Ron Paul appeared on MSNBC with Rachel Maddow earlier tonight. They discussed the Lindsey Graham censure, Tea Party movement, and partisan politics.
Ron Paul took the high road (as usual) and was an equal opportunity attacker. It certainly was one of his better appearances. He even seemed “Presidential” in a “I’m a uniter, not a divider” kind of way. It is appearances like this that truly demonstrate Paul’s convictions and integrity.
These drunken sailors are eventually going to completely ruin our country’s economy by destroying our currency and the Treasury market which are tied together at the hip in one giant Ponzi scheme operated by the inept central bankers at the Federal Reserve. Congress recently raised the debt ceiling by $290 billion in order to close out 2009 – but it almost wasn’t enough. As Zerohedge reports, spending surged by over $200 billion in two days, blasting through the old debt limit just after the bill managed to pass the Senate and hurriedly get rubber-stamped by the President. There is “just” $140 billion left until the debt ceiling must be extended yet again.
I agree with Zerohedge’s comment: “if the general population understands how close this nation was to the fiscal brink, many more answers may be demanded out of the ruling party as to how it could allow things to get so out of hand.”
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) plans to announce Wednesday that he will retire from the Senate at the end of the year, capping a 30-year career where he rose to be one of the most influential members and held some of the most powerful positions in the upper chamber, several Democratic sources told POLITICO Tuesday night.
Dodd’s decision to forgo a bid for a sixth term paves the way for a more popular Democrat to run, most likely the state’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who has his eye on a Senate seat. And that is good news for Democrats who were hit with the stunning announcement Tuesday that Sen. Byron Dorgan would not run for reelection in North Dakota, likely giving the GOP an advantage for his seat.
So the political winds have forced Dodd to quit. Does this give Peter Schiff more or less of a chance to replace Dodd as Connecticut’s next Senator? I would guess Dodd quitting removes an entire line of attack for any would-be GOP challengers. Peter Schiff is probably unhappy about this move.
To me this just seems like Dodd is playing the part of a child who can’t take it anymore and picks up all his toys and runs home to mommy. Of course, the real reason is that he knows if he stays in the race he’s red meat for Schiff and the other attack dog Republicans.
Ed Shultz had Ron Paul on his MSNBC show earlier this evening. The discussion focused on foreign policy. Paul reiterated his belief that Obama is merely extending the Bush policies of foreign intervention and preventive war. This was a good respectful interview. Check it out below.
by John Browne, Senior Market Strategist, Euro Pacific Capital
Now that 2009 has passed into history, analysts have flooded the public with their opinions on how the events of the past year will impact the coming years. While most are optimistic, I feel that last year’s developments have greatly exaggerated the imbalances in the U.S. economy. Although we may see a temporary respite from the turbulence, these mistakes will hinder our long-term viability. I fear that we have gone down a road that will destroy the value of the dollar and may even threaten the political stability of the United States.
While celebrating nominal gains in GDP, consumer confidence, and home prices, most commentators conveniently ignore the deep freeze that persists in the private credit markets. The lack of risk capital continues to strangle small businesses – the main creators of new jobs. The Administration has only worsened the situation by positioning itself as an enemy of business, creating great uncertainty among entrepreneurs. So moribund is the labor market that the economic boosters now cling to the oxymoronic hope of a “jobless recovery.”
Rather than making any real changes that would portend recovery, Washington has entrenched failure. Two years after the recession began, consumption still accounts for about 70 percent of GDP. Even this economic activity has been made possible only by unprecedented “stimulus” spending. And even with the federal boost, retailers have been forced to protect market share with massive discounts, damaging future earnings. Therefore, the risk of a double-dip recession remains high.
Instead, politicians from both parties have increased the national debt burden to over 90% of GDP, and now you guys are running even bigger deficits, supposedly to boost the economy. But there are two problems with this . . .
First, the economy did better in the 1990s when government deficits were smaller. Over the course of that decade … Read More »
Ron Paul appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live last night as part of a panel to discuss some issues of the day. No, Ben Stein did not appear with Paul this time. They discuss foreign policy and the terrorism threat. The segments are in 2 parts below.
I spent the holidays reading a wonderful new libertarian-themed novel by first time author James Byrd called, “The Light of Day“. The book explores what could happen if the environmentalist movement is permitted to “run the world”. It’s the future and everyone is required to live underground because living above ground is too environmentally unfriendly.
It is certainly a sci-fi page turner with a fast moving plot and interesting characters. The novel juxtaposes two societies, a society with very little freedom and another that is about as libertarian as you can get. Byrd accomplishes this effort quite effectively without getting overly preachy. There are no multi-page John Galt style speeches. Byrd uses the plot to emphasize the free vs. non-free “fight” in a quite understated way.
I’m sure there are those that will balk that Byrd’s vision of a future where environmentalists control society in such a way, but that’s not really the point here as I see it. The point really is to illustrate that your individual freedom is being assaulted on all fronts, not just the obvious ones.
Money is an invention of mankind. Our society refers to the irredeemable scraps of linen and ink as “money,” but in truth the dollar is no such thing. It is merely a currency, a medium of exchange, created by fiat – by government decree and force. The dollar is a phantom I.O.U. note. It is a Ponzi scheme and the central banking system issues new dollar currency whenever it wishes.
Dollars are toxic waste in the literal and fiscal sense. Literally, each dollar bill contains arsenic, cadmium, mercury, thallium, and cyanide and generates dumpster upon dumpster of hazardous waste every day. Fiscally, the dollar has lost 98.3% of its value as of January 1, 2010 since the creation of the central bank known as the Federal Reserve in 1913. (Note 1) Many Americans are unaware that the electrons and scraps of linen we trade around as currency are mere shadows of sound money.
To see the shadows in our money, we have only to look at it. Look at this old quarter. The one I have is a little worn but it still has a silvery glisten to it and rings when you drop it. Now look at the rim of any current quarter – it is a cheap copper sandwich with a thin plating of nickel on top to make it appear like silver. It makes an annoying tinny sound when you drop it. The quarter was exchangeable in 1916 for about 0.012 troy ounces of gold, or over $13 modern-day dollars. Today it is still exchangeable for over $3just for its silver content. The modern quarter? The “melt” value of its copper and nickel is worth less than 5 cents.
Liberty Maven
by John Browne, Senior Market Strategist, Euro Pacific Capital
“. The book explores what could happen if the environmentalist movement is permitted to “run the world”. It’s the future and everyone is required to live underground because living above ground is too environmentally unfriendly..jpg)
Dollars are toxic waste in the literal and fiscal sense. Literally, each 
To see the shadows in our money, we have only to look at it. Look at this 
Loading ...
