We liberty lovers went into a bit of withdrawal last week when Freedom Watch aired a “best of” show. Yesterday it returned in stellar form with guests Ron Paul, Daniel Hannan, Lew Rockwell, Tom Woods, Peter Schiff, Shelly Roche, and Tom Palmer (CATO) joining Judge Napolitano.
Ron Paul and Daniel Hannan united in a one two punch fighting for liberty. They spoke about nullification, secession, and then compared Europe and America on the road to socialism. Another topic that they and the other guests discussed was protectionism. Peter Schiff seems to believe the U.S. need not worry too much about protectionism. Tom Palmer disagrees. Woods and Rockwell delve into the prospects for liberty in our lifetime.
The federal government is nationalizing and centralizing in all directions, including…
* Banks
* Insurance companies
* Car companies
* And, as we reported yesterday, they now fund the majority of state government expenditures
But it isn’t just companies and state governments. The Feds want to nationalize YOU too.
It’s important for our new members to know that Congress is weaving a net that will ensnare all of us in a centralized database that could not only track where you go and what you do, but also . . .
What YOU spend on health care, and the kind of treatment YOU receive.
This scheme started with the so-called REAL ID Act, which would standardize state drivers’ licenses to make a de facto National ID card. You’ll need this card to cash a check, hire a baby sitter, board a plane, or engage in countless other activities. You’ll need it TO BE A PERSON.
Now that may not sound so different from today. You already need a driver’s license and a Social Security number to do many things. But your drivers’ license isn’t centralized at the federal level, and that makes all the difference. Here’s why . . .
The federal government has a huge problem with the Medicare program. They’ve made trillions of dollars in promises they can’t keep. But they have a plan to control costs . . .
* All of us will have REAL ID cards, issued by the states, but tracked in a centralized database
* The Feds will then force us to have electronic medical records too (this process is underway now)
* Your electronic medical records will be connected to the centralized REAL ID database
* The government will then start dictating which medical treatments you can receive and which you cannot
This last stage in the process is also being planned now. The supposed purpose is to protect us from ineffective treatments, but the real purpose is to control costs. In effect, the politicians will turn the entire country into a giant HMO. Do you want your health care needs being dictated by the same Keystone Gang who passed . . .
Well, here’s where all the threads tie together to create a net that will eventually strangle you. Twenty two states have refused to comply with the first step in this disaster scenario, the REAL ID Act. But how long do you think they’ll hold out now that . . .
Another wonderful week of Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano is in the bag. Attempts to unite Ron Paul and Daniel Hannan were met with technical difficulties, but both appeared on their own to great effect. Especially Hannan who had a quite eloquent answer to a question from the Judge about Constitutional responsibility. Watch that clip isolated here.
Or if you prefer to watch the whole darn show (and why not?) watch it all below.
Lew Rockwell, 2010 liberty loving candidate RJ Harris, Cody Willard, Free State Project founder Jason Sorens, Peter Schiff, and twitter-maven Shelly Roche also join the Judge.
Remember, all episodes are posted at http://freedomwatchonfox.com/ as soon as they are available. You can also find upcoming guest and topic lists as well as the latest news about the show there.
The cruel beauty of having Barack Obama as President is how he can be used as an almost black and white litmus test for partisan nepotism (or hackery as some call it). Dip your favorite lawmakers (or special interest groups) in the testing solution and they come out pure red, pure blue, or some shade of purple. Here are a few examples:
Barney Frank: Under Bush he clamored for more transparency. Under Obama he’s mum on transparency = Pure Blue Partisan Hack.
Neo-con Tea Party Enthusiasts: Some under Bush supported the bailouts. Under Obama they scream for his head because of the bailouts = Pure Red Partisan Hacks.
Antiwar Obama Fans: They wanted to impeach Bush for getting us into the Iraq War on lies. They are oddly less enthusiastic about protesting Obama for relocating more and more troops to Afghanistan = Pure Blue Partisan Hacks.
Ron Paul: Under Bush denounced the Iraq War as unconstitutional. Under Obama still denouncing foreign interventionism = Pure Purple Principled Non-partisan.
Playing the game of partisan nepotism is quite easy. The rules are merely to compare the actions (and reactions) of various individuals and groups to the policies of George W. Bush in the past and Barack H. Obama right now. No doubt there are many other examples. Feel free to leave your own in the comments.
The goal of this game is to lose by showing your purple pride, revealing that you are a principled non-partisan. You believe in the rule of law and don’t change your views just because your team is in the lead. Sadly, I’d say that most Americans are either purely red or purely blue. Sometimes when you win, you really do lose.
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.
“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.
Last night Ron Paul was interviewed on the Jim Bohannon show (from a guest host) out of Pittsburgh, PA. Paul is introduced as a “major libertarian voice in Congress”.
Paul opens by admitting he didn’t watch Obama’s press conference last night and asks the host to let him know if he said something special. The host admits that Obama said nothing “terribly special”.
A large portion of the interview focuses on the financial system. Paul discusses his own beliefs for the future of the U.S. economy and the dollar.
“It’s as close to Socialism as you can get”, he says at one point.
Ron Paul was interviewed by Glenn Beck on his radio program this morning. They discussed (joked about really) the MIAC report which links Ron Paul supporters to dangerous anti-government domestic terrorist groups. They also discussed the recent efforts by Geithner and the Obama administration to spend our way out of the economic mess.
At one point Ron Paul reacted to a breaking news item from Glenn Beck with the following quote:
“They are lying through their teeth!”
One of the more interesting portions of the 17+ minute interview included a portion where Ron Paul preaches turning the political tide back toward freedom using education and political means rather than violence and chaos.
He believes (as we all should) that trying to “take back America” in a violent way is ultimately self defeating.
Listen to the interview here while I get it up on youtube for the masses:
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With the wave of sinister change befalling America I find myself caught between hope and a hard place. That hard place is a survivalist bunker with despair in the air. And that air is strangled with Barack Obama’s socio-fascist flatulence. If it weren’t for the wise old golden boy Ron Paul and my fellow free market odor-eaters I’d be the sound of one hand clapping.
Unfortunately during this, Obama’s honeymoon, we have to endure being accosted by his true believing underlings while we try not to make a mess in our under-things in disgust. The Democratic Party has “organized” to seek pledges in support of the almighty one’s liberty-intolerant agenda. I’m not sure why I endeavor to read the article and the comments. Perhaps I’m a glutton for eye rolls.
No country in the history of the world has ever spent their way out of a depression. To anyone supporting the spend and spend more policies of Barack Obama please answer one question. What makes America different from the other countries that have failed?
Could it be that the other countries didn’t spend enough? There is no better analogy for our situation than the average American family owning upside down homes and thousands in credit card debt. When the government wasn’t pushing subprime loans it was seeking subprime loans of its own. The pseudo-evil lenders were just following the government’s own “encouragement”. The average family followed the government into this predicament. As it unwinds the government will follow the average family on its own path to oblivion.
Family members are losing jobs and being forced out of homes. What happens when the U.S. government is forced out of its home? We already know from experience the laws are different for those that are fortunate enough to make them. Everyone blames Bernie Madoff for his pyramid scheme yet no one cries over the government sponsored pyramid scheme known as fractional reserve lending. Well, not many anyway. Those of us who claim Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, Tom Woods and a few others as our modern day economics professors recognize the hypocrisy immediately.
So what happens when our government’s “do as I say, not as I do” financial pyramid scheme falls apart? I sincerely hope we never have to find out.
Or do I have that backwards? No, I’m right. Doug Wead shares my own sentiment (and likely many others) that for America to elect Ron Paul or someone like Ron Paul things will have to get worse.
Well, things are certainly getting worse. Will it ever get to the point where people will start taking Ron Paul seriously as a Presidential candidate? I don’t know, but as we sit here today in the beginning stages of the second Great Depression, it is not out of the realm of belief.
Is there anyone who can save us from this insanity?
There is really only one option left. Ron Paul. It is a long shot, but if the madness goes far enough and the reaction sets in, the Paulistas just might stage a takeover of the Grand Old Party and Ron Paul would offer America a real choice. It’s a long shot. But four more years of this and America may actually be ready.
We are on this road. We can’t see beyond the horizon, but we certainly have an idea of what lies ahead. It’s not pretty.
It is rather unfortunate that we have to learn to accept the fact that the only path back to the principles which made America great is paved with economic calamity and social unrest, and constructed by a socialist steamroller.
Liberty Maven
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