Today Ron Paul took the oppportunity during his questioning of Ben Bernanke’s Joint Economic Committee testimony to put him and the Fed on notice. Today Ron Paul’s H.R. 1207 is up to 124 official cosponsors, so Paul has some serious backing when it comes to the “transparency” issue.
Bernanke’s response was interesting given the recent failed FOIA requests by both Fox News and Bloomberg at having a full public accounting of where the money went. Bernanke is blowing smoke as usual. I worry that if H.R. 1207 passes that it won’t amount to much “real” transparency, but I’ve also stated that we have to start somewhere.
“Except for U.S. Treasuries, what can you hold? Gold?” – Leading Chinese central banker, February 2009
by Jake, the Champion of the Constitution Originally published May 5, 2009 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article6385.html
NEW YORK CITY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 – Luo Ping, director-general at the China Banking Regulatory Commission, gave what may be a landmark quote in the years to come ahead. Besides chastising the United States for its “laissez-faire capitalism” – at which point I distinctly remember choking on my breakfast of delicious jiaozi (I was in Shanghai eating Chinese dumplings) since Ping obviously understands that corporate cronyism is NOT laissez-faire capitalism as fellow columnist Steven McDuffie recently reminds – in retrospect another part of his speech may prove to be the most prophetic. From Reuters:
“Except for US Treasuries, what can you hold? Gold? You don’t hold Japanese government bonds or UK bonds. US Treasuries are the safe haven. For everyone, including China, it is the only option.”
As I related in “China Nearly Doubles its Official Gold Reserves“, China revised its official gold holding from 600 tons in 2003 to 1,054 tons last month. However, the very fact that China reported no increase for 6 years and then suddenly doubled should prove one thing – the Chinese are abiding by the IMF Articles of Agreement only as it pleases them. For instance, the state-owned banks can hold as much gold as they wish without reporting, although this gold is de facto the Chinese government’s. Please understand that subtlety, not brazen statements like Bush’s sad “Mission Accomplished” ceremony or Obama’s 100 Days congratulation party, is the Chinese way.
Quote of the Day: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.” — James Madison, Federalist No. 45
Subject: Good news about the “Enumerated Powers Act”
Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ) has re-introduced The Enumerated Powers Act (EPA). This bill would force Congress to cite the specific constitutional authority for every law they pass. This will be hard, because . . .
The Constitution only authorizes 20 federal functions. Plus . . .
The 10th Amendment explicitly limits the federal government to only those 20 specifically enumerated powers
The 9th Amendment prohibits Congress from violating our freedoms, even freedoms not specifically protected in the Bill of Rights
In short, most of what Congress does violates the Constitution. The EPA would force the politicians to either . . .
Confess that they have no legal authority for most of what they do
Or, embarrass themselves by concocting tortured constitutional interpretations to justify their actions
Either way, the EPA would give us a powerful new weapon for pressuring Congress to abide by constitutional limits.
Imagine the fun we’ll have pointing out the silliness to which they’ll resort to justify their constant lawlessness.
And imagine how nervous that will make them.
This is a big part of our strategy — first we’ll make them nervous, then we’ll overwhelm them and make them submit.
But the news gets better. When last we wrote to the Downsize DC Army about the EPA, it only had five co-sponsors. We’ve bombarded Congress with 28,464 messages in support of this legislation. Now it has a whopping 29 co-sponsors. Look at the list below my signature to see if your Rep is one of them.
In addition, there are several Reps who were co-sponsors last time who haven’t yet signed onto the bill this time. We should be able to get them to co-sponsor too. We’ve also listed their names below my signature.
We need 1,694 messages to Congress today in order to keep pace with our goal of exceeding the number of messages we sent to Congress last month. Please help us meet this goal by sending a message right now.
During the beginning of the financial crisis Ron Paul was asked in many interviews for some of the steps he would take to help fix the situation. His answer was always more regulation for the regulators, such as the Federal Reserve. This concept struck me as a bit of infinite circular logic. When we regulate the regulators then we merely create more regulators that may need regulating. Where does it end?
Of course, the ultimate regulators are individuals like you and me. Through the political process we can regulate the poor performing stooges out of office. Strangely enough that rarely happens. The Peter Principle is alive and well within our lawmaking bodies. So this calls into question the political process itself. How is it possible to unwind the tightly bound, knotted, and tangled ball of yarn that is politics in the U.S.A. today? Should we consider tossing it in the trash and seeking a replacement? Is it fixable?
Bruce Fein. Well, obviously this is just some wishful thinking on my part. It does rival some other wishful thinking from others that the choice will be Judge Andrew Napolitano. No, none of us liberty lovers will get our choice among the nine. Obama will certainly get his choice, much to our unpleasantness.
After watching Bruce Fein in person deliver a lecture a few weeks ago I walked away with the opinion that every person in America should pay attention and heed his words of warning. Luckily, Fein appeared with Bill Moyers on PBS last week discussing torture, American empire, and executive branch overreach.
Interestingly enough his consistent view regarding prosecuting Bush/Cheney for war crimes is now carrying over to the question about what the Obama administration should do about it. Fein believes in the prosecution, but he also suggests that Obama pardons Bush/Cheney once the prosecution occurs in accordance with the law. Watch a great 30 minute discussion here at PBS and the extra web only 17 minute follow-up discussion.
For foreign policy see Bruce Fein. For free market economics see Robert Higgs. For history and economics see Thomas Woods. To support all of the above see Ron Paul.
“The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, imprisoned Soviet dissident and Nobel Prize winner
by Jake, the Champion of the Constitution Originally published Friday, May 1, 2009 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article6368.html
WASHINGTON, DC – In January, I wrote an Austrian economic proof that the Obama stimulus plan would fail, I noted that one of the many symptoms would be inevitable, unstoppable corruption. Well, I suppose it’s no surprise to any American that corruption in our government is already widespread. And it’s pretty sad to see the mainstream media freak out over a case of the flu. As fellow columnist Jonathan Cymberknopf writes in “Swine flu make for great ratings“, 36,000 died due to influenza in 2008, so there is no need for a mass freak out. (And yes, there is a possibility that it could become serious. A small possibility.)
After returning to the USA last month, I found that, perhaps paradoxically, the best news is being reported on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, a comedy show. Check out the “Your Government NOT at Work” excerpt from the April 28 episode 07:45 to 12:00. Stewart outlines a scandal involving my former Congresswoman, Jane Harman, of California. My residence used to lie in Harman’s district, she failed to reply to a single one of my attempts to write or be heard. I contacted her over one hundred times over two years without reply, but perhaps she was busy covering up. In Harman’s defense, she would like to release all of her wiretapped conversations to the public.
Ed. Note: Jake is taking his words and putting them into action. Take a moment and thank Jake for his candidacy. If you live in his district in Pennsylvania, by all means support and vote for him!
“Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” – Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence
by Jake, the Champion of the Constitution Originally published Friday, May 1, 2009 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article6373.html
The reason this column exists because I am passionate about restoring freedom and liberty in America. After today, and after the next 19 months, let it not be said that I held back from entering the arena.
I am running for US Congress, and am both willing and capable to represent the citizens of eastern Pennsylvania’s District 15. I have been personally outraged by what Congress, our Presidents, and the Federal Reserve has done over the last few decades and I deem their collective actions as oppressive and tyrannical. As there is no hope for my concerns and grievances to be addressed by the current government, I’ve decided to make myself available and talk and discuss ideas with whoever wants to consider me to represent them.
Liberty Maven
After returning to the USA last month, I found that, perhaps paradoxically, the best news is being reported on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, a comedy show. Check out the “Your Government NOT at Work” excerpt from 
Simply put, I am for liberty. I also care very much about my family and home. 
Loading ...
