from this easy credit party (liquidity dries up, since the money printing has to slow down sometime), the contraction begins.

No more doctors in New York

Fox Business ran a story tonight about rising malpractice premiums in New York. Dr. Lisa Eng pays over $200,000 a year, and she's been sued three times (all three cases dismissed and/or not guilty). Dr. Ezriel Kornel pays over $220,000 a year, and receives at least a dozen job offers from other states each week. He stated that every doctor in New York, on average, is sued twice every five years.

The bottom line? Doctors are leaving the litigious state, many are working part time, and others are leaving the profession. Many others will also leave, since the State of New York is seriously considering a $50,000 surcharge on every doctor in the state. Madness. Root cause? Government controls 80 cents of every health care dollar, highly-paid insurance lobbyists with government officials in their pockets, and judges and juries paying out big bucks to people to get those bad, mean doctors who drive Mercedes.

Socialized medicine in Japan

Governments get involved in health care because they care about people (so they say). Bureaucrats always say that a single-payer government system will take care of the sick and elderly, and get those people who need health care the most to the proper care so they can live their lives with dignity. Oh really, then why did 30 Japanese hospitals turn down an 89 year old woman? Read the article here.

Socialized medicine from the Democrats, war and empire from the neocons (Republicans). We only have one logical choice: Ron Paul.

A Joan Olsen bailout?

Seventy three year old Joan Olsen, as you can read in this article, admits she signed a stack of papers she didn't understand. Her payments were $788 a month and are now $847 a month. However, the payment could balloon to over $2,000 a month. Who's fault? She admits it hers (bravo to her), but the broker filled in her income as higher on the application. The district attorney should simply go after the broker, and Joan needs to find a new place to live.

Unfortunately, the government has, and will continue to, dream up bailout plans for people like Ms. Olsen. Why should you and I be forced to pay for someone else's mistakes? And it's not just Ms. Olsen, it's millions more.

Ron Paul is John Doe

In the great 1941 film, Meet John Doe, Gary Cooper is smeared by the rich and powerful elites. Barbara Stanwyck tries to save him, but I won't spoil the ending for you, which now gets me a little choked up. But there's a great scene where John Doe (Gary Cooper) is about to address the audience and the power mongers have the power cut so the microphones go dead. Is the same happening to Ron Paul? Now AOL is trying to smear him regarding some innocent remarks he made regarding Abraham Lincoln, the statist who did not avoid war at all costs, like he should have, and 622,000 soldiers lost their lives. Rent the movie, and let me know if you think Ron Paul is the modern-day John Doe. Here's a short clip before the great scene at the stadium where he's silenced.

Have we arrived at the endgame?

Monetary policy is pretty fascinating, and from what I've been reading all year, we need to revamp it here in the U.S. Good article from a 2005 edition of The Free Market, published by the Mises Institute. What will happen to the dollar in 2008? What about inflation? I'll make a Christmas/New Year's prediction: inflation hits at least 10%, maybe as high as 14%. I'm hanging on to my gold coins, and only buying 1 month CD's.

Government saves the day!

A 10-year old boy collected toys for homeless children, trying to bring some joy into their lives. But of course, the government had to intervene and save the day! God forbid the mother is allowed to pick out the alleged toys with lead in them. No, the government said. Read the article here.

What's the big deal with lead toys? I played with those my whole life, and nothing happened to me (except for growing that 2nd head, which I cut off long ago).

The boomers are coming! The boomers are coming!

The baby boom generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) has recently started hitting 60. Right now they're hitting 60 at the rate of 10,000 per week. What does that mean for the average 18-year old? Open up your purses and wallets, since the financial shortfall is in the trillions. Another well-thought-out government plan.

Let's bring back freedom of association

In a civilized society, without coercion from the government or anyone else, we all would be free to associate with whomever we want. Unfortunately, that is not the case in America. You see, government legislates morality, just like it says it should - oh no, it's not in here, the Constitution. Oh well, they do it anyway. We're not free to put into our bodies what we want, we aren't allowed (in most of the country) to hire prostitutes, and we're not allowed to refuse entry and/or service to anyone who come to our businesses.

As long as I don't infringe on the life, liberty, and property of another, why shouldn't I be allowed to do what I want? Doesn't anything go, as long as it's peaceful? Here's a great article on freedom of association, which we used to have when America was in better shape.

Good news just in time for Christmas

Don't you just love it when the government wastes your money? They've already wasted billions trying to "rebuild" a country cobbled together by the British after World War I. Now we're wasting billions in another nation-building venture. Read the article here.

That's funny, I don't see foreign wars, nation-building, and intervening in the internal affairs of other nations in my copy of the Constitution. And I don't see anything about being the world's policeman.

Why the war on poverty failed

During this Christmas season, many people help the poor through gifts, hot meals, money, toys, etc. I remembered reading an article on why the government's war on poverty failed, so I searched through my old issues of The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty. It's published by the Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org), and it's one of my favorite periodicals. Here's the link to the article, and it's appropriate for those who think the government can end poverty once and for all.

Poor Mr. Gunyon

As you can read in this article, government's at all levels never stop taking. They tax the stuff we buy, our home, our investments, our income - when will it end? The article states how property taxes have doubled in the last seven years. Amazing. As long as we feed the Leviathan with tax dollars, it will continue to grow.

There will be a reckoning, however. By 2030, just a short 22 years, the entire federal budget will be eaten up by Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense, and the interest on the deficit. That's it. No money for anything else. I guess we'll still be the "greatest country on earth" then too. I doubt it.

Are they all subprime lepers?

According to some analysts in this article, it seems like banks and other financial institutions are treating each other like subprime lepers. The question is, is it the perfect storm? Real estate and credit bubble popping at the same time, more liquidity (more money printed out of thin air by central banks) not having any effect, and monster firms like Merrill Lynch looking really, really afraid. One analyst in another article from prudentbear.com said that the credit markets are the worst he's seen in 47 years. Are we tipping into the abyss?

Iraq, Afghanistan pass Vietnam in cost

It's amazing how America does not learn lessons. The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. As this article that appeared on antiwar.com indicates, we've now paid $700 billion on Iraq and Afghanistan, more than was spent on Vietnam.

When President Lyndon Johnson poured billions into his "Great Society" and Vietnam at the same time (known as "guns and butter") he broke us. The '70's was a lackluster decade highlighted by stagflation and eventually very high inflation.

Won't we ever learn? 300 million people (4% of the world's population) trying to run the other 6 billion (96%). Who's paying for it? You and me.

Housing bust worst since Great Depression

This article states how bad the bursting of the housing bubble is, and the quote from Jack Malvey at Lehman Brothers sums it all up: “In the end, the story of 2008, 2009 and possibly 2010 will be about the extent and consequences of what promises to be the worst US housing correction since the Great Depression in the 1930s.”

What's so amazing is that the government is trying to fix what they caused while blaming the bubble on "predatory lending." The cause is the massive increase in the money supply since the early 1990's. Excessive money supply by the Federal Reserve leads to easy credit. Easy credit dupes investors into making decisions they would not ordinarily make. The low interest rate and availability is too intriguing and attractive. So easy credit leads to malinvestment. Sure, there are some nefarious types in every industry, but when you're telling that couple they don't qualify for the house and then the Fed drops a pile of money on the table next to you, predictable human behavior kicks in. The mortgage broker or bank lends the money.

The same excessive money supply growth led to the dot.com bubble bursting in 2000. Now more government intervention will lead to messing up the mortgage market even further.

War hawk radio

War hawk radio is afraid of Ron Paul. As much as I despise the collectivism and statism of Hillary and her pals on the left, it's hard to stomach the right and its warmongering.

700 AM radio in Houston is among the worst. Pat Gray and Ed Hendlee are shills for the neocon war party, and they can't stop bashing Ron Paul. They must look at his website and see the $18 million he's collected this quarter and they're aghast. So they bash and smear, bash and smear. When I called in this morning ready to tell the truth and dispute their lies, they let me get a sentence or two in and then hung up on me. They've also declined my offer to come into studio and discuss the war, Dr. Paul, and other issues.

These guys see no connection whatsoever: if you occupy countries, if you intervene in the foreign affairs of other nations, if you nation-build, depose heads of state, and so on, people resent it. Every semester my students from around the globe tell me how much we are disliked. It's a travesty when a great man like Ron Paul, the champion of the Constitution, is attacked because he wants to save American lives and fix our monetary policy.

Health care vs. health insurance?

Almost nothing tugs at the heart strings as quickly as health care for poor little kids. But, as usual, the issue must be examined more closely. Here's an article that appeared on mises.org that begins to sift through the rhetoric.

Don't forget that family, friends, community, church, and charity took care of the needy for centuries. In fact, there was little to no government involvement in medicine for the first 358 years of this country! These institutions can still do the job: we have less than 5% of the world's population, yet we give 85% of the world's charity.

No more meat

Write your rep and two senators in Congress today. A short paragraph will do. Tell them you want government out of the food business. Tell them to abolish the Department of Agriculture.

As you can read in this article, next year the price of food is going to go up substantially, as will gas at the pump. Food's so expensive now one woman in the article said that she and her family had to give up meat. Maybe her or her husband could work part-time at McDonald's so they can bring a few burgers home for the kids - they need protein.

A semi-fascist state

America is a semi-fascist state. According to Webster's Dictionary, fascism is "a system of government characterized by rigid one-party dictatorship, forcible suppression of opposition, private economic enterprise under centralized governmental control, belligerent nationalism, racism, and militarism."

The first part, rigid one-party dictatorship, is not so far off from how the political parties are aligned now. Their common theme: tax and spend, grow the empire. Yesterday, on C-Span, I watched how they passed a 3,565 page, 34 pound budget of over $500 billion. The only difference between the Democrats and Republicans is how much they'll spend. But the bottom line is, they both will spend like drunken sailors. So we have a rigid two-party dictatorship.

Forcible suppression of opposition. Interesting. The police have killed over 200 people the last five years with tasers. Comply or we will taser you. No opposition, or you will be tasered. And any opposition to the forcible removal of your private property (your money) and you will go to prison.

Private enterprise under centralized governmental control. We've got that. The commerce clause has now grown to encapsulate almost any type of economic activity. Try to open a business and see how many permits, licenses, and other government permission you need.

Racism. Maybe not in government per se, but definitely in the private lives of citizens.

Belligerent nationalism and militarism. Need I address this? We have 739 military bases around the world. We depose heads of state, install heads of state, tell some nations they need democracy, others they need capitalism.

So the bottom line is, a few more acts like the Military Commissions Act and the Real ID Act and we'll move from a semi-fascist state to a full-blown fascist state.

Become a saver now

It's time to become a great saver and develop a diversified portfolio. 401k's, IRA's, money market accounts, gold coins, real estate, collectible cars, etc. Forego those assets that depreciate and may be completely worthless. Why?

As you can see by this article, the U.S. government has promised a lot more than it can deliver. The country has a seriously underfunded retirement system, and it's in the red by the trillions. Another great government plan.

According to some actuaries, the average American will, in 2024, be paying 40% of their income to Social Security alone. That's because all 78 million baby boomers will be 60 and over in 16 years. Currently, as I write this, they are turning 60 at the rate of 10,000 per week. So in 16 short years, there will be a ratio of 2:1, or two workers for every retired person. When they enacted this cranky scheme in 1935, the ratio was 42:1. Oops.

If history is any guide, this may lead to war. FDR pushed us into WWII because he couldn't find a way out of the Great Depression. War is a great way, politicians think, to get the citizens' minds off their financial woes. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. But the time to get ready is now, so you can handle any challenge that comes your way.

Interesting reads about Roosevelt, by the way, are The Roosevelt Myth, The New Dealer's War, Roosevelt's Secret War, and FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression.

The People's Republic of California

There's a few high-tax states I could never live in, especially New York, Taxachusetts, and The People's Republic of California. As evidenced by this article, this is what happens when you create a nanny state that tries to do everything for everyone. Tax and spend, tax and spend. This eventually equals to meltdown. California is staring at a $14 billion dollar shortfall! When the revolution eventually comes, expect it to start in Cali.

Disco's not back, but inflation is

A woman wrote a letter to the editor and it appeared in today's Houston Chronicle. She's confused because helicopter Ben Bernanke, Larry Kudlow, and others are telling her everything's fine and that inflation is under control.

But she said she went to the grocery store, and now a 10 lb. bag of potatoes is $3.78, not the $2.48 she was paying. And that small loaf of bread she was paying 58 cents for is now $1.18. Finally, she's upset that Doritos are now $3.17 instead of the $2.50 she was paying.

Come now, dear, the government measures "core" inflation. It takes out food and gas prices. Once they do that, inflation is under control! So don't worry, just vote for another Republicrat who doesn't get it and won't do anything about it. Or vote for Ron Paul, he understands what you're going through and he understands economics.

Duffy's dialed in

My good friend of 19 years and principal at Bearing Asset Management, Kevin Duffy, writes this great article about the rah-rah guys who want the credit creation party to never end. Guys like Kevin and Peter Schiff get it while punch bowl crowders like Larry Kudlow do not.

The bottom line is: are you prepared? Are you doing research to find out how to protect yourself? Remember, a month before the stock market collapse in 1929 government officials and big-wig financial types were saying everything looked rosy for the forseeable future. They were wrong - really wrong. From 1998 through 2000, I urged my co-workers at a large investment firm I worked for (we had over $200 billion under management at the time) to find out what moves to make to protect themselves. They gave me that pat herd-mentality answer: "it's different this time." Whenever I hear that, I turn and walk away as quickly as I can.

Get dialed in like Kevin Duffy and make the proper financial moves. That nasty '70's term - stagflation - is coming back with a vengeance.

Sir, No Sir!

Check out this amazing article that appeared on antiwar.com today. Not one of our "men" in Washington have to go through this. Thousands and thousands of young men being scarred for life. For what? Reminds me of that great documentary about Vietnam, Sir, No Sir!, that depicted how much the soldiers were against that immoral war. Time to do some soul-searching, empire lovers.

The chickens are coming home to roost

There are a few sayings that have been around awhile, and the longer they're around, the more important they become. You know, like "you reap what you sow." Or, "there will be a reckoning." And don't forget: "you made your bed, now lie in it." Lastly, though, my all time favorite is the following, which means the same as the others above: "the chickens are coming home to roost."

Where am I going with these antiquated sayings? Federal Reserve policy, of course. When the Fed and other central banks around the world simply print money out of thin air, eventually the chickens come home to roost. This means you can't repeal the fundamental laws of economics and not expect bad things to happen. What is happening? A worldwide credit implosion. See the headlines the other day about the giant Swiss bank UBS? They're writing down another $10 billion in losses! That's on top of the billions they've already lost. And check this article out. The Arab world, the one the U.S. government is making out to be the most evil people on the planet, is now buying stakes in major banks around the world, including U.S. banks. Makes you feel safe, doesn't it?

This article is also quite alarming. The Federal National Mortgage Association, nicknamed Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association, nicknamed Freddie Mac, are hurting big time. The bottom line is that U.S. government monetary policy, which also caused the stock market crashes in 1929 and 2000, is at it again and the chickens are coming home to roost.

Time to purchase the two most important books of your life: The Case Against the Fed and What Has Government Done to Our Money? Both books are by Murray Rothbard and they're available at mises.org. Then you'll know what's going on and you'll see through the liars at the Fed.

Immoral empire lets down vets

All empires are immoral and show little respect for human life. In this article, we read how the army discharges brain injured vets without truly helping them and ensuring all their benefits are in place. Thousands of injured vets will be walking the streets of America, and many are already becoming homeless. Thanks, W.

I want the peaceful republic back. The republic of Jefferson, Washington, Franklin and friends. I reject what we've got now and the men responsible for it: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield and friends. This set of thugs doesn't have one one thousandth the moral fiber and character of the Founding Fathers.

Empire Tax or just plain tax?

Two professors, one from Harvard and one from Columbia University, have calculated the total cost of Afghanistan and Iraq thus far: $2 trillion. Hmm, where does that money come from? Oh yeah, taxes. So, what's my choice next November if Ron Paul doesn't get the Republican nomination? The empire tax, $2 trillion and growing, or the increase in taxes from the Democrats' socialized medicine scheme. Seems like we lose either way.

I noticed all those smiling faces this weekend when the big "O," Oprah Winfrey, was campaigning for the other big "O," Barack Obama. They cheered when Oprah talked about a real change in America. Amazing, a talk show host duped her whole life! Who would believe it? The question is: How many of those faces will be smiling in 20 years? Either 20 years of socialized medicine, which will produce shortages, long lines, higher taxes, lower quality, and rationing, or a larger empire with more boogeymen and hobgoblins to fight. It's over. It's gone. As Karen Kwiatowski (see her label below) said: The republic is dead. Stone cold dead.

Don't forget my neocon friends: there is a war tax.

Severe problems

The mortgage mess and the credit liquidity mess (mother of all bubbles) will be causing some severe pain in 2008 and 2009, and probably even after that. Thanks to lewrockwell.com for linking to Mr. Greenberg's blog where he has a mortgage expert, Mark Hanson, discuss the subprime and prime mortgage meltdown. Read the informative article and then go out and get a lockbox to hoard some gold, euros, yen, and maybe a few American dollars.

Democrats cave in again

Democrats said they would end the war and bring the troops home. They lied. As you can see in this article, they have caved in once again and provided more money for the war. They also want a subprime mortgage bailout, using your money and my money. There's no difference between the liberals and neocons. They're all clueless, and they all want to spend our money and run our lives. God help us if Ron Paul doesn't win.

Clueless government at it again

Just imagine the uproar in Washington, D.C. if a private company lost so much of our money or private property. Yet when the government does it, what are we going to do? Lawsuit? I think not. Just another amazing waste of taxpayer dollars. Read the short article here.

Congress begins assault on the internet

Congress has just started its assault on the internet. Twenty years from now, you probably won't recognize the world wide web because it will be so regulated and restricted.

In the name of protecting children, this act, rushed through the House of Representatives the other day, places many businesses in jeopardy if they don't comply. Read the article here.

The other act, supposedly in the name of discovering "home grown" terrorism, also assaults our use of the internet to communicate. Read Ron Paul's article here.

Time to write your two state senators to ask them to oppose the first act mentioned above. If our freedom on the net is severely restricted, we're cooked. I'd hate to be able to access only government websites, wouldn't you?

Policeman, interloper, intervener, invader, occupier

Your son or daughter, or maybe your nieces and nephews, are having a blast right now. They know nothing of war or terrorism - their lives are amazingly innocent.

What a rude awakening awaits them. They will inherit the American empire that has a presence in 130 out of the 170 countries on the planet. By 2030, just 22 years from now, the entire federal budget will be eaten up by health care, social security, and defense. Oh yes, carve out some for the interest on the deficit. That's it. No money for roads, bridges, schools, NASA, the environment, food stamps, and so on. No money for the thousands upon thousands of programs that exist today.

The first step is to shut down the empire. As you can see in this article by Jacob Hornberger, president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, the U.S. is the world's policeman, interloper, intervener, invader, and occupier. If any other nation did what we did, we wouldn't let them rest until we shut them down. Let's not search the world for monsters to destroy. No military force can reach us, it's impossible. Let's just allow Americans to trade with the world. Nothing promotes friendliness among nations as much as free trade.

Don't search for an excuse 20 years from now when your son or daughter asks why everything is in such bad shape. Let them know you understand and have been fighting for freedom all these years.

Ron Paul supporters head to New Hampshire

As you can read in this Yahoo article, Ron Paul supporters are coming from all over the country and heading to the cold of New Hampshire to campaign for the champion of the Constitution. The only anti-war, true free market lover of freedom, Paul will do well in New Hampshire. If not, the people there better change their license plate.

Government can't get refrigeration right

The government is inefficient in many ways, and also very wasteful. It's not their money they're wasting, so what's the big deal (to them)? In this amazing article, they can't even refrigerate vaccines correctly. Don't bother with the vaccines anyway. Your research will lead you to the fact that we're trading relatively mild childhood diseases for autoimmune diseases (like multitple sclerosis) later in life.

Huckabee no conservative

Here's what looks like a great website that exposes Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. But somehow, CNN said he was ahead right now in the polls in Iowa. Either they're not paying attention, or they've just accepted his rhetoric about being a small government, no tax kind of guy.

Social Security a massive ripoff

Charlotte Twight's book, Dependent on D.C.: The Rise of Federal Control Over The Lives of Ordinary Americans, is important because it opens the eyes of readers. For instance, she writes about economist Martin Feldstein's calclulations on Social Security, which we all suspect won't allow any of us to retire with dignity. According to his calculations, "through private investment a worker could obtain the return historically achieved under Social Security for only 21% of the tax price he pays under the current system, 'allowing the 12-percent Social Security tax rate to be replaced by a 2.5% contribution.' In his judgment, 'the remaining 9.5% excess mandatory contribution is a real tax for which the individual gets nothing in return.'"

Ever wonder what the government does with the rest of the money in the fund? Oh, that's right, there is no fund. Any excess would go to: empire?

Politicians and pundits alike

The garbage spewing forth from politicians and political pundits never ceases to amaze me. They all live in a dream world, and they love to lie. Not little lies, but the BIG lies. Dennis Kucinich, the little Democrat who wants to be president, said yesterday that he will make America "carbon free and nuclear free." Wow. What will we use for fuel, Dennis? Since we'll be carbon free, Dennis, there's no more cars or factories, right? Well crafted.

Hillary was also bloviating, saying: "I will let them stay in business." She was referring to the health insurance companies. How nice of her, or any politician, to LET a company stay in business. She also said she would "make Medicare more efficient." How so? It's been around for 42 years, and it keeps getting more inefficient. She's got some magic wand to wave at it, I guess.

Ann Coulter, the cowardly neocon author and pundit, said: "I just want to disarm them and demoralize them." She was referring to our enemies in the Middle East. Wait, wait, no, no I don't see it here in the Constitution. Sorry Ann, can't do it. No mention of empire in the Constitution. No mention of disarming or demoralizing other nations.

And of course, we can't leave out Bill O'Reilly, also a cowardly neocon war hawk who wants the U.S. to run the globe and have you and me pay for it. He told a guest who disagreed with him that what the man said "doesn't diminish the threat that all of us face." What threat Bill? Some army, navy, or air force reaching American shores? Impossible. Can't happen. Respond below and tell me what nation can reach us. Sorry, try again.

My advice: read the sane people at lewrockwell.com and antiwar.com. Forget the mainstream politicians and pundits. They love fear, and they want to rule us.

Next boogeyman, please step up

It's starting now. Yes, 2007. The war hawks (I mean cowards) are bringing the next boogeyman up to the stage. Guess who? Yes, China. The cowardly windbag Lou Dobbs is all bent out of shape because China refused to allow nine U.S. Navy ships to enter China's harbors. First of all, why are all these ships sailing all over the globe? Nothing's going on over there, yet the U.S. empire wants its presence everywhere. Bring those ships home to protect our borders just in case any nation gets crazy (but they won't). I'm tired of paying for a massive global navy.

Dobbs started off with "communist China." Not China, but "communist China." He wants to remind you that they're probably evil. You remember "communist Russia," don't you? Of course, he wouldn't say: "Democratic Ireland," or "Socialist Finland." And on the screen next to his face it read: Red Storm Rising. Just more propaganda. The communists are coming! The communists are coming!

Dobbs needs to sit at home and stop his fear machine. You're tired and stale Lou, go play some checkers. By the way, China's defense budget is approximately $64 billion, far less than our almost $600 billion. And they have four times as many people. Be careful what you wish for Lou, they can put an army on the ground the size of the U.S. population.

You couldn't write a better script

Want to screw up a financial system? Love to create credit and market distortions? Like to have American taxpayers bail out cranky government interventions in the banking, mortgage, and securities sectors? You've got it! It's all right here in Washington! Come one, come all!

Now the Secretary of the Treasury is getting in on the act, as you can see by this article. Just one more bandaid to forestall the inevitable: an economic meltdown. The more the government intervenes to put off the pain, the greater the ultimate pain will be. In the last paragraph, George Miller seems to understand the problem.

Anderson Cooper saved John McCain

During the CNN/You Tube debate last night, warmonger and admitted (1997 interview) Vietnam bomber and baby killer John McCain went after Ron Paul and his non-interventionist foreign policy. McCain was saved when the moderator jumped in, just as Ron Paul was about the eat his lunch.

McCain yearns for war, just as Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun did way back in 1812. McCain must not understand that there is no army, navy, or air force that can reach America. None. End of story. No foreign armed forces can reach this country. The United States has the most favorably geography in the world for defense. Combine that with the best nuclear subs, nuclear aircraft carriers, and the new F22 fighter planes, we are untouchable here. The only time we get in harm's way is when we are out there telling other people what to do.

That's Ron Paul's point. Shut down the empire. Leave everyone alone politically and militarily. Let Americans trade with everyone. McCain and the other war hawks on stage with him last night don't get it. I guess they still want to play army since they didn't get a chance to do it when they were younger. But this time, we all pay the price.

MSM misses again

The main stream media, or MSM, almost always miss the point. Especially when it comes to economics. They just simplify things, spouting out the conventional wisdom. This article by Yahoo News tries to explain why world financial markets are in bad shape. The writer gives a list of reasons, but misses the root cause: fiat money. That is, paper money not backed by anything but a government's ability to tax citizens to give them their money back. Crazy, right?

Instead of a significant portion of the article devoted to inflationary monetary policies practiced by central banks around the world (like our Federal Reserve), he puts in only this line: "An era of easy money has enabled more risk-taking built on borrowed funds." Let's be like Morpheus in The Matrix, who only offers the truth, and expound on the "easy money" idea so people know the root cause of the upcoming financial catastrophe.

Sucked into the maelstrom

As more banks, mortgage companies, investment houses, etc. are sucked into the maelstrom known as the credit bubble collapse, people wonder: what should be done? After all, some say it's like a perfect storm: oil at almost $100 a barrel, real estate foreclosures way up, big investment companies writing down billions in losses, the dollar collapsing, and threats by foreign nations to move away from the dollar.

Maybe the government should pull an early 1970's Nixon: a 90-day wage and price freeze. Then gas and food can't go up - sounds good, doesn't it? Might sound good, but that would lead to more pain. In fact, the government should do nothing but let the malinvestment wash itself out. It will be painful, but forestalling the pain only makes it worse. Watch the Republican debate Wednesday night, and see who brings up the subject. Only Ron Paul, who understands the markets and the Fed, will. He's the only one with the courage to talk about it.

Krugman is clueless

Paul Krugman, one of the worst economists in the U.S., will go to his deathbed claiming all our financial problems are based on greed. The fact is, Krugman is a card-carrying communist and admitted so on national television. That means he hates capitalism, the most moral economic system ever devised by mankind. But he wants no part of it - he longs for Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

His ridiculous article never mentions how the U.S. government creates money out of thin air, and how the Fed has inflated the dollar from 100 cents to 4 cents. That's the problem, Paul. But if you haven't gotten it by now, you never will. Where'd you get that doctorate again, the University of Keynesinia? Or was it the Republic of Marxidolva?

Nightmare economic scenario

When a nation's central bank prints money out of thin air like our Federal Reserve does, the chickens always come home to roost. The fundamental laws of economics can't be refuted, just like a fundamental law of physics can't be refuted. There's always a reckoning, and it's starting now. Read the article here.

Commodity-based sound money is the key. It imposes discipline on bankers, so they oppose it. But look at the alternative. 2008 and 2009 are going to be rough. Do you have a spare bedroom for your foreclosed friends?

Clinton, Obama style government

Based on what Clinton and Obama are saying on the campaign trail, we can expect a lot more government if either is elected. Of course, a lot more government means you get to keep a lot less of your money. Don't forget, the Democrats say they're for the "little guy," so that means they want to "create jobs." More government agencies at taxpayer expense means more jobs to do exactly what? Not much.

As you can see by this article, there were some Clinton and Obama types in Sweden. Now they have the all-important, can't do without agencies like the Maritime Culture and Leisure Association, The Foundation for Children's Literature, and the Language and Folklore Institute. I can't believe that the framers didn't put stuff like this in our Constitution. You can bet your last dollar that under Clinton or Obama we'll get lots of agencies, bureaus, departments, and commissions that will eat up taxes, I mean, "create jobs."

Thanks to lewrockwell.com for posting this Christian Sandstrom article in April, 2006.

Lincoln didn't care about slaves

During the Civil War, Lincoln clarified his position on the war and slavery. "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not to either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also so that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause."

Interesting. What was that they taught us about "Father Abraham" in grade school?

Why is America going broke?

America is in a severe financial crisis, no matter what some of these rah-rah bull market cheerleaders say. In this great article by Robert Murphy that appeared in The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty back in April, he writes about all the waste and corruption ("corporate welfare") in government.

Why is the government in the railroad business? AMTRAK loses millions every year. Who bails it out? You and me with our tax dollars. Why does the Small Business Administration lend money to giant corporations? Wasn't it created to help the "little guy?"

Hopefully the article will make you angry. There's only one person currently running for president who will step up and challenge Congress on this madness. Yes, that liberty loving Congressman from Texas, Ron Paul.

Living beyond your means?

TheFox News Channel ran a story last night about foreclosures, especially in Stockton, California, which is the unofficial "foreclosure capital" of America. The station interviewed a woman on the phone who lost her house. Why did she lose it? Her and her husband bought a house that cost almost $500,000! And when asked how much money she put down as a down payment, she said $1,000! How can anyone in their right mind buy so much of a house when they can't afford it? She also remarked how this was their first home.

The payments were $3,300 a month for the first two years, re-setting with the adjustable rate kicking in after two years. New payment: almost $5,000! What should society's (other people, government, etc.) response be? "Oh well, you learned from that one. Next time don't buy so much of a house, and next time wait for a low fixed rate." Remember, no one held a gun to their head to buy the house.

Unfortunately, the federal government might come in and tax you and me more to help these "poor, unfortunate people" who might lose their home. Write your representative in Congress now, stating that you oppose a bailout. If we don't, it will cost us billions!

Learning from history

The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. As you can read in this article, central banks around the world have caused more mayhem by printing money out of thin air, just like our Fed does. The U.S. had five major recessions/depressions in the 1800's. Did we learn from them? Of course not. The great contraction that kicked off in late 1929 was the direct result of foolish monetary policy by the neophyte economists at the Fed. And how did the 2000 dot.com and telecommunications bubble form and burst? You guessed it: a dramatic expansion of the money supply, leading to easy credit and malinvestment.

Only sound money prevents the severe dislocations that we now see here in America and around the world. It's getting ugly out there. One guy in Congress does get it however, and he gave the ex-Fed chairman Greenspan a hard time for over a decade. Yeah, that's right: Ron Paul.

Kudos the lewrockwell.com for posting a link to the article.

It's not a sacrifice, it's a privilege?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of the worst presidents in American History, said it was a privilege to pay more taxes, buy more bonds, forego extra profits, and fight for your country. Amazing. What he's really saying is that your a government slave, and when the government creates a crisis or gets us into war, you'd better do what they say. Really. I thought it was a free country.

"It is not a sacrifice for any man, old or young, to be in the Army or Navy of the United States. Rather it is a privilege. It is not a sacrifice for the industrialist or the wage-earner, the farmer or the shopkeeper, the trainman or the doctor, to pay more taxes, to buy more bonds, to forego extra profits, to work longer or harder at the task for which he is best fitted. Rather it is a privilege. It is not a sacrifice to do without many things to which we are accustomed if the national defense calls for doing without."

From FDR's radio address on December 9, 1941, two days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Much recent scholarship indicates FDR pushed Japan into attacking the U.S. Quote thanks to Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs.

The truth about Woodrow Wilson

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas Woods is an awesome book. I especially like the chapter on how the United States got into World War I. As stated in the chapter, 98% of the American people wanted to avoid the senseless slaughter of the European conflict. It was none of our business, and Americans knew it. But somehow the diplomatic neophyte, racist, Anglophile Woodrow Wilson maneuvered us into war, killing 113,000 Americans. He said at the time that the U.S. must make the world safe for democracy. Sorry, Woodrow, that's not in the Constitution. For the full story on Wilson, pick up Wilson's War by Jim Powell.

Both books should be part of your library - you won't regret it. You might also want to pick up a copy of Lies My Teacher Told Me by Jim Loewen while you're at it.

Ron Paul stands alone

As this great article from the History News Network states, only Ron Paul has the courage to openly express to the American people how dangerous and foolish it is to maintain an empire. Ron's vision of free trade and refusal to stick our noses in other people's business would make us safer and more prosperous. The youth of America understand this because they have not yet lived a lifetime of being duped by the Republicrats and mainstream media.

Neocons and liberals join hands and call for another invasion

It is amazing how the people who know they don't have to fight on the battlefield seem to call for more and more foreign intervention and war. The U.S. helped stir up a hornet's nest in Pakistan throughout this decade, and a lot of people over there don't like us. Now the neocon American Enterprise Institute and left wing Brookings Institution want the invasion of yet another country. Supposedly the reason is to secure Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Even if the nukes fell into the "wrong" hands (wrong is anyone other than who the U.S. supports), who would launch such a weapon? And at who? For what reason? Preposterous. Don't let the warmongers use fear on you. No nuclear weapon can reach U.S. soil, and no army, navy, or air force can reach us either.

Die on the battlefield and the empire will grant citizenship

The U.S. armed forces is strapped for new recruits, and the army recently upped the enlistment age from 40 to 42. Imagine, so many people are rejecting dying for the empire that they'll now take people 42 years old.

As this article states, the military focuses on minorities because they traditionally don't have the options some others may have. If you enlist, you get a six-year conditional status, but you get the express citizenship program if you're killed in battle. A lot of good citizenship does you then.

The all-powerful state threatens parents

As you can see by this article, some state governments don't believe in parental choice. Some bureaucrats believe they know what's best for the child. That's one reason I like Texas: it has all three exemptions from vaccinations - religious, medical, and philosophical. You simply fill out the one-page form, have it notarized, and give it to the school nurse. It is a myth that children need shots to get into school.

Do the research, watch the videos, and even better, join the National Vaccine Network. It's composed of parents from every state who oppose the mandatory pumping of 35 or so toxic cocktails into their kids' bodies by the time they're five years old. Gee, I wonder if there's any connection between some doctors, the stock they buy, the pharmaceutical companies, and the government agencies that push for vaccines? You bet there is.

While you're at it, pick up a copy of How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. It's only $7.00, and you'll agree with the doctor who wrote it: parents, grandparents, and mother nature are the best medicine, not the all powerful and increasingly intrusive government.

Soldiers deserting - they're tired of it

U.S. soldiers are now deserting the armed forces at a rate higher than at any time since 1980 - read here. The war hawks, however, keep putting out those commercials, trying to show how honorable it is to travel around the globe and kill others.

According to the military, there were over a half million "incidents of desertion" during the Vietnam War. The soldiers knew then what our soldiers know now - that war is a racket, it's immoral, and it makes America weaker. And we're led by bullies. They only attack small nations they can toast in four weeks or less. If we're so tough, let's go attack some monster-sized nation. Yeah, I didn't think so. Our leadership is like the bully in the grammar school schoolyard - picking on the small and weak.

Are you ready?

Have you socked away some cash and paid off most of your credit card debt? Did you resist the tempation to get that home equity loan? Got some gold coins in a little fire resistant lock box? I hope so. It's getting ugly out there. Amazingly, many people haven't clued in. They think everything's rosy out there.

Here's another article from Bloomberg that prudentbear.com picked up. Severe recession, anyone?

The government let him down

You would think that the government would take especially good care of America's veterans. After all, the warmongers and hawks can't play their little war games around the globe if people don't enlist. Without the soldiers, the hawks would be bored and would have to play Stratego and Risk instead.

Here's an article that appeared on CNN.com on just how well some of America's veterans are being treated. Amazing.

Neocons want world dominance

Neoconservatives, or neocons, who make up the hawkish (they love war) sect of the Republican Party, laid out their plans to bully the world back in 1992. Barely had the U.S.S.R. collapsed when they wrote up their plans for control of the globe. Thanks to the International Relations Center for an article that lists the objectives the neocons would now seek: massive increase in military spending, assertion of lone superpower status, the use of pre-emptive force, and intervening in disputes throughout the globe, to name a few.

Everything neocons promote is exactly the opposite of what the founders intended. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others were men of peace. It is up to all of us to fight for peace in a non-violent way.

They smear him because they are afraid

The neocon warhawks who hijacked the Republican Party are stepping up the smear campaign against the champion of the Constitution, Ron Paul. They see on his website how much money he's raising, and they know he has an excellent chance to do really well in two out of the first three primaries - New Hampshire and Nevada. Since they're afraid, they are and will continue to smear him. They'll call him a nutjob, a freak, a fringe candidate, a 2nd tier candidate, a man out of step with society, a violent man, a man supported by fruitcakes, and on, and on, and on.

Fortunately, you and I know better. Here's a man who served his country in the Air Force, delivered thousands of babies, has been married to the same woman for 50 years, has never taken a congressional junket, has never voted to raise taxes, has never voted for an unbalanced budget, refused to take a congressional pension, voted against the Iraq War, and returns some of the money given to him to run his office in Washington back to the Treasury every year.

They will really step up the smearing after December 16th, when Ron Paul's supporters send him another $5 or $6 million to commemorate the Boston Tea Party. Simply laugh at their smear campaign, and continue to tell others how great Ron Paul is and how much we need him at the helm.

Let's leave Pakistan alone

As this article states, America once again does not understand yet another country and how they operate. It's time to leave the Middle East altogether. The U.S. government and military has stirred up another hornet's nest - it will simply cost more U.S. lives and taxpayer money.

(Thanks to antiwar.com, where the article appeared today)

Student comes forward

The student who was given a question to ask Hillary Clinton by the Clinton team has come forward, saying she was not the only plant in the audience. She feels the Clinton team was dishonest, and the whole affair has given her a negative outlook on politics. Read the article here.

Ron Paul will be good for the economy

A Fox News financial reporter (last name Shapiro) was asked today who would be best for the economy out of all the presidential candidates. His answer: Ron Paul. Shapiro said only Ron Paul understands economics and the financial markets. Shapiro mentioned no other candidate.

That mention will probably help on December 16th, when 100,000 supporters will give Ron Paul $100.00 each to raise $10 million for the day. I hope you will be one of them! I will give $100 once again, just like the 5th on November.

Let's take back our country from the neocons and liberals.

Global Warming a "scam"

John Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel, calls global warming an immense "scam." He says he's appalled at the bogus science and the lack of good research out there. Read his full blog entry here.

War Myths

Some people like war for some reason, yet they don't understand how war consolidates power in the hands of the state. War is also bad for the economy, yet people believe the opposite. As Robert Higgs points out in How War Amplified Federal Power in the Twentieth Century, the publicly held debt rose by $200 billion during World War II, and the U.S. dollar lost nearly half its purchasing power between 1940 and 1948.

Not only does war make us poorer, Washington grows stronger, limiting our freedom. Higgs' great article appeared in The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty in December, 2001. Read the rest of the article here.

Incredible interview

Ron Paul gave a clear, concise, awesome interview today on the CBS show 'Face the Nation.' He explained the powerful message of liberty and how the government should leave the rest of the world alone. He also succinctly explained how our fiat (paper) money hurts the poor and middle class.

Go to lewrockwell.com and click on Ron Paul triumphs on 'Face the Nation.' Make sure you watch part II. Incredible. What a clear, powerful message.

Austrian economics

The market is getting punished today. The bubble has burst. The average American has had little training in economics, and the little they've had has been Keynesian, which has been destroyed by the Austrians.

Now it's time for you to begin your study of Austrian economics. Then you'll know more than most of the people in the country. Eventually, you'll know why bubbles form, and how the government makes us poorer. Start here and invest $10.00 in Henry Hazlitt's book: Economics in One Lesson. It'll be the best $10.00 you've ever spent.

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

The above titled bill passed the House of Representatives and is now in a Senate committee. The bill looks pretty dangerous because of its vague language. The last thing Americans need is another bill related to "homeland security" that has vague language. The Military Commissions Act did a number on us, and this looks pretty bad too. Might want to write your Senators. Check the article to see what number the bill is in the Senate.

Interesting charts

There are some great charts at prudentbear.com. Their guest commentaries and daily stories are great too. Check out the last chart titled US Deficit. Looks a little scary. Maybe your history, government, or economics professor can explain to you whether or not this is a problem.

Socialized Medicine in Japan

Japanese citizens are increasingly dissatisfied with health care, as they must wait about a month to receive necessary surgery. 69% of the hospitals run by local governments operate at a loss, and of course, the rest must be paid by taxpayers.

Two-thirds could not determine whether they received quality care, and 86% of the people were dissatisfied with the long waiting lines. Costs are rising and the government is trying to reign them in. Next step, of course, is rationing. Read the article here.

The Japanese tend to be healthier and more fit than Americans, and they don't have near the deaths from accidents and violence. Can you imagine the costs and the waiting times in a country like ours - with twice the population, more overweight and obese people, and many more dying violently? Socialized medicine in the U.S. would be a disaster.

Freeze slimeball!

Freeze slimeball! You're under arrest for holding a garage sale! Yes, it's true. The ever increasing power of the state rises up, it seems, on a daily basis. This poor 72 year old woman, who probably never broke the law in her life, is now facing charges for holding a garage sale. Read the article at your own risk (you might not have permission from the government).

Thanks to fee.org (Foundation for Economic Education) for the alert.

Secret government room?

Interesting article from ABC news. Didn't the Supreme Court rule that Americans had the right to privacy? Yes, it did. Time for me to read George Orwell's 1984 again.

The evil "outsourcing" monster rises again

Some Illinois congressman strutted out a refrigerator on the floor of the House of Representatives tonight and began bellowing gas about the evils of outsourcing. As usual, he used emotion and a shallow argument, not sound economic reasoning by sound economists. Three excellent articles (1, 2, 3) from the mises.org site reveal that the outsourcing monster isn't quite what the typical politician makes it out to be.

After all, shouldn't I be free to build my factory anywhere in the world I want, as long as I purchase the land and obey that particular country's laws? And for whatever reason I want? Or should I be forced to stay in the U.S. and pay for possibly more expensive land and possibly higher labor costs?

I wonder how horrible he would have made it sound if that Illinois plant had re-opened in Texas? Would he then speak of the evils of those rotten Texans, who "stole" jobs from Illinois citizens? Probably not.

She must have thought she was free

A 13-year old girl was punished with detention for hugging two friends. The "Hugging Police" must have descended upon her quickly, and she's lucky she didn't get a taser in the chest. Pretty soon, we won't be able to smile at each other. Amerika will look like that little town in the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." No emotion, please. Read the amazing article here.

(thanks to lewrockwell.com)

Business as usual

Both the Democrats and Republicans, or Republicrats as I like to call them, say one thing and do another. The Republicans finally got control of the House of Representatives in '94, saying that now they could finally reduce spending after all those years of a Democratically controlled legislative branch. Well, the Repubs then went on a spending binge, and actually outspent the Dems. Say one thing, do another.

Now, as you can see by this article, it's the Democrats turn. Put us into power, they said, and we'll end the war. Blah, Blah, Blah. Same old story for the last 100 years or so. I read today that a woman in New Hampshire said it was an exciting time to be an American, since next year is going to bring some real change. Is she kidding? Or just delusional?

What's next - busted for walking down the street?

The ever-increasing coercive power of the state flexed its muscles again - this time to bust those high-flying gamblers. No, not the ones in Vegas. I'm talking about those elderly WWII veterans who were waging $5 for a few hours of fun playing cribbage. Throw the scalawags in jail! Throw the key away - they're a menace to society! Read this amazing tale here.

It's time to pull The Death of Common Sense by Philip K. Howard off the shelf again for another quick read.

"We've only begun to feel the pain . . ."

The credit bubble is blowing, and there's no way to stop it. And you can see all the bad news on prudentbear.com. Here's an article which quotes Brian Gendreau, an investment strategist at ING. He's right when he says "we've only begun to feel the pain . . ." This current bubble may be the mother of all bubbles. By the way, gold is probably only a few days away from its all-time historic high.

Unfortunately, most Americans won't know what happened, and they'll believe the government when the Republicrats blame the free market.

Typical government project

From the wasteful subsidies given to railroads in the 1800's to museums today that never get off the drawing board, governments love to spend someone else's money. That's why I love the private sector - they spend their own money.
Read this amazing article on how the state of New York wasted $3 million on a proposed museum. Disgraceful.

Global warming? So, the earth warms and cools all the time!

A great article appeared today that questions the scientific community's consensus that the human race is responsible for the alleged global warming of today and that we should get rid of cars and factories.

The government loves to use fear and hype to control us, and they love it when government funded scientists agree with what they say.

CIA fooled

A story in the news the last couple of weeks aired on 60 Minutes tonight. The story was about Rafid Ahmed Alwan, who claimed he defected from Iraq and that he had first-hand evidence of Iraq's biological weapons program. Despite warnings from Germany, where Alwan showed up as a defector, the CIA used Alwan's claims to help build a case for the invasion of Iraq. Members of the highest levels of the CIA were duped, and they presented their findings to then Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell announced the findings to the world at the United Nations. Three weeks later, the U.S. invaded Iraq.

We spend billions on intelligence, and we can't get it right?

Ron Paul's getting more money tomorrow!

Ron Paul supporters have targeted tomorrow, November 5th, as a big fundraising day for the presidential candidate. Supporters are hoping that 100,000 people donate $100.00. I've already given him $500.00, but I want to be in on this exciting day. So tomorrow I'm sending in another c-note. I wonder if I'll get a mask in the mail.

Rogers gets it, Bernanke doesn't

Great interview with investor Jim Rogers on Bloomberg yesterday. Rogers gets it. Gets what? The ensuing credit bubble burst. It's happened throughout history, and it's happening again. The first documented bubble in history was the tulip bubble of the 1600's.

"Bernanke loves printing money,'' Rogers said in an interview in New York. "This man is a nut. The dollar is collapsing, commodities are going through the roof, which means inflation's going through the roof. These people are leading us to terrible problems down the line.''

The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.

End all foreign aid

Some of your taxpayer dollars are given to other countries by the U.S. government. It is a foolish practice, and history shows that all sorts of distortions and shenigans occur when money is transferred from one government to another.

Walter Block, an economist and professor at Loyola in New Orleans, writes a nice article on why the practice should stop. Block, who is Jewish, states that giving money to Israel harms Israel. He says that Jewish leaders in American need not worry if American taxpayer dollars don't reach Israel. The article appeared today on lewrockwell.com.

Americans absorb war propaganda

Not only are most Americans clueless about geography and history, so my students tell me, they also like to absorb the war propaganda put out by the necons and others. Great article by Justin Raimondo that appeared on antiwar.com today.

Don't Americans understand that the government is always conjuring up more boogeymen for us to be afraid of? Don't they understand they love to use fear to get us to do what they want us to do?

It's time for us to do our own research (no, not the mainstream media) and reject most of what they're telling us. Remember, they told us Medicare and Medicaid would only cost $9 billion the first 25 years. They were wrong. It cost $67 billion.

Are we free?

Not according to Robert F. Hawes, Jr. He wrote a great article that appears today on lewrockwell.com. An excerpt: "You see, today the American government tells us that it can spy on us whenever and however it likes. It can read our e-mail and postal mail, track our financial records, pry into our medical histories, force libraries to turn over lists of the books we read, force internet service providers to turn over records of our surfing habits, and tap our phones and record our calls."

Forget new secretary - just shut it down

President Bush just appointed a new Secretary of Agriculture. Instead, he should have just shut down the department. Destroy it, George. It's anti-freedom, and it makes our food so much more expensive.

A 1993 article in the New York Times "termed the U.S. farm subsidy program “hopelessly outdated, exorbitantly expensive and environmentally and socially devastating.” Far from “saving the family farmer,” they price American produce out of world markets, hurt low income families, and swamp the farmer with endless regulations. “A whopping 73 cents of every farm program dollar,” Davidson noted, “ends up in the pockets of 15 percent of the nation's superfarms.”

Nothing's changed in 14 years. Americans are taxed and the money is given to large agricultural conglomerates. You're taxed so you're food is more expensive. Read the rest of this still relevant article that was printed in The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty.

Run for the hills

As the credit bubble deflates, financial pundits are in denial and the government is trying to stave off the pain. Unfortunately, as each day passes, the total amount of pain that we will eventually feel increases. Come on, Ben, just let the air out. We know it's going to hurt, but it will hurt a lot more next month or next year.

Another $41 billion in reserves injected today. Ouch! Where'd that come from? Read the article here.

Jewish people oppose war

Polls show that 77% of the Jewish population in America oppose the war in Iraq. Read the interesting article that appeared on antiwar.com.

You're broke

And so am I. Why? Because the decider-in-chief is doing now what Lyndon Johnson did in the '60's. Breaking the bank with war. Johnson also poured billions down another rathole he called the "Great Society."

In this interesting article by historian Thomas Woods, Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia and Linda Bilmes of Harvard put the full cost of the Iraq War at $2 trillion. So, when will Americans pay this tab? For years to come. The '70's had a hangover because of Vietnam and the Great Society of the '60's. Americans are about to get a headache and then a big hangover. Combine war spending with the coming credit bubble implosion and the future does not look rosy.

The Land of Oz

Remember when Dorothy finally reached the Emerald City to see the great Wizard of Oz? Her and her pals were cleaned up and pampered for free while the citizens sang a song about how each citizen slept late and took a long lunch, then kicked off at three.

After watching the Democratic debate tonight, I realized that's where the Democrats want to take you - to Oz. They discussed spending billions on "free" college tuition, billions on "free" early programs for little ones, billions on "free" universal health care, and on, and on. Unfortunately, we don't live in Oz and someone will have to pay for all of this. Yes, you and me. So get out your wallets and purses. Have them ready if a Democrat wins the White House next year. But then again, this is business as usual for government - it's not a horse of a different color.

The Foreign Policy of Peace and Freedom

Great article (title above) by Scott McPherson on The Future of Freedom Foundation website. The Founding Fathers knew best: leave other people alone - don't mess in their affairs militarily and politically. Thomas Jefferson, when asked why he cut the navy in half, responded that he did not want a large navy floating around out there, it's only going to get us into trouble. He also said "we must stay out of Europe, they are nations of eternal war."

Let's heed the words of the founders and implement a non-interventionist foreign policy. We'll save American lives, and a lot of money too.

Office of Cuba Broadcasting

As per the Constitution (not!), the United States Congress actually passed a law which calls for the U.S. to broadcast into Cuba in order to bring down the communist government of Fidel Castro. The government actually created something called the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and since its inception has supposedly cost American taxpayers $500 million.

Now that you know it exists, I'm sure you'll be able to sleep better at night knowing that powerful radio waves are being beamed into Cuba, and it's only a matter of time before those waves change and win the hearts and minds of the Cuban people.

More pork

How can any representative in Congress be bold enough to take taxpayer money and build a museum honoring the mule? This person should be run out of Congress. Read this sickening article.

Please come back Grover

Grover Cleveland may have been our best president. He has two nicknames: the "honest president" and the "veto president." He consistently fought Congress on spending, once vetoing 404 bills in a row. He kept us out of war, hated tariffs, and according to Wikipedia: "His admirers praise him for his bedrock honesty, independence, integrity, and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. As a leader of the Bourbon Democrats, he opposed imperialism, taxes, corruption, patronage, subsidies and inflationary policies."

It doesn't matter what label, Democrat or Republican, we put on people. America simply needs more Grover Cleveland's. People who don't believe in the coercive power of the state, and people who neither want to wage constant war or continue to erode the value or your dollar. Come back, Grover, we need you.

Are Mules Smarter Than Politicians?

The above was the title of a great article written by Lawrence Reed for The Free Market, a publication of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Every issue is short and to the point, explaining Austrian economics and de-bunking the statist view of the world held by many citizens and, of course, almost all politicians.

This particular article (June, 1990 issue) is one of my favorites because it succinctly explains both the cause of the stock market crash, the Great Depression, and FDR's New Deal (affectionately nicknamed the Raw Deal). The title about mules being smarter than politicians refers to the crazy policies of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, an agency that ordered the destruction of crops and livestock. Farmers had a tough time getting the mules to trample the crops, since they had been trained to walk between the rows.

The issue is not archived at mises.org for some reason, so if you want a copy just ask in the comments section and I'll send you one. Occasionally I'll lend a copy of The Free Market to another professor. Many interesting responses and lots of questions, to say the least.

Soldiers tired, bitter, skeptical

This article is yet another in what seems like a never-ending stream of bad news coming from Iraq. And the bad news is all the same: U.S. soldiers are tired, bitter, and skeptical. As you willl read in the article, many feel that Iraq is not worth losing even one more U.S. soldier.

Every single empire has failed throughout history: Alexander the Great's, Egypt and the Pharoahs, the Roman Empire, the Soviet Union, the British Empire, etc. Let's shut down the 739 U.S. military bases around the world and end our empire now. Let Americans be free to trade with the rest of the world. Nothing promotes friendliness between nations as much as free trade.

Fire-fighting equipment grounded by red tape

Fire-fighting cargo planes and helicopters were grounded by foot-dragging government red tape in California. The delay in getting the equipment airborne is inexcusable, and the fires roared and gained in intensity as the equipment sat by and watched. Read the article here.

Of course, the governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, made up a lame excuse about the winds being too intense for the coptors and planes. But it seems the delay allowed the winds to pick up. Had the government reacted swiftly, the wind problem, it seems, would not have been the issue.

Am I wrong, but didn't the fire start on public land, and is being fought by public employees? Supposedly the cause was arson, but can't the government protect its own land? I'm sure they wouldn't let anyone burn down the Capitol. Update: another good article just appeared on mises.org.

When will people realize, that although not a great president, Ronald Reagan said at least one thing right: "Government is not the solution, government is the problem."

Just like Vietnam, soldiers in Iraq don't want to fight anymore

The awesome film Sir, No Sir! details how U.S. soldiers in Vietnam stopped fighting in what they considered was an immoral war. They laid down their arms, started over 300 antiwar newspapers around the world, and even began killing their own officers by tossing fragmentation grenades in their bunks at night.

As stated in this article here, U.S. soldiers in Iraq are beginning to do the same. Demoralized, and disenchanted with their commanding officers, they are avoiding confrontation with the enemy. This is bad news for war hawks like Clinton, Guiliani, Romney, McCain, Obama and others (except Ron Paul, who wants to bring the troops home now), because they have plans to wage war for the unforseeable future.

Army stretched and needs to grow

The draft is inevitable. The newly minted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullin, said the army is not broken, but is "breakable." He said that Americans are in “a long, generational decades kind of conflict against the radical, extremist jihadists,” and that the Army and Marine Corps are unlikely to return to a peacetime posture in the near future.

"In this era of persistent engagement and conflict, I don't see our global responsibilities diminishing anytime soon," he said. "In fact, given the potential for regional instability throughout the world, I see our military missions expanding, not contracting.” Read the full article here.

Military missions expanding, not contracting. Long, generational decades kind of conflict. Interesting words. Only one way to fight that kind of protracted, drawn out war - with lots of people. Translation: the draft. As it's written now (see my other posts for a copy), all men and women between the ages of 18 and 42 must serve two years in the military. Time to write your rep in Congress and tell them to bring the troops home now and leave the rest of the world alone.

More government failure

Central Planning doesn't work. If it did, why isn't the Soviet Union still around? Centrally planned U.S. programs fail as well, and fail miserably. The government's levees weren't strong enough, so New Orleans got hammered by Katrina. Then, they botched the rescue and cleanup effort.

"FEMA turned away generators needed by hospitals, refused Amtrak's offer to evacuate victims, and didn't return calls from the American Bus Association. Sheriff Dennis Randle of Carroll County, Indiana, had a team ready to help, but was never able to navigate FEMA's approval process to enter New Orleans. FEMA failures caused millions of pounds of ice to be shipped mistakenly to Maine and Arizona, and firefighters and rescue squads to be sent to areas where they were of little help. A mobile communications unit with a chartered plane sat in Germany for nine days because FEMA didn't return its calls." Read the full article here.

More government, anyone? After all, it's only your money and your life.

Government squanders $300 million of your money

Before spending $300 million of your money, shouldn't the government ensure that the program is going to be a success? As this article states, the Government Accounting Office reports that the U.S. spent $300 million the past two years to improve the capacity of Iraq's ministries. But the effort has been stalled by corruption, poor security, a shortage of competent workers, and other problems. In fact, almost half of Iraqi government employees fail to show up for work each day.

Amazingly, both the U.S. and the Iraqi governments were asleep at the switch, as "nobody noticed" that the Iraqis were not using the new computerized accounting system the U.S. taxpayers paid for. Finally, after a month, somebody figured it out that the Iraqis were still using a paper system. Maybe the guy who noticed should be promoted.

Ms. Rodriguez would have voted no on government health care

This past May, the tragic death of Edith Isabel Rodriguez, only 43, should have made Americans question about wanting any more government involvement in health care. She died while emergency room staff walked past her; the janitor even cleaned around her as she spit up blood on the floor!

This tragic incident, plus the terrible conditions reported at Walter Reed Hospital, an army hospital, makes me wonder how anyone could call for more of the same. Government run hospitals, whether in the inner cities or at army bases, can't provide the quality health care needed because of the lack of a market. No market, no competition, therefore no incentive.

Let's get back to a market in health care. The market pleases us with great cars, computers, houses, food, clothes, etc. The market will do the same in health care.

Lou Dobbs proves his ignorance once again

Tonight Lou Dobbs was doing his usual rant about how the middle class is getting the short end of the stick here in America. Then, to my amazement, he blurts out: ". . . the country is being run be a bunch of free market idiots." What? Does he have any idea how high the federal budget is? Lou, it's in the trillions! Yes, trillions! Free marketeers like myself know that the two things that destroy wealth are taxation and regulation. Both Democrats and Republicans are guilty of spending like drunken sailors. It's anything but a free market.

The Republicrats are also piling on tons of regulations. Just ask any business owner how they love jumping through all those bureaucratic hoops each and every year. For God's sake, you need government permission just to occupy your building (Occupancy Permits issued by cities).

Lou, go enroll for a week long course next summer at Mises.org. Mises University will teach you all about free markets.

Bush wants $88 million for bunker-busters

Our war-mongering decider-in-chief wants $88 million of your money to build 30,000 pound bunker-buster bombs. Just in case another country builds nuclear weapons, he wants to be able to take those weapons out if they're underground.

Why don't we just leave everyone alone and shut down the empire? Maybe other countries are increasing their military because the U.S. is all over the world (over 700 bases) telling them what to do. When you bully people, they strike back, just like the kids back in grade school who struck back at the school yard bully. Let's just wage peace.

Does the UAW strangle car companies?

The United Auto Workers union is powerful. Lots of money and lots of members. So what impact does the union have on Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, and ultimately, are the actions of the UAW responsible for the high cost and low quality of American made automobiles?

George Reisman, Pepperdine University Professor Emeritus of Economics, states that: "In sum, without the UAW, General Motors would not be faced with extinction. Instead, it would almost certainly be a vastly larger, far more prosperous company, producing more and better motor vehicles than ever before, at far lower costs of production and prices than it does today, and providing employment to hundreds of thousands more workers than it does today."

Read the rest of his great article here, which appeared on Mises.org last year.

Hey big spender

For years the Republicans attacked the tax and spend Democrats in Congress. And they should have, since the Dems were big tax and spenders. Yet Bush and his Republican friends are just as bad, as evidenced by this article.

Of course, the Republicans promised that if given a chance (control of Congress), they would put a stop to all that spending. I even had Bill Archer, the long-time congressman and former head of the House Ways and Means Committee, tell me to my face at a town hall meeting in Houston that the Republicans would stop all that government spending.

Since 1994, the "Republican Revolution" has been anything but. Both sides love to tax and spend and grow government. What's that old joke: "What does bipartisan mean? They both have their hands in your pockets."

U.S. dollar strong?

A few weeks ago, the Canadian dollar reached parity with the U.S. dollar - the first time since 1976. Our dollar has dropped that much against some other currencies like the euro and yuan. I found an interesting article on prudentbear.com - a major U.S. investor wants to cash in all his U.S. dollars for the Chinese yuan.

Interesting what he says about nine paragraphs down - that China will be the most important country of the 21st century. Hmm, I think I remember that Ron Paul is the only candidate from either party that ever mentions our perilous financial system. And isn't he the one that had been getting in former Fed Chairman Alan Greespan's face all these years? Yes, because Paul understands economics and he knows we're headed for a meltdown.

Neocons love to scare us about big, bad Iran

The neocons are at it again. They love fear. Vice President Dick Cheney, of course Bush himself, and Norman Podhoretz, author, are warning us about the evils of Iran and how they want to take over the world. But is Iran really a threat?

As you'll see in this article, how scared should we be of a country with an economy the size of Finland's? Iran spends only $4.8 billion on defense, while the United States spends 110 times as much! Also, our Gross Domestic Product is 68 times greater. Plus, to invade America, Iran would have to maneuver across the Mediterrean and Atlantic, where they would be destroyed.

Don't buy in. Just say no. Don't believe them as they conjure up more goblins for us to be scared about.

Shuttle launch cost $450 million

The space shuttle launched today, and it cost you and me $450 million. What's the purpose of these missions again? Has there been any dramatic changes in our lives besides Direct TV since the space program began? The U.S. has spent a few trillion dollars on the space program, yet what problems have been solved?

We still have lots of crime, enemies, financial bubbles, poor public education, a health care crisis, an empire, and on, and on, and on. What's the purpose of these missions again?

Government loses $1.2 billion of your money

The inefficiency of government at all levels is amazing. They can't even keep tabs on the money they take from us to spend around the world. Of course, we're in the police training business, per the Constitution, right?

Read this article about how the government just can't seem to find the money they were going to spend training the Iraqi police force.

Governments don't understand economics

All throughout history, governments have made people miserable with endless war and the mishandling of economics. The two most famous contemporary examples are Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. It now takes $1 million Zimbabwe dollars to buy one U.S. dollar. The man is insane and is destroying Zimbabwe, which now has annual inflation of 8,000 percent. Read the amazing article here.

What's the government doing in the airline business?

Historians tell us the Wright Brothers were the first to fly an airplane. They were not government employees, just two men fascinated with flight. Somehow, the government got its hands in the airline business, and now they control it all. No, it really wasn't de-regulated under President Reagan in the 80's. If it was truly de-regulated, how come the government still owns the airports, the FAA is still around, and the air traffic controllers are government employees?

The safety record has been good as of late, but is the government keeping information from us? Interesting article appeared on cnn.com today. Read it here.

Sell off the airports, abolish the FAA, and privatize the air traffic controllers. Free from government intervention and endless regulation, the airlines would provide their own security and the competition would drive down prices and provide better service.

Great short article by Charley Reese

Charley Reese writes great, short articles that get right to the point. He's got a great one about the U.S. empire at antiwar.com today. I especially love the last paragraph. Read his article here.

Two Republican candidates want to increase army - draft?

The other day, I posted "Prepare yourself to fight." I mentioned the draft, which I believe is coming back. Last night at the Republican debate in Florida, both Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney said they wanted to increase the size of the army. Their statements confirmed for me what I already knew: all the statist Republicans, except for Ron Paul, want a large, powerful armed forces, and they want to continue to build empire.

What's a good way to help build empire? The draft, of course. So write your rep in Congress. Tell him or her you oppose the draft in all forms. Maybe the same letter each month would do. Either that or pack your rifle (or move to Paraguay).

American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007

Ron Paul courageously introduced the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007 in the House of Representatives the other day. Above all, it calls for the repeal of the Military Commissions Act, which passed last year and is a grave threat to our liberty.

Read what he said on the floor of the House here.

Ron Paul wins debate despite pro-war crowd

Ron Paul won the Republican debate in Florida tonight. How do I know? He's the only one of the eight candidates who brought up monetary policy. He understands that when the Federal Reserve prints money out of thin air the value of the dollar goes down. The Fed has been inflating since its creation in 1913, and now our dollars are only worth 4 cents. This terrible situation is the largest threat to our prosperity besides war. The dumb Florida crowd didn't get it - they should have given him a standing ovation when he discussed the dollar.

In fact, Paul was booed by some in the Florida pro-empire crowd. Booing a man when he wants to stop empire building, and not cheering when he talks about a sane monetary policy - truly, without a doubt, the dumbest audience at any Republican debate so far.

Youth must lead the way

It's amazing how the mainstream media still tries to ignore Repulican presidential candidate Ron Paul. He was ignored in an L.A. Times article this week, and I saw a report on how candidates are effectively using the internet and they didn't mention him then either - even though he has been, by a massive margin - the most effective campaigner on the net.

However, the college campuses are all buzzing about Ron Paul. It's because the youth of America have the most to lose. The draft is coming back, the country is going broke, and young people will be forced to pay into a bankrupt system their whole lives and never see a dime. Of course, I'm talking about Social Security.

Keep up the good work 18-25 year olds. And if you're friends haven't gotten involved yet or are into statists like Guiliani, Clinton, Romney, and Obama, try to convince them of the error of their ways. The message of freedom is powerful.

Krugman admits he's a communist

Paul Krugman, a professor at Princeton University, was on Bloomberg this weekend and he said he was a "card-carrying communist." He also said that he believes in redistribution of wealth in America. So he wants to take some of your money and give it to those less fortunate. Against your will, of course.

So if you read some of his op-eds every once in awhile as they are picked up by newspapers around the country (including the Houston Chronicle), be careful as to what you buy into. He loves communism and socialism, obviously, and he wouldn't mind using force against you to obtain some of your hard-earned money and distributing it to someone else.

Prepare yourself to fight

The government will be calling for you soon. The war in Iraq is going poorly, and our army is tired and in dire need of rest. Two weeks ago, one of the army's generals said the army needs three years to re-equip, rest, and re-train. Even the National Guard is fighting over there. So it's only a matter of time before Congress reinstitutes the draft. It's actually been proposed twice in the last two years (for everyone between the ages of 18 and 42!). That's how government works. They keep introducing a measure, it keeps getting shot down, and just when you think it will never happen - there it is - law!

Read the House bill in its entirety here. And this time you can't get out if you're in college like someone could during the Vietnam War.

Better start doing more tricep and bicep work so you can toss those grenades far. Or brush up on your driving skills - I hear those tanks are hard to maneuver.

Want big government? Wage war!

War is the health of the state. It's just that plain and simple. Whenever countries wage war, especially the U.S., the power of the federal government grows. If you want less government and taxes, and you want the government out of your life, fight for peace. Here's an excellent article by Robert Higgs, and he's also written one of the best books I've ever read, Crisis and Leviathan.

Presidential power

When the framers wrote the Constitution that hot summer in Philadelphia in 1787, they purposely did not give much power to the executive branch. Why? They feared tyranny above all. They knew about all the tyrants throughout history, like Caesar, Alexander, and the dozens of kings who oppressed their people.

So how did the office of the president in America become so powerful? A great place to start would be an excellent book edited by John V. Denson. I can't believe this large volume is only $21.00. Check out Reassessing the Presidency: The Rise of the Executive Branch and the Decline of Freedom for yourself.

Scary financial news

The average commentator on the financial news shows doesn't seem to get it. We're in for some serious problems, and the root cause is the central banks around the world, like our Federal Reserve. When money is simply printed, with nothing to back it up, serious disconnects occur in financial markets.

One site I check often is prudentbear.com. The daily news and the guest commentaries provide a lot of information, especially now with monster problems on the horizon. Check out this guest commentary from their site here.

Abolish OSHA

Let's get government out of the safety business. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, formed in the early '70's and signed into law by president Richard Nixon, costs businesses and ultimately consumers millions upon millions every year. All this cranky agency does is put out more and more regulations for us to comply with. They're responsible for that binder in your store you love so well, full of Material Safety Data Sheets. You know, the binder no one ever looks at.

Somehow, America survived for over 350 years without OSHA. As George Reisman, an economist and professor at Pepperdine University points out here, safety is not a proper function of government.