QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The bill is mislabeled. This is not protecting children from Internet pornography. It’s creating a database for everybody in this country for a lot of other purposes.” – Rep. John Conyers
by John Browne, Senior Market Strategist at Euro Pacific Capital
When Fed Chairmen speak, the public is supposed to listen; and, historically, they have. Yet, Chairman Bernanke’s remarks at his historic first press conference were met by a tidal wave of skepticism. Although many of the mainstream outlets, especially those lucky enough to be granted question slots, characterized his performance as “serious” and “masterful,” most rank-and-file Americans were left with a very different impression.
Any casual glance at the broad internet coverage of the event shows that the public is deeply skeptical of Mr. Bernanke and the actions he is taking. If that skepticism runs more than skin-deep, it could herald a fundamental change in American politics and a restoration of sound finance in America. Already politicians seem to be taking notice.
The struggle over raising the national debt ceiling has prompted many members of Congress to talk about a negotiated and practical plan to slash government spending. The early posturing has begun. While much of it is merely window dressing, as politicians continue to escalate their rhetoric, they will eventually be forced to actually do something to make good on their promises. Their mouths are writing checks that their budget proposals may have to cash.
A few years ago I spent the 3 hours necessary to watch a BBC documentary/mini-series called “The Power of Nightmares”. I found it fascinating as it explored the symbiotic relationship between American neo-conservatives and terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. You can watch the entire series online at archive.org. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in this topic.
In it we learn that neo-conservatives philosophy is based on Machiavellianism. It’s the elitist mentality that neo-cons know what is good for all citizens and can morally (in their eyes) use all means necessary to reach that perceived good. We also learn that the roots of neo-conservatism come from the left.
Now that Usama bin Laden nightmare is dead the neo-conservatives need a new nightmare to justify the continued global war on terror. At first they tried to spread general fear about a retaliatory strike. This is a real and genuine fear; however, it isn’t quite enough for them. They need a face of terror–a single person. Initial indications are this new face of terror will be Usama’s 20 year old son Hamza. He already has a nickname, “The Crown Prince of Terror” as evidenced in this recent article from The Telegraph:
Hamza, thought to be the youngest of the Saudi-born warlord’s sons, has been described as the “crown prince of terror”. He featured on an extremist website to mark the third anniversary of the July 7 London bombings in which 52 people died. He read a poem called for “destruction” of America, Britain, France and Denmark.
Intelligence agencies believe he was being groomed as a possible future leader of al-Qaeda.
He was implicated in the assassination of moderate Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
Well, it didn’t take them very long did it? Hopefully it won’t take 10 years, billions of dollars, and countless lives, to find bin Laden 2.0. No doubt we will begin hearing about how the son is even more evil than the parent was.
In any case, I long for the day when our troops can come home from all over the world and we can expend our resources on true defense and better intelligence-gathering rather than the expensive nation-sitting we do now.
…in his best Dr. Evil impression says, “One Meeeellion Dollars!”. Yes, that is how much Ron Paul’s Debate Day Money Bomb has raised in a little over 24 hours.
It’s like 2007-2008 all over again… but perhaps better.
Ron Paul will appear on The View, Hannity, and The Colbert Report tomorrow under the guise of promoting his new excellent treatise on liberty called, “Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom“; however, will he also officially announce his run for president?
If he wants to participate in the first debate scheduled for May 5th he must meet certain criteria by April 29th. It doesn’t take an expert to know that one of the first criteria is actually becoming a candidate. Jesse Benton has stated that Paul will meet the criteria to participate so that is certainly an indirect admission that the announcement will be forthcoming
So will Ronald Ernest Paul announce his official bid for 2012 on Monday? We’ll know for sure very soon.
May my fellow Paulites grow the grassroots of liberty in 2012 far beyond the inherent limitations of 2008.
Last Friday, several functions of the Federal State nearly shut down as Democrats and Republicans fought over things like tax funding for abortion providers. It’s the usual con game . . .
In other words, the politicians are still pretending to fight a “Culture War.” But are the people following their lead? I think not.
It seems to me that times have changed. People are waking up. They’re becoming harder to manipulate. As the letter below indicates, the real Culture War isn’t the one being portrayed by the institutional media. It’s not the conservatives against the liberals; it’s the politicians against YOU.
by Neeraj Chaudhary, Investment Consultant at Euro Pacific Capital
Recently, the Obama Administration seemed to flash a rare sign of laissez-faire thinking when it issued a report calling for the “winding down” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two taxpayer-guaranteed institutions now responsible for backing at least 90% of the US mortgage market. In its press release, the Administration acknowledged that the private sector should be the “primary source of mortgage credit,” and that their goal is to “bring private capital back to the mortgage market.”
While such a pro-market stance is welcome, astute observers should recognize the intentions as empty rhetoric. Unfortunately, government domination of the housing sector is already a fait accompli, and any serious attempt to remove artificial support will result in the kind of political pitfalls no politician wants to face.
After decades of federal life support, the US housing market has become an invalid that is unable to fend for itself. When the absurd housing bubble finally popped in 2006, prices logically began to plummet back to earth. After national price declines of some 30%, a wave of “stimulus” dollars stopped the free-fall in mid-2009. But after less than one year of “recovery,” it looks like prices are headed south again.
Ron Paul appeared on Canadian TV’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin to answer some very thoughtful questions regarding American foreign policy. Yet another excellent testament to Paul’s consistency and integrity when it comes to non-interventionism. He also discusses one of his favorite topics, the Federal Reserve.
What do we do when DC politicians violate the Constitution with impunity? Thomas Jefferson had an answer. In 1798 he wrote that “whensoever” the Federal State “assumes undelegated powers,” that a “nullification of the act is the rightful remedy.” And . . .
Nullification is happening right now!
* Just last week, the Idaho House and the North Dakota Senate passed a Health Care Nullification Act. Nine other states are considering the same.
* Multiple states have passed firearms freedom acts, with more coming soon.
All across the country, the various states are saying “enough” to the Leviathan State in DC!
DownsizeDC.org, Inc. is supporting the Tenth Amendment Center’s 2011 Nullify Now! tour to educate and activate on behalf of this Constitutional tactic
Liberty Maven
by John Browne, Senior Market Strategist at Euro Pacific Capital
“; however, will he also officially announce his run for president?
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