The headline is a quote from Grover Norquist delivered during an appearance on Fox Business News discussing the vanishing American Dream.
Norquist appeared with Tom Woods, author of one of the best books I’ve read this year, “Meltdown“, and Ben Ferguson. All three had some harsh words for the Obama administration and support for the free market.
Woods uses his time wisely by attacking the Federal Reserve and plugging Ron Paul’s HR1207 (Fed Transparency Act). I’m curious if someone bet Woods that he couldn’t use the words “boob” and “discombobulated” during this interview. Tom won that bet. Watch the discussion below.
After completing Trace Mayer’s excellent ebook, “The Great Credit Contraction“, I stopped reading and said aloud, “Wow”. I started reading it with the intention of reading a few pages. Much to the detriment of sleep I ended up reading half the book in the first sitting.
The dollar truly is an illusion and gold is real money. Mayer’s book hammers this home in a profound way. One of the great things about the book is that it covers the fundamentals and history of money as we know it. If you ever wondered how the idea of fractional reserve banking came about then you should read this book. If you want an answer to the question, “What is money?”, then this book is for you.
Mayer utilizes several quotes from economists past and present to reinforce his points. He invokes the likes of Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell, Ludwig Von Mises, Alan Greenspan, and many others.
Yesterday in Congress, a whopping seventy-eight new bills were introduced. Due to recent controversy, and for those who start reading this series of articles in the middle, I will include the following boilerplate information in every article.
When taking a look at the list below, keep in mind that the U.S. Constitution, which created our Federal Government, clearly enumerated 18 specific functions that it is given. For all other things, the 9th and 10th amendment make it clear that the individual states have the power. Note that it states in the Constitution that it is the Supreme Law of the Land, which can be usurped by no other. This means that all opinions to the contrary made by the Supreme Court are technically invalid. Throughout the past couple of hundred hears the Supreme Court has rule one way or another on some “interpretation” of the Constitution, but in fact no interpretation is necessary, as the intention of the founding fathers are quite clear. For example, if the “general welfare” clause or the “interstate commerce” clause was intended to be used as a catch-all for any arbitrary piece of legislation, then the 10th amendments which reads:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
would be completely meaningless. So simple logic, in addition to the writings of Madison and other founding fathers, dictates the notion that the Federal Government was set up to have very little power, and that these United States are intended to be a loose federation of sovereign states.
Only due to politician’s greed and overwhelming desire for power does the Constitution get relegated to the trash heap.
So, despite the noble intentions of many of these bills, it doesn’t mean they are legal.
Of the bills introduced yesterday, these are ones that are clearly not legitimate functions of the Federal Government [as always, my commentary will appear in red]:
HR293 – Commending Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils for breaking the National Hockey League all time regular season wins record. [I'm glad our "public servants" have nothing more important to do...]
SR86 – A resolution designating April 18, 2009, as “National Auctioneers Day” [Are you kidding me?]
SR87 – A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that public servants should be commended for their dedication and continued service to the Nation during Public Service Recognition Week, May 4 through 10, 2009. [Oh, that is rich!]
HR1728 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to reform consumer mortgage practices and provide accountability for such practices, to provide certain minimum standards for consumer mortgage loans, and for other purposes. [There is already way too much red time when buying a house. Whatever happened to caveat emptor?]
HR1729 – To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide for the treatment of institutions of higher education as voter registration agencies.
HR1730 – To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 with respect to electric vehicle infrastructure.
HR1731 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to require any creditor who transfers, sells, or conveys certain residential mortgage loans to third parties to retain an economic interest in a material portion of the credit risk for any such loan, and for other purposes.
HR1732 – To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for standards for energy efficient outdoor lighting.
Ron Paul’s proposed legislation, The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (HR1207) now has 46 cosponsors. I must say that the aim of this legislation is so populist that I’m surprised there aren’t already 100 cosponsors. Perhaps the reason is that we constituents haven’t been active enough in getting our representatives to support this bill.
Today, join in the Fax Bomb for HR1207. The idea was originally introduced on RonPaulForums and is now being championed at The Daily Paul with a set of nice HR1207 supporting flyers for faxing. This is a great idea and we (obviously) encourage everyone to participate in faxing your representatives requesting they support the bill.
What I find interesting and perhaps a bit sinisterly amusing is that many Democrats such as Barney Frank who famously called for more transparency from the Fed and Treasury while George W. Bush was in office are AWOL on transparency now that the “chosen one” is President. I think I may fax a few items to Barney Frank respectfully requesting he use actions to back up his words on transparency.
If Frank doesn’t sign on to this bill it further proves that he is nothing more than a partisan lackey. Fax bomb them all today!
NOTE: We’ve added a counter graphic on the LM sidebar to easily keep track of the number of HR1207 cosponsors.
Yesterday in Congress, fifty-four new bills were introduced. When taking a look at the list below, keep in mind that the U.S. Constitution, which created our Federal Government, clearly enumerated 18 specific functions that it is given. For all other things, the 9th and 10th amendment make it clear that the individual states have the power. Note that it states in the Constitution that it is the Supreme Law of the Land, which can be usurped by no other. This means that all opinions to the contrary made by the Supreme Court are technically invalid. Throughout the past couple of hundred hears the Supreme Court has rule one way or another on some “interpretation” of the Constitution, but in fact no interpretation is necessary, as the intention of the founding fathers are quite clear. For example, if the “general welfare” clause or the “interstate commerce” clause was intended to be used as a catch-all for any arbitrary piece of legislation, then the 10th amendments which reads:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
would be completely meaningless. So simple logic, in addition to the writings of Madison and other founding fathers, dictates the notion that the Federal Government was set up to have very little power, and that these United States are intended to be a loose federation of sovereign states.
Only due to politician’s greed and overwhelming desire for power does the Constitution get relegated to the trash heap.
So, despite the noble intentions of many of these bills, it doesn’t mean they are legal.
Of the bills introduced yesterday, these are ones that are clearly not legitimate functions of the Federal Government:
HR1702 – To authorize assistance for affordable housing and sustainable urban development in developing countries, and for other purposes.
HR1704 – To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve mental and behavioral health services on college campuses.
HR1705 – To create a Financial Product Safety Commission, to provide consumers with stronger protections and better information in connection with consumer financial products, and to give providers of consumer financial products more regulatory certainty.
S-709 – A bill to better provide for compensation for certain persons injured in the course of employment at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California.
Tim Geithner was saved by the bell today when Ron Paul grilled him about regulation and accountability in a financial committee hearing today on Capitol Hill.
First Geithner admitted that regulation does deserve some of the blame for what has happened. Paul then insists that Geithner answer the second portion of his question about why is it that when it comes to finacial accountability parties seem to be guilty until proven innocent instead of the other way around. Geithner stammers a bit until the 5 minutes are up and the very last thing he says (directing his response to Barney Frank) amounted to “Please get me out of this Mr. Chairman. Mercy Mercy Mercy.”
With forty-nine new bills introduced in Congress yesterday, one must wonder how many are really necessary, and more importantly, how many are Constitutional. Answer: very few. In fact, the vast majority are unconstitutional intrusions into private industry, adding layer upon layer of regulation and bureaucracy. Here are a few of the more obvious examples:
HR1690 – To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to coastal states to support voluntary State efforts to initiate and complete surveys of coastal waters to identify potential areas suitable for the exploration, development, and production of renewable energy, and for other purposes.
HR1691 – To require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer and coverage for secondary consultations.
HR1684 – To preserve the rights granted under second amendment to the Constitution in national parks and national wildlife refuge areas. [Why do we need a bill to repeat what the second amendment already says? Simply hang (for treason) all those who violate their oaths to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution.]
HR1692 – To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to exempt ordinary books from the lead limit in such Act.
HR1693 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under part B of the Medicare Program, and for other purposes.
S-672 – A bill to amend the Natural Gas Act, the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, and the Federal Power Act to modify provisions relating to enforcement and judicial review and to modify the procedures for proposing changes in natural gas rates.
S-674 - A bill to amend chapter 41 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment and authorization of funding for certain training programs for supervisors of Federal employees.
S-675 – A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit the sale of dishwashing detergent in the United States if the detergent contains a high level of phosphorus, and for other purposes.
S-677 – A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require wealthy beneficiaries to pay a greater share of their premiums under the Medicare prescription drug program.
HR1677 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and expand the benefits for businesses operating in empowerment zones, enterprise communities, or renewal communities, and for other purposes.
HR1678 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a bad debt deduction to doctors to partially offset the cost of providing uncompensated care required to be provided under amendments made by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
HR1680 – To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to promote professional retrofit installation of fire alarm detection systems and other fire detection and prevention technologies in nursing homes, hospice facilities, and other appropriate facilities.
S-678 – A bill to reauthorize and improve the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, and for other purposes.
S-679 – A bill to establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles, and for other purposes.
S-680 – A bill to limit Federal emergency economic assistance payments to certain recipients. [Such a Bill should not be necessary. No person or entity should receive emergency economic assistance. Read Davy Crockett vs. Welfare.]
S-681 – A bill to provide for special rules relating to assistance concerning the Greensburg, Kansas tornado.
Quote of the Day: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
There’s a civil war going on in Mexico. It’s the drug cartels, funded by obscene black market profits, versus the government, funded by obscene taxes.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Mexico this week. She’s from the U.S. Federal Government and she was there to help. She promised . . .
* More taxpayer money to fight Mexico’s war on drugs
* Gun control laws here in the U.S.A. . . .
. . .to stop the flow of guns to the Mexican drug cartels.
Ms. Clinton seems to think that gun prohibition is the way to enforce drug prohibition. She’s right about one thing. Drug prohibition and gun prohibition are the same issue.
Now, you might think drugs are bad. You might believe them to be so harmful you’d never use them. But you probably expect the politicians to keep their hands off your firearms.
On the other hand, you may think guns are evil. You might believe they’re so dangerous, you’d never own one. But you think you have every right to choose what substances you take into to your own body.
“Debt is to blame,” Ron Paul reiterates on Fox Business News today in a very good 12 minute interview. He rails against the economic interventionism of Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner under Barack Obama’s watch.
“We don’t want them to be successful in socializing the nation.”
“Today we are determined to make our dollar weaker.”
“Bernanke is praying for inflation.”
“We don’t allow the correction to occur.”
“My biggest worry is loss of liberty.”
“Why don’t we just obey the Constitution?”
In a somewhat light moment the interviewer asks Paul if the reason he doesn’t fit in Washington is because he’s so logical. Ron uses his time to promote free market economics (Austrian by name) and the Mises Institute (mises.org).
He ends with something I’ve not heard from him. He calls the Federal Reserve the “fourth branch of government.” Watch the goodness below.
The latest installment of Judge Andrew Napolitano’s simply awesome online show “Freedom Watch” aired today. His guests included Glenn Beck, Shepard Smith, Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, Lew Rockwell, and David Boaz (CATO).
Glenn Beck kicked off the show via phone and discussed the AIG nonsense. The Judge had a few choice words for Andrew Cuomo and his “influencial” tactics.
Ron Paul came on with about 10 minutes left in the show. The Judge asked him about his and others tough questioning of Geithner and Bernanke yesterday. Schiff asked the same question I had for Paul yesterday about asking a question right away to allow for follow up questions rather than using up the time pontificating and asking a question at the end.
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