by John Browne – Senior Market Strategist, Euro Pacific Capital
In a small bit of Washington irony, a government panel convened this week under the guise of ensuring ‘expressive freedom’ on the Internet, while at the same time the Obama Administration put Fox News on notice that ideological rectitude would be a prerequisite for White House engagement.
This heightened wrangling with the media comes at a time when ordinary Americans are rapidly becoming disillusioned with the major parties. Their disgust is evident in innumerable web discussion sites that, for many, have replaced the major media outlets as the primary source of information. In its focus to keep control of the conversation, the Administration is seeking to disguise the fact that the ‘change’ Mr. Obama promised in the election is unlikely to materialize.
Wishful thinking of the Nobel committee aside, what we have seen thus far from Obama is simply more of what had been delivered by the prior administration.
Obama renewed our military commitment to the quagmire that is Afghanistan. But he is hesitating now that the United Nations has uncovered fraud in the recent presidential elections there. Whether or not one believes the war is winnable, this type of hollow chest-pounding did not help anyone under G. W. Bush, and will not under Obama.
Well, it was only a matter of time before this happened. Actions such as these are the reason the word “cynic” was created. Ron Paul’s HR.1207 (S.604 in the Senate) which would require a complete audit of the Federal Reserve has 303 cosponsors in the House and 30 in the Senate. Yesterday, a new bill was introduced by obviously bought and paid for lawmakers that is a “waterboarded” version of Ron Paul’s bill.
“The Federal Reserve Accountability Act” was introduced by Democrat Jeff Merkley and Republican Bob Corker yesterday. The bill takes the cake out of Paul’s bill and leaves nothing but the frosting.
The bill avoids review of the Fed’s regular lending programs, such as the longstanding discount window, and its interest-rate decisions.
So, it excludes the fundamentals, the very actions 75% of the American people say they want to know about. The attitude of these so-called representatives is reprehensible.
I’m willing to bet that Merkley and Corker have some large donors in the banking industry.
This may be expected, but it doesn’t mean those of us that support a full audit as outlined in Ron Paul’s bill should just lay down. If anything, the fight has just begun. Please call your representatives and make sure they understand the difference between the full audit and the waterboarded audit introduced yesterday. Tell them that you will not accept anything other than a full audit. It is time to take off the gloves and fight. It’s going to get dirty in DC. Well, more dirty than it already is.
“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve them. And it required no very high degree of education to convince them of this. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1787
After the lecture from LBCCS founder Paul Fiske who related how our founding fathers viewed education, Ryan Burgett, chairman of LBCCS and I (as a member of LBCCS) took questions and there was one question I was unable to answer without a projector, which was the breakdown of spending by the federal Department of Education, which is below or can beviewed online here.I also gave a short synopsis of the history and issues I have with this Department.
You can copy what I said in my letter to Congress . . .
I’m upset that Congress just appropriated $60 million for the REAL ID national identification scheme. I’ve asked you repeatedly to repeal REAL ID, and replace it with nothing. I’m repeating my request today.
I do not want a centralized national ID system. It lays the foundation for a police state, and will do little or nothing to improve security. Instead, it will subject me to increased risk of identity theft, and eventually entangle me in new Congressional schemes to do things like control my health care decisions.
I also object because the REAL ID Act was passed under false pretenses. It was rejected three times by the U.S. Senate, and was only enacted because it was added to a larger bill containing funding for disaster relief and Iraq. REAL ID never could have passed on its own merits, but now that we have it, we can’t seem to get rid of it. But you, as my representative, can do something about this . . .
Please introduce legislation to repeal REAL ID and replace it with nothing. I’m paying close attention to how you represent me.
This morning Ron Paul appeared for an interview on the state of the economy and the Goldman Sachs “bailout” on CNN “American Morning”.
As usual Dr. Paul defends the free market even when asked rather convoluted questions about “how much” the government should support the market. I found the interview a bit odd. In that both the host and Paul were trying to find some kind of middle ground between a government managed economy and a free market position. The common point implied that the government shouldn’t be bailing out these big Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs yet they continue to use tax payer money to do so.
Check out the video below. NOTE: The audio/video sync appears to be off as is custom on some videos processed by Youtube.
Even so, we must keep asking such questions. The more we ask, the more nervous Congress will become. Eventually, they will be forced to either answer our questions or admit publicly that they don’t care what the Constitution says.
Since we last resported on the EPA in September, the House has increased the number of co-sponsors from 48 to 52, and the Senate increased its co-sponsor list from 21 to 22.
BETHLEHEM, PA – US Congressional Candidate Jake Towne related Thursday to a group of Moravian College students that the government’s stimulus plan simply isn’t working in the Lehigh Valley. He also covered the basic economic reasons behind the failure and a better alternative.
While economic planners predict the end of downturn in Q4 2010 and the creation of 3.675 million jobs, Recovery.gov demonstrates that only 0.030 million jobs have been “created/saved” since the plan began in Q1 2009. Only 495.2 jobs are reported as “created/saved” in all of Pennsylvania. including zero Lehigh Valley jobs and $0 spent. Out of the $2.05 billion allotted to Pennsylvania, only 0.15% has been allotted to the Lehigh Valley, or $3.2 million.
To date, Recovery.gov reports zero Lehigh Valley jobs “created/saved” and $0 spent. The allotted funds for the $3.2 million are:
$154,817 allotted to Advanced Environmental Solutions for soil and groundwater contamination testing
$1,129,049 to the City of Allentown for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing
$737,917 allotted to the City of Allentown for Community Development Block Grant
$687,480 to the City of Bethlehem for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing
$449,326 to the City of Bethlehem for Community Development Block Grant. Funds allocated to provide lighting on 4th Street and a 12-foot pedestrian and bicycle path on a former railroad line.
Below is a screen capture of a recently posted Ron Paul video on my Youtube account.
Sometimes we ask for signs from a higher power, whatever that is, to give us evidence that we will be ok. This may not be one of those signs, but it’s fun to think about.
I’m being purposefully obtuse. Feel free to leave a comment if you figure out why I would post this image. It should be pretty obvious.
On October 15, 2009, I gave a lecture at Moravian College in Bethlehem on the horrendous economics of the stimulus plan, and why free market solutions will work far better. An MP3 is not yet available, but a PDF is here. The video playing prior to the lecture is below. This is only the latest in a series of economic lectures, including on the financial crisis. If you are interested in having me speak with your group, feel free to contact the campaign from the TowneForCongress.com home page.
First, I want to reassure everyone this talk will not be a campaign speech; its based on an economics article that I wrote in January 2009, before the stimulus plan was passed and before my candidacy – although I am from Nazareth, which by the way, was the original settlement the Moravians founded when they arrived from their failed colony in South Carolina – at the time I was living in Shanghai.
Regardless, these days when one looks at the economy, you must clearly also factor in the interventions by government. So much so, it is a wonder that the field has not yet been renamed “governomics.”
Ever wonder what happened to that sense of hope and change that most of the voters in the United States were swept up by last fall?
America does need“hope.” America does need “change.”
However, the mainstream Republican and Democratic party machines are both repeating like bad records – “morespending,moretaxes,morewar,more debt.”
If you flip the record, all you hear is “lessliberty,fewerjobs,lessprosperity.”
Whydoesn’tAmerica consider a sound money and slashing federal spending?
Whydoesn’tAmerica consider auditing and cutting back the powers of the ruinous FED?
Whydoesn’tAmerica consider destroying theIMMORALandUNNECESSARY federal income tax?
Whydoesn’tAmerica consider a different foreign policy – where there is third choice besides bombing or economic sanctions? Why not replace the blowback our foreign policy has resulted in with a little love and peaceful trade?
Liberty Maven
by John Browne – Senior Market Strategist, Euro Pacific Capital
Last night with the
Ever wonder what happened to that sense of hope and change that most of the voters in the United States were swept up by last fall?
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